Week #8

Buenas Dias!

Great week out here in Visalia California! The work has been progressing a ton here! We have a huge baptismal goal of 127 baptisms for the whole mission so we've got lots of work to do! We have 8 baptisms planned for this month so far and 4 for the next month! We also had 6 investigators at church yesterday and 5 of us Elders in the ward sang "Cuenta Tu Bendiciones" for a Sister's homecoming talk! 

Two of the Elders in our area got transferred out to fill in for an Hermana who got sent home for medical reasons so we took over their area and now have 2 huge areas! Basically 2/3 of a stake! A lot of work needs to be done but I am super excited!!!

We are teaching the Ortiz family here who have 2 kids and they are Solid!!! They have been coming to church the past couple weeks and have a desire to be baptized! We are planning for the 30th for them! We also have been teaching 2 kids from part member families named Marcos and Andy and they both will be Baptized on the 23rd! Our last two most progressing investigators are Alejandra and Isabel! Alejandra is a bit older and has 2 kids, one is a member, she says she is ready to learn about the church and wants to have the peace and strong family relationships that come from the church! Isabel is in her 70's and has 36 grand kids who almost all live in the same apartment complex! She says every day the missionaries would pass by her and not talk to her or some would give her a card then leave for the past like 15 years but one day she yelled at us to come over and said basically she was tired of waiting and needed the word of god now! We then had a super awesome lesson over the plan of salvation and you could see the sincerity of her desire to learn! The plan salvation means so much to those who haven't heard it before! We then had 2 more lessons with her and they were both super solid but her husband is this super gordo old mexican grandpa who loves to talk with us and tell jokes! Randomly during our lessons he will make some random super loco comment and then laugh hysterically! Isabel then scolds him and calls him a borrchicho (Little drunkard) and tells him basically to get a life! Lol. 

This week we met a crazy mix of people! Some who are die hard Christians, some who are on something, some who are super nice and give us water and tell us stories, some who come to bible bash, some to praise us on spreading the good word of god, some who are ready to change their live and are super open to the gospel, and then the best are the ones who god has prepared for us who were only kept from the truth because they knew not where to find it! 

The work is going strong here and I love the work so much! My Spanish is getting better everyday!

This week I studied the Book of Mormon a lot! One part many people overlook is the intro, It's super solid and is a perfect explanation of what the Book of Mormon is and it's importance! If you haven't read it yet I invite you to check it out! 

y que un hombre se acercaría más a Dios al seguir sus preceptos que los de cualquier otro libro”. 

Love all you and have a solid week!!!

Con Amor,

Elder Houssian

Flips at the church! 

A day out in the Church Vineyard! 

Week #7

Buenas Dias!!!

I'm back across the wall safe and sound here in Fresno! The mission here is super awesome! We got a huge welcome from Presidente and Sister Mackay and tons of the missionaries! We arrived here at like 1 after a long early travel and a stop in Dallas. 10 of us came from Mexico and 10 from Provo so we have 20 new missionaries!!! 

I have two Latino trainers Elder Del Carmen and Elder Morales! They are so solid and amazing trainers! They are zone leaders so we got a lot a stuff we help out with around the mission and area! I'm in an area called Visalia about an hour south of Fresno and filled with tons of Latinos!!! Since I'm with zone leaders we get a truck and it's a new 2017 Toyota Tacoma! I love driving it (Although California drivers are loco en la cabeza)! 

After a bunch of logistics and pre field meetings we have teaching and tracting a ton! Our area is super big! (Basically the whole stake here) And we have 7 Elders in the same Spanish ward! All lot of work needs to be done here! We have super solid investigators! One Investigator is an old man named Margarito and has a super cool Spanish accent! We set him with a Baptismal date and he accepted! We also set another investigator named Andy with a baptismal date and he accepted as well! He's 9 and part of a part member family and is really smart for his age and loves the gospel! I extended him a challenge that if he read the book of Mormon then I would show him some flips and when we came back he read two whole chapters in one night!

Don't have much time to email but I've been reading a lot in the Book of Mormon and it's such a powerful book! I love reading so much!!!

Alma 34 is one of my favorites and I definitely would recommend reading it! 

32 Porque he aquí, esta vida es cuando el hombre debe prepararse para comparecer ante Dios; sí, el día de esta vida es el día en que el hombre debe ejecutar su obra.

I love the work here and love teaching the Latino People sooooo much (Even though the heat is brutal! I love and miss you guys a ton and your always in my prayers! 

Con Amor,

Elder Houssian

Chillin in the back of our truck (Taco)

Last group MTC Photos! 

 The commander Presidente Eves!

Week #6

Hey Mom and Dad!

I have arrived in Fresno safely! My Preparation day is on Monday and to see photos check Californiafresnomission.blogspot.com .

Love you guys and will talk to you Monday!

Elder Houssian

Week #5

Hola amigos!

Super solid week again here at the CCM! This is our last week here and time has been flying by! We have been trying to get all the practice in we can and we only speak in Spanish now 24/7! We set a goal as district that for every word we speak in English is 5 push-ups or 10 sit ups! It's been keeping us mentally and physically strong! The teachers here at the CCM are super awesome also and have been helping us a ton in learning the language of Spanish and the Language of the spirit! 

My wrist is doin better too! This week we've been playing lots of Ultimo Frisbee during gym time and Elder Reza and I run a lot too! We leave the CCM for the airport at 2 in the morning on Wednesday! I will be tired but I can't wait to get to Fresno! 

I have a talk on Sunday during church on conversion so I've been working on that a bit. We also had some great devotionals from the CCM presidency! 

Not much else different here though, always busy, always working, always studying, and always enjoying our time! The CCM has been such an amazing experience an I've met a ton of awesome people that are so spiritually strong! I'm so glad I came out on a mission and even more glad I got to come to the best MTC  in the World! The spirit is amazing here and campus is so beautiful! I'll for sure miss the sounds of the city here (Constant honking, random mariachi music, police, dogs, and occasional gun shots) and the green mountains all around with lots of palm trees and super nice weather all the time.

My favorite Scripture this week is D&C 4! I memorized the whole thing en Español and recite it every night before I go to bed (Such a powerful chapter!)! 

1 He aquí, una obra maravillosa está a punto de aparecer entre los hijos de los hombres.

2 Por tanto, oh vosotros que os embarcáis en el servicio de Dios, mirad que le sirváis con todo vuestro corazón, alma, mente y fuerza, para que aparezcáis sin culpa ante Dios en el último día.

3 De modo que, si tenéis deseos de servir a Dios, sois llamados a la obra;

4 pues he aquí, el campo blanco está ya para la siega; y he aquí, quien mete su hoz con su fuerza atesora para sí, de modo que no perece, sino que trae salvación a su alma;

5 y fe, esperanza, caridad y amor, con la mira puesta únicamente en la gloria de Dios, lo califican para la obra.

6 Tened presente la fe, la virtud, el conocimiento, la templanza, la paciencia, la bondad fraternal, piedad, caridad, humildad, diligencia.

7 Pedid, y recibiréis; llamad, y se os abrirá. Amén.

Love you guys and have a solid week! (Enjoy school to those who have it!) 

 Our Latino Companions!

Week #4

¡Hola Amigos! 

It´s been another amazing week here at the CCM! This week we had TWO devotionals from apostles, Elder Anderson and Elder Ballard! It was streamed in from Provo but still was super awesome and powerfull! One was Sunday and one was tuesday and both were streamed to all 14 (I think 14) MTC´s around the world! We also lost about a hundred missionaries on monday but got 150 more! This place is packed and it´s crazy to be the older ones now.

I sprained my wrist last thursday in the gym so I´ve had to wear a brace all week but it didn´t slow me down at all! I´ve got another 20 scriptures memorized and have been learning tons of new grammer words and phrases! Our teacher Maestro Saucedo is super awesome and brought us some mexican cookies for memorizing over 200 scriptures! Elder Reza and I have been running quite a bit and I every time I run the mile I get 6:49, a bit suprised I can do that in this at almost 8000 elevation! I also got a haircut from Elder Howell and it´s crazy short now!
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Elder Lyman and I got to teach a lot this week and two of our lessons were to some members from a local ward. The first lesson was to 3 people and the next to 5! They all spoke only español and super fast but Elder Lyman and I taught really good lessons and truly did have the gift of tougues or we would be lost! My Latino compañero and I taught 2 more lessons together and the mock investigators love it!

Overall I love the CCM and the lord has blessed us so much and the spirit is soooo strong! The workload is hefty but it´s the most joyful work in the world and I´m always so stoked to learn the gospel and even better is to share it and en Español!

Sorry if there are a lot of mistakes cause they only have spanish keyboards here and I´ve been speaking so much spanish sometime i forget proper english

My favorite scriptures I´ve memorized this week are:

Marcos 10 : 31

¡Pero muchos primeros serán postreros, y los postreros, primeros!

My dad would say that one alot!

Juan 8 : 32

¡Y conoceréis la verdad, y la verdad os hará libres!

Miss you guys and hope you have a Solid week!

Shout out my Older Bro Elder Houssian the older whose killing it out in Vegas!

Week #3

​Hola! This week has been another super solid week! Time has been flying by! This week we had a lot of language practice and teaching practice. On Saturday we had something called TRC were we taught two real volunteers who wanted to hear our message. Elder Lyman and I taught two 12 year old girls from the local church and taught the plan of salvation to them. It was a solid lesson and they said we spoke great Español for only 3 weeks in the MTC. I also got a Latino companion that I study and teach with 2 times a week for 4 hours named Elder Barragan from Cancun! We taught a new investigator and he speaks like crazy fast but I still could understand him pretty good.

On Sunday we had a CCM wide 24 hour fast! I was quite hungry but it was a good experience! We had a testimony meetng too and I bore mine en Español, for some reason it actually feels easier too do it en Español probably cause its been drilled into our heads for three weeks! We then had an amazing devotional from Elder Pieper of the 70! He talked about commitments and how we are all in over our heads but thats the best part! And if we keep our commitments and give it our all then God has commited to provide a way!

Our district set a goal last week to have a total of 300 sciptures memorized combined en Español before we leave for the field and we already have 138! I have 35 of them on my own! We went to the Temple again today and It was sooooo good! The Temple here is amazingly built and huge! I did the whole session en Español and understood pretty much most of it! We then got to go to the visitors center and see the Christ statue they have! We then went to this Tie shop across the street and I got two new ties and a sweet gold tie clip with a texas longhorn thing on it. 

We just got another 150 missionaries yesterday so we now are at the most of the year 750! We had a devotional with the whole CCM and didn´t even have enough room to fit everyone! Elder Lyman Elder Hoffmann Elder Fuller and I sang in the choir and it was so strong! We sang Allí Donde Hay Amor (A childs prayer).

Well Spanish is solid, the food is solid, my companion and district are solid, and the CCM is super solid and i´m so glad to be here! The compas is in the mountains and the tropical weather has been a nice break from the crazy Texas heat!

My favorite scripture from this week is-

2 Timeteo 2 : 3

Tu, pues, soporta las affliciones, como fiel soldado de Jesucristo.

If we endure and work hard like a soldier than we will grow and be strong with the spirit! Have a great week everyone!

Con Amor- Elder Houssian

Week #2

¡Hola every one! This week was another super amazing week! We have been doing a lot role play teaching in Spanish and we are teaching two mock investigators! This we did a lot of studying and learning in Spanish. I memorized 12 more Scriptures so I am leading the district now with 22 total! I love memorizing Spanish scriptures and use them in our lessons all the time! This week our District was chosen to join in a new program where for 2 times a week we get an exchange with a Latino Compañero and get to study and teach and learn with him! It will start next week and I am so excited for it! The Latinos are so awesome here and we sit with them a lot in the comedor! They are from all over South and Central America and bring such an awesome spirit to have around!

This week we had a Devotional from Presidente Eves the Second Counsellor in the CCM presidency and retired Colonel in the Airforce! Is a very large man and demands respect but is also the most loving and awesome people I have met! He talked about being 100% consecrated and the tough love of Christ, and how we cannot expect miracles or the gift of tongues if we don´t give it our all! Anytime someone started to dose off he would pause and demand someone to wake him or her up! The talk had so much fuego that it probably singed some of the eyebrows of missionaries and he put EVERYONE back in line! It was probably one of the best talks I´ve ever heard and motivated my companion and I so much!

Our district this week set some big goals and we have been progressing a TON! Elder Lyman is the district Leader so he and I have been motivating every one up to get Spanish down as fast as we can! 

During gym time I have working out a lot with my companion and played a lot of basketball and ping pong! my undefeated streak still stands and a few days ago when I had my MAVS shirt on I dunked twice in a game! I´ve been keeping up with my flips a bit too which has been nice and every time I´m about to go back to the casa I do a Cork!

I truly know this is the place I needed to go to and am SOOO blessed to be here in the CCM! I have never felt the spirit so strong and consistent before! If anyone is contemplating going on a mission then stop and just go! It´s such a sick experience! I am so grateful for my family and especially mi hermano Kyle for converting the people in Las Vegas!

My favorite scripture from this week is the one I chose for my mission plaque!

Éter 12:27

Y si los hombres viene a mí, les mostrare su debilidad. Doy a los hombres debilidad para que sean humilles. Y basta mi gracia a todos los hombres que se humillan ante mí. Porque sí, se humillan ante mí, Y tienen fe en mí, entonces haré que las cosas débiles sean fuertes para ellos.

I know that god has helped me learn Spanish and is helping me turn it into a strength to go and teach his children in Fresno! ¡En el nombre de Jesucristo, Amen!

PS (Frijoles = Mucho tiempo en el baño)