Week #23

Feliz Navidad!!!

Very great week here in Porterville! We had a very productive week and had many great lessons this week! With our investigators Ivelice and Hugo we set a new baptismal date and they are progressing very well! We also finally got to teach Juliet and set a new baptismal date and she said shes determined to fulfill it!

We had a church tour with Ivelice and Hugo and they brought a lot of their family too! It was really good and they felt the spirit super strong! They love the church and are really excited to come!

We had a great Christmas Eve! Had a really solid sacrament meeting, then went and ate tamales with some members! We then Caroled for some of our investigators and members, then spent the night with some members and other missionaries and sang carols and ate some solid Gringo food!

For Christmas we had an awesome breakfast at a members house! We then went and made tamales, it took a bit and was a bit more difficult then it looked but the end result tasted very good! We then went to lunch at the Branch Presidents house and got to face-time our families! Super awesome to see all my family again! We then had a great Christmas dinner! 

My favorite scripture this week comes from Mormon one of the saddest books in all the Book of Mormon. This book tells the destruction of one a great people in history! The Lord gave them so many chances to repent and change and come unto him but their hearts were too hard and their pride to high. 17 O ye fair ones, how could ye have departed from the ways of the Lord! O ye fair ones, how could ye have rejected that Jesus, who stood with open arms to receive you!

Remember it is never to late to repent, the loving Jesus Christ is always there waiting to receive you!

Have a great week!

(Also Thank You for the Christmas Gifts and Wishes!!!)

Con Amor,

Elder Houssian

Week #22

Buenas Tardes!!!

Great week again here in Porterville! Much progress was made this week! We have some really solid families we are teaching! We sadly didn't get to teach Juliet this week cause she was sick but she should still be good for the 30th! We also had some great lessons with our investigator named Angela and invited her to be baptized! But then she started thinking and said "now I'm thinking about it I think I already was baptized", so we looked her records up and sure enough she was! So we are now helping her get back to church and eventually to the temple!

This week we also had the Branch Christmas party where we had a ton a super solid food! some of the best Tomales and Posoli ever! 

One of the less active members we've been working with is like a semi-pro singer and guitar and accordion player so we showed us how to play a bit after a lesson! He said I was pretty solid so I guess my old piano skills came back a bit!

We also had zone conference this week and it was really good! President gave a really good talk/training and we had a solid testimony meet where the spirit was so strong!

That's about all new this week! My favorite scripture this week came from 4th Nefi 1:23 23 And now I, Mormon, would that ye should know that the people had multiplied, insomuch that they were spread upon all the face of the land, and that they had become exceedingly rich, because of their prosperity in Christ.

This is one of my favorite chapter in the Book of Mormon!!! For 200 YEARS after Christ came they had basically perfect peace and unity, pretty much heaven on Earth where the church of Christ spread throughout all the land in prosperity! All because of their unwavering faith in Christ!

Have a good week Amigos! Y FELIZ NAVIDAD!!!

Con Amor,

Elder Houssian

Week #21

Hola!

Another solid week here in Porterville! We finally had a pretty normal week which was good cause we got to teach and find a lot!!! Our Investigators have been making really good progress!

We got to have two solid lessons this week with our investigator Juliet who is super solid and takes in the gospel so good! She also came to church for the first time even though she has a messed up back and loved it! We also found a new family to teach and had a great lesson with them! 

On Thursday on of the less active members took us to Taco Bell for dinner but was really stressed out and hasn't been coming to church cause he's had tons of work. So we told him we'd come help him and we did (He works in construction)! So we went and built a big wall in a house he's working on! He was super grateful and let us come teach his family on Saturday!

My favorite scripture from this week was in 3rd Nefi 23:1 1 And now, behold, I say unto you, that ye ought to search these things. Yea, a commandment I give unto you that ye search these thingsdiligently...

Searching the scriptures everyday DILIGENTLY is one of the best things we can do! The Lord evens says it's a commandment! By searching the scriptures we can find answers, peace, and build our relationship with Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ!

That's about it! Have a great week!

Con amor,

Elder Houssian

Week #20

Buenos dias!!!

Great week out here in Porterville! 

We got to go to the temple 2 times this week! Once with the zone and once with the branch with some recent converts! I love the Temple!!! 

We had a great week for teaching and finding! The beginning of the week was a bit slow but we kept going strong and ended up having a bunch of really solid lessons! One hermana in our branch was having a hard time so she called us to come give her a blessing so we did! Then at church on Sunday she looked like a completely different person, she shared her testimony and said right after we left her depression and stress went away and she got a new job offer! The Lord takes care of those who turn to him!

Last night during dinner someone kept calling us from a random number and so we finally answered it and an hermano in our branch said for us to come over cause he had a new investigator for us! So right after dinner we left and we get to their house and this older lady opens the door and is in a ton of pain so we gave her a blessing! She said it was the first time she felt god in her life in a long time and never so strong! We then taught her and she accepted a baptismal date for the 30th!

We also ate a ton of food and had a Christmas party this week! One of my new favorite foods our investigator makes is carne asada con nopales (cactus)! That's about all the new!

My favorite Scripture from this week comes from 3rd Nefi when the savior was teaching the people in the Americas!  14: 21 Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father who is in heaven. 

It is not enough to just talk the talk and say we believe but we must be doers! Faith is a principal of action and if we are not building up our testimonies, then they are getting broken down! 

Have a solid week!

Con Amor,

Elder Houssian

Week #19

Buenas Tardes! 

Solid week here in my new area of Porterville! My new companion is Elder Fernandez from Utah but was born in Peru! Super solid elder (Physically and spiritually) and we've already a great friends and work really good together! Porterville is a smaller old mexican town near the mountains with terrible air quality! Perfect area for missionary work and we've already found some really solid people to teach! We have a smaller branch here with 50-60 active members but they are really good members (and feed us a ton!) 

We had a great Thanksgiving and started with a huge 3 zone Turkey bowl! We played for like 3 hours and our zone was pretty dominate! We then went to the first of our Thanksgiving dinners which was with a gringo family and had a nice classic turkey, ham, mash potatoes, and rolls meal! We then had another dinner at our investigators house were we had Birria a goat meat soup thing and Tomales! We also played some soccer with the kids after!

I went back to Visalia on Saturday to go to Alejandra's Baptism and it was so good! The spirit was super strong and she was so happy! She shared her testimony and the end and shared how much the gospel had changed not only her life but character as well and how greatfull she was for the gospel!

On Sunday we went to church which was a bit different because sacrament meeting is last and classes first because the youth and primary of the branch are combined with the English ward! Elder Fernandez and I taught the Elders and High Priests which was the first time I've taught a class like that (let alone in espanol) but it ended up being pretty solid! 

My favorite scripture from this week is in 3rd Nefi 11: 11 And behold, I am the ^alight and the life of the world; and I have drunk out of that bitter ^bcup which the Father hath given me, and have glorified the Father in ^ctakingupon me the sins of the world, in the which I have suffered the ^dwill of the Father in all things from the beginning.

Christ is the light of the world and with out him we are nothing and life would have no meaning! But during this Christmas time we celebrate Christ and is a great time share his light!

Solid week and another ones coming up! Nos vemos!

Con Amor

Elder Houssian

Week #18

Muy Buenos Días Amigos!

Very solid week out here in Visalia! It was my last week here! I'm getting transferred to Portersville tomorrow! I'm going to miss it here a lot but can't wait to serve in a new area!

We were super busy week! We found some really solid new investigators this week! Our investigators are progressing very well and had some awesome lessons! We also taught Alejandra every day this week to prepare her for Baptism! We also planned and held a wedding for her and her spouse Efrain! It was an awesome wedding and she loved it so much! She is super ready for her baptism next Saturday! 

This week my favorite scripture this week is found in 3rd Nefi 1: 13 Lift up your head and be of good cheer; for behold, the time is at hand, and on this night shall the sign be given, and on the morrow come I into the world, to show unto the world that I will fulfil all that which I have caused to be spoken by the mouth of my holy prophets.

Christ is the Savior of the World and is here to lift up all who are in need of comfort! A life without Christ is a life without purpose and hope! During this season of Thanksgiving I'm very grateful for Christ and all he did for us! I'm also grateful my amazing family and all they do! Also I'm grateful for the opportunity I have to serve a mission here in Fresno! I love teaching the Hispanics here and seeing the changes the gospel brings into their lives! 

Also please keep my little brother Sam who just broke his femur in your prayers! He's a tough boy and I know he'll push through this and come back strong!

Have a Solid week and Thanksgiving! 

Con Amor,

Elder Houssian

Week #17

Hola!!!

Another great week! We started this week with some great lessons with
our investigators! Our ward held something called a work of salvation
night where we get in like 9 groups of 3 and go visit families and
members for the night! We also had zone conference this week!!! Elder
& Sister Echo Hawk a member of the quorum of the 70 came and gave an
amazing training!!! It was such a spiritual experience and I learned a
ton!

We also had ward activity where all the members came and we deep
cleaned the church then after Hermano Esquivel (2nd Councillor in the
Bishopric and like 450 lbs and the best cook!) cooked up some tacos
for everyone! Later that day we had a super awesome lesson with
Alejandra our investigator and her spouse and they decided to be
married and they want to do it this Saturday cause its her Birthday!!!
She will then be baptized right after!

On Sunday was the primary program and Alejandra's son sang in it an it
was great! We then went and gave a training to all the ward mission
leaders with Presidente Mackay about the Light the World campaign
that's coming up!

Overall a solid week! My favorite scripture this week come from
Helaman 5:12 - And now, my sons, remember, remember that it is upon
the rock of our Redeemer, who is Christ, the Son of God, that ye must
build your foundation; that when the devil shall send forth his mighty
winds, yea, his shafts in the whirlwind, yea, when all his hail and
his mighty storm shall beat upon you, it shall have no power over you
to drag you down to the gulf of misery and endless wo, because of the
rock upon which ye are built, which is a sure foundation, a foundation
whereon if men build they cannot fall.

With the crazy world we live in it's hard to find a sturdy foundation
but through Christ and his gospel we can be built upon his rock, which
rock can withstand all the blows of the adversary if we stay faithful!

Have a solid week amigos!!!

Con Amor,
Elder Houssian

Quantum Leap again today!

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