Week #53

Great week!

The work is moving forward here in Kerman! Lots of people progressing towards baptism and the Branch is growing! We had our first English baptism this week with Oscar! Great man! A little over a month ago we knock on his door and now he's baptized and looking forward to get to the temple a soon as he can!

There is this older man that bikes around the town a lot named Steve who we've taught a few times on the street but kept giving us the wrong address so one day we are driving and see him pull into these apartments so we flipped a u turn and followed him! When we got there he pulled out our pass along card we gave him and said he had been waiting for us! We taught him the restoration and have him a Book of Mormon and he loved it!!! (Although when we first introduced prophets he told he taught he was a prophet). We've been teaching two identicle twins too who want to get baptized this month and I still can't tell them apart!

This week my favorite scripture comes from Alma 38:12 Use boldness, but not overbearance; and also see that ye bridle all your passions, that ye may be filled with love; see that ye refrain from idleness.

We must seek to obtain all Christlike attributes and one I've been working on this week is diligence! To push forward with zeal, and enthusiasm! And the way to do it is through Christ!

Take care and have a great week!

Con Amor

Elder Houssian

Week #52

Hola! Un Año!

Well a year has gone by, it's flown so fast! It was a crazy week! Started off sick for 2 days! Couldn't even get out of bed! We've been getting a lot of new students in our English class almost all Arabic speaking and barely moved here from Syria, Yemen, India, and other middle eastern areas! We've had fun teaching the alphabet and the very basics of grammar! Two of the students have the last name Hussein so we are probably long lost cousins in some way!

We also had an awesome wet wedding (Baptism-Wedding)! It was quite the event! The branches relief society was awesome and we did some ring shopping! About 2.5 hours before the event we went to fill the font then left and forgot about it and came back an hour before and found about 2 inches of water overflowed into the room! Took about an hour of frantic clean up, but only damp carpet when we got started! After the ceremony and baptism they had a fiesta with the best horchata! We left back home but they stayed for 2 hour dancing after!

Transfers also passed and we both are staying!!! They called me as district leader to so that will be interesting. Should be a solid transfer!

My favorite scripture from the week is Alma 31:5- And now, as the preaching of the word had a great tendency to lead the people to do that which was just—yea, it had had more powerful effect upon the minds of the people than the sword, or anything else, which had happened unto them—therefore Alma thought it was expedient that they should try the virtue of the word of God.

The effect the true doctrine of the Lord can have changes attitudes and behaviors and has an effect greater than the sword!

Have a great week! Cuidense!

Con Amor,

Elder Houssian

Week #51

Buenas Tardes!

Great week! Quite a busy one again! We've been doing lots of teaching and one of the families is about to get married and baptized this week! We also found this really prepared man from Mexico who just barley moved here and has been looking for spiritual guidance! I also had the chance to go baptize a lady we taught in Porterville named Juleitte! She had been taught for 15 years and finally she was ready! She's in her 70's and broke her back not to long ago so we had to have three of us basically carry her and lower her into the water! It was a very spiritual experience!

The heat continues to get hotter and we've been on bikes a lot! We also help one of the people we teach clean up his neighbors yard! Almost burned up but it was well worth it! 

My favorite scripture from this week comes from Alma 26:3- And this is the blessing which hath been bestowed upon us, that we have been made instruments in the hands of God to bring about this great work.

I really love this verse because it really is a blessing to serve the Lord! I've have found so much joy sharing the restored gospel and help others come to know Christ!

Have a great week!

Con Amor,

Elder Houssian

Week #50

Buenas tardes!

Solid week this week! We started off with a huge firework show on the 3rd! The city of Kerman does it on the 3rd cause it's half priced! The church is right by the high school (where they do the show) so they always do a huge BBQ! We had over 400 and around 40 investigators! On the 4th we ate a massive lunch then right after this member from Honduras fed us this fried chicken and banana thing! Right after we went to Oscars and ate even more and went over the baptismal questions, we pushed his date back tell the 28th but he's still super solid! 

 Friday we had exchanges and set up the wedding and baptism for the family we have been teaching! Saturday we went to the temple with Aida for the first time to do baptism for her ancestors! An awesome experience! Sunday at church I had to bless the sacrament, teach 2nd hour with no prep, then our pianist left during the meeting so we had no one who could play In the branch so I gave it a try and it actually wasn't to bad (right hand only)! 

Today we went to Yosemite! Super sweet trip! Amazing views and really nice to be out in the mountains!

My favorite scripture comes from Alma 22:18- O God, Aaron hath told me that there is a God; and if there is a God, and if thou art God, wilt thou make thyself known unto me, and I will give away all my sins to know thee, and that I may be raised from the dead, and be saved at the last day.

I love this scripture because it makes me think how much we'd be willing to give to know God!

Have a great week!

Con Amor,

Elder Houssian 

Week #49

Hola! 

Solid week this week! Lots of great progress! We had a baptism this week! Family of 4! The spirit was very strong there! We also have been teaching Oscar still and he's solid for next week!

Today we went with some investigators to get their marriage license to get baptized and finally after 3 years of waiting got it! They took us to this solid Mexican restaurant after (Oaxacan Food). Got these massive Mexican pizzas! 

Favorite scripture from this week comes from Alma 13:28- 28 But that ye would humble yourselves before the Lord, and call on his holy name, and watch and pray continually, that ye may not be tempted above that which ye can bear, and thus be led by the Holy Spirit, becoming humble, meek, submissive, patient, full of love and all long-suffering;

If we humble ourselves and continue week the holy ghost in ours lives the Lord will strengthen us!

Have a great week!

Con Amor,

Elder Houssian 

Week #48

Hola!

Quite the week this week! I don't if good I mentioned this last week but we had quote the miracle! About a week back we randomly decided to look look through some old baptismal records and we found this guy who was baptized but never confirmed, so we went and to the address listed and knocked and this guy opened up with his Book of Mormon in hand and says, I've been waiting for you! He then told us his story how he was baptized then right after his baptism he got antied and had some doubts and sort of was lost for 4 years tell about a week ago he felt all the sudden the urge to get back to church so he started to read the Book of Mormon again and prayed for the missionaries and that's when we showed up! We had some awesome lessons with him and he came to church! He's solid to get baptized on the 7th!

The family we have been working with also looks good to be baptized this Saturday! Awesome family! The work is great over here!

This week I gave a talk at the funeral of one of our investigators (A members Brother). It was a really spiritual experience and also the longest I have ever spoke (almost 20 min in Spanish). The day after I spoke in the branch and with not much time to prepare but I think it went quite well!

Overall a very solid week! My favorite scripture comes from Alma 5:26-  26 And now behold, I say unto you, my brethren, if ye have experienced a ^achange of heart, and if ye have felt to sing the ^bsong of redeeming love, I would ask, ^ccan ye feel so now?

All who have been baptized and have read the Book of Mormon have felt the spirit, but one of the key parts of this is to retain that spirit and make sure we can feel it everyday! I love this quote from Brigham Young I found this week that shows what we can expect is we don't retain the spirit in our lives and fall away 

"What have the Latter-day Saints got to apostatize from? Everything that there is good, pure, holy, God-like, exalting, ennobling, extending the ideas, the capacities of the intelligent beings that our Heavenly Father has brought forth upon this earth. What will they receive in exchange? I can comprehend it in a very few words. These would be the words that I should use: death, hell and the grave. That is what they will get in exchange. We may go into the particulars of that which they experience. They experience darkness, ignorance, doubt, pain, sorrow, grief, mourning, unhappiness; no person to condole [lament] with in the hour of trouble, no arm to lean upon in the day of calamity, no eye to pity when they are forlorn and cast down; and I comprehend it by saying death, hell and the grave. This is what they will get in exchange for their apostasy from the Gospel of the Son of God (DBY, 85)."

Have a great week! Dios les Bendiga!

Con Amor,

Elder Houssian

-Found an investigator, an ice cream truck, and a cow out in the fields!

Week #47

Hola!

Very good week again this week! A day late but happy father's day to all father! The work is still going great! We decided to try some old media referrals and ended finding 3 super solid people who had been taught in the past and even went to church but somehow got dropped but are ready to learn! We also had two people we contacted on the street show up to church out of the blue and loved it! We have an Indian Sihk man who comes to our English class and one thing we do during class is use the Book of Mormon readers to practice and he has read it all already! After class he came to us and pointed to the picture of Jesus on the wall and said, "who is that man" we told him it was Jesus Christ and he responded, " next week you will teach me about that man and I will ask you questions"! 

The harvest season is in full force and tons of the people we teach work in the Peaches and give us tons! We chop them up and make Peach smoothies! World cup started too and the branch went crazy on Sunday after Mexico beat Germany! 

My favorite scripture comes from Alma 3:27- For every man receiveth wages of him whom he listeth to obey... I love this scripture because it shows that if we obey God then we receive his help, his love, his peace and hope! On the contrary if we obey Satan we receive the opposite, bit it is up to us too choose who we want as our employer!

That's about it amigos! Que tengan una buena semana!