Week #79

Buenas tardes!

Thanks for all the Birthday wishes! It's a bit crazy to be 20 now, time is flying by!

Really productive week overall! Got to teach a lot and see great progress in the work! Mario is looking solid to be baptized this Saturday! His life has taken a compelte turn around and he and his fmaily have been very blessed! As well his mom came to church with him for the first time and loved it! Our good friend Adela came to church as well with her daughter and loved it! She told us it was a bit different and weird but she felt at home! 

Thursday morning we went to the vineyard and cleared weeds from in between the rows! Loved it but quite sore after! We also got to go to the temple! Great trip, first time doing a session for a while so felt really good!

Got to have a big Mexican food dinner for my birthday with some of the best homade tortillas!

This week my favorite scripture comes from Mosiah 18:21 And he commanded them that there should be no contention one with another, but that they should look forward with one eye, having one faith and one baptism, having their hearts knit together in unity and in love one towards another.

The building up of Zion starts with each and everyone of us! As we do the simple this things in our lives to build our testimonies we will then be able to build our families, then our wards, then our stakes, then Zion as a whole! When we do this love and unity will abound in our society!

Take care amigos!

Con Amor,

Elder Houssian 

Week #78

Hola!

Excellent week again in Fresno! The work is moving forward strong! Our good friend Mario is set to be baptized on the 2nd! He has been reading a ton in the Book of Mormon and just absorbs everything! We also had a really cool lesson with a family where we taught the plan of Salvation and then invited them to be baptized she seemed a bit hesitant as she explained she was baptized already In the Catholic church when she was young, we then explained Moroni chapter 8 and how little children are saved in Christ and need no baptism! Tears filled her eyes as she pointed upwards to a picture and asks "so you are saying my 7 year old son who died is with God?" We told her yes! They then happily  accepted to be baptized! 

 We had a lot of exchanges and team ups as well! We had a cool experience one night around 8:45, we were tired and had had a slower night but we decide to try to squeeze in one last lesson and we were prompted to knock on this man's door who we'd met a week back outside his house smoking. He let us right in and we taught the restoration of the gospel and gave him a Book of Mormon! He was super grateful for the message and excitingly told us he'd get reading right away! In his prayer at the end he thank the Lord for sending us there and asked the Lord to give us the strength to keep knocking every door and if they didn't hear us to knock louder and never give up because of the special message we carried! It felt as if God was telling me "I'm here Elder, trust I me, I know where you need to go and who you need to see, just give it your all and I will do my work"!

My favorite scripture from the week comes from Words of Mormon 1:18 Wherefore, with the help of these, king Benjamin, by laboring with all the might of his body and the faculty of his whole soul, and also the prophets, did once more establish peace in the land.

The Gospel is the only true source of peace! As we share the gospel with others in reality we are just inviting them to bring more peace in their lives! 

¡Hasta la próxima!

Con Amor,

Elder Houssian

Week #77

Hola hola!

Great week in Ventura! Got a new companion Elder Reyes from Vera Cruz! He's super solid! We've gotten some good work done together in this first week!

We got a lot of new missionaries this transfer and Elder Reyes and I had to give a training to the trainers! We also had a mission leadership council and Presidente Mackay has some great goals and plans for the mission this year!

We saw many miracles throughout the week! Our good friend Mario is progressing very well towards baptism and we starting teaching his whole family! The during the lesson the mother with tears in her eyes thanked us for bringing unity back in her family after all these years! We also found a new man named Adam who grew up around the church all his life but never was baptized! We taught him the first lesson and at the end he said "That was awesome brothers but next time I think we should do 2 lessons so I can get baptized faster!"

This week my favorite scripture is from Jacob 1: 19 And we did magnify our office unto the Lord, taking upon us the responsibility, answering the sins of the people upon our own heads if we did not teach them the word of God with all diligence; wherefore, by laboring with our might their blood might not come upon our garments; otherwise their blood would come upon our garments, and we would not be found spotless at the last day.

As well a quote from Hartman Rector Jr. "Failure ceases to exist in the face of persistence"

With both dilligence and persitency we can accomplish all goals that we have! Especially as we rely on the Lord!

Have a great week!

Con Amor,

Elder Houssian 

Week #76

Hola amigos!

Great week over here in Fresno! The work continues to press forward! We continue to find many amigos to teach and have seen great progress with those we have been been working with! This has been one of the coldest weeks as well! We are working with a huge family of 14 kids, 50+  grandkids, and 60+ great grandkids! They all live on the same street so when ever we go there there's a new group to teach! Feels like the sermon on the mount!

Transfers happened and Elder Lilly and I both will be getting new companions here! We've been having so much work they are adding another companionship to the ward!

My favorite scripture from the week comes from 2 Nefi 25:17 And the Lord will set his hand again the second time to restore his people from their lost and fallen state. Wherefore, he will proceed to do a marvelous work and a wonder among the children of men.

What a marvelous work this is! To bring our brothers and sisters back to the light! 

Have a great week!

Con Amor,

Elder Houssian

Week #75

¡Feliz Año Nuevo!

Great holiday week this week! Christmas was excellent! We ate an abundance of tamales with a bit of tortillas beans and posoli! Although much was happening, the work still has been moving forward here! Our good amiga Sylvia has been progressing a lot and is set to get baptized in January! As well our friend Mario and his whole family have been progressing a lot and all came to church! On Saturday I got to go back to Kerman again to see Marco get baptized! I remember the first day we met him, biking by we almost didn't stop to talk to him but we did and he was very drunk and had well over a thousand beer cans in his truck bed! We had some crazy lessons with him and since that first day we got to church he hasn't missed! He went from wheeling himself over a mile in his wheel to chair to the gas station just to satisfy his beer craving to achol free, healthy and excited for the future! Over 6 months 100% turn around! A good friend named Oscar I baptized back in Kerman got to perform the baptism as well!

New Years eve we went to the famous Doghouse grill at Fresno State! And after had homade tortillas at a returning members house! She as well shared her testimony with us about how after being our of the church for 10 years to complete change she's had in her life as she came back! The power the gospel has to change lives is amazing!

This morning we dropped off Elder Chiniquy at the airport to head to Ecuador! It was great serving with him! Back to a duo! Transfers will be next week so we hope to have a strong week as we come into the new year!

Favorite scripture of the week is 3rd Nefi 13

33 But seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you.

All our goals we have for this new year can be achieved as we put God first in all things!

Cuidense!

Con Amor

Elder Houssian 

Week #74

Feliz Navidad!

Great Week! This week flew by! Super packed Week! We had a ton of great lessons with our amigos! Got to see so many miracles as those we teach understand the true doctrine! Our good friend we are teaching named Mario just soaked up everything we shared with him and he is really excited to get baptized! He came to church for the first time as well!

We had to drop Elder Chiniquy off at the airport on Wednesday so he could go get his visa in Arizona! While we waited for him in the airport we passed out a ton of #LightTheWorld pass along cards! I went on an exchange in a biking English area and we knock on this door and this man named Roy opens and he was just having a rough time, so we shared the restoration with him and it just brightened up his day! He came to church the next day! 

The Sunday special sacrament meeting was very interesting in the Spanish ward, we sang every Christmas song in the hymnbook! We then went up to Yosemite today! Super sweet trip! The snow was so nice!

My favorite scripture from the week comes from 2 Nefi 9:7 Wherefore, it must needs be an infinite atonement—save it should be an infinite atonement this corruption could not put on incorruption. Wherefore, the first judgment which came upon man must needs have remained to an endless duration. And if so, this flesh must have laid down to rot and to crumble to its mother earth, to rise no more.

Think about a world with no hope, no peace, no forgiveness, no happiness! That is what the world would've been with out a savior! Thanks to his matchless love he descended from his heavenly throne, was born in humble manger, sacrificed his life for us, then rose and ascended back to his heavenly throne on the right hand of the Father! 

Que tengan un feliz Navidad!

Con Amor,

Elder Houssian

Week # 73

¡Hola!

Great week again! Christmas season is in full swing! We have continued to see many Chistmas miracle! First one came on Tuesday on exchanges! About 9:15 at night we were walking back to the car and we see a man walking on the other side of the street so we decided to make one more contact and so we run over, give him a #LightTheWorld pass along card and tell him we'd love to share a message with him and he says "I'm normally open at 10" so we say "how about tommorow" he says sure! We go the next day and found out him and his roommate are both exchange students from the Congo, and Nigeria! We teach the full restoration and give then both Books of Mormon and they loved it! 

We had a great Christmas zone conference as well! We got to teach a lot this week and have many amigos getting really close to baptism! We as well had the ward fiesta de Navidad! Had lot's of amigos come and loved it! We also went caroling and gave out Book of Mormons and chocolate! 

We have a friend we are teaching who told us he wanted to be a missionary so we said "Vámonos" and he drove us around teaching all day and loved it! He asked us how he could do this more often and we said first keep reading your Book of Mormon, then come to church twice, then get baptized and your become a great missionary! He was excited! Overall the work continues to hasten everyday! I love serving in this area of Fresno!

My favorite scripture from the week comes from Luke 1:37-38

37. For with God nothing shall be impossible. 

38. And Mary said, Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it unto me according to thy word. And the angel departed from her.

   Mary's response was immediate and unconditional! We loved her example, she could've responded to her calling as the mother of Jesus with I'm going to check with Joseph (mi Esposo), or I'm not ready what are others going to think of me? This Christmas season, as we strive to deepen our discipleship, we must avoid rationalization and conditioning our discipleship! Instead we must have an attitude  like Mary and respond with "be it unto me according to the word"!

There's some more examples here:

Mathew 9:9 

Mathew 4 :18 & 22

Alma 8:18

Cuidense!

Con Amor,

Elder Houssian