Thursday, October 11, 2012

I LOVE CONFERENCE!!!

Elder Houston's email:
October 8, 2012
 
wow so what a week!!!!! and to go off with a bang at conference!!! i love it so much !! i wish we could have it evey month! ha i cant wait to get it in the ensign when the mission gets them ! missionaries going out at 18 and 19! now for sisters! thats so crazy there are going to be a huge increase in sister missionaries now ! and i hope elders as well. now they dont have to worry about school or anything, just go from high school to mission so cool! the youth of the church are getting stronger then ever!!! and also another temple in Tucson !!  man next thing you know there going to be an mtc in mesa! haha. the church is undoubtedly growing and quickly, but this is not a surprise because it is true !! you cant hide the truth! NO unhallowed hand can stop the work from progressing. Joseph Smith was right about that ha. he really did see and do all the things he did. i know with every fiber of my being he was a prophet of God and he did restore all the rights blessing and keys to the gospel.
   conference talked all about the three things that were restored to him. like when Moses came to him and restored the power and keys of the gathering of the tribes of Israel, or missionary work. Elijah restored the keys to do the work for our dead, the saving ordinances of the gospel. then Elias restored the power and keys to the perfecting of the saints, us:). 
   Elder Bowen talked this conference, the saturday morning. he was the elder that came to our stake here like two weeks ago. i got to talk to him and shake his hand. it was awesome to see him again. in conference he talked about how he lost his baby. it was soo personal and powerful, one of my favorites. then after him Elder Nelson gave the best talk on missionary work! "ask the missionaries"! haha was so awesome!!! we were watching that with some members and after he was done they were like, wow you two have got quite the plate to handle. its awesome tho. i think we will get a bunch of trust from members from that and lots of referrals. his story about jerry, that Protestant preacher from mesa, was wonderful my favorite part of that talk. i loved how he said that after all was said and done, that Jerry,  already with a strong faith in God, had even a stronger testimony and faith in Him. we are all here with the same goal and we all have some truth our message. its not to take away from what they have, but to give more ! with the priesthood we have truths and powers reveled. the beautiful mural of the Gospel of Jesus Christ was put back together iits perfect original picture with every piece. 
    oh holy cow and Elder Ballard's talk! it was so much like the vision i had on the lawn mower haha! that one i emailed you a few weeks ago! i was wigging out when he started to talk about the bees and how his message, though way better then mine, was so similar! we received it from the same Holy Spirit who brought the message from the same Father in Heaven. it gave me the strong feel that our Father is not just some made up person, but is a really living perfect being that is the same yesterday, today, and always ! He knows all and can do all. He allowed me to get a feeling of and see how real His communication is with His apostles! i know with out a doubt what i learned that day was not from me! such a blessing!! i am and always will be so eternally grateful for... and i love "honey" :) so much and it really is the way of sustaining life and we all need to be as the honey bees and pollonate the world with the love of Christ through small and simple means.
     im running out of time and there where so many awesome talks. i could talk about them all day ha which i probably will. like Elder Andersons talk about the Doctrine of the church. Elder Uchtdorfs talk  about how this life is short and that we will all enviably die at some time and how we should not have regrets. Pres Eyring is my favorite!! he just so funny and awesome his priesthood session talk about the spiritual gifts he found for his kids. way awesome!! highly recommend reading when comes out in ensign. (you would really like it mom. im sure dad told you about it. he probably loved it too ha:). i also loved his talk sunday morning about the pavilion! man he is the man! 
  oh wow and Elder Hollands beautiful rebuke of love haha.. you could feel the echoing spirit through the screen. he is such a powerful speaker. you know everyone was zoned in to him on that talk you could feel it ! not even i could fall asleep through that talk haha. i pray and hope that i might never let that message die in me and if or when the Lord asked me, elder houston do you love me?? that went i got home. i will not pick up my "nets", par say. and say, well that was a great two years and rejoice in it, and then go back to my old "fishing" habits. i want to be a sheep feeder!! haha. 
   ahh shoot im out of time. but i love so much to hear from our true and living prophet of God! i love Thomas S. Monson! so much and know with all my heart he lives to be on the Lords errand at all times and gave his life to help others. i love the Gospel so much and know it is the path to true lasting happiness!   I LOVE YOU ALL SO MUCH! and hope you all were able to watch conference and recived answers to your prayers and questions ! talk to you next week !
love elder houston
 

Sunday, October 7, 2012

"I LOVE MY LIFE"

Elder Houston's email:
October 1, 2012
 
wow so what a week !!
 
     so i love rogers arkansas!!! i love my comp!!! i love the members!!!!
so much awesome stuff happen this week!!!. at first we were really worried about what we were going to do. the ward lost so much trust in the elders that were here before us. not much was going on here before so we just started from nothing. so we had a lot of work ahead of us. little did we know the Lord had prepared this area to explode. just needed some one to work it his stead.
   so elder garner and me just started meeting with the members to get to know them as fast as possible. we share messages with them and also showed our Lord that we were willing to work by tracting, which im not the biggest fan of haha, but ! i learned fast that it might not be the most effective way of work here in the oklahoma tulsa mission. but, it showed the Savior that we are willing to work and do what is necessary to be OUT and he would put the elect in our path. and He did just that.
   the morning that we tracted those days where the most amazing days. we got 7 referrals this week and 5! of them became new investigators!!! :) two of them the couldnt have been any more prepared or they would be members!! haha this one lady nina had been through sooo much.  she is going through so much with her family and it was so crazy, because everything she was looking to find was somthing we wanted to share with her that the gospel can offer her!! and i later found out talking to my comp that he himself was going through the same thing! only through that will there be a special bond that will really help her and he knows how the gospel can help her. it was so divine HE know all along.
   another, was this man that had just been offended by his church, and again all he was looking for is what we talked about and that the spirit teaches!! the Lord is one eternal round he knows all things thru out the Father. it is like he see in 3D ha and all we see is 2D. like if we drew ourselfs on a board and drew a box around us to us it looks like there is now way out. we see one side. but our Father sees all the sides he see 3 dimensional and sees that there is only a line infront of us. he sees that all we need to do is walk around it.
 i was looking to strengthen my faith and He did more then just answer my prayer. i love the Lord. i love My wonderful Father in Heaven. i love you all!
   sounds like you all had a blast camping. i am excited to be able to join in on that fun tradition. but i can wait ahaha i love it here. i have learned so much. i wish i could remember it all. but thats a joy that i get to feel time and time again, to remember what i already know so much to be true. Heavenly Father has so much to teach me and i pray that i can always continue to learn and get better. and i love being blessed so much to be able to play a part in His wonderful work and glory, to bring to pass the blessing of the gospel.
 
well i have talked enough ha i say the same thing every week, i feel. but its so great here!! and i love you all but i dont want to come to the end of my mission. but i know that the work is never over until the He says the work is done. so thats awesome ha. my calling just changes.
   elder Bednar is a former stake pres here and he said the work of the Lord is like putting up a tent, you have to put the stakes on the out side firm, in the ground as the work progress, we lift the middle up to put the tent up.
got to go... love you all so much... talk to you next week !!
love elder houston