Howdy all! So this past week has been basically fantastic. Thursday we had Zone Conference, had another great opportunity to learn from Pres. Saylin. Then we had a gift exchange thing after it. I got some nice new socks along with some gift cards. Not sure which I was more excited for... Anyways, it was good talking to y'all on Saturday and to hear that all is well with the Fam.

Thanks for all the nifty giftys for Christmas! On Buena Noche (Christmas Eve) we ate with the Orellana family; it was amazing. Then Christmas day we opened presents and had a zone activity; it was a pancake breakfast and then white elephant. The present I gave was little army men and a bag of Mung Beans that have been sitting in our apartment for who knows how long. Then our Christmas dinner consisted of Hamburger Helper and bread because the mother of the house we went to ended up having her baby so the dad cooked. But it was great to spend time with the members and even some investigators on that day.

One cool experience I had was on Christmas Eve.  We went to Walgreens to get the White elephant gifts and when we first pulled up we saw "Old Hillbilly",  a homeless man that Elder Jensen has talked to before and given a Book of Mormon to. He told us how much he loves it and he even took it to the steps of the court house and started reading it when people were telling him to throw it away and stuff. Anyway, we talked with him and invited him to church and just as we were about to end with a prayer a woman who had come out of the store just walked up and set some groceries by him and said, "Merry Christmas". It was very humbling to see the charity around this Christmas season and it definitely softened my heart.

Other than that, we got transfer news this morning. Turns out Elder Jensen is staying here and I am too. I'm stoked for this next transfer here in Galveston and to see many more miracles.

Anyways, Love ya all. Peace and blessings, Elder Cooley

No worries about the letters, we might start emailing on Mondays now. Thanks for the Cheese! I remember asking for it last year for Christmas but totally had forgotten.  Before we opened it I was talking it up to my companion and he thought I was a weirdo talking about cheese and such, but when he tasted it he loved it. I haven't gotten any Christmas packages yet, if you sent them to the mission home then they'll probably hand them out at zone conference on Thursday. One thing I’ve missed from Mesa is going to see the temple lights, but it’s good to hear that y'all are having some fun times!

Yeah, President and Sister Saylin are the best! He is a convert and he has such an amazing testimony and I’m surprised he hasn't been translated yet.

The Carranzas have been coming back to church and on Dec. 18th me and Elder Jensen had the opportunity to baptize and confirm Joseph (14), Ricky (10), and Caleb (8). Joseph and Donavan (13) also received the priesthood and it will be awesome to see them fulfilling their callings! Also this past week we taught a few guys from Guatemala and Honduras who have only lived here for about 6 months and when we taught the  first lesson and testified I could see in their eyes that the spirit was testifying to them of the truthfulness of what we were teaching.

I had the opportunity to go on exchanges with the Zone Leaders; I went with Elder Oliver up to their area in League City and taught English. It was fun to get to know amazing people who were working towards baptism and who were recent converts. Anyways, I love this missionary work and it’s awesome to hear all the work going on back home! I can’t wait to get home and help out missionaries there; I'm beginning to learn how important members are. Anyways, talk to ya on Saturday and such.

Love y'all, Elder Cooley

Hey! This past week has been good! I had the opportunity to go to an all day leadership training on Tuesday that Pres. Saylin held. It really strengthened my faith and learned a lot. Also this week I had the opportunity to go on exchanges with my district leader Elder Cowan. Since this is a bi-lingual district, he is English speaking. So it was me and him for most of the lessons. It was an opportunity to exercise my faith and we were able to teach 5 lessons that day, most of which Elder Cowan didn’t know what was going on. But it was good for me to use my Spanish without the help of Elder Jensen and I feel the Lord helped me tremendously to communicate the feelings of my heart to these wonderful people.  While on the exchange we ran into an interesting man who used the Bible to support his theory of aliens and a bunch of other crazy stuff. Also on the exchange we went to teach Angel, as we waited outside for the sisters to be done with their lesson. Quick background, Angel lives with Abraham Perez, a member from the English ward who speaks Spanish. Abraham is basically the best member missionary I have ever seen.  He was baptized 2.5 years ago and shares the gospel in everything he does. He tells us how he is just so full of the love of Christ and wants to share it with everyone; so sometimes he'll schedule lessons at his house for the sisters and elders at the same time so we started coordinating with the sisters. Anyways, the sisters were almost done so we waited outside. We see Angel walking up, staggering, calling us his amigos, and almost walked into the wrong door. It was pretty obvious he was drunk. As we talked with him I realized and gained a further testimony of how much alcohol changes people and causes them to not be able to feel the spirit.  So that lesson ended quickly and it was sad to see one of my investigators like that.

Other than that we have seen the heart of the stepdad of the familia Carranza be softened. He has told us how he loves coming to church and loves having us over. I love that family so much! It has been good to see them come to church and see the changes that have happened in their family.

Anyways for Christmas, we'll go to a member’s house and you can call us after 3 sometime. I'll have more next week like the number to call and what time exactly but that’s the basics. Anyways, love ya all and keep the faith!

Elder Cooley

Adam and Jessie are expecting another one?!  That is Fantastic!  I really appreciate all the pictures of the family and the awesome pictures that the kids have drawn. They are way good artists. That's cool you received the letter from Pres. and Sis. Saylin; they are basically amazing.

I had the opportunity to attend an all day leadership training with Elder Jensen yesterday. There were some grulesome role plays but all in all it was awesome, got to learn a lot from Pres. and Sis. Saylin. President Saylin is a convert and he has an amazing testimony and hearing his always strengthens my own. At the end I was able to have an interview with him which was a very delightful experience.

So, Alvaro Arevalo, after coming to church last week we talked to him Wednesday and he said he loved it! And that he knows the Book of Mormon is true and he wants to change his life! We had him set for a baptismal date for Dec. 18th which is the weekend for our mission-wide goal for every companionship to baptize or "Weekend in White" so every missionary can have a white Christmas and to reach our mission's goal of baptisms for the year.  As of now we lack 80 baptisms and a lot of faith is required to reach the goal, but I know it’s possible. Anyways, Alvaro told us on Wednesday he might be going to Mexico to work until January but he didn’t think it'd happen. Well when we returned on Friday he wasn’t home.  We called him and found out he was on his way to Mexico. It was kind of a letdown; but he's way awesome and we're going to hook him up with the address for the church down there. The one sure date that we have for the “Weekend in White” is for a part member family.  We'll be baptizing one of the boys named Caleb. The whole family is so awesome.  The mom is baptized and there are 5 kids; the 3 oldest have already been baptized. The stepdad isn’t a member, as of now. But they are awesome and love coming to church, so yeah.

We've been teaching Angel Garcia who lives with a member.  He reads 4-6 chapters a night and loves the church but he wants to feel ready for baptism before accepting a date so there are some miracles to be had there. Also this past Saturday during our lunch and dinner hours we went to this parade deal in downtown Galveston called Dickens on The Strand, where they celebrate Charles Dickens and such. A recent convert in the English ward got us tickets; he's lived on the island his whole life and is about 70+. There is a lot of history here in Galveston and it's a wonderful place to serve.

Anyways, I know that where there is faith, there are miracles. When coupled with obedience there is nothing that can’t be done. This is the Lord's work and I feel privileged to be an instrument in His hands. I love you all and thank you for everything!

-Elder Cooley

At the ward Christmas Party