How's it going?!

It was great to hear of everyone's week and all the sweet experiences you've had.  It truly is a blessing to be able to speak Spanish.  Just yesterday we had a broadcast from the church called Salvador del Mundo (kind of like the pageant); it was only done in Spanish and was able to see the Saviors birth and Resurrection.  It was awesome to be able to understand it; it was my substitute for the pageant this year.

 As for the rest of the week we've had some great lessons.  We had the baptism of Hno. Juan Camara on Saturday and I was blessed to perform the ordinance.  Background, he had found a Book of Mormon in the hospital (where he has been staying with his son while he's here for treatment) and started reading it. Then some other members that were in the hospital brought him to church which is when we started teaching him just on the 10th of April.  He received his answer to the Book of Mormon very quickly and was eager to get baptized.  

Well, sad to say I don't have much time this week but I hope all continues to go well with everyone.  I will tell ya next week about Mothers day call and yes I got the package, in fact made those pancakes this morning, they were delicious.  Thanks for the tie and talk!

Peace and blessings, Elder Cooley

Life is well here in Galveston. It was good to hear of all the awesome things that are going on back home.  As for the storms we didn't experience any of it, it's been pretty calm, just getting a little warmer but the breeze from the Gulf helps cool things off. That's crazy that Kelson Rogers is already coming back.

This past week has been awesome though! We had some great lessons with Juan (an investigator that a member brought to church last week). He has already received a testimony of the Book of Mormon and Joseph Smith and then this past week he brought up the concern that he had already been baptized in the Catholic church and after we tried to explain the need of the authority a few different ways it still didn't seem to click.  Then all the sudden the thought of sharing D&C 22 came to mind.  I hesitated, but seeing as how he had received a testimony of Joseph Smith we shared it.  After reading it his eyes seemed to light up with understanding and it all clicked; he should be getting baptized the end of next week.  

Also while teaching German Guerra he told us about a dream he had where he was standing in the field and someone told him to take some seeds out of his pocket.  He (not knowing he had seeds in his pockets) reached in and pulled them out. He said that one seed was already beginning to grow with leaves and such but that is was getting dry.  He knew that if he planted them then they would grow, but all he could remember is just standing there with the seeds in his hands. It helped me understand his concerns a little bit and we tried to help him understand that it was revelation.  He had already read Alma 32 when we started teaching him but we left it with him to read again; and it was a testimony to me how God is involved in the lives of all our investigators even when we're not there.

Also this past week we finally went to the Temple!!  It was very much necessary and it was great to be in the temple after so long.  Those are pretty much the highlights, hope you have a great week and continue to see the Lord's hand in your life!

Con gran amor, Elder Cooley

Things in Galveston are going great.  This past week had a rough start; we ended our Thursday night having only taught 6 lessons and it was kind of discouraging,  but after kneeling down and praying I felt a peaceful feeling that we would be able to get all the lessons our leaders wanted us to.  I was way stoked for the weekend.  My faith definitely grew as we ended our week with 21 lessons.  

We got some free cheesecake this past week from a random lady on the street who we contacted; she was amazed that we were 19 and had "given our lives to Jesus".  She said some other interesting stuff, but the cheesecake was good.  Also this past week we found a less active member who was not on the records and we were able to get him to church. It'll be good to see him come back into the fold.

A member brought 2 of her friends to church and we were able to teach them after and they are way awesome.  The Familia Guerra is still doing good and basically everything is going great.  Elder Soutas has taught me a lot, especially the importance of focusing on our purpose and such like things.  We got a new sister in our district mid-transfer. She has been out for 6 months and was serving in Thailand, but was reassigned by Elder Nelson.  She has helped out a lot as she's brought her knowledge from Thailand to the little island of Galveston.  

So because Elder Soutas' bike broke, it was in the shop for a few days.  Luckily the shop let us use a substitute of theirs.  It was fun to see Elder Soutas ride around on the little girls’ bike that they gave us; now he's back in the saddle of his old bike though.  

Anywho, this past week was great and I hope you all have a great week!  Que Dios les bendigas!

Elder Cooley

Howdy!! Conference for sure was amazing!  All the talks were amazing and seemed to focus a lot on our duty as disciples of Christ to help, love, and serve.  It was definitely a needed message for me.  That is awesome news about how conference went back home. To answer your questions, since the temple is outside of our mission we can only go every 6 months for a zone conference, luckily the 6 months is finally up and we will be going here in April.  I have definitely missed the temple but I am really excited.  And as for needed things maybe just a talk, one by Christofferson in the June 2001 ensign I think entitled "Justification and Sanctification". I've recently grown to like Christofferson a lot, true story.  Maybe some ties, those are always nice.

So this past week has been eventful, we received a new training for giving church tours to members to get member referrals, we tried it this past week and it worked pretty well. Another day while we were riding, Elder Soutas' bike pedal completely broke off and he wrecked. Earlier in the week we talked to this lady, Angela King, a really less active member.  She told us how she hadn't been to church in about 7 years but we talked for awhile and parted ways. Then on Saturday, we stayed on the other side of the island, by the church, since we were at conference. As we were walking around and didn't know the area at all we decided to knock an apt complex to kill time between conference.  We saw an open door upstairs so we decided to go up there, it ended up being Angela King and we talked and invited her to church; she along with us thought it was a sign that God really wanted her to go back to church.  She also told us how she was going to a bible study at another church and the pastor was trying to get here baptized there but for some reason or another she didn't want to get baptized there.  Then later that day the other elders ran into her, the Lord really wants her back like the 1 lost sheep.

Sis. Saylin was submitted to the hospital and the doctors told her she was going to have her baby prematurely and that it probably wouldn’t survive if that happened, so Pres. Saylin asked all the missionaries to include her in their prayers, which we did, and we got a text this morning that she miraculously healed and she was sent home and all is well now.  We were able to get this awesome investigator family to conference also and they are progressing quite nicely.  Anyways, hope you all have a great week and seek to apply the words of the living prophets to your lives and receive the blessings!

Love, Elder Cooley