Hey! So we got transfer calls this morning and it turns out that I'm leaving Galveston.  It’s been a great area and I will miss it, but I am also excited to go to a new place.

So this past week we felt that we should knock a certain area; as we did so, the first house we knocked, a man let us in.  We went in and taught his 85-year-old grandma, Juana. Before the lesson she about chased us off, but as we expressed love and concern we were able to teach.  Afterwards she said she felt really good and peaceful and wanted us to come back.  We were able to get her to church and after Relief Society she said "This is what I've been looking for my whole life"; she is the most legit 85-year-old ever, I'd say.  She can't read but she sleeps with the Book of Mormon and she knows everything we teach her is the truth. Definitely being out here and seeing the faith of others has strengthened my faith and helped me see how truly blessed I am to have grown up in the gospel.  Well, hope you have a great week!

Love, Elder Cooley

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

Hey! How's it going? That's good to hear that Sis. Anderson is doing better! And about Rylee's wedding, cool beans. It seems like everyone's getting married but I love being out here and not really having to deal with any of it.

So this past Wednesday I received my new companion, Elder Soutas. He's from South Jordan, Utah and is awesome. He's only 1 transfer ahead of me so it's been fun to go around as fairly new missionaries and talk to people and such. We also received 2 green sisters into the district and there are 2 missionaries who are going home the end of this transfer. Elder Jensen went to the Houston area and is now serving as a district leader.

We had a district meeting that reiterated a training we received about teaching Baptism through the Restoration and it was awesome to see that as we used the training that same night we were able to commit 3 new people to baptism. It amazes me how the Lord knows what he's doing and he'll guide his servants to do what he needs if we just implement what he has already given us. I hope to do the same this next week as I listen to conference that I'll be able to come away with things to improve on and plans to do so. I encourage you all to do so and I know the Lord will bless us for our faith to follow what he has given us. Sorry I don't have much to write but hope you all have a great week!

Love, Elder Cooley

Hey!  How's the life?  Sounds like a fun filled week!  This past week I received letters from Chase Petersen, Sean West, and Zach Carpenter.  It was good to hear from all them and to hear that they are having a great time.  So, concerning transfers.... I am staying in Galveston!  But sadly, Elder Jensen is leaving,  but has been called as a district leader so that will be a great opportunity for him.

Dijorkaef got baptized this past Friday, somewhat unorthodoxly seeing as how he was afraid of water, which we didn't find out til the baptism, but after about an hour it happened so that was awesome.

Just this morning we realized that we received Jesus (our recent convert) as a referral in December.  For some reason though we never contacted him (mostly because he lives in Texas City and we don't have transportation to get off the island much).  But in February was when he contacted us on the streets.  I realized that even though we could have taught him sooner, the Lord, as a tender mercy, allowed us to meet paths so that Jesus could receive the gospel.  Anyways, love y'all and hope you have a great week!

Elder Cooley

HEY! Hope all is going well with everyone, it sure seems like it. It's great to hear all the temple blessings that people are experiencing. Well this past week was awesome; we had the baptism of Jesus this past Saturday. After Elder Jensen performed the baptism Transito Trejo, a recent convert gave the talk on the Holy Ghost and then Jesus bore his testimony. Then at the end of the baptism we hugged and he reminded us of the day we met. We were biking around when he pulled up in a van behind us and jumped out of the passenger’s seat. This past Saturday he told us how they almost drove another way but he felt that they should drive that way. It was definitely a testimony to me how the Lord places his prepared servants in the way of those who are prepared. Other than that, we went to court this morning. We had to testify that a member was coming out with us for community service hours so that was fun. This past week we were able to teach a lot of lessons with members present which is definitely a blessing to both the members and the investigators. The work goes a lot better when the members are involved. Anyways, can't really remember much beside the baptism, oh yeah, I got to confirm Jesus, it was awesome being able to do it in Spanish. This past week we have set the goal to always speak Spanish, and if we're talking to other missionaries who don't, then we translate each other. Anyways, hope you all have a great week!

Love Elder Cooley

PS. New mission office address is:

Texas Houston South Mission

602 Eldridge Road

Sugar Land, TX 77478

(Please be sure to let family and friends know that our address is changing as mail arriving to the old address will be returned to sender. The post office has informed us that they will only forward mail addressed to the mission- not mail addressed to individual missionaries. You can likely remedy this problem by having the addressee be: Texas Houston South Mission, Attn: [your name]. However, friends and family should be careful not to send mail to the new address before March 25 as it will be undeliverable)

PPS. Happy birthday MOM! Hope you have a great week! LOVE YA!

Hey! That's awesome about Henry's wedding and Myrna's this upcoming week! Tell them both congratulations for me. Sounds like a lot of great things are happening in the ward and such.

So this last week has been awesome! Since we were only on the island Monday-Wednesday we worked as hard as we could and we were able to find a family to teach and hopefully they start progressing. Then Thursday we had our final day of mission conference, my favorite so far. Then Friday and Saturday we worked in Pasadena with Elders Cortez and Tidwell in an English area, we basically just knocked doors all day, and met some interesting people along the way. While there I really gained an appreciation for the area I'm in and how greatly we are blessed. So this Saturday, Jesus is getting baptized and that'll be awesome. Hopefully we can get Dijorkaef baptized this week too. While I was in Pasadena I realized the difference between an English ward party and a Spanish one... and I'm pretty sure when I get home I'm going to a Spanish ward/branch.

Also this week I met an interesting character. He introduced himself as TJ. As we talked he told us how he was Christ in his former life and how he was back as TJ Evans this time. He also told us how Galveston will be the New Jerusalem (I can see where he's coming from on that one because Galveston is pretty awesome) and how Bin Laden and Dick Cheney are the Antichrists. Along with all sorts of other interesting things, but the amazing part was that he honestly believes it. He then gave us 2 options, we could either go with him to Uruguay or stay here and finish our mission and possibly die. All in all I think I'll stay here.

Anywho, the work here is going great. This past week I realized the importance of home teaching and member missionary work from Acts 6 along with a talk by Bruce R. McConkie called "Let the Word Go Forth". Also I've noticed my sacrament meetings have been a lot more meaningful since I've been studying it a lot lately. Well, hope all is going well at home and with everyone, have a great week!

Elder Cooley

Hey! This past week has been great. The mission conference was good and learned a lot from it. That is amazing to hear about the support to the Miles family and all the stuff in the stake. I got the package of CD's with the talks, thanks so much! It was cool to hear Elder Andersen and Christofferson translate their own talks, I noticed that even some Apostles have problems some time with the language. As for the baptisms, none seemed to work out this week. Jesus changed the date because a friend who introduced him to the church was in Mexico and wouldn’t get back til March 11 so we'll be having his baptism on the 12th. Amazingly, even without the baptisms I felt amazing peace and happiness this week in sacrament meeting. I am coming to appreciate and understand the sacrament more and that has helped me come closer to Christ.

As for Ike and Galveston, I would now like to relate to you the history of the church on Galveston Island. Apparently back when the saints had settled in Utah they sent missionaries all over the world and one of the places they sent them was to Galveston. The work was kinda slow and there was a small group of members by the 1900's. At this time there were 8 missionaries on the island (like there are now). Around this time there was the 1900 storm which was very devastating to the island. Just before it hit the island, 6 missionaries left the island and 2 were left to gather the saints, they all gathered in the top floor of a member’s house and blessed it, all the while waiting for the storm to pass. When it had passed they came out and everything around was destroyed while they were safe and sound. Shortly after the missionaries were taken off the island and weren't put back until after World War 2. All the while the members went to a church in La Marque, on the mainland. In the 70's there was a man who came to Galveston and became bishop of the ward. He had prayed before he came and he felt the Lord wanted him here in Galveston for some reason. He was a spiritual giant. He had prayed and fasted fervently as bishop to understand why the Lord had sent him here. Then one night he had a very vivid dream. In this dream he saw another great storm that would hit Galveston; he saw that after this storm a lot of bad people would leave the island. He also saw that the missionary work began to blossom. He then saw that a stake was formed here on Galveston Island.

So there's the story, I have seen a lot of the effects of Hurricane Ike still, buildings that were destroyed and haven't been rebuilt. But just a few weeks ago President Saylin told our district leader that Galveston district is the strongest in the mission and also our branch president told us that the Lehi Branch is growing more than any other unit in the stake. I feel so blessed to be here in this marvelous time and help the work move along. Also, a few years ago they were thinking of combining the Spanish branch and English ward; they almost did it too but then a general authority told the leaders here that they needed to remain separate. This island has some intense history. Anyway, this past week we stayed for Mardi Gras, some tighter rules but this next weekend we're actually going to be staying with some other elders in Pasadena, for Friday and Saturday. I think the whole time we'll just be on bike OYMing (Open Your Mouth, aka street contacting) which will be fun. We're not really taking a P'day today so that we can get all the work on the island that we can before we leave for a few days. Anyways, hope you all have a great week and que Dios les bendigas!

Elder Cooley

 P.S. Abraham gave me and Elder Jensen suits, his boss gave them to him but they didn't fit so he passed them on, I got a brown one and it is awesome :)

Galveston, Haunted Ghetto Paradise Island

How's everyone doing?  Sounds like an awesome stake conference, wish I could have heard all the talks and such.  Anywho, this past week has been quite intense.  We had a mission conference on Thursday and have 2 more this Thursday and the next.  We learned about Revelation through prayer, the Book of Mormon, and church and how to teach them more powerfully to our investigators.

Also this past Saturday and Sunday we saved a very active member from personal apostasy. Saturday morning he was on his way to the temple for the first time and got offended so he had them drop him off, then told us he was never coming back to church and after much intense discussion we were able to get him to come to church and as of now he is back to his normal self.  It was pretty scary to see someone so strong almost fall away.

Other than that, we are praying to have 3 baptisms this week.  It seems to me that every baptism has something that always gets in the way to try to postpone it and this week we get to work through some of those.  Also since this week and the next are Mardi Gras, we almost got kicked off the island, but due to the momentum of the Galveston District and the trust that President has in all the missionaries here, he is letting us stay this week, although with some added restrictions in order to not slow down the work.  Other than that our investigators are doing good and progressing.

Also our Branch President told the branch council that the Lehi branch (smallest unit in the stake) is leading the stake in many areas and the area is seeing many blessings from the Lord.  I feel so very blessed to be on a mission and see so many miracles day to day.  I hope the Lord continues to bless all of you with many miracles in your lives!

Con gran amor, Elder Cooley

14 February 2011

Que me cuenta de bueno?

Thanks for the Valentines package!  That is awesome that everyone is recovering!  And Quentin Begay is back!  I need to talk to that man to see how he is.  So if I could get his address or have him write me that'd be good. 

So this past week, somehow I found time to figure out how to solve a Rubik's Cube in under 2 mins. I left my planner at the apartment so I'm kind of lost without it...

Oh, President Saylin called me and Elder Jensen on Tuesday. When we answered he said, "I think I have a golden referral for you”.   So he told us about a man (Ricardo) who called the main number of the church and talked to someone for 2 hours in Spanish about the church. Then they called the mission department, who then called Pres. Saylin, who then called us.  Ricardo lives up in Texas City and is dating a member of the Spanish branch; we haven't taught him too much but he is pretty awesome.  Also we taught Jesus again.   Whenever we teach him it’s in the chapel; those are always the most spiritual lessons.  Last week for district lunch we went to Rainforest Cafe and got half off because some members work there.  Other than that, I can't really remember much, but I love serving the Lord, speaking Spanish, and all the other good stuff that is involved with serving a mission.  Hope you all have a great week and continue to be awesome!

Con gran amor,

Elder Cooley

Hello all!

So we received transfer calls this morning, and amazingly me and Elder Jensen are staying together!  We were 95% sure that one of us was leaving.  Apparently in Elder Jensen’s interview with President he said he had done all he could with me.

Anyways, this past week has been way cold, to the point where we were expecting snow.  From about Tuesday-Friday it was pretty cold and then on Thursday we received word from president that there was to be no mission vehicles driven or even bikes ridden, so we bundled up nice and walked to most of our appointments.  We were able to find some rides with members.  But all turned out well and we were able to teach a lot of lessons this week since a lot of people were home trying to avoid the cold.

Hna. Orellana has taught us how to make Gorditas, Tres Leches, flautas, frijoles rancheros, enchiladas, y arroz.  Then we went home and made some on our own, especially Tres Leches, soo good.  I encourage you to make one.  Also she fed us something called Capirotada, it was alright.  We have bought a bag of Maseca and make our own corn tortillas, good stuff.

We were able to help Hno. Aguirre give a blessing to his son who was in the hospital and we got to know them some more.  They are in our area, but clear up in Texas City. We were also able to teach Jesus again, the first lesson and he committed to baptism.  Then he came to church this week, which was stake conference. 

Well, moreso regional conference and Pres. Monson, Elder Ballard, and Sis. Dibb spoke. They focused a lot on the gospel and then The Rescue of less active members.  Al rescate!  It was good to see also that the Ensign of this month has a lot to do with that and I've noticed that's a big focus of Pres. Monson too.

Anyways, Love y'all and happy birthday to Emmie (late), Greg (later), and Adam (early)!  Hope all goes well this next week and I'll continue to keep everyone in my prayers!

con gran amor,

Elder Cooley

How's everyone doing? This past week was AMAZING!! We are going to the Orellanas after emailing today so I'll give you the update on that next week.  I haven’t gotten a box but I received the shirt/calendar/tie, thanks very much!  I wrote Elder West a couple weeks ago and sent it to the MTC but he hasn’t written back yet so not sure.  Karla and Hilary are engaged?  Ha, looks like she's not going on a mission; but that's still awesome.  I told Hna. Orellana that if Henry ever met any Fowers then I'd be related with them,; but today I will tell her that my ancestors settled that area.  I guess I had forgotten that part.  Hope all goes well with Bro. Miles;  I'll keep him in my prayers.

So, this past week for Zone Conference we got to hear from Elder Gavarret of the 70; learned a lot from him and it was a great day.  So that was on Wednesday, then on Thursday we had the baptism for Cindy because that's what worked for them.  We really pushed to have a lot of members to come and support this time.  The whole room was filled!  Also Hna. Romero's sister and her kids were there.  After the baptism all 3 of them came up to Elder Jensen and said "Queremos ser bautizados".  Miracle.  So we are going to teach them tonight, and they live with Hna. Romero.  Then on Saturday we had a lesson with Hna. Orellana and we talked about fasting and we joined with her in a fast so that her and her husband can be sealed.  Then Sunday, Geraldo was able to make it to church and the branch is starting to fellowship him more and more, especially a recent convert Transito Trejo who's about the same age.  Five minutes before sacrament meeting started the first councilor of the bishopric, Hno. Hernandez, comes up to me and asks me to give a 5 minute talk on the Aaronic Priesthood.   I was a little apprehensive but I had faith the Lord would communicate through the spirit rather than the words I would say.  Apparently the talk went well.  Miracle.

Speaking of miracles, so there's been a lot leading up to this, but we gave an investigator, Jesus, a church tour this morning.  He remembers coming to church when he was a little kid but he never got baptized.  We ended the tour with the chapel and after explaining the Sacrament he said that he felt something in his heart, something good.  At this time I was prompted to testify that that was the Holy Ghost testifying to him that this is Christ's church and that He leads and guides it.   It was a testimony to me of the truthfulness of this gospel and the spirit was so strong.   He got a little teary eyed and he is very eager to read the Book of Mormon, come to church, and get baptized.  It amazes me everyday how the Lord is able to use us as we are obedient.  I hope you all continue to see the hand of the Lord in your lives and that all is well with the fam!

Love, Elder Cooley

Mi amada familia,

Thanks for all the love and support that you continue to offer.  Just to let you know I have been eating my vegetables as of lately, mainly just carrots as of now. Thank you for all the news, good and bad.

This past week has been pretty great. For our zone activity last week we had a nerf gun war and it was ridiculous how into it some people got, good times though. Then on Wednesday, we had interviews with President Saylin, good times. Some other great stuff that’s happened, this Saturday is Cindy's baptism and she has asked me to baptize her! Soo... that'll be awesome! Also, we haven't had much progress with Angel lately but we decided to give him a Proclamation to the Family and the next day he said he wanted to change for his son. Then Geraldo, we took him to an investigator fireside in League City and we were the only people that showed up so it was recent converts and President Del Aguila from the mission presidency who were basically telling him to get baptized, then after he said he wants to get baptized. It was one of Elder Jensen’s dreams to have an investigator get taught one on one by a member of the mission presidency and so moral of the story, dreams come true, but more so the Lord is awesome and miracles happen. Then this morning we got called to give a blessing by someone who had been given a restoracion pamphlet about 8 months ago and he had us come over to give him a blessing for peace and such, we encouraged him to meet with the missionaries so hopefully all goes well.

Next P-day Hna. Orellana is going to teach me and Elder Jensen how to cook food; she had already taught us how to make gorditas, which are delicious.

Entonces, todo esta bien aqui en Galveston. Este es la obra del Senor y debemos confiar en El si queremos ser guiados. Estoy siempre agredecido por mi familia y el conocimiento de este evangelio.

 "Spiritual guidance is direction, enlightenment, knowledge, and motivation you receive from Jesus Christ through the Holy Ghost. It is personalized instruction adapted to your individual needs by One who understands them perfectly. Spiritual guidance is a gift of incomparable worth bestowed upon those who seek it, live worthy of it, and express gratitude for it."

-Elder Richard G. Scott

Anyways, love y'all and have a great week!

Con gran amor, Elder Cooley

Howdy!

Sounds like a fun/interesting week back home. So I'm writing today because yesterday was MLK day and so today is our pday. The Lord definitely is performing miracles every day for each one of us; it wasn't until I started keeping a study journal that I began noticing all of them. Prophets have spoken of how study journals allow us to receive inspiration as we show to the Lord how important it is to us. I have learned how the prophets study journals are basically the scriptures and as we keep study journals they can enlarge our memory and expand our knowledge.

This past week I have studied a lot about The Spirit of Promise and other such things related to it, if anyone could give me some more insight that would be awesome.

I have not received the calendar and shirt yet; my guess is you sent it to the mission home. Since Galveston is a good 1.5 hour drive we only get mail from the mission home about every few weeks. But I'll get it tomorrow probably since Pres. Saylin is coming down to do interviews for the League City Zone.

So this past week, from Monday-Thurs. we got a little bit of a freeze where it was unusually cold. On top of that our heater in the apartment doesn’t work so I slept with extra blankets and my jacket on. The Orellanas on Wednesday let us borrow one of their portable heaters; it was a life saver! One day we were riding in downtown Galveston (The Strand) when we rode by the Oscar Mayer Wiener Mobile, so that was fun to see.

On Monday night and Tuesday, Elder Perez came on an exchange with me (He's called to speak English but he speaks Spanish, we came out the same time) it was awesome! We had the opportunity to teach the mother of a less active young man, the lesson went amazing. Probably best 1st lesson in my mission. She was asking all the right questions and when we read Amos 8:11-12 she said she had this similar hunger. We then related how a young man, Jose Smith, had this same hunger and she accepted a baptismal date! We've been working a lot lately with part member families and less actives to keep retention higher and the help with The Rescue that Pres. Monson has spoken very often about. On Wednesday me and Elder Jensen ensenamos Clases de Ingles a los miembros y investigadores, era un gran privilegio. Then, on Friday I was asked to sing a musical number at District Meeting and I sang Hymn #112, Savior Redeemer of My Soul to the tune of #102 Jesus Lover of My Soul, not sure how well that worked out but it seemed to fit. Also on Sunday the Hermanas in the branch had a baptism for a 22 year old Josue Blanco; he is legitimate. Anyways, I had the privilege of conducting the baptism, in Spanish, so that was fun.

This past training President Saylin wanted us to prayerfully select 3 families in the branch to get more involved in missionary work. This was called our "Miracle List" and we have seen great success as we expressed to these families that it was the will of the Lord that they become more involved in missionary work. I have a very strong testimony of members doing the work and I hope to be able to use these families as the Lord would want us to. Anyways thanks for all the love and support! Hope y'all have a great week.

"Now, let it be written in every heart with a pen of fire that this work in which we are engaged is true, that the gospel we have received came from heaven, and that it shall be preached by us in every nation, to all people, beginning with our neighbors, and then shall the end come. Let us be reminded that there is joy without measure in bringing souls unto Christ- a joy that will be magnified and perfected beyond mortal comprehension when we sit down with them in the kingdom of the Father. As one among you I know whereof I speak and testify that God who gave us the gospel has also called us to take it to his other children. God grant that we may do so in the way we already know we should."-Elder Bruce R. McConkie, "Let the Word Go Forth".

I love how perfect this gospel is and how endless our potential is as we submit our will to the Father.

Con gran amor, Elder Cooley

                                                                              YUMM!



Sounds like all in all a great week! That's so crazy that Sean is leaving! He needs to write me and I'll need his mission address of course. Haven't heard from him and a lot of others since the time I left the MTC. Hope all is going well with him and Chase. I had not heard about Myrna's engagement or Henry's. That is so awesome though! They are all great people and that's fantastico news. I remember Amy Curtis and I remember going with Elder Ricks to her house once and her husband wasn't too stoked at the time, that’s great to hear about his baptism!

This past week has been amazing. We taught some great lessons, ate at the Orellanas, went on exchanges with the Zone Leaders; this time I stayed in my area and Elder Richards came. We've made some great progress with some people this past week. Miraculously a former investigator, Geraldo, (we dropped him last transfer because he just didn’t seem to want to do anything) called us about 10 mins before sacrament and told us he wanted to come. We quickly got a ride for him and he was able to make it just in time. Then he stayed after for the baptism of Transito Trejo, an investigator of the other missionaries in the branch. Then after he stayed for the food provided by the branch. I have a great testimony of members being involved in the work.

Last night at about 8:30 we went to a less-active family's house to visit them, and after knocking on the door a few times we decided to leave. Since we had half an hour to get into our apartment and it was about a 30 sec. bike ride away, I felt like we should just walk there since there was nowhere else to go for the night. As we got to the end of the street a suburban passed us and we stopped and turned to see where it was going. It started to turn to the other side of the street, but then it backed up into their drive way. We rushed over and started helping them unload groceries. The timing was perfect! Miracle! We then went in and taught the 40th lesson for that week, the record in the mission being 42. All this because of members and the mercy of the Lord.

I know this work is inspired and lead by the hand of the Lord just as long as we are obedient and give it our all. I hope you all continue to see the Hand of the Lord in your lives, it’s always there. Anyways, have a great week!

Con gran Amor, Elder Cooley

Sounds like you all had a wonderful New Years!

That's awesome about Jayden’s baptism!  And about that temple trip, I miss the temple but in the mean time I’ve been studying a lot about some stuff which has changed my perspective on a lot of things.  It's amazing how awesome this gospel is!

I hope you get well soon mom! I don't understand entirely the works of the Lord, but from what little I am able to notice I can definitely see that there are reasons for me being here. This past week we have eaten with the Orellanas a lot and I have seen many blessings come from that.

So on New Year’s we had to be in our apartment at 7; so from 7-10 we were going crazy and setting up rides for our investigators to go to the branch's new year’s party so that they wouldn't get drunk but sadly things didn’t work out as we planned.  So that was a bummer.  Also we saw Mando.  He is doing good... except the fact that he is mad at us still.  It's kinda scary to have a former general of the Pakistan Army mad at you. Also, this past week I ate Lengua and Menudo, wouldn’t recommend either. They're alright though.

Make sure Sean writes me, I want to hear about his MTC adventures.

On Wednesday we rode around in the rain for 4 1/2 hours without a single lesson; that was way fun. Well sorry but my mind is kinda blank right now, I'll make sure to increase the value of my letter next week.  Thanks for all the prayers and support!  I can definitely feel them!  Anyways, Feliz Ano Nuevo!

Con gran amor, Elder Cooley

 P.S.  If everyone in the church were to bring one friend into the gospel a year, the world would be converted in 9 years. It is my goal to do so every year for the rest of my life.

Coming in from the rain

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