Happy New Year,

So basically most Spanish jokes I've heard just aren't the same in English so translating just never does them justice when you say, "What did one cup (vaso) say to the other?" when you say "Que vaso?" it's supposed to sound like "Que Paso'?  (I heard that one from a 9 year old).

That's cool they legalized fireworks on those days, I'm sure everyone had fun with that. As for the festivities here in Houston, the buses ran all night to encourage people not to drive if they'd been drinking.  They just do the usual partying, and a lot of staying up late.

 A big focus in church was about setting goals and faithfully working towards them.  Also we got to teach the youth Sunday School class an introduction to the Book of Mormon.  We did a pretty epic object lesson, and then committed all of them to read the Book of Mormon daily and also gave them copies of the Book of Mormon to share with a friend.

This past week I went on an exchange with Elder Preece in his area.  We were walking through a complex and stopped to talk to a lady while she was doing laundry.  She invited us to come back another day and then we asked her if she knew anyone else who would be interested.  Without delay she said yes; she told us of a friend she had who's sister had just died.  She then went into her apartment, grabbed the phone and called her asking if she would be willing.  On the other end of the line she seemed excited to have us over and we set up an appointment.  When the elders went back her husband wasn't there so they weren't able to go in, but since then they've been able to teach them and they are very excited to read the Book of Mormon, all of that because we asked someone we talked to on the street for a referral.  We also had another neat experience this past week.  We talked to a guy, Roberto, really quick, who seemed really excited to have us over; it was a little unusual because we didn't even explain who we were we just said "Hola, como esta?" as we walked by him.  He stopped to talk but said he didn't have time now but that we should come by this upcoming Saturday.  Then yesterday we got a call from a member who asked us if we were the missionaries that talked to her friend, Roberto.  It turns out that she's been inviting him to church and to talk with the missionaries but he's always been busy.  She told him how much God loves him and is looking out for him.

I love being a missionary and being able to be an instrument in the hands of the Lord.  I know that the Lord is preparing the hearts of people to receive the gospel.  Thanks for all the member missionary work that y'all are doing, keep it up, look for ways that you can be a light unto others, if the Lord can make simple stones give light unto others in darkness surely he can use people with weaknesses and faults to build up His Kingdom as we humbly submit to His will and have faith. I hope all is well and that y'all have a fantastic week!

Con gran amor, Elder Cooley

Dearly beloved family,

Joke: Que dijo el vaso a otro vaso? Punchline: Que vaso?!

It was good to talk to most of you on Sunday, with all the noise I felt right at home, and when it was over I had even more animo to get to work. It was fun to hear about Gage's new Spider Man watch and how Diana has started playing guitar again.

Just a more detailed explanation of what happened at mission conference:  Pres. Saylin figured that if the Brethen had allowed the showing of the movie "17 Miracles" in the MTC, then it would be okay for us to watch it so we watched that movie.  It made me more curious of my own family history.  Also, Sister Saylin gave to each missionary "The Miracle Book", a book she made filled with specific miracles that have happened to all the missionaries in the mission during their service. It was the coolest!  I'll send a picture so you can see how it is.  

Time is flying by!  It's unbelievable how fast these 15 months have gone by.  But I have loved every minute of it!  We finally were able to teach that really awesome family from Monterrey, Mexico that we found.  Turns out they've been sealed in the temple and just recently moved here about a month ago.  Also, they have a 9 year old son that hasn't been baptized due to a lot of moving around of the father and the family has wanted him to do it.  Anyways, things are going great; the gospel's true, learn it, live it, love it.

Con gran amor,

Elder Cooley

My Dear Family,

How's everything going?  Things have been great here in Houston.  I bet those temple lights were awesome as always.  This past Tuesday, as we were street contacting, we were approached by a 24 yr. old man.  He told us how he had been looking for the true church and how he'd recently been making changes in his life.  Seeing as how he didn't speak Spanish we referred him to the English elders who have since started visiting him and have helped him along his own personal path of discipleship.  Then, on Friday we had the ward Christmas party, the food was delicious, and there were plenty of tamales to go around.

As we were biking around last night in an apartment complex we passed a young man seated on some steps, not wanting to bother him we passed by, but as we passed I felt that we should turn back and talk to him.  As we talked he told us that he knew who we were and what we did, he told us how he had grown up in the church in Mexico, was baptized as an 8 year old and him and his family had come here a few months ago.  Come to find out, the reason he stopped going to church was because of work, but even now that he didn't have work on Sundays he wasn't coming.  It's amazing how little by little we can inch our way away from God.  I'm pretty stoked to go and see him and his family this week though.  I know that the Lord loves all of His children, and that he suffered all things that we might not suffer, if we would repent and come unto Him.

I hope you all have a great Christmas, full of gratitude towards Christ and all that he's done and continues to do for us. 

Con gran amor, Elder Cooley 

Dearly beloved family,

This past week has been quite amazing.  It's been getting chilly here every once in awhile, as always the weather is bipolar and so it varies from day to day.  

Thanks for sending the Christmas tree in a box; it is already up in the apartment, along with 2 other trees that we received in the meantime.  We have lights strung up around the apartment and we are constantly listening to Mo Tab Christmas music.  

There sure is a lot of growth in these wards, in November there were about 8 people who were baptized and confirmed, the majority of that being a family who continues to stay strong.  I am continually amazed at even though these members have very busy lives with work and family, they are always willing to come out with us to teach so that they can share their awesome testimonies.  

As for Lilian, we've had some great lessons with her and she was able to come to church with her boyfriend and daughters, along with some other kids she takes care of.  After church they told us how much they loved the testimonies of the members and how they felt loved and accepted, something not found too often.  As we taught the Word of Wisdom she knew that it was a commandment from God and was willing to live it.  I've seen her change so much in just the little time that we've been teaching her.  

I love missionary work, especially during the holidays.  I hope you all have a great week full of Christmas cheer.

Con un abrazo fuerte,

Elder Cooley

Como Estamos?

So this past Wednesday I arrived to my new area, Houston 1 West with my new companion, Elder Sheridan. He's from Roy, UT and went to Weber State before coming out. We are in the Houston West (Spanish) Stake and in the Houston 1 ward. There are a total of 6 companionships in this ward because there are so many people in the boundaries. It's one of the most downtown areas of the missions and so it's pretty easy to find people to talk to on the street and there are a bunch of apartment complexes also.

As for the people, we have an investigator, Lilian, from Uruguay. The way she came in contact with the missionaries was that she looked up her name on Facebook and only found 1 other person. As they became friends and started to talk, the other (Brazilian) Lilian began to share her testimony and asked if she would mind having missionaries over. She accepted and we received the referral. Well it turned out that the other Lilian is the wife of the Brazil Salvador South mission president. She came to the Christmas Devotional and felt the Spirit. She tells us about the inner peace that she sees in members of the church as she's come in contact with the church over the years. We also have a Brazilian family that we teach in Spanish and they respond to us in Portuguese. We were also able to teach some less active families and they made it to church this past week so that was cool. We have seen many instances in which the Lord has guided us to find those who are ready as we strive to follow the Spirit.

Anyways, hope all is well, have a great inspired week!

Love, Elder Cooley

November 29, 2011

Howdy!  Sounds like everyone had a good Thanksgiving full of food and good company. Mine was very similar and I have since recooperated from being sick.  After emailing last week I asked Elder Riley and some other elders to give me a blessing, then we went to work and I ended up throwing up in someone's yard while contacting them but he was nice enough to offer me some water (the man we talked to had been suffering from memory loss so hopefully he's forgotten about that incident).  I started feeling a little better and then we went to a member's house to eat and not to be rude I ate what I could, then when we got home that night I was feeling really cruddy and threw up again. Sadly, I had to stay in for the first time on Wednesday but we were finally able to go out and work by 6 pm.  It was no fun but now everythings great.  By the time Thanksgiving came I still wasn't feeling great but I was determined to eat.  So we ate with the Portillo's, that was pretty much a traditional thanksgiving dinner.  Then we went by the Guzman's, didn't eat with them but they gave us some fajita meat and salchichas.  Then we went to the Flia. Rodriguez, and they fed us some sandwiches from El Salvador (kinda like a torta) with turkey.

As for transfers, turns out my time here in Mo City has come to an end, at least for now. I love this ward and all the members and investigators I was able to work with.   I was finally able to take some pictures with Joaquin and Maria (recent converts) so I'll send those next week a lo mejor.

Anyways, love y'all, hope your week is full of peace and blessings.

Love, Elder Cooley

November 22, 2011

Dear family,

It's good to hear about the birth of Carson, I hope everything is going well with him and Alicia and I hope Dad is doing alright all by himself at home.

I'm not feeling too good, health wise, right now (probably due to something I ate) so I can't really think straight but we had a good week of work and we've found some pretty cool people. We went by to visit a member that was on the ward list that we had never met and it turned out they'd moved. But as we were at the apartment complex we saw a couple on the second floor and decided to talk to them. As we talked, we found out that the wife's brother is a member and is coming to stay with them for a month through the holidays. They told us how they'd seen the gospel completely change his life and how he quit smoking and drinking. We have an appointment to go by and visit them this Saturday.

Once again President Saylin has asked that we all strive for a "Weekend in White" on Dec. 17th and 18th by baptizing and confirming someone so that we can have a White Christmas. These past few weeks the chapel has been filling up and that's been really awesome to see, especially when about 20 of them are investigators. This past Friday we had the ward party for thanksgiving and the turkey was definitely cooked a little differently than usual, but it was really good. Last night we had a Noche de Hogar with a part-member family and they loved it. For thanksgiving we will be having dinner with the stake president and his family so hopefully I will be feeling better by then. That's awesome to hear about Sis. Sharp's baptism, I would imagine that being an epic event with much waiting. Well, I hope y'all have the rest of a great week!

Thanks to everyone for the prayers and support, hope y'all have a great thanksgiving full of thanksgivingfullness!

Love, Elder Cooley