Dear Family,

How are things?  Hopefully Dad continues to get better!  That's awesome about all the missionary experiences you've been having, keep it up!  Sadly in Texas there are no such things as Navajo tacos, or Indian fry bread.  Maybe if you send me a recipe I could teach them and let them enjoy of such blessings also.

So this past Saturday, Elder Christofferson came to our mission and spoke.  We got to shake his hand and he invoked some apostolic blessings upon the missionaries through their faithfulness. President Saylin said, “What a remarkable experience we had together with Elder D. Todd Christofferson at the missionary devotional!  I was particularly moved by the blessings he bestowed upon us as missionaries.  Did you catch those at the end?  I wrote as fast as I could in attempt to record them.  He blessed us with greater light and understanding -- revelation -- as we study the scriptures in personal study and companion study.  He promised us that the gospel will be "unfolded" unto us.  He also blessed us with a solemn witness of the Savior, along with a true knowledge that we have been forgiven of our sins and sanctified from the stains of sins.  Wow!  If we had just been there to receive those blessings from the hand of an apostle it would have been worth all of the effort to be there.  Let us not forget the things the Spirit whispered to us as we sat at the feet of one of the prophets. Remember -- the fulfillment of these blessings comes through our faith and doing those things we have been asked to do." It was a day never to be forgotten.

So we will be having a baptism this weekend for Melba Romero.  She's already been baptized back in El Salvador, but her records were lost and so she gets another chance so that it'll be recorded on earth, and in heaven :)  Tonight we are having a Noche de Hogar con la familia del Obispo y la familia Ramos.  We have planned to teach about the Atonement, one of my favorite things to teach.  They are reading together from the Book of Mormon nightly and have come to church for the past month and a half.  Also, this next week is stake conference and Elder Flukeger is coming!  We found a family from Cuba that we were able to teach yesterday and they were really interested in the Book of Mormon.  We got to do a lot of biking around in the rain this past week, I love the gospel. Y'all are great!

Love, Elder Cooley

P.S. Thanks Dad for everything, I was able to fix the shower in our apartment due to one time that you did it for someone else and you made me come along with you, haha. And also every time I'm walking in front of my companion I think of the advice you gave me to always walk side by side and I quickly correct it.

Dear Family,

What a wonderful week to be a servant of the Lord. For P-day we went to Williams Tower and went up to the 64th floor. It's the closest thing to a mountain they have around so we got a nice view of Houston.

We are going to start teaching one of the sisters' investigator. The reason we get to teach him is because he proposed to one of the sisters... We also had some cool experiences of talking to everyone. We found a part member family that recently moved from Georgia and we were able to teach them. Yesterday we had an awesome investigator fireside to which Sofia attended, and at the same time there was a baptism going on for Leoncia Guzman (one of my investigators back in Mo City) and I was able to see many of the members from that ward that I miss so dearly.

There were several opportunities this past week to give unplanned service - we helped an older couple with their yard, helped an old lady take out the trash, and helped a man with a bad back move into his new apartment upstairs.

I know that the Lord is so very close to this work and as we pay attention to the spirit we are led to do what he would want us do. I know that the more we strive for a consecrated life the more companionship of the Holy Ghost we'll have.  I hope Dad gets feeling better soon and that the family continues doing well.

Love, Elder Cooley

Dear Family,

It sure was good to hear from y'all. Things are going great in the area, we are teaching the wife of a member and she is just super legit. For the first time I can remember in my mission (I think it might have happened before but I've forgotten), when we came back for the 2nd visit she had answered all the questions that were at the back of the Restoration pamphlet that we had left with her. She also signed up during Relief Society to do Visiting Teaching and is doing awesome. We gave them a Houston Temple picture to hang up in their apartment and they are excited to go there someday to be sealed for time and all eternity.

I sure love being a missionary and all the things I have learned, I am reminded of Mosiah 5:13 which says,"For how knoweth a man the master whom he has not served, and who is a stranger unto him, and is far from the thoughts and intents of his heart?" We come to know the Master as we serve Him with all our heart, might, mind, and strength, and as we keep Him close to the thoughts and intents of our hearts. Keep being awesome and living the gospel!

Love, Elder Cooley

 

Dear Loved Ones,

How's everyone doing?

This past week has been awesome.  The gospel is true.  

As for your question about seminary - I remember not paying attention in 9th Grade (Book of Mormon year) and so therefore I didn't get much out of it.  However, later on I grew a deep love for seminary, for my teachers, and all the good people I met in it.  

Yesterday as Sacrament was about to start, President Saylin and Elder Gifford Neilson (Area Seventy) walked in and joined us and Elder Neilson spoke to the members while our bishop translated.

Well, I love this gospel. It's the truth. Hope y'all have a great week!

24 January 2012

Howdy,

It's always good to hear how things are going back home.

This past week we have seen the hand of the Lord in rich abundance as he's poured his blessings upon us in more ways than we could have imagined.  I know that prayer and fasting combined with faith can bring about miracles, even more than we have room enough to receive.

This past week we had an amazing Zone Conference and it was a little different than most; instead of gathering several zones it was done zone by zone on separate days. The topic was discipleship, specifically where we are at personally.  President Saylin asked us to go to the Lord as did Joseph Smith in JSH 1:27-29 to see where we stood before the Lord and what we could do to improve.  It was a Zone Conference I will never forget.  

Mom asked me what I remember about seminary but due to the lack of time I have I'll have to address that next week.  But oh boy was it a blast!

I love you all, thank you for all you do to help further the Kingdom of God.  The Gospel is true.

Love, Elder Cooley

Hola Familia,

Sounds like a great past week for the Cooley family.

Transfers this past week were pretty intense.  My new companion is Elder Claunch, from Payson, UT. He was "born" 2 transfers ago in Mo City for my last transfer there, so starting off we already knew each other mas o menos and had gone on an exchange together.  We have been working hard for this little time that we've been together and we've seen many miracles.  One of them was that we were able to teach Roberto.  He is the man.  We taught him and his kids Saturday and had a great lesson.  We had made a lesson plan, or outline, of how we wanted to teach the Restoration but as we started I felt that we should mix it up a little bit (the beauty of Preach My Gospel) and so we taught it kind of out of order and used examples that we didn't plan on.  The spirit was really strong and towards the end of the lesson he committed to baptism and he came to church on Sunday.  

Other miracles that we've seen have been really awesome OYM's in which we've sought the guidance of the spirit and have better understood their needs.  I know that the Lord is preparing the hearts of the children of men for this gospel and that we can be the answer to someone's prayer.

I hope y'all have a great week and strive to live as disciples of Christ in every thought, word, and act.

con gran amor,

Elder Cooley

 El que no vive para servir, no sirve para vivir.

Howdy! This past week was awesome! So things are going great here in Houston 1. Elder Sheridan is getting transferred tomorrow so I'll be getting a new comp here. A lot of times in my mission I have not understood why the Lord does certain things but I'm always reminded of the scripture in Proverbs that says, Trust in the Lord with all thine heart and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him and he shall direct thy path. This helps me remember that whatever happens, the Lord knows why and he asks us to just trust in Him.

I know both Elder Bullock and Elder Sawyer, but I've only served around Elder Bullock.  He's a champ; I've had many memorable exchanges with him.

Pues, no tengo mucho que contarles. Fue una semana mas o menos pero siempre andamos con fe y la aseguranza que Dios ama a todos sus hijos. Espero que tengan una semana llena del Espiritu y que El Senor los protega de todo peligro. Que compartan el Evangelio con todos los demas es mi oracion humilde.

Con gran amor, Elder Cooley