Sept 23

alright well i am redownloading the pictures.


ok well i got a few things to update hahaha my health were at like 75 percent i think hahaha broncitis i still got thats no problem getting rid of the cold i have and i am controling my stomache and what i have to do its all good i am trying to stay healthy haha but this month will be rough i dont have much option to eat haha so its like vegatables every day with dry chicken mmmmmmm yummy hahaha not but soon in 2 weeks and 4 days i can start to eat normal again i miss my salsa and my lemon hahaha i always eat that with my food and right nowe none of that. i went back to tyhe doctor for a check up he is a nice guys he checked me up for free and usually its like 400 pesos haha!!!!! but i wrote him a letter with my testimony and i also gave him a book of mormon and wrote my testimony in it. he was stoked we invited him to go to mormon.org ahaha he was jazzed we also gave him a passalong card of the temple and he kept it its in his drawer haha i think he is going to be baptiseed but i wont be there he lives way out of my area and if he doesnt one of his nurses will haha i also taught her a few things and she liked it pretty exciting but we will see what happens.

another thing the new mormon .org i have a profile you guys can look for me maye you can find me ahha its pretty awesome

alright well this week was a little rough a few problems and but we are good ow we didnt have a baptism. but we will have a few this weekend his name is hector and ana. there were pretty ecited.

this sunday we had no investigators show up super sad well the only one that did was ana. its pretty rough with her she is fight with her husband he drinks and when he comes home he beats her super sad and this suday he told her if she gets baptised she has to leave the house and the kids and she said alright whatever and went to church. its pretty rough. she is such an awesome lady she is going to teach me how to cook like a mexican haha its pretty legit but anyways. she is one of the chosen. she only wants to be happy one in her family and to in her life. so sad the kids cant get baptised be we know that one day they will its a sad thing but i know that heavenly father will be working with them. little by little.

so my comp knows al this health stuff and he has put me to work really kicking my butt in the morning with the excersises but i know it is for my good and i will leave more healthy.

well i am sorry i have to go i hope the pictures go through i am sorry i didnt sdent any sweet stories but know that i am always thinking of you guys and i love you all. read daily and pray daily love you all

elder houston

Aug 8

what a week its was pretty legit where do i start hahaha perfect idea. monday night.


ok so with yesenia. after typing yall a letter sayin everything was just perfect for this sister. well at night we had lesson with them about eternal familys. well we finished the lesson preparing to leave and the brothr jose says hermanos do more you have to do right now. and we said yes but no why whats up. well it turns out we have been missing so many problems!!!!!!!! they were about to get divorced!!! haha ya i know shocker they pulled out a ton of problems and it really punched me in the face and i felt like i didnt have my gaurd up stinkin SATAN i swear i was like no. they started talking about well maybe we should tell them that they shouldnt come anymore and left and right started arguing in front of us and my comp started to talk and i was in spiritual shock. i had no idea what was happening i just listened to there problems and then listened to my comp and listened to mthere problems hahaha but i was praying hard really hard so we took out our skillz!!!!!!!!! busted in with an activity. to help them see that they are both wrong and need to knock it off cause it aint helping and they both just humbled themselves and well we just worked by the spitit. like mitchell.....uhhhh Elder Houston i learned more about the atonement of jesus christ this wek i have literally watched the lord put his arms over his children and took away there burdens and they could finally stand up straigh. i saw it with my own eyes.... we taught the atonement what they need to do to save there marraige... there was one point in the lesson my comp asked. do you was to try to keep going? and yesenia said... i am tired of him i cant go anymore.... then to jose.. he says like she sayed i am tired of her i cant go more.... then i asked... jose do you believe that jesus christ can fix your problems and save you marriage? with tears in his eyes along with yesenia they both said yes.... so we busted out a spirit bomb and taught them what they have to do. then gave them homework. and invited them to repent for there sins and they did we asked yesenia with everything that is going on do you still want to be baptised? she said yes its my goal and with all my heart i want to be baptised.. the next day we did an activity that was super fun that really opened there eyes. there both literally came out and said hermanos i was wrong..on friday we had the interview and after the interview we did a family night. yesenia stood in front of us shared a scripture and started to cry and literally gave us eternal thanks for helping her and she shared her testimony with us and thanked us eternaly.on saturday she was bapptised sunday confirmed member of the church recieved the holy ghost and the same day the started talking to the bishop and couselers abut wha they have to do to go to the temple on the 27th of this month.i have seen the lords hands guiding his children this week again. i see it everyday and i watch and help my brother and sisters everyday in sorrow recieve hope...... they recieve hope and a lght in there eyes bright up.its the best feeling i have ever felt in my entire life and i wouldnt give it up for anything or anyone. i am eternally grateful to one you mom and dad and my family to have prepared me for this and 2 to my heavenly father to have accepted me as a servant diciple son missionary and ELDER to represent his kingdom here on earth. those of you who read my letters and maybe are passing some dificulties in your life or maybe thinking if you should go on a mission or no i invite you to also lose yourself in the lord his work his scriptures and prayer. i invite everyone to try it out. try out the work of the lord and you will feel what i feel. like i have said before... i am running my hands through the clouds of heaven. and i know its not the end and i pray that it will never end for me. put you eyes to the heavens and see what the lord has done not only for other but especially for you and then lose yourself. i promise you that there is no better feeling and there is no greater joy in your heart to hve helped your brothers and sister find what you have. find that happiness. i love you all and i thank you for your support.
elder houston
ps pictures baptism my brosepf elvis with there sweet hat and yesenias kids haha they like to wear my ties hahaha love you
i cant think of anything that i need more. idk haha i dont lke to ask cause i know there is not to much but if you could send me a little bit of money idk if you have already but i am out well not out out still got like 100 bucks hahaha thanks love you!!

August 1

Hey everyone here is coltens last email. He has struggled getting over this sickness he had, or its another one, idk, but please keep him (and Mitchell and Tori) in your prayers. Thank you! Ok the picture of the sticker....I was like oh man! what is this and why is my missionary son taking a pic of this! I was thinking where is he at??? To the american eye I would think a translation would be like some kind of male bondage, not good, right? Then I looked it up and translated it on google and it basically means "beware, woman on board" haha Much better! I could just see colten cracking up at this sticker on some car and wanting me to see it cause Im such a road rage driver haha! To funny! I woldnt put this on my car though!!!!!

hey everybody well i only have time to share a sweet strory.about our investigador.


her name is yessenia she is married to a less active member who is confused but have helped him see the light. well we had a lesson planned to go to her house with the first counselor and his wife and well we get there and she is really sick. throwing up and dizzy all hat good stuff well this dy we were totally twins because i got sick too!!!! and we had the same stuff hshahaha ony that i handnt thrown upbut we gave hher a blessing and then i got a blessing to haha and well she had to come to church yesterday so that she can be baptised but well we didnt teach her because she went to the hospital and well we didnt know what to to i was saso sick and well i went to the doctor and well when i got there he told me that i wasnt sick hahaha and well i felt better once we got to the door ahhaa the blessing worked for me and well i had to do some studies today they still dont nkow what i have but it shouyld be good. anyways we were really worried that she wasnt going to be able to go to church so we preyed for her. we got to church on sunday and she was sitting in the back she was sick but she came. showing her faith in the lord that she wants to be baptised in saturday and she wants to have a eternal family. super sweet to see these blesing for these people.

the pictures are my comp in her skirt hahaa tadeo son of yessenia jammen to music in english trying to sing hahaha and the my comp fell aspleep in a lesson and the last on is a sticker hahhaha sorry its so short but i gotta go love you!!

elder houston

July 18

tough week


well this week was a little tough we had a baptism the planned haaa well the kid came to church and planned his whole baptism with the ward and everyone was getting pumped haha and well the same sunday he took off to tuxtle to work hahah and didnt say anything to us he will be coming back in august and i will still be here haha so we will baptise him when he getts back. also we have 4 baptisms coming up july 30 pray that they all go through one sister we are waiting for her papers to come back because she had to change them then we gotta get her married to her man and then splash some water on her face haha oh wait i mean dunk her hah they are all ready to do erything only in the process of waiting.

another well in the past she has had 2 or 3 baptism dates planned but she never showed up or said no in the last moment. well now she is ready to be baptised she has come straight up and said my goal is to be baptised in your church and we are pumping them up for the temple so they can have a eternal family. so excited haha they are really good people to be honest the husband has had some trials but know he is rteally trying to get out of them he is a member but he has been really thrown off and little by little we are putting him back on track with his wife.

the other is a sister that mmm her bf is a meber and they want to get married and well the brother arturo his last wife they didnt get married and she isnt a member and well everything fell but he has found a sister that is golden she is awesome she is really pumped up to have a eternal family tomorrow we are going to visit them pretty excited.

the last one her name is maru she is awesome really relaxed in the beginning we were teaching her family and well basically all of them started attacking us and the church and then said now they dont want to learn more apostasia is what it is but its ok maru is excited and well lets just hope she follows through with her promise.

for there we are trying to put the members to work so that we can lift up this ward they are struggling and i am running out of ideas. so we started working with the return mssionaries to use there idea and combine them and well do a super mega spirit bomb on this area so that they get on track. pretty pumped up. the end of this transfer i will have 9 months here pretty exciting. i am working hard there a picture of juan there after the baptism we had.

well really nothing happened this week super crazy onlt that me and my comp like to teach lesson 2 plan of salvation because we made a puzzle ahaha and its sweet.and we made lots and lots of plans.

i hope everything is just awesome at home and everything is going great. remember that the lord needs you guys to work becaus we will see a day that the lord will take away the missionaries in the whole world and if we dont pay attention and work now we are going to be quit lost in what we should do. work hard please and remeber that th lord is watching over all of you and remeber that he loves you!!!!

elder houston

ps 2 things did you ever order more hold to the rod keychains?

and the other is... well i dont want to ask but i am running short on money right now i have 400 i think i will be good but if you could put a lil in my account it would give me some relief haha sometimes i panic you know. today i gotta by some new shoes!!! yaa haha the ones i have well i have taken them to a guy like 3 times cause they keep breaking haha love you and thanks a ton!!!!!

July 11

well the truth is i had no idea i couldnt send a machette so i still have it enjoy those things haha and well i love you all. haha this week we had a pretty sweet experience

well actually a few. ok so alma the one who baught you the necklace and purse well finally she decided to be baptised. she is kinda weird but anyways in her baptism she said i couldnt take fotos which made me mad but i got over it. we baptised her in her pool hahaha the last picture is us cleaning her pool when she was in her interview and then it started to rain super crazy hard it was fun because we had to use bucket to take out the water and then when it rained all the water came back so we started to clean around the patio. and well the baptism was great members showed up that she wanted to invite we finny helped her understand that she has to be careful with her cloths because well its not very modest. and it was great!!!

the other puctures idk if i sent them before i lent my camera to a friend and couldnt send pictures theres elder garcia and me doing service for gonzalo turns out you mow the lawn with machette to hahaha i left with 5 blisters how i miss working my hands are girly!!!! no offense but also theres a picture of adans baptism.were on a role. this thursday we should be having another baptism and on the 30th we have 3 planned pretty sweet and there all pretty golden.

another experience we had was with an investigator. her name is yessenia. well after the baptism we went toher house to invite her to church in the past she had 2 dates to be baptised and one they actually planned the baptism and she didnt show up. well when we got to her house she wasnt there but her husband jose was and he is a member inactive but for his wife he doesnt want to cause problems. well we knocked on the door they opened the window and we started talking he told me hey come here. and he said it really soft and he says my wife took a huge step were making progress. and he was about to tell me what happened and he stops and says come in i cant just talk like this. well we went inside and he said well we have been reading and praying lots of times she just takes out the book of mormon and begins to read to the kids and they fall asleep and its a relief and the other day we were preaying. he stops and says listen when we pray its legit ok we kneel together and face each other and we do it right just so you know we cant be out on our different worlds we gotta pray together. and i said perfect thats correct and he says we finished praying and she looks up at me and says. ya i am going to be baptised in your church. i want to do it. thats was friday he told us saturday and then on sunday they didnt come to church super bumbed because well she could bte baptised on the date we put but we decided to go to her house watch joseph smith and it was great after wards she is just happy as can be and she starts telling us this huge drama story about money and a dress for her daughter so she can graduate kindergarden and that she all of a sudden didnt have the money and a ton of stuff ands she said she left trying to sell some things but it didnt work out she left and started to cry a little and pray to ask if heavenly father if he could lend her a hand. then she started crying with us and said the man in the corner yelled and me and siad whats wrong your not normaal today you r all down and usually your really happy and getgoing. she explained and he said listen i will lend you this money. she started to cry because she witnessed the the love our father has for us. she continues and says hermanos i have a goal and thats that my kids always have what they need. and said i have another goal. crying but happy... and says i am going to be baptised in the church. and was just so happy. the power of prayer is amazing and the book of mormon, another time she was super stressed one day and he husband just started to read the book of mormon out loud and she said she felt so peaceful just hearing the words. the book of mormon is true and it carrys the spirit inside you only have to read it to feel it. like it says in 1nefi 1:12 o 13 but its great so awesome.

also i am staying in 5 de febrero!!!!!!!!!!!! yesssss!!!!!!!!!!! i am going to have 9 months in this area pretty sweet. but i am going tohrough a trial.well the lord wants to know if his own servants love him just like our words say. and in that way well president has banned all sodas. all everything with gas. man thats ganna be rought but i understand and its a blessing to have this trial i love you all i hope everything is just great and happy because i am pumped!!!!!! love you all be good and read your book of mormon and the biblr.
elder houston

June 27th

hahahaha well mom i dont know my sickness wasnt something crazy like i was ganna die hhaha i wasnt ganna tell you guys anything haha but i didnt want to get home and show you some pictures of me in the hospital haha and then get yelled at but the nest time if theres a next time i will do what i can to let you know haha. okay and on top of that the reason i got sick is because i bought some strawberries because they arejust so delicious but i didnt wash them that well so i got sick and a week before that we all took some pills to clean us out and then i ate some sticken delicious huge strawberries. just thinking and saying that makes me want to find wilbert and buy some more haha he is my homie he is from guatemala always sells me the goods hahaha but ok i am sorry dont worry it wasnt anything that crazy they put me with the doctor so i would heal faster hahahaha




this week ws like a roller coaster super sad super happy super lost and a little mad. a little bit of chewing out with lots of love........ adan is preparing for his baptism well was hahaha and we got to his house and we started to teach him. that was in the beginning of the week. also i gave my running shoes to juan because he was using his church shoes and ruining them. anyways we had everything planned super pumped adan is the last one for the whole family to be baptised. then after this day i started hearing rumors of maria that someone saw her walking with some guy drinking. my heart shrunk into the bottom of the ocean but i didnt want to believe that it was true. but sure enough we arive into there home. maria in he little rrom and i hear.... ¡¡¡¡¡CHOY!!!!! ¡YA LLEGASTE?...... i ignored her because i was taken off my feet. lost in prayer lost in my own mind. people trying to talk to me i was lost and well just sad you know really sad. even though she didnt tell me i drank and i didnt even see her the sound of her voice and the way she talked i knew. but a quick prayer set me straight in this moment i was there to help adan prepare and to help him get pumped up for his baptism and not let this get to him. and for gonzalo and for juan. juan was crying well trying his hardest not to poor guy but he helped us get his brother ready and as you can see adan!! got baptised. the day of his baptism we went to pick him up. everyone ready to go even his mom but she was drunk. and it tore me to peices when she said i am going to take a picture of me and my son in white. and i had to tell he to sit down because she was not going to leave the house and she cannot go with us. nearly cried. i was pretty upset. when juan and adan headed for the car i was arguing with maria. and she was mad oh man really mad haha but i raised my voice and told her to stop. i told her she needs to get rid of the alcohol now and be a good mom to these boys and be there example and help them be good people. she shut up and said take him to his baptism and didnt want to talk to me. gonzalo couldnt go either beaus he had to stay with his wif to care for her and watch over her. even though they arent married in the temple and have problems its very impressing to see the heart of gonzalo helping his wife even though he is really sad and hopeless he never stops trying to help. i learned a powerdul lesson and enduring to the end. he never stops. he is old and slow she is a bit quicker but he never stops running he does all he can to do what he can to help her. on the other her the baptism was great lots of members showed up and supported him and gid my son elder gonzalez baptised adam on saturday and the bishop confirmed him as a memeber of the church. yes!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! he was pumped and was setting the example for me. what a blessing.

theres something from this lesson i would like everyone to learn. i would say with everyone there is someone. who is a little stubborn. probably a family friend or normal friend or family brother sister cousin. neighbor. it could be anyone... who is difficult maybe has hardened there heart. maybe they dont follow the commandments like they should or say well this time i dont care ill try harder the next time. maybe they skip out on activities to choose thing such as work sports maybe just because they dont go. and maybe they dont go to church for these same reasons. maybe there ae other things that i cant think of right now that happens that impides them from going to church . and well it probably breaks our heart of makes us made or annoyed maybe we try to judge them or maybe we just try to get away from them. in our mind but in reality we are always there to help them. and we ont know why. well the lord is calling you to endure to the end. help them know they are loved show them thhere are better ways to work there are better ways so that they can recieve these blessings. help them know the impotance of sacrament and never and i mean NEVER give up. always invite them to repent and come unto christ because the savior never said it would be easy to be in the horrible world of iniquity he never said said we would pass our life and not have challnges and struggle maybe we will lose our way or a friend would lose there site even just a little bit. or a lot and would cause us pain. he never said it would be easy... but he said it would be worth it. he said if we endure to the end. the father says we will have eternal life. we will live with our familes for ever. our troubled times will leave and never come back and we will live in complete happiness. and when we are on the other side of the vail. that person or tthose people we try to help.. we come to us gives a hug maybe even crying of joy just to thank you for not giving up on them and you will walk into the eternities together with your families to live with our father in heave FOREVER... i see gonzalo and i see what a blessing he is even though he lives in a house of sticks and plastic with dirt floor he works for 30 bucks a week and his wife wastes maybe half his maney to buy her drinks. but he always there to help and serve his wife so that hopefully he can help her leave these blessed chains of satan and return to the path that she had entered. i know that maybe we are passing hard time and maybe the hard times is seeing others fall well we have to help them get back up. its part of gods plan. i love you all i hope everything is just happiness and well of course busy and i hope the busy ha some part of being missionaries :) i love you!!!

elder houston

ps... tomorrow i will be sending you a package its a big one keep your eye out for it.

alsoi ove you maybe you could send me some ties? hehe im getting really bored of mine hha

also tell justin or you can to sent pictures through your iphone much easier.

Out of the Hospital

alright well i got lots of info whre to start......


well today i left the hospital hahaha i have been sick since thursday night hahah pretty bomb. i was put in the doctors with a IV in my left hand pumping in solutions. haha i was pretty bad i dont know what i ate they think it was the strawberries that i bought i guess i didnt wash them good enough. i had gastritis and salomonila hahah it was fantastic. i felt really loved to be honest i recieved lots of phone calls and visits from hna champo and he fam. they are the best. they make me feel like home. hahaha she is always trying to get me to eat nasty vegtables hahaha but i love her to death i always change it for fruits.!!!! i left today hahaha and i am feelig great like a just ate a bowl of frosted flakes!!!!! heres a lil pictures haha of the champo family and me!!

ok the rock. haha theres lots of ruins here to be honest i dont know who found it to be honest w didnt have a tour guide but i tried to take pictures but you cant see anything. the rock has been in a few enzigns haha but basically its the tree of life haha its sweet i bought a replica that is coming in a package i am going to try to send today. really worried about this package to be honest but we will see what happens. anyways the church i belive is very involved in this research i was talking to another misionary and when he went he had a tour guide they said that they have found a city under the ground that they are going to start to dig up. thats really all i know. here in mexico they have tons of ruins they have tons of old temple and i have even heard that they are pretty sure they know where the tower of king benjamin. its pretty awesome to be preaching to the laminites and changing them to nefites hahaha

we aer teaching a family they are sweet i dont know what the families name is but they have tons of questions i dont know if i told you all about them but they have heard tons of rumors about the church that are just rediculous. unfortunately i dont think i will see them get baptised becuase tranfers are coming up soon. kinda scary i will have 71/2 months here and well i just have so much work here i am scared to just put it in the hands of the members because there not ready and niether is my comp. i love him to death but he is very prideful and the moment i leave he will drop my work. in the beginning he wanted to start new and i told him funny story not ganna happen he got a little mad but we will see i hope we can fortify this ward and fortify this part of gods army enough that they dont have to add them to another ward. but anyways idk where i was going but this family idk what it is about them they live like 6 housses from us idk how i never found them funny how the lord workd sometimes. but they are progresssing they have basically accepted everything thy have felt the truth the only problem is that they have so many questions that they confuse each other and then think that joseph smith lived with the lamanites hahaha things like that just destroy there mind. then they dont believe in pictures of jesus kinda funny as wel but they have a good reason. today we are going to see the movie of joseph smith or the testaments. idk when we teach them i just feel likethey are part of my family really. they wwant to go to a conference in utah one day which would be awesome to take them.

well doesnt supries me about dad haha always seems to be like that haha but it will be a good way for coop to learn about car becuase without that knowledge your always depending on other people. hhaha funny stoy about carrin to haha we will see when i get home haha ayaya my eyes are hurting haha 2 more things. 1 i told juam that i am going to take him to the usnited states with me so he can work and help him family. also maybe adan because well he is a great kid. thay are stoked to meet all you guys they cant wit to meet you everytime i see them there like are your parents coming soon hahah i say yup less then a year i give juan english homework he is really smart to tell you the truth. and the other thing is when you fly here to get me i think it would be sweet to fly into oklahoma to pass by my cousin and take a picture as 2 missionaries 2 warriors in gods army that have the same calling and we can complete the picture that you sent me in the mtc. it would be awesome. and we have to do it before i get released haha if its possible. haha i love you all.

i know i didnt share anything spiritual with you guys. only keep working hard i hope that evrything is goig great. oh yea!!! adan!!! he is going to be baptised this week!!!!!!!! he is super excited haha they told me that he showed up to church this week haha and he said he hasnt drank coffee. i am stoked. i gotta find him some white pants hahahahaha love you guys!!

elder houston

More pictures and New Companion!

stevie..
dont worry buddy i am working hard the best i can and i help people everyday!!! the people are really nice and well they all seem to go good with me because i am white and they always want to talk to me well not sometimes they start to yell at me and are really mad but i wave at them and tell them good evening and leave hhaha i am glad you guys are ding some kind of sport . you guys should really try out soccer. its so fun man i love it. i dont let it distract me but i am getting pretty good i remember when i got here no one wanted me on there team and and when i got stuck someone they never wanted to give me the ball because i was terrible and i couldnt even shoot goals. well now i am not the last pick and i can do tricks man!! hahaha its great thismorning i was making goals left and right it was sweet man well i love you bro!!!! be good good luck with swimming. jace you to i love you man keep up the good wok with swimming!!


mom..
well i am doing great happy as can be. my new comp well he is a good guy haha we have had a few arguments but we left understanding. we love the work and thats the only thing that we are worried about. i love the work this wekk we are going to have a baptism with a younge man named luis its on thursday. and the next week with adan juans little brother. he wanted to be baptised this week but he couldnt come to church because his foot is pretty messed up but i think that we are going to pick him up this sunday or even if i have to carry him i will do it. i have been using a lot of eagle scout stuff to tell you the truth i have been healing his foot well his feet because he went in the river and there tons of trash nd he cut open his toe and it started to get infected and well i healed it and heavenly father. what a blessing it was to always be in scouts.

well there you have a few pics. one well you got my new comphaha elder garcia.

2 and almost all of them you got a actuvity we did with juan and his family. we drew the plan of salvations hahaha and i took pictures of all of them.and them drawings hahaha then i fought over whose is the best hahaha its great. then you guy a picture of me wit the chicken on my knee always carefull that it doesnt go to the bathroom on me but hey i am a chicken master i put it to sleep that little guy loves me hahahaha

this week was pretty fun we found a family well 2 families that live together there are 7 who can be baptised. and i am sure lots of them will be because there really awesome people i feel really confortable with them from the start just people with good hearts. i know that the lord has some plans for them and i hope that we can be guided by the spirit to help them find there way and they can see the correct path i know that here in the area we are the lords hands and when we are obediant we receive blessing and we are worthy to have these kinds of experiences. the lord expects all of us to be worthy he expects us to put examples and he expects us to do hs work here are earth in the temples and in the streets with our friends and family neighbors and our neighbors neighbors. we are all called to serve the lord with our haert and strength look to the future follow the path and do the lords work and we are promised in these times we will be proteted and we will grow. we are promised if we do the lords work the angels will be walking along side of us and we will know everything that we need to do. we are promised that are families will be taken care of and that everyone will be happy and all will be in zion. and tell me who wouldnt want that. so just choose it. choose to love the lord because when we dont we ae obviously telling him that we love the world more then him and if we love the world it means we also love satan. in one form i do love satan because he is our brother but in the form that we choose the plan of satan and we follow him if we love the world. the lord has called you to surve. everyone that reads these letters or hears about them i am talking to you and the lord needs you choose the right choose to love our savior and do everything you can to do some kind of work for him daily. before you sleep and night think tomorrow what can i do for the lord. how can i serve him. and it doesnt mean you just drop work and drop your family it means do everything you can to help you bretheren and sisters return to our father in heaven that was when we return and we are in the group of people who recieved the gospel and the group who were baptised and really followed christ our father. doesnt point to the group of people who are lost and he doesnt have to ask us... why didnt you talk to them why didnt you share with them what you know. why didnt you help them. here have my kingdom have my glory but remeber that your brothers and sisters.. they cant enter they cant come in because you all didnt talk to them and help them... maybe a few of them were they who you promised and i promised to find before our life maybe they were our best friends before this life. and afterwards if yu dont help them they will be shut outside and will not be able to enter into the kingdom of our father. i also understand that everyone has there free angency and sometimes we cannot do more. but it doesnt give us any excuse to give up. you are all given the gift of the holy ghost and he knows what they need so go our ther and find them they need you as our savior said... FEED MY SHEEP!!!!

love you
elder houston

Elder Garcia

 Juans Family drawing the plan of salvation

 Juan and his picture of the plan of salvation

 juan's mom, and her drawing of the plan of salvation

 juans little brother and his drawing

 Elder Houston the Chicken Master



May 23rd

well nothing has really happened this week so well thats all i have to say haha

no just joking haha i have some things i want to tell you because we recieved a sweet blessing ok ready!!! juans mom is going to be baptised this thurday!!!! oh man i am stoked she has decided to stop drinking and well idk all of a sudden say hey i want to be baptised i havent drank. this was the past week and well she drank monday that was the lat time and so we put her date for this thursday so that she it didnt look hopeless and she accepted!!! yea!!! and she is super stoked came to church hahaha she chewe me out a little because she went to the bathroom and we were sitting outside and she says what! your not going to class or what haha we were talking with a the 2nd counseler ahaha she was just in sock because we werent learning haha .but anyways she is awesome she wants to be baptised and we are pumped we announced it with al the sisters and i hope that they all come!!!! because she needs friends. then we are going to be working with her other son and boom they are all baptised.

also fabian came to church haha well we went to his house and woke him up but he came!!! and he said he really liked it its pretty exciting!! we are going to put 9 baptism dates this week i h ope they all go through!! ahh man its just was a great week we also had 2 activities we taught the sisters how to make cheese cake. it was knda of a disaster because they started fighting idk why youalways gatta do that but hey it hapens. then the next day we had another activity with the ward we cleaned the church ate carne asada and played futbol and the the next day another activity trying to activate some people we played soccer with the other ward and well they are poor sports so i got mad and well it wasnt that great but we had investigators and less activs come so i hope it was good for them.

this wednesday we are going to go to IZAPA its the ruins where they found the rock with lehis dream in the book of mormon i am pretty stoked because i have been wanting to go for 6 months and we are finally ganna go i hope to find some pretty sweet stuff i will take a bunch of pictures.dad i took some advise from you and bought a few things i will be sending them to you guys and some books that i am not using and a few things that i dont need here that i brought and well maybethings i shouldnt have but i am sending them to you guys to enjoy but keep an eye its going to be a good package but take care if it

well this week really was a great week preparing maria for her baptism and helping my brothers and sisters to come unto christ . it really is a good thing here there are a lot of people that are inactive that have lost tyhere way but little by the little we are clearing the mist and fog of satan i know that our efforts are for a reason. please please please help the missionaries. we need your help as members. our work means nothing if we dont have help. learn what the misionary plan is that the sister are working so hard to do and the other misionaries. this plan doesnt not come from the missionaries it comes from the profet and his apostols and really that means it comes from god so please folow the teaching and the pleads for help that the profets asks. younge men please start preparing for you r mission those of you who cant serve well it doesnt mean you cant serve it means you have a big responsability to fulfil in your wards. our brothers and sisters cant see straight but luckily for them we do and we can help them and explain to them how things are so that they see the light. i know you all have work and have faily and have your life well as our bautisimal covenants its our duty to serve with uor life because we promised to keep the commandments and well its a commandment to serve the lord. for my family well remeber our ward in arizona it was big and it is a great ward and our ward in texas it is fantastic its small but its amazing we need to work so that it can be big and we can spread out more and more. dad justin i remeber many of the workers always asking me questions. and why we are the way we are and i remeber i said well were mormons haha and then they asked.. whats that. i wish i knew before because i would have loved to testify of the book of mormon and that really they have a purpose in the life. please just open your mouths. talk to your friends. out goals to invite a different friend to church every week. i know you can do it.

i love you guys. the message really goes to everysingle person that reads my letters if your a child or a adult its for everyone. the lord has called us to serve and promises us he will help us like i said in my last letter i love you all have a great week.!!!!!

elder houston

Easter!

this week was really rough lots of things going on with my comp and lots of hard lessons because i feel so alone. i felt like i was teaching everyone by myself. didnt feel like the spirit was with me what a blessing we have when we do things right and we can have the spirit with us. my comp has decided to go home. its his own desicion he doesnt want to serve. and i dont understand. right now i am just waiting for my new comp basically. we are here and waiting for more information. his parents called us and i talked to them that was a joke. i cant speak english mothersday is going to be reallt fun let me tell you hahah it literally i feel like a mexican which is awesome because i cant speak english it was really funny because i kept starting to talk in spanish to his parents but i got through it he spoke with his parents then to president and then to me and told me that he is going home. and its not a desicion that is like well i dont feel worthy he just has no desire to serve at all. and its really hard to work. he works and teaches and helps but the truth is that tyhe spirit has not been in a lesson we have had for a whole week and maybe its because i am pretty bummed out this elder has saved my life to tell you the truth because with elder reys i was about dead and fed up with the things and the lord knew and sent elder waldron to me and he has pumped me up to be serving. i have never been happier o be out on my missio because of him and the truth is its very hard to see him leave.

in the mtc there was another elder that went home i dont know if you remember he but he wnt home and my teacher always used this analogy of a war that we come out and fight and when he told me this well its got me soked up to become a warrior just dominating satan. and well i never thought that i would fall . but when elder waldron got here he picked me up by the collar and in the beginning was dragging me by the collar and now its the other way around. its very hard to see my brother in arms fall. and when i tried to pick him up it didnt work i dont know if you is just to heave or what but i couldnt do it and he is goin home. he choked. i gave him water and he drank he passed out i gace hm air and proteccion from everything around i stood over him for days and nights so that the enemies cant touch him he wakes up i give him water he starts to stand but is weak and tumbles ever the rocks as we walk. i pick him up but we get to the edge he is wabling and when i grab him its to late satan hit him and i couldnt block it. and he fell. he did fall into the arms of our saviour because i now that he wont go inactive the reasons and the way he talks is just and i respect him and he is alway going to be a faithful member but i hompe for the best for him because the truth is the people need him here. they need his haert to touch theres and its very hard to see hi turn away in that aspect because i see his potencial.he came as an angel and maybe he leaves as an angel but all i know is that he is leaving with at least one convert and thats me.

other then that maria drank tuesday and couldnt be baptised but this week we are going to win. she starting drinking coffee which i was just really in shock. like sister what do you mean you are drinking coffee remeber the word of wisdom well. coffee is included she is still a little confused but i am glad she isnt drinking coffee is easier to get rid of. her reason is that when she is hungry she ant take it so she drinks a little coffe and she is good hahaha i laugh with her a lot she is really funny. theres a picture of her and juan she is behind juan and then there id rosy she is just a precious little thing hahaha and then there dad giving me a peace sign he is ready to go.

for easter here is great theres a few pictures there that you can see. the catholic church has a car with this huge speaker and the preists walk in fron to lead with a microphone its great they sing this song but they same the same thing over and over and over haha and they just walk all over town sweating a ton. i have a video for the night hahaha its really funny i felt like if they saw me taking a video they were going to turn into zombies and try to get me haha but it was really funny

i know that this email wasnt to great but i ove you all mom i am stoked to talk to you on mothers day and to others as well tell dad not to worry i understand the life he lives hahaa but he whelps me everyday in all i do because i always use stories from our family and the truth is i am greatful for all our family i am happy that i grew up have the example and proteccion from my family and thta you all have always loved me unconditionally. i love yu all i love you mom!!!

elder houston

juan

 juan's dad

 easter

 more easter



April 4 2011

hahaha well i think my message to justin just about did it for me nah just kidding no i sent him a pretty good one you should read it but this week was rough no i still havent recieved my package and idk what to do about it haha well theres actually nothin i can do.hahah the truth is this week was rough i have a lot of thinking about home and i really miss you guys i really miss home but i had a blessing by my comp and now i am better and some advise from my big bro gets me pumped up realdy to go but this week we have 2 baptisms planned for the mom and dad of my buddy juan haha i think he is excited he is always boared but i hope i can help him get excited i am pretty sure he is about to get the aaronic priesthood. pretty excited for that and some other converts are getting really to do some baptism for the dead well i sure hope so. yes i got to see all of the coference but it was all in spanish pretty riough i am not used to listening to such big words but hey i got some notes hahaha but really i loved prieshood session the best like always. but i did miss the dinner with my dad and brothers i really look forward to prieshood session every year to be with my dad and brothers and no dad i am not coping you or trying to steal your words but its the truth. listen to the prophet and the apostols one talk said we need to prepare ourself so lets get ready hahaha really i went blank to. it was a rough week but we are working hard i promise

this picture is of my companion trying to make tortillas haha por littlñe things hahaha but they were delicious. with some salt. dont woprry mom when i get home i am going to help you learn how to eat like a real mexican and then marrio flores can say yes now thats real mexican food hahaha because the way i eat here is nothing compared to mi amigos. its delicious there but they are missing a few huge things hahaha for example tortillas in every meal. we dont use silverwear we use tortillas and it is amazing.

i am stoked for mitch like you have no idea and i am sad because once again i dont have anytime to send him a message that can really help him i am going to do it next week but i sure do love the kid and for eveyone else to.

well to be honest i am completely blank amber dont hit your kids the prophet has tought that we dont do that. babies cant lie you know hahaha no just kidding braiden you shouldnt lie.

well here is a little something i wrote to justin

right now i am living in this challenge and it is going to push to your limits when you dont think you can go anymore you return to the house eat a little snack and get to relax for a minute then you start thinking of all of your day that had just passed. you will go to your room with your comp and fall to your knees from exauhstion and begin to pray sometimes you will cry sometimes your calm who knows. but what you do know is that your working for the lord and he is really happy with you.and in your prayer you plead for help every night because really you will need it everyone does.but when you wake up your pumped and ready to go again. throughout the day your busy busy busy and you work and work and work. but your happy.your work until you cant even walk and your still happy. sometimes its even nesesary to give a hug to a bum that has no home and you get to tell him that everything is ok and that he is a child of god and his father loves him and wants him to be clean. sometimes you feel angels walking next to you and sometimes sometimes your are torn to peices because your brothers dont accept the invetation or you see them fall into the chains of satan and you will cry for them and pray for them. but in these moments you feel something amazing its something like your running your hands through the clouds of heaven.

the truth is i really feel that way there is nothing better that i have every dedicated my life. i dont think i will be an apostol one day but i will always be a diciple of christ and follow what he wants. and i hope that my hand never leaves these clouds that i have had the opportunity to touch and feel and love

please follow the cousils of our leaders its like holland said every talk and message was from the heavens and from the angels. and they have all recieved that from our father.

sorry this week was lame but i love you all i hope i get my package soon maybe try and call them.idk. i love you all!!!

elder houston

4th Baptism!

ok well this wek was pretty crazy i am going to start with th best thing that happened this week then i will advise you with the other stuff and with your wonderful email you sent me.

ok so this lady i dont really remember how to call her in english. younge lady not important well she is just chosen off the wall i tell you what. so basically we have nt been able to see her for a week and then she wasnt going to come to church because she was feeling sick but our member called her up and said please come its going to be super sweet. so she came we made an appointment for wednesday to teach her and prepare her for her baptism. we always had to teach her in the church so we arrived at the church and called her up to ask where she was. she was sick in bed sleeping haha we had to tak to her sister. well its was really hard to except that because she is so ready to be baptised. thursday morning we had a planning sesh with my comp and we got on the subject of monica and we said well i think it would be better if we give her name to other misionaries who live closer to her and can go to her house to see how she is doing. so i sent a message. asking for her direction. hahaha she text back and says hey i feel a lot better today and i want to see you guys at the church today at 4. whoa. ok then we started preparing a lesson for her and i tell my comp that i dont think she is going to be baptised this week i think she is going to want to wait. my comp says to me listen do yuo want her to get baptised this week or no. i said yes. then he said ok do you have the faith that she is going to be baptised this week or no. i said well of course duh and he said ok then. lets do it.so we said a prayer and off we went. we went to the lesson she starts telling us everything that has happened that was amaznig that her parents are trying to make a better effort to have a better relationship with her and that she is reading the book of mornon non stop and cant put the book down. and sometimes it just stumps her so she has to take a break and then go back just all this amazing stuff. then she says listen i was talking to my sister and asked if i get baptised this weekend will you come and support me and he lil sister was pumped up out of her mind and even baught her dress whoa!!!! and she says listen i want to be baptised this week like we made this goal to do and asked if it was still possible to do it. i said yes and she was stoked nearly cried hahaha and then she had a few doubts but we cleared t all up she says she doesnt want to wait haha that this wekend is her baptism. we set up her interview friday and her baptism friday. i had the oportunity to baptise her. but the best part of it all was this........ we entered the water. she is smiling excited. we set up and i say the prayer. baptise her and when she comes out of the water she is smiling huge and she asks. am i perfect? i said yes you are perfect smiling back at her and she is just i dont know super happy in the perfect state like a child. but when i left the water i was just full of joy and happiness i couldnt hold it in. i went to the bathroom to change. i kneeled in my wet clothes to offer a prayer of thanks. i started to cry because i was so happy. then i felt an angel from heave rest his hands upon my back and fire went through my whole body. from my shoulders to my ears to my feet and back up. and i just cried. giving thanks to our father in heaven to have the oportunity to help my sister find the straight and narrow path. there is no greater feeling then this i tell all of you with all my heart that there is nothing better then i could be doing right now. the joy of helping these people helping them find what we have.

well that is my story well i have another one hahaha last night we were walking and idk we had a few options to do. to go to a few different houses. we decided to pass by one sister to see if she has time to come with us to a lesson. she open the door and is like elders what the heck are you doing its really late. it was only 7 and she invites us in.she doesnt look to well. and she starts to tell us everything that has happened and has passed that she hasnt slept for like 3 days and her head is killing she is on the erge of crying. and i offered a blessing she says please. we give her the blessing and we end. she is sobbing. and knows that she is going to recieve the help she needs. we let her go so that she could sleep. and rest and as wee walk out the door she is always asking if she can help us and i said. the only help you can give us if you go to sleep right now i gave her a promise that she is going to sleep and the lord is going to bless her. she starts crying again and says thank please pray for we tonight so i can sleep so we did i and know tht she couild sleep we gotta check up on her but after that i was of fire just pumped up out of my mind i dont know but we pass this homeless guy. just sitting on the ground no shirt no shoes. looks super sad. well you know how i am with the homeless i just have to try to hlp. we sat down next to him and he really didnt want to talk to us but i got a glimpse of what he is going through the way the people were looking at us and the looks oh i hated the looks. he had his head down. we shared a message with him and stood up we invited him to stand with us. i gave him a hug and then my companion did to i dont know i was inspired i didnt care i had a white shirt and tie this man needed a hug so we gave him one. he still didnt smile but i always see him walking. there was one moment when i really was thinking who could we go to give him a place to sleep i thought of a few but i knew they would just be like elderes are you serious come on. so i didnt.

super sweet mitchell got his call i am super stoked for him. i have been waiting forever for him to get out ther you know everynight thinking about him sharing our stories that we have had together with my investigators but now it is his turn to get ut ther and show the world that the lord loves everyone and that no one is alone.with colton tieman i wish i had a way to send him a messgae i am also proud of him that he decided to make that desision to wait i really hope that he can wait and get out there he needs it.

package still have not recieved it do you have a tracking number or something i can try to find it?and the thing with recieving blessing i am sure that you guys are jus living the way you should and choosing the right i hope my little brothers are listening to my letters and i hope they read them. its going to be a rough time growing up i think in texas because it is like that but as role models we can only teach then to do good and hope they make the right decisiones. ñuckily i have you and day as parents and my sister amber and big brother justin and i learned from you guys and had lots of pressure because i didnt want to fail my father in heaven. i have never drank or smoked in my life because of those things. i have touched alcohol here more then any other place because i always dump the bottles out when the drunks offer me.

i love you all i hope everything is just dandy trust ion the lord in all you do so that we can alweays be happy.

elder houston

New Companion!

ok what a week hahaha so we have been recieving tons of rain i love it oh mmm forst my companions name is elder waldron he is from las vegas he is legit just like super humble perfect for what i need right now and we are super duper pumped to work tother haha he has 6 months in the mission he has 3 in mexico i am his 3rd companion here in mexico and this is his 2nd area i think and he sapeaks tons of spanish he knows a ton more then me really the only difference is i talk more fluent haha but his grammer is all correct on stuff and mine is still bad so he is teaching me a lot.

ok well this whole tsunami thing is pretty sweet well not so much that there was one but we had a warning for one here in the passific so we recieved tons of rain well really it was been raining for almost 2 weeks these last 2 days no but oh how much i miss the rain haha i went into the street and was playing in the rain and this one investigator got really bad at me. ok well the first day he got mad because i left my home haha he saw our family picture and was like what in the world are you doing here in crappy mexico wear you will breathe bad dust and get sick and just like all this stuff then when we went back 2 days laters i was soked when we got to his little store and he was like what in the world are you doing one you leave you home and then you leave are all wet you are going to get sick because you think its okay to work when its raining go to your house dry off and drink your cofee with some bread and clean your house and then sleep and rest dont work!!! hahaha i told him the lord will protect us because we are doing his work hahah he wasnt to happy with me i tell you

today was a lil rediculous so we have this one investigator that she really is awesome but has some problems in her life. she is finally doing way better she is not happy that elder reyes left but she finally is warming up to elder waldron well we have been pushing baptism a lot because she told us that she knows that the church is true and all this good stuff but literally refuses to accept a date and one day she says you know what were going to make a bet.there is a park that i go to i like to excersise at and the course to run is really hard its up and down and she says she took her husband one time to do it and i guess he couldnt do it. she told be if i can keep up with her and finish 3 laps one walking and the other 2 running that she will be baptised so i excepted haha but i had a hard time when i got home that night cause i am playing with the things of god. its just like you know me hahah always me and jake took the bets and we never lost so i took her bet but in my prayer i rrecieved revelation that its not what i should really do but i couldnt really back out so i decided look we will go and finish this whole thing but i am going to tell her that she is not going to be baptised because i won. and thats what i did hahaha but she said she is going to be baptised but only if elder reyes comes back and then we have to baptise her in the ocean hahaha really hard hahaha because elder reyes isnt going to come back so i have this trial.

well the truth is i am out of time right now i need to write the president but i love you all follow your prayer and fallow the revelations that we recieve so that we can continue recieving the help from our father in heaven pray for other people always and do all we can to help every person that we can to come to know that the church is true. i love you all be good i am excited for the next letter. oh the pictures is my companion and me under a rainbow 2 gringos in mexico hahaha and elder waldron is a lil tea pot hahaha the other is from this morning i love you all be good!!

elder houston