Thursday, February 27, 2014

Okay, Super Fast Week

Everyone,

Okay, so this past week went by super fast!  We had our district meeting this past Friday and that was cool.  I recited all the main points for the first four lessons. 

1. Restoration 
2. Plan of Salvation 
3.The Gospel of Jesus Christ 
4. The Commandments. 

It was hard to remember all of the points in each one but I did it! Oh, and like 5 minutes before we started, Elder Theory was like "President is coming, so no pressure!"  President Pingree is so cool though. I love that guy!
     
We have a new investigator that committed to be baptized next month!  Don't get your hopes up though cause she didn't come to church yesterday.  We taught her the Plan of Salvation last week and everything went really well but she said she is living with her aunt and she may not let her come to church. This is kinda weird cause she is in her twenties but we don't want her to have family problems because of us. I'll let you know more next week!

So we are so blessed. We have a mall and this waterway that we can walk to get new investigators. We were at the mall a few days ago and Elder Christensen had to make a phone call.  So we went to go find a seat for a minute.  He sat on the end of this couch and then Elder Peterson sat by him, and then I sat on the other side of Elder Peterson by this African American guy. I then asked him (the African American guy) how he was doing and what not.  Then he said he was waiting for his sister to get done shopping.  He asked if I was shopping and I said,  "No, I'm a missionary for my church."  And then I told him what we do.  He was interested, so I gave the first lesson real quick then I asked if we could meet with him to discuss more and he said, "I'm here. I wanna hear now."  Holy cow huh!? He caught me off guard! NO ONE SAYS THAT!! So I turned to my companions and I said this guy wants to here more. They weren't really listening at first when I was talking to him. So we flipped the couch around and went in more depth with the Restoration then we talked about the Plan of Salvation too! This was sooo sick! We talk to him for like 30-40 mins and then his sister walked up and she was not happy.  She was like we have been looking for you!  So we gave him a BOM and our number.  Hopefully he calls us back!  That is our mission miracle for the week. 
     
The Woodlands is going well so far. Please keep ALL missionaries in your prayers to try to help them receive more investigators.  We need it!  Also, members need to try to put forth more effort to get investigators. We talked about this yesterday morning in our missionary meeting for our ward. When members find, missionaries can teach. This really helps hasten the work. 
     
Well, I love you all very much and if anyone has questions or anything you can email or write me personally. Missionary work is hard work, but it's so worth it! 

All my love, 

Elder DeLuca


Elder Christensen and I.  We are going bald together!


Elder Christensen (my balding friend)


Elder Peterson and his thick hair.  What a brat!  Haha


Me chillin' at Ben's house, an investigator who is ready to be baptized, won't commit, though.

Monday, February 17, 2014

Texas Is Not What I Expected

Okay, so Texas is not what I expected it to be at all! I don't even know what I was thinking but I know it's way different than this!  Houston is a huge city (4th largest in the nation, I think), so we are actually in a place called The Woodlands. It isn't surprising to see Lamborghinis and Ferraris here. I have seen some really nice cars but that's not why I'm here. I look for a second or two, then it's like whatever to me.  Now, if it were a clean Subie, I may look for five seconds…..hehe!  Shout out to my brother Zacky. I love you, bro, and I'm still very hurt that you sold your Subaru. 

It is very nice here and we have a super nice apartment too!  We have a washer and dryer!  Soooo sick.  It is really such a blessing to have a laundry room in your apartment. We are very blessed! This area is called The Woodlands and man is that right. There are trees EVERYWHERE!!!!!!!! The stores are like way back in the trees so you see a sign on the side of the road, but no store!  Same with the gas stations. It is really quite interesting. Oh yeah, and we have a car! Its Ford Fusion with like 40K miles on it. They get rid of the cars at like 50K so I'll let you guys know if we get a new one! I can't drive till next transfer and I may be on bikes then. I'm gonna go crazy if I don't drive soon! HAHA…..not really. Its all good!

So we are in a trio companionship! They knew I was trouble so they had to make sure I got two companions.. Hahaha just kiddi'n'!!! There are so many new missionaries that some have two companions and some have three. There are quite a few with three here.  Okay so Elder Christensen is from Pleasant Grove, Utah and he has been out for seven months. Elder Peterson is from Richfield, Utah and he has been out two months. How weird is that?!  All of us are from Utah. I tell everyone I'm from Mesa, AZ but lived in Utah for a few years and graduated from PC high. 
     
We had church yesterday and we have a really nice ward! The building seems kinda new too so that's pretty cool. We are in the College Park Ward.

So I have gained a lot of respect for missionaries. I knew this was going to be the hardest thing I've ever had to do, but times that by like 23 and that's what its like.  Some of you may say, "Why 23?" and that's cause 10 is too low and everyone always says 100. Plus I like the number 23! haha. Missionary work is super hard but super awesome at the same time. 

We have a few investigators that we meet with, but in the evening we go walk this waterway by a mall and just talk to people. It isn't easy but last night was awesome! I asked this one guy if he wanted to hear a message about Jesus Christ and he was like, "Sure, why not?"  We were able to talk to him for a while and committed him to read the Book of Mormon!!!!!!!! We shall see how that goes. He seemed quite interested so we wrote down our number. Another teenager was with two friends and we were able to commit him to coming to church. Like I said it isn't easy but it pays off. It is SO worth it. I love it! 

I'll try to send some pics when I get this card reader thingy. I used my MTC companion's card reader when we were there. 

If you want to write me  or send something, my new address here in Texas is---

7575 Gosling Road #1010
The Woodlands, TX 77382

I love you all so much and remember so does Heavenly Father. I'll talk to ya'll soon!

Love, 

Elder DeLuca

Tuesday, February 11, 2014

Week 2 - MTC - Howdy Y'all!



Howdy, y'all!! They teach Texan pretty well here. Okay, so my second week was sweet. My comp and I were teaching a few investigators and that was so neat. We answered the questions that the one girl had for us and she was like "okay that makes sense" and we were like that's whats up. Jk.....we didn't say that. I did think it though. 

The other investigator we had was Everett. Let me explain him. He is a friend of one of our teachers (Brother Gleason) and so he was acting as Everett when we taught him. This may sound weird but it is so real. He leaves the class and goes and changes clothes and then heads to another room, then we go there as if it were his house. I cannot tell you how real this is. Brother Gleason and Everett are two completely different people. We taught Everett a new lesson each time we met with him and after the first three, I asked him to be baptized and this was the best experience I've had here. My allergies are kicking in right now as I"m typing. The spirit was there and Everett felt it and he took a pause for just a second or two, then he said yes to me. We still taught some more lessons after this and told him to keep up the good work and everything. Yesterday was our last time with him and we told him that we wouldn't be meeting with him anymore cause we were being transferred....far, far away from Provo. 

After this, when Brother Gleason got back to class, he taught us a lesson then we said bye to him. This was the hardest thing for me you guys. My other two teachers were super cool and very knowledgeable, but they just weren't Brother Gleason. I feel like I've known him my whole life and it is really something. I told him that when I was giving him a hug and we both lost it. I couldn't hold those tears in and for those of you that know me well, I do NOT like crying. At all.. yet I still do. Brother Gleason is an incredible person and I will see him when I get back. 

So I leave for Texas tomorrow. I'm not gonna lie, I am really nervous now. I am way more excited but still its gonna be crazy to be out there for real this time. I know that I have been called to Houston for a specific reason, and there are people waiting for me. I cannot express how incredible this experience is going to be. 
     

I want you all to know how much I love you and how grateful I am to be here today. Thank you for helping me get to where I am now. I also want to bear witness that I know that God lives and that Jesus Christ performed the Atonement so we can be forgiven for our sins. We're all sinners trying to be better people. My testimony of the gospel has strengthen so much these past two weeks and this is just the beginning. I now have less than two years to serve, and an eternity to think about it. This is my life and Jesus Christ is the center of it. I love being a missionary and I am so excited for Houston. 
    
Brother Gleason said something very interesting yesterday and I felt like it applied to me. He said don't worry about school, jobs and marriage. Get lost in the work. I love this because that is what I am and need to continue to do. I don't really know where and for what I wanna go to school for, but I do know that Heavenly Father knows where I am going and he will give me the opportunity to get there. I have so much faith in him. My life will workout the way it is supposed to when I get home. 
     
I love you all SO much and thank you for everything. Oh and by the way, big thanks to all of you who have sent me letters and packages. You know who you are and thank you!  My comp is district leader so he checks the mail every morning and evening. Guess who goes with him? ME!!!!!!!!!!!! When I see my name on a slip for a package or on a letter, oh man.. it's like Christmas in the MTC. I LOVE IT!!!!!!!!!!!!! So thanks(: 
     
Well, I'll let you know how my first week in Houston goes next week!

All my love,

Elder DeLuca




Elder Myers and I


One course.....


Starting from the left; Elder Pace, Brother Clegg, my comp Elder Meyers, Mee, Elder Allen, Sister Place, Sister Richardson, Sister Barton, then in front Sister Bullman and Sister Richins


Brother Gleason and I


Us and Brother Gleason  (:


I carry the light with me!


Temple walk on Sunday


Oh, I love this place at 10:30!


They never said anything about kissing the Elders!  (;


Me bein' me.

Tuesday, February 4, 2014

Week 1 - MTC - Well, hello everyone!



Well hello everyone! I have so much to say so let me try to explain. 

The first day was so crazy. I was constantly moving and I was like,  "Seriously, this is how its gonna be!?" Haha, well the answer is yes! We are always moving from place to place and we are in class hours on end. You could say its a love/hate relationship here at the MTC. The only thing I don't like about it is that it reminds me of school and I just LOVE school.....NOT!  Haha, so thats really the only thing I don't like. Actually there's more.  Some of these elders stink....like really bad.  And I'm thinking to myself, "Go take a shower!" Holy cow, come on.  But it's okay cause I smell good. (: Hehe! However, I am the last one ready......I just can't win! 

Well, what I love about it here is that the spirit is so strong and it's pretty much everywhere you go (except when you're around the stinky elders). I have never had this kind of an experience before and I really love being a missionary. My companion's name is Elder Meyers.  He is from Washington and I like him. We get along just fine, but we are so different. He likes theater stuff and I like cars and things with motors. It's all good though cause we aren't here for us. 

We have been teaching investigators here and wow, what a neat experience. We always say a prayer together before we go in and teach and it seriously helps a lot. I know that the spirit is with us as a companionship. We taught this girl last night and she was super smart and asked two questions that we didn't know how to answer, so we are gonna look them up and throw them back at her.  Just kidding! We will explain very politely.  ( : 

Okay so I must say I get a little hungry while sitting in class for hours on end.  Soooo, when I get to the cafeteria, I eat. Man, do I eat! The food isn't even that great but its all free, so I'm like, "Why don't I just get a li'l bit of everything!?"  Haha!  I make my own drinks too and that is super fun. I like this one with half passion fruit juice and half blue powerade. The other is just a simple cran-apple and I drink it like its going outta style! Mmmm.....sooo good! I love it. I'm being totally serious. My district makes fun of me cause of how much food I get. It's okay though cause I make fun of myself too! We just have three meals a day and I get two to three meals each time. Yeah I know. Its bad! I am working out though so that's good. 

Well I'll let you all know more on next Tuesday if we are allowed to email. We may not be allowed to cause we have to pack for Texas!  Yee-Haw!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 

Alright well I love you all so much and I am so happy to be where I am right now. I'll talk to y'all soon!  ( ;

Love, 

Elder DeLuca