Wednesday, May 28, 2014

A Little Slow But Awesome

Alright, this week was a little slow, but awesome!
    
Tuesday, we were able to get in with a less active family and share a message.  We were hoping that the whole family would be there but we decided to just show up instead of calling so no one could cancel!  We ended up teaching a father and his two sons Steven and Eric, a principle from the restoration lesson.  The younger son Eric was more interested than the older and when it came time to leave, Steven ended up saying the closing prayer because neither the dad nor Eric would say it.  This was seriously a miracle because when we got there, he was very into his video games and did not want anything to do with us.  He had a couple questions about why there are so many churches and stuff and I was like, "JOSEPH SMITH!!!"  Hahaha....I talked about him and explained that he was in the same boat and then I quoted James 1:5 and the first vision and he didn't even argue with me at all.  I was nervous to do this because whenever Elder Thomas said something, Steven would argue with him.  I was nervous for him to ask something I didn't know the answer to!  But I listened to the spirit and Steven felt it for sure. He didn't argue at all, he just nodded his head yes!!  So sweet! 
    
Wednesday we had zone conference and that was seriously sooo good.  The main point was to please God and not our fellow men.  That is something that is hard to do! I definitely need to not worry as much about what other people think of me.  If I am doing God's will, Im good. I don't even know who all reads this, but if anyone is having a hard time with trying to please God and not their friends or whatever, just know that it pleases our Father in Heaven sooo much when we stand up for what is right, even in the midst of opposition. Stand up for what is right even if you feel that you are alone.  I promise you that if you feel alone, it's just a temporary thing. But really, you are never alone. I know that I for sure have felt so alone at times but I have come to realize that Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ were cheering me on the whole time!  They were always there, even if I didn't notice it. 
 
Okay, so I gotta share something real quick about zone conference.  President always has us ALL prepare a talk before we go because at the end, he just picks like 5 or so missionaries to give a talk.  No one know until you are called up.... I had a feeling that I was gonna be called, then that thought went away.  Then Elder Thomas (he was conducting), was like we will first hear a talk from Elder DeLuca and so on and so forth, and my heart dropped into my stomach!!!!  I don't know why I was so nervous!!  I wasn't sweating though so that's good. So I went up and laid it down.  I talked abut the strengthening and enabling power of the Atonement.  Page 2 of Preach My Gospel says it perfectly in one sentence. "As your understanding of the Atonement of Jesus Christ grows, your desire to share the gospel will increase." Think about that.  It's sooo true! That is President Pingree's favorite sentence out of the whole book!  So I talked about that and it all went alright! 
     
So Wednesday night was a miracle.  Because of time I'm gonna be real brief.  We met those three guys at Market Street, remember? Ben, Jay, and Curtis.  Fast forward to now, and we met them this past Wednesday. They were meeting their youth group from their church at a Starbucks so we met them there.  It wasn't our first choice, but we were just outside.  So we went over the restoration again with Ben and this other guy, then Jay and Curtis came over with a bunch of youth and they all started listening to us.  Almost all of the teens were like "Can I have a Book of Mormon?" I was like, "YESSSSSSSSSSS.....our trunk is full of them!!"  I asked Ben if that was ok first cause I almost felt kinda bad!  All of these kids were wanting to learn more about our church while meeting for their church. Ya know what I mean?  I was so happy of course, but I felt kinda bad in respect to Ben, Jay, and Curtis.  They all have Book of Mormons too though so they were like "Of course we don't mind!"  They are really great guys.  So that was really sweet.  Please pray for all of them that they might read, ponder, and ask God if the book is true!  That would be greatly appreciated. 
     
So those are the highlights, but I type soooo slow so its time to go.  I am sorry.  Typing is defs one of my many weaknesses.  I love you all soo much and I hope you have a wonderful week! 

Love and prayers, 

Elder DeLuca




​I thought this sunset was pretty!  #texassunset for all you insta lovers hahahaha!


This was at zone conference!  Sorry it was blurry. (That's what happens elders take pics.....not Elder Thomas though!) 


​Brother Harris' kids.  Too cute!  I wanna hold him so bad!!!


Okay besides me bein' goofy, I wanted to publicly tell all of you that I am so sick of being fat.  I will admit, I have gained quite a bit of weight, muscle too.  (;  But I seriously have gotten fat and I am sick of it.  I am going to get in good shape you guys, and me telling all of you will help me.  I go freakin' hard in the gym.  We don't get a ton of time so I have no choice but to give it my all.  This was just a cardio day today.  I am eating wayy healthier too.  That is honestly like %60 of it.  You gotta eat good to look good!  Yes, I am one of those stinky Elders in this pic. Don't worry, I showered right after!! 

Monday, May 19, 2014

Storms, Tow Truck, Ironman & Stake Conference

Alrighty, well this week was kinda slow but we still had a great week!  So, Monday we were walking around our
apartment complex cause we had like 15 minutes to wait for an exchange and that wasn't enough time to go anywhere so we figured we would walk around here for a bit.  So we see this lady walking her dog and we had asked her if any of the other missionaries have talked to her before and she said NO!  So we invited her to learn more and she was like, "Yea, I am open to hearing a message!" We went through the restoration really quick and then scheduled an appointment the next day.  So, Tuesday Elder Weaver and I ended up teaching her cause Elder Thomas was with Elder Weaver's companion.  The lesson went pretty well she was just kinda struggling with why she needs to do more if Christ has already suffered for everything.  We shared so many scriptures and tried explaining why but she kinda agreed to disagree it seemed like. Any other suggestions?  Hit me up if you think of anything.  We are meeting with her again this week! 
     
Wednesday was PCI and we didnt even get to see any of the kids cause all of the lessons were canceled because of a bad rainstorm.  We were just there to clean up the place.  We got a lot of rain and it was pretty messed up there.  So check this out, a guy got the tractor stuck in the mudd and there was a bunch of guys and Elders over there putting chains on it to try to tow it out with a truck.  It was a Ford F-150 if you are wondering.  ( :  I was like there is no way this is gonna work!  Haha sure enough it didn't!!  It should have been a Raptor!!  Well, we tried putting wood under the tires and still no luck so I was like, "Wait a second, put the bucket down and it'll lift itself out!"  Chuck was like, "That's a good idea!"  So he did and then we were able to get it out!  I don't know why I wanted to share that but I did! 
     
Saturday we helped out with the Ironman!  Wow those people are so impressive!  We basically stood on the corner for like 4 in a half ours just cheering them on!  People were getting sooo tired at the end.  I think I would die if I attempted to try to do one of those! 
     
Sunday was stake conference and that was really sweet.  Because of time I will just share one part.  Our mission President spoke and one thing that really hit home for me was, "If there is contention in ANY companionship, if both will repent and become more like Christ, unity will prevail."  I love that!  Think about that.  That is not just for missionaries.  That is for any companionship. 
     
Well, I gotta get goin but I will talk to you all soon!  I love you guys!  The church is true!!!!

Love, 

Elder DeLuca




​Pretty sweet Caddy we saw this week! 


​Elder Thomas and I at the Prow's home!

Tuesday, May 13, 2014

Transfers, Cleaning & Laura's Baptism

Our apartment is soooo clean!!!!  We seriously were cleaning from like 10:30 to 3.  Yea, and its 626 square feet.  Ha!!!  Just think of how clean that is!! 

My new companion is Elder Thomas and he is from Washington!!  We are so different but we are with each other for a reason and I know that! We get along great. We are really open with each other too and that is so important. If something bugs one of us, we are like "yo that bugs me" straight up!  Well I do. He would word that a little different! He is great and we are learning so much from each other!
     
So this week was pretty sick.  Honestly, I know Ive said that I have no time so I apologize for the short email and then they end up kinda lengthy, but today its gonna happen! 
     
Transfers were on Tuesday and then Elder Thomas and I met with Courtney and Robert. We  also taught Andralia with the sisters in a member's home on Thursday.  Friday was district meeting and then Saturday, Elder Christensen came back to the area and baptized Laura in a member's pool!!!  So I confirmed her on Sunday and I was SOOOO nervous.  It went well but I was sweating.....bad!!!   Hahaha.  You think Im kidding but I'm not! 
     
So that is pretty much the week. I love you all so much and I thank you all for the love and support. Oh, and Happy Mother's Day to all of you Mommies that I didnt get a chance to talk to!!

Love,

Elder DeLuca





This is Laura!



​There is my companion and Sister Huber. She came back for the baptism!



I will have one of these in my home some day. Not for my children, for me!!! I don't know why but I love giraffes so much. They are so sweet!! Just look at that creature!




He would't run with me on his back though!!

Tuesday, May 6, 2014

Agency, Miracles & Morgan


     
So, this week was sickkkk!

I am not being transferred but Elder Christensen is.  I will let you know about my new companion next week! 
     
So, I literally have to leave so soon cause my comp has to pack and we have people to go visit.  So this is gonna be real brief. 
     
Friday, we had a really good zone meeting and we talked a lot about agency.  It really is a blessing to be able to choose for ourselves what we want to do in this life.  At the same time, we are accountable for the decisions we make. Make good choices!  Elder Tanner and I had to go pick up some missionaries and on the way we went through Chick-Fil-A drive through real quick and the lady gave me two little cows that say "Eat mor chikin."  I don't know why, but it's spelled really weird like that.  I may be a little off, but it is something like that.  Anyways, we took a funny pick with them as a belt buckle. Ill send a pic! 
     
Saturday, we had a miracle. Straight up!  So remember Morgan?  Well, he still had wanted to be baptized but we had some concerns that he was still not understanding the priesthood and why our church was different. (Meaning the best).  Hehe...jk, but seriously. So, we went over to talk with him Saturday morning but we knew we had to do something different cause he just wasn't grasping it!  He has had all of the lessons, so we were like well we don't wanna teach the whole Restoration lesson again so we started with "The Savior's Earthly Ministry" and went from there.  Before we even started he shared a scripture with us that he came across in the Bible.  1 Kings 3:10-14 or so and we talked about prayer and the importance of it and basically to not pray for things that we don't need.  Verse 11 says it best.  Check it out!  

So we talked to him foreverrr!!! Like two in a half hours, and we read a lot out of the New Testament and honestly, this is why Elder Christensen stayed.  I don't know if you remember me saying, "His work here isn't done." but I did.  It really wasn't because there is no way I could have done that without him.  We worked together to help Morgan understand things and it worked.  Straight up!  He knows the Bible really well, and I'm like, "Uuuuhhhhh!!!"  Hahah....jk.  But seriously, anyone that knows me knows that I have very little knowledge about the scriptures, especially the Bible.  I know a little though, and I have a strong testimony about this gospel and no one can take that from me.  That is something I will always keep with me.  Anyways, long story short, Morgan said that this all makes sense now.  He was like, "You guys just answered all my questions that I have had my entire life in 1 hour."  To which I responded, "Well, maybe two hours...."  Haha, I know.  I'm still obnoxious.  Don't worry.  I am well aware. 

So basically he started crying and we were all just like caught up in the spirit.  Straight up.  I was trying so hard to not cry, but I gave in.  I couldn't help it.  When I stated that I knew without a doubt that we were supposed to be there at that moment together, I just lost it.  I was crying like a little newborn!  Most of you know that I do not like crying.  I thoroughly dislike it, but sometimes you can't even stop it and this was one of those times.  I know that Elder Christensen and I stayed together for a reason and Morgan is why.  I really couldn't have done it without him.  I know where my weaknesses are, and he was there to help.  I will for sure keep you posted about what happens with him. He should be able to be baptized this month.  He actually said, "That is why we have so many churches. There are so many good people.  But in order for me to live in the Celestial Kingdom, I have to be baptized in this church."  He straight up said that and my jaw just dropped!!  That was seriously one of the best days ever!!!
     
Later that day we went to a baptism that some missionaries in our zone taught.  Guess who we saw? I don't know. Haha, I don't know her name, but we saw someone from the Youth Conference and she came up to us and was like "I have 3 pages of notes from when you guys came and talked to us!"  Cray cray.  That was really cool, though. 

One last thing.  The sisters are teaching someone named Laura and she is gonna be baptized this Saturday.  We are the ones doing the baptism!!  She specifically asked for me to be the one to confirm her a member because I had given her a priesthood blessing a couple weeks ago, and she said she felt the spirit really strongly when I blessed her. Crazy huh!? I am kinda nervous!! It will all work out though. 

Alright, well I love you all and so does Heavenly Father.  He has a plan for each of us and as we are obedient to the commandments of The Lord, like Nephi (cause he is a boss).  We will be blessed with all that he has in store for us.  I know that to be true because I am living through that.  I have and continue to see that in my life!!  The church is so true.  I love you guys!!!!

Love Elder DeLuca





Coolest street everrrrr!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  I'm on that road.  ( : 



This is Andralia and we team teach her with the sisters.  She is coming to church and she loves it!!!




The Harris family and our sister missionaries, Sister Ae and Sister Huber


Sorry it is a little blurry!  Best photo bomb everrr!!!!!!!!!!!!



We found this really cool abandoned place!  Gotta love selfiezzzz, hahaha.


I don't even know......Don't ask!!  Hahaha.  I'm a weirdooo.
.