2nd Week in Tomball!

This past week was SO sweet! Last Monday, we were street contacting in a neighborhood before we got our haircuts (I was hesitant because I am worried it won't grow back....) and we walked past a guy who went into his backyard to bring in his garbage can. Right when we passed him, I felt like we should talk to him but it was one of those awkward moments when we already passed and then we would just be standing there waiting for him to come back.  However, I stopped and stood there. He came back and we all started talking to him and, long story short, he was wanting to learn more and he accepted a baptismal invitation on the spot! He is a very high potential, but he said he only had a work phone so all we have is his email. We are going to have to go back by! 

     

Another miracle was a lady named Kimberly that we tracted into before a lesson we had with Bobby, who was one of the sister missionaries' investigators before they were transferred out of Tomball. Kimberly was very similar to the guy I just mentioned. She was really nice and she accepted a Book of Mormon and she told us that it would be a few weeks before week could meet, due to her busy work schedule and four children under the age of 16. She is super busy! 

     

So, we met with Bobby and our lesson went well with him. We were able to bring a recent convert in the ward named Aaron Finch to come teach with us and he really helped a lot! Aaron Finch was baptized earlier this year and he tells everyone that he had a lot of struggles with different things before he met the missionaries and he completely changed his life around. Needless to say, he is a success story. More importantly though, he really makes people feel loved and I saw that when he was talking to Bobby. We reviewed the restoration with Bobby because it has been a while since the sisters were over there and we planned to see him this past Saturday too, but he had to work. We are planning on meeting with him again this Tuesday though! 

     

Okay, so here is the coolest part of my week. Yesterday, before Sacrament meeting I saw Elder Lythgoe talking to a lady so I went over to say hi to them and as I walked up I heard her introduce herself as "Cindy French" and I was like "I totes know that name, who is she??"  And then it clicked! The first Thursday I was here, we had our weekly planning and I was going through the sisters area book to try to find out who they were meeting with and who all of the former investigators were and so fourth. Anyways, I came across the name Cindy French and so I called her and spoke with her for a few minutes and she said the sisters had come over a few times, but she was out of town for so long because of work so she hadn't met with them in a while. She told me to call her in two weeks so I said I would call her on the 14th after church! So when I heard her say that I was like "I was the one you spoke with on the phone a few weeks ago!!!!!!!" It was the coolest thing ever. Her co-worker is a member from Wyoming and she came down to Houston to do some work and felt prompted to invite her friend Cindy to church with her!!!!!!!!!!!!! You guys do you understand this!? My face was beaming!! I was soo happy! I sat next to her during Sacrament Meeting and she told me that she was meant to be here and that it is not a coincidence. I seriously wanted to cry because I was so happy. She is golden! We have a meeting with her this Thursday and I am pumped! 

     

So, remember when I told you guys about us teaching elders Quorum? When we talked about missionary work with them it went really well and they all were super stoked and so the Elders Quorum President came up to us yesterday and was like "We are going to have a missionary moment each Sunday before the lesson!" He told the elders that he is going to ask who is willing to invite someone each week to hear more about the gospel and then they have to report the next Sunday before the lesson. I responded something like this; "YES! That is what I am talking about! Uh I am so pumped right now! You guys are so sick!" Haha, seriously though, that is what I said. Hopefully, it wasn't too loud. Missionary work is so sweet you guys! The work is so real and I love it. 

    

I wanted to thank you all for your prayers. Many of you know it has been tough for us to find new people to teach, but I promise you that your prayers are being answered. We are starting to speed up and we are gonna explode soon! hahah((: Thank you to all of you. I love you all! 

     

One last thing, Jordan (The one Elder Lythgoe and I started teaching in Magnolia) is being baptized this Saturday! How sweet is that!? Missionary work is on fire! Awww I love it! I hope you all listen to the promptings you have to share the gospel because it is the sweetest thing we can do. It can be tough, but I promise you it is the most rewarding thing you can do here. Heavenly Father will pour out blessings upon you and I promise you that! 

Love, 

Elder DeLuca

I went on exchanges with the Gleannloch Farms elders and this was in the home of a member over there, so I had to get a picture. (: This reminds me of the one that is in my grandpa's home! I love you Papa!!

Tomball is Sweet!

So, I am now in the Tomball 2nd Ward and it is awesome. I still meet at the same building so I saw a lot of members from my old ward yesterday! I now have two new companions. Elder Weaver and I are new to the area and we are with Elder Hegemann who has been in this ward for almost 5 months. Yesterday, I was a little stressed out before church because were asked to teach a follow up lesson in Elders Quorum on a discussion that we were not there for the previous week. Because of that we did not prepare as well as we could have. I was also thinking about all of the new people I have to meet, members that I had to follow up with that we left commitments with a few days prior, ward coorelation meeting, ward council, and the list goes on and on. Needless to say, I was stressin'. I knew that it was such a great opportunity for me to go up and introduce myself and bear my testimony during Sacrament Meeting, so I did! After I sat back down, I felt like a weight was lifted off of me. I seriously felt so comforted just by bearing my testimony of what I know to be true. It was the coolest thing ever!  

     

Just this past night, something really cool happened. We went over to visit a less-active family and we were planning on sharing a brief message with them or if they were not available, setting up a return appointment. The mother said we can come back on Thursday so we thought we ought to ask her if she has seen the He Is The Gift video and she said no. We explained a little bit about it and asked her if she would be willing to check it out and she was like "Yes, I'll even post it on FaceBook!" We were so pumped! We told her that we will check up with her on Thursday to see if anyone commented on it. (: After we left, we knocked a few doors there at the apartment complex and a lady came to the door and we were able to talk to her about the video and then introduce her to the Book of Mormon and extend a baptismal invitation! It was sweet! She was a little hesitant but we are going to follow up with her when we go back on Thursday. She actually knew the mother of the family that we had planned on seeing that night! We then went back to the less-active family and we told the mom what had happened and she said that she will follow up with her too! This was so sweet! 

    

We have been using the "He Is The Gift" pass-along cards and we are talking to a ton of people. Last night before we went to visit that family, we were tracting in a neighborhood and someone that we talked to called the cops on us. We don't know who it was, but a cop came up to us and was like "what are you guys selling?" and I explained to him that we were just sharing a free video with people and I gave him a card! (: He was actually interested! He said that we were fine to continue doing what we were doing! 

     

We have been super busy this week with meeting new members, and visiting former gators and such. I love this new area. I wanted to give a little shout out to my little sissy. HAPPY BIRTHDAY BUDDAH!!!! For those of you that didn't know, her birthday is this Thursday and she is turning 16! I cannot believe it. I love you!!

     

I look forward to getting more adjusted here in Tomball and letting you know how it goes. Thank you all for everything that you do for me. I love you guys!

Love, Elder DeLuca 

​This was my last pic in "Magnowia" haha. This is the Green family and they are so sweet! 

Check out the horns on this boy! 

Thanksgiving Week!

 I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving! We ate three times and I was so full. This past week we were able to meet with Jordan and we had a really great lesson with her. 

     

This past Friday, Elder Lythgoe and I taught our last Zone Meeting together and we felt that it went really well. We also have two Sister Training Leaders who teach with us and they are sweet. Overall, it was a great meeting and we hope that the missionaries who were there took something from the meeting. 

    

We have been visiting a lot of members lately both active and inactive and we are sharing the new video that the church has produced called "He is The Gift." This video is sweet, you guys, and I want to encourage you all to share it with as many people as you feel impressed to do so. The Church had purchased the front page of YouTube and this video will be the only advertisement of YouTube's front page for this month, starting on December 7th. They estimate that 220 million people will see this video! Check it out!! I know that this time of the year is a special time. It is a time where the spirit of The Lord is present and whether other people recognize that or not, they will be more open to hearing from you. #ShareTheGift

     

Just yesterday Jordan, Kona, and Anthony were all at church! I have never had three investigators come to church on the same day. This was a miracle! We were able to teach Anthony after church as well. 

     

Okay, so I am being transferred tomorrow! I am sorry for not reminding you last week that we have transfers this week. I did not think I would be leaving, but I am! I am going to be transferred to Tomball which is not too far from here. I am excited to see another new area even though I am still getting used to Magnolia! My new address is:

1515 Rudel Dr. #1207

Tomball, TX 77375

I apologize for another short email but we have to get going! I want to thank you all for your love and especially for your prayers. I feel them! I will let you know how Tomball is next week! I love you all and I hope everyone has a great week!

Love, 

Elder DeLuca

​Throwing it back to the full time bike days!!

Now to the library day. Sorry this is a lame picture, but know that I love you all!

Happy Thanksgiving!!!!

I don't know why but I am in such a good mood right now! Maybe because I am a missionary?? I dunno. We had a great week this past week! 

     

Tuesday we ended up meeting with Jordan and we had a great lesson. We reviewed the Plan of Salvation and we taught her about Family History and the importance of it. It went really well and she accepted the baptismal date for December 13th! Her mom works on the weekends though, so we may be rescheduling it for during the week prior or after the Saturday the 13th. We will work that out as we get a little closer! Tuesday night, we also met a really solid potential investigator that we met at the dollar store! We had like 15 minutes until 9, but we both made a promise to never go in before 9 so we went to the dollar store about a half mile away to go and talk with people. We didn't have much success in the store but as we were leaving, we met a lady outside! We started talking to her and she was asking questions and we were asking her questions and it was so cool. We extended a baptismal invitation right there and she said yes! Wait it gets even better! She lives at our apartment complex!! We have never seen her before, but we have an appointment with her tomorrow at 7:30! 

     

Wednesday, we met with Kona and this was sweet. We taught her the Gospel of Jesus Christ lesson and it went so well. She is seriously progressing so much and you can truly see a different person in her. It is so neat to watch. We explained that to her too and she said that she is so much happier because she is living the gospel! How sweet is that!? She also said that she used to have not the cleanest language but she is doing so much better to the point to where she "cringes when she hears her friends use bad language". I was like, "Wow, Kona!" We have seen such a big change in her life and we see that she is so much happier. She wants to be baptized right now but she also wants her active grandma to be at her baptism. We told her that it is an option for her to travel to Utah and be baptized there so her grandma doesn't have to travel, but she was like, "No, I want you guys there."  That was super cool!

 

After Kona we went to the church because we had a lesson with another investigator Anthony who we haven't had contact with in a while. Right when we got to the church we saw a priest from the ward that said Kona had just texted him and said that our lesson was awesome and very inspirational! We were like, "We were just there!"  Anyways, our lesson with Anthony went really well too. We re-taught the Restoration lesson and we extended a baptismal date for December 20th! He came to church yesterday too. He is 11 and his mom is not very supportive of him meeting with us, so we had to have a member go pick him up. He is so young and has been through so much. He is a stud! Please keep him in your prayers. 

     

Friday, we had a Zone Conference and President Mortensen threw it down hard! He is so inspiring. I have never met anyone who has such a great knowledge of the gospel. There was much learned but one thing I want to share is what Sister Mortensen talked to us about. She went over the topic of dress for both Elders and Sisters and one thing was on my mind. My little sister and my bracelet. Last Thanksgiving in St. Louis, Bailley and I got some matching bracelets and we promised to never take them off. When I entered the MTC I found out that Elders are not supposed to wear bracelets and I ignored it. I kept mine on because I made a promise to Bailley and I did not want to break that promise. For months, I never really thought of my bracelet as me sinning, but in reality, I was. It wasn't until just two weeks ago that Elder Lythgoe and I went through things that we could do in order to have the spirit to be with us more and he realized that he needed to send some unauthorized books home. They were good church books, but they were not missionary-approved. I kept having a thought to take off my bracelet but I didn't want to say anything. About 2 or 3 minutes went by and I finally said it and he was like, "I actually noticed that right when I met you but I didn't say anything." I took it off and I literally wanted to cry. I wrote Bailley a letter and told her that I had to take it off because I am trying my very best to be the best missionary I can be. I did not know about this rule before I was a missionary, but I promised the Lord to follow the rules and so I had to take it off. Guess what? She emailed me the following Monday and she was proud of me for doing that! I just know that no matter what, as we do what the Lord has asked us to do, everything works out. It is as simple as that. I went up to President and Sister Mortensen and shared that experience with them and I actually cried. I have my bracelet in my side bag, so you are still always with me, Buddah. I love you! 

     

I want to thank you all for, literally, everything you do for me. I am so thankful to be able to be part of such a wonderful family, and to have such amazing friends. I hope you all have the best Thanksgiving ever! Don't eat too much turkey! 

Love,

Elder DeLuca 

We got to do some more service at Brother Bravenic's! 

I got to see Elder Thomas at Zone Conference! He is a stud. He goes home in one week!!!!

A Cold and Awesome Week

This past week has been freezing!! Not literally, but pretty close. We were jogging over to a junior high that is just about a mile away the past few weeks and I run on the track when Elder Lythgoe does other workouts, but we didn't even go this week because it was too cold! Hahaha, we are a bunch of babies! Not used to this "humid cold." It is way different! Anyways we were still working out in the apartment so don't worry! 

     

We did some service at a food bank this past Tuesday and I was talking to a guy that was doing community service there and I was telling him why I decided to serve a mission and then I just told him that I know that what I am doing is right and that the gospel has been restored and he ended up asking the sister missionaries for a Book of Mormon! That was saaaweet!!!! 

     

We met with our investigator Jordan and her family this past Thursday and we taught them The Plan of Salvation and the lesson went really well. We are meeting with them again tonight and we are going to extend a baptismal date for December 13th! Ill let you know next week how it goes! 

     

We were doing service at a members house this past Friday and Brother Bravenic's chainsaw was not running and then I worked some magic and I got it to run, but I realized that the carburetor needed to be cleaned out. After I cleaned it out, then I couldn't get the old fuel line back in the gas tank because it was all corroded so you can imagine my frustration! hahaha. I ended up just going to the hardware store by our apartment and I bought him some new fuel line so now I just have to go put it on! Anyways, I just wanted to say that when you help people out, you feel so good. We have the opportunity to do a decent amount of service here and I know that Heavenly Father is well pleased with us as we serve others. Mosiah 2:17!

     

Another really neat experience we had on Saturday was when we were biking around in this neighborhood trying to visit some less-active members, Elder Lythgoe realized that he needed to put a little bit of air in his tires so we stopped and he has this little mini pump that takes like 20 minutes (not really, maybe like 5 min.) to pump up a tire and he ended up pinching his valve stem when he took the pump off, and out went all the air. Just as this happened a guy pulled up in a truck and was like are you guys alright? and we told him what had happened and where are car was and he drove us down to the end of the street where we left the car like 2 miles away. He ended up telling us where he lived and that we could come by whenever to talk to him about the restoration! Coincidence? No way, miracles er' day!!!! 

     

I have to go soon, but I wanted to just tell you all about a commitment I made to myself and that is to read from Preach My Gospel everyday. Whether it be one sentence or one chapter, I will read from it everyday. It has made my studies so much more effective and I just wanted to share that. Elder Lythgoe and I were talking and he was telling me that he feels that PMG has helped him a lot and that he is just now starting to feel like he is getting into the swing of things and he is really comfortable with his usage of the scriptures. My response was that is why you are going home! He goes home in one month and I am convinced that it really does take a couple of years to really start getting into the swing of things, and then it is more likely for us to not rely on the Lord for His help because we sometimes feel like we know everything, but we know so little! 

     

I am sorry for my past emails not being as detailed. I will try to be better with keeping you all up to date! I am doing well, and I love it out here in Mag Town. I love serving the Lord and I love all of you. I hope you all have a great week!

Love, 

Elder DeLuca

I haven't taken any selfies of late, so here ya go! Hahaha I love you all! 

Seeking the One

Okay so this week was AWESOME! 

We had a few minutes to visit someone before our dinner appointment on Tuesday after Zone Conference with Elder Corbridge. We decided to go visit a former investigator to see if there would be a time we could come back and start teaching her again. This lady was not home. However, we met her daughter Brook and we started to talk with her. She had explained to us that she didn't believe in God or Jesus Christ, so it was more of a discussion on Faith. We talked with her for a few minutes and ended up extending a baptismal commitment and she said yes, if she knew that what we were saying was true! We went back on Saturday to teach her and everything went really well, but it is so different to teach someone who does not have a Christian background. This took a lot of preparation in our studies before we went to teach her! 

We also had a great lesson with Kona this past week, and she came to church again! She made us these really good dark chocolate granola bars and I seriously ate too many. I had Elder Lythgoe eat so many so I wouldn't eat any more of them! 

We are also teaching a daughter of a less active member and her and her sister came to church this past Sunday! 

I know that people are being prepared and we just have to find them! We have been trying to work more with members in finding, but we also have been doing a lot of street contacting. We have been trying to invite people to be baptized in the first contact so they know our purpose. This has been something that President Mortensen has asked the mission to do and it is making a huge difference! 

I hope you all have a great week and know that I love you! 

Love, 

Elder DeLuca

Check out this sweet bike Elder Lythgoe got to barrow from another Elder!!!!

Brittany, Chili Cook-off & Zone Conference

This week was great! Wednesday, after studies we had planned to go street contacting in order to try to talk to at least 15 people and we were not quite sure where to go, so we both prayed as individuals to see where the Lord would have us go and then each chose 3 streets on our map without telling each other. We ended up both choosing 2 of the same streets so we went to the closer one first, and just started knocking doors. We didn't have much success and then at the end of the street there were two more houses, so we went to them and a lady answered the door and started talking to us. We explained who we were and briefly touched on the restoration and she was interested in learning more. We asked for her number and we set a return appointment for Saturday morning and we taught here the restoration lesson! It went really well and we both knew that the Lord was guiding us to this girl named Brittany. She was not able to come to church, but I will keep you posted! 

Oh my goodness! So we had a chili cook-off at our ward this past week for the trunk or treat, and guess who the judges were? US! I was so sad because I was planning on just eating a little bit of salad because I ate some fish and broccoli before we went so I wouldn't eat any chili! I endured well, and it wasn't too bad! Some of them were so yummy! 

Anyways, we have such a great ward here in Magnolia and the members seriously trust us so much, it is awesome. This is the time for member and missionaries to come together to hasten the Lord's work. We have been working with members and their missionary efforts so much lately. Always remember that the success is in the invitation! Do not ever feel discouraged if someone does not accept your invite, but know that the Lord was cheering you on! 

We have Elder Corbridge of the Seventy coming to teach us tomorrow at a Zone Conference so we are pumped! I will let you know how it goes! 

Have a great week everyone and please let me know if there is anything I can do for you! 

Love, Elder DeLuca

Editor's note -  Elder DeLuca's new mailing address is---

811 Cloyd Drive #719

Magnolia, TX 77355

Yes, I always look this goofy when I bike! You can't tell from the picture but that was a steep hill!

This little guy stayed next to me the entire time we taught Brittany the Restoration lesson. He definitely wanted to hear what we had to say!

​This is my companion and this is why we have to wear helmets! Have a great week everyone!