Spiritual Experiences, Future Missionary Training & iPads

Hello everyone! I missed talking to you yesterday but I am grateful for those who have served our country! 

Last Tuesday was transfers and as we all know I will be staying here for a little while longer! we had a good lunch with our Relief Society President at Chick-Fil-A that afternoon and then we had a lesson with a part member family that went really well. 

Wednesday, we volunteered at TEAM resale shop here in Tomball in the morning and we just helped them organize some of the clothing that they are getting ready for the summer. We had dinner with the Bean family that night and then we knocked their apartment complex for a while to try to find some more gators. After that we went back over to their place to head to a lesson with Cynthia and Dante with them. We finished teaching them the Plan of Salvation and set a baptismal date with them for June 13th! Cynthia is pumped, but Dante is still a little hesitant because he needs to work through a few addictions before he gets baptized. Please keep him in your prayers! 

Friday, we had a sweet district meeting with our new district leader, Elder Roberts. He did a really nice job. We had a lesson with Orion that afternoon with some of the Bikman boys in our ward. They are two brothers that we hunted down at the dollar store to come out with us. We called their dad and he told us where they were but that he couldn't get a hold of them so we went there ourselves! They were happy to come and teach with us and they did an incredible job with making Orion aware that he has many friends that are there for him and that care about him. We also met with Dustin that evening. he is the grandson of Sandy who we talked with a while back and she was not interested, but he was. We had a great first lesson with him and his other grandma! They both were really interested to meet with us again yesterday but it turned out that he was busy. 

Saturday was sweet! We had Timothy Pope come out with us in the morning. He is going to be leaving for his mission in a month or so to Independence Missouri! We were planning on seeing a man by the name of William but he ended up not being there so we went to visit a lady who we tracted into the day before. She needed some help with taking down her blinds to repaint them and we helped her out with that. We needed a drill so we went over to Rick and Corban's house and they had one. Corban came with us and we were able to help her out pretty fast with a power drill. After that we went over to see Cynthia and Dante with timothy and we taught them about temples and family history. We then invited them to attend a baptism in the stake that night. The Bishop, which is Timothy's dad, ended up going with his wife to pick up Cynthia that evening to go to the baptism. The stake is our zone, so if we have investigators going, we can attend the baptismal services as well. We showed up and came to find out that Beth who was going to be baptized this Wednesday was there along with Elijah. There was two at one service! So sweet! Cynthia liked it and she got to see what it will be like at her baptism next month. 

Sunday, we had a great time at church but Dante didn't come with Cynthia. Sunday evening, we had the opportunity to go and speak to the youth in the stake that are preparing to serve missions. Elder Petersen and I were asked to speak for 5 minutes each about what was beneficial for us in preparing for a mission. I just told them that I never really planned on serving a mission until i found out for myself that the Book of Mormon was true. I told them that daily prayer and scripture study are key in preparing. Right along with that, Preach My Gospel has every tool a missionary need to be successful. I made mention of the adversary and then shared Helaman 5:12 with them and told them that it was really beneficial for me to go on splits with the missionaries. Shout out to Elder Michael Costello; you are a boss, man! I am grateful that I was able to go out and teach with you. There was a young man by the name of Kamerin Spahr there that evening who is from Mesa!! We went to school together so I was able to talk with him for a little bit and that was really sweet. He is two years younger than me, but we were at Shepherd Jr. High together. 

Today was such a spirit-felt morning. We had the opportunity to go to a mission conference and Elder Brent H. Nielson of the Seventy was there to train us on the iPads that are here! We will have them in just a couple of weeks. They are going to help the work so much. I am grateful for the training that we had on using technology how the Lord intended. There were so many different things that stuck out to me today but I will share 1 or 2. He said that he has been present when they assign missionaries to their call and sometimes they assign missionaries to the mission president. He said I want you all to know that President and Sister Mortensen are called of God and I want you to think about what the Lord wants you to learn from the Mortensens. That was really powerful when he said that. The two biggest concerns the church had with distributing Ipads were 1: We would forget our purpose; and 2: The dark side to the internet. We had a lot of training on how we can protect us and our companions from all of the garbage that is so easily accessible. We have filters on our iPads to help keep us safe, but when we take them home that filter is taken out. They taught us on how we can stay clear of things online even after we go home. They said the best filter is YOU. Know what you are going online. Don't go online when you are bored or if you have no purpose because that is when we could look at something that we shouldn't. It was a really good meeting! 

We that is our week. It was great! Looking forward to another great week. I love you guys! 

Love,

Elder DeLuca 

​Here is Elder Petersen working on a planner cover for me! 

​Here is Petersen and I after we talked to the youth!

​Kamerin from Mesa!! AZ babyamerin from Mesa!! AZ baby!!!!

Tomball Just Can't Get Enough of Me!

We received transfer calls last night and I found out that I am staying in Tomball, not just for another 6 weeks, but for 12!!! I am going to kill off Elder Petersen and then I'll stay here another transfer with someone else to get them broken in to Tomball! :) I am stoked! I just feel bad for the ward! They are stuck with me for a total of 9 months! Hehe. Our ward mission leader said, "Yeehaw!" when I told him that he was stuck with me another 3 months! This seriously is one of the best wards I have ever served in so I am really happy to stay! :) 

Last Monday, we went fishing for a little bit before our dinner appointment and I caught my first fish! That was pretty sweet. It was the first time I ever went fishing! There is a member with a pretty good sized pond and they have it stocked with some largemouth bass, blue gill, and some catfish. I think it is safe to say that it was beginners luck! 

Tuesday, we met with Cynthia and Dante and Sister Riedel came with us. We taught them the Plan of Salvation and only taught half of the lesson because it can be tough to keep them focused. The lesson went well and both Cynthia and Dante explained that they want to be baptized! Dante really enjoys coming to church, but he cannot see well and his new glasses are not here yet so he didn't end up coming to church yesterday. Cynthia and Angel came though! Later that evening, we went tracting at an apartment complex and we found a new investigator named Kenneth, but when we came back the next day he wasn't there. We have to go back and follow up with him. 

Wednesday, we saw Brother Mason and had a nice little visit with him then we grabbed some lunch and went church tracting. We went by a few more churches in our area and just offered service and they really like that! There were a couple who gave us their number and told us to call them back. After that we went over to visit with Orion with Ryan Barnett and we taught him the Restoration again. We have decided to go back through the lessons with him to help him feel more comfortable with being baptized. We had a dinner appointment to get to and then after that we had a lesson with Rick and Corban and we had Ben Ure come with us. He and Corban have become really good friends that past few weeks. We went over some of the laws and ordinances with them and arranged some items for their baptism that Saturday.  

Thursday, we had our weekly planning and that took up most of the afternoon and then we had a dinner appointment with Rick and Corban. Oh my goodness, it was so good. Rick loves to cook so he made home made pasta, like he made the dough and pressed the noodles and then made this fettuccine alfredo sauce with chicken and green beans. So good! Then we had a lesson with them and our ward mission leader came over after we ate and we finished up the 5th lesson and worked out all the details for Saturday. 

Friday, we went on exchanges with the Windrose Elders before our district meeting and I went with Elder Backstein. He is a solid missionary. We had a great day! We went out to lunch after district meeting and we went to Chipotle and a member from another stake was picking up an order to go right as we were about to pay and then he offered to pay for us! Yes please! Haha, missionaries are broke and it aint no joke! 

Saturday was so sweet! Rick and Corban's baptism was at 10:00 am so we got up and showered then headed to the building to get everything set up! The water heater in our building always runs out of hot water like halfway as the font is filling, so we started to boil a bunch of pots of water in the kitchen to bring them back to the font! Can you say red neck? Haha! It ended up being pretty warm for them. We actually didn't even baptize them, so the hot water was a selfless act for those of you that may have thought I was doing that for me (Jimbo)!  Rick has a friend from Katy who recently moved to our ward and his son is about to go and serve in the Las Vegas Mission and he was the one who baptized him. Corban had Ryan Barnett baptize him and Ryan brought his non-member mom to the baptism! Rick and Corban asked us to give the talks there so I gave the one on baptism and Elder Petersen gave the talk on the Holy Ghost. I talked about the covenants that we make when we are baptized and then pointed out the three main characteristics of Christ's baptism: age, immersion and the authority. Then I closed by sharing Mosiah 18: 8-9 

 8 And it came to pass that he said unto them: Behold, here are the waters of Mormon (for thus were they called) and now, as ye are desirous to come into the fold of God, and to be called his people, and are willing to bear one another’s burdens, that they may be light;

 9 Yea, and are willing to mourn with those that mourn; yea, and comfort those that stand in need of comfort, and to stand as witnesses of God at all times and in all things, and in all places that ye may be in, even until death, that ye may be redeemed of God, and be numbered with those of the first resurrection, that ye may have eternal life—  

I told them that the ward needs them and that they would be a great asset to everyone there. We all need each other! Then I bore testimony of what they were doing and that was it for Elder DeLuca! Elder Petersen did a really good job. 

Sunday, we had their confirmations and Brother Ure Sr. confirmed Rick and then Brother Ure Jr. confirmed Corban. Really great Sacrament meeting! Cynthia and Angel enjoyed their time spent there. 

So, we had a great week and are looking forward to 12 more to come! You can send a letter now Bailley. :) I love you guys and I will talk to you soon! Have a great week! 

Love, 

Elder DeLuca

​My first fishy I caught! 

​It snowed a little bit here this past Saturday! 

So excited for Rick and Corban! It has been great working with them. Solid members! 

Another Great Week!

Hello everyone! This week was filled with exciting things! 

Monday evening, we went over to Rick and Corban's with Brother Aaron Finch and we taught them some more of the commandments lesson. That went really well! Brother Finch is a stud. He is always really anxious to go out with us and he is so enthusiastic about sharing the gospel. It's great! 

Tuesday, there was another LDSSA meeting at the Tomball Lone Star College so we went to that in the afternoon. It was a good lesson, but not that many people showed up because classes were done. We were actually scheduled to have another lesson with Rick and Corban that evening but Rick got called into work so he had to cancel. We had planned on going finding in their neighborhood that night anyway, so we still went over there to go tract. We parked right by Rick's house and right when we got out of the car we started talking to this lady on her porch and Elder Petersen invited her to hear more and she was like, "Yes!" We talked to her for a few minutes then came to find out that her husband had passed away just a week ago. We talked to her about the Plan of Salvation and also a little bit about the restoration and we gave her a Book of Mormon and she said she would start reading from it. We told her that we would come back on Thursday to check up with her! After talking with Sandy for a while, we ended our night by going to do some planning with the elders in the zone. Good day! 

Wednesday, we brought some of the young men in the ward to come and visit Orion with us and we read from the Book of Mormon with him again. He is still pretty hesitant about being baptized. After dinner we went over to the church and we met with Rick when Corban was at mutual. We went over the program for their baptism this coming Saturday and asked him to be thinking about who he wants to participate. 

Thursday, we had a Zone Conference and President Mortensen went over why we have commandments and the blessings that come from them. It was seriously an awesome meeting. He also split up the elders and sisters and we stayed with him when the sisters went with Sister Mortensen and President talked to us about the Priesthood and our duties. We ate lunch after that and then we role played how to more effectively start out the lesson when teaching about commandments. We had the opportunity to use what we learned that day and apply it to Rick and Corban that night. We went on exchanges with the assistants and I went with Elder Barlow in our area and Elder Petersen went with Elder Halterman in the Woodlands. Sandy had her grandson answer the door and give us back the Book of Mormon and said that she was not interested so we invited him to learn more and he said, "Yes" and gave us his number. :) We had a good lesson with Rick and Corban anyway, so it was still a great day! 

Friday, we had District Meeting and then we went on exchanges with our district leader Elder Chatwin and his companion Elder Hanks. Elder Chatwin and I had a great day in Tomball! We visited Brother Mason with a recent convert Ryan Barnett and then we went to see Orion with him because thy are close to the same age. This was the most effective visit we have ever had with Orion. He and Ryan just clicked. It was so neat to watch it. Ryan invited him to come to one of his school plays that light and they got it all worked out and now Orion has a new friend that is there for him. So sweet! 

Saturday afternoon, we exchanged back at the church and we had Rick and Corban come there to have their baptismal interview by Elder Chatwin. It all went really well and Elder Chatwin said that they were good to go! That night, we had the opportunity to go to Lois' baptism! Do you remember me talking about Lois? Elder Christensen and I started teaching her in the hospital and then, when she got better, she went back home to Waller, TX. Anyways, the Sister Missionaries started teaching her there and she was baptized this past weekend and she invited us to come! Then we went to Buc-ee's which is a giant gas station here in Texas. They have a few of them here and I have never been. It was crazy! Seriously, check it out online! Haha.

Sunday was awesome because it was Mother's Day! I got to talk to the family and that was really sweet. I want you all to know how much I love you and how great it was to see all of your smiling faces! Happy Mother's Day to all of you wonderful mothers out there, especially the two that I got to talk to! I love you!! 

Love, 

Elder DeLuca

​Here is Lois and I at her baptism this past Saturday!! She is great! 

Buc-ee's was seriously awesome. It is like the size of a Wal-Mart! ​I almost bought the hat, but I decided to save the money and just take a picture. :) 

Meetings and Peeps

Tuesday, we had MLC where we received the training for zone meeting on Friday. That meeting is from 8:30-3:30 so it takes up most of our day and then we have to plan for zone meeting after that. We had dinner that night and then we were able to meet with Rick and Corban. They are doing great! We went over the first couple of commandments and then the word of wisdom. It was a great lesson! After that we went to the hospital because we received a call from James Kendrick, Paul's Brother, that Paul had a heart attack and he was just getting out of ICU. We went over there and gave him a priesthood blessing and just visited for a little bit. Please keep him in your prayers. I love that guy! He is running off of only 25 percent of his heart so he has to get a transplant within a year. 

Wednesday, we went over and met with Orion. Sorry I have been spelling his name wrong this entire time and I just found out this past week! We talked to him a lot about his baptism and he was saying that he was not quite sure if he wants to get baptized that soon. We talked to him for like 30 minutes with his grandma and it got nowhere so we just told him that ultimately it is up to him. It was really frustrating!! One thing I have learned about myself is that when I get frustrated, the Spirit ceases. We knew that it wasn't really effective to stay so we just thanked him and then got him a ride to young men's that night! 

We also met with Rick and Corban again on Wednesday and we went over the Gospel of Jesus Christ lesson with them and we had Brother Ure Sr. and his grandson Ben with us. It was a good lesson! They are doing really well and they love meeting with us almost as much as we love meeting with them! It is so much more effective when we can meet more than just once a week. 

Thursday, we saw Angel, Cynthia, Dante, and a new investigator Jesse. We watched the 20-minute Restoration video with them and it was really powerful. We then talked a little more in depth about Joseph Smith and the actual restoration through him. Dante said that he really liked the music that was playing during the first vision. It is the Mormon Tabernacle Choir and it is "Joseph Smith's First Prayer," hymn #26. We explained to him that it was the Spirit that he felt and that was why he felt so good! It was sweet!

Friday, we had zone meeting and it went really well! One thing that we decided on at MLC was that as a mission we should have 3 investigators at Sacrament Meeting, and 5 member-present lessons per companionship each week. That is about double of where we are right now, but this was the standard of excellence that we all agreed on in MLC. I was the one introducing this new standard of excellence to the zone so I started out with an analogy that President heard at his mission president seminar. If you were stranded out in the middle of the ocean on a little paddle boat with nothing in sight, how hard would you be paddling? Most everyone said not very hard. Then I asked, "So, what if you could see and island in the distance?" Then everyone was like, "Well. I would be going as fast as I could! Sparks would be coming off my paddle!" Just kidding, but seriously. Okay, so what changed? At first, we had no vision of what to achieve, but once we had our minds set getting to that island it motivated us to work towards something. Then I went to Alma chapter 8 where Alma heads to Ammonihah and is at first rejected by the people so he leaves and then he is visited by the same angel that we read about in Mosiah 27. He tells him to go back and so he listens. On his way back to Ammonihah, he runs into Amulek and asked him for something to eat in verse 19 (meal calendar for missionaries). Then they go to Amulek's house and he feeds him and then Alma blesses his family. Then they go out together! Verse 29&30....member present!!  So we know that they go out together and in chapter 9 Alma basically throws it down and tells the Nephites that the Lamanites will be better off than they are if they do not repent. Then this is the part I love. In chapter 10, Amulek is testifying of everything that Alma is preaching and then in verse 12 we read that the "people began to be astonished." Obviously, not everyone listens and we know that Zeezrom gave them a bunch of grief but that is okay because he is converted in chapter 15:12. :) It's all good! Anyways, I just likened the scriptures unto us as missionaries taking members with us when we teach. It is so much more powerful and the investigators have someone to relate to other than a bunch of weird missionaries. 

Then I talked a little bit about our goals and asked each companionship the number of baptismal dates they are planning to have set by the end of this month. I then shared two quotes that my Mom sent me a while back. "If you are persistent, you will get it. If you are consistent, you will keep it." And also "To reach a goal you have never before attained, you must do things you have never before done." I shared these because we have committed to get 7 baptisms a month as a zone and we were able to do that in March because we were persistent, but in April we only had 2 because we were not consistent. It flowed really nice into what Elder Petersen shared about not being an elevator missionary, but rather an escalator missionary. Meaning don't just find someone to teach and bring them all the way up to baptism and then have to go back down to pick up more investigators to teach, but rather be constantly finding new people to teach as well as having the ones you are teaching. This way when you do bring someone to the waters of baptism, you still have people in your teaching pool. He did a really nice job at explaining it. This was why we were so low in April because we were only focused on who we were teaching in March. 

Saturday, we went back to the house where a bunch of our investigators live and we actually went over the Restoration again to make sure that Jesse understood the importance of it. Aaron Finch came with us and bore powerful testimony to them, and then offered to pick them all up for church the following day! 

Sunday was great! We had a Stake Correlation meeting in the morning so we were late to our Sacrament, but Rick and Corban came and Aaron picked up Angel, Cynthia, and Weldon who is another guy living there. Dante and Jesse didn't make it. Church was great and then afterwards we had the opportunity to give Rick a priesthood blessing for something that he is struggling with the word of wisdom. I did the anointing and  Brother Ure Sr. did the sealing. It was the most powerful blessing I have ever heard pronounced upon anyone. The Spirit literally filled the room. I cannot explain it. After that, when his children walked out we pulled him aside and explained that we ALL have our struggles and to not worry at all. He is such a great guy! We told him to not feel pressured about the 16th and if need by, we can push it back a week or two and he was like well I don't want to move it back so I am doing all that I can to be able to be baptized on the 16th. 

The gospel changes people. I know that! I have lived it and experienced it myself. I am so grateful for the opportunity I have to be out here sharing this wonderful message with those that Heavenly Father is preparing for us. Life is good here in the great state of Texas! I love you guys! 

Love, 

Elder DeLuca

​It looked way better in person, but here ya go! 

​Here is our zone again! My companion was tired. 

​When the truck fills up, just ride on the mower! 

Service and More Miracles

As you know, Monday was a special day with a visit from some very special people and the rest of our week was great! 

Tuesday, we did some service at Sister Hughes again. We mow her lawn every week for her and it is really fun. I love it! That evening, I had the opportunity to interview a 9-year-old named Tyson for his baptism this past weekend. I have never met a 9 year old so humble but yet so anxious to be baptized. He really knew why he was doing it and most 8- or 9-year-old's don't have that understanding. After that, we went to an address of a less active member family in our ward and it turns out that they have moved, but we found a new investigator from it! We talked to this guy named Billy about the restoration for a while and then we scheduled a return appointment later in the week! Yes please.  :) 

Wednesday, we helped the Johnson's move a big pile of dirt in their front yard and we got a pretty good workout! That evening, we had a lesson planned with Rick and Corban and we were planning on meeting at their house, but they were planning on meeting at the church! I don't know where the confusion came from, but it surely came! So we ended up driving to the church and we got there 10 'til 7 and Corban was planning on going to young men's, so that put a damper on things. We ended up having a lesson in Brother Rittman's car with them when we took Corban to the activity! It was sweet. We talked about temples and family history with them and then dropped Corban off and continued talking with Rick! They are so solid. Rick explained that his work was calling him in on the weekend so he was not going to be able to attend church with us. However, he looked up the church address in Galveston and he went there!! How sick is that!?! 

We had planned to give a blessing with Brother Rittman Wednesday night, but it fell through so we did that with him on Thursday! 

Friday, we had interviews with President Mortensen and it was a little different this time. He gave a 30-45 minute training and then after that he had the zone leaders working with the companion of whoever was being interviewed and we just went through their area books with them and also showed them the baptismal tracker that has the names of everyone who has committed to be baptized. It was different, but really sweet! We met with Orian that night and told him about Tyson's baptism that was on Saturday to make sure he could go, and he could! 

Saturday morning we had to get up early to go and finish interviews with President. We have the biggest zone so he wanted to split up interviews into two days. After interviews were completed, we went back over to see Billy! He was there and it turns out he is the caretaker of this assisted living home. We went in to meet with him and he introduced us to a less active member that lives there and so we invited him to sit in with us during the lesson. Well a couple minutes after that another man named Daunte came and asked if he could join as well! Then a man named Angel came after that! After Angel was there for a few minutes, a man named Weldon came too! You guys, it was crazy cool. Then right towards the end of the lesson a lady named Cynthia came to join as well. They were like mosquitoes attacking us, however this time I didn't shew them away! :) It was so sweet. After the lesson I explained to Cynthia what the Book of Mormon was and she really wanted to have one so she could start reading as soon as she could! We asked them who wanted to come to church and they all wanted to! We were thinking to ourselves, "How in the world are we going to get them all to church!?!?!" Billy explained that he would have to stay to take care of the rest of the people there but Cynthia, Angel, and Daunte said that they wanted to come for sure so we told them that we would get them a ride! After that we had dinner and then met Brother Ure at Orian's house to go to the baptism at the stake center. We went and it was great for him to witness what it would be like for him. He was a lot less nervous after he got to see what it would be like. Brother Ure also found someone to pick up our investigators for church the next morning! 

Sunday was sweet! Brother Beacham was kind enough to pick them up and bring them to church! Cynthia, Angel, and Daunte all came!! Angel actually told us that he was baptized when he was 8 in California, but we ran his records and could not find them. We will check again. Anyways, they all really enjoyed church and we invited them to the Mission President Fireside that night and Cynthia and Angel said they wanted to go but Daunte had to get up early so he couldn't. Brother Ure Sr. was able to meet us at the Shell station and then we went and picked them up and headed to the Spring stake center that was 20 miles away! We all talked about the fireside when we got back in the car and we all could testify that we felt the Spirit while we attended. I actually felt it most in the last song that the missionary choir sang. It was truly beautiful. It was the :Sisters in Zion/We'll Bring the World His Truth" EFY song. I actually sang it when I was part of the choir back in February, but I did not feel what I felt last night. I knew the Lord was telling me at this particular time that what I feeling was right. I cannot adequately explain how I felt. The chills went through my entire body. This made me think of the scripture in Doctrine and Covenants 25:12, "The song of the righteous is a prayer unto me." It is so true. 

I love you all and thank you for your prayers! 

Love, 

Elder DeLuca 

Check out what we found at Wal Mart! Haha.....this entertained us for a couple minutes! 

​That was the only kiss I got for two years.<3 I love you Buddah! :) 

Another Great Week in Tomball!

Hello everyone! I am going to be brief with my update this week, but we had a great week! 

This last Monday, we were able to visit with a guy who is a recent convert in the Parkway Ward and then he recently just moved to Tomball. He explained his conversion story to us and it was really sweet. We are planning on seeing him again this week! 

Tuesday, we were able to meet with Suzie who we met with weeks ago and kind of lost contact with. She is interested in meeting with us again so we are planning on a lesson tomorrow! We shared the Restoration with her last week! 

Wednesday, we saw Rick and Corban and we taught them the Plan of Salvation! We had Brother Ure with us and he was great! We extended a baptismal date for them both on May 16th! They are really excited to go through this experience together! It is really neat for us to be meeting with a father and son. I love it!

Friday, we went on exchanges with the Elders in the Memorial Springs area so I was with Elder Gray in their area for 24 hours. We met a really nice guy when we were street contacting and we talked to him for like 30 minutes. We explained to him where the Book of Mormon came from and where is prophesied about the in the book of Ezekiel 37. He was like, Well, I never thought of it like that, I want to read it!" The only Book of Mormon I had with me was the one that I have marked up for Bailley, so I explained to him and he was like, "Well, you need to keep that for her."  We exchanged numbers so we will get him one. Don't worry! 

Saturday, we met with Orian in Bishop's home and we had a lesson on the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Orian is a little nervous about the actual baptism itself, so if you could please keep him in your prayers that would help him! :) 

Sunday was really sweet! So get this. We are in ward council and we get a text from Rick and he said that he got called into work so he would not be able to make it to church. I texted him back and asked if Corban had a ride and he responded no. Its go time! I told Brother Small, he was sitting right next to me. We issued a little exchange and Brother Small and I left ward council to go and pick him up! I called Rick and he said that he was trying to call Corban but he was asleep and then he told me that his bedroom was the one on the far right of the house. We knocked on the front door and there was no answer so I walked over to the right side of the house and I knocked on his bedroom window and I woke him up! hahah it was the coolest thing ever! He came to the door and let us in while he got ready really quick, then we were off to church! He had a great time there and he thanked us for coming to wake him up! SO sweet! 

We also we able to go and meet with them last night and we read from the BoM with them. They have been reading together as well! It is so cool to see how prepared they are and how anxious they are to learn more! I love that we have the opportunity to meet with them. They are so sweet! 

I love you all and I will talk to you next week! 

Love,

Elder DeLuca

Sooo, there were some visitors coming through my neck of the woods today so we got to go out to lunch!! 

She takes after my good looks! I love her so much!!!! <3 :) 

Here is Elder Petersen! I didn't have a picture to send last week. He is awesome! 

New Companion and New Investigators!!!!

This week was awesome! We had transfers on Tuesday and my new companion's name is Elder Petersen from San Diego. He is a stud! My first companion that is the same height as me haha!! 

Wednesday, we were jam packed with lessons on deck!! We actually got to see Elder Lythgoe in the morning because he came back to visit with his family so we talked to him in a parking lot for like 5 minutes. I miss that fool so much. He is such a great missionary. 

We met with Guy Benjamin and talked to him a lot about baptism and what he needs to do in order to be baptized. He had been taught everything and knows that the church is true, but he has a female roommate and he cannot be baptized while living in the same home with someone of the opposite sex unless they were to get married, but they do not want to do that. It is a really confusing story but that is the gist of it. 

After Guy, we were able to meet with Orian and this time we just read with him AGAIN because he was not reading. We really stressed the importance of reading and then when we saw him again on Saturday we were able to teach him the Plan of Salvation lesson in our bishop's home and everything clicked for him! HE was like, "You know I was really nervous about being baptized and having kids make fun of me at school, but I know I need to now so let's just get it over with." Hahaha. I thought it was hilarious how he said, "Let's just get it over with." If you knew Orian, you would know that that is just how he is. He is really excited now and we have a date set for May 9th! 

We also were able to see the Castillo family and we talked to them a lot about the Plan of Salvation as well. After them, we saw Julie Stewart and we brought Sister Bean with us. We had a really good member-present lesson with her. We reviewed the Plan of Salvation lesson with her too! You guys are probably thinking that is the only lesson we taught this week, huh!?! Hahaha!! It went well, though, and it was really good for Sister Bean to be there to fellowship Julie. They connected really well!! Sister Stewart gave Sister Bean a bunch of baby clothes for her new baby! 

Okay, so get this! Thursday, we helped Guy Benjamin move a pile of wood at his property in Magnolia. We were loading up this pile onto his trailer and we were just about finished and then he said, "There are some bigger, heavier pieces from my deck over there but be careful because there are nails in them." Bigger, heavier pieces? Yes please. I went over to grab them with another elder and we brought a few pieces to the trailer then we came back and we were talking and I was not paying attention and I stepped right on a board full force and a nail went right through my shoe and into my foot! Hahaha....I was like, "Dang it!" I felt my foot getting really cold and knew that there was a bunch of blood. I took off my shoe and sock and hopped over to the car to wait for them to finish. We called the mission nurse and she said that if it went that deep that I needed to go to an urgent care to get it cleaned out. I really did not want to go, but I obeyed. They cleaned it all up and gave me a tetanus shot to be safe because that sucker was rusty. I also got an antibiotic to be safe, so DO NOT worry about me. I just thought it was funny so I wanted to share that. :) 

Saturday, after we met with Orian, we went to a baptism in the Woodlands where Elder Petersen was serving (College Park Ward, baby!!) and I saw all of the members from my first ward!! So sweet! 

Sunday = best day everrr!!! We were asked to go and help teach the primary yesterday. Too cute! I seriously look forward to the day when I can be a daddy. Anyway, we talked to them about Joseph Smith and we shared the First Vision. We had them all close their eyes while we restated it to them and then we talked about it. They were so cute. We ended up doing it twice to two different age groups so we each had the opportunity to restate it. After that, we were back in gospel principles and the Brother Hiatt opened the door and looked me right in the eye and did the "You come here thing" with his pointer finger. It reminded me a lot of when I was in elementary school when teachers would do that to me. I was like, "Great what did I do now!" We walked out into the hall and there was a non-member, Rick, there that he wanted to introduce to us. He just came to church on his own and brought his two children!! Corban is 15 and Shelby is 11. This was a miracle you guys. They went to their classes and then Rick came with us. He stayed until the end and, during the closing prayer in Elders Quorum, I had the thought to invite him to the temple tour that night, so I did! He was like I have done work on the furniture in that temple, I know exactly where it is. Corban and I will be there, but Shelby is going back to her mom's at 5. So we went to our dinner appointment a little early so we could make the temple tours at 6:30! He texted us before and was like, "Is it okay if I bring a friend from the Windrose Ward?" We were like, "Yes please!!" So it turns out his friend Julie had told him to go to church and so she contacted the Bishop in our area to see what time for him to come and what not. They all came to the tour and they loved it! We asked them if we could meet with them for a few minutes after the session was over and they said yes. We talked about the Prophet Joseph Smith and the restoration of the church and also the Book of Mormon. Rick even said that it is a pattern of God calling prophets in the bible so why would he just stop? I was like, "YOU ARE SO RIGHT!! He didn't stop. He called Joseph Smith and we have had a living prophet on the earth ever since then." It was amazing. Julie also bore her testimony and I know they felt the spirit. So we have a return appointment with them this Thursday for sure and possibly before that to meet that the church to have a church tour. There was one little detail I left out of this story. Remember how I told you that I fast every Sunday now? Well Elder Petersen and I were both fasting to find a family and the Lord answered our prayers. We didn't even know that each other were fasting for the the same thing. 

I know that this is Christ's church and that He is at the helm. I know that Heavenly Father hears our cries and He wants to bless us more than anything and He will as we are faithful and obedient to the things He has asked us to do. I know that Joseph Smith restored the Priesthood that Christ had administered to His Apostles and that His power and authority to perform saving ordinances is back here on the earth today. I know this with all my heart and I cannot and I will not ever deny it. In the name of Jesus Christ, amen. 

Love, 

Elder DeLuca 

It was good to see Bobby! 

Remember the Harris family? I love them!! 

​Sorry this is a little blurry, but this is the Workman family also in College Park! Check out his new website: https://makgoods.com/ Its so sick!!