JUNE 16, 2014: Las Cucarachas Part II

Howdy y'all!

With the summer, many things come to our neck of the woods or I should say..hood..

Among them are thunderstorms, humidity, sweat, anddddddd cockroaches. And lots of them too. Wednesday night the fun began when our air conditioning broke in our apartment and we were left with just the ceiling fans blowing hot, wet air on our faces. When we awoke, we were welcomed by hundreds of tiny "ants". I first noticed them downstairs and then Hermana Crandall saw them in the bathroom..She broke the news to me that these critters were not ants..They were cockroaches. Oh joy.

 Seeing that we had no spray to kill them, I looked under the sink and found some cleaner with bleach in it and blasted those things. I thought our problem was solved when they were all killed but at night we saw that they were in our bedroom closet. Needless to say, I went Rambo on the roaches and vacuumed them and sprayed them with our newly purchased bug spray that probably will cause cancer in the near future or I might grow an extra limb..Anyways the problem still isn't solved, they keep coming back with reinforcements...Isn't Texas the greatest? Don't get me wrong, it really is. 

Aside from that lovely experience, our week was pretty quiet...My eighth transfer on the mission has come to a close and now I only have four left. Where has the time gone? Hermana Crandall and I are staying together and we're hoping that we'll get to train a new missionary. 

We've started teaching the Guadarrama family..They're trying to get back into the church after going away for a couple of months..Hermano y Hermana G were baptized a few years ago and their children were as well. One of their sons, Max, is eight and they've asked us to teach him the lessons to help him prepare for his baptism. This family has gone through SO MUCH. Every time they make an effort to come back to the church, something terrible happens. For example, their house burnt down..twice. Life might seem easier when we just go with the flow and do what the world thinks is "normal".

 But I can say that even though the right road isn't easy, it's worth it. Every good thing that we achieve is done through hard work, it's never given to us on a silver platter! When you feel like your faith is being tried, don't run away from the help of the Savior! That's like leaving the safety of your storm cellar as the tornado come into view! (Elder Neil L. Anderson, Trail of Your Faith https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2012/10/trial-of-your-faith?lang=eng&query=neil+l+andersen) 

I know that the only way back to God is through His Son, Jesus Christ. He is our rock and as we build our foundation on Him, we will never fall!

I know this is true and I love you all!

Love,

Hermana Emma Seymour

                                                                   Viva Mexico!!

                              This is our ward mission leader, Hermano Mar and his two nieces..

                                 They were representing Mexico for the ward father's day party..

                                      

A short biography of President and Sister Mortensen who will be presiding over the Texas Houston Mission beginning July 1, 2014. They are spiritual, bright, compassionate, fun, and capable people. Most importantly, I know that the Lord has called them to serve in this capacity.  I have felt the confirming witness of the Holy Ghost concerning their calling and know that the Lord will be able to advance the work through them during their service. If you are not already doing so, please include President and Sister Mortensen, and their children, in your prayers as they prepare for this new assignment. They will love serving with you, and I am sure that you will love serving with them.

With much love and respect,

President Pingree

JUNE 9, 2014 ELEPHANTIASIS

Hola familia! 

With the hot, steamy weather comes the....mosquitoes..and lots of them. Needless to say, when people don't let us in and we have to teach on their doorstep, my legs end up looking like i have leprosy and my feet swell up with the many bug bites..Mom, Dad...if I come home with feet that look like I should be in a circus, will you still love me? 

Yesterday was probably my most favorite day of the week..We had church and a random lady showed up..Her husband left her and her kids homeless and so she opened up the phone book and began to call the many churches in the area. None of the churches picked up except for ours. A member picked her up and brought her to church and from there, we were able to teach her the Restoration. Afterwards, she explained that this was something completely different from the non-denominational churches she had previously attended..She said that for her entire life she has felt like she hasn't found the COMPLETE truth. That something has always been missing. Well my friend, you've found the full truth! We gave her a copy of the Book of Mormon and got her information..We're hoping to have the english sisters this week. MIRACLE! At night, we went to our bishop's house and helped his wife cooked dinner...From there, some of the ward leaders joined us and we all split up and visited less active members from the ward! 

On Wednesday, we had to go on a road trip to Houston to trade our car in and in the process, I got to see Sister Sanford...The bishop's wife from my first area! She works at the Church peanut butter factory which happens to be right next to the mission office. So we dropped in and she gave us a quick tour and some peanut butter! wahoo! It was so weird to catch up with her on everything that has happened in my life and hers..I can't believe I hadn't seen her in 8 months!

Another miracle..The Caldwell sisters (40 minutes away from us, english speaking) called us and gave us a referral! They found a mexican family and began to teach them very simply due to the language barrier (the husband knows some english). They're really interested and have already began to read the Book of Mormon. Hopefully this week, we can set up a time and meet with them!

We saw so many miracles this week and we're hoping that with the summer as well, this area can BOOM and the ward can be united..

I love you all!

Hermana Seymour
TEXAS

MonsterSquirrel 

caught this little guy stealing the birds' food!

LOYD CHRISTMAS

Como le va mi familia?

This week was so much fun! Let me explain "Loyd Christmas" aka..jim carey'scharacter from Dumb and Dumber...So it's 6:09 am on may 31st and we hear a relentless pounding on the door. Hermana Crandall flies out of bed and I followed, grabbing "the giant q-tip" (a 8 foot long pvc pipe with half of a pool noodle over it), preparing myself to fight off the killers. As we rushed down the stairs it occurred to me..hey it's my birthday..sooo this is probably the elders being the elders..And what do you know, we swing the door open to see the three of them laughing hysterically because of the way we looked..very disheveled to say the least..with a giant q-tip ready to swing..They screamed, "HAPPY BIRTHDAY!! we're kidnapping yall. Go get ready!" We got ready and hopped in their car and drove to IHOP! Oh how I love my friends..As we waited to order, Elder Howe said, "Yall are going to die when you hear this story." He proceeded to tell us that Elder Garcia was playing basketball with some investigators when his face hit the concrete. Hard. We turned to Elder Garcia who smiled, showing that half of his front tooth was completely gone..We were crying! Of all the people this would happen to..it was him! (he's kinda a pretty boy..) So for the entire breakfast, he quoted dumb and dumber and lets just say my abs (the weak ones that i might have) hurt!

Later on during the day, we decided to save on miles and carpool with the elders to a trailer park that has a lot of less actives living there..The family they wanted to see wasn't home so they came with us to Estela Torres' house. As we pulled up, we saw that she was mowing the lawn in the near 100 degree heat. Crazy woman. We got out of the car and the elders took over the mowing while she said, "Mi salvacion ha llegado!" (my salvation has come!) We went inside and began to talk and teach her about obedience..She said that she was just thinking about needing help with the yard when we pulled up..what a miracle! Later on she explained that her health wasn't doing too well and so we asked her if she wanted a blessing..She said that she hadn't received one in 20 years! We grabbed the elders and they gave her an amazing blessing. The whole afternoon was so inspired it was  so cool to see the hand of the Lord working miracles!

That night, we went to Mireya's birthday party and found so many less actives there! Hispanic parties are seriously goldmines for finding people! The party was hawaiian themed and there was akaraoke  machine..mexicans and kareoke are the greatest combination know to man! it was sooo hilarious! All of the missionaries might have been peer-pressured to get up and do it..what song did they pick for us? Single Ladies...hollaback! My birthday was seriously the greatest birthday EVER.

Other awesome things that happened this week..We taught my dad the Plan of Salvation! It was so cool to study and prepare for this lesson because I learned this: When you teach someone the gospel, this isn't the first time that they've heard it. We were all taught it when we lived with God before we came to earth. So the gospel has a familiar ring to it..As a missionary, I'm REMINDING people, not teaching them..We've all heard it before!

The plan that God has prepared for us is absolutely perfect. That's why it sounds logical or makes sense. I'm so grateful to know my purpose on this earth. We're here to be tested and to have experiences that will prepare us to RETURN to God one day. That's our goal..to get back to God as eternal families!

I love you all and hope you all realize and understand that you are beloved children of God!

Soo..i ran out of time last week for emailing and didn't get to send all of my pictures so here are some!Elder Langinbelik! He's from Laie, Hawaii and he's a boss!

behold...hot sauce.

wahoooo! it really did make me feel alive!

meet Loyd Christmas..aka..Elder Garcia..If you look closely, you will see that HALF of his front tooth is missing..Yep..that's what happens when your face hits cement. They tagged along with us to give a less active a blessing..It was super powerful!

the elders and the birthday girl, Hermana Mireya Rodriguez :)

anddd guess who rubbed it in their eye? elder alexander..

hermana crandall and i at the party!

soo there might have been kareoke at the party..

PARTAYYY

meet the other Emma..This cutie pie is in the Huntsville Ward and we've been besties since day one..There was a stake family history fair here in College Station and her family came! and Jo Ann!

It was Emma's 9th birthday this past week wahooo!

Con amor,

Hermana Seymour