Rebuild....

Hey everyone! Hope you guys had a great week! This was a good week for me and Elder Fraley! Had some fun and got some work done! Tuesday I got to go on exchanges with another elder and it went really good! We both learned something from each other and to end off the night we went and played soccer with some investigators!

Other than that this week was full of us trying to get in contact with our investigators that have a date and what not! They are so awesome the only thing holding them back is coming to church! Please pray that they will come!

On the service side of things, it was pretty slow. We are going to start helping people rebuild their houses now which should be fun! During this time I have gotten really close with some of the members, but more importantly with my lord and Savior Jesus Christ!

He is with us at all times and in all places and I know that he will always be there for me when I feel down! I know that he lives and this church is true!

I love it here, and I love serving the lord! Love you guys and have a great week!

Love, Elder Stringfellow

The Rat was as Big as a Chihuahua...

Hey everyone hope you all had a good week! This week was one of the funnest of my mission with my new companion Elder Fraley! He is from West Jordan and we get along really well! I had a blast this week and we got a lot of work done!

We put 4 people on date for baptism and they are super ready! The only thing bad that happened I guess was that they had to go to Mexico for a family emergency but other than that they are doing great! It feels great to get back out there and do missionary work, but to be honest I love serving the people and helping them out! It has gotten me really close with some of the members here and I love it!

Funny story we where mucking out a house yesterday and me and Elder Fraley were in the other room and we heard someone scream. We thought that it was one of the hermanas screaming but no, it was the second councilor in bishopric haha and we go see what's going on and there was a giant rat, like as big as a chihuahua big, and it was running around and we all had shovels trying to kill it but couldn't get the stupid thing. It ran past a hermano and he kicked so hard and so far, that he probably could've made a 50 yd field goal haha! But we finally got it in the corner and we pretty much chopped its head off haha!

This week I have been thinking a lot how much God really does love us! I know these times are hard but if we keep trying to show that we have the faith that everything will be alright he is going to bless us in so many ways! I love what I am doing here for the people in Houston! Love you guys and hope you have a great week!

 Love, Elder Stringfellow

PHOTOS OF THE WEEK 

Exhausted but Happy

Sorry all I got this week are pics!! All we really did was service haha! Love you all and stay safe :)

 ~ Elder Stringfellow

 PHOTOS OF THE WEEK 

GATORS in the Water...

Hey everyone, just wanna let you guys know that I am fine! Everything down here has been crazy and some people are starting to loose their minds haha! Al least now I can say that I have been in a hurricane lol.

Well to start things off on Saturday the 26th we had to stay inside all day and I wanted to kill myself cause we where so bored! It was a good time for us to study and what not and just talk about life I guess! I don't remember a whole lot because it's really a day I don't want to remember! 

Sunday was the crazy day! First off they cancelled church and me and Elder Romero where a little confused because from what we could see outside of our apartment window, there was nothing going on. We then decided to go outside and go look at our street, and we got out there and the water was about 2-3 feet high and we where like OK ya we need to get out of here, like now! So we ran inside and got some of our things ready, and we put stuff up on high shelves and got ready to leave. That took us about 45 minutes and when we went back outside the water was a good 3 1/2 feet pushing 4! So we start walking to this house and the water was getting deep, to the point where we could barely see the top of cars! It was quite the journey and definitely something I will never forget. We made it to the members house in about 45 minutes and I was so tired after all that and we were just sitting their soaking wet haha! Didn't sleep a whole lot that night as we heard boats, helicopters, and crazy winds going all night! 

Monday we stayed there and emailed for about 20 minutes then the power went out and it was still raining cats and dogs outside! We sat their trapped in the members house but we went out for a little bit and helped some people! It was crazy the street we walked on the day before, had 14 feet of water on Monday...Pretty crazy stuff. Right down the street they where picking people up in dump trucks and launching off their boats to go save people! Monday night was crazy as the member came and woke us up in the middle of the night and told us to come downstairs and help translate as a coast guard officer who was there to start getting ready to evacuate! We ran upstairs and got things ready, and I had about 45 seconds to myself and I said a quick prayer. After that I got this overwhelming feeling that everything was going to be alright and we where going to stay here.  I still got all my things ready and helped he members get things ready for his kids but it was by far one of the most spiritual experiences of my mission! 

We woke up the next morning with the water significantly down! It really was a blessing that we where able to stay! The crazy thing is his house is built to where it is not supposed to flood but it got dangerously close in the middle of the night... Like 5 feet away! Anyways we sat their and played with the kids and then it stopped raining at like 5:00 am. We decided to try and walk to our house as some of the neighborhoods didn't flood except for the streets! That was a bad idea as I almost got bit by 2 water snakes haha! That was pretty sketch! 

Wednesday the rain completely stopped, and we went outside to assess all the damage. We went to a different members house to start some service and out of the corner of my eye a saw something move, and I thought it was just another snake, but this time it was a baby GATOR! I was like no way at first so I ran to go get a shovel to start playing with it, but the member did the right thing and killed it haha! That was pretty cool! 

Thursday through Monday of this week was straight service all day! All in all we have probably destroyed 15 houses and we still have a lot more to go! So much damage has been done to some of these people's homes but most of them are so happy and grateful for the things that they still have! It breaks my heart to see their piles of debris just keep growing, but it makes me happy to see people doing things that Christ would do and begin to help their faith grow! The members here are super awesome! I have gotten so close to so many of them and I can't wait to continue to work with them! And by the way we got our power back Thursday night at 9:00! 

I have come so much closer to Christ in these last couple of weeks! I have no doubt seen the hand of Christ and felt of his spirit so much through this disaster! He is the light and he can lead us down the darkest paths! I know this church is true and he really does love his children! Love you guys and thanks for the prayers and whatever else you guys did haha! Have a great week! 

Love, Elder Stringfellow 

PHOTOS OF THE WEEK