Letter #27 - "Probablamente Me Voy A Casar"

Hey Everyone!

Don't worry, i am not actually getting married. I will explain.

It definitely does not feel like I have been on a mission for 28 weeks.... weird. I hope y'all had a great first week of August!

Here is my week:

Monday - Even P-Day was uneventful. We had to run to the mission office in Dallas to pick up a new money card for Elder Gomez Alonso. We went back to the church and just

played basketball. In the evening, we mostly were just calling people trying to set up appointments.

Tuesday - We had district meeting and then went on exchanges with the Zone Leaders. I went with Elder McCann down to Allen for the day. We had a really good time. He is an incredible man. We went out knocking on potential investigators' doors and when they didn't answer we would knock all of the neighbors. We knocked on a neighbors house and they let us in! He then told us he wanted to know everything about our beliefs! Elder McCann and I totally thought this was a miracle that fell from heaven.... boy were we wrong. Not 5 seconds later, another man walks out dressed in a white shirt and slacks. The man who let us in said, oh this is my brother. He is our pastor. Uh oh. Yep, you guessed what happened next. We got bible bashed hard core. The preacher brought up the scripture in Revelations about not adding to the bible or you would be cursed. I calmly and kindly mentioned that the bible is a compilation of several books. John was referring to just the book of Revelation. I continued and read him the verse in Deuteronomy which says basically the same thing as the Revelations scripture. I said, with the logic you have about Revelations, you should really be Jewish. If it says the same thing in Deuteronomy, then is the rest of the bible useless? He didn't have an answer and just responded with other anti mormon stuff he had read online. It got no where. We bore our testimonies at the end. I KNOW that the spirit was their during those testimonies. It was powerful. Anyways, long story short, bible bashing leads no where.

Wednesday - We had a lesson with Lucina Caballero and the Franjesevic family. We watched the first half of the Joseph Smith the Prophet of the Restoration movie. It went alright. It is a very strong movie and is pretty sad at points. Our goal in watching this movie with her was to help her understand that Joseph Smith didn't write the Book of Mormon and that he wasn't just doing it for money or for fame. Afterwards, we had a lesson with Jose de Leon! We set a baptismal date for the 20th of August! We are so excited for him.

Thursday - After 4 Wednesdays of painting with 6+ people each week, We (finally) finished painting that trailer! Took long enough. I am pretty proud of how it turned out. Brenda was very grateful for the help. Later, we passed by a member named Pearl Semer. She is recently divorced and living with her sister. Her ex was abusive and has done some not very nice things recently. Keep Pearl in your prayers. There is a lot of crazy and scary things going on right now.

Friday - We spent most of the day on studies and weekly planning. We had another Lesson with Lucina Caballero and the Franjesevic family to watch the second half of the Joseph Smith movie. It went well. Afterwards, we talked about the importance of Joseph Smith and the Book of Mormon. We also talked about all of the sad things that the early saints had to suffer through. We talked about how they kept pushing forward through their afflictions because they knew it was worth it. They knew that the Book of Mormon was true. It was a spiritual discussion and the Franjesevics bore great testimonies as well. Lucina is just starting the 2nd Book of Nephi.

Saturday - Brother Hays in our ward has been sick for months. He has really high blood sugar and the doctors cannot seem to get it down. So we went by in the morning and helped him in his yard. We pulled lots of weeds, mowed, and weed whacked. It was fun! We then went out to Denny's with a member family named the Garzas. It was delicious. After that, the Zone Leaders asked us to go help blitz an area in our zone. So there were 7 companionships all in the Fairview area trying to find new investigators for the sisters there. Their area hasn't had a baptism in 8 years. We talked to some people and got a couple of good potentials for the sisters.

Sunday - We woke up, went to church to be at Ward Council at 8:45 and then stayed at church until 6 in the afternoon. Still not used to that many meetings. Both churches went well! Great wards and great people. During Priesthood at the Spanish Branch, Hermano Garcia gave a lesson on marriage and families. He made a comment about how everyone in the room except the Elders had kids. They started joking around about it and talked about how after our missions, we shouldn't  be afraid to get married. They were talking about how most missionaries are afraid of getting married when they get home. They asked the four of us if that was correct. The three other Elders agreed and i just said, "Pues, probablemente me voy a casar." Which means, "Well, I am probably going to get married." They all laughed after that. Latino humor. It's awesome. After church, We ate dinner with the Archibald Family. It was a blast.

That was my week! I still love it here in McKinney. The work is moving. The Lord is blessing us. He is sending His angels to prepare the way.

Spiritual Thought!
John 3 : 3 says, "Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot SEE the kingdom of God." This is referring to baptism. Nicodemus didn't understand what Christ meant by this, so he basically asks Christ to clarify. Jesus answers again in verse 5, "Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water AND OF THE SPIRIT, he cannot ENTER into the kingdom of God.

This is very important when it comes to the importance of being baptized and receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost. When you are just baptized, you can still see the Kingdom of God, but unless you recieve the Gift of the Holy Ghost, or are born of the spirit, you cannot ENTER into the Kingdom of God. I know that to be true with all my heart. Baptism is an important step. The Gift of the Holy Ghost is super important as well. Both have brought such great joy into my life. I know that I am so blessed because of the steps I took to be baptized by someone who holds the authority from God to do so, and to recieve the Holy Ghost from a man who holds that same authority.

I invite all men everywhere to repent and to be baptized by someone who holds the authority from God and to recieve the Gift of the Holy Ghost. I promise the blessings of Heaven in your lives. I promise eternal happiness as you strive to follow the commandments and be better each day.

I love you all to Kolob and back,
Elder Bullough

Pictures!
1. Elder Huggins and I after service.
2. A cool Texas state shape carved into a brick.
3. Elder Hansen, Huggins, McCann, and Me after our exchange.
4. Half of our zone here in McKinney and Allen.