Good People

Hey ya'll,

Nothing super crazy happened this week. Sorry if this letter is a little on the dry side! 

My companion and I found an awesome couple to teach this week! Their names are Joseph and Alicia and they live in our apartment complex. One day we were leaving our apartment and Joseph and Alicia came over to us and said they wanted to talk about our religion. At first we thought the Joseph wanted to bash, but then he started talking about how much respect he has for us missionaries. He sees how we treat everyone we meet and knows we represent Christ. Then he went on to tell us that he and his wife love watching BYUtv and even watched the women's session of General Conference!! What???? We were blown away. They loved the messages that were shared and want to learn more. When we invited them to baptism, they immediately accepted. Woooo!! They have a lot of potential and I am excited to continue teaching them.

There's a family in the ward who is just awesome. They are the Burke family and they have six kids, 3 of which have autism. Brother Burke is the best person ever. He is always coming out with the missionaries to lessons and having our investigators over for dinner, even if we can't make it. He will do absolutely anything to help you. He told us one day, "I'm sorry sisters, I can't take you to lunch. I'm broke. I was taking an old woman's trash to the dump for her and the man who works there wouldn't let me dump the trash without her ID. I got really mad and started yelling and making a fuss. Afterwards I felt really bad and decided to go back and give that man a gift card to Chili's. So that's why I don't have any more money to take you to lunch." I love that man, he's too good.

Overall, I learned that people always watch us as members of the church, even if we don't realize it! We now have two new investigators just because they saw how the missionaries treat people and they recognized the Spirit. So represent Christ well!

I love you all and I hope you have a good week!

Love

Hermana Angus

Bikes and Big Hair

Howdy amigos,

Humidity takes on a whole new meaning here in Corpus! My hair wasn't really poofy when I was in Mission, but here in Corpus my hair is BIG. Like Texas big. But it's fun!

Last week I mentioned our investigator John (he still reminds me of Liam Neeson). He is super solid and just loves the gospel! He used to be an alcoholic, and he has been sober for 14 years! The anniversary of the day he stopped drinking, or his "sober birthday", is September 18th and he is very proud of himself for turning his life around. When he told us that, I asked if he would like to make that day even more special by being baptized on September 18th. He said yes! Wooooo! He's so cool. Unfortunately, he is going on to be in Rhode Island until Labor Day.... But it's ok! He already went on mormon.org and found a church building in Rhode Island to attend while he's gone. Yay!

I think my body is having a hard time adjusting to Southern food. I was used to eating tortillas and beans every day, and my body isn't handling all the red meat and barbeque in Corpus very well.... ANYWAYS... I still really love Corpus! However, my companion is not super coordinated on the bike. One day, we had been biking for not even 30 seconds when my companion took a turn too sharply and just fell off her bike in front of a busy street. She was ok, and I shouldn't have found it so funny, but it just was. The only thing more ridiculous than a girl riding a bike in a helmet and church clothes is a girl falling off her bike while wearing a helmet and church clothes.

I'm having fun here in Corpus Christi! I hope everyone is enjoying their last moments of summer before school starts. I love y'all!

Love,

Hermana (Sister) Angus

Corpus Christi

Howdy y'all!
Hellooooooo from Corpus Christi! It is the Northern-most part of the mission and it is completely different from where I was before. I went from Mexican culture and Mexican food to American culture and barbeque. Corpus is full of white people and hardly any Spanish. Every missionary dreads going to Corpus because your Spanish gets rusty. Great, mine wasn't even good to begin with! We call Corpus the "Great White North". hahaha. When I heard that I was going there, my companion said to me, "Aw man! You're going to Canada!" (Nate, I am in the Everhart area--Corpus Christi Zone). But I really love it here, already. Yeah, the Mexican culture is missing, but Corpus is a cool city. People talk with southern twang and it's fun. We are about 5 miles from the Gulf of Mexico and there is always a breeze. Hallelujah.

I have a new companion and she is awesome! Her name is Sister Nail and she is from Los Angeles. My old companion was from LA, too! She is 22 years old and went to BYU-Idaho. We get along really well and are already having a lot of fun.

Uncle David, you'll never guess who is the Bishop of my ward....Your old companion, Elder Sagers (AKA Clive)! We went over to his house and he looked at my name and asked where my dad was from. I told him Utah and he said, "I served my mission in Taiwan with an Elder Angus from Odgen, Utah." Mind blown. Man, the world is small!

We are teaching a super cool guy named John. He looks and sounds just like Liam Neeson and every time we teach him I feel like I am teaching Batman's martial arts master. He loves reading the Book of Mormon and is already in Jacob. And he has been coming to church every week. Next step: Baptism! The only problem is he is super cautious and doesn't want to make this life long commitment without being 100% certain. So we are being patient with him. But he will get there. He is so awesome and I love teaching him.

Anyways, life is good here in Corpus! I hope y'all have a great week!

Love,

Hermana Angus

pink house-- saying goodbye to mission, tx

doggy-- cute little dog in Corpus and photo bombed by my comp

me and sister nail

TLC

Dear family,

This week was pretty great! We had some fun while tracting, a crazy rainstorm, and an awesome Sunday!

Everyone here asks me where I am from and when I say Colorado, they get really confused. They say, "Where are your parents from?" When I respond, "Utah and California," they get even more confused and finally say, "No, I mean where are your ancestors from? How do you have red hair?" Are your ancestors from Ireland or Scotland?" So many people have asked me this, that my companion and I decided to make tracting a little more interesting....I am now the Scottish missionary! Whenever someone answers the door in English, I start talking to them in a Scottish accent. EVERYONE BELIEVES IT. One guy opened the door, looked at us, didn't say anything, and went to slam the door in our face. I quickly said in my fake Scottish accent, "We're missionaries from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints!" He opened the door more and said, "Wait, what did you say?" I repeated myself and he said, "Wow, you're not from around here are you? What is a Scottish girl doing in South Texas?" hahaha. He didn't accept our message, but at least he didn't slam the door in our face!

Also, this Sunday a lot of less-active members in our area came to church! This whole transfer we have been going by their homes and letting them know that we care for them. It's amazing what a little TLC can do, because this week three of our less-active families came to church!! That's amazing. My companion and I just couldn't stop smiling during church.

Anyways, I guess the main thing I learned this week is that it's really important to show people that you love them. These people just needed to know that someone cares for them and their situation. I am loving being a missionary more and more each day! Have a great week!

Love,

Hermana Angus

rain storm!

Why did the chicken cross the road? haha. Also notice, the stray dogs in the background. They are everywhere.

cute random puppy who followed us while tracting

flat tire

Animo!

Hey y'all,

This week was pretty different from the previous weeks because 1) the weather was rainy and awesome 2) we had tons of meal appointments! But not your usual one-per-day meal appointments....

For the first two weeks in the ward, our members never fed us. My companion said it was normal to have a dinner appointment once a week. But then this week we had multiple meal appointments every day.... At first, my companion and I were super excited while looking at our meal calendar (it was fast Sunday and we were starving). Families had signed up for every night. So each day we went out to work thinking we were going to eat one dinner like normal human beings. But then at each member's house we would visit, they had food prepared and the table set for us. My companion and I ate three dinners on Thursday. Ugh...... Our days mainly consisted of an unscheduled meal at 4 o'clock, another surprise meal 5 o'clock, and then our actual scheduled dinner at 6 o'clock. Good thing we were on bikes!!!! While biking, my companion told me, "I'm pretty sure this is what pregnancy feels like."  hahaha. Don't get me wrong, I am super grateful for all of the love we are receiving from our members! I just wish my stomach was bigger!

I am so grateful for everyone's support for me out here on the mission. A few weeks ago I wrote about how hard things were down here, and I received tons of letters and words of encouragement from back home! You guys are so great. I am doing a lot better know and I am loving the work. We still don't have any investigators, but my companion and I are working hard to have, as they say in Spanish, ANIMO! I love you all!

Con amor,

Hermana Angus