Week 47 - A Connecticut Yankee in Conroe TX

This week I felt extremely patriotic. I think something about being here breathing the humid Houston air looking at all the proudly displayed Texas flags blowing in the wind (and we even saw some Confederate flags out in the woods this week) makes you feel patriotism a lot stronger somehow. I like believing in my country. 

     So to start of with the patriotism, it turns out that the Texas Flag was supposedly created in Montgomery Texas, which happens to be part of our ward. It is also my good fortune that Hermana Wallace also appreciates a good historical outing, so we went to check it out last Monday. They have preserved a Civil War Era part of town and it was very beautiful. 

    This week we were in the Family History Center and one of the cute little old ladies asked us where we were from. When she got to me and I told her I was from Connecticut, her whole expression and voice changed and she said turning to the other lady, "She's a yankee. We don't get many yankees around here." I had to try not to laugh or say that 'YES, YES I AM! AND PROUD OF IT'. I tried to make amends but she told me that the only reason we were still friends was because we go to the same church. Hahaha. 

    Also this week when we were out in the back woods of Conroe without our GPS trying to track down a less active, Hermana Wallace and I said a prayer that we would be able to find their house. We knew that it was somewhere down this one street and that I had been there once before a long time ago. As we started off I started to get random promptings that I needed to turn right or left, and as five minutes later we found their street. It was very special to know that the Lord was helping us to find our way. It's like Proverbs 3:5-6, but literally. 

    When we were also out in the backwoods contacting and looking for people we prayed that we would be protected from dogs, as there are a lot of wild mean ones over there. It was cool to move on to the next house and walk inside the fence and find a huge pitbull suddenly racing to try and bit us from the other house we had just left. Small miracles are the best!

    I wanted to tell you a little bit about one of my heroes. His name is Hermano Sandres. Him and his family moved here from Honduras many years ago, and when I was here before he was a very nice man who could sing a very nice alto to his wife's beautiful soprano. About two months ago he had a stroke which paralyzed the right half of his body and took a lot of his memories. We got to see him for the first time on Sunday when they wheeled him in the room in a wheelchair. When the sacrament got passed to him his wife had to hold the little cup if water to his mouth as he drank it because he could not lift it himself. Something about it was mesmerizing. He cannot walk. He cannot talk as well as he used to. He cannot remember names or dates, but he CAN remember all the words to all the hymns and the primary songs (songs that you learn when you are a little kid about Jesus). But most importantly he remembers how important it is to go to church. 

    We have been struggling with getting our investigators to church recently which has been a little hard. But it moved me to watch this man who cannot walk and is constantly in a lot of pain come to church even when it was very hard and even humiliating for him. How constantly we find excuses not to go, but like Hermano Sandres, we always have to FIND excuses to go. I want to achieve this level of faith one day in my life. ALWAYS ALWAYS try to go to church. I know now especially that it can bless us more than anything else can. Jesus Christ gave his whole life, I know that we can give one hour every week. 

    I love each and everyone of you. If there is ever anything that I can do for you, please let me know. 

    Always, 

Hermana Madison McCurdy