8/30/2021

Hey Yall! 

This week was really amazing! 

To start out the email I wanted to share a really cool miracle. So sometimes God puts us in the right place at the right time. Elder Larsen and I got this referral for this person who lives at this apartment. We went over and knocked on their door and someone else answered and he said that they didn't live there. His name is Jesus and he was actually really interested in what we do as missionaries. We were able to set up an appointment for him the next day and brought a member with us. It went super well and so now Jesus and his wife is are being taught. They are planning to come to church this next week. So even though we didn't find the referral we originally got, our Heavenly Father knows us perfectly and will put us where we need to be at the right time to talk to the right people. 

This past week we also had dinner with our stake President (President Vandenburg). They made us some really good food.

On Wednesday we had our district council and it was really awesome. We had trainings on ways we can better find and be more effective. We all came up with a vision of what we want our district to be like this transfer. We did a Q&A at mutual with the younger primary kids. It was pretty fun. 

On Thursday I did a baptismal interview for a person name Howard in the Woodlake Elders area. He is so awesome and so ready. He actually got baptized on Saturday. We also had dinner at a member’s home and they only spoke Spanish. Luckily I speak Spanish because none of the Elders could speak Spanish. 

We've been doing lots of finding and teaching and it’s been super awesome. 

A member in our ward named Brother Dreher gave me and Elder Larsen paper with a history of the Mission and church in Texas. It was super cool to read.

Well I hope y'all are doing great and that everyone has a great week! 

-Elder Portlock 

Spiritual thought:

A thought that has been on my mind lately is Diligence. Diligence is such an important thing to have in our lives. When we were diligent we can feel much better about ourselves especially when it's been a hard day. In Psalms 119:4 our Heavenly Father commands us to "keep his precepts diligently". I know that if we put forth our best effort always and endure to the end we will become faithful and valiant disciples of Jesus Christ. 

Pictures of the week:

1. A replica of a plaque of the first LDS Church in San Antonio. The original is actually in the knights Cross building by Stone Oak. 

2. A picture of the original Program of the dedication of the First Ward in SA in 1942.

3. Elder Larsen and I doing some Facebook finding. 

4. Elder Larsen and street contacting on Bikes.