My Final Week - A Reflection

 Howdy Y'all!

This is my last email of my mission! Crazy, right? 

These past two years have been the longest and fastest two years of my life. I never knew that I would start in Tonga and then have a global pandemic send me home for 2.5 months, and then be reassigned to the Texas Fort Worth Mission to finish my time.

My mission has been full of ups and downs, but I would never take the time and experiences I've had here for anything else in the world. I'm so grateful that I was able to meet so many people and to make so many new friends!

The mission has transformed me completely. I don't know what I'd be like if I didn't serve a mission, and I am so glad I chose to serve. The biggest difference from me now and me before my mission is that I now have an even stronger testimony that Jesus is the Christ and that He is our Savior and Redeemer. I know that he died for each and every one of us. He took upon himself all of our sins, pains, sorrows, heartaches, afflictions, and so on. One of my absolute favorite scriptures is in The Book of Mormon in the Book of Alma, Chapter 7.

11. And he shall go forth, suffering pains and afflictions and temptations of every kind; and this that the word might be fulfilled which saith he will take upon him the pains and the sicknesses of his people.

12. And he will take upon him death, that he may loose the bands of death which bind his people; and he will take upon him their infirmities, that his bowels may be filled with mercy, according to the flesh, that he may know according to the flesh how to succor his people according to their infirmities.

13. Now the Spirit knoweth all things; nevertheless the Son of God suffereth according to the flesh that he might take upon him the sins of his people, that he might blot out their transgressions according to the power of his deliverance; and now behold, this is the testimony which is in me."

The thing I love about this scripture is that Christ knows us and He loves us enough that he died for us! Without the Atonement of Christ there would be no hope for us and we wouldn't be able to live with our Father in Heaven again.

I'm so glad I was able to share this gospel with so many people, and I know that the things I've learned here will stick with me for the rest of my life. 

I'm grateful for all of y'all and your support and prayers. If you have any questions about my mission, just ask me in person. Hahaha! I'll be home this Friday. If you can't talk in person, I can email you for sure, though.

Love y'all! 

Elder Delgado - Logging off

THEN & NOW

TONGA - November 2019

TEXAS - August 2021

Week 87 - I'm Being Transferred to Krum!

 Howdy all my fellow Cowboys and Cowgirls! 

Instead of weekly emails my trend is more transfer-ly emails! (That means every six weeks or so!) Hahaha. I should be doing better about sending emails out, so I'll try harder next week! 

This Transfer I was with Elder Taufa and Elder Koloamatangi! We were in a trio for the whole time except the last week (an Elder in this zone left to his assignment in Africa and his companion needed a companion, so he got one of mine). We spent a lot of this transfer doing service, teaching lessons, and getting to know the youth in the ward better! 

We've been able to have a lot of fun experiences but one that sticks out to me is the time we were invited to a football camp! Here in Euless is one of Texas' most famous football high schools. It's called Trinity High School. One of our church members is the Defensive line coach for Trinity and invited us for a tour of their facilities. This Texas high school puts some D1s to shame. hahaha. They have an indoor field to practice on, huge locker rooms, a mat room, weightlifting room, and more. After the tour we watched  a U12 football game and to be honest, they could probably beat American Fork football, sorry guys. After that we watched some of a lineman camp. I thought it was super cool to watch some football again, but the best part about it was the amount of Tongans that were there! It was probably one of the most ingenious finding activities I've done, because we met so many nonmember Tongans, and we were able to talk with them and get to know them! We even invited one to church. 

I just love how on the mission you can apply some of your hobbies or interests into the Lord's work. I would have never thought I would be watching football games and sharing the gospel at the same time! ZAZA!

A lot has happened this past transfer, but I don't have enough typing stamina to tell you all about It, but I'd love to leave y'all with a message that God lives, and He loves you. He's your Father and He cares about the well-being of your soul. He gave us a gift and that gift is called prayer. When we pray to God, we are speaking to him directly. He loves to hear us talk about the things that make us happy in this life, and even our trials. When you pray you can ask Him for help and for blessings. Sometimes the answers come in ways you would of never thought possible. So I'd like to invite you to, if you haven't already, start praying to God, and if you are praying to God, keep doing it! 

I love you all lots. I can feel your love and support each day! 

Love,

Elder Delgado 

P.S. I'm being transfered to the Denton zone in the Krum area. My companion will be Elder Morely! This is also my last full transfer of my mission as I'm expected to return "home" to Utah in August to begin college in the fall.  

Week 81 - Lots of service!

 It's been six weeks since I last emailed. hahaha. Just so you know, It was a really good six weeks. I've made so many new friends, have new stories, have taught new people, and I'm nearing the end of my Mission!

 

This past transfer we did a whole bunch of service for the community. Our friends in the Watauga Area put an ad on facebook for free service and people were hitting them up a bunch, so we helped them out a lot. One of my favorite service projects that I did was pulling out about 10 bushes from the ground. It was super fun but super tiring. We got it done within six hours, so we're basically pros.
 

Another super fun thing we did this transfer is that we did a Car Wash! We set up in the church parking lot. It was so fun to wash people's cars. A lot of them wanted to give us money, but we didnt take it. We told them we were just serving the community. We washed about 50 cars, I think.

 

One cool thing about this past transfer is that I am serving in the Tonagn Ward (congregation), so that means I get to speak Tongan and serve the Tongan people here. Tongans love food and feeding the missionaries, which I'm thankful for. The downside about all this food is that I've gained about 20 pounds. lol. Back to the dad bod. 

 

We received transfer calls yesterday, and I got news that I'll be staying in the Tongan ward with Elder Koloamatangi and Elder Taufa. We will be in a trio. I think this is like the fifth trio I've been on on my mission. Trios are fun, and both those Elders are awesome so we're going to have a blast. 

 

One thing I have learned and studied about this transfer is patience. Patience has been something that I've wanted to master for a long time. I've learned that it's so important to have patience not only as a missionary but as a child of God as well. Oftentimes we don't get what we want, or life throws us a curveball and the best way to deal with that is patience. I think a word that goes with patience is the word endure. As we are patient and endure our trials we can start to feel the blessings come and realize how much we've grown through our trials. If you're going through a rough time, pray to God and let him know how you're feeling. Ask him to help you in your trials and for more patience. As you put in your effort, God will help with the rest.

 

If you want, feel free to email me. I'm going to be honest, I am not the best at replying, but I'll give it my best. hahaha.

 

With lots of love,

Elder Delgado

Week 75 - I'm Going Back to the Tongan Ward!

Malo e Lelei, 

Hello friends and family! This week has been great! We were busy with a bunch of busy work and driving. We went down to Burleson to give Elder Jenkins his bike and then we ate some good brisket sandwiches at K&S - definitely a favorite! hahaha! 

We contacted a bunch of people, but sadly enough, it's spring break and all our friends are college students, so it's been kinda slow. 

We got transfer news this week!!!!! 

I'm being transferred back to the Tongan area in Euless!!!! I'm so happy. My new comp is Elder Koloamatangi. He's an absolute stud. Were gonna have a good time. 

I'm super sad to leave all my friends and this Fort Worth zone, but in happy to go back to the Hurst zone.

Other than that I don't have much news. I just hope that y'all remember to keep giving it your all and never give up. Remember who you are, and always strive to become more Christ-like. 

Love,
Elder Delgado

 

Week 73 - The Ice Storm is Over and We're Warming Up!

 Wow! I am terrible at sending weekly emails! 

 
A lot has happened, and I don't have much time to write about the past few weeks, but I do want to say that everything is going well down here in Fort Worth and that the work is pushing forward. I'm happy and having a good time. 

I want you to know that God loves all of you and knows each of you individually. He cares about everything that is happening in your life. If you ever feel down, grab a Book of Mormon and start reading (it will fill you with the spirit!).

I hope you all have a great week, and Woohoo! It's March! It's almost Saint Patties Day!

Love y'all lots,
Elder Delgado

Week 68 - My Zone Is The Best Zone

 Happy P-day!

I hope everyone is doing well. This week has been super great! The zone had 4 baptisms and we taught a bunch of lessons. Everyone is progressing well. This zone is definitely the greatest zone in the Fort Worth Mission, and I'm not saying that because I'm biased, but because it's TRUE. All these missionaries love to work and they work hard and have a good time while they do it! 

This week we did some service at the Buddhist Temple (I always forget to take pictures there). 

This week I've been studying a lot about diligence. It's such an important attribute to acquire. Diligence is probably one of the greatest Christlike attributes a missionary can have. When you are diligent you work hard, don't get distracted, and you focus on the Savior. While being diligent we can feel so much joy. Joy in the knowledge that we are serving the Lord and gathering Israel. 

Sorry this email is short, but that's kind of the way I like it. I hope y'all have a blessed week. 🤠 Let me know if you've had something awesome happen this past week! 

Love y’all lots,

Elder Delgado 

P.S. The only pictures I have are silly workout ones, I'll try to take more pictures next week.

Week 67 - Victory!

Happy Day! 

 
This week has been so fun and a little chaotic! But all and all we came out with a big dub (dub = W = Win = Victory). 
 
Last P-day we attended a funeral for Sister Naeta. She was a senior missionary who unexpectedly passed away. As a Tongan speaker, I gathered all the other Tongan speakers in the mission and we sang a song for the funeral service. It was a sad day but we sang one of my favorite songs called Fakaofa Kiate Au. 
 
The next day I started feeling a little sick... and then the next day I started having all the same symptoms someone would have if they contacted COVID! So, I got in contact with the mission nurse and she had my companion and I quarantine and get tested for Corona Virus. I got tested and the next day I got the results back. It came back negative, which I was so relieved to hear. If it would have came back positive the whole Fort Worth Zone and all the people I came in contact with at the funeral would of had to quarantine too!
 
For the next couple of days after that, we were still told to self isolate until I felt back to normal which brings us to today!  Within this quarantine we were able to share the Gospel through technology and teach lessons. We even have one of our friends scheduled for his baptism in February! 
 
I'm so grateful for technology and the aid it gives us in these hard times. God's work is still pressing forward possibly stronger than it was before. I'm also grateful for the spectacular missionaries in the Fort Worth Zone. They are so diligent and hard working, and the work is showing! 
 
I hope y'all enjoyed your past week, and I hope you have an even better one to come.
 
Ofa atu,
 
-Elder Delgado