Week 61 - A Happy Thanksgiving

 Howdy!

Happy Monday! This week was pretty eventful! It included service, a 5K, and a very delicious Thanksgiving. 

This week at the community storehouse I was challenged with the difficult task of building not one, but two artificial Christmas trees! It was fun setting these trees up and decorating them because it reminded me of home and of this time of year how we are starting to focus on our Savior! Like I've said before service is one of my favorite things to do on the mission. I feel super happy when I serve others, and I know how much it means to them, and to God.

Oddly enough, I can say the first 5K I've ever ran was on the mission. Basically, a lady in the stake (a group of congregations) holds a 5K race on Thanksgiving to raise awareness for people with Down Syndrome, and she invited the missionaries to run or help out at the race. And you know Elder Delgado loves new experiences and an adventure, so of course I was down to run! It was actually such a great experience, and I want to run more 5Ks. I would say don't be afraid to try something new because you might find out it's something you enjoy!

For Thanksgiving we ate at the home of one of the families in our ward (congregation). They were very kind and fed us a whole bunch. Afterwards one of the little girls gave us hats with gratitude scriptures write on them. One of them was from Psalms 92:1:

"It is a good thing to give thanks unto the Lord,
and to sing praises unto thy name, O most High"

Just remember to always give thanks and show your gratitude to God. Not just for one week of the year but every single day! As you are grateful, and pray with gratitude, you can feel Gods love for you. 

I love you guys so much! Keep being awesome! Tell someone you're grateful for them, it'll make their day.

Love,
Elder Delgado 

A Week of Gratitude - Day 7

Today I am grateful for the time I had serving in the Kingdom of Tonga. I loved every bit of it and every person I met. I learned a lot while I was there. One of the biggest things I learned was the example the Tongan people set of charity, selflessness, and love to all. Every single day there was an instance when someone would offer me food even though it was all they had, or someone gave me sandals when mine were completely destroyed, or someone offered us a ride to a place that we needed to go to even though it was in the opposite direction they were going. These are just a few examples of the Christ-like love these people showed and it made a impact on my life. I learned that a little can go a long way, and that it brings me so much joy to make someone's burdens a little lighter. I would not trade the experiences I made in Tonga for anything in the world. Plus I got some cool tan lines.

Please remember to go out of your way today to help someone out! It will mean the world to them!

A Week of Gratitude - Day 6

Today I'm extremely grateful for Temples! I'm grateful that I can visit these beautiful places and feel God's love inside them! The Temple has blessed me and my family so so much!

A Week of Gratitude - Day 5

Today I am grateful for sports!

Playing sports, especially football and lacrosse bring me so much joy. I've learned throughout the years that to become a great athlete you need to practice every day. You need to have the discipline to practice every day and to have the determination to know that you won't be the best athlete after one day of practice. It takes many many weeks, months, and years of practice to become an outstanding athlete!

I love this so much, because it relates to the Gospel so well, and to me it relates to scripture study. Through daily scripture study we can strengthen or testimonies and knowledge of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Scripture study takes lots of discipline and determination. Over time you will be able to feel your testimony of the Gospel, and of Christ, and of the scriptures grow.

A Week of Gratitude - Day 4

Today I'm grateful for my amazing parents! I'm so thankful for the great example that they have set for my siblings and I. I'm also so grateful for their love of the gospel of Jesus Christ, and that they could help me learn how to be the very best person I can be!

I love them so much, and I'm always filled with joy to know that I can live with them for eternity!

Mom and Dad, I love you to the moon and back!

A Week of Gratitude - Day 3

Today I am grateful for all the amazing friends I have made on the mission!

If you have ever crossed paths with me on the mission both in Texas or in Tonga you have made an impact on my life, believe it or not! I'm so happy to be able to be surrounded by such amazing people who inspire, support, love, and elevate each other.

If you're thinking about serving a mission I would say one of the benefits is that you will make tons of lifelong friendships!

A Week of Gratitude - Day 2

I'm grateful for my metal steed, also known as a bike. It gets me where I need to go, plus it gives me a great workout. It hasn't given up on me yet.

A Week of Gratitude - Day 1

Today I am grateful for the Prophet Russell M. Nelson and for the guidance that he gives to us. He is truly an amazing example of what it means to be a disciple of Jesus Christ.

Week 60 - Service, Service, Service... I love it!

Malo Etau Lava!
 

Hello friends! This past week has been great! We did a lot of service, we met new people, we listened to the Prophet, and I have another singing opportunity!
 

This week for service we went to the storehouse, helped a family move, and went to Christ's Haven to help build furniture and move heavy objects! At the move there was a really fluffy dog that's called a chow chow! He was so cute and very distracting - definitely a dog you would want to cuddle with forever. (There's a picture of him down below!)

At Christ's Haven we moved a whole bunch of furniture around and built IKEA furniture for a couple of hours! It was so fun building that one dresser, we're basically pros at IKEA furniture, definitely not a task for the faint of heart. I have a little testimony of service and how important it is to our happiness! Nothing makes me happier than making someone's burden lighter. If you ever feel down, go serve somebody, and I promise you, you will feel so much better. One of my all time favorite scriptures is in The Book of Mormon in Mosiah 2:17 
 

 And behold, I tell you these things that ye may learn wisdom;
that ye may learn that when ye are in the service of your fellow beings
ye are only in the service of your God.

 

To simplify it, when we serve others we are serving God!
 

This past week we also had the opportunity to share the gospel with a couple new people! We shared a scripture a nice lady and testified about Jesus Christ. We shared with her how He is our Savior and Redeemer and that He is our foundation. The other person we met was a man who wanted to learn about what we believed in, so we met with him and shared a bit about the restoration of Christ's original gospel here on the earth. We gave him a Book of Mormon and invited him to read from it. I love having experiences like these and being able to share the Gospel of Jesus Christ with others and hopefully having an impact on them! 
 

On Friday, I also had the chance to listen to President Russell M. Nelson's message on "The Healing Power of Gratitude". I totally recommend watching it if you haven't already. It is something we all needed to hear especially now during COVID-19. He heavily emphasized gratitude and how as we show gratitude to each other and to Heavenly Father, the hard times don't seem so hard anymore. He said something along the lines of it's better to count your blessing than to count your problems. 
 

I would like to invite you, for 7 days, to post on social media about what you are grateful for. Use the hashtag #givethanks, and see the flood of gratitude fill the internet! 
 

I love you all and I hope you have a Happy Thanksgiving! Don't break your ankles at the Turkey Bowl.

Ofa Atu,

Elder Delgado

Week 59

Howdy Cowboys and Cowgirls! 🤠


I'm sorry I haven't sent an email in a couple weeks. It's partly because I'm lazy/forget to, but don't you worry, I didn't forget about y'all! I've got some news to fill you in on! 

About a week ago we had transfers. Elder Marsh got transferred to Arlington. Elder Dayley and I are still serving in Timber Creek. It's been pretty weird not having 3 people in the house anymore. There's a lot more wiggle room, a little too much... we ended up receiving some furniture from the Sisters in the Saratoga area (#diplomatic skillz). The catch is I owe them some Tongan food, so stay tuned for that story that will hopefully come up in the near future!

We also did a lot of service this week! From helping people move to helping out at the community storehouse to helping out at an Eagle Scout project we got a lot of service in. I really enjoyed the Eagle project because it was at an aviation museum! (For those who don't know I love airplanes and want to be a pilot.) When we pulled into the parking lot I felt like a kid in a candy shop! It was such an amazing experience to help an eagle scout and be around airplanes for a few hours. At the end of the project they let us get into the cockpit of a couple planes, and yes I can fit inside a cockpit for those who were wondering. ;)

This week we had an awesome opportunity to sing a few christmas songs and record them to be played at Temple Square in Salt Lake City during the Christmas season! It was super fun and a really great experience. We sang "Silent Night", "I am a Child of God", and "When It's Christmas in Texas". 

Something that I have been starting to get into is singing. It's funny that I've grown up in a musical family and am just now starting to get into singing. I guess I was always shy or selfconscious and never liked to sing in front of people. But recently, with some encouragement and help from one of my good friends, Sister Oldham, I'm starting to sing. We are singing a song called "Homeward Bound" and hopefully soon all y'all will be able to hear us sing. 

One of the scriptures I liked while I was studying this week was in Matthew 18:21-22:
 

  Then came Peter to him, and said, Lord, how oft shall
my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? till seven times?
  Jesus saith unto him, I say not unto thee,
Until seven times: but, Until seventy times seven.

What I love about this is that we shouldn't limit forgiveness. We need to be quick to forgive and not hold grudges and truly forgive and forget and continue loving our neighbor. I know that through forgiveness we can become more Christlike, and our relationships with others can become stronger.

Feel free to send me an email back if you want to talk about forgiveness or just catch up. I hope you all have a wonderful week. Go chase your dreams and make them a reality! 

Much love,

Elder Delgado