God created us and sent us here to learn and to MAKE MISTAKES

Hey fam, this week has been good. I go to bed so dead tired every night. I smile every time I get into my bed because it feels so good. It is a different type of exhaustion.

It rains a lot here and I love it. It is starting to get hot here... here comes summer.

We are having our transfer calls next Monday night. I have been in Kenner for a while so I will keep y'all posted.

Nelsons Baptism (the refried bean) is on march 14th. He is looking forward to it and is still working hard on his testimony and exercising faith. Plus we have a new investigator that gets checked up by the ICE (immigration) every Monday. He has a strong interest. I hope all goes well. Plan for the worst, but hope for the best.

So we have been assigning Fernando some scriptures to read with his wife to exercise a better relationship. They have been doing that and I think that it is helping because they discuss their circumstances and how they can relate it to themselves to change. He also got a full time construction job now, I think. He still needs our prayers.

So our baptism percentage is .5% I think it is that every missionary baptizes half of an investigator every year in Louisiana. It is very difficult out here. BUT! we have quadrupled our baptism numbers in the past three months. It is time for a change in the south. haha it is easy to get discouraged as a missionary down here but I wont let that get me down. 

Keep on going:

One thing I have noticed about a lot of Church going people is that so many of them get very discouraged. They think that you have to fit a certain stereotype or be perfect to be blessed. These people that get discouraged and give up are the ones that do not understand the meaning of life and what the atonement is for.

What is the purpose of life? To be perfect?.... Of course NOT!

God created us and sent us here to learn and to MAKE MISTAKES. To fall, and to get back up, again and again and again. What does a child do when learning how to walk?... they fall. How many times do they fall?... a lot. They do that until they can walk, then run, and then sprint. That is the concept of life... and God knows that.

I’ve missed more than 9000 shots in my career. I’ve lost almost 300 games. 26 times I’ve been trusted to take the game winning shot and missed. I’ve failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed. –Michael Jordan

Keep your head up. The only perfect person in life is Christ.

Life is for progression, Not perfection. That is life's plan.

Learn from it, don't let it chop you down. Through all of these things we can reach excellence... but nobody is perfect. So never give up.

Love y'all

Elder Cooley