#timetogo

Hello everyone! I hope you all had a good Christmas!

This week, regretfully, I do not have much time. This is the absolute worst week to not have time because I have so much to talk about.

Well first off, my birthday went well, and so did the solo. We actually didn't have a member of the 70 there to see me perform, so it took a little pressure off my shoulders, also, there were other performers too. There were a couple groups of singers, a violinist, and another soloist who performed. Nevertheless, I thought my performance went very well! I sung La Primera Navidad (the first noel) and I only messed up on the words once. Not to worry, everyone messed up a little bit at one point and no one was expecting a picture perfect performance.

Christmas went well, too. Of course, every missionary got the opportunity to skype home. 4 missionaries were invited to my bishop's home to skype, and as you can imagine that put a little strain on their wifi. So I could see and hear my family plenty well, but they struggled to see and hear me. But of course, I didn't care. I love the opportunities that I have to email and see my family and friends. I love you all and thank you for the support you send me each week.

Also on Christmas we had the district over to eat waffles and open presents before Church. It was very funny, because we have 2 Elders who go home in a week, one elder who has been out for a year, and 3 Elders who only have 4 months in the mission. All the new Elders got lots of presents and money, and the 2 Elders who are about to go home got nothing from their families because they are going to get their presents when they go home :)

That's all I have in this short time period but I wanted to just say one more thing: Christmas time is time to be around families. That was my favorite aspect of Christmas, is getting to be around my extended family. I want all of you to enjoy that time, because you don't know how long it will be until you see them again. Don't skip the opportunity to say "I love you", don't skip the opportunity to give your loved ones a hug. I love all of you and wish you stay safe in this rainy/snowy winter we are having.

Con Amor, 

Elder Horton

MTC comps with our Christmas ties

Zoomed about 100X to get this picture!

We took a hike

My face-smashed-in birthday cake

#whenit'schristmas

My Companion - Elder Ramirez

Christmas tree with all the presents

PS - From Mom - We had a nice video call with Ryan on Christmas Day.  They are allowed to call home on Christmas and Mother's Day.  He looked and sounded so good.  He did admit that it made him a little homesick.  There is wisdom in only letting the Missionaries call twice a year.  It allows them to focus on the work they are there to do and lose themselves in service.  We miss him like crazy and there may have been a tear or two shed on Christmas Day - from both sides of the camera, but he is doing great and we couldn't be more proud of him!

#Christmas

Hello family and friends!

As you are all aware, Christmas time is upon us. Though it is 6 days away, (yes I'm counting) my next p-day wont be until the 26th so now is the time I wish you Feliz Navidad!

This week seemed to go by quickly, as they all seem to do these days. However, that can be a good thing when you're looking forward to something such as Christmas.

Our Zone Conference is this Thursday, and that means my solo is Thursday as well. We have made yet another change as to what I am singing! I'm now singing La Primera Navidad (The First Noel) transposed into a lower key. We've worked long and hard on this, and I hope I don't choke!

We had a large rainstorm pass through Thursday. Unluckily, that was the day me and Elder Ramirez were going to go around and visit some referrals. Little did we know, Elder Ramirez had a hole in the bottom of his shoe and so for the first 5 minutes of walking in the rain it was fun. Fun Fact about Elder Ramirez: When he gets mad, he really gets mad. So, for the next hour of walking around it was constant complaining about his soaking foot and how no one was answering their door and whatever else... Nevertheless it was fun to use my umbrella for the first time in 10 weeks.

We continue to visit Sergio this week. However, his wife is a hardcore Christian, and twice now she has tried to Bible bash with us. Of course, we don't bash but we have a nice discussion so we can keep the spirit there. Both these times I've felt unprepared on that subject so it gives me a good incentive to study well. 

The Medina family is, as my companion puts it, "a waste of time". Time after time we visit them, and time after time they tell us they will attend church. Yesterday, we called them an hour before church and they told us they were coming. We stopped by their house 15 minutes before church to find them still in their pajamas. They will come to ward activities which gives me hope every time. But we get let down so often. Tomorrow we will have a scheduled appointment and we are going to "throw down" on them. Many missionaries know what this is. If you want to know how we throw down, go read chapter 6 of Jacob in the Book of Mormon and i'm sure you can imagine how it goes.

And of course, we had the ward Christmas party Saturday night! It's always a pleasure to sit down and talk with all the ward members and just simply have a good time. They had a pinata, as every good party should. I will include pictures.

Well I happen to be short on time. We still have a lot to accomplish today, including a hike and playing soccer! So, I wish you all a Merry Christmas. While you open your presents, be sure to keep in mind the meaning of CHRISTmas. Love you all!

Elder Horton

pictures:

The Elfders

Walking in the rain

Cool picture I took

Cool picutre I took

my watch...

#party&sing

Hello my beautiful friends and family! I hope you are doing well and the gear up for Christmas for all of you is happy and well.

First on my subject line is party! Well.. I attended a party which I thought was a birthday party. Turns out, it was no one's birthday. It was simply a party just to party. Why? Because hispanics love to party. And when they party, they party hard! It was one of the most exciting and happy nights of my life, with lots of good food, and it seemed no drama. Everyone was involved!

SING: I received a call from the sister of a senior couple who works in the mission office. She proceeded to tell me one Elder (who will remain unnamed) told her I have a "beautiful" bass voice, and that I sang in the MTC choir during general conference. She then proceeded to ask me to sing a solo of a song she chose in Zone conference. So.. yeah that happened. We got a pianist, and then practiced away! The song was low... really low. Nothing I couldn't do, but my pianist didn't like it. So we changed! We looked in the hymnbook and thought it would be cool for me to sing a Christmas hymn in Spanish. So, as for now, I am singing "Venid, Adoremos" the Spanish equivalent of "Oh, come all ye Faithful." It's the polar opposite of this other song. It's high, and I can sing it in my chest voice nice and loud. My pianist found another sheet music for another song, so we may use that one instead! We will see and I will for sure keep you all updated.

As for my week and my investigators, it was a less-than-favorable week. Not magnificent, not super bad, but kind of lukewarm. We had a lot of things to keep us sidetracked, like the song I previously mentioned, as well as Elder Shupe (not so Elder anymore) come to visit. However, we look forward to this next week.

Sergio did not attend church yesterday. He understandably didn't get much sleep after working late Saturday night.

We gave our best effort to visit the Medinas every day this week. Only one day were we able to get in. Other times, the Hermano was working or they weren't home. Sad, but hopefully we can see the fruits of our labors. Here's the deal with the Medinas: besides their flakiness, they have a 2 year old ball of energy. When we try and teach, this child is running all around the room trying to distract one of the 3/4 of us. We need to find something to do with that child. We have tried to tell them that if they attend church, their kid will see that's not how you should behave. But they dont come to church. *sigh*

Whittier had a parade on Saturday and all the Elders in our district thought it a great opportunity to go contacting. It turned out to be less of a contacting activity and more enjoying the parade. It was super cool, and I regret not going to as many parades back home.

I think that's it for this week. Everyone keep going well, and keep trying to spread the #lighttheworld initiative.

Los amo,
Elder Horton

Go Utes!

HOT CHOCOLATE

 Cool low-riders in the parade

Dramatic shot of Elder Horton

Elder Ramirez being himself

 In California, after they do tree trimming...

#idontevenknow

Hi friends and family!

So... I'm not really sure where this past week went.

However! I want everyone who's reading this to know that I'm having the time of my life out here. I'm learning so much and becoming the person I hope to become.

The first highlight of this week is that my companion got a queen sized bed! a member who is selling their house offered it and we accepted happily. He sleeps in the queen, and I sleep in the two twin beds put together. It's great. We had a little trouble finding a way to fit all 3 of those beds in one room, but we did it. It's a little tight.

We have made quite a point to share the Church's Christmas initiative with everyone we come in contact with. It's called #lighttheworld. I'm sure most of you have heard of it. Every day, the church has a challenge. Each of these challenges enables you to come close to the savior. I am trying to do each of these two. To get started, you can go to Mormon.org and watch the video. Every time I watch it I feel the spirit so strongly. I encourage you all to check it out and work with the Lord to do those things.

Elder Ramirez and I have been working super hard with Sergio. We want to baptize him this month. Every day this past week we went over and taught him. He is doing super well and he attended church this week! That's incredible! If he attends the next 2 sundays and keeps all his commitments and we teach him everything he needs to know, he can be baptized this Christmas day. That would be super cool.

We were going to go to the LA temple visitor's center this last Saturday with the part member family the Medinas, but that ended up falling through. The Medina's are very flakey people and have not kept 9 promises they gave us! But I know the Lord is just testing our patience and we will, as Dory says, "just keep swimming"

Thanks for all your prayers and love in the behalf of me, and all the other missionaries in this world. We all know the truth of the gospel and how it can bless other people's lives. We all love this work.

Elder Horton

Pictures: (from last week, too!)

The thanksgiving turkey bowl

Cool gun a member has

CHRISTMAS TREE

Family home evening with the members the Cruces

Service, helping the Cuppett's build their house!

Cool view from the hike this morning

Getting swole

Jacob Cruces got... a little excited with the Nutella