#merrychristmas

Hello my friends and beloved family! Merry Christmas to you all. I hope you spend a lot of time with your family and that you remember the true meaning of Christmas. 

There's not much to report on for this week. I'm going to send you all the pictures that are long due... because those are worth a thousand words! 

Oh yeah, my birthday was this last week! I played it really low key. On my birthday we had the opportinity to give service to an hermano. He had a trunk in his yard left from when he cut down a tree. We got to learn how to take a tree trunk out of the ground!

We had our Christmas Zone conference on Thursday. We got to see people preform their musical talents, we heard from our mission president, and we got to bear our testimonies one with another. You bet the spirit was strong in that conference!

This morning we had a zone activity where we all made breakfast in the church, and did a white elephant gift exchange. Guess what I got? I recieved a bag full of random tools! It was fantastic!

Anyways, I've got to be going. More to report on next week. You all get to see my wonderful face through some pictures I'm sending now. Merry Christmas!

Con Amor,

Elder Horton

#Birthday

Hola mis amigos y familiares.

I guess there's no avoiding the fact that it's my birthday on Friday. I'm playing it low-key, but there's no secret about it. Happy 20!

This week, to be honest with you all, has not been the most eventful week of my mission! Though we have had some good experiences this week.

The first was Tuesday, when we got to hear from a member of the Presidency of the Seventy. His name is Elder Patrick Kearon. He's such a happy guy, and I learned so much from him about staying happy in this work, loving and living the message we share, and not worrying too much! In this same zone conference, we heard a training from our mission president about Salt. Yep, you heard it right. We talked for 90 minutes about Salt. Who knew NaCl could be so profoundly tied into the Gospel? Of course, we learn in the sermon on the mount that Christ compares us to the Salt of the earth. I would go into depth right now, but I'm sure not everyone reading this email will want to hear it. Just take what I took from this training: being salty is good.

The rest of the week was a lot of teaching and finding more people to teach. Finding is always an important part of this work, because the Lord is preparing people to hear his restored Gospel. If we're not looking for them, we're not going to find them.

For the end of this email, I'll share with you all a story. As my companion and I were knocking potential investigators, we came across this couple. They were not who we were looking for, but they allowed us to come in and share our message with them. After talking with them for a while, they allowed us to share our message of the Restoration of the gospel of Jesus Christ. I felt the Spirit very strongly, and I know they did too. But at the end of this lesson they ended up still saying they were Catholic. They did not want to accept a Book of Mormon from us, either. This really let me and my companion down because we thought these people were some of those elect! During that lesson, it felt as if they were accepting everything so well. They told us they respect what we do, and God bless us for our efforts. But they did not want to accept that the Gospel of Jesus Christ has been restored. Which it has, I now testify to all of you.

I know the Book of Mormon is the word of God. It not only makes sense factually, but the Spirit of God has told me so. There's so much opposition for the Book of Mormon and Joseph Smith, but the truth is those arguments just don't win. God is in charge here, and I'm just happy to be part of his work. This little time I have been a missionary has helped me immensely. I can testify of the truthfulness of Matthew 16:25-26.

25 For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it.

26 For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?

I hope you all know that the Lord watches over and takes care of his missionaries and his work. He's the Gardner here.

Con Amor,

Elder Horton

Fun reunion with my MTC companion

#PICO

Hey all, I hope you're all doing well. I'm here at the end of my first week in the new area. We cover part of Pico Rivera, and part of Whittier. There's a LOT of area to work here, and I'm just happy to be here! My companion Elder Lopez and I are working hard and being obedient, and that's what it's all about. I can feel the Lord changing me into who he really wants me to be here in California. I know this is where he needs me to be.

Quick shoutout to my home ward, Parkway 9th, for sending me a special Package! It consisted of a paper Christmas tree with ornaments, each ornament having a quote or a hello from each member of my home ward! I'm attatching a picture so you can all see.

My new apartment is very nice! It has 2 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, 2 balconies, and it's very big. It's been a missionary apartment for a long time.

So right now we're going to shoot back to my old area, in Hawaiian Gardens. One very nice family remembered my birthday coming up soon. When they heard about me being transferred, they decided to celebrate my birthday early! I'll attatch those pictures in another email.

Sorry folks that's about all I can think of right now. Sorry for the short email. But I'm doing good! Merry almost Christmas to you all, and don't forget the true purpose of Christmas.

Con Amor,

Elder Horton

Christmas Tree thanks to the Parkway 9th ward!

My  new apartment

My hammock on the balcony!

#YaMeVoy

Well ladies and gentlemen, the news is in. Transfer facts are in, the votes have been counted. Drum Roll please....

Yessir! After just 1 transfer in his area, Elder Horton is packing his bags and heading out to another zone. This time, maybe to stay and finish his mission. Only time will tell. This zone, Whittier, is also where Elder Horton started his mission. He will be heading back to another area and he'll be able to see the same members and friends he left behind. We'll now have the chance to hear from him...

*applause*

*cough* well hello family and friends. I'm headed out from my third area in this ward. I'll miss it very much, including the people and places. But I know the Lord has other plans for me. He also has plans for my current companion. He has been called to train in this area! I know he'll do a fantastic job with all the people we have met and taught. He's a fantastic missionary. My new companion's name is Elder Lopez. He was born in Bolivia, but came out to the field from Maryland. He's been a missionary for almost 1 year. I served in his district before, so I know he's a great missionary and I'm excited to work with him.

Lupita and her family are all still progressing towards baptism. We sat down with them on Saturday and planned out their baptismal service for the 23rd. They are overexcited for that day. All they've got to do is come to church 2 more times in a row! It can be tough with 4 kids to get them all dressed and to get them to church by yourself, but Lupita is basically superwoman so she can do it. My companion and I have been praying so hard for her.

Jocelyn came to church for the first time this Sunday and she loved it! It was stake conference and so we didn't get to take the sacrament, which she was super excited for. I guess she's just got to come next week to see what it's like!

Stake conference was awesome! We had a visitor there from the presidency of the Seventy, named Elder Patrick Kearon. If you don't know who he is, he spoke in General Conference recently about Obedience. He told a story about when he went camping and a scorpion stung him. Ring a bell? If not, go ahead to lds.org and read it. Anyways, he gave a great talk in our sacrament meeting about how this is a church of fresh starts. He spoke specifically to the investigators and how we as missionaries are offering a fresh start, free from sin. I had never thought about it in that light. But it's true. When we are baptized we can feel our sins washed away because of that covenant we are making with the Lord Jesus Christ.

Anyways, I love you all. Keep finding ways to #Lighttheworld. Serve someone today. Brighten someone's day.

Con Amor,

Elder Horton

Sorry no pictures this week

#Time?

Time is seriously weird in the mission. The first few months can often feel like they drag on and on and on, and then it feels normal for a second. Then, once a missionary hits their year mark, it feels like slipping down a slide where there's no possible way to grab the edges and stop. That's how I feel right now. Here I am, my second Thanksgiving in the mission and I'm wondering where the time went. If anyone has the number for Father Time, please give it to me. I would like to speak with him.

I'm in love with this place! Ever since I have been put on bike, I get the chance to speak with so many more people. The people here, (especially Hawaiian Gardens) can be the most firmly against the Gospel, or the most humbly accepting of the Gospel. Recently I have felt like a tool in the Lord's hands as he has placed me in the fertile parts with people who's hearts have been prepared. That's not to say this work is easy by any means. We get appointments that fall through, members who last-minute flake, people who curse and make fun of us, and problems with every investigator coming out of the blue. I dare say the opposition has a very good hold on those here in Southern California. But the Lord has selected a few to accept his Gospel! I'm just glad to be here.

That being said, I hope you all passed a good Thanksgiving with your family. We had a few people who treated us as family and welcomed us in their home to feed us. So for us, those feelings aren't far away. But, of course the main part of Thanksgiving is THANKS. I hope you all had a good couple minutes to sit back and ponder what makes your life easier, and what you are thankful for. Sometimes it seems we can't appreciate something fully until it's taken from us. Here's a couple things I am grateful for.

1. My family, even though they're far away. I can feel their love and prayers daily.

2. Christ. He gave us the ultimate gift, his life.

3. The opportunity to serve in the Lord's vineyard. There's nothing that replaces these 2 years.

4. The Book of Mormon. It has brought me peace and knowledge in my life.

5. My friends. I have many friends serving in parts all around the world. I feel blessed to know we are all serving the same master, and that he has put us in the place where we can learn the most.

Just a couple examples. As we continue into this time of Christmas, let's not start to turn inwards and think what others can do or give to us. But let's turn outwards and reflect the true Character of Christ! Service!! If you have not seen the new Christmas video the church released, head right now to mormon.org and watch "Light the World".https://www.mormon.org/?cid=HP_FR_24-11-2017_dMIS_fMORG_xLIDyL1-A_ I also encourage you to print out the calendar and do your best to do all those things each day.

Elder Ramirez and I are having a great time out here serving the people of Hawaiian Gardens and Lakewood. We appreciate your prayers and thoughts as we do our best to work some of these people to the waters of baptism.

Con Amor,

Elder Horton

Happy Birthday Mom!

Friends of Elder Ramirez's family dropped by and brought us a yummy treat of croissants and hot chocolate!

Lupita and her awesome family

Bike Life

Elder Ramirez - Bike life

My comp cut his finger

#safeandsound

Hello friends and family! Thanks to the beautiful invention of technology and the blessing to have it in this mission, I'm typing this email while in my apartment, listening to Christmas music :)

Happy Thanksgiving to all those who get the chance to celebrate it this week. For me and my companion, we will be working!

This week also went by fast, but nevertheless it was a fantastic week for me and my companion. We are really starting to see some of the fruits of our labors in this area! We're out here working like dogs, packing a lunch into the field, changing and patching bike tubes in the middle of the day, talking to everyone, trying to connect members to investigators, and more and more. It really feels good to lose yourself in the work of the Lord.

This past week Elder Ramirez and I were able to help 2 more investigators set the goal of being baptized soon. One for the 17th of December, who's name is Jocelyn. She simply just wants to follow God and set a good example for her brother. She has made some wrong choices in the past and wants to make everything right. A fantastic desire to change! The other for the 24th of December. Lupita's daughter Amarie decided to join her mother and sister in their decision to be baptized Christmas eve. What a better present to the Lord then to join his fold!

Also, Lupita brought her family (minus her husband) to church for the first time in a long time. Her sister also joined with her kids. They enjoyed it so much! And the members almost flooded her after sacrament meeting was over. Even our mission president, who showed up to our church services, talked with her and her kids afterwards! It was a magnificent experience to see them all there.

I didn't know what to put in my subject line, so I figured I would take the opportunity to let you know we are safe here in Hawaiian Gardens , California. 

Nothing else of news this week, but I appreciate all your love and support! Have a great week this week!

Con amor,

Elder Horton

#Spainish

HOLA AMIGOS! 

I'm going to limit my Spanish in this email to that.

Really, this week not much happened. I'm going to apologize in advance for the shortness of this email. But this week truly was good! It's getting a lot colder in the night, so I have had to start wearing a light sweater as we bike in the night. It gets down into the 60s and the 50s here.

We have found some really good people to teach this week. One of them is named Pedro. He let us right in to his house, and we taught him the Restoration. He understood the whole thing and responded to all our questions! My testimony that the Lord prepares people to hear the Gospel has grown so much.

This week in my personal studies I have been substituting my name or the names of those I work with. I encourage all you to do the same! I especially loved Alma chapter 7 (https://www.lds.org/scriptures/bofm/alma/7?lang=eng). Anywhere is says "my beloved bretheren", "his people", or "you", substitute your name in. It really makes things more meaningful and personal. I invite you all to try it!

I've run out of ideas and time. Love you all! Until next week.

Con amor,

Elder Horton

#14months

Hello friends and family! I hope you have all had a great week. For me, it went by pretty quickly. My butt doesn't hurt from biking anymore, I'm adjusting to the new diet which requires me to eat more since I'm burning more calories, being on bike and all. Oh yeah, did I mention we are on bike? It's actually a lot of fun. My companion and I have started counting the number of Close Encounters we have to a crash with a car, whether it be someone pulling out in front of us or almost hitting us. Surprisingly, a lot of drivers here can be pretty ignorant. Even when they see you are there... Friday we counted 7 close encounters of almost crashing into a car. But the Lord protects us so much! I have gained such a big testimony of how the Lord blesses his ordained servants.

This week went by really fast actually. On Tuesday I hit 14 months in the mission which means almost nothing, except for the fact that I'm marveling at how quickly the time is passing.

Elder Ramirez is showing me very much how to work with members. He's a fantastic missionary and I am learning a lot from him! We have been taking a member of the congregation out to work with us almost every night. Even though we are on bikes, it works! Normally if we were in a car, we would be expected to pick them up and take them with us. But they are so nice! They will meet us in a place, and drive us from place to place.

Let's see... Oh yeah! Let me talk about the food here. Of course you all know it's a melting pot. I can go anywhere and find bomb Korean, Indian, Mexican, Peruvian, American, Greek food, etc. It's fantastic. For me, I have tried so many different mexican dishes and I love them all. The unique thing about mexicans is their affinity for Spicy food. My tongue has been burned time and time again. But as they say, one learns Spanish faster when they learn how to eat spicy!

So I'll talk about the people I'm now working with.

We are still working with Lupita and her family. They are progressing very well and I dare say they're close to baptism! Lupita has had a lot of crazy things going on in her life lately and we haven't been able to sit down and have a good solid lesson in a while. But she's reading in the Book of Mormon as often as she can. It's awesome- when she reads, she takes notes to make sure she understands!! That's fantastic! We are doing our best to introduce her to more members because they are those who make the difference.

The same thing with Diana, Armando, and Erick. We are connecting them with more members. Tonight we will be doing a Family Home Evening with them and Diana, Armando, and Erick in this family's home. It was very kind of them to offer us their home.

We have also been doing a lot of finding. We have to spend more time working with those who are willing to find out the truth of the message for themselves, and spend less time with those who are just willing to listen just to be nice. So we have found others who are willing to act on the message! I'm very excited to begin working with these sons and daughters of God.

Another thing I have been pondering on recently. In John chapter 6 is registered the account of Christ teaching how he is the bread of life. This is a beautiful chapter, and the church even has a video about it! I will attach the video link and I encourage you all to go watch it.

https://www.lds.org/media-library/video/2011-10-051-i-am-the-bread-of-life?lang=eng

I have been pondering the coorelation this teaching has with the sacrament. Watch for how many promises he makes to those who eat of his flesh and drink his blood, or to those who eat the bread. We know that he is talking about the sacrifice he will soon make for every one of us. To commemorate that sacrifice, we take the sacrament. I invite you all to think how much the sacrament means to you. Is it simply eating a piece of blessed bread, or is it truly having an intervention with the father and committing to follow His commandments?

Con Amor,

Elder Horton

Splits with Jacob Arteaga

Big bug! I named him Joe

I may or may not have used this last night                          California

#BIKES//AGAIN

Hola everyone. How's your week been? For me, it was HOT. I don't like the random 3/4 day heat waves we have here in California. Last Monday the car told me it was 107. I didn't believe it, so as we kept driving around I was watching the temperature gauge. And sure enough, it stayed at 107. Ay caramba!

As I mentioned in my last email, I was transferred to another area in this ward. I'm covering all area that I have covered before. So nothing is new, except for some people, and the fact that I'm back on BIKE! I can't tell you all how much my butt hurt in the first few days back on bike life. It also takes 20-30 minutes to bike to the part of our area where we work. I can't complain too much though, at least we have bikes to use. I know some people just have to walk and walk for hours. But yeah. Bikes require a lot of maintenence. I've had to go under the hood and check some things out. But thanks to God, everything is well. I've only got one flat so far.

Speaking of my new comp, his name is Elder Ramirez! Some of you may be thinking, "Hey, wait wasn't Elder Horton already comps with Elder Ramirez?" And you would be correct in that. But I'm with a different Elder Ramirez. This Elder Ramirez is very different! He hails from Orlando Florida, though his family has recently moved to South Jordan Utah. He has been on his mission for a little less than I have. In fact, he will hit his year mark this week. He's a native Spanish speaker. His father is from the Dominican Republic, for all of you who know what that means. This is his first time being on bike his whole mission so we both have had to settle into it. I'll attach a cool photo.

Along with being with a new companion in a new area, we've got to talk about the new apartment. So, this apartment had been vacant for a few weeks since the sister missionaries living here before got transferred. They didn't want to sell this apartment just to have to buy a new one later, so they left it for us. It is big and nice! I'm super happy to be living here. There seems to be so much space for everything. A small family could live here!

 There's not too much else to talk about, to be honest. This week has just been full of trying to get to know all the people in the new area, contacting people, and simply just working. I've already learned a lot from Elder Ramirez. He's the District Leader here so I've got a lot more to learn!

Something I've been thinking and studying about a lot lately is the importance of the Spirit. Not only in the life and teaching of the missionaries and investigators, but in the life of everyone. Why do you guys think the spirit would be important? Go ahead and reply below. I understand a little more how the spirit can be our guide. I've seen the spirit guide me and my companions in the mission field, and I have seen the spirit guide the lives of my investigators. I know that is how the Lord communicates to us. We live in a world of so many loud things and distractions, but if we could simply take a few minutes to sit down in silence, and feel that peace that comes from the spirit, we can learn to discern his whisperings. I encourage you all to more fervently pray for the guidance and feelings of the Spirit in your life. It will not only guide you, but it will be your comfort in times of need, he will warn you of danger, and he will teach you ALL things. Let the Lord Jesus Christ be our focus.

Con Amor, 

Elder Horton

#transfers-kind-of

Hello everyone! Transfer facts are in. What is Elder Horton's fate? Drum roll please......

After only 3 months/2 transfers in this area, I am packing my bags again to head  to another area. My companion has been called to train! But Im not traveling far. I'm opening up a new area in the same ward. This new area has part of my current area, and part of my old area. So this will not be too bad! I have already worked in every part of my new area. I have some of my old investigators and current investigators.

This week has been good, and we have seen a lot of progress in the work. We should see many baptisms soon because the Lord is blessing our hard work and Obedience. 

On Sunday, we had the privelage to again watch the kids give a performance for their primary program. It was awesome! I always love to see the kids singing and learning about Jesus Christ and his example.

Today, as we were driving around, we saw a car on fire! We stopped to watch the firefighters douse out the fire. Crazy experience! First time I've ever seen that in my lifetime.

I apologize for the shortness of the email but  I don't know what else has gone on this week... I'll leave it until next week because I'll have a lot more to talk about then! Love you all!

VIDEO: me eating the chile

After eating the chile

Made and grilled some chicken!!

Awesome sandwich from a restaurant named Norm's

Picture of the smoke from the wildfire

"nice"-ish nails?

Temple

Picture with a return missionary (Benjamin Rios-Lazo) in my area. He served in Guatemala and got these super thick ties!

#2weeks

Hello everyone! It's so great to be able to write you again. It has been 2 long weeks. Sorry I wasn't able to write last week. We had to change our P-day to Tuesday because we had an opportunity to attend the temple, which happens only once every 6 months for us. It was a marvelous experience and I always love feeling the spirit there in the temple.

But I've had a good last couple of weeks in the California Long Beach mission. If you didn't already know, our mission received smartphones and we were authorized to use facebook as well! This new use of technology has been a great blessing to help progress the work of to the Lord. In that light, Mondays will remain my only day to communicate with friends and family under normal circumstances. 

Well the work progresses here in the Cerritos Second ward. We had the incredible opportunity to sit down. And have a nice conversation with Lupita's husband! He's really nice, and even invited us to eat with his family. We learned a lot about his life and how he's willing to learn. We're excited to keep working with the whole family.

I'm going to attach a video of me eating a chile. Now there's a great story behind this video. As i eat the chile in the video, all seems well. Nothing burned very bad, as I was expecting. I even take a drink and eat some tortilla. But as soon as that camera turned off for some reason, the spicy HIT me like a train. My mouth burned for quite the while! Following this video is a picture of me suffering. Hope you enjoy.

Turns out I actually didn't bring my camera. I'm so sorry guys. One more week and I think I'll have this thing we call life figured out. Forgive me.

Fun story to leave you guys off with, because I best be going. On Saturday, we wanted to have a meeting in the park with Lupita and her family, and another hermana and her kids from the ward. We arranged for us all to bring food at 1:30 and just have a good time. This hermana had to leave at 2:30, so we knew we had a short window. Well Elder Diaz and I showed up at 2. (I know, super late but we were at another appointment) This hermana and her kids were all playing there at the park, but Lupita was nowhere to be seen! 2:30 hit, the hermana had to leave, and we suddenly got a call from Lupita. She stopped at the grocery store to get food for the park, and her truck battery died! The absolute worst time to die, I know. She was too nice to go ask someone to give her a jump, so I told her to pray that someone would come to help. She hung up, prayed, and a big ol' truck rolled up and asked her if she needed a jump. Prayer answered right then and there! She eventually got to come to the park. A little late, and she didn't get to meet this hermana, but I know she had a spiritual experience today.

Brothers and sisters I know that the Lord's hand is in everything, and he's working to make sure his work progresses. But I also know that the adversary is working his hand to make sure people don't receive that certain happiness that comes from following the Lord's commandments. The adversary wants us to be miserable, but God wants us to be happy. And, as the scripture says, there must be opposition in all things. So please do all you can to stay on the Lord's team. Satan has various ways into trapping us in to confusion, doubt, and sadness. But if we stand firm and hold on to that foundation we've built on Christ, however small or large it may be, we cannot fall. (Helaman 5:12)

Love you all. Until next week!

Con Amor,

Elder Horton

#Generalconference

To give an accurate comparison for those who are not familiar with the life of a missionary, General Conference is much like the Super Bowl. We spend the weeks approaching with much anticipation, talking with nearly everyone we know about it. Excitement mounts, we make plans to watch with a bunch of others, and finally the big day comes. General Conference may not be as exciting to watch as the Super Bowl, nor do we eat Doritos and Burgers during the presentation, but it's something big to look forward to. Such inspiring messages, and such a spiritual overload! I hope you all took the opportunity to cherish the words spoken, and if not, will review them sometime in the future.

This week for my companion and I was full of that anticipation. We spent a lot of time explaining it to people, why it's so special and important, and getting ready for the weekend! So much so, that we almost forgot we had to find more people to teach, as we must do every week. So once again, we found ourselves at 7pm, Sunday night, 2 hours before we had to submit our numbers to our leaders. With a heap of faith in our hearts, we jumped out of the car to go visit some potential investigators. No answer, asleep, asleep, etc. So at 8:30 we felt a little discouraged. But instead of throwing in the towel we just simply walked down one street. And guess what? The Lord placed someone in our path! As we walked, I approached a woman and asked if I could give her a pamphlet. I guess she had already seen us coming, because without taking a look at us she let us know that she's a pastor for another church. But we didn't give up there. We simply just starting asking her about her beliefs, where her church is located, and had a pleasant conversation about Jesus Christ. Eventually her husband came up to us and he was even more pleasant. He expressed how good it is that us, as young people, are spreading the word of God instead of getting involved in gangs and drugs. We then explained a little more of our beliefs, gave him a Book of Mormon, and got a return appointment.

If that's not another tender mercy faith-building moment, you tell me what is!

That's the biggest thing on my mind lately so I hope I didn't put you guys to sleep with that story. I hope you're all doing well, wherever you may be. And if you're not, let me know and I'll pray for you ;)

This week my companion and I talked to a lot of people, and there's a lot of good things happening in our area very soon. So stay tuned!

But Elder Horton is out of time, so he'll leave it until next week!

Hasta luego 

Elder Horton

Pictures:

Chile Relleno. A BIG CHILE...

Went to a marching band competition for our investigator, who is the drum major!

This board always has different interesting quotes

#miracle

Buenos dias/buenas tardes everyone! I hope your week was just dandy!

As you can probably tell from the subject line, my companion and I had a miracle this week. It was Sunday night and we had only 2 investigators found in the week. We had to find 2 more in order to meet standards and we had 90 minutes to do it. My companion and I sat in the car, as an awkward silence filled the air. 

Elder Diaz voiced "dude we have to find 2 investigators tonight." 

At which point I replied, "Do you have faith, Elder?"

His response "Yes I have faith."

We immediately started up the car and went to visit a potential investigator. It was a mom and a daughter with a bunch of little kids running around. We went up to them, and told them we had come to share a message of Jesus Christ with them, and asked if we could have some of their time. Immediately they said yes, invited us in to sit on their only couch, and sent the kids into the room to play. We shared our message and they loved it! We considered it a true miracle, because the Lord heard our cries. It was a small miracle, but nevertheless a tender mercy. The Book of Mormon teaches us that by small and simple things, great things are brought to pass. 

Lately my companion and I have been more focused on involving the members of the church more in the missionary work. The concept is fantastic. Because the missionaries come and go, it is understandable that someone may not want to come to church nor stay. But when they become connected to a member, they have someone to talk to during church, they have someone without a tag who can also bear testimony of the gospel. That's why member missionary work is so vital. So we have started to get members more involved and we have seen the blessings come from it. Those who come on visits with us feel the spirit, get so excited, and want to do more.

So, since Elder Horton is a little low on time, I want to invite you all to become more involved in the missionary work. There are many ways to begin. Invite a friend to a church activity, or go out visiting with the missionaries. Invite one of your friends to learn about the church, or if they have fallen away invite them back. It's simple and easy! Brothers and Sisters we are all involved in a righeous cause. So go out there and Let's Do Something!

Con Amor, 

Elder Horton

 

Playing pool on p-day

my pretty companion

#Teaching

Hola todos mis queridos, amigos, y conocidos. Esta semana pasó bien rapido. Así que no tengo mucho que decir...

Hello family and friends. For all those who didn't understand what I wrote, use google translate I guess.

But yes! Though this week didn't have much, it was full of teaching. That's great for a missionary to tell and to hear. I'll tell all you guys some cool experiences I've had this week.

One of my favorite things about being a missionary is when people have questions for me. This gives an opportunity to immediately seek revelation from the Lord to give the best answer I can. I usually always like to answer questions with the Book of Mormon or the Bible. After that, simply explaining does okay too. Our investigator Diana has reached a point where she can trust us as missionaries to be able to ask us anything. So we asked her to write down all her questions. When we sat down for our lesson on Saturday, she opened up her notebook to find a full page of questions!! So we tried as hard as we could to answer them all, but only got through about 10 when we ran out of time. A theme I seemed to notice amongst all those questions is that for one to find out the truth of our message for themselves, they need to read the Book of Mormon, attend church, and pray to the Lord asking with faith and real intent.

Another cool teaching experience was with a woman named Yesenia. She has one boy about 9 months old, and she's a single mom. So we got talking with her about the purpose of life, and how she thinks that God made us and put us here for us to enjoy life, and that one shouldn't get too caught up in religion or things of that type. While my companion and her went back and forth for about 15 minutes, I just soaked in every word and then it was my turn to speak. I said something along the lines of this. "We've got to know that everything is made with a purpose. My shoe right here was made to be a shoe. If I try to use it as a glove, I'm gonna pee my pants. So everything was made in the Wisdom of the one who knows all. And in his word, we find what he made us for. He told us his purpose and our purpose. If your son leaves the house when he's 16 to get a job or something, you're probably going to give him some tips about how to survive out there. Don't go and shoot anyone, don't eat too much McDonalds, don't stay out too late, etc. Because you know more than him. That's how God is. He knows us perfectly, and for what purpose we were made. Now it's our job to find out and fulfill that purpose."

I've got to give credits for the shoe/glove metaphor to my past companion, Elder Anglin.

But yeah.. my time has run out. I hope you're all well and settling in school, fall, or whatever is new in your life. Be sure to include your heavenly Father in every aspect of your life, and you'll be blessed.

Con Amor, 

Elder Horton

#transfers/birthday

Alright, ladies and Gents. Transfer facts are in. Can I get a drum roll please!

*drum roll*

Elder Horton is... staying in Cerritos 2D! and his companion Elder Diaz is.... staying in Cerritos 2D! We're gonna go a second transfer together and we're excited. We're very determined that we are going to baptize an investigator this transfer. Whether it be Lupita and her family, Diana/Armando/Erick, or Carlitos! Or, who knows? Maybe we'll find one the Lord has prepared, and be able to baptize them. All in the Lord's infinite wisdom and timing.

The second big news of this week is that Elder Diaz had his birthday this last Friday. Because he's been in this area for so long, a lot of the Hermanas knew and tried to do something nice for him. So we spent a lot of time eating specially-made-dishes for him and lots of cake from Northgate market. It was such a fun time to celebrate him and his 20th birthday. And then, we were right back into the work.

Well despite all our efforts and all the promises made to us, 0 of our investigators attended church. That's right, a big ol' goose egg. Which put me into a little rut. But it's hard to stay down with all the blessings the Lord is sending me for my work! I just have to realize things like that happen at times, and we have to roll with the punches. Pick ourselves up and brush the dirt from your pants and move on! That's how life is sometimes.

Last thing today. On Saturday, I was able to go on exchanges with my District Leader! Well as it so happens, my District Leader is Elder Ramirez, the very man who trained me! My first companion in the field. So it was awesome to be companions with him once again, almost a year later. I got to realize how much I have changed and grown as a missionary and as a person. I definitely have a much better grasp on the mission language, and I feel older and more mature. But don't worry. For those who know me well, I'm still the good ol' me ;)

Alright well I believe that's all for this week. There's not much to update you on this week as far as those we are working with so I'll just leave it there. Thanks for all your support, love, and prayers. May the grace of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ be with you all.

Con Amor,

Elder Horton

Pictures:

cake #1, 2, and 3

the one picture I have with Elder Diaz on his b-day

Cake #1

Cake #2

Cake #3