#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