#¿QuéFrio?

Well I'm reading all these emails from missionaries exclaiming how cold it is getting in their mission. I don't know if this serves as any consolation, but yesterday we hit a sunny 89 degrees Farenheit.

To be honest I kind of miss the snow. I understand that Southern California is so packed because the weather here almost constantly stays between 55 degrees and 100 degrees. It stays a pretty constant warm here! so basically I'm spoiled. I know.

I'm also convinced that we meet some of the most unique people here. Saturday while in the library to print off a talk, I was asked by a man if I was Catholic. When I responded that I wasn't, he asked why not and proceeded to tell me that the Catholic is the only valid church and that all the others are bogus. It was clear that he's not completely there so I didn't put too much effort into convincing him otherwise. Just cordially responded and left as soon as possible. Plenty of those experiences to tell!

Crystal is doing well. She felt she needed a little more time, and she thought a week would be appropriate. So we continue to hope and pray she makes it to this Saturday with our other baptism. But we still have a couple other barriers to knock down. Getting people to baptism is not easy here. But it's possible. I believe that.

I'll tell you guys about a cool teaching experience I had with Crystal this past Saturday.
Originally we had planned to teach her about the 10 commandments, living-day prophet, tithing, and Obeying and Honoring the Law. But as we started, the Spirit guided me to talk about church. It was no coincidence, because we came to figure out that she doesn't like church all that much and that she doesn't really get anything from it. So we read in 3 Nephi 18 where it talks all about the sacrament, and we talked with her about the purpose of church. At the end of the lesson, we invited her to join us for church the next day, and she still didn't seem convinced. So I said something along these lines. (by the way she loves chips)
"Okay Crystal I want you to imagine for a second that I have a big ol' bag of Cheetos right here. It's a new flavor that you've never tried before, and we are sitting here telling you it's SO good. We know how much joy and happiness it will bring you. We come every day and try to convince you that you need to eat these Cheetos, and that your life will be changed for the better the moment you try them. But you need to be the one to open the bag and try it for yourself. It's the same with baptism and church. You have to be the one to do it to find out how much joy and happiness it will bring you."
Then Elder Lopez said, "So Crystal, how bad do you want the chips?"
Crystal responded, "see you tomorrow"
It felt like a movie scene to be honest.  It was really cool.

Well, that's about all I have for you all this week. As President Nelson exhorts us to do, I echo. Keep on the Covenant Path.

Con Amor,

Elder Horton

When 4 show up for a 1 man service project

I have no words

Bike Selfie

#WatersFlowing

Hello all!

This week has been a really good and humbling one for me and my companion. We have been working hard, and we are really happy to see some of our efforts bringing our investigators to baptism. We have some baptisms set for this weekend and the next. 

Crystal is set to be baptized this Saturday. She still feels iffy about being baptized. We have invited her to keep reading the Book of Mormon and to keep praying. She is honestly so ready! Tomorrow we will find out if she has received an answer to her prayer and if she does want to still be baptized. Keep her in your prayers.

We have been working with a part member family to baptize their teenage girl named Iris. She has Down Syndrome and is one of the cutest girls ever. The decision is ultimately up to her mom, and her mom would like her to be baptized. We have agreed to hold the service February 3rd. We are super excited for her to take this step.

These past 7 days we have seen the greatest small miracles. We have found contact with a few of our friends, after we were out of contact for a while. It felt good to talk with them, and remember the worth of souls is great in the sight of God.

We were also able to see the broadcast where a new Latter-day prophet was ushered in. I firmly believe that he will lead us well, under the direction of Jesus Christ who is the head of this church. I have a firm testimony of prophets. I know they speak with God to understand his will for his children in this day and age. Just as he has done before, God has called a prophet to lead and guide us and lead us to safety.
"Surely the Lord God will do nothing, but he revealeth his secret unto his servants the prophets." -Amos 3:7

I know how important a prophet is and that Russel M. Nelson will do his absolute best to lead and guide us.

con amor,

Elder Horton

#Leviticus26:2-4

Well, if you're all too lazy to go and look up that scripture, here's what it says.

2 ¶ Ye shall keep my sabbaths, and reverence my sanctuary: I am the Lord.

3 ¶ If ye walk in my statutes, and keep my commandments, and do them;

4 Then I will give you rain in due season, and the land shall yield her increase, and the trees of the field shall yield their fruit.

So, with the recent rain here in California I can only assume that a lot of people made new years resolutions to go to church and keep the commandments of the Lord! Go SoCal!

That's really the biggest piece of news this week. It rained a ton Monday and Tuesday, and Wednesday it cleared up. Then, yesterday we were back to 70/80 degree weather. I love it here

However, there has also been a big streak of mudslides here, since the fires burned all the trees and vegetation away, and then the rain came and there was nothing to stop all the mud. So pray for those affected by the mudslides!

We have seen a lot of good things happen this past week. Crystal is still good to be baptized the 27th of this month. She is doing really well, reading the Book of Mormon every day and praying about our message. She likes the church and the people there. She has really been prepared by the Lord for our message! 

We also got transfer calls, and it's no surprise that Elder Lopez and I are staying another transfer here in Pico Rivera. We have set some really good goals, and we are trying to become the best missionaries we can be.

Uhm... Yes. That's about it. Time is running out, so have a good week! Happy Martin Luther King day!

Con Amor,

Elder Horton

Selfie with some Elders sitting in a fold-up picnic table.

#uhm...#

Hey friends and family!

Biggest piece of news this week. It is raining in Southern California!!

To be honest with you all, I don't have a lot to talk about.. This week has been very normal missionary work. So I figure I will talk about that!

We are doing very well in this new area finding those who the Lord has prepared to hear the Restored Gospel of Jesus Christ! We are teaching repentance, and soon enough we should be baptizing converts.

Probably the biggest piece of news this week is that we set a baptismal date with one investigator of ours named Crystal. She's 15 years old and she's super nice. Last night we had a bomb lesson with her, in the which we invited her to be baptized on the 28th of this month. We helped explain to her that baptism would be a new start for her. We had multiple silences of at least 3 minutes or more that were really powerful, in the which she was doing a lot of thinking. I truly think this baptism will be going through.

Well, transfers are this coming week. Both Elder Lopez and I believe we are going to stay another transfer together. It only makes sense, but we will see.

I apologize for this short email, but the time got away from me today. Here's a couple selfies because a picture speaks a thousand words. 

God bless, 

Elder Horton

PS - enjoy these car selfies

#2018??!

Hello friends and family!

Here's the thing. 2018 has always seemed like a myth. Like a goal never to be reached. In comparison, it's like NASA saying they're going to send astronauts to neptune to land and check it out. To me, it seemed like it would never come. Not necessarily in a bad way either. It just always seemed so far away, since I've began my mission in 2016. It was always 2 years away. But now here we are, and as a result I take a deep breath of surprise and a big gulp of nervousness. I can't accept that I go home this year. I love this place and going home seems even farther away. I don't know if that makes sense, but my mind sometimes can't accurately describe feelings.

That being said, I'm glad for a new year so we can set new goals and make plans to become better people and, in my case, better preachers of the Lord's gospel. I hope you'll also find the desire to improve yourselves and make those resolutions.

This week went by quickly for me. We had our car taken from us for 4 days, so it could be loaned to another companionship who's car was in the shop. So we were back on bike! It was great to feel the wind on my face and the pedals under my feet. Luckily our area isn't too big, so we can get anywhere pretty quickly on bike. But Saturday morning we got it back. The car helps on Sundays and P-Days, because we give rides to another companionship. Anyways, the point is we got to bike around for a few days 

I may not be the first to say this, but the week before and after Christmas can be tough to find people at home. A lot are traveling and partying. So, hopefully we see a little more contact with those we are teaching this coming week.

That's about it. I hope you all passed a great Christmas and New Years and stayed safe! You all are the best!

Con Amor,

Elder Horton

Christmas Call with the Family

Christmas Dinner

Fog

Fog #2

Emailing from the Church this week