#miraculousweek

Hey friends and family! So I'll admit I wasn't planning on writing a weekly to you all since I will see you in person soon, but this week was just so fantastic that I want to tell you all about it.

It feels that the Lord saw it fit to bless me with a great week this last week. It's almost as if he was saying, "well done Elder Horton. Have a great week." So let me tell you all about it! 

The highlight by far is that Angie was finally baptized! She has been waiting such a long time and waded through a little bit of adversity and affliction but she made it to the waters of baptism. After asking her how she felt after her baptism, she said "extremely wet"  But it was fantastic to see her take that one step further towards returning home to her father in heaven. 

On Tuesday, all of us missionaries returning home soon had the chance to attend the temple with President and Sister Patterson. We went to the Newport Beach temple! And though small, it is extremely beautiful.

On Thursday, I had my departing interview with President. It was a fantastic experience as we counseled over my mission and my future plans. He's a man who radiates from the spirit and someone who I respect a lot.

On Saturday, we had a mission wide conference and Elder Quentin L. Cook of the quorum of the 12 apostles came to visit! I've had the rare occasion of meeting 2 apostles visit my mission as a missionary. He gave a lot of great insights to missionary work and Preach My Gospel, as he was a big part in bringing it to pass.

Well that's my amazing week. I hope you all enjoyed reading. As previously mentioned, if you would like to see me in person, there will be a small open house at my home this Saturday the 18th from 6-8pm. Then, that next day I will be reporting to my home ward about my mission at 1pm. The address is 10200 South 3200 West, South Jordan.

Con Amor,

Elder Horton 

My District

#LastWeek

Hey all!

I'm gonna start to sound like a broken record here...

Angie didn't get baptized... again. We are hoping for this next week. That way, I would have a baptism on my last Sunday in the mish! How awesome!

On Tuesday we had interviews with the mission president. This was my last regular interview with President Patterson and it was bittersweet. Sometimes it's hard for me to accept that my time here in SoCal has come to an end, but it's simply a part of life! These 2 years have been such a magnificent experience and I can't trade them for anything!

I went on an exchange with Elder Wolfenbarger this last week. He's from Salt Lake and has been out for about a year. He was in Nicaragua until they pulled him out 3 months ago. We had a great last exchange of mine! We taught a lot and just had a fun time.

Well.. this next week I should have more to report on. So, until next week my friends!

Con Amor,

Elder Horton 

#BoringWeek(s)

(July 30th)

Hey all! You may or may not have noticed, (probably not) but I didn't send a weekly email last week. I'll include last week's email in this one.

So, both of these weeks have been very focused on the work. They haven't been too eventful. Simply a lot of "grinding" aka finding, teaching and baptizing.

This last Tuesday, we had Zone Conference. It felt weird, knowing that this was my last. We talked a lot about teaching skills, and how we can all improve as teachers. I learned a lot! Man, I thought I was a good teacher up until this conference. That's when I learned that I am actually a trashy teacher and have a lot to improve on. That's the great things about zone conferences. They are very humbling and help us realize what more we can do as missionaries.

That's really all I will include for this email. Y'all have lots of reading material from the grand Elder Horton now.

By the way! If you all will be in town, my family and I will be hosting a little get-together for all those who would like to come say hello to me after my mission. It will be held Saturday the 19th from 6-8pm, at my house. If you need the address, let me know.

Happy Monday!

Elder Horton

(July 23rd) 
Hola familia y amigos!

How are you all? I hope good.

I'm also doing well. I titled this email Boring Week because if truly wasn't that eventful! My companion and I were able to work all week without many distractions. For every missionary that's almost a dream.

We have been working hard to help those we are teaching to come to church! This comes through not only inviting, but committing! Haha, sometimes these things are so simple but easy to forget. Even for a missionary who has been out for almost 23 months ;D.

So our friend Angie has made a lot of progress. She's still really excited to be baptized, and every time we teach her she gets a light in her eyes. It's going to be fantastic to see her enter the waters of baptism!

Our friend Daniel has strayed a little bit. when we visited him last Monday, he wasn't very sure about what to do. He let his mom know he wanted to be baptized, and she suggested that he simply gets baptized by her pastor. Well, he accepted. So during our visit we were able to testify of the truthfulness of the Church of Jesus Christ on the earth today and the Book of Mormon as a witness of that. I love the Book of Mormon! It never fails.

We've also met some great people this week who we are excited to work with. One's name is Jocelyn. When we met her, she told us that she's very interested in the message we are sharing. She has from LDS friends at school and they have talked to her about Jesus and the Book of Mormon. We were able to talk to her about the Restoration and all that we have to share. She's super excited about everything!

Another person we are excited about is a man named Francisco. He was kind of a miracle! So here's the story. My companion asked me, "where have you never gone in this area?" Immediately I thought that I have been in every nook and cranny of this area, having spent 8 months here. But I looked on the map and identified 3 streets I had never knocked a door. While walking, we passed a few people who we greeted and didn't respond. As we walked, we waved to a man across the street watering his lawn. He was super friendly with us! But, being across the street, we didn't want to make him feel awkward by crossing to talk with him. So we kept walking. However, I felt a prompting from the Spirit telling me to go back. So, we went back! I threw all caution to the wind and just started talking. He's a very humble man and has God in his life. I believe he has also been prepared for the Restored Gospel.

So there it is, my friends. My boring week, with a small miracle. Have a great 7 days and we'll see you next Monday!

Con Amor, 

Elder Horton

Hike

California!

My Companion's birthday

#PicoRivera

Hey friends and family! How are you all!

So I didn't have very much time to write last week. To be honest, I didn't completely plan my time well. So I had my mom write my weekly for me. (Thanks Mom!!)

So that means I have 2 weeks worth of stuff to catch up on with you.

Yes, my new companion is named Elder Boulter. He's from St. George! that's my 3rd companion from St. George. We get along very well. He'll be my last companion, which means he will "kill" me. Which brings me to my next point.

Let me learn y'all some missionary vocabulary.

Your first area is the area in which you are "born"

Your first companion is your "dad" (for Elders)

Your last area is your "dying area"

When you finish your mission you "die" and your comp "kills" you.

So there you go!

These past 2 weeks have been heating up in my dying area of Pico Rivera. Especially last Friday and Saturday, where it got up to 120 in some parts. The humidity made it worse... That's something unexpected here in SoCal. But, thanks to modern technology and A/C, my companion and I survived.

The 4th of July was crazy! It looked, sounded, and felt like a war-zone. I had no idea how the people of Pico Rivera can blow things up so much.

Elder Boulter and I have been working very hard, because we both want to baptize this last transfer. We have a few people we are very excited about!

A**** is doing well. She still has not been baptized, but we're working on that. We still have some issues to work out with the parents, but all in God's timing it will go well.

D***** has been sick this whole last week so we were unable to meet with him. Beyond that, we are texting him Book of Mormon passages, inspiring quotes and videos, and trying to keep contact with him. He's got great desires, he's just simply busy. 

We taught a young man this week named L***. He was a new person being taught as of a week ago. This time, he gave us a chance to give our message. By the end, he was fully committed to read the Book of Mormon and find out for himself if the book is true. And because it is, he'll get his answer as long as he has Faith and True Intent!

We also taught an older gentleman named J****. He's a mechanic, and I always see him smiling. He's like that one happy uncle that we all have! He understands that attitude is everything. He has some doubts about Joseph Smith being called as a prophet, but we were able to help him understand how he can know for himself and our role as missionaries in that process.

In case you all didn't know, the big problem in the missionary work in Southern California is finding people at home. Life out here is so expensive that people are always on the go. They don't have time, really, to hear us out or give us some time to talk. On the same train of thought, a lot of people don't want to commit to a return appointment. They simply say "well if I'm home and not busy, sure I'll hear you guys out..." which could also mean they're not that interested. So it's a lot of knocking on doors with no answer. I would say that's our biggest struggle.

Well my mom told me there's a lot of people asking about when I get home. I'll be coming home August 14th. Roughly a month from now. Until then, I'll keep working off my hiney. As long as I can wear Jesucristo on my chest and be a full-time missionary, I'll work full-time for him. There's no replacement for this time and I'm so happy to keep working in His vineyard.

Con Amor,

Elder Horton

HOT!

Price head out

New Companion - Elder Boulter

Peruvian food

#happy4th

Hey! So this past week has been pretty good. Priceless, rather 😉Let it suffice to say I'm very happy. Good week. Good comp.

So the companionship. This new Elder, Elder Boulter is simply like a little brother to me. We've had a few people guess that he's 15. He's got a ton of energy, so he's always talking, joking, and dancing. It's been quite fun. I've learned how to laugh again!  But other than that, we're having a lot of fun. I just can't let us not work for this last transfer because I want to BAPTIZE one last time!

The week was also good. Lots of changes. Lots of cleaning. We had a good 4th of July. It got really crazy down here, and from 7-10pm it smelled like smoke the whole time. I took a good video of all the crazy fireworks going off. from 9-10:30 we were able to just chill in the apartment and watch the fireworks from our balcony.

D****'s baptism didn't happen, but it was a long shot anyways... He's just a busy guy.

There wasn't too much progress in the people we are teaching. we dropped a lot of people who weren't progressing to make room for more people who could have more potential, but that's about it.
We spent some HOT days up here. the thermostat read 114 at one time in the car and some people told me it got up to 110. hot stuff.

I think that's it! Talk to you later! 

Elder Horton

PS - sorry - no pictures this week.  I'm out of time!

#HomeStretch

Hola familia y mis amigos! Como estan todos?

So I know you're seeing this from a lot of other people, just as I am, but I'm beginning my last transfer. My companion Elder Price is being transferred to another zone, and I'm receiving a new companion for my last one. His name is Elder Boulter! He's been out about 9 months, and he's one of the happiest guys in the mission! I'm really excited to be companions with him.

We had yet another dry Sunday. We could not find contact with A*** all week! So we couldn't confirm her baptism either. Pretty sad, but we can keep working with that family and she will be baptized soon. I know it.

Another thing is that it's about to get HOT here. The forecast predicts a big jump from the mid 80's on Thursday to 105 on Friday. A/C will be much sought. And plenty of water.

There's really not much to report on this week, so I will include a good amount of pictures.

Have a great week!

Elder Horton

#noSplash

Hello friends and family! So, the biggest piece of news this week is that our friend A*** did not end up being baptized as we planned yesterday. There was a lack of communication, and she wasn't able to make it to church. Gladly, we can simply push it back a week! So she should be baptized this next Sunday.

Our friend, D*****, came to church by surprise! He texted us 15 minutes before church started, letting us know he was on his way. He had a great time, and we are super happy for him. 

We also found another part-member family. The mother was baptized roughly 10 years ago, and when she moved here 5 years ago she stopped going to church when she couldn't find the chapel. But we found her and her husband on the street the other day and they were all for us coming by! The mother C***** is super solid. Her husband E**** seems to be less excited but willing to get closer to God. So we are going to keep going by.

I went on an exchange with Elder Farnsley this week. He is from Georgia and we had an awesome time together! all the appointments we had fell through, so it was simply just knocking a lot of doors that stayed shut. But he didn't let that get us down. Later that day, we saw an elotero (street vendor of corn) walking down the street. I bought both us of elotes! But if any of you decide to do the same, don't make the same mistake I did by asking for extra chile. Your lips will be burning. I'll attach pictures.

They have come out with a new Preach My Gospel! It's basically the same as before, just with a lot of minor tweaks and changes. This is such a testimony to me of continuing revelation through modern-day prophets. The Bible and Book of Mormon can only take us so far, but I'm so glad that the Lord has chosen men on this earth to lead and guide his church and the affairs of his people!   www.lds.org

Con Amor, 

Elder Horton

Elote

District pictures