"This is my life and my ligh, my joy and my salvation"

"This is my life and my light, my joy and my salvation"

From:	Callie Horton (callie.horton@myldsmail.net)
Sent:	Mon 10/20/14 9:17 AM

To whom it may concern:

 

What an amazing week. Honestly one of the best of my whole mission! God was so good to us. We taught more lessons last week than we have any other week since I have been in this area, and we had the help of so many members. It was such a wonderful thing! We had another amazing lesson with Maria! We talked about a little bit of the plan of salvation and she just got it so well. We were able to get a member there with us and they connected so well. Always grateful when that happens! She is just such a great one.

 

We also had such an AMAZING lesson with Juan again. He is so golden!! We taught about the plan of salvation. When we asked him where he wanted to go he told us that he wanted to go to the celestial kingdom because he wants to be with his family for forever. Then Hermana Pico piped in and she told him that he has to get baptized first. So we asked him what he thought about that. Then Mia her daughter says, "I want to say the opening prayer!" Our initial reaction was, "Mia we're not done! You can pray at the end." But then she said, "No, for his baptism!" Well if that doesn't tug on your heart strings than I don't know what will! So then he just thought so hard about it and he agreed!! Wahoo! Then this part is funny... We were like, "Ok, let's set a goal and make a date." We said it in Spanish, and her 14 year old son Michael says, "What's that?" So we say, "A date." And he looks down and just gets so red in his face. Then the 8 year old Matthew says, "Wait, like where we kiss and stuff?" Hermana Dangerfield and I lost it. It was HILARIOUS! So then we explained what we were actually talking about. And Juan agreed to be baptized on November 15!! At first when we asked about Nov. 15, one of the kids said, "You should do it on January 12 so he can be baptized on his birthday!" And in perfect unison Hermana Dangerfield and I looked at him and said, "No!!" Come on. That's way too far. But luckily, he agreed for November 15! Juan is seriously so so golden. He's worried about going to church without the right clothes, but he'll make it over that. 

 

I seriously can't believe that this time has come. I have found a lot of comfort this week from a quote by President Uchtdorf. He said, "There are no such things as endings, just everlasting beginnings." It’s so true! This wonderful, amazing, sacred time in Virginia was my MTC for the rest of my life. My mission has been the best thing in my life up to this point. Probably the hardest thing I've ever done, but also the best. I plan to let the rest of my life be shaped by what I have learned and who I have become from my mission. I know that it will affect every aspect. There is this one song that we always listen to that says, "We are not done yet." It was the theme song for last week. And I know that there is still so much missionary work to do when I get home. I love being a missionary. I love it so much!! And I love it because I love serving my Father and my Savior. They do so much for me; the least I can do is help to gather their sheep. I truly know that missionary work is one of the most important things that we can do in our lives. We will not fall away if we are constantly engaged in the work of salvation. I love this gospel so much. With all of my heart. The title of my email is from Alma 26:36. That has become one of my favorite verses. This gospel truly is "my life and my light, my joy and my salvation." Nothing brings me more joy! It’s going to be hard leaving beautiful Virginia and all of the Hispanics here. I had a hard time in the closing song during sacrament yesterday because I realized how much I am going to miss all of those tone-deaf Hispanics so much! They always sing with all that they've got. They have taught me so much. So much love and so much humility. But it’s ok, because there are great adventures ahead! Here we go!!

 

I love you soo much!!!! See some of ya'll soon!!!!

 

And now I close mine epistle. I am Hermana Horton.

 

We're on the sprint

We're on the sprint

From:	Callie Horton (callie.horton@myldsmail.net)
Sent:	Mon 10/13/14 10:25 AM

Hello hello!

 

What a great week!! I just feel so blessed! A lot of prayers were answered this week. First off, our investigator Maria set a baptism date of November 15! We had this amazing lesson about the spirit. We went in and planned to talk about the plan of salvation but the Lord had different plans. She had been reading in the Book of Mormon (that in itself is a miracle), but she expressed to us how she didn't know how she was going to receive her answer. So we spent the whole lesson talking about the Spirit. We asked her in the lesson how she felt. She told us that she felt different, so I asked her if it was a good different or a bad different. Luckily, it was a good different. She then went on to tell us about an experience in her life when the Spirit had talked to her, but she didn't know what it was. We were able to testify to her that we knew it was the Spirit. It was just such a cool lesson! Definitely the best one that we have had with her. And at the end of the lesson she agreed to be baptized. 

 

Another miracle was with Juan, the boyfriend of Hermana Pico. We knew before the lesson that we needed to invite him to be baptized, but we had no idea how we were going to do it since the spotlight hadn't really ever been on him, and we didn't want to single him out and make him feel bad for being the only one not baptized. So we went into the lesson and I know that the Lord's hands were in every detail of that lesson. We started out talking about the Book of Mormon. We asked them about some of their favorite verses. Matthew says that he wants to share his. (He's the 8 year old that got baptized not too long ago.) Flash back: A couple of months ago Matthew had to give a talk in primary about baptism so we went over and helped him prepare it. We chose one of our favorite scriptures on baptism for him to share. So now this is the only scripture in his BOM that he really even knows about, and also the only one marked with a sticky note. So flash forward to our lesson and Matthew wants to share his favorite scripture which is the one on baptism. Perfect set up for us to start talking about baptism! We then start talking about the gospel of Jesus Christ and the things we had to do. We are still wondering how we are going to smoothly ask him about baptism and then a marvelous thing happens; the Spirit of the Lord takes over. I was blessed with the words of the Spirit and was able to ask him to baptism in a way that didn't seem like we were trying to single him out or anything. He goes on to talk about how he grew up Catholic and that he didn't want to leave what he grew up with. But then Hermana Pico shares her conversion story. It was so powerful! The testimonies of members in lessons are always the best. He then said that he would be baptized if he found out these things were true! And he said that he wanted his own BOM to read. So we gave him one and he instantly wrote his name in it. And then at the end of the lesson Hermana Pico asked Juan if he would pray and he said that he didn't know how. So Matthew comes up and teaches him. It was one of the most special experiences. It is just so amazing how the Lord truly loves us so much and will always help us when we need it. The Picos are just so great! One of the best part-member family lessons I've been a part of. 

 

This week is going to be a good one. I can feel it! We have set a lot of high goals and we are excited to see the miracles. I know they will come. I hope you all have a great week! Make it the best. I love you all!!

 

And now I close mine epistle. I am Hermana Horton.

 

 

Pictures!

 

 

We went to this place today with the other sisters in the zone called Belle Isle! Its the biggest island on the James River. It was so beautiful!

Also, one of Sister Johns (a sister I live with) and I deep into our BOM reading :)

 

 

 

 

 

BOM + conference=perfection

BOM+conference=perfection

From:	Callie Horton (callie.horton@myldsmail.net)
Sent:	Mon 10/06/14 12:22 PM

My dearest loved ones!

 

What an amazing week. Holy cow! How do I even sum it up into words? Lots of great stuff, but hard too. The fact that the end of my mission is coming hit me kinda hard last week. I just can't believe how fast it’s coming! But we had missionary leadership council last week and President Wilson just happened to give all of us lots of advice for when we go home. His timing was perfect! 

 

THE BOOK OF MORMON READ A THON WAS AMAZING. It actually went by a lot faster than I thought it would. I can't even believe how much I learned. It was really cool to be able to get a little bit of a better grasp on the story. And I underlined all of the attributes of Christ and Heavenly Father and that was really cool too. It truly does talk about Them on almost every single page. The Book of Mormon is just so true! It brought the Spirit into my life so strongly. After I was done reading it I took on Moroni's promise and prayed about it. Even though before I have received confirmation that it’s true, I took on the promise again. The way I received my answer was the complete and pure joy that I felt after I prayed. There was just so much happiness that I didn't even know what to do with it all! We had zone meeting last Friday and it was the best zone meeting of my mission. We had all been buried in the Book of Mormon all week and so the Spirit was so strong.

 

Having such a strong spirit in my life made conference so cool as well. It was seriously so good! I don't even know if I can pick out a favorite because there was something in every single talk that was amazing! I really loved both of the talks on the sacrament. I have learned so much about the sacredness of the sacrament on my mission and those talks helped me understand even more. I also loved President Uchtdorf's talk about Heavenly Father. We just shouldn't worry so much about the things that we can't comprehend about God, just like people 1,000 years ago couldn't have understood smart phones if someone went back in time and tried to tell them about them. And then Elder Bednar's talk was fabulous. So simple and so powerful. It was just overall such a great conference! And our new investigator Jose came to the last session which was great!! He is an 18 year old kid who knows a lot about God, but he is very open to learning more. 

 

We also started teaching a returning less actives boyfriend. I have talked a little before about the Pico family. Its Hermana Pico's boyfriend. He has sometimes been there for our lessons with them, but never really showed very much interest. We decided to show them the Restoration DVD yesterday and Juan was watching too and he really enjoyed it. And then we were talking about the BOM after and we asked him if he had a copy and he said he didn't, but that he would like one. We came to find out that he doesn't really have much religious background. So we gave him a BOM and he made sure that he would be there when we stopped by their house later this week! God's timing is perfect. 

 

I hope you all have a wonderful week! Make it count! I love you!!

 

And now I close mine epistle. I am Hermana Horton.

The Joys of Crab Apples

The Joys of Crab Apples

From:	Callie Horton (callie.horton@myldsmail.net)
Sent:	Mon 9/29/14 8:58 AM

!Hola!

 

Another fabulous week! It all started last Monday... P day was over and we didn't have some set plans but we had some people that we were going to go try and visit. We went to visit a less active and they didn't really want to see us. Then there was this lady moving so we helped her move some stuff. Turns out that she used to date a Mormon, but isn't really interested. Then we were walking to our car and I saw this guy that was putting stuff in his car. We got in our car and drove to go see a potential. The whole time it was just eating me up inside that I didn't go talk to this guy! So we got to the potential's house, had a good laugh because there was a toilet sitting on their front lawn, and then we decided that we needed to go back and talk to that guy. Well we drove back and he was gone. So we decided that God had led us back there so we got out of our car and started walking around the apartment complex parking lot. As we were walking all of these kids start chucking crab apples at us! It was actually really funny, but kind of scary because crab apples are really hard. So we just kept walking, talked to a couple of people, and then had to turn back around to go to our car. And the same kids started throwing crab apples at us again. We were just trying to dodge them and laughing so hard while doing so. We just high fived after we passed them and said, "I think we just endured persecution!" Ha-ha. So we kept on walking and one of the kids comes up to us by our car and asked us when the office closes. We told her we didn't know, but that we wanted to give her a picture of Jesus. So we gave her one and instantly all of the kids start coming up to us. After one of the girls finds out who we are she says, "Oh... y'all are Jesus people?" Then they all started telling on each other for throwing crab apples at us. So we gave them all Jesus pictures and walk away and they keep on having a conversation about Jesus. It was great! We had some good laughs about it.

 

Lizeth didn't come to church again. She was so close! Then last minute wasn't able to. Hermana Dangerfield were just feeling like we had tried everything to get her to church and so we started wondering what it is that we needed to learn from all of this. And then it hit me how much I personally had learned about the importance of going to church. I have realized that we don't go to church for ourselves, but we go for Jesus Christ. Because of the Atonement and everything that he did for us, we go to church to show our gratitude for what He did. And we go there to serve others, not be served. If people ever come back from church feeling empty, it’s because they didn't try to serve others while they were there. Yes, we need to go to church to take the sacrament and be clean of our sins, but that is the only thing that we do for ourselves. Besides that it should all be focused on Jesus Christ and how we can administer to others like He would do. My testimony has truly grown a lot of the importance of church attendance.

 

The Book of Mormon read-a-thon started on Saturday! It has been so cool so far! We all kind of have sore necks from looking down at a book so much, but it has just been such a sweet experience. I'll tell you next week how the rest of it goes!

 

The Women’s Broadcast on Saturday was so good! I don't know why that meeting always makes me so emotional. President Uchtdorf's talk was so great. I loved when he said, "I think that God knows something that we don't." First off, it was great knowing that even the apostles like to speculate about the things of heaven, but it also made me think a lot! We definitely do need to follow God's commandments because there is something waiting for us that we don't even know about that we will receive if we keep the commandments. I also loved how he said that God's is not waiting to love us, but that He loves us today for who we are and also for the glorious person we can become. God's love is so constant no matter where we are in our lives. He will truly always love us. 

 

Make this week a good one! Read the BOM! I love you lots!

 

And now I close mine epistle. I am Hermana Horton.

 

Pictures!

These are from the fiesta, Elba's baptism, and then a really cute picture of Hermana Dangerfield and Matthew Pico.

 

 

        Sister leader training conference 9/2014

Felicidad :)

Felicidad :)

From:	Callie Horton (callie.horton@myldsmail.net)
Sent:	Mon 9/22/14 8:49 AM

iHola familia!

 

What a busy and wonderful week! We had Sisters Meeting on Wednesday with all of the sisters in the mission which was so much fun! (It always is.) Hermana Dangerfield and I got to give training on good works. Then that night we met with all of the other Sister Training Leaders at the mission home and we ate dinner and then we went on short exchanges with Sisters serving in nearby areas. Then the next morning we had a Sister Training Leaders training meeting which was so cool! There was just a lot of power there. I learned so many wonderful things and new ways that I can improve as a missionary and also just a person in general. On Saturday, our ward had a fiesta Hispania and everyone brought food from their country and wore traditional clothing from that country too. It was so fun! Nothing like sitting in a church gym with a bunch of Hispanics, getting fat off of the wonderful food, and listening to their music. Twas a good time! They also had all of the couples do a dance off. It was just so great! Pictures of this wonderful night to come!

 

Something else great about this week was that Elba Hernandez was baptized! She was an investigator that my companions and I found my second transfer in the mission. Well she was actually a former investigator that we went and visited and then started teaching. She was the one that quit her job and everything because they wouldn't let her have Sundays off. Her daughter and son were actually baptized last November and have been strong ever since. Sadly, Elba's new job that she eventually got made her have to start working on Sundays. That's why it was so long until she got baptized. She has definitely been one of the miracles of my mission! And she was baptized on Friday! It was such a special experience. One of the most special baptisms that I have been to on my mission. All of the Hermanas that have taught her were able to go to the baptism and there was just so much love there. I just feel so blessed to be serving in that ward again so that I could see her get baptized. 

 

Lourdes and Diego are going to be baptized on October 11th now. We've been having a hard time seeing her because she works so much and she will just be more ready on that date. We had a really great lesson with them last night! We've been having a really hard time getting people to church. Just nobody wants to come, except Lourdes and she has to work most Sundays. So we asked Diego if he would still like to come to church even when his mom can't come and he said yes and was just so excited about it!! It was honestly a miracle to hear that someone wanted to go to church! And even better that they were excited about it! So they are doing great.

 

The Book of Mormon read-a-thon starts this Saturday! We are so excited about it! Even though I know you all don't have time to spend all day reading it, just try to spend more time reading it from the 27th to the 4th! There is great power in large numbers and the more people spending lots of time the week before conference reading the Book of Mormon, the better! Conference will be better, life will be better, and with strengthened testimonies of the BOM the world will become a little bit better. So pick up the book and read it!

 

I hope you all have a wonderful week! Love you mucho! God speed.

 

And now I close mine epistle. I am Hermana Horton.