What a year!!‏

From:	Callie Horton (callie.horton@myldsmail.net)
Sent:	Tue 12/31/13 9:00 AM

Hello my dear family!

 

Man, it was soo good to talk to you guys the other day! You are as weird as I remember. Thanks for not changing too much. Christmas was soo great! We seriously got so spoiled. I am so glad that I only have one Christmas in the mission because I just don't think that another one could compare to how great this one was! I just feel so blessed to be with this amazing ward. And it looks like I will be staying for another transfer!! But sadly, my dearly beloved Hermana Bingham is being transferred. She has taught me lots and now it is other people's turn to be able to partake of some of the goodness of Hermana Bingham. She will be greatly missed!

 

So greatest news ever, Filiberto has a baptism date!!! January 18 is the day!! He is so ready and so committed. It WILL happen! Something about going to a Spanish ward just really helped him a lot. We had a lesson with him and when he told us that he is ready for us to pick a date for his baptism, we were soo excited! Hermana Bingham and I were talking that night about it, and we were talking about how we both needed to stay in this area for this transfer because we both get so overly excited about everything and Filiberto LOVES when we get excited about his progress haha. So he is doing so well!

 

Veronica is also doing so well! She came to watch a baptism on Saturday and really enjoyed it! We also had a lesson on temples that same day and at the end of the lesson, she said, "Maybe one day we will see each other in the temple." Sometimes I don't think investigators realize what they're saying to us! That made us so happy. Just the thought of being able to be in the temple with Veronica brings me so much joy. Veronica is a person that I just feel like I was supposed to meet. She has touched my life a lot. Maybe she was one of the reasons that I was supposed to be here in Virginia. Not because I needed to teach her, but because she needed to teach me. I think that the path to baptism will be a long one for her, but I believe that she will one day make the decision.

 

I can't even believe how fast this year has gone! And the fact that I was on my mission for most of it just blows my mind. I am so grateful for my mission. It is going too fast! I still have so much that I need to do and learn! I hope and pray that I will use every single moment of this precious time for good. My mission has brought me a lot of joy. I was studying this morning about joy and I found such a great scripture. It was in Alma 27:17-18 (I think). It talks about how Ammon's joy was so full that it exhausted all of his strength. And the next verse goes on to say how this kind of joy only comes to those who humbly seek it. Joy is one of our purposes in this life, but it will not always come naturally. We have to have the humility to seek for it, especially in times of trial. There is nothing greater than the joy that can come into our lives through living this beautiful gospel! I hope that we can all try to seek to have a little bit more joy this year.

 

I hope that you all have a great week and a wonderful New Year's! Eat lots of food for me. I love you all!!!!!!!!!!! Happy New Year!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

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