It’s all in His hands

From:	Callie Horton (callie.horton@myldsmail.net)
Sent:	Tue 5/27/14 8:47 AM
To:

Hello everybody!

 

Sad news, but good news at the same time... We had to move Vanessa's baptismal date to June 14. She's pretty sad about it too. We had to move it because her dad is going to be out of town for his work the next couple of weeks and that was the soonest that we could do it. But it’s good because he definitely didn't want to miss it and he wanted to be sure that the rest of her family could be there. Even though she will be the only member of her family, she has received a lot of family support which is awesome. She definitely needs all the support that she can get! She is doing awesome as usual. We committed her to start reading from the beginning of the Book of Mormon and we invited her to do it without calling her grandma for help and I couldn't even believe how much she understood by herself. Now that we have more time, we'll be able to help her solidify her testimony even more.

 

We had this amazing first lesson with this lady yesterday who was a referral from some English Elders. Her heart was just so open and she was so ready to receive this gospel in her life. She had been to church a couple of times before in Mexico so she knew a little bit about the church before. It was one of the greatest first lessons. Hermana McBride and I were just so overcome with the Spirit during the lesson because it was so strong. And at the end of the lesson we invited her to be baptized on July 12 and she then went on to tell us that she was leaving for Mexico on Saturday for a couple of months... My heart dropped... We were pretty sad to say the least. But it’s meant to be. Heavenly Father has everything in His hands. She is just so prepared to receive these things that I'm positive that the gospel will find its way back to her. And it was great to be able to participate in such a great lesson.

 

We found this trailer park that is a gold mine!! Well actually some other sisters found it and they told us about it so we went and knocked some of it and it is practically all Hispanics! We were so excited! There was just a great feeling there. We have a bunch of appointments set up for tomorrow with people that live there. The Lord has really been blessing us for our efforts lately. We've been trying to be better at talking with everyone and we have had lots to do and we have found a lot of potential investigators.

 

Have I told you lately that the Church is true? Because it is. I know it is with all my heart. I feel so inadequate to be out here sharing the most precious thing on this earth, but I am sure glad that the Lord lets me do it. I hope you all have a wonderful week! I love you!!

 

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

 

I love this stuff.

From:	Callie Horton (callie.horton@myldsmail.net)
Sent:	Mon 5/19/14 12:00 PM

Mi querida familia,

 

Not a whole lot happened this week. A lot of our investigators are in a rut (spelling?) right now. We are trying to sharpen up our teaching pool right now. This last week was honestly way great though. It’s crazy how clear the vision of who I can become is. It’s never been clearer in my whole life. But it also hasn't seemed harder to achieve. But it’s supposed to be hard. I just want to work as hard as I can and become everything that I need to become in these months that I have left. I have been praying so hard to receive Heavenly Father's help in becoming who I need to become. He helped me to see so many ways that I can improve as a missionary. Sometimes it’s hard to see how many areas you have that are lacking, but He has also helped me to see some of my strengths. And with these new things that I have learned, I am excited to put them into action and become a better missionary. I have already tried to put them into action and then yesterday was just such a great day full of so much to do. I have really learned a lot lately about letting Heavenly Father completely take over. He is the Director and Guide of this great work. It’s not our work, it’s His work. And all of the glory of this work goes to Him. We are just the instruments that make it happen. I couldn't be more grateful to be a part of this stuff.

 

Vanessa is still doing wonderful! It is so fun right now because we are starting to put all of the details of her baptism together. I think she is more excited than we are and it’s just so cute. That girl amazes me! She made her family leave early from a family reunion so that she could be at church. I am just so grateful that she can already see how important it is to be at church. What a champ.

 

I have been thinking about the temple a lot this past week and I am just so grateful for it! In the last interview with President Wilson I was asking him how we could help our investigators progress past just the first couple lessons because there are just so many people that only have like 1 or 2 lessons and then they drop off the radar. He told me that we should make the temple their vision right at the start. Baptism is just the first step, but their real goal is the temple. It is with the temple that we can make the covenants that we need to be with our families for forever and to one day return to live with our loving Heavenly Father. And the temple is the closest thing that we have to heaven on this earth. We as members of the church are so lucky to have a place where we can feel so much joy and love no matter what is happening in our lives. Even though it has been hard on my mission to not attend the temple, it has helped me to appreciate it so much more.

 

Well I hope you have the best week ever!! I love you all!! The Church is true.

 

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

 

P.S. I'm pretty sure we're doing P day on Tuesday next week so that's when the email will come.  

Pictures!

These contain:

-Vanessa's grandma, who is now my grandma

-Leesylvania State Park!!!!

 

 

Feliz Dia de las Madres!

From:	Callie Horton (callie.horton@myldsmail.net
Sent:	Mon 5/12/14 9:12 AM

 

This will be short since I got to talk to a lot of you yesterday! I was so grateful that we were able to Skype yesterday! The nieces and nephews are growing up way too fast. Glad you are all as crazy as I remember! So much that I was literally yelling at the beginning and no one could hear me ha-ha. Some things never change.

 

For those of you that don't know, Vanessa is still doing great! We have to do a little bit more work with her grandma being back in Indiana, but that's alright. She is receiving some persecution from people at home, but she is staying strong. That girl's testimony is as hard as a rock. I don't think that I would have been that strong at 11, but Vanessa isn't your average 11 year old.

 

We have the funnest ward activity ever on Saturday! It was at a place called Leesylvania State Park. It was probably one of the funnest things I've done on the mission so far! There was this huge body of water that was from the Potomac River and a beautiful little beach. Since all of our investigators that were there were kids, we just played on the beach the whole time and dug holes in the sand and it was a blast. And we got to wear pants which is always a plus. And there is this bridge there that is half Maryland half Virginia! It was way cool. I'll send lots of pictures. It was just so fun. I love this ward!

 

Corina is good. She hasn't started back on the path of progression. She hasn't been reading or praying lately and she doesn't feel ready for baptism anymore, but she is going to start back up again! And her and her husband came to church yesterday which was really great. Pray that she will be ready for baptism soon!

 

Well I hope you all have the best week ever! The Church is true. I am so grateful for this knowledge, and that I know that I can be with my family for forever. Go out and share the gospel! I love you!!!

 

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

The Rising Generation

From:	Callie Horton (callie.horton@myldsmail.net)
Sent:	Mon 5/05/14 9:55 AM

HOLA!

 

Wow. I don't even know where to begin with this week. It was just full of so much goodness and success! First off, we had the amazing opportunity to hear from Elder Bednar, Bishop Davies from the presiding bishopric, and Lynn Robbins from the first presidency of the seventy. Oh and Elder Bednar's super adorable wife! It was one of the most amazing meetings that I have ever been to. Some highlights were when Bishop Davies got up to the stand and he asked us if we had ever heard of James Brown. And then he yells over the pulpit (with arm actions involved) and said, "I feel good!" It was so funny. He said that that's how he felt right then. And later Elder Bednar went up and said that they do a meeting with the first presidency and the quorum of the twelve every Thursday and they report on the things that they had done that week and some of the highlights from it. He said that he can't wait to tell the first presidency about what Bishop Davies did. Elder Bednar had so many amazing things to say. There were some talks that we were supposed to study beforehand and so he asked us what we had learned. It was a very involved meeting. I honestly don't even know what to say because I loved every single minute of it. One of the most powerful parts was when he pronounced an apostolic blessing upon us. He told us that if we are diligent, obedient, hardworking, and trying to be good that we have the potential to become who we want to be. He also told us that if always try to follow the little promptings from the spirit that we will never fall away. He also opened my mind a little bit to repentance. I learned about how repentance is change. It doesn't necessarily mean that we did something bad and we need to make it right, but that there is something about us that we need to change. The atonement is there to also help us when we are trying to become the person that we need to become. We have so much potential through the help of the atonement. It was all just so powerful! I can't even explain it. It was just such a great experience.  

 

The reason for the title of my email is because I have been so impressed with the rising generation lately! We had 4 investigators at church yesterday and all of them were kids and teenagers. The youngest one was 8 and the oldest was 14. And they are honestly our most progressing investigators right now. Vanessa is doing absolutely fabulous. She came to a baptism on Saturday and she brought a friend! And after the baptizing part was over she turns to her friend and says, "That's how Jesus Christ got baptized." Hermana McBride and I just looked at each other with tears in our eyes. And then she went up and bore her testimony yesterday in sacrament meeting!! It was one of the sweetest testimonies ever born. She talked about how grateful she was to her grandma and us for sharing this gospel with her and she talked about how she knows that her dad will become a member one day. She has great faith. I am learning so much from her. And she is already excited to be a missionary one day! We have a ward activity this Saturday and she said, "I'm going to try to bring a friend!" Heavenly Father has great plans with this girl. She has a rough road ahead of her with her grandma leaving this week, but Heavenly Father is looking out for her and is preparing her for what's ahead. 

 

There was this day this week when we were talking about miracles. President Wilson always says that we should expect miracles so we were talking about a miracle that we wanted to see. We wanted to meet someone that would actually call us back after we gave them a card. That day we were praying for miracles. It was raining A LOT. We were about to go tracting and we weren't super pumped about doing it in the pouring rain, but then the first door opened and they let us in! We had a great lesson. She is kind of set in her religion, but we were able to share the beautiful message of the restoration with her. And then after that we were walking to our car and we saw a Hispanic guy standing by his car and we just said hi and then before I knew it I was turning around and talking to him. We gave him a card and then he asked if we had a pamphlet, so we gave him a pamphlet and a Book of Mormon. Then he asked us if we could come by our house and teach him and his family so of course we said yes! He just sincerely expressed how he wants to hear more about God and everything. We haven't had our lesson yet, but we're so excited because he said his family would like to listen too! This is proof that the Lord is preparing His people.

 

I forgot to say, but I'll be in Woodbridge for another transfer!! I'm so glad. I absolutely love this area and ward. A part of my heart will always be here. So great adventures lie ahead with the wonderful Hermana McBride!  

 

I hope you all have such a great week! Shout out to Lillie with her baptism this week!!!! And I'll see you on Sunday!!! Love you!!

 

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