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.

 

Picture!

Us and the Sisters that we live with!

What more could I ask for?

What more could I ask for?

From:	Callie Horton (callie.horton@myldsmail.net)
Sent:	Mon 9/15/14 9:15 AM

My dearest family!

 

Once again, life is so good and wonderful here in Virginia! I just realize more and more everyday how truly blessed I am. What more could I ask for? My companion is one of my best friends, the sisters we live with are also some of my best friends, I have the gospel in my life, and I just don't know what else I could ask for. This world is such a beautiful place and God truly loves us so much. 

 

There were so many miracles this past week here in Virginia! 21 people were baptized in our mission, there were 5 people in our zone baptized and our zone also set a lot more people on date to be baptized. So our zone leaders send out a text to everyone in the zone every time that a set of missionaries sets someone on date to be baptized. Last Thursday there were so many people set on date! So we were getting a ton of texts. That day was also weekly planning which seriously takes hours and sometimes is a little strenuous. We had just kind of had a weird day with not a ton of success and the sisters that we live with were also having the same kind of day. We came home at about 8 pm that night to finish up the weekly planning that we didn't get done earlier. The Sisters we live with were also doing that. We got home and we were just talking for a minute about the awesome success that our zone had seen that day with setting people on date. Then we started talking about how we want to set someone on date too. Then we just all randomly start getting so pumped up and we decided that we were all going to go back out and set someone on date before the end of the night. There was just lots of high-fiving and chest bumps haha. We were pretty pumped. We also have this sign above the door when we leave the house that says "Conquer or die" (Alma 56:17) so we said a group prayer, hit the sign as we were running out like a bunch of football players, and then we were off into the night. We both impressed to go see our investigator Maria. On the way to her house we were driving past a street and the name of a potential popped into my head. But I decided that we should go and see Maria first and then we'll see the potential. We go to Maria's house and no one answers. So then I say that we should go to the potential's house and my companion said that her name popped into her head as we drove past her street, and I said how I had had the same thought, so we then drove to her house. We had this super awkward experience there and practically scared this guy to death when we were standing on his porch in the dark, and we find out the potential doesn't live there anymore. We still had some time and we didn't know what to do so we started driving and this CVS pharmacy (It’s like Walgreens) that we always go to the bathroom at popped into my head. So we went there and we walked around and there were no Hispanics in sight. We decided to buy a little something so we didn't look so fishy. We went to the cash register and the cashier that is always there when we go asks us if we just got off work. Instantly I was so filled with the spirit because I knew that this was the miracle that needed to happen that night. Cute little Julie the cashier needed to hear about the gospel. So we start talking to her about who we are and we give her a card and invited her to go to mormon.org. She was so sweet. That was basically all that happened. She already goes to a church but was interested in going to the website. But we both walked out just so happy because we knew that she needed to have her first exposure to the gospel that night. We didn't set someone on date, but what happened was what needed to happen. And the Sisters that we live with also saw a miracle. They went to someone's house and got permission to start teaching a less actives son who they previously didn't have permission from the parents to teach. It was just so cool! Miracles are so real! We just need to go out and expect them, and they will always come. Maybe not in the ways we expected, but they will always come. 

 

We also had a church tour with Lizeth last week that was really good! In the closing prayer she said how she was scared before, but how now she felt comfortable to come to church. She still didn't come yesterday, but she is progressing. Slowly, but still progressing. We're going to have to move her baptism date, but it’s all in God's time. 

 

God is so good! Don't forget that. And the gospel is true. It is the best thing we will ever have in our lives. I love you all!! Have the best week ever!

 

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

Pictures!

My bruise from falling down the stairs last week

-And clouds that looked like the second coming

 

 

 

 

 

The Book is blue and true

The Book is blue and true

From:	Callie Horton (callie.horton@myldsmail.net)
Sent:	Mon 9/08/14 8:54 AM

 

HELLO!

 

Another great week here in Chesterfield! Transfer calls were Saturday and it looks like Hermana Dangerfield and I will be staying here for my last transfer! (Wow! That's crazy!) Also the sisters that we live with are staying so we are really excited! Lots of good times ahead. 

 

I just love the Book of Mormon so much. So many great things happened with it this week. First off, Lizeth before wouldn't read the Book of Mormon because she thought that it was only for old people and that she didn't need to read it. She has been taught for about 4 months now and last week she finally agreed to read it. So recently the primary kids from the ward back home had sent me a hard-back copy of the Book of Mormon. For every time that they shared the gospel with a family member or a friend they got to put a nickel in a jar until they had enough to purchase this Book of Mormon. Then they are wrote their names in it and a testimony. So this is a very special Book of Mormon. I was really touched to have received this and I really wanted the book to end up in good hands. I felt like I should give it to Lizeth. We had this lesson about the BOM with her and we read some scriptures with her and showed her how it isn't that hard to understand. We asked her if she would read it if we gave her a copy and she agreed. So I pulled out the special Book of Mormon that I had. I told her about what the primary kids had done to get this book. I was so overcome with emotion as I realized once again in that moment how much I loved that book, and how much I appreciated all of the kids that had sent me that specific copy. The Spirit was so strong. One of the strongest I've ever felt it while talking about the Book of Mormon. And then Lizeth in her closing prayer thanked Heavenly Father for the BOM and for the kids that had saved up nickels for it. She also said in her prayer that she couldn't believe that someone would do something so great. It was such a special moment that I will never forget.

 

Another cool thing that we found out about this last week is that our whole mission will be doing a Book of Mormon read-a-thon starting on Sept 27 and ending on October 4! We literally are going to spend the whole week reading it. The only other thing we will do is go to our set teaching appointments and the other set things that we have. We were all pretty shocked when we found out in missionary leadership council, and then I got the privilege of announcing it in zone meeting and everyone's reactions were priceless. We have to read about 75 pages a day for finish it on October 4. I am soo excited! This is going to be such a special thing. President Wilson wants to do it to make sure that everyone in the mission has read through the whole BOM at least once and that we all have testimonies of it. That is such a testimony to me of the importance of the BOM because President Wilson is all about not wasting time. So if we are going to do nothing but read the BOM for a whole week that just shows how important our testimonies of it are. It is going to be so cool.

 

I hope that you all have a very wonderful week! Make it count! I love you all so much!

 

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

Pictures!

 

 

Us eating ice cream with the Pico's! And also learning how to make Pupusas with a member :) oh and a cool picture of the James River!

 

 

 

The Church is true. The book is blue.

The Church is true. The book is blue.

From:	Callie Horton (callie.horton@myldsmail.net)
Sent:	Tue 9/02/14 9:00 AM

Hello everybody!

 

This week was so good! Some random highlights I want to share... I fell down our wooden stairs this morning and now I have this huge nasty bruise on my arm. It was so funny. Another one, we were visiting the Pico family the other day. They are a less active family that is becoming reactivated. The little boy Matthew (the one who got baptized a couple weeks ago) was singing these hymns in Spanish in a cute little voice and then he toots really loud (pardon my French) and he just starts saying, "Oh my gosh. Oh my gosh. I ate bacon for dinner." It was hilarious. I seriously love that family. We were visiting them yesterday and the ice cream truck came by and Hermana Pico wanted to buy us all something so we all just stood out there together and waited for the ice cream man to come. It was lots of fun.

 

Our investigators Lourdes and Diego set a baptismal date for Sept 27!! It is a mom and her son. They came here from Honduras not that long ago. We have actually been teaching them for a little bit and they weren't really making that much progress and then they just randomly starting progressing a lot! Lourdes has to get work off on Sundays, but she really wants to be baptized! They are so cute. 

 

We are still struggling to get Lizeth to church, but she came to Young Women's last week! It was such a miracle. So we don't really have that much communication with her mom, but we just thought that if we had more that her mom would be more willing to help her get to church. So we were randomly having our lesson outside and towards the end we were talking to Lizeth about coming to Young Women's and right then her mom came out and started listening from the porch so we were able to just ask her mom right then and there and she let her come! It was great. We are really excited for her to get more involved with the young women. 

 

Hermana Dangerfield and I have just been trying to talk to everyone lately and it has been so much fun. President Wilson always tells us how we need to talk to everyone or else we won't do it when we get home. We have really been taking that to heart and we have been trying to talk with everyone. We just know that there are some elect people out there just waiting for this message! But most of the time you have to talk to lots and lots of different people before you find the needle in the haystack. 

 

I had a really cool realization about the Atonement this morning. So Heavenly Father has this plan for our lives. And in that plan there are really great things, but also really hard things. And I am almost certain that it is not easy for Him to put those hard things in our lives because He loves us and no one likes to see their loved ones suffer. But the thing that makes it all worth it is the Atonement. It’s not only a comfort for us, but also for Heavenly Father. He knows that He can put hard things in our lives because we have help. The scary part for Him is whether we actually use the Atonement or not. We should never hesitate to use it. We have the Atonement to help us. Heavenly Father doesn't want us to try to do things on our own. He wants us to use His help. 

 

I hope you all have a very wonderful week!! I love you mucho!!

 

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