This week's letter

HEY! THE GOSPEL IS TRUE!

From:	Callie Horton (callie.horton@myldsmail.net)
Sent:	Mon 6/09/14 9:03 AM

Hola familia!

 

All I have to say is that I love Hispanics so much. We have some of the cutest experiences ever with members of our ward. Recently we were eating breakfast with one of the members and then we helped her move some stuff. She had been talking with us in Spanish the whole entire time and then as we're walking out the door she yells to us in her super thick Hispanic accent," "I love you too much!" And there is this member in our ward that we eat lunch with every single week. She is already one of my most favorite people ever, and then we were at her house the other day and we were talking about this experience we had and she just gets up and says that she has the perfect song for them. She comes back with the lyrics to a Child's Prayer and she sings the whole thing in English with her think adorable Hispanic accent. We wanted to cry it was so cute. Moral of the story: Hispanics are so adorable. I love these people.

 

Vanessa is still on board to get baptized this Saturday! Her interview was yesterday and it went great. She is so ready and so excited. She will also be baptized with an investigator of some of the Elders in our ward so it will be a special day for everyone. We are really so excited. I love that little chica so much. I hope you all get to meet her someday.

 

Noelia and Amilcar are still doing great! They just are really getting a light in their faces. It is so cool to see. Noelia came to church yesterday by herself because her little brother couldn't. We've been wondering who Noelia would make good friends with in Young Women's, but we weren't quite sure yet. There is this other girl who just recently started investigating the church after some members brought her. They are the same age and then yesterday at church they just became such good friends! When the other girl was leaving she just said, "See you on Wednesday?" And Noelia just said, "Yeah. See you Wednesday!" So they will both be going to girls’ camp and they will be able to help each other out on their journey into the church.

 

There was this one day where we called Noelia and Amilcar, and Amilcar answered. After a couple seconds of talking he just said, "Guys I have to tell you something!" He then goes on to tell us how at school that day he had to take a big test, but he was feeling so tired and he didn't know why. So he said that he prayed to help him feel better. And then within 5 minutes of the test he felt awake. And then after he told us the story he just says, "Maybe God really is there!" That was such a tender mercy! We are just so happy that he was able to recognize the answer to his prayer. Because of that simple little thing, he is starting to know God more. Even the littlest of prayers get answered.

 

Have I told you lately that the gospel is true? Because it is. We were knocking yesterday and I had said a little schpeel about forever families or something like that and the guy at the door said, "You really believe that?" And I really did. After that I was just kind of thinking about it and I knew that I really did believe it. Actually, I knew it was true. This gospel brings so much happiness that there is just no way that it’s not true. I hope you all have a fabulous week! Go share the gospel!!  I love you!!

 

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

 

  

Last week's letter

"There can be miracles when you believe" -Prince of Egypt

From:	Callie Horton (callie.horton@myldsmail.net)
Sent:	Mon 6/02/14 9:04 AM

Hey you guys! (Like the guy from The Goonies)

 

I just have so much to say about the gloriousness of this last week, but alas, time will only let me say the highlights. But it really was such a great week! I know that it all happened because Hermana McBride and I are trying to change and polish ourselves into who Heavenly Father wants us to be. And with that, we received so many blessings.

 

First off, Noelia and Amilcar have a baptismal date!! They will be baptized on July 12. We asked them recently to be baptized on June 14 and after they prayed about it, they felt that they needed more time. So then the next lesson we invited them to pray about being baptized on July 12. When we went to the next lesson we asked them if they had prayed about that date and they said that it they're not even sure if they have to pray about it because it just feels so right. Yay! They just seemed so happy. It has been so cool to see the change in them since we very first started teaching them. And Noelia wants to go to girls’ camp! We were talking to the YW leaders yesterday at church about signing her up and they just jumped right on it. She will need a ride to YW every week and the YW president said that she will find her a ride every week and everything. We are so excited!!

 

Yesterday we had such a great little miracle. We were in our new golden trailer park after we had this great lesson. We were going to our next appointment and there was this guy sitting on his porch and I had the feeling that we should talk to him, but I ignored it. We went to our next appointment and they weren't there. So we went and tried to see a couple other people that we had met before and we didn't have success. We were walking down the street and trying to decide if we should knock or move on to the next thing we had planned (we really didn't want to knock..) And there was the guy on his doorstep again and I knew if I thought about it too much I wouldn't go talk to him so I just said, "I don't know what we should do but I'm just going to hurry and give this guy something real fast." So we went to go talk to him and we come to find out that he doesn't really know anything about God. I asked him if we could give him a pamphlet, but when I reached in my bag, I felt we should give him a Book of Mormon. So I gave him one and we ask him when we can teach him and we find out that he is locked out of the house so we're just thinking, "Sweet!" So we ask him if we can teach him right then and he agrees. So I sit on one of those lawn chairs that are like on the ground practically and Hermana McBride sits on the ground. We taught a great lesson, got eaten alive by bugs, and we helped him understand a little bit more about who God is. I felt like such a missionary. And even though there was loud Hispanic music coming from the trailer next door, some kid down the street practicing his trombone outside, and someone drilling in the ground not too far away, the Spirit was so strong and we barely even noticed those things. And now we have a return appointment and he agreed to be baptized when he knows these things are true. His name is Alfredo. We just felt so blessed. The Lord always blesses us for our efforts.

 

There was a lady that I talked about last week who was way awesome but is going to Mexico for a little while. She has to go there because of her visa and everything. So we decided that to decorate her door with hearts and leave her cookies before she goes. After we did that, she called us and she said that she wants us to come over before she leaves. So we got to go have one more lesson with her! And we found out that she will probably only be there until July instead of September!! I don't know how we were able to establish such a strong relationship so fast with her, but I am positive that she really will call us when she comes back. Cookies really do soften the hearts of the people!

 

Well I hope you have a great week! The gospel is so true. It just brings so much happiness that you just can't deny it once it gets a hold of you. I love this work so much!! Now go out and share it with your brothers and sisters! I love you!

 

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

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.