Elder Colton

Elder Colton

Monday, October 21, 2013

"That is Exactly How Missionary Work Should Be"


Hola mi familia y mis amigos,

I am going to be in heaven for another 6 weeks :)  Last night we found out transfer information and I get to stay here in East Layton for at least another six weeks. And as if that wouldn't be awesome enough, it will be with Elder Thevenin again.  By the time we end our missions, we'll have spent a quarter of our two years together.  Woohoo.
 
Life has been going great up here.  Last night we had a lesson with the family that I wrote about last week.  Both of the girls that haven't been baptized decided that want to be baptized on November 9th.  Their dad is going to baptize them and their grandfather will confirm them.  The whole family is coming to church and they seem to be loving it.  Next week I think I'll write a little bit about how I personally feel about baptism.

We're teaching a ton of people and more people seem to come out of nowhere everyday (which has been far from the norm on my mission).  I've loved my mission like nothing else, but I would be lying if I didn't say that it is so much easier when we're teaching a lot of people.  We're teaching people who aren't actively going to church as much as we are teaching people who aren't members of our church, which has made me realize that that is exactly how missionary work should be.

Love ya'll,

-Elder Colton

"An Awkward Moment..."

Hola mi familia y mis amigos,

General Conference was legit but it feels like an eternity ago, not just one week.

We had a really great experience this past weekend.  For a few weeks now we've been visiting a family.  They've been coming back to church in the recent months and its been awesome to see how happy they are. 

The mom goes each week and the dad goes just about every week.  But his daughters were a little more hesitant.  Two are teenagers and one is eleven. When we first visited, the daughters felt kind of awkward (or at least it seemed that way to us) and who can blame them?  Two twenty year old's suddenly walk in and start talking about Jesus Christ and how he can help us, prophets, a plan of salvation, and who knows what else. I would be weirded out at first too (I never realized just how awkward some people feel with us until I was talking with the couple who are our landlords...she was baptized two years ago and is able to give us great insights on what not to do in first lessons).

In our second lesson we had an awkward moment when we started talking about the parents preparing to go to the Temple to be sealed (when a family is joined together for eternity) and pulled out a lesson pamphlet.  Then the dad whispered loudly to us "that was still a secret." Opps...they hadn't told the girls about it yet. The girls were a wee bit surprised, but it worked out well in the end. 

Now they are going to church and are enjoying it.  One of the teenagers isn't baptized and said she wants to be baptized in November.  All of them have said they want to be sealed in December with their parents.  Last night we talked about the plan of salvation and repentance and we could see the "light bulb moment" happen for one of the girls.  They are one of my favorite families from my mission. 

Only a few months left but it will be the best few months of my mission. 

Love ya'll,

-Elder Colton

Monday, October 7, 2013

Life: Experiences and Realizations


Hola mi familia y mis amigos,

My companion and I changed houses this past week so our new address is:

Elder Brandon Colton
1262 N 1450 E
Layton, UT 84040

We're living in the basement of a family from our church and they are legit. If you already sent letters don't worry about it.  I can still go back to my old house and pick them up when they get there.

This past weekend was a little bit interesting.  Here's a summary...
 
1. Seeing Grandma, Grandpa, Uncle Dave, and Aunt Julie.  Thank goodness for all those "law and religion symposium" signs which led me right to them as we left the Sunday morning session. 

2. Got caught in the middle of a family fight.  Imagine a dad and his adult son arguing with another 20 family members with their heads down trying to be invisible.  Not pleasant.

3.  Helped a 12 year old girl be baptized after her waiting for 4 years (her mom wouldn't let her before that).  She basically taught us the missionary lessons rather than vice-versa.  Doesn't look like the mom understood the doctrine of 8 years old as the age of accountability.

4. Watching the Sunday morning session of conference from seats very, very close to the pulpit. 

5. Watching the Sunday afternoon session with one of the families we're teaching and another family from our church.

6. Listen to President Monson chastise the world for either not home-teaching, or home-teaching the wrong way, and then listening to members talk about it and not realize they were just told by a Prophet of God that they need to repent.

7. Realizing that in one year, none of the Colton kids will be teenagers (sorry Mom). 

8. Realizing that in two weeks, I'll start my last full transfer as a missionary.  That freaks me out. 

Love ya'll,

-Elder Colton

Tuesday, October 1, 2013

Living the Good Life


Hola mi familia y mis amigos,

Unfortunately I only have 45 minutes of email time today and spent most of it emailing my family.  Everything has been going wonderful up here in Layton.  We're teaching 15+ lessons a week (which is a lot for Layton) and having so much fun.  I love this Gospel and love what I'm doing. 

Love ya'll,

-Elder Colton