One Last Post

Hola mi familia y mis amigos,

 

Two years goes by fast. The experiences here are simply unforgettable. My Dad wrote me this week and included his last entry as a missionary in the Phillipines when he was my age. He manages to describe how I feel better than I can.

 

"It’s had to believe this is my last day in the field but I guess it must always come. It sure has been hard to say goodbye to some of the missionaries and members. I love these people so much. They’re the best! I really love them. We spent some time running around getting our last minute shopping done...It was really hard to do everything for the last time. My eyes stayed moist.

The last home evening went well though I was in a daze. I couldn’t believe it was my last night and my last home evening. It was really hard...Tomorrow we fly – it’s scary." 

And if I had to throw a guess out, tomorrow as I drive away from Salt Lake, I'll feel much like he did as he flew away from Mindano. Anxiety and a flood of other emotions have overwhelmed me in the past few days. To try and explain how I feel is impossible.

 

Over the past two years I’ve written letters to a few of you. Some of those may have been a bit bold and overbearing in trying to share my beliefs. Please forgive me, your overzealous friend who wants so much to share that he forgets to ask if people are interested in the first place.

 

For those of you who are wondering, at the end of my mission tomorrow I’ll be staying here in Utah to begin school at BYU next week. On January 17th I’ll be coming home to Georgia for the weekend. That Sunday (the 19th) I’ll be speaking to my local ward (congregation) at 1:30pm just as I did before my mission, and everyone is more than welcome to attend. If you have any questions contact me any time after tomorrow through Facebook or my phone, 404 933 5730, (which is the same number as before my mission).

 

The best part of this past weekend was being with Awasio. He is from the island of Chuuk (near Guam). We met him two weeks ago. He wanted to be baptized, so this past weekend he was baptized and it was wonderful. As he came up out of the water, tears filled his eyes. At his confirmation at chuch on Sunday, he glowed with happiness. Last night we visited Temple Square (http://www.mormonchannel.org/introduction-to-the-church?v=2639135657001) with him and his grandson, CJ. We taught about the Priesthood and how it was restored through Joseph Smith. We explained that he could hold that priesthood to bless his family. His final words of the lesson were "it looks like I have a mission to do," in references to sharing the Gospel with his very large family, only 3 of whom are members.

 

I know Jesus Christ lives. I love Him. I know Heavenly Father watches over me. This is the Church of Jesus Christ, just as the name implies. I hope that I can share that with more people in the years to come.

 

Love ya'll,

-Elder Colton

The Best Two Years

Hola mi familia y mis amigos,

As missionaries we live to help people live the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  We are not perfect at it (for which many call us hypocrites), but for two years I can say I have given it my all.  Next week's letter will be hard to write, but this week's isn't much easier.  At this point I don't even know what to say.  Two years goes by so fast that when the end comes it doesn't feel real.  Perhaps it will be when I see my family that it finally hits me.  Perhaps when I step foot on BYU's campus.  Maybe it never really will.  All I can say is that these two years have meant everything to me.  To try and put into words what it has done for me isn't possible (though its certainly a bit easier now that I'm speaking English for a majority of that day again).

Utah has become a place special to me.  Ironic.  When I go home I will leave a part of my heart here.  Two years does something to you.  Or perhaps it's two years serving people and God.  Whatever it is, it has meant a lot to me.  People always say that nothing in sports compares with high school.  Hopefully its not that way when it comes to serving God after a mission.  

This week we continued teaching Awasio, our friend from Turk (a small island near Guam).  The man is simply incredible.  We ask him questions about life and God, and the answers come so profoundly back to us.  The Gospel is something already in him, as if we don't need to teacher, but rather remind him that he already knows.  He is going to be baptized this week.  It will be special.  

Love ya'll,

-Elder Colton

"A Break Through"

Hola mi familia y mis amigos,

It feels like every week I say the same thing: I don't have a lot of time to write.  Sorry.

So this week I thought I would mix it up a bit and actually write a little.

One of the people we are teaching right now is a retired Air Force interpreter named Sarah (name changed) and her 8 year old daughter, Jo-Ann (name also changed).  Sarah first heard about the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (aka...LDS Church, aka...Mormons) from her friend in the Air Force.  Someone in one of their classes made a harsh joke about LDS Temples and another student asked them if they knew that a soldier in the back of the room was a member of the Church.  That member then explained the real purposes of Temples and everyone went back to work.

But the conversation peaked Sarah's interest so she began to study about the LDS Church and its beliefs.  She went to church with friends to see what it was like and realized that it wasn't crazy or totally foreign.  She kept going, even after she moved to Salt Lake with her daughter.  We, the missionaries, met her and began teaching her and visiting on a weekly basis.  

Just last week she had a break through.  Sarah knew from her Christian upbringing that the Holy Ghost can teach truth, but she didn't feel like she had ever felt it. But last week she was reading the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 6 and didn't understand one of the verses.  She said a silent prayer in her heart and suddenly felt, in her own worlds, "something floaty and happy that came from God."  The verse "clicked" in her mind and she understood what it said.  

Now that she has felt that, she is continuing to read the Book of Mormon to ask God if it is a true book of scripture. :) Its been a great experience to watch her read and pray about it.  She is in the book of Helaman already (about 3/4s of the way done) and wants to finish in the next month or so.  I am so excited for her to receive that spiritual witness it is true.  I've felt it in my life and it has been the world of difference to me.

Love ya'll,

-Elder Colton

 

Bob Diaz

Hola mi familia y mis amigos,

 Only a few more of these letters left.

This past was interesting.  Shocker of the world: Layton and Salt Lake are about as different as two places can possible be in the same state. In Layton, the area was like Johns Creek (middle class America). But here it is so different and I love it. The diversity is incredible.  During a ward Christmas party this past week I met dozens of people from around the world.  And many of the people in these wards struggle financially but are so happy. The Bishop had arranged with another ward to donate hundreds of coats and when the ward saw them, they were overjoyed.  

Most of our days are filled with visiting people and sharing a Christmas message with them about Christ and His birth.  One of my favorite parts of the message is this video: http://www.mormonchannel.org/bible-videos?v=2893093383001

One of the highlights from this past week: meeting a hispanic guy named Bob Diaz.  He was such a happy person and I loved him, but it just cracked me up that his name was Bob Diaz.

Love ya'll,

-Elder Colton

...and the countdown begins.

Hola mi familia y mis amigos,

 

So I have just a few minute again today.  I'm going to be transferred for the next month of my mission.  I'll be serving in the Liberty Stake (which is just south of Temple Square in Salt Lake City).  My new address will be:

 

637 S 600 E Apt 1B

Salt Lake City, UT

 

My new companion will be Elder Steele.  I'm excited.  I needed a little change near the end of my mission and this is perfect for me. 

 

Love ya'll,

-Elder Colton

 

ps.  Just a reminder.  NO VISITING ME EVEN THOUGH ITS NEAR THE END OF MY MISSION.  STAY AWAY FROM MY HOUSE AND ME. (I mean that in the nicest way possible) :)

Called to Serve in Mormon Mecca

Hola mi familia y mis amigos,

This past week a few people asked about when I'll be coming home. 

I will be released as a missionary on December 31st but will be staying out here in Utah to start at BYU a few days later.  The weekend of January 17-19 I'll be heading back to Georgia, which is also when I'll be speaking at my church on Sunday (the 19th) but I'm not sure at what time yet. 

These past twenty-some-odd months have been indescribable.  More than two years ago I headed up to Rock Canyon at BYU and opened up a little letter that changed everything for me.  I still remember the first people I told in person: my roommate Jared and his family.  Not one of them knew how to react when I told them I was going an hour up the road to Salt Lake City.  (Although I can't blame them at all for that).  I had called a lot of my immediate family members right after I opened the letter and if I remember correctly, every single one laughed but still was genuinely excited (with a lot of tears mixed in). When I texted my high school lacrosse team to tell them, they were perhaps the most honest of everyone.  Mike Rettker had always made jokes about visiting me in Tahiti or Africa or someplace cool while I was on my mission.  His response to my call to Utah was something to the effect of "I'm sorry."  Most of them asked if I had done something wrong to get sent to Mormon Mecca :) 

Once, at BYU, my friends and I all piled in our cars to head to another part of Utah to be with a friend as he opened his call.  His mom asked us while we were waiting if any of us had calls yet.  Two of us did.  The other person said some place in Mexico, followed by a chorus of "wows" and "oohhs."  Then..."Salt Lake City, Utah."  No one said anything for a few seconds until his mom asked "are you even excited?"  Priceless.

Coming here has been, like I said before, indescribable.   It feels like everything has changed for me.  Its been the best experience of my entire life and has meant everything for me.  The last five weeks will be the best five weeks.

People keep asking how I feel about going home and I don't know how to respond.  Maybe I'll figure that out sometime in the next year or two.

Love ya'll,

-Elder Colton

Casually Meetings with Apostles

Hola mi familia y mis amigos,

This past weekend was awesome.  On Friday morning we had a mission seminar with Elder Bednar (Of the Quorum of the Twelves Apostles) for three and a half hours.  It was a most remarkable experience to hear him bear his witness of Christ.  It greatly increased my testimony. 

Then on Saturday, Sister Stauffer was baptized.  She shared her feelings right after her baptism and put the entire room in tears.  During the luncheon after her baptism we had a surprise visitor: Elder Anderson (Of the Quorum of the Twelves Apostles).  He talked with Sister Stauffer and her two children for a few minutes and took a picture with them.  He was there to reorganize our stake presidency and was able to stop by the baptism for a brief chat.  During the Saturday Evening session of conference, he and another of the speakers talk about her story.  Then in the Sunday morning session, he asked her to stand up (in front of about 2,000 people) and introduced her to all of them.  Both he and Elder Laing (Of the Seventy) talked with her for a few minutes.  There aren't too many things that get a missionary more excited than watching one of the people he has taught be introduced to an Apostle. 

Overall, a very great weekend.  Its been very special to serve in Salt Lake and be around men and women with such faith and testimonies of Christ.  I know that the men we call Apostles truly are special witnesses of Christ.  They witness carries with it a special power and authenticity.  I know that to be true.

Love ya'll,

-Elder Colton