So Tuesday we had Mission P-Day. We played Kickball (I was a pretty decent pitcher surprisingly), we play Crochet, Frisbee Golf, and Unity Board Walking thing. Then we watched a Documentary about Nephi and his family and their wearabouts on where they traveled and how they got to the America's. It was pretty interesting. Then we came back home, I finally got a study desk so that's exciting. And then after that is where things get real spiffy. So we were trying to figure out where we should eat for dinner, and we were figuring out where to go. Elder Brinkerhoff said we should go to Wendys, and I honestly wasn't feeling up to Wendys but I felt like we needed to go. So we went to Wendys, and I start ordering. The girl that was the cashier asked if I was a college student, and I told her no and what I am and all that. And then when I was filling my drink and after she was talking to Elder Brinkerhoff she said to me, "I reckon you must be a pretty boy." I started laughing a little, because my hair do was my first stage after a haircut where I have my front up and everything else to the side. I told her no, it takes me 30sec-2min to get it done. And I told her I don't think high of myself to think I'm a pretty boy haha. But throughout the night we were at Wendys, she would come up to us and talk to us and ask questions and tell us some of her life struggles, she's been through so heckin much. And on another note throughout that night: Wendys has good wifi, so that's our friend now XD. But it wasn't till Wednesday till something added up.
So Wednesday we did planning, and when we started Personal Study, Elder Brinkerhoff said, "I know who the Book of Mormon person is now." To give it context, ever since Elder Brinkerhoff has been here to Holly Springs, he's been marking a Book of Mormon for someone through the spirit to know how the person will feel as they read the Book and marking things that will stand out to them. And it just all adds up to the Wendys girl. It's crazy to see that all come together though the Spirit. Then after that experience and finishing studies, we weren't able to talk to Birdie cause she canceled on us which was sad. Then we did end up visiting and teaching Jessie Hill, and that was pretty good. I could've done better at it but I'm not perfect. We invited her to read the Book of Mormon and come to church, but she said she would be out of town till the 13th of October so she would come that Sunday with her Granddaughter. So we will be checking her on that one. Then we had the lesson with Unique and Maricus and they're excited to get baptized. Then we visited a formerly taught but we met the daughter cause the mom wasn't home but she said we are welcome to come back so maybe we can work with her. Then we did Splits and I went with President Hull and visited Sister Watkins, a less active. I heard the whole story of how the 'Family Fued' got started. So that was pretty interesting to say the least.
Thursday was mostly a lot of work. We helped Gary and Brandon bag corn and that was an interesting experience to do. Then after all that we switched over into church clothes and visited Pat Martin and talked with her. Then visited the Hills, and then had dinner at Mockeys, which was pretty good. Then we visited Mike and talked with him about Fast Offerings and I gave him The Fourth Nephite Effect book. So Thursday wasn't much, but it was a lot at the same time.
Friday we did more animal shelter stuff and worked with one of the dogs named Chong. He's an very happy, big puppy. Then we came back and did studies and planning and then left. We tried visiting Pearline Taylor, but she wasn't home, nor was Josephine McAdams(Bible Referall), and nor was Lois. But we did visit Benjamin before he left with his mom and kids to the Holly Springs Homecoming game. Then his youngest son accidentally locked them out and they couldn't get the stuff inside the house so they left. Luckily his GF has keys, but she was at school. Then we went to Wendys, talked to Wendys girl a little, downloaded stuff, sent texts out, it started raining hard. Then we went to Brother Roswells where I printed my talk I gave on Sunday(PDF below) and talked about church stuff.
Saturday we had a Mission Conference with Elder Callistar, from the Emeritus 70, talk about how we can use the Book of Mormon better in our teachings and talked about the Plan of Salvation. Then we came back (Got rides from a member) then left to go give someone a blessing who messed up his arm hard. Then we helped figure things out regarding technology. And we sent texts after, and started ranting about people not responding and it gets us down because people don't respond as much. Then we look at the clock and it was 8:00 and we haven't eaten yet, so I made spaghetti and it was good. Yummyyyyyyy
Sunday, wow. So I gave my talk, which was about Loving One Another/Charity, which is the pure love of Christ. And it apparently was really good. Like I said, the PDF will be down below. I encourage everyone to read it because everyone can work on it, because no one is perfect and that's ok. And then we talked about the Plan of Salvation in Sunday School. Hmmmmmm I'm seeing patterns here. Ministering and Plan of Salvation. Someone is tryna say something here. That's all I'm gonna say. Then we gave a blessing for a less active sister. And we visited the Morrisons, where the twins asked for a copy of my talk because they loved it, so I printed copies out and put my name on it and gave it to them. Then we had Coopers final lesson at Garys, and had food. Then after a while there we visited the Miller's, checked up on them. Then we visited the Yeagers. Now this one is pretty hefty. We had a long convo about church and worrying about people and gave a Book of Mormon to the husband. While all of this is happening the smell of smoke is getting me a small headache but I pushed through. Then the spirit was telling Elder Brinkerhoff to give her(the wife) a healing blessing, but we didn't have any Olive Oil to use because he ran out. But the spirit kept telling him, so we asked and she said yes. Then he wasn't sure what he was going to say and then when he started giving the blessing everything fell into place. This type of blessing without oil isn't really taught but this gets to show that God is a person of Order. There are no loose ends for his Gospel and Priesthood. So that was a really cool experience to see.
As I close, all I have to say is, just read my talk. Be that person, and help someone. I hope I have changed some of you out there for the better. You all mean so much to me and I love you all with a great love.
May God be with you,
Elder Hotton
Attachments:
Blog link: https://elderbraxtonhotton.blogspot.com
1st PDF: My Talk
1st Pic: The Most OCD thing you'll ever see
Pics 2-4: Working with Gary
5th pic: Me making Spaghetti
6th pic: Tupperwear tower
Loving One Another/Charity
One night, a strange man was talking to a group of girls about a situation that was going on. There was another lady who past by and was a little different, the strange man asks, 'Who is she?' One of the girls replies, 'Oh, nobody important. ' The strange man replies, 'Blimey , you know, in 900 years of time and space, I have never met anyone who wasn't important. '... I'll stop right there for now, but keep that last sentence in mind.. Good morning brothers and sisters, it is great to be with you all today and to be able to speak to y'all today. For those who do not know me well, my name is Elder Braxton Hotton. I am 18 years old from a town called West Jordan, Utah. In High School, I was on the Track and Field team, the Cross Country team, and the choir program. I have been singing most of my life, so it's basically my passion. And to make President Griffith happy , yes, I do eat. I eat more than you actually think, even ask my mother. I also do a lot of stuff with technology and Wi-Fi, so if anyone has any problems with stuff, feel free to give us a call or text.
Today , I've been asked to speak about a topic I love a lot, which is about Loving One another/Charity , the pure love of Christ. The reason why I love this topic so much, is because how much it can really change people's lives. I have seen Charity change people countless times as I have helped them through a lot of stuff. Times are getting harder, people are bashing on each other more and more, just everything is getting harder. But that's when we need to realize, that if we show just an ounce of love, it can affect a person's view or mood drastically. So many people today are judging people for the littlest of things, and it honestly bothers me. We are all God's children, why are we judging a creation made by Heavenly Father? We aren't perfect, and that's ok. No one was meant to be perfect. Yes, we all are trying to be like Jesus, who was perfect, but we will always fall short. That's why we have the Atonement of Jesus Christ and Repentance, which helps us be better everyday. A big attribute of Christ that was always had was Charity , which was his pure love, because he loved everyone he came across, even though they were ridiculing him. We must have that same type of love, to love all men, because we are all children of God. He made us for a reason, so why try to stand above others because they aren't perfect? God wouldn't do that to you, he would lift you up because he loves you, so we must be able to do the same for others.
So I'm going to bring up the little story that I talked about in the beginning. To give it context, this is a story from an episode of one of my favorite T.V. Shows called Doctor Who. To give you a little idea what it is for those who do not know, a man by the name of The Doctor is from a species called Gallifreyians, which they basically look like us, but they have two hearts and they have so many regeneration, and that's a different topic in of itself, but I'll bring up the two hearts thing in a second. He is also in the rank of a Time Lord, which means he knows how to go through Time and Space. He owns a blue police phone box called the TARDIS, or Time and Relative Deminsion In Space. It's bigger on the inside,
the TARDIS, or Time and Relative Deminsion In Space. It's bigger on the inside, which can actually be put into context. I mean think about it, a simple telephone box from the outside, but a infinite inside, and that can be anyone of us. We can all look the same on the outside, but the inside is what really matters. We have dreams, hopes, wishes, literally the whole nine yards. Each person is unique and different, and you never know what each person goes through or feels on a daily basis. People will only see a telephone box, but if you actually want to understand, you must enter the TARDIS and know the person better. And another little symbol is the two hearts that the Doctor has. The Quote that he says about never meeting someone that wasn't important really means something. Each person he met, even if they were his enemy , has importance, had a past, has a future, and he wanted to help them realize that. His companions had a lot of struggles, and just by being that friend really made a difference. One of my other favorite quotes by him says, 'We all change, when you think about it, we are all different people all through our lives. And that's good, that's great, you gotta keep moving. But so long as you remember all the people that you used to be. ' Everyone changes, even if you don't realize it. And we have to understand, as I keep emphasizing, no one is perfect. And that's totally ok. I may not be a perfect missionary , or a perfect person, or a perfect friend, but as long as I accept that I will make mistakes and say things I may not mean, I know that through the Atonement and forgiveness, I can fix it. And so can you all.
There are a lot of scriptures and talks about Loving One Another and Charity , but I have selected a few I feel like would be good to share. One of my favorite chapters is Moroni 7, and I will jump from verse 47 to verse 45 because it really helps emphasize the importance of what I'm talking about. And it says, "47 But charity is the pure love of Christ, and it endureth forever; and whoso is found possessed of it at the last day , it shall be well with him. " Then verse 45 says, "45 And charity suffereth long, and is kind, and envieth not, and is not puffed up, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil, and rejoiceth not in iniquity but rejoiceth in the truth, beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things. " Charity is something we all need, and sometimes people have a hard time having that, but that's ok, you can always ask for it, you don't have to do crazy stuff to receive the gift of charity. Like it says here in verse 48, "48 Wherefore, my beloved brethren, pray unto the Father with all the energy of heart, that ye may be filled with this love, which he hath bestowed upon all who are true followers of his Son, Jesus Christ; that ye may become the sons of God; that when he shall appear we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is; that we may have this hope; that we may be purified even as he is pure. Amen. " All you have to do is ask in faith and act upon it, because like it says in James 2:26, "26 For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also. " If you just ask and then do nothing, you won't get anything. As you pray with real intent and then act upon it, you will be blessed with Charity. The Lord is merciful, and just by loving those people, even here in the branch, can help do amazing things.
things.
While writing this talk, I came across a really good talk by Thomas S. Monson in October 2010 General Relief Society Session called Charity Never Failith, but honestly this talk can be applied everywhere. Here is a small portion of his talk, "I consider charity —or “the pure love of Christ” —to be the opposite of criticism and judging. In speaking of charity , I do not at this moment have in mind the relief of the suffering through the giving of our substance. That, of course, is necessary and proper. Tonight, however, I have in mind the charity that manifests itself when we are tolerant of others and lenient toward their actions, the kind of charity that forgives, the kind of charity that is patient. I have in mind the charity that impels us to be sympathetic, compassionate, and merciful, not only in times of sickness and affliction and distress but also in times of weakness or error on the part of others. There is a serious need for the charity that gives attention to those who are unnoticed, hope to those who are discouraged, aid to those who are afflicted. True charity is love in action. The need for charity is everywhere. Needed is the charity which refuses to find satisfaction in hearing or in repeating the reports of misfortunes that come to others, unless by so doing, the unfortunate one may be benefited. The American educator and politician Horace Mann once said, “To pity distress is but human; to relieve it is godlike.” Charity is having patience with someone who has let us down. It is resisting the impulse to become offended easily. It is accepting weaknesses and shortcomings. It is accepting people as they truly are. It is looking beyond physical appearances to attributes that will not dim through time. It is resisting the impulse to categorize others. "... OK that was a little bigger than a small portion, but he brings up amazing points. He basically gave the whole definition of what Charity is and what it does, and I know I can definitely work more on being more Charitable.
This Tuesday marks 2 months for me that I would be out on my mission, and I know I still have a long way to go, and so many things to learn. Being out here in my mission, and even before my mission, I have had great examples of people who have been Charitable. My mom and dad are amazing examples. My mom is part of the Relief Society Presidency , so she gets to help a lot of people. She has a caring heart for me and my siblings, and I love her so very much because of it. My dad does Physical Therapy , and is always encouraging. Me and my dad tended to bump heads sometimes, and it sucked, but we always loved each other in the end. And I love what he does for my family and the people around him. He usually would come home with funny stories that happened at work with some of his bosses and I'd get a good kick out of them. I just love him. There are so many other examples, but that could be a talk in of itself. Being here in Holly Springs, my companion and Brother Roswell are great examples of charitable people. They have caring hearts for this branch, and wanting to help build it up everyday. I thank them for what they do and I strive to be a better missionary because of their examples. I love this branch, I love all of you so very much, and I'm always grateful to help y'all the best way I can with Elder Brinkerhoff.
to help y'all the best way I can with Elder Brinkerhoff.
As I close, I want to share a way to help brighten someone's day. I give credit to him for his amazing talk at Stake Conference. Basically what I want you to do, is look left, now look right, and all around, and find one person who you don't know very well, and do something nice for them. It doesn't have to be after church, it can be anytime. Just brighten their day , I promise it will make you happy when you made that impact on them.
