Hello all! This week has gone by really fast, and today makes 8 months since I've been out! That's crazy, it hasn't even felt like it's been that long. Wow, but this week has been pretty good, had some awesome experiences, so let's dive right into it!Monday after emails and getting haircuts and all that fun jazz, we went over and visited Theresa for a little bit, and actually was able to set her on date! We were really excited about that! Then after talking with her we had dinner at a members home called the Rogne's, and it was awesome. They are fun to be around haha. We helped them fix a couple of things too so yay. Then we came home and watched some Online Proselyting videos.Tuesday was kinda everywhere, because mainly everything fell through. But first we had District Council, and talked about things we can do to help our own areas and people. After District Council we biked around and talked to people, all of our lessons fell through sadly, but we pushed through. Then we had dinner at the Turleys and had Come, Follow Me Study class. Then we came back home, and watched some more Online Proselyting videos.Wednesday was actually really good. We had service at a place called Trinity Village, which is basically a nursing home. It was awesome! We wrapped Christmas Trees in saran wrap and we talked to a couple of people, it was awesome. And we also have more opportunities to come back like twice a week, so that's awesome! After all that we biked around and met a former, he was pretty cool. And then we visited a recent convert named Brother Beck, who the Sisters taught not to long ago. He is super awesome, and he's like 81, and doesn't even look like it! He's literally like President Nelson, though President Nelson is like 93. But yea, he's super awesome. After we had Book of Mormon Study Class and then came back home.Thursday was a little everywhere. We had a really good lesson with someone the Sisters gave to us. Then we stopped by Theresa and talked with her for a little bit, after we went to Trinity Village where I got to call Bingo! They said I did a good job so that's good! After that we helped set things up for like Springs and such and we left. We had plans to bike around and to stop by Randy, but God had other plans.. By popping the tire on my bike. But thankfully I wasn't riding it and we haven't left the church, so no one got hurt. So we stayed at the church, watch more Online Proselyting videos, a member brought dinner to us and the Sisters, and we ate outside. We had Ward Correlation and ended the day there.Friday was actually super cool. After weekly planning we went to the Mays and had a good discussion with them and answered their questions also. Then after I felt like we needed to try 2 people around there, and though it didn't workout, we ended up meeting someone who's not a member, but who had Ancestors who were and took the trek, and came back to get their family members! It was crazy, and he wanted us over for dinner sometime! So that was a awesome experience. Then we continued to follow the spirit and talked to a few people, and on the way back to the car a family from Monticello drove past us and gave us McDonald Gift cards! It was super awesome to witness it! Then we went to the Andersons, some things didn't go as planned, the we rescheduled the lesson and had dinner at the Pearces, and started exchanges. And I was here in Pine Bluff with Elder Lee!Saturday was a super cool experience also! All of our plans fell through, but thanks to the gift of the Holy Ghost and promptings, we were guided to different places and was able to meet people that God wanted us to meet that day! I was really happy that the spiritual promptings we had helped us go to where God needed us to go at the certain times and places! Also we got 3 Croppy from someone! So we plan on cooking that this week! Super excited! After that we ended up going to Taco Bell where we did some Online Proselyting tips and ended up giving a card to someone too! And after we got gas and talked to someone who seemed interested in learning more! Then we came back and made Dragon Noodles! The spirit really guided us that day and I was really grateful for the wonderful gift of the Holy Ghost in our lives! Sunday was spirit lead too. After Church and having Theresa and Michael(the person the Sisters gave us) there, we mapped out where we should try and see, and I felt like we should go by Theresa's and Randall's. First we had a lesson with Brother May, and he liked it a lot. Then after we tried by the areas we felt we should try. And even though neither of them worked out, we were supposed to talk to someone in those areas, and it was awesome! Then we came back, had studies, ate dinner, finished planning and ended the night.This week was a lot of spiritual guidance and I really saw the blessings from it. I'm thankful that God has given us the chance to have the Holy Ghost as a constant companion in our lives. In 1 Nephi 4:6 in the Book of Mormon, it says, "And I was led by the Spirit, not knowing beforehand the things which I should do." And that's how I felt, but being led by the spirit we were blessed and were able to talk to the people God wanted us to those days. I know that this is God's Church here on the Earth, and I can promise that as you follow the guidance of the spirit, you will be blessed more than you can think. I say this in the name of Jesus Christ, amen. May God be with you all, and know that I am here. I love you all!Elder Braxton HottonAttachments:-Me and Elder Lee-Me and Elder Lee with the Croppy
Hey y'all! Hope y'all are doing well! This week was a lot of Ether 12:6 about Faith. The faith to see the fruits happen! Let's get to it!Monday after emails and such we went out and tried stopping by some people. It didn't work out as much but we found a few people, so that's pretty cool. Then we came back and did some contacting. So not much happened.Tuesday was pretty cool. A few lessons got dropped sadly, but we were able to set up a few lessons with some people for the next week. We also found a person who was interested in learning. We tried stopping by one or two more people but it didn't work. So we tried by someone we haven't seen in a while, and he answered, and he talked for a LONG while. It was the most we've seen him talk. And he is still interested in learning so that's exciting. Come to find out when we got out it was like over our time and we were supposed to be at dinner.. Oops. So we booked it up to dinner and then had Come, Follow Me Study class. After that we came home and attempted to do some Online Proselyting.Wednesday was kinda everywhere. We met a guy who wanted to know about the Book of Mormon, he was pretty funny. Then after we went out and parked at an area, saw storm clouds coming in, but then we got on our bikes and still went out. Mostly none of the contacts were home, and we got rained on a little bit. XD But nevertheless it was still a good experience. Then we went to the church and did some Family History and some indexing. Then we waited for a referral we got to show up so we can give him his Bibles. He is a traveling preacher and talks to cancer patients who are dying. He really appreciated us giving it to him and was interested in talking with us more. And it was still raining. Then we got inside and it started pouring, and Book of Mormon class got cancelled. Then we just came back home and had Call-InsThursday was a really nice day. We did a lot of biking around again. It was sadly a lot of missed appointments/contact attempts. We did come in contact with a dropped person and we are teaching him this coming week. Then after a while we stopped by Theresa, which at first was a contact attempt, then it became a long lesson/discussion. She's just awesome haha. We just need to set her on date, because she is just awesome. Then we had Ward Correlation and came home and had dinner.Friday for like half of the morning we were at the Chevrolet dealership getting an oil change and something for the brakes, and we were in there for like 2. Hours. It was not ok haha. Then literally no one was home nor wasn't able to meet. We talked to people while going around, we found a person who thinks the Gospel is what she needs because she had recent contact with the Church as well, so yay signs. We talked to one person as well we are working with. Then we came back home, I called my mom because it was her birthday and we sang to her. And then we had some Weekly Planning after, and had dinner. We had Dragon Noodles again haha.Saturday we made brownies for Fransisco because it was his birthday last Sunday. Then we went out and a few things dropped, talked to Theresa again, met a few new people and starting to work with them more. Then after we went to the Andersons and Fransisco was really appreciative of that. We talked with them for a while. Then we came back and did Weekly Planning, talked to a few of our neighbors, and came back.Sunday a lot of things happened. Turns out the Andersons were at church, but we never saw them and didn't know about it till when we went to the Andersons later that day. And Theresa came again, and she loved it. After church we had lunch with the Senior Couple and others. After a lot of plans fell through so we had to reschedule a lot of things, but none of that worked out so we went to the Andersons. Found out they came to church and we were super happy about that, and had an awesome lesson with Fransisco! He's on date for the 7th of April! I'm really excited about it. He's awesome! Then after we came back and did studies.This week was a lot of downs, but it ended up with Ups too. So we just have to keep pushing forward. Thank you all for being you. I love you all.May God be with you all, and know that I am here.Elder Braxton HottonAttachments:-I got a haircut today-Elder Horman took a photo with me with his glasses. Absurd.
Hey y'all! This week was really interesting, a lot of slow, powerful, and cool events happened. So let's just jump right into it.Monday we had District P-Day. Stuttgart drove down to our apartment and we drove all the way down to Monticello. We ate lunch at this really good place. Then we went to the church and played Apples to Apples and did emails. Then we went bowling. I'm not the greatest, but I'm decent. After we had a Blitz in Monticello and we found 3 people in 10 minutes. So that was awesome. After we had District Council and learned about following the spirit more. Then we took a District Council photo and came back home.Tuesday we biked around a lot in an area. We met a couple of cool people, helped out Randy's son with staining a stand thing and painting it. And we taught him a little about the Book of Mormon. Then after we biked over to check on Tim and we talked with him and his boss for a little. It was pretty cool. After there was a few things that happened but the Come, Follow Me Study class was cancelled but we went to a party for a mentally disabled member and he really appreciated us coming and celebrating with him. He's awesome. Then we came back and tried to figure out a few things.Wednesday was pretty slow for most of the day. We had a lot of dropped contact attempts we had in schedule, but nearly none of them answered. After a while of biking and talking to people we tried a few other areas and we talked to one lady, who was kinda interested, then we talked to a guy who the past Elders dropped before we came in. He's super cool and was willing to have us back more often. Then we went to the Church and had Book of Mormon Study Class and ended the day there.Thursday was kinda like Wednesday as well. A lot of things weren't really working out. We talked to a few people, and maybe one or two potentials. We were supposed to also have a lesson, but that fell through, and the Senior Couple in our Ward was with us as well. Since it fell through, they took us to Chili's and had dinner there. They are really awesome. Then they took us back and we had Ward Coorelation Meeting. And after we came back and ended the day.Friday we did some morning weekly planning and got some stuff ready for the new week. Then we had a lesson with Melvin (that guy the past Elders dropped) and we got to know him a little bit and found out what he remembers. We plan on going back next week to help him progress. Then we had a lesson with Randy and he loves meeting with us, it's awesome. He is progressing well, we just need to help him come to Church more. Then after another lesson fell through and we decided to go the Andersons and we talked with them for a while. Then we came back home, where I packed up for exchanges and then we drove up to Altheimer(All-timer) where we exchanged and didn't realize we didn't have the area phone till we got back to the Apartment, so that was just great.Saturday was very interesting. During the morning our Weather Radio was exploding with warnings of storms and a Tornado watch. Then a calm, then the storm. So most of the morning and during lunch was just a huge storm that plowed through. Then it calmed down a lot and then we went out and did some contacting. We talked to one lady who has read some anti and whatnot, and probably studied with either the F-LDS or the R-LDS(Community of Christ) and we had a nice conversation, but she didn't want to believe it, it was sad but, it's what happened. We had a couple of lessons and by 5:00 it was really sunny like no storm existed. Then we had dinner at Taco Bell and then did some contacting. We came back and got transfer news, and Elder Rich is getting moved. So that was sad.Sunday was pretty good. Theresa came to church again and she just loves coming. It gets her excited. It's awesome, and after we did some planning. We tried doing some contacting, but everything fell through, then we felt like we had to go to the Andersons and we found out they were mega close to coming to church, then something happened. So we are excited about that. We plan on doing a study class with them soon so we are happy with that. After we came back, did studied, did Weekly Planning, made Dragon Noodles and I was really excited about that. And then we crashed for the night.I do want to bring up a topic. Anti-Literature. Satans greatest tools is this stuff, and it's attacking people left and right. The problem is, not a lot of other religions have this problem. I don't see it in Baptists, nor Protestants. Why are we the ones with Anti, one answer, the church is true. It saddens me to talk to some people(and know some people) and they say stuff about the church which they read online. Anti stuff about the church is one the most stupidest thing on earth, but yet it draws people away from the Gospel. If you really want to know stuff about the church, you go to the RIGHT websites and to your bishop, Stake president, or Missionaries. You do not look up other websites except ChurchofJesusChrist.org and ComeUntoChrist.org and THAT'S IT. And if anyone has ran into any literature against the church and is contemplating it, get the literature out of your site, and if you fell away, please, come back, and we(as a church) can help you clarify things. We need you. We love you. I love you.May God be with you all, and know that I am here.Elder Braxton HottonAlso, if y'all ever want to send me something, send it to this address:905 Kierre Drive, North Little Rock, AR 72116Attachments:-District P-Day-Dragon Noodles
Hey y'all! Hope you've had a good week so far! This week has gone by pretty quick, but a lot has happened since. Let's get right into it!Monday was a little slow, up and down and all that. I called home for a little, and that was fun. It's really crazy with this change, I like it a lot. After emails and such we went to try some appointments but they fell through, but we were able to talk to a few people and that was pretty good. Then we came back home and settled down.Tuesday we had District Council and then after that we had Interviews with President Hansen. Then after we had a couple of lessons that went pretty well. And after we did some contacting and it was really good. We ended up talking to a few other people and they seemed pretty interested in learning more. Then we went over to the Andersons and talked to Brother Anderson and played a game with pool as we talked about Sacrament Meeting. Then after we went to Come, Follow Me Study Class and ended the day after that.Wednesday we biked like almost everywhere. It was Elder Hormans birthday and we made some breakfast Burritos, which were pretty good. Some types of bacon produce a CRAP TON of grease, it wasn't even funny. Then after we went out biking. We had a lot of contact attempts for previous taught people. Through that we found a couple people and had a lesson with Tim, and that was really good. He is super awesome. Then we talked to a few more people then we biked back to the car and went to the church because a member brought us Pizza for Elder Hormans birthday. Then we had Book of Mormon Study Class and then we came back and had Call-Ins. Thursday we had a few things set up but those fell through. We did end up biking around some more and talked to few other people. Another lesson fell through and we were sad about that, but then we went to another area and started biking around there. Then we helped Randy's son with painting and fixing a dresser. Then we walked around a little more and came back and helped out a little more. Then we went and tried to do some Online Proslyting and went to Ward Correlation and came back home.Friday we had Weekly Planning and got things a little more situated. Then we went out and did more contacts and met a guy who knows (kinda-ish) a less active in Holly Springs because of Drag Racing. Then we went and did some more finding, and we felt like we should go to the Andersons, so we went and talked with them for a little. It was ok, it could've been better though. Then we came back, grabbed my gear, and drove up to Wabbaseka for exchanges. I ended up going to Stuttgart with Elder Lee, and we drove up, and find out the powers out in the apartment complex and we couldn't get in because of the Gate. And we went to Taco Bell because we had a Zone Call meeting and we got in late because of more complications. Then after all that got situated we came back and the gate was opened, but the power was still out. Then later we finally got power back in the apartment and we went to bed.Saturday we did some finding and talked to a couple of cool people. We had some other contacts that we tried and see and some worked and others fell through. And then we were supposed to have this lesson with someone at Popeyes but he didn't show. So we went out and see if we can find him (He hops around a bit) and after a while we came across him and had a lesson at Sonic and he really liked it a lot. And that was really cool. Then after we had a couple of other lessons and then we came back to the apartment for Call-Ins and calmed down for the night.Sunday we had a really good Fast and Testimony Meeting. We had 2 of our people come to church and it was awesome. One of them bore their testimony and gave us a shout out and it was awesome XD. Then after church we had a lesson with some members, found a couple of new people for this new week, talked to a few people. And came back and did studies and finished up a couple of things.This week has been good. It was cool to see some of those experiences happen. I'm thankful to be a missionary to see it come through. I love you all.Also, if y'all ever want to send me something, send it to this address:905 Kierre Drive, North Little Rock, AR 72116Elder Braxton HottonAttachments:
-Derp Dog
-Taco Night
-Elder Hormans Birthday
-Power Outage with Elder Lee
