Monday, January 21, 2019

Week 26: Branch Growth

Hello! How are you all doing? This week has been really good, we found some new people and did a lot of stuff, so let's get right into it.

Monday we had Zone P-Day, hence why last week's was a little late going out. We were in Senatobia(an area next to ours) and we played like Pickle Ball, Ping Pong, DOS(Literally the Brother of Uno, it's a beast to play), and a lot of other stuff. We all had a lot of fun. Then after that we came back home, went shopping, then had dinner at the Morrisons, where we talked about Mission experiences with Brother Morrison. Then after we taught the Beckerdites for a little, overall a good day.

Tuesday we had District Council and we talked about Christ-like Attributes and how we can apply them into our lives and into those we teach. Then after we did studies at the church, and then went to have Panda and then left for appointments. 2 of them fell through, but we were able to teach Lynn and his mom, which was awesome. Then we were filling some things out, and doing some contacting, then we went to Wendys to use Wi-Fi to get some other things done and then we came home. That was pretty much it but it was a good day.

Wednesday we were in Byhalia, and we were going to see one person but that fell through. So then I felt we needed to try and knock on a door up the street, and we got ourselves a new person! She was confused about why there are so many churches and wants to know which one is the right one. After that we had another lesson with the person we found last Thursday who was figuring out which one is the right one as well. Then we drove up to Central Byhalia to do some contacting, and then we went over to the Beckerdites and had to wait a little, so me and Elder Jackson did some beats and rapped a little about Church stuff, it was really fun. After they came home, we finished off the Commandments and was excited about that.

Thursday we got picked up by President Hull because we had a lesson with the referral way down in Hickory Flat. But when we got there they sadly ended up not being home, so we decided to visit 2 less actives. One of them was a Skelton, and to be honest, besides the one I know in Southaven, this one was the FIRST Skelton I have ever met officially. I didn't realize that till after we left, so that's crazy to think about. There are so much family out here, but yet out of the 5 months of being here in Holly Springs(6 months out on my mission this Friday), it was the first time I met a Skelton here in Holly Springs. Then when we got back, and started our trip up to Lamar. We stopped at both Martins(Pat and Floyd/Ray and Shay) and we had good conversations with both families. Then we had dinner at Mockys, and then we came home.

Friday we had the Animal Shelter again, and after that we were coming back home and then we had to turn around because the Morrisons got stuck in the mud. So we had to pull the van out using Brother Roswells truck, and by pushing. It took a while, but we finally got it haha. And during all of this, we found out a couple of things and through all of that, we had to push off the baptism to next Saturday(the 26th). I was a little sad but it still is going to happen, so that's good. Then we came back and did studies, and after that we ended up finding 3 new people within an hour, which was awesome. They were all really cool people and got return appointments with each of them. Then after we went up to the Beckerdites where we met Elder Nelson and Elder Larsen(he's from the Memphis area) because Elder Nelson was doing interviews for Arian and Lillyanna. I think that was one of the coolest times I've been there, because we were talking about singing with the rest of the family and we ended up singing My Little Prayer(David Archuleta) and The Prayer(an arrangement by David Archuleta and someone else) and other songs and it was just awesome. They passed their interviews! So that's exciting. We also had dinner there also, so it was just a good day overall.

Saturday we got picked up really early by Brother Roswell because we had to go to Senatobia to have a Missionary Breakfast with one of the Stake Presidency members and discussed the work. It was awesome to see all the progress and what we have in store. Then after we tried visiting the person we found on Wednesday but it fell through, so we visited the less active member and got him a ride to church for Sunday. Then we came back and did studies and prepared for Interviews with the Mission President. We had Interviews, and I gave him my little input about Transfers, because they are next week, and we find out this Saturday what happens. I told him I would like to stay one more transfer, because I want to try to accomplish a few more things here. But we shall see. The Sisters gave us Chips and Guac mix because they got a lot of it from a family member, so that was exciting. Then after we tried visiting Sister Huckaby, but she wasn't home. So then we went to the Beckerdites and planned out their baptism. They wanted me, Modesty(Arian and Lillyanna's oldest Sister), and Elder Larsen from Memphis to sing A Child's Prayer, so that's happening. But it's exciting. Then we came home, and made Garlic Bread and had Chips and Guac. We were talking to the Zone Leaders and apparently they were told by President that there has been a lot of people who wants to go to Holly Springs. I was actually quite surprised because I didn't realize how much of an impact we make on not only the people here, but other Missionaries. So that was a cool view to see.

Sunday was pretty awesome. We had 88 PEOPLE AT CHURCH! Sadly none of them were people we were teaching but still! 88! If we had other people there we could've broken the record and gotten 100 at church! It's super awesome to see the growth actually come about. Then after church Gary took us up to Lamar to give a blessing to Sister Hill, then Mocky fed us, and then we visited Pat and Floyd for a little. After that we had studies and Brother Gaar picked us up for dinner and we had dinner at their house. And then we came home, finding out we dropped the phone in their car, so we went up to Apartment C and borrowed her phone, and then we gave her a Book of Mormon. Then we got the phone back and had Call-In's.

This Friday, it will make 6 months since I left on my mission. I would be 1/4 done with my mission. It's crazy to think about it. It's been amazing and I love the experiences I've had so far. I hope you all are doing well and I love you all so very much. Have an amazing week!

Elder Braxton Hotton

Attachments:

-Our Zone (Minus a few other Missionaries)
-A not so great Tag Photo XD (I love you mom) 




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