Saturday, October 20, 2018
Week 12: Work and Intensity
!! I will not be able to talk as much today as it is Zone P-Day. So don't be mad at me plz if I don't email back. Thanks and much love !!
Hey all! How are you all doing? Is the weather getting colder? If so, it's ok, it's doing the same thing down here. This week has been really something. But, in the end everything will be ok. And that's important.
After P-Day, we just had a lot of contact attempts, a lot of them failed, but we had some appointments set. It wasn't a lot that happened, just mega contact attempts.
Tuesday we had District Council and we also had Exchanges. We had District Council about Goal Setting and about Technology. I liked it a lot because I always feel like Missionaries don't use technology as much as they can. But after that we went to Panda Express and ate there. Then I put my stuff in the car and me and Elder Anderson headed out to South Haven. After a long drive we made it to the Apartment and we put the stuff in the rooms. And we started doing our Personal Study and we got a call from the South Haven ASL Sisters and asked if we could give a blessing to a member. So we went over and did that, which was pretty good. And then we decided to go finding after. We went to a lot of houses and a lot of them ended up being re-boots (Which in my terms mean made contact with missionaries again after a while). So that was really cool. Then we had dinner at a place called Cracker-Barrel with a member in the ward which was really freaking good. I had Rainbow Trout and it was super super good. Then we visited a less active member who has caught a lot of fish and he has a room which was decked out of fishing gear and such as I loved it a lot. Then we came back home and finally did our studies and went to bed.
Wednesday was another cool experience. We worked out, and got ready. We got all of our studies done, then we had lunch and then went to a less active spree. We visited a less active Sister and we helped move boxes that she had outside her door inside. Then Elder Anderson asked if she wanted a blessing and she said yes and wanted me to give it. At this point, I've only known her for maybe 20-30 minutes and she wanted me to do it. It went pretty good actually and she appreciated what I said in the blessing and I was happy that she did. Then we tried two other houses, one didn't answer and the other one invited us back and said 'It must meant to be' Because we were looking for someone else and she answered so that was pretty funny. Then we drove all the way to Byhalia where Unique and Maricus had their Baptismal Interviews. We also had to move their baptism to next week because of their father having some work stuff going on over the weekend so they wanted him to be there so we moved it to the 20th but it's still going to happen. Then we drove up to finally meet Cheryl and she's amazing. She went through a lot and she still kept her faith. She accepted a Baptismal Date for Nov 10th!!! Then after we visited Mike, talking about his father and I had the biggest impression to promise him blessings. But with all of the convo's that were happening, I couldn't get to it. But as we were leaving, I still felt like I needed to. So I had Elder Brinkerhoff text the blessings to him as we were driving home. So that was a cool experience.
Thursday was pretty good. We went to a town called Atway (Below Lamar) and we tried 3 houses. One answered and her and her family are Independent Fundamental Baptist. But she has known about us before because she actually lived in West Jordan, UT! That was pretty interesting. She said she will talk to her husband about it. Then we helped Gary do Bean work so that was fun. Then had dinner at Mockeys, and drove all the way to the top corner of our area to try and visit two houses but no one answered. Then we visited Sister Yeager and spoke to her for a little.
Friday we did more Animal Shelter stuff, got a new dog in the shelter named Liza. Then we came back for a little, did Daily Planning, felt like we needed to go find somewhere and low and behold in the end, it was for Amanda. Though no one answered the door Elder Brinkerhoff felt like we needed to knock at. So we are going to try again soon. Then we made contact invites to church, then had dinner at the Hardmans, then visited Jane finally, met her, and talked with her. Then after that we talked with Benjamin and that was a good convo with him.
Saturday was a lot of planning and re-focus goals and all that crazy jazz. We have so many things that we've been working on, but with the guidance of the Holy Ghost, we can be able to change what we can do and achieve our goals. Then we had dinner with the Roswell family and then visited someone who sadly dropped us. But that was the gips of that day.
Sunday was fast and testimony meeting, which was pretty good. We learned more about the Holy Ghost and the Gathering of Israel in Priesthood and Sunday School. We then after church ate with the Morrisons and talked about General Conference with them. Then after we met with Michelle, spoke with her for a while. Had dinner at the Roswells again, then met with Georgia for the rest of the night.
I love you all, don't forget that. I hope you all have an amazing week, and remember that you are not alone in this world. Take care!!
Much love,
Elder Braxton Hotton
Attachments:
-Items at Cracker Barrel
Hey all! How are you all doing? Is the weather getting colder? If so, it's ok, it's doing the same thing down here. This week has been really something. But, in the end everything will be ok. And that's important.
After P-Day, we just had a lot of contact attempts, a lot of them failed, but we had some appointments set. It wasn't a lot that happened, just mega contact attempts.
Tuesday we had District Council and we also had Exchanges. We had District Council about Goal Setting and about Technology. I liked it a lot because I always feel like Missionaries don't use technology as much as they can. But after that we went to Panda Express and ate there. Then I put my stuff in the car and me and Elder Anderson headed out to South Haven. After a long drive we made it to the Apartment and we put the stuff in the rooms. And we started doing our Personal Study and we got a call from the South Haven ASL Sisters and asked if we could give a blessing to a member. So we went over and did that, which was pretty good. And then we decided to go finding after. We went to a lot of houses and a lot of them ended up being re-boots (Which in my terms mean made contact with missionaries again after a while). So that was really cool. Then we had dinner at a place called Cracker-Barrel with a member in the ward which was really freaking good. I had Rainbow Trout and it was super super good. Then we visited a less active member who has caught a lot of fish and he has a room which was decked out of fishing gear and such as I loved it a lot. Then we came back home and finally did our studies and went to bed.
Wednesday was another cool experience. We worked out, and got ready. We got all of our studies done, then we had lunch and then went to a less active spree. We visited a less active Sister and we helped move boxes that she had outside her door inside. Then Elder Anderson asked if she wanted a blessing and she said yes and wanted me to give it. At this point, I've only known her for maybe 20-30 minutes and she wanted me to do it. It went pretty good actually and she appreciated what I said in the blessing and I was happy that she did. Then we tried two other houses, one didn't answer and the other one invited us back and said 'It must meant to be' Because we were looking for someone else and she answered so that was pretty funny. Then we drove all the way to Byhalia where Unique and Maricus had their Baptismal Interviews. We also had to move their baptism to next week because of their father having some work stuff going on over the weekend so they wanted him to be there so we moved it to the 20th but it's still going to happen. Then we drove up to finally meet Cheryl and she's amazing. She went through a lot and she still kept her faith. She accepted a Baptismal Date for Nov 10th!!! Then after we visited Mike, talking about his father and I had the biggest impression to promise him blessings. But with all of the convo's that were happening, I couldn't get to it. But as we were leaving, I still felt like I needed to. So I had Elder Brinkerhoff text the blessings to him as we were driving home. So that was a cool experience.
Thursday was pretty good. We went to a town called Atway (Below Lamar) and we tried 3 houses. One answered and her and her family are Independent Fundamental Baptist. But she has known about us before because she actually lived in West Jordan, UT! That was pretty interesting. She said she will talk to her husband about it. Then we helped Gary do Bean work so that was fun. Then had dinner at Mockeys, and drove all the way to the top corner of our area to try and visit two houses but no one answered. Then we visited Sister Yeager and spoke to her for a little.
Friday we did more Animal Shelter stuff, got a new dog in the shelter named Liza. Then we came back for a little, did Daily Planning, felt like we needed to go find somewhere and low and behold in the end, it was for Amanda. Though no one answered the door Elder Brinkerhoff felt like we needed to knock at. So we are going to try again soon. Then we made contact invites to church, then had dinner at the Hardmans, then visited Jane finally, met her, and talked with her. Then after that we talked with Benjamin and that was a good convo with him.
Saturday was a lot of planning and re-focus goals and all that crazy jazz. We have so many things that we've been working on, but with the guidance of the Holy Ghost, we can be able to change what we can do and achieve our goals. Then we had dinner with the Roswell family and then visited someone who sadly dropped us. But that was the gips of that day.
Sunday was fast and testimony meeting, which was pretty good. We learned more about the Holy Ghost and the Gathering of Israel in Priesthood and Sunday School. We then after church ate with the Morrisons and talked about General Conference with them. Then after we met with Michelle, spoke with her for a while. Had dinner at the Roswells again, then met with Georgia for the rest of the night.
I love you all, don't forget that. I hope you all have an amazing week, and remember that you are not alone in this world. Take care!!
Much love,
Elder Braxton Hotton
Attachments:
-Items at Cracker Barrel
Wednesday, October 10, 2018
Week 11: Service and Conference
Hey y'all! How are you guys doing? Hope you all are doing well. And I hope everyone got a lot out of General Conference! A lot happened and it's exciting! This week wasn't packed with a lot of events, but it was packed with Missionary Work... If that makes sense.
So after P-Day, we got a message from a Sister asking about if we visited this one person, so we were like not recently, but we will head down in that area then! So we drove down to a town called Potts Camp, which is near the bottom corner of our area. We stop by the house, met the Husband, but they kindly declined us because they were set on being Pentecostal. It was a bummer but it was nice that they weren't rude about it. Then after we tried a less actives house, no one answered, then we tried finding a recent convert of a year now.. He hasn't texted us back, so we tried going to their house.. But one problem, we couldn't find it. Google Maps and LDS Tools was not in our favor which sucked a lot. So we decided to head back home.
Tuesday not a lot happened, except for the fact that at one point, I was covered in horse dust crap.. So to give context, we went over to a members house to help them load stuff for their son who was getting married soon. So they wanted to use a horse trailer, which wasn't cleaned up yet. So we started cleaning it up, and I decided to use the Electric Blower to get the rest of the stuff out. Needless to say at the end of doing all that and after all of the loading, I was covered in crap. So it was nice to take a shower after that XD. Also, Yoo-hoos are really freaking good. May have chugged 2 cans.. Oops. Then after the shower and getting ready, we visited a less active and read the Book of Mormon with her. Then we visited another Less active, met another son and a grandson, and I had really good burgers there. Holy crap it was crazy good haha.
Wednesday we had Zone Conference, and on the way up we passed by the FedEx Official Building which was cool to see. Zone Conference was pretty good, we talked about Daily Goals, and about being Bold, and talked about Satan and his tactics. So that was a pretty good Conference. Then we came back home and had Dinner, and that was all it from Wednesday.
Thursday we wanted to try to stop by a few houses before we went up to Lamar to help Gary. One person wasn't home, but we gave a card to someone that answered. Then we were heading to the Car and we saw 3 people walk out and we talked with them and they invited us back which was cool. Then after that we drove up to Lamar in our Service clothes, and helped Gary and his group out with Beans and all that Farm stuff. We did that for most of the day and then we talked about a list of people we didn't know much about.
Friday we did the Animal Shelter again, which wasn't a struggle this time hahah. Then after we did our studies, I watched Meet the Mormons (Which isn't Mormons anymore, since after Conference and such). I invite all who haven't watched it to watch it, it's really good. It helps show what we do and our lives. Then after Studies we did Weekly Planning, had a cool revelatory experience about a few people that we now have plan for action. Then we had dinner at a less actives sister's house, which was pretty good. Then we came back and did some final touches to Weekly Planning.
Saturday's Events went as:
Invite people to watch Conference through Facebook
Watched Conference at the Morrisons family with another sister
After Conference we went up to Lamar to try and visit people
Neither houses were home, then we tried a house people never were able to get into, and we got in! It was a really nice convo with them and they expressed interest in a event going on at the End of the Month. So that was exciting, and Gary texted us later tipping his hat for us for being able to get in
Sunday's Events went as:
Invited more to watch Conference
We watched Conference at Mockys house
After the sessions, we tried figuring out where to go, and after a while of no luck, we decided to take a shorter, yet longer in minutes, seneric way to Brother Roswells. It was super cool. I loved it so much.
Had a good convo with the Roswell family about Conference and all those events.
So basically, my little learned ordeal this week. We are all important, and we must accept everyone as who they are, be kind to those who are mean, and serve others. You will be blessed in doing so.
I love you all, and I hope the Lord is blessing you.
Much Love,
Elder Braxton Hotton
Attachments:
-Photo of me covered in crappy dust (heh, get it? Sorry)
-A unintentionalally good photo of me holding up a broken broom
-FedEx World Center
So after P-Day, we got a message from a Sister asking about if we visited this one person, so we were like not recently, but we will head down in that area then! So we drove down to a town called Potts Camp, which is near the bottom corner of our area. We stop by the house, met the Husband, but they kindly declined us because they were set on being Pentecostal. It was a bummer but it was nice that they weren't rude about it. Then after we tried a less actives house, no one answered, then we tried finding a recent convert of a year now.. He hasn't texted us back, so we tried going to their house.. But one problem, we couldn't find it. Google Maps and LDS Tools was not in our favor which sucked a lot. So we decided to head back home.
Tuesday not a lot happened, except for the fact that at one point, I was covered in horse dust crap.. So to give context, we went over to a members house to help them load stuff for their son who was getting married soon. So they wanted to use a horse trailer, which wasn't cleaned up yet. So we started cleaning it up, and I decided to use the Electric Blower to get the rest of the stuff out. Needless to say at the end of doing all that and after all of the loading, I was covered in crap. So it was nice to take a shower after that XD. Also, Yoo-hoos are really freaking good. May have chugged 2 cans.. Oops. Then after the shower and getting ready, we visited a less active and read the Book of Mormon with her. Then we visited another Less active, met another son and a grandson, and I had really good burgers there. Holy crap it was crazy good haha.
Wednesday we had Zone Conference, and on the way up we passed by the FedEx Official Building which was cool to see. Zone Conference was pretty good, we talked about Daily Goals, and about being Bold, and talked about Satan and his tactics. So that was a pretty good Conference. Then we came back home and had Dinner, and that was all it from Wednesday.
Thursday we wanted to try to stop by a few houses before we went up to Lamar to help Gary. One person wasn't home, but we gave a card to someone that answered. Then we were heading to the Car and we saw 3 people walk out and we talked with them and they invited us back which was cool. Then after that we drove up to Lamar in our Service clothes, and helped Gary and his group out with Beans and all that Farm stuff. We did that for most of the day and then we talked about a list of people we didn't know much about.
Friday we did the Animal Shelter again, which wasn't a struggle this time hahah. Then after we did our studies, I watched Meet the Mormons (Which isn't Mormons anymore, since after Conference and such). I invite all who haven't watched it to watch it, it's really good. It helps show what we do and our lives. Then after Studies we did Weekly Planning, had a cool revelatory experience about a few people that we now have plan for action. Then we had dinner at a less actives sister's house, which was pretty good. Then we came back and did some final touches to Weekly Planning.
Saturday's Events went as:
Invite people to watch Conference through Facebook
Watched Conference at the Morrisons family with another sister
After Conference we went up to Lamar to try and visit people
Neither houses were home, then we tried a house people never were able to get into, and we got in! It was a really nice convo with them and they expressed interest in a event going on at the End of the Month. So that was exciting, and Gary texted us later tipping his hat for us for being able to get in
Sunday's Events went as:
Invited more to watch Conference
We watched Conference at Mockys house
After the sessions, we tried figuring out where to go, and after a while of no luck, we decided to take a shorter, yet longer in minutes, seneric way to Brother Roswells. It was super cool. I loved it so much.
Had a good convo with the Roswell family about Conference and all those events.
So basically, my little learned ordeal this week. We are all important, and we must accept everyone as who they are, be kind to those who are mean, and serve others. You will be blessed in doing so.
I love you all, and I hope the Lord is blessing you.
Much Love,
Elder Braxton Hotton
Attachments:
-Photo of me covered in crappy dust (heh, get it? Sorry)
-A unintentionalally good photo of me holding up a broken broom
-FedEx World Center
Tuesday, October 2, 2018
Week 10: The Slow and Inspirational Week
Hello all! It's October already! Holy crap, that's crazy. This week has been very interesting to say the least, slow, but an eye opener for me, with a slightly hefty topic I will be talking about at the end of my email. I hope school and life has been treating you all well.
Before I begin, I would like to personally thank the Primary Kids in my home ward. I loved each and every letter you have given me and they mean a lot to me! Thank you for sending them to me and I hope you all can be missionaries too when you grow up! (See pics below)
So after emails and such, we had dinner at a members house and had Ribs. But it wasn't any type of ribs, it was beer soaked ribs(Don't. Worry. The. Alcohol. Was. Boiled. Out.) It was pretty interesting to say the least. And they showed us pics of when they went to Nauvoo, Illinois and saw all the church history sites. It was pretty cool to look at them!
Then Tuesday was pretty long overall. We didn't have District Council because of transfer week, but nothing happened in transfer week to us so that's good. Then after all the studies and planning, we left to do our route we had planned. Some were home, some weren't. But we met with Sister Huckaby again and read the Book of Mormon with her and talked about it. We stopped at a Gas Station and got stuff there, and then planned for the Book of Mormon class that we have tried to set up(Hasn't had very much success). Then later on we went to the church and no one showed up for the class, then we visited Sister Yeager because it was her birthday. We saw Georgia as well and shook hands on giving her a blessing next time we saw her. And then we went inside and had "T.V. Dinners" which was something I never called them before haha. Her day was sadly kinda rough but we definitely brighten it up.
Wednesday was pretty good, though we were kinda tired. We had an appointment fall through again which sucked but it happens. Then we drove up to the Morrisons and spoke with them for a while. Then tried visiting someone else but they weren't home. After that we went to the Hardmans a little early and rested in the truck because we were just beat for some reason. But then we went in, talked with them and after a while we did the lesson with Unique and Maricus and finished off the 4th lesson. They are going to be baptized on Oct. 13th! Which is exciting to know. Then after we had dinner at the Hulls house and had dinner there and ate PASTAA. Nummy. Then we went over to Sister Pearline Taylor's house and gave her a blessing and got cake.
Thursday was a slower day. After all of our studies, we were going to eat lunch at Wendys. But as we parked, we got a call from Gary asking if we wanted Burgers.. So we drove up to Lamar and ate burgers there hahaha. Then we kinda helped them work on the Bush Hogger (Basically a large tractor lawn mower). After we visited one of the Byrds and spoke with her for a while. We tried visiting someone else who was sick but no one answered. Then we visited the Hills and talked about school and snow and all that stuff. Had dinner at Mockeys and helped someone get a calander item going on their phone. Georgia and Mike had to get pushed to Friday because they were both busy.
Friday is the day I realized something, also it was a slow day as well. These days happen haha. We worked on the Animal Shelter again, though it was a struggle getting the dogs out this time but it worked out. After studies we had lunch at Wendys. Then we came back home and had a really good weekly planning session. We feel like once Elder Brinkerhoff is done marking up the Book of Mormon, we feel like we can get her baptized in October. Which is crazy to think about, but I feel like it is possible. We then tried visiting Lois, but caught her at a bad time again, she told us to keep trying. Then we drove up to Byhalia, and stopped by the Hardmans where they gave us a to-go bag to eat (Subway) ((Because Brother Hardman had to leave earlier than planned)) and we ate it at a Gas Station. Then we got in a convo about stuff and then Elder Brinkerhoff asked something about if I'm self-conscious about it. And then I just kinda sat there and thought about it. I realized that I'm more self conscious than I thought I was. But after a while of me talking about it, we left to go visit Mike. We talked about Ordinances and the steps of getting into the Celestial Kingdom. And then we talked about Ray Stevens(Never heard of him, but he's an interesting Christian comedian). After that we visited Georgia, and when we started getting ready to give her the blessing, Elder Brinkerhoff told me that I'll do it. And let's just say I was terrified because I don't know if I'd say anything or feel anything that will help her. Once I kinda got myself together, I did the blessing, and it turned out better than I thought it would. It was short, but it was good. They said I did a good job so I'm taking their word for it haha. Then we came back and cleaned up a little for Apartment assessment on Saturday
Saturday was pretty good. We did some last minute touches to the place and then the Apartment assessment missionaries came by. They loved the place and said we may have the biggest bedroom in the Mission haha. Then after all that we drove up to Collierville and had Panda for lunch. Then we parked at the church, I read the Book of Mormon a little, and then took a hour nap in the truck which was nice. Then we got into the building and set up the baptism that we had for Cooper. Then the baptism happened, me and Elder Brinkerhoff almost cried a little but it was really good. After that they invited us to O'Charelys which was pretty good. And then came back and sent texts out to people.
Sunday was very interesting. We only had 1 hour of church because Penacostal needed their building earlier so we had just Sacrament meeting. It was the Primary Program and it went really well. We had Donuts and juice after and then we all left. I then took a nap because I was just beat for some reason and then did Personal Study. We visited the Morrisons and did a finding activity with them and we got a lot of people on our list. Then we came back and watched Joseph Smith: The Prophet of the Restoration(Highly recommended). I've watched it a few times already and I almost cried a couple of times in it. Then we had dinner at Brother Roswells and gave them a Thank You card. And them we visited Sister Pearline Taylor for a little after that.
What I learned this week(This is the slightly hefty stuff):
After what happened Friday, I have come to realize something. I am more self-conscious than I realize about a lot of things, and that's not a good thing. I have come to realize that I need to step my foot down and say look... I'm not perfect, I will never be perfect, and if you have a problem with me and my flaws, you can either talk it out with me or walk away. I am tired of always getting into small, unneeded fights with those I care for because of my imperfections, and always feeling like a failure of a person to everyone I care about. It has happened way to many times in my life and it needs to stop, now. If you are truly my friend, you would come to me and talk it out civilly, because we are at that age where we can't throw these fights on a small incident. I may never be a perfect friend or person, I will always fall short, but everyone just needs to realize that that's life and you can't always get what you want. If you really do care and love me, you would push through each trial with me and want to be better. We cannot go through life alone, and no one will grow if life was perfect and we were perfect. I will always make mistakes, I will fall short in so many people's eyes, but we all want to return to heaven and we all on that path working towards it, but one thing that the Apostle Jeffery R. Holland said, "Don't attack the path I am on." I am trying to be the best I can be, and if me trying just isn't enough, then the door is right there to walk out. I'm sorry this is a little hefty, but I just felt like it needed to be said.
I hope you all understand where I come from when I say all of that. But I do love you all, I do. Don't forget that. I hope you all have a great week. And hope General Conference blesses your lives and answers your questions.
With love,
Elder Braxton Hotton
Attachments:
1st and 2nd pic: Me covered in Primary Kids letters
3rd pic: More Kudzu
4th and 5th pic: A interesting flower
6th pic: My setup
Before I begin, I would like to personally thank the Primary Kids in my home ward. I loved each and every letter you have given me and they mean a lot to me! Thank you for sending them to me and I hope you all can be missionaries too when you grow up! (See pics below)
So after emails and such, we had dinner at a members house and had Ribs. But it wasn't any type of ribs, it was beer soaked ribs(Don't. Worry. The. Alcohol. Was. Boiled. Out.) It was pretty interesting to say the least. And they showed us pics of when they went to Nauvoo, Illinois and saw all the church history sites. It was pretty cool to look at them!
Then Tuesday was pretty long overall. We didn't have District Council because of transfer week, but nothing happened in transfer week to us so that's good. Then after all the studies and planning, we left to do our route we had planned. Some were home, some weren't. But we met with Sister Huckaby again and read the Book of Mormon with her and talked about it. We stopped at a Gas Station and got stuff there, and then planned for the Book of Mormon class that we have tried to set up(Hasn't had very much success). Then later on we went to the church and no one showed up for the class, then we visited Sister Yeager because it was her birthday. We saw Georgia as well and shook hands on giving her a blessing next time we saw her. And then we went inside and had "T.V. Dinners" which was something I never called them before haha. Her day was sadly kinda rough but we definitely brighten it up.
Wednesday was pretty good, though we were kinda tired. We had an appointment fall through again which sucked but it happens. Then we drove up to the Morrisons and spoke with them for a while. Then tried visiting someone else but they weren't home. After that we went to the Hardmans a little early and rested in the truck because we were just beat for some reason. But then we went in, talked with them and after a while we did the lesson with Unique and Maricus and finished off the 4th lesson. They are going to be baptized on Oct. 13th! Which is exciting to know. Then after we had dinner at the Hulls house and had dinner there and ate PASTAA. Nummy. Then we went over to Sister Pearline Taylor's house and gave her a blessing and got cake.
Thursday was a slower day. After all of our studies, we were going to eat lunch at Wendys. But as we parked, we got a call from Gary asking if we wanted Burgers.. So we drove up to Lamar and ate burgers there hahaha. Then we kinda helped them work on the Bush Hogger (Basically a large tractor lawn mower). After we visited one of the Byrds and spoke with her for a while. We tried visiting someone else who was sick but no one answered. Then we visited the Hills and talked about school and snow and all that stuff. Had dinner at Mockeys and helped someone get a calander item going on their phone. Georgia and Mike had to get pushed to Friday because they were both busy.
Friday is the day I realized something, also it was a slow day as well. These days happen haha. We worked on the Animal Shelter again, though it was a struggle getting the dogs out this time but it worked out. After studies we had lunch at Wendys. Then we came back home and had a really good weekly planning session. We feel like once Elder Brinkerhoff is done marking up the Book of Mormon, we feel like we can get her baptized in October. Which is crazy to think about, but I feel like it is possible. We then tried visiting Lois, but caught her at a bad time again, she told us to keep trying. Then we drove up to Byhalia, and stopped by the Hardmans where they gave us a to-go bag to eat (Subway) ((Because Brother Hardman had to leave earlier than planned)) and we ate it at a Gas Station. Then we got in a convo about stuff and then Elder Brinkerhoff asked something about if I'm self-conscious about it. And then I just kinda sat there and thought about it. I realized that I'm more self conscious than I thought I was. But after a while of me talking about it, we left to go visit Mike. We talked about Ordinances and the steps of getting into the Celestial Kingdom. And then we talked about Ray Stevens(Never heard of him, but he's an interesting Christian comedian). After that we visited Georgia, and when we started getting ready to give her the blessing, Elder Brinkerhoff told me that I'll do it. And let's just say I was terrified because I don't know if I'd say anything or feel anything that will help her. Once I kinda got myself together, I did the blessing, and it turned out better than I thought it would. It was short, but it was good. They said I did a good job so I'm taking their word for it haha. Then we came back and cleaned up a little for Apartment assessment on Saturday
Saturday was pretty good. We did some last minute touches to the place and then the Apartment assessment missionaries came by. They loved the place and said we may have the biggest bedroom in the Mission haha. Then after all that we drove up to Collierville and had Panda for lunch. Then we parked at the church, I read the Book of Mormon a little, and then took a hour nap in the truck which was nice. Then we got into the building and set up the baptism that we had for Cooper. Then the baptism happened, me and Elder Brinkerhoff almost cried a little but it was really good. After that they invited us to O'Charelys which was pretty good. And then came back and sent texts out to people.
Sunday was very interesting. We only had 1 hour of church because Penacostal needed their building earlier so we had just Sacrament meeting. It was the Primary Program and it went really well. We had Donuts and juice after and then we all left. I then took a nap because I was just beat for some reason and then did Personal Study. We visited the Morrisons and did a finding activity with them and we got a lot of people on our list. Then we came back and watched Joseph Smith: The Prophet of the Restoration(Highly recommended). I've watched it a few times already and I almost cried a couple of times in it. Then we had dinner at Brother Roswells and gave them a Thank You card. And them we visited Sister Pearline Taylor for a little after that.
What I learned this week(This is the slightly hefty stuff):
After what happened Friday, I have come to realize something. I am more self-conscious than I realize about a lot of things, and that's not a good thing. I have come to realize that I need to step my foot down and say look... I'm not perfect, I will never be perfect, and if you have a problem with me and my flaws, you can either talk it out with me or walk away. I am tired of always getting into small, unneeded fights with those I care for because of my imperfections, and always feeling like a failure of a person to everyone I care about. It has happened way to many times in my life and it needs to stop, now. If you are truly my friend, you would come to me and talk it out civilly, because we are at that age where we can't throw these fights on a small incident. I may never be a perfect friend or person, I will always fall short, but everyone just needs to realize that that's life and you can't always get what you want. If you really do care and love me, you would push through each trial with me and want to be better. We cannot go through life alone, and no one will grow if life was perfect and we were perfect. I will always make mistakes, I will fall short in so many people's eyes, but we all want to return to heaven and we all on that path working towards it, but one thing that the Apostle Jeffery R. Holland said, "Don't attack the path I am on." I am trying to be the best I can be, and if me trying just isn't enough, then the door is right there to walk out. I'm sorry this is a little hefty, but I just felt like it needed to be said.
I hope you all understand where I come from when I say all of that. But I do love you all, I do. Don't forget that. I hope you all have a great week. And hope General Conference blesses your lives and answers your questions.
With love,
Elder Braxton Hotton
Attachments:
1st and 2nd pic: Me covered in Primary Kids letters
3rd pic: More Kudzu
4th and 5th pic: A interesting flower
6th pic: My setup
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