Week 14: Faith and Baptisms!

I apologize for this email being sent out late, today was busy so I apologize.

Hey all! How are you all doing? Happy Early Halloween to everyone, I hope you all get good candy this year!

Before I start, my parents figured out a way for you all to see my weekly videos. They are uploaded to my YouTube channel, and linked up to the Blog. So if you are wanting to see my videos, the link to the blog will be attached below and you'll be able to see that. Warning though, they're kinda 17-25 minutes long each... Sorry I kinda get carried away in them. But they're great. 

Also, I apologize to those who did not get my emails these last 2 week(Basically everyone). They sent, but apparently they didn't get out to you guys, you can view last 2 week's emails on the blog site.

Monday was slightly stressful, because we forgot about some paperwork that we needed to do and we didn't have any so we met up with the Zone Leaders in Byhalia to get more of the forms and get most of it in. And then when I tried sending out emails it wasn't working and yea. But we got to hangout with the Morrisons which brightened things up. After all that we came home, ate, started sending out contacts, and we both just died, so we went to bed early.

Tuesday we had District Council about the Atonement of Jesus Christ which was super good. Then we visited Cheryl and talked about the Gospel of Jesus Christ and all of that good stuff. And hoping everything will work out for her scheduled baptism. Then we drove to Byhalia to get some other signatures in and did some contacts, then we came home where a member brought us Pizza and talked to President Hansen on the phone and he said he was imagining me in the MLC seats (Mission Leadership Conference, basically Zone Leaders and Assistants to the President) one day. Which always put me on edge because anything can happen.

Wednesday we had our normal routine and visited the Morrisons as they were building the final touches to their costumes which was super cool to checkout, they also got me a shield spray painted for being Captain America, which was very nice for them. Then we tried visiting someone, no answer, did contacts, and then drove up to Collierville for the Baptism! It was super cool doing that for them, they loved it and I'm glad they did. It is cool to have my first 2 baptisms in. The Church is true everyone, Come and See. Then we had dinner with Brother Boggs from Collierville at a burger place called Sear Shack which was good.

Thursday was pretty good. Working on scripture memorizing and then went and helped Gary with fixing trucks and small things, then we had dinner at Mockys, and then helped put a wood stove inside a house. That was literally all that we did, but it was still nice and serviceable overall.

Friday. Oh Friday. We did the Animal Shelter as usual, and then did the studies, and shopping for our Trunk or Treat event the next day. We tried visiting a potential and got shot down by the father(he was hardcore Baptist). Then we visited the hills for a little bit. Then we had dinner with a member family at a little town restaurant which was really good, and also talked about Ministering, which is mega important. And then we visited a less active family and just had a good conversation with them.

Saturday we had a really good companionship study with President Faulkner. We talked about Ministering and the branch overall and that was super good, very spirit filled. And then we helped Brother Roswell with some measurements at the Animal Shelter. Then went made lunch, which was really good. And then we had the Wall Doxey event and that was really good! A lot of people came and supported and a lot of people had fun. I won a cake in a cake walk round! Then we came home and did 3 hours of weekly planning.

Sunday was actually really good. We had a few less actives come today which was really good and Cheryl came again! She loved all of it a lot. And we had good talks about Repentance and Faith. Then after church we celebrated a members birthday, gave the Sacrament to a less active house, and got a text about the mission needing to find more people, had dinner at Brother Roswell and talked more about the branch overall. Then we went out finding people, it was a real faith tester because we didn't have much luck until we made a call to a potential at 8:59PM and she answered and we set up a appointment for Thursday! It gets to show that things do happen if you have faith!

Anyways, I hope you all have a amazing week. God loves you, I love you, you are not alone.

James 2:26
James 5:9
Hebrews 11
Ether 12:4,6,27

I love y'all

Love, 

Elder Braxton Hotton

Attachments:
-Me in a cool coat my mom gave me
-The Baptism

ALRM Week 9

Week 13: The Combine Adventures!

Hey all! How are you all doing? Hope school is going well and that you all are doing good. This week has really been something, but a lot of cool experiences happened and will happen!

Before I start, my parents figured out a way for you all to see my weekly videos. They are uploaded to my YouTube channel, and linked up to the Blog. So if you are wanting to see my videos, the link to the blog will be attached below and you'll be able to see that. Warning though, they're kinda 17-25 minutes long each... Sorry I kinda get carried away in them. But they're great. 

Also, I apologize to those who did not get my emails last week. They sent, but apparently they didn't get out to you guys, you can view last week's email on the blog site.

Zone P-Day! It was a lot of fun! We played Volleyball and Signs, which was super fun. I don't know if I mentioned this, but in our Zone we have a deaf Sister in Southaven. She's pretty good at Volleyball and super good at signs. She has this little smirk that she makes when we play signs and when you're in the middle, you cannot tell if she has it or not, because she is MEGA fast with her hands, it's literally crazy. But it was a lot of fun. During lunch we actually got into a notes conversation and used my keyboard and we talked to each other for a while. That was a neat experience in of itself. Then after lunch we went to an Escape Room which was family owned. We were starting to pay (individually) and then he comes back and gives the money he already collected to the people who paid and said that the game was on the house. So blessings were right there. The Escape Room was super fun, though our team didn't win sadly. Then we came back home and did contacts and such.

Tuesday we had District Council about the Holy Ghost. Then after that we got a haircut which was needed, and then we visited Cheryl. We talked about the Gift's of the Spirit and then talked about the Plan of Salvation which was super cool. Then after we left and visited Sister Huckaby and then came home and ended up for the rest of the night adjusting our room to figure out our gas heater that we have in our apartment. So not much happened. But I also made Spaghetti which was nummy.

Wednesday we had our normal routine and actually got our gas heater working.. That only heats up one room. But it is still nice. Then we turned it off and visited a potential and talked about the Book of Mormon and all of that. Then later we visited the Morrisons for a little and then left to go visit Unique and Maricus and talked about finalizing the Baptism. Turns out we had to move the Baptism again to this Wednesday which is final. And I actually will be the one baptizing them which will be exciting. Then we tried to make contact with people, then drove all the way out past Lamar to have dinner with a member named Sister Charlotte Carpenter and her family which was really cool. We had fish and it was good, we also talked about Temple Sealings and how we can be together forever.

Thursday was pretty good. We did the normal stuff and left to try and see Tiffany. But she wasn't there, but there was a guy who was keeping an eye on us because you don't normally see two teenagers in white shirts and ties, walking in the middle of nowhere. So in the end we gave the card to the house and to the guy, who was named Joseph. We then visited Pat and Floyd and had a good visit with them. And then we switched into our service clothes and drove up to a farm field where Gary and Brandon were. We helped them work on the Combine, which is a big harvesting machine. It's been having a lot of problems, and they noticed they had to switch out a couple of things inside on the middle of the Combine, and it's a tight space. To sum it up, I was in the Combine getting out these parts.. Then Friday will be explained soon. Then we had dinner at Mockys, visited Lynn Rogers, and visited Georgia and read Helaman 5 which was super good. We are actually having dinner with them this week so that's surprising.

Friday. Oh Friday. We did the Animal Shelter as usual, and then did Daily Planning. Then we got a call from Gary asking us to come back and help put the new stuff in. We then switched over, drove up to Garys, we ate for a little bit and then drove to the fields again. This time we had a piece of carpet that was placed under me as I was inside the Combine. But to sum it up, I was inside that combine for over TWO HOURS. It was a crazy workout when I would have to push these huge crankshafts up in the air to get things in. It was mega heavy but it was a good workout. In the end, there is a picture of my arm and it's red marks, that's just how my arm ended out with all of the places and positions it was in. And that was basically the huge chunk of the day.

Saturday we had a long planning session again, and figuring out what needs to happen as we try to help build this branch up to the highest point. After this long planning we ate and then tried to make a lot of contacts, which failed sadly, and we couldn't figure out what to do. Then we decided to go visited our Branch President and discuss the needs of the branch and everything. It was really helpful to know what we need to do and what steps need to take place.

Sunday was actually really good. We had a few less actives come today which was really good and Cheryl came! She loved all of it a lot and the branch welcomed her and that is always good. After church we went to a members house to celebrate their sons birthday that was on Thursday. Brother Hills mother was there and we met her and talked with her, and they had me sing for them.. I sang Nearer, My God, to Thee by the BYU Vocal Point and it was really.. Really stressful because I'm not a big fan of my solo voice. Then we talked about the Plan of Salvation and it was kinda a bad teaching environment but she said I convinced her, which apparently never happens. Then we had dinner at the Roswells and talked about church and everything that's been going on.

So that's this week. I love you all so much, and I hope you all actually get this week's email haha. Hope y'all have a great week!

Love, 

Elder Braxton Hotton

Attachments:

-The Combine, me in it, and my arm
-The Escape Room team and the whole Zone!

-A decorated Deer

-My haricut

ALRM Week 8

ALRM Week 7

ALRM Week 6

ALRM Week 5