December 15, 2009

Hey!So on tuesday night 2 of our investigators Trena & Sergio dropped us. We had a whole wedding planned and everything...well, it was in the process at least. :/ On Wednesday I went on an exchange in Kaysville with Elder Hale. His area has a car which made it nice in the snow. We had a nice time and had fun together. I don't know what the deal is with utah. In the summer, all these hot teenage girls mow the lawns all over, and in the winter, all these hot housewives shovel snow outside in their front yards. Like seriously, they are all dressed up lookin' good, and they are shovelin' snow! Hahaha. On Thursday I went on an exchange with Elder Asplund before he went home on Friday morning. It was his last day before he went home. We had a great time together, and had a ton of fun. We had fun, but we also had some serious talks about life, our missions, etc, that I hope will help him. He says that he is definetly coming back on his mission after he recovers. I keep him in my prayers daily and put his name in the Temple every week. I'm going to write him often to try and help keep his mind on the mission and coming back. President Olson gave me permission to call him last night and we talked for about 1 1/2 hours. He is doing well, and is still doing his studies, etc. I'm worried that he will get so sucked up into the world though that he will get further and further away from coming back on his mission. Idk, all I can do is pray, put his name on the Temple, and write encouraging letters. His doctor is gonna try and get him back here within 3-6 months. On Friday we went with Bro. C to lunch at Cafe Rio...it's my favorite. We had a great time as usual. I'm sad cause it will probably be the last time I go if I get transfered. He just got a divorce, and now he is goin' out with all these 20-30 yr. old women going to eat and hangin' out...it's really funny. I think it has been really hard on him, but I guess he has plenty of distractions lol. On saturday we had 2 baptisms back to back! Kurt , the 9 yr old boy got baptized at 6:30, and Debbie got baptized at 7:30. Kurt's service was nice, and Elder Williams was able to come back and baptize kurt, and stay for Debbie's as well. It was fun to see him...I miss him a lot. I think you appreciate your companions and miss them more after they are gone. I really enjoyed Debbie's baptism. She asked me to give the talk on Baptism, and it went really well, except for that I started to cry while I was doing it. The Spirit was really strong, and I had been waiting for this day for a long time. It meant a lot to me to see her get baptized. Once I started crying, she started crying, then both of us were crying! Haha. It was special. She cooked tons of baked goods for the refreshments, and let me tell you, they were da bomb! All kinds of breads and cookies, drinks, etc. Debbie & JJ have a great family, and I get along with them well. I look forward to the day when I can go to the Temple and watch them get sealed for time and all eternity. Both Kurts and Debbie's confirmations were the next day on Sunday which was nice. We had a crazy day on sunday as usual, going to tons of different meetings, etc. The stake that I cover, the Layton Valley View Stake put on the most amazing Christmas Stake Fireside I've ever been too. It was called a Christmas Musical Evening. The Stake Presidency spoke briefly for a few minutes, and then the rest of the 1 1/2 was all music. All kinds of choirs and musical groups from the stake sang with the piano, violins, cellos, bells, a harp, and the organ. It was amazing. You could definetly feel the Spirit strongly, and I loved every minute of it. All those that participated were very talented, I was very impressed, and thankful that the Stake would go to all the effort to put something like that together for the members. We went to lunch with Bro. Child again on Monday. I actually think we went to Cafe Rio on Monday, and Jason's Deli on Friday...I got them mixed up. Both places are really good. Have yall ever been to either of them? Is there a Cafe Rio in Chico? I think they may have put one in right before I left but I can't remember. My favorite thing to get there is the Grilled Chicken Breast Tostada with Sour Cream and Guacamole. It's so good! Haha. We went to the Bountiful Temple this morning and did an endowment session. After that we ran a few errands, and then went over to the Jensen's for a BBQ and a movie. President Olson rewarded us by letting us watch a movie because we got 200 baptisms as a whole mission last month. We watched Monsters vs. Aliens again lol...I love that movie. If you don't have it, get it! We have lessons all night tonight, so that should be good. Rosie invited a friend to meet with us so we are gonna teach her for the first time tonight. Everything is going well. We get transfer calls this monday, and if I am gonna get transfered, I will be moving on tuesday. Usually it is Wednesday, but because of Christmas, they moved it back a day. I hope that all of you are doing well. I love you and miss you tons. The church is true! Spread the Gospel!Love, Elder Micheal Watts

Pictures

There is one picture of Elder Asplund and I.. There's another of my District, and then another picture of a big field covered in snow that I thought was pretty cool. Enjoy!

December 8, 2009

Hey everyone,We had a baptism yesterday. We have been teaching Aj for 3-4 weeks and he was definetly ready to get baptized. It was a nice service, with a musical number by Bishop Smith's daughter Tara. Elder Guenther and I gave the talks on baptism and the Holy Ghost. It was a special day for the entire family because Aj has been coming to church for over 3 years, and his mom finally allowed him to get baptized. Aj is Bishop Smith's nephew. I'm not sure how they are all related. It's a miracle. His primary class has been praying for him for over a year and those prayers were finally answered. Aj was so happy. During the program he looked back at me and smiled. It was so cool. We had a nice turn out from the ward and had a lot of support. I could tell that Aj's mom, Kelly, could really feel the Spirit. I hope that from this experience, that she will come back into the Gospel. We confirmed this week that Trena & Sergio's wedding will be this saturday at 2pm. It's gonna be a packed day because Kurt Hoskins, the 9 yr old boy we've been teaching is getting baptized at 12, then the wedding at 2pm, and then Debbie Townsend is getting baptized at 7:30pm. It will be a crazy busy day, but great at the same time. I'm so excited for all of them. Trena & Sergio might not be getting baptized as soon as we had hoped, but we are still doing the wedding for them. Sister Bitner has kinda taken over the wedding plans, and I know that it will be very nice because she's just like that lol. Works for me! Haha. I went on an exchange with Elder Greep this week and had a good time. He serves with his companion Elder Figeroa in the Stake next door to ours. On Saturday Elder Guenther and I went to the Boutiful Temple. A married couple that Elder Guenther had help teach and convert were getting their endowments out and getting sealed and we were invited. President Olson gave us permission to go to Bountiful for the endowment session and the sealing. The whole experience was awesome. I have witnessed proxy sealings before, but this was my first real one. It was realy nice and I am thankful that I was given the opportunity to be there for their special day. Later that night we went to one of the ward Christmas parties. It was fun to see some of the members and mingle, but we didn't stay too long because our investigators didn't show up. We taught Debbie that night as well. I'm gonna miss teaching her when I leave this area. Debbie and JJ are really cool people and I have really enjoyed teaching her. She always asks great questions, and we have fun with them. I'm really excited that she is getting baptized. It's something that we've worked for for a while, and I can't wait to see her make that important step in the Gospel. We went to a members home on Sunday and watched the Christmas Devotional. I enjoyed it, but I would have loved to actually be there. I want to go see all the lights on Temple Square so bad, but it's not even possible because it is out of our mission. Oh well, I'll see it later I guess. We didn't make it to the Temple this morning. We got up and got all ready, and then our ride cancelled on us. It worked out though. I was able to still do my studies, write letters, and get a head start on the day. Well I love all of you so much and miss you tons. I hope that all of you are doing well. I keep you in my thoughts and prayers daily. Continue to share the Gospel with others...and help the missionaries out too. :) Every member a missionary. I am thankful to have the Gosple in my life, and to be a missionary and be able to share it with others. The church is true!!! I hope to hear from yall soon!~Elder Micheal WattsPS-It's snowing and it's so cold!

AJ's Baptism

K so there are 3 pictures here.-One is of us, Aj, and Brendan (Bishop's son, who baptized him)-Another of Aj, his sister Klonnie, and then Bishop's kids, Tara, Brendan, and Lauren.-Then the other is of Aj, Brendan, and Aj's mom Kelly.Enjoy!

December 2, 2009

Hey!So on wednesday night the police came to our apartment. They were looking for a missing 10 yr. old boy, but we didn't know anything about it so we couldn't help him. Kinda funny though that the police would come to a missionaries apartment. My companion and I had a great thanksgiving. We woke up and went to the Jensen's home to watch movies from 8am-12. They have a really nice home movie theatre, so we watched Up, Monsters vs. Aliens (my favorite), and Meet the Robinsons. We had a good time watching movies and hanging out with all the other missionaries. After that, we went home, I threw the bean dip together, cooked it, and we went to the Tidwells home for the afternoon. They all loved the bean dip. We were there from probably 1pm-5:30pm. We had other places we could have gone, but it was nice to just stay in one place and relax. One dinner on Thanksgiving was perfect. After that, we decided to hang out with the Kaysville East missionaries Elder Asplund and Elder Cordier. I had a great day and it was a lot of fun. I thought Monsters vs. Aliens was really funny. Yall need to buy that one! :) We picked up 2 new investigators this past week. Their names are Trena & Sergio, they live in Stonehedge, are in their 20's, and have been together for 6 yrs. Trena has met with missionaries before, and Sergio's mom is a member, but they aren't. We have taught them 3 lessons so far, and they are getting baptized on Dec.19th. But in order for them to get baptized, they need to get married first. They have a 2 yr old girl and another baby on the way, and they are living together so getting married first is something they have to do. I guess they have been wanting to get married for a long time, but haven't had the money to. The Bishop is going to marry them for free and the ward is putting the wedding on for them. Sister Bitner is doing the decorations for the reception, and I know it will be very nice because she doesn't do anything less than amazing. She's great...kinda over the top lol, but it's a good thing. Haha. Anyway, we are really excited because we have both of them getting baptized, and then 3 others in december before I leave. Debbie will be getting baptized on Dec. 12th, and so will Kurt...the little 9 yr old boy we have been teaching. Then AJ, Bishop Smith's nephew sometime in Dec. as well. This area in Layton that we cover is doing great. I love it, and it will be hard when I have to leave it in 3 weeks. I had an interview with President Olson yesterday. It went very well, and I felt good about it afterwards. He told me that if he could make me Senior companion right now, he would, but that there are other elders that need to have that opportunity first that have been out longer than me. He also told me that he thinks I would be a great trainer. I don't think that will be happening anytime soon though. Basically he told me that I will be getting transferred on Dec.23rd. I'll do whatever the Lord wants and whatever President asks me to do. Elder Asplund is going home for medical reasons. :/ He came out with me, so he's been out 5-6 months. He needs to have surgery on his ankle, but he said that he will be coming back once he recovers. I've been putting his name in the Temple, and keeping him in my prayers. I can't imagine having to face that decision to come home...it would be hard. We gave a talk in one of the ward sacrament meetings on sunday. The topic was missionary work...I think it went pretty well. My companion was talking about Noah and the flood, and he was like, "So Noah was a great prophet, and he pretty much baptized the whole earth, but I'm not sure if it really counts cause they all drowned." Hahaha. It was so funny, the way he said it too. Ya had to be there. Then later that night we were giving a lesson and talking about the sacrament and what it is, trying to get the kid to understand, and my companion said, "baptism is when you make promises with God, and when you take the sacrament, you renew those promises. It's kinda like when you make a meal, and then you have leftovers...so you microwave them." Haha. Does that make sense? My companion is funny sometimes when it comes to that kind of stuff. People just laugh when he says stuff like that. Anyway, our p-day got moved to Wednesday for this week only because we had interviews with President Olson on Tuesday. A member gave us some christmas lights so I hung them around our front door. People really get into christmas lights around here. A lot of people pay to have lights put on their homes professionally. I love this time of the year, but it's getting really cold. So for the bulletin board at the church, did the ward have a plaque made with my picture and everything like they have in the past? All the wards here to that right when a missionary leaves, and then they present it to them when they get home. The pumpkin bread was great. Thank you! :) I took one to the Tidwells when we went over for thanksgiving. I'm so glad to hear that yall are doing missionary work. That is so cool about the family the missionaries are teaching. That's the first I've heard of it. That would be awesome if you can be a fellowship family for them...and see them get baptized. Keep up the good work! :) I love you all so much. I am very thankful for each and every one of you. I love being a missionary. My testimony is strong. I know that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints is Christ's true church on the earth today. There's not a doubt in my mind. I hope that all of you are doing well. Keep in touch and let me know about all that is going on at home. Tell everyone I said hi. Love ya!~Elder Micheal Watts

Happy Thanksgiving! November 24, 2009

Hey!So a lot has happened since I emailed last week. One of the assistants to the President told me that I will be getting transferred next month. It will be hard to leave this area especially after being here for 6 months. I will be getting transferred 2 days before Christmas. This area is doing great. Anyway, we've picked up a few new investigators. One of them is an 11 year old boy named Aj. He is Bishop Smith's nephew, and has been going to church for over 3 years, but his mom never let him meet with missionaries and get baptized until now. He should be getting baptized the first week or so in December. We started teaching another guy named Walter and his 11 year old son Dj too. I'm thinkin' they might take a while to get ready for baptism, but we'll see. Our area has 3 more baptisms before this transfer ends so I'm excited about it. That will mean that we will have had a total of 14 in our area since I've been here! Holla! Haha. I love the work. We are still teaching Debbie and getting her ready to get baptized on Dec.12th. She is doing great...I love teaching her. Her husband JJ is getting active along the way as well and has great imput on the lessons. He served a mission and everything, but I'm not sure what happened along the way to make him go inactive. I was on exchanges in my area with Elder Asplund and we had a blast. We came out on our missions at the same time, but we didn't know each other before the mission. It's funny because we are both from California, we went to BYU-I at the same time, went to the same parties, and he was even at my apartment complex all the time, but we didn't meet until our missions. We both plan on going back to BYU-I and being roomates. The exchange we by way fast and we had a great day doing the work. We taught Debbie and JJ that night, and when we left, they told me that if I'm not going to be at one of their lessons, they don't want to meet. They want me to be there. When Debbie set her baptism date she asked me if I was going to be here still because she wants to make sure I am there. It made me feel really good. :) They are great people and I can't wait to see Debbie enter the waters of baptism. One of our 9 year old investigators Chase Atwood got baptized on saturday. It was a very nice service. Sister Smart, the grandmother, gave a great talk on the Holy Ghost, and before Chase was confirmed, Sister Pulham and some others did a beautiful musical number with a violin and singing. The song was, "I am a child of God." I could tell that Chase's mom, Jolene, could feel the Spirit. She has been inactive, but hopefully she will continue to come to church now that he has been baptized. After the baptism, they invited us to their home for lunch. We decided to go and we had a great time. I love the people in my area, it's definetly going to be hard to leave. This will be a place I will come back to a visit. So thursday is Thanksgiving, and we have that whole day off to spend with members, so this p-day is only a half p-day until 1pm. Our mission president said that we can watch Disney/Pixar, etc. movies that are rated G, and anything else needs to be approved. Our plan is to get together with other missionaries and watch some movies at a members home. The Jensen family has a really nice movie theatre in their home, and so from 8am-12 we are going to watch movies! We are going to watch Up!, Monsters vs. Aliens, and I'm not sure what else, but I'm excited. Then after that we will be going to the Tidwells for a few hours. We're gonna have our family favorite Bean Dip!!! Sister Tidwell is getting the stuff to make it and then I'm gonna put it together. Then later in the day I'm not sure what we will be doing quite yet. A lot of people have invited us, but we still need to finalize plans. Sleeping would be nice. Haha. We went to the Boutiful Temple this morning for the 6am session, which means I had to get up at 4:30am to get ready and get to the Temple on time. We went with Elder Asplund and Elder Cordier. After that, we went to Wal-Mart to get a few things, and then we went to Starbucks!!! Ahh it it was soooo good. I haven't had it in forever! It was amazing lol. I got the package you sent me...thank you, your the best! Anyway, the work is going well and my testimony is strong. I love you all and miss you so much. I want to wish everyone a Happy Thanksgiving. I am very thankful for each and every one of you. You mean so much to me, I don't know what I would do without you. I wish I could be there to celebrate with you on Thursday, but I will be keeping you in my thoughts. Tell everyone I said hi and that I love and miss them. Continue to share the Gospel with everyone. It is so important. You will be blessed greatly for doing the Lord's work. I love you! The church is true!!!Love, ~ Elder Micheal Watts

One of them is a big group picture of a few zones of the Ogden Utah Mission, and then the other is of Sister Falemoa and me. She is so funny lol, I love Samoan people. :)

November 17, 2009

Hey everyone, So on wednesday I went to Ogden to meet my new companion Elder Geunther. After we got supplies at the mission office, we went to lunch with the zone leaders, and then drove back to Layton. We've taught 3 or 4 lessons since then, and last night, Debbie told us that she wanted to get baptized on Dec.12th! Ahhh I'm so excited...it made me feel so good, I'm really happy. She asked me if I was still going to be here because she wanted to make sure I was there at her baptism. That might not have made a lot of sense but I don't have a lot of time to write in all the details. We've been having a ton of miracles happen in our area. We picked up a few new investigators last week, and things are going well in the area. We had a baptism on Saturday. Liz Beattie is 17 yrs old, and we taught her for almost a month. She had to get dunked 3 times cause her boyfriend messed up a few times lol. It was a nice service, and we are also helping her mom Julie get ready for baptism. My companion and I were able to participate in Liz's confirmation on sunday which was nice. Later on sunday we extended a Book of Mormon challenge to the entire sunday school class in one of the wards. There was a non member there and his 15 yr old daughter there when we did it, and afterwards, one of the former bishops invited them to meet with us and they accepted! We are meeting with them on thursday. Personally I am doing great...my testimony is strong and I love the work. I'll probably be leaving this area next transfer anyway, which is 2 days before Christmas. The Tidwells invited us over for Thanksgiving so I'm excited about that. We have another baptism coming up this saturday! His name is Chase, and he is 9 yrs old. He is ready and I'm excited for him. Then we should have at least a few more baptisms before the end of the transfer. The stake that I cover is awesome, I love it...it's on fire! I love the people, and my testimony has grown so much. I love you and miss you all so much. Continue to share the Gospel...do not pass up opportunities. Don't be afraid that it will mess things up, or think that it would be awqward to bring up the gospel, because think about how awqward it would be when you are in the Spirit World and your friend comes up to you and asks, "Why didn't you share the Gospel with me?" It is so important to do missionary work. I know that we can be greatly blessed for doing it. I love being a missionary! The church is true! ~ Elder Watts
Here's some more pics. The picture of us 4 missionaries standing up is LtoR: Elder Jeffery (my trainer...or they call it in the mission, "my daddy"), Elder Chantry ("my brother" since Jeffery trained him too), then me, and then I don't know the other Elder's name, but Jeffery is training again so this new greenie is "my brother" as well lol.) Then there is a picture of Elder Williams and I before he got transfered, and then there is also a picture of Sister Falemoa and I. She is so cool, and has an amazing voice. Anyway, I hope you like the pics.

Here's some pics. One is of the last zone I was in. The other two are from Liz's baptism. Enjoy!

Pictures from Micheal

Enjoy! The 3 pictures are with Jeff Carlson who just got baptized and then the other is our Zone a few days ago.

November 10, 2009

Hey!So we got transfer calls this morning. President Olson called at about 6:40am this morning and called my companion Elder Williams to be a Zone Leader in Boutiful so he is being transfered there. I will be staying here in Layton for another transfer. This means that at the end of the next transfer I will have been here for 6 months! It's bittersweet for both of us. We have a lot of fun together and are having a lot of success, but at the same time, it's nice to move somewhere new and learn and grow somewhere else. I guess it's just not time for me to leave yet. There must be something left here for me to do. My new companion is Elder Gunther. He has been out for a little over a year, and will be the new district leader. I don't really know anything else besides that so we'll see how it goes! Elder Asplund is coming to my district which should be fun...he came out with me and we had a lot of fun in the MTC together. Elder Demming is coming back to the district as well. He was here when I got here, got transferred, but now he is coming back. All of us will switch and get our new companions tomorrow. We picked up 2 new investigators on Monday. One of them is named Debbie Townsend. When we first met her she seemed like a member of the church already...she just looks and acts like one. She is married to a less active named JJ...they are probably in their 40's. She was a JW but hasn't practiced for over 10 years. I guess she has met with missionaries before but she felt pressured into baptism so she stopped. Things are going great now and she is getting close to baptism. We asked her to pray about a baptismal date for Nov.28th and so far she says she is feeling good about it. Debbie and her husband JJ are coming to church and things are going really well...I really enjoy teaching her. She is really progressing fast. The first time we met with her she told us that for the past two weeks she's felt like she needed to get baptized. As a missionary that's really good to hear. The other investigator that we picked up is a 9 year old boy named Chase. He has a baptismal date for Nov.21st. His mom and dad have been having marriage problems, and are inactive, so we are trying to get them active in the process of getting Chase ready for the 21st. It's going good so far! On Saturday one of our investigators Jeff Carlson (12 yrs. old) got baptized. The service was very nice. They had a beautiful musical number with the piano and violin, refreshments afterwards, and I think about 60 people were there. We even had 2 of our investigators that came to the baptism which was nice. Jeff got confirmed at the baptism and the family asked us to participate. There were soooo many priesthood holders in the circle it was crazyyyy! It was nice, but we could hardly squeeze in. After the baptism, we mingled for a while and then one of our investigators, Liz Beattie (17 yrs. old) got interviewd for her baptism this coming saturday. The Zone leaders came to the interview and it went great. My companion and one of the zone leaders had to go pick up a baptismal record, so Elder Gifford did the interview while I stayed with Julie and a one of our Ward Mission Leaders out in the foyer. We found out earlier that night that her mom Julie wasn't a member, and we thought she was the whole time. Oops. Anyway, I had a chance to talk to Julie during the interview. I started to talk to her and we talked about how she had met with missionaries before. She said she had stopped meeting with them because one of them told her that she was going to Hell. She told me she wanted to be baptized, but that she needed to quit smoking. She has been trying to quit already, so we gave her a Stop Smoking Workshop. After that I talked to her more about baptism. I told her that by following the workshop exactly, that she could get baptized on Nov.21st. We talked for a while about it all, and then I decided to use the comittment line for baptism and I committed her! She answered, "Yes!" Ahh I was so excited! It's hard to explain how the whole thing went, but it was amazing! You don't even know how cool it was. After Elder Gifford was done with Liz's interview, we interview Julie. Julie has been at all the lessons, so she's pretty much been taught everything. She passed the interview, and all she has to do is not smoke for 7 days and she can get baptized. We helped her get rid off all her smoking materials, and she has started the workshop. We are really excited for her! We found out yesterday that one of our investigators, Deona, might be going to jail for 6 months. She is 20 years old, single, and about 8 1/2 months pregnant. I guess her boyfriend got jumped and so to defend themselves she took a bat and hit one of the guys on the head and cracked his head open. Some lady saw her hit the guy, but didn't see them get jumped so it looked like she was the one attacking him. I guess it's gonna be a felony, so she might be going to Jail. She pleaded not guilty, so hopefully everything will work out. Our area is doing great! We still have 4 investigators with a date, and 4 other investigators. So far in the stake that we cover, we have had 10 baptisms in the past 3 months. This place is on fire, and I can't wait for more! I am enjoying the work, and my testimony is strong. I love you guys and miss you soooo much. The church is true! Spread the gospel! Every member a missionary. You don't have to have a name-tag to do missionary work. Hope to hear from yall soon! ~Elder Watts

Baptism Pictures

Group Picture: L to RElder Williams, Audrey Chadwick (Great Grandma), Lisa Cloyd (Grandma), Alason Geddes(Mother), Richard (Step Dad), Elder Watts. Then in the front on the left is Zakary Geddes, and then next to him is his brother Ricky.

Halloween Pictures

This was at a ward party and these girls wanted a picture with us. This was when I was on exchanges with Elder Gifford...one of our Zone Leaders. He is from California as well. He is really cool, we get along really well and have a lot of fun together.

Enjoy! The 3 pictures of the married couple dressed up is one of the Bishops and his wife in one of the wards we cover. They are really cool. Haha I couldn't believe they would get so dressed up. The Dead Elvis costume was for their ward party and then the other Goth costume was for Halloween day. Do you like their fake sleeve tatoos? Haha

November 3, 2009

Holla from Poo-tah!So this last week was great! I got to see Jenni & Terrell and the kids on Wednesday. It was awesome, but it felt kinda weird...almost like it wasn't real. They picked up some food for us for dinner and then we went to our apartment and visited for an hour. It was so nice to see them and to give them all a big hug. :) Rosie was able to break away from work for a few minutes to come and meet Jenni. I'm glad they we able to meet. Rosie is so cool...Gangster Style. It sucked to have to say goodbye but I am thankful for the opportunity. The visit didn't have that much of a negative impact on me. I have been able to continue to focus on the work and have success. On Thursday I went on exchanges in my area with Elder Cordier. I don't know why, but it seems like everytime I go on exchanges in my area or someone else's, all of our plans fall through lol. We also had Zone Study on thursday which was awesome. The Zone Leaders were really creative and we acted our the story in the scriptures and everything. It was a lot of fun, and it was cool to see the scriptures come alive. We did out weekly planning on Firday morning, and then Bro. & Sis. Mathis took us out to Olive Garden for lunch. It was sooo good, I got the usual. They are awesome people...we like them a lot. They are the ones that are taking me to the Dentist next week too. My companion Elder Williams filled out Transfer Evaluations on Friday as well. He is the District Leader so he evaluates everyone in the District. He told me that he talked to the Zone Leaders and they are all putting down for me to be transfered. So most likely I will be getting transfered on Nov. 11th. I've been here for 4 1/2 months so I think it's time to move on. It's bittersweet. I want to go somewhere new but at the same time I don't because I know so many people in this area. I'll do whatever the Lord wants me to do, It'll just be hard. Saturday was Halloween and we had a baptism!!! A little 9 year old boy named Zakary Geddes that we have been teaching got baptized. It was a very small service, not too many came except for his family and a few friends. It was a nice service though. Bro. Bitner and his wife did a great job conducting and with refreshments as always. Elder Williams baptized Zakary and I got to confirm him the next day in Sacrament Meeting. I was nervous about it because I had never done it before but it went well. Later on Halloween day we had to be in by 6pm so we went to the Snow's for about and hour and visited with them while they handed out candy. Sis. Snow made me Apple Cake w/Sauce! Ahh it was sooo good. After that we went to the Stake Center and the whole Zone got together and played games, etc. until about 9pm. We had a lot of fun. On Monday we had another Movie night at the Hubberd's home in their movie theatre. We had set up earlier for it and then it started at 7pm. The whole zone was included in the activity. One of our investigators came for the second time. His name is Jake Shilts and he is 16 years old. He said he could feel the Spirit ever stronger this time. His dad won't let him get baptized so he is gonna have to wait until he is 18. He told me last night that he wants me to be at he baptism, and asked me if I would be there when it happened. It felt so good to know that I've had that big of an impact on him to where he wants to get baptized, and that he wants me to be there. We'll see what happens. We went to the Bountiful Temple this morning and had a nice time. Things are going great here, and we have another baptism this coming saturday on the 7th. A kid named Jeff Carlson who we have been teaching is getting baptized. He is 12 years old and is really excited about his baptism. He has been going to church with his grandparents for a long time, so it hasn't been that hard to prepare him but it's still cool. Well I hope that everyone there is doing well. I love you all so much and miss you tons. The church is true! Spread the Gospel!!! Love, Elder Watts

October 27, 2009

Hey! So Elder Williams and I have had a good week here in Layton Utah. A few months ago we taught an inactive woman named Alason Geddes. We taught her all the lessons and have been able to activate her. She is married but was separated from her husband Richard for a while who is also inactive. They just got back together and now we are teaching him and trying to get him active. We've also been teaching her 9 year old son Zakary for the past month or so and he is getting baptized this saturday on Halloween! We also have 2 more baptisms coming up on Nov. 7th. One is a 16 year old girl names Liz, and the other is a 12 year old named Jeff. We're also teaching two people in our area that say that they've been baptized but nobody can find their records. If they can't find them, we might have to re-teach them and re-baptize them. On Saturday I went on exchanges in my area with Elder Figeroa. We had a good time, taught some lessons to a few investigators, and had some good contacts. On Nov. 2nd we are holding another movie night at the Hubbard's home in their movie theatre. We are going to be showing The Testaments, and there is going to be popcorn, nachos, ice cream, cookies, and probably some kind of drink. I made some flyers and we've been handing them out to members, recent converts, and investigators. It's been really effective and it's great because it is low pressure and the Spirit is very stong everytime. I hope that we have a good turn out this time...It will be the third time we've done it. We were able to go to the Ogden Temple this morning and had a nice time. We woke up to a little snow on the ground which was kinda cool but it sure was cold! I don't know how I'm gonna survive this winter lol. We are going to dinner with Bro. & Sis. Wilcox tonight. Then we have a new member lesson with Carlis at 6pm, Elder Williams has to do a baptismal interview for one of the Sisters investigators at 7pm, and then we have some other odds and ends planned for the rest of the night. Hopefully the weather won't get too crazy tonight. Everything here is going great. I am doing well and am happy. My testimony is strong and I am so thankful to be serving a mission. I love you all and miss you tons! The church is true! Spread the Gospel! Every member a missionary! ~Elder Watts

October 20, 2009

Hey! So this past week has been great. We had another baptism saturday! Her name is Becky Marquez, and the baptismal service was very nice. Bro. Bitner, the ward mission leader conducted the service, and his kids sang a musical number which was really nice. Then his wife did the refreshements and made it look really nice for Becky. The Spirit was strong and Becky was very happy. The white baptismal clothes we had for her were a little baggy so she did it gangster style haha. We were doing a little trackting the other day and we ran into this funny inactive lady of the church. I'm guessing she is single cause somehow we started talking about her house and how long she had lived there and she said, "This place is almost paid for honey! I'm getting my degree, gonna rent this place out top & bottom, and I got my eye on a condo is Cabo. Brand new, granite countertops. I'm gonna sit back, and let a Gabbana Boy rub my feet! Ahh! I think God is a woman and she's black!" That's what she said, but then she said she was just joking about the last part. Hahaha. It was funny...you had to be there. We had zone conference this last wednesday. I really enjoyed it, and the assistants and President and his wife gave excellent trainings. I was able to see some other missionaries that I came out with which was fun. At lunch is when I asked President is Jenni & the fam could come see me for an hour over dinner. He said yes! Booya! Haha I'm really excited! It'll be fun to see them on the 28th. We picked up a couple new investigators and a couple new baptismal dates this week. The Lord is jsut really blessing us in this area and I am so thankful to be used as an instrument in God's hands to do his work and to bring people into the Gospel. A guy recently got home from his mission and talked in one of the wards here, and I liked something that he said. "Although we aren't together with our families right now, we are helping families be together forever, and it's worth it." I agree. Sometimes it's tough, but it's all worth it in the end. We had a lesson with this little 9 year old girl yesterday and let me tell you, I didn't expect what happened. Her mom is 30 I think, single, they live in Stonehedge, and the mom is inactive. Briana is the girls name, and she went to the back to ask her mom something because she wouldn't come out for the lesson, and when she went back there the got in a huge fight! It's was intense. I was afraid Crystal, the mom, was gonna come out in the living room and do something to us. They were yelling and screaming at each other, the mom threw something, and then screamed at Briana to get out of her room, and then she slammed the door. Drama! It was crazy. Briana came out crying, but soon after cheered up cause she was excited to see us. I felt like leaving and coming back, but her fellowshippers wanted to stay. We said a prayer to invite the Spirit, and the lesson went pretty well, I just felt bad for the little girl. I went back to Dr.Grua's for a follow up appointment yesterday. All the pain is gone now and he said everything looks good. He checked for cavities and I have 3 small ones. He told me he would take care of them for me and not charge me anything..that we would just accept whatever the insurance covered. He is really nice and I have an appointment to go back on Nov. 10th. I take really good care of my teeth and brush & floss all the time so idk what the deal is. That's exciting that Garrett got the Aaronic Priesthood! Tell him congrats for me! I'm glad that Grandpa was able to stand in on it. :) Thanks for the goodie box!!! The cookies and popcorn balls are amazing. I put the halloween docorations up that you sent too. Sis. Landerman sent me a goodie box too, it was so thoughtful of her. I've shared some of my treats with Rosie. She feeds us on Tuesday's and I give her treats lol...it's funny, she loves it. We don't have any baptisms coming up this saturday, but we might have 1 or 2 on Halloween! Our area is doing well, but I think that I might get transferred next transfer which is on Nov. 11th. We'll see what happens though. I'll do whatever the Lord wants me to do. We went to the Boutiful Temple this morning and did a session. I enjoyed it and love sitting in the Celestial room. Well I better go. We are going to go get haircuts at some salon place that does it for free for missionaries. I love you all so much and miss you! I keep you in my thoughts and prayers daily. I am so thankful to be serving a mission at this time. The church is true! Keep me updated on all yalls missionary efforts! Every member a missionary!!! Love you! ~ Elder Watts

Pictures!!

October 20, 2009

Hey!So this past week has been great. We had another baptism saturday! Her name is Becky Marquez, and the baptismal service was very nice. Bro. Bitner, the ward mission leader conducted the service, and his kids sang a musical number which was really nice. Then his wife did the refreshements and made it look really nice for Becky. The Spirit was strong and Becky was very happy. The white baptismal clothes we had for her were a little baggy so she did it gangster style haha. We were doing a little trackting the other day and we ran into this funny inactive lady of the church. I'm guessing she is single cause somehow we started talking about her house and how long she had lived there and she said, "This place is almost paid for honey! I'm getting my degree, gonna rent this place out top & bottom, and I got my eye on a condo is Cabo. Brand new, granite countertops. I'm gonna sit back, and let a Gabbana Boy rub my feet! Ahh! I think God is a woman and she's black!" That's what she said, but then she said she was just joking about the last part. Hahaha. It was funny...you had to be there. We had zone conference this last wednesday. I really enjoyed it, and the assistants and President and his wife gave excellent trainings. I was able to see some other missionaries that I came out with which was fun. At lunch is when I asked President is Jenni & the fam could come see me for an hour over dinner. He said yes! Booya! Haha I'm really excited! It'll be fun to see them on the 28th. We picked up a couple new investigators and a couple new baptismal dates this week. The Lord is jsut really blessing us in this area and I am so thankful to be used as an instrument in God's hands to do his work and to bring people into the Gospel. A guy recently got home from his mission and talked in one of the wards here, and I liked something that he said. "Although we aren't together with our families right now, we are helping families be together forever, and it's worth it." I agree. Sometimes it's tough, but it's all worth it in the end. We had a lesson with this little 9 year old girl yesterday and let me tell you, I didn't expect what happened. Her mom is 30 I think, single, they live in Stonehedge, and the mom is inactive. Briana is the girls name, and she went to the back to ask her mom something because she wouldn't come out for the lesson, and when she went back there the got in a huge fight! It's was intense. I was afraid Crystal, the mom, was gonna come out in the living room and do something to us. They were yelling and screaming at each other, the mom threw something, and then screamed at Briana to get out of her room, and then she slammed the door. Drama! It was crazy. Briana came out crying, but soon after cheered up cause she was excited to see us. I felt like leaving and coming back, but her fellowshippers wanted to stay. We said a prayer to invite the Spirit, and the lesson went pretty well, I just felt bad for the little girl. I went back to Dr.Grua's for a follow up appointment yesterday. All the pain is gone now and he said everything looks good. He checked for cavities and I have 3 small ones. He told me he would take care of them for me and not charge me anything..that we would just accept whatever the insurance covered. He is really nice and I have an appointment to go back on Nov. 10th. I take really good care of my teeth and brush & floss all the time so idk what the deal is. That's exciting that Garrett got the Aaronic Priesthood! Tell him congrats for me! I'm glad that Grandpa was able to stand in on it. :) Thanks for the goodie box!!! The cookies and popcorn balls are amazing. I put the halloween docorations up that you sent too. Sis. Landerman sent me a goodie box too, it was so thoughtful of her. I've shared some of my treats with Rosie. She feeds us on Tuesday's and I give her treats lol...it's funny, she loves it. We don't have any baptisms coming up this saturday, but we might have 1 or 2 on Halloween! Our area is doing well, but I think that I might get transferred next transfer which is on Nov. 11th. We'll see what happens though. I'll do whatever the Lord wants me to do. We went to the Boutiful Temple this morning and did a session. I enjoyed it and love sitting in the Celestial room. Well I better go. We are going to go get haircuts at some salon place that does it for free for missionaries. I love you all so much and miss you! I keep you in my thoughts and prayers daily. I am so thankful to be serving a mission at this time. The church is true! Keep me updated on all yalls missionary efforts! Every member a missionary!!! Love you!~Elder Watts

October 13, 2009

Hey!This past week has been a great week. On Wednesday, Aaron, who comes out with us a lot got his mission call. We went over to join his family to watch him open it...he has been called to serve in Chile! That's where the new Temple is being built right?! It was really fun to see the excitement on his face. Our zone also had interviews with President Olson on Wednesday, my interview went well. On Thursday I went on exchanges with Elder Greep in his area. It was pretty uneventful and laid back because Elder Greep had sprained his ankle really bad so he can't walk very fast. They don't have a car either and he can't ride a bike with the condition of his ankle. We had a good time together though. Saturday was Jaden & Chandlers baptism. It was a very nice service, and I could definetly feel the Spirit. Bro. Drake, the Ward Mission Leader, did a great job putting everything together. The Young Women sang "Sisters Rejoice" and Bro. Drake played the guitar and sang a song...it was really nice. I baptized Jaden and Elder Williams Baptized Chandler. I was nervous that I'd have to dunk Jaden more than once since she is so tall but it all worked out and we got it right on the first try. I am hoping that their mom Stephanie could feel the Spirit and will want to meet with us. On Sunday, Jaden & Chandler were confirmed in the Peacefield ward. I was able to bear my testimony in two different wards this past sunday which was nice. Funny Story: We were in the Aspen Cove ward on Sunday and the meeting hadn't started yet. I was leaning against the wall at the door opening of the Chapel when this old lady came up to me. She got really close to me and put her hand on my side...the side against the wall. I was thinking what is this lady doing? She's feelin' me up! Haha. I think when this happened I was like, "What are you doing?" She didn't say anything during the whole time. Turns out she was just trying to slip a $20 bill in my pocket but it didn't seem like that at first lol. On Monday (yesterday), we met with Becky. She is doing awesome and is getting baptized this Saturday at 10am. We are really excited! She has been so prepared by the Lord for the Gospel. We also had the opportunity to do service at the Ogden Temple! We got to the Temple at 10am yesterday and planted flowers in the flowerbeds. I guess they re-do them twice a year so we did that for a few hours and then lunch was provided. It was fun to do service on Temple grounds. :) This morning we went to the Bountiful Temple to do a session, then we ran some other errands. It's been a great week and I can't wait to see what happens this coming week. I love you and can't wait to hear from all of you soon!~Elder Watts

September 29, 2009

Hey!So this past week has been awesome. On Wednesday we taught Carlis one of the new member lessons. She was beaming...there is something different about her now that she is baptized. She told me while we were there that at the beginning, she was mad, and wanted to know why I kept pestering her, but she told me that now she thanks me for it, that she owes it all to us, that we never gave up on her. It was great to hear her say that, and to hear her refer to us as her friends. :) On Thursday we had an amazing miracle. The mission office called us and gave us a referell for a lady named Becky Marquez. We gave her a call and set up an appointment to meet with her later that day. When we went over and taught her we got to know her better. Turns out, she has been trying to get in contact with missionaries for almost a month now. She has gone to Temple Square, had tours and watched all the movies there, has a Book of Mormon and has started reading it. She says that she knows it is true too! When we committed her for baptism, she told us of course, that she has been waiting for us. Ahhhh!!! :D She is getting baptized October 17th! She is so prepared for the Gospel. She has done a lot of studying and knows a lot already. We are so thankful. On Friday we had dinner with the Nordgrans. They are a pretty young family that I know would get along really well with Jenni & Terrell. They even have a little boy named Gavin. On Saturday we had another miracle happen. We went over to a members home, and previously they had told us about one of their unbaptized grandsons who is 12 yrs. old. Well when we went by he was there, we taught him the Restoration, and committed him for baptism. He has a date in October as well. I guess he has been going to church for a while and wants to do it. On Sunday we gave a talk in Sacrament meeting in the Peacefield Ward. Then we taught Relief Society in the Layton Park ward about missionary work. It went well and was a lot of fun. After that we had a baptismal service for one of our investigators Evan Jones. It was a nice service, the Spirit was strong, I was able to give the talk on the Holy Ghost and Elder Williams was able to do the confirmation. Brother Handy, a member of the ward performed the baptism. Later that night we taught the Anderson kids in the Snow's home. Sis. Snow told me you guys had been emailing back and fourth and showed me the email...it was fun. We found out this morning that I am staying here in Layton for another transfer, as well as my companion Elder Williams. I think I would have been happy either way if I had left or stayed so it's all good. We are having a lot of success and are having fun. I think we have 10 investigators and 4 of them have baptismal dates. Things are going really well and my testimony is strong. I love you guys and miss you. The church is true!!!Love, Elder Watts

September 22, 2009

Hey!Alright so this past week was awesome. Last Tuesday we went to the Tidwells home for dinner and I was able to watch Gavin's baptism dvd that Jenni sent me. It was great...I loved it. Sis. Tidwell said that Jenni was really pretty and that she looks like Sara Evans. On Wednesday, Rosie brought us dinner, it was very good as usual. I got a letter from mom too. I love getting mail lol. On Friday was Alan & Jessica's Wedding that the Oak Hills ward put on for them. Bishop Hatch married them and there was a little reception at the church afterwards. The ceremony was held in the Relief Society room where about 70-80 people attended. Afterwards the reception was in the cultural hall. There was a dinner, cake, and everything. Haha my companion and I even tried to catch the garder when Alan threw it lol. I almost had it but this little kid got it before me. Ehh it's okay, I don't plan on getting married for a few years anyway. It was a nice wedding, the ward did a great job. On Saturday was Alan & Jessica's Baptism, as well as Carlis' baptism. Bro & Sis Coleman did a great job on the program. I let them look at Gavin's baptism program to go off of to make it. The service went very well, and the spirit was so strong. My baptismal pants were really loose though. Mom told me to get a bigger size when I bought them in case I gained weight, but I've done the opposite so they were pretty loose. Carlis was baptized first and I was able to perform it. It was amazing. I only had to dunk her once too, I was worried about that. It went smoothly. After I baptized her we both got out of the font and we looked at each other from either side of the font and Carlis had a big smile on her face and said, "that was wonderful." She was so happy. I am so thankful that she has made it to this point, has been able to make this change in her life, and that I have been able to have a part in it. It's a big testimony builder. I was also able to participate in her confirmation. Bishop Hatch confirmed her and it was one of the best one's I've heard. Carlis was crying and the Spirit was strong. Later Saturday night was the Adult Session of Stake Conference. We were able to attend and the whole meeting was based on missionary work. My companion and I were even able to bear our testimonies. I think I liked the adult meeting more than the General Session. The General Session was held in Boutiful at this building that the church owns kinda like the Tabernacle. It was pretty big, and probable could seat 5,000 people. The General session was nice, but not as good as the Adult Meeting. We went to Stake Conference with the Snow's, and then afterwards went to their home for dinner. They are a great family, we really like them. They are probably in their late 30's and are actually from Fresno California. They have 4 or 5 kids and are just a really cool family. We are teaching 2 kids in their home that live next door to them. The work in our area is going good. We have another baptism this coming Sunday. It's a 9 year old boy named Evan Jones. We're excited about it. The baptismal service is going to be a little different this time though because Evan doesn't want a lot of people there. Idk why, I guess he is shy. We'll do whatever he wants when it comes to the baptismal service if it means he'll get baptized. My companion and I are having fun together. We get along pretty well, and are having success in our area. I've got some fun pictures and videos that I am going to send back on the flash drive for you so be expecting that. Can you send me a list of when people's b-day's are and other occasions? I don't want to miss anything. Mom I need you to check my voicemail on my cell phone to make sure there isn't any messages about donations for Amy Johnson...I just want to make sure. That bank may have left me a message. My password is 2580. Also, I need Alicia is email a digital copy of the flyer for the fundraiser to Steve Handy. His email address is sghandy@comcast.net. He has his own business and has some big accounts/clients that might want donate to the Johnson Family. I'm not getting involved in it, don't worry...it won't take away from the work. He just said that he would be willing to try out a few things. If Alicia doesn't have it anymore, it should be in my email or on my Facebook. Just make sure she does it asap. Thanks. :) I also need addresses of: Heidi Aponte, Kelsey Black, and Ashley Ysasaga. If Jenni could get those for me that would be great. You asked me what cd's I don't have that you could send me. You can send me anything by Josh Groban, Jim Brickman (or others like him), Piano music, other Enya cd's, or even Yanni. Mom, I got a letter from you on Wednesday, and then I think I got the package of cookies on Thursday. There were amazing! I'm thinkin' you need to send me more! :) They were fresh and everything, they didn't even melt. I also got some letters from you on friday as well. Well things here are going well. My testimony is strong and I am loving the work. We went to the Ogden Temple this morning and that was nice...I was really tired though. Transfers are a week from tomorrow and I won't know what is going to happen until Tuesday (the day before). I hope you guys are doing well. I love you and miss you! The church is true! :D I can't wait to hear from you next week. ~Elder Watts

September 15, 2009: Letter to Family

Hey everyone! This last week was a great week. We picked up 5 new investigators, had one baptism, and I get to baptize Carlis this Saturday!!! Ahh I'm really excited. One of our new investigators is named Trena. We've been trying to teach her for forever and she finally agreed. It's going well so far. Another one we picked up is named Ashley. She is a single mom in her 20's that lives in Stonehedge. We've taught her once and hope to meet with her again soon. She has a baptismal date for October 3rd. On Thursday I went on exchanges with Elder Quanstrom. We were at a doctors appointment for him all morning it seemed like. He's having some hard core headaches, etc. He goes home in a few weeks. He's so trunky it's rediculous. It's really annoying cause he always tells us how much time he has left. It's just going to make time go by slower for him. Whatever. Another one of the investigators we picked up is a 16 yr. old guy that is friends with a member in the Oak Hills ward. He seems pretty cool and open to the Gospel. On Friday we went to lunch with Bro. Child to Cafe Rio. That place is sooo good. We go there with him every week it seems like. After lunch we taught a lady named Sandy and when we asked if we could have a prayer with her, she said yes, but that when she prays she kneels in a circle and holds hands. Haha it was funny. I don't know if anything will happen with her though cause she's 7th day advenist. Right before that lesson with Sandy we saw someone get arrested in Stonehedge lol. It was funny. This is random but my companion and I say that we are the baptism crashers. Kinda like wedding crashers that go for the single women, but instead, we go for the non-members haha. Anyway, on Saturday Bro. & Sis Mathis took us out to lunch at Olive Garden. We had a hot artichoke spinach dip for the appetizer, I had Chicken Alfredo for the main dish, and then I had italian Chocolate Gelato for dessert. It was so good. I had been craving Olive Garden ever since we had it the day I went into the MTC. It was very nice of them to take us out. After that we did some work in the area, but at 4pm, we went to the church to start getting ready for Kaitlyn Hamblin's baptism. We had started filling the font earlier, but the fam needed help with other things. It was a great service, and about 40 people came. They even had a dinner for everyone at the church afterwards. On Sunday we gave a talk in the Oak Hills ward, taugh Young Mens in the Aspen Cove Ward, and taugh Relief Society for about 15 minutes in the YSA ward. We also got to participate in Kaitlyn's confirmation. Later that night we picked up more investigators. We have been having a lot of success from the members and from working with them. It's worth it to invest time in them. On monday I went on exchanges again with Elder Smith. It was a good day and we had another movie night with refreshements at a members home. We showed The Testaments and invited investigators to come. The Spirit was so strong there. Oh and Elder Smith and I got soaked in the rain earlier that day. It was fun though. We went to the Ogden Temple this morning and did an endowment session. It was nice. Then we went and got something to eat and went to Wal-Mart. We are going to the Tidwells for dinner tonight. Things here are going well. Our area is doing a lot better and we have baptisms set up for the next 4 weeks! My testimony is strong and I am doing well. I put all yalls name in the Temple every week and keep you in my thoughts and prayers daily. I love you and miss you guys. I hope to hear from you soon. The church is true!~Elder Watts

New Photos

Elder Smith and Elder Watts caught in a rainstorm.
Baptism of Kaitlyn

September 15, 2009: Letter to Alicia

Hey!It sounds like you guys are really busy with everything. That's so good that the missionaries challenged you to give a BofM to someone. Something that you and James should study is Preach My Gospel. It's something that can really help you be a great missionary, and it's not just for us out on missions, it's for members too. If you don't have one, get one. Transfers are in 2 weeks. I don't know what is going to happen. I could stay or I could go. We'll see what happens. I'm putting my faith in the Lord that he will inspire the leaders to make the right decisions. Alicia, it sounds like you are crazy busy. That's good, but make sure you have time to relax and not only recharge physically, but spiritually as well. It's so important that we keep our foundations strong. It's rained in Chico already? Is it still hot? It's started to rain here and the leaves are changing colors. Well I better go but I'll write more in a letter in get it in the mail soon. I get to baptize Carlis this Saturday! I'm so excited. Things are going well and my testimony is strong. I love you and hope to hear from you soon. ~Elder Watts

September 8, 2009

Hey yall!So I've decided to try something different this week. Instead of trying to email everyone while I'm here in the Family History Center, I'm going to write one mass email for everyone. I'll print out everyone's emails and then write hand written letters back to everyone's individual emails they send me. So a lot has happened since I last emailed. Last Wednesday we took one of our investigators, Carlis, to a baptism so that she could see what it is going to be like for her. After the baptism we took her to a members home and watched Finding Faith in Christ. She really enjoyed the evening and could feel the Spirit. She is excited for her baptismal date on Sept. 19th. She might have be baptize her too! :) On Thursday I went on exchanges with Elder Greep from the Stake next door to us. He came to our area while my companion went in their area. It was fun and we had a good time. Elder Greep waves to everyone though lol....like every single person that drives by, even if they don't wave first. It seemed like he was always waving. It was funny. I wouldn't ever do it though haha. We didn't have a dinner appointment that night so Brother Killpack brought us Olive Garden at our apartment for dinner. It was soooo good. I haven't had Olive Garden since the day I went into the MTC. We picked up a new investigator this week too. His name is Evan Jones and is about 9 or 10 years old. He has a date for later this month, can't remember exactly though. On Friday our zone had interviews with President Olson. My interview went really well and we had a nice visit for about 20 minutes. This last Saturday was sooo long. It was the holiday weekend so we weren't able to set up any appointments for the day. We ended up going to auxilaries homes and visiting the youth to try and find more people to teach. It was a long day but I think we used our time effectively. On Sunday we taught the young men in the Oak Hills ward. We of course talked about missionary work and taught them how to invite their friends to meet with us. Carlis was at church as always, and loved fast & testimony meeting. I was going to bear my testimony but one of the counselors of the bishop gave a short talk on what a testimony really is, and then they has selected people to bear their testimonies...I think to set an example for all of the members. On Labor day (yesterday), we had to push a baptism for one of our 9 year old investigators back 1 month. Kyana's baptism was supposed to be this Saturday, but there is a bunch of family problems going on so it's not going to happen until October. It sucks cause Kyana is ready but there isn't anything we can do about it. We set up another appointment to start teaching another little 9 or 10 year old. It seems like a lot of our work is with kids and part members families. Haha k so me and Elder Williams were walking down the street yesterday and this guy on a bike rode up to this house and got off the bike across the street and when he was looking our way Elder Williams waved at him and the guy shook his head at us and then went inside. It was funny lol. We've been teaching this guy named Brunell Marshall, and his wife has been baptised, but he hasn't. He's been taught everything but needs to quit smoking. We have a Stop Smoking Workshop that we are going to start with him this Saturday that I hope will work. I've noticed that in this area, we teach a lot of African Americans and a lot of little kids. I forgot to tell you when I was writing about Carlis, but she calls me Crazy Elda Watts hahaha. Idk why exactly but it's funny and I love it. She's been my favorite investigator so far. We went to the Bountiful Temple this morning. I love going to the Temple every week. I want to keep going each week after my mission too if I can pull it off. I actually wouldn't mind working/volunteering in the Temple. I think it would be great. Doesn't Aaron Watts do that? Anyway, Stake conference is coming up on the 19th & 20th. The Stake Presidency might have us talk for a few minutes or share our testimony so we'll see what happens. I think it'd be cool. I guess the theme is going to concentrate a lot on missionary work. My companion and I are giving a talk in the Oak Hills ward this sunday. I enjoy speaking in Sacrament Meetings. We do have one baptism scheduled for this Saturday for Katlyn Hamblin. She is 9 years old and her mom Natalie is already a member. They are really hard to get a hold of but we finally set it all up so I'm excited. Missionaries before us did a lot of the teaching but it will still be cool to be a part of it. I haven't gotten the package you sent yet. Hopefully it will come later today. I got Amy Johnson's thank you note. I sent her a letter back. Hey it's so weird cause we are trying to teach this 13 year old kid named Alex Johnson. We've set up a few appointments with him and it's been so weird to see that name in my planner because it makes me think of Alex everytime I see it lol. Is Jenni and Alicia keeping my Facebook and Blog updated? Yall should post these letters on there. I still need Heidi Aponte's address. Can Jenni get that for me? She sent me a letter but I need an address to send back to. I hope everyone is doing well. I put everyone's names in the Temple this morning. :) Things are going well here. I am having a fun time with my companion and am enjoying the work. We have been focusing on member involvement in missionary work and it is starting to pay off. I love you guys and miss you so much. I keep you in my prayers daily. The church is true!!! I can't wait to hear from you guys. Let me know what you think about this whole mass email thing. I'll still write letters home to everyone's emails but I thought that maybe one big letter would be better. Ler me know what you think. Oh and I'm still trying to find someone that can make cd's of all my pics and videos so I can send them to you. Love ya! -Elder Watts

August 25, 2009: Letter

Hey!So last wednesday was transfer day. We went to the Classic Fun Center which is kinda like a Cal Skate. It was fun. I tried to roller blade for the first time and I think I lasted for about 3 minutes. It was so embarassing lol. You don't even know. I had to hold on to everyone and I almost fell and everything haha. Definetly something I'm not good at. My new companion Elder Williams is pretty cool, he kinda looks like Eminem a little bit. A car drove by the other day blaring Eminem and it reminded me of Seth and all those late nights picking him up downtown. :) He has been out for 14 months so he's my greenie buster. We get along pretty well. He pops his fingers all the time though which is pretty annoying. The Temple dedication was great! We went to the 9am session at the Stake Center. All the church meetings were cancelled just for the dedication. We were walking there and it was raining and I told my companion, "wouldn't it be nice if someone stopped and gave us a ride?" and then right after I said that, someone did! It was cool. Have yall ever heard of Temple Riders? They are a bunch of people that ride around on motorcycles with chuch clothes underneath their leathers and go and see all the temples. Just an fyi for ya haha. We've been trying to teach this lady Andrea lately. She wants to be a cop but seems like she's on Speed so idk what's gonna happen. She's really funny and cool so I'd like to start meeting with her. She lives in the Stonehedge apartments...pretty ghetto and kinda weird sometimes but a lot of our work is in them. We were trackting the other day and we rang the door bell at this house and the kid came to the door, looked through the window, opened the door about 2 inches, said "no thanks", shut the door and locked it lol. It was funny. It's interesting how Heavenly Fathers makes us laugh and cheers us up. We are giving 2 talks in two different wards this coming sunday. One on the 9th article of faith and the other on missionary work. Wish us luck! A few days ago we chased down a guy to talk to him. He was walking in front of us so he didn't see us running but it was fun. Nothing ended up happening but it was funny to think about ppl that may have been watching us chase a guy down to do a contact. Okay I've got something cool to tell you. Sister Phillips is a lady we contacted in the Skyline apartments which are similar to Stonehedge, but not as ghetto. Anyway, we contacted her when I first got here, and we've been visiting with her and talking to her about the gospel ever since. She was already a member, but inactive. After we met her and kinda taught her she started coming back to church and has been doing great ever since. She is getting ready to get her Temple Recommend too I think. She told us the other day that because of us she has been going back to church, and that we have really helped her in the Gospel and with her testimony. She goes to church every week now. She told us that she will never be able to repay us for what we have done for her. I can't explain how amazing it felt to hear that. It feels so good to know that I've helped someone get back into church and come unto Christ. :) Things are going well here in Lay-town. We went to the Temple this morning and that was really nice. That's exciting to hear about the property that dad has been trying to buy from Doug Snarr. I hope he can get it! That would be so cool, as well as the door shop! I'm gonna send you more pictures in the mail today. I'll try to get a cd to yall as well...I need a member to help me out with that. In answer to some of the questions, we have 9 wards that we attend, and we usually go to 3 per week. We have 2 little girls with baptismal dates coming up. One of Sept. 5th and the other on the 12th. Jack is potty training?! Aww haha. I got a hair cut today at a salon that does it for free for missionaries. It looks great. K well I better write everyone else before I have to go. I'll write more in a letter later and send it to you with pictures. I love you and miss you sooo much. I'm keeping you in my prayers daily. The church is true!Love,Micheal

August 18, 2009: Letter

Elder Watts with Mission President and his wife
Transfers are tomorrow. We found out today what is going to happen. My companion (trainer) is moving to Bountiful and I am staying here in Layton. Elder Williams is going to be my new companion and taking over as District leader. He was in our zone so I know him already. He's really funny so I'm sure we'll have a great time. Thanks for the letters and pictures from your primary class. It was fun to get it in the mail. We got our tickets to the Temple dedication and plan on going to that this sunday. Do you have yours already? I hope so! Well I love you and can't wait to hear from you next week. Miss you. Love you forever. The church is true!