Area No. 1: Layton, Utah

Dear Family & Friends,

I've been in the mission field almost a week now. The day we left the MTC was nice. All 11 of us got to ride in the bus to the Ogden Utah mission office. We met the mission president, President Olsen & Sister Olsen. They are really nice, and will be great leaders in the mission. We had a lunch when we got there and then had an orientation. We then went to the mission home and had a nice dinner. We then had another orientation/fireside. We spent the night there and then the next day we met our trainers and were assigned our areas. My companion/trainer is Elder Jeffrey..he's great and has been out 8 months.. Everyone raves on about him and say's he's the best....so far so good! He's from the Sacramento California area too. We've been getting along well and have been having some great experiences. We are serving in Layton Utah. Our apartment is actually pretty nice. It's fairly new and is a two story apartment with two bedrooms and 1.5 baths. We don't have a car, so we're walking and on bikes. I think I've lost a few pounds so that's good. The members are amazing here. They are so willing to help all the time. We get honked at and waved at a million times a day, and we are given rides all the time. I think Bro. & Sis. Drake are my favorite so far. They are just really nice people...they are willing to help in any way they can. They dropped off groceries to my companion and I the other night which was very nice of them...we are going to send a thank you note in the next day or two. I am really starting to love the members and investigators here. It took me a few days to get to know everyone, but I'm starting to know everyone by name and I'm starting to get the hang of it. We have had some really spiritual experiences where we've been able to see the Spirit work through us and to feel the Spirit strongly. We taught a lesson to this lady named Sharene and she was crying the whole time....it's was really amazing. We have an appointment to go back and teach her and her husband. The other day we went to this guy Wes's house who is going through a hard time and we sang him some hymns and it was really cool. We each sang our favoite song together and I think by the time we were on the last song I couldn't even sing...the Spirit was really strong at that point. We've had other great experiences as well but I'll have to save them for later. We had dinner at the Vanwagoners and the guy said he served with Terrell which was really cool. I told him to call you but idk if he did or not. We usually have dinner every night. When we go out to lunch people that we don't even know pay for our meals which is awesome haha. I love it. I ran into Sis. Penman or whatever her name is at the mall today. It was cool to see her. She's supposed to be calling you. Today was p-day and I went shopping but my card from the church wasn't working so I had to use my debit card. I'm gonna get the money off the card though to get my money back. We went to the Bountiful Temple this morning which was really nice. It was my second time since the Temple was closed while I was in the MTC. After that we went and got something to eat and then went shopping. I bought two more short sleeve shirts cause it's hot here. We then went to Wal-Mart and got odds and ends, groceries, etc. Then, our zone got togther and went to Toads in Ogden, which is like a fun land with go cards and laser tag & stuff. We just did Laser tag the whole time...it was really fun. I'm really beginning to love my district and zone. I have to admit, i'm still trying to get used to everyone saying they love each other and hugging all the time but it's whatever. I really miss my district from the MTC...it was hard to leave them, we had become good friends. My companion said to send letters & packages to the mission office through United States Postal Service, and then they will forward it to our apartment for free. If you really want to send things to our apartment, I don't have the address with me so I think you can call the mission office and get it from them. But the mission office address should be in my packet mom copied off. Call first to make sure though. Everything is going well. It's hard work and overwhelming at times but I am having a good time. My testimony is growing a lot. I miss everyone like krazzzyyyyy! I love all of you so much. Tell everyone I said hi! I think from now on I'll just be sending one email to everyone. It's just too hard to write everyone a personal letter...I hate to say it, but I don't have time. Make sure to email me at this email address and then I can read them and include responses in one email. I'll try my best though. I love all the letters I've been getting. Jenni has been doing the best so far. He letters are long and freakin' hilarious so keep 'em comin'! I wish I could write more but I'm down to the wire with time. Email me back with all your questions and I'll try to answer them next time. I'm trying to get a cd made of pictures and videos....hopefully a member can help me out with that. We'll see. Anyway, I love you guys and miss you! I feel bad for not writing very much but I'll try to be better next Tuesday, we just had tons to do and not enough time to do it. I hope to hear from all of you soon. Keep me updated on everything. Yall can still send regualar letters too, just make sure I get them before next Tuesday so I can respond to them in the emails. The church is true! I'll ttyl!

-Elder Watts