Hey! Yeah it seems like it's been forever since I have heard from anyone...I guess it has been 2 weeks. I am doing well. That's cool that my mission president sent you the pictures, hopefully they looked okay. Haha yeah President & Sis. Olsen are short, I wasn't standing on anything. It sounds like Alicia is doing a good job on my blog, I can't wait to see pics of it. She told me she was going to send me a package. If yall want to send anything, send it to the mission office and then they will forward it to my apartment, that way, my address will be the same during my whole mission. I'm glad you saw the church news...cool huh! A member told me about it but didn't have it anymore. We went to the distribution center and I found it so I bought 3 copies haha. :) It sounds like it's been nice to have the Denver Watts' there. How did Elaine and Sarah like their trip? Tell them they need to send me pictures!!! Is Grandpa home now? Is he doing any better? I'm keeping everyone in my prayers. We went to the Ogden Temple for an endowment session this morning which was really nice. I could really feel the Spirit in the Celestial room. I put everyone's names on the prayer role, along with some friends. I'm so sad about Meg. I knew she probably wouldn't be there when I came home. I didn't think that I would be this sad about it, but I guess sometimes you don't know what you've got until you've lost it. My companion Elder Jeffrey is cool. Like I said before he is from Mantika California and also has 2 brothers & 2 sisters, he's the oldest though. He has been out for 8 months. We get along pretty well, we got in our first fight though...it was not fun, but it's all good now. We don't have a car. :( We walk and ride bikes. I think it's good for me though cause I've lost about 7 pounds. The living arrangement are nice. We live in a pretty new 2 story apartment by ourselves. We have our own washer and dryer too, except for the dryer door is broken so we have to put a chair in front of it to keep closed haha...pretty ghetto but I can't complain. We have 2 bedrooms (but we have to sleep in the same room. My companion talkes in his sleep hard core and snores) and we have plenty of closet space. We were able to clean our apartment which was very much needed. It could still use some cleaning but it's good enough for now. We usually have dinner every night. All of the dinners have been really good. I'm thankful for the members and their willingness to feed us, even though some of it is really gross. We go out to lunch a lot and usually get it paid for by members that see us there. We went to Chili's the other day with some other Elders and some guy paid for all of us. :) Then yesterday we were walking down the street and some lady stopped and gave us $20. Another guy at Wal-mart gave us $20 too! Haha. We get honked and waved at all the time, and get a lot of rides. The members are great here. We went bowling today with our zone which was fun. We only had to pay for shoes and the rest was freeee! We were talking to this guy the other day and asked him if he'd ever heard of Ether (like the scriptures), and he was like, "Like the drug?" Hahaha. Anyway, I just thought that was funny. We talked to this lady yesterday and she said she was sick of missionaries coming to her house and told us that she scared the missionaries away last time by answering the door naked lol. I'm glad we found that out before she actually did it to us. Whew. Okay so he's a cool experience I had. We kind of have some new investigators. Well, I guess they are just inactive but whatever. Anyway, the guy was kinda stand off ish the first time, but we went over a second time and we could tell there was something different with him. His girlfriend told us he was going through some things and suggested giving him a blessing. He accepted so we gave him a blessing. While we were doing it I was praying so hard that he would feel the Spirit or at least something. I just really wanted him to feel something. Anyway, after we were done, he was crying!!!!! It was amazing. We had 7 ppl with baptismal dates but they had to be moved so we only have 2 now. It's all good though. The church is true! I have to be honest. These past 2 weeks I've really had to rely on my faith and Heavenly Father and everyone's prayers. I'm getting the hang of it more, but it's still hard and everything. With time things will get better. I'm just so thankful for Spirtitual experiences and miracles to keep me from getting down or overwhelmed. Things are going well. The members are great and the area is good too. We do a lot of work in the apartments. (Skyline and Stonehedge...but we call it stoner-hedge haha cause of all the smokers, etc.) I love you guys and miss you! Your in my prayers everyday. Keep me updated on everything okay!? :) Email me back and give my email to everyone so they can write me, or give them my mailing address. Oh and is Jenni putting these on my facebook and keeping it updated? She can edit them if she thinks she needs too. I'm so thankful for all of you, and for all the help that you have given me to be here on my mission. Love you forever! Hope to hear from you soon!
Love,
Elder Watts,
Micheal,
or Hater.
P.S.-Here's some quotes/slang I've heard lately:
-Christ in the center of our home, a guest at every meal, a silent listener to every converstation.
-The secret to having it all, is knowing you already do.
-Perhaps faith is not faith until it has been tried.
-Cool: Constipated Over-rated out-of-style loser (haha this was from some kid)
-Kick your trash (Ex. He kicked my trash at laser tag)
-We may not have it all together, but together we have it all.
-It was not what they possesed that gave them strength, but what they knew. ~Pioneers
-At Chili's we don't eat till we're full, we eat till we're tired. (Haha Elder Koegler said that when we went to eat there. It was funny, you just had to be there.)
-Thankamony (Giving thanks and a testimony)
-Newlywed Nearlydeads (Some wards here have either really young ppl or really old ppl so them call them newlywed nearlydead wards haha)
-Trunky (Homesick or thinking about home, etc.)
-Teachify (Teaching and testifying)
-Breavity (Being brief while teaching together back and forth)
P.S.-I'm still gonna sent those cd's of pics and videos. I had Brother & Sister Drake make them for me and I'm getting them today so I'll try to send them asap.
Love ya bye!
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
Tuesday, July 14, 2009
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
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
Friday, July 10, 2009
MTC Eve
The day before entering the MTC, Mom, Dad, & Micheal spent the day in Salt Lake City at Temple Square. They did a little last minute shopping, had dinner at the Cheesecake Factory (Micheal's favorite), and watched a rehearsal of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. These were some of the pictures Micheal took.
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