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