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!!