Micheal Watts

Congratulations Micheal!

2010-03-29T10:49:00.002-07:00

March 23, 2010

2010-03-29T10:49:00.001-07:00

Hello everyone,

Well well well...where do I begin? On Saturday Elder Hernandez and I were in the Mission Office for a big part of the day. We were planning trainings for Zone Leader Council that was held on Monday. That's where all of the Zone leaders come from all over the mission and are trained by us and the mission president. We did two different trainings together. One on Obedience and another on Priestcraft. We did the one of Obedience because President Olson wanted us to, but also because there has been a lot of leadership that is breaking mission rules...being "apostate". The training on Priestcraft was related to making the trainings/meetings that the Zone leaders give to other missionaries more effective. I'll have to send you copies of the trainings to help you understand better. I was a little nervous beforehand but both trainings went well and President Olson was happy with them.
We cover 2 wards in our area here in Ogden. We went to both wards on Sunday and I enjoyed them. We have 2 investigators with baptismal dates right now, and they were both at church on sunday. It's a mom and her 18 yr old daughter. They are way cool people...we are gonna help them paint their living room on saturday. I also get to go back to Brigham City on saturday for 2 baptisms of people that I taught in my last area. I'm excited about that. We did more planning in the office on sunday afternoon and then went out in the evening and visited people.
It's kind of a weird situation. I kinda have 2 companions. Elder Hernandez is the other Assistant, but him and I are separated with another companionship that we live with. Elder Mitchell and Elder Swisher are the other companionship. My other companion is Elder Mitchell. I'm with Elder Hernandez during Assistant responsibilities (Preparing trainings, Zone Conferences, Exchanges, etc), but during normal proselyting I'm with Elder Mitchell. It's gonna take some getting used to but it's all good. Oh guess what. Elder Hernandez and I get to go to a Mission President Seminar/AP Meeting at the Joseph Smith Memorial Building in Salt Lake on April 16th. President even told us that they are going to arrange underground parking for us where the General Authorities park! :)
About General Conference. I get to go to ALL SESSIONS of General Conference. Saturday and Sunday. It's gonna be sweet! I'm way excited. Then I guess inbetween sessions we can just do whatever. It will be fun to go with some of the other missionaries. Who do you guys know that is going?
On Monday we took care of some more office work and then we went out and taught a lesson to some investigators. Ogden is sooo different that anywhere else I've served. It's a different kind of missionary work. The people here are dramatically less fortunate than most. It's sad, but at the same time, some people are way humble and open to the Gospel. As a missionary you can be way forward and up front with people here...you can just tell them what's up and it's no big deal. I'm gonna have to get used to it.
We have a car part of the time since we are split up. Our apartment is pretty nice but it is discusting. I can't believe that people live like that. I don't even want to sit on the toilet. Ugh. It's crazy. I've been wanting to clean but I haven't had time. It's fun living with another set of missionaries...there's never a dull moment.
We went to the Ogden Temple this morning. It was really nice to be in the Temple...I hadn't been for a few weeks. The 4 of us are gonna drive to Bountiful today to have some "Nielson's Frozen Custard." I guess it's really good. I keep hearing all about it, and since we have unlimited miles, we can drive there and not worry about how far it is. I need to go buy a belt today too because mine broke. :/
Zone Conference is coming up so Elder Henandez need to start planning like crazy. Planning trainings take quite a while if you want them to be good. Hopefully it will go well. We've talked to President Olson about what some of the core things are that we want to focus on so it shouldn't be hard to decide on what to train on.
Well I gotta go. I love you guys and miss you. Write me back soon. The church is true! Spread the Gospel. Keep the missionaries there busy!

~Elder Micheal Watts
Assistant to the President

March 19, 2010

2010-03-29T10:46:00.000-07:00

Hey,

Alright so we finally found some time to take a mini-p-day. We only have a couple hours to email and go shopping and then it's back to work. Life has be crazy.
So here's what happened. On monday morning at about 7:50am Elder Onon and I were getting ready for the day when I got a call from President Olson. It was unusual because transfer calls weren't until the next day. I answered the phone and he asked me if I had a place where I could talk in private. I went into one of the bedrooms and at this point I was getting worried. Things started running through my mind because this wasn't normal for President to call like this. I was trying to think about what he could be calling for and all I could think of was if someone had died or something. Anyway, he told me that he wanted to call me to be an Assistant to the President and asked me if I would accept. Of course I accepted, but I was shocked. I didn't expect it at all. We talked for a few minutes, and then the call ended. I stood there not knowing what to say lol. Right after the call I got down on my knees and prayed to Heavenly Father and asked him to help me as I try to fulfill this calling. I was told by the current Assistants that I would be getting picked up the next day at 9:30am, so I had to pack, say my goodbyes, and teach lessons all before the following morning. On Tuesday morning, the Assistants, Elder Hernandez and Elder McDaniel (who I replaced) picked me up. We traveled to the Ogden Tabernacle where upon arriving we had a meeting with President Olson. Soon after that the new group of missionaries showed up. We greeted them as they got off the bus and helped them carry their luggage into the tabernacle. We had lunch with them, and then we had an orientation with the new missionaries and President & Sister Olson. The office staff did their trainings, and then after that we took the new missionaries out on the streets of Ogden!!! It was fun. I remember my first day out on the streets. All of it brought back a lot of memories from when I was in their shoes. Now I'm on the other side of it. The greenies had their interviews with President, and then we all went to Presidents home for dinner. Following the dinner we gave a training/orientation, then we had a testimony meeting. The Spirit was strong and I really enjoyed it. After it was over and when the greenies went to bed, we went upstairs with President and Sister Olson and we picked out who would be the trainers for each greenie. While we were doing that, President offered up drinks/snacks and it was fun haha. They have a big stash in their garage of all kinds of drinks, etc. Then Sister Olson has a big candy stash. The evening went late and I was exhausted. On wednesday, we had breakfast at the Olson's, and then we were at the Tabernacle for most of the day. We gave Zone Leader, District Leader, and Trainer trainings for a good part of the day, and then the greenies met their new companions. We went to lunch after that and then came back and did some office work. This whole thing is really weird for me because I've never been a district leader or a zone leader, and now I have to train all of them. Elder Hernandez and I are the Assistants, so we will be doing Zone Leader Counsel trainings, Zone Conference trainings, and going on exchanges with Zone leaders all over the mission. Not to mention the office work that we will be doing. I think this is the first time ever where a missionary has gone straight from Senior companion to Assistant without anything inbetween...and only being out 9 months. It's gonna shake things up fo sho. President Olson says that there is no ladder in the mission...and he is definetly getting that message accross with me lol. I'm excited about the calling to be an Assistant, and I know that Heavenly Father will help me as I try to fulfill this calling. After we got done with some office work, we had dinner at the Olson's again with the departing missionaries. We had a shrimp pasta with salad, baguette bread, and homemade ice cream and cookies for dessert. Sister Olson is an amazing cook. Later that night we went out visiting some of the people that we are teaching. On thursday we had breakfast at the Olson's again :) and then we took a missionary that was going home around to say goodbye to some people. After that, Elder Shepard, one of the office missionaries took us to lunch (indian food...it was pretty good), and then we updated the transfer board. It took a long time but it looks great. I became van certified so that I can drive the big van when needed too. We had dinner at our apartment, and then we taught a lesson to one of our investigators. We committed her and her mom for baptism and they both have baptismal dates for April 10th! It was way sweet. I hadn't taught anyone for like 4 days so it was a little weird lol. We live in the apartments right across the street from the Temple, and we have a brand new Subaru to drive. We live with 2 other missionaries in the apartment, who are kind of like our companions too. Elder Hernandez and I will be together when we have responsibilites to take care of as Assistants (Exchanges, Zone Conferences, meetings, etc) and then we will be split up with the other companionship at the other times. It's something new that President Olson is doing, so we are still trying to get used to it. It's kind of like we have multiple companions all at the same time. This morning we had a zone study, and then after we email and go shopping, we're gonna pick up our other companions, Elder Swisher (he came out with me), and Elder Mitchell. We'll have lunch, and then Elder Hernandez are gonna start planning Zone Leader Trainings and Zone Conference. It's gonna be crazy. Since I've been an Assistant, I've already started to hear all the crap about other missionaries being disobedient, etc. Some missionaries are acting differently around me now...sucking up, asking for things. But there are some perks that I'm pretty excited about. I get to go to General Conference!!! Not only that, but each and every session! :) I also get to go do the Salt Lake City Temple trip at the end of the transfer too. I'm way excited about it! All of this has just been happening so quick. It's awesome but overwhelming at the same time. I feel inexperienced, some might feel that I'm not qualified, and maybe I'm not, but I know that God will help me do anything. I can do this. It might be challenging and hard at times, but I know that this will be a great thing for me and I will be able to learn so much. Being and Assistant is very different from what I was doing before. You have a different view of everything...you see a different side of things and of the missionaries, and your "in the know" when it comes to the mission and what's going on. I'm thankful for the opportunity that I have to serve my Father in Heaven and to serve my Mission President and fellow missionaries. The next few months will be an adventure. President Olson told me that this is a calling. I could be doing this for 3 months, or maybe longer...there isn't a time limit. We'll see how it goes. "Life is a rollercoaster, you just gotta ride it!" I'm on the ride and all I can do now is ride it, work hard, and have fun. All I can say is that I'm tired lol. I better get used to it I guess.
I have 2 baptisms on March 27th of people that I taught in Brigham City that I'm gonna go back for...I'm excited. Hopefully we will find some good success in the few wards that we cover. I think Elder Hernandez and I, and then the other companionship combined only cover 3 wards here in Ogden. Our areas are way ghetto but cool at the same time cause some of the people are crazy haha. There is a lot of welfare given by the church in our areas, and there has been a lot of success in the past so hopefully we can keep that success going. It was hard to leave my last area in Brigham City cause there were so many great people there, and I really grew to love them. I took pictures before I left so I'll have to send them to ya when I get a chance. I miss Elder Onon too but it's all good. I know I need to be here right now and I know that it will be great.
I love you all so much and miss you tons. I really mean that. I know I say it every time, but it's true...and the meaning is always the same. Just cause I say it all the time doesn't mean I'm not any less sincere. I am so thankful for you all and I keep you in my thoughts and prayers often. I hope that you are continuing to do missionary work and are keepin' those missionaries busy. I hope that all of you are doing well. Write me back soon and send me some pictures!!! :) I hope that I didn't forget anything lol. Oh about our apartment. The apartments that we live in across from the Temple are pretty nice, but ours is filthy. It's gross and it's gonna change haha. I'm gonna be doin' some cleaning as soon as I have a chance cause it's just gross.
Holla back at me soon yo! The church is true! Peace!

~Elder Micheal Watts
Assistant to the President

March 2, 2010

2010-03-29T10:45:00.001-07:00

Hello,

I hope that this email finds everyone doing well. It's been quite the week for me. Early this past week I got a call from the Assistants to the President. They invited me to attend a Leadership Training that would be held on Thursday, Feb.25th. I didn't say this to them on the phone, but I was thinking to myself, 'Why do they want me to come to a leadership training for all the leaders in the mission? I'm not in a leadership position.' I accepted and said that I would be there. It was a 4 hour training in Ogden for all of the leaders and a few select others...one of them being me (They told me to leave my companion in Brigham City with another missionary while I attended the meeting). I really enjoyed it and I learned a lot. I thanked President Olson for inviting me...and while we were talking, we were kinda joking around about why he would have invited me, and he told me that he had his reasons. Hmm. Since then, I have been able to attend a District Leader Training with our zone leaders and the 2 district leaders in our zone. We all talked about the training we recieved in Ogden, and talked about what to train missionaries on in the future. I went on an exchange yesterday with my district leader Elder Marion and during our exchange we planned a training for the district that we will be giving together tomorrow. It's gonna be sweet. I'm interested to see what will happen this coming transfer. President told me that I would only be with Elder Onon for one transfer so we'll see what happens.
I got a blessing earlier this week from my zone leaders. It was interesting because in the blessing it said that if I worked hard and was obedient, that I would be healed. So guess what I'm doing? Haha. Working hard and being obedient! Not that I wasn't doing that already but ya know. :) I went to the Chiropractor and he told me to do some stretches at home and that it should help. He told me to get a work out/body ball to use so I got one yesterday. Bro. & Sis. Parsons bought it for me. :) She is the Relief Society President and that are way cool. She even fixed one of my suit jackets for me. The liner of the jacket was wearing and coming apart so she fixed it up for me. I'll send you the part of the liner that she replaced for me so that you can see it.
We committed 2 people in one day this week to keep the Word of Wisdom. It was way cool because one of the guys that we committed you could tell had a hard time doing it, but after the lesson, we walked out of his apartment with 2 big bags full of a coffee maker, coffee, tea, ciggarettes, and an ash tray. It's awesome to see people make steps like that in their lives to come closer to the Savior. We started teaching a few new people this week and picked up a new date last night. The work is going well and I am enjoying my mission.
President Olson called us this week and told us that we had been invited to a luncheon by the Mongolian Delegation who is coming to Brigham City today. They are coming to look into opening some kind of branch associated with Utah State, and are having a luncheon at Maddox. A group of people are coming from Mongolia and they want my companion Elder Onon to be there. We are going there in about an hour and I think Elder Onon is pretty excited. We'll try to get pics and send them to you. It should be interesting for me since I don't speak the language at all.
We have 2 baptisms coming up this weekend for two little 9 year olds. One is named Bridger Eddings and his baptism is on Saturday, and then the other is Lily Pickett, and her baptism will be on sunday. I'm excited...we haven't had a baptism since I've been here so it will be nice. We have 6 set up for this month so hopefully everything will go well for the people that we are teaching so that they can make their baptismal dates.
Well I better go. I love you guys and miss ya a lot. I hope that everything is going well. Your in my thoughts and prayers daily. We went to the Ogden Temple this morning and did a session. It was nice to be inside the Temple and feel the Spirit that is there. It had seemed like it had been forever since we had been to the Temple, but it had only been 2 weeks. You guys should go to the Temple as often as you can!!! How is the missionary work going in the ward? Pray for missionary experiences, not just opportunities! Remember that you must prepare yourselves to do missionary work, which includes daily prayer and scripture study, and weekly church attendance. God is preparing people for the Gospel all over the place, but God isn't going to put someone that is prepared for the Gospel in the hands of someone that isn't prepared to share it. Do what you need to do to get prepared so that you can be a part of this great work, bring people unto Christ!!! I love you all and hope to hear from you soon. The church is true!!!

~Elder Micheal Watts

March 9, 2010

2010-03-29T10:43:00.000-07:00

Hi everybody,

We had a great p-day last tuesday. We went to the Ogden Temple at 6am and then at 12pm we went to Maddox for the Mongolian Delegation Luncheon. It was about 1 1/2 hours long and I can tell Elder Onon had a great time. He was in da zone! I ended up visiting with the employees from Utah State cause everyone else only spoke Mongolian. Elder Onon talked to them the whole time and I think he enjoyed it. He said it was a little weird for him cause he hasn't spoken Mongolian like that for a long time. They gave each of us a pin from Mopngolia to put on our jackets which was kinda cool.
Today we went to the Odgen Temple again for a session. It was way early so I'm pretty tired. After that we went to Wal-Mart, and now we are here doing emails. After this we might go have a Nerf War with some other missionaries, and then later we are having dinner with the Illum's. They are a sweet family...pretty young with a few kids, we are looking forward to it.
We had 2 baptisms this weekend. Bridger Eddings, 9 yrs old, got baptized on Saturday and then confirmed on Sunday. Lily Picket, 9 yrs old, got baptized and confirmed on Sunday. They asked me to do the confirmation which was cool. Elder Onon baptized her. We were also able to attend an 8 yr old baptism on saturday...one of our ward mission leaders kids. It was a big day for his family because one of their kids got baptized, they blessed their baby, and they had one of their kids sealed to them in the Temple...all in one day. Cool huh? So overall we were able to participate in 2 baby blessings, and 3 confirmations all in one weekend. It was awesome. All of the services were very nice and the Spirit was strong. We have 2 more baptisms coming up on March 27th. One of them is named Brayden Hunsaker, he is 19 yrs old, and the other is Jon Bishop. He is about 60 yrs old. We committed him for baptism the other night, it was way cool. When I got into this area, everyone told me not to push him or pressure him, and that he only wanted to meet once a week. His wife is an active member, and I guess he's been involved with the church for 40 years. He has been coming to church for months and has been meeting with us. A while ago he went on a church history tour with some member friends, and I think that is what really got him, and what really built his testimony. Anyway, Jon has been ready to get baptized for a long time, and I wanted to commit him. Elder Onon and I talked about it, and we decided to commit him for baptism. We told the fellowship ahead of time that we were going to do it, and when we taught the lesson we did it. Something you need to know is that during the previous lesson, I knew he was ready, but Jon didn't think he was. We decided to go over the baptism interview questions with him, and I think that helped him realize that he was ready. So back to the last lesson where we committed him. We taught the Gospel lesson, and during the baptism part we talked about the interview questions, bore testimony, and committed him to get baptized on March 27th. When we asked him, he said, "Okay lets do it." We were so excited! Ahh!! Haha. It was a miracle. His wife was way excited too, and the next day in church he was telling everyone about it and how he was gettin' baptized. We are working with some other people to help them reach baptism but those are the 2 that are the closest. I'm lovin' it.
English lessons with Elder Onon are going okay. It's hard sometimes because he is kind of set in his ways about how he wants to study. I think I've been able to help him but there is always room for improvement right?
Transfers are a week from tomorrow so don't send anything to the house until after I find out what is going to happen. Interviews are tomorrow so hopefully President will tell me what he's thinkin'.
We haven't had a shower in our apartment for almost a week now. Every time we want to take a shower we have to go upstairs and use the members shower. It's not very convenient, especially since we can only do it during certain times. The Barkers are having some work done in the basement and are having some sheetrock replaced around the shower and in the kitchen. Because of what they are doing, the threshhold of the shower is torn apart so we can't use it. The whole thing really needs to be re-done, so the Barkers are trying to find someone that can do it for them without spending a lot of money. We are going to do some painting for them after everything is done getting worked on. Hopefully it will get finished soon cause I want my shower back lol.
Hahaha that's funny that you made a green dinner for the greenie in the ward. I never got one of those, that's cool though. You guys will have to make sure you break 'em in and keep dem missionaries busy!
I've got a new motto. "Pray for it, expect it, work for it." Elder Onon and I pray for miracles every day and they happen. We have a miracle every day, and it's because we pray for miracles, we expect miracles (which goes along the same lines of having faith), and we work hard for the miracle. As we do those things, miracles happen. It amazing. God loves us so much, and he wants to and is willing to bless us, but we have to hold up our end of the deal if we want him to hold up his end of the deal.
Well I better go. I wish I could write more, I'll have to try and write some letters later today. Tell Jenni and Dad I'm sorry for not emailing back today. I'll write letters and get 'em in da mail tomorrow. I love all of you so much and I miss ya. The church is true! Spread the Gospel. Pray for missionary experiences, not just opportunities! Miracles happen every day. "Pray for it, expect it, work for it."

~Elder Micheal Watts

February 23, 2010

2010-03-29T10:34:00.001-07:00

Hi everyone,

We had zone conference this week in Logan. It was my first time there, and on the way we drove past the Logan Temple...it is really pretty. I can't wait to do a session there. I'll have to start going there once they start remodeling the Ogden Temple. Did you hear about that? Look it up on the church website. I didn't expect the church to completly change the Ogden Temple but I'm sure it will look great. The site where the Brigham City Temple will be is right down the street from where we live. It's right accross the street from the Tabernacle. The church has bought some additional land and will be tearing down structures to make more room for the Temple grounds. Construction probably won't start until later this year. At each zone conference, vehicles are inspected. I knew that this was going to happen, so I made sure that our car was cleaned up. The members that we live with, the Barkers, work at a car dealership, so we took our car there and Bro.Barker had them clean the engine and wash the car for us. We cleaned the inside and then did a few touch ups. Our car was the overall winner out of all the other cars. Holla! Haha. :)
Okay so about my headaches. The mission doctor, Dr.Nellis, hasn't been very proactive about helping me, so I decided to ask around and talk to doctors myself about what is going on. I've talked to many different people and from that I decided that maybe the cause of my headaches is coming from my neck or back. Dr.Hoopes is a Chiropractor here in Brigham City and his services are free to missionaries. I've heard good things about him from members, and so I decided to go see him...Sister Olson also encouraged it. He took a look at me and massaged my neck area and is pretty sure that the problem is coming from my neck, etc. My muscles are tense and he says that it causes muscles to contract and cause headaches. He wrote down a bunch of stuff but I don't understand any of it lol. Pretty much my neck area is jacked up and so he is helping me with it. He's been massaging my neck and doing some other things to try and help me, and so far it's working. I've seen him twice and I've hardly had any headaches since. A few here and there but I'm getting better. I haven't gotten a blessing yet, but I will try and get one soon. Thanks for your prayers and for the drugs you sent me mom. Haha.
I had a great p-day last tuesday. We went to the Temple early in the morning which was nice since I hadn't been in 2 weeks. After that we came back to Brigham City to do emails and shopping, and then we went back to Ogden to a place called Fat Cats. There we were able to go bowling and do bumper cars for free. It was a lot of fun. We even went indoor skydiving, but we had to pay a little bit for that. We got it half off and they gave us a dvd of it for free too. It was a fun p-day...I'm not sure what we are going to do today, but hopefully we will be able to get together and do something.
Haha okay so I learned a new song this week. It's called "The Chastity Song." It's kind of like "Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes," but it's a little different. It goes like this. -Head shoulders no no no's, knees and toes knees and toes, head shoulders no no no's, eyes ears mouth and nose.- It's pretty much a song that says what is okay and what isn't okay to touch lol. While you sing the no no no's part you go over your abdomen with your hands, which means that those parts of your body...private parts, aren't okay to touch. It's kind of like the Bathing Suit Rule. You don't think about, look at, talk about, or touch anything covered by a bathing suit. We use these rules and songs to teach little kids the Law of Chastity. Haha I think the song was pretty funny, hopefully it made sense.
Alright so having a companion that you are with 24/7, you definetly find out their favorite things and the things that they do the most. Some things that I've noticed that are Elder Onon's favorite things are: He loves soda...he drinks it allll the time. When he chews gum, he chews with him mouth open and smacks it around. He really likes Michael Jackson and his song 'Thriller.' He says the word 'dang' a lot, and he loves the Hacka. It's some Tongan song and dance. Haha anyway it's just funny the things that you notice about someone when you are with them allll the time. He is a great missionary though and I am really thankful for him. I think it's so cool that he is a convert, and that he joined the church only 3 years ago. His english is improving, and we are having success.
Funny story. I was looking at my District Leader, Elder Marion's pictures, and there was this girl that looked really familiar. Well come to find out, the girl in the photo album is Sister Black. Kelsey Black is one of my good friends from college, and her sister went on a mission. Elder Marion was with Sister Black (Kelsey's sister) in the MTC and took a picture with her. It's such a small world.
So pretty much the Donovan family is one of my favorite families here in this area. Bro.Donovan is an artist and has a studio that he works at. Sis.Donovan doesn't work I don't think, but one of their daughters just came home from a mission, and their boys are approaching mission age. They are a way cool family, and are very missionary minded. We are going to their home for lunch on sunday and will probably be teaching a lesson. The Donovans said that they are trying to find someone for us to teach for sunday after lunch. It's music to my ears to hear that members want to help in the work.
We are having some great success in our area. We've picked up 3 new investigators this week and 5 new baptismal dates for March. 4 of those baptismal dates we picked up yesterday! It was amazing. I'm excited about the work and we are definetly seeing miracles. Heavenly Father is blessing us fo sho!
We didn't make it to the Temple this morning...we didn't have a ride. It's all good though. We were still able to do our studies and prepare lessons for later tonight. I found a couple cool quotes this week that I thought you might like:
-"Enjoy the little things in life because one day you may realize they were the big things."
-"Don't ask God to make your life easier. Ask Him to make you a stronger person."
I'm going to send you my zip drive with more pictures on it so keep an eye out for it in the mail.
I hope that all of you are doing well. I love you and miss you. Your in my thoughts and prayers daily. Keep me updated on the missionary work that is going on there at home. Keep those missionaries busy! I hope to hear from you soon.

~Elder Micheal Watts

February 16, 2010

2010-03-29T10:21:00.000-07:00

Hey!

Thanks for the packages!!! I got one from mom & dad, Alicia, and Jenni...they were great I loved it. It was fun to get them for valentines day and I love all of the things that you sent me. We had a good valentines day...probably the best you could have on a mission lol. We went to church in the morning but we were late because of our coorelation meeting. We were in the foyer waiting for the sacrament and I knew that it was being passed because it was way quiet. Anyway, we kept waiting and they never brought it out, so while they were doing the water I decided to go up to the chapel door, open it, and ask the kid why he wasn't bringing it out. He told me that they weren't going to because the Bishop thinks it's a disturbance. I couldn't believe it. We decided to leave and go back for the next wards sacrament meeting. We eventually were able to take the sacrament so it's all good I just couldn't believe it.
My toe is doing great. Dr.Nellis put a piece of gause underneath the toenail so that it could grow out and ever since it's been great. The only problem I have now is my headaches. I've been having them pretty consistently every day multiple times a day for the past 3 or so weeks. I've talked to the Dr. about it but he isn't doing anything about it. He told me to put heat/cold on my neck, take tylenol, etc, but that isn't gonna fix the problem. I'm drinking water, getting enough sleep, and I'm not that stressed, so I don't know what's going on. I'm concerned about it...I'm gonna try and find another Dr.
The weather here is nice...not too cold, but there is still snow on the ground. It rains and snows once in a while but it doesn't stick. Wow 70 degree weather sounds amazing! Lucky. Haha. I'm glad to hear that your taking care of your car mom. Our car is pretty dirty right now. We went out to Corinne and drove on some dirt roads when it was wet so it's wayyy dirty on the outside. We're gonna wash it and stuff before we go to zone conference on friday in Logan. It will get inspected there so we have to make sure it's lookin' good.
English lessons for Elder Onon are going alright. I'm really trying to get him to use complete sentances more often. He pronounces words better than before so that's good. We've been making flashcards so hopefully that will help him.
Our apartment is nice. We live in a members basement. It's an older home, but it is in good shape and is clean. We have our own back entrance and have a place to park our car as well. We have a living room where we study, a kitchen (there isn't a dishwasher or an oven), a bathroom, and a bedroom. There is a laundry room in the basement as well that we all use as well. It's nice and the best part about it is that it smells good and it's clean.
We went to the Ogden Temple this morning at 6am. We haven't been in 2 weeks and it seemed like forever! It was nice to be there, to feel the Spirit in the Lord's house, and to see other missionaries as well.
We have a dry cleaners hook-up in our area so we get our suits dry cleaned for free! It's nice lol. There's some food places where we get discounts etc. too so that's nice.
We picked up 2 new investigators this last week. Both were miracles...members gave us a call and told us that these people wanted to be taught and get baptized. One is a 9 year old boy named Bridger Eddings. His mom is a member and his dad isn't and isn't interested, but Bridger is way smart and wants to get baptized on March 6th. The other investigator is Brayden Hunsaker. He is 19 years old, and is dating a member in Honeyville. He has been coming to church for a few months already and definetly ready for baptism. His date is for March 6th as well. Things are starting to pick up in our area. We have a few lessons coming up to teach new people so hopefully we will pick up some new investigators and baptismal dates. We are teaching Sis. Wardle still. We've taught her 2 times this week and things are going well. She came to church this last week, and she is reading the scriptures and praying every day. I'm way excited about it. Even though she's already been baptized and everything, It's still awesome to be able to help someone gain a testimony of the Gospel. We won't get a baptism out of it but I don't care. Our purpose is to bring people unto Christ, not just non-members. Hopefully things will continue to go well for her.
On Sunday Elder Onon and I were able to go back to Clearfield to go to Jason Yarington's baptism. It was awesome. I'm so thankful President Olson allowed me to go back for it. The service was very nice, the Spirit was strong, and I could tell that Jason was truly happy. Turns out, one of their 9 year old kids isn't baptized either so the missionaries there might start teaching her too. Maybe by the time she is ready, Jason will be able to baptise her.
Hey can you have Jenni send me some more pictures off my laptop? More from college or something? I found out that we are allowed to listen to burned cd's so can you guys send me some music? I asked Jenni but idk if she is going to do it or not. Just send me a variety of stuff. Do what ya feel.
Well I better go. We still need to go shopping and clean. I love you and miss you all so much. Your in my thoughts and prayers daily...and I put your names in the Temple this morning when I went too. Write me back soon!!!

~Elder Micheal Watts

February 9, 2010

2010-03-29T10:20:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone! This week has been quite the week let me tell ya. On Wednesday morning Debbie Townsend's husband JJ from Layton picked me up in Clearfield and took me to Ogden to meet up with my new companion. It was nice to see him and visit during the drive. They are both doing well and Debbie has a church calling as a visiting teacher. When I got to the mission office there were a ton on missionaries there. It was fun to see some people that I hadn't seen for a while. When Elder Onon got there, we picked up a few supplies from the mission office and then we packed our car with all my stuff. I was relieved when it all fit. We drive a maroon 2007 Chevy Malibu. It's a v6 so it's got a little get up & go. :) Haha. It was a little weird to drive at first but it's all good now. Once we got to Brigham City we went shopping, had lunch, and then we washed the car. It was pretty dirty on the outside so we went through the car wash and had the tired shined up. I had gotten an air freshener when I was in Clearfield too so that the car would smell good. Later that night we had appointments...It was a crazy busy day and I was way tired that night. On Tuesday, the day before I left Clearfield, Jason Yarington took us out to dinner to Applebee's. It was nice to go out and visit with him before I left...after dinner we went to his house and had a little lesson and bore our testimonies to him. He was sad that I was getting transferred. I was too, but President Olson said that I can go back for his baptism on Valentines day so I'm happy about that. Elder Onon and I have language study ever morning in addition to the 2 hours of regular study that we have. He has a few English books that he's been studying out of, but I don't think that they are very effective. I've been trying to think of better ways to help him. We have been practicing how to pronounce words correctly and how to use complete sentences. I'm going to make some flash cards, etc to help him. I only have 5 more weeks to help him before transfers, and President told me this would only be for one transfer. President & Sister Olson came and spoke at one of our Adult sessions of Stake Conference. A member of the Seventy came and spoke as well. They all gave great talks and I really enjoyed it. Hymn#221 was mentioned "Dear to the heart of the Shepherd." At the end of the song it talks about the helpless and hungry and cold...bringing them back to the fold. That's what missionary work is. Bringing the helpless and hungry and cold back to the fold. Our mission doctor Dr.Nellis came a saw me at my apartment yesterday. I have an ingrown toenail lol, and it was hurting pretty bad, so he lifted the end of the nail and put some gause underneath to let it grow out properly and it feels soooo much better. I've also been having headaches pretty regularly for the past 2 or so weeks. They aren't way intense, but they are still there, and are in the back of my head. I get them every day sometimes more than once, and I asked the doctor about it and he said that it sounds like tension headaches. He told me to put cold/hot packs on my neck a few times a day and then see what happens. Hopefully they will go away. It makes me kinda concerned since it's been like this for a while. The area that we cover is pretty big. We cover 2 stakes, and 18 wards. We are given 1,000 miles a month for our car because our area is so big. We cover part of Brigham City, and then Corinne, Bear River, and Honeyville. It's gonna be harder to get to know the members as well as I have in the past...but I'm already starting to have my favorite families as always lol. The area is kind of slow right now, but that's gonna have to change haha. We have 2 investigators with baptismal dates and we are teaching a few others. We've been working with the members and auxilaries a ton...getting referrals, and then going and seeing the people that they tell us about. So far we are seeing some success from our efforts. We have 4 first lessons set up for this week so hopefully we will pick up a few new investigators. We had a sweet miracle happen last night. A member called us and told us about a part member family who wants to have their 9 year old baptized. They gave us the info, so we called right after, went over to their home, taught a lesson on the spot, and committed the 9 year old boy for baptism on feb. 27th! It was awesome. The Lord is blessing us fo sho! :) All I have to say, is that working with the members of the church is the best way to do missionary work. Another miracle that we had this week, was a girl in the area called us and told us that her non-member boyfriend that she's been dating wants to take the lessons. We will be meeting with them this week so hopefully it will go well. We live with members...Bro & Sis Barker. They are very nice people and are even the fellowships for some people that we are teaching. We get to live in their basement, and it's actually not that bad. It's really clean and smells good too. I was impressed at how clean the missionaries before me kept it. It's really nice to have a car in this area. I bought a GPS to have so that we don't get lost. It's a Garmin Nuvi 1300. It's way nice because we never get lost, which means we don't waste any miles, and it tells us the shortest way to get there. We have to be really smart about our miles because they are limited and we can't go over. I think that it was a good investment. A member in our area works at Malt-O-Meal, the cereal company, so he gets cereal for free, which means that we do too!!! Haha he told us that whenever we need some to let him know and he'll hook us up. Cool beans. Can you have Jenni get Katelynn Bunch's address for me please? I think she moved cause the letters I've sent her are getting sent back to me. :/ The Tidwells are driving up from Layton to come see me and visit with us over dinner at Maddox's today. I'm way excited to see them. Maddox is a well known restaurant and it's pretty good. From what I've been told, President Monson goes in there once in a while to eat, and so do other apostles. I guess President Monson's brother Scott Monson lives around here not too far from us. We had an intense dinner the other night. Some members had us over for dinner, and while we were eating, the wife all of the sudden broke down and started crying at the dinner table. She pretty much told us that she is struggling with her testimony and is having a really hard time with things. It was intense. I can't describe it in an email. Her husband has a strong testimony, and has been trying to get her to meet with us for a long time but she never would. Anyway, we talked to her for a while, and got her to agree to start meeting with us. We have a lesson coming up this week. Well I better go. Things are going good. I love you all and miss you. I hope to hear from you soon! Spread the Gospel!!! ~Elder Watts

February 2, 2010

2010-03-29T10:16:00.001-07:00

Hi everybody, Transfer calls were this morning and Im getting transferred to Brigham City North tomorrow morning. I actually knew that this was gonna happen because President Olson talked to me about it in interviews. He is giving me a special assignment. Elder Onon is my new companion, and he has been out on his mission for over a year. He has never been a senior companion, and President wants me to prepare him to be a senion companion for next transfer. He is from Mongolia so his english isn't the best. That is another thing President wants me to help him with. In addition to our 2 hours of study in the mornings, we will also do an hour of language study to help with his english. President told me that he has prayed about this and he feels that I am the right missionary to help Elder Onon. It's bittersweet for me because I love a lot of the people here in Clearfield, especially the people that we are teaching, but I'm excited at the same time because I'll be able to learn and grow in different ways there in Brigham City. I talked to Elder Onon this morning, and he said that we cover 2 stakes, which is 18 wards....and we have a car!!!!! Haha I'm way excited about that. I'll be the one driving all the time too because Onon doesn't have driving privilages. I'll be going to Brigham City tomorrow so make sure that you don't send anything else to my apartment address...only send things to the Mission Office until I get another address so you. We did have a baptism this last saturday. Orlando Lopez is in his early 20's, and has been investigating the church for a while. I never even taught him because he'd been taught everything, but he got baptized and Elder Christensen and I were glad to see him finally enter the waters of baptism. The thing that sucks, is that he didn't show up for his confirmation the next day in sacrament meeting! We couldn't believe it. He said that he slept in. We talked to him about it and he is gonna come this coming sunday and get comfirmed. I guess he has a crazy work schedule so he was really tired and didn't make it. On thursday we got a call from the Assistants to the President. They told us that we were going to be having a 3rd companion for a week until transfers. They told us that it was going to be Elder Malinka who is in our district, and he had to come with us because his companion got transferred early. Since we were all together, we've had to juggle both of our areas, but we've been having a lot of fun together. Our mission baptized over 200 people in the month of January. Our goal was 200 for the month and last time I checked I think we had 218. We hope to do the same for the month of feb. I really love this area that I am in now. There are so many people, non-members and members, that I love and care about. I hope that I'll be able to come back for some baptisms that are coming up, especially Jason's. We are going out to dinner with him tonight so I'm looking forward to that. Later tonight we are gonna split up and I'm going to go say goodbye to people and take pictures. I'm glad to hear that you are taking care of the missionaries. Keep it up...you will be blessed. Us as missionaries are so thankful for all that the members do for us. Tell the missionaries there I said hi, and to tear it up out der!!! What kind of work is goin' on in the 5th ward anyway? My shirt size is 16 neck and 34/35 sleeve. The shirts that have a stretch thing around the neck work well for me. Do they make them in a fitted style? The ones I have now have so much extra material and it just looks kinda baggy sometimes. Well I better go. I still have to pack and get ready to leave tomorrow morning. I'll probably be sending a box or two home because I have too much crap. Letters, extra clothes, etc. I love and miss all of you! The church is true!!!! ~Elder Micheal WattsPS-I got Jenni & Alicia's letters. Thanks! :) Tell Jenni that if she wants, I'd love to have more pics of my friends, college, etc. If there are any more, send 'em on ova! Haha.

January 26, 2010

2010-03-29T10:12:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone, So we had a great week this week. On Tuesday Ricky had her baptismal interview. Sister Summerhays (Fellowship & Young Womens Leader) came to the interview as well. She brought us some cookie dough and let me tell you, it is wayyy good. Ta dow! Haha. No really though, everything that she makes =is amazing. We've had her cookies, and even some Steak and rolls that she made. Sister Summerhays served a mission in Holland. We've been having Ricky's lessons at their home and it was great. Funny thing, is that Sis. Summerhays never got released as a missionary. She told us that when she gothome, she never saw the Stake President before she left for school 2 days later. Haha she never got released. We are continuing to teach Jason Yarington and it is going great. He set his own baptismal date for Valentines Day. We really enjoy teaching him...we get along great with him and have alot of fun at the same time. Him and his wife are taking us out to dinner tonight. On Wednesday I went on an exchange with one of my zone leaders Elder Morris. The exchange went well and Elder Morris thinks I am doing well. He told me that they are going to put me down to be a trainer on transfer evals. We'll see what happens. I'll do whatever the Lord wants me to do. We had a wedding for one of our investigators on Wednesday. We've been=teaching Adam who is a non-member, and his wife Danielle who is getting active again. He is preparing for baptism and so one of the things they needed to do what get married. They decided on Saturday that they wanted to get married so we only had a few days to throw something small together. It =was a nice service and they really appreciated it. Now we are trying to help Adam quit smoking. On thursday Elder Christensen had a eye doctors appo=intment in Ogden. Turns out his eye doctor was President Petersen, the Stake President in my last area in Layton. It was nice to see him and talk to=him about the area a little bit. On Saturday we had Ricky's baptism. The=service was very nice, and we had to do it in the Chapel since so many peo=ple came. We had a lot of fun teaching her and helping her prepare for baptism. It is something that she was definetly ready for. We taught Elders Quorum, High Priests, and the Relief Society combined in the 8th ward on sunday. We taught about missionary work and taught the members how to invite their friends to meet with us. We handed out referrell forms, shared stat=s, and even sang a song for them. The members said that they enjoyed it...the 8th ward is my favorite wards in the stake I think. Bishop Waddoups son Clint came home off of his mission so we were able to be there in the 8th ward for his homecoming. He gave a great talk, and you can tell that he was a great missionary. On Monday we taught the Lee family who we are trying to help get ready for baptism. They have been taught for a while, and will be getting baptized in April. Funny story. The 11 year old boy in the =family gave the opening prayer, and you could tell from the way he was talk=ing that he didn't really want to do it. During the prayer he said 'thank =you for this day,' and right after he said that, his little sister sitting next to him said 'lovely day,' kinda like correcting him and telling him he needed to say that instead. Then he said back to her, 'don't correct me p=lease.' Hahaha it was so funny. I wish I could describe to you better all=the tones of their voices. I started cracking up laughing, and so did eve=ryone else. I tried to keep it in my throat and keep it quiet...as well as=everyone else, but because I was doing that, I was making a high squeaking=kinda noise and everyone could hear me. I tried to stop but when they hea=rd me, they started laughing, and when I heard them laugh, I kept laughing.= It was really funny lol. We finally finished the prayer and we had a gre=at lesson. Hopefully that story made sense lol...you had to be there. Oh =hey by the way, after today, you probably shouldn't send anything to my apa=rtment in case I get transferred next week. I think either of us could go,=so just to make sure, after today, don't send anything to my apartment. G=ood news...my mission president said that we can listen to burnd cd's, so c=an you guys make me some cd's? Anything that invites the Spirit, or that m=otivates me to do the work is okay. I'm thinkin' that the song 'Jesus take=the wheel' by Carrie Underwood would even be legit. So I'm in need of som=e new music so that would be da bomb if you could hook me up. Can you find=out Sandra Pleites address for me so I can write her? She emailed me so I wanna write her back. Crazy story...we went over to teach Adam, and we we=nt over a few minutes early to make sure he was there before out fellowships came over. We talked to him and he said everything was cool and that he was ready for the lesson. We told him we would go get the fellowship, and =in the meantime he said he would clean up the house a bit. We came back in=2 minutes, litterally, and his little girl came to the door. When she ans=wered she said, "My dad's sick." I was like, "What?! No he's not. Go get=your mom." I was not gonna put up with that lol...we had just talked to h=im. She said she would go get her mom, and when the door opened again, the=little girl was there and said that she would be there in a couple minutes=. Well.....they never came lol. It was kinda crazy cause when we were the=re, they had some friends over. Once we decided to leave, we were walking =down the street and we see their friends leaving their apartment. We kept =walking down the street and forgot something at our apartment so we decided=to walk back to get it. We ended up walking back by Adam's place and all of the sudden we see their car being driven by these random people we had n=ever seen before. It was wayyy weird. Anyway, we've gotten a hold of them=since then and everything is fine...they just were going through some stuff at the time of our lesson so they couldn't do it. Anyway, hopefully that=made sense lol. We might be having a baptism this saturday, but we're not=sure cause the guy needs to get his baptismal interview still...he keeps m=issing all the ones we set up for him so we'll see what happens. We have 7=investigators with baptism dates right now and things are going great, I l=ove it. I got everyone's letters and pictures this week. Thanks to everyone that send me letters. I'm gonna write back to everyone today and get letters in the mail tomorrow. Sorry I can't write more...our ride is waiting=outside. I love you and miss you!!! The church is true!!! Holla at ur b=oi!!!~Elder Watts yo!!!=20=20

January 19, 2010

2010-03-29T10:09:00.001-07:00

Hey everyone, This past week was good. We had two baptisms this last saturday. Shyla Zufelt got baptized and Trevor Harris got baptized as well. Both services were nice, except for during Trevors service, it was in the morning, and people were cleaning the building during it. This lady took this huge vacuume and was cleaning the floor in the hallway right by the baptism. I was like, seriously? I almost went out and told her to peace out but before I had the chance some lady at the baptism did instead. I couldn't believe it. Anyway, both services were nice, and the Spirit was strong. On sunday we spoke with the High Council. Both of us talked about missionary work. I think we went to 4 different sacrament meetings...it was crazy. I'm pretty sure I fell asleep in the last one. So I'm thinkin' that the word "Holler" is a Utah thing. People say it all the time. They don't say Holla, they say Holler. I just think it's funny cause people say it alllll the time lol. We have 7 investigators with baptismal dates, and some others that we are working with. We have a ton of great things happening and I'm way excited. The Lord is blessing us so much. One of our investigators Adam is getting married tomorrow to his fiance Danielle. The Bishop is gonna marry them, and we called the Relief Society President and they are gonna to do a little mixer for them afterwards...just some food, music, etc. Nothing big, just a little something. Another one of our investigators Ricky is getting baptized this coming saturday. We are way excited for her...she is very ready and will be a great member of the church. She's pretty much a member already since she's been going to church for so long, but just hasn't gotten dunked yet. Things are going well and I am enjoying it. Transfers will be at the end of this month. I'm thinkin' that Elder Christensen will be leaving since he will have been here for 4 1/2 months. I love you guys and miss you tons. I hope that you are doing well. Keep in touch!!!~Elder Watts

January 5, 2010

2010-03-29T10:03:00.000-07:00

Hey, So I thought that I'd tell you a little bit about who we are teaching here in Clearfield. Kip & Stacy Stone are a married couple that are probably in their late 30's. They are non-members, and we've been teaching them for a few weeks now. They love church, and understand and accept a lot of what we teach them. They need to quit smoking, but hopefully we will be able to help them do that. Both of them are very nice, and I enjoy teaching them. They have a baptismal date for Jan. 30th. We started to teach a 16 yr. old girl named Ricky a week ago. I guess she's been going to church for over 7 months already, but hasn't gotten baptized yet. Things are going really well and she is more than ready for baptism. Her date is for Jan. 23rd. She's pretty fun and outgoing...sarcastic like me so we get along well haha. There's this lady named Shyla Zufelt that I've never taught but that is getting baptized on Jan. 16th. From what I've been told, she's been kind of an eternal investigator and has finally committed to get baptized. Then another guy named Orlando has a date for Jan. 30th...but I've never really taught him either. He is in his 20's and is trying to quit smoking. Hopefully everything will go well for him. Those are our investigators that have baptismal dates. We have a bunch of other people that we are teaching but those are the ones with dates. On wednesday we had our District Meeting. Elder Strom is our district leader and he asked me to help train on a program that we are trying to get started. I trained on it for about 15 minutes and it went well...I didn't expect him to ask me to do that though. New Years was pretty uneventful for us...just a normal day in the mission field. I bought some sparkling cider a few days before, so we drank that before we went to bed, but that's about it haha. We had a training by our zone leaders on saturday that I really enjoyed. It was about setting goals so that we can accomplish our vision...It was really cool. This area that I am in is a great area. There are a lot of great people here, members and non-members. As far as the area, it's pretty much mid-low class, and there isn't much in our area in Clearfield North. There's a few stores here and there, and some fast food places, but we have to go out of our area to go shopping, etc. It's the people that I care about though...the rest doesn't matter. I am enjoying it, and I am very thankful for the success that Heavenly Father is blessing us with. My lower back is feeling okay. It's not really any worse or any better. I've been keeping heat on it, and I got a Priesthood blessing, so hopefully I won't need to go to the doctor or anything. We went to the Ogden Temple this morning and did initiatories. After this we are gonna go to lunch, run errands, and get a haircut. I hope that everyone is doing well. I love ya and miss you. Your in my thoughts and prayers! I hope to hear from everyone soon! The church is true!!!~Elder Micheal Watts

January 12, 2010

2010-03-29T09:59:00.000-07:00

Holla! So first off I wanted to tell you that the Utah Ogden Mission baptized over 2,000 people in 2009!!! We baptized thousands! It was a goal that we had and we made it! As a mission we hope to baptize 200 this month and the next as well. Some missionaries in Idaho totalled one of the mission cars, a Pontiac Vibe, a few weeks ago. Both missionaries in the companionship fell asleep and flipped the car. They were definetly being watched over by our Heavenly Father because the only injuries they got was a bloody nose and a dislocated shoulder. I've attatched pictures for you to see. The Clawson family brought us IN-N-OUT for dinner last week. It was soooo good. The closest one is 30-40 minutes away, and they were going there anyway so they decided to get us some since they knew we loved it. They are starting to build more in Utah so I'm excited haha. We were talking to the Spanish Missionaries the other day and they told us that a lot of the time when they knock on doors, the hispanics think that they are the FBI or Immigration because they are dressed in suits etc...lol, I thought it was funny. We had zone conference last week in Kaysville. It was a nice meeting and it was fun to see some of the other missionaries. We had to drive through my last area to get to the conference so I got to see Layton a little bit...I miss it there. We've had a ton of Miracles lately. I saw a 16 yr old kid named Justin the other day in Sunset that I had taught in Layton. He never got baptized, but when I saw him the other day he told me that he had moved to Clinton and wants to get baptized! We commited him on the spot for January 30th, he accepted, and wants me to confirm him. It was so cool. I hope that I will be able to go to his baptism. Another miracle that we had was when we were knocking doors. I asked Elder Christensen if he knew all the people around our apartment, and he said no so we decided to knock the doors. This lady named Danielle answered, and told us that her fiance Adam isn't a member, and that he wants to get baptized. They were at church on sunday, and we are meeting with them on Wednesday. We are way excited for it. We are teaching this lady named Ching Hua from China, and it's really cool, because we teach with a translator. Sis. Norberg is a member in the ward, and is awesome. We've been teaching Ching Hua for a while and it is going slow, but it has been a cool experience. We are learning a few words in Chinese too haha...but not much, it's fun. Yesterday we taught this guy named Jason Yarington, who lives next to Bishop Waddoups. Sis. Waddoups and their son Luke came to the lesson and it was amazing. Jason's wife is already a member, and he wants to start getting ready for baptism. The Waddoups bore powerful testimonies and the Spirit was so strong. The Yaringtons were so focused on them as they spoke and I could tell that they felt the Spirit. I have a strong testimony of how important members are in Missionary Work, and how important it is to have the right fellowship for an investigator. So for all of you at home, keep up the good work in helping our Heavenly Father in this great work. It is so important. The work is going well here in Clearfield Utah. We are teaching some others as well, and we have 5 investigators with baptism dates. I am enjoying my time as a missionary. It's one of the best things I've ever done. I love you all so much and miss you tons. I hope that you are all doing well. Your in my thoughts and prayers.~Elder Micheal Watts

Pictures!

2010-03-29T09:38:00.000-07:00

December 29, 2009

2010-03-29T09:33:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone, So it feels like I haven't emailed in forever. We went to the Ogden Temple this morning and did a session. It had only been 2 weeks since I had been, but it seemed longer than that. Once I got into the Temple and started the session it felt so good to be there. I was really tired, but I'm glad that we went. On the day of transfers, Dec. 22nd, Debbie & JJ Townsend picked me up in the morning and drove me to my new area in Clearfield. I really enjoyed spending time with them. The night before they drove me around so that I could say goodbye to everyone...I really appreciated it, and I had a great time with them. I loved teaching Debbie and helping her reach her goal of baptism. I can't wait for the day when I hear that they are getting cealed in the Temple for time and all eternity. I hope that I will be able to attend. When I got to my new apartment, I realized how good I had it in Layton lol. The apartment we live in now used to be a Meth Lab, but I guess they cleaned it all up. (Don't worry mom) It's not as nice as my last place, but its all good. We have the place to ourselves, and there is plenty of room. Our next door neighbors are hispanic, and they were havin' a big party on Christmas eve. I wanted to go over and party with 'em so bad...they had loud music, good food, and everything. I wanted to go over, but I obviously couldn't. They brought us over some food and it was sooo good. We didn't have a Christmas tree, so we drew one on a piece of paper, taped it on the wall, and put our presents underneath hahaha, it was funny. A humble Christmas, one that I will definetly remember. It was nice because I was able to focus more on the real meaning of Christmas. On Christmas morning, we opened our presents, then we went to the Lee's home for breakfast. After that we went to the Metcafe's, one of the ward mission leaders home, and then we went to Bishop Waddoups home for lunch. They are awesome...I love 'em. We had a great time there. They are in the 8th ward, which has quickly become my favorite ward in the stake. Later on that day, we went to the Ecklestons for dinner...we had a nice time. Before we went in for the night, we played a few games as a district at a church building. I had a great Christmas. Thank you to all of you that sent cards and gifts. :) The day after Christmas, saturday, one of our investigators, Carol Mitipok got baptized. She is from Guam, and has been learning about the Gospel for a while. It was a nice baptismal service. On sunday we spoke in the 8th ward. I had to pull that talk together quick because I didn't know about it until I got here. It turned out well, and I love that ward. The members are amazing, and I can't wait to get to know them better. I miss all the people in my last area, but I know that I need to be here in Clearfield right now. It's still a little weird to be in this area, but I know that it will just take time. My companion Elder Christensen is awesome. He has only been out for 3 months, but you'd never be able to tell. He's a great missionary, and we get along well. We have 4 people with a baptismal date, and some other great investigators. I love being a missionary. My testimony is strong. The church is true! If you wrote or emailed me a letter, I promise I will write you back! I love you and miss you!!! ~Elder Micheal Watts

December 21, 2009

2010-03-29T09:30:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone, So I found out this morning that I am being transfered to Clearfield North. I will be Greenie Busting Elder Christiansen who has been out for 3 months. We don't have a car :( but we only cover 1 stake so I'm happy about that. We live with members, and I guess the area does well so I'm excited, but nervous at the same time. The change will be good for me, but it is going to be hard. I have to pack all of my stuff today. I have so much stuff that it might take a while lol. I will meet up with my new companion tomorrow morning. He told me that they have a nice Christmas set up so that will be nice. On Wednesday, Debbie & JJ Townsend had us over for dinner...we had a nice time visiting. They are really cool people and I'm gonna miss them. On Thursday we comfirmed one of our investigators baptismal date. We have been teaching Nick for a few weeks, and he has been doing well. He just got out of Prison, and has been learning about the church for a while. I guess he was involved in church before prison as well. Our mission president had to interview him and he passed, so he's all set to go on Jan 2nd. His wife is a member, but has been kind of inactive, so hopefully things will go well for them. We went to Red Robin for lunch on thursday after a meeting and it was really good but I ate way too much. They have refills on fries so that's cool lol, but it was too much. I've decided that my favorite places to eat right now are Cafe Rio, Red Robin, Jason's Deli, and Olive Garden. If you haven't been to any of those places, find one and go! :) On friday we had mission conference. President Olson and his wife spoke, as well as the Assistants. There were some very nice musical numbers, and we even had a talent show. It took up a lot of the time, but the skits were really funny and we all had a great time together. All the missionaries in the Odgen Utah Mission were there. The mission office held all of our mail until Friday so when we got there, the whole overflow was full of letters and packages. I'm gonna send my zip drive to you so you can see some of the talent show. Hopefully I will be able to get that in the mail today. Later that night we had 3 baptismal interviews to do. Since Elder Guenther is the District Leader, every time someone is getting ready for baptism, he has to interview them. We had one for us, and then 2 for other areas. Friday was a crazy busy day. On Saturday we went on exchanges with Kaysville. It was nice and I had fun. Their area has a car so that was a plus. On Sunday the Oak Hills ward primary had us come in and gave us gifts. We got hooked up fo sho! Haha. Every kid would bring up a gift for us, and then they would ask us a question. It was fun to hear all of their questions and to be able to answer them. They gave us food, clothes, gift cards, and even money. It was a lot of fun...and the ward was very generous. Then later that day we taught a primary class in the Aspen Cove ward about the real meaning of Christmas, and how the Gospel is the best gift we can give anyone. All I have to say, is that teaching primary kids is hard. The Stake I that we cover now has had 24 baptisms this year, and I have been here for 14 of them. We are only one away from the goal of 25. I have had a great time here, and I will miss it here very much. I know that all of it is because of the Lord, and I am so thankful that I have been able to be used as an instrument in God's hands. I got the packages everyone sent. I opened the boxes, but I haven't opened anything that was wrapped. Thank you for thinking of me and sending me a little Christmas cheer, even though you didn't need to send anything at all. I love all of you so much and miss you a lot. I keep you in my thoughts and prayers daily. I'm not sure what time I will be able to call home on Christmas. I guess I can just call you whenever, but what would probably be better is if you called me when yall were ready and all together. I can't wait to talk to all of you! Love,Elder Micheal Watts

December 15, 2009

2009-12-17T22:33:00.000-08:00

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

2009-12-17T22:25:00.000-08:00

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

2009-12-17T22:23:00.001-08:00

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

2009-12-17T22:17:00.001-08:00

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

2009-12-17T22:15:00.000-08:00

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

2009-12-02T13:42:00.000-08:00

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

2009-12-02T13:14:00.000-08:00

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

2009-12-02T13:04:00.002-08:00

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

2009-12-02T13:04:00.001-08:00

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

2009-12-02T12:59:00.001-08:00

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

2009-12-02T12:50:00.000-08:00

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

2009-12-02T12:48:00.000-08:00

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

2009-12-02T12:46:00.000-08:00

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

2009-12-02T12:41:00.000-08:00

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!!

2009-12-02T12:34:00.000-08:00

October 20, 2009

2009-10-26T09:05:00.001-07:00

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

2009-10-26T09:04:00.001-07:00

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

2009-10-26T08:48:00.000-07:00

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

2009-10-26T08:45:00.000-07:00

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

2009-09-19T20:25:00.000-07:00

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

2009-09-18T22:57:00.000-07:00

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

September 15, 2009: Letter to Alicia

2009-09-18T22:52:00.000-07:00

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

2009-09-18T22:48:00.002-07:00

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

2009-09-18T22:48:00.001-07:00

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

2009-08-19T22:55:00.000-07:00

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!

August 11, 2009: Letter to Alicia

2009-08-19T22:50:00.000-07:00

Elder Watts and Elder Jeffries
Hey Alicia!Things are going good. I got the package you sent. It was great, I loved it, thank you so much! My blog looks great...does everyone know about it? Tell Dallin happy birthday for me. Happy anniversary too! Wow, 15 years!? Hey that reminds me, can you get me a list of everyones birthdays and dates of other events like anniversaries? I don't want to miss anything. It sounds like you had a great trip. I wish I could be there to see all the family that has been there the past few weeks. Take lots of pics and send them to me! :) I'm glad you got the ice cream recipe. Let me know how you like it. Missionary life is good. It has it's moments but other than that it is good. I sent mom a letter in the mail telling all about the people we are teaching, and how a normal day goes for me so have mom show you. The baptism for Carlis Scott that was supposed to be this last Saturday didn't happen. It is postponed 4 weeks. We want to make sure she isn't just doing it for welfare purposes. She seemed like a golden investigator and all the lessons were going well, but then she got caught drinking. We want to make sure it is a solid conversion and not just a welfare dig. Bummer huh? We ran into this lady the other day and we started talking to her about the church and she said that she wasn't interested, and told us the way she got the missionaries to stop coming to her house was by answering the door naked! Hahaha. I'm glad we weren't those missionaries. She wasn't even that good looking anyway lol. ;) Most of our teaching in the apartments, where most of the people there are not very well off, and are pretty poor. I've found that it's the people like that who are more receptive to our message and the Gospel rather than wealthy people. It's humbling. The people are so nice and want more in their lives...the Gospel. When we walk down the street people honk and wave at us all the time, and usually at least once a week someone pulls over and gives us money! The Tidwells bought me a cd that I had mentioned I had liked. I was asking where I could find it to buy, and then the next thing I knew, they had gotten it for me. We are going to their house again for dinner tonight at 4pm. There's more info in the letter to mom about the area and who we are teaching. I'll try to just send some good juicy stories next week, or I'll try to write one if I have time. I love you and hope yall are doing good. The church is true!!! Oh hey I sent you a letter so it should be coming in the mail soon. Talk to ya next week!~Elder Watts

August 4, 2009: Letter

2009-08-19T22:43:00.001-07:00

First Day in the Mission Field. Everyone is getting their new companions.
Elder Watts with Elder Jeffries, Bottom Right

Hey!I'm so glad it's Tuesday...I've been looking forward to it all day. We went to a gymnastics gym today which was fun. Then some members took us out to lunch to Sizzlers...it was sooo good. Then we went to the mall and Wal-Mart. After we email we are going to the Tidwell's at 4pm for dinner and to hang out for a while. They are one of my favorite famlies. Later we have some appointments but I'm not sure if they will follow through or not. Here's some good news! We have an investigator getting baptized this Saturday!!!!! Elder Jeffery and I met her at church and we've been teaching her. Her name is Carlis and she recently moved her. It will be my first baptism! Ahh! :) I'm really excited about it. So Elder Hessing is in our ward? That's awesome. Tell him I said hi. I'm so glad to hear that family is coming to visit Grandma & Grandpa. I'm keeping everyone in my prayers, including the apartments that they will get rented. We are riding donated bikes so I haven't had to buy one yet...but I might have to soon...it's kinda falling apart lol. I got your letter. It was very nice mom. Thank you so much. I love you. I'll hand write you one as soon as I can. I recieved Alicia's package too. It was great. The bread was really good and the recipe cards are sooo cool. I'm gonna write her soon. Jenni is supposed to be sending me some pictures and I don't know if anything else. If you are going to send me cd's, they have to be the actual cd...not burnt copies off of the computer, it's a mission rule. I didn't have time to send you or anyone else a letter. We have just been so busy. I know that is horrible and not a good excuse and I am sorry, because nobody should ever be too busy for their family or friends, but I promise I will asap. I hope yall are doing well. I am doing good. Transfers are in 2 weeks so we'll see what happens. I have a feeling there might be a change but I'm not sure. I'm interested to see what happens. Tell everyone in the family, in our ward, and my friends on Facebook to write me! I love you and miss you. I'll write a letter this week and tell you more about what you asked in the letter. I promise. We just have to be at the Tidwells at 4pm...which is like right now. I hope this letter finds you guys doing well. I hope to hear from you soon. Love, Elder Watts,Micheal, Hater.

July 28, 2009: Letter

2009-08-19T22:37:00.000-07:00

Mom & Dad,

I'm missing you too. I bet it's really quiet around there with me gone and with Jenni & her family gone as well. Gavin is getting baptized in Utah? That's exciting that he is getting baptized but it sucks that you won't be able to be a part of it. It sounds like yall had a nice time while the Denver Watts' were there. From the letter is doesn't sound like much has changed with Grandma & Grandpa. Make sure to tell them I love them and that I said hi. Everything is fine with my companion & I. We just had a disagreement about a few things but we worked it out. I mentioned in the last letter that things are good, which they are, but that it is hard. I meant that yeah everything is good, but that being on a mission is a challenge. It's not easy lol. It's hard to adjust and to get used to things, but also to find people to teach, to do the actual teaching, etc. I don't know how to explain it. It's just very different from anything I have ever done before. It's all good though. Thank you for putting my name in the Temple...that means a lot. :) I'm working on the debit card thing. It just hasn't been working at Wal-Mart for some reason. When it comes to dinner for the missionaries, I don't know what to tell you, just make it good. It's nice to go to a members home that is clean, when the members are organized, on time, and when they have a nice meal for you. It makes you feel like they really want you to be there for dinner. Tell the Voss girl congrats for me. I'll keep the apartments in my prayers that they will rent soon. Only you, Alicia, and Jenni have been writing me through email. Jenni didn't write me a letter this week though. :( Uncle Donald donated to my mission? That's so nice of them. I'll have to send them a thank you note....can you get their address for me? Tell the girls at your work and everyone in the ward I said hi. Make sure that the address you give everyone is the mission office address on Washington Blvd. The lessons are going well. I'm getting better at them and learning them more everyday and every time I teach them. We have 5 investigators with baptismal dates coming up. We haven't had a baptism yet though. I'm trying to write in my journal but it's hard cause I don't have a lot of time to write in it...I'm workin' on it though. We had zone conference last week which was nice. A set of missionaries got their car taken away lol...some other missionaries in Idaho wrecked their car and need one so they took one away from our area. We have been doing a lot of service this week. We helped people move 3 different times this week. It was nice to help. The guy we helped yesterday took us all out to lunch afterwards which was nice of him. The Drake family brought us more groceries the other day...they are an amazing family, and love to help out with missionary work. Another member brought us like 20 boxes of cereal lol...I guess she works at a grocery store so she gets a lot or something haha. Idk. We've been doing overnight exchanges lately. They have been fun, it's nice to go to a different area with a different missionary and see how they do things. We went bowling last Tuesday for P-Day but Idk what we are going to do today. Hopefully something fun. Well I miss you guys so much and love you even more. I hope yall are doing well. Keep me updated and let me know what is going on with everything. I hope to hear from you soon. I love getting letters from everyone. Tell all my friends on Facebook to write me!!! Give them my address (the mission office one) and tell them I'll write back if they write me first so that I have their address. I'll write more in a hand written letter today. I gotta go cause we need to go do other things, and my companion is done with his email and wants to go so I'll make sure to write you later today cause there's more I want to tell you. Love you!

-Elder Watts,
Micheal,
Hater

Layton, UT Week 2

2009-07-21T22:11:00.000-07:00

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!

Area No. 1: Layton, Utah

2009-07-14T20:53:00.004-07:00

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

MTC Part Two

2009-07-14T20:53:00.003-07:00

Entry for MTC 2

MTC Part One

2009-07-14T20:53:00.001-07:00

Entry for MTC

MTC Eve

2009-07-10T00:01:00.000-07:00

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.

Giving back.

2009-05-21T00:07:00.000-07:00

My friend Alex from college recently lost her brother in Iraq while serving our Country. He was only 28 years old, married, and had 4 children all under the age of 8. I am raising money to help his wife and kids and am accepting donations. I plan to present all donations to the family in the first part of June while they are here in California. If you would like to donate, or if you have any questions please call me at (530) 519-9994. Thanks.

Bloopers!

2009-03-18T23:42:00.000-07:00

This is a video of all the bloopers from the movie that my friends and I made called The Cellar. Watch the movie first before you watch this one!

The Cellar ~ A movie my friends and I made during my visit in Rexburg

2009-03-16T05:33:00.000-07:00

During my visit in Rexburg, some friends and I decided to make a movie. We decided to pattern it after the movie The Strangers. The Strangers is rated "R", so many of you probably haven't seen it, but we rented a clean flix version of it so that is how we got the idea. It's pretty short and thrown together, but we had a lot of fun making it! Do you think it's Oscar worthy??? Haha.

A visit back to Rexburg

2009-03-16T04:41:00.000-07:00

Ever since I got home in December from Fall semester at BYU-I, I wanted to go back and visit friends. The question was how I would get there. My dad was driving back to Idaho to finish the house that he was building, so I drove with him, and flew back home after the trip was over. The drive went by pretty fast, probably because I slept a lot of the way haha. I got into Rexburg Idaho around 8:30pm, and started the 10 day trip I had anticipated for weeks. My 3 friends Scott, Tyler, and Dan were nice enough to let me crash at their apartment, and trust me, there was hardly ever a dull moment.

The night I got there, at around midnight, some friends came over to see me. One thing I loved about being at college, is that everyone was so spontaneous, unlike my life at home. We were all just hanging out at the apartment, and decided to go to Denny's! There isn't a Denny's in Rexburg, but there is one in Idaho Falls, which is about 30 minutes away. So we all got in Heidi's car and went to Denny's, even though it was curfew haha. I don't think we ended up getting home until about 3:30am, but it was fun! Car rides are always a blast, no matter where we go, and of course we had to take pictures. Like my sister Jenni says, I document everything with pictures. :)

Kelsey and I at the park.

Kelsey and I sledding at the dorms. (AKA the girl I made out with last semester that everyone seems to have heard about. Just thought I would clear that up.)

When I planned my trip, I knew I was going to be there during Valentines Day. It wasn't what I had expected, but it was really nice and very low key. Scott and I didn't have any big plans, so we invited Camille and Kalee over for the evening. (Sorry everyone, no juicy stories to tell...nothing happened even though it was Valentines Day) We made a great dinner together, had a little sparkling cider, and had chocolate dipped strawberries for dinner. Afterwards we put on some music and just talked and hung out.

Heidi was busy a lot, but we were able to do a few things together while I was there. One day she picked me up, we grabbed something to eat, went to a candy shop for some sweets, and then went to the movies. We had a really good time. And of course, we took pictures in the car!!! Haha it's kind of a tradition. :)

Camille is from Texas...can't you tell? This was one of the last days I was there, and we were just messing around, and decided to take some pictures. I think we took almost 50, but these are the best ones.

When I decided to go back to Rexburg, I had this idea of how I thought it would be. All I can say, is that it wasn't what I thought. I had a great time, but at the same time, I guess you could say that it was disappointing. I really learned who my real friends are. I learned that if you care about someone, and if you are someones friend, you make time for them. I didn't expect my friends to drop their lives, and I understand they can get busy with school, but if you care, then you will make time for your friend. I learned from a girl last semester, that you are never too busy for your friends, and I agree with that. A true friend, is someone that is there for you when it's convenient for them, but also when it's NOT convenient for them. Even though my trip didn't go as I had planned, I still think that it was worth every minute. I was able to strengthen relationships that will last, and I was able to end relationships that were never good for me in the first place.

An update might not be for a while...

2009-02-22T19:44:00.000-08:00

So I was going to update my blog and tell you about my trip back to Rexburg, but soon after I got home, my laptop crashed again. As soon as I get it fixed, I will update my blog and tell you all about it. Wish me luck in getting it fixed!!!

My new favorite appetizer

2009-01-26T20:25:00.000-08:00

So at my cousin Brook's wedding, she had these appetizers, and they were really good. They are called Creamy Dill Cucumber Toasties. I decided I needed to get the recipe and make them myself. I went to Raley's and got the ingredients, and made them today. They were a huge hit with my family, and tasted just like I remember them. Above are some pictures of the finished product. Below is the recipe...enjoy!

Creamy Dill Cucumber Toasties

INGREDIENTS
1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
1 (.7 ounce) package dry Italian-style salad dressing mix
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1 French baguette, cut into 1/2 inch thick circles
1 cucumber, sliced
2 teaspoons dried dill weed

DIRECTIONS
In a medium bowl, mix together cream cheese, dressing mix and mayonnaise.
Spread a thin layer of the cream cheese mixture on a slice of bread, and top with a slice of cucumber. Sprinkle with dill. Repeat with remaining ingredients.

Jenni has a Facebook!

2009-01-25T20:47:00.000-08:00

Okay so today I forced Jenni into getting a Facebook. She doesn't really want one, but everyone else has one, so why not her? She told me she is going to delete it, but I told her she isn't. Anyway, you can search for her on Facebook under Jenni C Torgersen. Look her up and tell her to keep it haha.

The Jelly Belly Factory

2009-01-25T19:32:00.000-08:00

Gavin & I

This picture is made out of nothing but Jelly Beans! Crazy!

These mirrors didn't really work that well.

Jenni, Gavin, Leah, Jack, and I went on a tour of the Jelly Belly factory! None of us had ever been before, so it was cool to see how Jelly Beans were made.

Gavin & Leah trying to be cool haha.

After the factory tour, we grabbed a bite to eat at IN-N-OUT and then hit the Vacaville Outlets. You could spends days going through all those stores. There were tons of great deals too!

On the way home, we were playing some music, and to my surprise, Gavin knew all the words to this song! I couldn't believe it hahaha. It was so funny that we decided to record it. It was a great day, we had a lot of fun, and hope to go back again soon.

Rexburg here I come!

2009-01-25T16:57:00.000-08:00

So I just couldn't stand being away from all of my friends from school, so I have planned a trip back to see them next month. I bought my plane ticket the other day, and will be there Feb. 6th through the 17th, which means I will be there on Valentines Day. I guess I'll need to get a valentine! Anyway, I can't wait. I am staying with some friends at their apartment, and am gonna have a blast. It will be so fun to see everyone again...and trust me, I'll have tons of pictures for you when I get back. Rexburg here I come!

Spontaneous trips are the best

2009-01-25T16:19:00.000-08:00

A few weeks ago, Jenni & I decided to go to Sacramento for the evening. Even though we didn't leave Chico until about 4pm, it was still nice to get away for the night.

The first place we went was the Galleria Mall at Roseville. After doing some window shopping there, we went across the street to Nordstroms Rack. We didn't buy anything, but it was fun to look.

After the mall, we went to the Fountains shopping center. By the time we got there around 8pm, it was closed, but the fountains were still going, so we were able to enjoy those.

We found a fire that we were able to sit by to warm up with...it was a nice night, but a little cold.

Taking pictures in the car is kind of a tradition with me, so this is one that we came up with. I laugh so hard whenever I see this picture of Jenni. Hahahaha

After spending some time at the Fountains shopping center, we stopped at one of Jenni's favorite stores, Whole Foods. I had never been in one before, but it was pretty cool, and wish we had one closer to Chico. We found a coconut and for some reason, thought that it would taste like a pina colada, but that is not what it tasted like at all. It was really watery and didn't taste good. We each took a sip of it and that was enough for us.

Our last stop of the night was at The Cheesecake Factory. We had to wait for a little bit, but it was well worth it.

I had the bbq chicken salad with onion rings on top....mmm mmm good!

Jenni had a salad with all the dressings on the side...it was huge! At the end of the night, we were stuffed and don't think we could have eaten anything else. I had a great time, and hope that I can do it again soon. Thanks Jenni for a great night away from reality!!! :)

Last night of Fall Semester with the girls :(

2009-01-25T14:18:00.000-08:00

Heidi & I

For some reason, we had a lot of Mountain D0

Brittany & I

I think Heidi was hopped up on Mountain Do a little too much haha.

Fall semester went by way too fast. It seems like it was just yesterday that I was moving into my apartment and getting ready for the first day of classes. When I first got to school, I didn't like it too much. It was a new place, I didn't know anyone, and I was away from my family. As time went on, I got used to living on my own, going to class, and I started to meet a lot of people I can now call my friends. I had an amazing time at BYU-I and would recommend it for anyone. I don't think that people who haven't gone to BYU-I can understand what it's like there. It is a place unlike anything or anywhere I have ever been. Pretty much everyone that lives in Rexburg is LDS, and there is a spirit there that you can't get anywhere else. It was nice to be able to hang out with friends and go places and not have to worry about what we were going to do, and if the party was going to be appropriate. There was never a question as to if we should go to someones house, or if we should go to a party. Yes, my circle of friends did change pretty quickly at the beginning of the semester. You might have noticed that some of the people featured in my blog postings at the start of the semester are not included in more recent postings. After a while, you find out who your real friends are, and who actually cares about you as a person, and not for just your car, for your apartment, or for your money. I have made friends that I hope will last a lifetime, and so far it seems like they will. It's the people that stay in touch after the semester is over that are your true friends. The people that are there for you even though they aren't physically there. If I could re-live those 3-4 months of Fall semester, I would in a second. If you or anyone you know is thinking about going to any of the church universities, I highly recommend it. Last semester also taught me a lot, not just temporally, but spiritually as well. I was talking to my friend Heidi, and I was telling her I was having a hard time being away from school. She told me that for some reason, Heavenly Father wanted me at BYU-I last semester, and for some reason, Heavenly Father wanted me in California now. She said that I blessed their lives while I was there, and that I'll bless someones here in California. We don't always know why we are where we are, or why something happens, and we don't always need to know. We just need to have faith in the Lord, and know that whatever happens, it is in the Lords hands, and that as long as we do what we can to choose the right and do our best in any situation we are placed in, he will do the rest and make up whatever is left. Even though last semester went by quickly, not only was I there for my education, I was there to learn many life lessons that I will benefit from for the rest of my life. I am so thankful to have had the opportunity to attend Brigham Young University Idaho last semester. It is a time that I will remember for the rest of my life.

Taco Sunday

2008-11-08T23:16:00.001-08:00

The Gang...well at least some of them.

We decided to play with fire ha ha ha

Okay so these are 4 of my roomates...Brett is in the green shirt, Tanner is in Blue, Robbie is in Red, and Brian is in Grey.

Kelsey and I

Bethany, Sandra, and me

Camille and I

Halloween

2008-11-08T15:18:00.000-08:00

We kind of made a little mess.

Beware of Ghosts!

Tyler, Chun, Brittney, Jamie, Scott, and Heidi

Jamie was Joe Dirt for Halloween...it was probably the best costume I saw the whole night.

Sandra & Kelsey enjoying my mom's amazing popcorn balls.

This year Halloween didn't go as I had originally planned. Weeks before, flyers had been handed out for the Halloween Black Light Party. Everyone knew about it and was planning to attend. It was supposed to be this huge dance party in a warehouse...and my friends and I were all planning on going. The Sunday before Halloween, my Bishop got up in Sacrament meeting and addressed the congregation about the party that was coming up. He advised us not to go to the party, and didn't think that it would be a very uplifting place to go. To make a long story short, some friends and I decided to pray about it. After praying and recieveing guidence and inspiration, we decided to not go to the party. Instead, we bought tons of food, stuffed our faces, and watched scary movies. It made me feel good to know that I followed the spirit, and my church leaders. We all had a great time, and heard that the party wasn't even that great. I am happy about the decision that we all made to not go to the party...because we had a great time doing what we did!

Crazy night...

2008-10-31T01:04:00.000-07:00

Where should I start? So tonight I was hanging out with some friends at the dorms...and this is what I found when I came out to my car to go home. Surprise! I have no idea who would have done it. There was silly string and whip cream all over my car. On the back window it said "We love u." I didn't get upset, and instead just went to the car wash and washed it all off. Now keep in mind that this is at 10:30 at night, and that it is freezing outside...so while I was washing the car off my fingers were about to break off it was so cold. After that I went home, got some rags, and dried off the car. When I got done, I went up to my apartment and got on Facebook to talk to some people. As I looked out the window, I saw my roomates and their friends pull into the apartment complex. As they got out of the car, they walked over to mine. They then called me and told me that my car had been egged. I didn't get a picture of it, but I couldn't believe it. I immediately went back to the car wash and washed my car off again. At that point I was freaking out because I had no idea who it was, and what was going to happen next. After I washed the car for the second time, I got in my car and started driving out of the parking lot. I saw a car coming, but decided that I had plenty of time to go. Right as I got onto the main street, police lights flashed behind me. I knew that they were for me, so I pulled onto a side street and pulled over. I have always been told that when anyone gets pulled over, they should keep their hands on the steering wheel and look straight forward until otherwise instructed....so that's what I did. I waited for a minute or two until the Police Officer (which was a woman) came to the window, and that's when I rolled down the window. To make a long story short, I apparently pulled out in front of her and cut her off...which I didn't think I did. Even if I did, I didn't mean to. She asked me for my drivers license, registration, and insurance, and then went back to her Dodge Charger Police car and didn't come back for what seemed to be forever. When she came back she gave me back my information and told me that she would only give me a warning. I told her that I was very sorry, that I didn't mean to cut her off, and that I appreciated only getting the warning. She then asked me why I was sweating so much. I responded by telling her about what had happened to my car, and also how I had never been pulled over before. While I was saying this, it finally hit me. Earlier that night before all this happened, my friend Michelle gave me a warm oil head massage, which made my head look really greasy and sweaty. Even though I wasn't sweaty, the oil from the massage made it look like it. I told the Police Officer, but I don't think she really knew what was going on. Anyway, she told me that she would fill out an incident report for me about the vandalism with the eggs, etc and that if it happened again, or if I found out who it was, they would talk to them, or I could press charges. I don't think I will go that far unless it happens again and if the car gets damaged. I thanked the Officer again, shook hands, and then went along my way. I am so glad that I didn't get a ticket! Ugh. Tonight has just been sooo crazy. But I would really like to find out who did it, and why. I guess only time will tell what will happen next.

Free Big Mac's!!!

2008-10-31T00:21:00.000-07:00

So for some reason, McDonald's gave away free Big Mac's today and yesterday. All you had to do to get it was text message a certain number, you would be sent back a message, and then show McDonald's the text message, and then they would give you a free hamburger. So tonight we decided to go. We actually went twice because Kelsey wanted to go, so we all decided to go again! Crazy huh? It was really fun and I had a good time...but I think we all ate a little too much.

Dr.Slaughters House of Terror!!!

2008-10-29T22:53:00.000-07:00

So I had been wanting to go to Dr.Slaughters for a long time. I finally got some of my friends to go tonight...and I think we all had a great time. I have been to other haunted houses before, but I don't think they compare to this one. It was in a huge warehouse, and was put together very well. Each section was kind of themed after a scary movie which was really cool. While we waited in the long line, they had two performances for us to watch...the video above is one of them. The cool thing about it is that all the people that worked at the haunted house volunteered. All of the money raised is going towards the program DARE. It was a lot of fun and I'm glad we all went.

Busted

2008-10-27T17:49:00.000-07:00

So most of you know that I kind of have a heavy foot when it comes to driving. Well today I got caught. I admit that I am a little fast, but I don't like to waste time. Anyway, when I got home, the apartment manager came to my apartment and told me that I needed to slow down. He said that if I get caught again, my parking privileges will be taken away. Sooo, I guess I will be slowing down. Anyway, that's my excitement for the day! I guess I just can't drive like a Californian in Idaho...Ha ha ha

Do unto others...

2008-10-21T00:39:00.001-07:00

Today has been a good day. I have found that when you think about others, and do things for others, it makes you feel good. Today I was able to help two of my friends, and afterwards, I felt so good. It didn't matter if they did anything in return. I came away from the experience making two of my friends feel better, and I came away happy knowing that I helped them, even if it was just a little bit. It is just such a great feeling to have. It is better than any other feeling I have experienced in a long time. Helping others and expecting nothing in return is something that we all need to incorporate into our lives. I know that as we do, we will be so much happier.

Someone new

2008-10-19T01:10:00.000-07:00

Okay so this is Michelle Walker. She is Sandra & Ayelen's roomate. She is very interesting, and unlike anyone that I have ever met in my life. At first, you might not give her a chance, but after hanging out with her for a while...she is one of my favorite people. She is happy. She has an opinion, says it how it is, and doesn't care what anyone says about anything. She is just a person that is happy about everything. She always has something good to say. She is a great person to talk to because she actually listens, cares, and gives great advice. She is hilarious. Not by any jokes, but by her just being her. She has so much confidence. She just cracks me up. I don't think you can really understand unless you meet her, but your gonna have to take my word for it. I know that many think she is different, but she isn't. She is a great person, and I am glad that I met her. She is just a cool person. Everyone that I know I don't think has given her a chance, but is missing out on a friendship. I don't even really know how to explain to you what kind of person she is...but she is this person that makes you feel good. Ha ha ha this sounds really cheesy, but it's true. I'm just glad that I met her, and that I actually gave her a chance unlike most people here.

Cool whip fight...

2008-10-18T13:20:00.000-07:00

One of Alex's favorite things to eat is cool whip... While eating it, she threw some at Katelyn, which then started a huge cool whip fight...I hadn't got involved until Alex smeared it all over the side of my face. I wasn't going to let her get away with it, so that is why her head is covered in it...ha ha ha. I didn't get caught on camera, although I wasn't covered in it as bad as they were. It was great. Food fights are a mess, but totally worth it.

Late night trips through the drive thru...fun times.

2008-10-18T13:14:00.001-07:00

Late night trips to get food hasn't become a tradition, but happens quite often. The car rides are so fun, full of laughs, food, and pictures. Where should we go next???

Brownies!!!

2008-10-17T00:06:00.000-07:00

So I have decided that Hershey's Brownies are my favorite junk food. We made them tonight...and let me tell you, there were so freaking good!

Collage

2008-10-16T23:06:00.000-07:00

After help from my sister Alicia, I figured out how to make a collage for wallpaper on my computer. It turned out pretty good...if you click on it, it should enlarge for you to get a better look at it...Thanks Alicia!!!

Wednesday night fun

2008-10-16T00:38:00.000-07:00

They decided to have a little dance party...it was really funny.

Jamie & I

Sandra & I

Today was Ayelen's 19th birthday...so we all went to Big Juds for dinner!

The night was pretty fun!

This weekend

2008-10-12T02:20:00.000-07:00

This weekend was so fun! On Friday, I went over to Sandra and Ayelen's house and made cake. It was sooo good. After we made it, Kelsey came over and said that a bunch of people were meeting at The Ridge to go to the Haunted Mill. We all met at The Ridge, and then carpooled to the mill. It was probably th freakiest thing I have ever been to. Sorry I don't have pictures from that yet. After we were done there, we came back and ate the cake! On Saturday, I went to Idaho Falls and spent some time with my family. It was nice to have a break from everything in Rexburg. Then when I got back, Michelle's mom is here for Mother's week, and made a homemade apple pie. It was so good. After that, we all decided to go to the Straw Maze. It was a lot of fun, but we got kicked out because they were closing for the night. Afterwards, we stopped at a gas station and got some hot chocolate. It was perfect for the weather that we are having. Overall the weekend was a lot of fun!

Mummy Party

2008-10-12T02:16:00.001-07:00

These pics are from a few weeks ago at the Mummy party that we went to. It was pretty fun. Here are some pics for you to enjoy. :)

Oops...

2008-10-12T00:48:00.000-07:00

So I guess I accidentally parked in the managers parking place last night. They put this sticker on my window which was a pain to get off, but least I didn't get a ticket or get towed! Whew.

Grocery shopping with Sandra & Kinzi

2008-10-07T22:58:00.000-07:00

Tonight I went grocery shopping with Sandra and Kinzi. We had so much fun...it was kind of spur of the moment, but it was great. Here are some pics...enjoy!!!

General Conference

2008-10-07T01:04:00.001-07:00

This past weekend, I was able to attend General Conference! It was a long day of driving to Salt Lake City and back in one day, but it was worth it. The talks were great, as well as the music. When the Mormon Tabernacle Choir stopped singing after a song, and when the organ would stop, it would echo in the conference center and it gives me chills every time. You can feel the spirit so strong when you are there. When the prophet walked in, everyone stood and it got so silent. It was amazing. I loved it and can't wait to go again!

My Blog Has Been Hacked!!!

2008-09-30T21:42:00.000-07:00

I guess maybe you should change the user-name and password for your blog so people like me can't log in and post crazy messages. Kind of creepy and erie knowing someone knows all your secret user-names and generic passwords, doesn't take an idiot to figure them out, duh!! Maybe you should check your bank account next........see ya, wouldn't want to be ya!!! Pay backs SUCK!

Yum

2008-09-30T18:16:00.001-07:00

I just wanted to show everyone what I made for dinner tonight! I put the lasagna in the oven, left to do some errands for an hour, came back, and within 40 minutes, made everything else, started eating dinner and had Hershey's brownies in the oven! It was sooo good. Wish you all could have been here to enjoy it with me!!!

Opposition in all things

2008-09-29T16:31:00.000-07:00

Today in my Book of Mormon class, we talked about opposition and the affect it has on our lives. In the scriptures it talks about how there must be opposition in all things. If we didn't have it, we wouldn't know good from bad, we wouldn't be happy or sad, etc. In 2 Nephi 2:11 it says, "For it must needs be, that there is an opposition in all things..." I think it is really interesting how something so negative must be a part of our lives. I know that we need to have it, and I know that it allows us to tell the difference if good and bad, but it is just weird to think about. Today and in the past few weeks I have felt a lot of opposition in my life. As you all know General Conference is coming up this weekend. I am living in Rexburg Idaho attending BYU-I and didn't want to pass up the chance to go since am so close to Salt Lake. I tried to get tickets from my ward here, but was unsuccessful. After playing phone tag with my Steak President back home for two weeks, I was finally able to get 6 tickets for the Sunday afternoon session. I was sooo excited! I recieved the tickets today in the mail, but it was a bitter sweet moment for me. While waiting to recieve the tickets, I asked everyone I knew if they would be interested in going with me. Not one single person has said that they wanted to go. I offered them the ticket, and offered to drive...(as long as they give me gas money lol), but still nobody wants to go. I have only been to General Conference once, but it was amazing. To see the Mormon Tabernacle Choir sing, along with the huge organ, and to be there when the Prophet walks in is just an amazing experience that I do not want to pass up. You feel the spirit so strong. I just can't understand why nobody wants to go. After attending my Book of Mormon class, I started to think a bit more about opposition and the effect it is having in my life. I know that I must experience it, but I want to know why. Why does nobody want to go? Why would someone pass up this wonderful experience? I know that people are busy, etc, but I am just having a hard time understanding why nobody wants to go. I can tell that Satan is trying really hard to get me to not go to Conference. I just can't believe that so many people are passing up an opportunitiy like this.

What a surprise!

2008-09-26T14:01:00.001-07:00

So yesterday after getting home from school, my roomates told me that I had recieved a package. I was so surprised to see that the Denver Watts had made me a scrapbook of my trip to Denver this last summer. I had so much fun on the trip and wish that it could have lasted longer. The book is amazing...Aunt Elaine did a great job on it as she always does. Thanks so much all you Denver Watts for the great time...I really enjoyed visiting with all of you. These are just some of the pages that are in the book. The pictures don't do it justice though. Thanks again!!!

Dinner

2008-09-26T13:31:00.000-07:00

Last week, Alex, Katelyn, Kinzi and I made dinner together. We made mashed potatoes, italian chicken, corn, and garlic french bread. The dinner was probably the best dinner I have had so far since I have been living on my own. It made me think about my mom's cooking...I miss it sooo much. I have been keeping taco sunday alive as well. Well, i've only had taco sunday once, but we all decided to have it once a month so that it would be too much work every week. I'll post some pics of that soon!

Thanks Alicia!

2008-09-18T18:45:00.001-07:00

So my sister Alicia sent me some homemade bread...and let me tell you, it is sooo good! I was eating some while doing my homework and decided to share it all with you! Thanks again Alicia!!!

Idaho Falls

2008-09-14T12:04:00.000-07:00

Alex, Katelyn, and I all wanted to go to Idaho Falls, so we all got in the car and went this week. We went to the mall (didn't buy anything lol), went to a costume store looking for something for Halloween (any ideas on what I should be?), and then we went to Texas Roadhouse for steak. It was sooo good! I got a 6 ounce steak, fries, and mashed potatoes for less than $10.00...isn't that crazy! It was so good, so if any of you haven't gone, make it a goal to go next time you are near one. After that, on our way home we drove by the falls in Idaho Falls. Alex and Katelyn had never seen them, so we stopped and took some pictures. It was great to get out of Rexburg for a while and just relax. What should we do next? :)

Testimony of prayer

2008-09-13T02:44:00.000-07:00

Okay so tonight there were parties all over Rexburg. The Ridge (where I live) had a big party that the police broke up...we got to it right when eveyone had left so it kind of sucked but whatever. We then went to this movie night thing but it was so stupid so we left. We then heard that there was a huge party at the sand dunes with music and a huge fire and everything so we decided to go. I took my car since there was so many people...which wasn't a big deal. When we got there, we saw some fires so we pulled to the side of the road. The car behind us said that we needed to drive farther to get to the actual party because it was pretty far away. So we all got back in the car, but as I started to drive, I could tell that my tires were starting to spin. I knew that this was not a good sign since we were in the sand in the middle of who knows where. I mean there was people around but you know what I mean. To make a long story short, we ended up getting stuck bad. I don't think my car could have gotten any deeper in the sand. (the sand was all the way up to my bumper and I don't think it could have gotten any deeper.) It's not that we kept on trying to get out, it's just that the sand is so fine and thin that it didn't take long to get stuck. After, we all freaked out for a second, but then one of the guys we were with said something about a prayer. As soon as I heard that I decided that we needed to have a group prayer. We prayed that we needed help now, and that we had faith that we would be helped. One second later, probably over 20 people were helping us get my car out of the sand. People were digging the sand away, and trying to think of ways to get the car out. After digging a little bit we took the rubber floor mats out of my car and put them under the tires. Within a matter of 5 minutes or less, the car was out of the sand, on the road, and we were on our way to the party. This experience is a real testimony builder. It was amazing! I am so thankful for the blessings that I have recieved, and for the power of prayer. The help that we recieved was just so instant. Right after we got done praying we recieved all this help. It was sooo cool you don't even know.

Sand Dunes!

2008-09-11T15:56:00.000-07:00

So it was kind of sudden but we all decided to go to the sand dunes last night. It was about 8:30pm so it was dark, but it was so fun! There really isn't much to do except for play in the sand and run around and roll down hills, but it was great. The car I was riding in got stuck in the sand on the side of the road so we had to push it out of the rutt we were in, but it all worked out. We played a bunch of games, took pictures, and then afterwards went back to the apartment and warmed up and ate popcorn. We played more games and then after that I took a LONG HOT SHOWER. There was sand everywhere! My head was covered, as well as my feet, and I am still trying to get the sand out of my ears. Ugh. Anyway, I think we are going to go back again soon, but here are some pics to tide you over until the next post. Sorry but I don't have tons of pics of the actual dunes...I didn't want to screw up my camera...another person took their camera and they have pics but I haven't got them yet. Here are the ones I have so far! Enjoy!

I've come to realize...

2008-09-07T21:02:00.000-07:00

...Before I moved here to Rexburg Idaho, I had this idea of how I thought everything was going to be. These first few days have been okay, but today was disappointing. Church was great, and we had a good meeting, but I think it was more my roomates and the people I was with later today that made me upset. Sunday has always been a sacred day for me, and one that I keep holy. After church, it just didn't seem like sunday anymore. My roomates were listening to explicit music, two of them went grocery shopping, and it just didn't seem like the sunday's I have always been to. I guess I just expected more of people. Two of my roomates didn't even come home last night. They aren't following the rules. I don't mind if little things happen, but I am just really dissapointed in some of the people I have met so far. Hopefully family home evening tomorrow will be a positive and uplifting experience. I just don't know what to say...there aren't words. Ugh.

I need recipes!!!

2008-09-07T13:04:00.000-07:00

I need recipes please!!! I need easy things that aren't too complicated, anything will help. Thanks so much!

Address

2008-09-07T12:37:00.000-07:00

Here is my mailing address in case anyone wants to know:

Jordan Ridge Apartments

291 E 7th S, Apartment #612

Rexburg, ID 83440

College life...sorry it took so long to post.

2008-09-07T01:20:00.000-07:00

I have had many requests to post pictures of my apartment and bedroom, and finally had some time to do it, so I hope that you enjoy them...ha ha ha. It was hard to leave home, knowing that I wouldn't be going home for 4 months, and knowing that I wouldn't be able to see my family for a long time. It is hard, and I am sure it will be for a while, since I am so attatched to my family. :) I love my family so much, and can't wait to see them again. I miss you all, and hope that we can exchange pictures and stories all the time. I have met a lot of people in the last 3 days, and am having a great time so far. Tomorrow I will be attending my ward for the first time, so we will see how that goes. Monday, classes start, so please pray for me. Wish me luck! I will keep everyone posted as much as I can. Love you all and can't wait to see everyone soon!

Off we go!

I have a great view of the temple at night...I love it!

I can't believe that all my clothes fit into that tiny closet.

To all those that said I would get crap from my roomates about having a fridge in my room...just so you know, they all think my room is cool...and that it is a good idea...fyi.

I also met some cool people...this is Alex.

Katelyn is so funny!

Alex (left) and Katelyn (right), this is the other Katelyn.

So far everything is going well...I will have my mailing address posted as soon as I figure out what it is, in case you want to send me something...ha ha ha. I'll keep you informed as school starts, etc.

Day Spa

2008-09-07T01:13:00.000-07:00

So my friend Amber (I used to work with her at Old Navy), took me to this day spa called Aqua Azul Oasis for my going away present...and let me tell you, it was so amazing. We both got a 1/2 hour facial, 1 hour massage, and a pedicure and manicure. It was so nice and relaxing...I would recommend it to anyone! Spoil yourself and go :)

Denver Colorado!

2008-09-07T00:10:00.000-07:00

Taking a vacation to Colorado was exactly what I needed before leaving for college, along with going to San Fransico. (Thanks Alicia!) We did so many fun things, I really enjoyed all that we did, but most of all, it was just nice to visit and be with family. Thanks again to all you Denver Watts'...I miss you! Here are some pics from my trip, enjoy. :)

College

2008-09-02T20:20:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone...I feel really bad because I haven't posted anything in a long time, but between packing and moving to college, I haven't had a chance to hook up my internet in my apartment. (I am using my brothers computer.) All my pictures etc are on my computer so as soon as I get everything up and running I will definitley update my blog. I have at least 3 different postings to do...so check back soon!!!

San Francisco!

2008-08-21T06:46:00.000-07:00

One of my goals this summer was to go to San Francisco. I have to admit I had never been. I know, it's hard to believe that in the whole 18 years I have lived in California, I had never gone to San Francisco to just go and sight see. I decided that before I started college, I was going to go no matter what. Sooo, on Monday, my sister Alicia and I set out on the road to the city! I let my sister drive...I had no idea of how to get around, so if we got lost, it would be her fault, not mine...ha ha ha.

The art on the side of buildings was amazing...

After parking at the Hilton Hotel, we decided to do a little shopping first. The Westfield Mall in San Francisco was at least 5 stories tall. I think we could have easily spent 2 days there!

After some shopping, it was time to go to Pier 39. We decided to take the trolly. It was my first time. :)

Us waiting for a trolly

Alica & me on the trolly

For lunch we had Clam Chowder bread bowls...yum!

Fisherman's Warf

The view from the trolly

After lunch, we bought tickets for the Red & White Fleet. I had never heard of it before, but it was so cool, and it was only $22, wow. The boat took us all throught the San Francisco Bay, under the Golden Gate Bridge, around Alcatraz, and down the Piers.

The view of the city was great.

Alcatraz

Pier 39

The hot fudge sundae was really good!

We had our first taxi ride...it wasn't that bad...

China Town

China Town was interesting to see...but it was really dirty... Overall, I had a great time. I am glad that I went, and that my sister Alicia was able to go with me! :)

Sons of Liberty Encampment

2008-08-12T23:35:00.000-07:00

This past weekend I was able to attend the Sons of Liberty Encampment! It actually lasted for 4 days, but I was only able to attend it for 2 days. I had to get 2 shifts covered from work...but it was so worth it! On Friday night, Elder L. Tom Perry was there and spoke to us. He was even in his scout uniform...he gave a great talk. Then we were able to see a 14 year old polynesian fire dancer. It was amazing! I think I saw the most amazing, clear, and bright shooting star I have ever seen. I saw about 5 shooting stars in about an hour. On Saturday, John Bytheway spoke to all of us, which was about 5,000 people. I was really excited to see John Bytheway speak. He is such a great speaker. I hope that I will be able to see more of him in the future. Overall, it was a very spiritual and uplifting event.

Elder L. Tom Perry ( In his scout uniform in the middle)

John Bytheway

Fun at work

2008-08-12T23:26:00.001-07:00

Old Navy

Marissa & me...I am going to miss her so much. She was my favorite co-worker. She made me laugh all the time, and we just connected and felt the same way about things...especially about work. We will keep in touch I hope. :)

Kera...ha ha ha

April & Megan

I thought that I better get a couple pictures of co-workers from Old Navy. I am not as sad about leaving Old Navy as I am about leaving Hco. It has been a great job, and I probably returnfor the holiday season like Hco, but it has gotten old if you know what I mean!

Fun at work

2008-08-12T23:04:00.000-07:00

Hollister Co.

Heidy & me...I'm going to miss her and her spunky personality

Ashlee & Stina

Ashlee stuffing her face

Oh yeah

What?

Evelyn & Rachelle

Stina & me...she is so funny!

Ha ha ha I laugh every time I see Antonia's toes...can you guess which ones they are?

Oh baby...

lol

I decided that since this was my last week at Hollister co., that I would take my camera to work and take some pictures. I let the girls in the back room have my camera and this is what they came up with. I am going to miss them :( I think that working at Hco has been one of the most fun jobs I have ever had. I am glad that I will be able to come back during the holiday season :) I am going to miss the discount too ha ha ha.

New computer!

2008-08-12T22:59:00.000-07:00

Okay so after weeks of debating back and forth about my laptop...dell finally agreed to send me a brand new replacement! :)

Horrible Tuesday

2008-08-05T22:41:00.000-07:00

Oh my gosh...I almost don't know what to say. Today has just been horrible! Here is what has happened:
FIRST: I got my new Dell Laptop fixed a few days ago. After the guy left, I tried to install my printer and it iTunes, etc. The CD/DVD drive didn't even work, and wouldn't do anything when I put in a CD/DVD. The guy that worked on it screwed it up! So then I had to call Dell and tell them everything all over again...they then told me that I would have to unscrew the bottom and put it back in, and that it would fix it. Well, it fixed it, but I didn't have the right screwdriver, so they are in the process of sending me one.
SECOND: Before Dell replaced my hard-drive and motherboard, I backed up my iTunes with 3 backup discs. After I got my computer fixed, I put in the backup discs to restore all my music. Unfortunately, one of the cds didn't work, so I lost around 150 songs! I don't even know what I am going to do...ugh!!!
THIRD: I had rented a movie from Blockbuster a few weeks ago, and then returned it...but I returned it to the wrong one! So tonight, I was looking at my bank account, and it shows that I was charged over $21.00 for a movie that I returned. I called Blockbuster, and they said that even though I returned it to the wrong one, they would notice and within one day and give it back to the right Blockbuster store. So I called the other Blockbuster and they were so RUDE! I am so upset with them. I hope that they give me my money back.
Anyway, this day has just been a challenging day. It has been one thing after another. I hope that everything will work itself out, and that the people I have to deal with will do all that they can do to help me. Ugh...do any of ever have days like this???