week 11

it has been a pretty weird week! we had an off schedule but hey, missionary life is always a surprise! im just thrilled right now, because transfer calls were last night and i am here to stay in my area with Hermana Dudley! we were sure that it would be that way but there is always a chance. i love her and this area and we are excited to kill it. also we are both sick right now *blowing our noses every 5
minutes* #companionsspreadingsickness #missionaryprobs

there were some pretty amazing highlights for sure! mainly....
OFELIA'S BAPTISM!!! yesterday :) so amazing. she has been waiting for so long (20 years of being taught!) and was so so happy and felt so clean. right after she said "Siente rico esto!" (this feels SO good).
Hermana Dudley and i sang in the program and the spirit was so strong.
i love bringing people to this amazing Gospel! her daughter Betty will be baptized shortly as well :) as soon as her hand is better!

we also got the special opportunity of going to the mission home on Thursday, for a follow up training meeting with all the new missionaries/comps with Pres. & Sis. Clayton! (we got to drive too...
haha that was weird!) it was such an AMAZING meeting. it made me really grateful to be lucky enough to be in the greatest mission in the whole wide world :):):) the spirit filled the room as we all bore testimony of how much we have grown in just 6 weeks. its crazy, because i really feel like i have already grown so much as a missionary. in only 6 weeks my testimony has grown out the ROOF. i feel like i am converting myself unto the Lord, just as much as i am converting others. i have become so humbled and diligent and can't wait to grow even more. this mission is such a blessing for me. i got to see my MTC comp there too!!! that was awesome! i missed her.
also... we found out a lot of new info about how missionaries are going to be so much more involved with proselyting through the internet. i guess we are getting ipads soon?? the work is hastening!!!
(everyone go check this out and participate!
https://www.lds.org/prophets-and-apostles/unto-all-the-world/to-sweep-the-earth-as-with-a-flood?lang=eng
)

this week we also did more service for the same family from India. we are literally taking down every green thing we see in their backyard hahaha. we got the elders + a member + one of our investigators Simon (who is really progressing!) to come help us out too. another experience that happened Friday, we had just gotten out of visiting with Ofelia/Betty, when we were on our way to visit a part member family, the Castro's. we had a member, Hno Ospina, on the way too, when the Castro's called and canceled. pretty upset, i had this sudden revelation to call one of our investigators, Raul. he said he could meet us at the church and we ended up having a WAY awesome spiritual lesson with him and Hno Ospina! goes to show that everything happens for a reason :) especially in the Lords work!

bus + subway contacting continues to be an adventure :) one of the greatest part about it is finding out where the people are from. holy so many countries of people i meet everyday! the best is when i meet someone who has never heard of the true Gospel of Jesus Christ and how it has been restored and am able to introduce this amazing blessing into their lives! wow. being a missionary is the best :) i feel so blessed.

the gospel is true. i love it with all my heart. im a disciple of Jesus Christ, & i am here to serve Him :) how lucky am i to join so many others in this marvelous work! let us do all we can in spreading this true message to bless millions of lives.

xoxo, HERMANA HORTON

week 10

HOLA! what an awesome week! wow, i can't even believe how much we have seen the hand of the Lord in our missionary work this week. He works in miraculous ways. what a blessing it has been! my testimony has really grown so much already as a missionary. i've noticed it a lot this week when in street/bus contacting, people deny the Mormons or what we believe. i am able to stand up for what i believe and testify of what i know to be true! we have been a little slow to find new investigators, but we have faith the Lord is preparing people to place in our path :) we're sure to talk to everyone so we can find them!

-- we had some awesome spiritual lessons with our investigator Simon this week... he has accepted a baptismal date for Sep. 14 and agreed to a smoking stop date as well! he is diving into the scriptures lately and it is so cool to watch :) im excited for him.

-- had the opportunity to do some service for an Indian man this week (who ended up being a millionaire....???? so cool!) who hurt his back and can't clean his yard. the weeds were huge and it was actually way fun haha

-- had a great FHE thursday night with some investigators/members/kids. we taught L3, the gospel :) i love my ward!

-- had lots of lessons with Ofelia & Betty this week. Ofelia is getting baptized this sunday!!! i am so excited for her! Betty will too as soon as her broken wrist is healed :) they are so ready to be baptized. every time we start to teach them something they're like "oh we've been keeping that commandment for years!!!" haha they are awesome.

-- taught our new investigator Raul... everything about the gospel made so much sense to him it was so cool! "oh yeah of course... we definitely need 2 books to testify of Jesus Christ!" "so the authority was lost... is it back now?" *taught the Restoration* "wow that makes so much sense. so we have a prophet now?" an awesome lesson, and one i felt like i was able to teach really well

-- had the miracle of groceries this week. a stranger approached me and my comp late one night with a trunk full of groceries (he got my address from my mom... FB connection) i cried and cried.... God is REAL. and he watches out for His missionaries :)

it's amazing how my spanish is coming along. i can never translate everything that the people say in spanish, but somehow, i know exactly what they are talking about. the Holy Ghost places the knowledge in my head and i am able to teach/testify/answer questions! the gift of tounges is so REAL. and while i am not perfect yet, it's definitely coming along :) i am loving this work so much, i love being a mouthpiece for my Savior Jesus Christ. i am trying my hardest to develop and perfect Christlike attributes each and everyday. the church is true and i love spreading it here in Toronto! and hey... never forget that we are all in this together.... all you members at home... help the missionaries! we are all missionaries :)

Heavenly Father has a plan for each and every one of us. He loves us! He guides this work :) thanks for all the love and support. i feel so blessed to be a misisonary!

xoxo HERMANA HORTON

week 9

HOLA!

had another great week here in Toronto! i am growing to love it more and more everyday :) this week i went on my first exchange. i went with another companion, Sister Stoddard for 24 hours to a new area. we had a lot of fun together and i learned so much from her! i learned how important it is to put everything on the alter of sacrifice and become a consecrated missionary. it really helped me a lot, and i am willing to give the Lords work everything i have! i am not here for me, i am here to serve Him. i am here to bring His children the truth. after being away from my comp for even 10 minutes i realized how much i LOVE her. hahaha i missed her so much! i was happy to be with her and in our area again :) i was in a car area for that 24 hours and speaking/teaching in English too. while it was great, i found how much i missed where i am supposed to be, and speaking the language i have been called to speak! even when i don't always understand the lessons, i love teaching in Spanish :) oh! also on exchanges i got to teach ESL. we teach english in our mission and use that as a finding tool :) it was awesome!

we have been blessed to find a lot of new investigators this week. not all of them are progressing but we are happy they have been placed in our path :) yesterday right before church we decided to just call a bunch of people and invite them to come! we called this one random number, Raul. he was like... okay! and he came for his first time and even stayed for a baptism after. it was so awesome, and i know he felt the spirit so strong because i could feel it right there with him :)  we are also still teaching Simon who has such a desire to change & follow Christ, it's amazing. i love testifying to him of the truthfulness of this Gospel. our investigators Ofelia/Betty (the ones who fell at church... Betty broke her hand! yikes.) were also blessed this week with a TON of food/furniture from a neighbor who was moving. they came to Canada from Mexico with literally nothing, and now they have more food then us.... hahaha its amazing though. they have so much faith! and faith works miracles. they are being baptized Aug. 24 :)

our mission president has reminded us that as missionaries, we need to think of our own conversion too. the Lord is converting us just as much as He is converting the people we are teaching. i think that idea is amazing, and i want to really challenge myself as a missionary. i want to become as Christlike as i can be, completely converted unto the Lord. an awesome quote from President Uchtdorf i read this week, "as we emulate His perfect example, our hands can become His hands. our eyes, His eyes. and our heart, His heart. follow the light that the Savior provides." i really want the people i teach & talk to, to feel the Saviors love. and feel as if the Savior is speaking to them. i want so badly for people to come unto Jesus Christ and realize His Gospel has been restored on the earth today!

few funny moments of the week: Hermana Dudley fell in the subway station.... hahah TWICE. i died!!! we also got off the subway like 6 stops late the other day cause we were talking to so many people.... haha #missionaryprobs. saw 50 lost cat signs of course (they are literally everywhere here? uhhhh what?) saw a couple men pantsless and about 100 men hit on us. it's a good life :)  

i love being a missionary!!!!! the church is true :) Heavenly Father loves you.

xoxo, Hermana Horton

week 8

HOLA!

wow, such a great week! very hard, but very rewarding. this week we were lucky to have a lot of miracles. and even after having a few days where every single appointment gets canceled all in the same 10 minutes (really though.... every single appointment hahaha i just wanted to scream) i know Heavenly Father is guiding this work and that when some things don't happen, God has better things in store :) and i have really tried to apply that with my companion this week! and we have sought out all the miracles we could, especially when our days don't go how we think they will. it's amazing what being an obedient and hard working missionary can do for the work of the Lord. we have also learned that everything is in God's timing, and we don't always see "the fruit of our labors". we talk to like 50 people a day, and pass out pass along cards to everyone. bus, subway, street contacting, everyone. but we don't always see success obviously! its all in Gods timing :) i know that's true! and as we do our part as missionaries, the Lord promises to do His. our success as missionaries is based on OUR commitment to find, serve and teach.

so here are some funny and crazy stories of things that happened this week

>>  we brought our 2 investigators from Mexico to church on Sunday. after traveling to get them, we get to the church and the daughter fainted while walking down the stairs... so they both tumbled down! it was really scary, and we thought they were okay, but in the middle of sacrament meeting we ended up having to call 911 for an ambulance. pretty crazy Sunday for Hermana Dudley and i hahaha. luckily she is okay, but she did break her hand. hopefully they are still committed to baptism and we didn't freak them out too much???? haha just kidding :) they are!

>>  found a new investigator through street contacting named Simon who is probably the most prepared person i have ever met!! he wants to change so much in his life and has such a desire to do good. he knows we are an answer to prayers! and seeing him just LOVE our message and lesson about the Restoration of the true church on the earth almost just brought me to tears. the spirit was so strong. he has never heard of the church, and told us he has been searching, and doing everything he can to please Jesus Christ. he is AWESOME and will definitely be baptized soon :)

>>  i invited a stranger to follow Jesus Christ and be baptized this week. haha that was fun! they challenge us to do that sometimes during contacting and i felt the prompting.... and the man said YES! so awesome! complete stranger. sadly he is English speaking so we can't teach him, but we turned him to the other missionaries. i hope in the future he comes unto Christ and is baptized :)

>>  we had a lesson with an investigator named Elizabeth this week and it was the first lesson yet where i have understood EVERYTHING in Spanish!!!!! it felt so amazing. i was finally able to teach and testify of what i really wanted to say.... and i actually knew what was going on hahaha. (always a struggle.) i know it was through the power of the Holy Ghost that i was able to do that. it was amazing!

missionary work is hard but rewarding and i try to soak up every minute of it :) everyone should go on a mission. God has chosen US to do this work for Him of bringing His children to the truth because He wants US to grow as well. the world needs our help. sometimes i feel so sad that so many don't know of the truth of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and i just want to tell everyone!!!

i just have to share something from Elder Holland, "you only get one chance to serve a mission. it's your responsibility, your duty, to use it to its fullest. come out of your mission PROUD of what you have done." <--- :="" all="" and="" are="" cheering="" count="" every="" for="" gonna="" here="" it="" last="" love="" loved="" make="" many="" me="" means="" minute="" my="" of="" on="" ones="" support="" thanks="" that="" the="" to="" u="" world="">

the church is true :) go spread the gospel!

xoxo, Hermana Horton