week 55

what a busy crazy awesome week! we are back to just Sister Mencarelli and i since we had to hug Sister Vermunt goodbye yesterday as she heads home :( i will miss her so much. but i am so glad i had the opportunity to serve and learn from her for these past 2 weeks. i did just inherit like 10 new skirts/dresses from her too.... haha she said they were 'old' but anything different than the 10 skirts i have worn for a year is new to me :)

it rained so much this week! and we had no umbrellas so everywhere we went we looked like drown rats haha. also, we got fed so much food! but it was all so delicious, i was in heaven!!! perks of being in Toronto - you get fed food from literally every country. we had food this week from Mexico, Philippians, India, and China. it was amazing. i love the members here! i think i say that in every single area, but really they are so good to us and i just feel so much love from them. i'm so grateful.

this week we taught so many lessons! and found some great new people. i also went on my first exchange as STL.. with Hermana Hoffman. my awesome old companion (in Mississauga) it was fun to be back in Spanish work for a day!

okay, we did have lots of crazy weird experiences this week. soooo the Gay pride parade has officially started over here in downtown Toronto... and unfortunately majority of our investigators live in that area so we have had to be down there a LOT haha. oh man... we have had some very interesting experiences. yikes. BUT, we also have the Pan Am games starting in 2 weeks (like a mini olympics...) and over 20,000 people are coming from all over the world to participate. CAN'T WAIT. 

there is a quote by Elder Holland for missionaries that i really love, that talks about how we only get one chance to serve a mission. there is a part in it that really motivates me everyday, at the end he says "come out of your mission proud of what you have done." i want that so bad. i want to give every last ounce of energy to it. and all the hardships and all the tears really will be looked back upon as the greatest 18 months of my life, because it has changed my life. i want to give it everything i have and do all i can to bring souls unto Christ. i truly love this work so much!

Alma 29:9 - I know that which the Lord hath commanded me, and I glory in it. I do not glory of myself, but I glory in that which the Lord hath commanded me; yea, and this is my glory, that perhaps I may be an instrument in the hands of God to bring some soul to repentance; and this is my joy.

i love you all so much! i am so grateful for the love and support i have from all those who i love and miss. never forget how blessed we are to have the fullness of the Gospel in our lives. 

con amor, hermana horton

week 54

since i didn't get to say it yesterday, HAPPY FATHERS DAY! to all the father figures i have and especially do my dad. who has raised me so strong in the gospel and been the greatest example to me. i love you dad :)

this week was so crazy busy! man, English work is so different too haha we literally have taught so many lessons this week its insane. also i am still learning to teach in English :) its different! i wish i could say that i have crashed every night as my head hits the pillow but having a trio has made us pillow talk every night hahaha. i love my companions :) so i failed to mention this last week when we got the transfer news, but yes i am in a trio, again! i am serving with Sister Mencarelli (the Italian) and Sister Vermunt (who is actually an Albanian missionary but is finishing up her mission here. she goes home next week though!) 

i have loved being in downtown Toronto again!! i just absolutely love this area. it has been so different though to walk in the same places i was like 9 months ago, but with a different mind set -- instead of hunting down the Spanish people.... everyone is our potential! which is why we have been teaching nonstop. its been so great though because we have seen so many miracles! 

i have found myself this week just doing everything for the people here. because "when ye are in the service of your fellow beings, ye are only in the service of your God." Mosiah 2:17 and all i want is that these amazing people will desire and choose to Come unto Christ! the biggest miracle of the week would be Ausra. she is amazing. she is recovering from a lot right now and has such a desire to change and follow Jesus Christ. she wants to become whole and new again! i have felt so much love for her. she accepted a baptismal date forJuly 18! please pray for her <3 u="">

we taught a part member family this week from the Philippians (literally, our whole teaching pool. they are so awesome! i love Filipinos! who knew i'd be teaching them haha #imspanish... looks like i gotta learn Tagalog) and it literally broke my heart. they are having the hardest family trials right now and i just felt so bad for them. the 8 and 9 year olds have baptismal dates, and all they want is for their family to be eternal. :( i really hope things will work out. cutest little family.'

man we have been in the sketchiest places this past week. we actually had a really scary experience one night too. i am just really grateful we had a priesthood holder with us, because i have never felt so far from the Holy Ghost. it scared me so bad. i KNOW the power of God is real, and i now realize how strongly missionaries carry the Spirit! i am so grateful for it too, because it really did protect us. Wellesley, Sherborne, and Church street.... i had literally JUST told my comps this creepy story that happened to me 9 months ago with Hermana Dudley in this same area, when all the sudden we found ourselves there everyday. haha i wanted to die! 

i LOVE my mission. i love feeling Christ's love, and i love testifying to others that He really is there. i know Heavenly Father's plan for us is perfect, even when we don't always understand it. i know this is the greatest work in the world! and i love it. i love that through the power of the Atonement, we can feel the grace of our Savior, and allow Him to carry us. i love him.

XOXO, HERMANA HORTON

week 53

this week was so so great! i have actually always had this dream that i could serve in YSA... i just never knew how that could happen as a Spanish missionary. but it did happen! and even if it was just for a week, i absolutely loved it. LOVED IT! Sister Herfort and i worked super hard this week, and it definitely paid off :) before i left Mississauga last week, i prayed really really really hard to Heavenly Father, that i could know every single day while in this new area, that this is where i am supposed to be. (since it was so hard for me to say bye to Mississauga, but i really wanted to accept God's will.) and it came to pass.... every single day! it was mostly with people i would talk to on the street or the bus.... where i knew that the Lord placed me in their paths for a reason. some of which were very faithful Muslim and Jewish people who accepted a Book of Mormon and wanted to learn more. God answers prayers! i know He knows me personally. i am so grateful that He is right beside me in this work. Heavenly Father really does want to bless His children. and He really did send me here for a reason.

Alma 32:21

And now as I said concerning faith - faith is not to have a perfect knowledge of things; therefore if ye have faith ye hope for things which are not seen, which are true.

God is working miracles with everyone we are working with!

Marlon accepted a baptismal date this week for July 5 :) he's so excited and actually has called us everyday asking us questions about what he will have to do haha. he loved church yesterday! we also taught a Muslim man! that was a first. also, ALL the YSA kids we have taught seriously have the Bible memorized. i realized i gotta study up... haha i am just really grateful for the Spirit :) that's all we need. and the members! i have loved getting to know all of them this week. they are so great.

we did receive transfer calls last night. i will be staying in downtown Toronto but heading to the English ward (same church building and area as when i was in Toronto last year... but in the English ward) because i also got called to be a Sister Training Leader. lots of change! i am so so happy to be staying downtown :) i will miss Spanish work but i am in Toronto... which means ill talk to Spanish people every single day! Sister Training Leader means i'll have the opportunity to go on exchanges with the sisters here. it humbles me a lot to know the Lord and President Clayton are trusting me with so much. it surely helps you grow and learn so much! my new companion is Sister Mencarelli :) i have served along side her for a lot of my mission and i LOVE her! i can't wait to serve with her. also she is a convert from Italy... yes she is amazing.

i realized this week how much God really does want to answer our prayers. He wants to bless His children! i have spent a lot of time on my knees as a missionary... but there is so much power in prayer. he really will pour out the blessings from heaven, if we just humble ourselves and plead for His help. i know that He guides this work. being a missionary is the greatest blessing in the world. the greatest joy has come when i have truly forgotten myself, and served Heavenly Father's children with all my heart. i love serving Him, and i love being a missionary <3 u="">

XOXO, HERMANA HORTON

ps: aYSA member works at the science center so we are going for free today :) woo hoo!

week 52

soooooo i got emergency transferred on Saturday. i am back in Toronto. transfer calls are actually this coming Sunday, but there we are doing studies on Saturday morning when we get a call from President Clayton. a sister had to go home for medical reasons, and he felt inspired to send me to work in her place. not sure if its for just this week until transfers or for longer? i guess we'll see! but i felt so sad knowing i had to say goodbye to so many i love so much in Mississauga :( the worst part was, that i was being picked up in 8 hours and had no time to say much of any goodbyes. i did get to write a bunch of goodbye letters, and say bye to the Gundakers whom i love. im just happy they are moving to Utah soon! i will miss the people in Mississauga a lot. a lot of them are like family to me. i was also so sad too, because we found some SOLID people this past week in Mississauga. we saw a lot of miracles in following small spiritual promptings that we received! 

President and Sister Clayton picked me up with my new companion, Sister Herfort and brought us here to Toronto on Saturday evening. i am now in English work, and it's also YSA. its been hard :( i kind of feel like i have no idea what i am doing but i do testify that the Lord has carried me. i have felt so close to Him. the Atonement is real and i know He is there for me. i love the Lord and i will do anything He asks me to do with a full purpose heart. i will go and do! (1 Nephi 3:7)

i do feel like i have no idea what i am doing though. i sound ridiculous when i teach in English haha i literally have to translate everything back to English and it just doesn't sound right. there are a few Spanish members here though. the YSA branch is really great! all the members are super sweet. but everyone is engaged there.....

i hit my year mark this week. that is CRAZY. i really feel like i just got here!! i feel so blessed to be able to serve the Savior in any part of his precious vineyard. i know that i can always depend on Him to lift and strengthen me. i am so grateful for that knowledge. i love the Book of Mormon! we were out proselyting last night and ran into a man who was carrying heavy groceries and we offered to help. we helped him carry the groceries for quite a distance and we told them about what we do as missionaries. when i told him about the Book of Mormon and how Jesus Christ appeared to the people in the Americas, his eyes got so huge. "i want to read this book!" i was super nervous to ask him for his age hahaha since we only teach people 18-30 here. he's 38 but he was such a miracle. i love sharing the Book of Mormon with all of God's children!

XOXO, HERMANA HORTON

ps: i am super happy that i am back in a bus area! even if its just for a time. my tailbone has definitely had it with the 6 month car area. 

week 51

thank you all so so so much for the wonderful birthday video! i did find a chance to watch it last week and it brought me to tears. i love every single one of you and i am so grateful for your love and support. muchisimas gracias :) Toronto was so wonderful last week. i just love running around in that city! i can't wait to bring Tyler and my fam back here. you'll love it. we went shopping and to the CN tower... and ate some delicious food + gelato. it was so great :)

so on Tuesday we had a specialty training meeting about hastening the work of salvation and helping ourMission Vision come to life. it was so great! i have really come to understand the importance of member missionary work on my mission. we learned a lot about how to work with the ward members/ward council and had a lot of instructions from several companionship's on how we could all improve, together! i received a lot of personal revelation, that i know came directly from my Father in Heaven, while president Clayton (love that man) was instructing us about consecration. consecration has been my focus this transfer and i have been working really hard for it.... and the days that followed this training, my eyes were completely opened. the Lord has been testing me! and after that training i promised Him that i would put everything on the alter of sacrifice, for Him. the day after i decided to do that was Friday, and we had a day FULL of miracles! we did service for Alejandra for 2 hours, and made and ate dinner with her, we taught Jose who has just returned from Peru and is now progressing (#ananswertoprayers) and we found a SOLID new investigator named Moraima who couldn't stop reading the Book of Mormon and came to church on Sunday! and to top off the week, we had 4 investigators (including the twins!) come to church on Sunday, AND stayed for the baptism we had in the ward after church. talk about miracles! and they only happened, because i promised the Lord i would put every ounce of me serving Him into doing so with all my heart, might, mind, and strength. it was so cool too, because during the day on Friday and the days following, my mind was waayyyyyy more opened to receiving revelation for other people. i felt the spirit so strong too. we didn't even have plans to visit Alejandra or stop by our potential, Moraima. but because i received revelation, we went.... and the Lord blessed us AND them ten fold. i have a testimony of putting everything we have into the hands of the Lord. he will bless us and mold us and change us more than we can ever imagine! i will always put Him first. 

Christ taught us everything we need to know about consecration. he consecrated everything! he never forgot which way he faced, and everything he did was for his Father, and for us. i am so grateful for his perfect example in my life. Friday morning as i was studying.... my eyes were opened. i wept because i felt so grateful to my Heavenly Father for testing me and teaching me the importance of always consecrating myself and putting the Savior first in my life. how could i not give my Lord my all? for he has done everything for me.

"I came to do the will of Him who hath sent me." - John 6:38

i am so grateful for Christ. i have been telling my companions this week how grateful i am for my mission. i have just absolutely loved every second of it, because of all the experiences i have seen so far, all the lives i have seen changed, and especially all the things i have learned that i will carry through my life forever. i am so grateful to be here! 

haha quick funny story for you -- we were at Luz Dary's house this week and she always offers us a snack. she poured us HUGE glasses of "lactose free milk" since she can't have it either.... well i really hate drinking straight milk so when she turned around i gave it to Hermana Ridgway and said hurry drink it!!!! so she starts GUZZLING it. she sets the glass down and has the most disgusted look on her face i have ever seen..... and says "i think its my toothpaste cause that is disgusting" HAHAHA come to find out it was SOUR!!! 2 months old!!!! hahahahhahahaha i was literally dying, but i felt so bad. i couldn't stop laughing.

cuidense!

XOXO, HERMANA HORTON