Friday, April 27, 2012

"LIFE IS ABOUT PROGRESSION"

Elder Houston's email:
April 23, 2012
hey family!!!,
   so this week was a pretty fun week!!! we did alot of stuff! and i got some pictures, but then my camera died. but first off I TOTALLY forget about chases b day !!  i will try and write him. i am too broke to get him a card. but i will write. haha man he is an old fart ha. hahah thats awesome you got to see the wedding video again. i bet that was funny to see. haha it kinda scares me tho how much everyone will change in two years. i been seeing pictures of like kenric and drake and they look different too !! haha its funny i love it.
but oh ya, so the dance festival. i had one too. it was huge and at the mesa high foot ball field. i was young i just remember that and the dance was like hip hop. it was weird but i didnt like it either haha. so its ok if he didnt. we all have to do dorky stuff like that sometimes, even if we dont want too. it gets us out of our shell. oh hey before i forget too. i have the receipt for the last time i got my meds i will send asap sorry forgot to do that last time.
   So this week was pretty fun! we did the usual stuff like tuesday and thursday we tutored and then wednesday we had district meeting and went on an exchange with the elders in bartelsville. that place is awesome! its a little big town if that makes sense. its really nice. its the headquarters of Phillips and conoco petroleum. so its very rich and lots of history too.. and cowboy history haha its awesome. but ya the exchange was way nice. we got to go teach alot of people and i got to get back in the missionary feel again. i went with this elder named elder Phelps. haha and his first name is michael haha. but no he doesnt swim. but ya he is way funny and a great missionary, even for only being out for 5 months. then saturday.... oh man.... that was a way fun day. so we did the usual. we went and helped cook at the soup kitchen. then afterwards this guy ed, took us out to this hidden treasures of oklahoma. he says it was can woolaroc?? i think its basically a zoo and western museum put in one. there where these brothers frank and phil phillip and they settled there and made a deal with indians to get the oil in the town..... well long story short they became super rich and he had all this awesome stuff and made the land into this wild life reserve and his house into a museum because of all the stuff he had. i took pictures but my camera died in the middle, so i missed alot of cool stuff. i will have to go back sometime. maybe if you all come get me.
 but oh my...... he has the largest collection of colt guns in the world... i saw the SICKEST cowboy guns ever!!! like gold and silver with engravings on them..... oh goodness..... i was like a kid in a candy shop! haha im sure you could see me... ha. but ya way cool.... that was the high light of my week haha.
sunday was great as always. i was renewd by the spirit and put back in my place. i got too prepare the sacrament and it was so wonderful being able to do it as a missionary. it was like i was doing it for the first time ever and with different eyes on..... as i tore the bread, i could almost see and feel the savior as his body was ripped and torn for us. it was such an over whelming feeling. i had to fight to hold back tears. the sacrament truly is such a wonderful blessing and the absolute honor it is to the young men to have the right and power to bless and prepare that blessing for an entire congregation of people, a binding covenant, for all of them and to renew there covenants with our Lord. it was a life changing experience! if i could have only seen it when i was a priest ha. but yes a very good week and will only get better with attitude.
well i have to go. i will leave ya with an awesome quote i found. that has really found a place in my heart. " I find the great thing in this world is not so much where we stand as in what direction we are moving: to reach the port of Heaven, we must sail sometimes with the wind and some times against it- but we must sail, and not drift, nor lie at anchor."(Oliver Wendell Holmes). this life is about progression, we need to keep pressing forward and to take the example of our Savior and help lift others on there way as well." never discourage anyone...who continually make progress, no matter how slow." and watch for satan. keep your guard up. he as well works line upon line. dont wait until it is to late to recognise this. 
 sorry that my little message for today i love you all so much thanks for the letter and card. love ya !!
    love ya so much. talk to ya tomorrow, prob arould lunch time byeeeee
love Elder Houston

EXAMPLE

Elder Houston's email
April 16, 2012
 
hey family hows it going ??
  
    so this week was a pretty interesting one. haha its defiantly the most different kind of area i have been in. so every saturday we work in this big soup kitchen in the Catholic church and thats way fun. i am learning alot about cooking and working in a kitchen.  its actually really fun and it helps out the community alot. its all donations, kinda like bishop store house.
also on friday night, pawhuska has this old cool theater thing called the Constantine. it use to be where they had all there shows back in he 1800s. pretty cool huh. anyway, they had this huge show on the titanic and we catered for it. like the little sandwiches and all haha it was cool.  i had a guy tell me that i would work well at a five start hotel or restaurant haha. it was funny. we also help people learn to read at the local library too. which is funny because i am terrible at reading ha. i cant really remember much else of what we did this week. im getting really bad at remembering things. haha but it was a good week. we worked more then before.  not really the usually missionary work. but i liked it and if it helps people out then im all for it.
 
oh about the weather, ya it was some really crazy storms, but all at night so we just slept ha or tried to sleep. i could feel the wall swaying by my bed. i thought i was going to get squished haha but i didnt:) and no alarms went off so i didnt worry so much. but the areas all around us got hammered, like hail the size of softballs !! crazyness!!.
oh so i got your package thanks for sending it. the pants fit. they a lil long. i didnt get taller, just so you know just fatttter. haha but they work great. oh and yes those are the shoes i was talking about. but they are so small  and my toe is messed up from all the walking. i am going to do what i did with my toe back at home. but this time its the left one and no worries the mission insurance will cover it.
 thanks so much for the letter too it helped out alot. oh and yes i got bishops email too. it came up as "dr" haha not sure why, but it was also so awesome! if you talk to him some time soon tell him thank you sooo much and i will email him tomorrow. eh! im sorry about work !! i need to work harder so we can get more them blessing !! i have been slacking alot lately i will keep it in my prayers !! tell hunter that i will try and get a letter to him this week. but no joke the mail man here only comes and gets our mail if we have mail, so if he can tell him to write me and i will write him too and hope it gets to him soon. for family night you all can read together or each alone read the talk, "beware of pride" by ezra taft benson. its way awesome. if you could just ask hunter for me if he is trying to do what i sugested. tell him i said it will help. i was in the same place he was some what and know that they all just want what is best for us. our savior would want us to go on a mission. how would you think of it if it where Him saying it ?  but anyway ya i will try and write to him asap and i need to write everyone anyway. sorry i been bad at it.
 well i have got to go. love you all soooo much. i love you all sooo much.  know that i am doing well and remember that a good example is the best sermon. and we cannot make others do the right things. we can only show by our example what "doing the right things" looks like. beacuse there are three ways to teach: by example, example, and example :) ha i love you all sooooo much more than i could ever put in words. stay safe and keep up the awesome work talk to ya soon .
love,
elder mitchell houston

Tuesday, April 10, 2012

FAITH?....HOPE?.....CHARITY?......

Elder Houston's email:
April 9, 2012

hey mom,
ok wow what a week!!!! this has been crazy!!! i dont even know where to begin. first off glad you got my package. the books i want to read i just have not the time at this moment to read them. they were given to me, so i will prob ask for them later, but for now just put them in my room or somewhere. ha ya it is hot already. its really early this year i guess. thats what everyone is saying. oh and ya i like the sweaters. the brown one does not really match with anything i have but i like the black one and i will be asking for them when it gets cold again.
ok so about my area and the walgreens stuff. i already took care of it. its in my district so we go to bartelsville every wednesday. so when i running low i will go over. and i got my walgreens card in springfield before i left and talked to them and they said it would work at any walgreens and my meds would be there i just need to get there number and make sure i call ahead of time. if you could get the number for the closest one and send it to me that would be awesome. and sister merkley knows too. she called me, so i thought you had called her ha but i guess not. but ya i will be ok on meds for now. oh and no its not a car area its walk/bike area ha ya and i will tell you why in this next paragraph haha.
soooo ok this has been the most craziest week ever on my mission by far. so i cant remember what i told you in the letter i sent you but this is what i know now. so my companions name it elder hamlin he has been out for 23 months he goes home the end of this transfer. he is really trunky. he also is one of those missionaries that does not like rules at all. so that doesnt help at all either ha. he is a really good teacher tho and i think he could be the best missionary if he kept the missionaries rules. to make his tunkyness even worse, the area we are in is getting closed for the missionaries at the end of this transfer too. so he feels anything we do anyway will just be in vain.

pawhuska is acually areally cool place its very old and cool looking. it was where the first troop of boy scouts was made, cool huh. where alot of the indians live, the osage indians. apparantly jenifer gardner and the guy in dare devil are filming a movie here. anyway its a really cool area. i will take alot of pictures for you. the ward is really small too its got like 35 to 60 members and only about two of them acually live in pawhuska. the church building is smaller then mesa highs seminary building ! but its way cool. the people here are very cool. there is a huge cathalic church here and the members feed us and watch out for us haha, more then the members of our church do hahah. but i think its just because they not in town. there is one family that we hang with alot of the time. the dad is a member. they are really cool, hendrins is there names. so ya thats alittle bit about the area and the people not much is going on :/
so the missionaries that come here are not the best at following the rules. it has been really killng me. i feel i am losing so much time and its not my time but the Lords and its killing me! my companion will not follow the schedule. he listens to music and we dont really work, just walk around and hang out. im not really sure what i should do. i know its only the begining of the transfer and i shouldnt be complaining already. its been hard though knowing that im missing out on sarah and courtnies baptisms to be here and do nothing anyway..

enough downer stuff !!!! im still alive and i will do all i can to do what i am supose to do for the next 6 weeks left of pawhuska ha
"faith, hope, and charity are ACTIVE principles, not passive ones. if we do not DO them, we dont HAVE them. its that simple" quote of the day and i will do my best to go and do what the Lord will have my do with what i can. " there is only one day that...i have to live for, and thats today. there is nothing [i] can do about yesterday except repent, and there may be no tomorrow. the thing for us to do when [i] arise from [my] bed as God gives [me] a new day, is to take whatever comes to [my] hands, and do it to the best of [my] ability.
i love you all so much. i pray that i might be able to keep the promises that i have made... talk to you next week. ill try and write to ya this week and tell ya alittle more about what is going on and maybe you can help. hopefully this email made sense .
love elder houston

Saturday, April 7, 2012

NEW AREA.......NEW ADDRESS

just a cute picture i found from the MTC....looking how much he has changed in a year!!!




HELLO EVERYONE....


AFTER 71/2 MONTHS IN SPRINGFIELD ELDER HOUSTON HAS BEEN TRANSFERED.

HE WAS SAD TO LEAVE BUT EXCITED FOR A NEW AREA AND TO MEET NEW PEOPLE.

PLEASE CHECK OUT HIS NEW ADDRESS...... AND YES....THERE REALLY IS A 1/2 IN THE ADDRESS....????


LOVE AND CHERISH YOUR FAMILIES AND REMEMBER CHRIST DURING THIS WONDERFUL EASTER SEASON.

Wednesday, April 4, 2012

TRANSFERS........AND CONFERENCE......WOOHOO

Where am I going?? New address soon........


Elder Houston's email:
April 2, 2012




hey family!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! hows it going!!! ???,

so im sure you know by the way i said transfers!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!. but yes i am leaving! :( after 7 and an half months in the chesterfield ward i am getting the boot ha.
im trying to get pictures fast before i leave. i procrastinated too long on those and have like hardly any... sorry mom. i dont know my address yet but i will write it too ya today when i find out so i can get all my med stuff transferred with me, as well dang insulin! ha it follows me everywhere!.
oh and so this is probably the worse part of the whole getting transferred thing. so i have still not had a baptism yet or at least be there for the people i helped get baptized, and as soon as i am getting transferred we have TWO baptisms coming up!!!! and im leaving !! this happened last time hahah man! haha an suggestions as to what Heavenly Father is trying to teach me ?? haha just kidding!!!!
its ok i love sarah and courtnie and im soooo excited they have chosen to be baptized. i KNOW it will be such a blessing in there lives and only the beginning of there wonderful journey that awaits them ahead. because we know that this is not the end of it. like it says in 2nephi 31:15-21, that baptism is only the key into the "gate". and now that they are on the "path" that leads them to our Father in Heaven they must press forward and not stray away. and keep moving on with a "perfect brightness of hope" and "endure to the end". and we know that" this is the way ;and there is none other way nor name given under the heaven whereby man[ and woman] can be saved in the kingdom of God. :) i love how great and simple our Fathers plan is. it defiantly is not always easy but its is simple and plain and precious.



oh by the way conference was so awesome!!!!!! i loved saturdays, pres Eyrings and the quote he said at the end about the lady that had cancer and was going through all that stuff. he said that she did not have all those trials because of some thing she had done wrong, but simply because God just wanted to polish her a little more. ha i love that.
and also elder Scotts talk, and how he said humility is fertile soil for revelation! oh cool, and pres Uchtdorfs talks. man they were awesome!!!! in priesthood conference and the why of the priesthood. i hope dad and hunter saw that. hahah and his talk about the bumber sticker that said," dont judge me because i sin differently then you" haha that was great!!!!
ah i love conference so much!!!! i feel like Lehi after he ate of the fruit that was so desirable. i just want to throw the fruit at everyone and tell them to EAT IT!!!! haha.
oh ya and elder Rasbands !!! oh man that is so crazy!!! man if i could make the choice again to go to cali or stay and meet him, i would have stayed!! his talk was so awesome i felt like he was talking to me and how the trials of disease and problems we face with our mortal bodies. ah great stuff!!!! im bummed its over. when it comes out in ensign see if you can get me a copy!!

after listening to all of those servants of the Lord speak and hear their testimonies it has strengthened my testimony sooo much i know with out a shadow of a doubt, that they have been called of God and that this IS His true and only Gospel and way to happiness in this life and the life to come. and knowing that is like a domino effect of everything else that i know, the book of mormon is true and that joseph smith did all the things he said he did and that through the temple and the sealing ordinances thereof, we are going to be together with the ones we love forever :)!! . How great is my joy.
well i got to go love you all sooooooo much !!!!

Elder Houston