I LOVE CONFERENCE!!!

Elder Houston's email:

October 8, 2012

 

wow so what a week!!!!! and to go off with a bang at conference!!! i love it so much !! i wish we could have it evey month! ha i cant wait to get it in the ensign when the mission gets them ! missionaries going out at 18 and 19! now for sisters! thats so crazy there are going to be a huge increase in sister missionaries now ! and i hope elders as well. now they dont have to worry about school or anything, just go from high school to mission so cool! the youth of the church are getting stronger then ever!!! and also another temple in Tucson !!  man next thing you know there going to be an mtc in mesa! haha. the church is undoubtedly growing and quickly, but this is not a surprise because it is true !! you cant hide the truth! NO unhallowed hand can stop the work from progressing. Joseph Smith was right about that ha. he really did see and do all the things he did. i know with every fiber of my being he was a prophet of God and he did restore all the rights blessing and keys to the gospel.

   conference talked all about the three things that were restored to him. like when Moses came to him and restored the power and keys of the gathering of the tribes of Israel, or missionary work. Elijah restored the keys to do the work for our dead, the saving ordinances of the gospel. then Elias restored the power and keys to the perfecting of the saints, us:). 

   Elder Bowen talked this conference, the saturday morning. he was the elder that came to our stake here like two weeks ago. i got to talk to him and shake his hand. it was awesome to see him again. in conference he talked about how he lost his baby. it was soo personal and powerful, one of my favorites. then after him Elder Nelson gave the best talk on missionary work! "ask the missionaries"! haha was so awesome!!! we were watching that with some members and after he was done they were like, wow you two have got quite the plate to handle. its awesome tho. i think we will get a bunch of trust from members from that and lots of referrals. his story about jerry, that Protestant preacher from mesa, was wonderful my favorite part of that talk. i loved how he said that after all was said and done, that Jerry,  already with a strong faith in God, had even a stronger testimony and faith in Him. we are all here with the same goal and we all have some truth our message. its not to take away from what they have, but to give more ! with the priesthood we have truths and powers reveled. the beautiful mural of the Gospel of Jesus Christ was put back together in its perfect original picture with every piece. 

    oh holy cow and Elder Ballard's talk! it was so much like the vision i had on the lawn mower haha! that one i emailed you a few weeks ago! i was wigging out when he started to talk about the bees and how his message, though way better then mine, was so similar! we received it from the same Holy Spirit who brought the message from the same Father in Heaven. it gave me the strong feel that our Father is not just some made up person, but is a really living perfect being that is the same yesterday, today, and always ! He knows all and can do all. He allowed me to get a feeling of and see how real His communication is with His apostles! i know with out a doubt what i learned that day was not from me! such a blessing!! i am and always will be so eternally grateful for... and i love "honey" :) so much and it really is the way of sustaining life and we all need to be as the honey bees and pollonate the world with the love of Christ through small and simple means.

     im running out of time and there where so many awesome talks. i could talk about them all day ha which i probably will. like Elder Andersons talk about the Doctrine of the church. Elder Uchtdorfs talk  about how this life is short and that we will all enviably die at some time and how we should not have regrets. Pres Eyring is my favorite!! he just so funny and awesome his priesthood session talk about the spiritual gifts he found for his kids. way awesome!! highly recommend reading when comes out in ensign. (you would really like it mom. im sure dad told you about it. he probably loved it too ha:). i also loved his talk sunday morning about the pavilion! man he is the man! 

  oh wow and Elder Hollands beautiful rebuke of love haha.. you could feel the echoing spirit through the screen. he is such a powerful speaker. you know everyone was zoned in to him on that talk you could feel it ! not even i could fall asleep through that talk haha. i pray and hope that i might never let that message die in me and if or when the Lord asked me, elder houston do you love me?? that went i got home. i will not pick up my "nets", par say. and say, well that was a great two years and rejoice in it, and then go back to my old "fishing" habits. i want to be a sheep feeder!! haha. 

   ahh shoot im out of time. but i love so much to hear from our true and living prophet of God! i love Thomas S. Monson! so much and know with all my heart he lives to be on the Lords errand at all times and gave his life to help others. i love the Gospel so much and know it is the path to true lasting happiness!   I LOVE YOU ALL SO MUCH! and hope you all were able to watch conference and recived answers to your prayers and questions ! talk to you next week !

love elder houston

 

"I LOVE MY LIFE"

Elder Houston's email:

October 1, 2012

 

wow so what a week !!

 

     so i love rogers arkansas!!! i love my comp!!! i love the members!!!!

so much awesome stuff happen this week!!!. at first we were really worried about what we were going to do. the ward lost so much trust in the elders that were here before us. not much was going on here before so we just started from nothing. so we had a lot of work ahead of us. little did we know the Lord had prepared this area to explode. just needed some one to work it his stead.

   so elder garner and me just started meeting with the members to get to know them as fast as possible. we share messages with them and also showed our Lord that we were willing to work by tracting, which im not the biggest fan of haha, but ! i learned fast that it might not be the most effective way of work here in the oklahoma tulsa mission. but, it showed the Savior that we are willing to work and do what is necessary to be OUT and he would put the elect in our path. and He did just that.

   the morning that we tracted those days where the most amazing days. we got 7 referrals this week and 5! of them became new investigators!!! :) two of them the couldnt have been any more prepared or they would be members!! haha this one lady nina had been through sooo much.  she is going through so much with her family and it was so crazy, because everything she was looking to find was somthing we wanted to share with her that the gospel can offer her!! and i later found out talking to my comp that he himself was going through the same thing! only through that will there be a special bond that will really help her and he knows how the gospel can help her. it was so divine HE know all along.

   another, was this man that had just been offended by his church, and again all he was looking for is what we talked about and that the spirit teaches!! the Lord is one eternal round he knows all things thru out the Father. it is like he see in 3D ha and all we see is 2D. like if we drew ourselfs on a board and drew a box around us to us it looks like there is now way out. we see one side. but our Father sees all the sides he see 3 dimensional and sees that there is only a line infront of us. he sees that all we need to do is walk around it.

 i was looking to strengthen my faith and He did more then just answer my prayer. i love the Lord. i love My wonderful Father in Heaven. i love you all!

   sounds like you all had a blast camping. i am excited to be able to join in on that fun tradition. but i can wait ahaha i love it here. i have learned so much. i wish i could remember it all. but thats a joy that i get to feel time and time again, to remember what i already know so much to be true. Heavenly Father has so much to teach me and i pray that i can always continue to learn and get better. and i love being blessed so much to be able to play a part in His wonderful work and glory, to bring to pass the blessing of the gospel.

 

well i have talked enough ha i say the same thing every week, i feel. but its so great here!! and i love you all but i dont want to come to the end of my mission. but i know that the work is never over until the He says the work is done. so thats awesome ha. my calling just changes.

   elder Bednar is a former stake pres here and he said the work of the Lord is like putting up a tent, you have to put the stakes on the out side firm, in the ground as the work progress, we lift the middle up to put the tent up.

got to go... love you all so much... talk to you next week !!

love elder houston

FIRST WEEK IN ROGERS ARKANSAS

Elder Houston's email

September 24, 2012

 

haha hey family!!

     wow so this week was a crazy one!!!! so as you know i got transfered on thursday. i am now in the rogers 1st ward in rogers arkansas. our last days in springfield were wonderful!!! i got some more pictures. not as much as i hoped for because i was not planning on getting shipped out so soon. ha but im so happy i did. my new area is so awesome!!! im so excited to get to work here.

   so, me and my comp were shotgunned in here, meaning that we are both new to the area haha. so we are starting from complete scratch! so if that was not over whelming enough there were a couple other things that added to the crazyness haha.

   so on thursday, i got asked to drive the loop again. so i got to drive into arkansas. it was fun!! got to see some old friends i had not seen in forever.  since i first came out.

   oh and my comp. he is the MAN!!! we like hit off way good ! we bffs already ahaha. we both have been out for the same amount of time. like i came out three transfers before him or two maybe anyway. so we both are at the same point in our missions so we know what we are doing and he is so funny. haha.... like with in the first few seconds we were together, i had already cried  from laughing. hahaha.... there was a huge spider in our apartment and we both were like... dude.... i hate spiders kill it!! haha it was awesome.... to funny.!!!! he is from cedar city utah, which is alot like arizona. one of his best friends is on a mission from back  home and they own a trucking company like us so he worked with them a lot. but we just are doing great!!! im sooo pumped to get to work together. we are going to do soooo much work and have already got the ball rolling! even with all the crazyness thats going on ha.

    so like the very first dinner we had was awesome! the ward was told ahead of time by someone that i was gluten free. the whole relief society knows already! its sweet!! but that night my eye just went crazy and it got so big! haha i got a sty.... i have no idea how to spell it... which  then caused an infection.... ya it was no good. and so i had to take my contacts out and i had just lost my glasses a couple weeks before.... so i was now blind ha...... oh! and before that we just had got done unpacking. we were eating some choclate popcorn for lunch because there was no food in our apartment haha... but my tooth  broke!! haha... i was in missouri for too long ! my teeth are starting to fall out hahah ! im starting to really look like the natives haha.

so i had a big fat eye and a half a tooth on my first day in arkansas hahah... too awesome!!!

 

    but the week went on. oh so friday our bike were not working. so we went to the bike shop and found out that there was a big prob with my bike and this is a full bike area, so that is not a good thing haha. but the owner is a member and he helped us with what he could. i then got a call after i just spent 40 bucks fixing the bike so i can ride it, that i have to give it back to the elder that let me borrow it. and the mission office doesnt have anymore bikes! haha so thats a working progress. ill let you know more on that subject later. the bishop is looking for a member to lend me one for the time being. i think im going to be here for a while so that with help a ton.

   so we had stake conference this week. so saturday we went to the meeting and this guy came up to us and shook our hand and said "hey elder houston nice to meet ya im elder bowen.". and i was like elder?? with no tag? he was another 70! ha i forgot what area he is over but it was awesome!! i told him to say hey to elder choi for me. he was the 70 that did our mission tour just a couple weeks ago.

    stake conference was so awesome!! he did an open question session at night and there was sooooo much stuff said that i will never forget. It was sooooo cool. the spirit was so strong too! i loved ever second of it.

 

so even tho all this craziness was going on. it was all so wonderful and an awesome way to start my journey  here in rogers. the members are soo amazing! we have already gotten sooo many referrals to go see and people to visit. there is so much to be done here and im so blessed to be a part of it ! im running out of time. i was wanting to share some of the stuff i learned from stake conference but i will have to do it another time sorry.

 tell hunter i didnt forget him. i just late as usual ha... ive got him a letter coming today. i love him and hope he had an awesome 19th birthday!! i cant beleive i been out for two of his b days. it kinda scares me, because that means im coming to an end in my mission service.:/  but i am so excited to see hunter and all of you again!

    life is so great!!! even with all the troubles that can come, there is always things in the gospel and families that turn that frown upside down! ha just a matter of turning it around ourselves and doing our part.

 

 i love you all and know that all is going perfectly here and im doing great! love you all soo much and will talk to you next week !

love elder houston

IT WOULDN'T BE A TRANSFER WITHOUT..........

Looks like Mitchell is on to another area....He should get to Rogers, Arkansas on Thurs Sept 20th... I hope to hear from him soon to get the new address... watch for it!!!

Elder Houston's email:

September 17, 2012

transfers!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

haha

    hey family so whats up??? as you can tell, yes.. we had the calls and man i thought for sure i knew what was going to happen, but i guess it wouldnt be transfer calls if i knew what was going to happen haha.

        so what i thought would happen since i just got here was that elder taggart was going to be leaving and since we had just taken over chesterfield, i thought that he would go there, because he now knew the people we were teaching. and i thought they would open it back up. And i would stay in southernhills and get a new guy and taggart would go to chesterfield and get a new guy. well that didnt happen not even close haha..... i should probably just stop guessing. we both got transferred out!! so now two new elders are coming into the area!

     it is really exercising my faith in the Lord that no one will slip through the cracks. i am really sad too because i finally thought for sure i would see a baptism finally! this girl we were teaching, ronnie, is getting baptized on the weekend after conference!! and she was wanting me to perform the ordinace! i was sooo excited!! we got to be really close with her family too and were getting them to become more active again. we also had a few more people that were getting ready too!. i was really upset at first, but the Lord reminded me that it does not matter what we get to see, just that we keep the work going. im doing alot better now and am happy to go and start my new journey in ...

........Rogers Arkansas! i will now have served in all four states haha woo hoo. that was were elder treasure got sent to after we were split. im in first ward tho. i dont know my address yet, but i will let you know asap. cuz i might need my winter gear sent back to me soon ha... its been in the 60s all this week. its been awesome!! but im scared its going to get cold real fast. who knows with these places ha. well that is what has been going on here. 

 now just saying bye and get everything ready for the new elders.

    

so now for my spiritual part of my letter. it is kinda random, but its something that played a huge part this week. so we had a zone training this week and i was ask to give the spiritual thought for it.

   **so this week i had a pretty neat experience that i feel was revelation from the Spirit and feel compelled to share it with you. i got to share it in this weeks zone training meeting and i was able to bare truthful witness to the other elders and sisters. so the zone leaders called me on thursday to give a spiritual thought in the meeting. as i studied that morning, i prayed and asked that the Lord would use me as a tool to portray the message He would have me give, that would best help the elders and sisters in our zone. i received an answer to my prayer that i would receive an answer but not yet.!!!! as the day went on i started to become worried on what it is that i should share to help. when the answer finally came as i was sitting on a lawn mower haha. we were doing some service for an investigator. i was just sitting there and felt, ok now i need to pray and ask again. almost right after i began to, i became very observant to the bees that were around me landing on the little flowers growing in this mans lawn. i noticed that as i was going a few would land in front of me and seemed not to care that i was coming closer and as i ran them over! haha..... at first i thought wow bees are not too bright haha..... but as i continued i saw that the butterflies would land, but as i came closer they wouldnt stay long, they would fly away.

  it was then the Spirit placed a scripture into my mind... it was matthew 10:39 which says " he that findeth his life shall lose it: and he that loseth his life for my sake shall find it." the spirit was so strong with that message. as i sat there my mind began to race. i began to liken bees to missionary work! bees are known to be hard workers. all they care about is getting the nectar, or helping the people come to the gospel through baptism. they are true and faithful to there queen (The Lord our king). I NEED TO BE A BEE! and not a butterfly, which wants the nectar but as things begin to scare them or worry them or even distract them they fly away. the bee stands fast and works its self even to death. not worrying about anything but the work. such dedication!!

 i was talking to a member who owns a bee farm and he told us that the bees would work them selfs so hard and to death that if you walk away from the hive and look at the grown you will even see bees crawling on the ground to get back because there wings can no longer carry them.

 i have gained a new love for bees and there powerful characteristics of work and dedication. i pray that i might be a "BEE" in all i do.

 the Holy Ghost is so amazing and i know all these things were not from me, but a divine messenger to help the missionaries of the OTM. im just so grateful i was able to be the one to receive the message. i know i needed to hear it.

oh and while i was eating my  gluten free cereal, called kixs. It had this fact written on the box at the same time all this was going on. ( i know that was not by chance either)..... bees must collect from 2 million flowers to make only one pound of honey!

  i hope you enjoy it

 love you all !!!!

elder Houston

MISSION TOUR...THE BOMB

Elder Houston's email

September 10, 2012

 

hey family !

ha so wow alot happend this week!!! i am really tired right now. we got up pretty early the past two days to move a family and we have meetings on sunday so have to get up at 5 on sundays. so lil pooped... but ya so i will try to put it all together and i forgot my notes that i took for mission tour so ill have to tell you more about that another time.

   so starting off.... so monday we went to branson with most of our zone and played some black light mini golf and lazer tag!! it was soooo fun. i got some pictures, but i wish i would have taken more, but im lazy haha ....and all my pictures turn out fuzzy so ya haha sorry mom.

   tuesday was a pretty good day too. we got to do alot of service. we mowed this brothers lawn and helped him out around the house. then we had to get ready for mission tour the next day.

    oh! and elder treasure and elder davies i dont think i ever mentioned him, but he was in my district in the mtc. he is way cool! he is the assistants with elder treasure. but they came and stayed the night with us that night cuz they needed a place to stay for the tour. but it was so fun haha we got to reminisce old times and tell all our great stories haha..... so sweet. oh and elder davies is like the nephew of mitt romney so we got to talk about him alot too haha.... it was way fun. then wednesday was the bomb, high light of the week!! mission tour!!!!!

   so mission tour... if you dont know, is when a general authority comes to the mission and gives lessons and teaches and all that good stuff. the elder that came and his wife was, elder choi and sister choi. (it sounds like "che" like cherry.) he was sooooo funny!! he is a member of the seventy. he gave a talk a while back in conference about the nine roudy boys and i just remember when me and hunter saw the picture that popped up in his talk, we started laughing haha cuz it was funny. you should look it up on youtube or whereever else you can get it. but it was so awesome. he was talking  to every zone in the mission and at each one he changed the talk completely. he went straight with the spirit! i took soooo many notes and learned sooo much. more than i can even remember ha (i need my notes). it was so cool to know both there talks where straight from the spirit, because it made it special and more specific for our group and each of us individually. and after all the talks he let us ask him any questions that we wanted! i know crazy right! and i totally choked! i couldnt think of anything!! ha like even to ask him anything ! like did adam have a belly button! haha nadda nothing ..... but the few questions that were asked were good for me. he told some powerful stories about pres. monson and i felt the spirit so strong and the love that elder choi has for him.. it was so awesome, unlike anything i have felt before. it strengthened my testimony in pres. monson to a point i have never known i knew,, even more now that he is a prophet then i did before which i thought impossible! but it was awesome!!!! a sister that was about to go home and she asked him what was the advice he had for her and then said it was for all of us was to GET MARRIED! haha... it was perfect for me because i really dont want to get married when i get home. not right away at least. i had this big list of stuff i wanted to do. but he made sure that it was clear and i know it was revelation from God and i fully sustain elder Choi with all my heart. so some of my priorities changed haha...

   he told us this funny story about his mission pres and that was his council to him at his departing interview. He had a list of girls for him to marry!!! hahah and he read off the names to elder choi and when he got to the 7th one the lucky number 7 he said... he knew she was the one and he married her and that is sister choi haha... so awesome.

   lots of cool stories and awesome things i needed to learn here. i have a new love and respect for the general authorities of the church now. i love them with all my heart. they put all the Lords priorities before there own and always strive to do His will no matter what and there testimonies are so powerful and strong. it was such an amazing experence. wouldnt trade it for the world. i know the things he taught i will use throughout my life to guide me and i truely thank him for that and his wife she was wonderful as well!

  

 the rest of the week was pretty great too... but i am excited about  ronnie, the girl i was teaching before i left chesterfield, is gettting baptized!!!! wooooo on the 29th or the 6th im sooo excited for her. im not sure what happened all of the sudden. she just started keeping all the commitments that we gave her. she comes to church all three hours its awesome!! and the spirit or the Lord allowed me to prophesy about her and her family! it was so crazy!!! i just felt so strong to tell her something and then it just started flowing. i told her she would be a leader in her family that she would bring them, with her choices back to the church and bless their lives. her family is all less actives. but like just these past two visits, her mom and brother sat in on lessons and her mom who would never come to church said she wants to come back and she told ronnie that she wanted to ask us for a blessing to stop smoking!! so awesome !!!  i love it!! they are soo awesome and im so happy i was able to come back to help them get back on track. ronnie wants me to baptize her too but i have a feeling that this transfer i will be leaving :( that i will be coming back to southernhills ward and chesterfield will be getting new missionaries again. i still have yet to get to see a baptism, but im just happy she is going all the way and who knows, if i stay in southern hills maybe i will be able to still baptize her. i just down the street after all ha.

    well i do love this work and the people i have been able to grow to love so much. i know what ever happens is the will of the Lord and i am striving to be one with him so that i might be one with the Father.

  

well this was my week! oh we also as you know had a crazy storm the other day 70 mph winds ha and really scary, but we servived. I got stuck in the libary for lil over an hour. but thats about it. all in all was a wonderful week and am ready for another great one. so glad all is going well in AZ with work. anthony sounds so great! he going to be a bomb leader and missionary i can tell already. ya go a head and send me his emails but in letters if you could i want to read them. thanks so much.

 i love you all and cant wait to hear back :)! love you !!

love elder houston

THE BEST TWO YEARS

Elder Houston's email:

August 27, 2012

 

hey family hows it going!!!!!

   so this week was really awesome!! we got to teach so many different people!!! like the missionary lessons. not the stuff that we just come up with for a spiritual thoughts or any of that the good stuff!! so wednesday we were ask to teach an indepth lesson of the plan of salvation to the EARLY MORNING seminary class. it was soo cool to be at the other end of the desk this time and see how i was in seminary and how badly i wish i could go back! i love the youth so much!!! my p blessing was dead on about that haha. they are so fun and awesome. i can honestly say it was the best plan of salvation discusion i have ever had! i learned so much preparing for it and all i keep thinking was man i wish i knew this stuff at there age. haha im sure i was taught it, time and time again. it just went in one ear and out the other ha.

 

we also got to teach the restoration of the gospel to like two new people that we are going to start teaching now! too cool ha. one of them is this guy named joe. he is, if you remember that lady i taught forever and she finally got baptized, like couple months ago. her name was courtnie. anyway joe is her boyfriend well now her future husband. they getting married now. he had been looking into the church i guess for a while now and courtnie has been talking with him a ton and now he is wanting to join! so we started teaching him and we are going to set a date with him this next week! so awesome!!!

 

we also got to meet up with an old investigator of mine and got her back on track and she is wanting to be baptized too! i dont think i will be around for either of them, but if the missionaries that come back into chesterfield keep with them, i know it will happen. there are going to be alot of missionaries coming out this transfer so i think chesterfield is going to get there own missionaries again :/ kinda sad.... but its been fun!

 

so this sunday was this kids farewell jarom peterson is his name im pretty sure he is going to be like an apostle haha... he is a better missionary then me and he has not even left yet haha... he so awesome. but he talked this sunday and it was cool to see him and all that he has done to prepare. it brought alot of things to my memory of back at home. one of them was an expirience me and hunter had. i dont think i recognized it at the time, but when i thought about it yesterday, i know it was a huge factor in my decision to serve a mission. but this was also a spiritual time for hunter i think. so before you share this with any one ask hunter if it is ok with him.

  so it was back when me and him were staying in the same room. so it was a while ago. not sure when tho. but we were watching the movie the "the best two years", and it came to the part in the movie when the elder and his companion had got done fasting and had the phone call to meet with that guy at there apartment. he came over and they got him to sit down and they talked about the restoration. the older elder finally realized why he had come on a mission. the spirit was so strong in the movie and in our room i just remember crying along with the elders and i looked at hunter and he was as well. im sure he felt the same way as me, and that i didnt know why i was crying. i just knew i was happy and a peaceful feeling come over me. i now realize that it was the spirit baring powerful witness to me and hunter that the restoration is true. that the message that the missionaries were saying in the movie was true. that this work truely is the Lords work upon the earth and how important it is. that feeling has returned time and time again proving that to me it is true and right! it really is the Best two years and im so eternally greatful to be able to be here now and for hunter putting that movie in that night so the spirit could witness to us those truths.. i love ya brother ! treasure those expirences, as well as you my wonderful family. when times of doubt trial or confusion come into your lifes remember what the spirit has taught you, for you cannot change that for the spirit teaches what is true! (moroni 10: 3-5) such a blessing that our Father has given to us:). and if you have not had such a witness yet, pray, ask, "knock" and it shall be given you. i know these thing to be true and say them in the name of Jesus Christ amen.

 i love you all and glad all is going well ill talk to you all next tuesday!!

love elder houston

SERVICE AND POWER OF THE PRIESTHOOD

Pictures are just a few random ones that i put on so you could see Elder Houston.

I believe most of them are from when he was in springfield last year. Enjoy that cute face!!!!

 

Elder Houston's email:

August 20, 2012

 

hey family hows it going !!

 

so this was a pretty fun week!!! we got to do a ton of service and had an awesome zone meeting and interviews!!!! i love pres shumway. its so awesome to get two way cool mission pres. both are totally different but both called of God.

    so we had a couple big service opporrtunities this week. one was we helped this new family move into the ward and holy cow they had a ton of stuff haha. but they are such a cool family and we got to know them a little bit and their family. the other thing we get to do was some tough work too. its been a while since i have got to do some real hard labor haha. it was kind of nice to get down in the dirt ha or this case the cement. we helped this member lay some concrete down to make a path and a ramp so that this guy could get into his house, he is in a wheel chair. and i dont mean to toot my own horn but we did a pretty good job haha. oh man and i totally got to cruise around on riding lawn mower again this week haha so fun! we went over to one of our investigators houses. he is really sick. he has alot of health problems especially with his lungs. he is on oxygen and we go over and teach him and mow his lawn its fun. so alot on service this week. we also got to serve people through the preisthood too. we got to give two really powerful blessings it was so cool.

   one was to a little boy. he has no arms and scolioces and a bunch more health difficulties. he was going in to have sergury this week and the mother and father are friends to some memebers in our ward. oh and they are not members. so the family that is in our ward asked if they would like a blessing. they agreed to it and we all met at there house. we got to talk to them about the preisthood and how blessings work. they were really nice and had such strong faith. we gave the boy a blessing and you could defiantly feel the power of the spirit in the room. afterwards they had more questions and we got to talk to them a little bit more. this sunday we talked to the members and they said that they were soo curious now and are wanting to know more! they have not commited to lessons but i think they will soon we are going to stop by again this week.

   the other blessing we gave was last night and man it  was such a awesome day ! so we cover two wards now so we have church at 830 then go till 1130 then go to lunch and go back at 230 until 530 haha its a lot of church but it so awesome they are both really strong wards and this sunday the spirit was especially strong and the lessons were so awesome!! and not to mention we had a less active guy finally come and and investigator too it was sweet.

 but anyway, so we are still getting use to having a car and how it needs GAS haha.... so saturday we forgot to fill up cuz we got in late and we were on E. we thought eh we will be ok we just have to go to church. well that didnt go as planned haha we ended up having a big lunch that we drove too and i got chocolate milk all over my suit so had to drive back and change suits haha and then back to church. then we had a dinner to drive too. it was at the edge of our area haha and in the hills so climbing UP haha.. oh man we thought for sure we were going to run out. then just before dinner we got a call that some one from another ward needed a blessing. that she was not a member, but he was a less active guy. the hospital was clear on the other side of town. but we knew we had to go. so we said a silent pray in our hearts the whole way and some how we made it. we had no idea until now, but she was soo badly hurt. she had fallen from the deck of her house 20 feet and on too rocks. it hurt me just to see her and how broken she was. with our stregthend faith, with our prayers answered knowing now why Heavenly Father made it possible for us to make it there, we gave her the blessing. even though i dont know what is going to happen. by the comfort and peace i felt there, i know she will be alright.

   it was such a testimony builder to me to see that if the Lord needs something done He WILL make it possible. we could have stopped and got gas but i know that this experience would have not been the same. it was a reafferming to my testimony that our Father in Heaven does hear and knows each of us and loves us more then we could possible imagine . its also a testimony that the priesthood is real! and that with and through it we do His will and bless lives. i love you all soooo much

 

love elder houston

AWESOMENESS!!!!! A CAR AGAIN.....

A new Transfer week and Elder Houston is staying in Springfield with Elder Taggart.... i will get on him about sending pictures soon....

 

Elder Houston's email

August 6, 2012

 

Holy moly!!!!!!!! such an awesome week !!!!!!!!!!!!!!

  so i dont even know where to start ! so ill start first by saying i totally forgot to tell you this week was transfer calls .. dont worry im staying haha and so is my comp! which is awesome cuz i love this guy!. ok so we got the call and it was elder treasure ha he is the new AP but we were like wait why you calling if no one is staying or going. oh man such a change. so they are taking the missionaries out of chesterfield!! crazy huh ya. but thats not all haha..... so they made it a part of our area! haha so i cover chesterfield again!! so now we cover the entire bottom half and some of springfield!. oh it doesnt end there haha we get ..... a CAR!! woooo haha no more biking in record braking tempts! haha so crazy. so now we cover there ward and all there investigators and all our ward and investigators. its so cool. pres merkley and shumway are defiantly in tune! at first i thought oh i guess i was just needed in southern hills and its good for my health stuff but little did i know that the Lord had a plan. he knew this would happen and that he would need some one who would know the areas and people. and its so crazy because pres shumway and merkley didnt exchange any info they couldnt, your not aloud. so it was pure and divine beautiful inspiration. man i love this work! haha so cool! we are going to be sooo busy and time is just going to fly by. its sad to know that we are lacking in missionaries though. there are so many men and women that have no idea what they are missing the joy so much to the consumming of your flesh!! i have known no truer happyness then this.

 we got to go over to talk with courtnie, that lady i taught for 7 months who was just baptized and so much change has happend all around her. she is so happy her family has changed sooo much. they all get along so much more and to see how much at peace they are. her daughter is now learning more. when before she use to fight with her mom that she would NEVER be a mormon. and now courtnie is getting married to an awesome guy who is now really investigating the church and his daughter. it is the ripple effect of the gospel. so beautful to be able to whitness. i truely felt that i was just a small pebble that didnt do much in my mission but as the ripples have traveled and time has gone by i was bless by the Lord to be able to see the effects of what i and many others have done. and truely how great is my joy. the scriptures have proved themselfs again D&C 18:15 ha. so future missionaries you are needed it is never too late to go. i have had wonderful time meeting missionaries of all ages. our district leader is 25 so get ready to go you will never regret it. the Lord will bless you and you will have so much fun and learn soooo much and become spiritual physically mentally straigthened. i know this to be true with all my heart and am a living witness to it

 i love you all sooooo much. i totally want to see anthanys pictures!! oh and i wrote to john and kim this last week. i so happy all went well with the blessing.

 talk to you next week and ill prob write you too talk to you later

love elder houston

BOOK OF MORMON BLESSES OUR LIVES

Elder Houston's email:

July 24, 2012

 

hey hows it going family !

 sorry this might be a rushed letter.. alot happend this week it was great!. so last week we got all those referrals. well they just kept coming after that haha.. most of them were old ones but we contacted 10 !! haha it was awesome 2 of them became new investigators and are way nice. one is this dude from bolgaria or how ever that is spelt... he has a cool acsent.. he is a truck driver too ha... so hopefully i can relate to him a lil. dad you might need to help me on that one haha. we also finally got to meet with an investigator we had not seen in a while. it was an amazing lesson the spirit was with us every step of the way. it was like alma and amulek... we could desern her very thoughts. she felt it was God talking to her. she told us some of the stuff she is going through and how she is ready to start the long journy to true repentance. it was so cool. it was a baring witness to me again the power of the gospel of Jesus Christ and how through him we can be lifted from ANY burden we have. that we CAN with out a doubt be cleansed from our imperfections that bring us sadness.

   the rest of the week went really well haha on saturday our ward mission leader fed us and he is from gana africa and he fed us one of his africa dishes haha it was PEANUTBUTTER SOUP! hahah sounds wierd huh! it acually was not too bad i kinda liked it. haha.

   so the reason im emailing tuesday is because yesterday we had this new thing that the mission headquarters wants us to start doing its like just a zone training thing... anyway it was kinda like a mini zone conferance. it was sooooooo awesome the spirit was there so strong at the meeting. it was about the book of mormon and how important it truly is. how all the prophets like mormon and moroni gave the entire like and went through soo much to make sure that we would have this sacred book to help us. they saw our day and new the things we would go through. pres. shumway wants all of us to use the book of mormon to resolve peoples concerns and to relate to them. we put up all these senariose that some people would have and each one we were able to relate some thing in the book of mormon to then and help resolve their conserns it was such a testimony to me the divinity and power of the book of mormon. everything we go through in this life there is ALWAYS some thing in the book of mormon that can help us and bless our lives. it truely is the words of God through prophets that are all for our blessing and help. i also learned a wonderful and really cool truth that i never saw before. i am a living whitness that the book of mormon IS another testiment of our Lord. i know with all my heart that the Savior died for us that He is the living Son of our Heavenly Father. the book of mormon was the only book i have ever read front to cover. my testimony came from reading the book mormon because it is all i read before! i hope that made sence it was really cool to see that and know that my testimony of the Savior came from reading it and praying and that was just yet another reaffermering witness that this wonderfull book is true!.

    it was an awesome week love you tons

elderhouston

HE WILL ANSWER YOUR PRAYERS

Elder Houston's email:

July 16, 2012

 

i love ev'r last one yu'ns! haha hey family hows it going !

anthony is tearing it up back there going through the temple!!!! wooo! thats so crazy it has come so fast !! ha hopefully you all been able to gett everything ready in time. im so excited for him! he will love a mission ya needs to remember stick with it. it will have loads of ups and downs but just stick with it and it will get better and better its going to be great !! i cant wait to get to email another elder or sister of the family ! ha tori and colten helped me so much and now im here for him if he ever needs anything i will do my best.

well everything sounds to be going well. the Lord is defiantly watching out for us. He truly is every time money seems to be going tight the Lord places people is our paths here that help us out. we had a member that was from utah that was visiting us gave us 20 bucks and these people wont take no. we cant except money as an answer hahah.. God bless each of them tho. it has been such a blessing to feel there love and the Saviors through each of them.

so im still trying to get use to missouri again. trying to get use to the majority of the population hating us haha at least once a day or every other day we have some one flip us off.. yell terrible things at us as they drive by or just treat us so rudely! its so funny on preparation day we have been wearing normal cloths lately and no one says anything. but as soon as we back in the proselyting clothes they go back to the yelling and cursing.. haha but its all good. the Lord always sends some random person to lift us up when we are down.

 like this week we had some random trucker honking his horn waving at us down the street ahaha.. he was funny and that one light of kindness brightens our whole week. it really shows you how one little act of kindness can create a ripple effect of so much good. the Lord did say love one anther and that is like unto the greatest of all commandments, which is to love the Lord thy God. oh it was so cool to seen another working of the the Lord and Heavenly Father it has strengthened my testimony in prayer. if you pray and ask and it is the will of the Father, He WILL answer your prayers. so on wednesday we had district meeting and it was mostly about finding and really stressed on finding even when we have people to teach. so that if or when  our area, every one you were teaching gets baptized you still have people to teach. we have like no one in our teaching pool. so we have been trying and trying to find people but not much has been happening. then the other night as i was preparing my talk for sunday i read in preach my gospel and i got the impression to pray and ask to find new people to teach. then those very next days and even today we got 5 referrals!  plus the couple we got in our package from pres three more so we now have 8 referrals to go contact! and i dont know how tori mish was but if you ask her that is A LOT haha he didnt make it set in stone that we just got new people to teach, but he left it up to us now to use our agency to go see them and find them and see if they are wanting to learn more. it was so awesome.

oh and my talk went well too i was suppose to talk for 5 to 10 mins and i couldnt stop talking and went for 20 min haha it didnt feel like it was that long. well that is all i got time for today. i love you all so much and will keep praying for work. and congrats anthony!! can wait for ya ha good luck with your talks! you will do great i know it . talk to ya next week ! love ya!! have a great week and have fun laugh and enjoy each day with love to everyone!

love elder houston

I WILL SERVE WITH ALL MY HEART

Elder Houston's email:

July 10, 2012

 

hey family!

 so it sounds like all going pretty well there and happy birthday mother dearest!!! it sounded like you had a pretty fun birthday ! wish i could have been there too rain check till next year ;) haha. so they made a new spiderman huh i seen it all over walmart haha.. that might be another one i need to put on my must see when i get home list. and anthony going through the temple!!! holy cow so awesome man he is so close ! i wish i could be there but ill see him when he gets back and we can go again ha. i was looking in the newest ensign and it looks like his mission just got a new mission pres too pretty cool. oh one thing i would do different i was just thinking of this last night. i would get sheets for a full bed. because as long as i have been out i have only had one twin size bed so my sheets never fit haha. so get a little bigger and they will still fit if you have a twin too. but any way ha too cool im way pumped for him. oh and i just got 4 letters yesterday from my family!! so thank you!! you all rock!!

   soo this week was so awesome full of spiritual confirmations as well as fun lessons to learn. so i dont got much time and im under the weather today so i will just pick a few of the things that happend this week. and save the rest for another time.

so it was on thursday day and we were just coming in from ridding forever in the hot sun ha we looked pretty beat up and we just got flipped off again in the intersection on the way back to our apartment for dinner ha and yelled at and i was a little down and kind of mad. as we were going through this grocery store parking lot this guy pulls up in his car and yells," hey!, are you mormons?" i was like oh great here we go ha and elder taggert didnt know he stopped me so he kept riding. so i said yes. he ask if i was on a mission, i said yes. he said he was a therapist and he saw people who were depressed all day and it was nice to see some people going out and serving our God. ha i was really surprised haha usually people yell at us and say that we should go home and read the bible haha. so it was nice to find some one that said OUR God. but as he was saying this he took out his wallet and said i have some thing for you. he busted out a hundred dollar bill! i told him thank you so much but we cant accept money haha he said sure ya can and just gave it too me ha i told him thank you and he said no thank you. by this time elder taggert came riding back and the guy got out another hundred!! and gave it to him and said here you have one too haha he told us to go and have our selves a good meal on him. it was such an amazing feeling all the times that we have been yelled at or cursed at, this one kind person made it ALL worth it. well we went on with the night as normal with that little kick in our step haha. well later that night we had to go to walmart to get some pictures for that next day when we met pres and sister shumway. as we were going along we passed this homeless guy that was sleeping in the grass at a buss stop. the thought poped in my head, hey you should give that dude your 100. haha so i stopped and told elder taggert i said we should probably talk to him first. so we did we found out that he was drunk beyond drunk. when we woke him up he was kinda pissed at first but calmed down ha. as we were talking to him he just got up and started peeing on this bush behind him! hahaha it was so funny ! and this was like on a really busy street ha. but as we sat with him and he told us the same story over and over and tried playing his guitar we finally got to pray with him. after i finished the prayer he got angry with us again and told us not to look at him like that! he picked up this cane that he had and said he was going to hit some one ! haha i was getting ready to dart but just then he started to cry and said he didnt want to hit anyone. we got to talk to him a little more and by the end he said that he really loved us we gave him a book of mormon he said he would read it and then gave him the money. he didnt even look how much it was. it was so cool. he was just so thankful for our help and love.

 as we were sitting there the Lord portrayed a vision of when he was with the poor and as he was ministering to them. i couldnt help but cry as i felt the spirit so strong and how it was a reaffirming testimony to me that i am an agent of the Lord how as a missionary we are to be representative of him. i saw the vision the Lord wants us to see and know that we are here to help all of our brothers and sisters to find Him and to have happiness. the man might not remember anything we talked to him about but i know he will remember the kindness and the love the Lord was able to show through us. i know i will never forget it and maybe that all that he wanted to happen. it was a wonderful experience to be able to be a part of ...i thank the Lord each day for these things i have seen and learned on my mission. they are laying a wonderful foundation of a testimony that i know He lives and is alive in this work each day and that our Father loves each one of us and knows our trials. 

 the next day was even a more wonderful day or just as we got to meet our new mission pres and his wife and two kids that still live with them. He is with out a doubt here for us and is called by our Heavenly Father. haha He made sure that i new that with out a doubt in my mind confirmation after confirmation i felt and saw. like i have been having a hard time feeling the spirit like i use too. i think from all that happend last few transfers ago and so i felt that i should ask pres shumway if he would give me a blessing to help. and before i could even ask he gave us all a blessing and said exactly what i needed to hear. this was only one of the many things that i was given an answer too, as we all got to meet him. it was defianlty a tender mercy of the Lord to tell us all with out a shout of a doubt that He called pres and sister shumway for all of us and those in the tulsa oklahoma mission. 

 it was an awesome week and im ready and spiritually fed to continue to do my best to serve with all my heart. thanks again for all your letters i loved them!! i will talk to you all next week! remember joshua 24:14-15 "serve the Lord in sincerity and in truth.. choose you this day whom ye will serve... for ME, [i] will serve the Lord!! woo not some day but this day and all days! i love this work and i love you all !! talk to you later !! love you!! 

love ,

 elder houston 

NEW MISSION PRESIDENT....NEW AREA

Hopefully i will get some pictures soon from his new area and mission President Shumway...

 

Elder Houston's email:

July 2, 2012

 

hey family !

 

sorry this going to be short email. the email thing for our new mission pres got all changed around so i just trying to figure it out and now i running low on time. but all is well in my new area we had transfers on tuesday this transfer instead of the usual thursday. i think it was because the new pres coming. but so i got up at 4:00 am! to drive all the way to the transfer loop then left at 6:30 am and the assistance needed me to drive the loop on the south side ha so i got to drive for the first time in like 10 or 11 months. it was kinda scary but i guess its like riding a bike. because i still can do it. so that was fun tho.. i got to go all around the mission and see so many of all my mtc district and all my old comps!. i saw elder treasure!!!! haah he is still short haha and he had a present for me! i love that man haha. he also like i totally told him he would when we were companions that he would become an assistant to the pres and he did this transfer! so now i get to see him every zone conference and maybe other times as well! so i guess it comes with being an older missionary but it was so weird seeing all the missionaries at transfers because alot of them i didnt know and they knew me? like they said hey elder houston and im like heyyy haha and they say i have not met ya but heard alot about you haha i hope its all good what they hear ha.. but it was a testimony to me that i need to watch all that i do and say it was a good feeling to know that they all know me for good reasons tho... a really good feeling. makes me always even after the mission make sure like it says hornor my father and mother. so when people hear my name it is all for good reasons. it talks about that in my p blessing any way it was cool.

but ya so i got to the end of my loop and met my new comp. elder taggert is his name.. he just got done being trained and he is from a town of 900 people in colorado haha he is awesome.. he funny and is always laughing which i am loving it just makes it so hard not to have a great time all the time. we are geting along way great and the area is so awesome. they doing loads of lessons and have had so many baptisms. it was so awesome sunday too because i got to see people from the chesterfield ward, which was my last last area. and im going to see courtnie today !!!!! im so excited she was the lady i was teaching for 7 months and finally was baptized a couple weeks ago! its been a great week and im really excited to get back to being crazy busy ! this friday we will also get to meet pres shumway and his wife which im really looking forward too. well i got to go,,, oh man i almost forgot haha mom you would have beat me up too,,, ha my new address is.. 4347 south weller apt. number B50 springfield, mo 65804.

well i love you all and hopefully i will have some good stories to tell ya when i get back next week.. cant wait to hear from yall and glad you all had fun in texas!!

love elderhouston

CLOSING PAWHUSKA....TRANSFERS

Elder Houston's email:

June 25, 2012

hey family !! ,

   so we got transfer calls.... i better tell you that first . haha so president always seems to send me for a loop ha. so im going back to springfield missouri!!! not the same area but the ward right next to it haha.. the same district ! like i will see everyone in chesterfield. soo wierd! haha president came to church with us yesterday for some reason. but i got to ask him. like if he forgot that i just came from there haha .but he did and said it was going to be fun haha. so i was like ok ..whatever you say haha. it will be so awesome to get to see everyone again and alot of the people that i knew already from my area too. and courtnie just got baptized too finally!! :)!! so i will get too congratulate her in person now! and usually in our mission when you become a district leader you stay one or go to zone leader. but this transfer i going back down again. i a senior again which its all good. i really enjoyed being a DL it will be nice to get to less up on the stress and just focus on teaching. which i really need. i have not taught very much these past two transfers. but it will be interesting to see how long i there again. ha if i there for 7 and half months again i might be there for christmas again haha weird huh. but cool!!!

 i dont have my address yet sorry... i been pretty busy with alot of stuff this week. like gettting the area ready to close and getting ready to leave and i taught a lesson friday for the stake youth conference and then sunday i taught the Gospel doctrine class too ha lots of stuff. its been fun though. haha the catholic father daigle haha.. he is so funny he is like way sad that we are leaving. he really likes us alot haha. he said he going to cry. he is so going to be a member. if not in this life in the spirit world he even said that we can do baptisms for him when he dies hahah its kinda funny. but i really think he would join the church if he was not so bread catholic through and through like and all his family and ancestors. but ya never know with the Gospel anything possible. he is such a great man. all the people we have met here are so wonderful so many seeds where planted here and they WILL grow i know it..

 i will talk to you next week and send you my address or i will write you when i get there tomorrow. im driving the transfer loop for some reason ..the assistance wants me to. oh!! and i totall knew he would.... but elder treasure is the new assistance! haha so i will get too see him alot more now!!! woooooo haha. it will be cool.

oh so ya the youth conference was really a cool thing we did this week. it was all on missionary work and missions. all the youth got mission calls and we tought them the first lessons and how to prepare to go and it was soo perfect for me because i got asked to talk on how to prepare spiritually to go on a misson and thats what bishop was wanting me to talk to our boys about haha.. so i got it all ready now haha funny how the Lord makes those things work out:). it was cool to see all the young men and women talking and asking about a mission and they all got learn so much stuff.. i wish i new or at least would have been nice to know it was way cool to be able to help and feel the spirit testifying that the choices they were thinking of making are so true and that it is His work. i really enjoyed it. im really sad a year has already come and gone but i know the best is only yet to come.

well im glad you all got to get together to see colten wish i could have been there too. haha and it sounds like everyone is have a blast :) thats great thats a good family get away. oh!! randy!! please tell him thank you for the money he sent me at christmas! i been trying to write him but i keep fogeting and i never had his address tell him i said thanks. and tell steve happy b day !! too. hhaha ya they got lots of those frog here too! i love oklahoma its sooo beautiful!! like huge rolling hills with like ranches and wild horses i love it its a way different beauty ha then arizona. and man its getting way hot here too this week in the 100s and wayy humid i never stop sweating hah especially on bikes.

well i got to get going sorry about no address ill write ya as soon as i can kk and love ya so much keep having a blast for me!! :)

love yall!!! talk toyou later bye!!

love elder houston

Father Daigle....possible Mormon someday.....

COME UNTO HIM.....AND BE FOUND

WELCOME HOME ELDER COLTEN HOUSTON...JOB WELL DONE!!

 

Elder Houston's email:

June 18, 2012

 

hey family hows it going !,

   so i got elder houstons departing email.. it was awesome!!! thank you so much for sending that too me. the gospel is such a beautiful thing. and serving a mission and even just living to the fullness of our potential in the gospel of Jesus Christ helps us feel of that un dieing love that our Heavenly Father has for us.

  Elder Koelliker said in conference that,"the feeling of love from our Heavenly Father is like a gravitational pull from heaven. As WE remove the distraction that pull us toward the world and exercise our agency to seek Him, we open our hearts to a celestial force which draws us toward Him". Living our lives in harmony with the Lords gospel and teachings. and showing our love for him be keeping His commandments, is a shear fire way to be pulled into the arms of our Father in Heaven for guidance, protection, and eternal life of happiness, which is the greatest gifts that the creator of all things, could give to us. and like Elder Houston said He is waiting for us to come to Him.

 i read in this ensign once of this perfect analogy that helped me understand this princible. it talked of a mother and father that were playing hide and seek with there little children. as they would run to hide and the children would listen carefully to there foot steps they would purposely leave clues to where they went. they would be sure to leave the door open or a foot visible where they were hidding. or at often times they would hide in the same place more then once so that the children would know that if she found them there once she could go there again to find them. the parents said that we wanted them to search for us, but we also wanted to be found. that is the same with our Father in Heaven. He wants us to excersice our faith. because what happens when you exsercise ? you get stronger. i bear my testimony along with Elder Houstons that our Heavenly Father loves each and every one of us we are His children. He wants to be found by each of us. with his arms of eternal love wide open waiting to" embrace each of us and say with that quite, still but piercing voice, "i love you"." im so greatful for you all for that heaven designed plan for families that show us all the love He has for us. i love you soooooo much ! and Elder Houston! for setting the example for each of us and being a witness of the truth of this beautiful gospel ! ill see you in a year ! well i guess i will see all you in a year! haha but until then i will continue to , ".. embark in the service of God, and see that i serve Him with all my heart, might, mind, and strength,..( D&C 4). these things i say in the name of Jesus Christ amen.

 sorry didnt get to say much about this week just know all is well and that im doing great transfer calls are this saturday and i got all my meds so no worries about anything i will right you today and let you know more if anything need too. OH and tell dad HAPPY FATHERS DAY! I LOVE HIM!!! and i sent my card late sorry haha talk to ya later.

love elder houston     

FROLIC IN WHEAT FIELDS???

I would have never known that my son would have known what Frolic meant....believe me... he was on drugs.... good drugs!!! haha ( oh no...he got the drugs the next day)... he has some explaining to do...frolic? really....

 

Elder Houston's email

June 11, 2012

 

hey family,

 so its week ending of 6/10/12 and man it was pretty slow ha. but first things first. so i got your letters thanks for them the were huge! :) i wrote hunter and tori too the dang mail man doesnt pick up mail at our house some times and this week he didnt all week so theirs just got sent off today.

   so sunday sounded like so much fun ! i miss those days and tori making pancakes!! niiice... when i get back i will try to join in with my GF crapes and it will be a breakfast balooza!! haha. i love breakfast mmmm. ha tori going to have to teach me some of her cooking skills that she has learned. one thing i have learned alot about is like health foods and stuff there is a ton of natural eater people out here. like never in my life would i have ever drank almond milk! ew but i had some a while back and it not too bad just a little price so doesnt help me ha. oh! and i learned that blue berries help people with there memory as they get older !! haha there is hope for us mom!! ha there sure is alot of weird stuff out there that i never thought of eating that apparently it is really good for ya like aloe haha there is aloe juice! any way ya sounded like a good sunday. and no i dont think i have ever played that game it doesnt sound familiar. haha chase always wins. haha i found out if you cant beat him just join him haha in cahoots ;).

   so this week was pretty slow a couple things did happen though. the reason it was so slow was i went to the doctor first... bad choice ha. but first on wednesday my district had our first exchange so i got to know elder buckley a little better we stayed in pawhuska. we had district meeting in indpendence kansas, so i got to go to kansas for the first time. apparently pawhuska covers parts there. but ya it all looks about the same. but fields and fields of WHEAT! hah i just wanted to go frolic through it and eat it all!! but that was fun. its an hour there and hour back! so that took up most the day.

  then thursday came around and thats when it all went so wrong haha ok not really, but it was not to fun. so i dont know if i ever told you but back in my last area we were playing b ball and this HUGE dude jumped and landed on my toe. and its had been bugging me ever since. here in pawhuska we walk quite a bit so it started hurt a lil more, so i went in to this members doctor office he is like doctor chang back at home, he just does it all i guess. well he checked my a1c cuz i wanted to make sure it was good before i did anything and if i need perscription, i can get them from him now so no worries about that anymore. any way so he said well if its bugging you i can just cut it out, like that one i had done before i left for the mission. i said ok because that was not too bad. well this one apparently was worse he was sticking the needle in and it hit something...... and thats where all the infection was and why it was hurting and man that killed!! blood was going everwhere haha it was like war zone. he finally got the darn thing out and choped it up like last time. but man it hurt and for some reason it made me sooo sick. haha i grabed his trash and puked in it haha i felt bad but i got real white and almost passed out he said ha. i just laid there while the lady raped it up. he gave me perscriptions for some pain killers and anti boitics and sent me on my way. so i guess the pain killers he gave me was lortabs and those are terrible!! they made me sooo sick! ha and dizzy i puke them up real quick ha so i was out for thursday and friday i felt so bad for my companion ha by saturday i had to call him and figure something out. this dang thing has been a pain the rest of the week. tho but now its under control i hope ha. so ya that was the high light of this week ha sorry not the most exciting and spiritual ha but its at least under control and no more pukeing and my sugars not wigging out from the meds. haha and i cant wear a shoes for a few days and apparantly missionaries get this done alot and they just wear sandals. haha and mom you know how much i hate them things ha so instead i got a wheel chair and a rope and my companion going to pull me around haha...:) 

    so that was my week this week i know will be much better so stay tuned for next week. im glad there has been more work with dad. and i hope you all have fun in texas. give colten a hug for me ! ill look for my contacts this week and let you know.

love you all so much !! talk to ya next week!

love elder houston