Feliz Navidad

The baptism of Librada! (Last week)

Cocodrilo, jekar'a, whatever it is, there's a million of them and there is a lake in the middle of town where everybody goes to feed them (Similar to a duck pond) 

Play timmeeeee




Hello everyone, hope you are enjoying the nice weather up there! Hit 48 degrees celsius on christmas hahaha (about 110ish) 

The Navidad was good this year! We had to spend it in our house because it's a bit dangerous to leave during the day. Sooooo lasying on my bed, nothing to do but think about blessed christmas in the United States was not the ideal way to spend it! haha But Skyping the fam sure helped. We had the activity of christmas in Ita this year! (My town) So 250 missionaries all came here to our church and partied it up for a day. It was a blast! We played capture the flag, soccer, volleyball, and ate a bunch of food. Sooooooo yeah well spent. We played so hard in fact, that we were both sick (My comp and I) this week haha Sooooo we have had heardly any time to visit people. We did however, have a baptism this week!! WHOOOOOOO (The pic is of the chicka who got baptised 2 weeks ago) AND.... I have a new comp! We had our changes today, so my old comp left, and I had to go to Asuncion at 3 in the morning to get my new one. He is way cool! His name is Elder Alvarado, and is from Peru. He only has 6 months in the mission haha But I am so stoked to get out and work with him! My old comp was ALWAYS talking about home, and was really getting lazy there at the end. So I'm excited to get out with my new comp and work as hard as we can so I can forget about how great snow is! ha He is 19 years old, and from Peru. Doesn't speak a lick of English! But yeah, that's about all that happened this week. I hope your christmas's were a little more eventfull! 

Love you all, 

Elder Horton

Mangoes and Mandioca and..... Chicken Hearts

The mission changes people...

The field is white and ready to harvest plus your average Paraguayan house in the background  

TENEMOS FUEGO  hahaha still haven't cleaned up the scorch marks!  

Bienvenidos my friends and family! This week has been SO much better. Much hotter than before, but much more succesful and rewarding!
First of... Mangos and Mandioca! This time of year is mango season here in Paraguay. The streets are lined with Mango trees, and it's too convenient to not come home every night with a big old bag of Mangos! We've been eating em like crazy, they are TOO good haha PLUS everyone here seems to be just a bit too short to pick the good ones... haha! Finally my height has come in handy down here. Aaaaand Mandioca! We have eaten a lot this week in the houses of members, and we always eat mandioca with whatever they have prepared. It's a very traditional food down here! Evreyone eats it with everything. It's not good at all, it's a bit liek a potato, but much more dense and even less flavor haha But it fills you up so fast! Aaaand it's basically dirt cheep. The chicken hearts are a favorite of my comp! He eates them (So I end up eating them) every Monday! Yummmmm

This week has been really nice haha I feel myself starting to get lost in the work more and more every day! I taugh my fist lesson completely by myself yesterday, (With a little help from my comp haha ) But my spanish is coming along faster than I expected it to! My training ends in a week and a half... AH! Then I have the responsability of needing to know everything... AHHHH! haha NAhhhh I'm not too worried. My comp has a 90 percent chance of getting transferred this month, So I'm expecting a new comp! 

We had one day this week were all we did was walk. (And of course it was the hottest day of the week) We were searching for a family inactive that we found in our area book, and spent a solid 3 hours walking up and down dirt roads, past acres of farms looking for this person, but never fund her! After that, we had to walk another hour to reach an appointment we had set for that night, and that fell through, so we just ened up walking back to our house (Another hour) because we had interviews at the church! haha My legs hurt too bad the next day. 

This week was still pretty good! We found 3 really great families, and two of them attended church this sunday. They are too awesome! I have loved getting to know them, and they really have made me feel more at home. Aaaaaand we had a baptsim this week WOOOOOOO hahaha That was too cool. Pictures attached!.. maybe next time haha  She is way cool, 24 years old, and has 2 kids. (Not anything to rare here in Paraguay) 

Love you guys! Hope the weather cools down for you guys back home. 

Piatacopio

This week... Was tough! haha Not gonna lie. It started off great! Buttttt then went downhill. Let me back up a bit. Soooo my comp got called as Lider of our District, so we have been traveling almost everyday to do interviews the past few weeks. This, combined with my extra hours of being trained had left us with hardly any time to get out and teach our investigators. Our two baptisms that we were going to have last week BOTH didn`t end up going down. One of them disapeared haha We can`t find here for anything! The other, we aer still having to work with her on a few things, but is going it hopefully be baptised this Saturday! Soooooo it`s been a bit tough. haha Lot`s of walking too! It`s supposed to get super extremely hot this summer, and on wednesday or thursday, we were sitting at 40 degrees celsius in the shade!! It was tough for sure ha And Fast Sunday in the heat is one of the hardest things to go through haha So yeah! That was my weak.

It`s still been fun! (At times) We did some service this week and helped a member fix his motorcycle. It is really intereting how the Lord has prepared me to be exactly what some of these people need. Like the skills I learned from fixing my neighbours Motorcycle, has really been put to use! Because, welllll everyone hs a motorcycle here haha And how I used to always build forts! That has already come in handy too much while helping construct sketchy jungle homes hahaha But that`s something that I`ve noticed a lot lately. Just little things like that! ha

At first, the mission felt like a dream somehow! Like it a numb reality. But with every day, it starts feeling more and more normal, and that my life back home was all just a dream hahaha It`s weird to explain, but that`s just how it is. Honestly, it really has been super tough ha But with all of these challeges, I have learned so much! The language barrier is starting to loosen up, and I am feeling like I can now communicate pretty much everything I want to say. With that abiity has come with a LOT of work! ha There is a girl who arrived here in Paraguay in the same group as me. She is in our district, and has been struggling with her spanish. Our Zone leaders have asked if me and my comp could meet with her and her comp three times a week so I could help her out! That has been a lot of fun actually, I enjoy helping her learn.

So today! Today is December 8th, and is a day of celebration (ish) here in Paraguay. Some holy santo virgin thing for the catholic church is going down in a city next to us, and EVERYONE goes. Businesses close, and the busses are packed to get to this event. It`s loco! Haha It`s like nothing I have every seen before. And all to worship some statue! 

Well family and friends, thanks for the emails! I love you guys a ton. 

Elder Horton

Mbae Chapa Chida'a

Us pre-chowing down in some members house

It's been a bit rainy here this week (dirt roads turn into streams)

Hola! Que tal mis amigos? This week has been rather normal ha Nothing too crazy happened, sorry to dissapoint. Oh! Something funny did happen last night. We were planning for today, when we heard a ton of noise coming from our bedroom. My comp runs over to see what was going on, and I was right behind him. I thought for sure someone was in our room robbing us, so I was super panicking! haha Turns out it was just a bird that flew in and was knocking stuff over hahaha Phew! We caught him and put it in the apartment of the other missionaries. haha

Our baptism/wedding that we were planning for this week didn't end up going through! Turns out two teenage boys don't make the best marriage councelors hahaha I guess people need for convincing than just simply telling them "The Bible tells us we need to get married" haha The chicka still wanted to get baptised, so we convinced her to move out (Separate) herself from her partner and so she is going to get baptised this week for sure! She is way cool. She is 19 years old, and already has 2 kids, which honestly is pretty normal down here. She has two brothers that are members, but inactive! We have another baptism this week too. It's another girl, that is 24 years old. She is the sister of David, that kid that we baptised about a month ago! She has been a bit tough ha But, we helped her all this week on how to recognize that the libro de mormon is true. She also had problems with the word of wisdom and law of chastity! We Challenged her last night to get baptized this Saturday, adn she accepted. It was so relieving! haha We have worked super hard on helping her. 

This week, we ran into someone who doesn't believe in God! It was my comps first in his mission! haha So that tells you something about the people here. I haven't talked much about my comp huh! He is way cool. We get along super well, and talk a ton ha He has a bit of an interesting story. He is from Peru, and grew up a member. He moved out of his house at the ageof12 to live on his own in another city (Never told me why). He lived on his own, and worked at a grocery store while going to school as well. He was inactive at this time, until he turned 20. He was involved in some pretty crazy stuff ha (Gangs) But he wasn't happy, and left that life in puruit for something different. He moved back to Lima, where two missionaries met with him, re activated him, and then he left to serve a mission. He is SUCH a good teacher, and I have learned a ton from him!

We have been instructed by the quorum of the twelve to use a video this month in helping invite others to be baptised. It is called El es la Dadiva, or he is the gift! It's super cool, and works like a charm. We have already used to set dates for baptism for 10 people! We have 15 people with baptismal dates in the month of December. Go check out the video! It's way awesome. My scripture of the week is definitely Alma 37:35-47. Super awesome! Talks about the LIahona, and how we simply can't get lazy in obeying and acting on the words of the prophets.

Love you guys a ton! Hope you had a fantastic Thanksgiving. 

Elder Horton

Pre-taking out the pique! haha (Me trying to look tough)

FIRE

Wow sooooo bad news first as always, right?! haha So Monday, my comp and I were doing our studies, and we were super concentrated. All of a sudden, we start seeing al of this ash that starts falling down on our shirts, and start smelling smoke! We turn around, and see our kitchen wall on fire!! hahaha I start screaming "TENEMOS FUEGO TENEMOS FUEGO" haha We run over to the kitchen to see where it was coming from, and it was shooting out of the outlet on the wall! Like a well trained fireman brigade, I run to the sink and fill up a bowl of water, and my comp runs to turn off the electricity. WHe shuts it off, and I throw water on and put it out! hahaha It was too crazy. We never were able to figure out how or why it started, put probably jsut faulty PAraguayan wiring. It was TOO funny hahaha That's something I will never forget!

So if all goes well, we will have a marriage and a baptism (Same day) in the church on Saturday! Super pumped for that. Marriage costs about 250,000 guarani, so my mistake on that one ( From what I previously said it was) Other than that our investigators are way awesome! 

So on thursday this week, all the new missionaries had to go to the migrations office and do legal papers. While we were sitting there inthe office, a few people came up the me and started talking in English! Which was super weird for me to hear haha Like other people than missionaries speaking English was just too bizarre! One of them asked me why I was here, and I tried to respond in English, but was having trouble explaining it to her! So I just switched to Spanish, and it was MUCH easier to explain why we were in Paraguay, and about our church haha It was the craziest thing! 

On our way home from the office later that same day, it rained SO hard! And this was my first time being in the city while it's raining. THe streets literally became rivers, and sitting there in the bus watching people on MOTORCYCLES wizzing past in 8 inches of swift moving water was too crazy haha 

The people here really are so amazing. I'm starting to get the feel of being a missionary here, and it's so rewarding ha Like our typical lesson geos like this: We arrive, sit down, talk for about 40 minutes, drink some juice, and then share a lesson. Everyone is super laid back! haha I can't explain it in English, but in Spanish: Tranquilo ha Everyone is SUPER tranquilo! Just like taking their time for everything, hanging out drinking matte is the PAraguayan way of life! It's so nice ha Needless to say, I feel like I'm starting to really like Paraguay.

This week, I have been focusing on using prayer! And noticing the power of prayer in all that we do. As missionaries, we pray like 20 times at least a day! And I really have noticed how much that has helped me, here in Paraguay. Whenever I jsut get absolutely so super frustrated about learning the language, or with my comp or something, I have tried taking a few deep breaths, getting on my knees, and saying a sincere prayer to help me be more pacient, or something like that haha It has make a world of difference for me, and has made the stresses of adjusting to missionary life a lot easier to handle. 

Thanks for the emails this week! I loved every single one of them. Have a great thanksgiving (Was that this week or last week?) ha! Love you guys

Elder Horton

PIQUE

My Dude (House of Larissa, new convert)

Service in the house of a new convert!  The tree my comp is sitting on is a branch that fell
from a gigantic tree hanging right over their house.  Their kitchen is underneath

Spending rainy days with some members having a tic tac toe tournament

Thanks so much for all the support and encouragement! It means the world to me that I have so many loving friends and family.

Wow, what a week it's been! Bad news first: This week something interesting happened ha Soooo I had this blister on my toe for a few weeks, you know that's jsut a normal thing, right? WRONG ha Here in paraguay, they have something called 'Pique'. This blister was hurting more than a blister usually hurts, so I told my comp about it, and he explained to me what exactly is Pique. Pique is a bug, that live on the floors of houses. It burrows inside of you and digs down to your blood, where it lays it's eggs inside of your body creating a blister looking pouch of eggs. HA! I was freaking out. Missionaries get this every once in a while, but it's not super common! We immediately went into operation, and with our zone leaders who live upstairs, needle, rubbing alcohol, and a little fire, we safely (I think) Exctracted all of the eggs and the Pique hahaha And I didn't even cry! ha Wow, so there is the adventure of the week. I now understand why they tell us to use shower sandals! ha

This week has been pretty noraml, other than that. We currently have 3 progressing investigators, and tehy all attended church this Sunday! My Spanish is coming along, every so slowly ha Our bathroom flooded this week, so we've been constantly cleaning that up. Someone is coming to repair it today! We had a district activity last MOnday, and it was TOO fun! haha We all bought matching shirts with our names imprinted on our backs. We played futbol (surprise) and had a cake fight after and made tacos! It was really relieving to finally relax and kick back for a bit. 

One thing that has really been developing spiritually for me, is my love for the scriptures. Before my mission, I read them and they were good, but now it's like I can't read enough!! Every morning, we get an hour for personal study, and I find myself always wanting more. I've been reading them in Spanish, and I'm in Alma chapter 14! I'm finally to the point where I can read about 3 or 4 chapters a day. I just love how much you can learn for just sitting down and reading a chapter or two. I have learned so many things that can help me, and help others come unto christ. I think my favorite story in the B O M for right now, is the story of Abinidi. That guy is forever going to be my hero! He went through so much, and testified so powerfully. He even ended up giving up his life to really prove his beliefs! How far are we willing to go to show what we believe in? My comp and I were in the house of an investigator on Thursday. He is a teenager, and we really wanted to get to know his parents! We went inside, to meet them, and my comp saw a bottle of acohol on the counter. He walks over to it, grabs it, and asks his parents why they would ever have this in their house. He then walked over to the garbage can and threw it away! haha I was dumbfounded. He told me after that it's something he has always done in his mission, and hopes to continue the habit after his mission as well. I thought that was so awesome! Like wow, I will for sure start doing that as well. i think he sets a great example of how we should all be. We can't afford to allow or permit ANY form of sin in our lives. We must always do our best to turn away from the things of the world. I know that if we do that, we will be eternally blessed! 

Brujeria ha

Hello Family and Friends! Love you guys tons, miss you like crazy.

So this week started off a little strange! We were eating lunch in the front yard of a members house, just having conversation and talking, when my comp needed to use the restroom. They had one of their sons guide us around back to their outhouse, so he could go. There was a random shack right next to the restroom, so I decided to explore and see what was there! I looked inside, and saw some weird stuff...  There was all of these statues and pictures of the Saints and animals, and incense and something dead (Later found out it was a chicken) in the middle of the room! Like, wow I was freaking out. ha! I Told my comp, when he came out of the bathroom, and he was equally as shocked! We were freaking out ha, we had no idea what to do! Like this was the home of a member. Sooooo We asked them about it. They told us that their grandma had recently moved in, and that's where she was living. ha! We then quickly finished our lunch, and got out of there as quickly as possible. It was one of the weirdest things that has ever happened to me! haha But hey, Happy Halloween I guess?? ha Brujeria is a new vocab word for sure = Witch craft

But yeah, so lots happened this week. There was a HUGE storm this Thursday, lasted all day. We had a training as a zone, and we all met up in a church in a city about 30 minutes out of Ita. The storm hit as we left that morning, and tons of trees had fallen on the road, so we spent about 2 hours in a Bus, waiting for people to clear the debris. The road was super flooded at some points too! When we were in the church, recieving our training, the church got struck by lightning! haha Sooooo that happened, and basically couldn't hear for a few seconds ha It was insanely loud! After the meeting finsihed, we went and ate at a restaurant nearby, and took another 2 hour bus ride back. It took all day to just do that! ha 

The next day, we spent helping a family clear a tree branch from off of their house. It is the house of our recent convert from last week! (Paublina) A HUGE tree branch fell, and destroyed part of their kitchen. So my comp and I spent the day chopping it up (With axes and hatches), and clearing away parts of their destroyed house. I got very familiar with some unfriendly bugs (Tarantulas and some weird beetles) NO me gusta ha We are going to help them rebuild their house this week! It's another one of those houses in the jungle made out of wood and tin, so it shouldn't be incredibly difficult, But yeah, lot's of service opportunities, which is awesome! 

I have really enjoyed having a spanish comp. I have been picking up the language a lot faster than if  didn't have one. I am at the point where I can understand most things, and function in lessons! It's been a lot of work, but it's awesome to see it pay off. And I for sure have a lot of room to go! It's actually starting to be difficult writing in English ha I forget some words! Like my comp asked me the other day, what the word for Limpiador was (Dryer) and I couldn't remember! hahaha We also ran into my first all Guarani family this week. Nobody speaks English (Just a man and a lady with one son) in their hosue, but my comp was able to invite them to the church and beyond that, we will just bring a member with us next time we visit them (To translate) 

I got sick again this week, but honestly I've jsut gotta get used to it. Bleh! ha Thanks again for the support1 Love you guys a ton. Until next week! Sorry, photos aren't working today

Elder Horton

The Long Walk...

Thanks everyone for the emails and support! It's so awesome. So this week was too much fun! The longer I'm here, the less I start feeling like it's some foreign desert, and the more it starts feeling like home. The crazy crammed bus ride home, hanging onto the door halfway out of the bus isn't nearly as miserable as when I first arrived! haha The people are super friendly, and are so happy and willing to talk with us. It wasn't nearly as bad this week, it's been raning a lot. Whenever it rains, we lose electricity and water, but we are always (usually) prepared for that! haha The streets get crazy flooded which is cool. But this Saturday, we had 2 baptisms, and it was raining super hard that morning. When it rains, everything shuts down, and people just stay in their houses! We were worried that was going to happen, and keep the baptism from going down. We fasted starting Friday after lunch, and prayed super hard that it wouldn't rain! Aaaaaaaand it didn't rain! haha The first baptism was of David! David is 17 years old, likes to rap, and fight Karate. He is too sweet! haha I had the opportuity to baptise him. The other was of a 23 year old single mom named Paulina! She is way nice, and lives with the family in the jungle that we did the service for.
So yeah! This past week, we were walking home, and had a few minutes, so we stopped by the house of one of our investigators. They weren't home, but we ran into the sister of the mother we are teaching! We started conversing with her, and soon came to find out (PLus she sure looked like it) that she really likes to party ha She looks atleast 30, but was only 15 years old! She is pregnant, but still parties. Like every night! We began to tell her about how God loves her, and can help her change or something like that, but the didn't believe any of it. She said that the only person that she loves is herself, and that if she dies young, so be it atleast she had fun. We tried reasoning with her, but she would have none of it. She told us to leave and didn't wanna talk with us! I was SO devestated, walking away from talking with her. Like she was perfectly happy doing that! UGhhhhh man, I felt heart-broken for her. Like I just wanted her to know so bad that there is more to life than just partying and drugs! God has a purpose for us, I know that as a fact!
So earlier that week, we were out teaching, and contacted someone walking. We set up an appointment with them for yesterday! The only problem, was that she lived ccleeeaaarrrrrrr in the edge of our boundary, in the middle of no mans land. We walked around looking for her house for about an hour an a half in the rain! We finally found her house, and it was one of the craziest lessons we have had. Usually, people hardly have questions for us to answer, but she sat us down and questioned us for about an hour and a half! haha My comp rattled of answers, and I could answer a few easy ones, but you could tell she was so relieved to have these quetions answered. Like one was ¨Why babies need baptism, when they don't have sins? Where did we come from? Why don't we have prophets today? Just crazy awesome perfect questions! We set a baptism date for 3 Saturdays from now, and now we get to make the long trek to her house 3 times a week haha But hey, the Lord blesses you when you make sacrifices! I guess that's what I'm trynna say ha
What else... Oh yeah, I wwent on splits with another missionary this week! He is from Brazil, and is super crazy hahaha He is way funny though. Just super energetic about everything, it was awesome! I spent the night at their house. Oh yeah! So their house is HUGE! It's a mansion, it seriously is. It's a 5 bedroom, two bath, two story house fully furnished. They have a huge yard, and an automatic electric gate like in the movies! haha I guess the living down here is crazy cheap.
But yeah, that was kinda my week in a nutshell! haha Sorry, my thoughts are all over the place today. But atleast I wasn't crazy sick like last week! ha Thanks again for the support.
Love you guys!
Elder Horton

Learning Guarani from the best teacher out there, Angie!
(in an ice cream parlour of course)

The ward family and families of the people getting baptised

BAUTISMOS  haha Our baptisms, and another companionship in our district
 (Elder Walsh, and Elder MacFarland)

ParaGUY

Thanks for the loving support everyone! It means so much. I don't have much time, so today will be brief. Hmmmm so! 

This week, I was super sick. We ate lunch at an investigators house, which was great and all, but there was something in those eggs or something I think! I spent allllll that night barfing my mind out. I didn't sleep a bit! I felt like something was eating my insides, it was the worrsstttttt ha All the next day, I just layed there, and couldnt move a muscle! But by the next day, I felt good enough to go to church. We had 5 investigators attend, which is a huge blessing! We have 2 baptisms this Saturday, if all goes well. One with a 16 year old boy named David, and the other with a 27 year old single mom! We are crazy busy. This week, something pretty funny happened. We were teaching the parents of our recent convert, Larissa. They are way tough! They aren't married, and they heard you have to be married to be baptised, so they got kinda offended. Most people down here aren't married. It's easily one of the biggest, if not the biggest problem we have! And marriage costs a whopping 4,200,000 guarani. I dunno what that converts to in dollars, but it's a lot for the people down here! Anyways, so we were teaching them, and it was a pretty crucial part of the lesson. We were teaching about Joseph Smith,and introducing the BOM, when something fell from a tree we were sitting under, and down the back of my shirt hahaha I thought it was just some sort of leaf, but i then started to feel something crawling around on my back! haha I was freaking out. I held my composure until the end of the lesson, but as soon as it finished, I anxiously urged us to quickly leave, and once we got out of eye-sight, I took of my shirt and got it out! haha It left it's mark alright, and I now have about 20 little red marks all over my back. But hopefully all this suffering this week will pay off! And by pay off I mean BAUTISMOS haha My comp and are are getting along just fine still. No problems! He is super pacient with me. Which is way awesome! Anyways, thanks again for all the support. I love and miss you guys like crazy! 

Elder Horton

El Campo Misional

Hello everyone! Thank you so much for the support. I have the best friends and family in the world!

Soooooo second week in Paraguay was just as good, if not better than the last! I love it down here. Other than the overbearing heat, and the fact that we have to walk around in it all day, it's so fun! The people are seriously so amazing. Everyone is super nice!! Everybody waves, and says Hi, and maybe it's because I stick out like crazy, but nonetheless it's so awesome! haha So yeah, the weather here is nuts. Everday this week has been way hot. I'm always sweating like crazy! It's not helping me with this whole 'I really need to gain weight' thing. And yesterday, we were walking home from church, in 90 degree weather, humid as heck, with blue skies, and it just starts pouring rain! It was the strangest thing haha And it only made it hotter! It's not like a cooling rain back home, it was like a choking humid/hot rain! Luckily we only had a block or two left to walk, so we made it back to the apartment before it got too bad. But yeah, the people here are too nice and sweet! But yeah, so back to how super awesome the people are. This week, we did a service project for a family who literally lives in the jungle. Their house has dirt floors, and made out of branches and scrap metal. We installed electricity for them! They are inactive members, which he have more than enough of. But the father loaned me his shirt, so I didn't have to work in my church shirt. He literally gave me the shirt off of his back! I tried to refuse so much, but he kept insisting, so I put his on. But seriously, it was so mind opening! They invited us to dinner the next day, and fixed us a super nice meal. I'm sure it was a huge sacrifice for them! They even attended church on Sunday, which was the first time in about a year! We eat well here, and have a dinner/lunch appointment about every other day with members and nonmebers. My comp is from Peru, and is a great cook! Whatever we eat has rice to go with it. Usually, it's a dish called Sopa Paraguayo, and is a mixture of rice and chicken with seasoning. It's really good! But yeah, so another thing that happened this week, was I had my first BAUTISMO haha It was so awesome. I was SUPER nervous to give the prayer in Spanish, but I prayed before hand that everything would go alright, and it did! The spirit was SO strong during the baptism. I was super worried about pronouncing her name right, (Maria Larissa Insfran Bobadilla) haha But it all went smoothly! The baptism was such a rewarding experience. She was so touched by the spirit, you could jsut tell! Her parents were there, which was HUGE. I hope they were touched! We are teaching them this week. Their family is way cool! Whenever we taught Larissa (The girl we baptised, her parents would come talk and hang out with us. The Dad is even coming to play soccer at the church this Wednesday! I will for sure keep you updated. But so far so good here in Paraguay! I'm just now starting to tell the difference between Guarani and Spanish haha But it's getting better! The spanish here is tough haha They speak in what's called Castellano, (Not sure if that's how it's spelled) but yeah, it's really difficult to discern what they are saying. I'm starting to be able to piece together conversations though! I am able to communicate really well with my comp. We never have much of an issue! But that's because I can understand his accent. Anyways, Thanks again for the love and support! I love you guys. I'm missin that crisp clean rocky mountain air! haha Until next week

Elder Horton

Straight outta da font

Celebration dinner with Larissa and family!

Pre-Bautismo with the fam and ward members! 

PARAGUAYYYYYY Received 10-13-14

Hey guys! Thanks for the update and support from everyone, it's so amazing.

So PARAGUAYYYYYY haha Man, it's so awesome down here. A bit hot! Nahhh it's SUPER hot! I was so nervous to come to ParauWhen we stepped off the plane, (A small plane) the mission president was there to greet us. The first thing he said was "BIenvenidas a la jungla!" hahaha Or welcome to the Jungle! It's pretty much that out here. So we meet up with everyone at the mission home, where we spent the night. I woke up to the sound of monkeys right outside the window! haha Man, I was so blown away. We then met out Trainers, and hopped in a taxi, and took off! My trainer is way awesome. He is a short little guy from Peru, and doesn't know a lick of English, so I have been forced to pick up Spanish.He is super funny! He looks a little uptight, so I was worried at first, but we are way cool. Man, it's nice talking in English haha (Well writing)  We got dropped off at the outskirts of Paraguay, and took a bus for two hours to where I am now, the small town of XXXX! It's really not super ghetto, it's actually kind of nice. The first thing I saw when I walked into out pension (apartment) was an alligator skin! hahahaha So that will tell you something about my area. We are actually going to find more alligators after writing emails. I love it so much here! We have 6 other missionaries in this city, and our area is about a 10 minute bus-ride, right on the outskirts of town. This is an area known as the campo! It's half jungle, half desert is the best way to describe it. haha The houses are scattered throught the campo, and they are made poorly. It's defenitely not a rich area! The seriously have hardly anything, but EVERYONE has a motorcycle, cellphones, and TV. Although they don't have running water, or bathrooms they can atleast watch cartoons!? Los Paraguayos are always hanging out outside, just chilling drinking matte. EVERYONE is so nice too! They love the missionaries! haha Which is fantastic, because it makes it super easy to set up appointments. You have to clap before entering someones yard, and then they come greet you at the gate, and invite you in! I haven't met one mean paraguayan yet. It's just a branch out here, but our church house is really nice! We get about 60 people attending every week. There are TONS of new converts! We have a baptism about every other week, if not once a week. Communicating has been crazy tough! The spanish here is AWFUL! They mumble really bad, and don't pronounce well. My trainer spoke perfect spanish before coming to PAraguay, and it took him 2 or 3 months to be get used to how these people speak. We walk dwon the street, and people greet us in Spanish, Guarani, AND Portuguese. It's way tough. Most everyone speaks Spanish, but we did have this family we taught last night, and the only person in their family who spoke spanish was the daughter, everyone else spòke Guarani! Guarani is way tough. It's mixed in with their spanish, to make matters even worse! It's crazy humid here. I sweat wherever I go! It's going to take some getting used to. But yeah, lot's of walking! We have a baptism this Saturday, for a girl named Lorisa. She is 16 years old. She is so awesome! She went to Gen Con, and is set on being a missionary one day! haha We gave her a BOM on last Monday, well my trainer did, and she is already at the end of Mosiah! We had three investigators come to church this sunday. That was my first lesson, was with her! I didn't understand hardly anything, and I felt the spirit, so that's good.Tons of work here! We are always busy, and it's tough because the houses are so spread out. It takes forever to travel from place to place. Lots of walking! But I don't mind. There are always people who will just invite you to sit down and chat with them. The food here is good! I'm told that Diarea is just a part of beeing a missionary here. So i best just get used to it! The members here are super nice and loving! They help you out with anything you need, and the ones that aren't inactive (There are a bunch) are  super faithful in church attendance. They sacrifice a ton to make it to church! Most could be working, and making money to provide for their family, but they chose to sacrifice and come to church. Man, these past few days have been so freaking crazy. I'm starting to get in the grove of things though! Going to Argetina first really helped with the culture shock. Our apartment is way nice, we live in a really clean part of town. There is a big supermarket not a 5 minute walk away, where we buy everything. This morning, I went on a jog with one of the Elders in our zone through the jungle! haha that was pretty crazy. Anyways, thanks again for your support! It means the world to me. Love you guys!

Elder Horton

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Last night on our way home from a visit with Larisa! 

NIght walk through the jungle waddup

My poppy Elder Correa

Hola Everyone! 

I'm flying out tomorrow morning at 4! I seriously can't wait. Wow. I'm headed out to the field! What did you guys think about conference?! I loved it so much! Wow, having Conference while your on your mission is so amazingly spiritual. I learned so much more than I ever have! It gave me that perfect spiritual boost to push me out into my mission. This conference for me, focused on the importance of personal revelation. and how "It's not fun, neither necessary to constantly question and doubt the doctrine of the church" and that "gaining spiritual light is a quest of a lifetime". Just as Joel Kelinger(?) said, you can't expect the world to cheer you on, but nonetheless, we must "Put on a smile, and go to work!" I'm so excited to go preach to people! Just a heads up, from now on, I will be emailing on Mondays. Wish me luck! Thanks for the support. You guys are the greatest! See you next Monday, hopefully with great news about Paraguay! hahaElder Horton

Last Week in the M.T.C! Received 10-2-14

 Quite the growth spurt at the MTC! 

Elder Leavitt and Elder Brumble- My Dudes! 

Hola Everyone!
 Thanks for the updates of what's going on in your life, and the support you have shown me! It means so much, especially as I'm about to head out into the field.
Less than a week left here in the MTC! I head out next Tuesday! I am so nervous haha But I can't wait! It's what I've been preparing for all this time. The MTC has been so much fun! It's going to be tought to leave. It really has been my home away from home. I'm especially going to miss all the amazing meals ha They are so good. Especially the desert! Everything has Dulce De Leche in it (Caramel) and it's pretty much the nectar of the Gods haha It's going to be tough to say goodbye to some of the guys here, but luckily a few are headed up to Utah State after the mish, so we have already planned a reunion up there! haha One thing I have learned here in the MTC is that I enjoy teaching. Not just the gospel, but like teaching people Spanish! Uh ohhh haha Thanks for that DAD! ha
This past Proselyting was so much fun! I don't know if I told you, but we go out every Saturday for 6 hours and teach! It's so much fun. I'm bummed out that I'm going to miss it this week! (Because of G.C.) This past week, they took us to a MUCH nicer area. The houses were super nice, there weren't more stray dogs than people, and not everybody was drunk, it was awesome! haha The people are so friendly here. Most everyone is alright with talking about the gospel, whether they are interested or not! It was by far our most successful week, partially because it was our last, so we talked to literally everyone! It flew by so fast, and it was so much fun. I'm actually going to miss Argentina! But I'm sure Paraguay is like a million times better haha
So I have heard a lot of interesting things about Paraguay! I ask every Latino I can about it, to see what they know. I've heard that it's a HUGE drug capital, that you have to bribe the police every once in a while, and that the misquitoes are giant. I've heard that the people talk crazy fast, and bombard you with a mixture of Guarani and Spanish, and that it's hotter than Satan! haha I can't wait!! To me that sounds like a fantastic adventure. I can't wait! haha One of the LAtinos from here knows Guarani and taught me a few things! But it's such a weird language. It sounds like such nonsense! ha My roommate is Brazilian, so he has been teaching me a bit of Portuguese! It's way similar to Spanish, it's quite interesting to learn.
So I was studying in my scriptures, in Romans 8;28 the other day. I studied this verse for like 45 minutes! It's so interesting to me, to really dissect it, and break it down. Like try thinking about the meaning of every word in this verse! Like to 'know' something? what does that REALLY mean? In Ether 12:6 it says that we gain knowledge after the trial of our faith. So we must have trials in order to gain knowledge, in order to love God, and have everything work out for our good. Interesting... Not only that, but If that's true, then nothing 'Bad' really happens to us, IF we choose to learn from our trials. God's plan is perfect, and universally applies to every aspect of life or trial that could ever be faced EVER. And we, a TINY percentage of the world knows that. How important is it that we share this knowledge with everyone we can! To bring them closer to God, and let everything work out for their good. I love this church! Can't wait to head into the field.
Thanks again for the support! I love you guys, and from now on I will be emailing on Mondays I'm pretty sure. Love you guys!
Elder Horton

The District...

Argentina MTC ...

Wow! Thanks guys for all the support. I wish I had more time to write you all! Hopefully I can answer your questions here.

So I have really loved my time here at the MTC! Everything is in Spánish, and I am forced to use it a lot more than if I were to have just gone to Provo. It's run solely by Argentines, and communnicating with the roommates is essential, so what little spanish I know has to be used. I have made a ton of really great friends here! My district especially is awesome. It's been a blast! Just last night, we shaved 'CTR' into the back of some kids leg! hahaha Being in here for 5 weeks drives you insane, i'm telling you. The weather down here is perfect! We are moving right into Summer, so it's 70ish every day, with a slight breeze! It's a little humid, but not too bad. Perfect soccer weather! haha my skills are coming along.... ish! haha It's crazy to think I've only got two weeks left here! It's sad to leave, but honestly I'm glad I get to actually go do stuff. One thing I am going to miss, is waking up every morning to a beautiful sunset over the Argentina Temple! I think most of the time, I am way too tired and delusional to even care, but every once and a while, I really take the time to enjoy it. So yesterday I attempted to only speak spanish all day! It didn't go over so hot haha It's so hard! I made it till about 3 o'clock before my head hurt so much I had to switch over to English. I'm trying again tomorrow, so wish me luck! I need to get used to it here, because in a few weeks, I'm going on a two year 'English Fast'! haha Wow, that's gonna be tough. My spanish isn't too bad, if I do say so myself! I have been working super hard, and I feel like I jsut need to practice my grammar a ton. I talked to an Elder from Paraguay, and he spoke 'Guarani' to us! (The most common language in PAraguay) That is going to be tough haha It sounded like gibberish! haha But I have really noticed the Lord's hand in helping me obtain the gift of tongues so far. We got new roommates a few days ago! The Latinos are here for only 10 days, so every week and a half, they rotate out. Its been awesome getting to know them! We had one latino the other week from Spain! He spoke 5 languages fluently, and 2 languages semi! It was crazy, but everytime he spoke a different language, you would kind of judge him! Like french sounds way smarter than chinese or spanish. Just something interesting I guess! haha 

Proselyting this past week was such a blast! As tough as it was, it is always so rewarding. There wasn't any miracle this week, but we did place a few BOM's, and got some referrals! We contacted 18 people, which was about average for everyone here at the MTC. The people we taught last week texted us and said that they were out of town, but had been contacted by the missionaries, and were meeting this week! That would be way cool to see what happens with them. So I think the first time i went proselyting, I was in crazy culture shock mode! Argentina is actually a really nice place haha I mean yeah, there are trash piles everywhere, and there is no such thing as illegal parking, but other than that it's awesome! The people are way friendly, I mean friendly enough to talk to random foreigners dressed up like FBI agents trying to tell them about Jesus haha And the food here is BOMB! We did get chastized by some old italian sounding guy (A lot of italian spanish in our area) about how god is the sun and the universe and the trees! But that's just going to happen sometimes! I feel like Grandma Horton would love the weather down here! I think Carl and I could for sure convince her to move down here! Other than the garbage everywhere, and untidy streets, she would love it hahaha 

Love you guys! Thanks for all the emails, again. I hope and pray for you guys back there in the good old US of A! 

Elder Horton

Pictures of the MTC in Argentina

"The streets of Argentina.." Received September 18, 2014

Wow. Thanks for all the letters of support and updating me on your lives! I love reading about you guys.

 

So this past Saturday, we went proselyting! They picked us up at about noon in a bus, and we headed on the freeway, off into the middle of Buenos Aires. It was so crazy! I haven't ever been so nervous, because everything here is so different! I mean, you hear about other countries being different, but you don't actually realize how different they are until you drive on their roads, and walk through their city! First off, there are no traffic laws here. We pulled onto the freeway, and swerved our way down the highway, dodging cars and splitting the smallest gap in a giant bus. Kind of like that midnight bus in Harry Potter, except more dangerous because this was real life! haha We saw a horse pulling a wagon filled with hay on the frewway. ON THE FREEWAY! haha But the poverty you saw as we drove was incredible. There were armored vehicles with military personnel everywhere, and it look like there was an earthwquake or natural disaster, and the people had just taken the rubble from the building, stacked them, and make make-shift homes out of whatever they could find! But luckily, we drove into a nicer part of town, where they pulled over and booted us out. I was so nervous! I mean, I knew the most spanish in my companionship, and when it comes down to it I know next to nothing! They gave us a map, and an area where we should Proselyte, and we headed off. Aproaching random people, all dressed up in nice clothes was so weird haha We got some weird stares! And after freaking a few old ladies out by attempting to ask them if we could help them with their groceries, we gave up and just walked around town for about an hour, too scared and timid to talk to anyone! hahaha I knew we needed to talk to someone, so the first people we saw after we turned the next corner, I promised myself we would go talk to them. SOoooo we turned the corner, and saw a young couple trying to haul a mattress up onto the second story off their house, onto their patio. Perfect! haha We went over and asked them if they needed help, and turns out it does take more than two people to get a matress onto the second story of their building! So, we struggled to communicate with them, but when they asked us where we were from, and then when we said from the US, the husband started talking in perfect English! hahaha It was such a miracle. We were then able to explain why we are out walking aroung trying to teach the gospel. He wanted to know more! So he invited us inside, and we were able to give the entire first lesson on the Restoration. About halfway through the lesson, we asked him if he had a religion. he stopped us, said 'thanks for coming guys, I'm catholic'... My heart stopped! BUT then he said 'Thanks for coming, I would love to learn more! Were can I get this book?! There is so much violence and hate in this world, and no one wants to talk about God, because sometimes it feels like he doesn't exist...' We bore our testimonies about how it truly can bless your life, and he was SO interested in everything we had to say! We are going back this Saturday to give him another lesson. He prayed at the end, and said he would be able to go to church next Sunday with the actual missionaries haha His wife was equally as interested! I could't believe that we ran into someone who actually spoke fluent English in the middle of BA, and that were so curious about our gospel. The lord truly prepared him, and us to meet with him that day! A quote I heart yesterday from Elder Scott was 'To achieve thins never before attained, one must do things never before done' How true that is!! We were able to share the message that day, only because we were obedient and courageous enough to walk around and share the message of the gospel with random people in a language that we didn't even know. I can't wait to have even more experiences like this one, because I know that the Lord will place in my path, and you paths, oportunities to spread to glorious gospel message. Thanks for all of the support! I love you guys with all my heart.

 

Other than proselyting, the MTC has been business as usual! It's a ton of work, and the days go by slow, but the weeks are flying by. Yesterday I woke up with a snail on my face (Thanks to the roommates, and I also got my alarm clock chucked out a window, because we hid it in someones ceiling and set it for 2 in the morning. Yeahhhhhh so I'm in need of a new one! haha Eh I will figure it out eventually. Thanks again! Lemme know if the pics worked

 

Elder Horton

"Mish" Second Letter received September 11, 2014

Hola everyone! I appreciate your emails, they really are what gets me through the week. Your words of encouragement mean the world to me! I apologize for the spelling errors, believe it or not, their keyboards here are in Spanish haha (Dang)

 

So the food here is pretty much amazing. Our cook is Argentine, so for every meal we have something with meat in it, and some bread! Everything we have had has been so tasty. I may finally be gaining some weight!! Butttttt I try not to get my hopes up hahaha There isn't a scale here for me to check it or else I would.

 

Waking up to the temple every morning is probably one of the best parts of the MTC! The sunrises here are incredible, and I wake up every morning just in time to seee it. We get to go to the temple once a week, on P Days, so I get to go today. It's so amazing! The sessions are all in Spanish, but it's incredible how much you still can learn. The spirit is such an incredible thing! I felt it so strongly last week, going through the temple.

 

3 times a week, we have something called a Progressive Invetigator, which is a teacher that doesn't know English, and we have to teach them a lesson in Spanish! haha We've been doing that since the Second day we have been here. It's so crazy how much I have already learned in a matter of a few weeks! Like I said in my last letter, my comps are pretty quiet, so it's usually me giving the majority of the lesson! They just almost don't have a desire to teach or help me in any of the lessons, it's been really tough! But at least I am now able to teach the first 3 lessons all in Spanish, bear my testimony, hold conversations, pray, and I have memorized a few scriptures and the majority of the first vision! The lord has really helped me out on all of those, I've been working so hard! And it's weird to say, but I really enjoy working hard and getting results! I have felt super blessed lately. Thanks for all of your prayers! Any suggestions on how to get my comps involved?

 

The latinos I am serving with here are incredible. They are so funny! haha You know in Despicable ME, how there are those little Minion guys?! Yeah, they remind me exactly of those! Short, speaking gibberish, and they laugh at everything! hahaha They make my day! They are so talented at soccer! It's incredible! I play soccer with them every day during Physical Time! I'm always the goalie or defense because I stink, and lack ability to play soccer haha But anyways, so the other day, one of them had a breakaway, and I was the goalie! He faked a shot one way, but I got lucky and had long enough arms to block his shot, so I screamed "No en mi casa!!" haha He didn't like that very much, so he steals a pass, and dribbles past the defense, kicks the ball up, spins it on his foot, and then boots it right between my legs hahahaha I was so so so embarrased!

 

So I don't know why they ever thought it was a good idea to coupe up a bunch of 18 year olds all day, Supply them with English to Spanish dictionaries, and then release them at night??!! hahaha It's been a ton of fun, but I don't know if I'm ever going to use the term 'Flatulencia Machina' on my mission?! hahaha There have been endless pranks as well. Me and this other Elder convinced everyone that one of the guys in our district was going to be transferred to serve a mission in Connecticut! haha We've hid alarm clocks in the ceiling to go off at 3 in the morning, and gone mattress surfing down the stairs! hahaha Every Monday night, we have wresting matches in our room. That was one the the highlights of my week! Except that it stunk so bad after haha I could hardly sleep!

 

So this Saturday, We get to go Proselyting in Buenos Aires! we get dropped off into a neighborhood with our companionship, and go knock on doors and talk to people for 5 hours! At first when I heard we had to go do this, I was freaking out! haha I had no idea how to say anything in Spanish. But now I'm actually really excited! Even though I understand literally nothing, I get to go out and spread the gospel. I'm so excited!!

 

So this whole time, I have been a little sick. Nothing too bad, just a cough and a sore throat! But all yesterday, I had a terrible fever! I couldn't get to bed or anything! I was laying there, feeling jsut super miserable, so I asked my roommates if they would give me a priesthood blessing. They did, and I instantly felt so much better afterwards!! Even now, I feel amazing. The priesthood power is so real, and I'm glad I had the opportunity to be a part of that amazing experience!!

 

Thanks you again, I love you all! Sorry again for no pictures, my camera isn't letting me upload them. One day I will get some up! Love you guys

 

Elder Horton