Florida!

Now I am sure you are all wondering why i wrote FLORIDA. Well that is the name of my new area and zone.

On Tuesday we had our change meeting... lots of new and exciting things are going on in the mission. The mission now has 4 APs... 2 of them do what the APs have always done, and the other 2 now travel the mission doing splits with all the missionaries and really just supporting the companionships that are struggling. This is a new idea that Pte Caffaro received and they announced it at the transfer meeting.

I am here in zone Florida with my new companion, Elder Rocha from Monterrey, Mexico. My new assignment is Zone Leader, it is a lot different than trainer but both require responsability, just in different ways.

My Zone has 9 companionships of Elders, so we are 18. There are no sisters which is sort of weird... the zone has really been struggling in the last couple months so I am a little stressed..

President Caffaros advice for me after transfer meeting was... "Elder Walton, I just need you to get things rolling"

This week went really well.... I did divisiones with the two new District Leaders in my zone. It was fun to work with them, and give them advice... I honestly can say they teach me so much, I just hope I help them in return.

Our area hasnt been doing too well but Elder Rocha and I found a new family this week. Carlos committed to baptism with his wife Wendy, they just need to get married beforehand.... like always. We are working with them towards the 10th of January and yesterday Carlos went to church with us!

I really miss my old area.... but changes werent my choice, it was the Lords and we are gonna get things ROOOLLLINGGG.

Love you all!

Elder Nathan Russell Walton

Merry Xmas

I feel like christmas came a little early this year.

Thank you for all your prayers, Victor and Patricia did get married on Saturday, and she was soon after baptized.

Yesterday was my last day training Elder Stuart. I can honestly say the Lord blessed our companionship and the families we have been teaching due to our dedicated work, and prayers. I know the Lord blesses missionaries when we are obedient, and we have received so many blessings.

I cant even describe how happy Victor and Patricia are, and how much I love them. The Lord has truly blessed their family. I has been so amazing being able to part of their journey. This family is so strong and I cant put it even in words how amazing this weekend was, therefore I am just going to send pictures.

Last night they called us and told us that we have changes... Stuart has finished his training so I am off to a new area! I am so devastated but I know it is what the Lord wants.... It is sad to leave areas, especially this one because I am leaving so many people I love.

Thank you for all your support and prayers, the church is true, the gospel changes lives, and I know that God prepares people for missionaries to find. I love the gospel, and I will preach as hard as I can, until they put my on that fetching plane.

PS. Mom, Dad, I promised that if Victor and Patty get sealed next December, I will fly out for it.... just so you know;) haha

Love, Elder Nathan Russell Walton

December Blows In

It has been super windy lately, so cold that my comp and I have to wear our sweaters almost all day. Not something I expected when I got called to Guatemala, but I guess weather year round in central america isnt paradise after all.

Things have been going great lately. Thanksgiving wasnt too exciting here... all us elders met up early in the morning to play some american football so that was a lot of fun.

Lately we have been finding a lot of new investigators, and we have been dropping a lot of other we were teaching. I basically have the rule that if someone doesnt go to church after two sundays, or if they refuse to accept baptismal dates... we stop teaching them. There are so many people preppared to receive this gospel, we shouldnt be spending time with those that arent ready.

This week was a little stressful getting things preppared for Victor and Patricias wedding. Usually when we prepare a baptismal service, all hell breaks loose and Satan tries super hard to stop it. Now just imagine what happens when we have to prepare a wedding AND baptism.

Luckily after many prayers and small miracles, we were able to get the papers to the lawyer who is a member from Montserrat (2nd area) and the members are helping us with the invitations and refreshments. Thank you for all your prayers and keep praying. Victor and Patricia are so happy, but obviously they are nervous as well. I know that this weekend will turn out well, and I am so happy that the Lord has been able to help this family completely change.

Yesterday we had 7 investigators in church which is such a blessing. Not only have we been able to get many to church that are investigating, but many less actives as well. We had 182 in church yesterday... and usually the attendance is around 125... the branch president was so happy and he said that he is going to call President Caffaro to make sure we dont have changes next week... hahaha.

We have two investigators that have gone to church now and really love the gospel and doctrine we teach. Velisario and Cesar. Velisario accepted a bautismal date for the 14th of December. It was such a miracle when I invited him to be baptized because before the visit I was thinking of what day we could invite him to be baptized on. I dont know why but I chose the 14th. After I invited him he said, YES, and that the 14th is his birthday.... he had such a big smile on his face.

Thank you for all your prayers, I am so thankful to be serving a mission. I know that the Lord has blessed me so much. This is the true gospel, i am sure of it.

Elder nathan russell walton

Another Week in November

There isnt much I can say besides the fact that I know that God answers prayers and that He can change people, and their lives.

In many of my emails I have mentioned Victor and Patricia. I am just going to share their story again.

In our second week here in Jerusalen, Stuart and I asked some members where some inactives or less actives lived so that we could get to know the area better. A member named Sandy told us to go look for Victor, a less active who lives by the catholic church who had just gotten in a motorcycle accident. She told us that the lady he lives with, Patricia, isnt a member and many missionaries have tried...

We clicked super quickly with Victor, and he said that the accident made him realize that they need God in their life again. While he was recovering from the accident we went often to go visit him, and he started going to church every week. We only met Patricia once, and she was super mean to us, in other words, not interested AT ALL. She was super evangelic, and had no desire to go to the mormon church.

After many prayers we finally got the opportunity to get to know her by doing some service with them. That Sunday she went to church, and I believe I told you about how big of a step that was... well little by little we have been able to help them. We cant visit them much because Victor started worrking again and doesnt get home til 8 or 830ish... so mainly we teach her on the weekend.

Patricia has now gone to church 4 times, she went to the activity we had on Saturday, and she has decided that she wants to get baptized.... On December 6th they will be married and she will be baptized!

I cant even express the emotions I felt and feel when I think of how much they have changed. When she told us on Wednesday that she wanted to get baptized, all three of us were in awe, including her husband.

The Lord truly does miracles, and after all the hard work Elder Stuart and I have done in this area, we are going to be able to watch this couple get married and baptized, something I honestly would never have thought would happen when I first met Patricia. Thank you for all your prayers, and continue to pray for them.

On Saturday we had a great activity in the chapel. It was an "open house" and many members brought their friends to come see the inside of the chapel. Each organization set up a small presentation in their classroom and we did a mini tour. It was such a great turnout! There were more investigators than members present! 2 people that went to the activity and got to know the church for the first time, went to sacrement meeting yesterday with us! Such a blessing, missionary work is so much easier when the members get invovled. After the tour we had a great pick up soccer game, and many investigators and less actives played and really enjoyed it. It was such a great atmosphere!

I know this church is true, and I know that by the power of the Holy Ghost, ye may know the truth of all things.

Hope you have an amazing week and thanksgiving!!

Love elder nathan russell walton

17

Time keeps flying like it always does in the mission.

This was a good week, and as always, seeing many miracles and blessings here in our area.

The week started off good, we did splits with the ZLs and I went to Elder Kundes area (future roomate at BYU). We had a good day and finished the day off with a huge dinner (yes, we do cook).

Ill attach pics.

On Wednesday I hit 17 months, I never thought these days would come... but they do, time is going too fast. Sadly we all had to go and get flu shots this day, so that wasnt a very fun celebration.

I dont have much to say this week, I guess I am running out of things to talk about. Basically we are setting goals, making plans, and working. We are talking with everyone we see and we are meeting lots of new people to teach. Sadly, some people just cant comprehend the message we share because of their lack of education. We try to teach simple so that they can feel the spirit though.

Some of the hightlights these week:

Yesterday we got a bunch of investigators to church. One came with her father named Jose Pedro, an inactive that hadnt gone to church for more than 20 years. Nothing like finding the lost sheep eh? He enjoyed sacrament meeting and is planning on coming again next week with his daughter and granddaughter.

Carlos, now that he has the priesthood, blessed the sacrement yesterday for the first time. It is so great to watch converts completely be "converted" and grow in the gospel... Carlos is doing great!!

Yesterday after church we dedicated most of the day to visiting less actives and the recent converts who seem to be struggling. We talked a lot about obedience and the commandments. We cannot receive blessings if we do not live according to the gospel. We shared John 14:15 many times yesterday. Such a simple scripture, yet it gets its point across.

"si me amais, guardad mis mandamientos."

"If ye love me, keep my commandments."

I believe our Savior was pretty sincere when he said these words.

Victor and his wife Patricia are still progressing. Victor is completly reactived now, he stopped smoking and drinking, and goes to church every Sunday now. Patricia has now gone to church three times and really likes the gospel, she is still hesitant though when it comes to making decisions. They both want to get married, so the wedding should be soon. We just need to help her commit to baptism... she still feels bad about being "rebaptized" but we read Acts 19:1-6 with her, and I feel like she understands why she would need to be baptized again.

Love you all, thank you for all your prayers, and hope you have an amazing week!

Love, elder nathan russell walton

Just Go To Church

Back in the day, in the 8th grade, used to walk home eeryday in the rain.

(Not true, and this had nothing to do with my email.)

So this week went well! Last monday we played soccer at 545 and then bball in the afternoon, and we are doing the same today. It has been fun to play sports again, and there isnt much we can do on mondays so might aswell hit the pavement and break a sweat.

This week we found some more less-actives... more like inactives, but I am just trying to be courtieous. While we were knocking doors I met a lady who told me how her whole family are members, and that when they moved to the cap from Peten they went inactive a long time ago. She was about to get baptized, but then they move. They are planning to go to church with us on Sunday so hopefully we can reactive the family and help her be baptized. Nothing like finding long lost sheep.

On Friday the district came to my area to help us out in a service project. We help cut weeds down in a small park and I got lots of blisters... but it was worth it. Service is always a good thing, and although it usually goes unnoticed, it is the best way to meet people.

So we are teaching lots of people and finding more everyday, but the biggest struggle we are having is getting people to church on Sunday. Just go to church!

Victor and his wife patricia came to church again and she is a lot more receptive.. we are working hard to help them get married and her baptized.

Marleni, the single mother i mentioned a couple weeks ago, has a baptismal date for the 30th. Please pray for her so that she can attend church with us.

Yesterday Carlos Galca received the aaronic priesthood and he is so happy and faithful to the gospel. After he received it, he wheeled around in his chair and shook everyone in the rooms hand and said "Now I am apart of another family."

Although I havent had many converts in the mission, I know that the few that I have had are truly converted to the gospel. I am thankful to be here and continue to look for the chosen children of God that are truly prepared to receive and accept this restored gospel.

Love, Elder Nathan Russell Walton

Working

Hey guys, good to hear that all is going well back home! I bet it is getting pretty dang cold back in good ole utah... here the weather just did a full 360; it stopped raining, and now is super windy and super cold at night. It will be like this for the next two months I imagine.

So this week went good. We are working hard and Victor`s wife, Patricia, is doing great and it super receptive.

We have had a rough last couple of days but ups and downs are so common in the mission, I cant complain. "Onward ever onward my brethern."

Last week there were some changes in the zone. We got a new Zone Leader, and there are two new missionaries here in Jerusalen with us. I guess i always forget to talk about the other missionaires. In almost every ward or branch there are two companionships. Our branch boundaries are divided in half, so they work in their half, and us in ours. We always try to do branch activities together and we help each other out. The other two are reopening the area just like Stuart and I did. One is from Honduras, and the other is from Mexico.

We are working hard here in our area, and seeing many fruits in the work.

Many are asking me how Halloween/dia de los muertos was..... no one celebrates halloween here. The first of November is when everyone heads to the cemetary to worship the dead... no joke... luckily the cemetary isnt in our area though... so we didnt see anything too crazy.

Well sorry this email is shorter than normal... it wasnt too exciting of a week. We are working hard and are finding many who are interested in hearing about the restoration.

Love you all and have an amazing week!

elder nathan russell walton

Work

Hey family, it is Monday again, surprise surprise. I am not sure I like Mondays so much anymore... I love hearing from you all but it isnt fun to watch the weeks go by so fast. Time flies when you work your butt off.

So this week we saw some miracles and are seeing lots of fruits. I am working Elder Stuart as hard as I can (obviosly in a good way) and we are exhausted. Without exhaustion it wouldnt be the same though;)

So this week on Tuesday we found a nice single mother named Marleni. She explained how she is struggling with her faith in general and we talked about the plan of salvation. We were able to visit her on Saturday and she explained to us how she was going to move back to her little town Sunday morning... we were sad to see her go because I knew she would progress.

Well yesterday at 4 ish we saw her with her daughter and son in law carrying a bunch of stuff in the streets and we went and helped them. Turns out she found a room just a few blocks away and so were are going to be able to teach her and we hope to take her to church next week!

On Wednesday we did DIVIs with the Zone Leaders and I stayed here in the area with Elder Kunde who is my best friend in the mission. We are planning on rooming at BYU btw family... haha. At about 5ish we were struggling to find our investigators to teach so we decided that we were going to teach or die. I told him, I dont care who answers this door, we are going to teach the restoration, and that is exactly what we did. The lady didnt have a choice because before she knew it I was teaching her! haha fun experiences.

On Friday we went about found a less-active that we have been taking to church with us since we have gotten here. His name is Victor and is my favorite person here in Guatemala. Well we have been trying to get to know his girlfriend that he has lived with for 8 years a little better, but she is a really closed person. When we got there they were moving the furniture around so it gave us the chace to serve and we got to know his wife better.

Yesterday about 30 minutes into sacrement meeting he showed up with his wife... it was the first time she has gone, ever. They have been together for 8 years and she finally decided to go to church with him. The best part, she loved it. You shouldve seen the smile on his face when he walked into the meeting holding his little boy in his arms with his wife beside him.

He is making huge changes in his life and it is so amazing to be able to help him.

Pray for his wife Patricia so that she is willing to get married and we are going to help her work her way toward baptism!

We also brought a 16 year old kid to church yesterday named Jamer. We are teaching his family, and his is super interested. We should have some baptisms this upcoming November, pray for us!

We are working like crazy and seeing many fruits. Like I said, we are exhausted, and I couldnt be happier.

Love, Elder nathan russell walton

Jackpot

Good morning everybody, again,

I feel as if Monday is every other day because the weeks seem like days... it is so ridiculous. But as time goes, we see so many blessing.

Elder Stuart and I had a great week this week! We started off the week going to a small waterfall (not too exciting) with the zone, but it was great because we found a small soccer field in the middle of no where in the mountains so we played some solid soccer and football.

So I think the miracle of this week that I would like to share happened on Tuesday. At about 2ish right after lunch we headed to go visit Carlos. It was an interesting meeting because he had a doubt about the "gift of tongues" and it was hard to explain to him because obviously he doesnt know everything yet, and he still is shaking of his weird evangelical beliefs, so I left the appointment a little frustrated, and worst part, it was pouring rain. We didnt have any appointments set up at 3 and we were just planning on contacting, so that is what we did.

I just picked and street and told Stuart that we were going to knock until we find.

Thanks to the Lord and His guideness we found and awesome family who let us in. We shared a quick message with them and we clicked instantly. We then taught them again on Friday and we challenged to be baptized, they didnt want to choose a date yet until after they had gone to church and yesterday, Sunday, just like they said they would be, they were ready to go with us in the morning when we knocked the door. So we brought a new family to church and they loved it! Please pray for Rolando and Vilma.. they are struggling economically but have a lot of faith.

On Wednesday we had a trainers and new missionaries meeting with teh Caffaros and the APs. It was great seeing the Caffaros again and I learned so much from the other trainers and we all got in a room and talked about what is, and isnt working with their companions. This week I was able to change a few things that I was doing to help Stuart, and we had so much success.

We were guided to an area which we now call JACKPOT because this week we found 3 families there and one is determined to go to church with us next Sunday. We are really seeing some progress in the area and I am so excited for these upcoming weeks!

I know this church is true and I know that the spirit has guided us this week so the door of many who need this gospel, NOW.

Love you all, Elder nathan russell walton

16 Months

Hey everybody, hope you all had an amazing week!

This week went well for Elder Stuart and I. We started off the week on Tuesday with interviews with President Caffaro. It was so good to see the Caffaros again. While Elder Stuart was with Pres, I chatted with Sister Caffaro for 25 minutes and it was good to be able to chat with them again, they are such amazing people. Interviews with the president are always inspiring and motivating, President Caffaro is doing well and has completely changed the vision of our mission, and it is helping us all a lot.

On Wednesday we had to go to the Area Office so that Stuart could go to immigration to sign some visa papers. While I was there I was able to see some of the people that I worked with there as secretary. I also ran into some members from Montufar so that was fun and good to talk with them and see how our converts are doing. Allan is going strong and Susan is enjoying YM´s a lot.

So I think the best part of this week was visiting lots of less-actives. Yesterday we were able to get 3 families to church that hadnt gone for awhile. I love seeing the less-actives feel the spirit in sacrament meeting. The best part is that we just taught them, invited them, and they showed up on their own, we didnt have to go get them and bring them to church, which means they did it by their own will, and it is such a blessing to see them strengthen their spirits again.

Yesterday Carlos was confirmed. Seeing how he was baptized after sacrement meeting two weeks ago, and last week was conference, yesterday he was able to receive the spirit. He is doing so well and I cant wait until he receives the priesthood and starts to prepare to receive a calling (that is the goal that he set by himself, receive a calling).

We we have found some new investigators and hopefully we can help some prepare for baptism. They all are progressing when it comes to reading, praying, and listening, but most all work on Sundays so we are trying to fix that. Pray for them. Thanks for everything, and I love you all lots!

Love, Elder Nathan Russell Walton

A shirt with super common phrases in Guatemala

Have the Husks Been Removed?

So this was a great week! We had a solid first couple of days leading up to conference, and yes, just like cousin Matt says, Conference weekend is better than Christmas. We call it Pweekend here.... because we are on our butts all weekend just soaking in spiritualness.

Well on Tuesday we got hit with the biggest storm I have ever seen. Stuart and I got stuck on the side of a main road that was more than flooded. Rain was coming down hard with lightning striking close by. We just waited it out, feet getting soaked, hiding under an aluminum roof. So that was a crazy experience, but the Lord definitely protected us.

Basically this week we shared the same message with different points of view to all our investigators and to the less actives. We talked about prophets.

We made a good connection between Amos 3:7 and Mosiah 8:17.

In Amos is talks of how the Lord God revealeth his secrets to the profets, and in Mosiah that scripture is supported talking about how by them shall all things be revealed and shall secret things be made manifest.

I loved conference this weekend. Carlos was able to make it to the priesthood session and both sessions on Sunday and he loved it.

The spirit was so strong this weekend and I am planning on reading the talks when the Liahona is published down here in the next coming months.

My favorite talk was from President Uchtdorf when he focused his talk on the scripture, "Lord, is it I?"

Integrity is so important, and we must see ourselves clearly to make changes.

I love you all so much, you are all in my prayers. Have an amazing week and I hope that you can put into practice that which youve learned from conference.

Love, elder nathan russell walton

ps i dont know why I look so old in the bday picture, thank you for the package!!

Best Bday Ever

Well besides the fact that it has rained everyday this week, i am still shaking off the flu, and some members made some really dumb decisions that caused investigators to get really offended, our week ended up really great. Despite the trials and obstacles that the Lord put in our path, we were able to work together and I have seen so many blessings and miracles in these last two weeks with Elder Stuart. It really is an honor to be his trainer.

We had a lot to do this week to prepare for Carlos` baptism, along with our talks that we prepared for sacrement meeting.

This week we had to opportunity to do a lot of service. We helped a member build a porch for Carlos. It wasnt easy to balance the time between service and our studies, but we got all accomplished.

Well I have lots of good stories that I would like to share from this week, but I guess I will just get to good stuff. Yesterday was the baptism of Carlos. Usually with the baptisms I have had, Satan always tries to screw everything up, but yesterday ran so smoothly I honestly couldnt believe it. We went and got Carlos and pushed him up and down a bunch of hills to church in the morning because the members who usually bring him in a car couldnt yesterday... okay, i guess that was Satan trying to stop us, but he didnt try hard enough ;)

Carlos was so prepared and ready to be baptized, Elder Stuart and I honestly feel like we didnt do much. Like i told you guys last week, we invited him to pray and ask God when he should be baptized, and two days later he told us that 28th was the day.

I honestly cant believe how much Carlos reminds me of my first convert, Salvador. They have so much in common. They love reading the book of mormon, they both have leg problems, and their personalities are so similiar. I have been telling Stuart all week how his first convert is just like mine.

We had the priviledge to carry him into and out of the font. After the ordinance I was able to cradle him and carry him into the bathroom to change, and the spirit was so strong.

yesterday we went to go visit him in the afternoon and he told us how he received his answer. He said they day we shared Alma 32 with him, it made him think a lot about what God wanted for him. He prayed that night, and after saying amen, he told us that he felt as if the Lord was telling him, do it now, you are ready.

Miracles.

I love you all so much, and thank you for all the birthday wishes. Yesterday was so amazing and I will never forget it! Love you all, you are the best.

love, elder nathan russell walton.

ps. For those that read my blog, you may notice that I mention baptisms, but there are no photos. i asked my sister Courtney to not publish them, but if you would like to see some of the pictures, feel free to email her!

Jerusalen

Soooo this is super weird to be writing on Mondays again, but it is good to be back.

I am in an area called Jerusalen. It a branch in a place called ciudad Peronia. I guess we can say we are in the capital, even though I am up here in the mountains. Our area looks out over the city and it is a super pretty view. Our area is pretty poor, and is probably the most dangerous area I have been in, but it isnt too bad.

I am reopening the area with a new missionary named Elder Stuart. He is from Las Vegas, and is a great missionary. It is honestly such a priviledge to teach him, and be an example. I remember my first couple weeks in the mission and how hard they are, so I keep trying to put myself in his shoes and help him. He is super willing to learn, and try new things, We have had some crazy things happen to us this week, so he is getting a good taste of the mission.

Well we got to our area on Tuesday afternoon after changes meeting. The other elders showed us around a little for an hour or so, but not much.

I feel like I wasnt exactly sure where to get started on Tuesday, but Wednesday I started calling a bunch of members and asking them where they live. Little by little we have been meeting the members and asking them to take us to the houses of other members, investigators, and less-actives. It has worked very well and we got to teach a bunch of lessons and we got to know our area super quickly. the Lord has been blessing us immensely. It hasnt been easy, but Elder Stuart and I arent too stressed, I feel like we both are just confident that all will work out.

We have found some of the investigators that the other missionaries were teaching, but they arent really progressing besides one named Carlos.

Carlos is about 60 years old, and uses a wheelchair. He loves the church and has gone about 3 times, including yesterday. He reminds me so much of Salvador (my first convert)... he is willing to learn, and believe in all that we teach him. On Tuesday when we met him, he mentioned how the elders taught him about baptism, and that he wants to be baptized on his birthday and the end of November... which is sort of frustrating. So on Wednesday we decided we would teach him obedience. We read Alma 34 32-33 and he really liked the verses. We talked about how we must obey immediately, and we will be blessed. He told us that he would pray about changing the baptismal date.

Friday we showed up to Carlos` house and he was smiling and told us to come in. He sat us down and told us, "Elders, I have prayed and thought about what you shared with me, I want to be baptized next Sunday on the 28th."

This was a true miracle and so we are preparing for a baptism this upcoming weekend. Happy birthday to me eh?;)

All is going well here in Jerusalen! We are working hard and learning so much together. Elder Stuart is great, picking up the language and adjusting the culture quickly.

Love you all, and thank you for all the prayers, we can feel them.

Love, elder nathan russell walton

Best 15 Months Ever

I honestly cant believe how fast time is going... i know i say this everything I finish another month in my mission but it is honestly blowing my mind.

So this week has gone well! Last Sunday was stake conference. The talks went well and our mission president was invited to speak there. He spoke about the vision that we all should have as members and as missionaries.

Many people think that baptism is the final step to take, but it is the first. When we imagine our investigators, friends, or neighbors who are investigating the church, we should imagine them all dressed in white. Now, we all want to help our peers make covenants with God as they are baptized, but it is even more important that they continue in Christ´s path afterwards. We should imagine them dressed in white, ready to make covenants with the Lord in the temple. Family sealings should be our vision, because that is the Lord´s vision.

I know some of my most precious and special experiences in the mission are not when we help someone be baptized, but it is afterwards when they receive the priesthood, bless the sacrament, receive a calling, go to mutual with the youth, etc.

We must see through the Lord´s eyes.

Well during the my personal studies this last week I learned a lot, and it has helped us be able to communicate the importance of members getting involved in mission work. In Alma 60, Moroni writes Pahoran who is in Zarahemla, and complains to him about his laziness.

 21 Or do ye suppose that the Lord will still deliver us, while we situpon our thrones and do not make use of the means which the Lord has provided for us?

We can apply this to members and missionary work. The Lord has given us so much, we can not be comfortable in our seats, and expect to receive blessings. The Lord has provided many means to us (book of mormon, temples, etc), we must act because faith without works is dead.

All is going well here in the office! We will find out the changes at noon, so I will send you guys a quick message letting you know if I am going to leave the office on Tuesday! Love you all so much and thank you for your prayers.!

Oh also, yesterday I got on familysearch.org and I was shocked to see that we havent done hardly any work with our ancestors from grandmas Jean Rabidous family nor grandpa Gerald Rutherford´s..... i expect this to change before I get home. :)

love, elder nathan russell walton

September Already...?

Well I am still in shock that September has already started. This month a year ago is when Elder White got to Monjas... good times.

Well this week has gone well! I feel like time is moving faster than I am and it makes me a little sad. I guess I just gotta enjoy all that I can right now, because I see the days, weeks and months going by a little too quickly.

Last Sunday we found a guy named Juan Solis just knocking doors. He let us in and invited us to share a message to him. He is very receptive and willing to learn. It is so different teaching him though because he doesnt have much of a Christian knowledge, and so we get to teach him super basic doctrine like who Jesus Christ is, what He did on the earth, and how we can speak with Him through prayer.

We taught him again on Monday. We watched the video called Finding Faith in Jesus Christ and he enjoyed the video. We then explained the importance of following Christs example and he accepted a baptismal date! Not until October though, and I probably wont be here when he is baptized, but I am grateful to be able to be teaching him! Please pray for him... he is 17 and lives by himself.

This week was pretty normal, we are finding some new people to teach, but almost everyone refuses to accept our invitation to church.. the area is right next to the airport and so 70% of the people either work there, or in car rentals, or in the small hotels close by, and they all work sunday shifts.. but we know that God is preparing people to listen to and receive us and the message we bring, we just got to keep looking harder.

On Thursday we had the opportunity to do companionship study with President Caffaro. We talked a lot about how we can help our investigators and recent converts understand what covenants are, and how we keep them.

In Preach My Gospel it says... Covenants place us under a strong obligation to honor our commitments to God. We should desire to receive worthily the covenants that God offers us and then strive to keep them. Our covenants remind us to repent every day of our lives. By keeping the commandments and serving others we receive and retain a remission of our sins.

If we accept the invitation to make covenants with God, we accept and therefore obligated to honor our commitments to Him... we must keep our promises.

Well all is going well here in Guatemala. I can honestly say this is my Home. I love this country so much, and I am going to feel so awkward and out-of-place when I get back. I feel this culture running through my veins nowadays.

Well I guess I will share a funny story with you guys! So on Wednesday we left the office and we headed home when it started POURING rain... like watch out Noah, here comes the flood type of rain. We got SOAKED. So when the bus finally passed and took us home we got to the house, dried off, changed, and headed out to work. I was super frustrated obviously because I wasnt expecting the random flash-flood... and the best way to make me even more frustrated is knocking doors whens its raining because no one answers. Here is where it gets funny. I knocked a door and this old lady opens up and says Elder! How are you??

She seemed super nice so I thought that it was going to go well. I had a Book of Mormon in my hand so I asked here if she had ever heard of it. Her response was super complex... "NO".;)

So I testified to her that it is the word of God, and that it was written by prophets who lived here in the Americas many years ago. I asked her if she would like to hear more of this message we share and she looked me in the eyes, and with all her heart, she asked me sincerely "Does it talk about the virgin Mary?"

Hopefully you can imagine the my facial expressions...

So hope you all have an amazing week!

This may or may not be my last week in the office and my area Montufar. I will let you know next Saturday!

Love you all, read you scriptures daily,

elder nathan russell walton

Work For It

Well honestly I am sitting here at my desk, thinking of what to write, and ALL week is just mushed into my head and I cant remember much of what we have done... but I will do my best to give you summary of the week:)

Last Saturday after I wrote we headed to a mexican restaurant to celebrate one of the AP´s birthdays (Elder Webb). It was decent and we got a nice feel for mexico (glad I am serving in Guatemala though). We all woke up Monday morning with diarrhea so we probably wont be going back to eat there any time soon.

Sunday started off rough, but we finished well. We went to a couple appointments in the afternoon that we had set up with some contacts earlier in the week. One lady completely rejected me at the door and said, "I am thankful that you guys are here sharing a message, but.... we´re catholics."

Now this is a common saying here, so I politely told her, "Well the message we share is for everyone, and it isn't something that you have heard before. Can we share it with you and your family?" I was just smiling when i responded...

She went to go talk with her husband and then invited us in. This family is SO awesome. We taught the restoration and they had some many questions and loved the thought of a prophet restoring the church. They really need the support and have the desire to learn more. Sadly though.. he works until 5ish and that is when she heads off to the university to study at night time, so they are never home together, and with our tight schedule as secretaries, we didnt know what to do. She then said, "Well if we pick a day, I could just not to go to class because I want to hear more of you message."

This lady named Elisa went from trying to reject us and scaring us away, to be willing to ditch class for a day just to learn more from us. THEY felt the spirit and recognized it. Please pray for this family:)

Wednesday and Thursday this week we had Elder Duncan (Area President) in town. Wednesday was a conference with half the mission, and Thursday with the other half. We had a lot to do and prepare for, but everything turned out great!

Wednesday was super crazy because we had to wake up at 330 to take a missionary to the airport, then at 6 we headed to the office with the other secretaries and the assistants to pick up packages and 72 hour kits that we had to hand out during the conference.

I was super tired most of the meeting but I learned a lot from Elder Duncan.

We talked about faith, obedience, and the importance of setting goals and then reaching them.

Something that he said that I really liked was "Are you satisfied with the miracles you've seen in your mission, or do you want more?"

We cant just do the same thing over and over and expect different results. We must change, and keep working to see miracles and help others.

We are working hard here in the area, and slowly seeing results and blessings.

When I first got to the office our area was doing great and we had a bunch of progressing investigators.

Once it got closer to the arrival of President Caffaro I think that my former companion and I were so focused on the office, we sorta relaxed in the area. Now that things are back to normal and Pte Caffaro has taken control of things, we are trying to bounce back in our area.

Slowly but surely we are finding new people to teach, helping the recent converts, and reactiving less-actives.

I learned a lot this week, and I am super happy. Please pray for our area.

I love you all, have an amazing week.

elder nathan russell walton

At the Mexican Restaurant with their serious faces

Sports this Morning 

Rippin a Piece of my Heart Out

Yes, that subject of the email is super sad.... but it is true.

Elder White went home this week............ and I had to take him to the airport.

To add salt to the wound, Sister Sanchez went home, she was in Monjas with us, and I took her to the airport as well.

Well you know what they say, "Sucks to suck".

Just kidding that was the saddest paragraph I have written in a long time, haha it was good to see them go home happy! They were both amazing missionaries and Elder White is my brother. I guess I can call him Nick now... haha hey family, just a reminder, go to his homecoming tomorrow please! I will tell him to call you today though.

Well this week has gone very well. We have found some new people to teach, which is nice. I basically stop teaching people after the second lesson if they dont like the idea of baptism or if they wont go to church, so we have been without good investigators for awhile now, BUT the Lord always blesses us with great experiences.

This week I decided I was going to contact differently, and I talked to everyone about authority. On Thursday we did divisions so my ZL Elder Villarreal came to my area and I told him that we were only going to talk to people about authority and priesthood. In the little time we had to contact before we went to our appointments, we set up 8 appointments for this weekend... and we only contacted for about 25 minutes, and we were knocking doors.

When we talk about the restoration, the chosen understand and they get curious.

This week we talked about the Great Apostasy a lot and I love teaching that part of the restoration.

The Jews and fariseos rejected and killed the Son of God. His authority was lost when the apostles as well were rejected and killed. Why would God keep his church here on earth established if the people didn't accept it?

The world entered into an estate of spiritual darkness, but God loves us, so he waited, and then called on a young boy to be a prophet. Joseph Smith was a prophet, and when the people here say the worst things they can think about concerning the church, there is nothing I love better than testifying in the street. Usually they don't have a response afterwards.

This week we had an awesome experience with the sister of a recent convert. She has a two little daughters, and she sells fruits and vegetables so we always see her when we pass by in the street. Almost once or twice a week I ask her to let us share a message with her family, but she always says the same thing, "No, my husband wont let us, and I am not very interested anyways".

This week Elder Villarreal (ZL) and I got talking with her and she explained how she likes the idea of our church, but that she is catholic. I reminded her how through the true gospel, families can be together forever. She commented how she likes the idea, but she doesn't believe it because in her church she has learned that after we die, we forget everything, and that we wont even recognize our family.

This is where in gets good. Elder Villarreal started telling her that that is the saddest belief ever. How could a Loving God do something like that to us? Why would he put us here on earth to suffer, love, care for others, and then have it end when we die? God has a plan. We talked about how sad it would be if she couldnt see her daughters again, how here on earth we must repent otherwise we will not be able to enter into God´s presence. He is merciful though, and He loves us. We talked about sin, the atonement, repentance, families, the final judgement, and many other critical things; the plan of salvation is true and she felt it. After we talked with her 10 minutes about the subject she turned to me and said "I can feel what you say is true, your words convince me." I then told her, "We dont want our words to convince you, that is God´s job, pray to Him, ask Him, He will answer you."

She then was speechless, looked at us and said "I cant learn more, because my husband wont allow it."

I know that we are helping this family, we will help this family. I could honestly care less if I dont baptize a single person again on my mission, if i can continue helping others for the next 10 months, that is fine with me.

Love you all, I wish I could write this better in english... I struggle.

Have an amazing week!

Love elder nathan russell walton

Elder Walton and Elder White One Last Time on the Mission

The Restoration

This week went very well. My companion and I last Sunday returned home and talked 12 until at night about HOW we could find new investigators and get our area back on its feet. This week we have taught The Restoration 13 times.... to investigators, less-actives, and members. Even if we had taught it before to investigators, we taught it again.

I can honestly testify that the Church of Jesus Christ has been restored.

In D&C 123 : 12 it says...

 12 For there are many yet on the earth among all sects, parties, and denominations, who are blinded by the subtle craftiness of men, whereby they lie in wait to deceive, and who are only kept from the truth because they know not where to find it

We must make this message known. We must share it with all.

This Church was restored by a prophet called of God. Prophets are also seers, and revelators, therefore, in order to be a prophet one must receive revelations and have fruits from their works.

The Book of Mormon is the most perfect book that we have on this earth, and as my first convert always said "It is the THIRD testament of Jesus Christ".

We had the idea of only teaching this lesson so that we could help investigators progress, help members work with us, and so that we could receive referrals and lets just say, it has worked.

This week has gone really well and I feel so blessed to be able to be a missionary called of God.

We also had the opportunity to visit the temple this week as a zone, it was so amazing and I hadn't gone since last February when I had 8 months, I now have 14 months. I love been able to enter into the House of the Lord and feel His presence.

Besides all the spiritual lessons this week, nothing too exciting has happened here in the office. My new companion is catching on quickly and that makes my job so much easier.

Hope you all have an amazing week, and remember that this is the only true church, and if ye have desires to serve God, ye are called to the work.

Something my comp said to me this week that i loved was:

"Number of baptisms does not mean number of converts, you must TEACH in order to RETAIN"

Love you all! I am super happy and loving the mission, I don't want this to ever end!

Elder Nathan Russell Walton

Sleep Deprived

True or false, Elder Walton is sleep-deprived, true.

This week was changes (transfers) week, which involves lots of meetings, lots of problems, and lots of CHANGES. No that Pte Caffaro is here he has come in with a lot of new ideas, which means we must change a lot of things here in the office and do as he says. I have learned so much and I feel so blessed to be here in the office with the new mission President. I have seen him in action, and it is amazing.

Something very unexpected happened this week. My companion Elder Rosales had changes after being here in the office for only 6 weeks. On Monday the day before transfers Pte Caffaro pulled me into his office and explained the situation. He told me how he didn't want to put more weight on my shoulders by changing my comp AGAIN here in the office, and having to train someone AGAIN, but he told me that he trusted me, and feels like it was necessary. Elder Rosales was a great comp, he learned a lot here, but the Lord said it was time to put him somewhere else I guess.

As for my new companion, his name is Elder Coronado and he is from Guayaquil, Ecuador.

I feel so blessed to be able to have companions from all over the world (Honduras, DR, Guate, Nicaragua, El Salvador, etc) , and I have been able to learn so many different cultures and meet new people. My new comp is fairly new in the mission, but is fantastic here in the office. He has the desire to help the mission as much as he can, which makes it so much easier on me. He is super energetic and a hard worker. He tests my patience a little with the many questions he always has, but I know that he just wants to do his best.

We took the honorable missionaries to the airport early Thursday morning. This involved me staying up until 245 am making sure they got their luggage set and that it wasn't too heavy BEFORE we headed to the airport. At 330 we headed to the airport with 6 missionaries and helped them get their bags checked and to their gates safely. We then headed back to the mission home to pick up an Elder that we took to a bus station because he was headed home to El Salvador. I slept about 25 minutes that night.

We also went to the airport this morning to take a missionary home.

I am pretty exhausted but hey, If you have desires to serve God, ye are called to the WORK.

And WORK it is...

We have been so blessed and I am grateful to be here in the office with Elder Coronado.

Many blessings we have received, and the Lord continues to help me grow here in the office and in my area.

Well something that I learned this week was a quote I read in a Liahona that says "They are commandments, not suggestions". Isn't that so true? I used that in a lesson yesterday with a family that we are reactivating and I think they understood the message very well.

God doesn't ask us to do certain things, He commands us, and it is as simple as that.

I love you all, glad to hear you had a great trip and that you all enjoyed the Sacred Grove so much. i will definitely have to go out to visit Courtney when I get back! ROAD TRIP.

Love, Elder Nathan Russell Walton

The 3th level at the airport

New Office Crew

Teach Them to Never Be Weary of Good Works

Hellllo familia. So this week went well!

We have one problem Houston, I honestly don't have some in specific that I would like to share will you all.

We did have a great lesson yesterday with Allan who was baptized like month 2 months ago. He is the only member in his family and they don't support him at all in the church. He has struggled a bit with staying positive and moving forward without being affected by his family´s comments.

This week I was reading in Alma 37 and I found these two scriptures that not only helped him, but me as well.

33 Preach unto them repentance, and faith on the Lord Jesus Christ; teach them to humble themselves and to be meek and lowly in heart; teach them to withstand every temptation of the devil, with their faith on the Lord Jesus Christ.

 34 Teach them to never be weary of good works, but to be meek and lowly in heart; for such shall find rest to their souls

In this chapter the prophet Alma is speaking to his son Helaman about mission work and the importance of preaching the gospel.

In the verse 33 Alma hits a few topics super important. Humbleness and meekness, these attributes allow us to overcome the temptations of the devil along with faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.

Now it also mentions "lowly in heart" which is another way of saying humbleness.

In verse 34 the words hit me hard, but they hit me even harder in Spanish. "Teach them to never be weary of good works", or in other words, teach them to never get tired of doing good things to others, and at the end it says, "for such shall find rest to their souls", which means, for they that do this will find rest to their souls.

We must never get tired of doing good works, even when those that we help arent grateful, even when we don't receive the blessings the we hope for. Dont be weary of doing good things my friends.

Pretty amazing scriptures right? Alma was such an amazing prophet and well-motivated servant.

So this is the little insight that I learned from my personal study this week. Allan loved the lesson we shared with him, and it was something that he needed to hear.

Well have an amazing week. Family drive safe on your trip, and take lots of pictures!

Love, Elder Nathan Russell Walton