Tool in The Lords Hands

This week has been SUPER busy. We have gotten home from 930 to 950 every night, and normally we are supposed to be in the house at 9.... so lets just say there is a lot to do here.

To start off we had a multi mission conference in the Cap with good ole Elder COOK. It was such a cool experience. He talked about why we are assigned to where we are, and that there is a different reason for everyone. Sometimes it is for the people, sometimes it is for our President (someone that can change our lives) and sometimes it is for things to come after the mission. I personally feel like i am here for all three reasons ;) haha.

He receives pure revalation, and it always amazing to be in the presence of a Special Witness of Jesus Christ. I know that he is a special witness, and that he is an apostle of The Lord.

We did lots of service this week, and had to schedule our days very carefully.... i am a sick painter nowadays... haha.

Lets get down to the good stuff. Esguin is offically a member of the church of Jesus Christ of Latter day saints! It was such an amazing experience. He was baptized by our Bishop, and he is a new man. When we found Esguin my first day in Montserrat, he seemed confused. He had gone to our church a couple times throughout his life, and had read the BoM completly. He had lots of questions and seemed lost. A little antisocial, awkward, and looked like a man with a super hard past life. He is 31, and so different. When we started teaching him he kept telling us how he is going to go to Peten (where he is from) and that he doesnt really know what to do. Through the power of the holy ghost he acknowgled that he needed to put God first in all his decisions. He has now found work here in Montserrat, and is brilliant when it comes to the gospel. He loves studying, and is a new man. He is now helping US help others. Yesterday after church he went and did visits with us for 4 hours. HOW AMAZING? I never am going to be able to forget this week. When him and the bishop were in the font, it was so calm. And after they performed the ordinance, Esguin was just crying. So amazing. After during the service he shared his testimony with us. He is so humble, and keep saying how there arent words to describe the feelings he has.

He shared with us yesterday that he didnt know why he left Peten to come live with his mom. But when we found him and he started praying, he knew why. THIS is why. He know the church is true. I could write for hours about all our experiences with him, and his story in more order, but i dont have time!

I had the priveledge to confirm Esguin yesterday in sacrament in front of 155 members. Intimidating, but so spiritual. Afterwards my comp told me that i didnt say anything wrong in spanish, so that is good. That was my biggest worry. Luckily i didnt have time to get scared, because when the bishop called us up from the congregation, we didnt know who was going to do the confirmation and i figured that it would have been my companion.

Besides that the week was super crazy! Ricardo and his family are getting kicked out of their house on friday, and the wedding/baptism is planned for Saturday. We are trying so hard to find an apartment. Pray for them, they are so scared. PLEASE pray family.

Love you all and thank you for all your prayers, i know they help.

Elder nathan russell walton

Solid Week

The mission has been a lot different ever since i left Monjas. My comp Elder Morillo is super cool, and loves to work hard, which is nice. I will try to send some pictures soon, but if you want to have an idea of what my companion looks like, he is black. :) Such a stud.

This week started off really interesting, with a phone call from Presidente Stay on Monday night.... he asked if him and his wife could come at 9 on Tuesday to do companionship study with us! It was a little stressful cleaning the house tuesday morning... but all turned out well and it was an amazing experience. They dont have much time to visit and study with their missionaries, so the fact that they chose us out of all the companionships, it was pretty cool! I learned a lot from Pte Stay, he is such an inspired man, and of course intimidating;) He helped us a lot with the way we challenge people so follow certain said doctrine, or to be baptized. For example.

Rather than asking "Are you willing to live the word of wisdom?" we can ask more inspiredly "What are you willing to do, to receive the blessing of the commandment?"

It forces the investigator to think, and reply with their own personal answer.

We did splits this week with the ZLs because elder Morillo is the new DL of our District. I went to the other area with a missionary from Mexico and he was super cool. THeir area is up in the mountains though, and a cold front came in... and i was freezing!! Luckily i brought my sweater and it helped a lot:)

This saturday we will have a baptism of our brother Esguin! He is super pilas and is willing to do basically anything. He knows how to recognize the spirit, and knows that only through obedience, can one find true happiness. Pray for him!

Cool experience with esguin.

This week we went through the baptismal questions with him just to see where he was at. We asked him about the Sabbath Day, even though we hadnt taught him it yet. He responded "I dont know exactly all the rules... some say it is saturday, others sunday. All i know is that it is a commandment, and i will follow it. I would like you guys to explain it to me though." How humble and ready is he? I am so thankful that we were able to find him my first day, and he is amazing! We have been praying so hard as a companionship.

We also had a wedding/baptism set up for Ricardo this coming saturday, but he isnt quite ready. We had an amazing lesson with him and a member couple from the ward. I think everyone cried, and that night i realized my true purpose as a missionary. I have always known it since i left, and i have worked hard up until now. I cant even describe the spirit and revelation i received in that moment though, so lets just leave it at that.

This week has been good and the members are super supportive. We have been working super hard, and i am so grateful to be in this area. I feel super blessed, and i know that The Lord is watching over me.

Also for those of you that want to read about the worlds greatest missionaries... read Alma 26. There are so many key verses and sentences that just penetrate the heart.

love you all so much and thank you for everything! I am praying for you.

Love, Elder Nathan Russell Walton

New Area, New Comp

So to start off I will let you all know where i am at! I am in the ZONA 3 de Mixco. It is inside the capital and a great ward. The ward is Nueva Montserrat. My comp is Elder Morillo and he is from the Dominican Republic. The craziest part is i am in Elder Whites FIRST area! I have met all his converts and all the people that he shared stories to me about in the 4 months we were together.

It is SO different from Monjas and I feel so blessed. The ward attendance was 153 yesterday, just a little different from the 30s we were pulling in the branch of Monjas.

My companion is SUPER cool. He has a sick personality and is super smart. He can pull scriptures and quotes out of nowhere. I look up to him a lot and am learning lots. I feel like my spanish is getting better everyday, even though i felt comfortable with the language 3 months ago.. haha.

The members are so great, and so helpful. I dont even know what to think about the area. We have so much support and it is SO different that my first 7 months of the mission. I feel like i started over in a whole new world.

We have so great investigators right now, that came to church yesterday for the second time each. The first is named Ricardo... he is ready for baptism on the 25th, the only problem is that he isnt married yet. luckily that are a couple lawyers in the ward that help with that for free, he just needs to propose! The wife was super unreceptive at the start, but we brought her a cute letter on Wednesday and she listened to us for the first time. She completly opened up, and started crying. So she is defintiely willing for marriage, and hopefully we can get her to the church soon! Pray for Ricardo.

Second is one of the most humble man i have ever met. His name is Esguin, and is super ready to be baptized. He lives with his mom right now and is looking for work. The problem is that he is probably going to move to Peten, so we need to work with him and let him realize that if he follows Christ first, he will be blessed with work.

(sorry my english is super bad now that i am with a Latino)

The ward is amazing and the members are super nice. I have tried super hard to have a smile always on my face, and i feel like the members already have trust in me. I am so grateful to be here in Montserrat and starting my second chapter of the mission.

I am also super sad to not be in Monjas. I cant believe how much i learned there. If i could express my happiness with The Lord in this email... the computer would malfunction because of my tears of joy. I learned so much there, i cant express how much i know that it was pure revalation on Pres Stays part to send me there.

Christ is the center of our church. 2 nephi 25:26.

Take care and i love you all. Stay safe with that terrible weather up there.

Love you all so much, and pray for Esguin y Ricardo!

love, elder nathan russell walton

LEAVIN good ole MONJAS

They called us last night, i have changes! I am super excited to start the next chapter in my life as a missionary, but i am also super sad. I am going to miss the missionaries in my zone, Elder White, and the members i am leaving behind in Monjas. I started packing this morning, and tonight i am going to say goodbye to the members and investigators.

I am super thankful i had the opportunity to serve in Monjas. I have never learned so much... about myself, about the Gospel, and especially about The Lord. I feel like i am leaving Monjas a better place, and I am never going to forget it. Everyone please always pray for Monjas, the branch is still struggling along... i know once the attendence gets high enough, and they build a chaple, it will grow so fast. Pray for the Branch President and the faithful members who have gone though so much.

So this week was pretty good. I did splits with Elder Buckley again. We started the 31st and spent NYE together which was fun. SO LOUD and midnight again. SO MANY firecrackers. We woke up on the 1st and realized we werent going to be able to finish splits, because there werent buses on the 1st. So we did two straight days of splits, which is always fun! I stayed in Monjas, and my comp was with Elder Huayta in Jalapa.

My english is gettin strange... i caught myself saying some weird stuff this week... for example.

SELLED, BUYED, and SHAKED. All conjugated wrong.... yeah... that is what happens.. i will make sure things remain SOLD, BOUGHT, and SHOOK.

We got an inactive family of 4 years at church yesterday and they loved it. They are such a great family, just alcohol has a Little to do with their inactiveness. Pray for Hermano Asencion!

So we had a solid family that we were visiting and teaching... but the Hermano woke up hungover on the 2nd, and called me. They asked for 1500 to pay for their electric bill. Sadly i explained to them that we couldnt lend money, and he got furious. I told his wife earlier that week that we are here to help them with whatever, and she misunderstood me i guess. So there went that family:(

So as for family Perez.... there are still nonmembers. Eduardo has gone to church 10 times and finally has accepted a date for the 11th, so lets hope Elder White and his comp can help him and the rest of the family to baptism. You will have to read Elder Whites blog to see their progression. And i will let you know as well when i find out. Eduardo is so amazing and i am a Little sad that i wont be there for his baptism, but that is alright!:)

Thanks for all the love and emails, and most important, the prayers.

love you all so much.

Elder nathan Russell walton

ps. Read almo 48:17 and then after 11-13. We need to seek those attributes of such an amazing leader and captain.