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