She Could Feel Something Different When We Came to the Door

Hey fam!

It was so great talking to you all on the phone for Christmas! It's still weird that Curtis has such a deep voice... I thought I told him not to grow up while I was gone. 

Christmas was great out here on the mission. Definitely different than being home with the family but it was good.  When we woke up in the morning we opened presents, did all of our studies as usual with a break to call home, and then my companions and I went caroling and visited part member families which was really good. Mom, my companions did like the Oregon Ducks shirts and I think they fit everyone. They say thanks! 

Hmm... what happened this week.. Yesterday was missionary Sunday.  Before I came to the area, the ward mission leader was asking the missionaries who wanted to give a talk and they said that transfers were coming up and so they decided that if a new missionary came into the area, they could be the one to give the talk. Well guess who came in! Yeah, I was the lucky one. They ended up asking one of the other elders too and we talked about missionary work. Did you have missionary Sunday in your ward too? 

Sister Schofield got off of the mission this last transfer and her family all came back to visit so they were at our ward on Sunday and it was so good to see her and to meet her family. She is one of the best missionaries I know and taught me so much out here! 

We did a lot of finding this week again. We are teaching a boy who is 14 and he loves the gospel. He wants to get baptized but his parents won't let him. His parents have listened to the lessons and have testimonies, but are not willing to change right now and they want to wait until their whole family can get baptized together. They are also super busy and we can never sit down with them all together. We talked about temples this week though and the mom lit up and started asking a bunch of questions and it was a really good lesson. We also found a lady _________ when we were knocking doors and she told us that she could feel something was different when we came to the door. We taught her later and the lesson went really well. She left town though and wont be back for a couple of weeks so that's too bad. We have some other good potentials and a lot of appointments set up for the week so I am really looking forward to seeing what happens with those. Well there is really not much more that happened this week love you all! :)

~Hermana Layton

It Was Really Cool She Was Able to Recognize That Feeling

Recent Baptism

My dearest family,

Thanks for the emails and happy birthdays! There is no better way to spend a birthday then being out here on the mission. It is such a blessing to be out here. This week was so great, and we have seen so many miracles happening in our area. 

_______ got baptized after church yesterday and the spirit was so strong. He has been asking us to sing for his baptism, and so my companions and I sang how great thou art for the musical number. It has been amazing seeing the changes in his life. He is one of the most humble people I have ever met, and has such a desire to share the gospel with his friends. We are teaching his friend _______ now, and during the first vision he teared up and told us that he felt a big warmth in his chest. Hermana Budge extended the baptism invite and he accepted a baptism date for the 15th of December! He didn't come to church or ______'s baptism like he said he was going to and we haven't been able to talk with him yet to see why.

I am excited to be teaching him. He also said that his brother might be interested in learning too so we are going to follow up on that the next time with visit with him. 

Also _______'s mom is planning on getting baptized December 2nd. She hasn't had any coffee for an entire week, so she is doing so well and has been coming to church every Sunday too! I'm glad the other sisters are taking care of her.

My Thanksgiving was great! We went to President Tuckers house and had turkey, potatoes, and lots of other good food. It was really nice.

This week we went on exchanges. Sister Poulson went to Garden Grove, and an English speaking sister came here with sister Budge and I. It was a great exchange! 

We had a dinner appointment with a lady in our ward and she had family members over. Her family members started asking us about the church and turned off the TV so that we could teach them. They asked us all kinds of questions and it went on for about 10 or 15 min, and then the lady in our ward walked in and got mad at them. They were already members and thought that they were being so funny acting like they weren't. I will admit, they did a really good job and it was pretty funny. They said we passed the test so I guess that's a good thing. Then they gave us a referral of a friend from work so it was all worth it. 

A couple of them were actually from Guatemala, so they fed us Guatemalan food. I was thinking about Eric the whole time. They thought that it was really cool that my brother was there. 

District During a Recent P Day

Also at the beginning of the week we were walking on the street after an appointment and started talking to a family. We made an appointment with them and they seemed like they really wanted us to come back. Well we had the appointment with them yesterday, but the dad couldn't come so we scheduled another time that would be good for all of them. We taught the mom still, and it was a really cool experience. We were explaining the spirit and that it testifies of truth and talking about how it feels, and how she would receive answers. When we were explaining it to her she said, "Oh, I know how that feels, I felt that way the first time you talked to us on the street." It was really cool that she was able to recognize that feeling. It is really hard to find a whole family here to teach so I am really looking forward to working with them. 

It has been amazing watching the miracles happening in this area and seeing the hand of the Lord in this work. I am a different person for being here and am so grateful for this opportunity. 

Well, the rest of my birthday will be great! I am pretty sure we are planning on going to the duck pond and having turtle races later today with the zone, and also playing soccer which is always the best! Usually we would be teaching or tracting on Monday nights but tonight President and Sister Bowen invited the three of us over to help them decorate their Christmas tree. It should be fun. :) 

Also, thank you Kara for the package! You really did not need to do that. I loved it! :
) Miss you so much! We haven't gotten mail since last week, so mom I haven't gotten your package yet but we are getting mail later today, so thank you! :) Also, HAPPY BIRTHDAY AUNT KAREN! I love you tons! :) Hope it's a great one! Have a great week!

Eric, I loved the pictures!! Keep up the good work. I am so proud of you!! :)