We Give Them a Chance to Exercise Agency

It was so great being able to talk to you yesterday! I wish the call could have been longer. Feliz dia de las madres to the best mom in the world! :)

I don't remember if I told you about the church tour that we did at the end of the ward activity. A member from our ward brought a family with them and we gave them a tour of the building. They really seemed to enjoy it and said that we can come teach them. It's the best when the members help with the missionary work. We started teaching member missionary lessons to help the members in our ward be more comfortable sharing the Gospel with their friends. Here is a quote from the lesson plan that I really like. "God did not give the free agency of other people to us, he gave it to them. When we decide not to share the Gospel with others, we are depriving them of their agency to choose. When we give them the opportunity to understand the Gospel of Jesus Christ more deeply, we give them a chance to exercise the agency that God gave to them. It is our responsibility to invite, and their responsibility to accept." If we do our part by inviting them then we are a successful missionary. Then it is up to them to use their agency to accept the message or not.

This week on Tuesday we have the sisters meeting again with all of the sisters in the mission. My companion and I are in charge of it, so we have been planning the lesson and activities. It's hard to find time though so I hope it turns out OK. I will be going on more exchanges these next couple of weeks before transfers.

I am so excited for Hermana Breitenstein to come back to our area next transfer! We have two baptismal dates right before transfers are over, one on the 26th and one on the 27th. We are praying that they both will happen, but are not sure because we can't get one of them to come to church. She usually leaves Sundays to visit her mom.

I told you about the other one on the phone. We are so excited that her boyfriend finally agreed to get married! We have been fasting and praying for her every month and I know that fasting and prayer work. She has a son that is also at the age where he could get baptized and he likes to come to church every Sunday with his mom. :)

I know there were a lot of Vegas Birthdays this month. HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ALL OF YOU! Love you all so much!

Eric, you are a stud for having two dates to prom. Mom... I don't think you sent an email... but I will check again. We emailed at the library today instead of the family history center so we started earlier. Maybe you just wrote one cause it says one in my inbox now.. sweet. LOVE YOU ALL! BYE!

The Gospel Has Changed His Life and He is So Happy

I'm glad you got my email from last week, I was getting worried when I read that you didn't get it. That is so weird that it sent out that night. Dad I am sorry sorry to hear that you were in the hospital. :( I will be praying for you and I am glad you are doing better.

For the phone call on Mothers Day, I can't call the day before to set up a time. We are not allowed to do a pre-call. And they just barely made a new rule that we can't skype anymore so it will be a phone call. Also I was sad when I heard this, but we are only allowed to talk for 30-40 min. That's what president said and also what it said in the white handbook. We have church at 11 and I think we will call sometime between 2 to 4ish depending on what we have going on. I hope that is ok for you guys.

Eric you are getting so close to turning in your papers. I can't wait! I am so excited for you!! That is just so awesome! I'm proud of you big lil bro.

Dad, where in Mexico did you serve your mission. about 98 percent of the people we work with or the people in our ward are from Mexico and when I tell them about my awesome dad who served in Mexico they always ask where... but saldy I forgot.. Love you familia!!

Hola mi familia! Este semana fue muy buena!! Tuvimos un bautismo! It has been amazing to teach this investigator and watch him learn and grow. He had a pretty hard life and was in depression before he found the gospel. The gospel has changed his life and he is so happy. He struggles a lot because they cut his hours at work to only two days a week. I was nervous to teach about tithing, but he has so much faith and didnt even worry about paying his tithing. He knows that he will be blessed for it. Also I taught the law of Chastity for my first time and invited him to live it. Awkward.. My companion made me do it.

Haha. We are working with another investigator who is so awesome! He told us that he wants to be baptized and he said that he knows God sent us to him. We found him knocking on doors. He felt the spirit so strong in our last lesson. He said "Me da mucho sentimiento". I love it when investigators feel the spirit for the first time. We invited him to pray about a date that he can get baptized. It's hard because he can't ever come to church because of his job. We also invited him to talk to his boss about getting off work and to pray for a way that he will be able to come to church.

Tonight and am going on exchanges in an English speaking area (East Bluff). I will be there all day tomorrow. It is one of the richest areas in our mission and I am kind of nervous because white people scare me. Haha... They are always the ones who get mad at us.

Last week I went to Anaheim with the spanish speaking sisters. Hermana Breitenstein comes back on the 15th so I wont have to leave our area as much. I can't wait for her to come back! Sorry I don't have a lot of time. I think I say this a lot, but I love being a missionary!! :) Adios!

Baptism This Saturday

It's been another great week here in Cali! The members in our ward are the best. A few weeks ago we had dinner with one of the memebrs and left her with a message about missionary work. We asked her to think about a few people and pray about someone that would be willing to listen to the missionaries. We went over again this week for dinner and followed up to see if she had thought of anyone. She pulled out a long list of people she wanted the missionaries to visit. It was awesome!

After dinner we asked her if there was anything that we could do to help her. She said yes and asked if we could go to her neighbors house right then to see if they will be willing to listen. She is such a great missionary! We went over and taught the first lesson. The man we taught seemed really interested and his wife said that he usually doesn't let people from another religion into his house. It was a great experience. They don't live in our area though so we passed them to the Elders. It's sad to teach a great family and them have to pass them but we get families passed to us as well.

This week we got a name passed to us and we went over that day to meet him. He already had a couple of the lessons with the missionaries in the other area. We have met with him a few times since, and he is awesome. He wants to get baptized! We asked him if he would be baptized on the 12th of May but he wanted to do it the week before instead so it's this Saturday.

Just before this happened we were having a hard time getting people to keep commitments and most of the people we were working with were not progressing. We decided to make a goal that we would work for at least one baptism this transfer and we would do everything we could to reach that goal. We talked about how we need to have faith that we can find the right person though Heavenly Fathers help and then act and do all we can to reach that goal. Then if we have done our part Heavenly Father will help us. I know that it is not possible without the Lords help, so we have been praying to be able to find the right person who is ready for this message. It's amazing how our Heavenly Father listens to our prayers and was just waiting for us to have a little more faith. I love this gospel, I love this work, and I absolutely love being a missionary!

The missionary in our ward had a cousin that got called to Anaheim? Was it spanish speaking? He is going to love this mission! And the president is amazing! That is so cool! Talk to you in a couple of weeks for mothers day!

WOOO!!! :D Adios

Off to Jail

Hola familia! We had exchanges on Saturday. One of the girls from Anaheim came with me for the day and my companion went there. She speaks Spanish so that helped a lot.
Guess what I did for the first time ever... I went to jail!! We had an investigator we were teaching and when she was coming back from Mexico she didn't have her passport. She was about to get baptized before she left for Mexico. They have this place where you can visit them through the wall with a little phone. We taught her a lesson and sang a hymn for her. She has changed so much and said that she is getting baptized once she is out. I think she just has about a month left.

Sister Layton in Front of the Newport Beach Temple

Mom you asked what a typical day is here for me. Usually we wake up and get ready for the day and then do personal study for an hour. Then we have two hours of companionship study. When my training is over it will just be an hour. After that we have an hour of language study and then lunch. The rest of the day we go out and either teach people or try to find more people to teach. We are working with the members in the ward and trying to get as many contacts from them as we can.

Dad in your last letter you talked about working with the members. The best way to find people to teach is definitely through them. We do go tracting a lot as well. We met this guy while we were knocking doors who was baptized when he was eight and remembered passing the sacrament when he was twelve but he said he lived at least three hours away from a church so he never went. He started singing the hymns that he remembered and we are trying to get him to come back to church.

I am excited for this week. We have some families that we found street contacting who seemed like they really wanted to know more. We have appointments with them this week. I love the people here. I am so grateful to be serving in this mission!

Sister Layton and an Elder from the District

Mom, you also asked how often I speak Spanish (with her companions). I need to speak it more with my companion. Usually we speak English. It has been a goal that I have had lately to speak more.

Oh also there was a little earthquake today. I was wondering if I would ever feel one while I was here. I was just standing in our living room getting ready to leave and we just started shaking. At first I thought that someone was jumping on the roof. It was funny.

Well, I hope you know how grateful I am for all of your examples. I know that this church is true. The Gospel is so amazing and I feel so blessed for the knowledge that I have. I know that Jesus Christ lives and that through Him we can change and be better. I love being a missionary!!!

Sister Layton and District Elder

I sent Kelsey a Birthday card to BYU but if she is in London then she probably didn't get it. Could you wish her a happy birthday for me? Even though it was a while ago now. Eric you are going to love college. Make sure you work hard though. It might be fun, but it's not always easy. Good job with your talk. Curtis that is so cool that you are doing a survivor challenge!! You should tell me more about it. Stop growing. Mom you ROCK! Dad I am writing you today!! You all are the best. LOVE YOU ALL SOOO MUCH! :) Mothers day is coming up woo! Then we can talk on the phone.

OK. byeeeee.

Investigators on Temple Grounds



Briana's District

This has been a crazy week. I was worried that we wouldn't have time to email today but luckily we made it. Transfers were this weekend and they usually leave your trainers with you until you are done with the training program. We were told that we would all be together again this transfer. 
We had our day all planned out and we got a call this morning from the Assistants to the President saying that there was a last minute change and my companion Hermana Breitenstein needed to go to Anaheim for a couple of weeks. One of the sisters didn't get her visa and isn't here yet. We had to go to the meeting right then during our usual email time. Now I just have one companion.

Hermanas Vilches, Breitenstein and Layton

It was sad that she has to go, but I'm glad we will get her back in in a couple of weeks. She helps me out so much. Hermana Vilches is the coordinating sister so she goes on exchanges a lot. It is going to be way different now because I won't have Hermana Breitenstein to help.

Let's just say that I am really hoping these next two weeks will be exchanges with the Spanish speaking sisters so I have some help communicating with the people. :) If not then I know that I will at least have the Lords help. I know that if I work hard and am prepared then he wll help me know what to say. It will definitely be a good experience even if it's hard.

We had our temple tour this weekend. It was great! One of our investigators came with her three boys and there were many other investigators who came as well from all around our mission. We walked around the temple and a member from our ward talked about the it. We went back to the church building and they were able to walk around and look at the paintings on the wall. It was such a good opportunity for the investigators to feel the spirit. I am so grateful for the temple. I know it is the house of the Lord and love the spirit that is there.

Newport Beach Temple

Mom that is awesome that you signed up to go out with the missionaries. Member lessons are the best and they help so much. You would be great! Eric, congrats on winning 1st place! I am excited for you!! That's seriously awesome! I can't believe that you can turn your papers in so soon. Santa Vaca!!!

You should ask bishop for a copy of "Preach My Gospel" and read through it. That would be one of the best ways to prepare for a mission. I am sooo excited for you and can't wait to find out where you are going.

Curtis, stop growing and do not change until I get home. Pretty please! Ok, good.

Hope all is well with the best family in el mundo. Love you guys so much.

An Amazing Weekend

Hermanas Layton, Vilches and Breitenstein at Temple

Holy cow, this was an amazing weekend!!! We had mission conference on Friday. Our mission president told some of us that this would be a life changing experience but he wouldn't tell us why. Well, it definitely was!

Before the conference our mission president had us all read the talks  Ask in Faith and  Seek Learning by Faith by Elder Bednar and said that we would be using the talks during the conference. They always have the sisters sit in the front of the chapel.

We were in the very front row, and guess what! Elder Bednar was the speaker!!! It was so amazing. He talked for a while about the two talks that they had us read and then had a lot of time for questions and answers. It was about three hours long and the spirit was very strong. Towards the end he told us that most of us would never have an opportunity like this again to be with an apostle with so few people in the room. That was sad to think about.

Orange Mission District Missionaries at Temple

Well we were very lucky because when we came to church on Easter Sunday Elder Bednar was there in our ward!!! I feel so blessed that I was able to listen to him again. He is such a powerful speaker. He gave the talk in English but had someone translating it to Spanish. I know that I will never forget this experience. I feel so blessed to have been able to listen to an apostle of the Lord this weekend.

He shook all of the missionaries hands before the conference of Friday which was cool. Elder Bednar's wife and my Mission President's wife are cousins, so I think that had something to do with him coming here. I know that he is an Apostle of the Lord because I could feel it when he spoke.

I know that Thomas S. Monson is a prophet on the earth today and I am so grateful that we have a living prophet. I know that Joseph Smith restored the Church again  to the earth and what a blessing that is.

Hermana Layton at Newport Beach Temple

That is sweet that Eric is starting his mission papers! He is going to be an awesome missionary. I can't wait to hear where he is going. When can he turn the papers in? Also I can't believe that he is going to be in Anaheim! Most likely I wont be able to see him. There would be a better chance that I could if I was serving in that area, but we are not allowed to leave our area unless we are going on exchanges.

I'm glad that Sister Rush email you the pictures. She is pretty awesome. :) Dad, I miss you. I am looking forward to your next letter. You are the best! :)

Random facts.. there are random wild parrots everywhere here and also wild bunnys. Haha.

Love you all.

I Love Serving a Mission

I am so excited to hear that we have sister missionaries in our ward!

What are their names? There was a girl in my ward from BYU Idaho who got called to the Eugene Oregon mission. That would be crazy if she was serving in our ward! The sisters lunch was great, I got to meet all of the sisters in the mission. There were about 20 to 30 of us.

The Spanish speaking sisters are all awesome. I will most likely be companions with some of them eventually so it was fun to get to know them. I was talking to one of the Senior missionaries there and we figured out that she knows Grandma and Grandpa Layton from a long time ago. I think she said that her daughter went to primary with dad. Do the Tarrys (Terrys?) sound familiar?

I loved general conference. Lucky we were able to watch it in English so I was able to enjoy it. I love listening to the prophet and apostles! Elder Holland and Elder Uchtdorf were my favorites.

This morning we were able to go to the temple. I love the temple so much, I can't wait to go back. This next week we have a temple tour for our investigators so we get to walk around it.

Tomorrow we have a mission conference. I am so excited for it! I will get to see all of the Anaheim missionaries who were in my district in the MTC. Also our mission president said that this conference will be a life changing experience but he won't say why. I'm sure I will tell you all about it on Monday. Mom, you asked about how we get around. We have a car and I will most likely have one the whole time I'm out here.

The weather has been really nice. There were a couple of days where it rained, but the last few days have felt like summer. Pray for the people here and that we can find those who are ready for the message of the Gospel. I love being out here and serving a mission.

Thank you so much for the package! I love it so much!!! The outfit fits perfectly. I will have to send pics of it on Monday if I can.

Can you please do me a huge favor and thank a few people for me. I will try to write them a thank you card if I have time but lately I haven't had much time to write letters at all. The Nennemans sent me cookies and letters and it absolutely made my day.

The letters made my day and the cookies were really good. :) Sister Bonkosky sent me cookies again. She is so sweet! :) Then I think the other package was from sister Matthews and Sister Petzinger. They had the achievement day girls write cards and and sent a few other things. Could you please thank those people for me. They all just made my day. And of course the package from my wonderful fam. Thank youuuu so sooo much! :) My companeras say thanks too. :) Can't even tell you how much I love you all! :)