Email Update: December 19, 2011

Hey, so the week was good.  This past week we taught 6 other lessons which was bomb! A member brought 2 of his friends to church yesterday and now they are our new investigators. Jason and Amanda didn't come to church again. We went tracting on Saturday for 2 hours and the second door we knocked on asked us to come back and share a spiritual message since it's Christmas time

We just had transfer and Elder Hill and I stayed. Elder Reidhead in our 4 man got transferred out and Elder Troester is training Elder Itow -  they both are from Cali. Oh, apparently the Meyers family in our ward has a son that served his mission in the Little Rock Arkansas mission and he served in the Collierville ward while dad was Bishop so it's a small world. I am gonna try and see this dude and snag a picture with him and send it to ya

What are y'alls plans for Christmas? Our Christmas P-Day is this Thursday and I am stoked. So that's all I really have.

Email Update: December 12, 2011

Hey family! Tis the season to be happy :)

So quick rundown on this week. Unfortunately, Jason and Amanda didn't come to church this Sunday so they will not be able to be baptized on the 24th which is ok because eventually this family will get dunked.

So some exciting news I just got an e-mail from President Pingree saying that if we prefer that we can use an Internet video chat like Skype for example. So let me know what you think about that

Oh and here is something interesting that Dad will get a good laugh from. So this week we were trying to visit some less actives and we went to a man named Bro. D. We showed up and he let us into his house because this day was freezing cold but he isn't much of a gospel guy really. But he had his TV on and he was watching a black and white film and I instantly recognized it! I asked him "Is that Sink The Bismarck?" He said it was and we talked about the film and the history of that story for about 30 min. then after that we were able to share a gospel message. So I don't know if y'all remember Dad was doing his usual pitch on watching an old film that looked boring but insured us that it will be awesome (This was when I was on medical release) Well turns out that film helped me on my mission so Dad can now use this against the younger kids.

Um some the mission plans are so far, that I know of any way, We will be volunteering at the Houston Food bank in their warehouse. There is also a musical fireside that missionaries are performing. And that is all I know so far and I am sure they will take a mission picture too.

I hope Deanna does well with her exams I will pray for her.

Email Update: December 5, 2011

Hola Familia! 

I have heard from members about the crazy wind weather Utah and California has received, that is just nuts! Seems like Houston is getting some cooler weather.  I think tomorrow we will be in the 40's BURR! 

We had our ward Christmas party Saturday.  It was awesome we had seven investigators there! It was an awesome party! Amanda, Lance, and Lana were there but Jason didn't want to go. Then on Sunday we got disturbing news. I shot a quick text to Amanda and Jason just reminding them that they better be at church or I would come kick their trash then Amanda texted back saying they weren't gonna make it because Amanda was taking the kids and leaving Jason! I started to flip out! I mean earlier in the week when we taught about how we can be sealed forever in our temples, Jason and Amanda were totally digging that idea! I mean they were asking some deep questions and loved the idea.  Then on Sunday something happened (I still have no idea what)  that caused Amanda to pick up and leave! This was supposed to be our gift to Jesus.  I mean that family hopefully is supposed to get baptized on the 24th - this can't be happening! So after church we had dinner with a member, then after that went to the church to watch the Christmas Devotional.  But it turned out no one showed up to set it up, so we didn't end up watching it, so that was a huge bummer.  You gotta tell me about it. But it kinda worked out for us so we drove straight to Jason's house to provide comfort and what not. But when we get there Amanda opened they door, so I was all confused. Turns out Jason, or someone in that house, convinced Amanda to stay and calmed her down so they didn't end up taking off. Which is good for us - so we taught them and tried to show our love and support to them. Amanda is still ticked at Jason, but hopefully our messages help them pull together and not apart. 

So yeah that's what happened this week - a miracle! Oh hey just so y'all know you don't have to get me anything for Christmas.  I am looking forward to talking to y'all on Christmas and that's all that matters ok :)

Love you and miss you guys!

Email Update: November 28, 2011

Okay weekly update: so on Wednesday the mission got together and watched "17 Miracles" and man that movie is way good! It is truely amazing the faith the pioneers had in the midst of what seemed like an impossible task. I hope we can some how get a copy of that.   I would love to watch it again.

Then on Thanksgiving we had the famous turkey bowl and that was really fun.  No injuries in our football game, so that was a blessing. Then a part-member family in our ward signed up to have us for dinner and their names are the Holomons. They have a huge house! We played Scrabble and Boggle then helped make muddy buddies :) followed by an awesome feast! I am so greatful for everything Sister Holomon did because she did it all by herself! 

On Sunday Jason, Amanda, Lance, and Lana all came to church! Finally! They also stayed all three hours and enjoyed it. Later on Sunday we went over and taught the Word of Wisdom and they took it in really well.  They do want to get baptized it will just take some time with their addictions; so they are basically dunked just not wet.....yet anyway. 

Um, what do I want for my birthday or Christmas..... um, I don't need anything, I am good on that end. I would like some muddy buddies (haha). Is there anything I can do for y'all for Christmas? Well besides call of course :p 

Alright I love y'all thanks for all the help! Especially you Mom, thanks for helping me with my college stuff!

Email Update: November 21, 2011

Ok so this week was full and full of service. We ripped up people's carpets and put on paint stripper to remove paint. Got some firewood for others. Put a table and 2 chairs together for a part member so we got to do a lot of physical labor which is good. 

So yesterday we had Stake Conference for the Klein zone. President and Sister Pingree spoke along with a youth, a recent convert, a reactivated member, and the stake presidency. It was really awesome President spoke about how we can get closer to Christ. Sister Pingree spoke about L. Tom Perry's talk about sharing the gospel. The youth talked about For The Strength Of Youth. The recent convert talked about her conversion process. Then the reactivated member talked about how he fell away, how missionary work got him back to the church, and how fellowship got him back as well. The Stake Presidency talked about how we can be better missionaries.

After Stake Conference we went to Jason and Amanda's house. Jason was playing the new Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 that just came out and I was so jealous, it looked pretty cool (that was just for you Kyle). Then Jason wanted to have his son learn how to ride a dirt bike. And Amanda went with her mother-in-law to go some where. Oh for background info, Jason and Amanda and their kids live with Jason's parents now, along with another couple, Josh and Kala. I think Josh is Jason's cousin. Ok so Josh was kinda trippin out because first off Josh and Kala are "common law married" and they have a 9 month old baby and Josh thinks Kala might be pregnant again. He is super stressed about that because he is working crazy hours to provide for his family and this baby would be the boiling point for him. So we taught him a lesson and he was really calm as we talked about missionary work and eternal marriages in the temple. He told us he really respects us and wishes he could have been a missionary like us instead of doing the stupid things he did when he was 20. Then Jason asked while he was gone riding the dirt bike with his son if we could teach Josh and Kala a lesson because they are having a rough time. So we did we taught them the Plan of Salvation and they really liked that a lot and thanked us over and over for that. After that Jason and Amanda showed up (oh also while all of this was going on Jason was barbecuing some burgers - it was sooooo good! They have a barbecue every Sunday and they have us over) So after everyone got their food we put in "Joseph Smith: Prophet of the Restoration" and during the film they were just amazed about what Joseph did and what he went through. They also were in awe when Joseph rebukes the guards in the film. That is my favorite scene. After the film was over Jason went off for 10 minutes talking about this is the church for him and his family and they can't wait to be Mormons. He also said the prayer before we left and he prayed for the prophet! That was really neat in my book. 

So yeah there is the scoop! Pray for them please!

Email Update: November 14, 2011

Well this week was good. The biggest highlight was Elder Rasband for sure. The three Houston missions went and for a good portion of his talk he talked about the two Elders that were killed on their bikes - saying their names and what they are probably doing right now on the other side - it was really neat. The spirit was so strong just talking about the subject of the fallen missionaries. I panicked at first when I heard on Wednesday, I think it was, because a member said it was in the surrounding mission area. So I thought it might have been someone from our mission, but luckily it wasn't, but still a tragedy to hear and deal with. He also talked about the divine call of a missionary and open it up to a question and answer session.

On Sunday we were hoping to have 4 of our investigators (Jason and Amanda S. with their 2 children) come to church but after the sacrament was passed, we didn't see them so I told Elder Hill "We have no reason to be here if we don't have investigators here so let's go get them" So we left right then and drove to their house. Turns out that they couldn't pay their rent so the landlord told them they only had hours to get out so we showed up and helped them move out and into their parent's house. It was kinda early when we went over and we woke Amanda up because they went drinking till 4 in the morning so she was hung over. But a couple hours later they kinda brought up the word of wisdom which we plan on teaching them this week and we said no alcohol and Amanda grabbed their 2 whiskey bottles and dumped them in the sink right then and there. So I have good hopes for them - they have a baptismal date for December 10th. And we have a lot of solid potentials, so the work here seems promising.

TELL JJ HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!!!! HOLLA!

Email Update: November 7, 2011

I finally got transferred! I am now in Magnolia 2 which is super country! There are so many trees, trailers, and dogs! I love it a lot! The people here are super chill and funny! Our investigator here ditched us to go to a Taylor Swift concert haha. My area is huge! At least 5 times bigger than Wheatstone easily. Good thing I am in a car area. I am in a 4 man apartment so it's fun. My companion is Elder Hill he is from Rexburg, ID he has been out for 2 months now. I am his greeny breaker. I am also living with Elders Reidhead and Troester.

Oh and I am pretty sure Rebecca will kick my butt at the Ukulele because I gave mine to Elder Ulugia when we parted ways. He is a lot better at it than I am.

Oh so I met a guy in the ward named Bro Bailey so apparently his son lives in Collierville ward because his son married Erica Stambaugh! How crazy is that! So he is having us over for dinner.

Well we have a tri-mission conference this week with Elder Rasband so that will be fun.

Email Update: October 31, 2011

Well this week nothing really exciting happened missionary work wise.... taught zero lessons again - pretty lame. But on Sunday our Ward Mission Leader and Assistant Ward Mission Leader gave an awesome lesson for the 3rd hour to the ward about member missionary work. You could tell some people are now fired up to go to work! And again Bishop had me and Ulugia stand up and tell the story of me getting handcuffed to the whole ward this time. I also found out that the Bishop in the Bridgeland ward told my story to the members to let members know the missionaries need help. Haha I am just getting quite the reputation in this area. Transfer calls are this week and I am most likely leaving. I said goodbye to members on Sunday.

Oh I sprained my ankle this week playing morning sports so my ankle has wonderful colors. That's the only "exciting" thing that happened this week. I should have a lot to tell next e-mail in hopes that I leave to a new area. I love y'all.

Email Update: October 24, 2011

Sounds like the family is just having a blast! Nothing too much happened this week. The only teaching appointment we had with an investigator was Saturday with two 19 yr old college student girls they asked A LOT of questions which was good.

I have recently become a celebrity in the ward because this Sunday in priesthood meeting the Bishop called me up and explained how I got handcuffed and we need referrals since our work is limited. After that basically the whole ward knew because I had people coming up to me left and right asking for the story and how sorry they feel for us and how they will try to get us referrals.... so I guess this is a good thing. I am just hoping to get out of this area with the up coming transfer calls. I am so done with this area, I have been here for over 6 months.... I have been on Hwy 6 basically my whole mission I am just ready to move on. I don't hate this area or the people here, don't get me wrong. My mission call said the Texas Houston Mission not the Hwy 6 Mission so I just wanna move and see other things.

Oh snap how could I forget so the coolest thing happened this week and a highlight for my mission. So this Friday E. Martinez (a convert from the Bear Creek ward who I worked with and we are super tight buds) got her mission call! She invited me to come she her open it. She was called to the California Ventura Mission I believe it was. But man that was so spiritual it was really neat to see her parents and her sister there who are all non members support her decision because for the longest time they didn't approve of her going. She will be speaking Spanish so it will be Hermana Martinez soon. Man I was so happy I couldn't sleep that night. It's just really neat to see that she went from a person wearing a statue of liberty outfit advertising for Liberty Tax on Hwy 6 to going and serving a mission - it's really neat to see that. Well that's all for now, I love y'all! PEACE

Email Update: October 17, 2011

Hey family! SO this week was a really good week. It first started off with Elder Ulugia and I going down to Spring Branch area and where we got to do some teaching and tracting with the Spring Branch Elders (Moody and Chadwick) It was good to get out of our rich area and go to the ghetto!

Later on in the week we had interviews with President Pingree and I had a really good visit with him - man I LOVE interviews! We then had a training on Table Manners by Sister Pingree and that's where the picture of all of us and sister Farmer came from. Yeah there is a lot of tie trading going on I am getting into big fat ties haha.

Then the real highlight came on Sunday where we actually taught a non member lesson finally! And it was a Gladys Knight referral and it went so well! We met with Rachel and Anne and they like and respect our church A LOT! She told us she loves everything about the whole church except for one thing,, which is the 1975, but she really likes that the church isn't trying to hide that fact by sweeping it under the rug - she really respects our church being very open about it. We gave them 2 Books of Mormon and answered their questions. Told them our personal conversion stories and what our church teaches about. They told us they believe there is a reason why they went to the concert and there is a reason why we were meeting together. They said that they aren't going to join our church right away because they have been hurt before by other churches so they want to do research first. And we highly encouraged them to do that since well, that's what we are telling people to do, is find out for themselves :) It was a lovely meeting and I hope to see them soon.

I am glad Mom, Kyle, and everyone is doing well. :) Have a great week!



Love,



Elder Cory Barton

Email Update: October 10, 2011

Hey now the whole security thing wasn't that big of a deal so simmer down now :) We only knocked on one house so it wasn't exactly bold of us, haha. But we did talk to President that same day in what to do and he advised us to stay away from those areas at the moment unless we have a set appointment to go to. At first I thought this would hinder the work since, no lie, like 95% of our area is gated. But maybe the Lord thinks we are dumb and can't find that golden investigator so he is narrowing our search down a ton!

This past week was great! Finally got a hold of the Araiza family who disappeared shortly after their baptism. They are doing great and were so stoked to see us! They just had a baby girl a week ago and she is a cutie! Also we finally got a hold of a non member who bore her testimony about joining our church last fast Sunday and we set up an appointment for today so, woot, woot. Also she was at church yesterday. So things went well this week - hope and pray to keep that momentum this week. And I'll try not to get into trouble with the Po Po. I am pretty sure I can out run them on my nice orange Gary Fisher bike!

And that is so SICK that they have Blue Bell ice cream at that Provo place! I was gonna die when I eventually leave Houston because Blue Bell is so addicting, oh my gosh! My favorites are Cake and Ice cream, and a new one I found out about 2 weeks ago Dessert Trio YUM! Child that stuff put me in a coma!

Well I am gonna head out, gotta e-mail President and then play Poison (Dodge ball but more extreme) haha. Love y'all!

Email Update: October 3, 2011

So this week has been quite the week. So I will start on Thursday so Elder Ulugia and I went to try some PM/LA in the Stone Gate area and we didn't have any luck. So I remembered in this neighborhood there was a house where the car had Utah plates and they weren't members so I decided to knock on their door and hopefully talk with them. Well after no one answered the door we start to head toward our bikes when this Top Gun Security car pulls up. Before I get into that, quick flash back to a week ago. We had a Top Gun Security guy pull us over and verbally warned us not to knock doors in a gated community. Anyway back to where I left off.  So this security car pulls up and the exact same dude came out of the car and in my head I was like "oh crap". He starts walking over to us and I tried to lighten the mood because the dude look ticked! I said "So I am guessing your bringing us good news". Well the guy was not in the mood for jokes, he said "I warned y'all that you can't knock doors so what are you doing here?"  I said "Well we are knocking doors" he said "Did you think I was joking last time? Seriously" I said "Well most of our area is gated so we are constantly in gated areas so it's kinda our thing and I am gonna keep doing my thing". He said "You think this is a joke? Put your hands on the hood of the car!" So I do and this guy starts to handcuff me! In my head I was thinking this is going to be a long day and if mom finds out she is not going to be a happy camper ha ha. So he handcuffs one hand and asked "So are you gonna go into a gated community again?" I said "Sir I am not gonna lie to you. Like I said most of our area is gated, so yeah I will be in a gated community again" He didn't like that answer so he finished handcuffing me and sat me down on the sidewalk and says that he is going to call the Sheriff. He then tells Ulugia to sit next to me, doesn't handcuff him thank goodness. So I am sitting there for 15 min. handcuffed waiting for the cop to show up. In the meantime he takes down my information. Then the cop shows up I get unhandcuffed and this officer was super nice! He told us like we can't knock in gated communities and said that he could take us to jail since the security guy warned us but he isn't going to do that but the next time this security dude catches us we will go to jail for sure because the security dude made me sign a written warning.   So yeah that was great fun ha ha! 


So then for General Conference we went to a members house in the Bridgeland ward with the Bridgeland Elders. They live in the Bridgeland neighborhood which is SOOOOOOOOOOO NICE! The houses there are huge! So we chilled in their theater room and watched conference and ate amazing food and fruit they made and played pool so it was just really awesome! I loved L. Tom Perry's talk about sharing the gospel. Then Jeffrey R. Holland's and W. Christopher Waddell's talk from the priesthood session. Both were amazing! Well gotta bounce have a great week! 

Email Update: September 26, 2011

So, I am gonna talk about the highlight of the week...... Gladys Knight and the Saints Unified Voices came down to Houston! They had performances Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday! We went to the performances for 10 am showing on Saturday and then the final show at 7:30 pm Sunday night. Boy they rocked the house! I felt like I was in a Baptist Church! The whole time when they were rocking out I was wishing Deanna was here to stand clap and dance and say Hallelujah it was so SICK! Man that is one of the coolest highlights of my mission that is definitely a once in a lifetime opportunity! It was 2 hours long and at the end Gladys Knight bore her testimony and conversion story and it was just so perfect for the people of Houston. I heard they got over 300 referrals from these performances so far! Gosh I am still on a Gladys high right now, I could hardly sleep last night.  I got up at 1:58 am and stayed up til a little before 4.  I just kept replaying that whole event in my head it was just so sick and powerful! Well gotta bounce But I love y'all!

Email Update: September 19, 2011

This past week I got my bike back later in the week so that was nice! Also on Friday it was Ulugia's birthday and he turned 21 and we partied it up like we ran the town. 


On Saturday the Cypress Stake held a "Lest We Forget" concert in honor of 9/11 and the men and women who serve our country to keep our rights.  It was really moving and they gave out free medallion coins with the title "Lest We forget" on the front and a quote by Thomas S Monson from 2001 saying something like "fill our minds with truth and our hearts with service" or something like that. 


Yesterday I hit my 14 month mark and it's just crazy. I can't keep up with my mission it just keeps going by faster and faster. A member yesterday made a comment to me saying "Elder Barton how long have you been with us in this ward? Your like a regular now" And I thought about it I have almost been here for 25 weeks! Almost 6 months! What in the world! And I am guaranteed to stay here till at least 31 weeks! Man I am still trying to figure out how this happened.  It just seems like yesterday I arrived here with Tobchan to this area now almost 6 months later I am training here. Weird, any who I am running short on time we have been behind schedule today so I'll chat with y'all next week. I love y'all!

Email Update: September 12, 2011

This past week I got my bike back later in the week so that was nice! Also, on Friday it was Ulugia's Birthday and he turned 21 this fool be older than me! Oh well we still partied it up like we ran the town. 

On Saturday the Cypress Stake held a "Lest We Forget" concert in honor of 9/11 and the men and women who serve our country to keep our rights.  It was really moving and they gave out free medallion coins with the title "Lest We forget" on the front and a quote by Thomas S. Monson from 2001 saying something like "fill our minds with truth and our hearts with service" or something like that. 

Yesterday I hit my 14 month mark and it's just crazy. I can't keep up with my mission it just keeps going by faster and faster. A member yesterday made a comment to me saying "Elder Barton how long have you been with us in this ward? Your like a regular now" And I thought about it I have almost been here for 25 weeks! Almost 6 months! What in the world! And I am guaranteed to stay here until at least 31 weeks! Man I am still trying to figure out how this happened.  It just seems like yesterday I just arrived here with Tobchan to this area now almost 6 months later I am training here. Weird any who I am running short on time we have been behind schedule today so I'll chat with y'all next week. I love y'all!

-Cory Barton

Email Update: September 6, 2011

Hey family! So this week was an emotional roller coaster! Last Monday got to play basketball with a couple of zones and I got to see my good missionary buddies like Elder Martin (former companion who is going home in a couple of weeks!), Elder Tobchan, etc. So it was great to see all of them! Then on Tuesday we had Elder Yoon H. Choi of the Seventy and his wife come and do a zone conference and got to hear them speak. They are such a cute and funny couple! They are from Korea so when I got to meet him and shake his hand I said "ahn nyeong ha se yo" thanks to Kristy's training :) Elder Choi talked about how listening to the spirit is the most important thing to do when teaching an investigator. He later went on and talked about....marriage! haha He talked about how in his final week in his mission he prayed about who he should marry and of course his wife now was the answer. He went on saying after our missions we should get married and not to put it off. Another funny thing he said is if you are not motivated to find investigators out here in Houston then try to find your wife out here because you never know you could find her out here such a funny guy! Sister Choi talked about how much she loves us and how we were on the front lines in the war in heaven. It was a good but long meeting. Longest one on my mission.

 

Thursday something tragic happened. So we were riding our bikes and according to my map it showed that there was this bridge that connected these 2 neighborhoods together that was separated by a creek. I wanted to tract in the other neighborhood so we bike over and well there wasn't a bridge! So in order to get to this place we would have to go all the way around which would probably take 15 min. to get there and I wasn't a big fan of that idea.  I was hot and I wasn't really motivated this day to work but you gotta work so I decided since the creek wasn't too big that we would throw our bikes across and then we would jump across. So we do that but when I am picking up my bike and I am getting ready to ride and my bike wheel wasn't spinning. So after looking at it I noticed that I had broken 7 spokes on my back rim! And spokes are really important! So this was just the last straw for the day.  I sat down and in my head I was murmuring, I was so ticked! I started to blame God because why would He allow this to happen. I wasn't motivated to work, but I knew it was important to work so I still went out and did it, so why would He allow this to happen! So after about 20 min. of me sitting there cooling off my anger Elder Ulugia and I walked to the closest gas station to enjoy the cool air for a little bit and get some drinks. After that we walked all the way back home which wasn't close and the whole way home I was trying to figure out how I could fix this problem.  I have no way to pay for this to get fixed. I don't want to ask my parents because y'all have already given so much and there wasn't any missionaries who could let me borrow their bike. So we eventually get home and checked mail and thank goodness I had a letter that day - that helped! Then we get to our door of our apartment and we see Hermanas Martinez and Dement (Martinez is my home girl!) decorating our door with signs, post-it notes, scrap paper, etc. They heard about what happened and they wanted to help out so that was just so kind of them! I was seriously ready to cry at that point but luckily I had my sun glasses on. So that day ended on a good note.

Friday a member offered to take my bike in and get it repaired! Hallelujah. Then yesterday we went with Hermanas Martinez and Dement and Elders Tobchan and Taylor to the mall and we did some window shopping and just had fun with each other.  I am so tight with everyone in that group, they are so awesome!

Thanks a bunch y'all I appreciate that y'all fasted for our success in this area - we need it! Oh also from Saturday to today the weather here feels so great! It's cool with a breeze. Man I am loving this weather! Oh also yesterday I bought this sweet towel thing called frogg toggs and the thing is you pour water on it and some how that causes this towel thing to get super cold so that will be amazing on bike! I tried it out to see if it works man best thing I bought on my mission! I love y'all take care!

-Elder Barton

Email Update: August 29, 2011

Well I will talk about Elder Holland's talk for a while I guess. So we all basically felt like the people in the old Disney commercials like the wife asks the husband if he is asleep and he says "No, I am too excited" that's how we all felt the whole week until he came. So we drove to the Berring Chapel where all the Houston missions are supposed to meet. And we got there and sat there forever, well seemed like forever, until Elder Holland showed up and everyone stood as he entered. He talked about how he loved us for like seven minutes and talked about how important our missions are and how the fate of the church rests on the shoulders of 20 year old missionaries. He also said we were apostolic (note lower case "a", not "A"because he has keys) and he being the Elder Holland that he is, was very bold in his talk and at parts he would, hmmm how could I phrase this, he made sure that everyone in the building heard his voice.  He talked about when we wrote our acceptance letter for our mission papers that we weren't just signing our names, we were signing all the missionaries of old so like mom, dad, Dan Jones, etc. Elder Holland said we are putting every one's name on the line and because of that we had no right to defile our mission or to waste a single minute because this isn't just about us, it's about everyone past, present, and future. He went on to talk about how the mission isn't easy and it's not easy because the worth of salvation is not cheap and we are representatives of Christ so we have to carry just a little speck of what the Lord went through in the Garden of Gethsemane. He did such an amazing job - oh how could I forget to mention - so before his talk he announced that he wanted to shake hands with all the missionaries! So we went row by row to shake his hand. I finally got my turn and it was great to shake hands with a General Authority and see one to! So I shake his hand and he said nice to see you Elder haha that short phrase meant the world to me! That the first time that I shook hands with an Apostle (correct me if I am wrong because I have the worst memory).  I remember seeing Gordon B. Hinckley when he visited the South when we lived in Memphis, but before and since then, I haven't seen a General Authority in person so it was just really cool.

After Elder Holland left, the missionaries got up to leave and this Elder that sat in front of me turned around and looked and me and I looked at him and we both gave that look like "I know you" and he said "Cory?" and I said "Did you go to Springville High?" "Yes" "Cross Country" "Yes" sure enough it was my buddy from High school.  Sadly I still can't remember his name, but it was Elder Shields.  He is serving in the South mission and he has been out since July. So it was crazy that out of the 500 something missionaries that were there we sat right by each other

So this week got over dosed on Vitamin D by tracting all day every day. But we did teach 2 other lessons this week one to a group of 7th Day Adventists who were holding a Bible study. They shared a message with us and I with them. I shared the message about Alma the younger in Alma chapter 7 when Alma is struggling after being rejected by the people of Ammonihah and a angel comes and comforts him. They liked the message and I was glad that we didn't bash and left in peace. Then yesterday we met with Lenny and his family and shared the Restoration with them and they again asked a lot of great questions. That is it have a great week I love y'all!

-Elder Barton

Email Update: August 22, 2011

So I got some exciting news. We just found out on Friday that Elder Holland is coming down to Houston on August 26th and he will be talking to all 3 missions in the area (includes us!) and his meeting will start at 5 p.m. and will go for 90 minutes. I am so stoked! Elder Holland is one of my favorites so I can't wait to hear what he has to say. Plus this is taking place in downtown which will be great to see since I haven't been down there since December!

Well this past week we felt the record heat that have been 100+ as we have been tracting all day everyday and Elder Ulugia and I got discouraged one day during the week (my bad on my part I should have been a better example at that point) but we had been tracting all day in this crazy weather with 0 success at all.  Well eventually the day finally ended and we got home, but I remembered a thought from President Pingree.  He said that as we are faithful and obedient the mission will be blessed.  Now the key word there was the mission, not the Wheatstone area.  So as Elder Ulugia and I are faithfully trying to find people to teach, the Lord is blessing our hard work to the whole mission where it is needed. So I shared this with Ulugia and we were back to cracking jokes and having a grand ole time. But we did receive a blessing yesterday.  We had a return appointment from tracting earlier in the week who told us to come back on Sunday so we could sit down with him and his family. So we showed up and he gladly let us in. Elder Ulugia and I went in prepared to share the Restoration message but Lenny (the father) had a lot of great questions he has always wondered about. He asked about prophets, families, the Bible, the Book of Mormon, marriage, etc. So Elder Ulugia and I were bouncing all over the place trying to answer his questions as best as we can. But then he asked us about our view on the heaven and hell theory we told him about the Kingdoms of Glory while using 1 Corinthians 15: 40-42 and they really loved it! They believed that we have a loving Heavenly Father and He wouldn't be mean enough to just put people in either one or the other. They believed that was unfair to a lot of people so the Kingdoms of Glory really made sense to them. It was really neat to see the scriptures teach them. So we have Lenny, Servia, Angel, and Lauretta as new investigators. 

It is great to hear from y'all especially Dallin wat it do brah! I love y'all and pray for y'all!

-Cory Barton

Email Update: August 15, 2011

Man sounds like y'all had an interesting service filled week! I am proud that y'all provided time to do voluntary service! In my opinion service is the biggest way we can show and express our love towards others. Because your not just saying it but your walking the walk.

So Tuesday was transfer calls and I wasn't getting my new companion until Thursday since that's when the new missionaries come. So I went with Elder Chadwick who was also training and I worked in his area from Tuesday to Thursday. Thursday finally rolled around I was so nervous and anxious! We get to the building and we have a lunch with all the new missionaries and it was also President Pingree's birthday. So then they separated the Trainers and the new missionaries to do special training. So I and all the other trainers received training about what we are expected to do. But also the church came out with this new program called the "First 12 weeks" and it's a program for the trainer and new missionary to plan, study, and apply during the first 12 weeks of their time together. And the goal of this program is to have the new missionary be ready at the end of the first 12 weeks to be able to train and have that responsibility if he is called to do so. It is really neat. So then all the missionaries gather together and they have the trainers on one side of the room and the new missionaries on the other side. President Pingree went on to announce companionships.  I was one of the first to get called up and I was told to introduce myself, say two interesting things about me, and talk about my area. So I said who I was and where I am from then I said I love to watch break dancing it fascinates me and there is nothing better than that and I love to play bball. And I said our area is all bike so my future companion will learn how to enjoy the summer heat. Then President Pingree announced my companion was Elder Ulugia (his name is Samoan so the "g" makes a "n" sound).  He is from West Valley City, Utah and he loves to sing and he is amazing on the ukulele!  He is so awesome, I have really enjoyed my time with him thus far!  I never had so much love for someone so fast!  I can't really describe how much love I have for him it's so insane I guess it comes with the calling. But I am so grateful for the decision he has made to serve a mission.  I am glad that he came and I am able to be his companion and get to know him.

Well Sunday I shook hands with another guy from the Seventy of the church! Just meeting all kinds of people! Well I have a lot of people waiting on me so I will get going! I love to hear from y'all! Take care