Mission Week 101-102, Fontana Week 23-24, "My Last Days of the Mission"

A few insights from Elder Horton as written by Dad:  

Elder and Elder Horton spending some last time together
at the Colombia Bogota Temple

Elder Horton has had the great opportunity to conclude his last day of his mission spending it with his Brother Mark seeing him one more time before preparing to make his journey home.  They were able to spend some time again for lunch and to go to the Columbia Bogota Temple together along with visiting with Paul's Mission President, President Valladares and his wife.  

He is thankful to have had the time to share thoughts with Mark as he awaits his visa in the Colombia Bogota MTC. 

This is truly more great blessings to witness in our family as we know the Lord has tender mercies on his missionaries whom are dedicated to serve him throughout the world.

We look forward to Elder Paul Horton's safe travel and his being able to share with us this coming Sunday his reflection of his mission and his testimony of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Eating Lunch as Brother's and FT Missionaries in Bogota Colombia

Going to the Bogota Columbia Temple

Elder's Mark and Paul Horton with Paul's Mission President,
President Valladares and his wife

Mission Week 100, Fontana Week 22, "This is My Last Week in the Mission!"

My Brother and I, Elder Horton with Elder Horton

This is my last week in the mission of the Lord. I thank the Lord for sending me here to Colombia. I know I was sent here by Him. I will keep going until the very last day here in my area.

My little brother Mark and I had the opportunity to see each other today for P-day. We went and ate lunch! How many missionaries can say that they saw their brother in their mission (he will also be ending his mission in Colombia) and the two of us are Elders!

The Work of the Lord was rough this week because there were a lot of strikes going on here. Here in Suba we got hit pretty hard by the riots. The people here were going nuts. My Brother Mark told me that when he got here to Colombia that he basically got put into the same mess that he was in haha. I I've never seen those SWAT policemen before. They all had these big black shields and were chucking tear gas everywhere. That was fun. That stuff also burns. Don't breathe that! Other than that we ́re all good here and I ́m looking forward to having the last and greatest week.

Love You All...

Elder Horton

Elder Paul Horton's MTC Teacher from Two Years Ago!

Mission Week 99, Fontana Week 21, "My Brother is in the Bogota Columbia MTC!"

A few insights from Elder Horton as written by Dad:  

Elder Horton is working hard as he comes down the stretch of his last two weeks of being in the mission field.  He shares that he feels the strength of Heavenly Father guiding them as they just found a new family this week that would like to be taught the lessons and he feels had been prepared for them to teach them at this time.  He is a little bummed he will not be here to finish the discussions with them but is grateful to be able to assist.

He is grateful his brother has arrived safely after being evacuated from the Cochabamba Bolivia Mission.  He also never dreamed he would be coming to Columbia let alone the MTC which is about 45minutes from his area today.

We hope the Mission Presidents will allow them to meet up with each other and to have a few moments where they can spend quality time as Brothers together.  This is truly a blessing to witness in our family as we know the Lord is guiding his missionaries and has given our sons great protection and direction as they serve with all their heart might mind and strength.

We are again very grateful for all your love, support and prayers you have shown our family as these sons of ours go forth into the world to share the messages of Jesus Christ with others.

All the Best!

Mission Week 96-98, Fontana Week 19-20, "Don't leave the mission with Debt to the Lord"

Hey everyone!

My New Companion Elder Cisneros, he's from Peru

These last couple of weeks have been really short on time and I haven't had too much time to write.

We had a baptism this Saturday! Rosa Guerrero got baptized! That's right!! It was a really spiritual experience. Rosa was baptized by her son Alexander Guerrero. Before the baptism when we were filling up the baptismal font we had turned on the hot water and left it running for 3 hours! When we got back to the chapel to turn off the water the font was boiling! haha! The room was all steamed up. It looked like a Sauna.

We've been helping a lot of the members move lately. In Bogotá that ́s about the only service we do here is helping the members move. During my entire mission I've done around 30 moves. It's only hard if they live on the 6th or 7th floor because you have to take the refrigerator and the washer machine all the way up there because there aren't any elevators.

I tried some new food that I loved! It's called Cachapa. It's a Venezuelan arepa with cheese on top. It's like a pancake with cheese on top. If you guys can find it in the United States I will make you some good cachapa! (Check out the pictures to see the Bag)

Last week I sent you guys a photo of the Mendoza family. We ́re still teaching them. Julio is on faithful nonmember. A miracle occurred at his work and he was given Sundays off from work. He says that "Nunca me faltará un Domingo jamás" " I will never miss another Sunday". He came to church with his wife Marlenis. They have been going through struggles of work/family problems/ death of a family member, and more, but they continue going strong. We hope to see Marlenis and Julio married soon! They always love to share special moments with us. Whenever someone has a birthday, they make sure to call us so that we can come over to eat cake and share the experience. I love this family!

I had one of my last interviews with my mission President. He told me something that hit me hard and helped me to get focused up. He told me "Don't leave the mission with Debt to the Lord" I want to give everything that I have during these last couple of weeks that I ́m here. The work doesn't stop just because a missionary goes home! Our entire lives will be full of preaching the gospel to others. The mission helps you to strengthen your testimony. My mission has also taught me what I really need to be focused on in this life and how I can complete with my purpose here on earth. If you have plans to serve a mission go! It will be one of the greatest decisions you will ever make. Don't lose your opportunity to serve the Lord!

I love you guys!
Elder Horton

Rosa Guerrero baptized by her son Alexander

The Guerrero family...what a great moment!

Bogota Temple

Hanging in the City of Bogota

Members too us to a membership store like Costco...we found PANCAKE MIX!

YES!!

BBQ Lunch

We helped some members with a move (We made the Tower of Babel)

The Mendoza Family...Investigators

Rosa Guerrero at her baptismal interview

Mission Week 95, Fontana Week 18, "Getting a new veteran companion to finish strong!"

A few insights from Elder Horton as written by Dad:  

Elder Horton this week has learned my companion/greenie Elder Baggett will return to the states for surgery on his knee.  He will return after recovery.  So we are told he will receive veteran companion of 19 months out and will be remaining the last month's of his mission in Fontana.  He is looking forward to working hard to the end and still has the family of 10 they are working on in overcoming some of the challenges.

After some down time with last comp he is anxious to get out and use his experience to get work.  So we will look forward to what will be still be shared here as Elder Horton prepares to close out the Full Time mission in coming weeks.  

He has been blessed to be a part of some great things in Columbia and looks forward to all that will be ahead.  We spoke this week of getting his classes aligned for BYU-I and are excited he is all set to attend come January of 2020.  

He looks forward to seeing everyone soon!

Mission Week 94, Fontana Week 17, "I'm going to finish the Book of Mormon in Spanish twice now!"

Hello,

Turns out that my companion might not go home now. He was supposed to have surgery, but now they are saying that he might not need surgery. We sent his MRI scans off to some member doctors in Salt Lake City. We still haven't received an answer! I was a little confused on what we could do this week since my comp can't walk without his knee killing him. We spent a lot of time in the house this week. Elder Baggett has crutches that he uses that help him out a lot. I'm thinking about asking for a wheelchair. With the crutches we were able to visit a few investigators.

The Mendoza family still doesn't want to get married! We're doing everything we can to help them out and have the desire to get married. Rosa Guerrero does not want to leave her coffee. We'll get her eventually. Just gotta keep on keeping on. Lucila Carmona was a miracle from this week. She is our investigator with paralysis. She's expressed her desire to come to church! She knows that she can't even walk, but she knows it's important for her to go. Her daughter has a wheelchair for her and she's going to be a warrior and come to church!

Other than that I've had time to read some profound doctrine about the second coming, I'm going to finish the Book of Mormon in Spanish twice now! And I've listened to the conference talks from general conference. I read this cool book that's called our search for Happiness by Elder M. Russell Ballard. It talks about the history of the Church of Jesus Christ and how his teachings of the restoration of the gospel can truly bless and bring understanding into our lives.

Love you guys!

Mission Week 93, Fontana Week 16, "My mission has helped me to gain a love for General Conference."

Hola mis queridos familiares y amigos, 

My mission has helped me to gain a love for General Conference. The talk that I loved was from Elder Bednar. His story about the Cheetahs helped me to understand how the adversary really is in our daily lives. He will never stop trying to approach us and have us as his "next meal". He's always there, and we need to know our enemy in order to know how to not be caught in his traps. Peter M. Johnson went on to explain THE 3 D's! I thought that was awesome. He reminds me of one of my High School basketball coaches. Deception, distraction, and discouragement. Always be alert to the warning signs of the adversary. In order to be prepared we must do some spiritual tasks EVERYDAY EVERYDAY EVERYDAY or EVERYWEEK EVERYWEEK EVERYWEEK. Reading the Book of Mormon, praying everyday with real intent and with all the energy of our hearts, and going to church to partake of the sacrament. I loved this talk because it helps us to understand how we can deflect the adversaries fiery darts. This is how we can build ourselves a sure foundation! Heleman 5:12.

Well...my companion Elder Baggett had an accident this last Monday. He fractured a bone in his knee. He's doing ok and everything will heal ok, but he has to go back to the United States to get a surgery. He's going to be heading out. I don't know where I'll be in the mean time. We've had a lot a medical appointments during this last week. Elder Baggett got put into one of those X-ray machines. I've only seen that thing in movies! It makes loud repetitive noises. Please pray for my companion as he's going to be having surgery. 

There wasn't much time to work in our area this week, but we were able to call Rosa Guerrero. She's one our investigators that will be baptized very soon. She watched General Conference with her family this weekend. The only thing is that she's addicted to coffee! She did really great this week though and left it for the entire week, but on Sunday she took more coffee. It's a process, but we´'re going to help her leave it.

That's what was up this week. Tengan una buena semana!

Elder Horton