La Semana de Pavo (Turkey week)

I KNOW I KNOW!! I'm behind!  I am predicting that it will be that way until after Christmas... Sorry!

He ate and ate and ate!  I'd be interested to know how much weight he's gained.  He's isn't fat by any means but I can tell he's filling out!!  It's crazy to see him growing!!

He forgot his camera so there aren't any pictures :(  He promises he'll try to send some next letter tho ;)  He discovered how sore his muscles could be again after playing football!  LOL.  And he also discovered he's not so much of a soccer player ;)  hahaha  That's why we always had him baseball!!

I think that he won't be writing this Monday, He'll do it Thursday this week.  I tried to ask but he was offline by then.

He's doing good things!  Enjoy!!



La Semana de Pavo (Turkey week)

So this week was nothing but food, turkey, stuffing, all that good stuff! I loved this week because of the time we got to spend with the members. I took lots of pictures but unfortunately because we came down to Porterville to write our families this time instead of being in Lindsey, so I forgot my camera to send pictures... I'll do everything I can to send them next week! I'm not entirely sure where to start but I'll start with the days, and then talk about the investigators. So this email might be a little lame, but last Monday, as you already know, we had our Turkey Bowl with the missionaries. We did awesome! Unfortunately I was a "sore" loser afterwards. We might of won but I could hardly walk, bike, or function AT ALL!! I guess that's what happens when you haven't played for a while...Tuesday wasn't much except for meetings and such. Good day of Proselyting though... Wednesday was somewhat the same except we actually just had a new member move into Lindsey. Her name is Sister Fullerton and she works as a English teacher. She has like 8 dogs! 2 out of those 8 are Great Piernes, which are dogs from Spain and France and all those countries out there. They guard sheep and other flocks, but the dogs are HUGE!! Their backs probably came up just under my chest. Sister Fullerton told us they're able to kill bears!! Sheeesshhh!! Anyhow they were big!... Thursday! Thanksgiving! El Dia de Pavo! We had another Turkey Bowl. I was able to heal up a little bit by then thankfully. I think Turkey bowl for Mexicans on thanksgiving is soccer. So we played 30 minutes of football and 30 minutes of Soccer, I did good in football but I got owned in soccer haha. We also went and ate 3 different dinners! We hardly found the people we wanted to visit because they were all in their homes or were .... Friday we went and knocked some doors with Charlie. He wanted to see what potentials we could receive and we actually did really good! It was a good experience for Charlie. Saturday was also another eventful day for Charlie, and Hunter too. It was his first time going to the temple!! Great experience for him, he's never been any where more peaceful, and a place where he felt the Lord's love to a large extent. Sunday was like the highlight of the week for progressing investigators. My companion and I gave a talk on gratitude in the English ward. That's the first time I've given a talk in English in a long time. We had two people come to church but they weren't investigators they were just two people that we invited on the streets to church! Haha that actually surprised me, and they went to class and everything. It was awesome! We also received 27 referrals that day haha you're probably all thinking how the heck we did that? We drove around with a member looking at old houses the missionaries in the past used to teach. So now we'll never run out of people to go to in December.

So that's kind of the events of the week. As far as Investigators, Recent Converts, and Less actives go they're all progressing really well. S. and J. are still the same. Still haven't been able to catch them because of their programs. The others that are the same but still have intentions to investigate the church are Si., M.R. Every one else is doing great. M. and T. are coming along. They're still in their situation of whether they should stay together or separate. We had a lesson with M. with a member that knows his family. Our member did such a good job. He extended love and kindness towards M. letting him know that he was always around. M.'s had a LOT of rough problems and when our member was able to do that he just started crying! It was awesome!!! Sometimes the only thing that brings people into the gospel is expression of love and compassion towards others, thought we still try to teach them the lessons, that's where true conversion comes. He wasn't able to attend church though, he had other matters of work business to take care. The Chavez Family get more and more convinced that the gospel is true every time we go over. They'll probably take some more time to fully help them be baptized and come further unto Christ, but little by little they're always more convinced. Who knows, maybe we might be able to baptized their daughter Mar. because she always attends our church. V. and I. are doing really really good! Yesterday started off with a bad situation for them because I. decided that he was going to move to Santa Barbra and live with his parents for a little bit and get away from all the "arguments, contentions. blah blah blah" with V. He said it broke his heart when he left his kids. He changed his mind when he reached Bakersfield and decided that he wanted to stay and make a change. YEAH I!! I was really bummed at first to hear he was leaving, but nothing made me more excited when he decided to stay home.... We have 3 new investigators named A., An., and Je. A. and An. are the two that came to church, A.'s the mom and An. is the son. They're all really solid! We taught the Restoration to Je. with Charlie and it was a success! She understood it really well. If those three stay consistent in keeping commitments they'll be baptized for sure.

Other than that, that's all that has really gone on with week! I'm stoked to hear about Basketball season! Sounds like Weston and Marz started off with a good note. They're both getting big!! It's weird because it's only been such a short amount of time too! Best of luck to them though, they'll do awesome this season. Same with J.T. and Charlie they're all getting big! Mostly just Charleigh because she has long hair now, kind of like Weston's hairdo haha.

I'm glad to hear about the Turkey bowls. I really did miss everyone back home on thanksgiving, it was different. I wish I could have played but I had a lot of fun here in Cali nonetheless. What are some things you'll be doing for Christmas this year? Let me know what's up and what's going on at home for Christmas. Christmas this year for us is the BEST in the mission. It's a little more freedom but just the spirit and the people that you spend time with is amazing. On Christmas day I believe we can skype or call?? I think we'll be a loud to skype. I'm not sure how you'll be able to do it but hopefully I can do two families, you and dad, and it lasts for 45 minutes but I'll let you know if anything is different.

I guess to end I just want to tell you how grateful I am to be out here on the mission. When I was preparing my talk on gratitude it helped me realize the true meaning of gratitude. Elder Uchdorf once said "We can be grateful in all circumstances", which is so true! We don't have to necessarily be grateful for things we have all the time, because we all know that we have a list that goes on and on and on, and it's difficult, at least for me, to "count your blessings". But true gratitude is a hope and testimony that all things will work out for the better. It was gratitude that the Savior was able to express when he said "Not my will, but thy will". I also had a coach (or coaches) tell me that you can be bitter or you can get better. I feel like that's what we always do when are grateful in all circumstances, we are choosing to be better. Elder Uchdorf also said,"Everyone’s situation is different, and the details of each life are unique. Nevertheless, I have learned that there is something that would take away the bitterness that may come into our lives. There is one thing we can do to make life sweeter, more joyful, even glorious.
We can be grateful!"

So be grateful, no matter the trial, hardship, or tribulation always be grateful. With every degree in a trial that comes, there is the same, if not more of a degree of blessings that we can hope for in the future. So with that I'll hear from you all next week :)

Love you all. Elder Horrocks

P.s. Next Thursday will actually be preparation day because we will have a temple trip that day. and then the following Monday after will be normal...We also have a Christmas zone conference so pray that we might receive revelation for our investigators.