Elder Kolton William Willden

Family and Friends,

Wow. It is December. I have had such a great week this week. It was the #LightTheWorld kickoff and my companion and I had the opportunity to do a lot of service! I will write about that later on. I wanted to start this letter off by saying that I am so thankful to be in the service of The Lord. These six months have changed my life forever and I will never regret the decision I have made to serve. When I was watching Chase or Carson out on a mission it felt like they were gone forever, but now I know how fast this is going to go. I feel like I have only been out a month and it is December. I am almost 19. It is absolutely crazy. It reminds me of when Jesus told his disciples that if they lose their life in the work they will find life. I can testify that I have found a better way. This mission has brought so much joy into my life. As you work hard and trust in the Lord he blesses you immensely.

The first service opportunity we had was at Uncle Larry's. This guy is incredible. He has been having some back pain so we went and helped his son get the yard picked up. Dad will like this one. We helped him prune and I got to cut everything and make it look good. I am thankful for a Dad that made me do the hard work, because now I can help other people. I was able to cut his lawn as well. Elder Lamm picked all the leaves up and we took a tree stump out. Just basically did all the things that was neglected for awhile. We were so happy to do it. Speaking of Larry. We were able to teach him the Restoration this week. Larry is Catholic and has been since birth. We asked him to read the Book of Mormon again and he accepted. We will be following up with him on that. He says he doesn't know if Joseph Smith was a prophet so that is what we will be focusing on. I have faith that he will gain a testimony.

After Uncle Larry's we were able to go to Vierra's. She had this HUGE burlap sack of walnuts for us to crack. It took forever, but as we cracked deez nutz we were able to talk to her about the concerns she had. She has A LOT of concerns. But she seemed to be receptive to what we were saying. I loved serving. I think that is the best way we can be like Jesus. That is basically what he did, charitable service.

Later in the week we were able to do some more service at Brett and Alejandra's. They were cleaning out their tough shed so we helped them out. I also copped some new toys;) haha. It was super fun helping them out. They are definitely some of my favorite people out here. We are going to start going through the lessons from the beginning with Brett so he is refreshed and can commit to live God's laws. We are so excited for them.

Spiritual thought for the week is a scripture that President Waddoups sent me in a letter he sent to me this week. Ether 12:41.

"And now, I would commend you to seek this Jesus of whom the prophets and apostles have written, that the grace of God the Father; and also the Lord Jesus Christ, and the Holy Ghost, which beareth record of them, may be and abide in you forever. Amen."

He told me to memorize this scripture as we enter this Christmas season and that it will help throughout the whole year. I love this scripture. We should be seeking Jesus all the time. Not just when we feel like it. If we do his grace will abide in us forever. How nice would that be? Sounds pretty good to me. I will echo this invitation from President Waddoups and invite all of you to memorize this scripture. It is wonderful. The spirit can help us in all facets of our life if we are seeking Jesus in everything we do. I know this was a joke in the Transformers movie, but if we really did ask ourselves, "What would Jesus do?" When we are in doubt this question would save us from the pains the adversary inflicts on us.

I love you all and hope you have a great week.

Love,

Elder Willden