Craziness!

Hi everyone!

Wow this week was CRAZY!!! Where do I begin?!

So I didn't write this last week because we were freaking out, but the
Sunday after we set the weeding and baptism dates for Ed and Stacie, a
member of the Ward comes up to us at church and says, "Are you the
sisters for the Copperas Cove 2nd Ward?" "Yes." "Good. We have a
baptism on Saturday." 😳😳😳 "Wait what? Who?" "Ed and Stacie. I was
just talking with them and we thought why wait? So they're getting
married on Friday and baptized on Saturday." "Our mission president
has a rule for them to wait at least a week in between to make sure
they're truly repentant." "Really? Give me your mission president's
number. I'll call him and convince him to change his mind." And walked
away. 😨😨😨 Sir! No one can convince President Whitney to change his
mind about anything! Especially the rules! Ed and Stacie said they
didn't want to be rushed into anything so that's why they're waiting!
You just pushed them into this?! And you didn't even talk with their
missionaries about this?? We called President Whitney and he said no
one's called him. We told him the situation and he said he'd tell him
no if he called. (Knew it.) So we kept their wedding date for Friday
the 1st and set their baptism date for Sep. 9th instead of the 23rd.
Word of advice for everyone reading this: DONT MAKE DECISIONS FOR AN
INVESTIGATOR WITHOUT INVOLVING THEIR MISSIONARIES!!!!!
Okay I'm cooling down now. Their wedding was beautiful and I'm so
happy they're taking this step. It's a true act of faith! At the
wedding Stacie kept telling us, "I'm so glad you two could make it! It
means a lot for you to be here!" Oh my heart! We told her we wouldn't
miss it for the world :) They also had their baptism interview on
Sunday and they passed! Our district leader said he really felt the
spirit in the interview and he knows they're ready. When he said that
Stacie started crying! She told us, "I'm so happy you two are here for
all of this." and started crying. Ah! I love watching the gospel
changing people's lives! So they're on track for being baptized this
Saturday! We're so excited for them!

We had a lesson with Peggy and she came to church on Sunday! She
hasn't come these past few weeks because of her health but she came
this week! She left early because she was feeling sick but she still
came! She's getting surgery in a few weeks so we're praying everything
goes well!

I'm keeping everyone effected by Hurricane Harvey in my prayers. I've
never been so close to a huge natural disaster like this in my life!
Everyone I've talked to has been effected by it somehow whether it's
their family members, friends, whoever. It's been such a tragedy,
however, it has brought the people of Texas so much closer together!
We're all praying to our Heavenly Father for the safety and welfare of
everyone in Houston. Something I've come to realize is that at times
like this people either turn away from God or towards Him. There's
always so many more that turn towards Him. It's natural to ask Him in
times like this, "Where are you? Did you leave me?" He's still there
and He's never left. He will never EVER leave any of us astray. I know
that with all my heart. This hurricane is a travesty and everyone
effected by it is in my prayers as well as everyone's in Texas.

Well that's all for this week! I love you so much and remember: God
loves you and would never abandon any of His children. ❤️

Sister Poulton
Texas Fort Worth Mission

Pictures!
1-3.) Ed and Stacie's wedding!
4-6.) Fort Hood! It's super awesome!
7-14.) Topsey! It's a super cool petting zoo you can drive through!

New Area and a Hurricane

Howdy!

Before you ask yes I'm fine. The hurricane isn't close enough to hit
us. We're only getting a bunch of rain (it's actually really cool.)
But I'm definitely praying for everyone effected by it. Please keep
them in your prayers as well.

In other news, I've been banished. Coppera's Cove is at the very
bottom of the mission and it's the BOONIES!! But I love it! All my
areas are awesome! Part of my area is Fort Hood which is the biggest
military base in the world! Sometimes we see tanks driving in the
street! It's so cool! I don't get any good pictures of them this week
but I will! My companion's name is Sister Johnson and she's from
Herriman, UT. She's super awesome and I love being companions with
her!

Now onto the people we're working with! There's Stacie and Ed and
they've been wanted to be baptized forever but....they're living
together. Stacie has been waiting a while to get an official divorce
from her ex-husband even though they haven't been together for about 8
years. I'm not sure about the whole situation but they just got it
finalized a few days ago! Now she and Ed can be married and baptized!
Theirs wedding date is September 16th and their baptism date is
September 22nd! We're so excited for them! They've been wanting this
for so long and now it's actually going to happen!

We're also working with a lady named Peggy who's husband is a
less-active member of the church. She wants to be baptized but she
doesn't quite feel ready for it. And she doesn't want to give up her
coffee. But she's so sweet and I love her lessons! She has a really
strong testimony and I know she'll be baptized soon.

We're also working with the Lampkin family. I only met them once and
it was really brief but they're super awesome and the kids are so
cute! I'm so excited to teach them!

Well that's about it for this week. Transfers are crazy but I'm
excited for the adventures this area and the Lord has in store for me!
I love all of you so much! Keep praying and believing! I love you!

Sister Poulton
Texas Fort Worth Mission

Pictures!
1-3.) Arlington goodbyes.
4.) Me and Sis. Johnson.
5.) That humidity though!
6.) Redneck and proud of it! :)

Transfers ALREADY - August 21, 2017

Hi Everyone!

So much has happened this week! Where do I begin?!

Okay let's start with Wesley! Before he even asked his question we've been waiting to hear FOREVER he said, "Now before I ask I just want to say I know I'm going to be baptized." Aaah! His question was, "Do we need to be perfect in order to be baptized?" Great question! We need to repent of anything we need to repent of, then after we're baptized we continue to repent if we need to. That's enduring to the end! No one expects us to be perfect but that's what we're striving for. That's why we have repentance! It's amazing! He looked relieved when we said that. We then continued talking about baptism and the blessings and requirements that come with it and.....WE SET A DATE FOR SEPTEMBER 23RD!!! Woohoo!! And more good news is he came to church on Sunday! Aaah! It was his first time and he loved it! We're so excited for his baptism! Wesley is amazing! He asks all the right questions and he's so in-tune with the spirit! So excited for Sep. 23rd!!

We had another lesson with Bob and we asked him if he prayed. He said he thought about it and wasn't sure if he was ready. He asked us about having doubts and if doubts were from Satan. We had a really good discussion about turning to God when you have doubts or questions. It's human to have questions. The key is to turn to the Lord when we have questions because He has all the answers. That's true for all of us in life. We all have questions, doubts, and fears, and because of those we must ask ourselves, "Am I going to let this turn me towards God or away from God?" Your first source for a question should not be Wikipedia or your friends, it should be the one who has all the right answers. And He may not answer you as fast as you want or give you the answer you wanted to hear, but whatever happens it's what the Lord knows is best for you.

Okay now the moments you've all been waiting for......transfers. Sister Thomson is leaving and she's going to be a trainer! I know she will be amazing! A more surprising note is....I'm leaving too. We were all shocked! We found out a little while ago Sis. Thomson's leaving because she's going to train so I thought I was going to stay here a while. I also have that pattern of being in areas for 6 months. Totally thought this was going to be my last area! Well I guess the Lord has other plans. I'm going to a little town called Coppera's (pronounced Copper's) Cove. It's at the very bottom of the mission and I've heard the southern half of the mission is CRAZY!! I'm really excited!

I am really sad to be leaving Arlington. I'm so excited for Wesley's baptism and I was really excited to see him be baptized! Well it's okay. I still taught him and I know Sis. Clonts and the other Sister coming in will take care of him. I'm also really sad to leave these sisters. We've grown so close and I've learned so much from each of them. I can believe it's already been 6 weeks! It's been amazing!

Wow have I really not told y'all about our mission's new goal? I'm a slacker haha! At the beginning of August we set a goal to have at least 101 baptisms by the end of October. Unfortunately we didn't quite reach the 100 goal by the end of July, but it's okay we still had 91! And that goal brought so many miracles and really unified the mission! This time we're still sacrificing something and we can keep the same sacrifice or start a new one. My sacrifice of my will is a life-long sacrifice so I think that'll stay the same, but I still wanted to give up something new for the new goal. I was praying about it and Heavenly Father told me what it should be: peanut butter. I was trying to avoid his answer but we all know how that goes! So for 3 months I won't be eating peanut butter and if you know me that's really hard. I love peanut butter. A lot. A LOT! But it's for those who are ready to hear the restored gospel and be baptized by someone holding the Priesthood authority of God. Here it goes!

Well that's all I have for this week! I love all of you and I hope your week is awesome! Remember who you are and who your Heavenly Father is! Love you! ❤️

Sister Poulton
Texas Fort Worth Mission

Pictures!
1.) I love our District!
2.) longest, coolest chalk drawing ever! I'm so proud of us!
3.) Helped someone move in!
4.) More chalk ☺️

Week 5 - August 14, 2017

Hi Everyone!

Once again this last week in Arlington has been amazing! The Lord's hand is in everything and it's so cool to see!

We had another lesson with Bob and it went really well! It was also really sad because he told us since he isn't religious he doesn't really feel that God loves him. That broke my heart! We challenged him to pray to Heavenly Father and ask to feel His love. He said he will and I know God will answer him. The power of prayer is life-changing! If you haven't done this yourself I suggest you do. It will change your life and your life will be much more positive when He answers you.

We also had a lesson with Wesley! I love Wesley! He had a few questions about the chapter we asked him to read about the Plan of Salvation so we helped him with that. Oh my gosh he's amazing! We asked him if he's continued to pray and ponder about baptism and invited him to be baptized on September 9th. He said he had a question about it but he needed to leave so we couldn't answer it now. (Stinking adversary! 😒) But we asked if he could give us a hint. He said it has to do with timing. We'll see on Thursday! I know he'll be ready by September 9th!

Okay now I'm sure you're wondering about the title. We are now heading into week 5 of the transfer and as many of you know transfers are every 6 weeks. That means this is our last full week as a trio. It's really surprising when a trio lasts more than 3 weeks in this mission (missionaries leave early and they need to find a replacement,) so we have been so blessed to have been a trio this whole transfer. We're going to end it with a bang! These two crazy sisters have blessed my life so much! We don't know what's going to happen this week but whatever happens is what the Lord wants.

I was pondering the other day about a question we've been asked a lot lately. "Why do bad things happen to good people?" We all ask that! It's a human question to have. I saw a quote by Elder Jeffrey R. Holland (Southern Utah represent!) the other day and it said, "Not expecting trials just because you're a good person is like not expecting a bull to chase you because you're a vegetarian!" Now how true is that? We all face difficulties unique to us and none of them are easy. When we are in those times rather than asking, "God why are you doing this to me?" ask "God what do you want me to learn from this?" The key is to turn to Him not away from Him. He's always there and He's always listening. We all face trials for a reason and we all learn something from them and come out of them stronger than ever before. Don't give up! Don't you quit! Don't think God has abandoned you because He hasn't! He's always there.

I love all of you and hope you have a great week! Remember who you are and who created you! Love y'all! ❤️

Sister Poulton
Texas Fort Worth Mission

Seven???? August 7, 2017

Howdy!

Wow this week was amazing! I love this area so much!

On Thursday we got together with the elders and did a tracting blitz
at an apartment complex. Wow! Whoever said tracting isn't effective
hasn't served in a YSA Ward! The experience was AMAZING! We contacted
15 people and got 7 new investigators! Wow! Nothing like that has ever
happened my whole mission! The Lord truly strengthened my faith to
find those who are ready to receive the gospel. Honestly, for the past
few months my faith to find was really lacking. But after this
happened, I know without a doubt that the Lord is preparing people and
placing us in their path!

Now let's talk about some of the people we met! We met a man named Bob
who's here for grad school. He was standing outside his apartment with
his HUGE cat! Perfect conversation starter! We talked about the cat
then that led to religion and he said he was raised religious but
isn't religious right now, but he's willing to talk about it with us!
We gave him a Book of Mormon and he told us he's actually been wanting
to read it. Woohoo! We had an appointment with him on Sunday and it
went really well! We hope we can strengthen his faith in Christ and
the gospel!

We had an amazing lesson with Wesley about the Plan of Salvation! He
had so many great questions and he understood everything! We extended
a baptism invitation and he said he'll think about it! Woohoo! I love
Wesley! Again so many people prepared by the Lord!

Unfortunately Deandre still hasn't come to church so we moved his
baptism date 😢 But it's okay we're still teaching him and he's still
super awesome!

This week I've been pondering on our gifts and talents. All of our
talents are gifts from our Heavenly Father. They didn't just appear
out of nowhere! Yes most of them are from practice but who helped us
practice? God did. Our talents are gifts from God we need to
acknowledge that. We should be humble and remember: every good thing
is from God and we need to thank Him for them.

Love y'all! Have a great week! Miss you! Remember who created you and
just how much He loves you! ❤️ He created all the stars and planets
in the universe and still decided to create you.

Sister Poulton
Texas Fort Worth Mission

Pictures!
1.) Matching for Zone Conference 🔴⚪️⚫️
2.) Arlington Zone!
3.) Bob and his huge cat Babalu (yes that's the cat's name.)
4.) Texas pride!
5.) Our new friends at Waffle House.

1 Year Down! July 24, 2017

Hello Friends and Family!

Wow! Have I really been serving my mission for a whole year?! Where
has the time gone?!?! I've had some amazing experiences and met
incredible people. And the best part is, I'm not done! I still have 6
months to enjoy all of it! It's amazing how time flies. Don't waste a
second because you won't get it back!

Now onto this week! I totally forgot to talk about Jason last week.
He's an investigator who's been taking the lessons for some time now.
He's amazing and has a really strong testimony of the gospel. The only
thing stopping him from being baptized is his parents. His dad is
Atheist and his mom is part of another faith and DO NOT approve of
Jason taking the lessons and coming to church with us. During district
meeting someone suggested we fast for him. We brought it up in our
next lesson with Jason and he thought it was a good idea. So the three
of us, Jason, the elders, and the senior couple serving in our ward
met up and started a fast. We fasted for his parent's heart to be
softened and see how happy he's become, and for Jason to have the
courage to talk to them about baptism. We don't know if he's talked to
them yet, but we've been praying for all of them everyday.

A miracle occurred! Knocking on doors looking for YSA aged people is
kind of tricky, but we decided to anyway. We found an amazing guy
named Deandre! Well, first we knocked on his door and he had a blanket
wrapped around him and said, "Sorry I just woke up. Can you come back
in 45 minutes?" Haha! Sure! We came back and taught him an amazing
lesson! He was so excited to read the Book of Mormon when we gave it
to him! He told us he's gone through a lot of rough things in life but
he's in a good place now. He then said, "I feel like God sent you here
for a reason." Wh..wh..WHAT??? This is the kind of thing you only read
about in the Ensign of something! I felt prompted to ask him to be
baptized by the Priesthood authority and he accepted!! He's going to
be baptized August 19th!!! AAAAHHH!!!! The entire time I was sitting
there thinking, "Is this real life??" I wanted to cry! Follow the
promptings!

God really loves all of His children and wants us all to return to
Him. That's what we're here to help with. When you work hard and
follow the promptings you receive, you'll see miracles. I promise you
that.

I love all of you! Have a great week and keep your chin up! Love you ❤️

Sister Poulton
Texas Fort Worth Mission

Pictures!
1.) Cowboys Stadium!
2.) Selfie
3-4.) I don't know which one describes our companionship better 😂
5-7.) Was this really a year ago??

Arlington July 17, 2017

Hi Everyone!

Wow so much has happened this week! It's been CRAZY!!

So the Arlington YSA (young single adult) Ward was just the zone
leader area, but now what we're doing is taking half of their Ward. So
we're pretty much opening a new area IN A TRIO!! Let me tell ya, this
past week was STRESSFUL! But it really helps that I already knew the
other two sisters in the trio really well. And I already know the Zone
Leaders who have pretty much become our best friends since we keep
bothering them about information. Haha!

But let's not focus on the stress! Arlington is great! All of my areas
have been so different from each other! Arlington is the metroplex of
the metroplex. It's great! And I love being in a YSA Ward. You feel
comfortable right away because everyone's your age. Also college
students are great at missionary work!

We have a few investigators! First is Kiemorean. He's 19 and when we
first met him I totally thought he was 23 or 24. He's so mature! He
really wants to be baptized so if y'all could keep him in your prayers
that would be great!

We also have Kevin who has a baptism date for August 19th! We haven't
actually met him yet but according to his teaching record he sounds
great!

Well because of all this craziness going on, I've really seen the
importance of relying on the Lord during rough times. I asked Heavenly
Father, "Why did you ask me of all people to be in this trio to open
this area? Why me?" Then the answer I got was "Because I trust you
with this." We may not know why and sometimes we may feel like there's
a lot on our plate, but Heavenly Father gives us trusts us with hard
situations. And if we turn to Him we'll be able to handle them. He
trusts us so we should have trust in ourselves. We can do anything
with faith in the Lord.

Well that's all for this week! Love y'all! Until next time! ❤️

Sister Poulton
Texas Fort Worth Mission

Pictures!
1.) Texas Rangers Stadium!
2.) Coulson! (Our trio name. Trios are a party!)
3.) Arlington Star
4-8.) Scrubbing our nasty apartment. 😫