Transfers!

Hello Everyone!

To start off, I have some news that can be both good and bad depending
on how you look at it. Transfers are this Wednesday and I'm leaving
Azle. I'm really sad to be leaving because these people have become my
family, but if I really do feel like that it means it's time to go. I
knew it was coming because I'm finishing training Sister Marks, it's
just weird that transfers are already here.

But it's okay! A new area and a new companion means new adventures!
The city is called Flower Mound and I'm covering two wards. TWO
WARDS!!! That's crazy! I'm really excited! Also Sis. Marks is now
going to be a trainer too! Im so excited for her! (It also means I did
my job right haha!)

Well I don't have much to say this week. It's very surreal that I'm
actually leaving my first area. It's the only place I've known for the
past six months. It's a great area full of great people and great
memories!

I love all of you! Have a great week! Hopefully my pictures make up
for the lack of words!

Love,
Sister Poulton
Texas Fort Worth Mission

P.S. The mission office isn't forwarding mail to us anymore so if you
want my new address you can ask me. ☺️

Pictures!
1-2: Fun with this crazy district!
3: Tracting in Texas. Enough said.
4: That's what I call a longhorn!
5-8: See ya' laters. (I hate goodbyes.)

6 Months! Week of 1/9/2017

Howdy Everyone!

I can't believe it but 6 months ago today I got on an airplane and
flew into Texas. 6 MONTHS ALREADY???? WHERE HAS THE TIME GONE???

Good news! We have some new investigators! We were going to see a
member of the Ward and when we got there we saw two people and he
said, "This is my grandson and his wife! They want to learn about the
church and find the right one!" Woohoo! They're so awesome and really
willing to learn! Their names are Cameron and Holly and we love them!

Denise and John are still progressing! They came to church on a Sunday
and really enjoyed it! That's something that's been kind of hard for
them so we're really glad they came!

I still can't believe I've been on my mission for 6 months. I've
learned so much from the people of Azle. I can truly say my mission is
changing me. It feels like I've been here forever yet it feels like
I've been here a couple weeks. I know I've said this before but I'm so
glad I came here to Azle. The people here are amazing! They've taught
me more than I've taught them. I can truly say I'm a different person
because of my mission. And I'm only 1/3 of the way done!

Well sorry to get all sentimental on you! Hope y'all have a great
week! I love you and pray for you everyday!

Love,
Sister Poulton
Texas Fort Worth Mission

1. This was as much snow as I'm going to find in Texas! 

Happy New Year! Week of 1/2/2017

Happy New Year Everyone!

Hope y'all had a wonderful holiday! Can't believe it's 2017! But it's
exciting! A new year means new opportunities!

Funny story! We were walking around in a retirement home trying to
find a member of the Ward who lives there. A lady in a wheelchair
stopped us and said, "You two look like princesses!" We said, "Aww
thanks!" She said, "You're gonna catch a lot of fellas! You may not
want them, but you'll catch them!" 😂😂😂  Highlight of the day!

Exciting news! We set a baptism date with Denise and John for February
18th! It's been a really really long process with them (retention
problems) so we're so excited for the decision they've made!

Something I've been doing in my studies that have really been a good
experience is specifically studying the atonement of Jesus Christ. Yes
we read some verses in the scriptures about it a lot, but when you
take the time to specifically study the atonement, it opens your eyes
and understand all Christ really went through. You see how
everything in the gospel relates back to the atonement.

Well not a super long email today. Sorry about that. Hopefully the
pictures will make up for it! Have a great week!

"Heavenly Father did not put us on earth to fail, but to succeed
gloriously." ~Richard G. Scott

Love,
Sister Poulton
Texas Fort Worth Mission

Pictures!

2. Beautiful sunbeams (you know you just sang the primary song)
3 & 4 Loving the Texas pride
5 & 6 What you find in the stores here.

Happy Holidays! Week of 12/26/2016

Hey Everyone!

I hope y'all had a great Christmas! What a great time of year to think
of the Savior and remember the reason for the season.

Not very many people made appointments with us because they were busy
with the holidays, so we tried something new: caroling tracting! We
would knock on the door and just sing! It was so much fun! Sometimes
it would start a conversation about the church and sometimes it didn't
but that's okay! We still brought the spirit to their home!

We met with Chris and he said he wants to serve a mission!!! I'm so
happy for him! Oh my gosh! Someone I taught wants to be a missionary.
It's just such an amazing thing to think about! He's seen the
difference the gospel has made in his life and he wants to show
someone the difference it'll make in theirs! He's amazing!

Our mission president had a Christmas devotional for us and it was so
much fun! We were able to see other missionaries we know and play some
Christmas games with them!

Something I've been thinking about lately is New Years resolutions. I
know a lot of times we hear that we think, "Yeah a goal I set that
only lasts 3 days." (If you don't think that you're amazing.)
Missionaries set goals all the time, but we make sure they're goals
that are realistic and will bring ourselves and others closer to
Christ. I think we should all do that. Set at least one goal that will
bring you closer to Christ. It could be something like read the
scriptures longer than usual or try to have more meaningful prayers,
whatever!

I hope everyone had a merry Christmas and you'll have a happy new
year! Even though the Light the World campaign is over, you can still
share the light of Christ all year round!

Love,
Sister Poulton
Texas Fort Worth Mission

Pictures!
1-Merry Christmas!
2-cookies we gave out while carol-tracting
3-a blizzard in Texas 😉

Merry Christmas! Week of 12/21/2016

Hey Y'all!

I can't say Merry Christmas when it's actually Christmas so I'm saying it now! Merry Christmas!

Not a ton to report on this week. We're actually not going to be teaching Destiny. Some things have come up so we won't be teaching her for a while. We may also have to push back Annie and Jared's baptism date. They haven't been coming to church and they've been really hard to make and keep appointments with. Those things are sad, but it hasn't been a bad week.

I haven't talked about Joe in a while. He's been having some health problems so we haven't seen him for a while until recently. His wife is a member and they want to be sealed together for eternity. What better motivation to learn from the missionaries ;) We had a really spiritual lesson with him yesterday. We were talking about the Book of Mormon and gaining a testimony that it's true. We read Moroni 10:3-5 and I asked him if he wants to know if it's true and he said yes. I asked him why and he said because he knows it'll change his life and help his belief in God. I told him if we do what it says in these verses, if you ask God, He'll give you an answer. He prayed at the end of the lesson and asked if it's true and started crying. The spirit was so strong! I'm so proud of him and the progression he's making.

I've had experiences like this throughout my mission that have taught me so much. I'm learning and growing as a person and I'm so glad I came to Azle. I never would've learned these things without coming on a mission. It's hard to put these thoughts and feelings into words. I really don't know what I'd do or who I'd be if I never decided to serve.

I hope y'all have a Merry Christmas! Remember to Light the World and think of Christ! Think of at least one thing He did everyday! You'll feel the spirit more and be so glad that you did! Have a great week!

Sister Poulton
Texas Fort Worth Mission

Diligent in All Things - Week of 12/12/2016

Hello Everyone!

More exciting news! We have another new investigator! Her name is Destiny and she's super awesome! She moved here from Denton because she's in the middle of a divorce right now. Her parents are members of the church living in a town nearby and wanted the bishop to get in contact with her. He asked us to go see her and figure out the situation. She wants to build her faith in Christ and bring her kids to a good church.  Her eight-year-old daughter really loves church and writes music about Jesus! Adorable! Sounds too good to be true 😆 We had a great lesson with her and she came to church yesterday! Woohoo!

For some sad news, we haven't been able to meet with Annie and Jared for a while. Their mom sets up appointments with us, so we show up and she either isn't home or she forgets and has to leave. She's also really really hard to get a hold of so we haven't been able to have a lesson with them in a while and they haven't been coming to church. Because of this.....may have to delay their baptism date 😢

Transfers are this week but Sister Marks and I are both staying! Yay! That means I'll be here in Azle for at least six months. Wow. Hey at least I love it! If there's anything I've learned from this last transfer it's diligence. It's a relief finding Destiny and Carolyn last week. It's a reminder that there are people prepared by the Lord to hear the gospel. We've had a really rough few weeks. None of our investigators were coming to church, they weren't keeping their commitments, no one wanted to listen to us, it was just really slow and disappointing. (Why do you think a went a few weeks without talking about anyone?) But now, just when things seem hopeless, God answers our prayers. If we listen to the spirit while being obedient, we will find those prepared by the Lord. It's definitely been a testimony builder of diligence and faith in the Lord's timing.

That's how this week has been! Stay out of the cold and remember to light the world!

Love,
Sister Poulton
Texas Fort Worth Mission

It's Beginning to Look a lot like Christmas! Week of 12/5/2016

Hey Everybody!
I just want to start out by saying how much I LOVE Christmas! It's an amazing time to think of our Savior Jesus Christ. As missionaries of course we think about Christ all the time, but you can see the light of Christ in everyone at this time of year! People are more kind, more generous, more willing to give and think of others. For that reason it's my favorite time of the year.

Good news!! We have a new investigator! Her name is Carolyn and we found her while tracting! During our first lesson with her she was agreeing with everything and really felt the spirit! It was such a great lesson! She even agreed to be baptized at the end of January! We're so excited for her and the steps she's taking! Very rarely do you find someone like this while tracting.

I can now really see that the Lord blesses us for our hard work. We felt like we were hitting a brick-wall. We couldn't find anyone, our investigators weren't keeping commitments, no one's come to church enough times to be baptized this month (the mission goal is to have a baptism every month,) and we've really been upset about it. Well, I can't speak for Sister Marks, I have been really upset about it. But we found Carolyn, and I was reminded why I'm here. People are ready to hear the gospel, and they need to hear it from us. After all that hard work, the Lord blessed both us and Carolyn. I know I'm out here for a reason, and that reason is to invite others to come unto Christ.
I love all of you so much! I hope you're enjoying this Christmas season! Happy Holidays!

Love,
Sister Poulton
Texas Fort Worth Mission

Hello Everyone! Week of 11/28/2016

Sorry my emails have been kind of lame lately. Hopefully this makes up for it!
This week was really fulfilling! We reached almost all of our goals! Sister Marks and I work really well together and we're having fun as well.

For a little while we've been teaching a family of an inactive mother from Honduras who has two little kids Annie and Jared who haven't been baptized yet. She hasn't been to church in 30 years but is coming back now which is great! Last week we met with them again and..... WE SET A BAPTISM DATE!!!! They'll be baptized on January 7th and we're really excited for them! We wanted it to be sooner but both Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve are on a Saturday so they won't be available then. But having this date in January will allow them to become more comfortable and familiar with the people at church and primary. We're really excited for them to take this next step in their life!

Cool Thanksgiving story! We've been working with a recent convert (someone who was baptized in the past year) named Don. He's super awesome!! His parents were kind enough to invite us over for Thanksgiving! We thought about it because they're whole family's going to be there and they're hardcore anti-Mormon. We thought and prayed about it and we decided it would be a good opportunity to show them we're nice people. We thought we'd only stay for a few minutes and if people tried to argue with us then we'd just leave. When we got there it was a little awkward, but it was okay after a couple minutes. We stayed a lot longer than we thought! Some of them were actually really nice to us. After a little while, Don remembered Sister Marks has mad piano skills and I'm a decent singer, so he asked us to play the piano and sing a hymn. We were kind of hesitant because we didn't want to seem like we were asking for attention, but we sang "I Need Thee Every Hour" and it changed the mood of the room! We had a couple other songs and some people started jointing in and played other songs with us! After that a lot of people changed their mind about us! After that they didn't see us as crazy Mormons or Satan worshippers, they saw us as young ladies who love God. It was another testimony builder of the power of music and how much it brings the spirit.
Okay has everyone seen the church's new Christmas campaign? I love it so much!! Us missionaries have known about it for a few weeks but we haven't had the video to show anyone until now! We've been dying to tell people about it and now we can! I want to cry every time I watch it. It reminds us why we have this great Christmas season and how we can be more like Christ. I mean who was the better example of serving others than Christ?

Well that's all for this week! I hope you're doing well! I pray for you all the time! Please email me, I want to know how you're doing!

Love,
Sister Poulton
Texas Fort Worth Mission

1. Awkward....
2. Cool Nativity lights
2. A pig wanted to join in on the lesson! 😂

Update time! Week of 11/21/21016

Hey Everyone!

It's been quite the week! Exchanges, new investigators, its CRAZY!!!

Unfortunately, I don't have a tone of time, but here's a cool story! A
tire on our car had a leak so we went to get it fixed. We sat in the
waiting room and one of the managers saw our name tags and said, "So
are you from a business or something?" I said, "We're actually
missionaries from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints." He
looked surprised and said that's awesome! We talked for a little bit
and he said he goes to some churches here and there but he's not sure
about most of them. He then said he's looking for a church with a
great kids program 😃 HEY! We have the church for you! We talked for a
little bit and gave him our phone number, a Book of Mormon, and the
address to the church. He said he might stop by some time. Cool
experience! Hopefully we'll see him again!

My mission president asked us to study the story of Ammon in the Book
of Mormon then email him about things that we've learned and how we
can be a missionary like him. I've read about Ammon plenty of times at
home, but when you apply it to your calling, it's totally different! I
challenge the other missionaries who are reading this to do the same!

One more thing about what I'm learning. I know I've said this before,
but I can feel myself growing closer to Christ as I continue to learn
about the atonement. I think I understand it but then I learn
something new about it. It allows me to feel more peace and comfort
knowing that when I'm having a rough time, I'm not doing this alone. I
can honestly say that Jesus Christ is my best friend. He'll never
abandon me or anyone else. I love Him.

Try to remember this. It will help you handle anything and give you
the comfort you need. I love that the holidays are coming up and it's
a time to think of Christ more. We're celebrating the birth of our
Savior. I'll talk about this more in my emails coming up, but let's
try to remember that through out the holiday season.

Well this email wasn't the longest, but hopefully next week will be
better! Keep emailing me! I'll eat hearing about how you're doing!
Praying for you everyday!
Love,
Sister Poulton
Texas Fort Worth Mission

Pictures!
1: Nice license plate! I love Texas too!
2: Sisters! ❤️
3-5: Exchange with Sister DeMille. (There's a lot because she's one of
my favorite people ever.)