I think this is his new companion.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!

Luckily that is the last time that I have to say that over email! haha

Osky is going really well right now, on Thursday we went to transfer meeting to pick up the new elder that will be serving with me. Elder Mattoon is his name, who is from Dallas, Texas. Which is super cool and way different that most people out here in the Iowa Des Moines mission. He also does sign language, so we might end up teaching some deaf people if we can find any, which is really cool. We are going to have a great time serving together for the 2 transfers that I have left:)

The last few days here in Osky have been so cold, it got down to like 9 degrees the other day, I was really hoping that this winter wasn’t going to be as bad, since I’ve already been in one before. But that is not the case! O well I am thankful for a truck! So what are the plans for Thanksgiving this year? We will most likely be at a member’s house, because we are supposed to bring a pumpkin pie. I don’t really know how to make a pumpkin pie, so I found one at Wal-Mart for like 3 bucks.. haha don’t tell anyone okay:) I'll just play like I made it..haha But this Thanksgiving should be really fun, other than a lot of people are going to be busy and out of town. We either will stay really busy or we will bored.

Conner looked like he had an awesome birthday! Just remember to tell him to be careful with the knife.. ! Bret made a tool box! nice job dude! So did Kahlen get his little note? and did grandma get her card? hopefully:) I also got the package that you sent, but I haven’t opened it just yet because we went straight to email, but I’m sure it’s awesome!

N..... is doing super well right now and moved out of his girlfriend’s place this past week.. yes!!! he’s really excited for his baptism coming up on Dec. 7th and he’s super ready for it. The other day we were teaching a friend of his and he testified to him about the Book of Mormon! I love it when investigators do that:)  J.... is also on board for Dec. 7th, we just have to get him interviewed this Saturday and he should be ready. I just hope that we don’t have any surprises come up in the next two weeks!

Everyone else that we are teaching just has to live a few more commandments and learn a bit more, and hopefully that will be ready for baptism:) It’s all in the Lords hands and what better hands to leave them in.

I am so grateful for all of you and your support throughout my mission, it truly has lifted me and strengthened me when times are down! I could go on and on about how grateful I am for you guys and everything, but it would take more time than I have! THANK YOU!!!!!

LOVE ELDER KIRTON!!!

I will probably talk to you this week, if Nicole’s call gets here:)

 

ps... please send all packages to

P.O Box 214
University Park, IA 52595

As requested by the mission office, during the month of December. please remember that I will be seeing all of you guys soon after, so my need is very low. I feel your love even without a package:) I am good on everything so far. thanks for you love!

Staying in Osky!

TJ said "Good thing I didn't have my bow!"

This was in their backyard.

Josh a good friend and member.

Osky it is!!!

So we received the transfer doctrine this morning and I will be staying in Oksy, for the rest of my mission. Wow it’s really crazy to think about, so I won’t really think about it too much. We will be leaving for Iowa City on Thursday and I will pick up my new comp than. Man! Elder Cutler and I have had a great time together and honestly it feels like we just got here. We were talking to some members about transfers and stuff and all of them couldn’t believe that it has been 3 months that we’ve been here. Over all we’ve had super good times!

For most of the investigators that we have been working with all has been going really well. Other than on Sunday, N..... didn’t show up to church, but we figured he was tired from his trip to Memphis, but it was a little bit more than that. We had dinner with the L.... and he came as well. He said he didn’t want to do it anymore, that he wanted to give up. But we weren’t going to give up on him that easy, so we kept talking to him. The sad part is, he wasn’t the same on Sunday as he has been in the past. I will put it the easy way, when you are on drugs you are never the same person and you do crazy things... I’ve taught a lot of people that have been on drugs and they just do the craziest things sometimes. So we have a little bit more work to do with him, but he is still willing to meet with us, which is super awesome! We’ve been teaching the L.... daughter A..., who is 8 years old. We usually don’t teach them, but she needs to learn and understand a little bit more than she does. We are hoping to get Nathan and her baptized on the same day.

We had a really great lesson with Q..... and K..... this week! The have a date for the 28th of December and there is just a few things holding them up, marriage being the biggest one! They both know that the church is true, now they just have to live by the principles and commandments! Q....... had the most humble prayer that I have heard for a little while!

So this week we received a referral from Salt Lake, that we need to go contact this week. The only problem is that it is about a 40 minute drive out of town. There is only one member family that is in the town that we went to, Sigourney is the town name. We drove all the way out there and we walked up to the guy’s door and knocked on it. He said something, but we both couldn’t here it, he said it one more time and still we asked him and the last time we heard it crisp and clear, GO AWAY!! We both kinda laughed about the whole thing, but it kinda stunk to because it was a long drive out there. What can you do? haha

To answer the question of, what have I learned most?

Well too much that I can’t even think of one at the moment.. haha just kidding.. but I really have learned so much so far and I still have a lot of time left to learn more. One of them would have to be, working with people! I’ve never really been able to work with people very well. Well maybe I just stayed away from trying to work with some.. haha more than just working with people, but getting to know where they’re coming from and what’s going on in their lives, so that we can share the gospel to them. I have learned so much about a testimony and what it means to have one. Just learning about the Book of Mormon and its importance is a great blessing for me, I wish I would have read it more when I was home.

I am so thankful for my mission so far and for what I’ve learned and been able to do. I thank everyone who had a role in me serving a mission. LOVE YOU ALL!!

Happy birthday! to Kalhin and grandma Kirton and Conner this week! Conner you are getting to old!! I will have to get you something this week:)

LOVE YOU ALL!

LOVE ELDER KIRTON!!



Having fun doing service work!

Maybe too much fun!

 

 

Hello! from Iowa!

It’s been a cold morning here in Osky! we received some snow yesterday, just about an inch so nothing big or anything. The overall week has been really good and super fun. There is a lot going on in Osky at the moment and hopefully it will be a close to a great year! It looks like you’ve had fun with the missionaries this past week, bikes wouldn’t be very much fun.. I guess we just lucked out over here...

We started our week off great, with some lessons with the people that we are teaching. We taught T.... on Monday, we call her our grandma, because she is about 60 years old. We also had a member that is over 60 come with us, that we call our other grandma.. haha it’s a great time, they always give us plenty of candy and sometimes too much soda! haha man I sure do miss My real grandparents!! I just have to give them a shout out to them, for how awesome they are and for all of the hard work that they do to raise the kids and grandkids.. love ya guys!! so we had a great lesson with them, T... is super close, but is tied to her church by friends. Which is the hardest thing to help people over come when learning about the restored gospel. We raked up her leafs this week as well, her lawn was absolutely covered and it made for an awesome pile of leafs.. see pics... anyway we had fun helping her with that.

On Thursday we headed to Iowa City again, for another meeting with all of the leaders of the mission. We had a special visitor come, he is the head guy at the MTC, so he taught us a lot of great things! I always love it when someone comes in from salt lake to teach us how to be better missionaries, because it’s hard to keep up with how the world looks at the gospel. We have to try new ways to help people recognize the truth.

Which brings us to N....., remember last time I told you how he got up and bore is testimony. Well he’s still doing really well, we are trying to help him prepare for Nov. 30. It’s been a while since I’ve taught someone so solid as he is. It’s great when people really desire to be baptized! Those people are the ones that we need to keep finding, because they are really searching for the truth. It kinda makes me ask myself, Would I be baptized a member of the church if I didn’t know about it.? It’s something you should ask yourself it helped me gain a stronger testimony about the gospel.

All in All this week flew right by! This next week will be transfers, it will be my deciding transfer! what I mean by that is.. I will stay here for the rest of my mission or I will leave to another area for the rest of my mission. It’s going to be interesting, but I know where ever the lord puts me I will be where I need to be!

So when do you think Nicole will get her call? this month or next month?

You guys have a safe week! love ya all!!!

LOVE ELDER KIRTON!!



Fun Things in Oskaloosa!

They had some fun with fake mustaches.

 

Dear Family!!!

So this week has been one to remember for sure! We’ve had a lot of great things happening here in Osky, that have only been brought to us because of the Lord. We’ve had both ups and downs, but the ups are the only thing that you remember throughout the week. It’s crazy that most of the good things in life are remembered most! That’s how it should always be! Never dwell on past mistakes or bad things that have happened! We’ve just been focusing on the good in everything and our weeks have been so great!

Our Halloween was really happy for sure! We have to be in at 6 on that day, just because of safety and because everyone is out trick or treating. So we went to a member’s house, that isn’t too far from where we live. So we walked there and brought some food that we made, ya we cooked a little bit.. mom.. haha There was a few people from the ward there and the food was great! We played a few games and had a little pepper eating contest! it was super hot!! The time having fun was great and reminded me of the great family that I have back home!

A lesson that we had set up with a semi less active person turned into a miracle for the week! We got to the members house and talked with them a little bit, as we waited for the other person to arrive. While we did, we began talking to a cousin of the member. N......is his name and he is now one of the new investigators that we have. So after talking to him, we started teaching him about the gospel and another friend came into the room and sat down to listen. We than started to teach him (W....). It was a great lesson!! N.... really needs the gospel in his life and had no idea that this was the reason that he came all the way from Memphis. Guess what! N..... came to church this week as well, it was fast and testimony meeting of course. As we listened to the members bare their testimonies, I saw in the corner of my eye, N..... get up and start to walk to the podium. Elder Cutler and I looked at each other, because we couldn’t believe it. N..... got up and bore his testimony about learning about the gospel and how much it’s already changing his life! The spirit filled the room as he continued and I know that I felt a warm feeling inside my heart! It was a great reassurance that I know that our efforts as missionaries are not wasted. N..... has a baptismal date for Dec. 14.

All of the other investigators are doing pretty well, J..... came to church again and is still shooting for the date of Dec 7. We taught him the word of wisdom, this past week, you don’t find too many people out here that are already living it. Well J... just happens to be that guy!

We also had interviews this week as well, I think that it might have been my last interview with President Jensen. I had to renew my temple recommend too.. That just shows how fast time is flying here! I can’t believe that it’s already here. In the interview, we talked a little bit about what I might do, with the last few months I have left. I will either be staying here or going this coming transfer, but he said he will have to pray about it..

So some exciting news as well! I talked to him about Nicole getting her call. He said that I can talk to you guys. Txt me when she gets it and when she will open her call up, so we can plan the time into our schedule. Then I can hear her read it! I am excited to hear from you guys soon!

I will talk to you guys soon! love ya all! Have a super week!!

LOVE ELDER KIRTON KIRTON KIRTON KIRTON!!