Heres a Hi from Iowa!

This has been a very interesting week for me! You will find out further into this email.. For the weather here is warmer than it has been, which is the nicest thing ever! The snow is melting, which doesn’t affect us at all here as a missionary. Conner and Bret hopefully it snows more in Utah for you.. haha

So the beginning of last week was crazy, now not crazy like before but super crazy. The weather dropped to a very low temperature Monday and Tuesday, which resulted in some of our pipes freezing in the apartment. We didn’t have any water for a few days, luckily we have awesome members that helped us out. On Monday night I got sick.. like the flu sick..it wasn’t the funniest night of my life.. the following day we had a meeting that we had to be at in Iowa City. I spent half of the meeting sleeping the sickness off.. anyway the blessing that I received the other day, helped me recover very quickly. After being sick and not having any running water, I was in a state that required me to turn to God. Even though I experience some infirmities and affliction, I know that the lord was watching over me. My mission has taught me a lot about being grateful for what I have, given the circumstances. You can decide how you feel 100% of the time and the lord wants you to turn to him 100% of the time. When you do this you have no reason or rhyme to be unhappy. When you reach low points in your life, often that is when the lord is there to lift you higher than you have ever been! Anyway that is something that I have reflected upon this past week well recovering from being sick.

We spent a lot of time out of our area, for interviews, Mission Leadership Meeting, and exchanges. I had my last interview with President Jensen on Friday, wow I can’t really even believe that I am saying that.. And it’s crazy that Jade will be home next week! wow wow wow!!

On exchanges I had the privilege to go with Elder Jackson, who is a Spanish speaking missionary. So Tod and Jade would appreciate this more.. Throughout the day we spent a lot of time talking to Hispanic people.. well I guess I can’t say that I did, but some of them do speak English.. Anyway it’s a lot of fun to sit in on the lessons. I can’t pick up everything that they are talking about, but I can understand where they are in the gospel. It was a fun experience to just feel the spirit in the lessons, even though I didn’t have any idea what they were saying most of the time.

One of the last experiences I would like to share is about an older lady we taught. We knocked on W....s door, she was a referral from a member here in Osky. We got in and started to talk about family history and what happens after we die, it’s just where the spirit kinda leads it. We read a few scriptures out of the bible, 1 peter chapter 3 and 4. it talks about where Christ went after he died and before he was resurrected. Anyway we taught her about that and she said she never knew that before. She said she’s read the bible many times before... it just goes to show how awesome the restored gospel is. We know a lot of things that people just have no idea about and that is why it is so fun to share it with everyone!

January sounds like a fun month with all of these babies getting born! Jade getting home and lots of other fun things happening! have a great week and know that I love you all!

LOVE ELDER KIRTON!    

 

Pretty darn cold!

 

 

2014!!! IT’S going to be the best year!

Well I am glad that everything is starting to get better with grandma Bonnie! The prayers and blessings really help a lot and I am so grateful to be a part of the true church, so we can have blessings when we are in need :) I hope everyone continues to stay healthy and strong until February 14th!! and ... well a long time after that too.. haha I have been really lucky so far, not to get sick very bad. Everyone around us seems to be getting sick pretty good, but we are dodging it so far:) So yesterday we were informed of some really nasty cold weather coming in. Well they were most definitely right! This morning we woke up and Elder Mattoon went to take a shower... well no water came out.. Our pipes froze last night, so we had to go to our good friend J....'s to eat breakfast and shower.. it was kinda of depressing haha.. but we get a taste of what it’s like without running water.. and let me tell you it’s not super fun! The temp. was negative 16 this morning and with the wind chill it’s close to negative 30 probably! It’s only supposed to last for a little bit and go away.. hopefully!

This past week was a great opportunity for me to reflect upon the last year and think of things that I can work on this year. This last year was one of the best years that I've had, a full year of serving the Lord. And wow it went by super fast! As a mission we were able to see 517 people baptized!! Which is so wonderful to be a part of! There are many things in this world that are fun and exciting, but nothing at this time for me can compare to the salvation of Gods children. The times may get hard and a lot of the time we may want to quit, but the Lord teaches us never to look back! We can only learn from our mistakes and continue looking forward. Press forward to the prize! (Eternal life)

I am super excited to be home and see all of your faces, but until my time is up I have to keep working hard for the Lord! Thank you motivating me to keep working hard until the end, it really means a lot to hear that!

We have been working really hard to get S..... and her daughter E.....ready to be baptized this month. There are just a few last things that have to get worked out and hopefully when all is said and done they will be ready. W..... is also super close, we are just waiting for him to move out of the apartment he is in and then whenever that happens he’s ready to get baptized! It’s been wonderful to see their progression so far. In today's world it’s really hard to see the truth sometimes, there are lots of blinders that the adversary places around us.

The fast and testimony meeting was really good this week, there were lots of missionary moments that went on. It’s so great to see fruit from the labors that you do as a missionary:) There are many great things in store for the Oskaloosa branch! We had dinner with members that have been here when the branch was first started, it was really cool to hear all of the stories of how it came to be and how much work and sacrifice that it really takes.

What are some of the New Year goals you guys have? Going to the temple is definitely more often is definitely one of mine:) Anyway hope you have a great week! love you all!

LOVE ELDER KIRTON!





He got to do some sledding on Pday.

 

Christmas away from home.

 





 



Happy New Year! 2014

This week was awesome to see all of you and to talk to you again, it will be crazy to think that next time I will be able to talk to you face to face :) Everyone is looking good and looks like they are having fun. We had a great Christmas here as well, and the rest of the week was awesome!

The next day we went on exchanges to Lenox which is the longest distance away from our area, we spent a day there helping them out in their area. I went with a newer missionary, named Elder Shumate, from North Carolina. We had a great time and taught some great lessons. We meet with this one guy named D... and his wife. I have never seen a guy so prepared for the gospel as he was. The spirit was really strong throughout the whole lesson. That was a really fun experience for us that day and was a high light for the exchange. The next morning we went to Chariton an hour away, for our next exchange. ya back to back.. We again worked in their area doing our best to help them out with anything that they needed. It was a colder day and not as many people were willing to talk, but none the less we had a great time. I have been able to learn a lot from the new missionaries in the zone! It is such a blessing to be able to serve in a position that allows me to learn from so many missionaries. Right after Christmas we are right back to work sharing the Gospel and helping people out. Everything just seems to run smoother when that is what we are doing:)

This week is transfers again! We got our call this morning about transfers and the good news is.. I will be staying is Osky!! I am excited to finish here and for the last transfer that I start this week. There is so much to do and so little time. This New Year I would invite everyone to think of something they can give up or change to help you or someone else get closer to the Savior Jesus Christ. Remember the gospel is the only thing that will unite families forever! Never give up, Never give up!

I love you all and am grateful for all that I received this year! Have a great week!

LOVE ELDER KIRTON!



This is in the church parking lot.

Merry Christmas! This week! I will see you really soon!

Wow, It’s been the craziest, awesome and fun week ever! There is so much that has happened this week and so much to be grateful for. It looks like the snow hit you really good as well. We got about 4 to 5 inches on Sunday, which ended up canceling church here in Osky and as well throughout most of the mission. It’s kinda funny how easily the weather can affect everyone that is not use to the snow. Luckily we have a truck with 4x4! We are so grateful for that! I also got the package and the Christmas card for you guys! Thanks! And thank you to everyone else that has sent stuff this way:)

This week we had the most epic baptism ever! The baptism that was scheduled for N....... was to take place on Sunday after church. Well as you now know that church was canceled.. so we were super worried that it wasn’t going to happen. N..... has been waiting for this day for a while now, since last week we had to postpone it and all. The weather slowed down and the sun was out, so we called a few people up and got things prepared for the baptism. A little bit of shoveling and anticipation, N..... got baptized!!!! We were so excited for him. it was probably the smallest amount of people that I have seen at a baptism, but it was just enough to see it go through.

We are still working on getting the couple married so they can get baptized, it will be the last thing I do, before they have to ship me off back home! They are very close but just need a little more time and some nudging from the spirit and they will get there!

There is not much for me to tell you then, I WILL SEE YOU ON CHRISTMAS! the time will be at 4 your time and 5 my time! hopefully that will work, but if not we can most likely work something out:) You all have a great week and I will see you on the 25th!! love you all!

LOVE ELDER KIRTON!!!                                                                                                                

Good tidings of joy to you all as well!!

This week has been a crazy one, I guess the best way to describe it would be a roller coaster! Now most roller coasters are super fun, but a missionary one isn't always the best.. haha It’s been a great Christmas already and we still have plenty of days left in the year to do great things for other people. As a missionary it’s really easy to do things for other people, so I would like to extend an invitation to all of you that read this email, to find someone you can help this Christmas season. I am super grateful for an amazing family that supports in this work! I wish more people had such a great family to rely on too:)

On Monday last week, we had an awesome lesson with Q......... and K....... who are trying to prepare for the end of December to get baptized. They have to get married first before they can do that. I never would have thought that I would have to help someone get married as a missionary, but there is always a first for everything. On Tuesday we went with them to get their marriage license and that same day He purposed to her!!! That was just one step in this process. We waited all week for them to go and pick up the final copy of the license, but guess what that never happened!:( so we had a lesson with them the next day and talked about it. They said they ran out of time... so today and tomorrow we are going to do our best to help them get the license and get it signed so they can get baptized on Dec. 31.. but if they aren't ready then will have to wait till next year.. :p So that was a crazy roller coaster of the week.

N.... received his baptismal interview on Tuesday and passed!! We got everything ready for the baptism and finalized some things, with him and A..... A.... is C.....'s daughter and will also be baptized with N....... C..... is N......’s cousin and will be baptizing them both. Well Friday came around and everything was going super well. We received a txt message at 2 in the morning saying that C..... got stuck in Memphis Tennessee and won’t be able to make it back in time. We were like nooooo!!! It’s all good though, we just have to postpone the service till next week:) That was the last roller coaster of the week. Crazy right!

The lesson that I've learned this week, is that Satan really works hard whenever someone is trying to do something right. No matter the person or the good that he is doing. Whenever people are preparing to make a covenant with God, there usually is always some sort of opposition that stands in the way. It reminds me of the experience of Joseph Smith. A lot of time we just remember the wonderful experience he had with the visitation of the Father and the Son. If you read before that, you will know that Satan did everything in is power to stop his prayer, but Joseph exerted all his strength to call upon the Lord and he was delivered from that awful state. Jesus Christ suffered much before he experienced joy and peace. Before his resurrection he suffered in the garden and died on the cross. As we reflect upon Christ this Christmas season remember to give thanks for what you have and always know that there is light at the end of the tunnel whether in this life or the next, God will repay you for your struggles.

This past week was my last Zone Conference of my mission. :( I gave my going home testimony, just as everyone before has done. It was a weird experience to stand up there and do that. Before I just watched many other missionaries going home bare there testimonies and always thought that that will never happen to me. Well it did and now it’s past. During this ZC we watched a movie called Ephraim’s Rescue, I would highly recommend it to everyone! it is really good, but be careful because you will cry in it... The mission life is coming to a close faster than expected and I would like to thank all of you who have sent letters and packages these past few weeks! O and to answer your question mom, we can go to the mail box everyday:) I love you all!

Have a great week and I will see you next week! literally! LOVE ELDER KIRTON!!

 

His Zone.

16 Days till Christmas!!

Well it feels like Christmas was already here, with the week that we had! I am pretty sure that we drove more this week than I have ever driven in the past! I think we drove a total of 400 miles this past week, ya crazy right! There was so much that we had to do as well. We as well got snow yesterday, about 3 inches or so. But we definitely beat you on the coldness.. it’s about 3 degrees right now and was most likely colder last night.. haha!! I am so thankful for a truck:) It was pretty crazy on Sunday, we had to drive to Des Moines for another meeting and it was snowing. We made it there safely! but there is one thing that I found out while driving down there, is that Iowans!!! can’t drive in the snow! haha So I had to show them how a Utahan drives in the snow haha.. we had lots of fun.

We taught J... ward on Monday for the last time before his baptismal interview on Tuesday. The crazy thing is that we were all the way in Iowa City when J... got his interview. So when we got his call and heard that he passed we were so excited!! We got everything ready for his baptism on Wednesday night. We had a lot of people show up for it too, which is such a miracle! The baptism went so well and now he is the newest convert to the Oskaloosa branch:) see pics...

This week we keep working with N.... as well and he is already for his interview on Tuesday and his baptism will be on the 15th! We are really excited for it, because a fairly new member is going to be baptizing him, it is his cousin. C..... and C....'s 8 year old daughter is also getting baptized on the 15th, well that is the plan. So this next week is going to be super stressful. I hope and pray that everything is going go well and that the plans work out:)

Q..... & K..... need to get married this week in order for them to be baptized on the 28th of December. I am pretty sure this is going to be the craziest week of my mission. Everything comes down to this week, to finish strong before the end of the year! I am so grateful to be a part of the wonderful changes that all of these people are making! The Lord’s work is so true and that’s really all that matters!

The funny story of the week,

So we drove down to Osceola for a meeting that we had with the zone, and then soon after the meeting we drove to a town called Lamoni, which is about 30 minutes south of there. We drove down there because we needed to give a man that is planning on being baptized an interview. so here is the funny part of the story.. if you don’t know too much about the Community of Christ, I will tell you a little bit about them. They are a break off of our church and are all over the town of Lamoni and throughout Iowa. They have a college down there in Lamoni, so the sisters that were teaching him said that we would be giving him the interview at the college so we were like okay that we be fine. We get there and end up finding out that we were suppose to do the interview in the chapel of the Community of Christ.. I guess they didn't mind too much.. but there wasn’t really anyone around anyway.. the other funny part is that they had their baptismal font filling up there too... man it was such a coincidence.. I thought that it was super funny.. but everything went well and we drove 2 hours back home, it was an epic day!

The boys looked like they had lots of fun on their new sleds.. wish I could go sledding on some hills too... you will have to do it for me:)

To answer some of the questions. We always have a few new missions in the zone that we are working with, but I haven’t got a new missionary, nor will I get one since I only have one transfer let after this one. but it’s totally cool, because the zone is doing great and we have lots of fun doing missionary work, that is Elder Mattoon and I.. I hope you all had the chance to watch the Christmas devotional, because it was super good! even the kid that winked ;) haha super funny!

You keep having great weeks and I will also have great weeks as well! and I will see you all sooner than later:) love you all!

LOVE ELDER KIRTON!! /\

/ \

[] MERRY CHRIST- mas

Hey! Family!!

My thanksgiving was really good! We had a great meal over at a member’s house that is really close to where I live at. We were stuffed after that meal, which is good and bad!! haha I bet you guys had a great thanksgiving to! It feels like Thanksgiving happened like a month ago already, because time is just fast now a days. The boys looked like they had fun shooting the guns in alpine! LUCKY!!! so you can’t shoot there anymore? So we got a whole oreo pie, the other day from a member! Super good!

So this week is going to be really exciting for us! We will hopefully be having a baptism on Wednesday for J...! He has a friend that is leaving on Thursday, that he wants to be there, so we moved the date to the 4th for now. Super excited!! N..... also got up and bore is testimony again, man that guy is just something else! He’s got a date for the 14th!! It was such an awesome testimony meeting on Sunday! When investigators and recently returned members come back into activity and bare their testimony its super awesome!! Those are the experiences that a missionary lives for on a day to day basics:) We taught W.... on Monday about the stop smoking work shop! He read the word of wisdom pamphlet and stopped smoking after. he’s doing super well right now! Hopefully we will be able to help him get ready to be baptized soon enough! The week has been wonderful with all of the people that we’ve been able to talk to and teach! We are super busy this week, so I would imagine that it will go by really fast!

In order to teach someone about faith, you have to understand what faith is. Faith is- Believing in something that you cannot see, but is true as well as acting on that belief! Teaching someone about faith in Jesus Christ is the base to all that we talk about! In order to gain faith in something you first have to 1. learn it and after you learn it you have to be 2. willing to accept it. 3. you have to hope and desire to find out if it is true, which means you have to 4. Act on it! Than you will receive 5. a witness that it is true. This is a way that I have been able to understand faith a little better throughout my mission. Hopefully that will help you find out more truth! and most importantly have faith in it. Remember you really can’t have much faith in something that is not true.

I am as well excited to see you all this Christmas! Remember not to forget the true meaning of Christmas! I am thankful for you all and love you! Keep up the faith!!!

LOVE ELDER KIRTON, NOTRIK REDLE

 

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!!