WEEK 60 Daddy Round 2


WEEK 60 Daddy Round 2 

February 11, 2019

Hey Everyone! I’m training again, so Daddy Layton is back hahah. I still don’t know who my son will be, where he’s from, or anything like that! But I’ll find that out on Wednesday! I’m pumped, it should be great and I’m excited to start someone’s mission off on the right start again! That does put a close to my time with Elder Mansfield! We had a great 6 weeks, and it passed by pretty fast haha. I learned lots of stuff from him this transfer. This transfer I feel that I learned a lot, as a person and how to act in all circumstances… as well as how to recognize the whispers of the Spirit better!  We had a great week here as well, which included one of the most spiritual lessons of my mission. Let’s dive in!

5 de Fev, we woke up and had our last district counsel of the transfer! We actually went to a funeral for a woman from Setubal who loved the missionaries. We sung “Nearer my God to Thee”. It was pretty sad to see all the family members super sad, it really made me think about the plan of salvation once again! But then we ended up finishing our district meeting. We went to Irma Zulmira and Irmao Antonio’s house! We helped her make some brownies and cookies! After that we had to leave to go teach a lesson! It was unreal, a recent convert here, Irma Caterina, has a bunch of family members coming here from Brazil, and she wants us to teach all of them, and prepare them to be baptized. The family we went to teach was a mother and her two sons, on their second day here from Brazil. Her name is GG. When we arrived there it was just GG so we started teaching about the restoration. It was a very spiritual lesson, and in the end we shared Mosiah Ch2 V41 and she just started crying. 

Mosiah 2:41 And moreover, I would desire that ye should consider on the blessed and happy state of those that keep the commandments of God. For behold, they are blessed in all things, both temporal and spiritual; and if they hold out faithful to the end they are received into heaven, that thereby they may dwell with God in a state of never-ending happiness. O remember, remember that these things are true; for the Lord God hath spoken it.

She said it was an answer to her prayers, as she was basically starting over brand new here, and wanted to know if she was doing the right thing for her kids. Later her kids, Jonathon and Gustavo, came in from playing soccer. They’re 17 and 18 years old, and have two older brothers who still live in Brazil. We shared the restoration with them as well. They’re very religious as well and had some questions for us, but agreed they’d join our church if they received a response from God. I know that response will come in the time of the Lord, but pray for my boys!! That was basically our day… whatta time.    

6 de Fev, Good day. We had to drive up to Lisbon because we had our memorial service for Elder Gondim. Some people gave speaches, and we watched a slide show of photos a bunch of us missionaries sent in. It was a really great service. Our Mission President gave a great talk on “Not knowing things”. It’s something my Dad has always taught me and something I feel is really important. When you don’t know something, just say you don’t know!! It’s as simple as that, don’t make up some random stuff, just say you don’t know and then be willing to learn. President Fillmore was talking about that because he was saying he doesn’t know why Elder Gondim had to pass away, but he does know that God knows, and needs him right now. He said that helps him feel comfort. It was awesome. I also saw a whole bunch of Elders and Sisters I havent seen in forever! Even 7 out of our 10 MTC group was there. So great. We then had to drive to Sexail to pick up a chair, and then to Barreiros to drop off a box for some Sisters. There basically wasn't any time left in the day and we still had a long drive home so… we just drove home!

7 de Fev, Basically nothing much happened this day. Sad but true, our appointments fell, and contacting wasn’t workin too great. But we had lunch with our Grandma here, Irma Germana, and in the night we ate dinner at Miguel and Marcia’s house. They’re getting ready to move houses, so they’ll finally be able to go to church! We’re super excited for that!

8 de Fev, We did our weekly planning for this week and it was a long one because we had to set a bunch of stuff up, fill out a bunch of records, and make some teaching records for the people we’ve been teaching. Other than that it was another tough day where thing just weren’t falling right!

9 de Fev, In the morning we went and passed by 20 addresses of less active members. We have an assignment to help clean out the church's records here. The lists of members in this country are a little disorganized but that’s about to change! We’re going and finding out if members on the list still live there, if they passed away, or if they moved away. We found some people who moved, and some who still live in their houses. We then went to the church for the Mutual Activity and  sadly our friends Jonathon and Gustavo couldn’t make it. But it was a chill activity. We then went to Irma Luzia’s house, she’s about 85 and her husband had surgery so we went to go visit him. We shared a message of the plan of salvation and he kinda just went on a rant about how he already knows everything there is to know and that he can’t learn anything else. We then told him there are people in our church that need his knowledge, he agreed to maybe come for that reason hahah!! We then went to dinner at Irmao Jeorge and Irma Valqueiria’s house. They always make great food so Saturdays always rock. They’re also just awesome. That was the night!

10 de Fev, Church! We had church and it was great as usual. I love church here in this little Branch. After church, we had Branch counsel, we are basically the Branch President’s councellors. He says it all the time hahah. But then after that, we had a ward choir practice. I then received a call from my ex-comp, AP Terra and he told me that I’d be training again. I’m pumped for it, training is dope! To end the day, we passed by Irma Caterina because Elder Mansfield wanted to say goodbye. Then we just got prepared a little better for the transfers!! That was the day.

Well that was my week!

Cool story, easily two of fav comps Elder Baugh and Elder Moreira are serving together in Lisbon! Man I would love to be in tripla there with them. Those two will kill it together.

Scripture, Alma Ch30 V34. 

Alma 30:34  And now, if we do not receive anything for our labors in the church, what doth it profit us to labor in the church save it were to declare the truth, that we may have rejoicings in the joy of our brethren?

Great verse. And think about it, nobody who holds a position within the church makes money. That’s a lot of time, and a lot of sacrifice! So much respect.

Challenge, I’ve done this challenge before but write an email to one of “The Buds”! Just pick one of my friends whose also serving a mission and write him!

It’s been a pretty long transfer and I’ll just say I’m excited for a change.. I’m pumped haha.

Love you all, have a great Valentine's Day.

Elder out.

Mamba out.

parks.layton@myldsmail.net


#DaddyMode


“Cash Rules Everything Around Me” ‘Poundcake, Drake


MTC Gxng


 Chillin outside of the church











Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

WEEK 71 A Must Read Week

Image
WEEK 71 A Must Read Week April 29, 2019 Hey everyone! First of all, I'm still on the mission, I just haven't had the chance to send my weekly email through email as of recent. But if you wanna see my past weeks you can look up my name on  Blogspot.com  and I'm pretty sure you'll find them!  http://elderparkslayton.blogspot.com  Anyways this week is a must read as we had 2 baptisms, the mission president came to our area, and my Grandparents came and visited me here in Portugal... what a week, I'll just start it off right now.  23 de Abril, we had District Counsel in the morning and that was great! Our district is so awesome, freakin love the buds. We found this big spider in the church and Elder Cloes was all over catching and setting it free. But Elder Cloes was also feeling super sick during the day so we honestly didn't do a whole bunch other than our long car rides and getting some stuff to prepared for the Baptisms that we'll be having this ...
Read more

WEEK 102 "Just Hold on We're Goin Home"

Image
WEEK 102 "Just Hold on We're Goin Home" December 2, 2019 Hey everyone!  Well this is it, my last email. So thanks to everyone who has kept up these past 2 years, I really have grown so much.  The best part of the last week was the Baptism we had of Sara, we started working with her at the start of the transfer and it worked out perfect for her to be baptized in the last week! It was miraculous how she was able to leave smoking so easy, as I haven’t seen anyone leave it that fast I know God had a hand in that work. As well Sara's best friend Carina is an amazing recent convert who helped us and especially Sara out a lot. It was a great day and lots of people came to the baptism. I love the ward here in Seixal. I'm so happy I got to spend my last transfer here. I'll add a foto from the baptism below. Sara asked for a group of us to sing so we sung at her baptism while Elder Lehnhof played the violin and an Irmão from the ward played piano.  ...
Read more

Week 21

Image
Week 21 May 14, 2018 Hey everyone! Was an amazing week because it was Mother's Day, and I got to Skype the fam! But also in general it was a pretty good week, the mish is always chill though with a good comp like Elder Baugh. May 8th - Had lunch with the Soares family! That was awesome, they're one of my favourite fams here for sure! Then we went and visited a less active member. He was thrilled to see us, legit! Then we walked and talked with a mother and daughter, they were super interested so we got their number, then passed it on to the Sisters! Then a man Gjerdmun came up and talked to us, in English. He is from Norway, but currently lives in the middle of a forrest on the mountain with his family here in Braga. He had some mormon friends, and we just had a good chat! May 9th - Typical day in the office, grindin hard but no major success. Our effort and presence here in Portugal was hopefully portrayed though aha. May 10th - Crazy day! All our appointments d...
Read more

WEEK 50 - I Met The King of Portugal

Image
WEEK 50 - I Met The King of Portugal December  3, 2018 Hey everyone! Well as of now, I'm booked to return home next December on the 3rd... so that's in exactly one year. I can't express my feelings on that but I'll try a bit later in this message. Anyways, another one in the books as we head into the month of December! We actually had a really sweet week! Well I think at least it was good. This transfer's gonna go by so fast with all of the stuff that's happening! Here's the rundown of my week though!  27 de Nov, We had district counsel in the morning. It went well, kinda hard because basically nobody wanted to talk hahah. Elder Jardine stepped up and helped me out by responding to my questions, so that was great! After that, a man stopped us on the street and said that he was a member and wanted our help to return... he seemed a little crazy and drunk though. We gave him our contact and told him to call us later, never happened though. Durring our c...
Read more

WEEK 97 Hello Seixal

Image
WEEK 97 Hello Seixal October 28, 2019 Hey everyone!  First week of the last transfer down and it was a crazy/weird week. I got my new comp Elder Lehnhof who is from Highland utah. He has the exact same amount of time on the mission as my little brother Blaze! It’s pretty fun for me to think about the face that I have the opportunity/honour to start off someone's mission and that people had prayed for Elder Lehnhof to get a good trainer just like I was praying for my brother to get a good trainer. I'm super motivated to work so hard and just keep grinding until the last day! And that's what I'm going to do! Elder Lenhof is super cool, and super motivated to work so it’s gonna be an unreal transfer.  Our area is called Seixal and it is absolutely unbelievable! We have eaten lunch and dinner with members every single night since we arrived here, which is unheard of, especially since we completely switched the Elders who were here and didn’t know anyone. I ...
Read more

Week 99

Image
Week 99 November 11, 2019 Busy week but here are a few highlights: Elder Lehnhof  and  I found a bunch of people this week. I hurt my back mid-week, so I had to stay inside for two days.  We ate at some members' homes which is always great. The members do a good job of taking care of us.  Tomorrow is my last Zone Conference and that feels crazy.  I’ll be sharing my testimony and saying goodbye to a lot of people.  Things are going great with my companion, Elder Lehnhof.  No problems at all there.  Elder Layton parks.layton@missionary.org Elder Lehnhof
Read more

Week 4

Image
Week 4 January 15, 2018 Hey everyone! It's been a pretty great week once again! And on Tuesday it makes a full month of being gone... or you could say I'm 1/24 of the way done! Anyways, it's been great and I'll tell you about my week! Started Jan 9th! The day started with Elder Webb and I teaching 4 lessons on the Plan of Salvation, in Portuguese... which is still a grind but the language is definitely coming along. Anyways, we teach these lessons called TRC lessons, which is teaching in Portuguese to a member who speaks Portuguese but they're from Utah. The one guy said we taught with the spirit more than anyone he had ever had and we were ready for the field! Although, most of our success is probably because of Elder Webb! And the night of the 9th we had a Devotional and the speaker was Elder Bednar!! That was so good, and he's an amazing speaker. So that was a great day.  The following day was a Wednesday, and every Wednesday, the MTC gets new miss...
Read more

WEEK 78 #WETHECHAMPS

Image
WEEK 78 #WETHECHAMPS June 17, 2019 Hey everyone! So a bunch of stuff has happened recently and I´m sorry that I haven't written recently, but don't worry... I'm still here! But I only have 4 more transfers! First of all, #WETHENORTH. WE DID IT. 2019 NBA Champs, the Toronto Raptors. I have waited for so long and we finally did it. I won't write too much about this here, but you can check out my IG post my brother Blaze made for me, but let's just say... Mission Blessings. It's funny because at 7:00 am (The time we wake up) the day after The Raps won I received a text from my Mission President that said.... "#wethenorth. Toronto wins game 6. Parabéns Canada! Kawhi Leonard MVP." President Fillmore is the absolute best hahah!!!  Also happy Father's Day to my Dad, my grandpas, uncles, and my friends' dads who were like dads growing up! But straight up, I'm so grateful for my Dad and the way he raised me. He raised me to b...
Read more

Video of Elder Layton Speaking Portuguese

January 4, 2018 Parks' language teacher, Brother Machado, sent all of the parents of the Elders in his class this video this week with a text saying: "My name is Brother Machado.  I am your sons' teacher at the MTC.  I recorded them saying the First Vision in Portuguese and thought you would appreciate seeing it.  Thanks for sending them!  They are powerful missionaries!!!" The First Vision is Joseph Smith’s account of seeing Heavenly Father and Jesus.   Translated in English they would be saying what Joseph Smith had written:   “I saw a pillar of light exactly over my head, above the brightness of the sun, which descended gradually until it fell upon me.   It no sooner appeared than I found myself delivered from the enemy which held me bound. When the light rested upon me I saw two Personages, whose brightness and glory defy all description, standing above me in the air. One of them spake unto me, calling me by name and said, pointing ...
Read more

WEEK 53 Just an Overall Solid Week

Image
WEEK 53 Just an Overall Solid Week December 24, 2018 Hey Everyone! Thanks everyone for the Birthday wishes! Really is pretty crazy to think that my teenage years are in the past. I'm actually getting kind of old! so whack. But other than that and officially reaching 1 year out here, the week was great and full of random little surprises! So I'll just start it out now! 18 de Dez, The day started off by a district counsel! Elder Fillmore (he's in our district) gave an awesome training session to us. He compared us as missionaries to Crocadiles. The source of a Crocadile's power is his mouth and he needs to open it to be successful. As missionaries it's the exact same, our power only comes as we open our mouth. But Satan (Steve Irwin) plays an affect. Steve wants to grab the Crocs and tie their mouths shut, but as missionaries we can't let that happen. He gotta keep fighting. Later in the day we had a choir practice but before that we were knocking doors. W...
Read more