I left that lesson feeling so uplifted and so close to my Savior. Being able to teach so many great people, like Tony, just brings me so much joy. It's pretty incredible.

   

 I had an awesome week. Weeks just continue to go faster and faster out here. As usual we had some really cool lessons this week. One in particular stood out with a guy named Tony. Tony has had a crazy life. He has seen things that I hope I never have to see but I know that he had to go through those trials to make him into the person he is today and to prepare him for accepting Jesus Christ in his life. We talked a lot about a bunch of different things. We started off trying to teach about one thing and he kept asking questions about other things and honestly it was one of the coolest lessons I've ever gotten to teach. We talked a lot about prayer and about letting go of mistakes we have made in the past. We talked about overcoming addictions and how Christ can help us do that. I left that lesson feeling so uplifted and so close to my Savior. Being able to teach so many great people, like Tony, just brings me so much joy. It's pretty incredible. 

     We also had a meeting this week that's called Zone Conference. I love Zone Conference so much. We get to meet with our mission president and other missionaries for 5 hours and we get to receive some great trainings on how to become better teachers and better people in general. This time we had our meeting on obedience. It was a great Zone Conference and exactly what I needed. We talked a lot about apostles from the scriptures who obviously had faith, but didn't use their faith to be faithful and obedient. For example, the story of Peter. There are many examples of Peter falling short in the New Testament but he was Christ's "head apostle." When Judas betrayed Jesus and the Roman soldiers came to take Jesus to be crucified they asked Peter if he knew Christ three times and three times Peter denied knowing Him. This is right after Peter told Christ he would follow Christ to death or to prison. But as soon as adversity comes up Peter forgot his promise and only thought about himself. I realized that I do that too. Following the world and the natural man is so much easier than following Christ. I got some pretty cool inspiration for things I need to change and am looking forward to see how it changes me. I'll definitely be studying out of the scriptures more and praying more. I felt like I was doing it enough but realized there is no such thing as enough. All in all another great week. 

     The scripture I want to share this week is from Mark chapter 10 verses 17-21. They say, "17 And when he was gone forth into the way, there came one running, and kneeled to him, and asked him, Good Master, what shall I do that I may inherit eternal life? 18 And Jesus said unto him, Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, God. 19 Thou knowest the commandments, Do not commit adultery, Do not kill, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Defraud not, Honour thy father and mother. 20 And he answered and said unto him, Master, all these have I observed from my youth. 21 Then Jesus beholding him loved him, and said unto him, One thing thou lackest: go thy way, sell whatsoever thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come, take up the cross, and follow me." I love these scriptures. When we pray we need to ask for something to change or work on like this young ruler. But when we get our answer me must follow it. The next verse talks about how the young ruler walked away disappointed because he didn't want to sell all he has. We must sell all we have, take up the cross and follow Him. That's something I am not great at and want to be better at and am going to be focusing on for the next little while. But that's all I got. 

     I hope everyone is doing well back at home! Today is officially my 7 month mark which is pretty crazy. As always, thanks for all your prayers and support. Have a great week!

It really made me think about how I pray. Am I more counseling the Lord or am I letting Him counsel me?

Colton's address has been updated again.  The address listed on his page here is now correct. 

This picture was texted to me today with a simple note from a stranger that said "Hi Mom and Dad from your missionary."

    

 My week was awesome. Each week just seems to get better than the past one. I went on exchanges (just swapping companions for a day) with our zone leaders this week. Zone Leaders are two missionaries who are over about three districts. So in the chain of command they are one above me you could say. But I stayed with Elder Wilcox, who is from Mississippi. He is super cool and a chill dude. We had a great day and found quite a few new people to teach who seem pretty solid! I'm really excited to get to teach them this next week. 

     We also had interviews with our mission president this week and I love getting to just sit one on one with President Palmer and talk to him about how things are going. He is such an amazing servant of the Lord. I love getting to serve with him. 

     Some other exciting things that happened this week were with this guy named Tony. His story is incredible. It was awesome to get to know him a little bit better this past Friday and to testify to him about how Jesus Christ and His gospel will change his life and to see how that affected him. Just an amazing lesson. 

     Probably the highlight of my week though was on Saturday. After six months of meeting with and teaching Jose he finally got baptized. It was so incredible, words can't describe the feeling that I got during that. I had tears in my eyes and was just so happy for him. It was so cool to get to see his big smile as he came out of the water and just to see how happy he was. The rest of his family should be getting baptized pretty soon too which is so exciting. I love that family so much. 

     We also had some really fun/funny things happen this week. On Monday night we were headed home for dinner and saw a food truck that said on it "World's Greatest Corndog" so naturally we had to stop and get it and man that wasn't a lie. Easily the best corndog I've ever had. So good. And the guy gave it to us for free which was cool too. Our family loves the classic film Elf in which Buddy is excited to find the "World's Greatest Cup of Coffee" so this led to much laughter with Alex and Ella wanting to know if Colton congratulated the driver:)  We are a silly family sometimes but it is a nice way for him to continue to connect with his sisters when he shares those things!

     In one of our lessons with a kid named Tyler, he was telling us about an insult he used on one of his friends and about how he totally schooled him and we asked what the insult was and he said it was "your last week's sidewalk chalk on the sidewalk." It was sooooo funny. Dumbest insult ever but it made my laugh. 

     Also on Friday, we had a lesson with Andres and Ana and they forgot so we went to their house to see if they were coming and only Andres came out and so he took us to Ana's friend's house to get her and then over to his friend, Bico's house to get him to come and so we were just strolling through the neighborhood with the "squad." The oldest kid was 12 so that was pretty funny too. All in all a great week.    

"The Squad"

      For the scripture of the week I actually have two that really go together really well. They are both from the Book of Mormon and talking about prayer. The first says, "Counsel with the Lord in all thy doings, and he will direct thee for good; yea, when thou liest down at night lie down unto the Lord, that he may watch over you in your sleep; and when thou risest in the morning let thy heart be full of thanks unto God; and if ye do these things, ye shall be lifted up at the last day." And the second says, "Wherefore, brethren, seek not to counsel the Lord, but to take counsel from his hand. For behold, ye yourselves know that he counseleth in wisdom, and in justice, and in great mercy, over all his works." It really made me think about how I pray. Am I more counseling the Lord or am I letting Him counsel me? Just something to think about looking at your own prayers. I definitely am going to change how I pray. 

     But that's all I got for this week. As always, thanks for the prayers. They are much appreciated. Have a great week!

Mafia, Weddings, and Forgiving Yourself

Colton didn't take any photos to send this week but I was really missing him so I was looking at some pictures from past Februarys and found this favorite from when I took him to visit SuperBowl Village in Indianapolis in 2012.  I am proud of him, wouldn't want him to be anywhere else right now and am uplifted by his emails and stories of how he is blessing the lives of others every week. But as so many people ask me - Do I miss him?  Of course, like crazy! 

 This week was a crazy week. Crazy but also good. Elder Ledbetter was up most of the night throwing up and so Tuesday we were stuck inside all day again. He still didn't feel good at all on Wednesday but good enough we could get out and teach our lessons which was good. But by Thursday, everything was back to normal. So because of that it seemed like this week just flew by. 
     But I had some really cool experiences this week. On Friday, I got to run my first district meeting which went really well. My favorite role as a district leader is getting to do baptismal interviews. So when the missionaries in my district have finished teaching someone who desires to be baptized, as their district leader I get the opportunity to interview them to see if they are ready to make that commitment and it is really cool. On Friday I had my first chances to get to do that and I interviewed two completely different people. The first lady was 68 and her story is amazing. She was born into the mafia and has had to experience terrible things through that. And when she was younger her husband cheated on her so she hired a hitman to kill him and so she went to prison for 25 years but that is where she started to learn about Jesus Christ and his teachings and so she decided she wanted to change her life and turn it around. And so however many years later she was able to be baptized and it was such an amazing event to witness on Saturday. The other interview I got to do was with a 9 year old girl. She was literally the sweetest thing in the world. She was adorable. She was super intelligent and understood almost all the questions I asked her right away and the ones she didn't she understood once I gave her a hint. Her baptism was a beautiful event to witness as well. 
     Also on Friday, was Jennie and Jose's wedding and so it was really cool to be able to go to that as well. I love Jennie and Jose so much and it was awesome to be able to see them again. Jose has finally quit smoking and is going to be baptized this Saturday and I am so pumped for him and to be able to go that as well. That family is just amazing. 
     One last story. So Saturday night we were leaving a lesson and got a text from a guy we are teaching, who is trying to overcome alcoholism. We went over and visited with him and wow what an amazing experience. He was really struggling and feeling down. He isn't happy with who he has become and it was really sad to see him so upset because he is such a great guy. One of the things we talked to him about was how basically we are sometimes our biggest critic. We beat ourselves up so much about how we aren't perfect and all it does is make things worse. We should never just stop trying to become better but when we fail don't let that destroy us but inspire us to be better. It's definitely something I really struggle with and it was cool to share that with him and see how quickly his outlook changed. That goes along perfectly with a scripture that really jumped out at me this week. The scripture says, "I, the Lord, will forgive whom I will forgive, but of you it is required to forgive all men." I've read this scripture so many times but never thought about it in the way I did this week when I read it. I am pretty good about forgiving others. I always have been. I get over things pretty quickly most of the time. But I am terrible at forgiving myself. God has commanded us to forgive everyone and that includes ourselves. So let go of the pride that keeps us from getting over our shortcomings and ultimately becoming better and more like our Savior. When we learn how to do that, we will become so much happier in our lives. I hope you all have a great week this week! Thanks for all your prayers and support! Y'all are the best!

Elder Potter

"All we have to do is follow the example of Jesus Christ. If we do that, God will take care of the rest."

    

 My week had its ups and downs. I like the new area a lot. A big portion of the area is pretty low income and subsidized housing so we definitely meet some interesting people. We are teaching the S family, who are trying to get active in their church attendance again and she also wants to quit smoking. One day we were contacting some referrals in the same apartment complex she lives in and we were walking around outside and we saw her smoking a cigarette. Elder Ledbetter yelled at her, "Sister S, what the heck are you doing?" She tried to hide it and told us she "wasn't doing nothing." It was really funny and just perfect timing. 

     We put two kids, Andres and Ahna, on date for baptism. They are really sweet kids. Andres tries to act like a punk because he is 11 but he is far from one. We had an awesome lesson with them talking about what the Plan of Salvation. It is my favorite lesson because it explains God's plan for us so that we can be happy and it just makes so much sense to me. We also had an awesome lesson with a lady named Tammy. Her husband committed suicide in March but instead of letting that destroy her faith it has actually strengthened it so much. She has turned to God to help her overcome it, and it has strengthened her relationship with Him so much. She has been a great example to her family and to me as well. She is really an awesome lady. 

     As well as the beginning of the week went, it sorta ended on a sour note. I got the flu Friday night and was up a lot of the night throwing up so that wasn't fun. We had to stay inside all day Saturday which was extremely boring but it was also kind of nice to get to relax and catch up on sleep. But it was definitely really nice to get out of the house on Sunday. That's all I got for this week. 

     The scripture of the week this week is Moses 1:39 which says, "For behold, this is my work and my glory--to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man." This scripture is one of my favorites and explains God's purpose. His purpose is to basically bring us happiness. Immortality means to live forever. Jesus dying on the cross, suffering for our sins, and being resurrected makes it possible for everyone, no matter who they are, to have immortality. But eternal life is living in the presence of God forever. I can't imagine anything that can be happier than that. All we have to do is follow the example of Jesus Christ. If we do that, God will take care of the rest. I hope everyone has a good week! 

I also included the happiest picture of Jesus I've ever found. It honestly made me laugh when I saw it but it definitely made my day. Can't wait to hear back from you!