Elder Potter Sighting!

I got a text from a man in Utah tonight who had the opportunity to take Colton and his companion, Elder Tyler (who is from Westfield, IN of all places!) to dinner tonight.  He sent me these pictures which are the first pictures I have received.   He shared that Colton loves and misses us all and got a bike from the mission home so is ready to go! It was very kind of him to take the time to share this and it really made my day.  So often it is the small things that take no more than a few minutes that can uplift and change the lives of others.  I am accepting the challenge to use my technology to greater bless others.  How much better the world would be if we could all take the time to take action when someone crosses our mind and reach out in kindness, apologies, encouragement and celebration as prompted.  Life is as rich as we make it! 

First Assignment to West Valley

I got a quick text from Colton today telling me he made it safely to the mission home, and he will be serving in West Valley in the Hunter South Stake.   What is a stake? 
He says his companion is also from Indiana which he is super excited about!

Leaving the MTC

 I can't believe it but I head for the field today. It's been an awesome three weeks at the MTC. I've met so many amazing people and have a couple of people who I'm going to email with about our missions so that will be really fun. I've been so lucky to have had the district I did. I loved them so much. I'm going to really miss my companion, Elder Greer. He is an awesome missionary and a great guy too. We really taught well together but I am excited to meet my trainer today and be faced with a new challenge. It'll be interesting for sure. This past Tuesday, Elder Anderson came and spoke to us and gave us missionaries some amazing promises and that was really cool. The spirit that I felt when he walked into the room was amazing. One of the things he said that I thought was really cool was that just like him we are called to be Jesus Christ's apostles, just with a little "a" instead of a big "A." I really liked that a lot. I can't even tell you the number of people I have ran into here that I knew and they knew me. It's really cool! I learned so much this week and am so excited to apply it to the field. To end I'd like to share something funny that happened this week. I went to open this door for some missionaries and thought it was a pull but it was push door from the side I was on. So when I realized that I pushed it open but as I did I ran straight into a pole and busted my eye open. It started bleeding but my pride was hurt more. Hopefully that made everyone's week. Thanks again everyone for all the support and wishes! I'm excited for the new challenge of entering the field this week! You're all in my prayers!

Elder Potter

Last Week at the MTC

Today I was able to email Colton back and forth as we were both online at the same time and chat a little bit.  It was really nice and he sounds really happy!  Our friends from church here, the Boyces also told me that their daughter Renae saw Colton at the MTC one day. It is fun to make those connections! He will send pictures soon and he asked me to share this: 

This week I definitely had an eventful week for sure. The devotionals we have had so far have been awesome. Last Sunday Elder Holland's son came and spoke to us and I got to participate in the largest MTC Choir they have ever had in the history of the MTC. There were 1,557 missionaries in the choir. We had 300 missionaries leave last Tuesday and then 814 enter on Wednesday so that was crazy.  This past Sunday I was asked to be the District Leader so naturally I lost the binder and a set of missionaries on my first day but luckily I found them both. I finally saw Brian (his cousin) on Sunday and it was awesome. We got two new TRC's on Monday and Elder Greer and I got both of them to commit to being baptized so that was really neat. Thank you to everyone who sent my stuff for my birthday. That was so nice and made me so so grateful for all the people supporting me from home and throughout the country. I'm heading into my last week at the MTC and it is definitely bitter sweet. I can't wait to enter the field (he will be heading to the west side of the Salt Lake Valley - we will learn the specifics later) but I am loving it here. My companion and my district is so sweet and I have loved getting to know them. Tomorrow is going to be interesting because we are hosts so we have to try and act like we know where everything is and what we are doing for the new missionaries. But I am doing really well! Thanks for all the love and support and if you are sending me mail don't send anything after tomorrow to the MTC please because it takes forever to get here and I'll probably be gone by the time it gets here. (We will update his mailing address as soon as we know what it is). Also you might not hear from me for two weeks because I head out into the field on Tuesday so I don't know if I will get email time. I'm hoping I do. Thanks again! Love and miss you all!

Elder Potter

OLD FRIENDS AND NEW FRIENDS

We received this letter today.

August 1

Dear Family,
Hopefully you got my first letter.  I just got yours tonight but I love the MTC and my district so much.  I have learned so much already and my testimony has grown so much.  We are all serving in Utah and so none of us are from Utah so we all have this cool bond.  Brian (his cousin from Utah who will be serving in Taiwan) should get here on Wednesday.  My companion's birthday is tomorrow and today we had to go to the dentist so his fillings could get fixed.  I've seen two kids from EFY (Especially For Youth church camp he went to the last four summers) as well as Riley Buckles (a church friend from Indianapolis area) so that's cool.  By the way all 8 elders in my district (this link explains districts and other MTC details  www.lds.org/new-era/2007/03/inside-the-mtc) are going to my mission and two of the sisters are going to Salt Lake South and the other two are going to Orem.  One elder, Elder Blackem had to go home from my branch because he found out he has cancer.  So please keep him in your prayers.  Thank you so much for the letters and Ella you can keep my headphones.  Ella had borrowed Colton's headphones and forgot to return them so wrote to ask him what to do with them.  Miss and love you all. 

Love,
Elder Potter

Elder Greer

This letter came in the mail today. 

Mom & Dad
The first day went really well.  I love my companion Elder Greer so much.  His birthday is Tuesday so you should send him something.  He is turning 21.  He is returning to finish his mission from 18 months ago but his testimony is awesome.  He loves football too so that's really cool.  We got to teach actual investigators today too so that was really cool.  Hope all is well. 
Love and miss you.
Colton

MY FIRST WEEK

Colton asked me to post this letter today:

So the first week has been a very interesting experience so far at the MTC. My district is pretty great and I get along with my companion super well. (For safety and accountability reasons the missionaries are assigned a "companion" or partner who they are with all the time.) His name is Elder Greer and he is from Orange, Orange County, California. We have quite a bit in common so that makes it pretty easy to get along. Tuesdays are my P Day while I'm at the MTC.  (P Day stands for Preparation Day.  This is one day each week when he will be able to do his shopping, errands, laundry, write letters, email, etc.  While in the MTC his will be Tuesday but once is in the area where he will serve it will be Monday).  I have had so many amazing experiences so far and have already grown so much as a person and my testimony of the gospel has been strengthened so much. We have already started teaching TRC's which is like role play but they have people come in and pretend to be someone investigating the church but some of them are actual real investigators so that makes it interesting. The first guy that Elder Greer and I are teaching's name is Bubba. He has an amazing story about how he joined the Crips when he was 9 and has lived Compton, Oceanside, the East and West side of Oakland, as well as Gary, Indiana. We spent 45 minutes talking about gangs and gang life which was super interesting. But it is really cool. He has completely turned his life around and is living in Orem, is a manager of a company, and is married to an LDS girl and they are expecting their first child. I'm really excited to get to teach him about how much God loves him and wants him to come to him. The second guy were are teaching's name is Braulio. He is from Peru and is really struggling with a lot of things. His mom is an alcoholic and has cancer and so that has been on his mind a lot. He is just so sad and it breaks my heart. He says he doesn't think God loves him and so that is what we are really trying to get him to understand is that God does love him. I'm excited to continue to teach both of these men and help them strengthen their relationship with Christ. One last thing, if everyone could keep Elder Blackem and his family in your prayers that would be great. He had to go home on the second day because some tests came in that informed him that he had blood cancer. I can't imagine what he is going through at this time. I appreciate all of you who are supporting me at home. I miss and love everyone. Thanks for the thoughts and prayers!

Elder Potter