The Fact That We Can Go to the Temple and Be in the Lord`s House is AMAZING!!!!!!!!!!

Email received 10/28/13

Elder Houghton with one of his ward members in La Chorrera. 

HEY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So things are going pretty good here in Panama!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I`m basically loving it here!!!!!!!!!!! I don`t know why but this week especially I just felt really good!!!!!!!! But like I said things are going pretty good here!!!!!!! We`re getting stoked for Jose`s baptism on thursday!!!!!!!!! Oh man that kid is SO COOL!!!!!!!!!! When we visited him yesterday he was asking us about the mission and he said that he`s really stoked to go on the mission!!!!!!!!!! He`s only 15 so he still has 3 years to go but he`s SUPER excited about it!!!!!!! I`m REALLY excited for him!!!!!!! He`s going to be a GREAT member of the church!!!!!!!!! 

As far as our other investigators go, we are teaching a lady named Zuly and her son Daniel. They`re pretty cool!!!!!!!! They`ve known the missionaries for a long time and are really acceptive to the Gospel!!!!!!! The only problem with them is they have 3 HUGE pitbulls!!!!!!! So I almost pee my pants every time I walk into their house!!!!!!!!! Ha ha I don`t know what it is but I have developed a fear of dogs. I think it`s because here in Panama EVERYONE has HUGE dogs!!!!!!!!!! I don`t understand it!!!!!!!! Ha ha but other then their dogs they`re GREAT!!!!!!!!!!!! Also, yesterday a member brought an investigator to church (I LOVE when that happens!!!!!!!!!) So we`re going to go visit her tomorrow so we`ll se how that goes. We`re also working with a less-active family who owns a resturant here in Chorrera that we`re going to go eat at this week which I`m pretty excited about. But yeah they`re a really cool family!!!!!!!!!!! They live kind of far from the Chapel (which is their excuse for not going to church lately) but they`re a really nice family and we`re hoping to baptize the dad (he`s not a member) But yeah the work is going pretty good here!!!!!!! 

Anyways that`s cool that you were able to see Cole at the front runner station!!!!!!!! I read his e-mail it looks like he`s doing well!!!!!!!! That kid`s going to be a GREAT missionary!!!!!!!!! That`s NUTS that Max`s birthday is coming up!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! He`s going to be 14 right?!?!?!?! That`s NUTS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Also, he`s playing for Provo High?!?!?!?!?! I thought he was still at Dixon? ANyways that picture of the back yard is NUTS!!!!!!!!!! We have real grass back there!!!!!!!!!!!!! That`s SO COOL!!!!!!!!!! Ha ha but yeah I`m glad that everything`s going good for you guys!!!!!!!!!!!! 

But yeah I`m SUPER GLAD that you guys are all doing FANTASTIC!!!!!!!!!!!!! I LOVE YOU ALL SO MUCH!!!!!!!!!!!!! Also one last thing I just remembered. So on Saturday Jose went to the temple with the other jovens (youth) in the ward and he said that even though he wasn`t able to enter (because he`s not a member yet) he said that he still could feel the AMAZING spirit that comes from being close to the temple. There`s a symbol in a lot of the temples that is a square with a circle on the inside (I know for a fact that it`s in the Timponogas temple) That symbol means the place where heaven and earth meet. I want to testify to you that the temple really is the closest to heaven that we can be while still being on earth. I`m serious. Just from being outside standing on temple grounds you can feel that the Lord is with you. I promise you that with temple attendance we can come closer to the Lord and recieve more revelation then from doing anything else. PLEASE take advantage of the fact that in Utah there are temples all over the place and you can pretty much go to the temple whenever you want. Because it is seriously one of the BIGGEST blessings from the Lord. The fact that we can go to the temple and be in the Lord`s house is AMAZING!!!!!!!!!! The Lord has trusted us with this opportunity and we need to take advantage of it and go as often as we can and I KNOW that we will recieve blessings from it. I LOVE the temple and I KNOW that everything that we do in the temple brings us closer to our heavenly father. Please take the time to visit the temple whenever you can. 

Anyways thanks again for EVERYTHING!!!!!!!!!!! I LOVE AND MISS YOU ALL SO MUCH!!!!!!!!!!!!! HAVE A GREAT WEEK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Here's some fun pictures he sent from his visit to the Panama Canal...

He finally got to spend the day at the Canal.  He said it was really awesome!

He said, "Finally I get to cross 'Play pool in front of the Panama Canal' off my bucket list!"  Gosh I love that guy!  So funny!

He said, "Strangely, there's no routes from Utah that go through the canal..."