So, I've Got Some SUPER GOOD NEWS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Email we recieved 7/22/13 with some pictures!!!! 

Angelith's baptism!

HEY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! So, I've got some SUPER GOOD NEWS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ANGELITH GOT BAPTIZED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It was pretty much one of the best baptisms EVER!!!!!!!!!!!! I`ve been waiting to see her get baptized since I got here to Bocas almost 6 months ago!!!!!!!!! The spirit was SO STRONG during the baptism and she gave her testimony afterwards and seriously it was one of the strongest testimonies I`ve EVER heard!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! So yeah, she finally did it and she`s now a member of the church and she`s going to be SUPER STRONG!!!!!!!!!!!

District banana eating contest

This week has been pretty crazy!!!!!!!!! It started off with district meeting. So, since we`re in Bocas which is pretty much the world leading banana exporter, we decided to have a banana eating contest and to just be SUPER ridiculous about it we bought 200 bananas.Yep that`s right, 200 bananas!!!!!!! Ha ha it was 20 bananas per person. It was pretty dang fun!!!!!!!!!!! I was only able to eat 7 of them but Elder Perez from Guatemala ate 13 which was pretty ridiculous. Ha ha it was SUPER FUNNY!  The district president walked in right when we were in the middle of doing it and he saw all of the 200 bananas and he started cracking up. Ha ha it was pretty GREAT!!!!!!!!!! 

Mondongo 

Also this week we found a new investigator. This guy is SUPER COOL!!!!!!!!! I guess he`s listened to the missionaries before and he`s pretty dang positive. And then we were talking to his wife too and she told us that if he gets baptized she`ll get baptized. So we`re working hard with them to get them baptized before I leave Bocas. He also really likes Mondongo which is weird because Mondongo is basically the worst thing EVER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! But anyways when we passed by his house yesterday he was cleaning some Mondongo so they could eat it that night. Yep it was pretty dang gross!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Mondongo is cow stomach or intestine or something like that and it was pretty much one of the grossest things I`ve ever seen!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  

But yeah things are going GREAT here!!!!!!!!!!!! We`re working hard and we`re trying to convice president to keep us together another change but we`ll see. Oh also, our neighbor that works for the Smithsonian (I think I told you about him) well if I didn`t, we have a neighbor that works for the Smithsonian and we`re teaching him and his family. But anyway, he came to church yesterday and he REALLY liked it. Also, he reminds me a lot of Mr. Eady my marketing teacher from high school. It`s actually kind of weird. He`s basically a latin Mr. Eady. :)

Ha ha anyway like I said, things have been going SUPER WELL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Thanks for everything!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I LOVE YOU GUYS A LOT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This Week has Been Pretty Good!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Email we received on 7/15/13.

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

The first picture I get in a while and of course it's a goofy one!  Some things never change!  Here he is with Elder Seegmiller on P-day.  I wonder where he got that shirt! :)

This week has been pretty good!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Nothing too crazy other than the fact that we had to go to David for a conference so that was pretty sweet!!!!!!!!!! 2, 4 hour bus rides in 1 day. But it was cool!!!!!!!!!!!!! I got to meet President Carmack. He`s a SUPER cool dude!!!!!!!!!!!! And yeah I met the Presleys. They're SUPER COOL also. They`re not working in Bocas but they`re working in an area called Boquete which is in Chiriqui. But they are really cool!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Apparently they`re SUPER good friends with President Ward too so that was kind of cool!!!!!! But other than that nothing too crazy has happened.

We had this training yesterday with the branch leaders where we taught about inviting your friends and family to church and sharing the gospel with them. It was pretty sweet!!!!!!!!!!!! It was SUPER successful! We`re going to be working with the members A TON now and it`s going to be SUPER SWEET!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! But yeah this week was good. 

Angelith is doing good. She`s going to get baptized this weekend and Joseph is probably going to get baptized next weekend so that should be SWEET!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! But yeah everything`s going GREAT here!!!!!!!!!!

 I attached some pictures -- one of Elder Seegmiller and I on P-day and the other is a picture of our pet turtle that we have in the house. He`s a pretty sweet turtle. I decided that when I have kids and stuff, if they ever want to have a pet I`ll get them a turtle because you don`t have to do anything for turtles. They`re pretty easy pets. 

Ha ha anyways sorry this email isn`t too exciting but hopefully things are going GREAT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I LOVE AND MISS YOU ALL SO MUCH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

SUPER Tiring but SUPER Good!!!!!!

Email we received 7/8/13.  

He's doing great and sounds pretty darn happy!  I had to laugh that he said his shoes are 

getting pretty "holy"!  :) 

 And apparently pictures are on their way!!!!  Hopefully they get here soon!

HEY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Things are going pretty good here!!!!!! Yeah my first week with Seegmiller was SUPER tiring but SUPER good!!!!!! It was pretty nuts we taught 32 lessons this week and we recieved TONS of references from people so we have TONS of work to do!!!!!!   And it`s kind of interesting. President Ward put us both as senior comp. I thought it was going to be weird but it`s acutally not that weird. We work great together and it`s funny because our DL is a missionary that came to Panama the same time we did and so we always mess with him when we report numbers. Ha ha we both report half of the numbers and pass the phone back and forth to each other. Ha ha it`s pretty funny!!!!!!!! I haven`t met President Carmack yet but we have a conference this Friday and I`ll meet him then.

But yeah Angelith is still going strong!!!!!!!! We found out that her aunt might not even be her legal gardian so we`re going to figure out if that is true. If her mom is still the legal gardian we`ll be able to baptize a lot easier. But she`s still doing great and progressing like crazy!!!!!!! We had a fast for her yesterday so we`re hoping and having faith that she`ll get baptized this month!!!! We also have another investigator named Joseph. He`s 12 years old and we`ve been teaching him for a while but he`s just now progressing. It was SUPER cool we went to pick him up before church yuesterday and when we came to the door it looked like he had forgotten that we were going to come. But he told us that he still wanted to go and that he just needed to get ready and finish breakfast then he`d head over to the church by himself. To be honest we didn`t think that he was going to show up to church. But right after the sacrament he walked in. It was SUPER COOL!!!!!!!!!!! And then he stayed the whole time and it looked like he was already a member. He was already SUPER comfortable with everyone. It was REALLY cool!!!!!!!!! He has a fecha for the 20th and he`s going to be a GREAT member!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! We also found a family who are SUPER positive!!!!!!!!! The dad of the family is one of the smartest people I ever met!!!!!!!!! He works for the Smithsonion. Also, apparently the Smithsonion does work here in Panama too. But yeah he`s a SUPER smart guy. When we were talking with him, he told us that he wants to talk about the Bible and the Book of Mormon and also the history behind them, and then how they tie into each other and how they can help us. It was pretty sweet! I`ve never had an investigator that straight up told us how he wants the lessons to be. It was pretty sweet!!!!! The whole zone is having TONS of success!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 

Here`s a response to your class`s email

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

So things in Panama are going pretty good!!!!!!! We`re in the rainy season so it reains a LOT right now!!!!!!!!!! But it`s cool!!!!!!! We`´re working hard and teaching a lot of people. We going to baptize at least 2 people this month and hopefully more!!!!!!!!!! I haven`t seen any tigers, I don`t think that tigers exist here, but I have seen a lot of snakes!!!!!! Just the other day we were walking down the street and we saw a snake. It`s called a Coral snake. It`s one of the most deadly snakes in the world!!!!!!!!!! It was pretty scary but it was also very small. But yeah Panama is SUPER COOL!!!!!!!!!! Also being a missionary is SUPER COOL!!!!!!!!! I encourage all of you to study the scriptures and learn a LOT from church so when you are old enough you can serve a mission too!!!!!!!! Bueno, algo que también es chevere es que cuando te vas por la misión, puedes aprender una diferente idioma como español!!!!! De verdad es algo BIEN PRITY y una GRAN bendición. Anyways, keep working hard and learn a lot!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 

Anyways, It sounds like you guys are doing SUPER GOOD!!!!!!!! That`s sad that you weren`t able to camp out for the parade. It was pretty sweet... we actually had a pretty sweet 4th of July party here!!!!!!! Out of the 6 missionaries here in Changuinola 4 of us are gringos. So we went to a member`s house and he made some pie and some cup cakes and we made hot dogs and celebrated the 4th of July. It was pretty much the best 4th of July party out side of the states!!!!!!! 

Anyways, I also sent you guys a flash drive with all my pictures from Bocas so hopefully you guys get it soon!!!!!!! Anyways thanks for EVERYTHING!!!!!!!!!!!! I LOVE AND MISS YOU ALL SO MUCH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Oh one more thing. I kind of need some money to buy shoes. My shoes are getting pretty holy so if you could send me some that would be GREAT!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Anyways thanks for everything and have a GREAT WEEK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  

Working Hard with Elder Seegmiller

Email we received today (7/1/13)  

He is doing really well and is really excited!!!!!

He is now companions with one of his roommates from SUU and is so happy to be able to stay in Changuinola, Bocas area working with Elder Seegmiller.

Elder Seegmiller and Elder Houghton at the MTC August 2012.

"HEY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So yeah we had changes this last week and I have a new comp. He`s a SUPER WIERD dude who`s REALLY hard to get along with. He`s from Vegas and he`s a ginger...His name is Elder Seegmiller...Ha ha just kidding!!!!!!  Yep that`s right!!!!!!!!!!! Elder Seegmiller and I are comps!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It`s basically the best thing ever!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It was SUPER AWESOME!!!!!!! We were sitting in the changes meeting and my name got put up and then Seegmiller`s right after that. Ha ha we both FREAKED out!!!!!!!!!!! Ha ha it was pretty dang sweet!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Ha ha all of our friends from SUU always said that we would never be comps but it turns out that we are now comps!!!!!!!!!! Ha ha it`s seriously SUPER SWEET!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Anyways it sounds like you all are doing SUPER GOOD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Moab looked SUPER COOL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! That picture in front of the temple is SUPER COOL looking!!!!!!!!!!!!! Also I`m not going to lie, Emma`s talk made me cry a little bit...Man I miss that girl...Tell her that I LOVE HER SO MUCH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This week was short because of changes and between the 12 hour bus rides to Panama City and then back to Bocas we didn`t have many working days but we still worked SUPER hard and got a lot done!!!! We`re starting to work a lot with the less-active people in the ward and we`re going to have a lot of success with it. 

A`s aunt still hasn`t softened her heart but we had a lesson with her and Hermana V the other day and she`s still going strong and this fast Sunday we`re all going to fast so she can get baptized on the 20th of this month. So I`m excited and I know that she`ll get baptized 

But yeah everything`s going pretty good here!!!!!! I`m just having a blast and working hard here with Seegmiller as my comp!!!!!!!!!!!!! Also I`m going to try to up-load some pictures but I don`t know if it will work or not. I think I`m going to try to up-load them to a flash drive or something and then mail the flash drive to you guys. Ha ha anyways I LOVE AND MISS YOU ALL SO MUCH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

I´ll Have 6 Months Here in the Best Area EVER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Email received 6/24/13

So things are going pretty good here. I´m just waiting for changes. But I just found out that I will be here for another change!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! So I´ll have 6 months here in the best area EVER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Anyways that sounds pretty sweet that everyone is leaving and coming home off their missions!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It´s pretty nuts Elder Willis (this kid that came with me) and I were just talking about how we already hit a year on the mission. It´s gone SO FAST!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! But it´s been SUPER COOL!!!!!!!!! 

So I´m SUPER jealous that right now you´re probably in Moab. But it´s all good you guys are going to have a blast down there!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Have fun in Moab!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Yeah that broadcast was pretty dang sweet!!!!!!!!!! I really liked it and I´m hoping it will help us work more with the members and have more success!!!!!!!!!  And yeah the facebook and things that are changing will be pretty crazy!!!!!!!! But we´ll have to see what happens because the chapel tours and stuff are SUPER cool but it´s kind of impractical here in Panama. But we´ll have to wait and see what happens.

My boils haven´t come back at all. And yeah I´m doing good money wise and everything. But yeah everything´s going good!!!!!!!!!! I´m eating well and having a ton of fun!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

No unfortunately Angelith didn´t get baptized...Right at the last second her aunt didn´t give her permission...But she´s still going to church and she´ll get baptized hopefully before I leave here.

Anyways, I hope everything is going GREAT for you all!!!!!!!!!!!!! I LOVE AND MISS YOU ALL SO MUCH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

"Everyday Isn't a Good Day, But There is Good in Every Day."

I am obviously behind on posting but I wanted to continue on.  I will try to catch up as soon as I can.

Here is what's going on with him right now with excerpts from his email sent today,  June 17, 2013.

Elder Houghton with his companion, Elder Montero.  

The Branch he is serving in had an activity for Father's day and he was really happy to see some of the recent converts helping and participating and enjoying being with the other members. He said, "This week was also cool because we had a branch activity for Father`s day and it was put on by the relief society and it was SUPER AWESOME to see Hermana V there helping out and talking with all the sisters and participating in everything. Also the jovenes (the youth) in the branch helped out and it was SUPER COOL to see S and C (Hermana C`s kids) there helping out and participating too. And then yesterday at church, S gave a talk and it was SUPER GOOD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! She bore a VERY powerful testimony!!!!!!!!!!!! Oh man I was SUPER excited to see all of my converts progressing so well!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Man it`s GREAT!!!!!!"

 He's really hoping he gets to stay in his area for one more change. 

He loves the people there! 

Things are well but he still has struggles. He has had a little bit of a difficult time lately but he always has a good attitude and carries on. He said, "There's a quote (I think it is by President Monson) that says,

 'Everyday isn't a good day, 

but 

there is good in every day.' 

So, I've been putting that to use in my life and it's REALLY helped me through the hard times!!!!!!!!!! Also there's a talk that I read the other day by President Uchtdorf from the last Young Women's conference in April that I HIGHLY suggest to everyone because it is SUPER GOOD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It's called Your Wonderful Journey Home . Also, his talk from the priesthood session called Four Titles is SUPER GOOD too, and I HIGHLY suggest that you guys read them because they seriously are a good help when things are hard." 

Because of all the changes in the mission field, his homecoming date is going to be changed.  He was asked whether he wanted to come home 4 weeks early or stay 2 weeks later.  He said, "Yeah, I was thinking that if i went home early, I would have more time to work to save up for school but then I realized that if I stayed longer the Lord will help me WAY MORE than the few extra weeks of working so I`m going to stay longer." So, he will be getting home the first part of July 2014.  This Thursday, June 20th, is his one year mark.  I can't believe it's already been a year!  It's been so incredible to see the change in him and to see all that he has accomplished in just a year! 

He closed his email with this:

"Anyway, like I said, things here are pretty good!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I'm still ABSOLUTELY LOVING Panama!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I'm SUPER GLAD that you all are doing GREAT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Whenever I talk to the other missionaries about my family, I always remind them that my family is WAY BETTER than their's!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :D 

Anyway, keep up the good work and I LOVE AND MISS YOU ALL SO MUCH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

We sure do love and miss him but we know he is where he needs to be!

Here's a quote that helps me remember this when I am missing him:

"A missionary leaves his family for two years so that those he teaches may be with their families forever."

So thankful for his service!  

We´ve Been Praying

Email received 6/10/13

Hey!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 

Elder Goodson told me that President´s probably going to keep me out here in Bocas for another change!!!!!!!!! I´m going to have 6 months out here in Changuinola!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I´m pretty dang excited about that!!!!!!!!!!!  Angelith hasn´t received permission yet but she told us that her aunt told her that she would give her an answer on Tuesday. But I´m pretty sure that she´ll receive her permission because Angelith has a TON of faith!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! And we´ve been praying for her so I know she´ll get baptized this weekend. 

So it was pretty nuts!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I got another boil. Ha ha I haven´t had a boil for like 2 months and this boil was  the biggest one that I´ve ever had!!!!!!! It was RIDICULOUS!!!!!!!!!!!! Ha ha also it turns out that Hermana Vielka is like a boil popping legend here in Changuinola. Whenever people have boils they all go to her to pop them. And she has a reputation that everyone that she popped boils for have never gotten a boil ever again. So needless to say I went over to Hermana Vielka to have her pop my boil. Ha ha anyways it hurt SUPER BAD and blood squirted all over the place!!!!!!!!!!! It was pretty dang gross!!!!!!!!!!! But hopefully now I will never get another boil.

 Also today was pretty sweet. Elder Goodson and I went golfing this morning!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Yep I have now officially gone golfing in Panama!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It was pretty dang COOL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Anyways things are going pretty good here!!!!!!!!!!! Thanks for everything!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I LOVE AND MISS YOU ALL SO MUCH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!