May the 4th Be With You

Mission work! ( play music)🎼🎶🎼🎶 Baaaa bum bum bum ba ba bad bad da
da da bum. . . .

Turmoil arises in the east coast, wickedness is abounding, and many
are searching for truth  but know not where to find it. Elder Houghton
and his fearless companion, Elder Garland, go to help free the people
from spiritual darkness and bring the light of the restoration to
their lives. Day after day the duo march forth across all of
Pittsford, declaring truth unto this people. They press forward,
despite aching feet, to declare truth unto this people. Sadly many
reject these servants of the Lord, thinking that they are "all set".
However Thinking of new ways to reach out to the people of Pittsford,
The Elders use the great resource of the up and coming Hill Cumorah
Pageant. Many receive this news with gladness and it has helped soften
their hearts. Surprisingly to these elders, is how many of the people
have not actually heard of the pageant, which is only about 15 minutes
travel from Pittsford. And so with gladness they explain to them of
the spectacular spectacle.
The work continues to go forth and many are working hard but also with
these difficulties the joy from it is far greater, for Lori has
committed to be baptized this following Saturday. . .

OK it takes too long to write that way.

This week we also had a specialized training where everyone in the
mission went to the Peter Whitmer Farm. It was so much fun and such a
great experience. It was such a cool experience going to place where
 the church was first organized and to feel of the spirit there. It was fun to be able
to see all those other missionaries as well. I got to meet elder
Gibby's new trainee Elder Bennet! He is a giant, he is 6'8" and is I
think the only missionary taller then president Francis.

And I am super excited for Mother's Day! So this letter will be a
little bit shorter because I will see you soon and talk to you in person! I love you
all! We get done at church at 3, so if you could just let me know
what would work for you that would be great!
I love you all.
May the Forth be with you!
But more importantly God be with you!
Love
Elder Houghton

This is my posterity. Apparently I do have some tall genes in me!

Peter Whitmer's Cabin--Where the church was established

April, 27th, 2015

Hello again from Pittsford New York!

 This week has been a week of adjusting. This is already my 4th area
in the mission, so I thought I would be used to leaving everything
behind again and start all over in a new area, with new things, new
people, pretty much everything except that it is the same work.

Leaving bath was difficult for me this time. So far it seems like my
time in each area is getting shorter and shorter. But I look forward
to the new experiences that await me here in Pittsford.

Pittsford is where our mission office is and also where all the
missionaries go for transfers. So the church building that I now go to
is the first church building I came to in the mission. And every
transfer we go to we meet in Pittsford,--So now it's the church I go
to! Also it was so different coming up from Bath because there are people
everywhere!! I seriously didn't know what to do with myself. “It
doesn't look like Bath anymore Elder! “ This is considerably one of the nicest areas in the mission, so that is really different too.

We had one of the craziest lessons, on Wednesday. We meet with a lady
 who has been investigating the church for about a year and half. Her
husband is a member that started coming back to church recently. Well
let's just say that Lori is the most prepared person I have ever met for
baptism. Her baptismal date is on the ninth and she is so ready for
it. She has already had a calling, she has already spoken in sacrament
meeting, and she has already gone through gospel principles. We went
over to just do a run through reviewing both the Restoration and the Plan of
Salvation as a refresher for her baptism. Well she taught us. So I
guess this lady is pretty prepared. It was so cool.

Elder Garland is my new companion, and he is a good elder and I am
excited to work with him.
Things are finally warming up a little. And the leaves are just now
starting to pop out! And it is a joyous sight!

Sunday we had a huge area broadcast that all the stakes in the North
Eastern states listened to.  Elder Neil L. Anderson and
Robert D. hails spoke and it was the so good. Except the connection to
it here was terrible, the sound would cut out, and then the picture
would go away, and then it would buffer for the whole time, so other
than that part the messages we heard where very inspiring, and
missionary oriented, so I was all for it!

Really good things are beginning to happen here and I am super
excited to see things happen here!
I love you all a ton!
Love Elder Houghton!

Ps. The plumbing went out in our church in bath so they got us one of these. . .

Transfers. Elder Gibby is moving on!

Rocking the tie

 This is my posterity, Apparently I do have some tall genes in me!

April 20th 2015

Hey, Hey, Hey! The News has finally arrived!

 Waiting for transfer calls are probably one of the worst things ever. Because you just never know what is going to happen, it is so exciting! Well Earlier this week Elder Gibby got a call from President to train!!!! I am so excited for him! I am surprised and yet I am not surprised at all, because he is such a great elder He pretty much trained me! I mean he just finished his training and now he gets the awesome privilege of becoming a Father! So I get to be a Grandfather! It blows my mind!  I am so excited for him! 

So with that they are kicking me out of Bath. I feel like I just got here and now I am to go to the land of Pittsford New York! ( which is where our mission office is--- and another thing - Elder Walker served there as well so I am just following the footsteps of my father). It is always so sad to leave an area that I have grown to love! It has been a great privilege to see where this area was (which wasn't very much) to where it is now. It is hard to leave especially the people we have worked with.  I know I can look back and say that I did everything I could to help this area, and we have seen miracles happen and I can look forward to my new area. Pittsford is where I am meant to be and now I get to look forward to put in as much work as I possibly can.

 I am kind of excited for this new experience.  It also helps when the Sacred Grove and the temple are less the 20 minutes away! It is going to be so awesome! They call the missionaries here in this zone The Gardens of the Grove! It is going to be awesome!

This Week has been Crazy! We have both just been sprinting because we knew our time was limited, so we have been out and about proclaiming the restored Gospel as much as we can and it has been wonderful! We definitely meet some interesting people. Such as one man who was on a street corner playing a Trumpet, all dressed in Red White and Blue, with a large banner across his Chest saying "CALL FOR REPENTANCE" he was a nice guy who has traveled all across the U.S. and Europe on his Bike to go to street corners to spread the word. We talked to him for a little while, and he told us he had met missionaries as well all over the world. I thought it was really great and kind of neat.

One miracle happened on exchanges in Penn Yen. we exchanged companionships Saturday night and we still had about an hour and a half to walk around so I was with Elder Wilson and we just were trying as much as we could to follow the Spirit and we walked up to the house of a potential they had. Right as he was about to knock he turned around and said that it didn't feel right so we turned and walked up a different street. We walked up this street for a little bit and then Elder Wilson looked at this random house and said, we should knock on this one. We went over and saw that the people inside were having dinner, but following that prompting we knocked, and this lady answered with a big grin and invited us right in! I looked at her and I knew I had met her before. Then we realized that it was the Lady that worked at a diner that We had eaten at like 3 weeks before on another exchange. She was very friendly and we had a good conversation with them. Then apparently her son's Girlfriend came in and told us that her Grandmother had just died. We weren't able to teach them  but we offered and so we will see what happens. It is so amazing how the Spirit works, It is like the perfect GPS. It will lead you exactly where you need to be and sometimes you don't even realize it, but the Lord knows and he will put us where we are needed! It's so cool to be a missionary! 

Also on that exchange the Zone leaders also went on exchanges with The APs so we had 6 elders in an apartment it was pretty awesome! Each morning for companionship study we sing a hymn and so we had all 6 elders singing “Praise to the Man”, it was pretty powerful! I think we converted everyone who walked by. J

Good things are happening, and I have loved The Bath water, and I am sad to leave it. But it is time, to keep going to work wherever the lord sends us, and let’s do it Boldly and Nobly! 

I love you all!

Hurrah for Israel! 

 This is what happens if you don't have a very strong foundation. Helaman 5:125:12

 Best District in the Mission!

 This is a man is just out walking his dog,-- just another day in Bath.

Elder and Sister Jones- Probably my favorite people in the mission! 

Golfing On P-day! I think I won with the Highest score!

April 13th, 2015

Hello my most wonderful family!

It never ceases to surprise me but I feel like I just barely wrote yesterday, and than I look back through my planner and see how much has happened since then-- and it is a lot!

Elder Gibby and I have been very busy this past week, because there is so much to do and yet so little time.  We know that time is running short for one of us, because transfers are this next week and we are pretty sure one of us is leaving  Bath. We are both just sprinting as hard as we can to do all that we can to help everyone that lives here! I have loved serving in this small town, and I have been able to meet and develop great relationships with many of the people here. I especially love going to the store because there is always someone that we know there that we can talk to! It has just been great!

On Wednesday night we have a Book of Mormon class that we go to and teach every other week. this week was Elder Jones turn to teach the lesson, and this class normally fills the rest of our evening. Well Sister Jones Called and told us that Elder Jones had gotten terribly sick all of a sudden and wasn't going to be able to teach the class so they just told us that they canceled the class for the evening. Now that our evening was open we were wondering what we were going to do when one of our investigators (Gary) called us and had a couple questions. He wanted us to go and meet with him. Not only him but he had invited a couple (Bob and Dorothy) that we met the first week we were in Bath and haven't been able to meet with them since. Gary has been investigating the Church for a long time now and loves missionaries, but we have been struggling to see what is holding him back and how much he believes. We have been reading through the Book of Mormon with Gary and so we had a nice Book of Mormon study with these people. It was one of the weirdest studies I have ever read. We read Alma 11 ( we skipped through the money verses) and at one point Gary had a question about what was said and I didn't know how to answer, then Bob explained it perfectly to Gary, then later Bob was being very skeptical about believing what it was saying, so Gary pretty much began to testify to him about the Book of Mormon! It was awesome! I pretty much could just sit back and let the spirit help them teach each other. It was probably one of the best lessons I have had with Gary! It wasn't until after that we realized that if Elder Jones Had not gotten sick then we wouldn't of had that great lesson. The Lord really works in mysterious ways!  

I also have been amazed at how the Lord seems to put us in places to help others when they are in their low or sometimes lowest places. We have been working with Valentina and she has a lot on her plate and when we went to go see her for our appointment she had completely forgotten that we were coming again because she had just had another crazy thing happen to her and her life.  We always seem to show up right when she in a very tough situation. I know that the lord knows what was going to happen and was able to have us drop by and help her in her time of need! I don't know how much she understood  from that lesson because she had kids running around and her dog was going crazy but I know that she felt something. It has just been a very interesting experience for me.

I sure hope all is well in that part of Zion! Because we are seeing great things happening here! I love you all so much!

Hurrah For Israel! 

Love

Elder Houghton!

Home

This is the Edge of our Mission Boundaries!

P.s. I loved the Easter package! I felt like I was right at home!

P.P.s Elder Browning Is home! What??? that Blows my mind! I wish I could of been there to here the great report!

April 6th, 2015 Easter

Hello all!

This week has been one full week of Miracles and strange weather! And also I hope you all loved General Conference as much as I did! I am so Grateful that we have a living Prophets and apostle that speck to us plus the technology to take it all over the world! I felt very close to you thinking that we were watching the same thing at the same time! It was way awesome!

Earlier this week I was able to go on exchanges with Elder Clinger in Penn Yen! Elder Clinger is actually Jacob Clinger's cousin and he is from Idaho Falls. He is a great missionary, Penn Yen is a really cool small town by the Finger lakes and has a large population of Mennonites and Amish so it is common to see horses and buggies riding down the road, it is a really fun small town. 

Also in the elder's apartment they have four Elders, it felt so much like "The Best Two Years", I loved it. Once we got out we had miracles happen one after the other, We were Going to have an appointment with an investigator in another small town about 15 miles away so we got there and he called and canceled on us. so we had the whole evening to just go contacting. The very first person we saw was walking to the store with a huge bag of beer cans, we asked if we could show him a short video on Easter. (the Because He Lives Video!!! I love it so much! I literally have watched it over 20 times this week!) He told us we could come over to his place and show him in about an hour, so one hour later we knocked on his door and he let us right in. We got to show him the video and he really liked it and then he just began to open up to us about how confused he was. He literally was asking us the questions of the Soul, the "where did I come from? What is the purpose to life? and Where am I going? Then he told us to Enlighten him. We were very happy to oblige but We were both so surprised at how prepared this man was for our message and how willing he was to hear it. We taught him the Restoration and gave him a Book of Mormon to read.  It was probably one of the weirdest lessons I have ever given. There really are people prepared to hear this message.  The rest of that day was just as great. The Lord knows whats up! He helps us with this work!

We Had another really sweet miracle happen the next day! We got in contact with Valentina again and we had a crazy lesson with her. Let's just say that she has had it very rough and when got there, she was struggling a lot with the many things that she had going on, We simply just listened to her and after we offered her a priesthood blessing. It was intense and the spirit was so strong! I know that there is reason that we found her when we did because she is ready and this Gospel can help her through her trials.

Friday It got up to 65 degrees!!! it was so nice! We had on our shorts sleeves and everything it felt so so good! it seemed like every one came out of there houses as well! I didn't realize how many people actually live here! Then on Saturday it snowed. . . Sunday morning we had a good 2 inches of snow, We had a White Easter! before The Sunday morning session We actually were invited by one of our investigators to go to his service in the Episcopal church, it was a very interesting experience, they had a Huge Assembly Hall with tons of beautiful stain glass, and massive Anglican style pillars, they had candles and incense, it really was interesting and quite nice, but an interesting thing is they never mentioned the atonement, It was good to see what many people actually see and do for an Easter service. But the coolest thing was once that was all over and we went back to the church to watch conference in our nice little, simple chapel, we could feel a huge difference in the spirit the second we walked in to the chapel.

I don't know what was my favorite talk because they were also good! We got to watch it at the church, all by our selves, so that was interesting! but I love the themes  to General Conference. One that I loved was the one on Families and what we can do to strengthen them! How Grateful I am to have such a great Family!! One that I get to be with Forever! I also love how much they talked on the Atonement and how through Christ we can be made Whole! I just loved it all so much! 

Love you all!

Keep on trying!

Hear the music!

Church is true!

Love
 Elder Todd Houghton

 We never have to worry about getting lost with this. . . as long as we are obedient! 

 The Bunny. the Bunny . 

March 30th 2015

Hello my dear family! 

Once again it is that time to let you know how incredible Bath New York is!  Needless to say it is awesome! 

We have been super busy! This week and we are seeing miracles happen! Tuesday was one of the weirdest days so far of my mission. It was actually warm, and I think this warmer weather is warming the hearts of the people we are meeting with on the streets or by tracting! We met 4 potential investigators which is a lot compared to the rest of the winter! One we met tracting was kind of abrasive at first, but we boldly testified of why we were here and that we knew this Gospel to be true. He then opened up and was a super nice guy. He talked to us for thirty minutes and invited us to come back anytime! ( I was like—wait- what? He asked us to come back?!) :)

I learned something really cool this week as well! I am serving in the Cradle of aviation! We went to the Curtis museum by Hammondsport.  I did not realize that where I am serving is where aviation took off! Grandpa Houghton you would of loved the museum-- just saying! I also don't think it a coincidence that it is only an hour away from the Cradle of the Restoration!

We got to go back to Mark's, (he is the dairy farmer). We went and did some service over there which was just awesome! I got to hand feed a calf! It was pretty sweet! They love that Elder Gibby is a pig farmer and connected really well with him! Then they asked what I did before the mission. When they found out that we sell mermaid tails they just laughed and laughed they thought that was one of the coolest and weirdest things! 

We had Zone Conference this week as well, it was at the Palmyra stake center, which is situated about 1/2 a mile from the Sacred Grove! Yeah, I have the coolest mission in the world! At the conference they introduced to us the Easter initiative! the #becausehelives. We have probably  now watched that video about 25 times! After zone conference we dropped by the Granden Press building. Thursday was 185th anniversary since the Book of Mormon was published!  Then even after all of that we went to the temple to do a session! We were on a spiritual high that day! I loved it! It still blows my mind that I get to have the sacred privilege of serving here! 

One thing is that I find it very difficult to write some the my experiences from this week. We have had some very special experiences with one of our investigators and one of our members, where they really opened up to us. I don't think I can write what happened  during those lessons but I will say that the Spirit was very strong, and my eyes where opened again. I was touched by how much trust some of these people have in us. I mean we are only two 18, 19 year olds, and we are seeing people that are much older than us, who seek to find guidance through us. I say "through" because I know that it is not me that these people are learning from but it is through the Power of the Holy Ghost that is touching these people.It is just a very sacred experience for me to be a part of it.

Love the Badge! 

Hurrah for Israel!

Love,

Elder Houghton

   

 1. The work will go forth boldly, nobly, and independent!

 2. America!

 3.Home sweet home!

March 23rd 2015

Hello Family!

Life is like (Bath New York weather) you never know what you’re going to get!  We wake up each morning and there is snow on the ground in a couple hours, the sun is out and it’s warm and then it’s raining… then warm then it’s cold again!  It’s definitely been keeping us on our toes! However, despite our odd weather Bath Is On FIRE!!! :) I love seeing this area turn around!

Tuesday all of our appointments cancelled on us, so Elder Gibby said we should go tracting up in Pratsburg which is a small town we missionaries haven't touched in a long time. So we went, and it was awesome, not very many people were actually interested but we got to talk to quite a few and plant some seeds. Then before we left we decided to knock on at least one more house, and what happened? A mother answered and asked if we were J.W.'s-- we told her we weren't - which she seemed relieved about. Then she asked what was the difference between us and Christians! We were happy to relate the restoration of the fullness of the gospel to her.  She then told us she wanted us to come back so she can learn more! :) There is something about the last door because I believe the Lord loves photo finishes. We just have to be willing to push forward to the end so we can see the blessings of enduring! Mosiah 4:27

OK, so on Wednesday we went to pick up one of the members to go on splits with us at this dairy farm where this member volunteers to help his neighbor out about each day.  While we were there he introduced us to Mark who is a hard working Dairy farmer, and one thing about Elder Gibby-- he is a Pig Farmer!!! So he could really connect with Mark, they just got to talk all about Farm stuff!  I got to say I was around a lot of potato farmers… but mostly I felt like it was a field trip seeing all these cows and animals!  I loved it.  Mark was super open to having us come back and sharing our message with him!  We are excited to go preach to him and his cows! :)

Thursday we had to do some training on our new iPad  which are really nice!  Thanks Mom thanks Dad!  During this training they mostly talked about how we as missionaries should more effectively use the tools we have. So in one of the videos it shows missionaries in action teaching and following the Spirit, and they bought up a talk that Jeffery R. Holland gave April of 2008 called “My words never cease”.  It is an excellent talk.  He explains what the last verse in Revelations was actually saying – the importance for Prophets and the importance of always needing continuing revelation!  We thought this would be really good for Ron, so we went there and asked if he had any concerns about what we have been teaching him.  First thing he says is how he is still confused about the last words of Revelations!  We were like "well we are glad you asked, this is exactly what we wanted to share with you!”  It was exactly what he needed at that time!

One of the high lights of this week was being able to sing with Brother Hopper in sacrament meeting!  I think it sounded good!  We were pretty happy about that, and one of our investigators came and really like it as well!

Miracles are happening daily here and it is a privilege to be a part of it!  You are wonderful I love you all!

Hurrah For Israel!

Love

Elder Houghton!

LDSChurch=Happiness