A Poet?

Trenton is apparently a poet and I didn't even know it. Haha!  No, truthfully in all of

his 18 years I have never known him to write poetry, yet surprisingly he does.  He sent us 3 poems for Christmas.  I'll share them with you. I'm not totally sure about some of the words, because Trenton sent these to us on hand written cards.  But what I do know is that they have touched me to the core and I hope they do the same for you. 

Heavenly Message

Waking, tending the flocks do dear

A light from the Heavens incredibly appeared

This light shown bright, bright as the noon day

That all of us shepherds may not lead astray

Angels from Heaven descended so soft

To share a message, yea even a thought

The message was sound for it was of good tides

The angels said of you to never switch sides

These messengers from up on high did announce a birth

Yea  a birth unlike others it was of Heaven and earth

A link between us and a link to our God

His holy word forward as straight as a rod

     Through Him we are saved

     By Him we uplift

The sins of this world we all very much crave

God knew what to do and so He provided

The Precious Lord Jesus, a gift undivided

He Is The Gift

He.

How human a being

How bright at His feet

How inspired this thing

How extraordinary to meet

   He is life

How?

Our Savior and King

Our hope, peace and dream

Our blessings we sing

Our brother unseen.

Ours.

His works are profound

His power a wonder

His thoughts so sound

His love makes me ponder

     He is unchanging

His.

I love Him so much

I can't do without

I struggle to touch

I try not to doubt

     He is comfort

Mine

Jesus the Christ His love so pure

Was and is the only gift

The world needs I am sure

For behold we all know, he is that gift

He Is Christmas

Christmas wonders wonder why

From hot chocolate to snow up high

We know the time the angels sang

About the man who withdrew the fang

It's all about this Christmas time

Our hope through Him who is Prime

Not about our worldy possessions

Instead about our earthly confessions

We need not be afraid of Him who is love

For He is all peace, like unto a dove

It is during this Christmas season

God gave us all a very good reason

He is the Gift

He is there to uplift

He is the light

Of truth and right

He is Christmas

Still Doesn't Feel Real

I have learned so much about almost everything, a mission is weird that way I guess. This week was crazy, I moved from Denim trail to Brangus Way to be closer to our area and now we bike everyday, all day which is what we did before only now it's only 2 miles away, so not bad at all, I say that now but I am already worrying about summertime, haha. Also, I crashed my bike this week for the first time, it wasn't bad at all but the left handle bar now doesn't have a grip, oh well.

 I've wrote a few poems inspired by the "He is the Gift" video and the spirit (of course), I hope to mail those to you today, if I can find the right cards to put them on. I have been trying really hard to write in my journal every night, because I know that there are things in the day that I should write about, but it is hard, way harder than I thought it would be.

You know that I pray for you guys all the time, but now I can pray for some more specific things; Mom, I think it's great that you have yet another calling working with the Young Women because all I ever heard from the Young Women in our ward was how much they love you and appreciate your time and talents, of which there are a lot. I also think it is pretty funny that Dad got a calling to work with the pre-young men because like you said, Dad is well, Dad. Know that I will keep praying for all of you to receive the necessary strength needed.

I have seen many miracles this week but one reminded me of you. We have been wanting to share the "He is the Gift" video with this person who has been less active for a while now, she has always been busy. A few days ago we stopped by, she wasn't there but her son - who isn't a member and he is about 18 years old was there, he invited us in and we started talking with him and somehow got him to start watching the video with us. While we were watching the video his mom came home and so we restarted it. The part that reminds me of you is that her house wasn't incredibly tidy and Elder Fa' Amuli and I both knew that if she had been home she wouldn't have invited us in. I am very glad that we have those inspired moments of missionary work as and that I have a testimony of needing a support system of some kind i.e. relief society, elders quorum, etc... to stay active in the church. That is what some of the missionary work is, finding friends for those recent converts that we have and investigators for church.

 I continue to love my mission greatly and of course love you guys. Like the title says it still doesn't feel quite real.

FIRE ANTS!

Well I got to do my first service project last week and let me tell you, it was a blast. We basically did some yard work and they had me climb into a tree to cut some branches and long story short, the tree was infested with fire ants and they got all over me, it was pretty funny! I'm fine but they itch like crazy. According to my companion (Elder Fa' Amuli) sorry for not mentioning that before, anyways according to him we had a great and busy week. The ward we are in charge of is called "Morning Sun". Since it was my first full week I didn't know what to compare our level of service to, but he has been in this area for 4 1/2 months now and he told me how slow the work had been before I got here. We have 4 current investigators, who are never home and I have only taught 1 lesson so far, but, so far the mission experience has been so much fun. I realized throughout the week that I sounded off in my last email, although it's true that I dislike talking to people I absolutely love and value what they have to say, and I love listening. I know that throughout my mission I will become more comfortable talking to people, but for now that is the biggest difficulty that I have. The time that I was called to come, was and is definitely a blessing for many reasons. One of the greatest reasons is that its winter and "cold?" haha!!! Just kidding. But instead it's the fact that it's the holidays and people are more willing to talk to us. We actually have a card with a video link on it, so I can talk about that with them, because my thing is I just have nothing to talk about, so I am very grateful for this time of year.

 

Elder Fa'Amuli

The initiative we have, is to share an awesome video message about Christmas and Jesus Christ with as many as are willing to watch it and  to hear what we have to say about it. I'm sure you've seen it or at least heard about it, it's called "He is the Gift".

My thoughts on the video, well, it shows how great Jesus was, is and ever will be. It also shows how and why our gospel is centered on Him. Everything we have is because of Him, we know how to show love, kindness, mercy and understanding. I mentioned it in my farewell talk about how great his example is, how following his example makes us all better people. I tell people who don't believe in Him that even if you don't believe in Him, Jesus was a real person, that fact is undeniable, and His acts of love, charity, humility, patience, meekness, and overall joy help us now to understand how to have more joy in ourselves. I love the Christmas season and hope you and the family are enjoying this wonderful time of year.  I run the risk of sounding like a true missionary when I ask; If you will make the time to watch this video with the family and share your thoughts and feelings about it, you could even use mine if you feel inclined, but I know that if you do watch the video with the family and express your appreciation for Him, with them that you all will be blessed throughout the season.


I love you all so much and hope you know that I am having so much fun out here. Thank you again for all the love and support.



Here are pictures from my house.  Yep, it looks like 4 guys live here.

Added by Suzie - One of these is his house where he sleeps and one is where he eats lunch, but I can't tell you which is which.

December 1st

Here is Trenton's letter from December 1st, this is his first week out in the mission field, but 3rd as a missionary -- 101 more weeks to go. He is in an area called San Tan Valley

The MTC was crazy busy and the SD card that was in the camera wasn't working so I couldn't get any pictures the first few days, my companion there gave me his on the last day and I took pictures of everyone in my district but all the computers don't have a card reader so I have no idea how to get the pictures to you. I only have like 13 pictures, a single of everyone in my district and a district photo, I hate taking photos so that's all I have so far.

As you can tell my personal day is going to be on Monday's now so just plan on that. Before I get to answering all the questions you sent I have a few to ask you --

 *What kind of missionary do you tell people that I am?
 *What changes do you hope to see in me when I return?

Please be honest because I need to know.

First, yes, we did have an opportunity to call from the airport and I fell absolutely horrible that my calling card didn't work. I tried for the whole morning and it just wouldn't work but then I remembered we could call on Christmas so that's fine.
Gilbert is extremely pretty right now and I'm just south of it in a place called SanTan Valley which is itself very nice as well.
I have gotten all the emails you've sent me and appreciate the pictures and thoughts attached to every one.
Haven't gotten to go to the Gilbert Temple yet but while I was in the MTC we were able to attend the Provo Temple which was awesome.
I don't know if you got my handwritten letter I wrote the night before I left the MTC but I truly do miss the MTC and all the friends I made there; as well as the experience to learn, grow, and develop my testimony and strength in the Lord.
I still don't know how sending letters work and that makes me pretty sad because I want to send some handwritten letters but don't know the return address and my training companion, as awesome as he is, doesn't know it either. Once I figure it out I promise to send you all the handwritten letters that I have written along with the address.
Yes, the AP's did tell me that you met them and I was super embarrassed haha, it's fine.

You probably noticed the family I was with on Thanksgiving was Polynesian, meaning, when they eat they eat seriously. Thanksgiving happened so fast and I wasn't even thinking about it but we had 4 dinner appointments and were stuffed.

Thank you so much for the bike, it is so much fun to ride (right now anyways) and is very high quality. I love my training companion, he is very nice and crazy smart plus he is super competitive so he can teach me a thing or two on why people are competitive although I can already tell that the reason we are so very productive is because of he's competitiveness. This mission surprisingly doesn't have apartments, instead, it rents out houses that all missionaries live in but the area where I am serving right now is set up kinda weird. We sleep and study and eat breakfast at a house 6 miles away from our area but eat lunch and crash at another house that is about .5 miles away from our area, there are about 2 companion-ships per house so that's 4 elders in each one. I haven't seen the mission office yet and I honestly have no idea were it is. One funny thing is - my trainer and senior companion don't have drivers licences so I have been driving since the second day in. Oh yeah, when I got here we got off the plane and we were greeted by President Nattress and his wife, then we went to eat lunch at a Stake center in Gilbert where the members made a lot of food. After that we had our introduction into the mission: how much money we get per month, how to use that money, what to do, insurance, etc. We went to dinner at a member's house in Gilbert, they are so rich! They had one of the nicest houses I have ever seen, it was really fun. After all that we got to spend our first night at a member's house and the member's I ended up with were super nice and funny because all they wanted to do was talk to us even though most of us had only gotten around 1-2 hours of sleep. So the next day we had more introductions and finely got assigned our trainers, the group of missionaries cheered really loud when I got paired up with the Samoan because we are both pretty big guys, I mean Elders, anyways that was pretty fun. We talk to everyone we meet which was weird the first 20 times but you have to get used to it. I still hate talking to people so I hope that will change, I just don't know what to talk about and feel horrible because I don't have any interests in my own life or can't think of any and won't get any because I am on a mission. I can't relate to people, it's hard, but I think I will get used to it.  In my area  the investigators have all gone to see the Christmas lights at the Mesa Temple already, so I'm not sure if I will get an opportunity to go this year.

I know Brother Wetzel and he's a crazy teacher, haha I actually had him in seminary but he always points out some great truths and somehow invites the spirit by just being himself. I know why I'm on a mission, true it is to help other come unto Christ but it is also for me to find out more about me and I am not sure when that will happen but I am sure it will.

Thank you mom, thank everyone else for all the support they give me. It still doesn't feel real that I am on my mission. I'm sure it will sink in one day. I love you lots and don't you forget it or think for a second I don't.

Elder Throckmorton

I love the MTC! And I say that with all the sincerity of my heart. It's amazing the way it forces us to grow and develop as missionaries and in ways that I never before imagined.

To help you understand I guess I could share a piece of my testimony -

I know that the Lord really, truly appreciates spiritual preparation. I know this because I felt very inadequate when I arrived as far as preparation of my knowledge was concerned, but that was only because I was comparing myself to others. I have since learned that the only way to progress for myself is to think, act and compare myself only to myself, to set goals that make me stretch and reach but not so much that I can't obtain them. In setting goals like these, I have come to understand that through intense study sessions and trying to memorize blocks of scriptures that the number of scriptures memorized or the more you know isn't as important as how much of your mind the Holy Ghost can help you access. So read, study, pray, and teach and my understanding of gospel principles will grow even if it may not seem like it. When I have the spirit with me and I listen with real intent it will tell me what to say and how to say it. I love you guys so much and am excited to hear about Gilbert, Arizona. I absolutely love my district and I can't thank Heavenly Father enough to be placed in it, it's the perfect district for me and I love all the Elders and Sisters in it a lot, I love their testimonies and watching them grow and develop them alongside mine. I love this gospel and I can't wait to get out and start serving in the field.

Thank you guys for supporting me so much and helping me so greatly, I can really feel the power that you bring to my mission and I appreciate it.