14th Week Out, 8th week in Arkansas Greenwood.

Dear family and friends;

Did you all get the chance to watch the David A Bednar broadcast?  We had a big bonfire out here when we watched it and when I say big that is an understatement!  This member literally plowed down like 20 trees, threw them in a BIG pile, and lit it on fire.  Now THAT was our bonfire!  You couldn't be within 30 feet of this thing and not be burning up! 

We received News from our Mission President that the mission I am serving in, the Oklahoma Tulsa Mission after July will cease to exist and become the Arkansas Bentonville Mission.  They are moving the mission home from Tulsa Oklahoma to Bentonville Arkansas! 

I was able to pick up my first "thrift shop" suit this week but as Elder Brown puts it..., "You broke the thrift limit because I spent over $20 and spent $25." 

I had the opportunity to travel an hour from "Greenwood" to "Magazine" which is a small town that we cover.  Magazine has a population of only 900 people!  These people have to drive an hour to Greenwood for church because it is the closet building around.  This makes it hard for us to get investigators to church because it's an hour long drive!  I never realized how lucky I was to have a church building so close until now.  

While in magazine I worked hard on contacting a less active that just moved in.  When we first showed up at his door we were greeted by his mom (not a member, also she did not want to be taught) who said he was not home but would be real soon.  In our attempt to catch him, we tracted every apartment around him but he never showed up.  We left to visit a part member family and on our way out of Magazine, we stopped by his house one last time and we ended up catching him! Turns out that he was baptized recently by Mitt Romney's son!  It was a blessing to be able to catch him and invite him back to church. 

In conclusion, I would like to share with you the story of Sister Vea.  Sister Vea was a sister missionary who served in the same mission and EXACT area (greenwood) that I am serving in.  She was serving here last summer (2014) and she was in a terrible car accident that ended up taking her life.  Sister Vea was a wonderful missionary and worked VERY hard!  Many people in my area know about Sister Vea and there is a special spirit that comes with serving in her area.  I am working with some of the same investigators and members that she worked with.  Before the accident she had written out her testimony which she put in a Book of Mormons.  Her companion found this testimony after she passed away and gave it to our mission president.  President Shumway gave me this very testimony the first day I arrived in this mission and told me her story.  When I was in Fayetteville Arkansas, I took Sister Veas testimony and I put it in every book of Mormon I gave away!  I gave away 20 book of Mormons with her name... but now I serve in the corresponding mission which she did!  I know she is still here working the areas and the hearts of the investigators which I work with today that she did!  I love you brothers and sisters and I appreciate all of your love and support!

Impressions of Greenwood Arkansas

1. Out here they don't have sidewalks or streetlights so neighborhoods are really DARK at night.
2. Dinner means lunch and supper means dinner? YUP
3. I apparently have a "western accent" so many people out here have STRONG southern accents! This is redneck nation! you will hear language like "bushwhacker, right quick, fixed to, y'all, etc."

My NEW ADRESS:

1120 Farley Circle. Apt. C
Greenwood, AR 72936

email: brennen.horton@myldsmail.net

Fire Arkansas style!

Correction... POP of 916

Web sites of interest:

Mission President's wife's blog:

http://oklahomashumways.blogspot.com/ 

Brennen's first mission companion in MTC:

https://www.facebook.com/ElderKessel

A Blog about the Fortaleza East Mission

http://preparetoserve.com/brazil-fortaleza-east-mission/