Time to reflect

Dear Family,

This week has been one of the most physically and mentally draining
weeks in my whole mission. I don't think a play by play will be the
right thing to do this week, I think instead I will just explain what
happened and how I was able to get through it.

The last couple weeks me and my comp have really just tried to get to
work and we have seen some crazy cool things happen in our area.
People I never would have picked to progress are coming to church and
are making changes that could have eternal effects. I had been having
these dreams about our family and it almost felt like it was in
another place. We were all together and it just felt like the biggest
warm blanket surrounding me every night.

When I got the call that Grandpa Swanton had passed away, it felt like
a ton of bricks just got piled on top of my heart. I could not
understand why I had these feelings that I would be able to see him
again. I was angry, why would heavenly father do this while I was out
on my mission. Could he not wait until I got home so that I could help
with all the aftermath. But then mom and dad called, during the call I
was not very manly. I have not cried like that for a long time. But
when I got off the phone a peace and calm came over me and I knew that
grandpa was in a better place. He left his broken body and went
looking for the perfect one promised long ago.

I'm sorry its not very long this week but I know that Grandpa is in a
better place and the rest of our family on the other side is teaching
him what he did not accept here on earth. I look forward to seeing him
again but not his old frail body, his strong perfect resurrected body
and hugging him. This gospel is perfect and I know that with all the
life that I have left. I know the lord wants me to become stronger and
a better missionary because of this experience. I love all of you and
will keep praying that you can all feel the same peace that I am
feeling.

Love your son,
Elder Swanton

Grandpa Swanton-Air Force

Grandpa/Grandma Swanton with Elder Swanton at farewell

Put your shoulder to the wheel

Sorry for delayed posting....Jacob's dad

Dear Family,

Alright well this was not the email that I was expecting to get today
but I guess we will see what happens. I really tried to put it all out
on the line this week so that we could see the blessings back home.
Please keep me informed.
My week was really good. I started out by going on some splits on
Tuesday and they were super fun. I went over to Lapaz with Elder
Tuimoalalo we have had the best times in my mission. We spent our
whole day just serving all the people that we saw. From washing
clothes to washing underwear,we did it all. At the end of the day we
just sat down and were so tired from just giving it our all that it
felt so good. I love getting to be able to split with all the other
missionary's in my zone. It helps me see how we can help them become
the best zone in the mission.

Wednesday was just full of tracting and more tracting. We tried to
follow up on all the oyms and contacts that we had gotten last week. I
am sad to say that things did not work out as we wanted them to. Most
of the people did not want us to come back and the areas we are
working in have become, how should I say it, not very fruitful. But that
just means we have tons more work to do. We were however able to teach
Brother Ernisto and he is really cool, at first we did not think he
was going anywhere but by the end of the lesson he had surprised me and
knew a lot of the material. We will head back and teach him next week.

Friday I had the opportunity to go on splits with Elder Dorman the AP
and my fellow Antique Brother so that was super sick for me and him to
be able to catch up on old times. We headed out with a whole different
mindset, we wanted the members to have trust for us so that they will
all be okay for this next Phase Two thing the mission is trying to
implement. Phase Two is basically that in the past missionary work has
been backwards. In the past members worked for us and now we have
realized that not only is that wrong it is backwards. We should work
for them and their goals are our goals. We spent our whole day
visiting members and asking them how we can help them become the best
ward they can be. It went really well and we scheduled a bunch of
Service Projects for the next couple weeks.

Saturday we went out and for the first time in my mission the Elders Quorum
of our ward had a Home teaching activity. We had close to 15
Priesthood holders that went out and they were able to visit so many
less active families and also find some very long time inactive
families.

Sunday is always the worst and best day for us missionary's, it is the
day where you see if all the work that you just did that week was worth
it. I am glad to say that we had Six Investigators come to church and
they all have the potential to be baptized within the next two months.
The Solomon family came and they went to all 3 hours and it was so
cool. After they said that it was so much fun and could not wait until
next week. I will add that the lessons with that family are so sick
and the spirit is so strong. The rest of the day we were able to
attend our wards Mission Plan Creation meeting. We will be having some
progress in the next coming months because the ward really wants to
help us and get all these goals done.

The area is progressing and we are having fun, so what else could you
ask for as the missionary.

I love you all and be safe,
Elder Swanton