Transfers

hey im getting transfered to lakeland

hey, what is up?
I'm doing pretty good, better since interviews with the mission president.
Baptisms are good, we just had one this weekend. We had four people get baptized so it looks like we are back into the finding mode. The members are cool. I made some friends in this ward. The mission is going pretty good. Its pretty crazy that I'm pretty much at 5 months. Its a little crazy. Thanksgiving was good. I actually only went to really one full meal but I snacked all of the day at another house where we watched movies.

Black Friday shopping I bet that was crazy! I don't think I could ever do that. We went to the mall and walked around because we figured there would be tons of people there who would see us,and even that was crazy. the 21 day prayer thing, well the ward I'm in just did a forty day fast for missionary work, and it turned out great, they were very confident and always prayed for each other as well. but at the end we had the baptism with four people. No I don't remember Tori but that is cool that bishop had him speak, and it is pretty crazy that Cameron is already home. Well tell the girls i miss them too. ( yes, that would be Zoee and Evva. Sorry ladies) I guess I should make them a card or something. I have no idea whats going on for Christmas yet, transfers are the ninth so I will know Saturday if I'm staying or not. things are going better. well it was great hearing from you have a good one and don't party to hard.
Elder Watson

We had a baptism Saturday November 29th it's pretty good we had 4 people baptized. The cool thing is, the ward I'm in just got finished doing the forty day fast for missionary work so it was awesome for them to see the results.
enjoy
Elder Watson

Yea, I am not surprised. Good job Justin!

Thanks young men, young women.

The quilt is awesome and I really liked getting the letters!

20 letters in 1 day sure makes missionaries happy.

You all rock and thanks for your support
Elder Watson

I am glad he knows what color to wear even though BYU lost.

Going Private

Okay, I am following the crowd. If they are doing it then so should I. Leave me your email if you would like me to add you to the list.

Triple King Challenge

So there is this burger challenge called the triple king challenge. A bunch of missionaries where doing it so of course I had to. The catch for me is that I ate two burgers so I had 3 pounds of beef plus all the fixins. It was pretty fun!
Well have fun,
Elder Watson

Pictures from Florida

Just like Justin, playing with fire

Hey, I got the package. The mission is going alright. I'm still in Clearwater, I got a new comp his name is Elder Francis I'm not getting along with him to well. We have been meeting with a family straight out of West Valley, Magna area its pretty cool because we know all the cool places. They are members but there kids are not so we have three baptisms there. We aren't working with allot of people really. Well I don't know really what else to say tell Zoee I said hi and thanks for the card, have fun and stay outta jail.

much love

Elder Watson

Emails to home

That's cool that you did baptisms,(Carry went with us to do baptisms for the dead) I don't get to go to the temple until I'm getting ready to go home. Don't worry, I sent out a card today to Chantal and g-ma, that's cool that you got to go to the haunted village. Every time I went to go it was closed. It kinda made me mad. well I guess I better go when I come home. Well, I don't have much to say this week I'll talk to you later

Elder Watson

Hey that's cool, we had to dunk the girl being baptized four times. It was actually petty funny. Cool I will definitely pray for her (just don't know which one) that's cool you are transferring to the tenth. Well I'm staying in Clearwater I'll talk to you later.

Much love,

Elder Watson

Hey so I remember you asked me what I want for Christmas. Well I was thinking today and something I would really like is a set of the compact or smaller scriptures. My huge ones are kinda bulky when you are trying to pack them around. Its just a thought but just so you can know what I'm talking about bishop Loertscher has some like what I want. don't feel obligated its just an idea

Elder Watson

Clearwater district

Hey hello hi hola, whats up gangsta. (who's he calling gangsta)?

The mission is doing good we had a baptism Saturday and we had a guy come talk to us about baptising his three kids, so it should be fun. we don't have investigators we baptize them ha ha just kidding. so I'm going trick or treating for Halloween. actually I'm probably just gonna sit in the apartment, or maybe work out. I think its pretty cool about Robert. Well I'm excited you know Christmas is coming so that means I'm closer to coming home. a couple weeks after Christmas I hit 6 months ha ha isn't that awesome.

Well hey I'll talk to you l8 months.

love elder Watson

Justins Family

Emails to home.....

Date: Mon, 8 Sep 2008 14:36:54 +0000 hey whats up, so why did you change jobs??? why did you show everyone baby pictures, that's pretty lame. well i don't care. haha Jamie is naming her little Canadian Ariel(honestly that name is childish) well any ways its her kid. cool smoking is a hard one to quit, but it can be done. well i shaved a w in my chest hair on a dare its pretty funny, ill send pictures. well have a good one ill talk to you later


Date: Mon, 15 Sep 2008 15:16:57 +0000 sorry I'm not very good at writing long letters. that's just how i am. yeah i got the pictures of savanna, that is terrible. shocked is right you calling me was weird i thought something bad happened. its cool very shocking, you should see my inbox there is probably 20 emails from people. cool general conference should be fun. when is dad gonna get the priesthood?? your getting another dog? well that's cool i guess. i haven't got my package yet, they hold the mail around transfer time. so I'm being transferred to Clearwater its just right down the road, it the Scientology capitol, it will be fun my new companion is from Trinidad Tobago he is Indian. well if you want my memory card i need that one back ill talk to you later elder Watson

Date: Mon, 22 Sep 2008 14:25:48 +0000 ok you cant nag on me for short letters any more. oh is the question i asked about the priesthood for dad. the concert sounds fun i always feel awkward at drunk concerts. well I'm in my new area now its Clearwater, my new companion is elder Gopaul he is from Trinidad. well ill talk to you later elder Watson

cool that's good for them, I'm watching conference at the church they are broadcasting it to all the church buildings out here. that's cool the kids are doing baptisms for the dead. its crazy Ive already been serving for three months. sounds like you all are enjoying yourself. well ill talk to you later elder Watson ( i need my memory card so i can send this one ) Elder Justin Watson 13153 n dale Mabry hwy suite 109 Tampa,fl 33618

hey about time dad gets his car a little dirty, before you trade in see if you can afford it, plus who would take your 'bleeep' mobile for a trade in haha. the cabin is always fun. you should see it during April conference you have to park at the top and hike in knee deep snow. well hey send my card this pone is getting allot of pics on it. much love elder Watson

10/6

Hey, sorry it has been to long. I've been a slacker writing to people I'm sorry.

I figured you would have went to the cabin, I watched at the church. It was good! I took notes through out all the talks. Yeah, I want an ensign with all the talks so I can re read them and use them. I get to speak on Sunday in sacrament on 'The Power of the Book of Mormon.

I'm doing alright, kinda bummed because the work isn't doing to well. I've been brain storming to try to figure out how to find people to teach. We are teaching some people, there is one that is doing pretty good her name is Erin she is 17. The young women really fellowships her well. Her mom is a little more on the crazy side. She need to soften her heart. We are teaching a part member family, there mom is a less active member, her girls have some really stupid concerns, like they wont join because our music is slow they want a choir like the loud one with the robes. we are also teaching some new people, he called us and he may be more difficult he is all pierced up and I'm sure the word of wisdom is a problem. his girlfriend seemed not as bad but she is young she is only 17. so that's who we are teaching.

yeah its crazy that Matt is home. lets see if my two years go that quick. I've been kinda chatting with my family, its pretty cool all what's happening.

Well, I'll talk to you later
Much love
Elder Watson

email 9/22

The baptism was a total shock. I didn't fall asleep until midnight. That's cool that my pops has been absorbing the teachings. Well I got your package thanks. well I'll talk to you later
Elder Watson

9/15/08 Letter

Hey, What's happenin gangster. (Mmmmm who's he calling gangster? jk)
I'm doing good. We are working. We have a third baptism scheduled for Saturday. Honestly the time does fly but not fast enought. The weather has been hot the last few days. We are getting a wind now and hopefully some remnants of hurricane ike.

Okay, you wnat to know about the people we are working with. Alright...The first lady we baptized, her name is Yolanda, she is in her early 30's. She is a signle mom, she grew up catholic. The second one we baptized , her name is Lex. She is 19, she had a kid and put it up for adoption. She is interested in learning tons. The one scheduled for Sept 13th, her name is Sonnie, she is an ex-biker, bible expert. She told us at first that she needed evidence so we halped her find it, but she found her answer herself in Luke. We work allot with a girl named Kassy who was baptized 2 months ago. We had one guy we were working with get put in jail. The ward mission leader is pretty cool, he graduated from Timpview (the best high school ever, I might add sr). in Provo. His father is a multi millionair. He owns the company Monavie, well anyways, you might know our ward mission leaders dad, his name is Michael Carter. He worked for the MTC for years.

Well have fun. I'll talk to you later.

Much Love
Elder Justin Watson

That's cool that your trying to quit.

It rains pretty often here. The cool storms always seem to pass us though. Alex is working haha. Dang you got lucky on the tool deal. Sorry I couldn't email yesterday the library's are closed and that is where i email at. Jed is a good cook huh, well I make good ramen noodles.well ill talk to you later

Hey, since you wrote a letter, I guess I'll write one back.

Well, that's why Jed got a longer letter because you already know the stuff I told him, plus it's Jed, you know how close we are.

You are going to have to remind me about birthdays because I can't remember peoples. That's cool that Timmy is coming back. Tell him I say hi.

Did you see the picture of gas prices out here? $3.50.

The fun fairs are always fun, tons of people this year.

Well right now at this moment I'm sitting at my desk pretty wet because we just had a sudden rain storm. It was amazing. How much rain comes so quickly. We are also preparing for a virtual tour to give to the members Sunday. It's the fifth Sunday of the month so they all combine. We are gonna take advantage of that and teach all the ward and I'm to jump start them into missionary work. We had our interviews with the mission President this week. since I'm being trained by zone leaders they are the last ones interviewed. I had to wait around. We were there from about 8:20 am to 8:10 pm.

The mission President didn't really interview me it was more of a quiz on what I have been doing the last couple weeks. It's amazing you spend hours studying the scriptures in the MTC then you hit the field and feel like an idiot when you actually teach someone. There is still sometimes I need to stay in the refiners fire. We are preparing for a baptism tomorrow 8/30/08 she requested me to give a talk on baptism, It should be fun. Well I'll let you know how everything goes

Much love

Elder Watson

His Greatest Baptism Yet!

If you ever wonder what kind of blessings come from serving a mission. Here is one.

It's that time again

Anyone that is interested in adding to my box, let me know by 9/8/08

On My Way to Florida

Missionary Poem Author Unknown

The alarm rings at 6:00. I stumble to my feet
grab my companion's bedding and pull off his sheet
A groan fills the room, is it already time to rise?
It seems like just a second ago I was able to shut my eyes

The morning activities follow – study, prayer, and such
When it's time to leave the apartment, you feel you haven't accomplished much.
“We have a super day planned,” my comp says with a grin
I lowly utter a faithless breath. “Yeah, if anyone lets us in.”

With the word of God and my faithful Schwinn, we ride off in the street
Prepared to face another day of humidity and heat.
It's 9:30 in the evening, the day is almost through;
My companion and I are riding home, not accomplishing what we thought to do.

We ride up to the mailbox, hoping to receive a lot.
Only to look inside and hear my echo reverberate “Air Box.”
We go up into our apartment, the day is now complete
The only thing to show for our work is a case of blistered feet.

It's past 10:30 pm., my companions fast asleep
Silence engulfs me all about and I begin to weep
In the midst of all the sadness I kneel down to pray;
I need to talk to Father, but I'm not sure what to say.

l”Oh, Father,” I begin, “What happened to us today?
I thought we'd teach somebody, but everyone was away.
My hands, my aching hands-worn, hurt and beat,
If our area was any smaller, we'd knocked down every street.”

“Why on missions are the days so much a like?
The only difference about today was the flat tire on my bike.
Will you send some cooler weather? The heat is killing me.
I sweat so bad, it gets in my eyes, it's very hard to see.”

“Why do I have to wear a helmet, isn't your protection enough?
People always laugh at me and call me stupid stuff.
Please send us investigators so I may give them what they lack;
I want to give them Books of Mormon, the weight of them hurts my back.”

“And what about my family? They don't have much to say,
I'm sick of not hearing from home, day after day after day.
Oh Father, why am I here, am I just wasting time?
Sometimes I just want to go home, I'm sorry but that's on my mind.”

“My companion, Heavenly Father, what are you giving me?
The way he rides his bike, I don't think he can see.
Now you have it, I can't go on, I don't know what to do;
That my Father in Heaven, is the prayer I have for you.”

My prayer now finished I stand up, then jump into bed
I need my rest for tomorrow; we have another long day ahead.
Sleep starts to overtake me, I seem to drift away
Then it seems a vision takes me to another time and another day.

I'm standing alone on the hill the view is very nice-
A man walks toward me and says, “My name is Jesus Christ”
Tears of joy well up inside, I fall down to my fee.
“Arise,” he states, “Follow me to the shade-you and I need to speak”

My attention's toward the savior, total and complete.
He says, “Your mission is similar of what happened to me,
I understand how you feel, I know what your going through;
In fact, it would be fair to say I've felt the same as you.”

“I understand you don't like swearing, in fact it's something you hate,
I remember when I sweat blood from every pore, oh the agony was great!
I see you don't like your companion-you'd rather have someone else-
I once had a companion named Judas who sold my life for wealth.”

“It's hard to wear a helmet and have people make fun of you.
I remember when they put thorns on my head and called me King of the Jews.
So you feel burdened down by the weight of your pack.
I recall how heavy the cross was when they slammed it on my back.”

“Your hands hurt from tracting and knocking on doors all day.
I guess when they pounded nails in mine, they ached in a similar way.
It's hard not to hear from home when your family's not there to see.
I lost communication on the cross and cried, “Father, why hast though forsaken me?”

“We have a lot in common, but there's a difference between us you see,
I endured to the end and finished my mission, so follow and do like me.”
He embraced me with his arms, His light filled me with his love,
With tears in my eyes, I watched as he went back to the Father above.

I stood with awe and wonder when a beep rang in my head,
I listened and heard the alarm, then realized I was in my bed.
My companion let out a groan, “6:00 already. Now way!”
I sat up and said, “Come on, I'll even carry your scriptures today!”

No matter what we go through, when we feel we can't take more
Just stop to think about Jesus Christ, He's been there before!

baptism

Hey, Well that stupid storm missed us completely. I'm way bummed, missionaries wanted it here whole mission and I almost seen it first transfer. Well here is my memory card. It has a bunch on it. Send me some good ones. We have been working a lot. Honestly, knocking door to door isn't my favorite. There are a lot who slam the door on me. We have one person lately who is doing awesome. We are talking about baptising her quick. Well I don't know what else to say so talk to you later.

Elder Watson

Alex,
Hey Happy birthday. Sorry I didn't get a card. Every time I go shopping I always space it. Well anyways I'm in Florida. It is really hot and nobody has normal teeth. I sleep on the couch because there are only two beds and 3 missionaries in this apartment. My bike is nice. I don't ride it though. I eat crappy food because I'm broke but other than that it's nice here. Talk to you later.
Elder Watson

MTC Pictures

Monday 25, Aug 2008

That's cool who all have you been hanging out with. Are you talking Ben Noury, has dad rode his hog? That's cool. Did Jed give Chantal a blessing for school? Well I'm gonna try to send my card in the mail here shortly. I have a paper init explaining some of the pictures. I marked ones I would like. I'm gonna start working out and eating healthy so i can be ripped when I come home. I'm already just as strong as the missionary's that I'm serving with and they been working a year or two. Mike emailed me and said he was gonna come down here personally and beat me if i ever scare him with another hurricane. Well I'll talk to you later.

Hey, whats happenin. So I heard you been fencing. Where did you put a fence up??? You been hanging with Ben a lot, that's cool. I started working out. I'm hoping on getting my weight to 185 then start building muscle. I'm sending home my card today so it should be there in a few days. Your car started pinging? What happened? Well we have to start knocking on doors more often now so we can find more people to teach. Well I'll talk to you later

Letters to Home

Hey mom, Whats happening just to let you know there is a tropical storm maybe a hurricane coming our way but the mission president is all over it so don't worry we had a baptism on Saturday it was awesome well ill email you later this week ok

Hey tell mom I'm gonna be fine. The mission Pres knows what he is doing. We have 72 hour kits/water we are taken care of. The members in the ward have been through these a bunch so they got our backs too. There gonna let us know today whats going on. if you look at a map of Florida St Petersburg in a little peninsula on the west coast towards the north so it has a little ways to go. Well have fun ill ttyl

Hey, the storm never even made it to St Pete. I'm fine! President told me you called. We are fine and now we are back to work. This whole thing was anti climatic, we prepared for nothing but its cool well I'll ttyl

The temple is awesome huh? Its one of my favorite places. Dont worry about me, if anything drastic goes on I'm sure President Colton will get in contact with you . I've got the pictures you sent me. bey

Fay Update

Sorry no time, this is my time to let everyone know the storm missed us and that I'm fine.

Elder Watson

Short email....

They are getting ready for a hurricane.
Wanted to make sure that his family doesn't worry about him. He said: I'll be fine. The mission Pres knows what he is doing. Well I'll ttyl

Side note: We all know that he will be fine. Keep him in your prayers.
Ether 12: 6

6 And now, I, Moroni, would speak somewhat concerning these things; I would show unto the world that faith is things which are hoped for and not seen; wherefore, dispute not because ye see not, for ye receive no witness until after the trial of your faith.

Letter from his Mission President

Letters to home ~

Hey, I'm doing good. The flight was long it was just under 5 hours. I'm in St Petersburg in a town called Seminal. The missionary life is crazy, we go from morning until night. I get to email Monday mornings it's nice and hot here. You thought I sweated allot there. My bike is pretty cool, I don't ride it though cause we are in a car. Good luck on all the stuff your working on.
Love ya,
Elder Watson

Awesome I read every day. Of course you can use my guns, just take care of them, but you know that. Monday is my prep day so I will usually be emailing on Monday. My bike is nice, I haven't needed to ride it yet. The area I'm in is full car area I'm in St Petersburg in a town called Seminal. There are some cool people. The ward members are nice they take pretty good care of us. It's crazy I have 140 dollars to take care of me for the month. I have to remember all the cheap foods to make. I bought a bag of egg noodles. This is defiantly gonna be a good experience. A good chapter to read in the book of Mormon is Alma 32 well love ya tell everyone one I can email any one . alright ttyl Elder Watson

Hey guess what I can email. I can email anyone as long as I email family first. So I made it to Florida I'm in Saint Petersburg in a town called Seminal. Its a nice area I'm just off Madeira beach. My dad emailed me and put d&c 4 in his letter. My mom said that he is reading like a mad man. I'm gonna be sending my memory card shortly it has tons of pictures on it . Pass my email on. Well Ill talk to you later
Elder Watson

Leaving the MTC

Justin left the MTC this morning @ 6 AM. He is now in route to Tampa Florida.

The Day Justin Went into the MTC

Report from the MTC

My sister Susan and her husband serve at the MTC. I asked her to check up on Justin from time to time and let us know how he was doing. She left me a message today telling me he is doing good. He looks happy.

We also received a letter from him today. He said:

The hardest time I had was just before I got set apart. but after that I was fine. And yes I have been reading my scriptures. (that's cause I always ask him) Told you I could do it.
It's amazing how quick you change in the MTC. They taught me how to teach the 1st lesson and I have had a few chances to teach. We are going to do family home evening teaching the lesson when I come back again.
We have a great Branch President. They are good at going by the spirit, it is way cool. He came to our room last night, He said our District were like the sons of Mosiah, isn't that awesome. I want to let you know this is the Lords work and I actually look forward to class because it's about the Lord.

Tell everyone hello.

Love Elder Watson

Letters to his family

July 24, 2008
Hey Ma
I'm doing good. I'm in the routine now so it's flyin by I can't believe it's been a week already.
There are a lot of missionaries wanting the computer so I'll ttly (text talk) haha see I can still text well anyways later.

7/16
Family,
So today was my first day I got my first companion. Hi is from Pleasant Grove. We all got our books. Had our orientation as all New Missionaries today and our Districts. They took us on tours. This is so worth it. The Branch President is a nice guy. He lives in Lehi. I share a room with 3 other elders. There pretty cool. 2 are from Utah and the other is from Arizona. We are all going to Tampa to serve. I'm senior companion. Tomorrow we start class and meet our teachers. The food is good. So don't worry about me. I'll be fine.
Love,
Elder Justin Watson

Care Package

I am getting ready to send Justin out a care package. If anyone would like to send him something you can bring it down to me and I will send it with ours.

1st Letter from the MTC

Hey guys, Dude, man, awesome. Sorry I can't say slangs anymore. So I got my first companion. His name is Reimschussel (Rhyme Chisel) he is from Pleasant Grove. Our teachers are awesome. They sure know how to bring the spirit. I'm having a great time building my testimony and learning. I am senior companion for 6 weeks. It's awesome. Everyone in our room is going to Florida. Our roomates are great Elders.
Love Elder Watson

Preparing for His Mission

It's almost here

Many will miss him

You gotta know the Church is True....Look what I'm leaving behind

Many friends came to wish him well

Mom, Grandma and Justin

Missionary Shower June 14, 2008

Justin & Mom

Pres. and Sister Elegante writing in his book

If you ask Justin what he wants for dinner he would always

tell me Peanut Butter sooo....look what he got!

He has many people who have and will support him all the way.
Thanks to all those who help get him ready to go!