We just got a letter, We just got a letter!!

Actually we have received 2 letters in 2 days!

Elder Colton reports that he has met his companion Elder Knighton from Kaysville Utah. He has 3 Elder's next door to them that are headed to South Dakota. He is feeling overwhelmed, nervous, as well as homesick

His p-day is on Monday. He hopes to get letters this week from all of you. He asks for your prayers as he adjusts to mission life. We love him, so lets tell him!

How to use Dear Elder.com

Jordan has a link in his side bar for Dear Elder.com. You have probably seen Kirby Heyborne on the billboard on 1-15 just outside of Lehi. You can send letters to the MTC for free using this service. It's just like writing an e-mail.

Go to www.dearelder.com

On the right side of the page there's a drop down window to select which mission to send a letter to. The Provo MTC is at the top of the list. Click on that. Underneath is a box entitled "Write a letter." Click on that. The next screen is the envelope labeling screen. Simply fill out your return address and then Jordan's mailing address:

Elder Jordan R. Colton
MTC Mailbox #155
NC-CHAR 0514

and his estimated departure date is
May 14, 2008.

After you fill that out you start typing the in box under the "terms and conditions." It's that simple. After you've composed your letter you click "send letter." It will ask you if you want to send. Click OK and your letter is sent. You can have a copy sent to your own e-mail.

Jordan would love to hear from you and until May14 this is a free and easy way to send him a quick note.

Dear Elder. Com. What a great service!!

Whew that Band Aid hurt!!!

The title to this post is in reference to something that was shared with the families during our visit to the MTC yesterday. More about that later.... President Pratt Alan Colton(dad) Elder Jordan Colton John Hendrix(Papa)

Jordan was set apart Tuesday night, by President Pratt. He is being released in 2 weeks at Stake Conference, so Jordan was his last Elder to send out. Jordan was honored-you know what they say-last the best of all the game! His blessing was very nice, Alan and Papa were able to assist. Jordan was nervous, but a feeling of calm came over him, and he said later it was almost like he could feel all of the prayers of everyone covering him with strength.

Jordan, true to his nature has had suitcases packed and organized well ahead of time, like 2 weeks ago. I was relieved that we didn't have any last minute scrambling to do yesterday. All we had to do is put them in the van.



One last check of the list and suitcases



We got to the MTC around 11:30, his scheduled time to enter. Matt and Courtney, and Paul and Mary Ann were waiting for us. We took pictures in the sunny spring weather. It was fun to see all of the missionaries and their families coming into the building. You could sense that anticipation of what was just around the corner and through the doorway.






We were able to watch Jordan go into the "new missionary" door. We waited in the lobby as Alan pinned on Jordan's name badge(I let him have that honor, because I had cried enough previously). We took more pictures, and then went down the hallway to the chapel. We sat on the second row, the closest we had ever been in there. In the past we had always near the back. We watched the Family-Its about time...commercials that the Church produces. It helped to ease that feeling of dread when we would be saying goodbye. The program began with singing "Called to Serve"-I had told myself "I will not cry, I will not cry during this song" because if I started I wouldn't stop. I gulped out a few words and then had to take a breath to get my composure back. Then the prayer was said, and the talks began. The MTC president said "if you pull a band aid off quickly, it won't hurt so bad. So make your good bye quick". Soon the talks and closing prayer were said. Emotions were running high in the room. The other mothers around me started crying, and that did me in, my tears were falling too. Jordan hugged Papa goodbye first, and then went on down the row giving hugs and "I love you's" to everyone. He hugged me last, I took in one more breath of his essence(he always smells so good) and kissed his cheek and said "Go, its your time". He didn't look back and walked out the "Missionary" door. We sniffled out the "Family" door and into the bright sunshine. We decided to not go home right away. We were hungry so we went to our favorite El Azteca for chimis and Carne Asada nachos.

Brynley started asking where Jordan was, the concept of him being on a mission will be hard for her to totally understand. I blinked back some tears on that one. We ate and then went home, I was so drained, I took a little nap. We all were kind of shell shocked that he really was gone. Later on around 9 pm, Christian had come home from Colby's and shut the front door. This was the usual time that Jordan would come home from work. Brynley heard the door and said " Jordy's home!!!" I had to say "not yet, he is on his mission." We had family prayer later on, and she didn't want to start without him. When we got home from school today, his truck is still in the driveway and she got all excited and said "Jordy's back!!" Its going to take a few weeks for both she and I to remember he's not here when we see his truck.

We sent off a young man; and a man will return who will never really be all mine again. That's the hardest part, knowing that life must go on despite the fact that a part of me doesn't want it to. I think that it just part of being a mom to feel like this. I am excited for the growth he will have in ways he wouldn't have if he didn't get to serve. He has waited so long for this, and many miracles happened for him to go. I have the trust in Heavenly Father to let him go.

This is bittersweet:/adj. ˌbɪtərˈswit, ˈbɪtərˌswit; n. ˈbɪtərˌswit/ Pronunciation Key - Show Spelled Pronunciation[adj. bit-er-sweet, bit-er-sweet; n. bit-er-sweet]both pleasant and painful or regretful: a bittersweet memory.

Cya in two years!

I must say that this is really hard for me. It just so crazy that this is finally here! Later tonight I will be set apart as a missionary for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. It is just so exciting and terrifying all at once. I've said it before in past posts on here, but I do truly want to thank all of you that have been a great influence in my life. I will try my best to be one of the greatest missionaries out there and its all your fault that I turned out like this =^)

The Lord has blessed me greatly to have you as my friends and family. I totally believe in paying it forward and that is what I will try to do while I'm on my mission. I want to try and reach people. I don't know how great I will be at doing it, but I will try my best to get it done right. I feel the love of my Heavenly Father so much right now. It all started after I finished my talk on Sunday. I know that he is proud of what I have chosen to do and that I will be blessed by going out to serve. Of course there are those moments where I wonder if I really should go, and I get my doubts, but I know that this is what I need to do. I made that commitment back in Primary that I wanted to serve a mission like my dad and my uncles. The fear and anxiety will soon pass with time and it will be something of great worth. Keep your commitments. When you accomplish something that you set out to do and see the results from that it is such a great feeling. At least that is how it has been for me. Heavenly Father will see that you want to be reliable and dependable to people and that warm comforting feeling you have inside of you is him letting you know that he is proud of you and loves you. I always want to make him proud of me and what I want to accomplish in this life. Its been for me one of the only ways I show gratitude for what he has blessed me with. Your wants and needs will come in time. If you set your goal to serve a mission and it does literally put your life on hold don't stress about it. You may miss out on things you wanted to do, but other and the majority of the time greater things will come into your life once you get back. Always put the Lord first in your life and many wonderful things will be brought before you. I have seen that happen in my life many times and some of you that are reading this are those wonderful blessings that were brought into my life. Thank you so much again for all you have done for me. I love you all so much and I love the fact that I will be spending the next 2 years loving those that I serve and trying to bring people into the Gospel to enjoy the love of our Savior and Redeemer who gave his life for us. I love him with all my heart and I know that he loves you. He loves more than most can comprehend. He is my Savior and he can be for you if you will turn to him and run into his open arms.

I love you guys!

Elder Jordan R Colton.

Ahh its over

Well its nice to say that giving my talk is over. That was a big stress for me and i am glad that i finished it today. After words we had a family lunch and it was really nice to just sit with my family for one last time and to hear what they felt about me and just to feel the overwhelming support. I feel like i didn't deserve it when there are so many out there that go on missions without support from their families. I felt truly blessed and I want to thank all of you that attended not just the luncheon but also those of you that made it to my farewell talk. I didn't realize how much of an impact my talk made on so many of you. If i just said thanks when you came and shook my hand to tell me how much you enjoyed my talk, just know that i was in a little bit of shock at the time and i truly do appreciate your feedback. A lot of time and preparation was made for my talk and I am so glad that you could feel of my spirit and get the message that i wanted you to hear. I was very very nervous and just couldn't believe that everything i said made sense.

Well its pretty much crunch time for me. I have pretty much everything packed up and ready to go. Tuesday night ill be set apart as a missionary and then in the MTC at 11:30 on Wednesday. Like ive stated before in other posts i really hope to keep this blog updated as much as possible with pictures and the like. Sorry that i havent had really any pictures with these past few posts but im working on it and I really didnt have anything to show pictures of. Ill see if i can dig up anything before i head out. So anyway thanks again everyone for coming out and taking the time to see me out. I love all of you so much and remember not just to pray for me, but pray for those missionaries that are going strong all on their own without that much support. I'm sure that your prayers will be of great worth to them.

My Farewell

Just so that its on here and those of you that may have not gotten an email from me or my mom and would like to go to my Farewell here is the information that my mom posted :^)


"Elder Jordan Colton has been called to serve in the Charlotte North Carolina Mission. He reports to the MTC April 23.

Elder Colton's Farewell will be held April 20th at 9 am at the church on the corner of 800 West and 1600 North in Orem. We are looking forward to sharing the long awaited day with all of you!! We will be having a lunch at our house after sacrament meeting. We hope to see you there!!"

So don't feel pressured if you cannot make it. I understand when thing's come up, and it makes it hard to get to things like this. I'll still love you

Its my last day! (at work)

Ha, don't worry, it's just my last day at work. I set it up so I could have time to be with family and finish up loose ends. Nathan would like us to go Laser Tagging tomorrow. I took Ryan and Nathan with me to the Jordan River Temple, as well as my friends Mike and April. We did baptisms for some of our family names. It was a day I won't forget.

So anyway it is an interesting time right now. Luckily things are slow here at work right now and it gives me time to write this. I just want to thank everyone that I worked with. You guys really have been awesome to me and I felt like I was at home whenver I came to work. It was just great to laugh with you guys about weird customers and the interesting things we would get in the mail. It really was a place I think I needed to be. Honestly I was very scared starting to work there. I never really liked to talk on the phone or deal with the public and it was tough the first few months. But eventually I got it figured out. It really built up my confidence in talking with strangers, so that now when I talk on the phone its no issue. I know that it will help me while I'm on my mission and how I present myself when I knock on doors or talk to people on the phone.
I won't forget you guys, and be sure to sell those vitamins!!

AHHH!!!

10 days and counting. It is just getting so crazy these days. All of these emotions built up together just really gets me nervous, excited, scared, impatient, and pretty much everything else rolled into one. I only have 3 days of work left and then I hope to get everything finished being packed.

Today I went to my buddy Mike Thorne's Homecoming and that was way cool. His testimony became so strong while he was out serving. While he was speaking, the Spirit reassured me that this is what I need to do now in my life. He made a very bold statement that I want to emphasize here. Any young man that has otherwise been told by their Bishop that they are unworthy, or have been told not to go has been called to the work. If you pray with pure intent asking if this is what you need to do you will know that this is your obligation to the Lord and is what you have to do at this time. I was glad that Mike said that and I echo his words. This is the Lord's work and I feel so blessed to finally have the opportunity to go out and serve.

4 Generations of Love

This week I had the chance to go do some yard work for my Great-Grandma Hendrix. She is 91 years young. She is sharp as a tack and loves her family so much. Papa is her oldest child. My mom is his oldest child and I am the oldest in my family. Grandma won't be able to come down to my farewell, its too uncomfortable for her to sit in the car for long periods of time, as well as on a church bench. So I wanted to make sure to see her before I left. I have many memories of coming to her house when I was a little boy for Thanksgiving dinners and Easter Egg hunts. She has always been interested in my life and has encouraged me to do well. I love to hear her laugh. She has always watched out her front window and waved to us when we drove away back home. That will always be a sweet memory for me. I am thankful for her love and her support.


Thanks everyone for all that you do and this will be one of the last posts I'll make before I head into the MTC. I put in my links a Dear Elder link which actually lets you send letters to the MTC for free (wink wink) so write me up while I'm there. It'll save you as stamp if you go that route. As far as I know I will be there for 3 weeks, but possibly 4, once I know I'll be sure to post it here. Love you all!