hello! im glad that we got to talk on christmas it helped sooooo much! im also changing my mood and not focusing and the downfalls of this experiance! after hearing about jeff i have just felt so lucky to be blessed with endurance! its not an easy thing and to be honest i dont blame him! thank you for sacrificeing two of your kids to do this work, its so important and needs to be done! kate told me that you and dad have kids doing the lords work around the clock because when she sleeps im awake and the other way around! i thought that was soo cool! well number one! thank you (and dad) for my package it was THE BEST EVER! i loved it! if or when you ever send another one, those cool jell packs we took on treck would be GREAT!!!! also my blue shorts?? the light blue ones please but dont feel like you have to! i got dave and calees package and my favorite thing in there was the ultrasound pic!!!! i showed it to all the senior couples and all the branch members who cared! i know its just his feet but i was so excited! im so excited for Emily and Tyler too! thats awsome! i wish i could have been there (i mean when she has it!!!! not like in there but you know it utah or whatever) well the holidays around here are .....an experiance! any whre from cows being sacrificed (while still moooing) or the cops making announcments to keep them and there kids in side so they dont get raped or killed!!! but i love it! in every home we go into over the holidays they feed us! and they eat alot of meat! like im breaking the word of wisdom alot of meat! but i love it hear and i hope to get a baptism soon we have lots of investigators there all just progressing slowley! but the lord will prepair away! and dont worry about me in the heat! i will be fine the lord know what i can handle and knows what to do! im hear for a reason! dont ever think im coming home i promise if i do it will be in a box (preferably blue)! tell brad hello for me! im glad he is doing well and i hope hes not to home sick i canalready tell you it will be hard to leave this place and this work! also tell maralyn and lee hancock thank you for the letter there great! well im about out of time! forward me katees emails please and i am doing great! i will be inside all flipping day for new years eve and day so i wont get shot or beat to deathe with a giant rod ;) some words of comfort! well i love ya mom your the best im so proud of you and im so lucky to have the best 2 people in the world as my parents! happy new years love ya shaap
Shaap is his name in Afrikanz

Colton's email 12/20/2010

okay once again quick email because ill talk to you on the phone soon! but hello! i am sorry you have had a bad week i understand! it will only get better though with time! yes im still here and happy about that! Elder neilson went to belville about 30 min away just closer to cape town! he's lucky because its alot cooler there! our new elder is from bloomfontain just closer to joberg. he's cool. we were supposed to have 2 baptisms on this coming sunday but satan took that over and it lookes like we will have to wait a little while longer! i get so excited to think that people will be baptized! its just that much closer to where they need to be! i got janelles email and will write her asap, i cant email people if there not family and although she is basically family i would just feel guilty! i hope she will be okay though its a little stressfull to think about. well im so proud of katee and i have been praying for her so much i know she will be fine! i had a dream that i got transfered into her mission and it was wierd! i am running out of jesus stickers but i dont think there necessary tell grandma i just sent her a letter so dont worry!!! i have a list of people who are priority to write just in case i dont have time to write everyone and she is clear up there!

So mom i love you and YOU stay strong. it will all be okay! i love you and am praying for you! ill phone you on saturday (wierd) love ya!

Colton's testimony to Katee at her setting apart

Mom just read this at katees setting apart if its appropreat:

 

hello! there is someone who wanted to be here but obviously couldnt! its me colton! hello, well katee doesnt it just seem like YESTERDAY that this was happening to me!!!!! i just wanted to tell you how much i love you and how proud i am of you! you are my hero and yes this will be hard but you know that, and your doing it anyway! well i just want you to think of Joseph smith in liberty jail. he had it so rough kate and went through so much. and when he questioned where the lord had gone the lord said D&C 121;7-8 "Peace be unto thy soul, thine adversity and thine afflictions shall be but a small moment, and then if you indure it well, god shalt exalt thea on high thy shalt triumph over thy foes." and its true katee through endureing these tough couple of months i have seen more blessings then ever! my faith and testimony has been strengthed so much! and i know and i study and work hard to learn more and help others my testimony and faith will grow even more! katee our father in heaven knows you more then you can even imagine he know where you should be, when you should be there and who you should be with! there is a reason for all things! i know it will be tough trust be im in the middle of it now. but soon you will see the blessings and miricals that can come from this work! katee just rely on what our father in heaven has given to us! pray and read your scriptures, i know you will because you have been the best example to me! i remember when i was little and i would see you every night pray and read your scriptures while my lazy but watched TV. when they say people are waiting and being prepaired for you it is soooo true! i have already met people who are so ready for the truth. well ill stop preaching now, just know how much i love you and i am so pruod of you. its okay to be sad and homesick just try not to dwell on those feelings, but i know its hard! katee i love you so much, you are a great example to me and our whole family. just go out there and give it all you have! this experiance will never come again. just remember he will be on your right hand and on your left his spirit WILL be in your heart and its a feeling you will love!!!!! and never want to go away! and HE WILL send his angles to round about you and bear you up! i promise you will feel his presence! and at the end you will want to say to him honestly "I have fought a good fight, i have finished the course, i have kept the faith!"  i love you and i will pray for you every day!! good luck you will be the best missionary ever!

12-6-2010

HELLO!

well this week was a wierd one! monday was p day duh and that was preatty normal we went to sister Dirks for family home evening and she fed us, they always feed us! sunday morning i woke up to go to the restroom and stepped in a puddle of water! our bathroom flooded and we were with out a toilet for 5 days!! Elder Herbert was livid he asked the land lord to fix it every day and on the fifth day he just freaked out at the poor woman hahahaha they love us! wednesday was Zone confrence and it was good! Elder Wattson from the 70 came with his wife. his wife talk about using the articles of faith in our teching and it was amazing! one of my favorite lessons ever! but it was fun to see a few people from my transfer. we also found out that transfer day is a week early!!! so we will get transfer news on the 14th or 15th and be transfered on the 16th. her is my prediction! i think i will stay and so will Elder Leach atleast i hope and i think he will be the the DL of our district and Elder nielson and Elder Maja will both leave and we will have two new ones! that just what i think! i really hope i dont have to spend Christmas with a new Companion, but hey atleast im not in katees shoes. i hope for her sake it just feels like another day!!! poor girl i do worry about her and hope she will be okay. It was nice to have investigators come to shurch!!! we have this family were teaching, there last name is Soul hahaha anyways tumeka and caster soul are amazing!!! she skippes work to come to churh! thats some great dedication. and they have a little boy named Gift. they are going to be baptixed in January hopfully! they we are teaching a Xhosa (click) lady named Lindelwa she is great! and she has a little girl with a skweeky voice. she so freaking awsome i love to hear her click all through a lesson!!! we also taught a man Jacobus who before we came intentionally looked up things from the book of mormon that "couldnt possibly be true" he drove me crazy that little man! but we handles it well and i wasnt even scared!!!!! ummmm well this is really short ha tell grandma i love writing her and that wont be the last!!! yes the La Vitas are amazing we have FHE over there tonight! yes mom they are colored! but there normal ha but i love them! they are great!!!! we sang at an old age home with the branch yesterday! i wanted to go talk to all the old people but the branch was scared of them haahaha oh man well im doing good, it has been hitting me that two years is a long time but the time ive been here has already shot right past!!! im doing okay im really excited to talk to you guys on christmas but then again not really i dont know how ill react! but it should be good well i will talk to you later i love you guys i hope everything is going good! love ya

 

Okay so mom do you think you could look and the distrabution center and find the Doctrin and Covenants and church history visual resorce dvds! there great to tech with we have been barrowing Tamsyns but i want my own incase i leave! if its too much trouble then its okay!

 

also will you send me that one christmas story about the oranges and the orphan or what ever

 

who is the new YW presidency???

 

i havent gotten a package yet but i will soon! i get mail from the herberts on Sunday and Wednesdays

E-mail 11-29-2010

MOM AND DAD AND FAMILY!!!!!

well hello okay so answers... 1st mom, I love how you number them hahahaha its very helpful!

#1 so we eat lots of curry! wich would normally kill me but if i take my pills im totally fine and i love it! we also eat alot of potato and rice and pap and chicken yes like fried chicken. preatty normal, enless i eat a smiley which is a head of a goat cut in between the eyes and you eat everything! thats gross but the meats okay.

#2 the people are either black, colored or white. yes black and colored are two diffrent things. colored people are like a mix of every race you could imagine and we usually teach blacks or coloreds, there are very few KIND white people! bless them anyways

#3 yes i am getting letters so thank you too mom, Grandma Harward, Laura, katee, kelsee, calee, Liz, Brooke, Courteney, Amanda, michele and emily!!! you seriously make my days! im trying to write back but its hard! but keep it up:)

#4 christmas call will be early ish your time like 11 or 12 and im not exactly sure and probably like an hour hopfully more!!! i will call from the church building!

#5 i email from the church in the family history center

 

okay so on P day we visited the afrikanz monument here in paarl where the language was established but it wasnt that great! here they speak mostly afrikanz and some speak xhosa (clicky thing) which im picking up a little but im mostly learning Afrikanz but they most all know english to they just hate it. katee, yes i did go prosolyting in the mtc it was a great experiance! lets just say joburg is scaryer then here hahaha

 

So family i sent you a small package and accidentally put your letters in there sorry they may take longer then everyone elses but just be happy i can email you! liz and brooke i sent letters to my house before i had gotten any letters from you so just dont write back to those because there are others on the way and they will go to your addresses.

 

 

the weather here is hot! hotter then you know where!!! so i tract in all sorts of areas! paarl is very nice mostly white areas and so is franshhoek and a couple others! however i also teach in townships like chicago, groenheuwel, mbkweni, new orleans, new york ect. a town ship is basically litte shacks with coloured and black people! there the nicest but we rarley go there on weekends because every one and there dogs and children are completley drunk and crazy and way to dangerous!

 

Someone asked if i can drink the water, yes i can we are just carefull but its clean.   our flat is very clean we live in a posh white neighboorhood. so thanksgiving......just another day and halloween the people are to superstisious and to scared of it.

we got a nice phone call from the APs they said they were very happy with our work and they thanked us, it was a nice phone call.

 

thanks for sending the jellybellys i realized how ungrateful it sounded like i just expect you to send me stuff i felt bad but im glad there coming! so tyson Albertson is gone! brooke said his farwell was great which is no suprise! hes a spiritual giant that one! he will do amazing! hows tawna? and mom whos the new YW presidency?? mom can you also just copy paste what my account looks like so i can just see, i havent spent hardley any money except i bought a new suit today! the wool one was just too hot and you cant wash it and the dry cleaners here are NOT good! but grandma said she was giving me some xmas money (which is very very nice grandma) so i just bought a new suit there cheep here!

 

Thats nice to hear people have been so genourous to help with the mission payment i love the people we know! i also love Mers letter and to hear about the girls! im getting more and more dissapointed im gunna miss out on my nephews 1st year and half of his life but thats okay! i think they should name his middle name Colton because they had plenty of time to have kids while i was here! its only fair! im serious!

 

MOM AND DAD GOOD JOB LOOSING WEIGHT!!!!!!! im gaining it hahahahaha which is good. Laura thank you for the advice! its soooooooo funny how well you can relate but yes i just close my eyes and eat or drink what they give me! but alot of places are nice and so its good! thank you for your letters! and good luck with the baby i hope its not as big as Ella was for you!!!!!!

 

Brooke Cockayne WOE unto the jesus stickers ya only need one to scare of the africans! you probably gave some of them strokes! hahahaha it killed me! when i saw them i said " holy jesus" and sister herbert just laughed haha i had to explain myself!! also THANK YOU for the pictures my gosh there great! i love getting pictures you are the best!

 

So let me tell you about TI-TI she is the cutest 80 year old women in the world she was baptised awhile ago like 5 yrs?? and she feeds us every wednesday at 130 haha then we also go ever another time in the week to visit and Elder Leach and I are teaching her how to read! i freakin love TITI she always says "oh my dears my dears" and giggles! she loves us!

 

well im am doing very well. this week we have excahnges on tuesday and ill be with Elder Maja hes awsome. then wednesday we have Zone Confrence. so it should be a fun week! im loving being on a mission most all the time! the spirit is great and i know i say this alot but ive never felt closer to my heavenly father! i love learning more every day! sometimes i think i learn more then the investigators ha! we have two baptisms on the 19th and 3 on the 36th and 3 on the 10th and hopefully more! the transfer ends on dec 23rd but hopefully i just stay with Elder Leach! but who knows. well there are letters on the way! i love you all! keep the missionaries in your prayes. i never knew how much pray works until know i know he cares and truley listens! well love ya!

 

Elder Balmforth

E-mail 11-22-2010

Hey momma and dad!! can you send some jelly bellys asap???? please there is a family that feeds us all the time they are the La Vitas there so amazing there son is on mission in england! and there daughter served in utah! they are the best they already reserved us for christmas hahaha and anyways they love jelly bellys and they said if i get any then i can share but if you cant then its fine! so okay answer to number 1 i am always eating my cheeks are huge dont tell anyone! the members stuff us full! they LOVE the missionaries they would take a bullet for us! #2 I love Elder Leach hes great and so obediant! wich is the best! his family is in the Tacoma Washington mission! so you can talk with his mom on that email mom thing! #3 i cant skype for xmas we just found out.  #4 im doing good mom dont worry about me! there are hard days but im figuring it out and making the best of the situation. #5 no your letters are not getting here hahaha i have gotten only ONE hand written one from courteny and a few dear elder from my amazing grandma harward and then one from you and kels and laura but those JUST came and i dont mean to complain but please keep writing once a week it  is not that hard!!! #6 oh i just answered that hehe #9 no i cant accsess my own acount well i could but im not allowed so i wont! but no im good! im well taken care of just put your trust in the lord he is ALWAYS with me i know that and if your close to him then your close to me! cheesy moment of the week! also just call me colton i really miss that name hahaha Every now and then Elder neilson will call me that but other then that thats all i hear of it! so im going on exchanges tonight and tomorrow with elder nielson! hes far to excited hahaha his companion is very intimidating so hes excited hahaha it should be good though! i hope katee is okay i know its going to be hard for us all, yes even me! how do you think i will feel KNOWING my family is not okay and katee is suffering in the mtc and there is nothing i can do! its going to be hard and i just dont know sometimes i just want to tell her not to go she doesnt have to but i have already experianced so much that i would never ever take back or give up! the people will love her so much! i just hate that she has to be in the MTC its a hard place! i mean i loved it but thats probably the worst of the mission right there! oh man i just worry! well on a good note we have 11 people commited to baptism!!!!! were on a role! but not every area will be this fruitful I have been blessed to have known and met these amazing people!! and i confirmed someone on sunday! her name is moureen shes so flippin awsome! it was a nice experiance. i can tell im going to love this it will just come more and more everyday.  well this is an amzing thing here i love Paarl and im doing well. i love you all

 

                      Elder Balmforth

Colton's E-mail 11-15-2010

HEllo again!

wow so much to say!!!! 1st of all i hope you all have my correct address because i am only allowed to email family so im so sorry! mom and dad just send whatever for christmas! but lots of sour candy!!! they dont have that here but the choclate is much better here! and my comps mom sent me some presents already so maybe something for him haha awkward! well i am in a place called Paarl its very close to cape town. my companion is elder Leach he is fom washington, his home actually covers your mission katee! atleast he thinks! hes great! we also have a car!!!!! which is nice but scary to drive! he also wants to steal a black baby hahahah we are just kidding but the kids here are freaking way cute! unless they touch your hair with there nasty hands! my apartment is preatty nice very small..... but livable! its way dirty though so i'm crackin down and we are cleaning today! i cant live in that mess haha i am my mothers child! my mission president is amazing! i'm going to be sad to see him go! so keep an eye out in the ensign i hear they say who the new presidents are! calee i can't wait to hear what the fetus is (even though i know its a boy) with blonde hair actually! i had a weird dream about him but hes cool. i was sad to leave the MTC i HATE change and realized transfers will suck! but this sunday is going to be stake confrence and the other zone will be there so ill get to see a couple friends like elder cowey!!!!! so we are a 4 man district! the other Elders and Maja, who is cool hes the DL and very strict which is good! and Elder Nielson from Washington also! hes way cool very funny and we get along really great! we also had a baptism yesterday which was nice! her name is Moreen and she is so nice! but its a struggle to find people i get so frustrated when people just won't listen! its not easy! Especially when your out working all day and nothing productive happens!!!!(any advice or comfort on that matter)? well its amazing how much my testimony has grown! I love this gospel which helps when time gets crappy! oh crao is a swear word here comparable to the shhesh word! well i loved hearing about clara, kelsee! i miss her alot and brenna and emery! always remember you do have computer time and it wouldnt kill to send some pictures!!!! which reminds me i forgot my camera hahaha! mom dont send those jeans! i can get some here. also just remember to always be checking my account! and tell deann i love her and thank her for her letter she sent for the plane ride!!!! also to everyone thank you for the letters you sent with my mom for the plane! i didnt read them on the plane because i didnt feel up to it but after 3 weeks i finally finished them hahaha so thank you! also my address it South Africa cape town mission PO box 181 observitory 7935 Republic of South Africa. mom you can use dear elder but just writing them takes just as fast and its weird but i would like to see some familiar hand writing! okay about the flippin food! i teach people in nasty shacks that smell like urine!!! they always offer you food or drink and its sooooooo hard for me to do that because i dont want to get germs and DIE!!!! but i have been dong it and i've learned a few tricks! but its just gross to wash you hands at a home in the same water in a bowl they have been using for a week! and then eat off the dirty plates with your dirty hands!!!!!! I MISS MY CLEAN HOME!!!!!!!!!!!!! however there are many clean homes here as well like the lavitas! they fed us yesterday and it was amzing and there house is clean! i love the lavitas! well the branch hear in paarl is small but the members are sooooo humble and sooo welcoming! the missionaries are saints around here! so in Paarl they speak Afrikanz which is kinda like German or Dutch and im learning but very slow! its really frustration not understanding! i have no idea why they didnt teach this in the MTC! also Xhosa is a big one but not in Paarl. Xhosa is the clicky language that alot of missionaries know! well i miss you all back home i will try to write i just have very little time! please keep the missionaries in your prayers i love you all and thanks for your support!

 

                                  Love Elder Balmforth!

PS we have two sets of Senior missionaries in our area. one of them asked me how many Elder Balmforths there had been? i said two others and he said well never forget the examples you have so thanks Dad and Big G i will never forget the amazing examples you are to me!!!