Surnames: Kolts

----Source: Clark County Press (Neillsville, Clark County, Wis.) 14 July 2004; Page 10

ROBERT KOLTS CALLED TO SERVE

About a month ago, Robert J. Kolts received a letter in the mail. It said, "Dear Elder Kolts, You have been called to serve as a missionary of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. You are assigned to labor in the Brazil Belo Horizonte East Mission. You should report to the Sao Paulo Missionary Training Center on [date]……"

Kolts will join over 58,000 other missionaries serving worldwide for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Their goal is to share the message that the gospel of Jesus Christ has been restored to the earth with a prophet and apostles and all of the power and ordinances that existed while the Savior walked upon the earth.

Kolts will spend 2-3 months in the Missionary Training Center in Sao Paulo, Brazil, learning the concepts in Portuguese that he will be teaching to the Brazilian people. After one week in the training center, everything he hears and says will be in Portuguese. When he completes his training, he and a companion will be assigned to a city in his area. Kolts’ first companion will be an experienced missionary who can "show him the ropes." They will spent approximately 72 hours per week searching for those who would like to hear the message of the restoration.

A typical day begins at 6:30 a.m. with individual and companion scripture study and individual and companion prayer. During breakfast they will plan the day. Their means of getting around will be either public transportation, biking, hiking or walking. Time is allotted during the day for lunch and dinner. Often these meals are shared with members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the area of those who are interested in listening to the missionaries. Kolts and his companion are expected to be back to their living quarters by 9 p.m. Plans for the following day are made, then it’s lights out. One half day is allotted each week for doing laundry and grocery shopping. Sunday is a day of church meetings and reports, then it’s back on the streets again until 9 p.m.

Kolts will be serving for two years. He will change companions regularly and will be assigned to different cities throughout his area over those two years. He worked all the way through high school and during his time at college (He was attending Brigham Young University in Provo, UT.) to save money for his mission. Actually, he began saving for his mission when he was just a toddler. All of his expenses will be funded with the money he has saved, plus any money his family and friends desire to contribute.

Kolts is the son of Dr. and Mrs. Lee Kolts and the brother of Aubrey (Behunin), Krystal, Anna (Olson), Janette (Mattson), James, Amelia, and Maria. He will be allowed to email his family once a week and talk with them on the phone only four times while he is gone (on Christmas and Mother’s Day).

On a day this September, Kolts will board a plane at Central Wisconsin Airport and watch the landscape and familiarity of Wisconsin move away under him. Within 24 hours he will be in the new world of sites, sounds and culture of the southwest central area of Brazil.