Sorry about last week. I only had time to send an email to Marc. I don´t know if you ever saw it. Once again I have very little time this week. We´re running a little late because we just recently got back from Puebla. They did the transfers one week in advance so that the missionaries that went home could be home for christmas. And what a surprise when I found out that I was being transfered back to my old area in Totolac, but this time as a zone leader. That means I will have been in this area a whole year by the time I finished my mission. The cool thing was we ate with a family I helped to reactivate when I was here and they were so excited to see me again. I´m kind of worried about my new responsibility and I´ve thinking a lot about what else the Lord could possibly want me to accomplish here. My companion is cool. He was my zone leader last transfer and in my district so I already kind of know him. His name is Elder Avendaño. I got your package today mom. Yay! I´m still not sure at what time we´re going to talk but I´ll let you know before sunday. I think we´ll do the skype thing again, maybe in the same house as mother´s day even. Haha. I´m going to try to sign up for classes a BYU this week.
Love you,
Thursday, December 22, 2011
December 19, 2011
Angel got baptized and confirmed yesterday. He seemed pretty happy about it even though he had to miss some committment with his Dad to go to church. Now we don`t really have a whole lot of other people to teach. We`ve been teaching a few non-member husbands, but only one went to church yesterday. All the more recent converts have been going, which is good. The majority of the ward actually consists of recent converts or recently reactivated members. The younger ex missionaries have been helping us fellowship Angel as well. We decided to organize a special ward choir to go and sing christmas songs to the less active and new members. Hopefully, people will come to the rehearsals. We talked to some people that practice Judaism the other day and we`re going to go back to teach them today. It`s weird. I don`t think I`ve ever talked to someone of that religion in my entire mission. Think about what we were going to teach them confirmed my testimony of Jesus Christ as my Saviour and made me appreciate the Book of Mormon even more which explains so clearly the relationship between the law of Moses and Christ and closes the old testament-new testament gap.
While in the zone leaders` area, my old area, to interview someone for baptism I ran into some old friends, which was cool. Even though we could only say a few words to each other because it was late and we had to get back to Zacatelco. I`ve been trying to get Margarita, the first person I baptized there, to go back to church. She lives right in front of the chapel where we have district meeting every week. So, I try to talk to her for a little bit. It really surprised me when the zone leaders told me that she was no longer active.
I got your package, Mom, with the socks and candy and the book. Thanks. All the candies are my favorites and the book is eye opening as well.
I had to get my temple recommend renewed when President came to interview us. And last night Elder Rainford told me he was going to buy my plane ticket home today. It`s weird how fast time flys.
Make sure you skype accounts are ready for christmas.
While in the zone leaders` area, my old area, to interview someone for baptism I ran into some old friends, which was cool. Even though we could only say a few words to each other because it was late and we had to get back to Zacatelco. I`ve been trying to get Margarita, the first person I baptized there, to go back to church. She lives right in front of the chapel where we have district meeting every week. So, I try to talk to her for a little bit. It really surprised me when the zone leaders told me that she was no longer active.
I got your package, Mom, with the socks and candy and the book. Thanks. All the candies are my favorites and the book is eye opening as well.
I had to get my temple recommend renewed when President came to interview us. And last night Elder Rainford told me he was going to buy my plane ticket home today. It`s weird how fast time flys.
Make sure you skype accounts are ready for christmas.
December 12, 2011
Hey Marc, I love you, bro. We`ll be talking soon. So, have your questions and things you want to tell me all prepared. How are things going in school? What`s been your favorite subject so far? What have you learned lately while reading the scriptures? It`s been really cold here in Zacatelco, Tlaxcala. Apparently the other day there was a earthquake here too, but my companion and I didn`t feel it. All the plants are drying up which makes me miss Florida where it`s green all year round. We haven`t been finding a whole lot of new investigators, but I still haven`t lost hope yet. Last week I tryed this amazing frothy chocolate drink they make here with real cacao and it was delicious.
I hope you`re keeping your head up. Remember, like President Monson said, "It`s better to look up." Remember, as well, that many times the hardest trials precede the greatest of blessings.
I hope you`re keeping your head up. Remember, like President Monson said, "It`s better to look up." Remember, as well, that many times the hardest trials precede the greatest of blessings.
December 5, 2011
Angel, the 28 year old investigator I was telling you about last week is being baptized on Sunday. He`s so cool. I never thought we would become such good friends when I first met him. He has a lot of faith, is reading the Book of Mormon like crazy, and making a lot of changes in his life. And the funny thing is that he says before when missionaries from ours or other churches would talk to him he didn`t care at all about anything they told him, and now he wants to be baptized. He went to church on Sunday even though, tecnically he was supposed to work. His work involves installing windows, mirrors, doors, and things like that and he makes some really creative stuff with glass. I`ll have to take some pictures and send them to you.
Apart from him, there`s not really a whole lot of progress going on in this ward. Very few show up regularly to church. I hate the fact that I`ve been a missionary for so long and I still feel like I don`t have a clue what to do.
We have interviews this week with the president. Maybe I`ll get one of your packages.
Apart from him, there`s not really a whole lot of progress going on in this ward. Very few show up regularly to church. I hate the fact that I`ve been a missionary for so long and I still feel like I don`t have a clue what to do.
We have interviews this week with the president. Maybe I`ll get one of your packages.
Monday, November 21, 2011
November 21, 2011
I like my new area and my new companion. We ride bikes everywhere. So, I`m always way tired when we get back home. We have a brand new chapel that was just built a few months ago. The ward is pretty small, though. Not many showed up this sunday. We had one investigator named Angel go to church yesterday. He`s really surprising me. When we first taught him he didn`t seem that interested. He`s a pretty care free guy. But he`s really progressed a lot. There seems to be a little bit of a lack of enthusiasm in this ward. I hope to change that before I leave this ward. The ward mission leader is great though. He just recently reactivated was sealed in the temple with his family after leaving the church for many years and now he wants to give all he`s got to help build up the kingdom of God.
My companion is from a city in the middle of the jungle in Peru and he`s great. He`s only been a member for about 2 years. So, he has a very sincere testimony and is really great a expressing his feelings for the gospel with people.
I have to admit I was kind of frustrated the whole week because I couldn`t figure out what would be my approach to the work in this new area and because I didn`t even know where we were half the time. However, I felt great peace on sunday as I sat in Sacrament meeting. I still don`t know exactly how I`m going to lift and encourage this ward, but I`m not quite as worried about it now as I was before.
It felt really weird to do divisions with the zone leaders in my old area on Tuesday, even though we didn`t visit that many people I knew when I was there. It was cool to find out that a couple of people that I had found and taught were later baptized after I left the area. Although, it was sad to find out that the majority of the people I baptized while I was there have gone inactive now.
How are the kids doing in school? Has Austin gotten in a wreck yet? Just kiding.
I love you
My companion is from a city in the middle of the jungle in Peru and he`s great. He`s only been a member for about 2 years. So, he has a very sincere testimony and is really great a expressing his feelings for the gospel with people.
I have to admit I was kind of frustrated the whole week because I couldn`t figure out what would be my approach to the work in this new area and because I didn`t even know where we were half the time. However, I felt great peace on sunday as I sat in Sacrament meeting. I still don`t know exactly how I`m going to lift and encourage this ward, but I`m not quite as worried about it now as I was before.
It felt really weird to do divisions with the zone leaders in my old area on Tuesday, even though we didn`t visit that many people I knew when I was there. It was cool to find out that a couple of people that I had found and taught were later baptized after I left the area. Although, it was sad to find out that the majority of the people I baptized while I was there have gone inactive now.
How are the kids doing in school? Has Austin gotten in a wreck yet? Just kiding.
I love you
Nov. 14, 2011
Today they took me out of my area, Valsequillo, and guess where they put me. I`m back in Tlaxcala, in an area that borders, Totolac, the area I was in before. Actually, tomorrow we`re doing divisions with the zone leaders and I`m going to be going back to my old area. I couldn`t believe it. My calling said Mision Mexico Puebla, but for me they should call it Mision Mexico Tlaxcala. I`m excited though. They just barely built a chapel in this ward and I feel like there`s a lot of work to do. I`m with Elder Cabrera. He`s from the jungle of Peru and seems pretty cool. I`m going to miss my old companion a lot, Elder Foster. He`s training a new missionary now. He`s just so funny. He always made me laugh and made things a lot of fun. Elder Hurtado went home today. I got to see him one last time last night at a member`s house. I`m going to miss him. He taught me a lot. Memo got baptized on saturday and confirmed on sunday. I don`t know if I told you about him. He`s an 11 year old kid that`s living with Norma, the one who got baptized about a month ago. He`s such a good kid but he`s had a difficult life. I would love to talk more, but I have to go do a baptismal interview.
Nov. 7, 2011
I realize posting this letter from Brett is rather personal, but his testimony is so true and firm that I thought it might actually bless others as it does our family:
I know the restored gospel of Jesus Christ is true and that it is the only sure foundation for happiness in this life and the only way to live with our Father in Heaven again and become like Him. Mom, Dad, please whatever you do don´t stop doing the things you know are correct. Don´t stop reading the scriptures or praying or going to church or living the commandments. Don´t let this trial distance you from your Heavenly Father nor from his eternal truths. I know He lives and loves all of His children, and for that reason I will love and serve Him forever. (Rom. 8:35-39) Please don´t let differences and misunderstandings turn into hatred and animosity. The only real battle in this world is between us and Satan (Ephesians 6:12). We must not let Satan get hold of our hearts or we will end up mistakingly fighting against our very brothers and sisters that we lived with before we came to this earth. One other thing I feel I must tell you is that people can and do change all the time. We all make mistakes and, therefore, we all must repent, but if there´s one thing you learn serving a mission is the power of the Atonement and the Gospel of Christ to drastically change lives regardless of who they were before.
I love you all very much. I pray that you may be able to get through these difficult times and the other trials that lie ahead with your faith and hope still burning brightly.
Brett
I know the restored gospel of Jesus Christ is true and that it is the only sure foundation for happiness in this life and the only way to live with our Father in Heaven again and become like Him. Mom, Dad, please whatever you do don´t stop doing the things you know are correct. Don´t stop reading the scriptures or praying or going to church or living the commandments. Don´t let this trial distance you from your Heavenly Father nor from his eternal truths. I know He lives and loves all of His children, and for that reason I will love and serve Him forever. (Rom. 8:35-39) Please don´t let differences and misunderstandings turn into hatred and animosity. The only real battle in this world is between us and Satan (Ephesians 6:12). We must not let Satan get hold of our hearts or we will end up mistakingly fighting against our very brothers and sisters that we lived with before we came to this earth. One other thing I feel I must tell you is that people can and do change all the time. We all make mistakes and, therefore, we all must repent, but if there´s one thing you learn serving a mission is the power of the Atonement and the Gospel of Christ to drastically change lives regardless of who they were before.
I love you all very much. I pray that you may be able to get through these difficult times and the other trials that lie ahead with your faith and hope still burning brightly.
Brett
October 24, 2011
Just got back from playing baseball again with the zone. It was cooler this time because the cuban wasn´t burning in fastballs like last time. So, people were actually able to hit the ball.
Rosario, the wife of Carlos, a 32 year old returned missionary from Chiapas that just moved in right in front of us, was ready to be baptized next sunday, but it turns out that they´re not legally married. I think they would already be married if it weren´t for the fact that they both still have to finalize divorces. They such cool people though. Carlos speaks perfect english and Rosario is so receptive to the gospel. She´s already felt her answer that the Book of Mormon and the Church are true.
Maru and Javier, the older couple that went to stake conference last week were also willing to prepare for baptism the 6 of November, but to our surprise they aren´t married either even though they´ve been together for about 10 years. Maru started telling us about the problems her and Javier have had. Javier was willing to get married the next day. However, he hasen´t been the most faithful companion and, therefore, Maru still isn´t ready to marry him yet. I felt like a marriage counselor when they started telling us all about the problems in their relationship. It´s funny how much these probably 70 year old people trust me, a 21 old kid. They listened so atently to my advice. Javier is already like half through the Book of Mormon. So, I have faith that they´ll decide to get married and baptized soon.
Two other families went to church on sunday and it seemed like they enjoyed it. One of the families, the family gonzalez is getting very close to baptism even though they never want to accept a specific date when we teach them. They experienced a huge change in their life and their state of mind.
My birthday went pretty much just like any other day. Norma, the most recently baptized person we´ve taught, gave me a really nice blue sweater and made me some tacos dorados and that was about it.
I promise I´ll respond to Marc´s email next week. Right now I don´t have time.
Rosario, the wife of Carlos, a 32 year old returned missionary from Chiapas that just moved in right in front of us, was ready to be baptized next sunday, but it turns out that they´re not legally married. I think they would already be married if it weren´t for the fact that they both still have to finalize divorces. They such cool people though. Carlos speaks perfect english and Rosario is so receptive to the gospel. She´s already felt her answer that the Book of Mormon and the Church are true.
Maru and Javier, the older couple that went to stake conference last week were also willing to prepare for baptism the 6 of November, but to our surprise they aren´t married either even though they´ve been together for about 10 years. Maru started telling us about the problems her and Javier have had. Javier was willing to get married the next day. However, he hasen´t been the most faithful companion and, therefore, Maru still isn´t ready to marry him yet. I felt like a marriage counselor when they started telling us all about the problems in their relationship. It´s funny how much these probably 70 year old people trust me, a 21 old kid. They listened so atently to my advice. Javier is already like half through the Book of Mormon. So, I have faith that they´ll decide to get married and baptized soon.
Two other families went to church on sunday and it seemed like they enjoyed it. One of the families, the family gonzalez is getting very close to baptism even though they never want to accept a specific date when we teach them. They experienced a huge change in their life and their state of mind.
My birthday went pretty much just like any other day. Norma, the most recently baptized person we´ve taught, gave me a really nice blue sweater and made me some tacos dorados and that was about it.
I promise I´ll respond to Marc´s email next week. Right now I don´t have time.
October 17, 2011
Just got back from Africam Safari. We went as a district it was sweet! It was cool because the majority of the animals aren´t kept in cages. You just drive through in your car and see them roaming around freely. We also got to see, supposedly, the largest and most intact T-Rex skeleton in the world. I attached some pictures.
We had our stake conference yesterday. There were some great talks. I was a little disappointed because the gran majority of the people we´re teaching didn´t show up. However, this older couple we contacted in the street one day and then later taught went and sat in the very front row. They´re awesome! I can´t believe how receptive they are. Most people their age (I think they´re about 70) don´t want to know anything about our religion. They even met the mission president because he came to see a baptism in the ward.
I´ve struggling with my leadership position a little lately. I love my district. They´re all really cool and I´m glad I don´t have to worry about any problematic missionaries. However, sometimes I just feel like I´m supposed to train and help other missionaries when I, myself, still haven´t figured it out. I also feel bad sometimes becaue I have to be on everyone´s back about certain rules when I don´t even obey them all.
My companion actually talks, which is cool. But sometimes I feel like he distracts me a little. He´s always talking and likes to talk about things that don´t relate to missionary work. And I´m still planning everything and making the majority of the decisions. He sure does make me laugh a lot, though.
The muddy buddies you sent are delicious and the beef jerky was a little dry, but at least it wasn´t moldy this time.
We had our stake conference yesterday. There were some great talks. I was a little disappointed because the gran majority of the people we´re teaching didn´t show up. However, this older couple we contacted in the street one day and then later taught went and sat in the very front row. They´re awesome! I can´t believe how receptive they are. Most people their age (I think they´re about 70) don´t want to know anything about our religion. They even met the mission president because he came to see a baptism in the ward.
I´ve struggling with my leadership position a little lately. I love my district. They´re all really cool and I´m glad I don´t have to worry about any problematic missionaries. However, sometimes I just feel like I´m supposed to train and help other missionaries when I, myself, still haven´t figured it out. I also feel bad sometimes becaue I have to be on everyone´s back about certain rules when I don´t even obey them all.
My companion actually talks, which is cool. But sometimes I feel like he distracts me a little. He´s always talking and likes to talk about things that don´t relate to missionary work. And I´m still planning everything and making the majority of the decisions. He sure does make me laugh a lot, though.
The muddy buddies you sent are delicious and the beef jerky was a little dry, but at least it wasn´t moldy this time.
October 10, 2011
Norma and her son, Kelvin Alan, got baptized on saturday and confirmed on saturday. This was by far the weirdest baptismal service of my mission. Everything went fine with the 18 year old son, but after seeing him be baptized Norma freaked out and didn´t want to get in the font. Luckily we convinced and I got her all the way under the very first time. However, right after I pulled her up from the water she rested her head on me and just passed out. Seriously, she went totally limp in my arms. So, with the help of her son I just calmly brought her over to the side and she later recovered. but everyone was freaking out and trying to help. Later Norma told me about the experience she had and the things she saw when she was baptized. I don´t feel totally comfortable sharing them with everyone right now. When it comes to spiritual things she´s a little unusual, but the good thing is she feels extremely happy to have made the decision to be baptized and she says that she feels an enormous burden lifted off her. And her son is amazing. He is such a fast learner and has such a powerful testimony of the church. I´m almost positive he´ll serve a mission in the future.
My new companion is awesome. He´s a really funny guy and loves baseball and cars, and the best part is he actually talks when we teach a lesson or contact a person. Everyone thinks he´s mexican because he has way darker skin than me. He´s really easy to get along with. The only problem is he´s a huge fan of Utah football (haha).
The bishop of our ward is really awesome. He really is the motor behind everything in the ward. The assisstants left our ward for another area and now my zone leaders are in my ward. I was disappointed yesterday because the family that seems to be closest to baptism didn´t go to church yesterday neither did any other investigators. However, Patricia, just as faithful as always, did go. I´m so glad to have met her.
Where are you guys going to go skiing? How is Sean doing in school? What about Austin? What´s Marc´s favorite subject? When is Austin´s birthday? Is he excited to get his permit?
We went to the offices today for some visa stuff I had to do and I got your package with the beek jerky and the socks and everything. Thanks so much. You´re the best mommy.
My new companion is awesome. He´s a really funny guy and loves baseball and cars, and the best part is he actually talks when we teach a lesson or contact a person. Everyone thinks he´s mexican because he has way darker skin than me. He´s really easy to get along with. The only problem is he´s a huge fan of Utah football (haha).
The bishop of our ward is really awesome. He really is the motor behind everything in the ward. The assisstants left our ward for another area and now my zone leaders are in my ward. I was disappointed yesterday because the family that seems to be closest to baptism didn´t go to church yesterday neither did any other investigators. However, Patricia, just as faithful as always, did go. I´m so glad to have met her.
Where are you guys going to go skiing? How is Sean doing in school? What about Austin? What´s Marc´s favorite subject? When is Austin´s birthday? Is he excited to get his permit?
We went to the offices today for some visa stuff I had to do and I got your package with the beek jerky and the socks and everything. Thanks so much. You´re the best mommy.
Sunday, October 2, 2011
September 26,2011
Transfers are next monday. I have I feeling I`m going to be staying, but you never know. I figure I`ll only have one more area before I finish my mission. I kind of want to get sent to some little branch out in the middle of no where, just to see what it`s like.
I`m excited for General Conference. It will be that last time I see it as a missionary.
Elder Scoville and I are still having a hard time working with unity. I`m just not sure how to motivate him. We put some good goals during our weekly planning session, but we haven`t been achieving them. I hate to see him leave without feeling like I really helped him in any way.
I still feel like I`m not reaching my potential. Elder Hurtado was giving me some advice and sharing with me some of his successes the other day and I just couldn`t believe. He said that that week he and his new trainee had taught 18 lessons with member and that there was one week in which they taught 21. In one transfer they`ve already baptized 6 people. He said that the work has been pretty easy now that he understands how to do it. I know I shouldn`t compare myself with other missionaries, but I just wish I could be as happy and successful as that guy sometimes. I feel like I should be able to achieve the same things seeing as we`re all children of God, but I can`t. Why? It`s funny, because Elder Hurtado is always the one that brags about me so much in front of everyone, saying I`m a wonderful missionary and everything. The other day he even told the President to not fear making me the asistant. I was like hey, hey, I don`t want to be the asistant. It`s hard enough to be district leader.
Hope all is well, love,
Brett
I`m excited for General Conference. It will be that last time I see it as a missionary.
Elder Scoville and I are still having a hard time working with unity. I`m just not sure how to motivate him. We put some good goals during our weekly planning session, but we haven`t been achieving them. I hate to see him leave without feeling like I really helped him in any way.
I still feel like I`m not reaching my potential. Elder Hurtado was giving me some advice and sharing with me some of his successes the other day and I just couldn`t believe. He said that that week he and his new trainee had taught 18 lessons with member and that there was one week in which they taught 21. In one transfer they`ve already baptized 6 people. He said that the work has been pretty easy now that he understands how to do it. I know I shouldn`t compare myself with other missionaries, but I just wish I could be as happy and successful as that guy sometimes. I feel like I should be able to achieve the same things seeing as we`re all children of God, but I can`t. Why? It`s funny, because Elder Hurtado is always the one that brags about me so much in front of everyone, saying I`m a wonderful missionary and everything. The other day he even told the President to not fear making me the asistant. I was like hey, hey, I don`t want to be the asistant. It`s hard enough to be district leader.
Hope all is well, love,
Brett
September 26,2011
Marc, I love you. You`re awesome. What more can I say? I miss you just as much as you miss me, but I think we will find that we have grown even closer during this long time we`ve been apart. It`s like they say, you don`t really know what you have until it`s taken from you. Luckily, it`s only 6 months left until we can see each other again. I hope that you never doubt your own potencial and that you learn to trust in your Heavenly Father with all your heart while you are still young.
Love,
Brett
Love,
Brett
September 19, 2011
I`ve been feeling like I`m stuck in rut lately,and a little distanced from my Heavenly Father, just kind of going through the motions. But, my interview with Pres. Reeves helped a little. I don`t know why I get like this sometimes. Thanks, Mom, for that quote you sent me by Jefferey R. Holland. It was just what I needed.
Patricia is doing great. This saturday she was the only one to show up to clean the chapel and on sunday, she was finally able to convince her 3 year old boy to stay in the nursery while she was in the gospel principles class. That made me very happy. Unfortunately, none of our investigators showed up to church this sunday. However, a family of four that lives in our area went to the ward of an elder in my district. He said that they are totally ready and was pretty jealous that they were in my area. I`m not sure if I told you, but now all the companionships in the mission have cell phones, not just the leaders. It sure makes things a lot easier on me as a district leader.
While were knocking some doors this week. One lady opened up and I told her about the plan of salvation and how we can become like God. It was interesting because she absolutely rejected the idea that we could become like God. She just couldn`t accept. It seemed impossible to her. I don`t think I had appreciated the greatness of that simple truth before. I can`t think of any other religion that professes that. I have to admit to me it sometimes seems impossible too, but it makes sense based on my knowledge of the plan of salvation and the atonement.
One thing in which I find joy almost everyday here are the beautiful sunsets behind the volcano. They`re just gorgeous.
Well, gotta go to an appointment. Love you,
Patricia is doing great. This saturday she was the only one to show up to clean the chapel and on sunday, she was finally able to convince her 3 year old boy to stay in the nursery while she was in the gospel principles class. That made me very happy. Unfortunately, none of our investigators showed up to church this sunday. However, a family of four that lives in our area went to the ward of an elder in my district. He said that they are totally ready and was pretty jealous that they were in my area. I`m not sure if I told you, but now all the companionships in the mission have cell phones, not just the leaders. It sure makes things a lot easier on me as a district leader.
While were knocking some doors this week. One lady opened up and I told her about the plan of salvation and how we can become like God. It was interesting because she absolutely rejected the idea that we could become like God. She just couldn`t accept. It seemed impossible to her. I don`t think I had appreciated the greatness of that simple truth before. I can`t think of any other religion that professes that. I have to admit to me it sometimes seems impossible too, but it makes sense based on my knowledge of the plan of salvation and the atonement.
One thing in which I find joy almost everyday here are the beautiful sunsets behind the volcano. They`re just gorgeous.
Well, gotta go to an appointment. Love you,
September 19, 2011
Muy bien, Marc. Eres un muy buen alumno. Sigue practicando para que cuando yo regrese de la mision te pueda enseñar a hablar como mexicano.
Te amo muchìsimo, (I love you very much)
Brett
Hey brett i was gonna try to talk to u in. Spanish a bit but i couldnt really do it ive only been in spanish uno for a month but i can speak a bit sooooooooooo hola yo amo rosado poneys ummmm como estan ustedes ? Yo esta bien. I dont know if u knew that i was taking español uno but i want to be able to talk to u in spanish when u get back. Uhhhhhhh yo amo uhhhhh i dont know how to say you in spanish but u get the idea hasta luego
Marc
Te amo muchìsimo, (I love you very much)
Brett
Hey brett i was gonna try to talk to u in. Spanish a bit but i couldnt really do it ive only been in spanish uno for a month but i can speak a bit sooooooooooo hola yo amo rosado poneys ummmm como estan ustedes ? Yo esta bien. I dont know if u knew that i was taking español uno but i want to be able to talk to u in spanish when u get back. Uhhhhhhh yo amo uhhhhh i dont know how to say you in spanish but u get the idea hasta luego
Marc
September 5, 2011
I got your package with the razor and other stuff. Thank you. I´m pretty sure that suitcase is long gone.
It´s been raining every day here. Luckily, an investigator gave us some really good poncho type things.
I feel like I kind of misjudged that Jehovah´s witness we taught. He´s really nice. He always says hi to us and wishes us good luck when we run into him on the street. I think I do that a lot. Sometimes I just face so much rejection and disappointment that I just can´t deal with it patiently any more. Good thing I´m in Mexico. I can´t believe how it would be in Italy or some place like where Spencer is. I don´t think I could handle it.
I don´t feel like I´ve made very much progress with my companion. The problem is that I like things to get done and if my companion or the ward mission leader, etc. doesn´t want to take the intiative I do. I don´t like just waiting around for someone else to do something. The problem with this is that now I think my companion just expects me to do everything and doesn´t feel like he´s really capable of helping me.
Thanks for the advice. I still haven´t resolved my problem. I´ve just been kind of stuck in a negative mindset lately.
Thanks for your love and support,
Brett
It´s been raining every day here. Luckily, an investigator gave us some really good poncho type things.
I feel like I kind of misjudged that Jehovah´s witness we taught. He´s really nice. He always says hi to us and wishes us good luck when we run into him on the street. I think I do that a lot. Sometimes I just face so much rejection and disappointment that I just can´t deal with it patiently any more. Good thing I´m in Mexico. I can´t believe how it would be in Italy or some place like where Spencer is. I don´t think I could handle it.
I don´t feel like I´ve made very much progress with my companion. The problem is that I like things to get done and if my companion or the ward mission leader, etc. doesn´t want to take the intiative I do. I don´t like just waiting around for someone else to do something. The problem with this is that now I think my companion just expects me to do everything and doesn´t feel like he´s really capable of helping me.
Thanks for the advice. I still haven´t resolved my problem. I´ve just been kind of stuck in a negative mindset lately.
Thanks for your love and support,
Brett
August 29, 2011
Re:
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Hide Details FROM:Brett Robert Graham TO:Cherise Graham Message flagged Monday, August 29, 2011 6:11 PMMessage body
Thank you for telling me about Austin. I still don´t really understand what happened, but I´m sure whatever you guys decided to do was best. I´m just glad I´m in my place and you guys in yours. I can´t imagine having to deal with that kind of stuff as a parent. I just pray and hope the promise in Doctrine and Covenants 31 is true.
On Saturday, Patricia was baptized and offered a very moving closing prayer in the baptismal service. . She´s very happy. And the good thing is that there´s a family that lives close by that we introduced to her a while back that has helped fellowship her a lot. I´m so grateful for their support. It´s so important that new members have a friend in the church. I invite you to be the people the new members in your ward can rely on as their adapting to a totally new way of life. Don´t just say hi to them at church. Be their best friends. Oh, funny story. I scraped up and bruised my arm when I fell as I was walking down the stairs into the baptismal font. That had nevery happened to me before. It was a little embarrasing, but most people couldn´t see it because the wall was in the way.
The ward missionary activity we had before wasn´t a very big success. Of the 300 people that come to sacrament meeting on Sunday, only the ward missionaries and the few members to whom I gave assignments in the activity showed up. In total, there were about 30 to 40 people. Pretty sad. And only the high priest group leader, the young women´s president and the bishop showed up to ward council on sunday. The ward mission leader came nearly at the end. Poor bishop, he´s trying so hard, but there hasn´t been very much support, but he still keeps a positive attitude.
My companion seems to be doing better. President Reeves talked to him before our district meeting on Wednesday, but I still can´t get him to participate very much. I feel like I´m not helping him very much. I´ve just been feeling tired latetly and kind of stuck in a routine. I wish I could feel more joy and satisfaction while going about my daily activities. I mean I´m still able to laugh once in a while and I feel about the progress of Patricia, but a lot of times I feel frustrated and tired. And sometimes when I´m teaching I feel like I don´t really mean it. I just wish I could feel more love for the people and be happier. I think it would help my companion more too. I feel like something is holding me back. People always talk about doing the best you can and leaving the rest to the Lord, but I still wonder, what is my best? How do I know when I have reached the peak of my abilities? How do I know if I´ve fully repented of my sins?
Thank you for your prayers and support. I hope you know how much I love you guys,
Brett
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Hide Details FROM:Brett Robert Graham TO:Cherise Graham Message flagged Monday, August 29, 2011 6:11 PMMessage body
Thank you for telling me about Austin. I still don´t really understand what happened, but I´m sure whatever you guys decided to do was best. I´m just glad I´m in my place and you guys in yours. I can´t imagine having to deal with that kind of stuff as a parent. I just pray and hope the promise in Doctrine and Covenants 31 is true.
On Saturday, Patricia was baptized and offered a very moving closing prayer in the baptismal service. . She´s very happy. And the good thing is that there´s a family that lives close by that we introduced to her a while back that has helped fellowship her a lot. I´m so grateful for their support. It´s so important that new members have a friend in the church. I invite you to be the people the new members in your ward can rely on as their adapting to a totally new way of life. Don´t just say hi to them at church. Be their best friends. Oh, funny story. I scraped up and bruised my arm when I fell as I was walking down the stairs into the baptismal font. That had nevery happened to me before. It was a little embarrasing, but most people couldn´t see it because the wall was in the way.
The ward missionary activity we had before wasn´t a very big success. Of the 300 people that come to sacrament meeting on Sunday, only the ward missionaries and the few members to whom I gave assignments in the activity showed up. In total, there were about 30 to 40 people. Pretty sad. And only the high priest group leader, the young women´s president and the bishop showed up to ward council on sunday. The ward mission leader came nearly at the end. Poor bishop, he´s trying so hard, but there hasn´t been very much support, but he still keeps a positive attitude.
My companion seems to be doing better. President Reeves talked to him before our district meeting on Wednesday, but I still can´t get him to participate very much. I feel like I´m not helping him very much. I´ve just been feeling tired latetly and kind of stuck in a routine. I wish I could feel more joy and satisfaction while going about my daily activities. I mean I´m still able to laugh once in a while and I feel about the progress of Patricia, but a lot of times I feel frustrated and tired. And sometimes when I´m teaching I feel like I don´t really mean it. I just wish I could feel more love for the people and be happier. I think it would help my companion more too. I feel like something is holding me back. People always talk about doing the best you can and leaving the rest to the Lord, but I still wonder, what is my best? How do I know when I have reached the peak of my abilities? How do I know if I´ve fully repented of my sins?
Thank you for your prayers and support. I hope you know how much I love you guys,
Brett
August 22, 2011
Well, today were the transfers and I´m going to be staying here another 6 weeks with the same companion. The only change was that now I´m going to be the district leader of a different district, and this one will have 3 companionships including my own. I´m glad I get to stay in this area especially since Patricia Gutierrez, one of our investigators will be baptized this saturday. We found here contacting in the street one day. We´ve been teaching her for about a month. She´s one of those people that wants to be really sure that the church is true before she´s baptized. Those are my favorite type of investigators.
I´m feeling a little sick right now, but I think it´s just a cold that should pass quickly. I told Dad about some other situations that have been distressing me, but you know me. I always find something to worry about even when things are good.
Love you very much,
Brett
I´m feeling a little sick right now, but I think it´s just a cold that should pass quickly. I told Dad about some other situations that have been distressing me, but you know me. I always find something to worry about even when things are good.
Love you very much,
Brett
August 15, 2011
I got your dear elder package with the beef jerky in it. I don´t which one you were refering to in your last email. Thank you. I´ve been investigating the lost suitcase a little more this week, but they tell me it would have been much more likely to be found if I had notified them the same day instead of a month later. Oh well, it doesn´t look like I´ll be getting it back. Speaking of which, could you send me so more socks when you have time because I lost quite a few in that suitcase. Thanks.
Adley is going to Fiji?!! Wow, that´s so cool. That definitely beats Mexico by a long shot. I´m glad Adley is doing so good. He has a very noble, kind heart.
I can´t believe my little Marcy Poo is going to Middle School. He´s growing up so fast. How is Austin doing in high school? Is he still at Seminole?
This week we found a lot of new people to teach. We´re still not recieving a lot of member referrals, but God has been putting a lot of people in our path and we´ve been talking to a lot of people. I really like living and working in this huge housing unit. It seems as though we never run out of people to visit here. What I also like is the type of people we are meeting. They have a lot of interesting life stories and experiences. A few people that we are teaching are getting very close to baptism but still haven´t accepted a specific date yet. This is the last week of the transfer. I hope they leave me here at least one more transfer. The only thing I didn´t like about this week was that yesterday we got stuck teaching a very devout Jehovah´s Witness. I know there´s a lot of good Jehovah´s Witnesses but, honestly, that religion does not make any sense to me. I don´t see the attraction at all. He wouldn´t even let us end the lesson with a prayer because he didn´t think God would listen to us unless we prayed to him as Jehovah.
I´ll share more details in the next email.
Adley is going to Fiji?!! Wow, that´s so cool. That definitely beats Mexico by a long shot. I´m glad Adley is doing so good. He has a very noble, kind heart.
I can´t believe my little Marcy Poo is going to Middle School. He´s growing up so fast. How is Austin doing in high school? Is he still at Seminole?
This week we found a lot of new people to teach. We´re still not recieving a lot of member referrals, but God has been putting a lot of people in our path and we´ve been talking to a lot of people. I really like living and working in this huge housing unit. It seems as though we never run out of people to visit here. What I also like is the type of people we are meeting. They have a lot of interesting life stories and experiences. A few people that we are teaching are getting very close to baptism but still haven´t accepted a specific date yet. This is the last week of the transfer. I hope they leave me here at least one more transfer. The only thing I didn´t like about this week was that yesterday we got stuck teaching a very devout Jehovah´s Witness. I know there´s a lot of good Jehovah´s Witnesses but, honestly, that religion does not make any sense to me. I don´t see the attraction at all. He wouldn´t even let us end the lesson with a prayer because he didn´t think God would listen to us unless we prayed to him as Jehovah.
I´ll share more details in the next email.
August 1, 2011
Well, pretty much all the new investigators we found last week are no longer showing any real interest, but we found four more new investigators this week that seem promising. We are teaching Berenice, the wife of an inactive returned missionary, Marco Antonio y Leticia, a couple who initially let us in because it was raining but seemed to looking for guidance regarding their daughters who are having some problems in their respective marriages, and Patricia, a single mom with a three year old boy who has had some major problems (her husband is or was in jail) and seems to be searching for peace and understanding by drawing closer to God. We found them all contacting in the street or knocking doors except for Berenice. Her husband stoped us in the street one day and told us to visit him. So, we went and found out that his wife isn´t a member and that after years of inactivity he wants to get involved again in the church. Lucky, Huh. We haven´t been able to get a single investigator to church yet in this entire transfer, which is kind of worrying.
Even though we haven´t had too much success yet. Elder Hurtado had me do the baptismal interview for a couple they taught and they´re so awesome. We went to the baptism on Saturday and I confirmed the husband yesterday. So, I´ve still been able to share some of the joy of success.
We´ve had a lot of support from the new bishop. He´s been demanding with all the organizations, trying to get them to keep track of all the new members and those that have recently reactivated, and has already called a fair number of ward missionaries. He wants to call about 12 or 14 of them. He also wants to have a ward missionary activity every month. This is his third time as bishop. So, he seems to know what he´s doing. The ward mission leader, however, hasn´t been very much help. He´s willing but a lot of times he defers a lot of assignments to me because he doesn´t really know how to do them or he waits to make a decision until I just tell him "do this." So, I´ve pretty much had to plan and develop everything the bishop wants to be done because the other elders are hardly able to attend the coordination meetings and everything. It´s been a little tiring.
I´ve been having a little bit of a hard time knowing how to motivate and help my district, even though it´s only one other companionship, and I´ve been worried about my companion. He´s just so quiet and struggles so much still. It´s seems hard for him to concentrate a lot of times. I always have to take the intiative in every situation. I wish I knew how to help him.
The forecast is correct. It´s been raining almost every day here. I still haven´t gotten your other package, Mom. So, I would say that it´s still not a very sure thing that I will get your packages faster. And, I still haven´t gotten a cell phone. But, I never complain to anyone because it never makes anything happen any faster.
7 and a half or 8 months still seems like a long time to me and besides, I hardly every think about it during the day. I think sometimes I actually focus too much on what I´m doing, because I end up feeling overwhelmed with responsibility or unable to figure exactly what the Lord wants me to do. I still learn to be more patient with myself and with the Lord.
Even though we haven´t had too much success yet. Elder Hurtado had me do the baptismal interview for a couple they taught and they´re so awesome. We went to the baptism on Saturday and I confirmed the husband yesterday. So, I´ve still been able to share some of the joy of success.
We´ve had a lot of support from the new bishop. He´s been demanding with all the organizations, trying to get them to keep track of all the new members and those that have recently reactivated, and has already called a fair number of ward missionaries. He wants to call about 12 or 14 of them. He also wants to have a ward missionary activity every month. This is his third time as bishop. So, he seems to know what he´s doing. The ward mission leader, however, hasn´t been very much help. He´s willing but a lot of times he defers a lot of assignments to me because he doesn´t really know how to do them or he waits to make a decision until I just tell him "do this." So, I´ve pretty much had to plan and develop everything the bishop wants to be done because the other elders are hardly able to attend the coordination meetings and everything. It´s been a little tiring.
I´ve been having a little bit of a hard time knowing how to motivate and help my district, even though it´s only one other companionship, and I´ve been worried about my companion. He´s just so quiet and struggles so much still. It´s seems hard for him to concentrate a lot of times. I always have to take the intiative in every situation. I wish I knew how to help him.
The forecast is correct. It´s been raining almost every day here. I still haven´t gotten your other package, Mom. So, I would say that it´s still not a very sure thing that I will get your packages faster. And, I still haven´t gotten a cell phone. But, I never complain to anyone because it never makes anything happen any faster.
7 and a half or 8 months still seems like a long time to me and besides, I hardly every think about it during the day. I think sometimes I actually focus too much on what I´m doing, because I end up feeling overwhelmed with responsibility or unable to figure exactly what the Lord wants me to do. I still learn to be more patient with myself and with the Lord.
Monday, July 25, 2011
July 25, 2011
That`s great that you`ll finally be able to run another race. You sure recovered quickly.
Before I forget again. Mom, I need your special prayers that helped me find my memory card, again. During the transfers it seems as though I lost one of my suitcases somewhere between the taxi pull in of La CAPU (the central bus station where we all meet) and my new area. In that suitcase were all my books, except for my spanish scriptures, all the shaving stuff you sent me, and both my memory card and the backup CD I made of it (that was smart of me to put them in the same bag). I kept forgeting to tell you in my emails. I have no idea where it is. I asked several missionaries that were there after I left, but nobody seems to know anything about it. Maybe you can work another miracle for me.
This week went a little better. We`ve been finding some new investigators. We found these golden investigators, a middle-aged couple that was about to separate when we found them and there two children. I fell in love with them from the very first time we taught them, but it turns out that they`re not in our area. They truly saw us as angels sent from God to help save their marriage it was amazing. I don`t know why the Lord let us find them. It makes me sad to not be able to continue teaching them. But, the other elders will sure be happy.
Well, sorry for the short email. We`re supposedly going to play baseball with the zone today.
Love,
Brett
Before I forget again. Mom, I need your special prayers that helped me find my memory card, again. During the transfers it seems as though I lost one of my suitcases somewhere between the taxi pull in of La CAPU (the central bus station where we all meet) and my new area. In that suitcase were all my books, except for my spanish scriptures, all the shaving stuff you sent me, and both my memory card and the backup CD I made of it (that was smart of me to put them in the same bag). I kept forgeting to tell you in my emails. I have no idea where it is. I asked several missionaries that were there after I left, but nobody seems to know anything about it. Maybe you can work another miracle for me.
This week went a little better. We`ve been finding some new investigators. We found these golden investigators, a middle-aged couple that was about to separate when we found them and there two children. I fell in love with them from the very first time we taught them, but it turns out that they`re not in our area. They truly saw us as angels sent from God to help save their marriage it was amazing. I don`t know why the Lord let us find them. It makes me sad to not be able to continue teaching them. But, the other elders will sure be happy.
Well, sorry for the short email. We`re supposedly going to play baseball with the zone today.
Love,
Brett
July 18, 2011
Well, this new assignment isn`t quite like I hoped it would be. I`ve been getting lost a lot, I already spent all the money the mission gave me for the month on things we needed for our new house (and we still don`t have very much), and we aren`t having the success I would like to have. We only found one non member who would listen to us last week and she didn`t show to church on sunday like she said she would. I haven`t seen the assistants since last Tuesday; they didn`t even show up to church yesterday, and I still don`t have a cell phone. So I`ve basically been wondering around the whole week starting from scratch. The members are great though. They seem a little more willing to share the gospel than the members in my last ward. A lot them live in the same housing development as us. The bishop is brand new (called like 3 or 4 weeks ago) and he seems excited to help us out. The ward is huge. It was weird seeing so many people in sacrament meeting. Another problem is that several non-members went to church yesterday from the part of the ward that the assistants are in, but I have no way of knowing if they are already visiting them or if we should visit them or what. Besides all that, my companion, Elder Scoville, is extremely shy and struggling a lot with spanish even though he has 8 months in the mission. Actually, I met him when he first got to mexico because he started in the ward that attended church at the same building where my ward attended. So, I already knew him before they put us together. Actually, we stayed together the entire time when we hiked up the Malintzi as a zone. He lacks a lot of self confidence. It`s been like training a new missionary all over again. He`s a really cool guy though. We`ve always gotten along well ever since we first met in Tlaxcala. That`s why I thought it was kind of funny that they would put us together. Interesting as well is that Elder Hurtado didn`t have anything to do with my new assignment. He says he recommended someone else to open this area, but President Reeves decided to put me here. Either way, it`s been a difficult assignment. I feel like I`ve kind of had to do everything myself.
I always think that one day, once I get the hang of things better, the mission will get easier, but it never happens. I think life is the same way, Mom. It really is never going to get any easier. It`s not supposed to be easy. But, like you I`m grateful for these difficult experiences that have molded my character and strengthened my faith. I will never be same as I was before I came on a mission, and you will never be the same as you were before these trials. And with the gospel of Jesus Christ these tests and trials that all of us face can make us more like Our Heavenly Father. I love you mom, and I`m grateful for your faith and conviction, for your encouragement and support, and for teaching me so much.
Give Dad, Marc, Austin, and Sean a big hug for me
Brett
I always think that one day, once I get the hang of things better, the mission will get easier, but it never happens. I think life is the same way, Mom. It really is never going to get any easier. It`s not supposed to be easy. But, like you I`m grateful for these difficult experiences that have molded my character and strengthened my faith. I will never be same as I was before I came on a mission, and you will never be the same as you were before these trials. And with the gospel of Jesus Christ these tests and trials that all of us face can make us more like Our Heavenly Father. I love you mom, and I`m grateful for your faith and conviction, for your encouragement and support, and for teaching me so much.
Give Dad, Marc, Austin, and Sean a big hug for me
Brett
July 11,2011
The new mission president is Pres. Reeves. I`m not sure what his first name is. He seems amazing just like every mission president. He`s from Arizona. He served his mission in Spain as a young man. He was struggling a little bit at the conference with his spanish. He doesn`t speak with much of an accent; he just needs the missionaries to help him remember some words that he`s forgotten. But the conference was good. Pres. Reeves told us about the process by which he was called to serve as a mission president. I enjoyed it.
YES, I finally got transferred after nine months in Tlaxcala. I was expecting to get transferred, what I wasn`t expecting was where they transferred me too. They took both me and my trainee, Elder Rainford, out of Totolac and they put the zone leaders there in our place. (That was relief. I always worry about them replacing me with a good, dedicated missionary.) As for me, my new companion, Elder Scoville, and I are opening a new area. Or rather, they`re dividing the area of the asistants in two and giving us half. So, right now we`re staying at the asistants` house while we look for another one in our part of the ward. So, I`m going to be in the same ward as my old companion, Elder Hurtado. Haha! Hmm? I wonder if he might have had something to do with that? It should be fun. Right now I have no clue what we`re going to do. I`ve never been in a ward with another pair of missionaries. Apparently it`s a huge ward with a regular attendance of like 300. I have no idea where anything is because I still haven`t seen Elder Hurtado today. Another missionary just dropped us off at the house and left us our own. So, I`m back in the big city with my old comp. I`m excited, but at the same time sad for having had to leave Totolac. The bishop was actually crying a little last night when I said bye to him. I`m definitely coming back one day. I wonder who`s going to play the piano now.
I`m glad Marc appreciated my email. I wish I could just talk to that kid for hours. I love him just as much as he loves me. Be sure to give him a big hug for me.
Talk to you later,
Brett
P.S. I got your package with the beek jerky and the work out band finally. Unfortunately, the beef jerky you made was covered in mold. Grandpa`s, however, was fine. I think it`s because he dried it longer and put more salt on it. But thanks for the shaving stuff.
YES, I finally got transferred after nine months in Tlaxcala. I was expecting to get transferred, what I wasn`t expecting was where they transferred me too. They took both me and my trainee, Elder Rainford, out of Totolac and they put the zone leaders there in our place. (That was relief. I always worry about them replacing me with a good, dedicated missionary.) As for me, my new companion, Elder Scoville, and I are opening a new area. Or rather, they`re dividing the area of the asistants in two and giving us half. So, right now we`re staying at the asistants` house while we look for another one in our part of the ward. So, I`m going to be in the same ward as my old companion, Elder Hurtado. Haha! Hmm? I wonder if he might have had something to do with that? It should be fun. Right now I have no clue what we`re going to do. I`ve never been in a ward with another pair of missionaries. Apparently it`s a huge ward with a regular attendance of like 300. I have no idea where anything is because I still haven`t seen Elder Hurtado today. Another missionary just dropped us off at the house and left us our own. So, I`m back in the big city with my old comp. I`m excited, but at the same time sad for having had to leave Totolac. The bishop was actually crying a little last night when I said bye to him. I`m definitely coming back one day. I wonder who`s going to play the piano now.
I`m glad Marc appreciated my email. I wish I could just talk to that kid for hours. I love him just as much as he loves me. Be sure to give him a big hug for me.
Talk to you later,
Brett
P.S. I got your package with the beek jerky and the work out band finally. Unfortunately, the beef jerky you made was covered in mold. Grandpa`s, however, was fine. I think it`s because he dried it longer and put more salt on it. But thanks for the shaving stuff.
July 4, 2011
Marc! How are you doing? I haven`t heard from you in a while. How is your summer vacation going? I heard you`re gettin really good at tennis. That`s good because I`ll need someone to play with when I get back in just a few more months. Time flys on a mission. It`s seems like just yesterday I was getting off the plane in Mexico to greet my mission president. It`s been raining a whole bunch here lately, which kind of stinks when you`re a missionary because you`re always outside walking around all the time, but at least all the plants are growing again and there`s lots of green everywhere. I`ve been having some dificulties in the area I`m in right now. I really love this ward and, therefore, it really hurts me when there`s problems, but sometimes things happen in this life that are totally outside of our control. I suspect you might be in a similar situation. Some things are happening in the family that you wish weren`t happening or that make you sad, but you should know that none of those things are your fault and you should also know that your brother, and more importantly, your Heavenly Father love you and are very proud of the person you have become and the influence for good you have had in your family. Sometimes people we love do things that make us sad. All the heroes in the Book of Mormon had their sad moments, usually when people they cared about disobeyed the commandments of God and as a result brought upon themselves or upon others they cared about spiritual and/or physical destruction. But, afterwards, they were always able to find peace and joy through Christ. Even in the worst of circumstances they were comforted by a knowledge of the plan of salvation and the hope of eternal life through the redemption of Christ. Sometimes we just have to keep on doing what we know is right even when it`s seems useless and we seem powerless to change anything or anyone. We all excerise a much bigger influence in this world for good or for bad every day than we sometimes realize. My whole mission I`ve been trying to get better at listening to the still small voice of the Holy Ghost and sometimes it still seems almost impossible to discern, and I get sad and frustrated because I don`t know what to do and God doesn`t seem to answer my prayers very quickly or clearly. But there is one thing that the Holy Ghost has distilled upon my soul very clearly. That is that this is the true Church of Jesus Christ and that the Book of Mormon is true. That certainty has been given to me as a reward for obedience to God`s commandments, excersising the little bit of faith I have, and patience. That wonderful gift of a personal testimony has motivated when I wanted to give up and given me hope admist despair, but it took a long time to find it. So, whatever life throws at you just be patient and God will give you what you need when you most need it.
Love always,
Brett
P.S. I`m not sure why I wrote all that. I hope you can understand what I`m trying to tell you.
Love always,
Brett
P.S. I`m not sure why I wrote all that. I hope you can understand what I`m trying to tell you.
Monday, June 20, 2011
June 20, 2011
got back from a zone activity. We played basketball and soccer and had a little barbecue with hamburgers, hot dogs, cake, and jello. It was fun.
First, the good news. I found my memory card that I thought I had lost. Wooohooo! It was literaly a miracle because after having been lost for several weeks I looked in the same pocket of my backpack that I had already checked like 5 times, but for some reason this time I found it. I still bought another 4 GB memory card anyway because I needed another one. Today I plan on backing up my memory card to a CD.
Apart from that this week has been very difficult. I felt pretty depressed yesterday. On saturday we had six appointments fall through and we are still struggling a lot to find new investigators that are really interested. None of our investigators or the less actives we are teaching are showing up to church. The worst part though is that I`m seeing many of the people I baptized/taught go inactive right before my eyes and I don`t know what to do about it. Yesterday, I called Consuelo, the old lady I baptized who lives with her two grandchildren and her mentally disabled child, to ask her if she wanted us to take her to church and she told me that they are no longer going to go to our church. I didn`t ask her more details over the phone, but I just don`t understand what we did wrong. Just about everytime we went over there after she was baptized we helped her clean her house or her dishes or some other type of service. I have tried to give her all the love I`m capable of, and before she was so convinced that this was the true church. But, I should have known better. She doesn`t ever read the Book of Mormon and wasn`t really ready to be baptized. Patricia also hasn`t been going to church and now she won`t even let us in her house to teach her. She always says she`s busy or sometimes she just sends her kid out to tell us that she`s not there or that she`s busy and can`t come to the door, even when we come only the offer service. It seems like she has some family problems, but still, come on! Leandro, Margarita`s husband still hasn`t recieved the aaronic priesthood yet and hasn`t gone to church for 2 sundays even though he`s been here in Tlaxcala for both of those. It just kills me sometimes. My eyes were watering in sacrament meeting just thinking about. And the ward hasn`t exactly been too helpful in helping keep them active.
The only thing that cheered me up a little on sunday was the lesson we taught to that unmarried couple, Enrique and Carmen. They are going to church, reading, praying, and everything. They love learning about the gospel and accepted a baptismal date yesterday. They want to get married. The only problem is that Carmen, being an emigrant from Colombia, has to get permission from the Colombian government to be able to marry in Mexico. There are two problems with this. It could cost $4000 pesos, which of course they don`t have, but they are saving up, and, two, even if they were to send the money and the request today it would probably take at least a month to get a response. Carmen is going to talk with her lawyer today to see if there´s anyway to speed up and/or cheapen the process, but it doesn`t look like they`re going to be baptized while I`m here.
My district also seems to be having more success. One companionship is planning on baptizing four this by the end of this week and more in the following weeks. I just wish I could provide Elder Rainford with some more spiritual, encouraging, and uplifting experiences, it being his first area and all. Sometimes he wonders exactly why he`s here and, to be honest, even after more than a year and I still sometimes wonder the same thing. I told Pres. Rex before the last transfers that I felt like there was still something for me here in this area, but now I`m really questioning if that was the Spirit telling me that or if it was just me.
Speaking of Pres. Rex. We had our last interviews with him on Friday. He and his wife are being replaced the first of July. Too bad.
I gotta go, I`ll tell you about some other service activities and funny experiences we`ve had next week.
Love,
Brett
First, the good news. I found my memory card that I thought I had lost. Wooohooo! It was literaly a miracle because after having been lost for several weeks I looked in the same pocket of my backpack that I had already checked like 5 times, but for some reason this time I found it. I still bought another 4 GB memory card anyway because I needed another one. Today I plan on backing up my memory card to a CD.
Apart from that this week has been very difficult. I felt pretty depressed yesterday. On saturday we had six appointments fall through and we are still struggling a lot to find new investigators that are really interested. None of our investigators or the less actives we are teaching are showing up to church. The worst part though is that I`m seeing many of the people I baptized/taught go inactive right before my eyes and I don`t know what to do about it. Yesterday, I called Consuelo, the old lady I baptized who lives with her two grandchildren and her mentally disabled child, to ask her if she wanted us to take her to church and she told me that they are no longer going to go to our church. I didn`t ask her more details over the phone, but I just don`t understand what we did wrong. Just about everytime we went over there after she was baptized we helped her clean her house or her dishes or some other type of service. I have tried to give her all the love I`m capable of, and before she was so convinced that this was the true church. But, I should have known better. She doesn`t ever read the Book of Mormon and wasn`t really ready to be baptized. Patricia also hasn`t been going to church and now she won`t even let us in her house to teach her. She always says she`s busy or sometimes she just sends her kid out to tell us that she`s not there or that she`s busy and can`t come to the door, even when we come only the offer service. It seems like she has some family problems, but still, come on! Leandro, Margarita`s husband still hasn`t recieved the aaronic priesthood yet and hasn`t gone to church for 2 sundays even though he`s been here in Tlaxcala for both of those. It just kills me sometimes. My eyes were watering in sacrament meeting just thinking about. And the ward hasn`t exactly been too helpful in helping keep them active.
The only thing that cheered me up a little on sunday was the lesson we taught to that unmarried couple, Enrique and Carmen. They are going to church, reading, praying, and everything. They love learning about the gospel and accepted a baptismal date yesterday. They want to get married. The only problem is that Carmen, being an emigrant from Colombia, has to get permission from the Colombian government to be able to marry in Mexico. There are two problems with this. It could cost $4000 pesos, which of course they don`t have, but they are saving up, and, two, even if they were to send the money and the request today it would probably take at least a month to get a response. Carmen is going to talk with her lawyer today to see if there´s anyway to speed up and/or cheapen the process, but it doesn`t look like they`re going to be baptized while I`m here.
My district also seems to be having more success. One companionship is planning on baptizing four this by the end of this week and more in the following weeks. I just wish I could provide Elder Rainford with some more spiritual, encouraging, and uplifting experiences, it being his first area and all. Sometimes he wonders exactly why he`s here and, to be honest, even after more than a year and I still sometimes wonder the same thing. I told Pres. Rex before the last transfers that I felt like there was still something for me here in this area, but now I`m really questioning if that was the Spirit telling me that or if it was just me.
Speaking of Pres. Rex. We had our last interviews with him on Friday. He and his wife are being replaced the first of July. Too bad.
I gotta go, I`ll tell you about some other service activities and funny experiences we`ve had next week.
Love,
Brett
Tuesday, June 14, 2011
June 13, 2011
No, I still haven`t gotten either of the packages, which is weird because I`ve gotten a couple of letters recently. Maybe it did get lost somewhere.
I`m kind of bummed out right now because I think I lost my other memory card, the one that has all the pictures I`ve taken since I got to this area. The pictures I sent you last week were from my companion`s camera. I haven`t been able to find my memory card for a couple of weeks now. So, now I have absolutely no pictures from the first year of my mission and I have to buy a new memory card just to be able to take any more pictures.
Well, we still aren`t having the success we`re looking for. Everyone we teach just seems to disappear after 2 visits. Even with their phone number we somehow manage to lose contact with them. However, we started teaching the son of a member and his wife. They seem pretty interested. The only problem is that they`re not legally married, but they seem pretty willing to get married soon. I haven`t had too much success in my mission so far with investigators that aren`t married, but I think these guys are different. It would be a lot easier if the bishops could just do it like they can in the U.S. Here you have to go with a judge and pay a bunch of money. Well, it`s a lot of money for the people here.
This week after the district meeting I took my district to the central bus station to sing and invite people to listen to us. We didn`t have very much success. Most of the people didn`t live in our area or weren`t interested, but it was still fun. There`s two guys in my district that play guitar pretty well and we sung a super cool version of ¨How Great Thou Art.¨
Today Elder Rainford and I played some one on one basketball.
I guess I`m doing pretty good. It`s just so hard for me to feel like I`m ever doing enough, and I´m always so worried about so many people. Sometimes I get frustrated because I feel like they don`t understand, and I wish I could just make them understand, but I can`t.
I love you guys and miss you a ton.
Brett
I`m kind of bummed out right now because I think I lost my other memory card, the one that has all the pictures I`ve taken since I got to this area. The pictures I sent you last week were from my companion`s camera. I haven`t been able to find my memory card for a couple of weeks now. So, now I have absolutely no pictures from the first year of my mission and I have to buy a new memory card just to be able to take any more pictures.
Well, we still aren`t having the success we`re looking for. Everyone we teach just seems to disappear after 2 visits. Even with their phone number we somehow manage to lose contact with them. However, we started teaching the son of a member and his wife. They seem pretty interested. The only problem is that they`re not legally married, but they seem pretty willing to get married soon. I haven`t had too much success in my mission so far with investigators that aren`t married, but I think these guys are different. It would be a lot easier if the bishops could just do it like they can in the U.S. Here you have to go with a judge and pay a bunch of money. Well, it`s a lot of money for the people here.
This week after the district meeting I took my district to the central bus station to sing and invite people to listen to us. We didn`t have very much success. Most of the people didn`t live in our area or weren`t interested, but it was still fun. There`s two guys in my district that play guitar pretty well and we sung a super cool version of ¨How Great Thou Art.¨
Today Elder Rainford and I played some one on one basketball.
I guess I`m doing pretty good. It`s just so hard for me to feel like I`m ever doing enough, and I´m always so worried about so many people. Sometimes I get frustrated because I feel like they don`t understand, and I wish I could just make them understand, but I can`t.
I love you guys and miss you a ton.
Brett
Monday, June 6, 2011
June 6,2011
Thanks for the great detailed letter, Dad, and don`t worry about burdening me down with problems at home. I think I`d prefer to know things a little bit at a time than to come home and find out everything at once. I`m actually not too worried about Austin yet because I know what his heart is like behind all that wanting to be accepted by his friends. Be strict with him but encourage him to find out for himself if everything you`ve taught him is true. Remember that it`s not that complicated. He can know for himself if he really wants to. He just has to study it out (read the Book of Mormon, listen in church) and then pray and ask God if it`s true. Put it to the test yourself, even if you already believe it`s true, so that you can have faith in the promise found in Moroni 10:35. Remind him as well that the Book of Mormon is the key. If the book is true, everything else must be as well. I personally testify that the Book of Mormon is true and that anyone who sincerely desires to, can know that for himself. I can`t deny it. My testimony of the Book of Mormon has been the foundation that has allowed me to press forward with faith and stay on my mission even when all else came into doubt and my mind was filled with confusion. He doesn`t have to go to a million churches to know which one is true. He just has to really want to know if this one is true or not (read the Book of Mormon everyday, pay attention at church, pray everyday asking if it`s true) and then if he finds out that it`s not he can continue his search and investigate another one, but I can promise you that if he puts in his part he won`t have to. His search will start and end right there, because this is the truth. He also needs to remember that it`s about recieving an answer through the power of the Holy Ghost and not proving it with logic and reasoning (1 Cor. 2:10-14). I heard you bore your testimony yesterday. That`s awesome, Dad. Keep doing stuff like that. Make sure Austin, Sean, and Marc know how you feel about the church and share with them how you know that it`s true.
I attached some pictures from when we hiked the Malinche, and from that crazy hailstorm a couple of weeks ago.
I attached some pictures from when we hiked the Malinche, and from that crazy hailstorm a couple of weeks ago.
May 30, 2011
Well, we had just a little bit better week: 2 lessons to non-members and 2 new investigators. Wooohoo! ;-) The open house activity that we had on Saturday turned out ok. All the organizations, Primary, Relief Society, Young Men, Young Women, Elders Quorum, the bishopric, genealogy, and even insitute gave a brief presentation as we gave non-members a tour through the chapel. It was a very unifying, interesting, and well-organized activity. The only problem was that not many non-members went. We did meet a guy who was really interested from the neighboring area, but at least he´s in my district. My next idea for a ward activity is a mini MTC experience on the ward level. I am and have been working with less actives, but it´s a little difficult to know how to help them. I just wish we had home teachers here. It´s been in the reorganization process for months now.
It´s been super hot here lately. I wish we had air conditioning.
It´s official, I´m going to be in this same area for another 6 weeks. It´s really getting difficult, but Pres. Rex asked me if I wanted to stay here and I told him yes, mainly because I want to continue training Elder Rainford. So, it´s my own fault.
My first companion in this area, Elder Hurtado, is now asistant to the President. That´s pretty cool. Now, I´ve got some real connections. He´s an awesome missionary.
It´s been super hot here lately. I wish we had air conditioning.
It´s official, I´m going to be in this same area for another 6 weeks. It´s really getting difficult, but Pres. Rex asked me if I wanted to stay here and I told him yes, mainly because I want to continue training Elder Rainford. So, it´s my own fault.
My first companion in this area, Elder Hurtado, is now asistant to the President. That´s pretty cool. Now, I´ve got some real connections. He´s an awesome missionary.
May 23, 2011
I hope Muffin is ok. I can´t believe one of the deer finally fought back. Maybe that will teach her a lesson to not chase them anymore, but I doubt it.
The weather is to put it simply, weird. Right now it´s super hot but last sunday, the 15th, there was a crazy hail storm with huge chunks of ice that broke car windows and tin roofs. My companion has some pictures I´ll send to you. My companion and I weren´t in the worst part and besides we were inside eating when it happened so we weren´t affected, but it was crazy how much hail fell.
I did my first baptism interview this past week. I interviewed an 11 year old kid. So, it wasn´t that hard. It was actually kind of fun except for the fact that I had to travel an hour and a half on a cramped little van to do it.
Other news, Elder Rasband of the Presidency of the Seventy came and talked with the whole mission on wednesday. It was pretty cool. He talked about how we were called by revelation and by apostolic authority to the exact place where we were serving and, therefore, we shouldn´t complain about our area nor our companion instead we should see what we can learn from the experience. He based a lot of his comments on the talk he gave in the april 2010 general conference. However, he also spoke about being balanced missionaries and building up the kingdom not only through baptisms but rather also through helping in retention and reactivation.
The weather is to put it simply, weird. Right now it´s super hot but last sunday, the 15th, there was a crazy hail storm with huge chunks of ice that broke car windows and tin roofs. My companion has some pictures I´ll send to you. My companion and I weren´t in the worst part and besides we were inside eating when it happened so we weren´t affected, but it was crazy how much hail fell.
I did my first baptism interview this past week. I interviewed an 11 year old kid. So, it wasn´t that hard. It was actually kind of fun except for the fact that I had to travel an hour and a half on a cramped little van to do it.
Other news, Elder Rasband of the Presidency of the Seventy came and talked with the whole mission on wednesday. It was pretty cool. He talked about how we were called by revelation and by apostolic authority to the exact place where we were serving and, therefore, we shouldn´t complain about our area nor our companion instead we should see what we can learn from the experience. He based a lot of his comments on the talk he gave in the april 2010 general conference. However, he also spoke about being balanced missionaries and building up the kingdom not only through baptisms but rather also through helping in retention and reactivation.
May 15, 2011
Well, this week went by pretty fast. We had a single mom and her three daughters with baptismal dates for the 22 of May, but they didn´t go to church yesterday. So, that won´t be happening, but maybe at a later date. However, this 19 yr old kid we just met a couple of days ago (he is the cousin of another investigator that wasn´t very interested in changing religion) did go to church and enjoyed it a lot. He´s a really cool guy who loves reading, but he has some doubts mainly about whether God really exists. He has read and studied a lot of books and tends to trust more in scientific theories and evidence than in God, but he loves talking with us about his doubts and wants to learn more. We talked to him about prayer and he said that he had asked God through prayer many times already if he reallys exists but that he still hasn´t received a "satisfactory" answer yet. We´ll see where this goes. Many times, not always, but many times, I can tell the quality of a good, or better said, sincere investigator just by listening to the first prayer we have him offer. If that´s the case this guy is golden. Without having to encourage him like we do with most investigators he offered a very heartfelt and sincere prayer at the end of our first lesson. I love hearing them pray publicly for their first time. I think as members we pray so often that sometimes we lose that essence of really talking personally and openly to our heavenly father. Isn´t prayer the most amazing and at times the most difficult thing.
I think I´m messing up on the training thing. Before I feel like I let him participate more, but recently, with the totally unplanned lessons we´ve had it´s been harder to know how to involve him. I don´t want to puthim on the spot or embarrass him too much and just randomly turn to him and wait for him to say something. I try to help by asking him specific questions, but it´s still a little hard.
I think I´m messing up on the training thing. Before I feel like I let him participate more, but recently, with the totally unplanned lessons we´ve had it´s been harder to know how to involve him. I don´t want to puthim on the spot or embarrass him too much and just randomly turn to him and wait for him to say something. I try to help by asking him specific questions, but it´s still a little hard.
May 8, 2011
Well, I hope my companion is learning something. One thing is for sure. He´s super tired after his first two weeks in the mission field. Yesterday he fell right asleep in sacrament meeting and I sense his exhaustion when he asked me the other day, ¨Elder Graham, what keeps you going?¨ I been reflecting on that question a lot lately, but still haven´t quite been able to find the answer. It was a very good question. However, Elder Rainford is an excellent missionary and it´s been a joy to be with him. He never complains about anything and accepts correction and constructive criticism without getting offended. He wants to learn and already knows a fair amount. The other day we were in a lesson and I was trying to explain to someone why we don´t worship/pray to/venerate the Virgen Mary, or more common here the Virgen of Guadalupe, but she refused to accept it. So, I just decided to start teaching the plan of salvation to her and the others that were listening. When we got to the part about the atonement, my companion read Alma 7:11-13 and then bore one of the most powerful testimonies of Jesus Christ that I have ever heard. I didn´t even know what to say afterward for a few seconds. They all committed to read and pray about the Book of Mormon and one of the lady´s that was there specifically mentioned that she liked very much what my companion explained. It was an awesome moment.
After looking back on the last two weeks yesterday I got a little discouraged. It´s difficult being in the same area for so long because I already know everyone and sometimes I feel like there´s no new ideas left to try. Sometimes I feel like even trying my hardest I can´t get the results I want. I love this ward, but sometimes I get very little help from anyone. Things don´t always function here quite like they do in the U.S. I hope you guys are helping the missionaries back home in any way that you possibly can because participation from the ward members really is essential. I felt a little better though after talking to my old companion, Elder Hurtado. (haha, the advantages of having a cell phone now - calls between missionaries are free). He was my first companion in this area. He called me to check how things were going here in Totolac.
I will probably send you another to email or call you to confirm everything with the call on Mother´s Day. By the way, I just found this weekend that here they also celebrate Kid´s Day. On saturday they had a big carnaval type thing for it and today they are celebrating it in the schools. I think we should have a Kid´s Day in the U.S. too.
After looking back on the last two weeks yesterday I got a little discouraged. It´s difficult being in the same area for so long because I already know everyone and sometimes I feel like there´s no new ideas left to try. Sometimes I feel like even trying my hardest I can´t get the results I want. I love this ward, but sometimes I get very little help from anyone. Things don´t always function here quite like they do in the U.S. I hope you guys are helping the missionaries back home in any way that you possibly can because participation from the ward members really is essential. I felt a little better though after talking to my old companion, Elder Hurtado. (haha, the advantages of having a cell phone now - calls between missionaries are free). He was my first companion in this area. He called me to check how things were going here in Totolac.
I will probably send you another to email or call you to confirm everything with the call on Mother´s Day. By the way, I just found this weekend that here they also celebrate Kid´s Day. On saturday they had a big carnaval type thing for it and today they are celebrating it in the schools. I think we should have a Kid´s Day in the U.S. too.
Sunday, May 1, 2011
April 25, 2011
Well, I´m still getting in the groove of things with my new responsibilities. I had to wait until wednesday to see who my new companion was because his flight from the U.S. got delayed. It´s kind of weird being with a brand new missionary who´s unfamiliar with the culture, the language, and the doctrine and sometimes it can be a little hard, but I really like him. He actually knows quite a bit of spanish for a new missionary and he is more than willing to learn and work hard. But, according to this new in-field missionary training program from the first presidency he is supposed to be ready to train another new missionary in just two transfers with me. The dificult part is trying to involve him as much as I possibly can without embarrassing him or taking forever to get something done. It´s been difficult to balance my reponsibilities to him, my district, the ward members, and my investigators, but I think it will get easier with time. At least, I hope it will. My new companion´s name is Elder Rainford. He´s from Las Vegas and he has been to the catholic church a lot with his dad, although he has been a member his whole life. So, he should be able to relate to our investigators better than I can, once he´s more fluent in the language. one thing I´ve learned though is that, regardless of the language barrier, the spirit can be felt and understood by anyone no matter what language they speak.
I still have no clue what to do as district leader, but I invited one of my recent converts, Ruben, to the next district meeting so that we can learn from an investigator´s perspective. It should be cool. He has such a perfect way of explaining things.
Today we finally got the whole ward to help out with the less active family I told you about a few weeks ago. Elder Nuncio and I had gone a couple of times to help dig for the foundations of the house, but today we got a lot more done with the help of the members. I had been pushing the service project for a few weeks, almost a month I think. I was so glad it was finally able to be realized. I attached some pictures. We didn´t finish, but they´re planning on going back this week.
I really don´t know what I´m going to do for the next three months in this area. Where in the world am I going to find more people to teach. And, being district leader, my area should always have th highest numbers every week. At least, I think it should.
Save some of the crazy, fun, and dangerous vacations for when I get back.
Love, Brett
I still have no clue what to do as district leader, but I invited one of my recent converts, Ruben, to the next district meeting so that we can learn from an investigator´s perspective. It should be cool. He has such a perfect way of explaining things.
Today we finally got the whole ward to help out with the less active family I told you about a few weeks ago. Elder Nuncio and I had gone a couple of times to help dig for the foundations of the house, but today we got a lot more done with the help of the members. I had been pushing the service project for a few weeks, almost a month I think. I was so glad it was finally able to be realized. I attached some pictures. We didn´t finish, but they´re planning on going back this week.
I really don´t know what I´m going to do for the next three months in this area. Where in the world am I going to find more people to teach. And, being district leader, my area should always have th highest numbers every week. At least, I think it should.
Save some of the crazy, fun, and dangerous vacations for when I get back.
Love, Brett
Wednesday, April 27, 2011
Monday, April 18, 2011
April 18, 2011
Wow, a lot of unexpected things have happened lately. First, yesterday I was totally surprised when Leandro, the one who got baptized last week, showed up with his wife at sacrament meeting and therefore was able to be confirmed. He had told us that there was definitely no way he was going to be able to miss work and come home from Mexico and that maybe he wouldn´t be able to come for another 4 weeks. I was worried because he wouldn´t have been able to receive the gift of the Holy Ghost for more than a month after his baptism, but it turned out that he was able to get off work sunday. He was confirmed and gave me a big hug after Church. A nice little miracle/answered prayer, which I thought would be my last in the Totolac Ward, Tlaxcala. I was almost sure they were going to transfer me and leave my companion in the area because I now have six months in the same area. But,no.
Sunday night I found out that I was staying in the area and my companion was being transferred and that I would be training a brand new missionary. Then, today in La CAPU (the bus station where all the missionaries being transferred go on the Monday of the transfers) they told me I was going to be district leader and that the new missionary I´m going to be training is American which probably means he doesn´t speak any spanish. He arrives tomorrow. Today I´m staying with another missionary who will also be training a new missionary. So, in response to your question, it´s most likely that I will be here for another 3 months because it´s almost law now that a trainer be with the new missionary for at least 2 transfers. That will make 9 months that I´ll have been in the same area. And I thought I ran out of ideas almost 2 tranfers ago. What do you think about all that? Now, I have to worry about a brand new missionary and 4 other elders in my district. I was shocked and pumped with adrenaline at first, then worried, and now I´m not sure what to think. It´s going to be difficult, I know, but I think now I´m also a lot more sure that I can do it with the Lord´s help than I was a few months ago. I also trust 100% in President Rex. He always knows what he´s doing even when he doesn´t know what he´s doing.
Excellent quote from Spencer´s letter. I always knew that guy was going to be a powerful missionary. Tell Sis. Bush hi for me. And tell dad not to worry about the transportation system. Stuff does happen but it´s not nearly as common around here as it is in the northern part of the country. I feel much more at risk of crashing with the way they drive. Haha. By the way, how is Marc growing up so fast? He looks as tall as Austin in the photos.
Sunday night I found out that I was staying in the area and my companion was being transferred and that I would be training a brand new missionary. Then, today in La CAPU (the bus station where all the missionaries being transferred go on the Monday of the transfers) they told me I was going to be district leader and that the new missionary I´m going to be training is American which probably means he doesn´t speak any spanish. He arrives tomorrow. Today I´m staying with another missionary who will also be training a new missionary. So, in response to your question, it´s most likely that I will be here for another 3 months because it´s almost law now that a trainer be with the new missionary for at least 2 transfers. That will make 9 months that I´ll have been in the same area. And I thought I ran out of ideas almost 2 tranfers ago. What do you think about all that? Now, I have to worry about a brand new missionary and 4 other elders in my district. I was shocked and pumped with adrenaline at first, then worried, and now I´m not sure what to think. It´s going to be difficult, I know, but I think now I´m also a lot more sure that I can do it with the Lord´s help than I was a few months ago. I also trust 100% in President Rex. He always knows what he´s doing even when he doesn´t know what he´s doing.
Excellent quote from Spencer´s letter. I always knew that guy was going to be a powerful missionary. Tell Sis. Bush hi for me. And tell dad not to worry about the transportation system. Stuff does happen but it´s not nearly as common around here as it is in the northern part of the country. I feel much more at risk of crashing with the way they drive. Haha. By the way, how is Marc growing up so fast? He looks as tall as Austin in the photos.
Monday, April 11, 2011
April 11, 2011
You are right, Mom. I have been blessed a lot lately. We´ve been finding a lot of new people to teach and I`m beginning to see little changes in the attitude of the ward. The bishop has been very happy with us and has been trying to get the rest of the ward leaders to coordinate their efforts to help us out and serve others. I felt like the main focus of this past general conference was that we should be reaching out and serving others at all times. My companion and I are planning on helping some less active members this week to build their house. Right now their just living in this tiny room they made from some cement blocks. No floor, no roof. Just some sheet metal with holes in it to cover the room. Luckily the rainy season still hasn`t started yet or I don`t know where they would live. We have to help them build a few more walls and hopefully the ward will jump in soon to help us put up the roof. We just recently found the mom of the family while traveling in public transport. She told us she was a member and where she lived and we went to visit her later. She wasn`t in the ward list because she recently came from another ward after losing her house (she had to sell it for almost nothing).
Leandro, Margarita`s wife, was baptized yesterday. It was awesome. His wife was so happy and the baptismal service went perfectly. My companion sung a special musical number while playing the guitar. He was in the Rondalla de Saltillo before he came on the mission. Not that you would know what a Rondalla is. I explain later. The point is he sings and plays very well. The problem is that his daughter, the very rebellious one I was telling you about, refused to come. I have pictures but this computer isn`t recognizing my memory card. I`ll have to send them later.
The only sad news is that of 9 new investigators and like 5 or 6 other ones that had gone to church previously, not one showed up in sacrament meeting yesterday.
I hope you guys are all doing great. Read the scriptures daily!
Love,
Brett
Leandro, Margarita`s wife, was baptized yesterday. It was awesome. His wife was so happy and the baptismal service went perfectly. My companion sung a special musical number while playing the guitar. He was in the Rondalla de Saltillo before he came on the mission. Not that you would know what a Rondalla is. I explain later. The point is he sings and plays very well. The problem is that his daughter, the very rebellious one I was telling you about, refused to come. I have pictures but this computer isn`t recognizing my memory card. I`ll have to send them later.
The only sad news is that of 9 new investigators and like 5 or 6 other ones that had gone to church previously, not one showed up in sacrament meeting yesterday.
I hope you guys are all doing great. Read the scriptures daily!
Love,
Brett
April 4, 2011
Well, conference was a break for me in the sense that it was a spiritual rejuvenation as always. I love general conference. However, the stake center is in my area so we were still busy in between sessions, especially with the baptism of a family of four on sunday. We had to fight a little bit with the stake president. For some reason he didn´t want us to have a baptismal service the day of conference. But, it all worked out fine in the end.
It was an older lady, Consuelo, her son, Ohnorio, and her two grandchildren, Narzizo and Susana, that were baptized (on sunday after the second session of conference). I don´t think I´ve ever seen a woman with so much faith in my life. She had 12 children, but all but two pretty much abandoned her, and one of those two died a few years ago. The other one she is taking care of, Ohnorio, is pretty slow mentally and has epilepsy (although he seems to be doing better since we gave him a priesthood blessing). Her two grandchildren that live with her are the children of her son that died. The mother abandoned them when her husband died, so now she has to take care of them as well. In addition to all this, she was recently diagnosed with diabetes. All of her income comes from whatever work she can get cleaning houses and things like that. Needless to say they live in very humble circumstances. She has always been a very God-fearing person and had been looking for the ¨truth¨ for a long time. She has participated in just about every religion you can imagine, but the first sunday she went to our church she told us that she knew that it was the true church of God. She is so happy and grateful that "God sent us to her." She is truly an amazing person and her grandchildren are very intelligent and well behaved. They already want to be missionaries like us. The restored gospel has made them very happy and will continue to bless their lives and the lives of many others through them. I usually lose faith hope quickly with people her age because they´re usually really stubborn and really catholic and unwilling to accept anything besides what they´ve been taught their entire life, which is understandable, but Consuelo was the complete oppositte. It has been a really great experience.
We have another baptism planned for this sunday. Leandro, the one I´ve been talking about, the husband of Margarita. It´s been a little more difficult with him, but he finally seems to ready, and willling to commit firmly to live the gospel. He has gone through some major changes since I first met him a couple months ago. How cool would it be to see him and his wife get sealed in the temple a year from now! We have a little bit more work to do with her 12 year old daughter who has been very rebellious lately in everything and who has still not accepted to be baptized and, for the last couple months, won´t even go to church with her mom. Any suggestions for a mom who is struggling with a rebellious daughter who´s 12 but acts like she´s 25?
I bet you like how President Monson bragged about the temple being built in Rome during general conference.
It was an older lady, Consuelo, her son, Ohnorio, and her two grandchildren, Narzizo and Susana, that were baptized (on sunday after the second session of conference). I don´t think I´ve ever seen a woman with so much faith in my life. She had 12 children, but all but two pretty much abandoned her, and one of those two died a few years ago. The other one she is taking care of, Ohnorio, is pretty slow mentally and has epilepsy (although he seems to be doing better since we gave him a priesthood blessing). Her two grandchildren that live with her are the children of her son that died. The mother abandoned them when her husband died, so now she has to take care of them as well. In addition to all this, she was recently diagnosed with diabetes. All of her income comes from whatever work she can get cleaning houses and things like that. Needless to say they live in very humble circumstances. She has always been a very God-fearing person and had been looking for the ¨truth¨ for a long time. She has participated in just about every religion you can imagine, but the first sunday she went to our church she told us that she knew that it was the true church of God. She is so happy and grateful that "God sent us to her." She is truly an amazing person and her grandchildren are very intelligent and well behaved. They already want to be missionaries like us. The restored gospel has made them very happy and will continue to bless their lives and the lives of many others through them. I usually lose faith hope quickly with people her age because they´re usually really stubborn and really catholic and unwilling to accept anything besides what they´ve been taught their entire life, which is understandable, but Consuelo was the complete oppositte. It has been a really great experience.
We have another baptism planned for this sunday. Leandro, the one I´ve been talking about, the husband of Margarita. It´s been a little more difficult with him, but he finally seems to ready, and willling to commit firmly to live the gospel. He has gone through some major changes since I first met him a couple months ago. How cool would it be to see him and his wife get sealed in the temple a year from now! We have a little bit more work to do with her 12 year old daughter who has been very rebellious lately in everything and who has still not accepted to be baptized and, for the last couple months, won´t even go to church with her mom. Any suggestions for a mom who is struggling with a rebellious daughter who´s 12 but acts like she´s 25?
I bet you like how President Monson bragged about the temple being built in Rome during general conference.
April 4, 2011
The weather here has been more like I pictured it before I came. Very hot. The sun just beats down on you during the day and when we come back at night the house is pretty warm. Remember there´s no such thing as air conditioning here. It still hasn´t rained yet and the environment is much drier than florida.
Monday, March 28, 2011
March 28, 2011
We are starting to see some more success in our area. We have 4 people with baptismal dates and new people continue coming to church. Leandro, Margarita´s husband (she is the first person that was baptized when I got to this area), has decided to be baptized April 10 and seems to have committed firmly this time. It was amazing how he opened up to us more than he ever had last night while we were teaching him. He expressed to us his desires to change and be free from his past sins and asked us to help him keep his committments by sending him messages to his cell phone everday as he is Mexico working the whole week and we can´t see him everyday. It´s really quite amazing to see the change in him. We have three others who are going to be baptized this coming sunday. A sweet old lady and her two grandchildren. I´ll have to tell you there story next week it´s pretty impressive as well.
Mom, I received the package you sent. Thank you. The insoles feel great,and now I have more goodies to snack on as well. I got the package quickly because on Wednesday President Rex came to interview us. Man, I am really going to miss him. He leaves for home in June or July. I don´t know how I´m going to get used to another Mission President. I don´t think I´ll ever have the same amount of confidence in him as I have in President Rex. We have a zone conference this Wednesday with him.
Sounds like a cool vacation. We´ll have to do an even cooler one when I get back.
Today we played a little bit of basketball with the bishop´s wife and her kids. Haha. I never thought I would do that while I was here.
Love you guys,
Brett
Mom, I received the package you sent. Thank you. The insoles feel great,and now I have more goodies to snack on as well. I got the package quickly because on Wednesday President Rex came to interview us. Man, I am really going to miss him. He leaves for home in June or July. I don´t know how I´m going to get used to another Mission President. I don´t think I´ll ever have the same amount of confidence in him as I have in President Rex. We have a zone conference this Wednesday with him.
Sounds like a cool vacation. We´ll have to do an even cooler one when I get back.
Today we played a little bit of basketball with the bishop´s wife and her kids. Haha. I never thought I would do that while I was here.
Love you guys,
Brett
March 21, 2011
We had a little more success this week with 5 investigators at church for the first time and others that seem to be taking interest. I got your packages, Mom. They were amazing! It was like a present for completing a year in the mission. I just finished the book about Jesus´ invitation to come unto him and his promise of rest. I´ve actually read that promise in Matthew many times and always been very fascinated by it. great book. I haven´t finished it yet but the one dad sent is really good too. Interesting stories. Thank you so much.
Things are a little bit calmer around here now that Carnaval is over. It´s really hot in the day, but still a little chilly at night. It still hasn´t started raining a lot yet. Today we went mountain biking again with President Zempoalteca but on a different, much longer route. There´s some cool places to mountain bike in our area. I was surprised. We took some photos and videos but I couldn´t upload them to this computer. Next week I´ll get them to you. The ride up almost killed my companion but he enjoyed it as well.
My companion and I get along really well. He´s a really easy going guy, but a good worker too. The only thing that´s difficult sometimes is that I don´t get much help from him in the decision making process. For that reason, planning is also difficult sometimes. But he does basically whatever I tell him to do. He is from the north part of Mexico. He plays the guitar really well although he didn´t bring one on the mission and I´ve been teaching him a little piano. He says it´s way harder than guitar to play. Haha.
Wish I could go with you to the temple, Mom. I think they should let us go. It´s only 2 hours away from here. Maybe the next mission president will change the rules. President Rex leaves soon. I´m going to miss him a lot. I hope you get better soon so that we can run a marathon together when I come back...Well, maybe a half marathon at least.
Love you,
Brett
Things are a little bit calmer around here now that Carnaval is over. It´s really hot in the day, but still a little chilly at night. It still hasn´t started raining a lot yet. Today we went mountain biking again with President Zempoalteca but on a different, much longer route. There´s some cool places to mountain bike in our area. I was surprised. We took some photos and videos but I couldn´t upload them to this computer. Next week I´ll get them to you. The ride up almost killed my companion but he enjoyed it as well.
My companion and I get along really well. He´s a really easy going guy, but a good worker too. The only thing that´s difficult sometimes is that I don´t get much help from him in the decision making process. For that reason, planning is also difficult sometimes. But he does basically whatever I tell him to do. He is from the north part of Mexico. He plays the guitar really well although he didn´t bring one on the mission and I´ve been teaching him a little piano. He says it´s way harder than guitar to play. Haha.
Wish I could go with you to the temple, Mom. I think they should let us go. It´s only 2 hours away from here. Maybe the next mission president will change the rules. President Rex leaves soon. I´m going to miss him a lot. I hope you get better soon so that we can run a marathon together when I come back...Well, maybe a half marathon at least.
Love you,
Brett
Wednesday, March 16, 2011
March 13, 2011
Another difficult week. We only taught 5 lessons to non members the whole week and we didn´t find new investigators until Saturday. However, we did manage to get one person who had not gone to church for almost a year to attend the stake conference Saturday, and Ruben did receive the Melchizedek Priesthood and immediately following his ordination went to the hospital to give his son a blessing. He was interned last Monday because of an infection caused by a catheter which he carries permanently with him due to serious kidney problems. A terrible situation but a great opportunity for Ruben to use the priesthood.
I thoroughly enjoyed stake conference this weekend both the Saturday and Sunday sessions were great. The Sunday session was a sattelite transmision in which Elder Larry W. Gibbons, Silvia H. Allred, Elder Russel M. Nelson, and President Thomas S. Monson spoke. I wanted to share with you some of the notes I took, but I forgot to bring them. Briefly a little of what I remember: Elder Gibbons talked about attending the temple frequently, which he explained can mean different things for different people based on how far away the closest temple is. He also explained that we as human beings spend whatever money we earn. It doesn´t matter how much we make we always spend it all. He used Donald Trump as an example. He then explained that we treat time in the same way. We always find a way to occupy all of our time filling our schedules with things to do whether they be important or not. For these reasons it is important that we always put the Lord first in our lives because if we don´t we won´t have enough money left over to pay tithing, we "won´t have time" to read the scriptures and go to the temple, etc. We must "sacrifice the firstlings of our flock" (or our time and means), not whatever is left over. Sis. Allred spoke about the people of King Benjamin and how many of the next generation that were little children when King Benjamin gave his address fell into disbelief and iniquity. She explained how parents can prevent the same thing from happening to their children. Elder Nelson spoke about the family as well but started off by explaining that a carreer or ocupation is only a means to an end, not the end itself, and that our primary goal in this life should be to become the person God wants us to be. He also explained the things parents should teach their children so that they remain in the path that will lead them back to their Heavenly Father. President Monson told a story about a batallion in WWII that was isolated and surrounded by their enemies but was later rescued by their allies. He told us that we as members of the church must rescue the "lost batallions" of the elderly, the widows, the handicapped, the sick, and the less active. He talked about several principles that we should understand and put into practice. 1. duty 2. never being satisfied with mediocrity 3. love for thy neighbor/fellowman 4. knowing that people can always change (I think the mission has helped me a lot to understand this principle). It was excellent!
This weekend they celebrated this really crazy festival called Carneval in the town where I live. I received notice that your packages did get here. I will receive them Wednesday. My guess is that they were just sitting in the Mission office for a long time. Say hi to Tom for me and tell him I miss him a lot.
I love you guys and am so glad to have you as my family,
Brett
I thoroughly enjoyed stake conference this weekend both the Saturday and Sunday sessions were great. The Sunday session was a sattelite transmision in which Elder Larry W. Gibbons, Silvia H. Allred, Elder Russel M. Nelson, and President Thomas S. Monson spoke. I wanted to share with you some of the notes I took, but I forgot to bring them. Briefly a little of what I remember: Elder Gibbons talked about attending the temple frequently, which he explained can mean different things for different people based on how far away the closest temple is. He also explained that we as human beings spend whatever money we earn. It doesn´t matter how much we make we always spend it all. He used Donald Trump as an example. He then explained that we treat time in the same way. We always find a way to occupy all of our time filling our schedules with things to do whether they be important or not. For these reasons it is important that we always put the Lord first in our lives because if we don´t we won´t have enough money left over to pay tithing, we "won´t have time" to read the scriptures and go to the temple, etc. We must "sacrifice the firstlings of our flock" (or our time and means), not whatever is left over. Sis. Allred spoke about the people of King Benjamin and how many of the next generation that were little children when King Benjamin gave his address fell into disbelief and iniquity. She explained how parents can prevent the same thing from happening to their children. Elder Nelson spoke about the family as well but started off by explaining that a carreer or ocupation is only a means to an end, not the end itself, and that our primary goal in this life should be to become the person God wants us to be. He also explained the things parents should teach their children so that they remain in the path that will lead them back to their Heavenly Father. President Monson told a story about a batallion in WWII that was isolated and surrounded by their enemies but was later rescued by their allies. He told us that we as members of the church must rescue the "lost batallions" of the elderly, the widows, the handicapped, the sick, and the less active. He talked about several principles that we should understand and put into practice. 1. duty 2. never being satisfied with mediocrity 3. love for thy neighbor/fellowman 4. knowing that people can always change (I think the mission has helped me a lot to understand this principle). It was excellent!
This weekend they celebrated this really crazy festival called Carneval in the town where I live. I received notice that your packages did get here. I will receive them Wednesday. My guess is that they were just sitting in the Mission office for a long time. Say hi to Tom for me and tell him I miss him a lot.
I love you guys and am so glad to have you as my family,
Brett
Wednesday, March 9, 2011
Monday, March 7, 2011
Feb. 28, 2011
We had a baptism yesterday of a 16 year old named Caren. She´s awesome. She was baptized within two weeks of the first visit. Her parents still have not accepted to listen to us but they support her in her decision. I sent a picture from the baptism.
I forgot to tell you last week that I gave a talk in sacrament meeting 2 weeks ago. One returned missionary complimented me saying that my tongue was untied. It went pretty good, but only because I spent so much time on it and wrote it out word for word. I think my mind or maybe my hand was untied more than my tongue.
I´ve been going with every family in the ward and helping them create their own family missionary plan to help focus their efforts better. Maybe I´ll give you guys a copy of the format so you can do it too. Now I know from experience how grateful missionaries are for member refferrals.
I would say it´s about a 50/50 chance that I´ll stay here in this area one more change. You can never really be sure unless you´ve been in an area for more than 6 months. I´ve been here a little more than 4 now. I won´t know until Sunday night. I have mixed feelings about leaving this area. I love it, but sometimes I feel like I´m running out of things to do.
I never got your packages, Mom. If your looking for things to send me. I would really like some goods insoles and another pair of black pants.
I forgot to tell you last week that I gave a talk in sacrament meeting 2 weeks ago. One returned missionary complimented me saying that my tongue was untied. It went pretty good, but only because I spent so much time on it and wrote it out word for word. I think my mind or maybe my hand was untied more than my tongue.
I´ve been going with every family in the ward and helping them create their own family missionary plan to help focus their efforts better. Maybe I´ll give you guys a copy of the format so you can do it too. Now I know from experience how grateful missionaries are for member refferrals.
I would say it´s about a 50/50 chance that I´ll stay here in this area one more change. You can never really be sure unless you´ve been in an area for more than 6 months. I´ve been here a little more than 4 now. I won´t know until Sunday night. I have mixed feelings about leaving this area. I love it, but sometimes I feel like I´m running out of things to do.
I never got your packages, Mom. If your looking for things to send me. I would really like some goods insoles and another pair of black pants.
March 7, 2011
Well, I ended up not getting transfered, my companion didn´t either. I´ll be here in Tlaxcala for at least another 6 weeks. That will make 6 months in total that I will have been in this area. I´m glad. I love the people here and I wanted to see Ruben recieve the Melchezidech Priesthood and his calling this Sunday. Sometimes I think Satan has worked very hard to keep him out of the church because of his potential. He is one of the most humble, grateful, hardworking, kind men I have known.
On other hand, however, I kind of wanted to leave this area because sometimes I get discouraged when it seems as though I´ve already tried everything and I still can´t achieve what I want. It´s been very difficult lately to find more people to teach. I just hope Heavenly Father inspires me with some new ideas.
I bore my testimony yesterday and couldn´t keep myself from crying. I could hardly speak. I hardly ever cry when I speak in front of people. It was unusual.
I don´t have time right now, but I have to explain to you some time the traditions around here. Some of them are pretty unsual. It rained just a little bit for the first time in months the past week. I think the rainy season is approaching again. Oh no! I´m going to be soaked all the time again.
I hope you guys have fun on your cruise. Tell me how it went. Thanks for the pictures you sent.
On other hand, however, I kind of wanted to leave this area because sometimes I get discouraged when it seems as though I´ve already tried everything and I still can´t achieve what I want. It´s been very difficult lately to find more people to teach. I just hope Heavenly Father inspires me with some new ideas.
I bore my testimony yesterday and couldn´t keep myself from crying. I could hardly speak. I hardly ever cry when I speak in front of people. It was unusual.
I don´t have time right now, but I have to explain to you some time the traditions around here. Some of them are pretty unsual. It rained just a little bit for the first time in months the past week. I think the rainy season is approaching again. Oh no! I´m going to be soaked all the time again.
I hope you guys have fun on your cruise. Tell me how it went. Thanks for the pictures you sent.
Monday, February 21, 2011
Jan 31,2011
This week has been difficult. I want to be a good missionary, a great companion, and an excellent leader but I feel so inadequate. We didn´t teach a whole lot of lessons this week nor did we have a lot luck finding more people to teach, and not one person came to church for the first time. My companion is really great though. He always has a good attitude about things and I think he teaches better than me even though I have 7 months more experience. I have a few ideas for activities and things the ward can do to help that I am proposing to the bishopric, but everything moves along at such a slow pace. The good news is Patricia and her son Diego were confirmed yesterday and are doing great. Sometimes I get stressed out because I still can´t remember where a lot of the streets and I get lost sometimes. Other times all the appointments fall through and we end up in a place where I´ve knocked every door several times and I just don´t know what to do. So, I keep walking and talk to everyone in the street and look for doors that I don´t remember knocking. Ughh, then I get down because the people that told me they were going to come to church don´t come. It´s exhausting.
In answer to Dad´s question: Yes, we can go with members to make their home teaching visits. I have actually offered to go with a few people. The difficult part is actually getting them to go.
Thank you for your reponse to my questions, Mom. I hope you don´t have to keep worrying about these health issues for much longer.
I love you,
Brett
In answer to Dad´s question: Yes, we can go with members to make their home teaching visits. I have actually offered to go with a few people. The difficult part is actually getting them to go.
Thank you for your reponse to my questions, Mom. I hope you don´t have to keep worrying about these health issues for much longer.
I love you,
Brett
feb 7, 2011
I saw the superbowl on tv when I entered the house of an investigator to teach them a lesson yesterday. I had totally forgotten that it was coming up soon. But I overcame the temptation to watch it and immediately asked them to turn it off. Haha.
This week has been equally difficult except for Tuesday when I some how wound up teaching 4 lessons to non-members, all of which I had to teach entirely by myself because we did divisions with the district leader that day and his companion who just barely arrived to Mexico and speaks almost no spanish came with me to my area. The rest of the week was pure rejection. Everyone always talks about Puebla being the most Catholic place in Mexico, but I think Tlaxcala definitely wins that contest. However, I still think this is my favorite area so far just for the few people that have accepted the Gospel, the natural beaty of the area, and a few awesome members. Fortunately, after a long and stressful week the second counselor in the stake presidency, the same guy that took us out to eat seafood a while ago, invited us to go up to the very top of the hill in the town we live in and take some really cool pictures of Tlaxcala, the city, from above before the sun came up. Then we did some mountain biking on the same hill. It was super cool! My companion had never gone mountain biking before and was super tired after. We took the pictures with his camera. He´s going to make me a CD of them. Speaking of pictures, did my memory card ever get there? That would really stink if I lost all those pictures.
I thought you guys already went skiing with Brent at Christmas. In fact, I was wondering why nobody had told me how it went. Or was the ski trip with Brent planned for spring break?
Thank you for writing me even when your in pain, Mommy. I love you. How was your birthday? Are you finally taking a little break from running?
Brett
This week has been equally difficult except for Tuesday when I some how wound up teaching 4 lessons to non-members, all of which I had to teach entirely by myself because we did divisions with the district leader that day and his companion who just barely arrived to Mexico and speaks almost no spanish came with me to my area. The rest of the week was pure rejection. Everyone always talks about Puebla being the most Catholic place in Mexico, but I think Tlaxcala definitely wins that contest. However, I still think this is my favorite area so far just for the few people that have accepted the Gospel, the natural beaty of the area, and a few awesome members. Fortunately, after a long and stressful week the second counselor in the stake presidency, the same guy that took us out to eat seafood a while ago, invited us to go up to the very top of the hill in the town we live in and take some really cool pictures of Tlaxcala, the city, from above before the sun came up. Then we did some mountain biking on the same hill. It was super cool! My companion had never gone mountain biking before and was super tired after. We took the pictures with his camera. He´s going to make me a CD of them. Speaking of pictures, did my memory card ever get there? That would really stink if I lost all those pictures.
I thought you guys already went skiing with Brent at Christmas. In fact, I was wondering why nobody had told me how it went. Or was the ski trip with Brent planned for spring break?
Thank you for writing me even when your in pain, Mommy. I love you. How was your birthday? Are you finally taking a little break from running?
Brett
February 14,2011
This week has been difficult. I want to be a good missionary, a great companion, and an excellent leader but I feel so inadequate. We didn´t teach a whole lot of lessons this week nor did we have a lot luck finding more people to teach, and not one person came to church for the first time. My companion is really great though. He always has a good attitude about things and I think he teaches better than me even though I have 7 months more experience. I have a few ideas for activities and things the ward can do to help that I am proposing to the bishopric, but everything moves along at such a slow pace. The good news is Patricia and her son Diego were confirmed yesterday and are doing great. Sometimes I get stressed out because I still can´t remember where a lot of the streets and I get lost sometimes. Other times all the appointments fall through and we end up in a place where I´ve knocked every door several times and I just don´t know what to do. So, I keep walking and talk to everyone in the street and look for doors that I don´t remember knocking. I get down because the people that told me they were going to come to church don´t come. It´s exhausting.
In answer to Dad´s question: Yes, we can go with members to make their home teaching visits. I have actually offered to go with a few people. The difficult part is actually getting them to go.
Thank you for your reponse to my questions, Mom. I hope you don´t have to keep worrying about these health issues for much longer.
I love you,
Brett
In answer to Dad´s question: Yes, we can go with members to make their home teaching visits. I have actually offered to go with a few people. The difficult part is actually getting them to go.
Thank you for your reponse to my questions, Mom. I hope you don´t have to keep worrying about these health issues for much longer.
I love you,
Brett
February 21, 2011
Sorry, about last week. The truth I simply did not have time to write last week. It´s pretty lame because I´m only given an hour to email, but I have to write a brief report with the numbers for the week to the President, I have to upload the contacts I made with people who accepted a visit from the missionaries but live outside my area so that the missionaries where they live can visit them, I have to check to see if we received referrals on the same internet site, and now the stake president also wants a weekly report from us. By the time I can write to you guys I´m nearly out of time. But, I managed to finish a little faster this time.
I sent a package home with a photo album, a few books, and a cool volcanic rock I found here (it´s for Marc). I read some of that book you sent me about David O. Mckay and I love it, but I don´t think I´m every going to have time to read it. So, I sent it home. I want to read it when I return. I think this will be the last package I send home because it´s a complete rip off, even using the Mexican mail system and not a private shipper.
Poor Kendric, I remember being a missionary in Utah too. We hardly ever knocked the door of a person we didn´t know. We at least always knew beforehand if the person that lived there was a member or not. We drove around in a new car everywhere, and we lived with a member who let us take whatever we wanted out of their fridge. Oh ya, and we went to the gym to workout in the morning. It´s tough. Haha. But all sarcasm aside, it still had it´s difficulties. A mission no matter what part of the world your in I think will always be more hard mentally and emotionally than it is hard physically. I can´t believe Kendric already came back. Wow! I can´t believe I already almost have a year in the mission.
It´s still been hard to find new investigators and even harder to find new investigators that want to do more than just listen to us, but yesterday I was given some motivation when the husband of a lady that was baptized in the first week after I arrived to this area accepted an invitation to be baptized March 6. It´s amazing the change that he has undergone. He was strongly against his wife being baptized and was very critical of the church, but now he´s gone like 4 times to church, is reading the book of mormon, loves talking to us, and is striving to change his life by obeying all the commandments. It would fill my soul with joy to see him be baptized before I left this area. Hopefully, it will happen. March 6 is the Sunday before transfers and I could very well be transfered the following day.
Well, I got to go. I love you Mommy and hope you feel better soon.
Love,
Brett
I sent a package home with a photo album, a few books, and a cool volcanic rock I found here (it´s for Marc). I read some of that book you sent me about David O. Mckay and I love it, but I don´t think I´m every going to have time to read it. So, I sent it home. I want to read it when I return. I think this will be the last package I send home because it´s a complete rip off, even using the Mexican mail system and not a private shipper.
Poor Kendric, I remember being a missionary in Utah too. We hardly ever knocked the door of a person we didn´t know. We at least always knew beforehand if the person that lived there was a member or not. We drove around in a new car everywhere, and we lived with a member who let us take whatever we wanted out of their fridge. Oh ya, and we went to the gym to workout in the morning. It´s tough. Haha. But all sarcasm aside, it still had it´s difficulties. A mission no matter what part of the world your in I think will always be more hard mentally and emotionally than it is hard physically. I can´t believe Kendric already came back. Wow! I can´t believe I already almost have a year in the mission.
It´s still been hard to find new investigators and even harder to find new investigators that want to do more than just listen to us, but yesterday I was given some motivation when the husband of a lady that was baptized in the first week after I arrived to this area accepted an invitation to be baptized March 6. It´s amazing the change that he has undergone. He was strongly against his wife being baptized and was very critical of the church, but now he´s gone like 4 times to church, is reading the book of mormon, loves talking to us, and is striving to change his life by obeying all the commandments. It would fill my soul with joy to see him be baptized before I left this area. Hopefully, it will happen. March 6 is the Sunday before transfers and I could very well be transfered the following day.
Well, I got to go. I love you Mommy and hope you feel better soon.
Love,
Brett
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