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
Sunday, October 2, 2011
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.
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