Week 4 . . . DC!

This week we have had bad luck with bikes. Elder Seely got a slashed tire and then someone screwed a screw into his tire another day. I got my flashlight taken off and smashed on the ground. Got to love the people haha.

We went to the Kough's house for FHE on Tuesday and we made little dolls from the Old Testament except mine isn't. I don't think the name Tommy Bo is in the Old Testament. Guess I missed the memo. It was super fun though!

This week for Preparation Day we decided to go to DC which is awesome, but somehow along the way we decided to show the dumb of guys. We decided to bike all the way to DC! We were duuuummbbbbb!

We got up at 6:00 and left at 6:30 in the morning. We biked along the Mt. Vernon path which runs along the Potomac River. It was beautiful, the sun was coming up and it was all pink and orange. There was moisture coming off the river and it was just cold enough to see your breath.
Beautiful. When we got into DC we went to the monuments and some museums. We went to the Air and Space, National Archives, and American History museums. They were all so cool and the monuments were amazing!

DC is definitely a different and busy place compared to what I am used too. We got home at 5:00 pm. We had ridden just over 50 miles!! We had ridden about what we ride in just under a week in one day! Ding Ding Ding! Stupidity shining through? I think yes. Of course it was awesome though! 

Elder Brady

Visiting the Air and Space Museum
E. Brady, E. Ekins E. McInerny, E. Seely

E. Brady & E. Seely at the Washington Monument in DC.

E. Brady at the WWII Memorial in DC

E. Brady at the Capital in DC

E. Brady at te Washington Monument

Biking to DC today - About 50 miles roundtrip. CRAZY BOYS!
E. Brady, E. Ekins, E. McInerny, E. Seely

E. Brady & E. Ekins at the National Archives

The Reflection Pool with the Washington Monument in the distance.

E. Brady with Esther A.

Baby Serenity A.

E. Brady and E. Seely
Biking what we love to do!

Week 3 - "Finding Fest"

Well this week was more of a slow one. We did have a "Finding Fest" last Monday where our whole mission went out for three hours and all we did was find new investigators. The mission as a whole found 227 and Elder Seely and I found 4. After Monday finding people became harder and harder, lessons began to fall through, things starting not working out. So it has been one of those..... "slow" weeks.

My area is the Fort Belvoir C area and it is actually a pretty good area. All we do is bike all day everyday so it's a good thing I like biking! It's so much nicer now that I have my own bike too. Well other than that.... That's  about it for this week. Oh ha I have gained about 10 pounds already! No it's not fat either haha. Well love you all.

Elder Brady

Elder Seely & Elder Brady

P-Day Fun

E. McInerny & E. Seely

Elder McInerny & Elder Seely celebrating their 1 year mark.

Week 2

Hey everyone!

This week was a good week. It was slow up to Wednesday, but Wednesday everything picked up. On Wednesday and Thursday alone we got 5 new investigators!

Wednesday night we were coming out of Wally-World (Wal-Mart) and I saw a man sitting on a bench. We went over and started talking to him and he is golden! He has been in the U.S. for 4 months and is from Ghana. We talked a little about what we do as missionaries and the gospel, but then we taught him the whole first lesson right there! He is amazing, he knows so much about God and Jesus Christ and Prophets. We asked him if he would be baptized after reading the Book of Mormon and praying to know if it is true. he said if God tells him that is what is right then he will! He has never met with missionaries before but he is so prepared to hear the gospel. We are planning to meet with him again this week.

Our other investigator that is extremely prepared is Barbara. She is from Ghana as well and in our first lesson with her she had so many questions. They were great questions too! Elder Seely and I are excited to teach her and we have already taught her twice in three days! She is so awesome and ready for the gospel it is amazing.

Elder Seely and I got the opportunity to bless a baby that was only born last week. Her name is Serenity. She is so small and cute and already has hair! ppsshhh mind blown! It was such a great experience. Neither of us had ever done anything like that before so it was a first for both of us.

So far the food we have been fed here is pretty good. Except on Saturday. We went to Grandma's for dinner and she made us FuFu. That, my friends, is something I never want to taste again. the best way to explain it is tasteless, rubbery, playdoh like mashed potatoes. It was just.... ugh. We love Grandma though haha but she be crazy. She said she was going to blow up the church and she always says she won't come to church unless we do this or that. She is an interesting person.

Apparently I have a Boston accent. We were teaching a family last night and the mom told me that. She had me saying all these words and phrases and after I said every one she would throw her hands up and say, "See!!" I don't know if I do or not, but I was not about to argue with her. There are some interesting people here haha the other day we saw a man walking down the street in a t-shirt, boots, and boxers. In the rain! Definitely different than Rexburg, Idaho.

Elder Brady

Potomac River

Elder Seely and Elder Brady dressed up in clothes from Africa

Elder Ekins, Elder Seely, and Elder McInerny

Wow!

New Arriving Missionary Pics

President Riggs, Elder Brady, Sister Riggs

New Arriving Missionaries with Pres. & Sister Riggs

1st Week in the Mission Field

So I flew into D.C. on Wednesday and first time on a plane was awesome! I am pretty sure I looked like a little kid. Trying to look out the window and ending up laughing at nothing. I think I am hooked on flying. Well as we were coming to land my thoughts consisted of this, "Wow.... I have never seen so many roads and so much green at the same time!" It was crazy!

My companion's name is Elder Seely, and he is awesome. This is his first time training so it is fun for the both of us. We work hard but still have fun. Like the other day we had a blow dart war with the two other elders in our apartment. It was an awesome way to just mess around and have some fun before diving back into our studies. Elder Seely is from Mt. Pleasant, Utah, and we have a lot in common so it is easy for us to get along which is super good. Makes it easier to teach together.

Since Thursday we have only taught about six lessons. It seemed like everyone is gone sooo that means a lot of biking and street contacting! Woo! We have two investigators and a family that are super close to baptism which is awesome for me because I have only taught them once ha.

Anyway I like D.C. but the humidity and heat are definitely not my favorite. Just about everything here is different than home. I am trying to learn a little bit of Twi (African Language, Ghana) and Spanish. Sometimes it is really hard to talk to people because of the language barrier, but it is interesting as well. Well that about sums up the whole four days I have been out here. Miss you all.

Elder Brady

Elder Brady with his trainer, Elder Seely

Elder Blanchard (from Rexburg) and Elder Brady



Grandma with Elder Brady

En Route to Washington DC South Mission

Today was another wonderful day.  We were able to talk to Elder Brady from the airports as he was en route to Washington DC.  He called at 5:53 am and I talked with him for a few minutes, but his dad was not home from work yet as he is working his week of graveyard shifts, so he said he would try and call again during his 3 hour layover in Minneapolis. 

A very kind person loaned him their cell phone to call us as all the pay phones at the Salt Lake City Airport were being used by other missionaries and had been since he had arrived.  He was boarding the plane in 20 minutes.  I watched the plane on flight tracker as it flew from SLC to Minneapolis.

About an hour after he landed he was able to call us on his calling card and his dad was able to also talk to him.  It was great!  He said he would send us some pictures.  Yeah!  I love pictures and I think he knows that by now.  LOL  Then he needed to go get some lunch as they hadn't eaten since before they left the MTC early this morning at 3:30 am.  He said he would try and call us again once he arrived in DC which would be at about 4:30 pm EST.

Waiting at the Salt Lake airport for our first flight.

My comp and other missionaries having some fun at the airport.

Elder Brady & Elder Neyman

Salt Lake, still waiting...

Elder Neyman & Elder Brady with Snoopy.

My view from the airplane as we are descending into Minneapolis.

What an awesome view!

He was able to once again call us at about 7:30 pm (MST) from the mission home.  He told us about his flight and that it wasn't too bad.  Each leg of his flight was about 2 hours long with a 3 hour layover.  (This was his first airplane ride that he can remember the previous were when he was just a baby and when he was about 2 years old.)  The worst part was descending and getting his ears to adjust.  He told us that the mission president and AP's picked the 12 missionaries up from the airport when they arrived and then they returned to the mission home for a lasagna dinner.  When he called, they were all just having their interviews with the mission president then they would be spending the night in the mission home and tomorrow (Thursday) they would be going to get insurance stuff taken care of and also get their iPads and other stuff.  They would also meet their trainers and get their first area assignment.  We talked to him for about 20 minutes but then he had to go as it was time for his interview with his mission president.  It was so good to hear his voice and know that he was feeling much better then when we dropped him off at the MTC two weeks ago, and that he was ready go to work and serve our Heavenly Father.  We are so excited for him and so glad he chose to serve the Lord as we know he will be blessed many times over throughout his life for making this choice.