Transfers

     Had a pretty good week and had some awesome experiences! I hope you all did too.

Paintinggggg!
     Monday morning we went to breakfast at IHOP with a bunch of missionaries that were going home Thursday. Then we emailed and went shopping. When we got back to our apartment I helped Elder Harper wash their car because we didn't have anything else to do. After that we went to the other elder's leasing office and played pool and foosball and just hung out. Elder Harper, Elder Gledhill and I left and took some cool/funny videos on his GoPro, it was pretty fun. After that we went with a bunch of the elders and watched Elder Richards burn a suit because he's going home, it was awesome!

     Tuesday we had district meeting combined with the other Wednesday. While he was packing I was cleaning a little trying to make the apartment look nice, it's pretty hard sometimes ha. Then we went to the Meng's and taught some English and it was fun like always, they're just awesome. Before dinner we helped Jon Canigiani finish up the book shelves he was working and then they fed us. district again and we played jeopardy. After lunch we did some service all afternoon, we helped paint a house! It was super fun. We were with Elder Harper and Elder Rice in the evening and we went to the church and had a big Nerf war with the youth in their ward. (Elder Merrill was in heaven) It was way fun plus there was a knarly storm, it was crazy.

     We found out Elder Merrill was leaving so he packed pretty much all day  Wednesday. While he was packing I was cleaning a little trying to make the apartment look nice, it's pretty hard sometimes ha. Then we went to the Meng's and taught some English and it was fun like always, they're just awesome. Before dinner we helped Jon Canigiani finish up the book shelves he was working and then they fed us.

     Thursday was transfers, Elder Merrill left and my new companion is Elder Cook. He is from Vernal Utah and this is his last transfer so it's kind of crazy. He's way cool and we get along great so it's way nice. We went to the Canigiani's so they could be the first to meet him and they fed us again. They are way sweet.

     Friday we did some service, we helped this non-member lady with yard work and worked on her car. She fed us and then taught us a little bit on how to be good at pool haha. She's pretty cool. In the evening we went to the basketball courts and did some basketball tracting which was sweet. We be like the dream team, except I'm short and he's tall. Ain't no thing.

     Saturday we went back to Wakefield, my last area, for a baptism. Two young kids I taught, Jesse and Christopher got baptized and there was Lucy Cabatingan that got baptized as well so it was a triple baptism! It was super awesome and I'm so glad I got to go back and see it. When we got back we went straight to Stake Conference and that took up the rest of the night.

     Sunday we had Stake Conference in the morning. We met with the sisters in our Ward, yeah now there are sisters instead of just us elders, because they are both new to the area and didn't know what to do or who to see. We had dinner at the Gomez's and it was great, they are a sweet family. Sister Gomez is hilarious!

     All together it was a purty good week and it will be a great transfer!

     I hope everyone has a great 4th of July and does something fun! Miss Y'all.

     ~ Elder Brady
Saying bye to Elder Galbraith     





Jesse and Christopher's baptism!

Father's Day

     HAPPY FATHER'S DAY!!!     On Monday we did our emailing and then got our shopping done. We changed and then headed to the stake center to our zone activity, we played basketball and volleyball and some little games, but it was fun. We had dinner at our Ward Mission Leader's house, Bro. Wride and then we stayed for Family Home Evening and it was great! It was only the second one I've been to on my mission, I miss 'em. Afterwards we checked on a potential and she wants us to come back! Yeah buddy! We got Facebook back today too.

     Tuesday we had District Meeting combined with another district and for part of the meeting we role played that we were at a member's home, so we got food! After District Meeting we went to Chick-Fil-A with some other elders for lunch then we came back to our apartment and did some online. After dinner we tried some potentials, but they weren't home and then we went on a little split with Bro. Gomez, he is pretty cool. After that we did some street contacting.

     Wednesday we did a little online and some things around the apartment and then we found out our dinner had to cancel. Total bummer. After dinner we were supposed to go on a split with one of the high priests, but he never showed up so it was a canceling day I guess.

     Thursday we started off with doing some street contacting for a couple hours then we had 

Parrot eating ice cream at a dinner appointment.

lunch with the other elders. After lunch we went to see Jack Mogus, he is an investigator who is an older gentleman, but he's way cool. He has four way nice and expensive cars, like really expensive, and A LOT of guns, it's awesome!! After that we did some more street contacting and then ended the day with some online.

     On Friday we did our weekly planning like usual and then we did a little online. After lunch we took Elder Merrill's bike to the bike shop and got it fixed, but that took a little longer than we had hoped, they kept finding more stuff wrong with his bike. His bike is a bike that has been handed down from missionary to missionary, so uh it is pretty trashed. We went to the Meng's (I've been spelling their name wrong the whole time😬) and taught them some English and that was sweet, they are just way funny and super nice.

     Saturday was a service day. Early in the morning some other elders picked us up and we went and helped a nonmember family move, we moved everything in their house. It took forever and there was even a lot of people there. It took two u-hauls and a bunch of trailers to get all the stuff to their new house. Then we went straight to another service and helped a nonmember with yard work. When we were done with that we jumped in the car and headed to another move, but this time we were just unloading the u-haul so it wasn't as bad as the first move. After service we got a call for an emergency blessing so Elder Gledhill and I went and gave a less-active, Danny Purcilville, a blessing. Then we went to the Canigiani's and finished out the day there.

     Sunday was Father's Day! HAPPY FATHER'S Day!!! Because it was Father's Day we didn't have ward council, but our ride to church was late so we were late, oh well though. During the 3rd hour the other elders showed a video they made of the primary kids talking about their favorite things to do with their dads and saying they loved them and it was super awesome. There was some funny things said in that video, it was great.

     Well I hope everyone has a great week and that all goes well. I miss you all! Thank you for all the support and love!     ~ Elder Brady

Serviceeee

 

     So this week was good because we got to do a lot of service! I love service. It's a great way to show people you care, just a reminder. 

     Monday we emailed and then got our shopping done. After lunch we went with Donny and Barrett hiking to a place called Bear's Den, it is on the Appalachian Trail. It was super fun and awesome! After dinner we went to check on a potential, but that didn't work out because they weren't home, so we then went to the Mung's. They fed us again and we taught them some English, they are super excited to learn, it's great.
     Tuesday morning we went to the bike shop to get the part for Elder Merrill's bike, it was a long walk. Then we had missionary correlation with our Ward Mission Leader, Bro. Wride, and then they fed us dinner. After that we got to do some service, we helped a member that lives in our complex who is moving to Utah load this big truck. It was just Elder Merrill and I and this mom and her two girls, yeah it was a lot of work.
     On Wednesday we had Zone Training and that took up a lot of time. After the meeting we did some service, we helped a member who is moving things into storage move a whole bunch of stuff, plus the HEAVIEST piano ever! It was insane! After dinner we went to the Canigiani's and they are a way sweet family. It is always fun over there.
     Thursday I was with Elder Rice and Elder Harper for most of the day while Elder Merrill went with some other elders. We did this because Elder Rice and Elder Harper are teaching a guy that is in jail, but they are passing him to us and you can only have three visitors at the jail so they could only take one of us. His name is Tony Jones and he is pretty dang funny, he gets out of jail in August and is on date for August 29. He can't wait.
     Friday we did our weekly planning like usual and then we went to see the Andrew Jones family, but we couldn't go in because Andrew wasn't there. That was a bummer because we haven't seen them in a little bit, but what you gonna do? The rest of the evening we did some street contacting. Woo hitting the pavement!
     Saturday we did a lot of service, in the morning we helped with an eagle project. One of the less-active boys in the Ward was doing his eagle and making shelves for the Salvation Army so we went and helped. I got to use my woodworking skills, mmhummm. In the afternoon we stuffed like favor bags for the participants in the Police and Firemen Games. There was two zones there doing it and we got over 7,000 bags done, three other zones were there earlier and they only got under 3,000 done. We spanked 'em! Haha after dinner we hit the pavement for the evening and did some street contacting.
     Sunday morning we had ward council and then we came back to the apartment for lunch. We then walked to the Gomez's and they gave us a ride to church. During sacrament meeting one of the Livsey boys, the one with autism, threw a stuffed cat in the air and it went up and back landing right in front of me. I thought it was pretty funny and almost laughed out loud. After church we had dinner at the Todd's, they fed all four of us missionaries and it was good. When we got back to the apartment Elder Merrill and I cleaned it up because we have an apartment inspection by the mission on Tuesday so, it's gotta look good.
     Well I had a pretty good week with lots of service which is always fun. I hope everyone had a great week and that you all stay safe and happy. Oh and P.S. we are back on Facebook!
     ~ Elder Brady

Elder Merrill, Donny, Elder Brady, & Barrett

View west from Bear's Den on the Appalachian Trail!

Nothing New Really

     So Monday, yeah P-day was a flop this week. We couldn't go shopping or go do anything with other missionaries because our ride didn't work out. So we went to the leasing office and emailed and then I shot pool and Elder Merrill played with his Yu-Gi-Oh cards.... Yeah. That was a bummer, but a good thing is we had dinner with two guys we talked to a week or so ago, Donny and Barrett. They are pretty cool and they were asking us all these questions about missions and rules and what it's like to be on a mission, so it was sweet.
     Tuesday we had district meeting and then we went out to lunch at Buffalo Wild Wings with a bunch of elders so Elder Grow could try the Blazin' Challenge. The Blazin' Challenge is where you get 12 hot wings with their Blazin' sauce, the hottest sauce they have, and you have to eat all of them with no drinks or anything but the wings in 6 minutes. Elder Grow did it in just over 4 minutes! After that we had an exchange, our district leader (Elder Rice) came to our area with Elder Merrill and I went with Elder Harper to theirs. It was awesome! Elder Harper is 26 and is way cool, we had a lot of fun together.
     Wednesday Morning we went with some other elders and got breakfast and then off to work. After we exchanged back, Elder Merrill and I cleaned the kitchen and then I went through all the food and got rid of all the stuff that had expired. There was a lot of it. I then did my studies and then we went to the leasing office and called people to see when we could stop by as it was pretty late to go out.
     On Thursday we had Missionary Correlation and that went well, we had the Spanish 
Elders there too because they are teaching a lady

Making dumplings (we made soooo many!)

that will go to our Ward but she speaks Spanish. Later in the day we went to the Mung's to teach them some more English, it is super fun and they are awesome. After we taught some English we helped make dumplings and then ate them. Yummy! We then went to the Canigiani's and had a lesson there which went pretty well, Sorangel (mom) and Gabby (one of the daughters) said they would come to church so that's good.
     Friday was our weekly planning wooooo. After planning we went out and tried to see some people. After dinner Elder Harper and Elder Rice came and helped us do some service for a lady in our complex that will be moving soon, then they gave us a ride to the other end of our area where we were checking on a guy. Well he wasn't very interested so we started the long trek back and then we got a call, Sis. Fairchild asked us to give her a blessing. We told her where we were, but that we would love to give her a blessing and then we called a member who said we could give the blessing in their home. Sis. Fairchild met us there and we gave her a blessing, Elder Merrill gave it, and then we started talking about her husband who is not a member and she wants us to teach him! Yeah buddy!
     Saturday morning we got a service call from the Gardner's, they needed help setting up a ladder so it would be quick. The ladder was huge! Well we got the ladder up (it took 5 of us) and then we helped them put in a chandelier and take the ladder down. The whole project took about 4 hours. So much for being quick but it was fun! After dinner Elder Merrill's bike broke, but we happened to be right in front of the Jones's so they helped us out.
     Sunday was Fast Sunday and it was great. It was just a really good day at church, I got some good feelings and thoughts today. After church we had dinner at the Smith's and then they dropped us all off at the other elders apartment. Elder Gledhill and Elder Galbraith ran their farewell to the mission and homecoming talks by me so that was fun, then Elder Merrill and I started walking home which was going to take all evening. Not very far into the walk though the Carpenter's drove past, picked us up and gave us a ride home, it was really nice.
     This is from one of my favorite talks from last conference, President Boyd K. Packer's "The Plan of Happiness." "The Atonement, which can reclaim each one of us, bears no scars. That means that no matter what we have done or where we have been or how something happened, if we truly repent, He has promised that He would atone. And when He atoned, that settled that. There are so many of us who are thrashing around, as it were, with feelings of guilt, not knowing quite how to escape. You escape by accepting the Atonement of Christ, and all that was heartache can turn to beauty and love and eternity."
     I know the atonement can and will help every single person if they but use it. So use it. I miss you guys and hope everything is going well and that you have a great week. Love ya'll!
     ~ Elder Brady

My man, Jakey Jones.

Shooting some pool.

Memorial Day (Wednesday P-day)

    So first off, sorry for not emailing until today but our Preparation Day was moved to Wednesday so we could do proselyting work on Memorial Day. Anyway, my first full week in the new area was pretty good, a lot of time was still spent seeing members so I can get to know people and the area. This area is pretty sweet and it is just so nice I still am surprised. Most people are fairly nice here too so that's always a plus. Well ok here's my week.

     Monday we emailed some and then we went and picked up the other elders and went shopping. We came home, changed and grabbed some lunch then headed to the turf fields and played some soccer with the Zone. It was pretty fun but I still don't like turf fields all that much, gimme them grass fields! Anyway, after that we had dinner at the Price's and then we came back to the leasing office and spent the rest of the evening taking an online safety course because President Riggs sent out a text saying to do it ASAP! So we did.
     Tuesday morning we had our district meeting and it was pretty good. The District Leader, Elder Rice, is kind of ummm quirky? He never stops moving and has these short, jerky movements but he is pretty cool. After district meeting we did service as a district, we helped this family that is moving put stuff into a POD so it can be faked to their new house. Then we did yard work for them so the place looks nice for the new owners. After dinner we went to a lesson but it didn't end up happening but on our way walking back to our apartment we stopped and talked to this lady named Gladys. We talked to her for a solid 30 minutes and actually taught her a little, she had two sons who we are hoping to teach as well.

Elder Brady & Elder Merrill out tracting.

     Wednesday we spent almost all day street contacting. We talked to these two guys, Donney and Barrett or are 21 and 24, for about 45 minutes and they know their stuff! After we finished talking to them they told us they work for some churches in the area so everything made sense then. They knew a lot of stuff about the Mormons and what we believe, I was impressed. After dinner we finished out the day with some good ole tracting.
     Thursday we had interviews with President Riggs and they were good. It was my last interview with him because he leaves next month and we are getting a new Mission President. After the interviews we helped Sister Fairchild (who is also our downstairs neighbor) and her husband (who isn't a member) move an elliptical. We got to ride in the bed of the truck on the way to get it! Woo! That brought some memories back haha it was awesome! Well we got the elliptical back to their place and then they bought us dinner so that was nice, an unexpected dinner. After dinner we taught Debra, an unbaptized 8 year-old, whose father is a member but less-active and her mother is not a member. At the end of the lesson she asked if we could come back tomorrow....if only all our investigators asked that.
     Friday was weekly planning and then during lunch I hung up a piece of styrofoam and   ta-da! A redneck dart board! It works pretty good actually. The Chaplin's took us out for dinner and then after dinner we went to see a potential, yeah he isn't interested.... The rest of the night we spent seeing member families.

Elders Brady & Merrill playing basketball with some boys.

     Saturday we started the day off with some service. We helped the family we helped earlier in the week move all their things into their new house and they fed us lunch. I'm the afternoon the Assistants came and took our car...back to bike baby! Elder Merrill isn't too happy about it at all he keeps saying how bad we need the car, it's pretty funny. After dinner we tried some potentials but none worked out. Then as we were riding past a park we saw some kids playing basketball so we stopped and played with them. It was pretty fun and they want us to come back so hopefully something works out with at least one of them.

     Sunday Bro. Todd gave us a ride to and from Ward Council and church, he is awesome. During church we were asked to help in primary again, this time we were called up in front of everybody and talked about the Priesthood and the Holy Ghost. It was pretty sweet, the primary kids are way funny. After church we had dinner at the Livsey's and they are sweet, they have four boys and all of the boys have a disability of some sort but they are hilarious and awesome!
     Well that was my week, things are going pretty good and so is the work. I love it. I hope you all had a great week as well! Oh a little crazy side note, we live next to a fire station and there hasn't been a day when the alarms and sirens haven't gone off. There has been an alarm every single day I've been here, it's crazy.
     ~ Elder Brady

Wednesday P-day

     Hey everyone! I hope you all had a great week and that everything is going good. I had a pretty good week and some good things happened, that's all we ask for anyway.

     Monday morning we were supposed to do some service but it didn't end up happening so that was a bummer. For dinner there was a BBQ that a member was having and was inviting a lot of their neighbors so it was a great opportunity. Because of the community they love in we can't go proselyte there so this was the only interaction we could get with their friends. It was good and some people actually asked some questions about missionaries and what we do so there's that. After dinner we went and taught a lesson to Debra, we taught the Plan of Salvation. We really want to start teaching the whole family so we are hoping we can do that soon.
     Tuesday we had district meeting and then after lunch we took the online safety course for our iPads. That took forever! We had dinner at the Carpenter's and then the rest of the night we checked on potentials. On the way home we saw two little boys struggling to get a bike up their stairs so we stopped and helped. They started talking to us and asking questions and their dad actually came out and talked to us for a bit so we Weill see if something comes of that.
     Wednesday was P-Day! It was pretty good we went fishing with a bunch of other missionaries and everyone caught a fish. It was pretty sweet, towards the end it started raining like crazy but the fish were still biting! Elder Gledhill and I were the last to call it quits, super fun! Then we went shopping and emailed some. After dinner we went to the Mung's, a Chinese family that were recently baptized like last month. We are teaching them English and it is way fun, hard but fun. Brother Mung doesn't speak like any English but Sister Mung speaks fairly well so she helps us. It is weird being the teacher, really weird.
     Thursday we had a meeting that went all the way to dinner. It was TIWI Training, TIWI's are these little boxes that they hook to the cars that pretty much track our speed and driving and where we are and where we go. If we drive badly we lose driving privileges, oh well we don't have a car anyway. After dinner we had an exchange with Elder Johnson and Elder Miles, they are called "Traveling Trainers" and they go around the mission training missionaries on things President Riggs wants everyone to know. I went with Elder Johnson and he is pretty cool, we checked some potentials and then went to see the Caniagiani's.
     On Friday we did our weekly planning and that took a long time too. Longest weekly planning session I have ever done. After planning we had dinner won the Gomez family and they are awesome, they are so funny. They have two boys, about 11 and 13, and they talk a lot, but they are pretty funny so it's ok.
     Saturday we checked some more potentials but no dice, no one even answered the door. We went by the courts and played a quick game with some kids there and then we went to the Mung's. We taught some more English and then talked about missionary work and the Gospel. Being new converts they have a hunger to learn that is amazing, they have so many questions about everything, it's so cool.
     Sunday we didn't have Ward Council so it was a lazy morning. Church was really good, Brother and Sister Gomez talked about family history and being a witness of Christ at all times, it was way good. Then all the men were invited up and we sang "Ye Elders of Israel," we had no idea that was going to happen but it was fun. After Sacrament we taught the 12-14 year-olds about scripture study and how important it is to study the scriptures every day. We need that daily spiritual sustenance. After church we had dinner with the Lindsey's, well more like breakfast because we had pancakes but it was good, they are a sweet family. In the evening we taught Debra again and her dad joined in a little more this time, one step at a time.
     I was watching a Mormon Message and I thought it was really good, it is called "You Never Know." It's a good one ya'll should watch it! It showed how you never know the good that you do throughout a single day so never lose heart. Keep your head up and keep smiling!
     Love all you guys!
     ~Elder Brady

Elder Grow dumpin trail mix in my mouth.

Elder Gledhill and I with our fishies.

Yeah Buddy!

Fishing Group