Trunk-or-Treat

     Hey everyone how y'all doing! So this week's email will be a bit shorter because we are going into D.C. and don't have much time, actually I'm sending this on the bus to the metro so yeah. Anyway I hope everyone had a great week! 

     So this week we didn't do much on P-Day we just hung out and relaxed. I got to go on an exchange Tuesday with Elder Yeager and it was awesome! He is a funny kid and we got along great so it was a lot of fun. We even played a little finger football. In correlation this week with Brother Johnson we focused on the Trunk-Or-Treat and getting as many people there as we could. We have multiple people we have tried multiple times so we are working at it. We got to help set up for the Trunk-Or-Treat and then we also got to go help at Gifts of the Heart. Gifts of the Heart is where people bring stuff they can donate and volunteers sort it out. Then the next day people who are in need can come and get things that they are in need of, it's a really cool thing that they do every 6 months here. 

     Saturday was the Trunk-Or-Treat and it went awesome! There was so many people there and a lot of people we didn't even know so it was great. We also had games for the kids and a chili cook-off and yes Elder Overstreet and I were two of the judges. It went really well and Harry and Delaine came! Anddddd they brought their daughter and her two kids! It was great and we were super excited that they were there! 

     For the most part this past week was pretty good and things are beginning to roll, fingers crossed. Sometimes it's hard to remember that God's time is not our time and he has his own timetable but it's something I've been trying to work on lately. Complete trust in God and a lot of hard work can take you a long way. Well I hope y'all have a great week and sorry again for the short email!

     ~ Elder Brady

Talk

Zone Nerf Wars

Getting dirty

     Hey everybody how y'all doing? Thanks to all those that emailed me I really enjoy reading them and hearing from you. I hope everyone had a good week and did something awesome! This week was pretty good over here on the east coast.

     Monday we did our normal shopping/emailing routine and then we went to our Zone Activity. We had a big Nerf war for the Zone Activity and it was pretty fun, we played it a bunch of different ways and just had some fun. 

Elder Blanchard found a blister

     Tuesday we had our District Meeting which was pretty good, it was about opening our mouths and talking to everybody. A quote that was used was, "Nothing happens in missionary work until we find people to teach." There are promised blessings we have in Preach My Gospel about opening our mouths with boldness and that's what we are trying to achieve as a district. 

     Wednesday we had a big Zone Service Project for most of the day. We were clearing brush and running it through the chipper and then we dug some holes. The holes were so big I felt like I was in the movie holes! It was pretty sweet though and a lot of fun. In the evening we went to see Harry and Delaine, two investigators, and they told us while they were out of town last weekend they went to church! The struggle we have had with them is getting them to church, so the fact that they went when they were out of town was super cool! 

     Thursday was a bit slower, but we were able to go to Frank's and talk about his trip to New York to get things from his mother for family history. He came back with quite a bit of stuff, so the trip was well worth it. 

     Friday was a tough day for us. We weren't able to get in contact with anyone we tried to see. Literally everyone we tried wasn't home, or just didn't answer the door so that was a bummer, but we keep keeping on.

     Saturday we had a Zone wide finding fest where pretty much all we did all day was try and find new investigators. This was yet another day where we tried to find some new investigators through our potentials list, but nobody answered the door. Oh well. Later in the evening we helped Brother Castillo move a couch that they are getting rid of because they are moving soon. Oh we had dinner with the Caison family and they have one of the biggest dogs I've ever seen! When it stood on its hind legs it was almost as big as me! It's pretty crazy.

     On Sunday I gave a talk about the "Divine Role of a Missionary." I felt like I did pretty well and I had people come up to me afterwards and say I did a good job, so that counts for something right? I spoke with a missionary who just returned from his mission this last week so that was pretty interesting. Elder Overstreet and I gave the lesson in Priest's Quorum about service. We showed the "Lift" Mormon Message and it is a really good video and really touching. If you haven't seen it I encourage you to go watch it because it will change the way you look at things. Especially the little things. We also went to a mission prep fireside the bishop was putting on and that was really good and there was a good showing of youth there preparing to go on missions so that was cool to see.

     So this past week was pretty good at points and not so good at others, but that's how life goes. Sometimes you are high and other times you are low and we are defined by how we react to both situations. I hope everyone knows how much God loves you and that he is there to help you through all the times, the good and the bad. Always turn to him. Well hope y'all have a great week and have some great experiences! It's getting chilly here and I had to break out the sweaters this week. I don't know what it's like back home, but if they're falling go do service and rake some leaves!

     ~ Elder Brady

Marriot Ranch!!

Elder Brady & Elder Overstreet

     Hey everybody I hope you guys all had a good week! My week was pretty good, and crazy, and fun but it was a good week. I was only in my area about half of the week, so it was a little bit of different week, but it's good to shake things up a bit, keeps things interesting. Here are some highlights from the week.

     Well we had some good lessons and then we had some not so good lessons. One lesson we had with Harry and Delaine turned into being a question and answer session on things that sometimes didn't even seem connected with the gospel. Harry can definitely come up with some crazy things, but also things that can make you think. They are a nice couple though and I enjoy going over there.

Elder Kerr & Elder Brady headed to the
Marriot Ranch

     The first half of the week wasn't all that crazy or different, but the second half is when it started. Thursday I went on an exchange with our district leader, Elder Black. We did a lot of tracting and saw a part-member family, then we met with an investigator and his drunk dad, that was interesting. The dad wouldn't stop talking and didn't make sense most of the time, but nothing much we could do, we tried just talking to his son, but he would always interrupt us and go off forever on things, so we just ended up leaving as soon as we could.

     Saturday I went on another exchange, but this time it was with Elder Kerr on a special assignment. We got to travel outside of the mission, to the Marriott Ranch Picnic for ambassadors and diplomats and teach them how to rope! It was sweet! Elder Kerr and I were in heaven, we got to rope a couple of roping dummies all day and teach people and their kids how to rope. Two guys that were helping with the "Roping Station" said Elder Kerr and I were the best they've had at that picnic in years, so that was cool. It was way fun and even though it was a non proselyting event almost always the mission, or gospel came up in the conversations somehow. There was people from all over the world and it was just super cool, they were all way nice and having a good time. It was a great day, Elder Kerr and I didn't want to leave the ranch.

     I hope y'all have a great week this week and do something awesome! We each have a light of our own that we possess and that we should let shine for ones to see. Go out and share the light that you have with someone, so that their lives can be changed for the better! Oh and shout-out to my little sister, Natasha, it's her birthday on Wednesday! Happy Birthday!!

     ~ Elder Brady

Marriot Ranch

Beautiful View

General Conference!!

Between sessions
(Elder Overstreet and Frank Del Vecchio)

     This past week has been a pretty good week and it was awesome to get to watch conference! This email is going to be a little shorter because there was a mishap and I lost the email I originally wrote, so I don't have a lot of time to write this one. Anyway I hope y'all had a great week and here goes mine.
      Well Monday was the usual P-Day we did our emailing and shopping and then we got together with a bunch of missionaries and played some football! I was pretty excited about that and there was a lot of us there so it was really fun.
      Tuesday we had interviews with President Huntsman, our mission president. He is awesome and it was really good to get to talk with him one on one and learn in that setting.

      Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday were days where we did things like we are supposed to, but we didn't see a lot come from it. These days happen more than you'd think, but we all need trials to learn and grow so we are keeping on and pushing on.

Aiden and Hope Del Vecchio

      Saturday and Sunday were definitely the climax days because of General Conference. It was my companion's first conference he has watched on his mission, so that was pretty cool. We also got to watch all the sessions with a recent convert which was really cool as well. He had a lot of questions about how it works and how many people can fit in the conference center, but he was so engrossed in the people speaking it was sweet! I learned a lot from this conference and I'm so glad I was able watch it. I needed to hear some things that were said and it just strengthened my testimony of our church leaders. I love General Conference!
      Well I hope you guys all have a great week and I can't wait to hear from ya next week.

      ~ Elder Brady

Picture timeeee