Mt. Vernon

     Hey Hey, I hope y'all are doing good and had a good week. This week for me was good, but it had a down or two in there along with all the ups that there were. What would life be without all those downs though? We could never learn and grow if we never had anything we had to work to overcome or get through. It builds character as my Dad would say. Anyway I'll tell you a bit about my week.

     Monday was a pretty good day. Elder Frew and I went on exchanges for P-Day because Elder Bunn and Elder Finlayson wanted to go play basketball but Elder Frew and I wanted to go to Mt. Vernon, the home of George Washington. Anyway we went there and it was super sick! It was way pretty and so cool to be on a part of history like that, it was something else. We just walked around the grounds for a couple of hours trying to soak it all in, it was a sweet place. For dinner we ate at a recent convert of Elder Frew's and then we headed back to switch companions back. Elder Finlayson and I then went around to see members and we ended up giving a blessing to one which is always a cool experience.
     Tuesday we went up to Hamilton/Catoctin to move the sisters up there into a new place. They are actually moving into the basement of a member's home and it is on a farm! It was a super sweet place, I really wanted to be moving myself there instead. Came back and we had dinner with the Aplanalp's and then taught their little 7-year-old girl the Restoration because they want her to have all the lessons before she is baptized. We then went and had a lesson with our investigator, Raymond, and we put him on date for March 19th! It was a way good lesson even though it didn't go as planned but it all worked out. We are pretty excited for him.
     Wednesday we helped a member family who are moving load up a U-haul, it didn't take too long because it wasn't a huge one. After lunch we went to the office to get some things done, like putting pictures of people baptized on the big 300. When we were at dinner there was a tornado watch and it started to rain and hail like crazy! We stayed there for a bit and then went to a less actives house, we didn't stay too long though because they were just sitting down to dinner. We got a text from some elders about a glitchy iPad so we met them at the office and got the iPad so we could get it fixed.
     Thursday we had Return and Report meeting for all the trainers and trainees. Basically we split them up and talk about any questions either of them, the trainers or the trainees, have. There were some interesting ones that's for sure. President asked us to meet him at the office to be on a call with him so we went to the office after Return and Report. The call was about the mission and iPads, our mission is going to be a trial mission for tablets. The new missionaries that come out, not this transfer but next, are going to have tablets instead of iPads so that will be kind of cool. Then we had to go jump a missionaries car. After dinner we went to see some members.
     Friday we went down to the Mt. Vernon zone and moved a set of elders from their apartment to a member's basement. That took most of the afternoon and then we had lunch with a member that Elder Finlayson is really good friends with. Went and did some more of the moving then headed back to our area for a dinner. On our way back there was a wreck that we came upon, the traffic was terrible and so was the wreck. There were three cars on it and one was standing up on its side with the top ripped off, it was crazy! At dinner they had us log onto Relative Finder and we found out the Elder Finlayson and I are 10th cousins so that's cool. After dinner we went back and finished moving the elders.
     Saturday we spent most of the day cleaning our other storage shed and getting an inventory. It was just Elder Finlayson and I for a bit then Elder Frew and Elder Bunn came and helped us. Elder Finlayson was whacking an old elliptical with a golf club and it broke off and almost hit me in the head! It was pretty funny actually. We took all the junk to the dump and did some more whacking and smacking and breaking things there. It's a really fun thing to do and I'm sure it's a good stress reliever as well just so y'all know. After dinner we tracted the rest of the night and didn't have much happen, but we found two potentials so it was alright.
     Sunday we went to church and Raymond was 
supposed to show up and bring his family but he didn't. Elder Finlayson and I taught Gospel Principles and it was about, surprise, mission work. We didn't volunteer we got assigned to teach that one haha. After church we had ward council and then missionary correlation. Then we did some weekly planning before dinner and then went to dinner at a member's. After dinner we went to the NARMF (New And Returning Member Fireside) which is where new members and returning members pretty much bore their testimony, it's pretty cool. Then we went to the office and did number reporting. We also got an email from Raymond and we think he may have dropped us and doesn't want to meet with us anymore but we aren't 100% sure yet. My heart dropped when I read the email, hopefully we can still see him at least one more time.
     Well this week, like I said had some downs with all the ups but we are still working on things. That's all we can really do is keep pushing through because if you stop it takes a lot more effort to get going again. A mission is one of the best things I've ever done and I'm so grateful I have the opportunity to serve the Lord. Do all you can to help those around you because everyone needs help with something, be it big or small. Anyway I hope y'all have a great week!
     ~ Elder Brady

Mt. Vernon

At the Wharf at Mt. Vernon