Zone Conferences/Stake Conference

     Hey everyone I hope y'all are doing well, I'm doing good but we are just sitting in the apartment because it snowed again and we can't drive. Woo hoo. We are playing Monopoly actually, minus Elder Bunn and I because we lost. We are stuck inside playing board games and stuff all P-day and we are running out of games but anyway I'll tell ya how this last week was.
     Monday was awesome! We went shopping at Costco and then went to Wakefield Park and played some football! There were enough missionaries there that we had some pretty good games. It was a ton of fun. After everyone got tired and stopped playing Elder Jones and I started running routes and throwing passes to each other, got to get back into it. When we got too tired we just sat on the field and talked about Utah State and maybe about us working out and training when we both get back. It would be super sweet. After dinner we went on an exchange, Elder Merrill came to my area and we went and tried to see some members. One of the members didn't live at that address, but the people that did let us in and we had a discussion with them so that was cool.
     On Tuesday it was the Mt. Vernon Zone's zone conference. It was pretty good but we have done a bunch of them the last two weeks and they're always he same so we know what's coming. Elder Finlayson and I always get to set up the tables and help the Relief Society with the food though so it's all good. When the conference was over we went to the office and did some work there and then went to the storage shed to drop some stuff off. We spent the rest of the night meeting with member families.
     Wednesday was Oakton's Zone Conference. When the conference was over we went to Alexandria to clean out a senior couple's apartment who have gone home. We met another senior couple there so they could tell us the things they wanted and then we loaded the van with everything they wanted and took the stuff to their place.
     Thursday we had an office staff meeting with all the senior couples, President, and the Assistants. When that was done we went to lunch with President and the Assistants, it was super cool to get to talk to President about things other than mission and office work. After lunch we hand washed the van in 20 degree weather! Elder Finlayson would soap it down, I'd come right behind him with a rinse towel and then he'd come right behind me with a towel to dry so the water wouldn't freeze on the van. It froze a couple times though. When we finished the outside we vacuumed the inside and detailed the inside as well. We have Zone Conference the next day and the cleanest car wins. The van has never won because it's so big and because of all the things we do with it but we wanted to win bad.
     Friday we had Springfield's (our) Zone Conference and we won the clean car award! After President announced we won we played "We Are The Champions" through the speakers that we have for a presentation and everyone thought it was hilarious. After the conference we went to the office and did some work there and then went to dinner with the Knight family. They are super funny and way nice, it was a lot of fun. We were then supposed to have a lesson with an investigator named Raymond but he had to reschedule to next week. A member had called us earlier in the day asking for a Spanish Book of Mormon to give to someone at work so we took it to him and talked about the missionary work he was doing. It was cool to see how excited he was to do missionary work even when he's been off his mission for a while.
     On Saturday we went to the storage sheds to do an inventory and clean them out but we only got one done. We had the Braddock elders (Elder Frew and Elder Bunn) the Ft. Belvoir elders (Elder Severe and Elder Anderson) the AP's and us there so it went decently fast but it still took awhile. We took everything out, took an inventory of what we had, put the useful stuff back in and trashed the junk. We took the junk to a landfill and we busted everything uptight we had brought, it was way fun and we were helping them out so it was good. When we were done destroying things Elder Finlayson and I went to do some stuff at the office, then we had dinner and went to our Stake Conference. Stake Conference was way good, they talked about problem solving and some other things but it was just really good.
     Sunday Morning was Stake Conference and this time the whole two hours was people bearing their testimonies, it was wayyy good! Elder Finlayson fell asleep though and started snoring so I had to jab him to wake him up, it was super funny. We are both tired, tired. After lunch we did our weekly planning and then went to the advice to send some reports. After dinner we went around and met with some member families and talked about member missionary work and how they can do that. It was really good and everyone is more or less wanting to do missionary work, sometimes they just don't know how.
     This week has been pretty good, we have been meeting with a lot of members and talking about member missionary work. We are showing them the video "I'll Go Where You Want Me To Go" (on the Gospel Library app) and then inviting them to create a family mission plan and pray for missionary opportunities everyday. It is way cool and seems to be working because we have got a couple referrals lately. Missionary work doesn't have to be hard and it doesn't have to be something huge, it is the small and simple things that make a difference. Christ lived his life for others, not one second did he live for himself, the best way for members to be missionaries is to serve those around us and always be looking for those opportunities that are put in our path to share the gospel. We will be blessed with them.
     I hope everyone is doing well and staying safe. Thank you for all the support you give me, it means a lot. Hearing from everyone is the best too it really is special to us as missionaries. Have a great week his week!
     ~ Elder Brady

Busy

     Hey everyone I hope you are doing well and staying busy. I'm super busy all the time now and that's good, keeps me out of trouble. We have been doing a lot of driving around the mission and moving missionaries from one apartment to the next, some because they got a new apartment and some because a missionary went home and now there are some trios. We have been doing a lot of driving, we have almost gone 1,000 miles in a week! It's been crazy but fun.
     Well anyway on Monday we went to Costco to go shopping and we got a ton of food! I felt like I was shopping with my mom again. Then we went and emailed and played some basketball, there was a lot of missionaries there, people from all over the mission had come so it was pretty fun. After dinner Elder Finlayson and I went to the office to do some work there but didn't quite finish before we had to take some furniture up to McLean and pick some stuff up as well. We had to go back to the office and finish afterwards.
     Tuesday was the Centreville Zone Conference, I think it was our fourth one so far, we have five left. We almost caught a goose before the Zone Conference, it was just sitting there so we went and tried to catch it and almost got it. Elder Finlayson, Elder Jones, and I were running after this goose and Elder Blanchard was just laughing and filming. It's pretty funny. It's a transfer goal of Elder Finlayson and I to catch a goose, we're gonna get it! After the Conference we took a couple things to the Tall Cedars elders and then went up to Leesburg to move a couple things for some spanish elders who are now in a trio. Then we buzzed over to Alexandria to drop off a vacuum to some sisters whose vacuum had blown up. While we were there we stopped by a recent convert that Elder Finlayson had taught and talked with him for awhile, his name is Jarod and he seems like a pretty cool guy.
     Wednesday was the Manassas Zone Conference, it was cool Manassas is like the country part of the mission, you are almost out to Warrenton and that is the country. After the Conference we got a bed and a desk for some Hermanas who are now in a trio and then went and moved another set of Spanish elders to a brand new apartment ... it's super nice. Then we had to drive to the other side of the mission and pick up a keyboard and some Conga drums that one of the senior missionaries wanted us to put in the storage shed for some reason. We had dinner at the Baker's but they had forgotten we were coming so when we got there they weren't ready, solo we put some aprons on and helped make some pizzas! After dinner we went to the Aplanalp's and had a lesson with their family about gratitude and it went really well. Then we went to the office to put a slideshow together for MLC (Mission Leadership Council) tomorrow.
     MLC was Thursday morning and it was alright, kind of interesting because no one could agree on anyone really, until President stepped in. Elder Finlayson and I almost caught another goose! Actually we think it was the same one we tried to catch earlier this week but we almost got it. After MLC we went to the office and did some work there then we got a microwave for some elders who said their microwave wasn't working anymore. We had an English lesson with Brother Badrusev and this time his daughter (she's like 5) was playing games and playing with me catch part of the time so it was a little hard to focus but it was good, he's a cool guy. After that we went and checked on potentials for the rest of the night and met some nice people but no one really seems interested yet.
     Friday was the McLean Zone Conference and on the way there traffic was pretty bad because it is close to DC but we still got there just in time. During the conference we got everyone's house keys and went to Home Depot to get copies made because we are supposed to have a copy of every apartment in the mission. After the Zone Conference we came back and moved the sisters in our ward from another complex into our complex and that took most of the day. We were finishing up at about 8:30 when we got a call from the Braddock sisters saying they needed to get into the office to print some baptism programs. I guess their investigator had told them today that she wanted to get baptized tomorrow so they were scrambling a little to get it pulled together but they got it done.
     Saturday morning we went into the office to get a little work done and then headed to Arlington to have lunch with he Ito's. (One of the senior couples) We talked about the apartment inspections that are doing and how we are getting swamped with stuff that missionaries apparently need so we figured out a system to make it easier and less of a hassle, hopefully. Then we drove to Leesburg and got a mattress and a desk and a couple of little night stands/dressers for some sisters who are now in a trio. It took longer than we thought but we finished up and then got back to our area and tried some potentials, we also saw a recent convert named Brian. He is a pretty cool guy, but he's an accountant and so he is super busy all the time but we got to talk to him for a little bit.
     Sunday was Fast Sunday and I really enjoyed it, I enjoy Fast Sunday's more now than I used to when I was younger. There are a lot of good people with great testimonies out there to share.  After church we met with the sisters, Sister Johnson and Sister Malafau, and came up with a plan to help the ward with their missionary efforts. It took us a couple of hours to come up with what we are going to do and how we are going to do it but we are super hyped about it so it should be good. One of the things we are doing is seeing every member once in the transfer, because the transfer is almost half over we only have about three weeks to do it so it's going to be hard but we are going to give it a shot. When we see them we are inviting the, to pray for missionary opportunities and to invite someone to an activity so hopefully we get some people coming to things with the members. It's gonna be good! In the evening we went with Elder Bunn and Elder Frew down to Woodbridge to check on some people down there. Woodbridge isn't in our mission anymore but they are in the singles ward that covers it so we got to go out of the mission for the night. Woooo, rebels!
     Anyway things have been going good and we have been super busy. I swear we have been running from one thing to the next and sleep....what's that? We have a lot of late nights and early mornings so we don't get a ton of sleep which makes things interesting....especially on the long drives. We have driven almost 1,000 miles this week which is crazy! It's been fun though, I like all the work we have and the things we get to do so it's been good. I hope y'all are doing good and living life to the fullest! Stay happy people, it's the only way to go.
     ~ Elder Brady

Kough's went to the Temple!!!!

     Hey everyone hope you had a good week! This email will be a little shorter but this is one of my favorite weeks that has happened out here. My week was pretty good the big thing that happened is I got to go to the temple with a family! They are one of my favorite families I've met out here, I met them in my first area, Ft. Belvoir.

     Anyway their name is the Kough's and they are great! Matt got baptized right before I came out on my mission so he was a recent convert we saw all the time when I first came out. They went to the temple this week and received their endowments and got sealed as a family and I got to go! I got to go through with them and it was amazing!

     When they were getting sealed and they brought their little daughter in, Alma, it was the cutest thing, she was all smiles and just happy. I don't even really now how to explain how great it was or how happy and excited I felt. It was probably one of the best days of my life for sure. I just love that family a ton!

     I really don't know what else to write because I can't portray how great of a day it was and the rest of the week couldn't compare to it. I guess I'll just say this was one of the best weeks ever and being a missionary is sweet! I hope y'all have a great week.

     ~ Elder Brady

Transfers/Snowwww!

     Hey everyone I hope you are doing good and staying safe. Well this past week has been probably one of the craziest weeks of my mission. A lot has happened in a week. I guess I will just tell you a bit about it then.

Dulles Air and Space Museum

     Monday for P-Day the Spanish Missionaries (Elder Bernay and Elder Pina) picked us up and we all went to the Dulles Air and Space Museum. Just so y'all know it's where part of a Transformers movie was filmed, anyway it was pretty cool and fun. Elder Coles was loving it, that is like his favorite place out here or one of them. I got a call from President and found out I was getting transferred.
     Tuesday we had District Meeting and I wanted to show a video so we borrowed some keys from a counselor in the Bishopric, Brother Gustafson, and got a big ole TV out of the library. I showed the video called "No Ordinary Shepherd" and it was really good. (Thank you mom!) we also had some pizza so it was fun. I spent some time packing today and we found out Elder Coles was getting transferred as well so we were both leaving.
     Wednesday we did some packing and then went to Brian Doran's one last time for some service. He's a great guy and I'm going to miss going over there and doing service with him. Elder Coles and I packed for most of the evening then.

Brother Rankin is awesome!
He looks like Mr. Fredrickson from Up
and he even has Doug! (Dog)

     Thursday morning we grabbed the Sisters car and got it loaded with stuff, then we went to say goodbye to Brother Rankin, after that we headed to transfers. My new companion is Elder Finlayson, he is from Highland, Utah, and we are the Office Elders. That means we do a lot of work in the office helping things go good and we do training for trainers and new missionaries and some training at Zone Conferences. We also make sure all the apartments have the things that they need. It's a lot of work and we only get to work in our area during the evening, and some days not at all, that makes it difficult sometimes. Anyway we left transfers in a U-haul full of luggage for the departing missionaries and went to dinner at the Mission Home. After dinner we had a testimony meeting where all the departing missionaries bore their testimonies and it was really good! When that was done we took them to the hotel and then we finally made it back to our apartment at midnight.
     Friday we had to get up at 3:30 to take the departing missionaries to the airport. After we got them all good to go and their luggage taken care of we went to breakfast with the Assistants at Bob Evans. When we were done with breakfast we took the U-haul back to the rental place and then came back to the apartment and took a nap. (President told us to, good thing because we were tired!) When we woke up we went to the office and did some things, but we weren't able to do as much as we wanted to, then we came back to the apartment and did some planning and cleaning. By that time it had started snowing pretty good and we were told not to drive. 

     Saturday it was a blizzard! It had snowed all night and it snowed all day on Saturday and then all Saturday night. There was a ton of snow! We left the apartment at 10:30 with some shovels and started walking down the road. We helped get a snowplow unstuck and then shoveled a members' driveway, they then fed us lunch so that was nice. We were walking back, when we heard a yell, we all turned around just in time to see this little Asian woman slip and fall. She stood up and asked if we could shovel her driveway and we said yes, it was piled up in her driveway! We knocked it out in about 45 mins though, we were hauling. After that when we were walking back we helped two more snowplows get unstuck, it was pretty crazy.

     Sunday church was canceled and we still couldn't drive anywhere, so the missionaries in our complex got together and we had our own little sacrament meeting. It was pretty cool we sang some songs, took the sacrament, and read some chapters of scripture and talked about them. It was a lot of fun. It was a pretty nice day so we went out and helped people shovel the cars out of the couple feet of snow that had fallen and was piled up. Later the Assistants got permission for us to drive to the office so we could get some things done that needed to get done.
     Monday wasn't p-day like usual, because of the conditions it got pushed back to Tuesday, but that's okay. Elder Finlayson and I still had permission to drive to the office so we went in the morning and did some things we didn't get done the night before. When we got back we cleaned and rearranged our apartment with the Braddock elders, we all live in the same apartment so it's pretty sweet! Then we went back to the office to do some more work and then we came back to the apartment and got picked up by a member for a lesson with a lady named Adriana. The lesson went alright, but it was kind of a little bash, she is super nice though so we will see how things turn out. After dinner we went back to the office to do some more work and we took the Braddock elders with us because they were sick of being cooped up in the apartment not being able to do much, so they came and helped us.

Braddock Elders & Elders. Finlayson &  Brady

Snowwwwww! (That's the van we drive)

It snowed more too!

     That was my week and it was pretty crazy, but pretty fun as well. I am so excited about all the snow we got! It's finally here! I don't know how long it will last, but I'm going to enjoy it while it is here and there is a lot of it. They say it's one of the top 3 worst storms recorded in this area, so that's pretty cool! Anyway I hope you all have a great week and stay safe.      ~ Elder Brady

Snow?!

Oakton Zone

     Hey hey everybody, I hope y'all are are doing good and enjoying January! It finally snowed here this week, twice! The first time it probably didn't even count as actually snowing but it was something, the second time was a better snow but still it didn't stick. Virginia is trying though, I'll take what I can get out here.

     So this week was a little different we did some service here and there at the beginning of the week, which was great, service is the best! Most of it was helping people put away their Christmas decorations...I guess even as a missionary I can't get away from that.
     Anyway Thursday was a change in our schedule, President wanted to meet with Elder Coles and I so we got the Oakton sisters to take us to the Mission Office. While Elder Coles was in with President the Assistants to the President came in, (Elder Blanchard and Elder Jones) Elder Jones asked me to go get some stuff with him from an apartment that wasn't too far away so I did and he let me drive the truck!! Yeah Buddy! It was a lot of fun going with Elder Jones and driving the truck so that was sweet. Well we got back and then Elder Coles and I had dinner with the Kambourian's who are a part member family, she is the member and he is not. They are super cool and he was actually a spy so that was pretty cool to talk about.
     Well the rest of the week kind of went back to normal which is ok I suppose just not as fun. We have a lot of potential investigators that we are working to go through so there is always work to do which is good, keeps us busy. Transfers are this week so that's always fun, you never know what is going to happen anymore because there isn't a pattern yet with President Huntsman but hey that keeps you on your toes. Sorry for the short email but we are going to a museum so I don't have a ton of time, hope you all are doing great and have a great week!     ~ Elder Brady

Hey Hey

My district meeting in the Mother's Lounge!

     Hey everybody, this week was pretty good. You know just doing missionary work so what could be better? It is one of the best things I've ever done. Anyway this won't be a long email so sorry about that but anyway here goes.

     Monday we went shopping and then went to Burlington to look at clothes and some suits, I didn't get any but Elder Tesch (one of the Zone Leaders) bought a whole bunch of stuff for when he goes home. He has almost a whole suitcase full of clothes he has bought for when he goes home, it's pretty crazy. After that we went to the Stake Center to email and shoot some hoops.
     Tuesday was cold. We went to see a potential named David, who thankfully let us in but wasn't interested. He was super nice though and we had a good conversation with him while we warmed up for the ride back.
     Wednesday we had Brother Rankin come on splits with us and we went to see a referral/potential named Anthony. He is an older gentleman but he was super interested and wants to meet with the Bishop and learn more, anddd come to church, it was sweet! Finally something is happening!
     Thursday evening we had a ward missionary correlation meeting and it's the first one we have had since I've been here, only three Ward missionaries showed up unfortunately. The conversation got a little intense at one point but it ended well and we are coming up with plans as a ward mission now together so it's good.
     Friday we did some service with the Bank's and helped them move some furniture and put away all their Christmas decorations. They have a ton! It was a lot of fun though.
     Saturday was a Stake Missionary breakfast so all the missionaries in our stake got fed at the stake center. It was super nice and I guess they do it pretty often.
     Sunday was great, it always is. We got to go to church and it was way good. In Gospel Principles they talked about keeping the Sabbath Day holy and not only how we can but why we do. There are so many blessings from keeping the Sabbath Day holy, it's great!
     Well this was short and it was really just a highlight of everyday this week because I don't have a ton of time right now. I hope y'all have a great day and a great week!
     ~ Elder Brady

Oakmarr

2016!!!

Our Zone on New Year's Eve!

     Happy New Year! I hope everyone had a good one and is getting a good start into 2016. This week has been an interesting one with people being gone for the holidays and things like that but it was good still. It was a roller coaster of a week but things should start steadying out here in a week or so when everyone gets back and we get into the swing of things.
     Well Monday was a pretty fun day, we had our Zone Activity which was a big ole nerf war and a white elephant gift exchange, I got a tie! Yeah buddy. It was a lot of fun actually.
     Tuesday and Wednesday were slower days because everyone is out of town for the holidays. Hopefully they all get back soon.
     Thursday was New Year's Eve and also interviews with President. We had interviews in the afternoon, they were pretty good I really like interviews with President. We also learned about planning and got to practice teach a little. In the evening we had our Zone New Year's party we all went to the church and played lightning, mafia, and signs. We could have watched some movies, but no one wanted to watch the ones they gave us to watch so we just played games the whole time and ate pizza. It was a lot of fun though and we rang in the new year, granted we had to do it 2 hours early to get home on time but still..
     Skipping to Saturday, we had a big Zone Finding Fest all day. My district blitzed each other's areas together so there was 8 missionaries in a neighborhood talking to people and knocking doors. Our district alone found I think 7 new investigators this week so it was pretty good. We had a competition with the rest of the zone and my district won! Whoop whoop!
     Sunday was nice, church is at 11 o'clock now so we have time to do studies in the morning before we go to church. After church we met with the bishop and talked with him about how we could better help him and how he and the ward can help us with the people we are teaching, it was really good.
     Well this is a shorter email, but it was a pretty decent week. We had a fun New Year's and now it's 2016, kind of hard to believe. Make it a good year everybody! Work hard to improve yourself and have fun! Miss you all.
     ~ Elder Brady

Doormat we saw while tracting.