So, Thanksgiving has come and gone.
We spent Thanksgiving over at the Miner's house. So much food. I am glad we only had one dinner appointment. I wouldn't have survived a second. It was fun. We played Apples to Apples. We took an investigator with us, Andrew Wyrick. He had nowhere else to go. But everyone welcomed him with open arms. It was a very good experience for him. We also took him to a Child-of-Record baptism on Saturday. He enjoyed that as well. He keeps missing church though. It makes me so mad. There's a different reason every week. I know he wants to go. But he keeps letting Satan get in his way.
Life is very good though. I love it. My companion isn't the easiest to work with. He's a perfectionist who does things his way. He's a good missionary though, and he has a strong desire to finish his mission on a good note. Our companionship is half over anyways. He goes home a week before Christmas.
A member of the ward, Jared Metcalf, just came home from the Alaska Anchorage Mission. He knows Elder Burton quite well, apparently. He told me a funny story. Elder Burton is in his favorite picture. They were going to go Ice Fishing. As they were walking across the lake, Elder Burton paused, looking somewhat nervous and said," Are you sure this ice can hold me?" He was standing next to a large ski plane as he said this. :P Small world eh?
I don't know what to do for Christmas. I mean, I'm gonna be sending cards to some people. But I don't know what to get my immediate family. I have 1 item. But it's nothing remarkable. I feel bad. It's hard to get something for someone that you haven't talked to in 6 months. You have no idea what they need or want. And I don't think I can afford a fridge, haha.
We don't have the car this week. It's pretty cold as well. And my companion told the vehicle coordinator that our area doesn't need a car. If we lose the car at the end of this transfer I'm going to be furious. haha.
Well, I hope you get better soon Dad. I will keep you in my prayers. Have you had a blessing?
I don't have too much else to report this week. So, I will get going now. It was great to hear from you!
Love,Elder Bracken
Monday, November 30, 2009
Tuesday, November 24, 2009
Happy Thanksgiving!
I can't believe that Thanksgiving is here already! Mind-boggling. We're going to have dinner(really, lunch since it's at 1) at the Miner's house. I've never had dinner there before, but brother Miner went on exchange with us one night and he was really cool. So it should be fun. :)
We had Zone Conference on Tuesday. It was the best Zone Conference I've had on my mission. I greatly enjoyed it. The big focus was on Family Home Evening. President and Sister Merkley really want us to teach our investigators and recent converts about family home evening. We played a game called "Love in the Zone," part of which included all of us singing "Popcorn Popping." It was so fun. But I did gain a much greater appreciation for family home evening. President Merkley talked a lot about how important it is. In his opinion, it is the second most important meeting in the church. The MOST important meeting is what one of the General Authorities called "Family Executive Council" aka Date Night. He said that it is extremely important for Mom and Dad to have regular date nights. They also need to discuss their childrens needs and seek the Lord's counsel regarding their children. He quoted an old talk by a Modern-Day Prophet(I think it was David O. McKay). The Prophet spoke about the most important Priesthood Interview we will ever have. The one with the Savior when He judges us. He said that he knows the first 2 questions He will ask us. First, He will ask us to give an accounting on our relationship with our spouse. Second, He will ask us to give an accounting of our children. I believe that to be true. Pres. Merkley quoted another General Authority when he made a promise in a talk. He said that if we have Family Home Evening BEFORE we have children, God will bless us with Children that will listen when we teach them the Gospel.
Pres. Merkley also told me, basically, that I need to be ready to take over Webb City, because that's exactly what's going to happen when Elder Stapley goes home. I'm glad to know that he trusts me with that responsibility. But it does put me under a lot of pressure to learn the area as quickly as possible. The Lord has helped me to learn it very quickly so far. I know that I can handle it with His help.
We have one Ward Missionary here in Webb City. He is an awesome guy. He and his wife are finally going to the temple in December. (they have been married for a few years and have several children). I am so excited for them. I miss the temple so badly. I hope that as part of Thanksgiving you all take the opportunity to go to the Temple and pray within its walls to Heavenly Father and thank Him for your many blessings. I promise you that as you do so, you will feel the Spirit and know that our Heavenly Father loves you and wants nothing but your happiness.
In answer to your question mom, we are never home when the mailman comes so I couldn't sign for it. It would be just fine to have them drop it off. Nobody will hurt it. :)
We have not had any snow yet. It was rainy last week(our bike week, of course). But no snow yet. The weather here is just ridiculously weird.
We are teaching an RLDS aka Community of Christ family. They are really cool. They pretty much know that their church is false. It's just hard for them to leave it because it's their whole life. They will come around eventually though. Teaching them did lead me to look up this awesome article:http://www.lds.org/ldsorg/v/index.jsp?hideNav=1&locale=0&sourceId=09cd615b01a6b010VgnVCM1000004d82620a____&vgnextoid=2354fccf2b7db010VgnVCM1000004d82620aRCRD
Well that's about all I have to report this week. It was wonderful to hear from you! I hope you have a good week!
Love,
Elder Bracken
We had Zone Conference on Tuesday. It was the best Zone Conference I've had on my mission. I greatly enjoyed it. The big focus was on Family Home Evening. President and Sister Merkley really want us to teach our investigators and recent converts about family home evening. We played a game called "Love in the Zone," part of which included all of us singing "Popcorn Popping." It was so fun. But I did gain a much greater appreciation for family home evening. President Merkley talked a lot about how important it is. In his opinion, it is the second most important meeting in the church. The MOST important meeting is what one of the General Authorities called "Family Executive Council" aka Date Night. He said that it is extremely important for Mom and Dad to have regular date nights. They also need to discuss their childrens needs and seek the Lord's counsel regarding their children. He quoted an old talk by a Modern-Day Prophet(I think it was David O. McKay). The Prophet spoke about the most important Priesthood Interview we will ever have. The one with the Savior when He judges us. He said that he knows the first 2 questions He will ask us. First, He will ask us to give an accounting on our relationship with our spouse. Second, He will ask us to give an accounting of our children. I believe that to be true. Pres. Merkley quoted another General Authority when he made a promise in a talk. He said that if we have Family Home Evening BEFORE we have children, God will bless us with Children that will listen when we teach them the Gospel.
Pres. Merkley also told me, basically, that I need to be ready to take over Webb City, because that's exactly what's going to happen when Elder Stapley goes home. I'm glad to know that he trusts me with that responsibility. But it does put me under a lot of pressure to learn the area as quickly as possible. The Lord has helped me to learn it very quickly so far. I know that I can handle it with His help.
We have one Ward Missionary here in Webb City. He is an awesome guy. He and his wife are finally going to the temple in December. (they have been married for a few years and have several children). I am so excited for them. I miss the temple so badly. I hope that as part of Thanksgiving you all take the opportunity to go to the Temple and pray within its walls to Heavenly Father and thank Him for your many blessings. I promise you that as you do so, you will feel the Spirit and know that our Heavenly Father loves you and wants nothing but your happiness.
In answer to your question mom, we are never home when the mailman comes so I couldn't sign for it. It would be just fine to have them drop it off. Nobody will hurt it. :)
We have not had any snow yet. It was rainy last week(our bike week, of course). But no snow yet. The weather here is just ridiculously weird.
We are teaching an RLDS aka Community of Christ family. They are really cool. They pretty much know that their church is false. It's just hard for them to leave it because it's their whole life. They will come around eventually though. Teaching them did lead me to look up this awesome article:http://www.lds.org/ldsorg/v/index.jsp?hideNav=1&locale=0&sourceId=09cd615b01a6b010VgnVCM1000004d82620a____&vgnextoid=2354fccf2b7db010VgnVCM1000004d82620aRCRD
Well that's about all I have to report this week. It was wonderful to hear from you! I hope you have a good week!
Love,
Elder Bracken
Monday, November 16, 2009
Another week gone by. I can't believe how fast time goes!
It's been an interesting couple weeks, learning the area. We do have a number of investigators, which is great, but most of them aren't going anywhere....
There's this one guy, Andrew. He's 22. He's lived a very hard life. He's on probation right now. He's in all kinds of legal trouble. He's done many bad things in his life. He has nothing. He is living in his sister's apartment by himself, whose rent hasn't been paid in 2 or 3 months. His water is shut off. He has no job. He's getting very sick, also. He's in a really bad situation. He's been being taught by the missionaries for a few weeks now. We've seen him many times since I've been here. Of course, repentance has been a HUGE topic of discussion with him. But the amazing thing, is the Spirit that is there when we teach him. It's always so strong. It is teaching him so much. Recently we taught him the Plan of Salvation and drew him a diagram of it. Yesterday he had some questions about it so he brought out the drawing and we talked some more. Then, he asked about the parable in Luke 16. About Lazarus and the Rich Man. It was so cool. When you read that parable in the context of thinking about Redemption for the Dead, it takes on a whole new meaning. I learned so much in that short lesson because of that. It was awesome. :)
The weather has been great this last week. Yesterday morning we had to give the car back to the Carthage Elders, and guess what! It started raining! On our car week it was beautiful, on our bike week it is raining. haha. That's just how life goes for me I suppose.
Tomorrow is Zone Conference. I am excited for that. It's always fun.
I heard something sad recently. I was one of 9 Elders to come out in May. That was our "travel group." 3 of them have since gone home. :( That's so sad! I don't know the details about 2 of them, but one messed up his ankle and he can't come back until he can walk 3 miles without his foot swelling up. Crazy.
I'm excited for Thanksgiving. It is well on it's way! I hope it is a good day for all of you. We're gonna have fun. :)
Well, I've gotta get going now. It was great to hear from you, as always. Tell everyone Hi for me!
Love,
Elder Bracken
It's been an interesting couple weeks, learning the area. We do have a number of investigators, which is great, but most of them aren't going anywhere....
There's this one guy, Andrew. He's 22. He's lived a very hard life. He's on probation right now. He's in all kinds of legal trouble. He's done many bad things in his life. He has nothing. He is living in his sister's apartment by himself, whose rent hasn't been paid in 2 or 3 months. His water is shut off. He has no job. He's getting very sick, also. He's in a really bad situation. He's been being taught by the missionaries for a few weeks now. We've seen him many times since I've been here. Of course, repentance has been a HUGE topic of discussion with him. But the amazing thing, is the Spirit that is there when we teach him. It's always so strong. It is teaching him so much. Recently we taught him the Plan of Salvation and drew him a diagram of it. Yesterday he had some questions about it so he brought out the drawing and we talked some more. Then, he asked about the parable in Luke 16. About Lazarus and the Rich Man. It was so cool. When you read that parable in the context of thinking about Redemption for the Dead, it takes on a whole new meaning. I learned so much in that short lesson because of that. It was awesome. :)
The weather has been great this last week. Yesterday morning we had to give the car back to the Carthage Elders, and guess what! It started raining! On our car week it was beautiful, on our bike week it is raining. haha. That's just how life goes for me I suppose.
Tomorrow is Zone Conference. I am excited for that. It's always fun.
I heard something sad recently. I was one of 9 Elders to come out in May. That was our "travel group." 3 of them have since gone home. :( That's so sad! I don't know the details about 2 of them, but one messed up his ankle and he can't come back until he can walk 3 miles without his foot swelling up. Crazy.
I'm excited for Thanksgiving. It is well on it's way! I hope it is a good day for all of you. We're gonna have fun. :)
Well, I've gotta get going now. It was great to hear from you, as always. Tell everyone Hi for me!
Love,
Elder Bracken
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
So, I've been in Webb City for about 3 days now. Very different from my previous areas. It's a small town. 10,000 people or so. Then there a couple even smaller towns that we cover. This might be the smallest area, geographically that I've had. Definitely the lowest in population. I mean, just the city Sapulpa had 20,000 and we covered two areas then. Also, I am in Missouri. And Oklahoman's, Arkansans, and Missouri... ans(?) are all very different people. There are some hicks out here, I tell you what.
My companion is interesting. He was in my Zone 2 transfers ago, so I've met him before. He is a large man, a little taller than me. He is also an Opera Singer. He is going home a week before Christmas.(so I will probably be here with a new companion over christmas) The only thing I don't like is that since he's been out so long he doesn't really value my opinion. He still considers me to be pretty green, so he doesn't fully appreciate my opinion. But that's okay. We'll make it work one way or the other.
We had the Ward Primary Program on Sunday. That was nice. I enjoyed it. :) In our Gospel Principles class we used the new manuals. They are so cool! I really want one for Christmas(hint hint mom).
Transfers are simple. They send the "Bull" (the 15 seater van) with a trailer in one direction, and they send the 3 pick-ups in the other direction and they go around to designated "transfer points" picking up and dropping off missionaries. They both circle around they mission and end up back in Tulsa around 4 p.m.
Looks like you all had fun at Halloween. That's good. :) I'm glad. :)
Oh yeah. So the Razorback Stadium was cool. My camera battery died halfway through though, so I didn't get as many pictures as I wanted. Oh well. But yeah, they have a nice field. That was my first time walking on Turf ever. They also have 2 outdoor practice fields which are immediately next to each other. They have a weight room that spans 110 yards. And they have an indoor practice field. It was pretty cool. I enjoyed it.
Oh. Our house is so cool. Yes, I said house. It is nicknamed "The Hut." It's so awesome. We have a bedroom, a living room, a study room, and a kitchen. Everything shakes when you walk across the floor. It's so fun. :) I would totally live in this house while going to college. It'd be the best bachelor pad ever.
We are in a car-share, so we have the car every other week. We have it this week, which is great.
Well, I hope you get feeling better soon, Dad! I'll keep you in my prayers! And make sure you get a blessing, if you haven't had one yet.
Well, I've gotta get going. I'll talk to you again soon!
Love,
Elder Bracken
My companion is interesting. He was in my Zone 2 transfers ago, so I've met him before. He is a large man, a little taller than me. He is also an Opera Singer. He is going home a week before Christmas.(so I will probably be here with a new companion over christmas) The only thing I don't like is that since he's been out so long he doesn't really value my opinion. He still considers me to be pretty green, so he doesn't fully appreciate my opinion. But that's okay. We'll make it work one way or the other.
We had the Ward Primary Program on Sunday. That was nice. I enjoyed it. :) In our Gospel Principles class we used the new manuals. They are so cool! I really want one for Christmas(hint hint mom).
Transfers are simple. They send the "Bull" (the 15 seater van) with a trailer in one direction, and they send the 3 pick-ups in the other direction and they go around to designated "transfer points" picking up and dropping off missionaries. They both circle around they mission and end up back in Tulsa around 4 p.m.
Looks like you all had fun at Halloween. That's good. :) I'm glad. :)
Oh yeah. So the Razorback Stadium was cool. My camera battery died halfway through though, so I didn't get as many pictures as I wanted. Oh well. But yeah, they have a nice field. That was my first time walking on Turf ever. They also have 2 outdoor practice fields which are immediately next to each other. They have a weight room that spans 110 yards. And they have an indoor practice field. It was pretty cool. I enjoyed it.
Oh. Our house is so cool. Yes, I said house. It is nicknamed "The Hut." It's so awesome. We have a bedroom, a living room, a study room, and a kitchen. Everything shakes when you walk across the floor. It's so fun. :) I would totally live in this house while going to college. It'd be the best bachelor pad ever.
We are in a car-share, so we have the car every other week. We have it this week, which is great.
Well, I hope you get feeling better soon, Dad! I'll keep you in my prayers! And make sure you get a blessing, if you haven't had one yet.
Well, I've gotta get going. I'll talk to you again soon!
Love,
Elder Bracken
Monday, November 2, 2009
So, the big news is, I'm cuttin' out of Dodge. I'm headed to Webb City, Missouri. Here is my new address:
618 N Elliott
Webb City, MO 64870
I will be serving with Elder Stapley. He is exceedingly large in stature. An opera singer. He goes home in the middle of December. Should be fun. :) It will motivate me to work very hard to prevent him from becoming "trunky." For anyone who doesn't know what trunky means, it's kind of like home-sickness. You are just very eager to go home and you can't focus on the work at all. I hope he's not like that, but I know it must be hard not to be when you're about to go home AND it's the holidays. So we will just work really really really hard. :)
The area is a car-share. So I will be in a car every other week. On a bike for the others. That'll be good. I'll stay in shape AND be warm haha. Also, another note dad, when you send me a DearElder, could you put my name on it in stead of "Hermana Analey Yeates?" If one of those gets sent here when I'm not here, no one will know who it's for.
Please tell Grammy and Aunt Vicky thank you for their kind gifts! I really do appreciate it! :)
We had our Trunk-or-Treat on the 30th. That was fun. Lots of really good chili. Today we are getting a private tour of the Arkansas Razorback Stadium. So that will be a lot of fun. :)
Well I must get going. It was great to hear from you all. I'm very glad that you had a Happy Birthday Mom!
Love,
Elder Bracken
618 N Elliott
Webb City, MO 64870
I will be serving with Elder Stapley. He is exceedingly large in stature. An opera singer. He goes home in the middle of December. Should be fun. :) It will motivate me to work very hard to prevent him from becoming "trunky." For anyone who doesn't know what trunky means, it's kind of like home-sickness. You are just very eager to go home and you can't focus on the work at all. I hope he's not like that, but I know it must be hard not to be when you're about to go home AND it's the holidays. So we will just work really really really hard. :)
The area is a car-share. So I will be in a car every other week. On a bike for the others. That'll be good. I'll stay in shape AND be warm haha. Also, another note dad, when you send me a DearElder, could you put my name on it in stead of "Hermana Analey Yeates?" If one of those gets sent here when I'm not here, no one will know who it's for.
Please tell Grammy and Aunt Vicky thank you for their kind gifts! I really do appreciate it! :)
We had our Trunk-or-Treat on the 30th. That was fun. Lots of really good chili. Today we are getting a private tour of the Arkansas Razorback Stadium. So that will be a lot of fun. :)
Well I must get going. It was great to hear from you all. I'm very glad that you had a Happy Birthday Mom!
Love,
Elder Bracken
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