Hello Family!
Sounds like you had fun at the cabins. I can't believe you managed to have fun without me! haha just kidding! :)
Life is still going good for me. We had quite an adventure yesterday. We had dinner with a family who live 3 or 4 miles north of town. I knew I could find it super easy coming from town but, long story short, we were coming from north of them. Elder Mortensen's GPS(he has one too) didn't exactly take us to their house. It took us right through the middle of someone's cornfield. I was sure that wasn't the right way to go, but Elder Mortensen insisted. So we drove right down the path in the middle of that corn field. found ourselves in a clearing, turned around, went back through the corn field, and called and asked for directions. It was fun. I have a couple pictures of the middle of the corn field. It was fun. We made it there safely. Our car definitely needs a bath right now.
It sure is warm here! I can't wait for September! The fall here is just beautiful. I love it. I can't wait for that. :) I'm ready for summer to be over. :) Just one more month! :) And it starts cooling down in August anyways, so it won't be too painful.
Mary came to church again today(with her husband, he had the day off!) It was pretty cool. I was glad.
I don't really know what else to talk about. It's been a very normal week, overall. Not much unusual or extraordinary happened.
I'm enjoying myself. :) I hope that you are as well. :) Have a wonderful week!
Love,
Elder Bracken
Monday, July 26, 2010
Monday, July 19, 2010
Dear Family,
Life has been going very well for me. :)
Yesterday Mary came to church for the first time. She's the one that we just went to their wedding a couple weeks ago. She stayed for all three hours. It was a positive experience for her. We set a baptismal date for her for September 11th(hey, at least she won't forget the day!)
Last week the Tornado Sirens went off. Didn't turn out to be a big deal. That was Monday night. We had just happened to be at the Foster's(they're the ones that do our laundry, and we were picking it up) that night. Br. Foster is a Weather Spotter, or whatever you call it. So he had like 5 HAM radios running.
Friday afternoon we took Br. Foster(who was driving his Ford Excursion, btw) out to teach Mary. They live out in the boonies. Right after we left, we met these 2 ladies who were stranded out there. They had been spending the day playing in the creek that runs through there. They followed the creek about 8 miles in the wrong direction, apparently, and didn't know how to get home. So we gave them a lift home, dropped them off, and almost immediately after, the rain came. Flash Flood. The first real flash flood I've ever seen. Those two ladies could've drowned. We went back up to town and were driving all over looking to see if anybody needed help. Some of the streets were literally rivers. One right by our house. There was a car(unoccupied when we encountered it) stuck with water up to it's windows. Crazy.
Yes, the Ward will be having a Pioneer Day Party. Should be fun.
Those were the most exciting things that happened this week. I don't know what else to talk about really!
Well, I have nothing else to say. Sorry. :) Have a good week!
Love,
Elder Bracken
Life has been going very well for me. :)
Yesterday Mary came to church for the first time. She's the one that we just went to their wedding a couple weeks ago. She stayed for all three hours. It was a positive experience for her. We set a baptismal date for her for September 11th(hey, at least she won't forget the day!)
Last week the Tornado Sirens went off. Didn't turn out to be a big deal. That was Monday night. We had just happened to be at the Foster's(they're the ones that do our laundry, and we were picking it up) that night. Br. Foster is a Weather Spotter, or whatever you call it. So he had like 5 HAM radios running.
Friday afternoon we took Br. Foster(who was driving his Ford Excursion, btw) out to teach Mary. They live out in the boonies. Right after we left, we met these 2 ladies who were stranded out there. They had been spending the day playing in the creek that runs through there. They followed the creek about 8 miles in the wrong direction, apparently, and didn't know how to get home. So we gave them a lift home, dropped them off, and almost immediately after, the rain came. Flash Flood. The first real flash flood I've ever seen. Those two ladies could've drowned. We went back up to town and were driving all over looking to see if anybody needed help. Some of the streets were literally rivers. One right by our house. There was a car(unoccupied when we encountered it) stuck with water up to it's windows. Crazy.
Yes, the Ward will be having a Pioneer Day Party. Should be fun.
Those were the most exciting things that happened this week. I don't know what else to talk about really!
Well, I have nothing else to say. Sorry. :) Have a good week!
Love,
Elder Bracken
Monday, July 12, 2010
Dear Family,
It's good to hear from you again, as always. :) I'm sad that I missed the party, but next year I will be there. :) And I will be prepared to get wet and make others even wetter. :)
It's been a really good week for us. Well, one of our investigators who had a baptismal date until very recently, convinced herself that it doesn't matter what church you go to as long as you're learning about God and Jesus. Which all of us, including her, know is false. So that's going to take some correcting. Interjection: I have always detested Guilt Trips as a parenting method. Hated it. (note from parents : Not so sure that we used guilt trips) Swore I would never do it. But I've learned that it is super effective. I've become quite good at delivering guilt trips. I kind of enjoy it. Anyways. Back to the news. The other investigator with a baptismal date, I think I mentioned last week, moved back in with his girlfriend. He did come to church this week, though, so that's awesome. Our Eternigator, Ralph, is doing VERY well. We will probably be setting a date with him very soon. It's awesome to see him progress.
Last week we helped a non-member move. A man in the ward, Br. Bishop, has been working on this guy for sometime. Trying very hard to share the Gospel with him. But the guy is moving to Michigan. So we helped him for probably 8 hours or so this week. It really softened his heart. He was extremely grateful. And all of the other neighbors and friends who helped(though few in number) were very impressed by us as well. So that made me happy.
Yesterday we had an awesome miracle. We had arranged to go with a member couple(the William's) to go see the Taylor's(our newlywed part-member family) last night. They weren't home. So we went further down the road to another part-member family, the Charon's. The husband, Erik, is a less-active member. Been that way for several years. He recently married a non-member named Stormie. Nice young girl, right out of High School. Very cool. So we talked with them for like an hour and a half. She took to the William's very well. We invited them to the Ward Pioneer Day Party. We set up a day for them to go to the William's and participate in a Family Home Evening with them. And we set up a day for us to go out there and teach them. So, that's going really well. :)
As far as those changes go, Mom, I think it's a good thing. Well, for the interviews especially. If we're truly worthy to serve a mission, we shouldn't have to meet with the Mission President every 6 weeks to declare that we're still temple worthy. My only concern is the dissemination of information. The trickle-down. The Zone Leaders will now meet with the President Monthly. So all important information will come down from there, I think. So the Leader's need to do a much better job of getting that information to us promptly and accurately.
I hate to admit it, but I saw a piece of a movie the other day at an Investigator's house. It was awesome. It was the Little Shop of Horrors. It was a scene of Steve Martin as a Sadistic Dentist. Soooooo funny! I have to see that movie when I get home.
Neither of us is getting transferred, in case you're curious.
Well, I must get going now. I'll talk to you later!
Love,
Elder Bracken
It's good to hear from you again, as always. :) I'm sad that I missed the party, but next year I will be there. :) And I will be prepared to get wet and make others even wetter. :)
It's been a really good week for us. Well, one of our investigators who had a baptismal date until very recently, convinced herself that it doesn't matter what church you go to as long as you're learning about God and Jesus. Which all of us, including her, know is false. So that's going to take some correcting. Interjection: I have always detested Guilt Trips as a parenting method. Hated it. (note from parents : Not so sure that we used guilt trips) Swore I would never do it. But I've learned that it is super effective. I've become quite good at delivering guilt trips. I kind of enjoy it. Anyways. Back to the news. The other investigator with a baptismal date, I think I mentioned last week, moved back in with his girlfriend. He did come to church this week, though, so that's awesome. Our Eternigator, Ralph, is doing VERY well. We will probably be setting a date with him very soon. It's awesome to see him progress.
Last week we helped a non-member move. A man in the ward, Br. Bishop, has been working on this guy for sometime. Trying very hard to share the Gospel with him. But the guy is moving to Michigan. So we helped him for probably 8 hours or so this week. It really softened his heart. He was extremely grateful. And all of the other neighbors and friends who helped(though few in number) were very impressed by us as well. So that made me happy.
Yesterday we had an awesome miracle. We had arranged to go with a member couple(the William's) to go see the Taylor's(our newlywed part-member family) last night. They weren't home. So we went further down the road to another part-member family, the Charon's. The husband, Erik, is a less-active member. Been that way for several years. He recently married a non-member named Stormie. Nice young girl, right out of High School. Very cool. So we talked with them for like an hour and a half. She took to the William's very well. We invited them to the Ward Pioneer Day Party. We set up a day for them to go to the William's and participate in a Family Home Evening with them. And we set up a day for us to go out there and teach them. So, that's going really well. :)
As far as those changes go, Mom, I think it's a good thing. Well, for the interviews especially. If we're truly worthy to serve a mission, we shouldn't have to meet with the Mission President every 6 weeks to declare that we're still temple worthy. My only concern is the dissemination of information. The trickle-down. The Zone Leaders will now meet with the President Monthly. So all important information will come down from there, I think. So the Leader's need to do a much better job of getting that information to us promptly and accurately.
I hate to admit it, but I saw a piece of a movie the other day at an Investigator's house. It was awesome. It was the Little Shop of Horrors. It was a scene of Steve Martin as a Sadistic Dentist. Soooooo funny! I have to see that movie when I get home.
Neither of us is getting transferred, in case you're curious.
Well, I must get going now. I'll talk to you later!
Love,
Elder Bracken
Tuesday, July 6, 2010
Hello Family!
Happy 6th of July!
The library was indeed closed yesterday. We did nothing special for the 4th.
We had an investigator get married to her less-active fiancee(now husband) on Saturday. It was an... interesting experience. Quite a cross-section of people there. They also had many gallons of Sweet Tea there. At the church. That was funny to see. They showed up about an hour late. Then it almost didn't even happen. She almost backed out, but the Bishop talked her into it. Then it finally happened. Short, sweet, and to the point. hallelujah!
Our two baptisms that were supposed to take place this month probably won't happen. One just hasn't been going to church, so she'll have to be delayed. the other moved back in with his girlfriend and doesn't want to be baptized until December. Fun.
We had Mission Tour this last week with Elder Lynn G. Robbins of the First Quorum of the Seventy. It was awesome. It was mostly a question and answer thing. The most fascinating thing he spoke about was the Light of Christ. He spoke of how receiving the Gift of the Holy Ghost is really a greater endowment of the Light of Christ. Being a Person(age?), He can only be in one place at a time, so almost always, when you feel the Holy Ghost, what you are actually feeling is the Light of Christ. The Holy Ghost acts as sort of the Manager or Director of the Light of Christ as well as the Gifts of the Spirit. So he does cause the feelings you get, but it's actually the Light of Christ. There are also ties with other scriptures. The scripture about how we get Light and it grows brighter and brighter until the "perfect day." Also, letting your light shine before men. The city on a hill/candlestick thing. There seems to be some literalness to this. The Truth and Righteousness we possess increases our light. It is visible. You can see it in a person's countenance. You can feel it. Fascinating things to think about and study.
He also talked briefly about the difference between the 3 Kingdom's of Glory. Those who go to the Celestial Kingdom have repented of all their sins, we know this. Those in the Terrestrial Kindgom are guilty of Sins of Omission. Those in the Telestial Kingdom are guilty of Sins of both Omission and Comission.
He also spoke about how the structure of missionary work is about to change, somewhat. Zone Conferences will be every 3 months, instead of every 6 weeks. Interviews with the Mission President will be every 3 months instead of every 6 weeks as well. Our goals will be based monthly, instead of on a 6 week basis. So that'll be interesting.
He also spoke about relationships. There are 3 relationships in Missionary Work: 1)The relationship between the Missionaries and God 2) The relationship between the missionaries and the investigators 3)The relationship between the investigators and God. Now, the focus of the old discussions was relationship #2. And the one of the intentions of Preach My Gospel is to shift that focus to #3. Missionaries aren't quite getting that, so every missionary across the entire world is going to be taught these 8 simple lessons on how to do that. We don't know how when or where that will take place at this time.
Life is going well for me, as always. Training is still fun. Elder Mortensen is growing a lot. I love it. The weather has cooled off just a little bit, so that's nice. We're also going to go bowling today, so that will be fun. :)
Congratulations to Jason on your Mission call! Good luck! :)
Well, not much else exciting has happened. Sorry. :)
I hope you all have a great week! Have a good one! Go to the temple!
Love,
Elder Bracken
Happy 6th of July!
The library was indeed closed yesterday. We did nothing special for the 4th.
We had an investigator get married to her less-active fiancee(now husband) on Saturday. It was an... interesting experience. Quite a cross-section of people there. They also had many gallons of Sweet Tea there. At the church. That was funny to see. They showed up about an hour late. Then it almost didn't even happen. She almost backed out, but the Bishop talked her into it. Then it finally happened. Short, sweet, and to the point. hallelujah!
Our two baptisms that were supposed to take place this month probably won't happen. One just hasn't been going to church, so she'll have to be delayed. the other moved back in with his girlfriend and doesn't want to be baptized until December. Fun.
We had Mission Tour this last week with Elder Lynn G. Robbins of the First Quorum of the Seventy. It was awesome. It was mostly a question and answer thing. The most fascinating thing he spoke about was the Light of Christ. He spoke of how receiving the Gift of the Holy Ghost is really a greater endowment of the Light of Christ. Being a Person(age?), He can only be in one place at a time, so almost always, when you feel the Holy Ghost, what you are actually feeling is the Light of Christ. The Holy Ghost acts as sort of the Manager or Director of the Light of Christ as well as the Gifts of the Spirit. So he does cause the feelings you get, but it's actually the Light of Christ. There are also ties with other scriptures. The scripture about how we get Light and it grows brighter and brighter until the "perfect day." Also, letting your light shine before men. The city on a hill/candlestick thing. There seems to be some literalness to this. The Truth and Righteousness we possess increases our light. It is visible. You can see it in a person's countenance. You can feel it. Fascinating things to think about and study.
He also talked briefly about the difference between the 3 Kingdom's of Glory. Those who go to the Celestial Kingdom have repented of all their sins, we know this. Those in the Terrestrial Kindgom are guilty of Sins of Omission. Those in the Telestial Kingdom are guilty of Sins of both Omission and Comission.
He also spoke about how the structure of missionary work is about to change, somewhat. Zone Conferences will be every 3 months, instead of every 6 weeks. Interviews with the Mission President will be every 3 months instead of every 6 weeks as well. Our goals will be based monthly, instead of on a 6 week basis. So that'll be interesting.
He also spoke about relationships. There are 3 relationships in Missionary Work: 1)The relationship between the Missionaries and God 2) The relationship between the missionaries and the investigators 3)The relationship between the investigators and God. Now, the focus of the old discussions was relationship #2. And the one of the intentions of Preach My Gospel is to shift that focus to #3. Missionaries aren't quite getting that, so every missionary across the entire world is going to be taught these 8 simple lessons on how to do that. We don't know how when or where that will take place at this time.
Life is going well for me, as always. Training is still fun. Elder Mortensen is growing a lot. I love it. The weather has cooled off just a little bit, so that's nice. We're also going to go bowling today, so that will be fun. :)
Congratulations to Jason on your Mission call! Good luck! :)
Well, not much else exciting has happened. Sorry. :)
I hope you all have a great week! Have a good one! Go to the temple!
Love,
Elder Bracken
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