Dear Familia,
BIG NEWS! I'm staying here! And so is Elder Rowley! That was weird. I was not expecting that. They are re-opening the Spanish area this week so we'll be back up to 6 Elders. No one signed up to feed us this week, or the Zone Leaders, and definitely none for the Spanish Elders, so they day they come in Elder Rowley and I are gonna cook a big meal in the Crock-Pot(which a family gave us for Christmas) for all 6 of us. It'll be a fun experiment. :) I do love to cook.
Christmas was awesome. I loved it. Thanks to everyone who sent cards and gifts! :) They were very much appreciated! :) BTW, I got a copy of Lectures on Faith from another missionary, so I got that too! :) haha. I'm spoiled.
We spent Christmas Even night at the other Elder's apartment. We slept in till about 9 a.m. We had French Toast and bacon(I bought 2 pounds, haha). The French Toast was good. Elder Woodward made it. Instead of mixing milk with the eggs he mixed in Coffee mate Creamer. He usually uses the Pumpkin Spice flavor but they didn't have it. So he used the Cinnamon Bun Flavor. It was so good. Cinnamon Roll flavored French Toast.(he also sprinkled a little bit of cinnamon on the toast itself). We each called home. That was fun. Then Elder Rowley and I went and had dinner with a family. We then went to our apartment and the missionaries brought over games they borrowed from a member. My favorite one was a Mormon card game called "It Came to Pass." It's KINDA like Uno, but way more fun. I thoroughly enjoyed it. it wouldn't be all that fun with only 2 people, but if you have 3 or more people, it's a blast. They then spent the night at our apartment. Then we went to Church the next day of course.
I'm going to go buy a desk today. Probably at Staples. Last time I was there I saw one for like 30 bucks. I haven't had a desk the whole time I've been here. Studying at the the kitchen table gets old. All I can think about is eating, haha.
Overall, I'm still enjoying life. Our investigators aren't progressing very well right now. We need to find new ones. We're working on it. :)
I don't have all that much to say this week, since I just called home, sorry.
Have a great week! Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! Go to the temple!
Love,
Elder Bracken
Monday, December 27, 2010
Monday, December 20, 2010
Dear Family,
WOW! Steak! Holy Carp! That was amazing! I didn't know you could ship steak to people! :) That was "just a real nice surprise." :) I haven't cooked them yet, but we will soon. :) Thanks! All the packages(as far as I can tell) got here safely. So, thank you! :)
I can't wait for you to open up the package I sent you. I hope you enjoyed the job I did taping that thing, haha. I may have went a little overboard. I used most of a roll of packing tape, haha.
We've had a pretty good week. We've had some good success tracting. We're really excited for a family that we're going to go teach tonight at 7. They seem golden. So, if you wouldn't mind saying a prayer that the Floyd family will be receptive to the Gospel, that would be wonderful. :)
For phone calls, I will call around 11:00 a.m. here. So 10:00 a.m. there, if all goes well. I look forward to hearing you. :)
I would like to share with you something I've learned from my studies recently. I went through the Savior's Discourse in 3 Nephi Chapters 12-14 and compared it side-by-side to the sermon on the mount(this is a study activity suggested in Preach My Gospel). At first glance they're almost identical. But there's a few significant differences. The difference that caught my attention the most is this:
3 Ne. 12:23-24 reads:
"Therefore, if ye shall come unto me, or shall desire to come unto me, and rememberest that thy brother hath aught against thee- Go thy way unto thy brother, and first be reconciled to they brother, and then come unto me with full purpose of heart, and I will receive you."
So, we must repent and forgive our neighbors before we can come unto Christ, but that's not what I'd like to focus on at the moment. Cross reference this with Matthew 5:23-24:
"Therefore if thou bring thy gift to the altar, and rememberest that thy brother hath ought against thee; Leave there they gift before the alter, and go thy way; first be reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer they gift."
Interesting difference there. In one place he tells us to come to the altar, in another place he tells us to come unto Him. I realized(or rather it was revealed to me) that to come to the altar is to come unto Christ. That's what we're doing when we go to an altar. Now, where do we have altars? Primarily in 2 places. First, in the Temple. There are many altars there, all used for seemingly different purposes, but if we really think about it, the purpose is the same. Christ. Coming unto Him to receive Salvation.
The other typical location of an altar is the Chapel. The Sacrament table is an altar. Every week we have an opportunity to come to the Altar, to come unto Christ through the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper. As I was pondering this yesterday while the Sacrament was passed to the Congregation, I thought of the words of the Sacramental Prayers which plead to the lord to "sanctify" the bread and water to our souls. My mind was cast to another scripture on the topic of Sanctification. Moroni 10:32-33:
"Yea, come unto Christ, and be perfected in him, and deny yourselves of all ungodliness; and if ye shall deny yourselves of all ungodliness, and love God with all your heart, might, mind, and strength, then is his grace sufficient for you, that by his grace ye may be perfect in Christ; and if by the grace of God ye are perfect in Christ, ye shall in nowise deny the power of God. And again, if ye by the grace of God are perfect in Christ, and deny not his power, then are ye sanctified in Christ by the Grace of God, through the shedding of the blood of Christ, which is in the covenant of the Father unto the remission of your sins, that ye become holy, without spot."
So, we come unto Christ by going to the Altar. We go to church to partake of the Sacrament. We repent and commit to deny ourselves of all our ungodliness. We choose to follow Christ and not Satan. We do not lay hold upon the unclean thing. We love God. Then he makes us perfect in Christ. You and I will never attain perfection in this life. We sin daily. But if we do our VERY best, and we follow Christ with all our hearts, we can become perfect in Christ through His Grace. He makes up the difference. The gaps are filled. The rough places are smoothed over. His infinite atoning power pays the debt of which we are so incapable of paying. Now when this happens, if we do not deny the faith and God's power, we become Sanctified. We become holy, without spot. We retain the remission of our sins. What blessing! The "covenant of the Father unto the remission of [our] sins" is Baptism. Where do we renew that covenant? At the altar. At the feet of the Savior. We have now come full circle. We now understand how we may lay hold upon Eternal Life. Do you understand how totally, supremely important it is that we partake of the Sacrament each week? We WILL not and CAN not receive Salvation and Exaltation without it. We will not be sanctified. We will not be holy. We will not be perfect in Christ. We will be of a lesser glory. Of a terrestrial or telestial glory.
So that's what I learned yesterday as I partook of the Sacrament. I know it to be a true, saving ordinance. We MUST do everything in our power to partake of it regularly. May the Lord bless us as we do so is my prayer, in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.
Love,
Elder Bracken
WOW! Steak! Holy Carp! That was amazing! I didn't know you could ship steak to people! :) That was "just a real nice surprise." :) I haven't cooked them yet, but we will soon. :) Thanks! All the packages(as far as I can tell) got here safely. So, thank you! :)
I can't wait for you to open up the package I sent you. I hope you enjoyed the job I did taping that thing, haha. I may have went a little overboard. I used most of a roll of packing tape, haha.
We've had a pretty good week. We've had some good success tracting. We're really excited for a family that we're going to go teach tonight at 7. They seem golden. So, if you wouldn't mind saying a prayer that the Floyd family will be receptive to the Gospel, that would be wonderful. :)
For phone calls, I will call around 11:00 a.m. here. So 10:00 a.m. there, if all goes well. I look forward to hearing you. :)
I would like to share with you something I've learned from my studies recently. I went through the Savior's Discourse in 3 Nephi Chapters 12-14 and compared it side-by-side to the sermon on the mount(this is a study activity suggested in Preach My Gospel). At first glance they're almost identical. But there's a few significant differences. The difference that caught my attention the most is this:
3 Ne. 12:23-24 reads:
"Therefore, if ye shall come unto me, or shall desire to come unto me, and rememberest that thy brother hath aught against thee- Go thy way unto thy brother, and first be reconciled to they brother, and then come unto me with full purpose of heart, and I will receive you."
So, we must repent and forgive our neighbors before we can come unto Christ, but that's not what I'd like to focus on at the moment. Cross reference this with Matthew 5:23-24:
"Therefore if thou bring thy gift to the altar, and rememberest that thy brother hath ought against thee; Leave there they gift before the alter, and go thy way; first be reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer they gift."
Interesting difference there. In one place he tells us to come to the altar, in another place he tells us to come unto Him. I realized(or rather it was revealed to me) that to come to the altar is to come unto Christ. That's what we're doing when we go to an altar. Now, where do we have altars? Primarily in 2 places. First, in the Temple. There are many altars there, all used for seemingly different purposes, but if we really think about it, the purpose is the same. Christ. Coming unto Him to receive Salvation.
The other typical location of an altar is the Chapel. The Sacrament table is an altar. Every week we have an opportunity to come to the Altar, to come unto Christ through the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper. As I was pondering this yesterday while the Sacrament was passed to the Congregation, I thought of the words of the Sacramental Prayers which plead to the lord to "sanctify" the bread and water to our souls. My mind was cast to another scripture on the topic of Sanctification. Moroni 10:32-33:
"Yea, come unto Christ, and be perfected in him, and deny yourselves of all ungodliness; and if ye shall deny yourselves of all ungodliness, and love God with all your heart, might, mind, and strength, then is his grace sufficient for you, that by his grace ye may be perfect in Christ; and if by the grace of God ye are perfect in Christ, ye shall in nowise deny the power of God. And again, if ye by the grace of God are perfect in Christ, and deny not his power, then are ye sanctified in Christ by the Grace of God, through the shedding of the blood of Christ, which is in the covenant of the Father unto the remission of your sins, that ye become holy, without spot."
So, we come unto Christ by going to the Altar. We go to church to partake of the Sacrament. We repent and commit to deny ourselves of all our ungodliness. We choose to follow Christ and not Satan. We do not lay hold upon the unclean thing. We love God. Then he makes us perfect in Christ. You and I will never attain perfection in this life. We sin daily. But if we do our VERY best, and we follow Christ with all our hearts, we can become perfect in Christ through His Grace. He makes up the difference. The gaps are filled. The rough places are smoothed over. His infinite atoning power pays the debt of which we are so incapable of paying. Now when this happens, if we do not deny the faith and God's power, we become Sanctified. We become holy, without spot. We retain the remission of our sins. What blessing! The "covenant of the Father unto the remission of [our] sins" is Baptism. Where do we renew that covenant? At the altar. At the feet of the Savior. We have now come full circle. We now understand how we may lay hold upon Eternal Life. Do you understand how totally, supremely important it is that we partake of the Sacrament each week? We WILL not and CAN not receive Salvation and Exaltation without it. We will not be sanctified. We will not be holy. We will not be perfect in Christ. We will be of a lesser glory. Of a terrestrial or telestial glory.
So that's what I learned yesterday as I partook of the Sacrament. I know it to be a true, saving ordinance. We MUST do everything in our power to partake of it regularly. May the Lord bless us as we do so is my prayer, in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.
Love,
Elder Bracken
Monday, December 13, 2010
Dear Family,
We got our car back on Thursday. Hallelujah! It also saved me some money. See, we were right about to go take my bike to the shop to have work done on it(which I've been procrastinating on for many months). I have no idea how much it would have cost to do everything I really wanted done. So, just before our ride came to get us I called to check on the car and they said it was being test driven and we could go and get it right quick. So our ride dropped us off at the Dealership and that was that. :) One of these days I'll still go take my bike and get at least some of the stuff done so it will at least be ride-able. But for now, I'll enjoy the car. (Knock on wood)
We had no investigators at church yesterday. Our "Eternigator" had a bad breakout of Gout so he couldn't even walk. Another doesn't "like the cold," she said as she was standing outside talking to us....... hmmmm....... So yeah, that was annoying. We did have a Less-Active come that hasn't been in awhile, so that was really exciting. Another Less-Active went to church, but at a different ward. So that was good, too.
The weather has been very cold and windy. That's about it, haha.
With any luck I will get y'all's Christmas package sent out this week. If not this week, then the next for SURE, but it should be out today, in all likelihood.
At the used book store I picked up a joke book. Of sorts. I found "The Volunteer Minister's Handbook" by L. Ron Hubbard. It is the handbook on how to be a Scientologist minister. It pretty much comes right out and says that their beliefs are nonsense. Oh, they also claim that Jesus was a Buddhist. And their "volunteer" ministers get paid! What a deal! It's very funny. I'll send that home too, one of these days.
We had interviews with President Merkley this week. It sounds very very probable that I will get transferred at the end of the month(after Christmas). Elder Rowley will be "promoted," if you want to use that term, to Senior Companion.
As for phone calls home, I have no idea what's going on with that. I'll see if we can get that sorted out this week. I don't have a companion who has to call internationally this time, so we should have some more flexibility, I hope. This is my last phone call home. Isn't that weird?
Well, I suppose I'll get going. It's been a good week. I'm doing well. Life is good!
Have a wonderful week! Go to the temple!(with your current recommends in tow, haha)
Love,
Elder Bracken
We got our car back on Thursday. Hallelujah! It also saved me some money. See, we were right about to go take my bike to the shop to have work done on it(which I've been procrastinating on for many months). I have no idea how much it would have cost to do everything I really wanted done. So, just before our ride came to get us I called to check on the car and they said it was being test driven and we could go and get it right quick. So our ride dropped us off at the Dealership and that was that. :) One of these days I'll still go take my bike and get at least some of the stuff done so it will at least be ride-able. But for now, I'll enjoy the car. (Knock on wood)
We had no investigators at church yesterday. Our "Eternigator" had a bad breakout of Gout so he couldn't even walk. Another doesn't "like the cold," she said as she was standing outside talking to us....... hmmmm....... So yeah, that was annoying. We did have a Less-Active come that hasn't been in awhile, so that was really exciting. Another Less-Active went to church, but at a different ward. So that was good, too.
The weather has been very cold and windy. That's about it, haha.
With any luck I will get y'all's Christmas package sent out this week. If not this week, then the next for SURE, but it should be out today, in all likelihood.
At the used book store I picked up a joke book. Of sorts. I found "The Volunteer Minister's Handbook" by L. Ron Hubbard. It is the handbook on how to be a Scientologist minister. It pretty much comes right out and says that their beliefs are nonsense. Oh, they also claim that Jesus was a Buddhist. And their "volunteer" ministers get paid! What a deal! It's very funny. I'll send that home too, one of these days.
We had interviews with President Merkley this week. It sounds very very probable that I will get transferred at the end of the month(after Christmas). Elder Rowley will be "promoted," if you want to use that term, to Senior Companion.
As for phone calls home, I have no idea what's going on with that. I'll see if we can get that sorted out this week. I don't have a companion who has to call internationally this time, so we should have some more flexibility, I hope. This is my last phone call home. Isn't that weird?
Well, I suppose I'll get going. It's been a good week. I'm doing well. Life is good!
Have a wonderful week! Go to the temple!(with your current recommends in tow, haha)
Love,
Elder Bracken
Dear Family,
I don't know if you are still open to ideas for what to get me for Christmas, but I thought of a couple things. The first thing that I would totally LOVE would be a gift card to Sonic. Being able to go there any day during happy hour and get a drink or a slush with a gift card would be AWESOME. Also, I would love a copy of the Lectures on Faith(that's approved reading for us). But if you've already got everything for my package, that's okay. :) Sometime in the next couple weeks I'll get one sent off to y'all. I hope you'll like it. :)
So, yesterday was interesting. We went to church. We had 3 investigators at Sacrament Meeting. That was awesome. We had this lady and her kids come that we've been working with for quite awhile. It's taken everything we could do to get her to church. Finally we got her to agree to take a private tour of the chapel with us Saturday and she enjoyed it. So she came Sunday. Hallelujah!
Church overall was really good. Then, we left to go back to Van Buren. A couple hundred yards from the church there is a 4-way stop. We pulled up to it, stopped, and then went to keep going. I pressed the gas and.... nothing. Dead. Car is dead. Wouldn't start. So, yesterday was interesting. We spent most of it with the other Elders. We spent the night with them(they're apartment is equipped for 4 Elders but currently only has 2, so that's convenient). Our car's getting towed to the Toyota Dealership and HOPEFULLY they'll be able to find the problem and fix it all in one day.
Other than that it's been a fantastic week. I really do love it here in Van Buren.
I had Deer-Steak the other day. It was REALLY good. Excellent with Head Country BBQ sauce.
I loved the Christmas Devotional last night. Good music. I especially love the Doctrine of the Grinch. Is "How the Grinch Stole Christmas" scripture now? haha.
Well, anyways. I hope y'all have a good week and that you have no car troubles!(knock on wood). And since you have a functioning car, why not drive over to the temple and do a session? ;)
Love,
Elder Bracken
I don't know if you are still open to ideas for what to get me for Christmas, but I thought of a couple things. The first thing that I would totally LOVE would be a gift card to Sonic. Being able to go there any day during happy hour and get a drink or a slush with a gift card would be AWESOME. Also, I would love a copy of the Lectures on Faith(that's approved reading for us). But if you've already got everything for my package, that's okay. :) Sometime in the next couple weeks I'll get one sent off to y'all. I hope you'll like it. :)
So, yesterday was interesting. We went to church. We had 3 investigators at Sacrament Meeting. That was awesome. We had this lady and her kids come that we've been working with for quite awhile. It's taken everything we could do to get her to church. Finally we got her to agree to take a private tour of the chapel with us Saturday and she enjoyed it. So she came Sunday. Hallelujah!
Church overall was really good. Then, we left to go back to Van Buren. A couple hundred yards from the church there is a 4-way stop. We pulled up to it, stopped, and then went to keep going. I pressed the gas and.... nothing. Dead. Car is dead. Wouldn't start. So, yesterday was interesting. We spent most of it with the other Elders. We spent the night with them(they're apartment is equipped for 4 Elders but currently only has 2, so that's convenient). Our car's getting towed to the Toyota Dealership and HOPEFULLY they'll be able to find the problem and fix it all in one day.
Other than that it's been a fantastic week. I really do love it here in Van Buren.
I had Deer-Steak the other day. It was REALLY good. Excellent with Head Country BBQ sauce.
I loved the Christmas Devotional last night. Good music. I especially love the Doctrine of the Grinch. Is "How the Grinch Stole Christmas" scripture now? haha.
Well, anyways. I hope y'all have a good week and that you have no car troubles!(knock on wood). And since you have a functioning car, why not drive over to the temple and do a session? ;)
Love,
Elder Bracken
Monday, December 6, 2010
Dear Family,
I don't know if you are still open to ideas for what to get me for Christmas, but I thought of a couple things. The first thing that I would totally LOVE would be a gift card to Sonic. Being able to go there any day during happy hour and get a drink or a slush with a gift card would be AWESOME. Also, I would love a copy of the Lectures on Faith(that's approved reading for us). But if you've already got everything for my package, that's okay. :) Sometime in the next couple weeks I'll get one sent off to y'all. I hope you'll like it. :)
So, yesterday was interesting. We went to church. We had 3 investigators at Sacrament Meeting. That was awesome. We had this lady and her kids come that we've been working with for quite awhile. It's taken everything we could do to get her to church. Finally we got her to agree to take a private tour of the chapel with us Saturday and she enjoyed it. So she came Sunday. Hallelujah!
Church overall was really good. Then, we left to go back to Van Buren. A couple hundred yards from the church there is a 4-way stop. We pulled up to it, stopped, and then went to keep going. I pressed the gas and.... nothing. Dead. Car is dead. Wouldn't start. So, yesterday was interesting. We spent most of it with the other Elders. We spent the night with them(they're apartment is equipped for 4 Elders but currently only has 2, so that's convenient). Our car's getting towed to the Toyota Dealership and HOPEFULLY they'll be able to find the problem and fix it all in one day.
Other than that it's been a fantastic week. I really do love it here in Van Buren.
I had Deer-Steak the other day. It was REALLY good. Excellent with Head Country BBQ sauce.
I loved the Christmas Devotional last night. Good music. I especially love the Doctrine of the Grinch. Is "How the Grinch Stole Christmas" scripture now? haha.
Well, anyways. I hope y'all have a good week and that you have no car troubles!(knock on wood). And since you have a functioning car, why not drive over to the temple and do a session? ;)
Love,
Elder Bracken
I don't know if you are still open to ideas for what to get me for Christmas, but I thought of a couple things. The first thing that I would totally LOVE would be a gift card to Sonic. Being able to go there any day during happy hour and get a drink or a slush with a gift card would be AWESOME. Also, I would love a copy of the Lectures on Faith(that's approved reading for us). But if you've already got everything for my package, that's okay. :) Sometime in the next couple weeks I'll get one sent off to y'all. I hope you'll like it. :)
So, yesterday was interesting. We went to church. We had 3 investigators at Sacrament Meeting. That was awesome. We had this lady and her kids come that we've been working with for quite awhile. It's taken everything we could do to get her to church. Finally we got her to agree to take a private tour of the chapel with us Saturday and she enjoyed it. So she came Sunday. Hallelujah!
Church overall was really good. Then, we left to go back to Van Buren. A couple hundred yards from the church there is a 4-way stop. We pulled up to it, stopped, and then went to keep going. I pressed the gas and.... nothing. Dead. Car is dead. Wouldn't start. So, yesterday was interesting. We spent most of it with the other Elders. We spent the night with them(they're apartment is equipped for 4 Elders but currently only has 2, so that's convenient). Our car's getting towed to the Toyota Dealership and HOPEFULLY they'll be able to find the problem and fix it all in one day.
Other than that it's been a fantastic week. I really do love it here in Van Buren.
I had Deer-Steak the other day. It was REALLY good. Excellent with Head Country BBQ sauce.
I loved the Christmas Devotional last night. Good music. I especially love the Doctrine of the Grinch. Is "How the Grinch Stole Christmas" scripture now? haha.
Well, anyways. I hope y'all have a good week and that you have no car troubles!(knock on wood). And since you have a functioning car, why not drive over to the temple and do a session? ;)
Love,
Elder Bracken
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