Brownsville Going Strong

So, this week was pretty good. A few things before I start...please send me the ukulele. I spend about 50 bucks every week for groceries, so put like 20 bucks on my account every week, if that's possible. Send me some Nike socks or exercise socks and send me pictures. That's all. This week was good. It was a little hard starting up this area because all of our investigators were in the other one, but we're starting to get things moving now. We have a baptism coming up in the Spanish branch this week. It's this 23 year old girl named Zamantha. She's not in our area anymore but she requested that I baptize her so that's what's happening this Sunday. We have a plan called ¨operation reactivation¨ that we started as a companionship. Obviously, the goal is to reactivate families. In this area, there are tons of families, but only like 5 are active in the church. It's so weird down here. There are a lot of people that show up to church with jeans on that are members, and with white short socks.. The other night, we taught English classes to a few families. That was pretty fun. We had a zone meeting the other day and I've never felt the spirit so strongly. We talked about the reasons why we came on our mission. I wouldn't say many people had a similar one to me, but we all had pretty bad reasons to go on a mission. They weren't necessarily bad, but they weren't good either. But, it was so cool to see how much the reason that we're on our mission changed. When I left for my mission, my motives weren't great. They were to almost serve my mission as fast as I could just to go home, but now they've changed. I've had a few experiences lately that have really changed my perspective. I'm out here for the right reasons now. Because I love the Lord and I know there are people that have been waiting their whole lives to talk to missionaries to change their life around. I know because I had that experience last night. Two nights ago, we were in this area called Olmito. It was after the zone meeting which focused on where our hearts are. We came across this family that drank and smoked and had many different problems. The dad was in jail and had been in jail for a while. The mom went lesbian because now she has a wife. and there are tons of people living in the house. One kid was really interested and talked to us so we set a baptismal date with him, which was cool. As we were leaving the house we got down the street a little when we saw a guy in a tiny trailer waving us to come to him. My companion figured it was somebody trying to waste our time, but I thought it was somebody ready to be baptized. So, we went to the trailer and the guy pretty much told us that he is ready to change his life. He is an alcoholic and he wants to stop. He was tired of feeling like that. We set a baptismal date with him too and invited him to come to church. We weren't really sure how serious he was, though, because he was smoking while he was saying that. So, the next day church starts and they aren't there. We thought the other kid would for sure come, but he didn't show up on time so we drove to his house and he skipped out. He was gone with some friends and didn't come. But, I wasn't about to drive there without taking someone to church with us, so I went to the guy in the trailer. He had on the same shirt and pants as he had on the other day. I asked him if he wanted to go to church and he said he didn't have many clothes. I told him to come in what he's wearing. So, he hops out of his trailer and we take him to church. We asked him how he felt after and he said he really liked it. We stopped by later that day to give him the first lesson. It was dark when we came by his trailer. We called his name but he was sleeping. We called a few more times and he woke up and came to the door of the trailer. This is when a very humbling experience took place. He told us again that he was so greatful that we came. He doesn't have any food, so we brought him some food to eat. We asked if we could come inside, but he doesn't have any electricity in the tiny trailer that he has and the flashlight that he has doesn't work because the batteries are dead. He's the humblest guy I've ever met. He was so grateful for the food. And, it was so sad to see all of his circumstances. We asked him again about church, and he said that he felt so good. He noticed how all of the people were so nice at our church. He said that other churches he's gone to, people weren't like that. He said that everyone treated him so kindly even though he wore the only clothes that he owned. He said he prayed for the first time that night and he thanked God for putting these 2 missionaries in his life. He's been waiting his whole life for missionaries to come by and talk to him. After going to church, he now wants to find a job, get married, and he hasn't taken a drink of beer or smoked since going to church. He's changing his life completely around and its so great to see as a missionary because we know it's because of the gospel. He said he even wants to get a haircut and be a missionary like us. That experience really changed me. It made me feel so grateful for the gospel. I'll never forget him. His name is Rigo. We're finding a job for him right now and he already committed to coming to church every week. But, that experience was really great. This is why I'm serving a mission. I hope you guys are all doing well. I still struggle and am not great at the gospel or Spanish right now, but I do know how to love people, so that's why I'm out here, to share the testimony that I have so others can gain theirs. I hope to get mail because I haven't yet. Send everything to both addresses. I'll try to get the other mail. But remember apartment F6. Also, send me more pictures of what happens there and Ashley. I always look forward to pictures. I took a good amount of pictures this week and I'll send those to you when I have a cord. But, take care. Elder Brady

2 months gone

So, it's February. I'll definitely need some more money for food and stuff. I'm fine right now because of all the cash you guys gave me and walmart gift card. and they have a lot of grocery stores here and they have that stuff. This week was good. And I'll try to go the bank. I'm just always really, really busy and we can only do that stuff on P Day. But, this week we got 3 people to commit to baptism on the 22nd. And, we had about 15 people commit to going to church. It's pretty great. But, it stinks because yesterday we got a call saying that this area called Riverbend won't be in our area anymore, and that is where all of our investigators are. So, now we basically have no one in our teaching pool. These new sisters are going to be in that area now, which isn't fair because we did so much work on that area and things were finally starting to get really good. We had a competition this week with the district and my companion and I had the most members present in our lessons. So, we win something. We're going to some zoo today at like 2. One of our investigators has a recording studio in their house and they make music. We were in there the other day teaching them and we were rapping one of the scriptures. It was so funny. The family got a laugh out of that. We also wrote a huge rap with the guys in our apartment and we all performed it in front of the zone. It was awesome. It definitely got everyone excited. I had a really tough day the other day, though. I got really frustrated with the language. It made me really mad and no words were coming to me. It made everything so hard on me. And then, I still miss home. Not sure if that's ever going to go away. I wouldn't say I miss home, though, I just miss my friends and stuff and all of the people. The music is pretty great to listen to, though. Put the song ¨Hallelujah¨ on whatever you send me. I love that song. Also put this song called ¨Steal My Show¨ by Toby Mack, or something, and lots of songs. I can listen to a lot of music, which is good. One of our other investigators is named Isa. We set a baptismal date with her, but we found out by her friend that her dad died in a car crash about 5 months ago and it has totally been destroying the family. So, we're going to visit them and hope to help them out. I've definitely seen a lot of sad things here as far as family situations and economic situations with some people. I'm nowhere near fluent as far as Spanish goes. I learn more everyday, and can understand a lot of what people say, but I still am learning to put it all together. I'm being too hard on myself, though, because I've only been here for 3 weeks. But, I miss you guys. I still don't have too many pictures yet. There's not too much to take pictures of here. This one person we are teaching posted a picture of me on instagram, though. Her name is 9Celia or something on instagram. I miss you guys and I'm here. And, as far as the mail address. I'd probably just send it to the mission office because I don't want you to send it to my address and it not to get to me. If you want to do a test mail then my address here is 1900 Coffee Port Road. Apt. F6. Brownsville, TX 78521 . You can try that out and see if it works. But, I love you guys. and keep sending stuff. I actually haven't gotten anything yet besides the CD's Mimi sent, but I'll let you know when I do. I've definitely learned a lot here already and I'm still going. Elder Brady

2 Weeks Down

So, it has been a pretty good week. Dallin H. Oaks came and talked to all of the missionaries here, so I got to shake his hand too. He's hilarious. And, grocery shopping is fine. There's a lot of healthy food here, because there's an HEB right next to our apartment. It's walking distance. The mission is hard, but it's fun. I don't know why, but this week I was really home sick. I listen to a lot of music, so if you could send me some inspirational music too that would be great. There are a few speeches that I'd like to have. One is called ¨I'll Show You How Great I Am.¨ Another one is called "We are Champions,¨ or something. The Elders here all have ipods with music on them. They also have speakers that they connect to them. Anything that doesn't have a bad message and you can feel the spirit is okay. So, if you want to do something like that you can. But, I really like the motivational speeches. Another speech talks about "The Why." I like that. But, I've been missing home a lot this week. My Spanish is getting better. I'm still not fluent, but I can talk with people about a lot of things...still improving on that. Sometimes it's frustrating because people talk really fast here and I don't know exactly what they're saying, but I'm hoping that will come. Tell Ashley that I miss her. lol. I get to drive here, which is still nice, but, it's tough here. I struggle down here. There are some days that are so great, but then there are others that I struggle more. And also, send all letters to the mission office because I think our apartment address is wrong or something and the missionaries haven't been getting letters. so send them to the mission office and I'll be sure to get them. Also, if you send me a letter, ask Lauren what her old roommate's family's last name was and the area they live because I'd like to meet them. We're starting to teach English lessons here this Friday. Ha ha. They're teaching us Spanish and we're teaching them English. It's pretty funny. My companion is from Viriginia. He's cool, but sometimes he gets a little too serious. We're both from the east coast, so he's like the only one that knows what Kroger is. I'm learning a lot about myself out here. I'm learning about my weaknesses and strengths. They seem to be a lot more obvious out here for some reason. Ha ha. I've never thought of myself as humble, but everyone keeps telling me that. They also tell me that I obey whatever they say and I'm really easy to work with, which is good, but idk. Hopefully, things get better out here as far as missing home. I thought I was over that stage, but I guess not. He aprendido mucho espanol aqui. De hecho puedo hablar con mas personas, Y mi vocabulario es mas grande. La gente aqui usa palabras diferentes de mexico. Pero, en mi area, no hay mucho Tex Mex. He oido que en otros areas, es peor. Pero, me gusta Brownsville. Definitely the hardest 2 years ever, but I've learned a lot. And I've always thought a mission was a full 2 years, but it isn't. It's always less, so I thought that was weird. The next transfer is in 4 weeks, but you could count every 6 weeks from then and be able to know when my mission is done. I haven't tried it, lol, but one of the missionaries has that is going home soon. But, I hope everything is well with you guys. Gift cards are always great. Make sure to send music and send all letters to mission office. I liked the CD that you guys sang on. If you could get Ashley on one, that it would be great. But, I'm doing okay, I guess. As I said before, it's basically Mexico. Each sunday we go to 6 hours of church. One ward is Spanish and one ward is English, but everyone in both wards speaks Spanish, so it's funny. The English ward is basically every Hispanic person that wants to learn English or that has already learned it. Don't forget about me here. It's definitely hard, but I believe it will be worth it. But Cuidanse! y tengan un buen dia. Elder Brady

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First Week Down and Counting

Hey! So, the first week was great! I'm settled in for the most part. I've already met a bunch of new families here. My area is in Villa Nueva, Brownsville. It's basically all Hispanic here, so I'm slowly picking up more Spanish. I just need a lot of experience with my Spanish and, hopefully, it will start coming. We mostly speak Spanish here. There are a lot of families that only speak Spanish here. They all know Spanish, but some still speak English. My apartment address is 1900 Coffee Port, Brownsville, TX 78521. So, that's where you guys should send the letters. I've already taught a few families and it's pretty cool to see them changing. We have set 2 baptismal dates just this week. They tell us to set a baptismal date the first day we meet someone just so they can have it in mind. You'd be surprised how well that works. Our zone set like 30 baptismal dates just in like a day. Almost everyone here is Catholic, so it's interesting. I had to ride bikes for a few days, but we actually have a car now, which is great. The scenery isn't like Mexico here at all, but it's still cool. The culture, however, is just like Mexico because everyone is Hispanic. One family that we were teaching is la familia Mulatos. They were all baptized and confirmed last week, but the mom's aunt has been brainwashing her with anti-Mormon stuff and now we are not allowed to go over and teach the kids anymore. The kids are very bold, though. They wanted us to keep teaching them, so it was really cool. They had a big fight right in front of us about us, so it was really awkward. But, it amazed me at how the kids would not budge when the mom told them they were going to the Catholic church. I've had a few scary experiences already. One night we went to this family's house to share a message. They took us home after in their van, but they were fighting the whole way. We were in the back of the van with our bikes, because we couldn't all fit. They starting getting really angry and cussing way too much. It was scary. But, I also met this family where one spouse only knows Spanish and the other only knows English. How that works I don't know but they're a cool family. I appreciate the birthday presents. I'm not really sure how I'm going to take that stuff to my other areas, though. I'll be in Brownsville for at least 12 weeks. It's really close to the border. My district wasn't surprised when I got assigned there. A lot of the people here are friendly, for the most part, and then there are those streaks of people that are not friendly at all, especially the rich people here. This one guy told us that we had to go because he was too busy eating. lol. There are 2 wards that we have here. We have the English ward and the Spanish ward, even though everyone in both wards probably knows Spanish. My companions name is Elder Jones. He is pretty fluent in Spanish and he's cool. He's been here for about a year and 4 months. He's my trainer. I've definitely learned some valuable things here already. One thing they stress here is to have a great ¨Animo!¨ There's not really a good word in English that describes this but Its to always be excited and have a great attitude about everything. There are a lot of things that you can't change. They happen and there's nothing you can do about it. The only thing you can change about it is the way you look at it. If you start to have a good attitude about everything, it will start to become a part of you. The second thing I've really understood better is the atonement. I've been reading The Continuous Atonement by Brad Wilcox. It has helped me understand it better. I always thought that God loved me less if I repented of things, but then did them again. Although we always need to strive to do better, messing up over and over and over again is part of the process. It's like the sacrament prayer. It takes you a lot of tries to get it right, but at the end, it needs to be perfect. We get a little better every time, but it's a process, a continual process. So, I really liked that. Last thing, send me CD's of music! The music isn't strict here. It can be anything that where you can feel the spirit. It doesn't even have to be strictly church music, as long as it has a good message and you can feel the spirit. I like that one song that says, "I'm coming home, coming home, tell the world I'm coming home.¨ Put that song on one of the CDs you send. Keep me in your prayers. You guys are in mine. And, tell Ashley I miss her. It's difficult here, but I know its for the best and I know that I will continue to change lives while I'm here. It's so cool to see. I try to serve everyone in my path. Hope everything is well, and I'll keep you updated with all of the cool stories that happen because they will. I've already seen people want to come back to church because of the lessons we've taught them and I've seen people get baptized already. Miss you guys. Have fun. Hope everything's going alright. And, I'll see ya guys. Elder Brady

5 more days here

Hey, so send me Lauren's email on here because I forgot to bring the letter that had it. But, to start off, send me some more shoes when I get to McAllen sometime, and my patriarchal blessing, and please make some LDS music CDs and send them to McAllen, so I have music to listen to, specifically, "Glorious", and "Nearer My God to Thee" by Vocal Point, I believe. So, to start off, it has been a really tough week, but my relationship with Heavenly Father has gotten so much stronger. It's crazy. My Spanish is still fine and I can't wait to get to McAllen. The pictures you sent from Instagram weren't that blurry, so I appreciate those. I miss you guys! I've really been able to see myself changing lately because I'm finally here for the right reason, and nothing is stopping me. Most elders here don't have an eye single to the glory of God, but I've made sure I stay obedient. Some council that we've gotten is that your success as a missionary is directly related to how obedient you are and I've really been doing that. Some of the missionaries here are not talking like they represent the Lord, so I try to stay away from them, and they found music that isn't church music so I've heard they've been listening to that. But, I know who God wants me to be, so that's the missionary that I'm going to be. I can honestly say that I am ready to teach now, because I have an absolute certainty that the gospel is true. I've really been studying the scriptures so much and it's just so comforting. I've really been tested this last week, but it has strengthened me because I've had to pray so much. I leave every night and go into a different room just to pray. So, I guess that's good. Also, we had a speaker yesterday at a devotional and he came in there with his talk written, but once he saw our faces, he completely changed his talk. He threw it away because the Spirit told him to talk about something else. And let me just tell you, that was the best talk I've ever heard in my life. It was directed at me and I related to everything he said. Keep me in your prayers, though. I will need them. But I'm definitely on the right path in my life right now and I plan on staying on it. I've never been so sure in my life. One scripture that I've thought a lot about is in Matthew 6: 19 to 21, I believe.
[ 19 Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: 20 But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal: 21 For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.]
It's something like that, but it's the scripture that talks about choosing treasure in heaven, that cannot be corrupted, because where your treasures are, there will your heart be also. I know where my treasures are, and I intend on doing everything I can to obtain those treasures. And they will not be corrupted. I'm ready to teach. It's crazy how much you can change in 6 weeks, though. It's definitely going to be the hardest 2 years of my life, but I know, without a doubt, that I am where I need to be. It has been so hard, but I know that everything will be alright. But, just a lot of studying this week. I can't wait to get to McAllen. You only get this opportunity once and every second you waste, you will regret. I'll try to send some pictures. Hopefully, time starts to go faster once I get to McAllen. Remember, keep me in your prayers. I need them.
Elder Brady

Less Than Two Weeks Left at the CCM

Hey! So, this week has been so boring, but so eventful at the same time. I got a haircut today by one of the elders. Someone brought hair cutting stuff, so this was his first time giving a haircut, but it looks great. lol. We tried the fade away technique. One of the elders in our district got sent home early this morning, so we have 3 elders in this companionship now. Elder Stanley joined Elder Volkman and I. But, its crazy, next week is my last P Day at the CCM. We leave December 12th at 2 am for McAllen. I'm so ready to teach. My Spanish has gotten even better this week, but hopefully after 6 months, I will be able to say anything. That's what I'm hoping. I already talk tons in Spanish now. Mi maestro me pregunto si yo puedo entender todo que el esta diciendo y yo puedo! He says I have a Latino accent and that I'm basically a Latino. Its pretty funny. And send some pictures through the website. I love the pictures you sent, but I can't print them off, so, I can't really look at them. So, things are a little different here, and I actually was having a pretty tough week earlier. It's really complicated,but it got a little better last night. I really appreciate your letters and Ashley's too. She said she came and talked to you guys for a while. She gave me some good ideas for Hispanic New Year's traditions, so I will probably be doing some of those. lol I've been teaching some of the younger missionaries Spanish. I can't wait to see how fast I improve once I hit the mission field and start to gain experience. Keep me in your prayers. I'm expecting a lot of packages once I get to McAllen. JK It's alright here. I'm ready to get out of the CCM. I've heard from Mimi that Christmas was pretty great. It honestly doesn't even feel like New Year's Eve today. All holidays here feel the same. And every time I hear music now it makes me miss home. It's hard not being able to listen to music. I only miss music, however, when I have a song stuck in my head. Some people in my district say I'm adopted or I'm the gardener's son, lol, because I look 3 shades darker than all of you guys and because all of the Hispanics here just come up to me and start talking to me. I don't know why they choose me, but I've taken a lot of pictures with random Mexicans that I don't even know. I'm hoping things here start to pick up a little. Keep the letters coming and send pictures. I really appreciate them. And I think that when I leave to McAllen, my P Day will be changed to Monday, but I'll keep you guys updated. Feliz Ano Nuevo. No me olviden. Oren siempre. Tengan un buen dia y digan a Ashley que le extrano! 23 mesas es nada. Les amo! 

My District

Feliz Navidad!

Hey! So, not too much has happened this week, but it's getting a little better! I'm still ready to get out of here and go to McAllen!! Please send as many letters as possible and I'm still waiting for those pictures. The quality of the last pictures were great!! Send more of the family and of Ashley!...and just some pictures on my Instagram that you think I would like! Megan will probably find the best ones, so ask her. And another reminder, I'll be calling again tomorrow at 10 am and I will call Dad's number! Tell Lauren to keep the letters coming and to send me that trick deck of cards! I can have them here! And tell her I can't write back until I get to McAllen because letters take 3 weeks to get out of Mexico.   It's not too strict here. However, I cant listen to music until I get to Mcallen, so there's no need for a CD player here. And the food is good. They always have a salad bar here with basically everything and I use that dressing, so I am maintaining my health. Today it was raining, so we played broom hockey in our casa. There aren't any people in our house besides 4 people in my district, so the whole district always comes over for games and stuff. The other people that used to live there were Hispanic, so they only spent 2 weeks here. I've also played soccer just about every day, so that's great! Ha ha! I know a lot more people here now. I don't know why, but a lot of people seem to know my name. I also took a picture with this Hispanic dude whose first name was Brady, but i didn't take many pictures this week. There weren't many things to take pictures of. There is this one game called the spoon game where you try to hide a spoon on someone without them knowing. That has kept us pretty busy! I miss you guys and Merry Christmas! or Feliz Navidad here! Hablare mas en espanol proximo semana pero Estoy recibiendo cartas ahora. Pero tengan un buen dia. Hablare con ustedes luego. Estoy aprendiendo mucho! no olvidan los fotos o los otras cosas y recuerdan el nacimiento de Jesucristo. Es la cosa mas importante durante este dia de festivo! Feliz Navidad!
Con amor, Elder Brady