What's Up?

First things first, my new address is 1501 Sam Houston St. Apt: 9F, Harlingen Texas, 78550. Okay, so my new area is in the same stake as the last one, but its like 20 minutes away. It's a little more north, but the area is still filled with Spanish people and that's the biggest thing I was worried about. ha ha. My area is called Dixieland, but its a super awesome area! I have tons of members here and they're all super awesome and it's so much easier to find investigators here. My area is a bike area, so no more car for me for a while. One of our investigators's name is Andrew, but he goes by "BAM'. He's a gold medalist in the Olympics for boxing. His trainer was Sugar Rey Leanord, or something like that, who I heard is a really good boxer. So that's pretty cool. It's funny down here. All of the people down here kind of say I have a little bit of a Georgia accent when I speak English, which is weird to think about. When I speak Spanish though, I don't have an accent. When I was walking the other day, me and my comp got eaten a little bit by a Cactus. We rubbed up on it a little and all of these pokey things stuck to our arm. They didn't hurt too much, but they were super annoying for a day. They're so tiny that its hard to take them out. Another funny thing that happened was when we were at a door. All of a sudden a big dog comes out and just starts peeing on my bike. Right on the tires. But my companions name is Elder Browning. He's from Washington State. None of my companions have been from Utah yet, which is surprising. But yeah, send me a package and letters now that you have the address. The people in the apartment here are awesome. It was an answer to prayers because my companion and all of the others here are really obedient, but super fun and that's what I wanted. It's funny. The other elders in Brownsville emailed me saying that they miss me and that the apartment isn't the same anymore, so I guess things have changed over there. Me and the elder who's there now just switched places, so now he's in my old area. It's cool though because one of the families in our apartment complex has a brother that lives in my old apartment complex, so if we ever need to give the other elders something or if we forgot anything at the transfer, they get it for us. The families in my area right now are families that I'd want to visit after the mission because they're super cool. But yeah, the missions still really hard but its getting a little better I think. I wish I was surrounded by people that didn't speak English in the apartment though because I'm trying to totally eliminate English from my mouth,

unless I'm speaking to investigators that don't know Spanish. Glad you guys had fun at Stone Mountain and everything. Have a super good week. Elder Brady

Transfer 2 Down

Hey, so this week actually went pretty well. I watched all of conference and took notes on every single speaker, so those will come in handy. Holland's talk was good. A lot of the speakers talked about marriage this year, so I thought that was pretty funny. But, before I get into detail, I want to tell you guys that I am getting transferred to a different area! We found out today! I'm super excited. Hopefully, I go somewhere besides Corpus Christi or Sinton, but I don't think I will because President knows that my Spanish could help a lot of people out. I was kinda getting tired of my area right now, so I'm excited. My area right now has almost no members and is country, so I'm excited to be going somewhere else. I'll find out my new area and companion tonight. So, don't send letters to my actual address until I get further details, so just send them to the mission office until further notice. I wanted to mention something to you guys about the culture just so you get a feel for how it is here. It's all Hispanics. Sisters greet each other with kisses on the cheek, which is pretty funny. The priesthood isn't as strong here. I've been super obedient this past week. I've been really trying to be a better missionary. There are 3 things that I really learned this week that I'd thought I'd share with you. One is sacrifice. Some things don't seem to hinder the work that much, but if you do them, you don't show sacrifice to the Lord, so this week I took away some of those things to show that sacrifice. It has been really hard and the temptation is always there, but I know that if I avoid the temptation and stay strictly obedient, eventually those temptations will go away. So, I've been good at doing that. I've learned that constantly living a principle, even if you don't see the blessings right away, patience is key through trials and constantly working to stay obedient. The last thing I learned is that there's only one thing we have that God doesn't have. That is our will. If we give it to him, he'll pour blessings upon us. I've been working on that. I've been getting a lot better. The mission is still super hard, but I'm willing to wade through it. I'm excited to find out where I'm going and who my comp will be. I'll probably be saying bye to some families today. But yeah, pictures and everything like that will be nice. It's always exciting to get packages and letters. It's a little sad to leave some of the families I've met here and some investigators I just set baptismal dates with and start over, but it will also be exciting. I passed the 4 month mark, which is good. hah! I switched up my hair, so it looks cool. I'm gonna miss Elder Latu cutting my hair. He makes it look fresh. But, I hope everything is going good there. Las escrituras que me han inspirado. Eter 12:27 Mosiah 2:41 Dios nos bendecira si guardamos los mandamientos y si seamos humildes. Have a super good week. Elder Brady

With my companion, Elder Weeks

the Elders in our apartment 

The library where we email

Casi 4 meses

Hey! So, this week has been alright. I've worked super hard this week. I've been studying the language like no other. I've gotten to the point where I can understand a lot. Whenever I tell people I only have 4 months they are really surprised, which is good. The language is hard because I just want to be fluent already. I've learned a lot of new stuff and I can just about communicate with everyone or at least know what they're saying. So thats that. I just need to work on thinking faster and speaking faster in the language. Theres a lot of words in english I never knew what they meant so its hard translating so my spanish vocab will probably be bigger than english. And I got the Ukelele safely. And I got lauren and collins letter. That was apreciated. I'll try to send you guys a letter today. Ashley really liked the gifts haha which is good. Keep sending simple stuff like that. I really like it. And I'll need some scripture case for my spanish scriptures. Once thing I do now when we proselyte is to only care the spanish book of mormon. It forces me to back whatever I say up since theres no bible to support the scriptures we share. It also helps me to learn more about the book of mormon. So thats good. I've been studying really hard to improve my understanding, spanish, and teaching skills. Keep keeping in touch with Ashley. She loves seeing paige and peyton and mia. The zone is going to the zoo today but we are all out of money this month so we cant go, plus I already went to the zoo so we dont really feel like going. The transfer ends in a week or two so we will see if I stay or go. Also, conference is on sunday so that should be fun. And btw I got the hoodie mimi sent me.I like that. the weather here has been interesting. It's usually super hot by this time but the weather has been different this year. Its been raining more than usual so the weather has remained fairly cooler. Give it a little though. I'm lucky to have a car. But I hope everything is going good there! Love you guys. I think my desires have a grown a little this week so I've been going to work. Pray for me to learn spanish. But hey have a good week! cuidanse lol

3/23

Hey. How's it going? So, this week was okay. It's still really hard. President Maluenda did call me the other day, but the only thing he said to me was to enjoy my mission and he asked if I was doing stretches, and I said yes, and that's all he said. So it wasn't really much. Still hoping the mission gets better because I still can't say I'm enjoying it. It's easier said than done, to forget yourself and go to work. My companions still really have a hard time with that. They don't even try. All they do is watch NBA highlights and listen to rap. I was really contemplating going home this week because it sounds so nice. I don't want to lose my testimony on my mission or anything. It's really hard. It's hard to never talk to anyone. I did get a letter from Ashley this week. That really encouraged me to keep going, so you can thank her for that. I'll try to keep going. I just need that constant motivation or else the same thing is going to happen over and over again. Because emails just aren't enough. It feels like a month passes by in between every Monday. And my desires are [not there] right now. I don't really have any to be honest. But, I'll try to keep going. It would be much appreciated if you guys send me pictures and maybe recordings or something,  just so I can hear your voice. Especially Ashley. Tell her family that I miss them. But, pictures would be much appreciated and maybe some children's Spanish books or something just so I have something different to read so I don't go crazy out here. Letters would be great too. Just small things that will make me happy. Have a good week. Elder Brady

Okay

Sooo, this week has been very bad and interesting. It hasn't been good at all, to be honest. But, I'll tell you the story. So about a week and a half ago I had a dream. In my dream, my back hurt really bad. I didn't think anything of it because, idk, it's a dream. But I've only had 3 dreams total on the mission because I write them down. But ever since that day, I've had a really strong feeling like I needed to go home. I fought it and fought it. This past Tuesday though, my back started to hurt and its been getting worse. Yesterday I could feel my spine. I really don't want this to be happening. So, I fought the feeling for a while hoping it would go away, but it hasn't. It was a really tough week. So finally, one night, I kneeled down and prayed. I specifically asked for a dream that night that would help me know what to do. I wrote down that dream because I remembered everything that happened in it so clearly. In my dream, was talking to our mom and I ended up getting sent home. I remember waking up that morning and feeling the happiest I've ever been on the whole mission. I saw several people in the dream along the way which I don't want to mention right now, but it stinks. Why does my back need to hurt? My back is getting worse. It's super hard for me to understand. Everytime I pray about it, I get the same answer. Also, the mission doesn't allow me to keep my body as healthy as I want. I've recently gained a testimony of the Word of Wisdom. I just want to eat super healthy and keep it like that. The mission doesn't seem like something that should hurt me and make me sick. Btw, my thing is back. that thing I do when I'm not healthy. I love reading my scriptures every morning and studying Spanish and trying to be a better person, and teaching people, but the other aspects of the mission are really killing me. Idk what to do. and then my companions aren't obedient and they haven't changed at all since they came on a mission, I feel like. I feel bad. This isn't something that any family wants to hear but something has to change. I really want to stay on a mission, but at the same time, I don't want to suffer the rest of my life because I do stay. Please help me.

Brownsville

Soooo, this week wasn't too eventful to be honest. We have a few new investigators but we haven't found anyone super solid to teach. We've met a lot of members but that was the gist of things. But some of the members had guitars at their house, so I would play that. That's always really fun. We went to the mall today and I met someone in Lilburn Stake. His name is Vicente Munoz. He knows everyone in Grayson and Dacula ward and lives about 5 minutes from Sisters Gourmet, so that was really weird to meet him today but super cool. It's exciting to meet someone that lives where you do. My Spanish is coming long. I listen to tons of Spanish music which is exciting. And I can talk to almost everyone without problem which is good. Once I reach a certain point on the mission though, I want to do only Spanish. Elder Latu, the Tongan here, only knew Tongan when he came to the mission, but now he's fluent in English and Spanish too, so that's really cool. He tells us all of his Tongan stories, which are really cool. He moved here about 4 years ago. It's really rainy here today. I learned the Haka, though. (idk how to spell it) We performed it in front of a few families with all four of us in the apartment. It's really funny. It's in the language Mauri. It feels like I've been here forever. This week was pretty tough for a few days. Idk why, but it was pretty tough. I hope you all are doing good. Apparently, there has been some border violence a little here; not in our area but in a different one. Elder Latu, at the beginning of his mission, got shot at when he was close to the border. So, idk if I'll have any stories like that. ha ha. Let's hope not. But, the people here are really nice for the most part. I'm still looking to buy an athletic sweater or hoodie because I need that more than I thought here. I have a ton more ties now too. Elder Latu gave me like 15 of his, so I'm good to go on those. ha ha. Pero, espero que tengan un buen dia y cuidanse. La obra del Senor no espera. I feel like I've gotten taller though. It could just be me, but who nows. Well, Take care and don't forget about me. Elder Brady

March Babyyyy!

So, this week was pretty good. So, Pete is on schedule to be baptized again. He hasn't been drinking since that one day where he went crazy. So, we'll see what really happens with him. But, good news, my Spanish is coming along. I can understand a lot now and I've become better at speaking. One think I'd really like is some good spanish CD's...not learning Spanish, but actual songs, because we listen to a lot of Spanish songs here and I'm starting to pick up the words. Una de esas cancions es llamado Somos La Luz y esa es mi preferida. But, just songs in general. I've learned a lot of Spanish. My companions always tell me I study so much Spanish, but that's because I really want to learn it. I want to be really fluent after 6 months. I played guitar for this family yesterday. Ha ha..."Butterfly Fly Away,' of course, because that's one of the only ones I know. ha ha. But, they really liked it and wanted to record it. Oh, BTW, I'm in the same area! I'm still in Villanueva which covers Olmito, Rancho Viejo, San Pedro, and some other places. You can go look at those on a map. I don't have any crazy stories this week. We've just been trying to gain trust from all of the members so we can get them to do missionary work because members are the greatest key to success. But, I've learned a lot as a missionary. I continue to learn. I have a new companion. His name is Elder Weeks. He's really chill so we get a long pretty well. Our apartment is super chill now because all 4 of us get along so well. But I hope everything is going well there. I always look forward to letters and everything else that could possibly come in the mail. I've been out for 3 months already which is crazy. 20 months to go, haha, because no missionary serves a full 2 years. You probably didn't know that. But, I'm still working hard. I have a nice tie collection today because Elder Latu, the Tongan in our apartment, gave me tons. He's my favorite Elder here. I've learned a little Tongan from him. Before he came on his mission, he played football and Rugby. He was going to play for the Oregon Ducks, but he decided to go on his mission. But, still keeping up. Love you guys. Que tengan un buen dia.
Elder Brady