Oh boy. Another week here in Edinburg. Right now we're still on the
search for more people (preferably families) to teach. Can y'all believe
that it's almost July? What the heck. My companion goes home on July
11th so we won't be together much longer. I'm excited to see who my
companion is going to be. It's cool being a Zone Leader because you can
kind of guess who your next companion is going to be. I got the
possibility of a bunch of my friends becoming my companion. We'll see.
We were hoping that the tropical storm debbie would hit us and make
things a little more interesting down here in Texas, but it sounds like
it's going to stay in Florida. We had a pretty cool thunderstorm (one of
just a few in my year and a half here) last week and Elder Covington
and I were on our bikes when it came out of nowhere. We got drenched! We
were having a bunch of fun riding through giant puddles and getting
soaked but then all of a sudden we were attacked by swarms and swarms of
flying ants that looked like maggots or larvae. It was awful. We
finally made it to a member's house after nearly choking on these crazy
ants and had little Abel (9 year old little punk) hose us down with the
water hose after the rain had stopped. It was a ton of fun, but then we
were like, "well now what do we do?". So we went inside and we used the
iron and blow dryer to dry off our socks and shoes and then used towels
to try and dry our clothes. It actually worked pretty good. We left just
damp instead of soaked.
Well, that's about all. Nothing else exciting or special going on.
We're about to play some basketball at the gym. We've been going
basketball crazy lately and have had some awesome games on p-days.
Los quiero muchisimo :)
-Elder Brett
Monday, June 25, 2012
Monday, June 18, 2012
June 18, 2012
Alright familia, I got an awesome story for ya. Remember the C____ family? The family of 8 that recently got baptized. Well, they are migrant workers and spend the summers working in the fields (they spent many years in Michigan; that's where Maria and Jessica were born) They just left for Nebraska a week and a half ago, and Elder Covington and I did everything we could to make sure they remain active. We found the nearest chapel, got the number for the branch president, and even had directions/map printed out from mapquest so they could get to church on Sunday. They promised that they would go to church. They just said that they hoped they wouldn't have to work on Sundays. They seemed pretty hesitant to ask their boss for Sunday's off.
We had one final Family Home Evening at a member's house, and then went over the next morning as they were packing and we gave them pictures of their baptism, gave them blessings of safety and peace, and then said our goodbyes. We left that day hoping that during the summer they would actually go to church and remain active. Well, check this out.
Our ward mission leader, hermano quinones, came by our apartment on the following Monday night and was ecstatic. He told us that the C____'s had called him and told them their experience on Sunday. Turns out, they went to church on Sunday morning at 9 a.m. since that was when church started here in Edinburg, but found out upon arrival that church actually started at 10. While waiting in the foyer, they met the missionaries (there are a pair of Spanish speaking missionaries assigned to that branch!) and they told them that they would introduce them to the branch president when we stepped out of his office. The meeting finished and the missionaries went to introduce him to the Celedon's, and guess who it was!? The branch president was their boss! He is their boss at the fields where they work, and they already have an awesome relationship. Hermano C____ had told us numerous times about how nice their boss was and that they had a great relationship.
We couldn't believe it when hermano Q____ told us this story! What a miracle! Now they won't have to worry about working on Sundays. Also, since it is a fairly small branch, they will receive callings in the branch and are practically guaranteed to stay active. It's going to be great when they come back to Edinburg and can be such a great asset to the ward.
They have our addresses and we are going to be staying in contact during the summer. I'm super excited for them. They are an awesome family. I included a picture of us saying goodbye.
Hope all is well. It's hot and humid down here :)
love,
Elder Brett
Monday, June 11, 2012
Helloooo family!
Wow it was another great week. Meliza and Vida C_____ got confirmed on Sunday. We took Meliza to a lesson with a lady we met and it was spectacular. The lady came to church and loved it. Actually, if you all go back to my email that I sent on May 14, I talked about the lady that we met while riding our bikes and then did some service. After that day of service, we went back as an entire zone and spent two hours and cleaned up the ENTIRE yard. It was awesome. Afterwards, we attempted to talk about the gospel a little but she didn't seem too accepting and we didn't want to offend or push too much so we just told her that we were always willing to come back by and serve.
During the next couple weeks, Elder Covington and I thought about stopping by or giving her a call but we kept telling ourselves that she would give us a call when she was ready. We wanted to teach her so bad though! After such an awesome day of service, we both thought for sure that something good would come out of it.
Well, just this past week, she called us. She said she felt terrible but she needed some help in her yard again and didn't know what to do. We were on exchanges so Elder Call and I went to her house at noon and spent an hour and a half helping her out, and then we finally sat down and taught her the gospel! The next day, Elder Covington and I went by with Meliza and had one of the most amazing lessons ever. Yesterday, she came to church and loved it.
We are praying that she continues to learn and progress towards baptism and full conversion into the church. I'll keep you updated.
Hmm, other than that, things are going...absolutely amazing. Guess what? I'm eating pretty healthy. Have I mentioned that I've only eaten wheat bread on the mission? Hey dad, tell Grandma that I like nuts now. When she sent the caramel for Christmas, I was the one that ate the ones with nuts in them; although, I still prefer without nuts in caramel and brownies! But I love the turtle chocolates with cashews and I love trail mix with almonds and peanuts. I'm one of the few missionaries in the apartment who eats fruits and vegetables. It's more expensive but I feel healthy. I'm thinking about buying some protein though because I'm getting kind of skinny and I want to bulk up. I can't come home skinner than when I left. Isn't it a rule that you're supposed to gain weight on the mission? We have a bench press in the apartment but it's kind of crappy and I don't really like using it too much. It doesn't have a lot of weight and it's outside, and you wouldn't believe how hot and humid it gets, even at 6:30 in the morning. I'm really big into jump roping now. Maybe I can start getting rid of my little chicken legs. Man, I remember when I was with Elder Diamond in Rio Grande and he had 6 months left so he started his "Six months to Sexy" program (which he gave up on after a few weeks). Well, I think it's time for me to start the program for myself. Jump roping, bench press, maybe a few sit-ups here and there. We'll see :)
Haha well I gotta run. I need to write to president real quick, go shopping, and then get our gear so we can play some basketball. Last week was soooo fun! Some of the best basketball I've played on the mission.
Hasta Luego!
Elder Bret
Wow it was another great week. Meliza and Vida C_____ got confirmed on Sunday. We took Meliza to a lesson with a lady we met and it was spectacular. The lady came to church and loved it. Actually, if you all go back to my email that I sent on May 14, I talked about the lady that we met while riding our bikes and then did some service. After that day of service, we went back as an entire zone and spent two hours and cleaned up the ENTIRE yard. It was awesome. Afterwards, we attempted to talk about the gospel a little but she didn't seem too accepting and we didn't want to offend or push too much so we just told her that we were always willing to come back by and serve.
During the next couple weeks, Elder Covington and I thought about stopping by or giving her a call but we kept telling ourselves that she would give us a call when she was ready. We wanted to teach her so bad though! After such an awesome day of service, we both thought for sure that something good would come out of it.
Well, just this past week, she called us. She said she felt terrible but she needed some help in her yard again and didn't know what to do. We were on exchanges so Elder Call and I went to her house at noon and spent an hour and a half helping her out, and then we finally sat down and taught her the gospel! The next day, Elder Covington and I went by with Meliza and had one of the most amazing lessons ever. Yesterday, she came to church and loved it.
We are praying that she continues to learn and progress towards baptism and full conversion into the church. I'll keep you updated.
Hmm, other than that, things are going...absolutely amazing. Guess what? I'm eating pretty healthy. Have I mentioned that I've only eaten wheat bread on the mission? Hey dad, tell Grandma that I like nuts now. When she sent the caramel for Christmas, I was the one that ate the ones with nuts in them; although, I still prefer without nuts in caramel and brownies! But I love the turtle chocolates with cashews and I love trail mix with almonds and peanuts. I'm one of the few missionaries in the apartment who eats fruits and vegetables. It's more expensive but I feel healthy. I'm thinking about buying some protein though because I'm getting kind of skinny and I want to bulk up. I can't come home skinner than when I left. Isn't it a rule that you're supposed to gain weight on the mission? We have a bench press in the apartment but it's kind of crappy and I don't really like using it too much. It doesn't have a lot of weight and it's outside, and you wouldn't believe how hot and humid it gets, even at 6:30 in the morning. I'm really big into jump roping now. Maybe I can start getting rid of my little chicken legs. Man, I remember when I was with Elder Diamond in Rio Grande and he had 6 months left so he started his "Six months to Sexy" program (which he gave up on after a few weeks). Well, I think it's time for me to start the program for myself. Jump roping, bench press, maybe a few sit-ups here and there. We'll see :)
Haha well I gotta run. I need to write to president real quick, go shopping, and then get our gear so we can play some basketball. Last week was soooo fun! Some of the best basketball I've played on the mission.
Hasta Luego!
Elder Bret
Tuesday, June 5, 2012
June 4, 2012
To start off, Meliza and Vida C____ were baptized yesterday. It was awesome. I feel like there are many more baptisms to come from this family.
Things in Edinburg are amazing as always. We have some fresh blood in the zone and it has kind of spiced things up a little. It's been fun :)
I found an ipod nano the other day while proselyting. It was smashed into the ground pretty bad but I took it home and cleaned it up as best as I could. A muchacha from the Spanish ward got me a wristband made specially for the ipod so now I can use it as a watch, by using the watch setting on the ipod. It's pretty cool. The screen is cracked pretty bad so it doesn't look that great, but oh well. It was an exciting find. I'm not sure how I saw it, but I happened to glance down and see a faint apple symbol and then I dug it up. Pretty cool huh? Definitely one of my better tracting treasures...
We're playing basketball today with some missionaries and a bunch of the older youth from church. Also, Amador (baptized two weeks ago) and Arturo (Didn't get baptized yesterday with his sister and niece, but will hopefully get baptized soon) are coming. It's gonna be fun.
It's hot. 'Nuff said :)
I'm excited for another week. The weeks go by too fast. I'm glad it's the summer though. School is out so we can contact more families, and it means we can bring the youth to play sports with us on P-days. I feel like the summer is going to go by real fast though. Uh-oh.
Pardon my interesting email. Bunch of just little random things. Thanks y'all for everything.
love,
Elder Brett
Things in Edinburg are amazing as always. We have some fresh blood in the zone and it has kind of spiced things up a little. It's been fun :)
I found an ipod nano the other day while proselyting. It was smashed into the ground pretty bad but I took it home and cleaned it up as best as I could. A muchacha from the Spanish ward got me a wristband made specially for the ipod so now I can use it as a watch, by using the watch setting on the ipod. It's pretty cool. The screen is cracked pretty bad so it doesn't look that great, but oh well. It was an exciting find. I'm not sure how I saw it, but I happened to glance down and see a faint apple symbol and then I dug it up. Pretty cool huh? Definitely one of my better tracting treasures...
We're playing basketball today with some missionaries and a bunch of the older youth from church. Also, Amador (baptized two weeks ago) and Arturo (Didn't get baptized yesterday with his sister and niece, but will hopefully get baptized soon) are coming. It's gonna be fun.
It's hot. 'Nuff said :)
I'm excited for another week. The weeks go by too fast. I'm glad it's the summer though. School is out so we can contact more families, and it means we can bring the youth to play sports with us on P-days. I feel like the summer is going to go by real fast though. Uh-oh.
Pardon my interesting email. Bunch of just little random things. Thanks y'all for everything.
love,
Elder Brett
Monday, June 4, 2012
May 29, 2012
Elder Covington and I are staying together in Edinburg for one more transfer. It's his last transfer, which means that I'll stay for another one after he leaves. I'm stoked. Another family of three (relatives to the family of 8 from a week ago) is getting baptized this sunday. I think I mentioned it in a past email, but they are from Michigan! One of the guys is 16 years old and he has lived in Lansing all his life. He just came down a couple years ago to be with his relatives here in the valley, but he wants to go back to Michigan so bad. I promised him that he can stay with me when I'm back at school at UofM, and that I'll take him to a Michigan football game. He is super excited. He wants to go to either UofM or MSU and I'm trying to convince him to become a wolverine. We'll see...
Well, I gotta keep it short this week. We weren't able to email yesterday because it was memorial day so we had to do it quickly today. Yesterday we went to the Ward Mission Leader's house from the Spanish ward and he made us a huge barbecue since several of the missionaries in the zone are leaving. It was fun. He's an awesome WML; we have some of the greatest members here in Edinburg.
Well we gotta run. Just know that I'm healthy and happy and loving every single second of every single day :)
love y'all muchisimo!!
Elder Brett
Well, I gotta keep it short this week. We weren't able to email yesterday because it was memorial day so we had to do it quickly today. Yesterday we went to the Ward Mission Leader's house from the Spanish ward and he made us a huge barbecue since several of the missionaries in the zone are leaving. It was fun. He's an awesome WML; we have some of the greatest members here in Edinburg.
Well we gotta run. Just know that I'm healthy and happy and loving every single second of every single day :)
love y'all muchisimo!!
Elder Brett
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