May 21, 2012

It's days like yesterday that make me think "Oh crap, I only have 6 months left"

Remember that awesome family of 8 we were teaching? They all got baptized yesterday, including the father's sister that the other elders in our apartment were teaching. It was one of the coolest baptismal services ever. It looked like Michigan in the winter; white.

Today we are going over to have a family home evening at their house. We have been doing them every Monday for the past several weeks and they love it. We have had different members of the church come with us to help them learn how to hold an FHE and to make it more fun. I included a picture of the family's baptism and I'll send more (maybe in the mail) of the family when we're at the FHE. It's getting to know families like this that make me not want to ever leave.

We are teaching so many more great people. I'm excited for the month of June. My companion and I are having a blast together and we're praying that we both stay here in Edinburg for one more transfer. It will be Elder Covington's last transfer. We were saying that it would be totally unfair for one of us to leave and have somebody else come into this area and inherit such awesome families! We have worked so hard. Pero, ni modo. Whatever happens, happens. But I still hope I stay here in Edinburg!

We're going to play some basketball later today. One of the guys that got baptized yesterday, the 21 year old son, is hopefully going to come too. He was talking smack to us yesterday saying that he was going to school us on the court, so Elder Covington and I are going to show him what's up. :)

Well, love y'all bunches.

Elder Brett

May 14, 2012

It was so nice being able to speak to y'all on the phone yesterday! (Except for you mal, sorry) The time flew by so fast. The next time we speak, it will be thanksgiving! Crazy huh.

So I only have 6 more months left to write you emails as a missionary, and my goal is to answer all of the questions that you ask in your emails to me. I know, I tend to forget or rush to fast to be able to respond. I'll do better. Also, I'll make sure and send some more pictures. I haven't been taking as many as I did when I first got to the mission, and I need to repent for that. Pictures are way better than me just trying to describe what I'm doing, so I promise to send more pictures. Just not today, I forgot my cord...

On Saturday we were riding bikes (Side note: In Mercedes and here in Edinburg I am in a car area, but there is a mission-wide rule that Saturdays are bikes days, and all companionships must ride bikes from at least 11-4. But because Elder Covington and I have a bunch of little errands and meetings, we run out of our monthly allotment of miles so we ride bikes several times a week) and we were riding around all day stopping by people but it was getting a little frustrating because we didn't really encounter anyone outside that we could talk to as we rode from place to place. Finally it got to about 6:30 and we had an appointment at 7 with the C____ family and as we were riding to their house, we saw a lady outside a broken down trailer hacking away at the weeds near the side of the road. We pulled up, hopped off our bikes, and asked what we could do to help. She was hesitant to accept our help, claiming that she wouldn't want to see our white shirts get dirty. I told her that we had been riding on our bikes all day and I had been using my sleeve as a handkerchief, and that we probably couldn't get much dirtier than we already were. We then told her to give us the tools she was using and she could take a break.

We only had 25 minutes but we obliterated as many weeds as we could. She said she had a hard time pulling the weeds in the ditch so pulled all the ones in the ditch that we could. It was a ton of fun. The neighbor next door was sitting outside and he started poking fun at the lady saying that she was so lucky for getting free help, and then the lady started telling us again how she felt bad and that her neighbors were going to think that she was using us for free labor. (She already tried offering to pay us) We told her not to worry, we'd stop by their houses next to offer free service. Before finishing up and getting on our bikes, we set up a time to come by tomorrow afternoon with the rest of the missionaries in the zone so we can finish cleaning up her yard and house. Turns out, her house was broken into and the doors and windows were smashed in just recently. Then before taking off, the next door neighbor came over with 3 ice cold water bottles for us. Finally, we got to the Celedons and had a magnificent lesson, as well as a miraculous experience, which I will have to share next week because my time is running out and I need to email president.

Love y'all mucho!

-Elder Brett

May 7, 2012

Yesterday was the best day ever. This time I mean it for real. Bro. and Sis. G____, who I knew when I first started my mission in Rio Grande, now live in Edinburg and they took me back to Mercedes/Weslaco so I could participate in the baptism of the Ochoa family. They are an awesome awesome family that I grew real close to but was forced to say goodbye to before their baptism when I left for Edinburg. I was able to baptize the daughter, Vanessa. I'm so glad that I am still close to my old area! It was sooo cool being able to walk back into the chapel and see everybody that I knew. Let me tell ya, it felt like my "welcome home". It was the largest baptismal service I had every seen, and two of my recent convert families were there. I got to see the missionaries that were in my old district, I got to see my hijo (the elder I trained) Elder Ferrel!!!, and I got to see Elder Duke again. I was in a trio with him and Elder Anderson when I first got to Texas. He took my spot as district leader, after having been my zone leader up on Corpus. Yesterday was the best day ever.

We're still pretty stoked for this gigantic family that we're teaching. I love having lessons with them. I have not taught a lot of people who have had such a strong desire to learn more and to keep the commitments that we leave them. They are such a sincere family. Hopefully all continues to go well. They really love the ward. The Spanish families here in Edinburg are amazing. There's a Spanish branch in michigan right? I need to check it out when I get back home.

I can barely believe that I'll be calling home this weekend. It feels like just yesterday that I was calling home on Mother's day when I was in Rio Grande City. How much has happened since then?! My goodness.

Les quiero muchisimo!

-Elder Brett

Yesterday was the best day ever. This time I mean it for real. Bro. and Sis. G____, who I knew when I first started my mission in Rio Grande, now live in Edinburg and they took me back to Mercedes/Weslaco so I could participate in the baptism of the Ochoa family. They are an awesome awesome family that I grew real close to but was forced to say goodbye to before their baptism when I left for Edinburg. I was able to baptize the daughter, Vanessa. I'm so glad that I am still close to my old area! It was sooo cool being able to walk back into the chapel and see everybody that I knew. Let me tell ya, it felt like my "welcome home". It was the largest baptismal service I had every seen, and two of my recent convert families were there. I got to see the missionaries that were in my old district, I got to see my hijo (the elder I trained) Elder Ferrel!!!, and I got to see Elder Duke again. I was in a trio with him and Elder Anderson when I first got to Texas. He took my spot as district leader, after having been my zone leader up on Corpus. Yesterday was the best day ever.
We're still pretty stoked for this gigantic family that we're teaching. I love having lessons with them. I have not taught a lot of people who have had such a strong desire to learn more and to keep the commitments that we leave them. They are such a sincere family. Hopefully all continues to go well. They really love the ward. The Spanish families here in Edinburg are amazing. There's a Spanish branch in michigan right? I need to check it out when I get back home.
I can barely believe that I'll be calling home this weekend. It feels like just yesterday that I was calling home on Mother's day when I was in Rio Grande City. How much has happened since then?! My goodness.
Les quiero muchisimo!
-Elder Brett

Hello familia,

I am now in the beautiful city of Edinburg. It's weird because the city is actually quite beautiful; I haven't seen a city like it in about a year and a half. hmm. 

Anyway, my companion's name is Elder Covington. We're getting along great. We are working with some pretty amazing people so I'm not missing Mercedes as much as I thought I would. I still want to stay updated on the people over there. Elder Ferrel will hopefully keep me up to date.

I'm in a car area again (I'm not sure if that's a good or bad thing). Elder Covington and I are the zone leaders in Edingburg, but he's the senior companion and I gotta say, it is pretty awesome being a junior companion again. It was really stressful being a district leader and training a new missionary last transfer. I got a new load now being a ZL but I feel like a large load has been taken off my shoulders. Maybe because I went from being in a large district to a small zone. There were 8 in my district but now there are only 12 in this zone, including my companion and I. It's pretty cool. Easier to keep the unity in a smaller zone. We're about to go play some basketball in McAllen with a bunch of missionaries. That's definitely a benefit of being close to McAllen; there are a bunch of missionaries close by, as opposed to when I was isolated in Rio Grande and Corpus Christi. 

Well, I'm excited to get to know the area better and keep working with these people. I hope I'm here for a while. That's what I said in Mercedes and I got my transfer call the next day. Maybe I better keep my mouth shut. 

Anyway, love y'all mucho!

-Elder Brett 

April 16, 2012

Wow. I can't believe I head out tomorrow! I'm gonna miss Mercedes so much! ahhh. Yesterday was probably the best day ever (How many times have I said that in my emails?). But this time I'm serious! This kid named Draven finally got baptized (I was privileged to perform the ordinance) and the A___ family came to church. Remember the family Elder Harris and I found? We sang "Eternas Puedan Ser Las Familias". Well, it's been a long teaching process, a lot of doubts and obstacles to overcome (He preaches at a Pentecostal church), and there were many times where I thought that we should probably drop them but we'd pray about them to confirm our decision and we always felt like we should keep teaching. Yesterday after church, we took pictures and afterwards they thanked me for not giving up on them. Sis. A____ then said that it won't just be them getting baptized, but other family members too! Turns out, we ran into her sister-in-law the other day without even knowing and she called Sis. A____ and mentioned her interest in learning more. Anyway, a lot of cool things are about to happen. Too bad I'm getting transferred right? This is why I don't want to go! But it's okay. There are some cool people waiting for me in Edinburg. I can hear them, just like Elder Harris and I heard Bro. A___ the day we found him. Oh I am so glad that we decided to keep knocking that day when we wanted to go someplace else...

Well, I'll let you know how I like Edinburg. I'm really excited. Can you believe it's already mid April? I remember last Easter so clearly. Elder Stone, Pallo, Giinez and I made breakfast tacos in the morning. We even used a tablecloth on the table, placemats, and drank from actual glasses instead of just straight from the bottle. It was pretty elegant. This year Elder Ferrel made me breakfast tacos de huevos y chorizo but we were in a hurry to church so I ate them on the go. I had a gansito for dessert (Mexican treat, similar to little debbie). Anyway...

Love ya lots!
-Elder Brett :)

April 9, 2012

I'm getting transferred!!!!! I can't believe it. It's funny because on
Friday night, after an awesome day, I was thinking, Hmmm I bet I'm
going to be here for a while. I love Mercedes. I still have 6 more
weeks to train my companero and then I bet he will leave and I'll get
a new companion for another transfer or two. And then out of the blue
I got a call from Presidente on Saturday night and he told me I'm
being transferred to Edinburg. It's not that far away. Another one of
those cities just outside of McAllen. I'm sooo sad to leave Mercedes
and my companero and the families we are about to baptize but I'm
excited to start again in a new area. I'm actually not leaving until
next Tuesday so I still have one final week here. So sad...
The other night I was brushing my teeth and we got a text from another
companionship in the district and they mentioned something about peer
pressure, but Elder Ferrel didn't understand it so he exclaimed in his
loud Mexican voice, "Peer pressure? What in the world is that!?" Oh
man. If only you could hear it. His english is so good but I love when
he uses an english phrase that he's learned and then tries to sound
out something unfamiliar. He's got an awesome accent. Priceless.
Every time Elder Ferrel and I decide who's turn it is to pray, we have
this tradition of either saying, "Who, yo?", "Quien, Me?", or "Who,
tu?" Haha and then the other day we were about the leave the apartment
so we knelt down to say a prayer but once again, we were unsure of
who's turn it was to pray. I told him that in order to decide who
would pray, we were going to play a game: We were to list off names of
metals in spanish and the first person to not be able to think of one
would say the prayer (You'd think that I would have the disadvantage
right? wrong). I told him, "okay, I'll start. Bronce!" (bronze). He
went next and said "Oro". So I said okay and bowed my head and crossed
my arms so he could pray. Haha. The verb "to pray" in spanish is orar
and the first person present is "oro". But, it also means gold. haha
it was sooo funny. He paused for a second and I could sense him trying
to figure out what was going on as I had my eyes shut and head bowed.
After a few second I lifted my head while holding back laughter and
looked at him. He was smiling. And then he said the prayer. Again, it
was a priceless moment.
It's getting HOT. I am so excited for the summer. Elder Ferrel is
dreading it. I asked him "But aren't you from Mexico!?" and he said
Yeahh but I just go outside to get done whatever I need to get done
and then go back inside. No knocking doors and riding bikes all day.
True true.
Well, we are getting together to play some futbol. I can't wait.
There's no school today so we'll have some members playing with us.
That's the best. They got soccer in their blood.
Love you all!
Elder Brett