General Conference #2

Hakuna Matata Family!!?

Dad, that picture was AWESOME! L Tom. is everywhere! ha-ha that's amazing that you got a picture with him! Okay... I'll let you in on a little secret. and what "20" means! Are you ready?! It's super exciting! well actually it's not really something too exciting, ha, he just challenged our mission to teach 20 lessons a week and great things would happen!... So there's the big secret ;)

Anyways, nice work with the aerator! That machine brings in the dough! I also know how you feel right now ha-ha, playing around with that thing for a couple days made me more soar than any other workout I've done!

Well I am super excited for this week to listen to General Conference! I can't believe it has already been six months! Crazy! We will probably watch the Saturday sessions with the Maxson's at their home then the rest of the sessions at the stake center with all the other missionaries. I will be providing the treats for them as well :) But I will be keeping the notepad for myself this time because I need all the notes I can get! It's crazy how much this mission life is changing me. I remember not really caring too much about these sessions, but now, General Conference is what I live for! And I am working on some really good questions and am excited for them to be answered, because I know they will!

This past week it has been raining quite a bit so biking has been interesting. I have come across a couple roadblocks that I am trying to work out. For instance, I LOVE going knocking and just am experiencing every element of surprise behind every door! It makes my day:) And another thing I LOVE, is my companion, Elder Norton. They are both awesome. But there is just one problem, they HATE each other... So to get Elder Norton to go knocking is like pulling teeth sometimes, but we have successfully done it 3 times now for a couple hours and they have all been great experiences! Giving away Book of Mormon's, trying to progress the work, and find some new people to teach, ect! Very exciting stuff! Now my next task is to try and get Elder Norton to actually say something, rather than me knocking and doing all the talking at every single door... This is one of my questions right now and would love some input on the situations because I am all out of ideas!  

Besides this, I just found out this past week that Elder Salsberry is District leader in Lancaster with Elder Irvine (the missionary I replaced, and Elder Norton's comp before me here in Saugus). They drove down here to Santa Clarita to pick up Elder Beazer's new missionary and they just spent half the day with us while they were waiting for the Greenie Trainings to end. It was so good to see Salsberry and hear about what's happening in my hometown. Elder Arrieta is now home... It's getting to the point where all of the missionaries I was "raised up" with are going home! It's so sad!

The ward members here are awesome. I still don't feel as connected as I did in Lancaster with some of the people but I would say I am close with about half the ward right now. The other half is more of acquaintances but will get to know them better as time goes on. And I keep thinking about how it took 7 months to get really close with everyone in El Dorado and I've only been here for 2 so far, so I'm sure it will be the same. I hope.

Well I am sorry but I am running out of time on this computer, so I will have to get going.

I love you all and hope you enjoy General Conference! Remember to think of some good questions and watch them be answered!

Talk to you again before you know it!

Love, Elder Brady

~~~~NO REGRETS~~~~

L. Tom Perry

Well Hello Family!

Sorry it's so late, but Surprise! We finally got around to e-mail during this chaotically busy P-day!

Today we had the opportunity to hear Elder Perry, Elder Maynes, and their wives speak to us! It was absolutely amazing. Right now I couldn't be any happier with life and feel the spirit so strongly. I also had an awesome interview with President Martin. Heavenly Father truly does call some inspired leaders for His church :)

So our entire mission (180ish) came together for this occasion, and it was so much fun to see all of the missionaries I have ever met/lived with/been companions with/ect. They all feel like family as we all reunited! President Martin had a hard time quieting us down while we were in the church waiting for Elder Perry because we were all so excited! It was so good to see Ludlow, Jackson, Salsberry, Everitt, Coffin, Sister Mix, Sister Stewart, Ruiz, Souza, Arrieta (goes home in 9 days), ect. ect. ect. it's crazy how we all go through so much together, then get called somewhere else and go our separate ways and get totally different experiences to share with each other!  I love it!

At the meeting, L. Tom Perry talked to us about how we need to be prepared, and treat our calling seriously. We need to be teaching all the time and use the power we have with Energy and Boldness! He was so much fun to listen to and had the whole room roaring at times with his jokes :)

Elder Maynes talked to us about being worthy AND sensitive to the spirit's promptings so we can be more effective instruments in Heavenly Father's hands.

Awesome messages! L. Tom Perry is sooo tall! I was not expecting that. Each of us got to shake Elder Perry's hand (I’m never washing this hand again). He asked me where I was from and I said "Draper, Utah." Then he responded with a smile and said,” well that's a very good place :)" Then, I got booted out of line... so that was my 5 seconds of fame with an apostle, and for the record Draper is a very good place :) Oh! also during his presentation he called on Elder Norton and I to read a scripture for him! Coincidence? I think not! (I am actually getting used to this getting called out stuff ha-ha) So I read Luke 6: 12-13 out loud for everyone, so now, that is probably my new favorite scripture!! ha-ha with a side note of... "Scripture that L. Tom Perry asked me to read!"

(Well, an Asian Lady just came up to us in the library and we started talking with her about the church and why we were all dressed up so this is all I will be able to share this week cause we're out of time.)

Sorry for the short letter. Life is very busy right now!

Mom, my back is feeling 100% and I am doing better than ever in every other aspect in life!

Love you all! Love Elder Brady

### NO REGRETS ###

Gaining Weight, Technology, Apple Pie

Wow! Thank you for all those amazing e-mails! That is a lot of information to take in, in just a half hour... Ha-ha. So many things are changing! It's crazy! Congratulations Kris and Jas! Twin girls! I actually could of guessed that... but HOORAW! We don't have enough girls in the family, so bring it on! :) I'm really racking up the numbers now, 4 nieces! It's fun to hear about Logan's speech attempts... I was laughing so hard when I read "awpo doppo" for applesauce! That's hilarious. Well, I’m excited to be around for that stage of life with "The Twins" ha-ha. I am now kind of starting to get another perspective on life, this mission life is beginning to seem more real to me and not as fake of a world anymore, but the things I hear from home are now sounding like some fake world... I guess this means I have been out for a "little while" now and getting used to it? I don't know... But anyways! It's time to answer some questions!

 The members are really good at feeding us in this ward; in fact, they're getting a little too good at it. I have some crazy news, are you ready? So you know how I was trying to gain weight for football and trying so hard to get to 170lbs. and tried so many things but just couldn't do it? Well yeah, I finally figured out what I need to do :) go on a mission... Elder Norton and I stood on Brother and Sister Maxson's scale a couple nights ago and we just laughed! I now weigh 180lbs! HaHaHa. And he weighs 195lbs! We have both gained about 20! Say what! Ridiculous. So that sums up how we are doing food wise... The members are great and it's a lot of fun getting to know them. Elder Norton has been here for 3 months longer than me so he knows them all pretty well. Most people in this area are extremely wealthy... We'll be at their house they whip out their I Pads and gadgets and use them to turn on their TVs and other things in their house! It's crazy! Also I was pretty blown away when one of them wanted to show us a clip and pulled out his I Phone and had a projector attachment and showed us a Mormon message YouTube clip from his I Phone projected onto the wall! Technology... Elder Norton was talking about how insane it is becoming and they will probably have a Plasma I Phone 7 or something when we get back. When people ask us why we don't use these resources, our defense is that our scriptures will never run out or battery. :) 

My legs are definitely getting bigger and the hills, easier.  We probably have just gained 20lbs. of muscle being on bike. So besides this, I don't know what else to share. We are still doing great work together. I just feel that I have been little too prideful with our successes and with how well things are going, so Heavenly Father has given me a dose of Humble Pie that I am currently chewing on... Never take the Holy Ghost for granted. He makes everything work and we are just the instruments in His hands. I am just happy to see how much our Heavenly Father has blessed so many people's lives through us. We are so lucky to have this great opportunity to be apart of it 24/7. It's hard to always keep Perspective! So Heavenly Father reminds us, to help us.

P.s. I got the package Mom! Thank you so much!

Love you all!

Love, Elder Brady

---NO REGRETS---