Congratulations Lynds and B House

Congratulations Lyndsey and Braden! WhaaahWhoooo! That picture was awesome! I have been telling everyone this past week and they thought it was such a cleverly cute way to show it! Come on boy, come on boy... fingers crossed. Lol. :)

I am very excited for this package you speak of that is coming with President Jex! Salsa!!! haha thank you so much!

So yesterday in between our meetings we attended the YSA ward sacrament meeting again for Franco's confirmation and reminisced with some of the glorious memories we once had in that ward. Franco wanted us to be in the circle so we snuck in there and participated. Then Bishop quietly asks, so who is doing your confirmation? Then Franco answered, Elder Brady. In my mind i was like..WhAt? Alright sounds good. Then they put the mic in front of me on the spot... haha good thing i had the confirmation prayer memorized or else that would have been really embarrassing. So i felt super honored that i was able to baptize and confirm Franco.

Then we had our interviews with Pres. which went really well! We talked about how great the mission is and what i am going to do school-wise after the mission and told me what i should look out for when i get home. The rest of it was him basically just trying to get me to self discover on what would be best for me these upcoming transfers. I went on to tell him my expectations for these last two transfers and to have an awesome motivating companion to help me. He then told me that's perfect because he had in mind for me to go ZL again somewhere or to train for my last two. He gave me a list of all the missionaries and ZL areas to choose from and i just got overwhelmed knowing it could be my last mission adventure and companion... So i just told him to pray about it. So the options are narrowed down a little, yet still up in the air. Right before the interview ended he asked me if i would be okay going to back to an area i already served in? Maybe a hint of Santa Clarita/Valencia again? Who knows??? But I'll be sure to let you know what i find out for sure next week!

Sorry it's so short this week, but I've got to go

Love You!

Love, Elder Brady

NO REGRETS

Apology Letter... I LOVE YOU MOMMA

Yeeeah...ummmm...i don't even know what to say to that last e-mail...haha, besides I AM SUPER SORRY MOMMA!!!

That will never happen again! (Even though i am a missionary and nothing bad could possibly happen to me in my little spirit bubble REMEMBER!) But as of last Monday, it was super crazy. We had so much going on and so we were going to e-mail you on Tuesday but didn't get permission from President in time. AKA, he didn't text us back...We had exchanges halfway through P-day with the ZL's so i was in Encino Monday and Tuesday. We had apartment inspections on Monday as well so we did some deep cleaning. We also had to bum some rides to the nearest laudromat to do our laundry and got stranded waiting for someone to pick us up. Basically the same hassle to go shopping as well. Then when i gave a training to my relief society district at the first of the month, i asked them what they were expecting to accomplish this transfer together and we made some visions for this upcoming month. One of their visions they told me was to be ultimate Frisbee champions... So of course i made some phone calls and i challenged the other district to a game of Frisbee for last Monday. It was interesting considering our districts are nothing alike... So it was Me, Ludlow, Yovanno, and 6 Sisters VS. 8 Elders. Needless to say, a super priceless moment when our Relief Society District won! lol. Yet we still turned it into a hilarious spiritual moment when i read the scripture (Proverbs 29:18) saying the only reason we won, was because we set a goal/vision and related that to how important it is to set goals as a missionary, because just like the other district, they had no vision, therefore, they perished... haha. It might of been one of those jokes where you just had to be there?

Anyways, super busy day to say the least and i slept like a baby that night after trying to please everyone except for the most important person in my life!!!... so again I AM SO VERY VERY VERY SORRY Mom and would have e-mailed a later day if we got permission in time...

 

HEy Momma Brady! This is Elder Ludlow I just want to let you know that your son is the most amazing influence for me and Elder Yovanno. <THIS IS ELDER HOLM YOURE SON IS AWESOME> And we want to let you know that he would never intentionally miss writing you on purpose and that we didn't tie him up with yarn, we used Duct Tape, much safer, haha no not at all but I just want to let you know that Elder Brady is a great friend to me and I'm thankful that I've been able to serve with him twice now. I know that will stay close after our missions and look forward to what we become later. Thanks for your son! He's like Elder Holm said, Awesome!!!

 

See what happens when i leave my computer for a second... it's okay I'll be sure to get them back.

So as i was saying, hopefully you have accepted my apology by now, if not, i totally understand... Now i shall go on to give my weekly(s) update.

Franco got baptized yesterday!!! I got to perform it and it was such a special experience with Elder Ludlow and Elder Yovanno being the witnesses. Franco is definitely going to go on to do great things that's for sure! We have already been hooked up with some of his friends and they are becoming interested in learning more as well! Too bad everyone we are finding (such a Franco's friends) we have to had over to the YSA sister missionaries. We feel that we connect with them so well! Oh well, more investigators for the sisters! Wahoo! Still none for us! haha anyways, Franco is going to be such a great example to his friends and family. His member girlfriend came down from University of Utah for the baptism and i know they will be married in the temple in about a year from now. They seem perfect for each other and it seems that she had been waiting for this moment for a long time :) We want to plan a trip with them and the Meza's too!

I am just glad to have some work going on and get to baptize people from my previous areas right now because without that, i think i would go insane having so little work to do right now. Tender mercies from the lord i tell you. lol.

Ludlow is getting his bags packed and starting to send things home and is basically already done haha it's going to be sad to see him go. Everyone is still talking about how ridiculously awesome our Trio is and how well we get along. There is definitely never a dull moment with us three that's for sure! We were just talking about how weird it will be to go back to a duo companionship... I could possibly only have one more companion and if it turns out good with i highly bet it will i could have 100% best friend companions! Awesome!

Lastly we have interviews with President on Wednesday, so i am trying to figure out what i want so i can tell him? It's a crucial moment with only two transfers left...

Well i got to go! Hopefully this letter makes up for the lack of last week.

I Love you all!

Love, Elder Brady

NO REGRETS

5 Week Transfer

Sup Fam!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY GRANDMA ERICKSON!

Thank you mom and dad for those awesome letters this week! That is exactly what i needed. Things are going very well with us, but as far as the ward goes, we still don't have any new investigators for the Northridge 1st family ward... Although, the members here are some of my favorites! The Meza family has now officially adopted us haha, now making my 3rd mission mom... (Mother Helaman, sister Sarmiento, and now sister Meza!)

probably even more than that now that i come to think about it. Also, at least two Grandma's! (Grandma Tripp, and Grandma Kabel!) While I'm at it, a ton of new best friends too! (All of my companions!)

Anyways, i think it's safe to say that i have made a lot of friends/family here in California!

You wouldn't believe it, I always talk highly of my past companions, and i got Johnson and Norton to request each other and they got it!  Now they are serving together not too far from us in Woodland Hills! Hopefully they are doing well and it's turning out as good as i thought it would. Elder Holm got called to train a new missionary so we have been helping him out with that as well. Seeing this new stunned missionary fresh off the plane took me back and i still feel like i just did that a couple months ago, not 20 months ago! Mission time goes by so darn fast. Sorry to say, but right now, i don't feel ready to come home yet... I still have no idea what i want to do in life or where i want to go to school etc. I thought all that stuff would just come to me and i would have time to figure that out, but here i am, and still don't know!... The mission definitely knows how to keep every minute of the day busy and no room to think/research any of that kind of stuff. Basically, i think it would be cool to go to BYU, but UVU was super fun and i liked that... Honestly, i would just like to stay somewhere in the Provo atmosphere... So yeah, i don't know if that answers your question about school mom? But there it is. Elder Yovanno has made his decision of what he wants to do in life... follow me wherever i go... haha and he's pretty serious so i think i have found a permanent roommate for the rest of my life. lol

Oh i don't know if i told you this yet or not, but this transfer is the transfer that is only 5 weeks. So this transfer is also why everyone after this transfer will be going home a week early :(  So basically we only have 4 weeks left together already. We went a whole week with just walking/getting rides from people, now as of Saturday, we got two bikes! We are borrowing two other missionary bikes so we don't have to buy new ones, thank goodness! Elder Ludlow and Yovanno are super unmotivated by the whole bike idea so going around finding some new investigators is pretty tricky with zero motivation... but I'm working on that one now, it's my new game scenario. Wish us luck!

Got to get going now, Love you all!

Love, Elder Brady

NO REGRETS

Transfer 15

Hello!

Big News!

We got transfer calls!

So president doesn't like trios at all but he told us that we were doing very well and basically told us he doesn't want to fix something that's not broken... So yes we get to stay together another transfer! Ludlow called up Pres and told him that it would be his dying(last transfer) wish to have us stay together to help him finish strong! Same with Yovanno, and it looks like the phone calls worked! So they are super pumped right now! And they are finally splitting up the wards! All three of us got moved over to the family ward and two sister missionaries will be going to the YSA ward for now on. We'll find out who it is on Tuesday! Hopefully it's sister Ngalu and Fili, they're our favorite, super chill, Tongan sisters!

Anyways, the only down side to this is that we are giving up our car to the sisters in the YSA ward and they are putting us on bike! Noooo! Elder Yovanno is the only who actually has a bike still... Ludlow's got borrowed/broken/lost and mine was stolen in Valencia. So we are currently trying to figure out the bike situation now without buying one with so little mission time left. We were thinking we would just put some back wheel pegs on Yoko's bike with a handlebar basket and have all three of us ride it :) ha jk.

Sadly, Elder Johnson is getting transferred out of Van Nuys, finally, which will be hard to see him go!

We just accomplished our big transfer goal and finished the Book of Mormon last Thursday! Pres called us and congratulated us but is too busy to take us out to lunch because of the crazy transfer stuff going on right now.

We are going to have to start working extra hard now because ALL of our investigators progressing towards baptism are YSA's. So whoever the sisters are going there are going to walk into a couple baptisms and a golden area that we built up. However, the 1st ward is not so hot... so basically even though we are all staying together, this transfer is not going to be anything like our last one. Franco is trying to move into the Northridge family ward boundaries so that we can continue to teach him haha. We'll see how that goes, fingers crossed!

Well I've got to go! Love you all!

Love, Elder Brady

no regrets 

Finishing Strong

Hey Family!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY LYNDSEY! I LOVE YOUUUU!!!!

This week was a great week! Still experiencing the little miracles all around us. With the exchanges, we had some really great experiences dedicating an entire day to straight up finding! We ran into numerous people who were looking for us and we got some numbers to contact them. For example, we had really cool experiences talking with people who told us they were actually already a member but have been having some trouble sharing the gospel with their neighbor so they actually prayed for a missionary experience a couple days ago, then we show up at their house! Amazing! Coincidence? I think not!

So President wanted to do his checkup with Elder Yovanno and Ludlow, so i got to talk to him as well. I talked to him about going to Newhall 2nd to baptize Brett, and there is a new rule that he is no longer letting missionaries go back to previous areas to baptize... After talking with him for a while, Pres Hall is basically cracking down on a lot of things trying to change this mission to an exactly obedient mission, so when the new missionaries come, that is all they will know and will be okay with it. But as for me, he said since i have been around for a while that he can let this one slide! So i already got permission to baptize Brett on the 24th of March! Then we will also be baptizing Franco March 10th in the YSA ward! Franco found out that we get transferred as missionaries and he got super sad talking about how he has been telling everyone that he has a strong bond with his missionaries! We play basketball with him every Wednesday and we have an official team! It's us three, Franco, and his non member cousin, Allen! It's so much fun and hopefully we will be able to start teaching Allen because Franco keeps talking us up to his friends to meet with us. Franco is probably one of our best friends and has been one of the coolest experiences i have had teaching someone on my mission. We are hoping that we will all still be here next transfer for when he gets baptized.

We will find out what is happening this weekend and the actual transfer day will take place next Tuesday. Next transfer is only 5 weeks long. And that's Ludlow's last one! Crazy! Then Johnson goes home the transfer after that, then comes my time! In the interview with President, he thanked me for everything i have been doing and the "special assignments" he's given me. He asked me what i wanted to do with my last couple transfers and i had no idea what to tell him... Haven't really thought about it too much and he wants me to think about how i would like to finish and he'll make it happen. So i was pretty stoked to hear i can pick whatever i want to do, but i told him i don't think i will. My plan is to continue giving up my will so i can "finish strong". He said i knew you were going to say that but let me know what if you decide what you want and I'll walk through walls for you for what you have done for me. It was a very touching/eye opening experience and Pres got teary eyed and i thought i was going to cry too! We have been partners in crime for some time now and accomplished a lot together these past couple transfers.

Anyways though this is the update for this week, I've got to go now but love you all!

P.s. we should be finishing the Book Of Mormon this Thursday and President wanted to take us out to lunch for such a great accomplishment. Good job Dad! Keep up the diligent reading!

Love, Elder Brady

                                                        no regrets

Confirmation of James

So i have a short e-mail for you this week. Things are still going well, still learning life long lessons every single week, and working miracles. I did get your e-mail mom and dad, thank you so much!

This transfer has gone by super fast! We are getting nervous to see what happens in two weeks when the transfer calls come. Only time will tell.

We have another exchange this week that is taking place tonight and all day tomorrow we are just going to do some spiritual tracting! Just pray and go where the wind takes us all day, contacting whomever God places in our path, we have the faith that we will find someone else who wants to be baptized! Yesterday in church, in the family ward, James got confirmed a member and received the Holy Ghost and was just glowing all day! Then during the YSA ward, Franco, one of our solid investigators who we have been teaching was fasting and got his answer to set a baptismal date for March 10th! So we are super excited about that as well! Oh and big news!!! Remember Brett and Jen? Brian Tavelli, who i baptized in Newhall 2nd, his dad and girlfriend are now getting married in March 16th and Brett is getting baptized March 24th and he called me and wants me to baptize him! I was so stoked when he told me that! So this is all the big news for this week! I love you all! Have a great week!

Love, Elder Brady

no regrets

Three Nephites

Hey Fam!

Things are going super good right now!

We have been tearing it up lately! We had James's baptism yesterday and it went perfectly! It was amazing! All three of us got dressed up and got in the font with James to help comfort him with his fear of water! It was so epic having all of us in the font! Right after the baptism they closed the curtain and we gave each other a hug in there and could feel the spirit so strong and all of us were super happy! Everything is turning up! President has written me some awesome (big headed) e-mails and is super proud how on fire we are right now. Also the Bishops of each of our wards thanked us for everything we have been doing and say that the missionary efforts have increased 10X around here in Northridge! Miracles! Also our dinner calender is full for the month of February already! Incredible! We definitely are gaining the trust of the members around here as well! haha They call us the 3 Nephites because we're working miracles! Great area, Awesome companions, Legit friends(Elders Johnson and Holm), and Fantastic experiences! What more could you ask for? Oh and Sis/Grandma Tripp is taking us 5 out to lunch today again! She also asked me for a picture of me because she wants to sew a portrait for me!

We also picked up some new investigators again this week and we are seeing a trend going on around here. 4 of our progressing investigators are Chinese! We bring them to church and they fellowship each other by teaching each other and talking in Chinese! We're thinking about starting a Chinese branch :)

Besides this, We also have the best district in the mission! They call me the relief society president because our District is all sisters... So I'm right there with you mom! I think growing up with nothing but sisters has prepared me for this moment! ;)

P.s. we are half way done with the Book of Mormon and President has been using us as an example and wants to take us out to lunch to celebrate when we finish!

Well I've got to go, Love you guys soooooooooooo much!

PeAcE!!!

Love, Elder Brady

NNNNNNoooooooo   RRRRRRRReeeeeeggggggggrrrrrrrreeeeeeeettttttttttttssssssssss!!!!!!!!!!!!!