Family!

I love you guys so much! Thank you for all the goodies!  Everyone was so jealous! We have had a lot of fun with that hoop and I know there are more great times to come.  You are the best! I thought I would have more time to write people back but by golly was I wrong! This place never slows down.  Always teaching, learning, studying, eating, little sleeping, attending meetings, class and choir!!! Crazy! I hope once I get out to California into the field it will slow down a little.  I think if I was staying on the MTC's schedule with being inside so much in a classroom for 2 years I would explode!  So right now I am waiting for my laundry and it is super chaotic in here. 

(Next day... ran out of time yesterday, p-day ends at 5:00pm)
Come to find out, everyone was stressing out yesterday and we all had a hilarious moments to share.  Elder Smyth, "Look how bad my day was yesterday!" (holding up his tie with a huge stain going down the front of it.) I was laughing so hard I started crying!  As much as we are in class, we have so much fun in here and makr it so much better than it is supposed to be.  For instance, if you read Ether 15:30-31ish, our moral of the story is "if your down and feeling like shiz, just try and get back up!" Yeah, we got pretty creative in here and it is awesome. 

We have been teaching "fake" investigators and I love it.  The scenarios seem so real! Out of the 5 that we are trying to baptize, we know one, Bryce Lake! Bryce skipped out on our appointment today so we had to teach a random Athiest.  He was an italian guy who wouldn't turn off his music and kept offering us wine.  It was tough but we know he felt the spirit and we taught him how to pray and he loved the peace he feels around us.  So basically, we still planted a really good seed and left on such a good note that he wanted to kiss us before we left.  He was so excited to see us again! 

I have taken a coupld of pictures at pretty random times that I will try to print out to send to you guys.  Today we got to watch the Stadium of Fire fireworks from inside the MTC.  It was hilarious how excited everyone got.  Kids Elders attitudes really make life so great in here and it will be a sad day when we leave this place.  We were talking about it yesterday as a district and it was sad and crazy to think that we are already half way done.  It  really has been so great in here. 

Sorry I have been so busy that I don't have much time to write everyone, I feel bad.  Every second is so valuable here and this letter has taken four days to write!  Thank you so much for all letters from everyone and packages!  It felt like Christmas! Thank you for everything, you guys are great examples and the only reason I am where I am right now is because of all of you!  I feel like I have so much to share but can't think of anything right now because I am wasted so I am off to bed.  (11:23pm - the latest we have stayed up because of the fireworks!  We are usually asleep by 10:30pm)

FAMILY!

So right now me and Elder Norton are sitting in class waiting for everyone (the rest of our district) to come back from getting their immunizations cards signed off.  Elder Norton and I are on the ball today and really getting in the groove of things.  We have learned some amazing concepts and lessons such as when being a missionary, the message you are giving is ALWAYS the same, it's all about how you present it that really matters most.  So just cool stuff like that.

There are a lot of rumors going around right now that the entire Presidency is here this week and everyone keeps saying "Have you seen President Monson yet?" Elder Norton and I have yet to see anyone from the Presidency or apostles from the quorum of the twelve.

(This is 5 hours later)
So right now I just finished getting ready for bed and I have 10 minutes of free time to write, I have been trying to write in all the free time I have, but there is only one problem, there is no free time... until P-day at least, which is Wednesday.  So I have a while until I can write a legit letter.  But for the mean time, Elder Norton and I are having a great time in here, we really have a radiance among us.  Everyone else has been like "today is forever long!" Elder Norton and I looked at eachother and couldn't believe we were at dinner already.  It's been going really fast so far.  Elder Norton and my personalities are great together.  Oh! I saw Elder Ziser, Elder Lowry, Elder Shipman, Elder Mecham, Elder Egbert (who I played B-ball with, is in my zone and we play ball together still!) Elder Cutler, Elder Chase Lindsly (played baseball with him on Ken Doyles team)... oh sorry, lights out now, I will finish tomorrow!

Well now it's six in the morning and so far waking up has not even been bad at all.  There are so many Elders up showering, walking the halls, and just getting ready for the day.  It's not hard at all when you see 3,000 other missionaries doing the same thing.  Elder Norton and I have decided we will "go and do, not sit and stew!" Which is what some are doing...

In my room is Elder Norton, from South Jordan, Elder Gallup, from Cananda (he is really funny and always has the biggest smile on his face while saying "eh" after every sentence), Elder Mcgaughy, from Tennessee. He is such a great worker and very dedicated.  He talkes like a cowboy and says "ya'll" and stuff like that.  Our room is the BOMB! I know we will have alot of fun while we are here.

Emails are pretty hard to stay connected through because of time and trying to get a free computer in the lab.  I will try to get in there on my p-day which is still yet to come. 

6/24/11
I am just sitting here with the other 3,000 missionaries in the autotorium waiting to go to lunch.  We just finished listening to a fireside/devotional where David A. Bednar just talked to us for an hour!  I love it here, the spirit is always so strong in the MTC and everyone is so friendly.

We played kickball today out on the field where you dropped me off.  It was our district verses another district.  It is hilarious! It's a good environment!  Elders yelling "come on Relief Society" when someone takes too long (no offense mom) ha ha. But it is a good time and our district is awesome.

The MTC is awesome!  Really the only place where you can feel the spirit 24/7.  I will send this letter off/or this compositions of thoughts I've compiled the last couple of days.  Thank you and love you guys!

Love, Elder Brady

Our first letter...

Today we got our first letter from Elder Brady...

FAMILY!
Well hello! It's been a while. Like, almost a full day now! I would have to say that the first day went by really fast for me. They are keeping us really busy. Constantly. All the time. But yeah, I freakin love my companion! He is so chill, we clocked right off the bat. We are both writing letters right now and besides that we have done everything else together too. It's awesome. His name is Elder Norton and he is from South Jordan ha! Yes, attended Brigham, but we have put that behind us... He reminds me so much of Tyler Doyle, looks and personality wise. He is way funny.

Mom, this truly is the happiest place on Earth, everyone greets one another, handshakes, and smiles all around. Dad, thank you so much for that letter, it was awesome! I already got two "Dear Elders" from Colby and Joe. Bless their souls those thoughful fiends. Well its like already 10 minutes past bedtime so I have to go for now! Thank you guys for being so strong. I love you guys so much! Abby, your my best friend and the greatest/kindest little sister anyone could ever ask for!

Love,
Elder Brady

Missionary Training Center

Today was the day... Tyler officially left for the MTC. It was such a wonderful experience. He woke up bright and early ready to begin his life as a full-time missioanry. He is so ready to go... ready to meet people who are going to change his life for the better, ready to have experiences he is never going to forget and ready to share the happiness he has in his life with all the people in California. He is ready...

We all met at Tucanos in Provo for the last family meal. Ty looked so handsome. There were about 4 other Elders there that were also getting ready to head out. (For some reason it makes you feel better when you know you are not the only family going through this experience.) We took our time eating, laughing and getting extremly full. After we ate we headed over to the MTC where we would take pictures, say our last good-byes and showing him how proud we are of him by trying to keep our composure (easier said than done!)

The area was covered with Elders coming in, Elders that have been there for awhile and families. They all had smiles on their faces and you knew that this is the best thing any family can do together. My Mom, Dad, Abby, Kristin and Logan got to ride in the car with Ty as they drove him into the MTC. The enterance is packed with cars and you would think it was the happinest place in the world with how many people are trying to get in. As you pull up to the curb a bunch of Elders come up and greet Tyler with huge smiles on their faces as others come and take his luggage. They are so friendly and you can see the glow in Tyler's face as he talks them. You can see the excitment in his face.

I know two years is a long time, but just like tithing you give 10% of your life to try to give back all that you have been given. We know Tyler is going to make a phenomenal missionary. We know these will be two years he is never going to forget and we could not be happier for him.

We love you Elder Brady!

Setting apart...

Tonight at 7:30pm Tyler Gordon Brady became Elder Brady! President Peterson set him apart with a beautiful blessing, Mom and Dad shared moving testimonies that made us laugh and cry and we had to finish the night off with Forgurt! As most of you know, nothing that includes the Brady family is ever small so he had quite the supporting clan. We are so excited for Ty and the adventures the lie ahead. We love you bud!

Family FHE

For all of you Mothers out there...

No, I am not a Mom (as of yet) but I bet one of the hardest times as a mother of a 19-year old boy is sending him out into the world to preach the gospel to those who have not had the wonderful opportunity of having it in their lives. 19 seems too young, but we all know they leave as boys and come back as men.

Having Ty be the only boy in the family we are excited we only have to go through this two-year process once. We know he is going to be an excellent missionary who is going to love his experiences and grow more than just in size. He is going to come back with a greater love for the Lord, our gospel and people in general.

Along with all of the "lasts" you go through with sending a missionary off (last movie, last family vacation, last Sunday...) we had our last FHE. We had a blast. We had friends, family and grandparents come over to eat, play games and just be together. We played the beloved "Kan Jam" which was a hit until Kristin did the unbelieveable and made it in the slot to win the game! Congratulations Kristin.

The delicious fruit pizza that Mom and Deanna made...

We love our Mom and Dad

Uncle Paul and Aunt Deanna

Our wonderful grandparents

The blue team

The yellow team

The orange team

The red team

Abby and Lexi

Thank you for all of you that came to our last complete Brady FHE... we loved your company and the fun memories that were made.

Farewell

We all love the events that bring people together. Farewells are one of those occasions. Family comes from out of town, friend you have not talk to in awhile come to celebrate and you all eat more food than your stomaches can handle. Ty's farewell was just this... wonderful.

Our Uncle Ken started a tradition some time ago where when a missionary leaves to go on a mission, Uncle Ken would give them his tie. His tie represented his testimony and he wanted the missionary to go and share it with the world. This tradition has kept going and when Ken passed away, he gave all of us his ties. This has been a tradition that we all as Brady's keep close to our hearts and love.

Usually after the missionaries farewell talk all of the "Brady boys" will take off their tie and drape it around the missionaries neck to take with him. Well, one of Ty's good friends Brandon Shipman was having his farewell the same day as Tyler. He left right after he gave his farewell talk to run over to listen to Brandon speak. While at our house, the Brady boys began hanging thier ties in the tree for Ty to have. It was pretty neat. Tyler came home to a tree full of testimony ties.

As a result we end up having a lot of guys white white shirts on (except Drew) and no ties. Such a awesome experience and a wonderful tradition.

The crazy Brady family...

Tyler with some of his long-time friends

Standing in the tree of testimonies...

We are so grateful for this gospel in our lives and the opportunity we have to share part of our family with the world to make it a better place. We are grateful for all of you that gave your "testimony" to Ty to go and share. We appreciate your love, support and especially your testimony.