Memorial Day

Wud up Fam!

Hey so Happy Memorial Day! This week has been very successful for Elder Otis and I! We didn't have too many Zone Leaders responsibilities to fulfill this week, which was a blessing because we taught 28 lessons this week!!! And picked up 7!!! New Investigators in our area! We definitely tore it up this week and have been working super hard to progress our area. I have bad news though, I have not recorded the video for Abby's baptism yet but I am determined to do it before tomorrow is over! We've been talking to the Sarmiento family and they said they could even send it to you online so you can just pull it up instantly? I don't know, you'll get it though. To be totally honest, I don't even know how I am going to do it, I want to make the video somewhat fun so I've been thinking outside the box... We'll see what I come up with... hopefully she'll like it. 

Anyways, this week we also had Dinner with President and sister Martin! It's actually really nice to be so close to them all the time and spend more time with them. It's going to be sad to see them leave next month.   This week we also helped some missionaries clean their apartment. It was terrible! Mom, you know it's bad when even I think it's bad... ha ha. But we bought some cleaning supplies and stuff and we spent a couple hours deep cleaning their apartment as a district. It was actually a really fun bonding experience. We have Korean elders in our Zone and we have been spending a lot of time with them lately. It's actually their apartment that was the disaster! Korean culture :( ... ha ha. But it was good President encouraged us to do so and he said he'll pay us back. Which he has forgotten to do, therefore I am broke again :( it's almost a new month so not for long! May went by way too fast... transfer calls are already coming in 2 weeks.

We have been having some awesome spiritual experiences this past week. We made a new dinner thought that we share with the families that feed us and 75% of the time everyone cries! It's really powerful and we get their trust with that and then we lead it into finding people that God has prepared to receive the gospel. And we have gotten a ton of referrals this week from this message and have been talking to a lot of new people! It's so great! Hence, our 7 new investigators this week! 3 of them even showed up at church, which was very exciting! Hopefully we can keep this up and we are going to do everything in our power to help them keep progressing!

Crazy news: I got in contact with former Elder Bennett this week! He told me he's getting married to one of the girls (Amber Ostler) that we taught back up in Lancaster! Crazy!   

Dad! We went on a hike last Monday up Towsley Canyon and made the mistake of not taking water... talk about some serious cottonmouth! I was just laughing to myself about that hike me and you went on... I don't think anyone else will realize how funny that really was. "You just had to be there" ha ha. 

Well, thanks for everything you do, you amazing family of mine! I couldn't of asked for a better one. Keep being you!

Good luck at your baptism my favorite little sister in the whole wide world! You're so awesome! 

I Love you all,

Love Elder Brady

---No Regrets---

Stephen Winkler's baptism!

Hey Fam! 

So, where to start... Stephen's Baptism! Steve got baptized last Sunday and it was an awesome baptism like always! We were scared no one was going to show up, but it was announced at church and a lot of members got in their cars right after church and went straight to the stake center to witness his baptism! Bless their hearts. Stephen's brother even showed up! None of his family is really supporting him with this decision, but it was an awesome reunion when his brother showed up! So it was a great turnout, and Steven bore an amazing testimony to everyone there after his baptism. I got the opportunity to perform the baptism! He is such a great guy. Super smart, amazing testimony, but just a little socially awkward... It's actually hilarious to me thought and makes me laugh all the time. We get along pretty well. 

I got to see Mother Helaman and Pops yesterday at the baptism too! When she saw me there, I went to give her a hand shake (ha ha) and she said, "get that out of here!" and gave me a hug and a kiss on the cheek! Ha ha their awesome just not the most ideal thing to do in public... Anyways, their house is pretty much sold now so they will be living somewhere else in October. Then in June, when she retires, moving to Utah! It was so good to see them all again! 

I've been hearing through the grape vine and from Elder Norton and Elder Chunn themselves that they aren't doing too well together. I guess their chemistry isn't mixing too well right now... It's very sad to hear news like that. It's so rough to be stuck with a companion that you don't like. I am so grateful that all my Companions are like my best friends! I've been super lucky with the companions that I have had for the first year of my mission! I hope my luck continues! 

Well, we have to get going, but my last thoughts would be that, yes, I will send a video your way of my testimony/baptismal thoughts for Abby's baptism. I have a card I haven't put anything on yet so I can just use that one. Hopefully it will be good, I have no idea what I am going to do, but if it sucks, just don't use it I guess... ha ha.  I am so excited to hear about Abby's baptismal preparations! That is my life 24/7! So news like that is dynamite! Especially when it's your little sister! I love you Abby!!!

Well, everything is going really well! We just gave another Training to our zone about finding new investigators on Thursday and it was a lot of fun but we are very grateful right now that we don't have to give one this week... thank goodness. Last Thursday was Zone Conference and Valencia (our zone) and Santa Clarita Zone (my last zone) did it combined! It was so much fun to see all of them again as they say," Elder Brady, come back to us!" ha ha it's amazing, the relationships you establish on a mission is such short amount of time! I love it! I love it! I love it! 

Love, Elder Brady

---No Regrets---

Phone call leftovers

Hello Family! Long time no talk! :)

Yesterday was amazing! It was so good to hear your voices! It's nice to actually hear you guys and know you're still alive and I'm not just randomly e-mailing! Ha-ha I LOVE PHONE CALLS!

So I don't know what else I could possibly share right now... Well actually today, for P-day, Otis and I planned a zone activity for our zone and we went to the park and played volleyball/ultimate Frisbee/basketball act. And spent $40 on pizzas/watermelon/drinks for them! We are trying to be the best zone leaders they've ever had... ha-ha. Nah JK. But it was awesome today to get our zone together again and bond with them and have some fun! We are very lucky to be apart of such an amazing zone!

I love you guys and thank you for the amazing conversations yesterday! I have the best family in the world and thanks for the sweet advice! Etc.! It definitely pumped up my spirit as always! Whoraw!

Love you all! Have a great week!

Love Elder Brady

First week in Newhall

Sup Family! Hey! :)

Thank you all for the words of advice and pictures! They definitely lifted my spirit and made me laugh.

Well, I honestly don't even know where to start for this weeks e-mail... I feel like I have experienced a month worth of stuff in this past week. Going from the most comfortable/ laid back "chill" lifestyle, all the way up to Zone Leader is definitely a slap in the face... I didn't even have the opportunity to be a District Leader...? Anyways though, I have never been so tired my whole mission. We are over 23 missionaries all in the Santa Clarita Valley. 3 separate Districts. This would be super overwhelming if my companion wasn't so freaking awesome! We didn't know each other before we became comps and now just after a week we feel like we have known each other our whole lives! One of those feelings where you guys just click right off the bat and work together very well. We feel like we were best friends in the pre-earth life or something! Ha-ha

It's all really good though, I just hate Drama. And missionaries are full of drama and we are in tune with what every companionship is going through (and talk to President Martin like every other day which is really cool!). It definitely is a handful. I feel like I just got my feet wet this week. I got thrown into the ocean and it seems like everyone is watching to see if I sink or swim... so far I am proud to say I am still afloat :) We have Zone Leader Council (ZLC) tomorrow where president instructs all the ZL's. Then we are attending Leadership Training on Thursday where all ZL's and DL's meet together and we will be providing a training for that. Then we have Combined District meeting on Friday where Elder Otis and I will be giving another training to our whole zone! Goodie!!! Definitely not excited for this week either... Trainings/Meetings/working with missionaries in our zone, fill a lot of our time, but Elder Otis and I are dedicated and extremely motivated to set a good example and progress our own area at the same time! 

I have never had a companion like Elder Otis before, no offense to my other comps, but he is super awesome! He is 21, from Buffalo, Minnesota and only has 5 months left before he goes home. We have been 100% obedient this past week and have really hit it hard so far! We are exhausted 24/7 but it is well worth it. I have also never felt the spirit this strong my entire mission! We just love it! We feel like amazing things are about to happen so we just keep doing our best. We have set some awesome goals to keep us going everyday and tools to keep our Zone focused. Heavenly Father is definitely blessing us and helping us by giving us strength to obey Him. He will never give us a commandment we cannot fulfill (1 Nephi 3:7). Anyways I could seriously type all day from all the things that we have learned just this past week. But I can fill you in on more next Sunday with our Phone call!!!!! Yay!

I'll most likely call you around 1:30ish here, which will be 2:30ish there? Correct? It will just be after you guys get home from church. Our church is from 9-12. This past Sunday at 7:00AM we had a meeting with President Martin and the Stake Presidency about how the missionary work is progressing. Definitely some inspired leaders! That was a very uplifting meeting with them. Then at church it was fast Sunday and we were the first ones to bear our testimonies, and together we dropped a spiritual bomb in there! It was amazing and I think I know the entire ward already and they are super cool and friendly. I already love this ward :) like all of them came up to us and thanked us for our testimonies! I love missionary work! Not so much of this Zone Leader crap but hopefully it continue to get better and more comfortable. Well this is all for now, love you all! Have a great week and looking forward to Sunday!

Happy 8th Birthday this week Abs! Abby you are getting so big! When I saw that picture of you by the water I thought it was Lyndsey or Kristin! Ha-ha

Happy Late anniversary Kris and Jas!

Love Elder Brady

===NO REGRETS===

What the transfer??

Crazy stuff... So transfers slapped us in the face this time. So all along we were thinking that Norton and I would stay together since we were doing so well and we were in the middle of being apart of miracles! But Norton has been here for almost six months now so we were thinking it could be time for him to leave. So transfer calls usually come on Saturday morning... so we were a little shocked to see him calling us Friday morning... Elder Norton said, "It's for you." So I got the phone and talked to Pres for a while and basically the punch line is that he has a "special assignment" for me and said I am going to be a zone leader with Elder Otis covering the Valencia Zone. What the heck! It doesn't make any sense at all but I guess duty calls... So I am leaving in 2 hours to my new apartment and I am already packed and ready to go. Serious bummer. I felt like I just got my feet wet here and finally started to have a lot of strong relationships with people in this area. It feels like I'm leaving home AGAIN and AGAIN...

Good news though, Stephen has moved his baptismal date to May 20th and he asked me if I would baptize him! I felt very honored and it lifted my spirits to hear that. Well I don't have too much else to say right now besides Donna's baptism went perfectly! And with her coming to church for the past 7 years, she has A LOT of friends in the ward and it was seriously like sacrament meeting attendance for her baptism! It was amazing.

Actually another thing that happened this week was Mormon Helping Hands. We all went up to the aquatic center and painted 2,000 ft. of fence! There was a big turnout so it only took like 3 hours. Ha-ha

So another good thing is that the Valencia Zone is right next to the Santa Clarita Zone (and both in Santa Clarita Valley) so I'm just moving a couple miles away... The only problem is that I am going from a "suite mansion house" (best place to stay in the mission) to the one of the "worst apartments in the mission." So it will be good to bring me back to reality ha-ha. I'm really going to miss Brother and Sister Maxson though, we've become pretty attached to them and I wasn't expecting it, but they were actually Very emotional about the news. They shared some very heartfelt things with us and wish that we were their sons. Elder Norton's new companion coming in is Elder Chhun. He's from Cambodia and speaks little English. So things will definitely be much different next transfer. We are both pretty sad though at the unexpected change...

It will be good though :) I don't know when we will call on mothers day yet, I don't even know when my new ward starts... so hopefully I will have more information next week?

Love you all! Thanks for the support!

Love Elder Brady

*NO REGRETS*

Stephen and Donna

Hello family! Firstly, I am very excited and proud to tell you that this week was almost as good as last week! I know that seems impossible, but Stephen came to church AGAIN on Sunday and we taught him for an hour and a half after church! We invited him to be baptized and he eventually said YES!!! We had to address some of his concerns such as how he doesn't need to be baptized because he has already been baptized twice! Etc. But he now has a better understanding, so we set the date for May 13 and promised him he will be prepared for that date to be baptized as long as he keeps his commitments we give him! He already asked bishop Stanley if he would speak at his baptism and planning an after party to celebrate his baptism :) I seriously can't believe it... We now have 2 investigators who will be getting baptized within the next month! This is unheard of, Thank you for all your prayers! They are definitely being answered! I feel so lucky to be apart of all these life changing experiences, simply because we don't feel like we are even doing anything special and Heavenly Father is blessing us immensely! Saugus 3rd is officially back in business after being in a "drought" for 2 years! I honestly don't even know what else to say... words cannot describe these experiences as a missionary. :)

Besides all these many miracles that are taking place, I will hurry and give some details about the rest of this past week for your sake mother dearest :)

P.S. you used the word "EPIC!!!".... Perfectly! Your are such a cool mom. Definitely the best one EVER! You da bomb :)

So first we actually did something fun on P-day and went with the Zone Leaders up to Castaic Lake and hiked around through the trees! We skipped rocks and watched all the boats fly around out on the lake, which was probably a bad idea... It was torcher! I want to wake board so badly! It was hilarious though, Elder Emery asked me, how far away do you think that boat is from us? and Norton and I both answered 14 months... ha-ha

P.S. he wants to come with us to Lake Powell when we get back :)

Anyways, we also had interviews with President Martin this week for the last time... Sad, he's getting ready to leave us... While we were in the interview he told Elder Norton and I how we have done exactly what he has sent us here to do. He talked about how there are two different kids of missionaries, Project missionaries and Partner missionaries. He said he usually doesn't put two partner missionaries together very often, but this was a special case and Saugus needed a spiritual bomb. He also referred to us a "Powerhouse Companionship!" Interviews with President are always a spiritual boost! He is such a great guy. And it was very good to hear that we are accomplishing what were here to do. It's the best news you can hear as a missionary from a mission President.

Well I hate to cut short on this e-mail, but I got an e-mail from Mike Pollard!!! and I need to respond to that real quick. Sorry I didn't answer all/really any of your questions mom, just know that everything is Awesome, and if you have any doubts just ask Dad how I'm doing, he doesn't feel bad for me anymore :) ha-ha

I love you all! Have a great week and thanks for everything!

Love, Elder Brady

=*=*=No REGRETS=*=*=

Do you believe in Miracles?

Thank you all for the news again! ha ha and yes Abby, I can still do a back flip even though I am "fat" now :) Dad, nice work in action! I bet Paul and Deanna with be happy with this decision! So much remodeling... I don't even know whose house Logan is in, in that picture! It could be ours for all I know ha ha.

Well to answer some questions, brother and sister Maxson are probably moving to Logan area around June 2013. Richard Maxson is retired and Sandy Maxson will retire next year right before the move. She works as a special Ed teacher at La Mesa Middle school. So their plan is to move right when she is done working. She has a lot of family in Utah and they want to be more involved with them.

The weather this week was incredible as well! People in this area say they have never seen it rain that hard in a long time. We experienced a huge rainstorm! We were actually in District meeting when the best part of the storm rolled around ...There we were, bearing testimonies ect., as the lightning was unleashing, FLASH! BANG! POW! We came to the conclusion that each time it snapped, it was the heavens approval, which made it very epic :) ha ha it was fun.

So some great things happened this week! Miracles!

At church yesterday Stephen walked in again! He stayed for all three hours of church with us and loved it! We even taught him another lesson right after church! He was definitely on a spiritual high! We are going to meet with him again tomorrow and invite him to baptism! So wish us luck! All of this wasn't even the best part... another bigger miracle happened this week! Remember Elder L. Tom Perry's prophecy about if we consistently teach 20 lessons a week Great things would happen?! Well it's true! We are going to harvest the first baptism in this area in the last 2 years! A sister Donna Mathews (an eternigator who has been coming to church for the past 5 years and been taught many times) came up to bishop yesterday and said she is ready to get baptized!!!! So that is going to happen on the last day of this transfer! The 28th @ 3:00!!! We have to meet with her a lot this week to make sure she is good to go and still knows everything. Then bishop will announce it at sacrament meeting next Sunday and everyone will be blown away! Donna has been coming for so long that she even has a church calling! Ha ha.

All of this has strengthened my testimony so much about being diligent and not getting discouraged! Because, with God, All things ARE possible! Even baptizing in a dead area! And we just need to remain diligent to the things we know are right so we can "win the prize!"  YESSSSSS!

I love you all and please keep our 2 baptismal candidates in your prayers as they progress these next two weeks :)

I let you know how it goes when I talk to you again next week!

PEACE!!!

Love, Elder Brady

===NO REGRETS===