New President! Week 5

Care Package on P-Day.

This week we got our new MTC presidents. They are so funny!! Their names, if you didn't catch on, are President and Hermana Olsen. They are from Texas and they are so nice. kind of an older couple but he sure knows how to connect with the missionaries here. He isn't good with electronics and so in like the devotional last night he said "tonight I decided to trust in this thing (iPad) and the last one I did turned out bad and so this is big." haha and then halfway through he says "you know this is why I don't use these things, they are not supposed to turn off when you want to look at them." He can get everyone laughing. what great people!

This past week we hit one month! Woah crazy how it's already been a month. and what's even more insane is that I leave to Albuquerque in 12 days!! but whose counting hahaha. This past week was super uneventful. Yesterday all the new missionaries came in! and my district got invited to greet them and help them to their rooms. and so as they pulled up it was crazy first of all to see the growth in 5 weeks and also to see how confused and stuff they were. And then when they got out we, of course, said Hola and Bienvenidos and stuff like that. I knew two people that came in and so it was super nice to see some familiar faces and say hi. After that, we went to the devotional with them. I love Tuesday devotionals because one, the choir sings. and two everyone is there and the spirit is so strong there. devotionals are the best. 

At the end of the devotional president invited us to read the introduction to the Book of Mormon and so I want to invite you guys to do the same. if you don't have time to read the whole thing then try and read the last two paragraphs. so cool. 

Gracias, por todo. les amo mucho! tienen un bien Semana!

Beach Volleyball on P-Day.

Bradyn and Elder Black with the Hermana's

Almost One Month! Week 4

Bradyn with the Mexico City MTC PresidentCurtis Bennitt
 and his wife Sister Sheri Bennett.

Crazy to think that in two days I will have been out for one month. Time flies super fast, especially when you love what you are doing. This past week kept me busy. We, of course, taught our teachers everyday like usual and this past week they threw a curve ball at us and made it hard. But along with that, this week they brought in a real person from outside the wall and we taught them. Oof, it was hard. Although, it was nice and we did a good job. It was not our best lesson but it was good. We were talking to our teacher and she told us that you won't know how to say everything but when you talk, even if it is three words, say it with confidence and with your heart and the spirit will do the rest. Super true!! 

Bradyn and Elder and the MTC.

The coolest thing happened the other night, we got the biggest thunder storm I have ever been in, it rained so hard and it was so fun. We were trying to give a lesson and it started raining and you could hear everyone outside singing and dancing in the rain and so when we were done with our lesson we went outside, it was so fun. It was raining so hard, and the thunder was so loud, and the lightning was so big. defidently a tender mercy that I think a lot of people needed at that moment,  some happiness from a rainstorm. 

We have devotionals on Sunday and Tuesday nights, this past Tuesday devotional was our presidents last devotional because. we get new mission president on Friday. I'm super sad to see them go, I haven't gotten to know them personally one on one but they have such a love for missionaries. As they were giving their last talks last night, I think most everyone was crying because it was just sad. One thing that they open everything with, talks, lessons, and everything is "we love you" and you can literally feel their love for you. They are so amazing but I'm excited to meet the new mission president and his wife.

Bradyn, Missionaries, and President and Sister Bennett.

The other day I was saying a personal prayer in my head and I said it in Spanish, but the funny thing was that I didn't realize I was saying it in Spanish until I was about half way through and realized I didn't know how to say a word. My mind was blown. I guess Spanish is coming more and more natural everyday. The Lord is always there for you. If I were to leave you with anything it would be to tell someone "I love you". there is such power in the statement and can help so much. say it to a co-worker, family, friends, or maybe someone you maybe wouldn't normally say it to. You never know how it could change their day. ¡Los amo a todos!

Blessings on Blessings. Week 3

Bradyn at the Mexico City MTC.

How crazy is it to think we are in week four. I am about halfway done with the CCM. I am super excited to go out but it'll be sad to leave behind teachers, friends, and everyone else. However, we don't have to worry about that yet because it's still a while away haha! This has been a good week. Learning more and more and then some more. Just when you don't think you can fit anything else into your brain, you learn more. 

Bradyn and his MTC District.

Down here in Mexico right now it is winter and so sickness is spreading like crazy. I think just about everyone in our district has gotten sick. So with that, we are able to give blessings like crazy. This week I gave two blessings and the other Eder'S gavE a lot too. I was able to give blessings to my companions and Hermana Young. Such a cool spirit with you when you give a blessing. One blessing that stuck out to me this week was the one that Elder Drollinger gave to Hermana Sintima. Hermana Sintimas blessing wasn't for sickness, it was for comfort. She was struggling a lot and had made the decision to go home. After she had made this decision she asked if the Elder's would give her a blessing, and so we did. It was not a long blessing but it was powerful. It was powerful enough for her to realize she needed to stay out and prepare to serve. SO COOL!!! Hermana Sintima is actually going to the California Anaheim mission!!

We have devotionals every Sunday and Tuesday. Devotionals are so nice because you can just listen and chill. This is the last week for the President of the MTC and so its kind of sad. We don't know who we are getting for a new MTC president. I'm sure they will be awesome! anyway. They spoke last night for our Tuesday devotional and they talked about charity. Charity is so improtant in our lifes. I have found that when we have charity it is so much easier to learn and grow. When we dont have charity its hard. So if i could challenge you with anything it would be to find ways throughout the week to develop charity to those you love, work with, and even people you have never even met before. 

Thats all I have for everyone this week. Espero que todos tengan una buena semana. Los amo a todos.

Mexico City MTC

Feliz ano nuevo!! Week 2

Happy New Year everyone! I hope everyone was safe and had fun, the Latinos know how to party every day of the year and especially on New Year's Eve, it was so loud that night. One thing I have learned in the MTC is that every day is basically the same: we wake up at the same time every day, breakfast is at the same time, class is at the same time, and so on. But the biggest thing that separates one day from the next is the spirit. Some cool things that happened this week. 

Bradyn and Elder Black with Elders from their zone.

We have an Elder in our district who has been very homesick, it's really bad, and so we decided one night that we were going to do a district fast for him and pray for him, that he would be able to feel peace and love from his family, us, and Heavenly Father. And so as we fasted we kept him in our hearts, the next day after the fast he looked so good, we asked him how he felt and he said he was still homesick but nothing like it had been the last week. So amazing what fasting and prayer can do. 

Sunday, me and Elder Black got asked by the zone leaders if we would teach the priesthood lesson, need I remind you that this is only my second week, and of course, you can't say no. Lessons are not bad at all unless they are in Spanish. I spent so long praying and thinking of how I wanted to take the lesson. We got our lesson finished and on Sunday we presented it and it went really well! We didn't know a lot but the spirit definitely taught most all of that lesson. 

Bradyn and Elder Black

Our teachers are our investigators right now and so Elder Black and I were teaching one of our teachers just the first meeting, not even the first lesson, and it was so good. We went into it not knowing how she was going to introduce herself, as we started teaching the lesson it just rolled and was so smooth. I don't remember all of what we were talking about but by the end, our teacher was crying and so guess what I started doing.... crying, it was such a great lesson and all in Spanish. I love my teachers and am super thankful for them. 

First haircut at the CCM.

Last night we had a devotional and it was sooooo good. Our Mission President talked about a phrase. "Do it the Lord's way", keep that thought in your mind throughout the week and you'll find that it makes it easier to make the right decision. He also challenged us to read through our Patriarcle Blessing again, read it one day and when you read it that one day get a paper and at the top of it write "I Am's", look for everything in it that God tells you that you are and be that! Then a couple days later, read through it again and on a separate paper look for the "To Do's". As he talked about Patriarcle blessings he called them our Doctrine and Covenants 139. Because our Patriarcle blessings are like scripture but specifically to you! I hope that made a little sense. 

Gracias por todos las oraciones, el amor, y el apoyo. Te amo mucho!

Elder Black and Bradyn.

Bradyn and his district having breakfast.

Feliz Navidad!! Week 1

Bradyn and his CCM District.

How crazy is it to think that it's already been more than a week since I left, but what an amazing week it has been.  I got to the CCM (Centro De Capcitacion Missional Mexico) at about 3:00 pm on Tuesday and ever since then is has been go go go. My companion is Elder Black and he is so awesome. He is from southern Oregon and in high school he did track and swimming, and stuff like that.

Wednesday was my first whole day at the CCM and believe it or not they brought in a real investigator to teach. So all the new people who had just arrived the previous day got to teach this person. That was really the first time I had felt the spirit so strong. Later that night when we had returned to our houses to get ready for bed one of the people in our room was not feeling good at all, so after everyone got ready for bed Elder Black and I was able to give him a blessing, this is something I will never forget. As I have been here, I have found myself a lot more sensitive to the spirit. That same night after the blessing, my eyes couldn't stop watering because of the spirit in our room. 

Bradyn and his companion
 Elder Black from Oregon.

On Thursday we started getting more into a routine. Not having as much of the first time classes and more study and classroom time. My teachers are Hermana Hallel and Hermana Ramirez. They are both from Mexico City and have both served missions. They are so patient and kind to all of us. I think that my district definitely lucked out with them. Thursday was just a normal day, to say the least. On Friday everything didn't seem to go as smoothly as the other days and so I was kind of down in the dumps. That night Hermana Ramirez taught us a lesson from the Book of Mormon and once again I found myself crying because of the Spirit that was present while she was teaching us, without a doubt the strongest Spirit I have ever felt. To give you an idea of how strong the spirit was, my whole district including our teacher was crying, it was honestly what everyone needed. On Friday we had a normal day. Day by day our study time is increasing which helps so much. So as we get more study time we get more time to trust in the Lord when studying Spanish. When we were in class that day, our teacher said something that hit me really hard. She said something along the lines of, "The people that you teach are just like you learning a new language, you don't really know what the scriptures are saying, you don't really know what anyone is saying, but the one thing you do know is that its all true and that's because the spirit is testifying it to you. Your investigators won't know most anything about the gospel but the spirit that you bring into the room when teaching them is what testifies to them and helps them know that it is true.

Fast forward to Christmas Eve, by this time we had three devotionals and the one that was on Christmas Eve was so cool. Elder Pingery from the 70 spoke to us and it was nice because instead of just speaking he had us participate in front of everyone and just included us into his talk, he did so well. 

Bradyn with all his district missionaries.

Christmas was awesome, after breakfast the first thing that we did was call home and man was it good to hear my family. Haha, I love them, but after we talked we had a devotional live from the Provo MTC with Elder Bednar. He reminds me of Elder Holland in terms of just telling it to you how it is. He talked about how you don't need a big sign to do something you just need faith and to follow the spirit. After the devotional we did pinatas, we also got to learn the history behind the pinata which is actually very interesting but then we got to destroy them and that was so fun to take some good swings at that. after the pinatas we did a service project and put together care packages. once again had a blast with that and helping out there. And then we ended the night off with one more devotional. A lot of devotionals but they are all so good, this one was a singing devotional and just about Christ's birth and as always it was so pretty.

That's been my first week in the CCM, so crazy but one of the best weeks of my life. If I had to leave you with one message it would be that no matter the circumstances if you feel incapable or need some help, don't be afraid to ask God for some help. and is one way or another he will help you and it is always just what you need.