November 5, 2012

BRANDO!!!! OH MY WORD!! WAY TO GO STUD!!! man you are going to do great!! and you don't have that long to wait! haha! haha man that's super cool! He'll love it down there! I'm super pumped for him! it's ridiculous how many missionaries are going to south america. it's like an Idaho party down there :) And he levaes almost exactly a year behind. that's kinda cool! Here in two years he'll be home in time for my birthday party ;)

~ps.....last week you didn't tell me who was going on a mission....cuz they were gonna tell me....but i'm pretty sure I need to know. just saying. It«s been driving me nuts trying to figure out who it is!! haha :)

Way to go syd! I'm super excited to hear that she's doing ok. It's amazing to see how well she's doing. That's such a blessing. I know that everything is gonna be just fine. So mom, how long does the treatment work? What is it like? I'm so grateful that Heavenly Father is taking care of her. I know that everything is gonna be just fine with her. She's a tough girl. I'm still praying for her, and everythings gonna be fine. How have Ian and Owen been? Are they taking everything ok? And little Ava? How's she doing?

CONGRATS LUKE AND KYLEE!! brody is so massive!! haha! Luke's just gonna have to deal with it. Basketball players rock! :) haha man I can't believe that. I showed Elder Bergeron the picture and he about passed out! He couldn't believe the size difference! haha! How's Kylee doing? youre not kidding mom, there's gonna be a whole herd of a new generation that won't even know who I am! sad day. haha it'll be super fun!

Man I'm super pumped!! 12 new misisonaries from the stake! that's so great!! sounds like they kept pres. Christensen pretty occupied! :) That makes me super happy! Especially because we had stake conference yesterday and we only had 1 missionary from the Stake of Porto. How many do we have out right now? a lot. And Katie is going to New York! that will be awesome! and Trevor leaves here in a week or two right? Man this is so sick!! I love missions!!! haha :) Todd's home huh? How's he doing? Is he doing alright? How long has he been out on his mission. A year and a half or something like that right? man that's rough. I really hope he can get back out there! And Nick's papers are in too! man the whole world is going on a mission! Ainda bem!! the Lord needs all the workers there are. Elder Holland and the Brethren are saying that "The Lord is hastening on his work." What a great responsibility we all have to do the very best that we can. I'm so grateful for the Lord, and allowing me to be a part of His work. I feel very honored to be a part of it here in Portugal. I'm so proud of our stake! There are a lot of great warriors hitting the fields!! keep it up Grace Idaho Stake of Zion!!

But just so you know, stake conference was incredible!! Isaías went, and it was amazing! it was exactly what he needed and he loved it so much! We're gonna go by tonight to see how he's doing. We're still waiting on the marriage, but it's been incredible to see the extra time. he was ready and had a date set for his baptism, but he just still wasn't sure he wanted to get married, so we waited. And this last week has been so incredible! His testimony has been strengthened SO much! He started bearing his testimony to his girlfriend Raquel telling her that this was the "restored gospel and restored Church of Jesus Christ"!! it was so cool! and she's been reading the book of mormon and really wants to find out which church is the true church. She's progressing really well too! It's been SO fun to see her start to progress. And stake conference was basically all about service. It was really amazing! This gospel is a living gospel that changes the lives of those around us, and not just their lives, but eternities to come. That goes for those that are already in the Church as well as those who still haven't come to know that gospel. But one of the biggest parts of the gospel, is the fact that when we enter in to the gospel, when we've felt the effects of the atonement in our lives, we feel the desire to follow the Saviors example. And when we enter in to the fold, through the means of baptism, we make a covenant with the Lord that we will serve Him and His children. And in stake conference, they talked about our call to serve in the Church as well. We make a covenant to serve with all our heart might mind and strength, regardless of where we serve in the Church, as a primary teacher, Elders Quorum President, Home Teacher, we are called to help one another get home to the presence of our Heavenly Father. I'm so grateful mom, for your example. You've always understood that and you've always magnified your calling and sincerely served. I'm so grateful for that mom. you really are a wonderful example to me. 

The pipe broke again?? Oh man! that is not good. and they didn't even get out of school! sad day!! haha but how great that jim was just "accidently" at the school that day! wink wink :) Thanks for moving that money over mom! I'm gonna have to show you pictures next week, cuz this week we had interviews with president fluckiger, which were amazing, but I don't have time to go shopping, but I am incredibly offended that you don't think I can pick out a good looking suit. Especially cuz I'm in Europe, and all the suits are good looking :) haha just kidding :)

Well mom, I gotta run, But I love you so much. Thank you for everything. I'm super sorry that my letters are always so random and unorganized. I just have so much to say that it all kinda just comes out! and if I missed something, don't be afraid to ask the question again, I didn't ignore that question, it just got lost in my head :) Haha love you so much!!

Love,

Elder Brady

Ps, if you guys send a package for Christmas, we're having a Christmas conference in Lisbon, so you could just send it there and I'll get it easier. If you could just address it like this it will work better:

A Igreja de Jesus Cristo dos Santos dos Ultimos Dias

A/C Elder Jordan Brady

Apartado 40054

1500 Lisboa

Portugal

And then if you could label it as a gift, it makes it easier to pass through customs or something? Idk for sure....but the office said it's easier for them like that. thanks!! love you!!!

October 30, 2012

Olá mãe!!! Ok, Google Translate is completely blown. It took me like 6 minutes to figure out what you were trying to tell me!| I think I got it. I think it had something to do with the spook alley or something like that. Man, i dont' even know! and one of the problems is, i think google translate tries to use decent grammar, but here in portugal, even the native speakers say they don't use good grammar!! haha that's why the missionaries do so well! :) haha just kidding :)

and sorry I didn't write last week. We got a surprise phone call on Friday saying that we had to go to Lisbon yesterday. My bad.

This week was really great! I love this area so much and I'm so grateful for the way the Lord has blessed us. Clara still wasn't able to come to church, because she got sick and didn't go to work for a couple days. But we're gonna call her tonight to set something up for tomorrow. We're having stake conference this weekend, so we're trying to get a big extra push and get people to church! It's gonna be awesome! And another miracle happened! Isaías brought his girlfriend and 3 year old son to church!!! It was amazing!! we're going over there this afternoon to teach him again. We're still working on the marriage thing. Please pray that he can feel ready and the need to be married, and that we can be inspired to help him. He's super incredible! we just need some extra help. :) 

Babies are super great!! I'm super excited for Baby Ava!! I bet that's just an amazing blessing in their family. And it's incredible how Heavenly Father knows everything. The beginning from the end. And the fact that He loves us, individually and perfectly is so incredible. And youre completely right about the differences. We had a man ask us what was different. He believes that all of the churches are the same and that all of them are good, so what is the difference between the Church and the rest of the world. We told him that the difference was that this was the church that Heavenly Father authorizes, and that we can have the fullness of the doctrine, through the book of mormon. It was really interesting. That was one of the coolest lessons we've had, even though it didn't end the way we wanted it to. We talked to this guy a couple weeks ago at his door, and he said we could come back on sunday, but then the next day he called and rescheduled for the next sunday. So we get there, and he lets us in, and we meet his 2 sons and his wife and his dad. It was super cool! his sons stopped playing on the computer to listen to our message. We started teaching the first lesson, and it was really cool. They were asking questions and being very attentive, and the spirit was there super strong. We were just getting to the part about the book of mormon, and then the grandpa started getting a little frustrated and telling us that all the churches were the same because we believed in the bible and the book of mormon came from the bible. and he was pretty acusing. But it was really cool to see how the Spirit took care of everything. As we testified of the truthfulness of the book of mormon, the spirit took over, and the man calmed down, and we were able to have a really great rest of the lesson. Unfortunately this family didn't want to keep investigating the gospel. It really made us sad. They were super amazing and unbelievably nice! but they just said they didn't want anything. It was SO hard. But we really felt like the Lord had guided the lesson. It was amazing. Just another amazing reminder that there are such great people in the world, who just aren't quite ready for the gospel yet. They just weren't quite there yet.

Thanks for the ideas on the games guys! we can still use all that we can get so keep them coming! literally....we need some help :) This activity has been a super cool thing. The ward is really liking it and that makes me really happy. I just love seeing how the ward is starting to come together. I also love how there is something you learn from every single area. Every ward has something to offer. Every person is a great example of something. The Lord has blessed us all with gifts and talents that make who we are, and we can, if we're looking for it, learn from every single person.

I love the idea of preach my gospel!! I love that book so much! it really was inspired by the Lord. I know that as you us it in your studies, you are going to feel a special spirit. Its amazing. it really is. It doesn't matter how many times I study a section in there, I learn something new! 

Haha everyone is going on missions!!! I love it so much!!! Haha we had to joke around with one of the elders that finished his mission last transfer. He was going to BYU and we told him basically the same thing that Dallen said. don't plan on dating, everyones gonna be in the mission field! :) it was fun! it makes me so happy that everyones going a mission!! Brandi and Natasha are going??? That's so rad!!! They are gonna love it! keep me updated on the mission calls! especially brando's! I'm super pumped for him!

I haven't heard from anybody except for Elder Harrison. He sent me a couple pictures the other day! It was super cool to see him!! he looks like he's doing great! staying thin, which is a great thing!! haha I miss him! but by chance, do you know his address in mexico, and damian and sam's addresses? maybe for the mission office or something like that? that would be sweet if you did. I heard from Will Carver and that made me super happy too! I love it so much! They are such great examples, every single one of them. I miss them all!

Well mom, I gotta run. I'm sorry this is a little bit random and scrambled. Today has been a rush and it's just gonna get funner as the day goes one :) I love you so much and I know that Heavenly Father loves us so much. I know that sometimes, we accidently distance ourselves from Him,  and know that it hurts Him. He wants so very much to be an active part of our lives. We just need to let Him in, and when we do, He rejoices. The gospel makes me happy. Living it is the key to happiness on earth, as well as to our eternal progression.

I love you tons!! please keep me updated on missonaries, mother of all storms, and electoins :) Love you tons!

Love, Elder Brady

October 22, 2012

Life goes by oober fast!! another transfer come and gone. We got the call this morning from the AP's. That's one of the perks of being ZL, is that we get to know where everybody is going, and then we get to call them! It's always a blast! but anyways, it turns out for the first time on my mission, I''m staying with my companion. Elder Bergeron and I are staying together for at least one more and I'm SUPER excited! I really love Elder Bergeron a lot. I'm learning a lot from him. And we've got a baptism marked for this weekend and it's so amazing!!! But random fact, besides Elder Bergeron, I've had 4 other comps right? 2 of them are already at home, they ended their missions. So there are just Elder Bond, and Elder Faias left in the mission. Well I found out this morning that both of them are coming into my Zone here in Porto!!! I was SO  pumped I did a little dance for joy in the house :) hahaha really made my day :) I miss those guys! It's gonna be so fun to get to see them!

But yeah, so we're working with a guy named Isaías, or Isaiah in english. He's this AMAZING guy from Cape Verde. He's so incredible! He loves learning about the Savior and about God. He said he would always go with anybody who invited him to go to church, but he never really stayed with any church. Then was we started talking to him, he just soaked everything up! He's been to church twice and LOVES it! And this last week in church was basically an answer to prayers. We had a special sacrament meeting about the Priesthood and was super super cool. And in Gospel Principles Class, we talked about obedience and why we are obedient and its hard to explain exactly what else, but the teacher is AMAZING and Isaías asked for a Gospel Principles book! And we taught the plan of Salvation, and he just soaked everything up. The only struggle that we're really having right now, is that he's not married to his girlfriend and he didn't really have plans to get married (They live together and have a 3 year old son, Leonardo). But we invited him to pray about it and see if that was what he needed to do, and then we called him, and his girlfriend was also thinking about getting married!! MIRACLE!!! the Lord has really just prepared everything and answered all of our prayers, and his. It's been so incredible! and tonight we're gonna be having an FHE with our Stake President and his family! And Isaías is bringing his girlfriend too! This will be the first time we've taught Raquel (His girlfriend) Please  pray that everything goes well! We're super super excited!

And as far as Clara, the amazing sister in the apartment building. Unfortunately, we still haven't been able to help her get to church. She was all planned to come this week, but then she called us a little nervous. She had to go to the hospital but we couldn't understand why but she said she wasn't coming this week. we were confused but then called her Saturday afternoon, and her daughter who was having a rough and dangerous pregnancy (which was causing a lot of stress for Clara) had her baby and everyone is safe and healthy!! the Lord has just been taking such good care of Clara! I'm SO grateful! The Lord has just been working miracles all over our area. I'm so grateful! And I'm so grateful for one more transfer here to keep improving and serving the Lord more sincerely. And the people here are incredible! I love them SO much! I can't even tell you all the miracles that have been happening here, I don't have enough time to tell you them all!! I LOVE GAIA!! :)

And the ward is improving SO much!! We were finally able to have an activity once, just with a couple members and investigators, and the loved it so much, they asked us to do it again, and then there were more, and then even more!!! Now it's a weekly activity and the relief society is starting to get involved in helping with food! It's super fun!!! but I need some help mom, and dad, and ash and everyone who is reading this email. I just need Ideas for fun activities! we usually try to have a spiritual part for 10 or so minutes and then like a related game or activity that helps apply what we learned. We've done and Iron Rod activity, we've done a restoration/apostasy activity (which was fun) and we've done a culture night with American little games like stomp the balloon, flour game and don't eat Pete. All ideas are welcome! we're trying to think about mutual activities we've done in the past, but man, its harder than i thought!! haha :) But it's been really cool! our ward is just working really hard right now. the Lord has blessed the reactivation work here so much! we're working on getting 5 more people reactivated! and we've been receiving references that are progressing very well! If you could all pray and thank Heavenly Father for the miracles that have been happening here, and pray that our ward may continue to improve that would we marvelous :) thanks!!

OK so the miracle with João! the Dad. He's been pretty closed as far as the gospel is concerned, but the Lord has been doing so much work with him! It turns out he's read the book of Mormon 2 times and is almost done with it for the 3rd!!! WHAT?!?! He loves the book of Mormon! and he loves the bishop! He's invited us and the bishop and his wife to come to dinner this weekend! Man it's so cool!! He's opening up little by little. 

Maria Albertina, the lady whose daughters were taken away. She has been having a really hard time, and we haven't been able to get in touch with her very much, because she went to her older daughters house, who lives a ways away. We want to call her this week. It's been kinda hard that way, but the ward has been SO good to help with her. If you could pray and thank Heavenly Father for our stake president, that would be amazing! He and his wife, are LIFE SAVERS!! :) They've helped with Isaías, and Maria Albertina and are just fabulous! 

October 15, 2012

Well as far as the work is going here, It's going great! The Lord has really blessed us so so much! The Lord has blessed us to find some people who are progressing at an incredible rate! We're teaching a sister whose name is Maria Albertina. She has had a very very hard time. We contacted her in the street about 3 weeks ago. She was just walking in the road and we decided to stop and talk to her. She had been operated on her thyroid about a month or 2 ago, and her daughters were taken by the Social Services about 3 years ago, and she has just been struggling with this for a long time. We left her a pamphlet and got her number, but then nothing really happened. Then one day, we were just trying to figure out what we should do. We had a lesson fall through, and we didn't have anything planned. So we prayed, and we had a couple people that we decided to call, and Maria was one of them. She answered and she said she remembered us and we were able to set up a guided visit of the chapel! it was really amazing. She said that she just felt light and relieved. She has been just walking through town for about 3 years. She has just been depressed since her daughters were taken from her. She loved being in the church. She said she could just feel calm. She is a super simple lady. She hasn't had much schooling and she doesn't understand really well the first time, because her mind is always occupied on her daughters, but last night she asked us how it is that she can know if the things we are reading in the Book of Mormon are really really true. She finally is understanding now. And we had a really amazing lesson with our stake president and his family and she really loved it there too. She loves feeling the Spirit. She came to church and really liked it. She was SUPER sad because a sister in our ward is a lawyer and as they were talking she said there's not much chance of her getting her daughters back. I'm not sure why, cuz I don’t know the Portuguese laws very well, but that crushed her. But then after church, we ate lunch and were walking to another appointment, and she was actually sitting with a less active recent convert....just talking in the street! And this less active is starting to reactive and is super cool! Also super simple and humble, but really has a powerful testimony. We had a quick little, almost lesson, and it really was an incredible miracle. She was smiling and laughing and it is such blessings that she has this little old man recent convert to be her friend. I'm still learning patience with her. I'm really grateful for this experience with her. She complains a lot, and cries a lot, because of her daughters. And I'm just trying to learn Christ-like love and patience, because she needs it so badly. Please pray for her and for me.

There are other amazing miralces and people that we're starting to work with, but unfortunately, I'm out of time, I love you so very much mom! thanks for everything!!! Give a hug to Shauna and Kim for me and tell them congrats!!!

Love ya!

Love,

Elder Brady

PS....Can you get on my facebook and talk to Sydney Christensen?? I SAW HER AT CONFERENCE!!!! :)

October 8, 2012

No email this week. Just a re-do from last week. I'm guessing he didn't get my email from last week, so he didn't write, just re-sent last week's in case it didn't go through. However, we know that he is alive and well. :)

October 1, 2012

ok, first things first, I just about PASSED OUT!!! Ashleigh is looking SO good! I can't believe this!! man I can't believe she's a senior already....man mom, you are old.:)
so as far as the strikes or revolts go, the only thing that is really affecting us right now is travel. Like tomorrow, we have to go to Lisbon for Mission council, and there is a train strike. There is only one train that goes to lisbon tomorrow and it doens't get us there in time, so we're taking a bus. Which will just take about hour more, but turns out it is a little bit cheaper, so it works out ok :) we just have to leave porto at 6 to get to lisbon at 9:30 and then leave lisbon at 5:30 to get home at 9ish at night. Its a lot of busriding, but it's all good :) More time to read the scriptures eh? :) So quick question, how are things going in terms of the election race between obama and romney? We here things here and there but I don't really know how much to rely on some of the information iget, because theother day we had a guy tell us that obama had died. It was wierd. but that's a story to tell.

Ok, so we were knocking doors one night about 8:00 ish, and there weknocked a couple and nobody let us in, so then we knocked on this door, and a guy came to the door and was like, "oh hey! good night! how are you? come on in" He shook our hands and like pulled us into his house. So we're like...ok cool, yeah this is great! but then he was like sit down here at this table I'll be right there.So we sat down, and then we just started feeling a little uncomfortable. We looked at each other, and we kinda just knew something sketchy was going on. So this guy, named Manuel, was like, by the way Elder Brady. You look just like me when Iwas little. Look theres a picture. and I didn't look like him.Just saying. ok, so what's new in the world of "evangelização" or in english.....gospelization.....maybe. IDK, but we were just like, um....well we're disciples of Jesus Christ and......then he was like I know I knowI know, but who is the man in the united states that's in charge of the Extra terrestrial exploration? we just sat there. then he was like so who is the leader of the United Kingdom? we didn't know. Then he was like so who is the leader of war in America. We said, obama. Then he said no. he died. I show you in the encyclopedia. Then we were like um....then he was like ok, so heres the deal elders, because you don't know, I'll tell you.... AC, and DC, (being the years before and after the birth of Christ) were egyptian. So therefore, Christ's religion was egyptian. And therefore, we must all be mumified. then he looked over my shoulder (i was sitting across from him) and then started nodding, and saying "uh huh, uh huh, ok" and then started asking us again who was it that had explored space from the United States, and who was the Leader of the war and whatever. really wierd. and everything he said he related back to egyptian religion. and how e should all be egyptian and mummified.

yeah. So you are all probably really confused by this paragraph. but just imagine how confused we were sitting in his house!! haha. so we left a pamphlet of the plan of salvation. He looked at it and said "oh great. Thanks for coming!have a good night" opened the door, and we left real quick. super crazy huh! haha :)

ANyways, random misison story :)

So ash is rocking at volleyball huh? way to go butch! you're rocking it! and you're beautiful. just saying. And way tall. And Britt is killing it! basketball starts already??it's onlyOctober! oh man I'm super jealous britt! rock it out there for me ok? work hard, keep me updated! :) and sarahs working on the euphonium huh? that's super cool! that's what I played i think. Cuz the valves were on the top. Way to go sarah! that things bigger than you are! I really liked playing it. It was a lot of fun! But mom you are absolutely right, my sisters are incredible. I love every single one of them so much. 

Oh yeah, that Idaho Lead thing would be really cool! You did it last year too right? That would be super sweet. It's really cool to have those kinds of discussions. I really like them a lot. How is the student council doing mom? Are you having anymore cool dances or activities? ANd your kindle is super sweet! I forgot you got that. Jesus the Christ is a way cool book. It«'s super hard to read though, not gonna lie. I need a dictionary. Literally. haha :) But the spirit that's there, and the testimony of Christ is incredible. 

AS far as your letters go mom, you're doing great! I love hearing about all of this stuff! You can write whatever you want and I'll love it. Thank you so much for the talk by the way. It was exactly what I needed at the right time. It really helped a lot.Thanks for that. 

So this week the Lord has really blessed us. We've been finding a lot of people! Using the members here has been a little bit hard, but there are a couple families that are super willing to work, and recent converts are just always on fire with the spirit, so we've been working with Diogos dad a little bit. We'rehaving an FHE tonight with Bishop and João. it's gonna be great! if you could pray that everything runs well that would be great! :) He works a lot and is always tired and hard to get a hold of, but the Lord has really blessed us already, because he didn't really want to come to the family night, but now he's coming, so it's gonna be great! 

We've also found this amazing lady named Clara. She was a MIRACLE. we were knockin this apartment building, and then somebody down in the basement was ringing all the doorbells from outside. like all of them. So Clara came out to see what was going on, right as we were coming down the stairs to her door.She just kinda looked at us and we smiled, and there was that little pause, then we just said....olá, we the elders! and  we just started talking to her and then it turns out her husband had died just a little while ago, and she just cried and cried and said she's been praying that she could know if her husband was ok. and then we started talking about the plan of salvation, and we said a prayer with her to help her calm down, and she said we could come back. Such a miracle! but then the second lesson, we just talked a little about the plan of salvaton. She had already read the pamphlet,and was super excited! she cried a little bit as we talked about her husband. but not near as much as thefirst time. We still didn't get all the way through the lesson, and the spirit was just like, just talk to her for a minute. Sowe did, and then we left a book of mormon and the pamphlet for the restoration. Then we came back and she was waiting for us and super happy!she had already read the 1st chapter of teh book of mormon and the pamphlet and was working on reading the plan of salvation again! so this time we taught the first lesson, and she didn't cry at all! she was so excited and happy and she said she just felt so good! and she said her co-workers asked her why she was so happy!! haha! and she said it was because of us! and she wants us to talk to her friend too! it has been such an amazing thing to see the spirit already starting to make a difference in her life. It's been night and day! from the first to the 3rd time we talked to her, she's already a different person! She's going to pray about the book of mormon and she's already said she'll come to general conference this weekend!!! Heavenly Father has blessed us SO much! and whoever was ringing the doorbells was probalby an angel :) :) if you could just keep praying forClara and that she'll be able to make friends with the members taht would be great :)

Well mom, I gotta run, but Iove you so much!! Please let me know if I can do anything for you. I miss you and think you«re fabulous! Love you tons!

Love,

Elder Brady

PS, my ipod wierded out, and I lost my music.I have some that theyhad at them ission office, but If youcould send me the Work CD that would be sweet! thanks :)

PPS....scripture of the week, Mosiah 4:6 I love this one! :)

On Mon, Oct 1, 2012 at 6:08 AM, Jeri Kay Brady <jake1of7@dcdi.net> wrote:

September 24, 2012

Brigham City has a temple now!! That’s great!! I think it was George Q. Cannon that said that every temple built and dedicated lessens the power of Satan on the earth. That is such a miraculous thing! I'm so grateful for the fact the Portugal is preparing for a temple. Apparently tithing is a hard thing here. The economy here in Portugal is terrible. It's horrible. And there is no work. A lot of people are living on the government income, and there are a lot of people who aren't even living off of that. It really takes a lot of faith to pay tithing here. The leaders are really stressing that so that we can have a temple here. My testimony of tithing has really been strengthened here. The people who pay tithing with a pure and clean heart and attitude are SO blessed. I'm so grateful for the gospel. The Lord has blessed us with commandments to guide our lives, and to help us to make the right choices. What are the 3 most common concerns in the world today? Health, Family relationships, and Finances. What has the Lord given us to provide us security and peace of mind? He's given us the Word of Wisdom, the Law of Chastity, and the Law of Tithing. These laws are just ways for the Lord to provide us the blessings and peace of mind and comfort for the 3 most common concerns in this life. It’s amazing how that goes. All of the commandments the Lord has given us are only for our good. We just have to trust in the love the Lord has that he will NEVER ask us to do something that is going to hurt us. The things He asks us to do are only for our good. I know that that is true.

So we had an AMAZING baptism this week!! A young man named Diogo. He's 13 years old, and incredible! His mom is a recent convert who is the definition of the Gospel changes lives. Her life was in rough shape. She was living with a really not good guy, and her son (diogo) had been taken from her, and she was just really really sad and depressed and then one day the elders found her. And then Christ entered into her life. She kicked the really not good guy out. Her ex husband came back and they are going to get married again (we're still working with the husband. He's coming around :)) And she just loves the gospel so much. She bears her testimony to us every single time we're in her house :) It's incredible!! I love her to death. She's named Carla. She's amazing! And so we've been teaching her son on the weekends cuz he still lives with his grandparents during the week. But just for a little while longer. But anyways, this kid is so cool! just a simple humble kid. But at the baptism, his dad came, João. who likes the elders a lot, but he's been a little closed to the church. He reads the Book of Mormon, and likes it; he just won't come to church. At all. haha :) but he came to the baptism of his son. And oh my goodness. The Lord knew that João was there and the spirit was SO strong. It was one of the most amazing things ever!! João was just beaming when he was helping Diogo change into the dry clothes. I know he was touched by the spirit. And our bishop is INCREDIBLE and invited them to an FHE next week (Bishops at the temple this whole week. JEALOUS!) and we're going to start really working to help João. Please pray that he will open up and the spirit can keep working with him. I can just see this family going to the temple here in a year and a bit to become an eternal family. Please pray that we can be guided to help João!

September 17, 2012

So I am here in Porto! Almost. I'm just on the other side of the river in Porto but I am the zone leader of the Porto zone. THAT has been an experience. There in Madeira I was the zone leader of 5 areas, here there are 10. It’s CRAZY! We never get to bed on time because we're always on the phone after daily planning! It’s been super fun though. I'm serving with Elder Bergeron from Tennessee. He's an awesome kid who really wants to get lost in the work. We've been having a lot of fun. This area has been a little bit slow that last couple transfers, but the Lord has really helped us out. The members here unfortunately don’t have trust in the Elders....so we’re working to change that. When we got to church, you could tell right off that they didn't trust us, but then as we just talked to them and offered our help in everything, and you could almost see them change. Not a lot, but just a little bit, but I’m SUPER excited! We have a "Noite de Resgate" or a "Rescue Night" this Saturday. The ward (yes it’s a real ward here!! :) ) goes and visits some less active members to help them come back and reactivate. We offered to be there and they were super excited. When president Fluckiger called me to tell me I was being transferred he told me it was a great opportunity to work with the members up here and the minute I got off the train, I felt that very same thing. I'm super excited. I have NO idea how to do this, but I'm super excited to learn. I know that this is an area that I'm going to learn. The stake president and his first counselor are in our ward, so we're going to start with them, because they are incredible! And they trust us a little bit more and they are just super ready to go. I'm super excited to learn.

Gaia is super cool! It’s a TON different than Madeira! haha But I love it a lot. It’s super pretty up here. This is what they say "classic Portugal" is. It's older and super green and pretty. I love it a lot. It’s a full blown city though. Super huge. And there are people EVERYWHERE! I love it! And there are families. We're praying all the time that we can find families to teach and to help. One thing that has been really cool is seeing how the Lord gives us what we ask for, we then just have to take the next step and do our part. Sometimes in Funchal, I would pray to find a family, but then I would get nervous and not talk to the families, because.....I don't know why. I was just nervous. But as I've been praying here, I've realized that that doesn't work. Brilliant I know. So here we've been making an effort to talk with the families, and it's been amazing to see the people the Lord has prepared, in families. Last night, it was late and we were walking home after a really cool lesson with a cool kid named João, and we saw this family of 3 kids and the parents walking towards us. We had just been talking and what not and then we just kinda looked at each other and knew we needed to talk to them. It was like 9:30 and we were headed home and so were they so we didn't talk long, but it was amazing how when we said we were Disciples of Jesus Christ and we were there to help bless their family, they looked at each other and it was one of those looks, like "is this really happening right now?" they said that about 4 years ago they had met some missionaries, and they said they would like to have missionaries again. They live in Porto so we’re going to pass their info to the Elders over there. It was AMAZING! They gave us their address, and their phone number and everything! It was super cool! It’s been amazing to see that the Lord is SO willing to help us. He gives us EVERYTHING that we ask for, we just need to do our part, and look for it. As we pray and pray and pray, the Lord prepares the way, we just then have to take the step of faith, and enter in to it. We're SO excited to help the families here! Right now we have the son of a recent convert marked for baptism this weekend. His name is Diogo and he's 13 and AMAZINGLY humble. Such a cool kid. He just keeps asking Heavenly Father for help in school. It's incredible! He’s a little bit slower. Not really handicapped, just a little bit slower than the others but he's super cool! Just please pray that we'll be able to get in touch with him. He goes to his grandparent’s house during the week and we're not sure if we’re going to be able to talk to him until Friday. Please pray for diogo.

(Jordan’s trusty truck, Rusty…)

RUSTY DIED???? oh man. is he for real dead, or just sleeping? Because I think he might just be a little bit lazy. Cuz remember that one time we thought he was dead, but then he totally resurrected? yeah....maybe he's just faking it until I get home? hahah :) just kidding, no worries. He deserves to wait for me on the other side.

Well mom, this week has been a little strange. Not a lot more to say, because I was in Funchal half of the week, but I didn't get to work in my area. I was on divisions with everyone else. Then we had to travel here, then the 2nd day i had to do a baptismal interview in an area 2 hours away which was crazy. But I’ve really only been in my area about 2 solid days, and even then they weren't real normal. I'm super excited to calm down and just work this week.

Eu te amo mais do que consigo expressar. Eu sei que realmente este trabalho é o trabalho do Senhor. Eu sei que este evangelho fui restaurado por um profeta de Deus. Eu sei, sem sombra de duvida, que Jesus Cristo é meu Salvador, e eu sei que Ele ama-nos, e está aqui para consolá-nos em qualquer momento. Eu sei que o poder de oração é real e eu sou tão grato por ele. Eu amo meu Salvador e meu Pai Celstial, e eu amo vocês. Em nome de Jesus Cristo, amém.

(Translation by Google J)

I love you more than I can express. I know that this job is really the work of the Lord. I know that this gospel was restored by a prophet of God. I know, without a shadow of doubt, that Jesus Christ is my Savior, and I know He loves us and is here to console us anytime. I know the power of prayer is real and I am so thankful for him. I love my Savior and my Father Celstial, and I love you. In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

September 10, 2012

There is a fire burning in Jackson Hole right where the girls have worked, and it's affecting the Bar T 5, so that is what he's referring to.

Hey Mom!!!

Man that fire in Jackson looks like bad news! That's a really rough spot to have a fire. I'll definitely include them in my prayers! Fires are nasty business. Fogos fazem mal! eu não gosto!

Ok well this week was a lot of fun! I learned  a ton! I'm so grateful for the way that the Lord teaches. I've been learning a lot from Elder Wolman, who left this morning. Wierd. He's going home. Creeped me out. But anyways, last night we had a really cool "what have you learned on your mission" discussion. It was really an awesome thing. And as Elder Wolman was talking about his experiences, the spirit just kind of told me somethings that I really needed to improve. I was really kind of embarrassed that these were the things that I needed to work on, but as I started to think about it, I just felt peaceful. I felt like I wasn't alone. yes, these things are essential. And I aboslutely have to fix them. Right now. but the Lord will NEVER ask us to do something, and then leave us alone to do it. He's always right there alongside us, working in His vineyard. I'm so grateful for the Atonement of my Savior. I'm so grateful for all that He has given me. I'm so grateful that even though we don't do everything perfect, His love for us never changes. And I've felt that so strongly in my quest to change. I can also testify, that Satan will do anything to stop us from feeling the Savior's love. He doesn't want us to feel happy. He wants us to think we can't change. But I know that the power of the Atonement, and the love the the Savior is more powerful. It's beautiful.

These last couple weeks have been a little bit hard. It's been a test of our diligence. Everything that we had fell through this week. everything. we had a total of 4 lessons. It was really kinda hard. I was getting frustrated, but as we just kept going, the Spirit kept lifting us up. One of the things that I love so much, is when I'm frustrated cuz something fell, I have to go make a street contact right now. Right now. Because as I testify of  the restored gospel, the spirit is so strong, and as Paul says to the Galatians, the fruits of the spirit are love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, and faith. I know that's true. When we're down, the best thing to do, is testify. Let the spirit testify to us, and to the people, that the gospel is true. And it makes me feel SO much better! So we have had a hard time finding new investigators, but the Lord has really put amazing people in our path, and always right at the end of the day. It's been amazing! I love it so much! We get kinda frustrated and sad, cuz nobody was home, or a lesson fell, but as we kept talking to people. Talking to everyone in the street, the Lord blessed us with some amazing people!! We've got a lot of really good references and some really great lessons set up for this week! and the Lord blessed us to find a family!! I've been praying all week that we would be able to find a family to teach, and the Lord blessed us to find one of the most humble families in the world! Jorge and Maria and João. They are super humble. We taught them the lesson 0 and then we went back and taught the first lesson, and it went really really smoothly! I'm so thankful that Lord led us to them. We didn't find very many people this week, but the people we found, were very much prepared by the Lord. It's been so great! As we've been trying to keep talking to everyone, and trying to work hard until the end of every day, the Lord put about 15 people in our way right at the end of the night throughout the week. And these people have a TON of potential! And this next week is going to be great! The only thing is, I'm actually getting transferred. I'm heading up to Porto. I'm a little bit sad, because of these awesome people that we found, but i feel like it’s time. I've been here a long time, and I was feeling comfortable a little bit. So it's time to move I guess. :)

I'm super sorry this letter is oober short and not really what you wanted to hear, but I didn't have a ton of time because I had to pack and such. But I love you mom. So very much! I'm so grateful for the updates and everything. I'm glad we got some food from the obedience garden! the Lord blesses obedience! :) And I'm SO glad Alyssa is safe and sound and doing well.

September 3, 2012

Wow you guys went to town on the whole getting Steph and Matt moved in and working huh? That’s great! I bet it is kinda nice for them to just chill and be calm and not stress about anything but school eh? haha :) man everyone and their dog was there. DJ is super cool. I miss that kid a lot! When can he put his papers in do you know? He really does just have that spirit of everything’s good! Just a super suave kid and he is ALWAYS laughing! I miss his goofy laugh! haha what a stud! It's so weird to think that he's at BYU now. That's crazy! I forgot the Brigham City Temple was opening! That's SO cool! That'll be such a beautiful experience to be there. What's the temple like? is it a big one or is it smaller? Our branch president is actually gone this week because he and his family are going through the temple for the first time! His wife has been cuz she served a mission, but president has been a member for 9 years and has been saving to get to take his wife and 2 children to be sealed for time and all eternity. I'm SO happy for him! He's such an amazing man and I can't even wait! haha it's super cool! He's this awesome Angolan man, and his wife is a Brazilian and their 2 little kids are Moroni and Eliz! oh man what an amazing family! they are always willing to help us with the work, and they do so much for the church here. What an amazing family to be sealed! Anyway....back on track.

That's SO amazing that Shauna went through the temple!! Oh man I bet that was an amazing session. And I'm so excited that she and Kim are going to be sealed. That makes my heart really happy.

 You wouldn't believe the difference EFY has made to the young men here in our branch. They are all just rocking it now. 2 of them advanced in the priesthood to the office of priest yesterday and one of them has started wearing his suit to church again and wants to go on a mission! it's AMAZING! AND!! Yesterday there was a baptism in the other branch here in funchal of a girl who has been coming to church solidly for about 6 months. She is a friend of a couple of the young women and she has really loved the church and everything but the elders scared her! (she's oober shy and timid) but then she went to efy with them and came back and was like, elders, i want to be baptized!! OH MAN and the baptism was amazing! her family was all there and the spirit was strong and it was great! so funny story about that.....Elder Pickup and I were the witnesses, and we were all watching and everything....and Elder Rhodes was baptizing her, and he was saying the prayer and I was like "ok, her hair is long, I gotta make sure all of that goes under. All of it" So I was super focused, I wasn't gonna make a mistake. Super ready. So he says amen, and she goes under the water and all of her hair went under. Every strand. I was super focused. And I looked at Elder Pickup and he was like. yup. It was good. So we were super excited and were shutting the doors of the font and then ALL of the members were like "WAIT!!" wait? wait for what?? apparently her arm didn't go all the way under, but it turns out both of the witnesses were focused on her long hair, that we didn't even notice her long arm!! hahaha! so we had to open the doors and they had to do it again, and everything was good! But let's just say, I'm super glad that they're supposed to "witness before the church" and not just the 2 elders worried about her hair! haha :) but it's all good :)

So this week, I've had some really cool experiences. One of them was just a huge blessing from the Lord. So the other day we talked to a guy and his wife in the park. They were super cool. His name is Habeboolay which in one of the african languages means, Friend of God. That was cool. But anyways so we talked to them and they were really cool. we had a lesson a couple days later and we taught the restoration and the spirit was super strong! Habeboolay is muslim, and he understood the concept of prophets really really well, and he was doing really well with accepting Jesus Christ. We're still helping him little by little with that, but long story short, they really liked it and he was like "I'm going to that church, Elders. I'm going there for sure!" haha! Love him! but so then we had another appointment with them at that same park on saturday. I was on a division with Elder Lee, (a greeny from POCATELLO, IDAHO!!! saya WHAT??? haha) but we were on this division, and we walked into this park, and Habeboolay is sitting there with his wife and 4other guys playing cards. So we were like, hey habeboolay, can we still talk to you today? and he was like, yeah go ahead. we'll all listen. I was super nervous about that because these guys were all driking and smoking and stuff and I was just like, man, I've never taught 6 random people before. But Elder Lee looked at me, and the spirit was like, Go for it! So we took a deep breath, knelt down on the ground next to this table, said a prayer with them and went for it. Mom, this lesson was SO incredible. The spirit just took over and did everything! We had such an awesome time! these men were so humble and were asking such great questions and the all felt the spirit and we had an aweosme opportunity to bear testimony of the Savior and the cleansing power of the Atonement. and even though we were in the middle of a park with cars going by, and there was alcohol and cigarettes, the spirit was there, and every single one of those men felt the spirit. And they all marked appointments with us except for 2, but we could see them thinking about it, and now when they are in that same park when we pass by, they all say hi to us and talk to us, and the one guy named Rui wants us to help him stop drinking! IT was such a miracle! I was SO grateful for the spirit, because I've never done that before and we were kneeling in the middle of a park talking to 6 random guys who were kinda big scary looking guys. 2 of whom didn't have their shirts on, just saying. but the spirit took over and when we said the closing prayer, all of them just breathed deep and said, "that felt good". Yes, yes it did. It was amazing! the spirit is such an amazing tool, and can touch all people, and everyone loves feeling the spirit. It was SO cool! I'm so grateful for that. Highlight of my week! :)

August 27,2012

oh buddy....I'm gonna have to say this in English to start off.....google translator doesn't speak Idaho-an because that message in portuguese did NOT make sense....it took me like 5 minutes to figure out what it was that you were saying! haha :) but don't stress, i'm still an Idaho kid at heart and I figured it out :)

   So I love you so much mom! just thought I'd say that ;)

   But you know I can totally see you saying all that cool spanglish stuff in Costa Vida! it would be great! but what's even funnier, is when I picture you coming to portugal and totally speaking portlish (portugese english) which would be SO fun!! just saying :) but in all seriousness, you do have the gift of tongues! haha love ya mom! But you know speaking of mixed languages, theres an amazingly humble man that came to church this week who is from romania. Nobody here in portugal can pronounce his romanian name, so he made up the name Jorge. haha. but he doesn't speak much portuguese, but spekas pretty decent spanish, so he speaks what we call, portanhol. haha he's such a cool guy! we just met him this week, he was a reference from a less active member who is starting to reactivate, and he's super cool! we met him on saturday, he came to church on sunday, and we're planning to meet with him on thursday to really start the lessons. If you could just pray that we'll be able to understand him, and he can understand us, but most importantly, that we can teach with the Spirit, because that's the most important thing. :)

It's so wierd to think that everyone is in school! It blows my mind! It just wierds me out to think that ash is a senior....that is super crazy. I don't like thinking about that very much. but PARABÉNS ASHLEIGH!!! you beat SODA!! right on butch! that's so fun! that's great that the coach is good! that really makes a huge difference.

   Everyone is starting up again! when does school start for Steph? and alyssa will be home for just a couple weeks before going to Ukraine right? wow....that's so wierd that everyone is going to be home! party at the brady house right? right.

   Ok, I know I've only been gone 6 months, but i feel like everyone is so much older now that i've left. Sarah is babysitting and Brittany is working in the spuds? since when?? I don't even know what's going on mom....but I'm wierded out! haha :)

   Sounds like your doing what's right on the Library job. Its amazing where the answers to our questions can come from. I've really been noticing the increidble importance of Church attendance. Not just for investigators, but for the members. Whatever question or doubt or situation that you are going through, the Lord answers us through the talks, the lessons, or just the fact that we're in His house, the Spirit can teach us exactly what we need to know. I've been thinking a lot about faith, and enduring to the end. Susana, our recent convert was telling us the other day, that her life hasn't really changed. That in some situations, it's been harder for her since her baptism. She's still trying to get divorced, and there are just lots of health problems with her family. Her parents are both in bed sick, and she takes care of them and it's just got a little worse. She was like what is going on here? and I was thinking the exact same thing. One of the thoughts that came to my head was Joseph Smith. He saw Heavenly Father and the Savior. They told him exactly what to do, and he did it. But what happened? He was persecuted beyond all belief. His family was persecuted. All of the saints who believed in him as their prophet and followed him faithfully were persecuted until they were ran out of the state. But one thing that was incredible, he never once doubted what he had seen. He never once denied it. He questioned. but he kept going, with faith.

   So we talked about that, and she was like yeah, that's true. And it helped a little bit, but she was still kinda wavering a bit. And I was pondering about that too. Why is it that when we are doing everything we think we can, the Lord doesn't just take away the trials. but then our district president gave a talk in sacrament meeting, that was AMAZING! He talked about the 2 best examples of enduring to the end. 2 that have honestly been inspirations in my life, the pioneers, and the savior. The pioneers, after the martyrdom of Joseph, were chased all the way across the country. They pulled their belongings in handcarts. They suffered hunger, frostbite, heat stroke, death. Everything. but they kept going. They knew that it was true. And they knew that Heavenly Father keeps his promises. They kept going to the end because of that witness they had received. that's the same with us. Sometimes, things are hard. Sometimes we don't understand. sometimes, we're trying to do what's right, and things just aren't going our way, and in those times, we just have to trust in the witnesses we've received.

   And then the example of the Savior. The ultimate example. the perfect example. Jesus Christ, in the middle of taking upon Him all of the sins, the sufferings, the pain, the confusion, the tempations, of every human being to ever exist, asked to have the cup taken away. "Saying, Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me: nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done." (Luke 22:42) Christ was perfect. He didn't need to suffer that. He was tired. He was hurt. This perfect man, who never even tasted the tiniest sin, was feeling all of it. All of the guilt, humility, and sorrow that comes from our mistakes. i can't even imagine the suffering He felt. He asked it to take it away, but because of His love for the Father, and His love for us, His brothers and sisters, He endured. He performed the most infinite, and perfect sacrifice for each and everyone of us. And He endured to the end. The man who never made a mistake. He did everything that Father asked, had to take on a task that was HUGE. But He did it. It was incredible. I'm so grateful for my Savior, and His love for me.

   and it was EXACTLY what Susana and I needed to hear. That happens every single week. It's amazing how Heavenly Father helps us one step at a time. every time.exactly what we need, when we need it. I'm so grateful for Him.

   So this week we've had such a hard time getting a hold of Armando and Claudia!! we think they're moving!! not good! but we've tried calling and she hasn't answered and we have tried passing by at different times to try and talk to her. It's been a little hard on us. But as we've been praying and praying the only thing that comes to my mind is that Heavenly Father loves them so much and wants to help them. He won't let them go! So I just ask for your prayers and faith that we'll be able to get in touch with them to find out where they are going that would be great!

August 20, 2012

Man the whole world's on fire! It’s definitely the signs of the times huh? It blows my mind. I have had the same thought. I'm super excited for the destination (second coming) but the journey is gonna get a little rough. This is where it all comes down to, do we trust in the Lord? That's all there is to it. If we have the faith, and believe, we don't have to fear, because the Lord protects the righteous! It's gonna get a little rough, but we just gotta keep on trucking, with faith. We watched "Joseph Smith, the Prophet of the Restoration" today. It was so good! I love it so much. One thing that really stuck out to me today was the fact that Joseph didn't know what was going to happen all the time. He didn't fully understand why there was suffering. He lost 5 of his children. He watched his friends and family suffer and he didn't even fully understand it. He was a prophet and he didn't know. His life was really hard. But he kept going. He knew in whom he had trusted. He knew who he was and what his job was. He didn't know what the end wqas gonna be but he trusted in the Lord and kept going. Sometimes our lives are hard. Sometimes we lose our job. We have a death in the family, or the car breaks down and there just isn't money to fix it. These are super hard times and our tendency is to say why? Why me? But if we can follow Joseph’s example and keep our faith in the Lord, and push forward, we will be fine. We will be blessed. Maybe not right away, but it comes. The Lord ALWAYS blesses His children who follow him. D&C 121:7. (PS....cool thing to remember....Joseph’s life was hard. But he laughed, loved, and smiled. :) Just saying )

Man Frack is married! Man that's so weird!! I don't know how to feel about that. It blows my mind. I can remember when he left on his mission! It seems like yesterday! Those 2 years with him and Scott gone were 2 of the fastest years of my life. So weird.

I'm super glad that Alyssa's doing ok with her shoulder! That’s so rough! I'm super sorry about that! I'm glad she's gonna be able to make to Ukraine and back without any problems. so what's exactly that plan with this Ukraine thing? Who is she teaching? Who is she going through? BYU right? Is she paying or getting paid? I was just talking with Elder Wolman and he was asking me a ton of questions and like a fub, I didn't know! haha :)

Man Britt's already a Dancing fool!! Right on Britt! Way to knock 'em dead! 1st out of 1 is definitely the way to go! I'm super pumped about that! I miss dancing! I miss it a lot. That's one of the things I miss most I think. So keep up the dancing Britt! What kind of dance was it? Swing? Ya know mom, I can understand the hard decision making part. But I have read several talks in the Liahona or the Ensign about stuff like that. We do learn a lot as we make our own decisions. That's one of the things Presidente Fluckiger and I talked about in my interview with him. (PS I LOVE HIM!) The Lord wants us to learn and grow and make good decisions because of our own free will. That's the purpose of life right? :) And that's the purpose of the gift of the Holy Ghost. To help us make this right decisions. But man I miss the temple! :) just sayin' britt :) (Brittany had to decide between dancing at the state fair and going to the temple to do baptisms for the dead. So this reference is to letting her make her own decisions, and Jo tossing in a subliminal message J)

So real quick, I gotta wrap it up here in just a sec, but Armando is so ready to be baptized, but our branch wants to wait for Claudia to be baptized with them. It was a little complicated at first. We marked Armando for baptism, but then the branch didn't like it. At all. So they talked to president Fluckiger about it, and pres said go ahead. so we had it all planned and picked Armando up for church and then pres called and said we should probably wait. Armando was SO devastated. Super sad. But now he's all gung-ho on helping his mom stop smoking! he told us that at 7 o' clock every day, where ever we are....we should stop and say a prayer and he will too! SUPER COOL! I love him to death! So just keep praying that she'll be able to stop smoking. The Lord is blessing her every step of the way. I'm so grateful for the chacne to be working with them.

I'm a slacker!

Yes, I know. I am a slacker mom! So sorry about that! However, I am here and will attempt to get all of the last 6 weeks updated today...or soonish! :)

August 13, 2012

Britten gave his homecoming talk? Oh man that would have been incredible to have been there! He's such a stud! I love that kid. I know that what he said is true. Sometimes the things we have to do are so hard. And even if we don't cry on the outside, we cry inside. But I also know, that as we just keep believing, keep trusting in Heavenly Father, even if we don't know exactly what it is He expects from us, we just keep on going, and He's there to guide us. It's like walking around in the dark mist, but holding on to the Iron Rod. Sometimes we don't know where it is exactly that we're being led, because we can't see where we're going, or what exactly it is that's around us or tempting us. But as we trust that the Lord's path leads to a great big shining tree with delicious fruit, we can keep going! 2 Nephi 22:2 "Behold, God is my salvation; I will trust, and not be afraid; for the Lord JEHOVAH is my strength and my song; he also has become my salvation." As we trust, 100% in the Lord, He leads us to salvation. I just want to say mom, that the Lord is my strength and my song. I know Jesus Christ leads us to salvation. And I'm so excited for Him to come again!

Man everyone's home! That’s so weird!! It does NOT feel like JJ, Britten, or Shawn should be home yet. It weirds me out a little bit. I bet that sacrament meeting was INCREDIBLE! I would have loved to be there! I'm gonna be 100% honest, even after almost 7 months in the mission, sometimes I have a hard time understanding everything in Portuguese in Sacrament meeting. Pathetic,  huh. BUT, the things I heard were really good. One sister talked about the basics of the Gospel, and how we can't move on until we have the basics. And she compared it to a key. The Key of the Gospel are the basics, faith, repentance, baptism, gift of the Holy Ghost, and Enduring to the End, and how without this basics, we'll never ever get into the house of the Lord. The door is locked and without the basics of the gospel (Key) we can never get inside to the other amazing stuff inside. Cool thought huh? This talk was given by the 1st member of the church on the Island of Madeira. 29 years of being a member. That’s cool huh?

We had a really cool experience just last night. There is an investigator that was almost baptized about 6 or 7, maybe 8 months ago, but she felt super pressured by the Elders right there towards the end so she decided not to, and then the elders didn't come back. So when Elder Faias and I got here, we looked her up, and also pressured her really bad. She was a little nervous to talk to us in the first place, and then as she did, we pressured her again because we felt really good about her and so we just tried and tried and tried and tried that whole week, especially when she told us not to come back.......but......we did. So then she didn't want to talk to us and was avoiding us. So we stopped. But lately I've been feeling like we should try again to help her. So Elder Bond and I went back. She wasn't there. We went back one more time a few days later. Not there. Then Elder Wolman got here, (my new comp) and last night we were knocking doors right towards the end of the night, and Elder Wolman was like, let's go through here. It was her street. So we went through there and then we got to her door, and we knocked. Turns out she was home. She opened the door and got really nervous and closed up immediately. But then as we just talked to her, showed interest in her life, she opened up. Little by little she left the door way and came closer to the gate. And by the end we were talking openly and it was really an awesome visit! We didn't get a chance to mark another appointment because she is super busy, but she said in September, when she finishes school, we can come back. And she said in the meantime, we can pass by every once in a while and to see how she's doing!! What HUGE progress! And why??  Cuz we were focusing on her and showing our love. Did we get to go into her house? no. Did we help her be baptized last night? no. Did we do missionary work? yes.

Moral of the story mom......as you continue to show your love for people, and as you sincerely just want to get to know them and their lives, they will little by little, take one step closer to you. and at the end of the day, you may not have another firm appointment, or they may not come to church with you that week, but have you done your job? absolutely.

HAHAHA sam almost got to see an execution!!! i'm not gonna lie, that sounds like sam would have LOVED it! haha that made me laugh really hard :) a little sketch, but ya know whateva :) when I was in Lisbon, I did a little work with some of the elders there, and it was sketch central! we're just running down these little tiny streets called becos. It was basically like a cement tunnel with houses everywhere and these tiny little cement ally ways and whatnot. we talked to a guy who turned out to be the biggest drug lord in that part of Lisbon. that was cool. it was super sketch but super rad! I really enjoyed it! super poor there, but the people were super humble. But yeah I like Madeira. not near as sketchy as Lisbon or Peru! haha :) Katie wants to go on a mission? that's super cool! I think she'd really do a great job.

Thanks for praying to Claudia and Armando and Orlanda. We can still use all the prayers we can get. This week has been a little rough. But we've still seen the hand of the Lord with Claudia and Armando. I don't know exactly what's going on, but we're just relying on the Lord to guide them and us. They are having financial problems, and it's been hard that way. They've been busy and haven't had a ton of time to talk to us and have been avoiding us a little because of the "decisions that have to be made" we're just praying and relying on the Lord to bless them and guide them through this time and that they will recognize the hand of the Lord.

Ok, questions now :) I go to Lisbon once a transfer for mission council, which was super cool with Elder Texeira! it's about an hour and a half flight to Lisbon from the Madeira airport. did I miss Madeira? yes. Was it cool to get away for a bit? yes. :) Elder Bond is not here anymore. He got moved to a different area on Madeira to finish his training and Elder Homer Wolman is my new companion. He's half Samoan. cool eh? He's from Colorado and this is his last transfer. He's super cool! We get along really well. We’ve decided we're like Shrek and Donkey. I'll let you figure out who's who :)

August 6, 2012

Hey mom! super sorry that i'm late. It's been an interesting day! So we left Funchal at 7:30 this morning to go to Lisbon for a meeting with Elder Texeira (Area President). It was super super cool! I learned a ton! I've been thinking a lot about my prayers and what I can do to improve them. That's something that has really been lacking in my life. I really felt like the Lord was trying to tell me something :) Kinda like how my little sisters get mad when I don't write them back, Heavenly Father wants me to talk to Him a little more sincerely, especially after all of the blessings we have seen this week. Yesterday we talked to Claudia. She and her children came to church yesterday and LOVED it! She is incredibly prepared by the Lord. She didn't baptize her children in the Catholic church until the age of 8, because she said babies can't sin. Yep, Claudia, you are 100% right! haha :) But yeah she and her 12 year old son are super prepared for the gospel and Claudia accepted the invitation to follow Jesus Christ and be baptized on the 18th! She already has a testimony of the Restoration and the Book of Mormon through prayer. It's amazing how Heavenly Father answers our humble and sincere prayers, because Armando, her son, also received and very strong witness about the Book of Mormon. He said he felt peace and comfort and he knows that Joseph Smith translated the Book of Mormon by the power of God. It was SO cool! We have plans to mark him for baptism this week actually! We want to do it tomorrow.

So yeah....all of these plans for tomorrow are super sweet! but here's the bummer, I came to Lisbon for this training with Elder Texeira and it turns out that I've got to stay here in Lisbon until Wednesday to renew my visa or something like that. It's not a big deal, it's a normal routine thing actually, so it was a blessing really that I was already here so the mission didn't need to buy another ticket this week, but it’s just kinda weird sitting here with the office elders. We did some work in the areas of the office elders tonight and it was super fun! We found some really cool people and one family felt the spirit super strong about the plan of salvation. It was so fun to hear them say that they wanted to prepare to meet Heavenly Father again, and to see the spirit change their hearts. This lady was having a hard time wanting to come to church, but as we talked about how through the church of Jesus Christ, we can be prepared spiritually for that moment, she completely changed. It was amazing! And with one family tonight we talked about how this earth life is a time for us to prepare for the Heavens, and how all of the treasures here on earth stay, but our spiritual preparations are the things that stay with us. And then we talked about how our families are our main treasure, and it made me think about you, and dad, and the girls, and how this is so true. There's nothing in the world that will go with us, except for our families. And I'm so grateful for you.~

~Love you!!!

~Love,

Elder Jordan Brady

July 30, 2012

So I got the package...and you will never guess when. Exactly on the 6 month mark! saya WHAT??? hahaha :) I really liked that it was super fun! Thanks so much for everything! It was exactly what I was looking for! Thanks so much for the peanut butter!!!! and it turns out I'm staying here for one more transfer....so that was super cool! i don't have to pay to send the peanut butter to the mission office! I would have too! it's SOOOO smooth!! I about died I was so happy! haha thanks mom! :) and tell Sister McGregor thanks so much for the TIES!!! LOVED IT! and the towels were the bomb.com too! :)

So this week was AMAZING!!! I'm attaching the evidence of this right now.....we had a baptism!!!! Susana Maria de Sousa finally made the decision to make a covenant with Heavenly Father and become a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints!! Oh my goodness I was so excited!!! I'm SO happy for her! If you could all say a prayer of gratitude to the Lord for this incredible blessing that would be amazing! It has been such a fun ride with her, and to see the difference in her life and her attitude and her vision....it's sincerely been incredible. Susana has had such a hard life. Her husband cheated on her, and caused all sorts of legal problems with the finances and stuff like that. She bent over backwards for him, and then he treated her horrible. When we first met her, it was at church. She's friends with some of the members, and they knew she was passing through some hard ties, so they invited her to church. She started hearing the lessons, and the members had talked to her a lot about the church and stuff like that. She really loved church and learning so many things that she hadn't ever heard, seeing as she was raised Catholic. She started talking to us, and she was making great progress. and we invited her to be baptized. She prayed with us, and she said she felt like she should be baptized, but she felt like it should be in July. So we said ok. We wanted her to be baptized in June, but the Lord knows SO much more than the missionaries :) So we kept talking to her and she kept coming to church and everything was good.  Then July rolled around. She had started having a few doubts about Joseph Smith and if really he had seen Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. She said that people doubted that the Virgin Mary appeared here in Portugal, so she thought maybe she should doubt Joseph Smith's story. She didn't know what to do. She had been confused. She had already received a witness about the Book of Mormon, but was still doubting Joseph Smith. So we talked about what the Book of Mormon is, and that it really is proof. If the Book of Mormon is true, then Joseph Smith really was a prophet, because a small town farm boy with a 3rd grade education couldn't have written it! :) Then we told her the only way to know, is to read it, and ask Heavenly Father, if really Joseph Smith was a prophet. So she did...and there were no doubts! SO COOL! so we met with her again and we invited her to be baptized again. We prayed with her about the day July 14...the spirit was SOOO strong and she said em nome de Jesus Cristo, amém, and then said.....yep. I will. It was AWESOME! we were so pumped! then a member called us and said she changed her mind she didn’t feel ready. We called her back and talked to her and she said she just didn't know. She wasn't really sure. It was a super weird situation. So we kept going and kept going. Kept teaching her and talking to her and helping her see that she was prepared. We had some really incredible lessons. Then she started realizing that July was coming to a close and that we couldn't have a baptism on Saturday because a member of the Area Presidency was coming and having a meeting, so she was like....well....i guess it will be August 4th. And we told her, look Susana....we love you to death. We really love you so much. and as missionaries, we're here to fulfill the Word of God. The Lord told you that you should be baptized in the month of July, and as His servants, we're here to tell you that nothing is impossible for him! and......that there is nothing wrong with a baptism on Sunday! haha. it was funny :) then she said that she would pray about it and that we could call in the morning to find out what the answer was. So we called and she was like....yep. I'll do it. Why should I keep waiting!!! YEAH!!! PART-AY!!! it was so fun!! and everything ran smoothly and all the Elders in my district love her so they agreed to sing her favorite hymn with us at her baptism and it was SO cool!! man I love her to death!

So yeah I'm pretty sure I missed some parts of that story, so if some part of it doesn't make sense...just tell me and I fill you in next week! :) But it was just amazing to see how the Lord knows so much better than us. He knows exactly what we need, and when we need it. This was such a testimony builder for me that it's not our timing. It's His. Even if our intentions are good, it's His timing. We wanted her to be baptized in June, but the Lord knew what would happen. He knew everything that would lead up to the baptism and the experiences she would have. And know it's so amazing to see the difference in her. She's so happy now, and she jokes around and she's always smiling and she's been recognizing the MIRACLES in her life. The night before her baptism. Her nephew who has diabetes got really really sick. Super sick. He had a really high fever and wasn't eating and everything. But she prayed so fervently that he would be ok. She prayed so so hard,  because they didn't have the money to pay for the hospital. She called the members to pray for her as well. and then she just waited and she KNEW that Heavenly Father would bless him. And He did. Her nephew got better and better throughout the night, and be the morning his temperature had gone down, and he was eating again and everything was ok. What a miracle! The Lord answered her prayers on the eve of her baptism, and it just fortified her testimony even more that what she was doing was right. And it also helped her family (who is incredibly Catholic). It was such an amazing experience! I love her so much and I'm SO grateful for the Gospel in her life. and mine.

Elder Jordan Brady

July 23, 2012

So the fires were pretty intense, I'll be putting the pictures on here in a minute, probably in the next email, but yeah. We called our branch president to see if there was anything we could do to help, but he said that basically it was like you said, just forest land and stuff like that, and so it’s not really something we can help with I guess. I don't really know. I do know that there were quite a few people without homes, so please pray for them. But I actually found a really cool scripture that I've been able to use with a few members and investigators this week. The Lord showed this to me at the PERFECT time. 1 Nephi 22:17 "Wherefore, he will preserve the righteous by his power, even if it so be that the fullness of his wrath must come, and the righteous be preserved, even unto the destruction of their enemies by fire. Wherefore, the righteous need not fear; for thus saith the prophet, they shall be saved, even if it so be as by fire." (Emphasis added :) ) And a member of the District Presidency talked yesterday about the signs of the second coming and how we need to make sure we're doing what's right because in D&C 64:23 it says "he that is tithed shall not be burned at his coming." I really think that it go to some of the members. Tithing is something that's a little bit weak here in Portugal. So I think this will help. I hadn't heard about the fire on the continent, but it's just one more sign that we're in the latter days eh?

Oh man it's fair time at home!!! hahaha man I wanna fairburger SOOOO bad! haha :) I was thinking a little bit about that this week. My blood vessels won't know what to do without the delicious greasiness of a fair burger for 2 years! haha! There was an awesome talk about the Preisthood Responsibilites in the ensign you sent me....from conference. Man I'm super disappointed in myself that I can't remember who gave it... I think maybe President Uchtdorf...but I read that and had to think again about my attitude of Preisthood Service. Maybe someone could share that in Elder's Quorum or High Preist Group. Preisthood service isn't just giving blessings. One of the things in this talked by an unremembered General Authority that really stuck out to me was, when we receive the Preisthood, we make a covenant to act. So to break this covenant the only thing we need to do, is nothing. So if we don't volunteer to do a shift at the fairbooth...are we really living and fulfilling our Presithood Covenants and responsibilities? I really wish I could remember who said it, but it was in the last conference. It was really really good. I LOVED it!

I'm SO proud of my sisters!! man they are such amazing and special daughters of our Heavenly Father! Way to rock the talk Britt!! And I'm so grateful you are doing scripture study. That is such an important thing, and an important habit that we need to start now.  The scriptures bring such a spirit into our lives and in the lives of the people around us. They give us the light in our eyes so we can be a witness of God at all times, in all things, in all places. Which is the best way to share the gospel! :) (PS small children sisters of mine, sorry I haven't written, I'm a fubeca i know....but just remember that i love you!! :) ) As of right now, I haven't gotten the package. I'm still waiting. I really hope it gets here, cuz I'm DYING for American candy! :) WE HAD MEATLOAF!!! I just remembered! There is a sister from America who was born here on Madeira, but moved to California when she was really little but her mom and dad still own a house here so she comes once a year to take care of legal stuff and such. She fed us the other day and it was meatloaf!! oh man I LOVED IT!!! made my life!! haha and she made hidden pear jello stuff like you make mom!! only with Eye of the Dragon....some kind of really good fruit. tinha saudades da comida de minha mãe!! :) haha

So interesting story....we were walking down the road the other day with Books of Mormon in our hands, and we started talking to this lady in the street. She was pretty old, but was super nice. We were just talking about the weather and how she likes to read, and then she saw our books and asked us if we were book salesmen!! haha made me laugh really hard! she didn't want the book after we explained it, and that made me sad....but i just thought it was funny. made me chuckle a little bit.

So just to end, I want to tell a little story. So recently, we've been having a really rough time finding people and just the work has been really slow. Elder Bond and I get along great! and so we were really confused. We talked about a few things and we were like what is going on here??? We started talking and talking and then we started to realize that little by little, we had been holding pride in. There were a few things that we were doing, that were just enough to make us prideful. Just really little things, that had built up until there was a little stress and contention, and the spirit really couldn't be there. And the more I analyzed myself, more I realized, that I had been incredibly prideful this enitre transfer. I felt so bad, because I hadn't even noticed it really. That's how Satan works! He just moves things in on you very quietly and subtly, until you're in so deep its HORRIBLE! so we had a discussion, and things were a little touchy for a while. I felt terrible and it was a horrid and sick feeling inside of me. I didn't like it. I didn't like the feeling and it was like a HUGE weight was on my entire body. I felt sick to my stomach. I didn't know what to do. Then as we were getting up for church yesterday, I remembered a challenge President Fluckiger had given us. He reminded us that the sacrament is a very personal and precious and sacred thing. It’s a way that we can renew our covenants with Heavenly Father. He also said that honestly, the sacrament doesn't mean anything to our investigators. It's a way for them to feel the spirit, but it's not the renewing of the covenants for them like it is for us. So he knew that Sundays are stressful for us, so he told us to take time for the sacrament. Take time to make the sacrament the special occasion that it is. This is one time that we can focus on us. Because we need to live this covenants with our Heavenly Father. So that was something that I really really tried to do. And I did. It was so incredible. To feel the purifying, cleaning power of the Atonement. To know, that my Savior is going to help me clean this pride out of my heart and mind. And to feel the Spirit testifying to me that it's true. and that I’m ok. and that I'm clean.

I just want to bear my testimony, I know this is true. I know it.