Man Logan’s been in the MTC almost a week now! that's ridiculous! I actually got a letter from him the other day. It's a good thing you sent me his address, cuz by the time I got his letter, he's already in the mtc, so I couldn't mail anything back. I just hope one of these days I’ll have time to write him. And damian. man I’m such a terrible friend. But I really want all of you to know, Damian, Logan, Sam, Jacob, Brandon, Chase, Patrick, Kendal, Ryan...all of you guys who have stuck with me and grown up with me, and helped me be who I am...you guys are awesome and I love you all so much. I'm praying for you and I know the Lord has been preparing you for this battle. You're all at different stages in this battle, but we really are the Soldiers of the Lord. I'm so grateful for your example and friendship and determination to serve the Lord with all of your heart mind might and strength. I want to say something to you all...stay strong. There are going to be difficulties. I know that I always thought that life on a mission is a piece of cake. once I get out there it's all smooth sailing. Guess what....that's false. You know why? Because Satan knows exactly what you are all capable of and he cannot afford to have you out there serving the Lord. He will do ANYTHING to stop you from serving because he knows the miracles you will all perform. But there’s also one thing that I've learned. and it's that Heavenly Father's plan, and power, is more powerful. It's deep, pure, and true. and Heavenly Father is watching out for His Warriors. Trust Him. It took me a little while to trust 100% in the Lord, and it was hard. But as I've learned to trust in Him, and turn to Him, and let Him guard my thoughts, and my heart, and as I've let everything go and turned it all over to Him, it's easier. and it's incredible. Trust in the Lord. Fight with all of your heart against the adversary, and you WILL conquer him. We have the power of the Priesthood of God, and that power moves mountains, but more importantly, it moves hearts and minds. let it move yours, and then you can use it to move others. keep fighting Elders of Israel! I love you guys so much! Work those Mr. Mac's right off your feet!
Mom I love your theme scripture!! that's seriously awesome! The Lord said so, so I’m gonna do it. That's part of life right? And really it's always for our benefit. Those second plates were a HUGE benefit to us right? Nephi didn't know why, but he did it. He trusted in the Lord and just did it...and look what happened. That's the same with us. Sometimes we don't really know exactly why the Lord has asked us to do something, but we just need to have faith in Him and trust that His view is a little bit better than ours. And was we try to have an eternal perspective, the perspective of our Heavenly Father, we can see a little better. And even if we can't, we just get that comfort that comes knowing that really, what we're doing, or what we're asked to do, is just a tiny miniscule part of our eternities, and so really, we can do it. And we will ALWAYS receive the blessings for it. Always.
So my week was good....a little bit interesting, but once again, full of miracles. We found this awesome family. We were waiting at a bus stop and there were 957 people there and we could barely hear, but there was this man sitting there with his 8 year old son. And we were in a hurry, and the bus was almost there. But something told me to talk to him. I was like, no whatever; let's just get on the bus. But then something was just like go talk to him. (that something just happens to be the Holy Ghost, for those of you who aren't putting 2 and 2 together ;) ) but anyways, we went and talked to him, and it was like a 20 second contact. We just said, hello we're disciples of Jesus Christ and we'd like to talk to you and your family about how we can have more peace in our lives. And he was like...ok. So we got his number super quick, set up an appointment and then he got on the bus, and we got on a different bus and off we went. We didn't really think a ton about it for the rest of the day. and then we were walking to his house, and we weren't really sure he was gonna be there....yes...this was a lack of faith. But he was there, with his whole family! 4 kids, wife, and him. And it was like a party when we showed up!! His sons (ages 8 and 2) came up and were just super excited to see us and his wife was too and it was like we were the Jonas brothers or something! but really they were super awesome. It turns out his wife Paula is a member. She was baptized about 30 years ago, and doesn0t really remember much about the church or anything like that, but Alage, the husband, actually got a Book of Mormon from one of his friends and had been reading a little bit lately. It was so cool! They couldn’t come to church cuz they had a family thing, but they set up another appointment and they are going to keep reading the Book of Mormon and the Restoration pamphlet and write down all of their questions so we can answer them!! oh man I'm so grateful for the spirit!! it was incredible! they are super cool! he's actually Muslim. We met 3 Muslim people in the same day. I learned a LOT about Muslims. It's interesting. But yeah. so if you could pray that Paula and Alage and their family will read and pray, and also that we'll be able to say the right things and keep listening to the spirit that would be awesome! thanks guys!
Me and Elder Faias are doing great! He's a little less talkative than me, and that's been a change, but it's been really good. I like him a lot! He's really straight forward and wants everyone to know that this is true and doesn't waste any time getting to the point! haha. we're just working on not getting super frustrated when they don't agree with him! hahaha :)
So fish, I've had a couple different kinds. Nothing really big or fancy, just with the members, but it's good....watch out for the sharp annoying little bones though. gosh those are a waste of time! haha ;) With the members we always eat really good Portuguese bread, but I don't like to buy that, because it's hard to make sandwiches with it! heehee :) yes I’m gonna get fat.....but I’m doing sit ups and pushups and pull ups so don't even worry...and i0m actually jump roping too so that's good.
Our branch is way good! I love them a lot. We’re still trying to get to know them a little bit, but slowly and surely we0re getting there. And our meeting house is the stake center....or district center. We're not a stake, so idk what it's called, but that's beside the point. :) yeah it's super nice. Still oober small, but it's nice. and they have Skype....so that's a bonus! :) Things are going really good. We're learning a lot every day. We're still trying to improve on a lot of things, and we have a LOT of things to improve on, but we're getting there. It's really good. I wasn't homesick too bad, until Sunday after church when I realized I couldn't talk to you guys again! haha but even then it wasn’t too bad. I'm doing 100% and madeira is awesome! it'll be nice to see some mountains again though....in 2 years! haha :) I’m still a country boy, all these buildings make me sick sometimes! but that's ok I’ll get used to it right? right? :)
So something that I’m super grateful for are the little tender mercies the Lord gives us every day. for example...the other day, In Gospel Doctrines, we were singing a hymn. It had been a bit of a rough morning for me, but we were singing this hymn right, and there's a recent convert from Spain, who doesn't speak Portuguese and can't carry a tune in a bucket right behind me. but he loves the church and loves to sing even though he has no talent whatsoever. So he was singing CRAZY loud and pronouncing everything wrong and it was all on the same note. It sounded JUST LIKE BRYDEN!!! hahahahah made me laugh SO hard!! it really was a tender mercy from the Lord. I laughed and smiled and felt the spirit and it was incredible! so be on the lookout for the little ways the Lord bless you every single day, in little things like that.
So quick question....random I know...but dad, how's BYU's football team looking? have they started spring practices and stuff like that?
Anyways, so I was talking to some of the members, they're getting ready to go the temple in Madrid, and it turns out there’s a hotel in the temple. Like same building and everything. And it's the church’s and it's super cheap so the people who go to the temple stay there for like a week and do temple work . It's amazing!! the sacrifice people make to go to the temple here is incredible. I took it for granted for sure. I will never do that again. We are so blessed to live in a place where there’s a temple an hour away. These members have been planning to go for like 3 years! and it's super expensive and there's not much work. It's incredible sacrifice, but they make it. wow. yeah it's incredible.
So this week I’ve been reading and studying a lot about the brother of Jared. His story is amazing!!! Ether 4:4 really stuck out to me today. Check it out! the Brother of Jared was awesome!! study it, and tell me what you think :)
So I’ve got to go, but I love you so much, and I miss you and pray for you every single day. The Lord's watching out for you, I have no doubt. Thanks for everything! Até proxima semana! eu amo-te mãe!
Elder Jordan Brady
PS....deodorant here is weird.....if in the next package you could send a bit of American deodorant that would be sweet! if not...I’ll get over it, but just saying :)
Love you!
Tchau
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