Brandon's last letter home

wow, those letters you sent were awesome! thanx a ton for your heartfelt testimonies about this work. it really helps me alot to see that it effects other people other than those here. you all have been a huge support for me. thanx again. today i got almost all the preparations done for the trip. you all are gonna love what i got for you! hehe. just wait.
the Lord has really blessed us this last transfer of the mission. my companion and i were talking the other day that even though we didnt really get along that much we still worked hard and the Lord blessed us. Last friday Rodrigo and Yesica Farias got baptized together with another 8 yearold kid from the ward. it was really cool to see that there were quite a few people that showed up to support them. For being pretty disorganized, it went pretty smoothly and the Spirit was strong. in fact...Vanessa(yesica and rodrigos older sister) was in doubt all the way up until that baptism and she felt the Spirit really strong and now she wants to be baptized on the 23rd. Also the Muñoz family showed up to church again for the 3rd time in a row and their kids are ready to be baptized the same day of the 23rd. it still hasnt really hit me that im not gonna be there to see their baptisms but i guess it probably wont hit me until im in my own bed at home wondering why im sleeping alone. hehe. i love this work. i love you all.
elder bern
dont worry mom, ill make it there safe.

News from Elder Howell

what?!! mandy kinney is married??! to who? holy cow, that blew me away. anyway, sounds like things are finally starting to turn around with the yard and everything. it will be exciting to see how it turns out. so Jared still excists huh? thats cool, i hope to see him soon. the work here is doing really good. this week Maria Benitez is gonna get baptized! she came to church by herself again Sunday. it was too bad because she could only stay for the first hour because her blood pressure went way down and almost fainted. she´s doing better now though. its really cool to see her excitement everytime we talk about her baptism. she has changed a ton! then also an entire lessactive family(the father and 6 children younger than 15) came to church. we promised during the week to go by and pick them up to go to church and they got ready and went. and the kids loved it so much that they were asking the members when they could get baptized. only the 2 older kids are baptized...so there are like 3 others that need it. the Lord is really blessing us with families to teach, its awesome. the other day we were walking in the street and i saw this middle aged guy sitting at a table outside of his house fiddling with scraps of metal that he sells, so i waved at him and he waved back and we kept walking. then i just thought..why dont we go talk to him. so i told my comp and we went back. when we got to the gate the wife had came outside and she gave us a really cold look and then started to walk toward us. so we started talking and then she sais...yeah i know, im already baptized....and then she explained how she has been a member for a really long time but her family left the church and never went back. to make a long story short, the let us in and we shared a message about the restoration but also adapted to their needs, and the spirit was extrememly strong. turns out that the husband had broken his leg with an ax when he was working with metal the other day and had a cast over his entire leg. given that the only way he can provide for his family was gathering scraps of metal and parts of motorcycles and then selling them but now not being able to walk, had weighed down on him extremely and was really depressed and angry. at the end of the discussion, catalina(the wife) agreed to say the last prayer. durring the prayer she started to cry and mumbled the words "i know these things are true". then they agreed to go to church when Daniel was better. you just cant replace experiences like that. thanx for everything. i love you all.

elder bern

Letter from Elder Bern

hey fam, happy late fathers day dad! hey dad, thanx a ton for telling me about your missionary experiences, you were right, it does sound really familiar! wow, sounds like there is gonna be a lot of changes done with the house. thats cool. andrea wrote me too and she is doing awesome in virginia. what a stud. gar also wrote....another stud. hmm...about the dinner.....so many discisions. you know what, almost my entire mission i havent been able to eat seafood so i have been having a huge craving for red lobster! mmmm. if thats not possible then just something that has to do with good fish. yeah, im not really worried about whats gonna happen with school and stuff, it hasnt really hit me yet, which is good. sometimes its tough because i want to work my guts out but just the fact that im going home makes my comp even more trunky than he is, and he has 3 months left still. but we are still working really well and are going to have a baptism on July 2nd! i think i have already told you about Maria Benitez. she is so awesome. i have never seen an investigator so excited to learn and progress in the church. everytime we talk to her she explains how she recognizes that Satan is always trying to bring her down but then she notices the difference in him and the Holy Ghost. shes like " i cant really explain what it is...its like a small voice that distictly tells you what to do....but then sometimes when im reading there is another voice that says..stop reading this its a lie..and i know its not the same voice." my testimony has grown a lot through her in that the Spirit and change anyone... i dont care who you are. the zone is doing really good right now. last saturday we had 6 baptisms! the Lord is helping us a lot. hey, sorry i dont have that much time to write more cause i have a lot to say but thanx for your pacience. i love you all.

elder bern

Letter from Brandon

hey there fam. thanx for the letters and pics. when did the knievels put a fence on their lawn? i got a good laugh out of the hoola hoop..hehe. finally that stupid thing is out of the tree. whats up with the bonfire in the back yard? hehe. yes mom, i did get the money, thanx a ton, it will help me out a lot. today its another rainy day.....but at least im no longer in an area with a ton of mud. yup, they made me a zone leader in Paraná for my last transfer. at first i wasnt that happy with it because i had to leave all those people that were gonna get baptized, but elder Woolley is gonna send me the pictures. so here i am with elder Segovia from Uruguay and we are both zone leaders. im starting to get used to the way the zone leaders do things and i like it. this past week has been kind of hard though because we are living in an appartment with 4 elders and one of them just got here and he already wants to go home. its giving me flashbacks with elder Martinez. so once again i had to be the ¨"shrink" and talk him out of it. but his case is a little worse than elder martinez. but i know he wont go home for fear of chastizement. its really sad to see him so miserable when he doesnt have enough experience or testimony to realize that the mission is completely awesome. i have realized that most lately...that there is just some things that you have to just do.....so do them...then youll see afterwards. complaining just waistes time. thanx for all your love and support. i love you all
elder bern

Another letter from an Elder. Brandon Howell.

well, i have been praying earnestly on behalf of Grant and Gar and Jane so that the Lord would do what he saw fit to do. it appears that he was needed on the other side more. be sure and let them know how concerned and sorry i am and i will continue to pray for them. this is all pretty awkward to me becuase when i go home im not gonna know what to say to my new brothers and sisters in law and nephew........but im sure it will be awkward for them too. just gotta let that time come and not worry about it i guess. those pictures were awesome! e looked way good. unfortunately the other picture was really dark and i could hardly see the people in it. are there any other better family pictures to send?

anyway, the work is awesome here in Santa Fe and my comp is a stud. yesterday we took another investigator to church. he didnt seem all that excited to be there but we will see if the Spirit works in him. his name is fernando and he lives with a member family(well, the mom is a member, the dad not). we are also trying to teach the dad to get them both baptized. there are a bunch of others that we are working with that the Lord has blessed us with. im lovin being a trainer because he is super humble and willing to work as hard as his body will let him.........in fact, i think his legs and feet are about to reach the limit. ;) i remember those days! thanx for all your love and support and prayers. i love you all.

elder bern

p.s. mothers day is next week? isnt it like 2 weeks from now? ill check it out..........dont worry though, ill get you the information.