The 8th Chronicle

Hello Family & Friends!

To start off last week with a bang we proselyted in the rain for TWO hours, and during that downpour received four new "people to be taught"! Legit blessings raining down on us!

Had a wonderful follow up lesson with Kathy! She shared with us her feelings after her baptism last week. She said "I feel... I feel like, I'm on a whole new plane." How true is that and I'm so happy for her! The change in people is SO real. It's such an awesome experiance to mentally compare where people were before to how they are now. The difference is incredible.

Had some gnarly storms this last week.  Lighting, thunder, hail, and just torrential rain! So cool! The wind was nuts one night. We totally missed it cause of exchanges. More on that later, but the wind was like 70 mph. Every street had a tree that just got leveled. Ripped from the roots. Reminds me of Helaman 5:12. 

Christine:  "I looked up the scripture, so that you can read it here…"

 

 

So exchanges were great! I went with Elder Haire our district leader. He's a stud! We taught a couple lessons. One with a cool guy. He is an atheist but super open and wanting to learn more! He also downed a couple "Fire Balls" during our lesson. It was great =P.  

Christine: I didn’t know what “Fire Balls" are so I looked it up.  Turns out, it's whisky.

Also Elder Haire is heading home next week! All done with his 24-Months and served with honor. Watch out ladies, he is coming up to Utah State in the fall XD @ryan.haire23 

 

Found out that a brother in our ward actually served in the same mission as my Dad (up in Spokane, Washington). So cool! We pulled out this brother's mission memorabilia (since Elder Durocher and I were at his home for dinner) and totally found a picture of my Dad! I guess he remembers "Elder Cliffton Brady" becoming an AP and that's how we made the connection. The world is a very small place!

So like, people tell us EVERYTHING! No joke, it's nuts the things people tell us. Maybe it's cause we are young. Maybe it’s cause we are nice. Maybe it’s because we have a badge and people get us confused for a psychiatrist XD I really think it's because people love to talk and all they need is someone to ask a few meaningful sincere questions to open up. We all have a story and most, if not all, are willing to share. How well do we really know our neighbors? How much do we talk to people in the check-out line or around town? A few kind and sincere questions, asked to a stranger, can go a long way.

I doesn't matter WHAT you have but WHO you are. I've met people with HOLY COW NICE CARS like a brand new Porche or Mustang, and yet they have an old trashy house in disarray. I've met people who have small and humble homes but they are clean and well kept. The difference? It’s the people... not the money. Something else I've seen is pride in the rich and pride in the poor. I've also seen great humilty in the wealthy and great humility as well in those with simple circumstances. Character is a huge thing when talking about WHO we are instead of WHAT we have. Our environment is 100% dependent on us. It doesn't matter if whatever we have is the nicest. All that matters is how we use and take care of what we have. I believe that is what makes the biggest difference.

Talked to a great guy that was passionate about Christ and what he has done for us. Even though he hasn't read 10 pages out of the Bible, he has had a strong faith since he was 8 years old. He loved sharing life advice with us, some of which made me laugh XD He did say one cool thing though... "There will come a day when you slip up or stray from the path. Not an IF, but a WHEN! We are all imperfect. That's why we gotta just KNOW that Christ will be there for us. Even when we feel alone, he IS there. Keep the faith man. Don't lose your way my brother."  

So Logan is apart of Harrison County... and to give you an idea of what we see every day, here is a list of "What Every Person Has In Harrison County". It is only exaggerated a tiny bit XD Here's the list...

A dog.

A cat.

A covered porch.

A "religion".

A decorative water spiket.

A screen door.

A Free-Little-Library on their street.

A neighbor with wooden eagles statues.

A town siren that sounds every meal.

A couple tree limbs on the lawn.

A beer in hand and cigarette in the other.

Today we get to celebrate INDEPENDENCE DAY. We get to celebrate freedom and liberty. We get to show those that came before and sacrificed their LIVES, their FORTUNES, and their SACRED HONOR that we are grateful for their valiant fight in our behalf. It makes me think of another "Independance Day". The day Christ rose from the dead, marking the victory over physical death, also marked our potential to overcome spiritual death in the next life. So as we celebrate today for our freedoms and this promised land, remember also the freedom we have from death. Ya know it also reminds me of Nephi and the prophetic vision he had of the American Revolution. The Lord knew we would have to fight for liberty. He knew that we would have to humble ourselves to succeed. He knew that there was no other way to establish his church again on the earth and to accomplish 'The Restoriaton' without a country that loved and respected religious freedom. Read all about it... 1 Nephi 13.

Also have to add... President and Sister Ence have arrived! They are awesome. I'm so excited to get to know them better over the next couple years. It was wonderful to be with them, feel of their spirit, and learn more about them.

And to wrap up... I'm doing great! Logan is amazing and the work is going well. Love the members and everyone we are teaching. Really, it's hard somedays but it's worth every second. My favorite thing is getting to walk around and find people, hear their story and learn about their beliefs. My favorite part is when I get to testify of what I know to be true. The funny thing is you can argue all day with someone and never make any headway, but when you testify of what you know to be true ….that is powerful. No can fight you on that, and they especially can't take that away from you. Our testimony is literally how we fight Satan and share the gospel. Combine our testimony with the Book of Mormon and the Spirit... the effect is, WOW!  I gotta say that those are the three weapons I carry everyday and I'm always ready to us them. How often do we share a verse of scripture with someone? Is their someone this week you could reach out to?

Kia Kaha!

Elder Brady