The 10th Chronicle

Hello Family & Friends!

Nothing better than starting your week off by traveling around the world in a matter of hours! Nope, sorry, no jet planes were involved. In fact, I walked the whole time. So how did I do it? Sorry to disappoint again cause time travel wasn't used either. "Well how?" you might ask. I did it by visiting the Omaha Zoo on Preparation Day! Apparently it's ranked as one of the top Zoos in the nation and I can see why, 'cause it was awesome! Saw lots of exotic creatures and had a good time with the Elders in my district. It was one last "Hurrah!!" with Elder Hansen and Elder Haire before they flew home the next day. I will say, visiting the Zoo sure reminded me of the good old days when I used to go to the Zoo in St. Louis with my Great Uncle Dave and Great Aunt Debbie. We would see the animals, watch magicians, eat food and hop on the little train. So many memories.

It was transfers this last week! As usual during training, I will be staying in the same area (Logan, Iowa) with my trainer Elder Durocher at the same address. Also fun fact, Elder Durocher just got assigned to be our District Leader! I got to listen in to the training President Ence held for all the new District Leaders and it was way cool to get the 'inside scoop' to all the new changes with the new edition of Preach My Gospel, and how that will be affecting the mission as a whole and as a district!

Okay, so there must have been a crazy big memo sent out and I totally missed it. Literally EVERYONE in the Logan Area has a water spiket in their front yard. When I say everyone, I mean EVERYONE. Cool experience though... Elder Durocher was sharing with me (during my first week) a conversation he had with an Elder who had told him about this person that was interested in the gospel. When Elder Durocher asked him where they lived, the Elder told him he didn't know but that they had a water spiket in their front yard. LOTS of help I know right? =P Well, now it's been a running joke every time we see a water spiket to say, "Water Spiket!" and then go knock it in an attempt to find this "golden person." Alas, we have not found them yet. I will share though, that this last week we were about to take a right at the end of a street (while walking and knocking) and we saw that the house on the corner had a water spiket. We thought, "why not?" and knocked. A lady opened the door and despite the fact that she couldn't breath very well (which meant she couldn't talk very long with us) she still accepted a Book of Mormon and we set up a return appointment! Miracles y'all, I'm telling you =)

So quick comment on "Sutton the Dog". Because our area is so big we have an apartment in Logan AND member housing in another town.  This way we can visit people farther away without having to drive all the way there and back to Logan itself everyday. So this member family that we stay with has a wonderful dog. His name is Sutton. Sutton is super chill and will snuggle with you if you let him. Welp! During our latest dinner with the member family, Sutton came and wanted to be petted. So I took the opportunity to grab a great selfie =) It's been tradition (with all the Elders that serve in Logan) to get a selfie with Sutton. Sutton is amazing! =)

When out on the hunt for new people to teach Elder Durocher and I turn into Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson. We can walk around and identify people's religious beliefs before we even knock on the door. As perhaps Sherlock would say, "It is very key to notice those simple religious symbols that reveal the character of those right away!" Let's say... a cross? Christian (that's probably an easy one 😉). Say a cross AND a red flame? Methodist. Statue of Mary or a Saint? Catholic. Statue of Buddha? Buddhist. A mythical creature and an element of earth? Perhaps a Pagan. Lots of guns? Conservative. Lots of random crosses? Probably a "Non-Dom" Christian.

Got sweat? I gotta say that it is HOT here during the Iowa summer. Temps of 90 degrees are a regular occurrence and that's not to mention the humidity. This makes it so we (Elder Durocher and I) find ourselves every day, after a short morning run of two miles, drenched in sweat. We shower up afterwards and enjoy the blessed A/C (during studies) to then go right back out in the heat to sweat again. When you feel it drip down your back, you know it's bad =P Nothing unbearable, just interesting. It's better then say... the equator! I will say that I am the most tan I've been in a while 🙃.

I love my studies! It may seem that studying for an hour is a super long time (and I know that I thought that before I left), but not so for me now! An hour is just not long enough! At first it was a little hard to get into it and know how I was going to organize my studies. Once I got it figured out and really started studying the scriptures hand in hand with a dictionary and the words of the prophets, my studies have been amazing! I am halfway through a medium-sized journal of just shear notes and diagrams that I've taken or drawn. How often do we really get to spend a "set amount of time" in the scriptures? Is just casual reading going to be enough? How can we stay strong in these increasing days of chaos?

Kia Kaha!

Elder Brady