Hello from Sunny dry Arizona!

Hello from beautifully dry Arizona!

Sunday evening we got an email from the assistants about a mission
conference Monday that President Griffin really wanted to
have. It was supper vague and we thought we were getting gathered for
a huge punishing reprimand from President but when we walked into the
Glendale north stake center and saw chairs set up we knew we feared
for nothing. When Elder Holland walked into the room, this quietness
enveloped me, almost like a soundproof room. The picture was snapped,
hands were shaken, and then he taught us.

I finally understand personally when people say he can be fired up. My
goodness, one moment I'm trying so hard to hear what he's whispering
into the mic and than BOOM!! He singes the ends of my hair.

Some key learnings:
-Elder Holland will work very hard to keep his promises. His visit was
the only date this quarter he had free, the Brethren didn't know he
left SLC as he "pulled a quarterback sneak out the back door".

-The more people you talk to the more you'll baptize
-Nicodemus was smart, his question about being reborn was just "the
stupidest thing in the history of this church"
-Jesus asks us to lift up our eyes and come to the higher level where he is at.
-Missionaries in general can coast really easy after a year, but DON'T
EVER, EVER be like that.
-Come home with at least one convert, yourself.
It was incredible and thankfully Elder Ingham audio recorded most of
it so I can go back and learn more. The leaders of our church
genuinely care about each member and truly are guided by Jesus Christ.
This is His church.

Mesa Visitor's Center (Round II)
Oscar really wanted to have a baptismal date after going to his
uncle's baptism, we decided to make a big combo lesson at the Mesa
Temple to cover several things we wanted to go over. We hooked a ride
with Michelle, sister to Gabi Mendoza from my first area (everyone's
connected) and man it was really neat. Unlike last time which I'm sure
was a freak accident experience, everything ran smoothly and we
actually had sisters to show us around with the things we had called
in a few days before. After the short film about John Tanner, a early
Saint who had his crippled leg healed so he could be baptized and
donated much for the building of the church and the Kirkland Temple,
we set a date with Oscar for July 16th. Whoo! This one will happen
because Oscar not only comes to all three hours of church but attends
FHE and is being strongly fellowshipped by the other members. This
might have to do with the fact that Oscar takes care of himself, the
only awkward part is he already has a girlfriend who's a member out in
Scottsdale. I'm going to pull the missionary card and not get in the
middle of the whole thing.

 3. The new zone shirts made by potential investigators

Seth Hinton
The YSA Bishop's son came home from his mission in Chile this week.
His talk was arguably the most powerful I've heard. He is a very
humble dude. The other cool part was that he's still a missionary- he
invited two friends to his homecoming with whom we have a lesson this
Saturday and he told us he's bringing another to FHE tonight. He's a
powerhouse, and it doesn't seem like this is just something he's doing
because he's fresh off the plane. With his family background, it feels
like he's gotten better at being an example and how to teach others.
It made me think about how I will keep on inviting others after the
mission to give this church a chance. I want to have a Braxton Moon
experience, which means I'll have to make the time for it.

I'm not sure why we're bottlenecking, meaning our investigators
(besides Oscar and Daniel) aren't really progressing. However with the
120 days, I feel like I'm showing the Lord that I want to teach. We're
enjoying the blessings as we just keep finding people, even in the
hottest and hardest times (1-3). What do I have to loose to work a
little harder and a little smarter?
Missions are hard. It's frustrating when people don't commit,
partially because I'm thinking about them all day-how to help them.
It's frustrating when members are flaky or teach false doctrine to
investigators about how it's ok to drink tea and coffee. It's annoying
when no one lets you in and you have a waterfall cascading off your
back. But I'm feeling so blessed right now.

I thought I'd end with a blurb by Elder Holland,

"Water doesn't become steam until after you hit 100 degrees. Not 89,
not 95, not even 97.8. It has to be 100. And then it changes. It's no
longer water. If you want to change, spiritually, you have to give out
quantitative and qualitative results. You need to explode,
atom-splitting types that smart scientists like. In the true gospel,
you get what you want. So the question is, 'What do you want?' I feel
like I can speak for the Lord because I know what he wants, He wants
True disciples. Ones who are willing to crank up the heat. ...Don't
you dare miss your apostolic period of time. And above all, keep the
spirit with you always."

I love you all.
Elder Bryan





June 20, 2016

2. Lazertag District activity

Happy Fathers Day Dad! I hope you enjoyed breakfast in bed and a nice
grilled dinner. Unless you decided to do something else then I hope
you enjoyed that.

Hot week and here's some good things that happened to us...

Oscar
This guy wants to have a baptismal date.
I'm not sure if I talked about Oscar before but he's a referral from
Scottsdale we got last week. He had been taught a couple times as he
went to church with his girlfriend who's from the east side of the
valley. He came to FHE where we played water balloon volleyball and
got to interact with a lot of the members. We had a lesson on Saturday
that was nice and calm, he told us how he was going to his uncle's
baptism which was cool to hear. On Sunday he came up to us at church
and told us he wants to be baptized and asked what he needed to go to
make that happen. I'm looking forward to our trip to the Mesa Visitors
Center where we'll plan it out.

1. The WestMaricopa Flag is back in the right companionship!

(Competition in the zone, whoever wins the week with combined numbersof inv. @church & member present lessons gets the flag)

One of those highlight lessons I've had was Thursday after a crummy
night of finding. The member dropped me off at mutual to meet up with
my companions. Johansel asked if we could have a lesson and wow. In
the transfer that I've known him he's gone from atheist to agnostic to
our lesson when he told us that he believes the Book of Mormon is true
and that God exists. We asked if he wanted to get baptized and he told
us he's already thought of who he wants to baptize him. The only
problem is he's never really talked about this whole thing to his
parents and isn't sure they'll be ok with it. It makes sense since
(...cents. Psh English) his girlfriend is the one who introduced him
to the church. We invited him to be more open with his family and show
them that he's doing this because he wants to and not because he's
trying to impress his girl.

Mario Camboa
Por fin we meet this guy. He lives in this complex that has numbering
system set to shuffle. The first lesson we had was pretty sweet, a
bishop from Tempe works with him and has been teaching him a thing
about the gospel here and there. Now he wants to see if he should
unite with the Mormon people. I wasn't sure his capacity by the way he
talks and his hunchback disability so to check I asked him what he
understood from the first vision that I had just recounted to him. He
nailed it with everything in order from the church going Smith family
to James 1:5 to the end. Super cool. Put himself on date. For the 3rd
of July. It was nice but not sure if he'll make that seeing that he
doesn't have a copy of the Book of Mormon yet and didn't come to
church. But! He invited himself to the date so we'll see if we can
keep that fire going, just maybe for a latter time.

I love you all.
Elder Bryan
Arizona Phoenix Mission 

June 6, 2016

Deshawn

Elder Tamayo and I found him late Tuesday night and talked a little about what the sisters had taught him. It sounded like they just had nice chats and shared their favorite scriptures. I can see why Deshawn wasn't progressing. We had a very interesting lesson the next day where half way through he reached into his pocket and pulled out a bearded dragon. He went into our discussion thinking we were going to debate theology and it took him a little while to calm him down, but luckily he wasn't too serious about it, more of a game. However! He has great friends in the YSA and at the end we left on a high note where he explained to us that maybe this is God telling him he needs to study this faith and try it out. I am still confused but he accepted the pamphlet so it's all positive.

Alexis

A man I decided to give a picture of Christ to. We were walking through this complex which had a lot of potential investigators that we had contacted the previous week and off to the side was this hairy old man. Feeling a little nervous, I decided to just go for the soft, "here's a picture of Jesus" approach. He turned out to be someone who was looking for a church to go to, a common theme in those apartments since religion is about all some of them have. We set up a time to stop by a few days later, When we had our lesson, we had to rush because of an earlier lesson with Deshawn that I talked about so we shared what makes our church different, the Book of Mormon and taught him how to pray. It's something else helping an 50something year old pray, I really enjoyed the spirit I felt there. He sincerely thanked us as we left his apartment. Cool guy.

 

Small Bump

Sunday Night, I was coming back to the church from visits with a priest and Elders Sperry and Tamayo were waiting for us. While they were circling the parking lot, they pegged a street light with the truck. Luckily, the street light remained safe. Sadly the truck's fender got bender-ed. We'll see what happens, we are all very sad. 

Stake Conference

This weekend we had stake conference, super cool because of several reasons. The first is our stake president is a baller convert of 15 years who has kids still in diapers. President Overton is also a baller in the basketball sense. He plays pickup every Wednesday night andSaturday morning with people he's invited from various places. It helps that he's a black 6'4" who played sports in college. He shared powerful teachings on the Temple and being a minister. I love working around him, he's a saint. 

The other cool part was with President Griffin. He had just installed a reward program for the mission and we achieved the temple trip because we had 9 baptisms last month and there are 9 companionships  in the zone. When I walked up and announced that we made it, President Griffin gave me the biggest grin I'd seen him give (which is huge. He's not a big smiler, he's a rancher) and grabbed my neck, like a victory. It was a sweet moment to see him so proud. 

The rest of the week was similar to last. Random media referrals falling into our laps, like Danny who even though he's on parole, he wants to share the gospel with the rest of his "Catholic" family and one day be baptized. 

Love,

Elder Bryan

May 30, 2016

More transfer news
Elder Sperry and I were going to drive up during transfers to the
mission office with Sister Turville, a sweet older missionary who's
been in the mission since everyone can remember. When we drove up we
were told by the assistants that we were going to pick up a third
companion, Elder Tamayo who was trained by elder Sperry last August.
We were extremely excited but it also put us into a mini panic to get
another bed and desk. Elder Tamayo is a fantastic missionary who's
from D. F. Mexico/Houstan Texas and is such a solid leader. I hope we
all get to stay together till the end

Splits
The sweetest part about the trio is the easiness of going on splits
with members. This week we've been able to go on splits twice a day
everyday. This has been very good and effective because we're teaching
more people than I've ever taught in one single week. We are currently
teaching thirty individuals, couples, and/or families. The biggest and
potentially  family is the Maldonados with five children. They act
like members and the children all wanted their own copy of the Book of
Mormon. Now we just need to get all these people progressing.

Westwind YSA
So serving in an YSA is weird/cool. Weird because everybody goes by
their first name and no one cries in sacrament meeting. The cool part
is there's a lot of RMs and the bishopric is some of the most solid
I've seen. Bishop Hinton I swear was the voice actor for Flick from A
Bugs Life. Someone's got to look it up because it's freakishly close.
But cool. There hasn't been much work in this ward for a while so
we're excited to changing our name from the number 1 marrying ward to
the #1 Marrying&Baptizing Ward in the Phoenix stake. The other thing
known about the Westwind is that there's ton of Hispanics that go.
It's been fun to keep speaking Spanish even though we cover a English
ward again. We've been able to start teaching a couple people for the
YSA so we'll see where things go.

A lot of people here are really receptive. A man from Cuba named
Alexis accepted a picture of Jesus from me and called after us asking
if he could come to our church. Another lady we contacted in the
street was found in her apartment half paralyzed after falling down a
flight of stairs. When we stopped by we gave her a priesthood
blessing, shared a short message and two days later we saw her running
outside with her daughter. We'll be teaching her this Saturday. I'm
happy, time is flying by, and extremely busy.

Have a great week y'all!

Elder Bryan
Arizona Phoenix Mission

Disappointments and Delays

Right off the bat I have to say that Elder Holland wasn't able to make
it to our mission due to airplane delays. Super sad but we heard from
Elder Robbins from the presidency of the 70 who was on the eleven day
tour with Elder Holland. Here's how it went...

Elder Robbins
So we had been given specific strict instructions on where we were to
stand for the picture with the Brothern and how to act. As we waiting
for Elder Frost of the area 70, Elder Robbins and Elder Holland to
walk in with their wives, President told us the news that Elder
Holland had left for Salt Lake for business the day before and the
plane to come back was malfunctioning. We took the picture and shook
their hands as we walked into the chapel. We heard from the above
mentioned people, President Griffin and Elder Robbins gave outstanding
teachings. Elder Robbins started out by telling us that Satan tries to
disconnect points of doctrine I.e. The fall and the atonement, justice
and mercy, and where he focused- agency and Responsibility.
We came up as a group a list of ways people avoid responsibility and
learned that if we take responsibility, we'll be in charge of our
lives and every blessing available.
At the end of two and a half hours President Griffin came up to Elder
Robbins and showed him his computer. Elder Robbins then told us that
he was stalling, hoping that Elder Holland was going to walk through
the doors and surprise us but Elder Holland would be at the church an
hour later. So close. Incredible stalling though because those 2 1/2
felt like 30 minutes. He is a master teacher
Something President Griffin said stuck with me, disappointments end
and turn into great positive experiences. True true.

Lightning Storm
Saturday I went on exchanges with elder Young from Boise in his area
which meant biking! We helped a couple from Ireland organize their
house to prepare to go back for the summer time who invited us to stay
with them if we ever go to Ireland. In the early afternoon things
turned a wee bit crazy with some hard rain. As we were peddling as
hard as we could against the wind I took some time to reflect. This
week wasn't exactly what I had hoped for. I kept comparing my Spanish
against elder Sperry's, I didn't get to meet Elder Holland (we really
have to do something about our plane technology though), and our
lessons weren't going so smooth. Super frustrated but even though I
was drenched to the bone, muddy and covered in garbage from the road I
became so happy. I got a really good feeling that God was still there
and that he wasn't going to back out of his investment in me. This
week was one of the most difficult I've experienced but I feel like I
grew a little too. 'it's good for you' :)


"Sunday Will Come"
After all that happened, I was ready for fast Sunday to happen. We
arrived at the church building to find a potential investigator
sitting in the pews, named Gabriel. Unfortunately he lives in the
other Spanish ward in this stake but it was still cool to see some
dedication. Julio, Beatriz and their two girls came for all three
hours. No one can believe their not members yet. Right now it's just a
waiting game with them for the courts to clear their case and they can
be baptized. A 20 year old college student walked into a Sacrament
meeting and after translating for him we found out that he slept in
and missed his church so he walked around until he found the closest
Catholic Church. Good thing he didn't know what they look like so he
could find us. We set up a lesson for the sisters that cover the ysa
and we'll see where things go. Mayra also came and left 'jumbo' the
nickname for her ginormous 2 year old who's the size of a big 7 year
old at home with her husband which was the only reason she hadn't come
in the past. It felt like the clouds moved and people feel from the
sky

As far as Mother's Day goes, I'll call around 3pm our time soo 4pm
yours. Can't wait!

Elder Bryan
Arizona Phoenix Mission

After the storm comes the sunshine

First pic- L->R elders Young, 'Osai, Sperry, Me

Hello All!
We cranked out nine member present lessons even with a million
cancels. We had some setbacks in the fact that no one accepted
baptismal invitations. We did have a cool church tour with Krishna and
during it, Krishna kept looking away from us and it was a little
awkward. Afterward she texted us and told us she felt the spirit
really strong and felt a little guilty that she was enjoying the
Mormon church. However that didn't stop her from coming to church for
the first time. Success!

Jimmy Alvarez
Last year we were teaching Jimmy who was progressing super well. And
then we had a straight talk about getting married which wasn't a part
of the plans with his fiancé. He walked out of the church and we
thought we lost him forever. Fast forward to a month ago when Landon,
comp from then emailed me and said that Jimmy was working out in
Abudabi(?) but would skype lessons with the sisters in Verrado. Super
cool, Thursday Dionne and Jimmy got married and Friday, RM Nistler
took me to the baptism. Really really cool experience. One of my
favorite memories of this mission.

2. Nistler, Dionne, Jimmy, me

Transfer
Today we found out that not only Elder Sperry and I are staying for
another round but we'll also be covering all of the ward as well as
the YSA. First time covering a YSA but I'm pretty excited for the new
challenge. Our hope is that Elder Sperry and I stay here till we go
home and next transfer potentially pick up a third companion who can
take over when we leave. We're hopeful for this because Elder Anderson
my trainer did the same thing last year. Who knows but I absolutely
love this ward.

May 16, 2016

This week was cool

Monday night I went to bed early not feeling up to snuff and woke up
worse. The first day in a while where I had to stay in all day. I
thought I was going to get away with not getting sick this year. Elder
Sperry took one of the other elders and got everything done and at
dinner they dropped me off at a members so the English elders could
get back to their area while elder Sperry went on exchange with a
member. Really strange to wear pday clothes all day. The member is
notorious for trying to stuff just me with food and true to form, the
first thing he asked was if I wanted to eat. His son helped me escape
the soccer game that he was trying to get me to watch by inviting me
to crash on his bed. Tuesday will not be repeated as long as I'm a
missionary. Sooo long and all I want to do is teach.

On exchanges with the assistants we set a goal to find a new
investigator and the whole day it was trash as four lessons canceled
on us. The last lesson in the day the grandma who moved up from Mexico
came and decided to sit in our lesson. that was a really cool miracle
to see.

After Thursday we started to see progress. Krishna texted us that she
feels like the Book of Mormon is helping improve her life and she
wants to come to church next week. A member referred us to her
inactive sister who has three sons who all want to be baptized. It's
cool to see things happening after we got door after door of nothing

Sunday was a little interesting. A stake presidency counselor who used
to be the La Joya bishop many years ago came and gave a talk where he
declared repentance hardcore. It was really good because everyone
loves him and he did it in a very loving way.

Love y'all!

Possible last transfer!!!

Bad news
Unfortunately Maria Rosales wasn't baptized this weekend. We learned
of some catholic beliefs that she's not convinced she needs to change
yet. Kind of an interesting situation when you believe this is Gods
only church on the earth but you don't want to give up old ways. I
guess we're all like that some times- know what we know, but just so
hard to change the things we like. Thankfully she put herself on date
for the 16th and we'll see how that goes.

Stake conference
Elder Dan Johnson of the 70 came for our stake conference and gave
wonderful council to us all. The crazy thing was for the adult session
the translator never showed up so I got to relive Wickenburg and
spontaneously translate for the Spanish people who came. It was great,
only that the hardest words I've ever heard were given. Try
translating for an accountant/70, pretty nerve racking. It gave me a
good glimpse at where I need to go to better myself and a boost of
adrenaline.

Lame duck
For most of the week I've been under the weather but thankfully good
enough to still work. It's been great to take the backseat (literally)
and watch elder Benolerao and Plourde get things done. This was a
little blessing because I got news today that I'll be transferred.
Easy transition now, because sometimes you can take your knowledge of
an area with you and for a little while the other elders struggle to
find where everything is and all that. Not going to be a problem here
and nothing will slow down.

Looking back to the past five months, they've been super sweet.
Marcelinas baptism, cleaning up the area, bettering relations with
ward leaders, and serving other elders. No regrets. I'm looking
forward to my new companion as well as what will be probably my last
area. Super stoked to work my tail off and get to meet new people.

Love,
Elder Bryan

P.S.

President just called me, I'm going to west Maricopa, la Joya ward
with my MTC comp! Elder Sperry!!

conference week

Elder Conover and I

 Zone movie (Freetown) with President Griffin

 I got some palm leaves from a contact

What a wonderful weekend of General Conference. Of the four I've had

in the mission field, this one was the best. Maybe it has to do with

being prepared to learn, who knows :)

Elders Plourde, Benolerao, and I have gotten a good hang of switching

off during lessons, having open communication, and keeping each other

up to speed on what we did on splits with members. It's been very

relaxing to say the least.

Baptisms

A problem this week was trying to have baptismal interviews, schedule

the only building we have available, and keep member help high as a

zone we have 7+ baptisms the 9th. My kind of problems right there.

It's been a moral booster to have every companionship with scheduled

baptisms for the next few weeks. I think the Lord is really trusting

us with His children here in the Glendale stake. Now if only our

people could come back from Mexico, or at least send a letter saying

they found missionaries there. I can't complain though, we're finding

people very regularly now. Elder Arnold actually responded to a

similar question when he was here. The missionary asked what do we do

when our investigators flake out. He replied, "Well you go out and

find three more people to teach and baptize. There will be someone

ready to hear you if you get out on the street"

Maria

With Maria's baptismal date for the 9th, we've been preparing her. I

think because of the faith we're exercising now more than ever, she's

been able to overcome bumps that have sprung up almost immediately

after we set the date. It's just too good to be normal coincidence.

Surprises

Elder Arnold asked every area to bring several lists of members when

he came. One thing we have realized as we continue to dig is that the

last ward clerk didn't do anything for the past four years besides

record convert baptisms. Like, nothing else. We were all shocked when

18 or so active children came up as unbaptized, including the bishops

son, Brian (good name btw). The big deal now is all of the families

have to look back to find the date or we'll have to rebaptize them.

Not too big of a deal but could have been avoided. Well...we hope it

won't be a big deal, we haven't told anyone besides the bishop so

we'll see how that goes. Also, if you know any of the rumors about

paper trails and Hispanics, know they're all true. My advice is this:

keep a journal, document important papers, and do your family history

before some Juan has to guesstimate which Juan you are. :)

Besides all of this, we're still working with Hermano Raygoza, half of

Oasis West Apartments, and some part member families-the which have

difficulty keeping appointments.

Life is good, Conference was Grrrrreat! And I'm having the best time

of my life out here.

Love,

Elder Bryan