Week 81. Spring Break

 Hey guys! It was spring break this week and so half the ward was gone. So it changed up what we normally do, but it was still great. Here are the highlights: 

Transfers - so transfers happened but not much changed. I'm still in Seattle and the rest of the Zone is basically the same. Everyone has been here for a bit. But it's a party. 

Caitlin - we didn't see her this week but something happened to make her scared and doubtful. Because of that we have kinda lost touch with her but thankfully she had lots of friends in the ward who are talking with her. Prayers for her to overcome this challenge 

Moving Michael - he's this ysa kid who hated Seattle weather that he left and went abroad for a year and half,  before coming back and buying a house because he's a software engineer. If that's not God telling me what to do I don't know what is. It's actually crazy the amount of them here and I've had some good convos with them. And this guy is super fun. 

Tracting Downtown - because everyone was gone for spring break we had a lot of time to check up on old records. That was pretty fun and God even blessed us with a nice day to walk around in. Also found a set of twins named Urim and Thummim. I am so glad my name's Braden. 

Hoedown - there was a stk activity that we got to go to. There wasn't really a Hoedown part, it was mostly a chili and pie cook off. And YSA represented with 2 wins. 

Bam - she's super shy and usually only comes to church every other week when her boyfriend, who is a member, can come too. But we invited her and this last Sunday she came without him! Not that I don't like him,  cause he's cool, but just that she's willing to take that step and do it on her own. We read Mosiah 3 with her and talked about how the Atonement of Christ works 

Bowling - Monday nights we usually have basketball but this p day our ward had a bowling activity. It was super fun and God must have been helping me because I got 147 my first game, and I almost got a Turkey, one pin off. I was not the winner overall tho, there was one guy who scored a 171. It was great and we had Dylan and a new guy there. 

Spiritual thought - one thing I'm doing to prepare for General Conference is to read through all of Pres. Nelson's talks from 2018 to the present. I haven't finished yet, but here's one of my favorite things I've found so far:

"Nothing is more liberating, more ennobling, or more crucial to our individual progression than is a regular, daily focus on repentance. Repentance is not an event; it is a process. It is the key to happiness and peace of mind. When coupled with faith, repentance opens our access to the power of the Atonement of Jesus Christ."

Amen.

Love y’all and did a photo shoot for my mom

80. Opposition in all things

 So, last week I alluded to some awesome miracles and I'll share some of them, but the reason for the title is that oftentimes with the good comes the bad and it's up to us what to focus on. 

Basketball - I usually have terrible luck when it comes to shooting, this p day was no exception. But last p day was and that was cool. 

Kat - this was on Tuesday, we had a lesson with her and Kayla on temple Covenants. And afterwards we're just talking about their week and then Kat says that she kept getting this prompting about April 29th to be her baptismal date. Both of us were blown away. Last week she was a little uncertain, but now she was so happy and confident and was ready to go talk to her family about it.

Then she called us on Thursday and told us that she told her parents and how they were more calm about it then ever before. Prayers were answered. It was awesome

Chess - Dylan came to dinner on Wednesday, sadly didn't stay til institute but that's okay. He was still able to meet new people. Half the reason being that he challenged me to a chess game before dinner started so everyone was watching us. Despite a lot of bad moves and missed opportunities, I won. He let me know that there will be a rematch though.

Sick - it started Friday on exchanges. I was with Elder Spears in his walking area. He's a new missionary, been out for a whole transfer, and this was his second exchange. The first half of the day was good, but then randomly while walking down the road, I puked in some bushes. And again waiting for the bus, almost on the bus, and then when we got home. I died the rest of that night, we exchanged back and apparently my companion also puked right after taking a bite at a member's house. 

We're quite the pair. But wait it gets better, woke up at like 5 in the morning and had an accident in my bed, that was disgusting, had to wash everything. So we just starved ourselves so we couldn't puke anymore and died that whole day. We were better by Sunday. 

Bam - great lesson like always. We talked about prophets and gaining a testimony of them during General Conference. At the end she gave us these little incense packets from Tai. Super nice. Pic below with Jessica our ward mission leader. 

Spiritual thought - "My dear brothers and sisters, the joy we feel has little to do with the circumstances of our lives and everything to do with the focus of our lives." -President Nelson

It's a pretty common quote, I've probably shared it before. But it was definitely needed this week. And I just love how it doesn't matter what's happening, because the joy we feel can comes from the focus, and that focus can change the attitude of our circumstances to be better when they normally wouldn't be viewed that way. That's one way we can use God's strength during our trials. I hope you can feel that during your hard times, and just remember, summer is coming soon ;)

Love y'all, here are the pics

Week 79. Meetings and Miracles

 Confession... still haven't written in my journal but I'm starting again. But you don't care about that, you care about my week. Here are the highlights:

Japanese class - so a bunch of new people are showing up and are asking about us and why we have tags on, then this one dude walks in and he's like, "wait, missionaries?" And then explains in broken English, that before he moved he had been meeting with missionaries and got referred to the mission below us but might be transferring to our ward! Super cool!

Zone Conference - first one that I had to teach a part of. I thought our portion of it was pretty good. We focused on Mark 2 and helping others. They also talked relating Christ's tomb to the sacrament room and there are some cool similarities. Then President shared some clips from the Chosen and shared a message and literally inspired everyone. It was so cool!

Kat - right after ZC, had a lesson with her and read 2 Nephi 30-31, talked about baptism and she's tried before but her parents aren't supportive so she hasn't yet, even tho she really wants to. I felt the Spirit prompt me so I invited her to talk to her parents again. It's something I know she's tried before but I couldn't deny the spirit, we offered to give her a blessing right before she did it and she said she'd think about it, when she'd do it. Pls keep her in your prayers!

Jane - cool member who's preparing to go on a mission. She was a little nervous about teaching so we invited her to a lesson with Caitlin and it was fire. Members helping with lessons is the best, so ask your missionaries what you can do!

Bam - had a great lesson with her. We talked about how to read the scriptures and get answers from it, then covenants and how the Holy Spirit helps us, and then baptism. The spirit was so strong and some fire testimonies from CJ and Jessica. We asked if she would be baptized, and she's going to think about it. Her faith is great, she just needs to take a leap. Pls pray for her!

Caitlin - had 2 lessons with her this week, the first was on some of our more unique Doctrines and the scriptures behind them and she also told us how she's doing really good on her goal to quit coffee. The next lesson was at Brother Setos with 4 other people. We taught the Gospel of Christ and had 1 person share their testimony for each principle. It was so good and the spirit was so strong. And although she's receiving opposition from her parents, she's still slowly trying. Pls pray for her as well!

Spiritual Thought - Moroni 7:13

"...wherefore, every thing which inviteth and enticeth to do good, and to love God, and to serve him, is inspired of God."

I just wanted to share this scripture, because there will be times when you know the Spirit is speaking with you and there will be times where you may be unsure. But if you know it's for something good then I implore you to act on it. There is great joy when you listen to the spirit. I was nervous this week when I felt it prompt me, but afterwards that moment has turned into a great miracle. You'll hear about it next week. Love y'all and have a great week.

78. Hold on, spider-monkey

 I've never seen twilight, but the ysa is doing a movie night and there was just a spider monkey on the poster. Never been more confused. As for thr rest of the week...

So, I didn't write in my journal once this past week and so wups, but here are the highlights: 

Museum - free pass on Thursday, so we checked it out and it was a cool museum. They had a lot of fun things for kids (and 20 year old me) and also had some windows into other rooms and you got to see someone dissect a coyote. It was cool. And staying true to myself I took one pic

Dominic - this cool guy we talked to on campus. One of the things we do is ask people to fill out a survey and start talking to them. He said yes and after filling it out and talked to us about how something similar happened last month, someone reaching out and talking about God. He needs God in his life and I don't think it's a coincidence. We got his number and I hope he texts back. 

Mos - we taught him the plan of salvation, and taught it simply but still blew his mind. He told us he'd been taught everything before, but that may not have been true. To help him wrap his head around the concept of pre-existence and being spirit children, I shared a scripture and he immediately understood. Told him that everything we teach him comes from the scriptures 

Basketball + volleyball - not much on this, just Caitlin is invited some of her friends to basketball which is super awesome, but makes it a lot harder cause their good, and then we are having some good interactions at volleyball and I got a good spike from back row. (I also like broke my finger or something, not sure)

Social Media Training - my first time doing leading one. It was actually pretty fun and we did a game of four Corners and if you got out you had to do practice one of the things. It was super funny tho, because we set it up and left, and when we came back, someone cleaning the church had taken down our signs. So that was a fun hiccup. 

Bam - had another great lesson with her. We taught the Gospel of Jesus Christ: Faith, repentance, baptism, Holy Ghost, and enduring. She has so much faith and it's amazing. 

Caitlin - we had our second lesson with her and because of work she's been super busy. We went over the Plan of Salvation and had 4 other members there too, so it was a party. The lesson was great and afterwards we all got to make our own potstickers and feast. Her internship ends next week so we'll be able to meet with her a lot more soon. 

Spiritual thought - I just wanted to share my testimony from Sunday. On the mission I've been trying to cook and bake more, but one of my downfalls is I get distracted a lot. That usually means I mess up on the recipe or leave it in the oven too long. But the great thing about life is we have multiple opportunities to try again. I can learn from my burnt mistake, and do better. Because of Atonement of Christ, not only are we able to try again, we are able to get help from a master chef. Who knows the exact recipe to have a great life. 

If you need help, I implore you to ask the master chef. He is loving and He is patient, and He will take care of you. I know that and can promise that you can too. In the name of Jesus Christ, amen. 

Love y'all, here are the pics