Week 29: The hottest week of my life!!

What is up everybody! Hope you all had a great week! Our week was fantastic,to say the least...aside from it being the hottest week of my life I think! :)

 We had a lot of success this past week, finding new people to teach and making good progress with the people we already were teaching. It was really great to start having some good success with finding new people this week, because the few weeks leading up to now we didn't have much success at all in that department of the missionary work. 

One thing I have learned, and gained a testimony of since being a missionary, is that we are always going to go through hard times and good times. It's just a basic fact of life really. God will keep giving us trials all throughout our life to help us grow in every aspect of our life. As a missionary, often times you might go a full day without a single person wanting to talk to you...or maybe a whole week, or maybe even a month or longer. But one thing I have learned from all those experiences is that God always has something in store for you if you can just bare those trials with patience. I think the gift of patience is something you must absolutely have if you expect to be a good missionary. I know without a doubt when we bear our difficulties with patience, God will reward us with more success and happiness in our lives than we could have imagined, but it is always according to our patience. 

I would think that God isn't going to let us take "the easy way out" when we go through tough times. He is going to let us sit there in that tough spot until we finally figure out what it is that He is trying to teach us. Whether it be with school, work, family, social life, or missionary life, we are gonna have some tough times. We can always learn something from each experience. So...what I think I am trying to say here is, figure out why you are in that situation, why God has put you there, and then from there do everything in your power to accomplish what God is trying to help you with. 

This life really is just the time we have to prepare ourselves to dwell with God and Jesus Christ for eternity. I don't know about you, but I am gonna be doing my best to be ready to stand before my Maker one day. I hope we can always keep that desire and work to overcome the trials we face in our lives. I love you all and hope you are all  enjoying talking to your missionaries every Pday now! :) 

Have a great week everyone! 

Week 28: El Cambio!

Wow what is up everyone!?! Wow I'm sure you've all heard about the change with missionaries and our P-days! It's pretty crazy to be able to talk to our families every week! Haha Im sure there are some of you 'Return Missionaries' who might already be saying things such as, "Oh back in my day..." and things like that, but I hope we all can remember that there is a prophet of God today in the world that can guide and direct us in all that we do from day to day. Im very thankful that in the eyes of God, me and my generation, are seen worthy to be able to have more freedom and we can talk to our families. I'm very thankful that today in the world there is a man called of God to guide and direct us as a true prophet of God. Sometimes I feel it is easy to forget how important a prophet really is. We truly have a man in the world that receives direct revelations from God in order to help us follow the example of our Savior Jesus Christ just a little bit better. 

Im sorry this email is a little bit shorter than normal, but Ill for sure be writing emails to everyone back home each week even though I'll be skyping every week too! I love you all and hope you have a great week! Chau! 

Week 27: ¡Si quiere crecer, hay que sentir incòmodo!

Holaaa Hola everybody! Hope you all have enjoyed that big snow storm I've been hearing about back there in Utah! Man, I am jealous of that..but, hey I'm not complaining(: 

This week was awesome. We started the week off with a Multi Zone Conference in Rivera, which is right on the border of Brazil (yes I saw Brazil and it was pretty sweet). Pres. Olsen talked to us alot about continuing to improve in our missions even after we get "used to missionary life" He said around 6 months you get used to life as a missionary and it becomes "normal". This really struck a chord with me because I am right there at 6 months and it's true, the missionary life is pretty normal for me now. He said the second you feel comfortable and "normal"...you gotta get down on your knees and repent. Pres. Olsen said the biggest struggle of people in the church these days is that we all feel comfortable. We feel that "everything is fine, I'm doing what I should be doing, and there's nothing wrong right now" I would suggest to you, that if you also feel like this, I would go repent. Feeling comfortable is one of Satan's best tools that he has on us. 

It is very important that we be constantly trying hard to improve ourselves in every way possible so that we are never comfortable. To quote the movie, The Greatest Showman, "comfort is the enemy of progress". As a new missionary especially, you are very uncomfortable. I don't think its possible to feel more out of place than you do as a new missionary. But, I know from experience, that in the days I have been most uncomfortable, I have progressed more than I ever have in my life. 

I would invite each of you to do something today, to make yourself stretch. Get uncomfortable. Do something that scares you and makes you grow. There is no point in living our lives if we are not growing and learning everyday. I love you all so much and hope you are living life to the absolute fullest, and getting uncomfortable. I know that is the only way to progress. Que pasen bien todos(: 

Braxton rockin his new Nike Dri-FIT sombrero! ;) 

Another baptism this week.  Karen was baptized by her older brother Marcos.

New member Karen and her older brother Marcos on her baptism day.

Braxton having a little fun with the scenery! ;) 

Captured some 'gauchos' in the background! 

Week 26: ¡Axel y Maikol son capos!

Hows it going everybody?! I hope you all had as good of a week as I have! I believe the SuperBowl was yesterday.. so I hope that was awesome for everyone. I do miss sports quite a bit.. pero es lo que hay (as they say here in uruguay), but this week was awesome. 

For starters, it was cloudy and rainy all week and man that was great to have a nice break from the sun. I'm very jealous of your snow back home...but the real reason this week was awesome was that we had two more baptisms here! Two brothers, named Axel and Maikol. They are some studs. They are 10 and 12 years old. They are some young guys, but they have impressed me a whole lot. Axel, the 12 year old, has already finished the BoM, and Maikol is getting close to finishing it. 

Their baptismal day had a little bit of a crazy story to it. It was a very sudden baptism...it was Wednesday and we planned the baptism for Friday because Saturday they couldn't do it. So it was a very quick event that we had to plan and get ready for. But nonetheless, we did it and we planned the baptism for 5 o'clock. At about 2 o'clock or so on Friday, our Bishop called us and said none of the leaders from the ward could attend the baptism, so therefore we would have to wait another week to baptize them. Axel and Maikol did not want that, let me tell ya...so we had to figure something out so we just decided to have more of an evening/night baptism instead, so we changed it to 7 o'clock. Then at about 6:30 we went to go pick up the boys from their house and they tell us that their dad had changed his mind and now he said they couldn't get baptized anymore! As missionaries, Im sure you can guess, we started to freak out a little bit (things like this always seem to happen on baptismal days, gosh dang Satan;) but right then, their Dad shows up on his motorcycle. We went over to talk to him and we answered some confusions he had. It turned out to be a great conversation...and then Bam!...the dad was back on board with Axel and Maikol getting baptized!  We showed up late to their own baptism...but it didn't even matter. Axel and Maikol got baptized and then confirmed in sacrament meeting the following Sunday.

 I couldn't be happier for them. It was awesome. I learned the Lord always gives us a way to solve our problems and battles. Sometimes He will make you stress out for a minute...but in the end, He will always be there for us when it counts. I know I have a Father in Heaven who loves me, and is watching me every moment. I know the same thing for each and every person in this World. If there's one thing I've learned these past 6 months as a missionary, it is that! God loves each of us individually more than we will ever know and He is very aware of us, and knows us. I hope you all can feel His love in your life as well.

I love you all and hope you're doing great. Have a great week everyone! Ciao! 

Braxton finally got his sombrero!! 

Picture of his new zone in Tacuarembo! 

Pictures of the bautismal this week!

Braxton and Elder Seguel with Axel and Maiko on their baptism day.

Braxton and his companion Elder Seguel. 

Braxton has been waiting for weeks for this sombrero to be delivered from home! It is extremely hot right now in Uruguay and missionaries are encouraged to wear hats to protect their face from the intense heat. He was so happy this finally arrived! 

A couple more pics from the baptism day!