Week #48

Family Home Evening for Marcos Birthday! 

FHE 

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The Dog that decided to attack Braxton last week! 

Evidence of the 'attack

Braxton's attempt to sew up his shirt sleeve!

Further evidence of the attack! 

Things are getting Chilly in Uruguay! 

The Taco Party at the church this past week! 

Week #47: Marcelo me bajó la caña

Well hey hey everybody! This week was pretty eventful. We had a great week with the people we are teaching. We're making good progress with a few different people. We also had a sweet service activity this past week where we all got together and cleaned the church like its never been cleaned before! I also got attacked by a giant German Sheppard dog...just walking casually along the sidewalk!! All of a sudden this dog jumped up against a big gate of a house, and got me real good by the shoulder and was hanging on for a good second or so! I had to wack the sucker with my umbrella to get him to let go. Left two big holes in my nice jacket, completly ripped the sleeve of my white shirt, and also tore nicely into my shoulder. I was bleeding nice and good for a bit...and in a decent amount of pain. We went back to the house to clean it out and everything. I'm thankful for the experience, because now when I get home, I'll just have one more story to tell people! Ha! Its looking like its gonna leave a good scar, so I'll also have the proof too. 

I had another experience this week, that was a little more meaningful and impactful that I wanted to share with you all. So as missionaries, we tend to make friends with the local drunks and homless people...and they become our friends. Well, one night Elder Cruz and I were finishing up the day, and we decided to grab some hamburgers to-go and bring to the house. As we were walking back to the house on a cold night, we crossed through a field to get to the house. One of our homeless drunk buddies was laying in the field, and saw us and shouted out to us to wait. So we stopped to chat with this guy, Marcelo. In my selfishness, I immediately thought to hide the hamburgers we had, so he wouldn't ask for them. It didn't work though, he saw them, and asked us if we had any food to share with him. Elder Cruz and I both hesitated. We didn't say yes or no, for about 3 or 4 seconds. And then Marcelo said, "Ah no, its okay. You had to think about it"...and then he began to turn around and walk back to where he came from. Then he turned around again towards us and said, "You had to think about it. It's either yes, or no. Jesus will tell you that I was in the cold, I was hungry, and I was alone." And then he turned and walked back to his spot in the field and layed down. 

I was left with my jaw open. I didnt know what to say, or what to do. I felt horrible. Here I was, supposedly a representative of Jesus Christ, and I just denied a homeless man food, when I had a hamburger in my hand and a warm house to go to...which had even more food inside. I wanted to go back to him to give him the hamburger, but I knew it was too late..."I had to think about it". 

That line has stuck with me. I went home after that experience, and ate the hamburger, and I hated every second of it. Worst hamburger I have ever eaten. I was thinking about Marcelo that whole night. He was left outside, in the cold, without a jacket even, and hungry. And I could have done something to help his situation, but from my selfishness, I had to comtemplate whether I wanted to help him or not. I wish I could say I immediately gave him what I had, but I didnt. I failed a simple test that God placed in front of me. I learned alot from the experience though. I learned that Im not sufficiently charitable with the people here in Uruguay.

 I have been praying and working hard everyday since that night to gain a greater love for the people here. To do whatever it is that is placed in front of me to help one of these people. And to do it, "without thinking about it". I know God reprimands us because He loves us and wants us to improve. God placed Marcelo in our path that night to teach me a thing or two about love. I love my Savior and my God for their love for me and for everyone single child of God here on Earth. I just hope that one day I can match that love for the people who surround me everyday. 

Week #46: ¡Dios te preparará!

Yoooo everybody!! Hows it going?! Twas a very memorable week here in Uruguay! We had a great zone conference with President and Hermana Olsen. We had to say our goodbyes to them as well. They leave here June 28th, and the new Mission President, President Dunford, gets here the same day! Its really sad to tell Pres. Olsen goodbye, but I'm also really excited to get to know Pres. Dunford! President Olsen is a man that I respect more than I thought possible. He's honestly changed my life with the little time Ive had with him over this past year. 

I wanted to share a cool story with you all. Starting in November of last year, missionaries started teaching the Nuñez family. The mother is a member of the church, but not currently participating in the church, and the dad isn't a member at all. Well, one by one, the children have been getting baptized and joining the church. It started with Marcos, the oldest son, then Caesar (9yr old) followed, then Karen (11yr old).  Over all this time, we've been working on the last daughter, Nayeli (16 yr old). She was always nice, but never had any desire to listen to us or participate in the lessons. Well, God prepares people at His own speed. About 2 weeks ago, Nayeli out of nowhere started chatting with us and being good buddies. Then she started coming to church...and then she wanted to hear the lessons about the church...and now next week, she wants to be baptized!! Nayeli completely changed. Just out of no where really, she just wanted to be apart of this church. She hasn't told us what changed in her, but I know what ever happened, came from God. That God honestly prepared her to be baptized right now, rather than before. 

We never understand all of Gods ways and purposes, but we know His ways are higher than our ways. As a missionary, you see first hand the way God prepares people. Its honestly such a cool experience and process to witness. Ive learned how crucial it is for us, to put our trust in God. To rely on His timing, rather than desire whatever it is that we want at that moment.

 I love the saying, "work as if it all depends on you, and pray as if it all depends on God" Because at the end of the day, thats really all we can do. I know that if we just trust in the Lords process of things, everything will work out just fine. God will prepare us when we are ready to do His will, and He will prepare the people around us as well. All we gotta do is trust in Him, and do what He wants us to do! And...just like Nayeli, God will bless us with all we need, so that we can do what He wants done.

Brax said Goodbye to President and Hermana Olsen this week!
They leave June 26th and the new mission President arrives the same day. 

A little game of Uno for Family Home Evening with the Nunez Familia. 

Another Family Home Evening Activity with the Rodriguez Family. 

 

The Nunez family invited the missionaries over for dinner! 

Week #45: ¡¡Everyone tell my married brother congratulations!!

Whats good everyone!?!! Wanna start off with a big Congrats for my big bro Schy and Hailey getting sealed for time and all eternity this week!! What a blessing it is that we have the priesthood! 

My week was great as well, maybe not quite as memorable as that of Hailey and Schy, but it was still good! We are making progress here, Poco a Poco... :)  We are teaching lots of good people!..oddly enough, the people here have a big problem with what Schy and Hailey have just done...getting married! Pero andamos igual!  

Its pretty crazy what we missionaries do everyday. I was talking to my comp, Elder Cruz, after a lesson with an awesome family, and we chatted for a bit about how crazy it is and what exactly we are gonna ask this family to do in order to accept the gospel of Jesus Christ. We are going to be asking them to give up working on Sundays, we are going to ask them to get married, to stop smoking, and then to come to church every Sunday, accept callings in the ward, and completely change their lives.! Ya gotta love the boldness of the missionaries!! 

 But...that really is what Christ asks Us to do. Give up all we have...and He will give us even more. It always takes that leap of faith FIRST though. It's not easy for anyone at first, but as we continually give those "little leaps of faith", the big leaps become easier. God will continually demand more and more from us...and all it really is is a test of our faith. 

There's 2 verses that I love in D&C section 130. It tells us that there is a law in heaven, and there is also a blessing in store for each law or commandment. Every time we do something for the will of God, we receive a blessing. It is honestly something so simple...if we want more blessings, keep the commandments better! 

I testify if we give up our own will, God will free us of our problems and stresses of life. He will be there more closely to help us. The only thing that can keep us back from all the blessings in the world is our obedience. Not so tough when we think about it like that!!

An awesome Family Home Evening with the Nunez Family! 

One of the daughters isn't baptized yet, but is now showing
some interesting in it. Pray for her!! :) 

Awesome socks are courtesy of Elder Cruz! :) 

Week #44: ¡Los Escogidos!

Wow what is up everyone?! How was everyones week?! Hope everyone is doing fan-freaking-tastic. This week was really awesome in Uruguay. We found an awesome family of 7 that is just so willing to listen and tallk with us! We have our challenges with them, as they are usually never in town on the weekends, so getting them to church will be the hard part... but as they have honest faith and desire to follow Jesus Christ, they will fullfil what God has in store for them in this moment. 

Something Ive learned so clearly in the mission is the concept of humility. I learn it from both the good, and bad examples. This family is just an awesome example for me. From the first time we talked to them, they just wanted to come to the activities in the church and learn about Christ. As missionaries, our job is to find "the elect". In DC section 4, it says the harvest is white, already to harvest. The missionaries, are harvesters. We come out here for 2 years to find the people that God has prepared, and we teach them, and then we baptize. Really simple as that honestly. But I love the fact that in section 4 it says the field is "white". The field is not yellow in need of watering, nor is it brown and needs help in anyway. The field is white. Many people that we talk to are willing to listen to us, but not willing to do anything on their own to come closer to Christ. These people we could say are in the field that is yellow, in need of some watering...but our job is really just to find the people who are ready to accept this gospel and make a promise with God to serve him to the end. 

Maybe to some people, that seems harsh...that we don't spend our time on those who aren't ready for baptism right from the start. It is true, that with a lot of time, we could probably help them join the church...but as missionaries, that isn't our job, that is God's job. He will prepare them when they are ready for the gospel and missionaries in the future will come during their harvest and teach them the gospel. 

Missionaries have such little time to find the elect, that we cant spend our time begging people to come to church. The elect, will listen to us, and act on their own part...and eventually, they will walk to the baptismal font, rather than having us push them in. 

I love my life as a missionary! I've never found greater satisfaction in my life. I truly get to be the front row spectator to the people that God has prepared to accept His gospel. I'm just simply here to harvest and find these people. ¡Que recordemos el campo ya está blanco, y siempre hay mas almas para encontrar! amo a cada uno de ustedes! tengan una buena seman

Braxton's favorite restaurant in TBO! 

 A semi-truck with a 'glorious' eagle! 

Elder Cruz making some hot cocoa as the weather is starting to get cold now! 

Statue of Liberty in a random field!

Cute 'selfie' of Braxton and Elder Cruz

Braxton and Elder Cruz 

A lesson at the church with the Hermanas and
a few of the people they are teaching. 

Braxton with his Book of Mormon on the countryside! 

Week #42: ¡Hay que aprender a comprender el espiritu!

fa, como anda buen gente!? como le va? espero que todo esté bien en sus casas. La obra aquí en Tacuarembo anda bien de bien!! Things are good here. We are finding people, and were teaching them. I am pretty happy with how things are going here, although we are not satisfied one bit! 

Elder Cruz and I are learning how to work harder, and more effectively here. We had a stake conference this past week here, and we had a member of the 70 here, and also President Olsen! They both gave awesome talks. The member of the 70 (i think its Elder Levrino, or something close to that) gave a talk that really left me thinking. He's a very powerful speaker...and can explain the doctrine extremely simple.

 He talked about the verse in 3rd Nephi 11, verse 3. We learn here that the people were having an experience like none other. Christ was descending and visiting them. It says, they heard a voice that pierced them to their soul, but still, they didn't understand the voice. Sometimes I think we might think "wow howd they not understand if it was so powerful?" But, we often forget the exact same thing happens to us sometimes. 

Elder Levrino asked the audience, who were mostly all converts to the church, how many of them understood the missionaries the first time they met them. Every convert said they didn't understand one bit. Claudia, the woman we are teaching was sitting next to me and told me, "yeah I didn't understand one thing" Haha that was actually funny to hear...but, it made me realize it happens often to all of us. 

We might feel the Spirit super strong after a talk, or a lesson, or a meeting...and we think, Man that was awesome! Then later you might think about it and maybe you realize that you can't even remember anything exactly about what was said. I think a common example of this is General Conference. We always leave thinking it was so great, until someone asks us what we learned and then we are scrambling to even remember. 

The Spirit is a powerful thing, but we don't always understand it. It takes so much focus, time, and patience to understand what we are actually learning. If we can really focus in on what were learning day to day, our knowledge will grow so much faster. We are really seeing this effect Claudia right now. A while back, she didn't understand a single thing we said...but now she is reading, praying, and understanding the concepts of the Gospel. In all things (not just the gospel) we learn with TIME. I've learned this especially with Spanish. I've learned to not ask God to just give me the knowledge so that I can speak the language...but rather, I've learned to ask him for guidance in my studies, and patience with myself for when I make mistakes. 

I really have grown to understandthe role of the Spirit in our lives better. We may not always understand it at first, but with time and persistence, the mysteries of God will be unfolded unto us. Que podamos aprender a seguir los susurros del Espiritu en cada aspecto de nuestras vidas. 

Missionary Zone

Missionary District 

Impromptu 'photo shoot' on the way home
one night with Elder Cruz 

Braxton and Elder Cruz! Happy to get to work
together for another transfer! 

 

Braxton and Elder Cruz teaching a lesson
 to some investigators at the church 

Apparently the head of a hog...Braxton said they met an
 awesome guy that had a ton of meat and animals...?..;) 

Spilts with Braxton's good buddy, Elder Weed.

Week #41: El milagroso plan de Dios

Wow! How is it going everyone?! What a great week we've had here in Tacuarembo Baby! I want to quickly share two things that happened this week that have increased my testimony greatly, in the fact that God is always watching out for us and is doing all He possibly can to help us. 

A few weeks ago, a couple, Pablo and Claudia, came to church. We had been teaching them for a little while, and they finally came to church, and we were so happy. But, about a week later, they broke up. They had many problems and Pablo moved to a different neighborhood. We were told (by Pablo) that Claudia wanted nothing more to do with the church. We had thoughts of visiting her, but at the same time were a little hesitant because the last thing we wanted to do was argue, but we had told ourselves that in a few weeks when things calmed down, we would pass by her house and see. 

Well, God did us a favor and let her find us before we could find her again! She just found us in the street last Monday and asked us why we weren't visiting her anymore. We said we were told she didn't want us to anymore, but come to find out, that wasn't true at all...and she has actually gained more of a desire now to go to church! Wow!! What a blessing it was to hear that. Needless to say, we began teaching her again, and also 2 of her kids. The three of them came to church yesterday and they honestly enjoyed themselves. 

I learned many things from this. 1) Dont have fear!! 2) God has a plan and His timing for everything. Before, Claudia wasn't able to be baptized because she was living with her partner, but they werent married. But now, she is single and is ready for baptism!! She is still a little nervous about baptism, but we are helping her understand it a lot better. I know within the coming weeks, si Dios quiere, her and her kids will be baptized in The Church of Jesus Christ. It is an amazing thing to see a family, accept the gospel and truly have desires to just follow our Saviors example. 

Another miracle happened this week!! We had been visiting 2 inactive members for a little while now, trying to encourage them to come back to church. They had been very angry with the church for years, Im talking 5-10 years, and hadn't entered the church building since. Well, after a lot of work and help with the members, both of them came to church yesterday, for their first time in years. I had the privilege of passing the sacrament to them. I watched them take that bread and water for the first time in a long while. They both were so happy and they were just smiling like they had never smilied before!!

 I know without a shadow of a doubt that God has a specific plan for you and for me. And He is always waiting with arms open wide. Whether it be for the first time we get to know Him, or if we wandered from the path and finally find our way back. He is there, and is calling us. There is not one person in this universe hoping that someone accepts our message more so then God. He truly is doing all he can to help each child of His, follow His ways, and find the happiness that He has in store for us. Im thankful that I was able to be a front row spectator in so many miracles this week!!

Braxton Saves the Day!! & catches a frog in the bathroom before church! ;)

Lesson with Claudia and her kids this week!