Hi mom! Well chirstmas was pretty good actually. I just hung out with all my mission buddies so it was fun. I've really become super close with a group of the missionaries here. We are pretty much brothers ha ha! Elder Peterson, Spaulding, Depew, and Featherstone. They are all champs and I love hanging out with them! That was what made Christmas good for me ha ha! We did a service project at a rest home at a hospital. It was alright. I was out workin in the little mashamba (vegetable garden) they have so I didn't spend a ton of time with the old people. But when we were getting ready to leave they started singing to us which was really cool and super funny!!!!!! These little old ladies were standing up and pounding the table, dancing and stuff ha ha! It was pretty funny. I got some film of it that I'll show you guys when I get back! We watched "It's a Wonderful Life" again. It was really good again! I like that movie a lot! We'll have to watch that every Christmas as a family too! It really was a great movie! Caroling actually wasn't that bad when it came to being on the streets. I thought we were going to do it until that night but we only did it till 7 so there wasn't tons of drunks out yet ha ha!

Well with transfers, i found out that for my last transfer I will be training again!!!! I wasn't expecting that! But I'm pretty excited. His name is Elder Burton from UT I can't remember where. But it should be good. He gets here on Thursday so i'll let you know next week how things are going. I'm excited though. Also Elder Brower is coming back to Maputo which was another surprise but it will be good to see him again!

We went with President to teach one of our inactive families yesterday. It was really good! We've been working with them for more than 6 months and they wouldn't budge. But yesterday they said that they would come to church that next sunday! It was super great! So now we are going to use them more offen ha ha! But ya other than that we couldn't really get a whole lot of teaching in because of christmas and this week's New Years so it will probably by about the same story.

Anyways, I better get going. Thanks again for everything! I love you and i'm super grateful for you. Everything is going good!!! Have a good week!! Love you!!!!

Love Brady

Questions:
1. How did the Christmas Caroling go?
We just walked around with santa hats on and sang to some members. It was alright. No drunks gave us any problems. I can't say that I enjoyed it ha ha sorry, you guys no how big of a fan I am of singing!

2. What did you eat for the Christmas party?
A bunch of breakfast stuff, kinda weird. but we had waffles, eggs and some other stuff. It was good though.


3. What did you give as a gift for the secret Santa thing? What did you get? What was the best gift of the event?
I bought a little wooden cup with Maputo written and some stuff carved on it and filled it with some candy. I got a little wooden elephant thing. I'm not sure what the best gift was. There was some soccer jerseys that everyone wanted there. So I guess it would be those.

4. Who is your new comp? Where is he from? What do you know about him? When is he coming?
Elder Burton is his name. He's from UT of I remember right but I don't remember where. He's at the MTC still but he will be here on Thursday I think.

5. What are you going to remember most from this Christmas?
Just hanging out with my missionary brothers. I love these guys to death! It was awesome to be able to just sit, relax, and hang out again.

Thanks fam!!!

We found out what we are doing for Christmas this year! On Christmas Eve we are going to a hospital to do some service, clean and as they put it "spread good cheer." Ya, last time I went to the hospital, there wasn't a whole lot of that. Then we are going to sing on the streets which I think is an ABSOLUTLY TERRIBLE IDEA!!!!!!! We're asking for it! At least if Christmas here is anything like it is in Beira!!! All anyone does is drink, beat each other up, and drink some more. I really do not feel comfortable going out the night before Christmas on the streets singing! But oh well. Sister Spendlove told me today that she was going to go with our district so I guess it will be alright. I hope at least.

Then on Christmas day, we are going to watch the devotional the church put on, then have a secret santa thing. After that we will watch a few movies I think and eat. After that we'll play board games for the rest of the night. It should be good. I just worry we will be left with too much free time to think about home and get trunky. Last year wasn't too bad, but this year it sounds like we are going to have a lot of time to just sit and think. Oh well, I'll be fine, it's the other missionaries I worry about. But I'm sure they will be fine too.

It's been kinda ruff in our new temporary house, we all sleep on the floor in the same room, it hasn't been fun ha ha. But our house is almost done. At least we think. Last time we went there there was water running down the stairs and sure enough, it was coming from our house. Our Mashamba Mama neighbor was yelling at the workers cuz water was filling up her house. It was pretty funny actually. Oh so I'll explain the name. Here they call farms Mashambas, and Mashamba Mamas are people who just have..... that look. I don't know, it's hard to explain. They are usually older, fat with HUGE arms from workin on the mashamba, and they always wear kapulanas. I'll show you some pics later that will explain ha ha! Anyways, we think we will be in there before new years.

We had something pretty cool happen yesterday, a car just pulled up to us on the road. Inside was a family of a husband, wife, and about 4 kids. He asked us if we spoke English, I told him we did and he said "Great! I want you to teach my kids to speak English!" So we got his number and explained about how we were missionaries and about our church. They said that they would come and visit on Sunday and that we could teach them the gospel too! They seem like a solid family! we haven't sat with them yet but I'll let you know how it goes.

So I've finally started buying stuff to take home. I bought a mask today which is pretty cool. If you guys have any specific requests, let me know and I'll see if I can find it. I will probably need money too. It's up to you guys how much. But ya let me know how much you want me to take out next week k!

Anyways, that's about all I have this week. Everything here is going well. I'm doin alright no worries. I hope everything is still ok with you guys. Anyways, you'll have to tell me all about the Christmas plans when you call! I hope you guys have a good Christmas!!! talk to you in a few days!!!!

Thanks Fam!! Love you!
Love Brady

This week has been kinda ruff. Well, I guess not a whole lot has changed, but sometimes I just let things get to me I guess. We just have so many inactives who just won't come back no matter what we do! They say they have school or tests that they have to study for and whatever. We promise them that if they go to church and read their scriptures that the Lord will bless them and they will do better on their tests! Just give the Lord 3 hours on Sunday!!!!! But they don't come. I don't understand. But maybe I never will. Oh well, it's their choice. I just wish they would make the right decisions, but I can't force them.

We did another family night at our BP's house, man his 2 twin girls are so freakin adorable!!!!!!!!! They always want us to feed them and stuff. They bring their little bowls and say "I don't know how to eat, can you help me?" ha ha ha! Man I love them! I'm going to ask if I can bring one home. It's funny to see them with their family, even their family can't tell them apart its pretty funny!

So this week we also moved out of our house. We've had water coming out of our wall for years now I guess and the owner finally said that he'd fix it after a few heated phone calls but it looks like we will be in our new house for xmas. A couple use to live there so it's super nice. Oh speaking of x mas, I got the package!!! Thanks so much!!!!! You wanted to know what I liked the most? Well I would have to say probably either the Oreos or the peanut m&m's, but I liked all of it! the crackers and canned easy cheese was great too thanks again!

Yesterday we had an AWESOME fast and testimony meeting! But ya there were some really good testimonies it was great! It's probably a good thing that I'm in a well established branch right before I get home. It's helping me get use to how church really used to be at home... or at least how I think it used to be ha ha I don't really remember to be honest! But ya everything is going good here.

Anyways everything in our area is going good. We have some investigators who are doing pretty good. I think President and Sister Spendlove are going to go with us to visit some of our investigators on Thursday, we'll see though. It shoud be good. I'll let you know how it goes though. Well I better get going but have a good week! Thanks again for the package and for all the love and support! I love you! Have a good week!

Love Brady

Everything here is going great. We had our district conference and it went well. We are still teaching Portuguese in exchange for food at the Taylor's ha ha man she makes amazing food!!!! And we are still working with inactives and the branch. Everything is going well, and I'm glad that everything is well with you guys too. We did have another thunderstorm, but this time we didn't go up as high as we did, the first time we went up on the water phlat, this time we stayed at the top of the stairs ha ha but it was still really cool. We got really wet but it was fun. I did get to see a lot of the people I taught in Matola because of the conference, that was great! I saw Galinda, Celso, Silvia, and their baby Crazy!!!! it was awesome! She has hair already!!! ha ha it was fun.

That's funny that you are counting the days ha ha! The flight plans haven't come yet but I'll let you know when they do and I'll send them too you. Man it's super werid seeing the mission come to an end. I'm not going to lie, I'm super excited to get home and get going on school, but at the same time I'll miss Africa. Today we played capture the flag on the beach, and while we were driving away, there were a ton of kids just playing in the shallow water on the beach, I just kinda sat and watched them as we drove away and realized that I won't be seeing that stuff everyday anymore. I'm kinda sad when I think about it. Hopefully I'll be able to come back.

This week as I said, we had our district conference and it was pretty good. President was awesome! He talked about the BOM and about Joseph Smith's quote that it was the most correct of any book, and that we can come closer to God by living its precepts. Then he talked about Nephi's saying about how there are only 2 churches, one is of the Lamb of God and the other of the devil. He talked about how Nephi wasn't talking about churches as we see them today. He said that we don't just become members of the church of the Lamb of God by baptism or confirmation, but by living the precepts of the church or the comandments, rules, counsels ect... He talked about how even people who are baptized aren't part of the church of the lamb, because they don't live the comandments, and if we don't belong to the church of the Lamb, we belong to the church of the devil. It was really good I enjoyed it.

This week we weren't able to get as much done as last week, we had zone conference and activities and stuff. But it was a good week. We are making some progress with inactives who haven't been showing much promise lately so we are pretty excited. It's really cool to see how the Lord's hand is in his work. People seem to have experiences that push them back to the church. It's really cool to see the spirit work in people. Anyways, ya everything is good here. I'm glad to hear that everything is good at home too. Thanks for everything! Love you!

Love BradyBrady with baby "Crazy" from Matola

Thunderbolt and Lightning, Very Very Frightening! Good thing the Lord protects his Missionaries!

I'm glad to hear that Thanksgiving went well for you guys too and that everyone is well. Thanksgiving here was AWESOME!!!!!!! I really think it was the best Thanksgiving I have ever had!!!! The food was AMAZING!!!!!!! They went all out! We had apple pie, pumpkin bars, cheese cake, cup cakes, garlic potatoes, and the turkey was great!!!!!! It was super good! They took pics so I'll have to see if I can get them from them to send to you guys. It was super nice to eat such a good meal with such great people!!! It's great to hear Brother Taylor go off about Obama and stuff too haha! he's ex millitary, so as you can imagine, a very out spoken Republican. He was wearing a shirt yesterday that said, "still voting democrat? you're stuck on stupid!" I told him I liked it and he said, "thanks I made it myself" ha ha! He's a champ! Super funny guy!

That's too bad that BYU beat Utah, it always seems like these games are so close too! That's dumb they didn't show it on a regular station. I'm sure they are flooded with complaints though, so maybe they will do better next year.

Last night there was a huge lightning storm, it was super cool! We went on the roof of our building and the lightning was going on right above our heads! Bolts and all! Kinda stupid to be up there ha ha! It was striking like every second! I wish you guys could have seen it! It wasn't raining at all, but lightning was everywhere! Right above our heads! It had to have been less than 50 feet above our heads it was really cool! We were kinda scared to stand up though ha ha! It really was an amazing experience though. I will miss things like that about Africa. It really is a beautiful place.

We are visiting a little old lady who is a member. She lives by herself and super far away. She hasn't come to church for a long time, but she's been coming lately. I always feel super bad for her when we go and visit her cuz she just feels so alone. All her family live in South Africa so we are pretty much the only people who come and visit her. The Relief Society is too lazy to get out there to visit her, "we would like to, but it's just too far away." Oh well. She is getting better and more active. Well, this week everything has been going well. We had 2 investigators come to church so that was good, but also we had some inactive members come which is even better. We did a ton of react work this week, it felt really good. We hope to get even more done this week but we'll see.

So this week I taught the English primary class......it didn't go so well ha ha! They are 4 little girls, 2 are the Taylor's (the family we had Thanksgiving with) and 2 are the Bradford's. One of the older girls of the Taylor's is named Margret, she's 10. She reminds me a ton of Kaylee when she was her age. It's going to be weird seeing her again cuz as far as I know, she still is that age ha ha! Anyways, the Taylor's other daughter, Kathrin is 7. The Bradford's littlest girl is like 2 and super adorable. Blonde hair blue eyes loves to talk! Well while we were saying the opening prayer, I heared her doing something, so I opened one eye and looked at her, she saw me and started laughing, so I started laughing, and after the prayer she just kept laughing at me and I couldn't stop laughing either, and I ended up losing everyone's attention and nothing was taught ha ha! yeah, I'm just not cut out to be a primary teacher, I just play around too much, and I can't teach in English anymore ha ha!

YOU THINK I LOOK SKINNY TOO!?!?!?!?! man, ha ha I actually have a funny story about that. A few days ago I ran into someone I taught when I was in the office in our area. She didn't recognize me, when I told her who I was, she got this look of horror on her face. She kept saying, "it's not possible!!!! Elder Brown!!! What happened to you!!!! You look terrible!!! Did you get super sick or something!!!!! You use to be such a handsome missionary!!!!" and things like that.... so I thanked her for the kind compliments she just gave me and tried to hold back the tears at the fact that I have been left very disfigured from who knows what! So if you see an ugly twig in a suit come down the escalator, that's probably me ha ha! Anyways, that's about all I got this week. Thanks! Love you!
Love Brady

Thunderstorm in Manga

Laundry Day

Don't feel too bad about eating Thanksgiving dinner without me this year. In my branch there are a few American families who work for the embassy. It's good for me to associate a little with normal white people before I get home too because they are so intimidating to me now! We were invited by one of the American families the Taylors, in our branch to come and eat Thanksgiving dinner with them! We are starting to eat there every Friday, and in exchange for incredible food, we are going to teach their daughters Portuguese. I like going there a lot! Last week I played a real American guitar!!!! wow it's been a long time! I would like to try learning that again when I get back. Also, Brother Taylor is a hunter so we have fun talking about that. It's really good that we do this everyweek though. This may sound weird, but I'm so intimidated by normal white people! So it's good to have some semi-normal contact with them ha ha! Last week we were sitting and eating and Sister Taylor was just teasing me about somthing, and she was being sarcastic, but I haven't had anyone be sarcastic with me forever, so I thought she was being serious and I felt so bad! I was apologizing and stuff and she was just laughing at me and told me she was kidding. ha ha! I may be in trouble!

Anyways, we had our primary program this week at church, it went really well actually! The only one I didn't put blood, sweat, and tears into, and it actually turned out really well ha ha! The kids were awesome! It was funny actually, I talked a little bit about our branch president's little twin girls. Well they had a small part in the program where their teacher picked them up and they said something in the microphone. Anyways, the teacher picked the first one up and she said, "Temples are the house of God." Then there was another small boy who said something before the other twin, so the teacher picked him up, and he said his part. But while she was doing that, the twins switched places, and she picked up the wrong one! So that one said again, "Temples are the house of God." And the teacher started wispering what the other twin was suppose to say, and little girl was just like, "no that's what she is suppose to say." It was pretty funny, maybe you just had to be there ha ha!

Anyways, this week not a whole lot happened. We've been working a lot with members but like I said last week, it's been kinda tuff with them. But we did have this one investigator come to church this week! He was super hard set in his church, and everytime we went there it was just bible bashing, but I think we've finally bible bashed him enough and he's starting to doubt in his church and he's come to ours twice now!!! He said that he's prayed and got an answer that Joseph Smith was a prophet! If he is baptized he will be a great member!!!!!! I'll keep you updated on him.

Ok so I have good news and bad news, the good news is, for Christmas this year, we can use the mission's skype account and talk with web cam and everything! the bad news is, we can only talk for 30 minutes. Thanks for sending me that package by the way! You guys rock!!!! I'll let you know when I get it! Thanks again!

Well I better get going, thanks for everything! I love you and I'm so grateful for you!!!!

Love Brady

1. Do you have ice cream there? If so does it taste like US Ice cream?
yes, but it is nothing like it back home ha ha, its cheap, very sugar filled.

2. Have you made it this far on your mission without having your camera lost or stollen? ya i still have it, hopefully i don't lose it within the next few months!

3. What are you doing in your branch? Do you have a calling?
I translate for the English speakers we have in the branch. Brother Taylor speaks Portuguese but Sister Taylor doesn't so I translate for her. Other than that, the missionaries don't really do so much with the branch here. I help with the primary too but not a whole lot.

4. How's your clothing? Have you used the extra shirts, etc you brought?
Well my white shirts are all yellow, my pants are still good, and my shoes will get me through the rest of my mission. I've used one of the extra shirts but I still have all the other ones. I was thinking maybe Tyler could use them for his mission.

5. Do you have any baby blankets left?
ya I still have a few. We have two people who just had babies in our area who I will give them to, and I think after that I will have given out all of them.

An African Artist's Interpretation of Lehi's Dream

We had transfer meeting on Friday, this one flew by for me! But nothing changed in our district so nothing new to report. We are planning on doing a Thanksgiving dinner like I did last year in Manga again for our district! This time I think we will do it over x-mas though. It's hard to believe that Thanksgiving is already here and x-mas is coming up so soon already! It feels like not even six months ago that I called you guys last Christmas!

We just got back from a bbq at president's house. It was pretty fun, I kept the tradition I started at snow of wearing something ridiculous while grilling! I wore a crazy kapulana shirt, with a pirate hat made of straw, and sunglasses! I took a pic but you probably wont see it till I get home ha ha!

I've been reading the Miracle of Forgiveness, it is a sweet book! It has a lot of awesome priciples and insights! One thing I really like is that it talks about how our purpouse in this life is to gain self control, learn to control our bodies and our wants of the flesh. Just like a baby can't walk because he hasn't learned to control his legs, everyone has their things that they just have a hard time learning to control. For example, pornography, some people just can't resist it, others don't have a problem and usually don't look a second time. It is a super interesting book! I would recomend it if you haven't read it already.

The branch is alright, frustrating like all the others but oh well. Our area is kinda hard, we have a lot of inactives who just "don't have time" to live the gospel. I've figured I've given them the invite to come back and shown love. I love using the scripture in 3 Nephi that says "seek ye first the kingdom of God" But for some reason they don't seem to think that going to church and living the comandments is all that important. arrrg oh well.

We had an activity for the married couples in our branch (all 4 couples ha ha) it turned out pretty well. It was weird seeing the American couples together. I was thinking (wow they actually love each other.... werid....) It is sad to say, but marriage here is more like a contract. The husband provides for the wife, and the wife cooks and cleans with little or no love or feeling between them. They are almost like disliked buisness partners in some cases its kinda sad.

Well other than that nothing too new to talk about, everything is going great and we are still working with inactive members. Our investigators are doing good also. Well i better get going. Thanks for everything, you're the best! I love you!

Love Brady

Questions:
1. Have you developed a liking for fruit there? What is the fruit like? what's your favorite?
ya, i really like the bananas here, the pineapple is good too. The exotic fruits are good too but I don't eat them often, I'm having a hard enough time keeping my digestive system normal as it is ha ha!

2. Do you eat chicken feet? Do you like them?

I usually try and avoid them at all costs ha ha!

First off I have something pretty cool to tell you. One of the American families in our branch had the wife's sister and her friend come and visit them cuz they were in Africa doing a medical service project. What they do is come for a week and just do surgeries for people who need them, and her sister's friend that came, her husband is like the head surgeon of the whole deal. So we ate dinner with them. (my first real contact with white people in more than a year and a half) and got talking to them about how I wanted to study to be a surgical tech. She said that her husband would probably let me shadow him, and if the school would let me, do my internship and work with him and stuff!!!! Pretty cool hu? He specializes in plastic surgery but I'm sure the school would let me do my internship there right? Also, They do this whole Africa trip every year in November and they said that it is super easy to come and do it with them. And if I could possibly finish that course (I don't think its possible to finish before November though) I could go with them and do surgeries here in Africa and I'm sure that would count for my intership! She said they do hundereds of surgeries while they are here! It costs like 3,500 bucks to come, but if you get people to donate, all that money counts towards your cost so if I talked to Dr's and stuff and got them to donate I could even do it for free!!!!!! That would be cool hu? They took a bunch of pics from our dinner and stuff and they said that they would send them to you.

Everything else is going good here. We are almost ready to baptize one of our investigators but he still has to decide his wedding date. We have also been having a lot of success with inactive members.

Wow I just looked at the time and I have to go. Sorry! I love you! thanks for everything!

Love Brady

Here's the questions of the week:
1. Is the area you are in the most "wealthy" area you've been in there?
No, I think my first area in Beira was wealthier than this, its hard cuz part is houses and apartments, and the other part shacks.

2. News from T-Page - I talked to Ty's mom. She said Tyler has had 3 "clothes ripping, road rash" bike wrecks. How many have you had?
Ha ha that's funny, I can honestly say that I rode a bike for 3 days on my mission, didn't wreck, but hated it!!!! If the roads were smooth and paved it wouldn't be so bad but cuz they aren't my butt hurt!!!!

3. Do you have good restaurants in your area? Where do you like to go for food and what do you like to eat there?
In our area no but near our house there are a few. There is an Italian restaurant we eat at a lot

4. Do the members in this area feed you?
Not really, members in our branch do but they don't live in our area.

Thanks!!! Love you!

We did get to see all of conference, it was awesome! I loved Jeffrey R Holland's talk! It was awesome! Everything is going great here, and time is really going by super fast! its nuts!!!! It is weird seeing the mission start coming to an end. Thinking that I won't go to another area, I'll never have to pack my bags again before I go home, only 2 more zone conferences, things like that. I'm excited to come home but at the same time I'm kinda scared ha ha!

We did a family night at our BP's house last Monday. He has the most adorable twin daughters!!!! They are like 4 or 5 and super funny! We are going there again tonight so I'll be sure and take some pics. oh Thank the pages for me! I got their letter on the scout camp today, it was super funny.

This week, we had a pretty cool experience. But unfortunately I'm too pressed for time to write it all and I don't want to cut anything short so I'll write it next week if you remind me. It was a really cool experiance though. We've been doing a shift in our area from a focus on investigators to a focus on inactive members. The senior companion, before I got here was more focused on investigators so we've been making some changes. Not that he does work wrong or anything, everyone just has their own way of doing it as I'm sure you know. Anyways, we've been working a lot with inactives. It is kinda frustrating in the city because if they left the church, it is usually because of something that happened or they got a job on Sundays or something like that. Outside of the city, it was usually just they got lazy. It is a lot harder to convice them to come back here and they stiff us a lot on appointments, but it is always good to see one come back. We've had a few come back since I've been here and it has been really good. I really love working with inactives!

Anyways everything here is going good, and I'm glad that things are well back home. Well I better get going. Have a good week though! Love you!

Love Brady

Questions:

1. We have the silly puddy ready to mail, but there's room left in the box. Any requests?
Well, maybe some candy or another thing of Oreos. Those rice side things were super good!!!! more of those would be good if you have room.

2. How's the family of the guy going on a mission to So. Africa doing? Who else are you teaching? Have you had the baptism for the one you had scheduled yet?
They are good. He's a super good guy. I'm going to give him one of those book mark things from you guys too. Mostly inactives but we do have a good number of investigators too. We haven't marked a date for him yet. He has to decide when he wants to have his wedding before he can get baptized but we are getting close!

3. Do you do your baptisms in the outdoor font you sent a pic of from the top of the building?
yup!

4. Can you bring home one of those cool African skirts for Kaylee and I?
yes, I was planning on bringing home a bunch of though actually.

That is super funny about Shane's Halloween costume ha ha ha!!!!!! you'll have to send me a pic of that! I mean... that is terrible.... oh by the way, I was thinking. It looks like I will get back right before Valentines day, like 2 days before, is that enough time to get a date? ha ha! So I was gonna see if Shane would maybe do a double date thing that Saturday (the 13th) But it sounds like they are madly in love so if they want to be alone that's fine too. What ever he thinks tell him no worries if he doesn't want to do it.

Thanks fam!

We had zone conference yesterday and it was super good! Elder Hill is here from the Quorum of the Seventy. I was translating which was good for me cuz it helps me to pay super close attention to what is being said so I really took a lot out of it this time! They talked a lot about the charactaristics of the Savior and the devil and how they are different. Satan is always trying to make us feel that we aren't good enough, and doubt if we have recieved forgiveness of our sins, but the Savior is the opposite. They read the part where Jesus forgives the adultress after the Jews bring her to him asking if they should stone her or not. It was really cool to hear that part and it just had a whole new feeling on it thinking about how satan is always trying to make us feel that we aren't forgiven. It was a really good conference.

Everything is going good this week, I don't have time to write a long letter cuz the time is almost gone. I'm glad that everything is still going good with work and that everyone is well. I better get going but thanks for everything! Love you!

Love, Brady

Questions:
1. How's the new comp?
He's good, super funny guy, learning english really well. I think i'll only spend this transfer with him though and then get a new comp for the last 2
2. How's the area?
It's alright, we finally had people come to church. We have one baptism date and he's great!
3. How's the summer there compared to Beira?
Not has hot or rainy. but still freakin hot!Yummy Fish Dinner!!!

Yesterday we had a pretty cool experience. We went to our investigators house who invited us to eat with him and his friend. So we showed up and come to find out his friend was from Pakistan. So we were all sitting out on his tiny porch, huddled around a tiny coal stove, cooking our own gazel meat ha ha! Me from the US, My comp from Portugal, our investigator from Africa, and his friend from Pakistan! pretty crazy hu? 4 different people, 4 different countries, 4 different continents even! It was fun and the gazel meat was great! It tastes just like deer!

Conference was really good, in fact as you may have guessed it was probably my favorite I have ever watched. I really received answers to my prayers and questions. The first speaker after Pres. Monson was Elder Scott talking about personal revelation. He said that spirituality yields 2 fruits, Inspiration or knowing what to do, and POWER or the CAPACITY TO DO what inspired. After that, I knew that if the Lord wants me to do this, that he would give the the capacity to do it. Like Elder Scott said, inspiration and power.

Other than that not a whole lot of interesting stuff happened to talk about. But I'm sorry to hear that the primary is sick, I will remember them in my prayers. Thanks for the help, I love you and I'm so grateful for you. The Lord really has blessed us extremely and I'm so grateful for these blessings! This mission has been a huge sacrifice for me to make, but the blessings we have received make it all worth it! I'm so grateful for the love of the Lord. Well sorry this is kinda short but I have to get going. I love you. Have a good week.

Love Brady

Matola Zone (Brady is center back with the giant smile, click on the picture to enlarge it)

Well I’ve been in my area for a few days now and it’s a pretty good area. I like it. I’m back in the city again which is good. You don’t have as much success but the people are more educated. They can read and speak Portuguese well so it makes teaching a lot easier. Also one super nice thing is that when they have questions or they don’t understand something that you taught them, they ask which is nice too. The branch is really cool, it is probably the strongest in the mission. We don’t have to do a lot like I have in the other branches I’ve been in. The only problem with the branch is that there are these 2 American families there, and I’m not going to lie, I’m kinda scared of them ha ha! I don’t know why but normal white people kinda scare me! I avoided them cuz I didn’t know what I would say to them. Other than that the branch is really good. While I was a sec in Maputo 2 I got to know a bunch of the members from that branch and they have their church at the same chapel so I got to see all them again too.

We are teaching one family who has a son that has been a member for a while. He’s a cool guy and just got his mission call to the south Africa Durban mission! Anyways, these people are loaded!!! They even have a PS3!!!!!!!! Super weird to see one of those again! They seem to be doing well but I still don’t know the people in my area very well cuz I have only been there for a few days, but from what I see so far the people are smart and they have a lot of questions which is good. Some times we get into debates but I don’t mind doing that anymore and it is tons better than them just nodding their heads.

There are a lot of inactive members here (like everywhere) so we are going to try and focus on them also. My new comp is a way cool guy. He’s from Porto, Portugal He’s only been a member for 3 years but he already knows a lot about the gospel. His teaching style is a lot like mine, I don’t know if that is a good thing or a bad thing ha ha! He is learning English and already speaks very well.

Anyways I better get going, thanks for everything though! Sorry I was only able to send one email for you and dad but the internet has been dead for a long time and I don’t think I will have time to write everyone. Have a happy B day this week Dad!!!! I'll send you a carved elephant tusk this time! ha ha no in Beira I probably could have gotten away with that but here I don't think so. Love you both!!!

Love Brady
QUESTIONS!!!!!!!

1. Is the area or branch the same one or close to the one you were in when you were in the office?
yeah they are neighbors
2. Do you know what happened with the Angola Visas?
they are still working on them, but they did get 3 elders over there this transfer.
3. How's the weather? Are you wet enough yet?
It hasn't rained too bad down here yet, but it is starting to get hot again which sucks cuz I have to climb up stairs again!!!!
4. Do you have investigators?
ya we have a few but I don't really know them yet cuz all our appointments fall through all the time.
5. How far are you from the mission office? Do you have church there on Sundays?
well the new mission office is at president's house but they old one is where we have church. We are about 10 minnuets away using a chapa
6. How's Elder Chimica doing?
Better, he doesn't have to walk now so he should be getting better faster too.
7. How many elders are in your apartment? Where is it from your previous apartment in the city?
there are 4 of us. Our old appartment was right next to the church so like 10 min away.

Thanks fam!!! love you all!!!!!
Love Brady

Hi Grandma,

I'm glad to hear from you that you are happy and well. It is hard to believe that so much time has gone by. I have enjoyed the mission, however, it has been the hardest most challenging 2 years of my life. I have confronted many things that I never imagined that I would have to confront. I have seen and experienced a lot of things that have really changed me as a person, the way I think and the way I act. Unfortunately most of these things haven't been pleasant to experience. However, I trust that it is all for the best. As the Lord said to Joseph Smith, whatever I confront and experience on my mission will be for my good. And I turst that the Lord will bless me and help turn me into the man that he wants me to be. I have gained a lot from my mission and I am grateful for that however.

I'm glad that Great Grandma is still able to get out and about! It sounds like she is still doing well and has strength and energy. Well, sorry this is kind of short, but I'm almost out of time. Have a good week though Grandma, I love you and I'm so grateful for you.

Love Elder Grandson

Farewell to Matola

Hi! First off the news with transfers. I will going to Maputo 1 and working in the city. I will be working with Elder Rodrigues who is from Portugal. He's in his second transfer so he's pretty new but I'm super excited! Elder Chimica is leaving too but you'll never guess to where ha ha! He's going to serve as a secretary! Along with...... Elder Dunn my other filho! I thought that was super funny! Both of my filhos are going to be secretaries like their Pai ha ha ha!!!!! I thought it was pretty funny at least. But yeah Elder Chimica's leg is getting better, when I changed his bandage yesterday his wound had almost stopped bleeding and the hole is closing up so he's doing a lot better! He said thanks for the prayers too. And yeah yesterday was a holiday so p-day was moved to Tuesday sorry ha ha almost forgot!

With conferance we only got to record it and so I haven't seen it yet. Pres wants to wait for all the missionaries to have it before we watch it so I haven't seen it yet but I'm excited! It is weird to think that this was the last General Conference that I will watch on the mission. It was weird watching it in the MTC and now I almost have the same feeling about this last one and I'm sure I will the next one when I'm home.

There are a lot of things that I want to explain but I can't do it over emails, or the telephone, it just needs to be done in person. I know it's probably hard for you guys to understand but I'll explain when I get back. I'm a whole new person because of the experiences I've had here. I hope that you guys understand though, I'll explain better when I get back.

This week not a whole lot happened cuz Elder Chimica still can't walk well. It was sad saying goodbye to everyone at church on Sunday, but I'll have tomorrow to walk in my area with the missionary who will be working there to kinda show him around and stuff so I'll still have a chance to see some people. I'm doing well though, everything is going good. I'm excited about transfers. I'm going to my last area with probably my second to last companion. It is super weird to think that! I'm going to the city which is kinda funny that I was born in the city and now I'm going to die in the city. It will be good though, I always liked working in the city, you have less success but people there are usually smarter and more respectful. It should be fun to be working there though. It is by far the stongest branch in the mission so maybe when I get back home wards won't be so weird to me ha ha! Well I better get going. Thanks! I love you!

Love Brady

Here's the questions for this week:
1. How's Elder Chimica?
Getting better, he's walking without crutches now so that's good.

2. What did you do at the Angolan Embassy last week?
Worked with them about visas. We started the process for getting more long term visas and then I had to fight with them to get president's visa so he could go visit.

3. What were you able to accomplish while working in the office that you wanted to get done when you were serving there before?
I started accounts with some companies we use a lot so we don't have to pay with cash everytime we go. Now we can just pay on the internet, Also Elder Fairhurst's computer crashed so I spend a lot of time putting all the software back on it, getting it hooked up with the network and stuff like that. Also recording conference.

A New Chapel in Maputo

Hi! I thought you guys might want to see this. We have been trying to buy this land for a long time and we finally got it so they are going to build this chapel in the heart of Maputo in a great spot! Have a good week! Love you all!
Love Brady

Queridos Elderes:
Well, after more than four years the Church is the owner of the property in front of Shoprite in Maputo. I was told that the process was started in 2005 and it was finished today. Construction is planned to begin in 2010 and to finish in 2011. The new chapel will be a landmark for the whole city.
President Spendlove
Mozambique Maputo Mission

This month really has just flown by! I'm amazed that September is already over! I'm glad to hear that everything is going well for you guys back home though. Here everything is going alright. My talk went well. I really think people understood it. I talked about how the people of Christ are a special people, and that we aren't and should not be like the world. Then I talked about some things that the people of Christ have to do and how we should act. I also talked about how there can't be divisions in us. Like in 4 Nephi where the almost everyone was converted to the church and there were no Lamanites or Nephites but they were all the people of the Lord. I talked about how as the people of Christ we have to keep the commandments, and that there are no exceptions to them. People also think that the commandments are for Americans and that they don't have to obey them in the same way. For example with tithing, they only pay it if they have extra money or don't use the 10 percent at the end of the month cuz they are just all "poor" and the Americans are all "rich" so they can do it. So as you can imagine, very few pay tithing. I talked a lot about how, if we really love the Lord we have to keep the commandments and sacrifice to keep them, not just keep them when it is convenient. I did tell everyone that I loved them and that was why I was saying the things I was saying. There are just a lot of problems and things that people are doing and no one has the guts to say what needs to be said. That's why I did what I did, missionaries are too nice sometimes so I always have to be the bad guy. I think I've given a talk like that in every branch I've served in so far except when I was a secretary. I don't mind doing it though, it just makes me feel like a missionary of old and in my opinion it would be better if more missionaries did it. Obviously we show love and care but when something needs to be said, it needs to be said, boldly, but always lovingly. Otherwise people will just keep doing things wrong until it becomes a habit that will be even harder to break.

Elder Chimica's leg is super bad so we stayed at the mission home all week. Sister Spendlove took care of him and I was a secretary again for a week. It was fun though, I missed the office! I got to drive, write letters, fight with the Angolan embassy again! It was pretty fun, but we did no work in our area and only 2 of our investigators came to church. Oh well, there isn't a whole lot I can do about it. Anyways, we did get to go home for a few days. I was designated to change his bandanges so I've been playing doctor for him. However, I told Sister Spendlove, "I don't know what I'm doing and I'm only going to make it worse." Sure enough, here we are again and we will probably be staying another week... oh well, she said it wasn't my fault but... yeah I'm pretty sure it was. Man!

I have grown on a lot of ways in my mission. First off, as much as I hate to admit it, I'm a softy.... I've turned into a soft hearted touchy feely guy! It sucks!!!! I use to not let anyone get away with crap when it came to me but now I do! Dang it! No it's a good thing, I'm not a door mat, but I have learned to forgive and give people the benefit of the doubt which is a good thing. I just feel like a softy everytime I do it ha ha! it really is a good thing though, I will be interested to take that personality test again. When I left I was a red/white, now I think I'm more of a blue which was my lowest ha ha! that should be interesting.

Anyways, it looks like I will be a secretary for another few days so that's good. I'm excited. There were a lot of things that I wanted to get done but just couldn't because I didn't have time with all the other things we had to do but now I can do all that stuff. It's good, I'm happy and everything is going well. Anyways I better get going, I love you and I'm so grateful to be a part of our family.

Love Brady

That is so crazy that Kyler is home!!!! I almost forgot that he was going home this week! That is way crazy! I still remember when he left and it doesn't feel like it was that long ago. I'm glad you guys ran into him! I'm also super happy to hear that he did well on his homecoming talk. I really to love Kyler, he is so great! We've kept in touch through the mission and man he is such a good kid! I'm super lucky to have him as a friend. I look forward to hanging out with him again when I get back as well. I'm really glad that you guys enjoyed your trip to NY and the Sacred Grove. I'm really happy to hear that the Lord is blessing you guys so much. I really am super happy to hear that! It is something I pary for everynight and I'm so glad that He is answering my prayers. The Lord truly has blessed us so much. This week wasn't the best week. Elder Chimica has a skin infection on his leg and can't walk. But we are going to the hospital today to get his leg looked at so we'll know what's up after that. The Branch missionaries just told me they don't have time. So I've sat at home all week doing nothing. Actually I picked up the guitar and learned some songs. I think I'm going to try and really learn it when I get back. But yeah so really nothing happened this week sorry. I don't really have anything to talk about. We (me and the other missionaries with me right now) are super happy to hear about what the fed chairman said about the recession! Everyone cheered ha ha! That really is great news though! No hopefully the health care bill doesn't screw it all up hu? It's a good thing we have the Lord we can trust on. Even though we as men screw up all the time even though we are trying to do what is right. The Lord always has a way of making everything work out in the end and if we trust in him everything will be alright. It makes me think of that song that says "Jesus take the wheel" But if you think about it, that is exactly what we have to do, let the Lord take the wheel and trust that whatever happens will be the best. Sorry about that ha ha I had a soap box moment too ha ha! This sunday I will be speaking and I'm going to talk about those scriptures that talk about the people of the Lord and how we have to be a people that is special and different. Most of the teaching the church has they look at them as if they were just for the Americans so we'll see how this goes. Well sorry this is kinda short but like I said, nothin happened so I got nothing. Thanks for the letter though! I miss you, I love you, and I'm super grateful that you are my parents. Thanks!
Love you!
Love Brady

Questions: 1. Do you eat fish with the heads on?
yes.....
2. Have you grown to like the vegie, cornmeal thing?
no..... 3. Are there foods there you do like?
no..... i can just stand it all now. Actually there is one member who makes really good food! But other that that i haven't had anything that i would eat just to eat. There are Chamuses and Recoise that are good. The Chamuses are like meat filled doritos and Recoise are like sea food bite things that are like minnie hot pockets kinda. I can't really explain them but those are good.
4. Do the missionaries always go to an orphanage for Christmas? Can we get the little kids together and get some toys or other items to send for that?
I'm not sure, I'm actaully doing internet at President's house so I'll ask him what we are going to do. He isn't here right now but remind me next week to give you the answer will ya? thanks!

Zoom, Zoom, Zoom!

Brand New Mozam Do

Sister Spendlove said that I could buzz my head.... so I did!
Thanks so much for the pics of the Sacred Grove <<< and for the description. Just looking at the pictures I can almost feel the spirit of that place. I'm so glad that you were able to go to these amazing places! Thanks for telling me so much about them also.

Everything here is going pretty good, things with the branch have gotten better. We've been working a lot with inactives still and we found a bunch who we will be sitting with this week so I'll let you know how it goes. It's unfortunate that one lady really doesn't like the church anymore. She told us that our church doesn't teach anything and whatever else. I kinda got into it with her but oh well it's her choice. Anyways the funny part was that even though she hated the church, she was still willing to help us ha ha ha! It was kinda funny! She answered all of our questions and in between answers she would just go off about how much she hated the church. Then we'd ask her another, she stopped, answered the question, then kept going! I thought it was kinda funny.

Well I have a pretty funny story for everyone. So we did this family night thing at a members house. Anyways at the end of the lesson, she brought out this traditional drink stuff (oh boy) called maheu. Anyways she poured me a huge glass of it. It smelled kinda funny, so you know I had to ask "This doesn't have any alcohol does it?" She said it didn't and was a little offended that I would even ask if she was serving alcohol to the missionaries. Anyways my comp said that he made it all the time in his house and that it was fine. So I drank some.... it was pretty nasty, so I asked my companion again if he was sure and he said yes. Then she started looking at me funny so I started drinking it. I couldn't leave it in my mouth for very long because of the taste so I drank it pretty quick... That was a bad idea because then she thought I liked it and gave me more. I guess what happens with this drink stuff is that it's fine if you drink it soon after you make it but if you leave it too long it ferments.... yeah it had fermented for sure ha ha! I started feeling it on our way home. So I made it home and the other missionaries we live with thought I was acting kinda weird. So I told them what happened and they all got a pretty big kick out of it ha ha!

This week was pretty good. Things with the branch have gotten better and the work continues. We taught one lesson that was pretty interesting. One of our investigators just never wants to pray. He knows how cuz I've heard him do it before, but he never wants to pray. He always just says that he'll do it next time. So one day we went there and all of our appointments fell through for the rest of that day. So we showed up there at about 4 in the afternoon. We sat and told him that it was his turn to pray. He again said that he wasn't prepared and that he would do it next time. I had about had it with that answer. So I told him we wouldn't start teaching or leave until he had said a prayer, and that we had until 9 that night to just sit if we had to. He just kept saying "no next time I'll do it but not today." So we sat for a while. He still wouldn't say it. So I pulled out that book mom sent me (thanks a ton by the way mom that book helps me a TON) and I started bombarding him with scriptures about prayer. After each scripture I asked if he was ready to say it, each time he just said the same thing "next time today I can't" So then I would find another scripture and give it to him. Anyways to make a long story short, we were there for 2 and a half hours, needless to say I ran out of scriptures. So I was trying to thing of what else I could do... then I saw his mom washing clothes kinda near us. so I said "I'll tell your mother you wont pray!" he laughed and thought I was kidding... So I called his mom over. Unfortunately she wouldn't do anything. But anyways he did end up saying the prayer but we were there for a long time.

Well I better get going. Have a good rest of your trip though! Love you!

Love Brady

This week we gave a baptismal date to one of our families. Arlete, Katia, and Julieta will be baptized hopefully on the 26th so I will probably be here, that is if they keep progressing. They are doing great and we are super excited to see them get baptized. She has a daughter named Silvia, she's the mother of the baby I was holding, and a son named Paito who is the one who lost his hearing who are already members so they should have lots of suport. We are super excited for them!

Elder Chimica is doing really well. He is the humblest person I have ever met. He's a really good guy. He's funny and he teaches well. I've kind of given up on learning Massena and learning dialects, too many weird sounds and stuff.

It's a holiday today so the streets are full of drunks and everything is closed, but luckily we found an internet place that was open. It was pretty funny, while we were waiting for the place to open, there was a drunk guy that just sat outside our car and just kept saying "Elder, Elder, Elder" over and over again. I love drunk people! Then he told us he could run 80 kilometers an hour, and we were all like "no way!!! we don't believe it!!! you have to show us! run to the end of the street and back and we'll time you!" so he agreed and got down like he was about to race. We yelled go! and he took off running! He didn't quite make it to 80 but it might have been because his pants were falling off and he kept having to pull them up, otherwise I'm sure he would have done it!

Anyways i better get going. thanks mom! Have a good week! love you!!

Love Brady

It really is crazy that another week has gone by, the time is flying for me! Everything here is going great! My new filho is awesome!!!! His name is Elder Chimica He's a super good missionary and I'm sure we will have a good transfer together. I'm super excited to work with him. He really is a great guy. He is a very simple person and very easy to teach. It was kinda funny when we sat down today to start internet, he just kinda looked at me and asked for help cuz he's never used a computer to get into email before. So I've been helping him write president and stuff and he's just super easy to teach and willing to learn.

This week was pretty good. Everything in our area is going good and our branch as well. We are still giving most of our attention to reactivating members, however we do also have some investigators that are progressing. We have one of our families that are just about ready to be baptized. Paito's (who I baptized when I first got here) family is doing great. We are going to give them a date this week I think. His father passed away and the thing that really got his mom and his 2 sisters into the gospel was temples and being sealed together with their father. I'm super excited to see them all get baptized!

We taught one lesson yesterday that was really cool. We were teaching a lady that lives with one of the members that we reactivated. She's from another church but said she wanted to be taught. She is such a smart lady and she knows the Bible super well! It was really cool, we talked about prophets and how they could talk to God face to face like Moses did in Numbers, Then she said "wow we talked about that in my church today!" Then her pastor called her and she told him that she was sitting with the missionaries. He quickly asked what we were teaching and she said "They are talking about Numbers and how Moses talked with God just like we did in chuch today!" Then he "oked" us to be there I guess cuz I though he was going to tell her to send us away but she didn't. Then we talked about the Book of Mormon. Her eyes got big and she said that that day she had read a scripture that talked about how there are other prophecies and acts of Christ that aren't written in the Bible and that she was wondering where they were written. She was really excited and kept saying "you brought me the answer to my question!!!" It was really cool how the spirit helps us with little things like that. Kowing just what to say and when to say it.

I also got that package this week THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!!! The M&M's are awesome and the Oreos too!!! Thanks so much! I'm super glad to hear that Kaylee and Tyler are doing well also. I'm glad that Tyler took my advice, I still pray for him every night and Kaylee too. I'm super glad to see that the Lord is answering my prayers. Anyways I better go, thanks for everything! Oh and will you do me a favor? Will you call Gma Platt and just tell her that I love her? Thanks. Have a good week!

Love Brady

Questions:
1. What language does your new comp speak? Does he speak Portuguese well? Did you learn some of his native language when you were in Beira? Are you going to try to learn some of his language?
He speaks portuguese without any problems. He's a smart guy. He speaks Massena which i learned a little bit but not much. But yeah we have no problems teaching or talking.
2. It will be awesome to have more Elders in your branch! Did they move in your house? How many Elders in your house now? Are you crowded?
Yeah we have 6 in our house now!!!! Very crowded, and there is never hot water.
3. How's things in your branch? How is your branch compared to other branches in Mozambique?
Really well actually. Our branch has the best retention rate in the mission.... however it's still really bad, just a little better than the other ones ha ha!

Hi, Sorry we weren't able to do internet this morning, we had to get ready for a zone bbq at our house. It went really well though. We did hamburgers! They were good. Anyways, the news you've been waiting for! Elder Dunn will be leaving. He's going to T3 and I will be training again. This time I'll be training a missionary who comes from Morromeu a little village where the church somehow made it to. I'm pretty excited to be his comp. I heard he was really cool and it will be good to have a native comp again. However there is a chance that he doesn't even speak Portuguese well at all. In fact he probably doesn't speak well but oh well. It should be fun anyways. I don't really understand why I'm training again. It seems to me that there are so many other missionaries who could do a better job than I could. Oh well, it will be fun, I'm excited. I'm way happy that I stayed too. I really love my area and our branch. We will also get 2 more missionaries in our district which will be good cuz we will be able to work with the branch more. It should be a good transfer. I'm super happy. I'm super happy that I didn't leave, I wanted to do one more here and I got my wish! My 2nd filho gets here on Wednesday so I'll let you know next week how things are going. I'm glad that you had a good experience at education week and that you are enjoying reading about the history of the church. It is so true what you said about knowledge and faith. People here always say that they want more faith, but no one wants to read their scriptures or study. Then when the sun comes out, it burns the crap out of their little plant of faith and they go inactive. It's very frustrating to me. I explain to people so many times how important it is to read the scriptures and study. I tell people if they don't, they will end up going inactive for sure, and sure enough, those that are inactive never ever read or studied. But they don't do it still. uhhhg! oh well. I just have to keep trying.
I'm glad to hear that Dad's trip went well and also that my prayers are being answered. I am super grateful that they Lord is taking care of you guys. I make a special effort to thank him so much for doing that for us. It is amazing to see the many blessings the Lord has blessed us with. One of the things I have learned for sure is to always be thankful for what I have. With all the poverty here I'm so very grateful to have what I have. And one thing that I was always grateful for but now I'm more grateful than ever, is the blessing that we have to be from America. I have such a new devotion to our country. Everywhere else, not just here but even in Europe and Brazil, most people live in houses made out of cement blocks and things like that. I always thought that everyone built houses out of wood like we do but no one has a house of wood, it is absurd for people here to think of someone living in a house made of wood and sheetrock. We have anamazing education system where as here, graduating the 12th grade is like getting a bachelors back home. and most people never do graduate. Our streets are clean, people are kind, we take care of the sick and the needy, and many other things. Just hearing about Afganistan today was another testimony to me as to how blessed we are to not have to fear about being killed just because we want to have a say in who runs our country. We live in such an amazing country and I will be forever grateful for it.

This week Elder Dunn has been sick, so we weren't able to get a ton done. But oh well. I'll get a new comp and we'll get right back where we were finding members and trying to strengthen the branch. Anyways I better get going. Thanks for the letters, Always remember that I love you all and that I am always praying for you. Have a good week! Love Brady
Questions:
1. How's the weather there? How hot and humid is it?
We are in the transfer from winter to summer now so it is hot some days and cool others. It's always humid though. But we haven't had too much heat yet but here in a few weeks I'm sure it will be super hot.
2. That's amazing you had to give a talk with that short of notice. Have you done that much?
No not a ton but it happens everyonce in a while.
3. Do members there ever get the chance to go to the temple? Do you have endowed members in your branches?
Yeah, its pretty easy to go for them. The church has 2 trips a year where they rent a bus and ship everyone who wants to down. They have to pay what they can and the church pays for the rest. People just aren't willing to make the sacrifice though. We do have a few but not many who have been.
Thanks fam! love you!

This week things went well. Our families are still doing well and came to church as well as some of our inactives. I gave a talk this week in sac about the sacrament. The problem that we are having is that people don't show up on time and most don't take the sacrament because they are late. One of the speakers didn't come so they asked me to do it about 10 min before the meeting started but it was good. I think they understood a little better how important the sacrament is and how important it is to come on time.

Thanks for sending the package! I'm so freakin excited!!!!!!!!! Thanks again for sending that! Ya transfer meeting is actually this Friday so I'll let you know what happens. I kinda hope I stay one more, I really love this branch a ton. But who knows, I kinda want to go back to Beira too. We'll see, I'll let you know next week!!!!! Ya its weird that I will be one of the oldest, I still don't feel like it. I still feel like I'm in my 6th transfer and I'm going into my 13th! its super weird.

This week we've been looking for lost members, one day we spent 2 hours looking for 2houses just to find out that one moved to another province and the other died like 5 years ago. Oh well, at least we know what happened to them. We also taught a lot about temples to some of the families that we are teaching. They really liked it and they really have a desire to go there. I kinda wish I could be here to see them go all the way but oh well. I guess the only place I'll be able to find out will be after this life. That is one thing that's bad about serving here, is that I won't be able to keep in touch with almost anyone who I taught! oh well, I'll miss them but I'll see them again.

Anyways I better go, thanks for the package and for the love and support. I love you! Have a good week!

Love Brady

I'm way happy to hear that you guys had a good trip to Nauvoo, and I'm glad you guys all made it back alright. I'm way happy to hear that Tyler and Kaylee both learned a lot from EFY too. That's funny that Tyler was nervous about going through the airport with without you. I remember when I got dropped off that the airport from the MTC, I was pretty much the only one out of us 3 who had any travel experience when it came to airports and stuff. And we had to pass through 2 of the biggest airports in the world ha ha! I almost died too! I was way nervous! but I'm glad I made it.

That's cool that you and Dad are studying church history too. It really is amazing how much they went through. I have a Joseph Smith movie that I LOVE watching with members! It really is an amazing missionary tool! It shows the members here who are going through ruff times that members from all over the world go through hard times, and especially in the early days of the church. One thing I hear a lot here from members and everyone is "here in africa". A lot of people think that Africa is pretty much the only place in the world that has problems and that no one else suffers. So it's nice to show that movie so they can see that the saints suffered a lot just to spead the gospel.

It's crazy to think that I only have 6 months left! Here in 2 weeks, there will only be 4 missionaries who have more time on the mission that I do. It's super weird that I'm one of the oldest missionaries already. All my senior companions have gone home too! Time is flying by for sure!

Anyways, this week not a whole lot happened. We did do one activity that was pretty cool. We wanted to show some investigators and members how much love the Savior had for them. So I remembered a story I heard in Seminary and we tried it with them. It was an awesome experience. We took cookies there, and we told them that the cookies were special, so special that someone had to pay for them. So for every cookie, I had to do 10 pushups. They laughed and agreed to it. So one by one they were offered a cookie, if they said yes, I did 10 pushups so they could have the cookie. But after about 7 cookies, I started to get tired. After they saw that I was struggling to do them, some one said, that they didn't want the cookie. Then Elder Dunn would say "will you do 10 pushups for the cookie that Victoria doesn't want?" and we kept going and going, I was super tired and couldn't get up, I just laid there on the sand dripping with sweat, trying to do as many push ups as I could but always having to do 10 even for those that didn't want the cookie. It was all to show that the Savior loved us all so much, that he suffered for all of our sins. Even though he knew that there would be many who wouldn't repent or not take the cookie, he still suffered for them just because he loved them. It was an amazing experience for them and also for me. I gained a new appreciation for the love of the Savior. The only down side is, is that now my whole body is sore but it was worth it.

Work with the branch is going great! We had 112 people in sac meeting this week. We are getting a lot of things done and the branch is doing awesome! Some of our reactivated members are going to get callings next week which I'm way excited about! I'm so glad that I was able to be here to see members who I found drunk and passed out in their houses come back, repent, and get callings in the church. We are also working a ton with family history. I was talking with some of the members who said that they aren't sure if they will be able to go to the temple any time soon but they really want their parents to be baptized by someone that they at least knew instead of just sending the names to the temple. Then Elder Dunn said "Well you can give their names to Elder Brown when he goes home and he can baptize his family for your family!" They thought that was a good idea so I may be bringing home a stack of names that we need to do the temple work for! I hope you guys are excited to do that!

I'm so glad that we have the Lord that we can trust and know that he will take care of us. It is something that most people today don't have. I can't even imagine what it would be like to not be a member, living the commandments and not knowing that no matter what happens, God is guiding it and he will take care of us. It really is amazing to me how blessed we are to know that. Anyways, I better get going, I hope you have a good week! I love you!

Love Brady

Swimming in the Street

This week it rained.... the chapel in T3 flooded but our area wasn't too bad, so no one came to church. We only had like 80 people which isn't too bad for a rainy day here. But almost none of our investigators or less actives came. So I went to their houses looking for them and the excuses I got where pretty weak. "it looked like it was going to rain and I didn't want to get wet." or "I had a head ache" Apparently rain here kills people! I could see girls in the states saying they don't want to get wet becuase of their hair but black people's hair doesn't even change when it gets wet! Oh well, they just can't understand the importance of these things. It's frustrating sometimes but then I just think that I'm sure Heavenly Father looks at me almost the same way and all of us for that matter. It's impossible to understand everything about the gospel, how the atonement works, the true importance of the sacrament, things like that. If we really understood the importance of everything I'm sure we wouldn't even comit sin because we would realize the importance of all of it! So that is one thing that helps me keep my cool with stuff like that. One day I think people will understand, it will just take time and countless testimonies from missionaries and other members who do understand.

But we did have a visit! We have been working with a family called the Dimene's, they are great but the problem is, is that they like going to church in the city and President Packard wanted them to go to Matola where they live. So that has been my goal for the past few months that I've been here and this week they came! He said that he would stay here so that was a really good sign.

We've been spending a lot of time working with MLS this week. It's the program that is baisicaly the book of life for the church, it has everything all organized, all the records, callings, and just about any list you can think of that has to do with members. Well at least that is how it should be, however no one updates it so there are a ton of things that should be there that aren't. I've been trying to get the branch sec to do it but he doesn't seem to have time. That's fine though, I don't mind. I like working with it, unfortunately I think the Lord may be preparing me to be a secretary for something.... dang.... oh well ha ha i'm sure whatever the Lord has in store for me I'll like it ha ha!

I had some Beira flash backs this week though ha ha! This week we had a lady get up to bare her testimony, only it wasn't so much a testimony, she started singing some hymn from the Jehova's witnesses church! oh man..... it wouldn't have been so bad if she could sing but it was terrible! I was sitting next to Elder Peterson and he couldn't stop laughing he had to leave! I just felt like I was in Manga again ha ha oh well. I guess I can't escape it! Anyways I better get going, Thanks! I love you!!

Love, Brady

This week we did a ton of work with the branch. It felt really good to get some of the things we did done. We also had a really good reactivation lesson. We found a family of inactives in our area and we went to teach them this week. One of the sisters is still active and she's great! Her name is Carola. Then her sister's name is Benigna. She has been inactive for some time now which isn't good. To make it worse she has been through the temple, and she has been involved in some stuff that she shouldn't have been involved in. However we taught them both and it was a really good lesson. We taught her about the consequences of sin after making temple covenants and that she needed to repent. We also talked about the atonement and how she could and would be forgiven if she repented. It was amazing! She told us a little more of her story and started crying (which in this case was a good thing) and said she would talk to the District President. She also came to church for the first time in a long time last week. It was really cool to see all the other old members who know her. Their jaws all dropped! She had so many people who were so happy to see her back at church it was really awesome. Reactivating some one is worth more than 10 baptisms for me!

We are teaching a woman named Victoria. She is great! She's 41 and lives with her daughter who is an inactive member. So we are working with both of them to get them to come to church. Victoria is doing pretty well, she comes to church almost every week. However we taught her about the law of chastity and the word of wisdom. She has a hard time accepting these. She has a boy friend and doesn't see why she has to keep the LOC with him, she also drinks but not often and she doesn't see the harm in drinking occasionally. We've been working with her a lot on this and I almost ran out of ideas on what to do. But the Lord taught her for me. Unfortunately it was in a way she didn't like. Her daughter is married but her husband has debts so her daughter is living with her with her 2 kids until he gets his debts settled. Well this week one of the kids got sick, really sick. And the husband is spending all his money on booze so they had no money to take care of the child. So mama Victoria had to step in but it caught her at the end of the month and she didn't have enough money to pay for the treatment at the hospital. They had a ruff week and when we sat with her she told us all this she was crying and didn't know what to do. I think that the Lord was showing her the evils of alcohol and how it can effect people's lives. It's unfortunate she had to learn that way but I really do hope that she did learn. She seems different now though. She came to church and even helped pick up hymn books after sac. (something I have NEVER seen anyone do here member or non-member) I think that the Lord has worked on her and now she has a new understanding of the church and the commandments.

Last Monday we went to that fort that you guys always asked me about while I was in the office. It was pretty cool, I have a bunch of pics that I'll show you if I ever get them on the computer. Anyways, everything here is going pretty well right now, our branch is doing great and our investigators and inactive members are continuing to do better and better. I hope you guys enjoyed the stories this week. It really has been a pretty good week. Well I better get going, thanks for the advice and for the prayers, I know they helped. I love you and I'm grateful to be your son.
Love Brady

Questions:
1. You talked about District Leader meeting! When were you made district leader? You forgot to mention that little detail!
Well, it's not a huge deal, but ya I've been a district leader for 2 transfers. It really isn't anything though.

2. What did you do for Pioneer day?
Not a thing! I didn't even know it passed by ha ha!

3. What you doin for P-day today? What is fun to do in that area?
We are playing indoor soccer. I'm not really sure to be honest ha ha I never have time to look for fun stuff to do. We play dodge ball at the church which is pretty fun. Other than that eating is my favorite activity :-)
Love you!