Have a great week!:)
Elder Eldredge
us with a clown...great guy
me and elder platts in a train station that remeindded us of harry potter
Sunday, March 20, 2016
Hey fam! (3/14/2016)
Hey guys! this week I will be short as I will be with you all soon and next week in honor of my last letter home I will write a better one. This week I have been learning a lot about using faith to achieve goals! One of my goals is in these next two week to baptize 2 people! Many times during the week there have come up obtsacles and trials that I have felt a little discouraged or that I won't be able. but there were many times where I heard a little voice in my head that said, "How much do you want it". Or in other words are you willing to continue contacting everyone on the street even though you know 90 percent are going to reject you... are you going to keep thinking of new ways to teach people so they can have more faith and desire to be baptized, are you going to keep al the little rules even though you son't think they have made a big difference, really Elder Eldredge.... How much do you want this? And are you will to pay the price to get it. One thing I have learned. If you aren't willing to pay the price for success, you will pay the price for failure. Now I don't know how the success will come but I know that Heavenly father will allow me to see miracles in these last weeks if I remain faithful to what I know to be true and right. It is amazing to see how much a mission can change a person and their attidtudes. I haved loved every minute of being out here and I will continue to love and work hard for these next 2 weeks. I love you all and your paryers are very appreciated!
Great week! :)
Hey friends and family! I was reading in a book this week called "drawing on the powers of heaven" I recommend it to anyone who needs more success in achieving their goals. But anywho, I read a quote in that book from David O. Mckay that led me to some good self reflection. He said "I will tell you what you are if you tell me what you think about when you don't have to think." This quote really helped me to watch my thoughts always. It is a big temptation for all missionaries in their last weeks to think about home and what they are going to do when they get back. All of these things distract them from the task still at hand. I am trying my best now to focus my thoughts even in moments when it doesn't seem necessay like laying in bed at night or during lunch. Our mission Presidente gave us all a challenge at our last leadership council to each dupla to baptize 2 people. I have been really praying and working hard so that I can achieve that goal and a lot of that will depend on this week! I only have three weeks left here and I am getting nervous because I feel like I haven't done enough and I have so little time to leave my mark, but during my final testimony in that coucil I promised my President that as long as I have this plaque on my chest I will do all in my power to fulfill my purpose with out being lazy or slothful, and doing this regardless of the end result I will have peace that I gave it what I got.
This week we were able to bring 9 investigators to church... the higest amount I have ever brought to church on my mission! it was a great blessing! We brought a part member family that has a ton of great potential. We are gonig to go with faith to help them accept the baptismal invitation, it will be a sweet miracle to see the whole family accept baptism:) Thank you for your prayers and love and just want to let you all know that you are all in mine as well. Thank you for the support!:)
Last transfer begins (2/22/2016)
Hey there everyone! This week went well! We had a special mission tour where we got to hear from President Kearon of the Seventy. He gave us a great message where he focused on the importance of ATTACKING your day, meaning waking up and starting with lots of energy doing exercises and eating a good breakfast and how much of a difference that can make on a mission but also for the rest of your life! He also talked about "becoming" the message. We need to be we are teaching and show that we are happy! And the third message was that we need to start again with an attitude of faith! It was very inspiring and uplifting to be able to hear of his love and testimony for this work and inspired me to "try a little harder to be a little better".
Faith. Faith is one of the biggest on going lessons of life. You start in primary with faith is like a little seed and then move on to bigger kid stuff where you learn that faith is not a perfect knowledge of things, but when you have faith you have hope in things that are not seen but are true. And you kind of roll along with that for a little while that faith is something you say when you talk about church stuff and keeping commandments but (at least for me) you don't really understand what a difference it can make in your life to have MIGHTY faith like the scriptures say.Good morning. America! (2/15/2016)
Hey everyone! i will never forget this week. It has been very unique. So Monday went well and normal. Then on tuesday I was on a division and we didn't get basically anything... no new investigators, no lessons with investigators, basically nothing. It was just walking around contacting knocking doors and no one was home to talk with us. I got home and on top of it all I felt sick during the day but I didn't want to go home without being able to teach someone so I decided to stay out. Well I payed for that, on Wednesday I was basically in bed all day because of how sick I was. My companion was able to work with another missionary in our area but he too had no luck in getting results. Then comes Thursday and I still feel like garbage so the morning we stayed inside from working while I rested. But then at night I felt bad for staying in and not working so even though I wasn't feeling good at all I decided I will sacrifice and then the Lord will bless us..... That night we also were not able to teach anyone despite working at night. I was like man this is hard.... I am sick and still working but we STILL are not having success. Then Friday also in the morning I was not able to go out until a little after luch. I felt a little better but still not well. But I kept thinking... If I make the sacrifice today the Lord will bless us with a family or some sort of success. Friday nightcomes and again despite our efforts were had no success the entire day. By this time I was really feeling frustrated and many of those doubts come into your head along with your discouragemente and frustration. It also didn't help that the other Elders that live with us were also sick and they made the sacrifice went out and the first door they knocked they found a new family to teach. By this time I was like what is going on.... on the verge of just throwing my hands in the air and saying I am done! But then I calmed down and thought ok the Lord just wants me to perservere tomorrow we are bound to find and teach people and find some people to take to church. So I wake up Saturday still feeling pretty sick but we did our weekly planning saturday morning and we started working right after lunch and the greatest thing happened....... it started to rain, after an hour or two of walking in the streets doing what we can to spread our gospel message the rain started to get stronger and we still hadn't had any success the whole week! I was like NO we NEED to find someone, we are the zone leaders and need to set the example but this week our results are no where near where I would like we are going to stay out here. After about another hour the rain got really bad, we (even with umbrelllas) got soaking wet and my umbrella kept breaking...... There I was.... sick, wet, frustrated, discouraged, a little revolted and still with no success. It got too bad we had to go back to the house.
When we got in, I threw my bag down changed my clothes and sat in my chair just sitting there staring at the ground and thinking.... why.... I feel horrible physically but I still left to work, after days of no success at all I still left to show determination. I feel as if I sacrificed so much, why couldn't we see some of the blessings like the other Elders saw...
I knelt down and I remember saying someting like... God I am frustrated and full of doubts and questions. If this work is divine where is the help after so much sacrifice. As I open the scriptures right now help me to find something, comfort, encouragement something.... and I finished my prayer.... As I said amen I felt more peace and I randomly opened my quad. it fell first in Daniel 12 when I read this verse "35 And some of them of understanding shall fall, to try them, and to purge, and to make them white, even to the time of the end: because it is yet for a time appointed." I felt a bit better but then through foot notes I was led to this scripture that changed everything in Zecariah 13:9
9 And I will bring the third part through the fire, and will refine them as silver is refined, and will try them as gold is tried: they shall call on my name, and I will hear them: I will say, It is my people: and they shall say, The Lord is my God.
as I read the verse a powerful spirit entered into my heart as if to say, "Brandon don't you doubt.... I am right here." I couldn't help but begin to cry. I was once again blessed with an answer to my prayer right in that moment. I know that He was there not only in that moment but also outside in the rain. My heart was completley softened and humbled. God answers prayers, I know that is true. He is aware of our struggles and above all He loves us. there is an end to this story but I don't have time to tell it now nor does it matter very much. I learned a very valuable lesson this week and I grew closer to my Heavenly Father because of this experience.
My message to all of you going through the "fire" keep on enduring, in prayer, in scripture study. He is there even when you feel He is not but we all need to pass through the fire to be purified, refined, and even perfected.
I love you all so much and hope you have a great week!:)
Elder Eldredge
(sorry for the long e mail)
What a week! (2/8/2016)
Hey everyone! i will never forget this week. It has been very unique. So Monday went well and normal. Then on tuesday I was on a division and we didn't get basically anything... no new investigators, no lessons with investigators, basically nothing. It was just walking around contacting knocking doors and no one was home to talk with us. I got home and on top of it all I felt sick during the day but I didn't want to go home without being able to teach someone so I decided to stay out. Well I payed for that, on Wednesday I was basically in bed all day because of how sick I was. My companion was able to work with another missionary in our area but he too had no luck in getting results. Then comes Thursday and I still feel like garbage so the morning we stayed inside from working while I rested. But then at night I felt bad for staying in and not working so even though I wasn't feeling good at all I decided I will sacrifice and then the Lord will bless us..... That night we also were not able to teach anyone despite working at night. I was like man this is hard.... I am sick and still working but we STILL are not having success. Then Friday also in the morning I was not able to go out until a little after luch. I felt a little better but still not well. But I kept thinking... If I make the sacrifice today the Lord will bless us with a family or some sort of success. Friday nightcomes and again despite our efforts were had no success the entire day. By this time I was really feeling frustrated and many of those doubts come into your head along with your discouragemente and frustration. It also didn't help that the other Elders that live with us were also sick and they made the sacrifice went out and the first door they knocked they found a new family to teach. By this time I was like what is going on.... on the verge of just throwing my hands in the air and saying I am done! But then I calmed down and thought ok the Lord just wants me to perservere tomorrow we are bound to find and teach people and find some people to take to church. So I wake up Saturday still feeling pretty sick but we did our weekly planning saturday morning and we started working right after lunch and the greatest thing happened....... it started to rain, after an hour or two of walking in the streets doing what we can to spread our gospel message the rain started to get stronger and we still hadn't had any success the whole week! I was like NO we NEED to find someone, we are the zone leaders and need to set the example but this week our results are no where near where I would like we are going to stay out here. After about another hour the rain got really bad, we (even with umbrelllas) got soaking wet and my umbrella kept breaking...... There I was.... sick, wet, frustrated, discouraged, a little revolted and still with no success. It got too bad we had to go back to the house.
When we got in, I threw my bag down changed my clothes and sat in my chair just sitting there staring at the ground and thinking.... why.... I feel horrible physically but I still left to work, after days of no success at all I still left to show determination. I feel as if I sacrificed so much, why couldn't we see some of the blessings like the other Elders saw...
I knelt down and I remember saying someting like... God I am frustrated and full of doubts and questions. If this work is divine where is the help after so much sacrifice. As I open the scriptures right now help me to find something, comfort, encouragement something.... and I finished my prayer.... As I said amen I felt more peace and I randomly opened my quad. it fell first in Daniel 12 when I read this verse "35 And some of them of understanding shall fall, to try them, and to purge, and to make them white, even to the time of the end: because it is yet for a time appointed." I felt a bit better but then through foot notes I was led to this scripture that changed everything in Zecariah 13:9
9 And I will bring the third part through the fire, and will refine them as silver is refined, and will try them as gold is tried: they shall call on my name, and I will hear them: I will say, It is my people: and they shall say, The Lord is my God.
as I read the verse a powerful spirit entered into my heart as if to say, "Brandon don't you doubt.... I am right here." I couldn't help but begin to cry. I was once again blessed with an answer to my prayer right in that moment. I know that He was there not only in that moment but also outside in the rain. My heart was completley softened and humbled. God answers prayers, I know that is true. He is aware of our struggles and above all He loves us. there is an end to this story but I don't have time to tell it now nor does it matter very much. I learned a very valuable lesson this week and I grew closer to my Heavenly Father because of this experience.
My message to all of you going through the "fire" keep on enduring, in prayer, in scripture study. He is there even when you feel He is not but we all need to pass through the fire to be purified, refined, and even perfected.
I love you all so much and hope you have a great week!:)
Elder Eldredge
(sorry for the long e mail)
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