Cows, A Big Dog, Refugees, And A Baptism!

I'll just start off this letter by explaining how excited we were to get some pictures with some cows! You probably don't understand but besides our 1 area the entire mission is city so we were pretty pumped about it.

The same night that we were out in the country we were walking up to knock on the door of a house and saw a beware of dog sign. I kind of made a joke about how people always put those signs up but all they have is a little chihuahua. 3 seconds later as we were almost to the door this giant, savage 180 pound beast bolts out of the garage and is just hauling right toward us. Luckily, it was well trained and didn't bite but we were absolutely terrified as it pressed its snout up against my companions butt and barked unceasingly. He had dog saliva all over his pants afterwards. Luckily the Lord protected us because that was the biggest chihuahua I have ever seen.
   
This week we also had the chance to translate at a service put on by Catholic charities. It was basically just the orientation for some new refugees from El Salvador. It was a humbling experience to talk to them and really made me grateful for all that I have. We weren't allowed to take pictures because many of them were fleeing from gangs and we were told that their identity needed to be concealed.

Besides that, this week I've been teaching the English class at the church which is really fun. The other day we knocked on a door and the sisters in our district opened it. That wasn't really fun. haha.

We also were able to see Anna baptized! I was teaching her a few months ago with my trainer but haven't since. She's so adorable and it was cool to see her big brother baptize her. It reminded me of when I had the opportunity to baptize my little brother and how much it blessed me.
     
Apart from all that the highlight of my week was definitely a lesson we had with Melvin. He is the super awesome dream investigator that we found last week but lost contact with briefly. Well, when we reestablished contact and were in a lesson with him he told us about some hard stuff that he was going through and he had actually bought a ticket to fly home to El Salvador the next day.

While he was talking to us he mentioned that he felt that he was surrounded by a "mighty storm" and that he didn't know how he could get through it. Both my companion and I immediately knew which scripture to share and we new that the other knew as well. Simultaneously we opened the Book of Mormon as I began explaining that there's a beautiful verse that answers his question.

And now, my sons, remember, remember that it is upon the rock of our Redeemer, who is Christ, the Son of God, that ye must build your foundation; that when the devil shall send forth his mighty winds, yea, his shafts in the whirlwind, yea, when all his hail and his mighty storm shall beat upon you, it shall have no power over you to drag you down to the gulf of misery and endless wo, because of the rock upon which ye are built, which is a sure foundation, a foundation whereon if men build they cannot fall.

As Melvin read Helaman 5:12 he began to choke up and recounted to us a dream he had the night before. (Hispanics have a lot of crazy dreams). He told us he dreamt that he was standing on a rock surrounded by a river of blackness, while a mighty storm beat upon him. He told us that in the dream he never fell, as strong as the winds became.

We testified to him that the Book of Mormon is the word of God and he said "Siii, Claro." Then he told us that he wasn't going to get on the flight because he knows that this is where God wants him and that after reading the scripture he realized that Satan is trying to keep him from the path he should be on. We left his house feeling an amazing spirit.
     
Sadly, for us he called the next day and told us that he had decided to move to Woodbridge. (Another area of the mission.) He just had to get out of the situation he was in at the other house. So I called the missionaries who work in Woodbridge, one of which happens to be my trainer, and passed the information. I'm sad I won't be able to continue teaching him but there's no one else in the entire mission I trust more than Elder Lucero.
       
That's about the week! It had it's challenges as every week does, but I wouldn't have it any other way.

I love you all and hope that you're praying sincerely and fervently daily. Your Father in heaven knows and loves you perfectly. He's always listening.
Elder Brunsdale

Cows!

The house with the savage dog!

The civil war battlefield where
we go running every morning.

Anna's baptism!

Elder Rasband Returns

This week was kind of crazy. We found the most prepared person I've ever seen. We put him on date and had a lesson with him every night. But he sent us a text saying he got kicked out of his house and we haven't been able to get into contact with him. So we're praying that everything is okay!  There is a lot more to say about him but just not enough time to write it. His name is Melvin and he's been the focus of our week.

We also had 3 investigators in church and Elder Rasband come back on Saturday! I got to shake his hand and say hello which was super cool. We had an amazing devotional and heard some incredible testimonies from our Mission President and his father (a previous seventy.) But there's something about an apostles testimony that is just different. One short little thing that he said that really stuck out to me was this, "I testify that the Lord Jesus Christ lives, and his voice is not scarcely heard by the leaders of this church." I hope that's right, I would hate to misquote an apostle but it was something like that, I'm not the best note taker.

Anyways, it was just so powerful. He told us that President Monson is weakened but is doing just fine. He said that he loves us and he asked us to pray for him. I love President Monson and I know he's a true prophet of God who hears the voice of the Lord often to guide us in this turbulent world. I love you all!! I hope you had and amazing week! Keep praying!
Elder Brunsdale

Fuuuun Week

A lot happened this week so sorry this is so long. We had Zone Conference and helped an investigator move. We then did a random service activity that was kind of odd. We helped fill an entire semi with food and supplies for the poor in Peru. When we arrived it was almost done but we still got to participate in donuts and a huge group photo and as we were driving away everyone was shouting "Gracias!!" and "Viva Perú!!! Que viva!!!" and so we got a whole lot of praise for 15 minutes of work which felt pretty awesome. Haha

So this week we also decided to be adventurous and go and see if there were any people to find in a place called Bealton, on the absolute outskirts of the mission. It's all farmland and I saw a cow for the first time in 6 months! So clearly, a very exciting trip. We ended up finding a little trailer park in the middle of nowhere just full of Hispanics! We didn't have much time but we will definitely be going back. 

While we were there an American pulled right up to us in a pick up and yelled "Hey, you Mormons!" Thus commenced a not so productive conversation, he had read a whole lot of anti-Mormon stuff that wasn't true and wasn't a great listener. I got him to take a plan of salvation pamphlet and bore my testimony (Which surprisingly he didn't interrupt) But as soon as I was done he said "You're brainwashed, son!" Haha If being brainwashed brings this much peace and joy then gladly! It also doesn't explain the almost 300,000 converts last year. I just felt sad for this man that was so lost and drawn away by lies spread by the adversary. He didn't seem like a very happy man to me and I just wish that he knew what this Gospel could do for him in his life. 

How blessed are we to have already felt the truthfulness of this Gospel? No matter how strong your testimony I know that it can be strengthened and that it can be an unshakable foundation for you in your life. All that we need to do is take a simple invitation given by a prophet of God. Read the Book of Mormon every day. I love the Book of Mormon so much. It cannot be touched by any critic. It's there, and the only explanation for it is that it was translated by the gift and power of God. I could give all of the evidence why. But it's much simpler and more effective to testify that by reading it I have come to know of it's truthfulness and so can you. 

We had 3 investigators in church this week and found a few more. Hispanic people are much more kind than most Americans around here, I love you all and invite you to read every day and to have a Hispanic aura of kindness about you throughout the week!! Pray always :)

Elder Brunsdale

P.S. I saw the most magnificent rainbow I've ever seen. It was a "double rainbow all the across the sky!"

Conference and Birds

This week began when I walked out of the apartment and a little bird attacked me. Then 10 minutes later a giant vulture flew in front of us on the freeway and nearly broke our windshield. Terrifying experiences.

But it's been all uphill from there! We had some great lessons. We were able to teach the Arabic who speaks 7 languages again. We had to go to the mission office to get a book of Mormon in Arabic! Something the Spanish missionaries don't typically do. It's so strange to teach someone with a different religious background. Because pretty much every Hispanic you meet is Christian. We also had a great lesson with our progressing investigator Lorena. She's super smart as well and in her closing prayer she thanked God for sending us to save her soul. She is so prepared!

Those were the highlights! We had something called Spanish Forum where all the missionaries in the Spanish program got together for training and pizza, our zone also played some fun soccer and some amazing senior missionaries bought us some Cafe Rio!

Conference was absolutely incredible. I especially loved the first session on Saturday. During the whole session I'm not sure why but I could just not seem to get my mind off of temples. Temples are so important. My testimony of temples has grown tremendously. How wonderful it is that we have the opportunity to provide saving ordinances for our kindred dead? I'm going to extend a short invitation. Go to the temple! If you need motivation read or re-watch the Saturday morning session when it is released and ponder the importance of those saving ordinances. There's so many good righteous people who are waiting for those ordinances to be done.

I love you all and hope you have an absolutely fantastic week! Pray pray pray. :)
Elder Brunsdale

Conference Is Coming!

Hey Hey!! I'm doing great here and I hope you're all doing amazing as well! We had a few let downs this week but that's just part of the work, It's been a beautiful week here, Spring is coming!

There's not a whole lot to report but I did want to share a short thought on Repentance. Starting with the definition given in the Bible Dictionary.

 "Repentance: A change of mind and heart that brings a fresh attitude toward God, oneself, and life in general. Repentance implies that a person turns away from evil and turns his heart and will to God, submitting to God’s commandments and desires and forsaking sin. True repentance comes from a love for God and a sincere desire to obey His commandments. All accountable persons have sinned and must repent in order to progress toward salvation. Only through the Atonement of Jesus Christ can our repentance become effective and accepted by God."

I absolutely love this definition of repentance and have read it over and over to make sure I've got it all soaked in! I really think that a lot of the time we look at repentance the wrong way. Sometimes we may focus on our past sins and make ourselves feel bad about them. While godly sorrow is definitely a part of repentance, it is in no way the focus! Repentance is NOT suffering. In fact D&C 19 implies exactly the opposite. Verse 4 says

"And surely every man must repent or suffer, for I, God, am endless."

So repentance, turning ourselves toward God, toward the future, AWAY from what we were, saves us from suffering. I testify that it is the atonement of Jesus Christ that soothes the anguish of the past. Through repentance we shouldn't be punishing ourselves. But allowing Christ to take the pain. We should always have a "fresh attitude" on how we can improve ourselves and become better. Looking forward! My Dad recently wrote to me in a letter

"There are things that only the Savior can fix, questions only Father can answer through Him. They are not quick fixes, but they are perfect and complete and the Savior doesn't just work around or fix. He makes new what was broken and irreparable."

My invitation is to bring a new focus of repentance into your life. But to see it not as a focus on what you've done wrong. But a focus on your love for God and what you're going to do right, allow the Savior to fix the broken, the irreparable. To quiet the storm within us just as he did the sea of Galilee. In the name of Jesus Christ amen.

Oh and watch conference this weekend!!

Elder Brunsdale

On Date On Date!!

This week has been incredible and was really a miraculous way to close out this transfer!

At the beginning of the transfer we had 6 people on date as a zone, so we set a goal of having 15 on date by the end of the transfer. By the beginning of last week we had 8. But this week was crazy!! Elder Thompson and I put 4 of our investigators on date for baptism! 2 of which was in our very first lesson with them! The other Companionship's in our district also got a bunch on date so now we have a total of 11 as a district and 15 as a zone!!

I also found out that I'll be staying at least one more transfer here with Elder Thompson in the Sudley ward! We're pretty excited about it and can't wait to get started and keep working. We also had a pretty cool experience the other day, we found a man knocking on doors and had a lesson with him, he told all about how he used to do cocaine and acid and some really bad stuff. Then he had a baby boy and he feels that God saved him. He actually told us that he wants to go to church for his son. It's incredible to see how God prepares his children to receive the Gospel. I love this gospel and know that it's true! I'm so happy to be out here sharing the joy it's brought me.

Love you all! Have a great week and keep praying!
Elder Brunsdale

Here's some pics! Here you can see the risks we take as missionaries braving these icy steps to share the Gospel! A snowman! And someone preparing some El Pastor! My favorite food at our favorite restaurant La Jarochita