blarg, no picatures! :'(

Tue, Dec 22, 2009

ok... picatures don't work... so... yeah. I'll get those to you guys next week! :D talk to you later!:'( :3

~Elder Brandon

HEY! Feliz Navidad! :D

Tue, Dec 22, 2009

lookit! I have my P-day earlier this week! :-/ I wish I had known this before last week so that I could tell you guys, but that's how life goes I suppose... at least I still get to email. :D it's cause we have the mission Christmas party tomorrow. and then we have CHRISTMAS!!! WOOO!!!!!! OK. so first off, I just wanna wish everybody out there that still cares enough about me to check my blog and even bother to open my lame-o emails, a very merry Christmas! :D *ahem* lo siento. howsabout: FELIZ NAVIDAD! YAY! es éso mejor? sí, yo Pienso. excelente.

AnYwAyS, guess what everybody? :D you know that nice little ingrown toenail that I mentioned last week? well, it didn't get any better. and even cooler than that, I got SURGERY on it today! :D SWEET! yup, it's the best ever when they start digging around inside your toe with a little metal scoop. good deal. yup yup yeppers. so yes... my toe's a little tender now, and the anethesia... <--GROSS, I forgot how to spell it! :'( ANYWAYS, that nice little stuff they put to make things not hurt very much is wearing off, so I'm getting this nice little pain down there. yeah... and Other news, that a bit less disgusting. Fernando was BAPTIZED this last Sunday! :D that was the coolest ever!1!!!1111oneoneone111!! he's a very very VERY good guy, and the spirit was there VERY strongly. he even gave his testimony afterwards. I'm gonna send a picture of me and Elder bailey and him home so you all can see. :D Elder Bailey did the Baptism (which is probably better, cause of my toe) and the whole thingie went really swell. :3 but yeah, other than that, this weeks been really really tuff, cause I haven't been able to walk very much. So, this whole time we've been doing lots of searching for old investigators and stuff like that. but yeah, tomorrow is the Christmas party or the mission. there's gonna be a program, lunch, and a talent show. anyone in the mission can do something, but there's not really... heh, there's not really a whole lot that we can do. thres pretty much singing or playing an instrument. president Dewsnup didn't even want jokes. xD so yeah... but I thought about doing something, but not really at the same time. I wanted to have WAY more time to practice than I had... plus, I would have had to have picked up a guitar from a member to practice on, and all that stuff. just too much effort. ha ha ha, but no, it was more about the whole preparation thing. :) and THEN! we also have our CALL HOME!!! SWEET! I wish I could get in contact with you on more time before Christmas, cause then I could get some info on when to call you and all that stuff... you know, stuff that's kinda IMPORTANT. but ok... so we have dinner plans at a members house at 4:00. and for YOU GUYS, that's at 2:00... or at least, it SHOULD be. and I have moms cell phone number, so I can just call that, and then wherever you guys are, I can get the house phone number and call you guys there. like, if you guys are at Grandma Jan's I can just get the number from you. :3 the number is ***-***-****, right?(number blanked out by the moderator to protect the innocent) it better be, cause that's what I remember it was. if not... crap. then I'm screwed. ha ha ha!so yeah... I guess I'll be calling around 2 your time then. :)

lets see... other things of interest... OH!!! If I get the chance to stay here in Caguas for the next transfer, the stake is going to have an apostle and an area 70 come the 24th of January! SWEET! I wonder who it's going to be... I dunno, but I'm excited. :D quite fantastical!

wooOO! ok... OH! I also gave myself another haircut... :'( I ALWAYS hate doing that. blarg.

yes yes, so you guys have my apartment address. I have one more revision for that:

Urb. Bairoa park
S6-1 AVE. Parque de Napoleon
Caguas, PR 00725

yeah... it's AVE instead of Calle. but whatever. it's the same, since they go more by the neighborhoods, rather than the streets. so yeah... I GUESS it's not really important... xD

OK! I'm off to send some pictures now! WEEE!!!

I Love you all, back there in Washington. especially everybody. gosh, I can't really pick out some specifics, but... nyah, who cares. I love my family, the Franzens, the Keys family, My Grandma Jan, My Grandma Nita, My Grandpa Ed, My Grandpa Tony, Lou, all of my friends, and everybody else that I don't have any time to list off, but I want EVERYBODY that reads my emails, that I Love them ALL! WOO!

Anyways, off to send some picatures!

Till this Thursday (or next week, if you aren't my family! :D )

~Elder Brandon Bryan :3

warning! spontanious combustion warning due to so much awesome.

Wed, Dec 16, 2009

yeah, it's a nice little bonus that I got the package right after we got home this last wednesday. I thought it was pretty funny. xD but yes. I have finally procured myself the ACTUAL address, so feel freee to publish this one. oh, and I actually got a letter from Great Grandma this last week as well. AND your letter apologizing. xD ha ha ha, but yes. ah, and so I wanna give you the REAL address. :3 but i still have yet to get that post card... hmm.

it is here.

Urb. Bairoa Park
S6-1 Calle Parque de Napoleon
Caguas, PR 00725

woot!

but yeah. well, I DO like President Dewsnup. He just has NO sense of humor! xD I think it's SO funny! all the members that have talked to us about him are like "does he just not have a sense of humor? I never even see him smile!" Ha Ha! but yeah, he's pretty sweet. and a total GENIUS! jeeze, that guy comes up with everything! I don't know what it is, but even if he's just READING the scriptures i feel smarter. xD ha ha ha!

yeah, Elder Bailey had been thinking that mail was just taking longer because of the fact that it's around Christmas time. makes sense. but now that you have my address, you're gonna publish it on the blog so that every single one of my friends can send me tons of christmas presents, right?! casue I just can't wait for that! :D :D yay, presents! :3

also, about that one dollar CD: that thing is SWEET! me and Elder Bailey LOVE it. theres some really good songs on there and we've been listening to it for the past week every night. yeah christmas music! :D

are you putting my money in my/OUR account? my WaMu one? cause thats good to know. :)

and actually, I have YET to get my package from steph yet, but I just sent her my address, so hopefully she can toss me the package for Christmas. :3

AH! the new apartment is SO nice! I think I got pretty nicely spoiled this transfer. we have a stove that works, (and thats propane even) and our room is SSOOOOO quiet. some of the Elders taht have visited are like "man, this room is like a BUNKER!" ha ha ha! and we even have AC! OH YEAH!

as for the other stove, Elder Dye just bought it, cause it was only $15, so I'm good. we went for a cheaper one just in case.

ah, the Tie... wait, didn't I explain about that tie that I sent? oh well. either way, I got that from the second transfer meeting that I went to. it was just chillin in a bag outside, and I was like "OH MY GOSH, that thing is epic nice." and so I took it. cause that bag was a freebie bag. and I like that tie very much. SO much, in fact, that I didn't want anything to happen to it, so I sent it home. now... if you could keep it safe, that would be nice. :3 ah, and speaking of keeping things safe, you're doing so for my pillow, right? casue thats a VERY nice pillow, and I wouldn't want anything to happen to that baby. so keep it safe! :P

naw, Fernando hasn't gotten baptized yet. his baptismal date is for this sunday after church. weve got three more lessons with him starting tomorrow all the way until saturday, so we'll be doin lots of preparation. he told us last night that he wanted to do some extra study, on top of the three pamphlets that we already gave him (!) so he started studying about baptism (OH MY GOSH, HE'S PERFECT!) using the index in the back of his book of mormon he has. CRAZY! I'm so excited!

speaking of being excited, I've got some good news. I just saved a load of money on my car insurance by switching to Geicko! SWEET!

yes. and something else that I am just SO excited for: IVE GOT AN INGROWN TOENAIL! SWEET! YAY! and it came out of NO WHERE!!!! :'( dah, I have NO idea how this happened, because I haven't changed how i've been cutting my toenails or anything, but it's nicely infected now, (yes, joyous.) and sister Dewsnup has been out at St. Kitts with president Dewsnup for interviews and zone conference over there, so I haven't been able to get back to me. :'( but they get back this afternoon, so hopefully she'll get back to me then. which would be quite nice, you know. but I've been soaking it in Salt water and putting antibiotic cream and bandaids on it to keep it from gettin SUPER bad. so we'll see what they say when they call me *sigh* it's gonna be
pretty sweet I guess. :)

wait a second. I already TOLD you where Elder Bailey was from... *sniff* you read my email... right? :'(

gosh. :P he's from Idaho. :P I'm not sure if his mom is on the email list... I'll ask him. :)

my goodness, heck YES Andreas letter was out of the blue! I didn't get her message on facebook till last week, so I had no idea! but it was good stuff. so well see how it goes. like she said, she wouldn't mind writing me, and heh, I DEFINATELY don't mind writing her. not one bit! she too cool NOT to write! :D

yeah... I FINALLy heard from miss stephanie last week. it was... a VERY interesting letter. I'm not really sure what to make of it. I'm STILL trying to figure it out. hmm. well, I guess I could write her about it, right? yes yes, I shall do this. also, I sent her a card for her birthday. I thought it was pretty entertaining, but we'll see, I suppose. I sent it before I got her letter (it was at the mission office) so yeah. Ionnono.

oh MAN! I'm excited to hear about Hannahs play!!!111oneoneone!! you recorded it, right? cause that would be pretty sweet to see when I get back. :)

well, Ella did say that her mom was keeping some tight reins on her because of her grades, right? ...maybe it's just that. or, what you COULD do is pick up an international phone card and toss her a phone call. Im sure that would work too, right?

hmm... seminary. what it meant to me, eh?

ok. well, Seminary... gosh. ok. so, for me, seminary was nice. I didn't mind getting up early, so didn't really worry about that. what I noticed for myself though, was that becasue of the fact that I got to study the gospel in the morning, before I studied anything else, I felt much more... I dunno. focused. I've kinda noticed the same with when I do my studies here. I'm more focused, my mind is clearer. so it was good in the sense that I was more focused for the day ahead. it really helped to get that boost of the spirit in the morning. gosh... I might have to supllement this witha letter so I can be a bit more FOCUSED. yeah, I think I might do that.

anyways, I gotta bust a move to go reply to Dad's email. :)

I LOVE EVERYBODY TONS!

~Brandon! :D

WOO! chillin in Caguas! :D

Wed, Dec 02, 2009

ha ha ha! well, I'm glad you liked the kinder Buenos. :D did anyone else like the malta though? ha ha ha, I guess you're not a super big fan of it then, eh? as for myself, it's not super fantastic. I can drink it, but it's just not... the same, ya know? yeah. I don't think that there's prunes in it... but it TOTALLY smells like spaghettios!

yeah! the cake I got was actually from a less active now turned active. her name is Jolanda. she was actually the first person I ever taught out in the mission field. and ever since then I've been stopping by and teaching her and her son, Sebastian and she's become active again!!! :D :D YAY! she's been reading the Book of Mormon and the Doctrine and covenants like KaRayZee and she loves it. I'm just so happy that she's become reactivated. :3 but yeah, we stopped by her house the Saturday before my birthday cause we had a lesson, and then she's like, ''oh, hold on one sec'' and then she bings me out a CAKE! :D SWEET!

and then the little girl is Gabby, she's the youngest of the two daughters of the Branch President. SOOO CUTE! oh my gosh. ha ah ah, she had the BIGGEST crush on me and kept telling me that we were going to get married. xD and then when we went to go visit them for my last day in Rio Grande, she told me that after my mission I had to come back to Puerto Rico so that we could get married. ha ha ha! oh, and the whole family (except for the Branch President) speaks English, so I was able actually build a stronger relationship with them, because I could UNDERSTAND them. Ha ha ha!

and HA! I TOLD you about that haircut. but NO, you didn't believe me. :P gosh, it was so bad. I just kept combing it over till it got longer. blech. but yeah... I think the guy was just used to buzzing everybody's hair or cutting black peoples hair (most everybody in the Dom Rep is either black, or has a lot of black in them.) (I hope that doesn't sound racist. that doesn't sound racist. does it? :-O )

ha ha, as for the faux hawk, I WISH... heh heh, it's not a missionary appropriate haircut, is it? I'm not really sure about that... gosh... I can't even really remember that picture... I think it may have been right after I cut my hair... huh. but with it being shorter... I dunno.... I still like it longer, I'm not gonna lie. it IS much better for the heat if it's shorter, but still. I can make a sacrifice to have longer hair! xD

as for the paper ball, I have some pictures of how to do it on my memory card that I sent you. just get a little search through ém. they would be back from when I was at the CCM. :)

that's really interesting that Bryan hasn't responded to the text yet... has he come over since the birthday party? cause he STILL owes me my package. I WANT TO HEAR FROM HIM, dang it! whats the dealio!?

(Q2)How is the new place and companion? We need your address!!!!!!!!! I have your first Christmas package to send but don't know !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2) ok, so the new place. I'm in Caguas, the fifth largest city in Puerto Rico. it's pretty spiffy over here, ya know? the city is nestled right in the valley (where I harvest my grain, I took a look at my wife and realized she's very plain. but that's just perfect for an Amish like me, you know, I shun fancy things like Electricity.) sweet. ANYWAYS, yes. in a Valley, so it's kinda like Salt lake city, where we have the mountains on both sides and we're in the Valley. ya know, ya know ya know? yes yes. as for the Address... I'm not too sure about it... like, Elder Bailey has told me that he really hasn't used it, so he doesn't really know... he's always just sent stuff to the office. so what you could do is, I have it right here, but what you could do is that you could send a test letter or something to that effect to the apartment address, to see how long it would take to get there, and see if it ACTUALLY does get there, and if it does, then you could put that address up on the Blog. as for now, until we verify, it might be much better to just have the office address on there.

but here's the address:

Urb. Bairoa
Calle Pargue de Romances S-6
Caguas, PR 00725

ok, so be careful with that, it's a wild card. :) but Elder Bailey is Pretty sweet. I'm not gonna lie. he's only got one more transfer than me, but he's got a very nice sense of humor, and even better, he doesn't take everything I say literally! YAY! he enjoys using some sarcasm as well, so I think this transfer is gonna be much SMOOTHER than the last two.

(Q3)And you need to find out if you need an international phone card to call home or a us one so I can send it or you could just go buy one!

3) as for the international phone card, I should be fine there... I still have the others that you gave me, plus we're still in the united states, yo. :P but yeah Hermano Mejias, the ward mission leader here, said that we could use his phones. he's got some cells/his home phone with unlimited national calls, heh, so he told us that we could use those. ha ha, he was also like, ''yeah, you guys can totally use them for as long as you want. an hour, two hours, THREE hours if you're REALLY ''home sick'' ha ha ha, so we're good on that, I think. ( he speaks english, by the way, as well, so I think I'm getting off pretty easy around here! xD but I've noticed that I'm understanding people's spanish a TON more now. SWEET!)

(Q4)How was your Thanksgiving? What did you eat?

4)mmm, thanksgiving! so it was the day AFTER transfers, but thats ok cause Elder Bailey had some appointments set up. YAY! we went to a recent converts house, the Mendozas. they are SUPER cool. the father speaks English, but no one else does (he was in the air force) they have VERY strong Testimonies. they made us some FANTASTIC super soft turkey, rice, macaroni salad, and for drinks, we had some orange juice xD and we also had a drink that they make over here... I can't remember what it's called at the moment, but normally it has Rum in it, but they left that out. aw darn. ha ha ha! but it was quite tasty. really sweet tasting... I'll try and remember the name. :)
(Q5)what does chacho mean?

5) he he he, Chacho is un palabra Boricua. (it's a native puerto rican word. Boricua is the word the use for like, born puerto rican, I guess?) but chacho means like, gosh, or jeeze. a nice little fun word to use. :)

yay! say hi to the Jones Family for me!

-to the Franzens-

Hi Franzen family! oh my goodness! I got the pictures of your daughter!!!! she is SO CUTE!

I'm getting better at my spanish, so I'm thinking that I might attempt to send you guys a letter in spanish this week. I really hope you'll be able to understand me! ha ha ha! but yes, I've been meaning to send one sooner, but packing for transfers took a bit longer than I expected. Entonces, voy a tratar y darles una carta ESTE semana!

pero, Ustedes son el mejor que hay!

Con mucho Amor,

~Elder Bryan

-End transmission for the Franzens-


well, it's good that Grandma Laster enjoys hearing from me. thats what counts, right? xD as for the list of smilies, it might be better for you to make a list... I've been trying to, but I just get so wrapped up in stuff that it makes it difficult. :'(

you better get dad on editing those emails. that's important, you know.

but yeah, let dad know I'm sorry I didn't get a chance to reply to his email today... gah, I feel horrible. ok. I'm gonna try and send you guys a letter today. I got TONS of stuff to talk about, cause it's a whole new area and everything, so I'll do what I can. :)

so remember about the address: send a tester letter first, just to see if it works. the little Teenie mailbox we have doen't have a top on it. it's one of those ones that you hang up on the wall, so I'm gonna see what I can do about that. maybe fasten a little to out of scraps... I don't know. I just gotta come up with somethin so the letters don't get wet. I'll see what I can do. but don't forget, send a TEST LETTER FIRST. I don't want any of my precious Mana to get lost. :)

so yes, I Love you guys a MUCHOTONSPLUSSEVEN!!!

~Elder Brandon Bryan

as for 6 & 7, I'll address those in my letter! LOVE YOU GUYS!

The winds of change are blowin! and they are blowin' me to...

Tue, Nov 24, 2009

WOOO! *wind blows* I'm going to... what?! I can't hear you! the wind is too loud!

*wind stops* whew. ok! so I'm getting sent to Caguas! It's like fifteen minutes south of Bayamon, which is where the mission office is. from what I've been told, it's the second biggest (or third biggest) city in puerto rico, next to San Juan and Ponce. :) so I'm gonna be BiiiiZiE! so HA! I'm not going to the Desert, you bum. :P NYAH! yup yup yeppers. and my new companion is going to be Elder Bailey. man, I saw his picture that Elder Dye had (he was a moving Elder, the people that move stuff around in the mission and take people to and from the Airport and stuff like that, so he hada nifty littly packet of all the missionaries and their pictures and the addresses of all the apartments, which I was supposed to GRAB FROM HIM but we forgot!) plus, we had to run to Santurce for a checkup appointment he had about his foot (he had a nasty nasty NASTY ingrown toenail. xD ) but anyways, I saw his picture and he TOTALLY looks like Hayden Christianson, the guy that played Anakin In numbers two and three. ha ha ha!

yeah! thanksgiving is Totally gonna be a toss up for me. I can only hope that the memebers of the WARD (that's right, it's a ward now!) love him enough to have invited us to go eat over and their houses :3 Mmmm, that would be nice, eh?! :D


Love you guys mucho mucho mucho!

~Brandon

staring in the right direction. (oo, that sounds mysterious) ha ha ha!

Wed, Nov 18, 2009

DAH! I'm sorry guys... the email place was closed for some reason... it was the day after Veterans day, but it was still closed... I had meant to get a snail mail letter-ness-ist out to you guys, but I had tossed Tawny a letter instead. I just felt like I should so I went with that.

and of robin. yes. I was QUITE surprizded to find myself an email in my in box from her. YAY! heh, I tossed just her one back a second ago, so we'll see if I can sneak a second one out of her before she realizes whats goin' down! ha ha ha!

but yes, I DID get my package!!! :D YAY! I got it last Saturday, imagine my surprise. I was totally expecting to just get them when I went to the mission office (oh, speaking of which. this next week is transfers, so my P-day is gonna be on Tuesday. plus, through some interesting events, I have found out that this next transfer I'm being transferred! :-O I don't know to where. all I knowz is that itz happenings.) but yeah. ah... and the padding. PERFECT! :D I'm working on figuring out who I can talk to to get the cheapest help for my "cavity". I'm not sure if it is or not, but I wanna find out, so like you said, and x-ray would be better. :)

and for the cards. OH my GOSHES! you gaiz are the BESTORZ! but really. those cards really mean a lot. I'm just really thankful for everyone that tossed in their words. AND to those people that didn't: "HEY! whats the dealio! just because I'm gone doesn't mean you don't have to wish me a happy birthday! thats just not fair!"

I also wish to thank my fans. without them, I would be nothing

HA HA HA!, but really though. tell everyone thank you. and please, let everyone know that I'm really thankful for their messages on facebook too. and TELL MISS ALISON BODY THAT SHE NEEDS TO MAIL ME. thats just ri-DICULOUS that she hasn't yet! I thought we were friends! :'( wheres my letter, miss alison!? I'm WAITING. :P

ah. and SPEAKING of umbrellas, you know... I'm not too sure where my umbrella went... but it seems to have disappeared. LAME! so yeah... and since we're going into the whole rainy season... yeah. that would be really cool if, you know. yeah. exactly. perfect. See? you know.

whats snap fish? I've actually never heard of that before. and for the Costco thing... I COULD do that, but I've already got the box and the sticky notes for labeling things and all that. you know. so I mean, I COULD just toss you the mem card anyways, cause I DO have a second one. :3

plus, I THOUGHT I had a picture of my exercise thing, but I don't... so I can't toss you a picture just yet, but I want to. of course, I could just toss it on the camera and then send it home on the memory card for ya guys.but for now... it's called a "Varigrip" made by planet waves. it's black. :) maybe that might help for now? I dunno. see what you can go. you go girl! xD

also, tell the Keys family thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you for the CARD!!!! :D it was a hoops and yo yo card, and it was GREAT! ha ha ha!so I really want to thank them for the card. and they've always been there for me, ya know? it just means so much to me, and I wanna thank them for it. I'm trying to get everyone a letter back, too. I'm really working on my thank you cards as well... :-/ but I'm doing the best I can. :) and they are gonna send me a package?! SWEET! that's the best! :D :D :D

also, can't wait to get the mouthpiece. :3 ha ha ha! but as for the size, it SHOULD be right under the lip of the mouthpiece, would I would have it on my mouth. and the size that I'm lookin fer is the 7c, but if you cant find that, the 3c would be good. It SHOULD say like "Bach 3c" on it, and the 7c should be the same. :)

and yes, hopefully I don't get transferred out to the islands, or at LEAST I could go to the American Virgin Islands, that way it's still American, eh? ha ha! but we'll see. I SHOULD know by next week, Monday, if not then Tuesday. just in time to let you guys know! :D xD

ha ha ha! that's so great with the whole Tawny putting that on her facebook status! but no, neither have written me yet, but that's just how life goes. ha! if somebody else doesn't do it, then do it yourself, eh? so I'll probably end up writing Amy today, too. xD

they DO celebrate Thanksgiving out here! for food, they have, from what I've heard, they have some EXCELLENT turkey, and rice with chic peas, and... macaroni and cheese? that's right. macaroni and cheese. ha ha ha! but it's like baked instead.. well... maybe not? it's just like... extra creamy? I dunno. Elder Dye is telling all this too me as I type. xD he also said that sometimes they deep fry their turkey as well.

HEY, and you better get on Bryan for sending me that package. he hasn't sent me a letter ONCE, and I've send him what... two? wheres that package that he promised me back in the MTC? that bum. but I better get it soon. cause he wasn't supposed to get his dinner until I got my letter!

and please, if you would, please jump into my facebook emailizors. that would be pretty tight to know what people have sent me. you know. :D

gosh! I wish I could get to know your "new clients". if they're that funny they'd be pretty sweet to chill with! :D xD

but my suggestion for your prayers: the lord WANTS to bless us, but he CAN'T unless we ask him. so if you pray to the lord, showing him that you REALLY WANT some help, it will happen. unfortunately, it doesn't always happen on OUR time. sometimes there is something that we need to learn from our experience. but everything happens on the LORDS time... so maybe there's something that needs to happen first. but I can suggest something that will help: companionship prayer! :D get with dad, and have your guys' companionship prayer. :) that is, if you haven't been. :) I don't really know. but if we exersize our faith by showing him that we want to pray to him for help, he will do it. on this subject, I've got a few scriptures.

3 Nephi 18:21- this one is when Christ is talking with the Lamanites when he came. it's about prayer, and how we should do it in our families. you know. ;) also verse 15 in the same chapter is a good one. :)

[ 15 Verily, verily, I say unto you, ye must watch and pray always, lest ye be tempted by the devil, and ye be led away captive by him.
18 Behold, verily, verily, I say unto you, ye must watch and pray always lest ye enter into temptation; for Satan desireth to have you, that he may sift you as wheat.]

and in Alma 34:17-28. this scripture is when Alma is teaching when Amulek (two of the best missionaries EVER!) and in these verses they are talking about prayer and how important it is.

[17 Therefore may God grant unto you, my brethren, that ye may begin to exercise your faith unto repentance, that ye begin to call upon his holy name, that he would have mercy upon you;
18 Yea, cry unto him for mercy; for he is mighty to save.
19 Yea, humble yourselves, and continue in prayer unto him.
20 Cry unto him when ye are in your fields, yea, over all your flocks.
21 Cry unto him in your houses, yea, over all your household, both morning, mid-day, and evening.
22 Yea, cry unto him against the power of your enemies.
23 Yea, cry unto him against the devil, who is an enemy to all righteousness.
24 Cry unto him over the crops of your fields, that ye may prosper in them.
25 Cry over the flocks of your fields, that they may increase.
26 But this is not all; ye must pour out your souls in your closets, and your secret places, and in your wilderness.
27 Yea, and when you do not cry unto the Lord, let your hearts be full, drawn out in prayer unto him continually for your welfare, and also for the welfare of those who are around you.
28 And now behold, my beloved brethren, I say unto you, do not suppose that this is all; for after ye have done all these things, if ye turn away the needy, and the naked, and visit not the sick and afflicted, and impart of your substance, if ye have, to those who stand in need—I say unto you, if ye do not any of these things, behold, your prayer is vain, and availeth you nothing, and ye are as hypocrites who do deny the faith.]


also, don't EVER forget the power of fasting. if you and Dad fast together, I can promise that the lord will pour out the means by which he may find the job he needs. and lastly (on this point I guess. I kinda feel like I'm rambling about a topic that you guys don't really need help with. I dunno, I'm not there! xD) sometimes, the Lord needs us to learn something from certain afflictions, to prepare us better for the future. for whats to come. which are ALWAYS bigger and better blessings. :)

ANYWAYS, I guess I could stop rambling about something I don't really know anything about. ha ha ha!

oh poo! I'm out of time. ok. so I'm going to try to get my box sent out sometime this week. I went to the post office and pick up the box, so now I just have to fill it!

ha ha ha! I love Stephens response! :D

tell Hannah I LOVE HER TOO! :D I have a surprise coming for Bryan, Hannah and Donny soon as well. I might just toss it in the box to avoid having to use a stamp. xD

so I gotta peace out, yo!

Love you guys! Everyone! even Bryan, but it's only a half love for him, cause he still hasn't sent me my letter. :P

~Brandon

yeah, woo!

1st e-mail from Gramma Nita

Wed, 4 Nov 2009

YAY! first email ever! :D alright, I'm so excited! :D :D <-- now, just in case, those are smilie faces. kinda like: :) except with a bigger smile! :D
but I'm really glad that my letter for Cole got there safe and sound. thats very good. I really hope that he really really likes it. I'm gonna try to keep a nice constant letter conversation between me and him. be a good influence, ya know? :D

and you know, I don't even know if I can really express how much getting a letter from you ever week means to me. it's just so fantastic to hear from you. ESPECIALLY about when you wrote me about Bryan reading my letter. that just gives me that extra little boost to do the very best I can as much as I can.
and I got your postcard/Halloween card yesterday! HA HA HA! I loved it! and the other halloween cards that you sent me were absolutely fantastic. excellent puns! :D YES!

I really hope to hear about you trip to Cali! I really hope that it went quite fantastic and I'm really glad that Grandpa was able to recieve my letter. I'm really happy that I was able to see him before I went into the MTC as well. I just really wish I coulda gotten more time to spend with him, you know? but thats what I get AFTER the mission! :D

but yes. I'm really looking forward to getting my letters from you and I hope to get them soon! :D

I love you so very much grandma!

SUPER hugs and Kisses!

~Brandon

yay! pictures of the Yunque!

Wed, Oct 28, 2009

yay! number one is our group in the gwa gwa (ha ha, a bus. it's puerto Rican for bus, or larger car, like an SUV. I don't know why, but it is. and it's only like that here in perto Rico) that a member drove us up in. cool beans!


number two is the waterfall that we all hiked up to. :D I had one of the sisters take the picture for me. notice Elder Sierra just chillin next to me on the rock. there were some other people there as well. I swear thats not my girlfriend in the background! ;) ha ha ha!

I would send more at a time, but they are too beefy! :)


~Enjoy!

Brandon/Elder Bryan

Click Here for Information on El Yungque National Forest

cool paperclips make the world go 'round! :D

Wed, Oct 28, 2009

que pasa con que? :D

aw, it's all good if you didn't get the chance to write me. it happens, you know? I mean... I'm only you most loved child, halfway across the WORLD. I understand. :P

ha ha ha! but it's all good. I know how things go with sister slade. xD

OH MAN!!!! you got to sit near President Uchtdorf?! you lucky punk! did it look like he enjoyed it? did YOU enjoy it? what songs were played? how come WE didn't go see that when I was there? :D :P man... all those musicians from Asia are just sick awesome. its not fair. but you know? all it takes is some work. that's all you have to do. work and dedication. (fo sho!)

thats so cool that you got to chill with Neumann, Rasmussen and Jesse! AND you guys went to Moochies together? cool beans. coooooool beans. xD I hope you enjoyed one of those cheese steaks for me. :P

wow. MAN, things just keep hitting up Don and Joanna left and right! that's hard... wow. and the cook just...? wow. disappointing. I wonder what made him think that he could get away with it. it's good that they got him though. it's interesting that he got caught for SOMETHING ELSE too. and YES!! I'm so glad that they were able to find the bag. I KNEW it was there somewhere. xD that's good that he feels that way about the guardian angel, eh? maybe it will lead to him getting reactivated? ha ha ha! aw! :'( I hope Joanna feels better about Baby... She was a good Dog.

wait. you guys got letters from Ehren? WHAT?! wheres mine?! :'( wait... did he also send Robin one? ha ha ha! gosh. WHY DIDN'T HE SEND ME ONE?! RIDICULOUS!

this week? estoy FANTASTICO! :D I've got Elder Dye as a companion! heck yes! I'll toss some pics of him in with my pics of the Yunque this week. sweet!

heh heh heh, well, the small mini stove that we have (on top of the Main stove) isn't put there by the land lord... it's actually from the housing coordinators, the Molinas. so pretty much what we have to do is just pick up a new one (cause the Molinas never answer their phone for us... I don't know why) and then give the mission the receipt to get reimbursed for it. :)

oh goodness! we have this one member, Hermana Luz, that feeds us every Thursday! :D wow, she makes some good Arroz y Habichuelas. mm mm, tasty. that and the culture here is all about sharing food. "are you guys hungry?" "Ustedes quieren un efresco?" "here, lets just put some of this food in a bag for you to take home" oh my gosh! we had food coming out of the yin yizzle last week! our fridge was filled beyond capacity last week. ha ha ha! I got a picture of it cause it was so funny. OH!!!! speaking of food as well. we had one member totally give us the most ginourmous grapefruit in the WORLDDDD!!!! I got a picture of that too, cause it was... wow. bigger than four of my fists put together. KARAIZEE!

heck YES we have a microwave! :D Elder Maldonado just didn't know how to eat, so we never had REAL vegetables around. but we do now! :D so I get to pop that popcorn you sent me! :D

aw, and the laundry bag? perfect. absolutely perfect. the threads on that thing is superb. :D speaking of all the stuff you sent me. :D I got the notice for the package on Friday! wow! so if you sent it on Wednesday, that means it got to me in two days! skidoosh, super speedy.

and as for my birthday... what DO I want? well, for starters... I wold have to say, my gospel Principles book. you know, cause being able to understand that book would be pretty fantastic. not gonna lie. xD oh! and maybe a new Varigrip. that finger strength thing that I bought, cause one of the fingers that had been broken on it finally gave up the ghost. xD so yeah... I could send you a picture of that so you could make sure to get the right one. ;) not saying that you would get the wrong one or anything. no. that's just ridiculous. but just to be positive. you know? yeah. but what else...? for my birthday? wow... I can't even think of anything... maybe I could try and come up with a list of things by next week? :D ha ha ha!

and as for being starved for music? yes. very much so. Elder Dye has a very nice collection of CD's, and two weeks ago he picked up a CD player, but that's only gonna last until he's not my companion anymore, right? yeah. as for getting the music to me? well... you COULD send it to me as a CD, I GUESS... I'm not exactly sure how you could get it to me in MP3 form... no sé exacto... maybe a simple CD player and some CDs? gosh, I just don't even know.

oh my GOSH. Bryan WOULD do that. ha ha ha! that's so great though! ha ha ha! I think you should take him up on the idea. but make sure you make him say the prayer. ha! I can almost imagine him saying, "well, I was Brandon last week, but now its MY birthday this week" ha ha ha!\

sounds like that stake standards night must have been a good one. texting is ever so slightly addicting you know. *cough* robin *cough cough* what? what was that?

Anyways, YAY! Donny's a life scout!!! YES! now get on him to get working on those Merit badges. he needs to get his eagle. xD

aw, my booger knows when you're talking to me! :D yay! I can almost feel the fake love coming from the hard black and white text on the screen. mm. love it. xD

"hi Dad!" lets see... what did I learn from my last comp? the biggest thing would probably be... trusting in the lord. and hope. but those two go hand in hand together. however, yes. I learned most of all, to trust in the Lord. there is a reason why we go through things. through ALL things. and they are to help us learn, and become who we need to be, and who the Lord wants us to be. so, even though my first companion was a horrible experience, I learned quite a bit about myself. about who I REALLY am, and what I'm striving to do and become. very nice, in fact. quite nice indeed.

oh goodness... I GUESS you could send me an envelope, but I've got some other stuff that I would like to send home too, like all of my Ties. ha ha ha! gosh, all the ones I brought from home would DIE if I used them here! the humidity would just destroy them, and I don't want anything to happen to them. xD so I might just get a box together of some stuff that I would like to preserve and keep safe so I don't have to keep lugging them around, ya know? so I'll do the best that I can there.

and on the memory card.... well, I've got some pretty entertaining videos, but I also have some recordings of some riffs that I came up with. now, I don't care if you listen to them, but just so you know, that's what they are. so don't let anything happen to them! :P but then again... if I send you the memory card then I won't have the pictures to look at MYSELF! :P hmmm... maybe I could just send it to ya anyways. I mean, you DO have to send it back, right? that and my memory card still has enough space for 2,000 more pictures. ha ha ha! I don't know. I'll see how getting that box goes. :3

so yeah. lets see whats happened around here. oh! I tried a malta here! non alchoholic malta is quite popular here in Puerto Rico, and Omayra, the recent convert /daughter of Herminia, ANOTHER recent convert gave one each to me and Elder Dye after one of our lessons. BLECH!!!! TOTALLY DISGUSTING! ha ha ha! wow, it smelled like spaghettios... and it tasted like... carbonated... I don't even know. maybe I could just describe it as carbonated spaghettios? GRODY!

lets see. oh! last night we had be giving a lesson to Mili (Milagros), ha, ANOTHER recent convert, and like halfway through the lesson, the power went out. HA HA! we had been teaching about Lehi's Dream, and right smack dab in the middle, the power just goes "SCHWOOP" and goes out. and then like three seconds later this HUGE roll of thunder goes over the house. SWEET! so we gave the other half of the lesson in the dark. ha ha ha! and the house us up near the Yunque so it was DARK. ha ha! luckily for us though, David, a member that we brought with us to the lesson had a flashlight on his PHONE! ha, so we used that for the rest of the lesson, and then right before we were about to finish up, the power comes back on. ha ha! it was cool. and you know what? it also reminded me about that concert that we had at GK when the power went out. that was such a cool experience. both the lesson AND the concert. yeah. good stuff.

Well, I gotta get some pictures sent to you, so I guess I'll end the email and get to the stuff that you really care about. :P ha ha ha!

so anyways, I love you LOTS!!! talk to you next week! oh... also, would you tell Bryan that he NEEDS to write me back? whats the dealio with that? I sent him a letter TWO WEEKS ago. he's TOTALLY had enough time. plus, he could even send it to my apartment address! even less hassle for him, cause i would be gar-raun-teed to get it in about two days. so yes. you should make that a condition for his/MY birthday dinner. (ha ha ha!)

I Love you guys so much!

~Brandon/Elder Bryan

yeah yeah yeah. excuses excuses. :P

Wed, Oct 21, 2009

yay, DOUBLE LONG! now lets hope if I can reply to it all, eh?! :D

ok, it's all good if you didn't get the package sent out. I'll eventually get it, right? yeppers. so I should be all good, as long as I get it. that's what counts the most.

ha ha ha! I love you story though! ha ha ha! that must have been fun!!! ha ha, same box DIFFERENT LETTERS! goodness. I wish I coulda seen that. that would have been great.(mom says-long story about a rude clerk at the post office)

hey, I thought I told you about the mouth guard... oh wells. currently we don't have a stove that works well enough to boil water, so I'm kinda, heh heh, like a fish out of water. (well, that was lame. sorry to waste your time there. :P ) so I can't really set the mouth guard yet. but we're going to call the people in the area, the Molinas, that do the apartment check ups if they can hook us up with a new stove that WORKS, cause the one we have also just randomly decides to turn off... also, it's not grounded, so we get shocked every time we touch the metal base. NO BUENO. so yeah. we need to get that taken care of. :)

ah, as for my new comp. I've gotten to know quite a bit more about my companion in the last week. his name is Elder Dye. he quite honestly beats the crap out of Elder Maldonado with his awesome. no joke. Elder Maldonado had no sense of humor whatsoever. and quite honestly, he was a bit to wrapped up in himself. this might sound a bit harsh, bit he didn't really train me. I didn't learn anything from him. he never told me what was going on, and during most of our appointments I just sat there. and he was quite literally a robot in our lessons. same lessons, same questions. same EVERYTHING. so from that...

yeah. but honestly, it had gotten bad enough that I was thinking that if I had to spend anymore than those six weeks, I wouldn't make it. it was... wow, it was bad. but WOW. ELDER DYE knows how to teach. he's super cool. AND, he's got a great sense of humor. much nicer. and you know what? he listens to what I say! WHAT?! crazy, I know, but it's true. :D but he is from Orem Utah, and he speaks PERFECT English. ha ha ha! :P oh, and his Spanish isn't half bad either. he's got 17 months in the mission, so he's doin pretty good for himself. ah, and transfers were pretty cool. ha ha ha, I still feel like a greenie though cause I still have no idea what I'm doin. but Elder Dye has been commissioned to teach me anew! YAY! "new trainer!"

... you know, I wouldn't mind if you want to toss me a letter, too. :D mail is actually quite reliable here, from what I've discovered, so if you want, you can toss my current address around, cause I have no idea the next time I get the chance to get to the mission office... but it might be this Thursday... ha ha ha!

I'm not too certain about my suit... I need to find out when Elder Dye wants to run out to do that. he wouldn't mind. I still need to find out when I can get my license, as well. those might end up happening on the same day. :)

wow! travis is going to Texas? where at? Jordan Peterson, my friend from EFY is in Texas. I can't remember exactly where, though. maybe later. xD

yeah, I WAS eating mixed vegetables out of a can. CAUSE ELDER MALDONADO DIDNT EVER EAT!!!! :'( that's all that we had vegetable wise! but it's ok, Elder Dye likes to eat, just like me. :) first thing we did when we got here was go and fill our apartment with food. (cause we literally had NOTHING)

tell sister that she is GORGEOUS, and that she has nothing to worry about. Helaman 5:12, or Alma... 24:34? 24:30? I can't remember WHERE it is exactly, but it goes "the burdens which were laid upon Alma and his bretheren where made light, so that they could be up their burdens with ease, that they did submit with patience and diligence to all the will of the Lord" or somethin to that effect. if you have the chance to look that up, por favor, haz lo. :)

yay! MR BAIN!!! I actually have a letter that I am in the process of writing him to thank him for being such an incredible teacher. but don't tell him. I gotta get it written! xD

oh yeah! I got a post card from Grandma Jan and Grandpa Ed from Paris! :D so awesome that they finally got the chance to go! :D

gosh, those cats. they are such weenies! my goodness. at least you got some time with blue and vortex for a while though, right? :D (We dog sat for a friend)

as for April. whats the dealio? she even TOLD me that she would write me. you should get on her for that. that bum. xD

aw, lucky! you get to go to Utah AGAIN! man, you are just spoiled. :P

shawn, shawn, shawn... what happened? I don't understand how you could be SO CLOSE to going on your mission and then going so FAR AWAY.... and the fact that he's gotten baptized in another church? that just doesn't make any sense! why? is there somehow something that THAT church offers that the TRUE church of GOD himself established doesn't? I don't get it. do you know?

wow... you guys had a high speed chase?! crazy! and they killed him, too... I wonder why he was runnin...? speaking of shooting and stuff though. heh heh heh, we have some apartments that are next to our neighborhood of Alturas (se llama Galateo) that have shootouts almost every night. ha hah ha! sometimes it's super bad, sometimes it's not that bad at all, maybe one or two shots. but here in Rio Grande, there is just... things are just going downhill. there was a guy that was robbed at one of the local mini stores... there's a gang that chills in a neighborhood down the freeway (highway 3) called Rio Grande Estates. they leave us alone cause we are men of God (sweet!) but still. we need to be more careful at night.

goodness. two days ago we did service for this investigator, and he had a house that was all the way up on the side of the Yunque, so we had a super super super awesome view of the island. but anyways, he took us up there and we cleared out his driveway cause all the grass and trees here grow year round (CAUSE ITS SUMMER ALL THE TIME! :D) so we helped him with that, and after wards he took us out for sandwiches that were AWESOME! but yeah, I gots some pictures of that, too.

now, I don't have time to send any pictures this week, but we have some pictures from the service, and I have some from El Yunque that I have to get sent. :) but we have to go get food though, so I'll get those sent first before ANYTHING next week.

give my baby a hug for me (ha ha ha, Bryan), and hug shadow too.

I love you all so much! and I'm gonna start focusing on more stuff that's happening around here too. also, my Spanish is doing better, cause Elder Dye actually lets me participate in the lessons! YAY! :D but yeah. Elder Maldonado was sent out to Salinas, on the south side of the island, in the desert! ha ha ha!

ah!!! AND elder Dye was there with the Elder that gave Johnny Depp the pass along card!!!! and HE HAS A PICTURE OF IT!!!! :D:D:D:D:D:D so he's going to give ti to me!!! so COOL!


anyways!!! I gots to go!!! I love you guys so much!

talk to you guys next week!

~Elder Brandon Bryan

gah! turns out you didn't get my letter soon enough, eh? :'(

Tue, Oct 13, 2009

sad day. oh wells. I had sent a little letter (on another day other than Pday... I just wanted to make sure you got to know before I got here today, but I guess you didn't get the chance to receive it soon enough) well, no matter. just to let you know, every six weeks, due to the transfer meeting, ( yes, which is every six weeks xD ) our P-day gets moved to the Tuesday before. so here I am, today, instead of tomorrow. :)

NO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! dang it! we came here a bit earlier, cause all the washers and Dryers were taken, and they are going to close fifteen minutes before my time is up for lunch!!!! (which is in five minutes) DANG IT!!! what is the deal?

dah! so we went to the Yunque (jungle)last week. I have no idea if I will get the chance to send my pictures, but we got some cool ones. we got to see a few water falls. it was gorgeous there!

and we got a call from President Dewsnup last night about transfers. I am to remain here in Rio Grande. :-O and Elder Maldonado is headed off to Salina, which is on the southern part of the Island and it's a desert there. ha ha ha! how fun, eh? yeah, for sure. but yes... my new companion is to be Elder Dye. and I meet him tomorrow. woot, craziness!

so yes. this Sunday I fasted for Bryan. please please PLEASE answer his questions. :D I just want him to become as prepared as possible. :)

I don't know if I'll have enough time to get some pictures sent this week (especially from the Yunque, but I'll see what I can do.)

so, to get questions answered while I have the chance:

so the Branch we have here. it's pretty small, people wise. but with area, it's pretty large... maybe about 55 members. there's some interesting ones here. you know how that goes. with only a few "sturdy" members, it's makes it difficult to build a foundation for the rest. :)

and alas, my time is up. so I wish you a good next week, and hope to hear from you again! xD can't wait for my package tomorrow! woot!

Love you mucho!

~Brandon

10-7-09 e-mail responses

ah, this week goes by well... I think I'm learning more about myself the more problems that I am having. xD it's interesting how things like that work, eh?

but yes. I only get like twenty minutes this week, because we have a member that is going to take us up to the YUNQUE! :D so I'll have pictures next week for that. :) that and we took a long time shopping for food, and there was a lady at the laundromat that took up all but two dryers, so wee spent two hours there because I had one and Elder Maldonado had the other. LAME! ha ha ha! but it's all good. I'll get an hour next week. but we'll also see if I go to a different area. but that will be why my letter this week will be so short. :)

oh, also. where the pooper scoopers is my patriarchal blessing? :'( I asked for that a half month ago! :'( [Silly boy dad emailed it a while ago!]

ah, and I did get my license. for thirty minutes. ha ha ha! they had to take it away because of the laws in WA make it so that I have to take the drive test, too. and so they set me up with an appointment, but it was at 6 IN THE FLIPPIN MORNING! :'( so we got up super early, and THEN, the lady didn't get there till EIGHT THIRTY! AND THEN! gosh, we didn't have the ORIGINAL car registration, only a copy, so she wouldn't let me take the test! :'( but I do have my permit. and it looks super cool. also, because I had a paper copy of my license they let me keep my WA license! YAY! so I'll try to send that home. :)

I found one guy with a guitar that is an investigator, and music is VERY important to him, so I'll see if he'll let us stop by xD maybe I can use that to get in to teach him a lesson, no? turns out he speaks some pretty good English, so I can use that to my advantage. xD

AH! they had an English room for conference! so I got to see it in English. and seriously, that was probably one of the most fantastic conferences I've ever seen. no joke, they had some absolutely incredible talks. and oh my goodness. M. Russel Ballard's talk? [oops! that would be Elder Jeffrey R. Holland - Safety for the Soul - Click here to read ] INCREDIBLE! the one he gave about the Book of Mormon? it was just... wow. just awesome. and occasionally we get the ensign from the missino home when we stop by every month for transfers or from the district leaders, so I'll see if I get one. if not, you NEED to get me one, cause there is no distribution center here... :'(

poor ella... :'( do you think emailing me would be alright? or would she have to send me mail? gosh... everything in her family seems to just be going crazy. I wish I could have had the opportunity to have met her mother though. I think that would have been nice. ha ha ha!

darn you Shawn! what is the dealio?! this next Sunday is fast Sunday, so I'm going to fast for him. and Bryan, so that he will want to be more interested in the church... if you want to, I sent a letter to grandma last week about my feelings about Bryan. It's like... three pages about him I think... but it's got some good stuff in tehre. so if you want to you could ask her to see it. tell her I said it's ok. xD

(other missionaries)like, native from Puerto Rico? as far as I know, the only one that I know that is from Puerto Rico itself, is Elder Maldonado. but I might know more at this months transfers (which is this Sunday or Saturday... or Monday... anyways, its' one of those three days. so I might be in a new area this next week! :-O

and as for goodies... the one thing taht I really really need is a new laundry bag... my has a tear in it taht gets bigger every Wednesday... so if you could find me one that preferably isn't mesh... but breathable, that would be fantastic, ya know? not one of those solid ones that don't breath, cause then all my wet clothes/ towels will get all moldy. gross. :'( but do what you can. other than that, I'm not really sure... anything that you think I need, ya know? :D like my patriarchal blessing. that would be fantastic. also, no underwear. seriously? :P

ah, and you know that Women's Conferance talk from BYU 2008 that dad put on my MP3 player? the one by Mary Ellen Edmonds? she mentions something in there that I think is nice. she said "mail is like mana to the missionaries" and that is no lie. seriously. mail sometimes seems like the only thing that I can really hold on to in my times of adversity here. besides the gospel of course. :P

also... I think I may be the recipient of a deviated septum... but only slightly. and it's only there sometimes... I don't know. all I know is that I was bashed in the nose back in provo during gym time and ever since then one side of my nose just gets randomly stuffy... for no reason. but like right now? it's fine. I have no idea. I talked to the doctor at the CCM and he was saying that it might just be a little swollen. and as far as I know, that's all it is, but still. I just want it to get better!

just remember. God has commanded us not to kill. To quote GIR "oooo, that's bad, isn't it?" :P

[Invader Zim was a short-lived cartoon featuring an angry alien (Zim) who is sent from the mighty Irken Empire to prepare the Earth for eventual conquest. Zim is very enthusiastic in his efforts to subvert the Earth, and in fact his past enthusiasm had led him to be banished from Irk to FoodCourtia, but that's another story... Zim's trusty (if not fully functional) robot servant. GIR was created by Almight Tallest Red and Purple from spare parts and a few things they had in their pockets, so he can be excused for his eccentricities. GIR normally appears as a short cylindrical robot with blue eyes and a high-pitched voice, but when he is put into duty mode his eyes turn red and his voice deepens. On Earth GIR is frequently seen in his clever disguise - a green dog suit.] Text and picture credit to InvaderZim.tv


AND, I think you should take a look at this scripture. :P Moroni 7:45-48. I think you'll enjoy that one. :P

[45 And charity suffereth long, and is kind, and envieth not, and is not puffed up, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil, and rejoiceth not in iniquity but rejoiceth in the truth, beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things.

46 Wherefore, my beloved brethren, if ye have not charity, ye are nothing, for charity never faileth. Wherefore, cleave unto charity, which is the greatest of all, for all things must fail—

47 But charity is the pure love of Christ, and it endureth forever; and whoso is found possessed of it at the last day, it shall be well with him.

48 Wherefore, my beloved brethren, pray unto the Father with all the energy of heart, that ye may be filled with this love, which he hath bestowed upon all who are true followers of his Son, Jesus Christ; that ye may become the sons of God; that when he shall appear we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is; that we may have this hope; that we may be purified even as he is pure. Amen.]

and come on now! I only went to burger king once! :P gosh, ya meanie head! :P

oh! one thing that might be nice to get is that compound W that I bought a little while ago. It didn't work very well in that wart on my thumb because I think it had some skin covering it. so the cold couldn't get down to the wart. plus, somehow I've gained one on my left elbow. how? no sé, but I don't want it there. xD

but when you talk to Ella again, tell her that I miss her! gosh, and that I want to get a letter from her! cause I sent her an email, that she obviously haven't had the chance to reply to cause of home..., but I want to hear from her!!!!! ha ha ha, she would be an awesome doctor, I think. that would be great. but tell her that she would have to have a practice in WASHINGTON, cause it's way more awesome than Brazil.

DAH!!!! ok, we're going! I love you!!!! (we're leaving a little late ha ha ha!)

hope to be able to have more time next week! LOVE YOU!

~Brandon

E-mail 9-30-09

I'm soooo excited. I haves an eemale! yayz! so yes.

pero primero, yo obteni tu carta. fue en la mailbox I'm thinkin' like... lunes. so monday. but I didn't check the mailbox on Saturday, so I MAY have gotten it then. mail gets sent from here (and GETS here) quicky quick quick, I've noticed.

so yeah. first, I'll answer up yo questions from the emailzies. :)

ok. so. for my Spanish, I've actually been complimented quite a few times on my pronunciation, but I still don't know very much. BUT, I've been told by some of the members here that I know more Spanish than they knew English when they were learning it. ha ha ha! for some reason I doubt that. ha ha. I'm just wishing right now that I could UNDERSTAND people, darn it! that's killing me the most.

ah, the weather. ok, so here for the past few weeks, it only seems to get hotter. oh my goodness, it's killer. but like it's usually up in the 90's. at least. 93 seems to be the average, fluctuating between 90 and 95, ha ha!

ah, my tie. the light blue on with the wight and yellow stripes. I actually got that baby out when we went to the store in the Dom Rep. I love that one. it's so awesome. PLUS, its polyester, so it wont die from the heat or water! :D I've gotten like... seven new ties from here and those are all the ones that I'm using, cause I don't want my nice ones to die, so i might possibly send those ones home... BUT, I'll try and get a picture of the new ones I've gotten here. I showed 'em in the video I had, but it's too big to send, unfortunately, so right now I'm stuck with just the pictures. :D

ah, and no... I have yet to get my suit dry cleaned because I have to wear it every Sunday to church... but, I'll see if I can find a place that I can get it done at. :)

ah, and grandmas box! heck YES I got it. the outside was a little munchied, but that's how life goes, right? at least I got it. that's what counts the most, I suppose. :) and the "can" also made it safe. ha ha ha! saying it like that make it seem likes it's some kind of secret or something. xD

ayh, and a note to Steph (babb) I can't email her, so if somebody could, please tell her that I think she's on letter number seven... but I'm not too sure... :-/

ok. so me and my companion. we've been hitting a few rocky spots in the last week... I think it's the language barrier, or something, but he doesn't seem to listen to me very much... kinda frustrating. blarg, but I don't want to complain. he's a great guy! thats gotta count for something, right? ha ha ha! so. my apartment... I'm thinking is one of the nicer ones out of the apartments for the Elders, cause from what I've seen, the others... are all right. not fantastic. but inside ours, it's nice and enjoyable. :) except for all the fricken ants! >:-( gosh darn it. if you even THINK about leaving food out they come-a runnin!

and El Yunque, it's like ten minutes away from the apartment! it's really sweet! I wanted to go today, but we were a bit occupied. lemme explain:

yesterday, I got my license! :D and my PERMIT! "what?!" yup. that's right. BOTH of 'em. ha ha, after I took my written test, I found out that because of Washington's laws, I have to take the drive test too? no sé, but that's what they say. so they accidentally printed out my license, but then they noticed that I was from Washington and fixed it to give me my permit. they have such COOl licenses here. also, because I had a copy of my license from Washington, I got to keep my old one! :D so I'll send that home to ya guys. :D so yeah, today, they had me set up for a drive test at SIX IN THE MORNING! gosh! so we got to they area for it, and the lady wasn't there. for two and a half hours. and THEN? we didn't have the original car registration! dab nabbit! so now we have to set up a new appointment. :'(

ok. so two emails is a bit overwhelming to try and reply to, so just know that I got it. xD but it'll try and reply to the preguntas in the other one, too. :)

yes! a BAPTISM! her name is Herminia, and she is the mother of one of Elder Maldonado's OTHER recent converts. she's a bit older... I think round 64? MAYBE a bit more. but she has a VERY strong testimony. she actually, after we had taught about the priesthood (after she was baptized) she asked if we could give her a blessing, because she had been really sick the last week. sweet! :D

and, if you could tell the Franzens, I got their letter, but I CAN'T UNDERSTAND IT!!!! :'( *cries* but I'm trying to, and will reply to the best of my ability. xD

wow! Donny's going with Theresa? (to Homecoming)cool beans! that's good to see him participating in something other than video games (:P) ha ha ha!

and Ironically, I've been praying for Bryan... ha! I've been really praying for him to gain the desire to want to learn more about the church so that when (or before even) I return he'll have the desire to be baptized. 'cause wouldn't it be cool if I could chill with him for eternity? I think so. especially since I consider him my brother. :D

yay! you called grandma! I sent her a letter last week, so I hope she got it. I made a promise to her that I would call her twice when I get home to wish her happy birthday twice for the two days that I missed. ha ha ha!


dah! lemme get some pictures before I run out of time. cause elder... dah. nevermind. ;) I'll send them in a seperate email so that nothing gets deleted this time. >:(

LOVE YOU GUYS!

~Elder Bryan (or Brandon) :)

Sophistication

Sophistication: as long as you have a nice white shirt and tie, no one is ever going to suspect that you eat your vegetables out of a can.

Picture of Baptism

OK. so first picture, is Herminia at the baptism :D from left to right: Me, Herminia, Wilber (Omayras son (Herminias daughter)) otherwise known as Wilbito (ja ja ja! cause If you add -ito on to a word, it makes it small! HA HA!) and then Elder Maldonado.

Excerpt from Grandma Nita's Letter

Dated 9/16/09

..~..~...

-Elder Brandon Bryan, your favorite missionary.

Oh my GOODNESS! I can't believe I forgot to put this in my e-mail and in your letter! I got a baptism! Dah! I feel so ridiculous for not remembering that! I got to baptize her and everything! I have pictures, but I have pictures sent them yet and I can't I forgot! duh! OK. I'm going to start have to start making a list of things that I need to remember to write about in my e-mail and letters, 'cause by the time I get to Wednesday I'm so pooped out. but I'm aiming to be more productive.=D

Anyways, her name is Herminia. She's an older lady, and she's actually the mother of Elder Maldonado's converts from I think about three or two month's ago. But he's been working on her to help her get prepared for baptism, and all she really had left was to kick her coffee habit and she did!=D So Elder Maldonado, since I helped teach her a little bit while I was here(a little TeeNIE bit, ha, ha!) he said I could baptize her! WOW! a week and a half into my mission and I'm already baptizing people!? alright! ha ha!

So yea. please if you get the chance, share that with everybody, 'cause I wasn't able to include that in my e-mail.

Anyways, I need to go do personal study now, since I'm using that time to write this! ha ha!

Love you!

Elder Brandon Bryan

yay! one night early! :D ha! not that it really makes any difference, right? xD but thank you for your effort! :D

ok. So. if they change in July... then President Dewsnup should have already changed out then, right? or do they stay in for two years? cause President Dewsnup has been in for... like, from what he said, since they mission opened here... which I think was back in 2004? no sé. so I would imagine that he should be released soon... right? I dunno. but he's got a sense of humer, I just gotta find where he hides it! ha ha ha!

as for the perky, I'm doing FANTASTIK! :D I've discovered that, hey, I'm gonna learn Spanish eventually, right? right. yeah. but also, I've noticed that every day as I sit down during my personal study and during my language study, with a book of Mormon in one hand and El Libro de Mormón in the other and just read it verse by verse, it's totally a booster to my Spanish. huh. interesting how that works, right? yeppers. so every day that I do that, I notice that my Spanish gets better by like... a MILLION times. I can say complete sentences! I can read things! (in spanish. :P cause I'm pretty sure I could read things before I came here, right?) and I remember small obscure dusty verbs that I studied like ten weeks ago. woot! and no. people don't laugh at me, thank you! :P I've noticed that they always sit there and focus on what I'm saying though, so that makes me feel nice. it's always nice to be listened to every once in a while, right? xD :D and thank you. even with my haircut you still think I'm cute. ;) speaking of which, I cut my own hair last week. :-O I know, right?! yeah, it was with a... the... the thingie... OH YEAH! the buzz clippers. there we go. wow! that was weird. OK. so our zone leaders had us get our haircut because we had a general authority come for a conference, and then he came and get our ZONE conference, too! so we got to see him twice. but the second time was more directed to us, because,well... it was a zone conference for missionaries. it was Gary J. Coleman, and I'm not sure if I told you this or not... but back in the CCM, I joined another district to sing for a meeting, and then (because we had this awesome accapella arrangement of how great thou art (gran eres tu in Spanish)) they had us sing to him when he was visiting to talk to the Guyanans that were staying there. so I got to see him three times! :D :D :D he's an area 70 for the Carribian I believe. but he is a really neat guy. really cool to talk to.

[Jennifer - I think I told you last week that Lisa and David had their baby. He finally has a name......Carter Lee. a lot better than Vern! We stopped by on our way to Gma & Gpa's on Sunday. He is so cute! Not bad for 4 weeks early. He will fill out soon enough. The Carlsen's had theirs and named him Emmitt. Franzens are next!]

aw, carter Lee is a cute name. :D whats their last name again? I can't remember... :)

OK. so I hope that I can fill out the email a bit more. I spent like fifteen minutes trying to load up some pictures (and a pretty awesome video, if I do say so myself, of my apartment) but it was taking forever, and I wanted to be able to at least get the chance to email something this weeks, so I'll see if I can email the memory card home soon, cause I've got some good stuff on there. or at least try to get stuff sent next week. :D

oh my goodness. the weather?! it's fantastic here almost all the time! :D it's like 95 degrees out on average, and yesterday was super hot, like 100 I think. but it's just so great. and we have a car here too! :D yes! so I get off pretty easy here. but something I think is really hilerious, is that one of my good buddies from the CCM is on Vieques (the island right off the eastern coast of PR) and he doesn't have a car, so he's walking all day, but I'm like, way tan now. don't even know how, cause I'm riding in the car all the time, but I am. and he's still pretty white. hmm. good stuff. :D

also, thank you for sending that message to Steph. I sent her a letter last week, but it was to her house, cause I don't have her school address yet, so it has to get to her via her home address first, which is gonna be like another week and a half? I dunno. but I love how that was a super awesome run on sentence. LOVE IT! also, what could you possible say that would embarrass ME? :P

that's so weird that Donny's having trouble getting up... has he tried some tums in the morning? I think that might help. :) SPEAKING OF DONNY: he BETTER not be using my backpack! that's my BABY! so you better correct that problem. xD I've had her since 7th grade, and I wanna keep using it! ALSO speaking of which, I STILL have yet to find a backpack... :-/ so I'm looking still.

DAH! Donny? my little Donzer?! no! he CANT be turning 16. that's just ridiculous. but speaking of which, I need to toss him an email next week for that.

well that's good to know that Tawny is still stopping by for haircuts even after I'm gone! ha ha ha! I kinda figured that she like me, ya know? I dunno. kinda obvious to me the way she was acting around me, ha ha!

also, the tie? which Tie was it? I can't remember... but I've gotten a few new free ones around from transfers. I got some pretty awesome ones that were just sitting around. I showed 'em in the video, but I don't know when I'll be able to send it! :'( I'll try, I will!

no.. I haven't gotten my suit dry cleaned yet... I want to though! :'( I just have to find a place that can do it around here. :)

so I'm in Rio Grande. and guess what?! we have the Yunque here! :D :D ha ha! what luck.ours is the only area that has it,so one of these days we are gonna head out and chill there in one of our p days for a little bit. My companion is Elder Maldonado, he's a native, from right here in Puerto Rico. he's from Utuado, pronounced oo-too-ah-doe ;), that last one is a long o, like row. :) ooo! and using the word of wisdom is PERFECT! excellent thinking. but I'm building him up to eating more. also, I'm introducing him to a thing called... *announcer voice* NUTRITION! :D it's this little thing that good for your body so you can eats lots of it, and STILL NOT GET FAT! ha ha ha! thats actually what he's been worrying about, even though he's as skinny as me. RIDICULOUS! so I'm helping him discover salad this week. I finally convinced him to let us buy some.

dah! out of time! ok. I'll have pictures next week, and finish up detailing about the area.

I'll TRY and send some snail mail, eh? hows that? :P we have to get the oil/ filter changed and a few other things, so that's gonna take about two hours apparently, so I've got some time.


OF COURSE I'll make the most of this! :P who do you think I am, a log? gosh. :P

LOVE YOU MORE THAN EVER! :D

~Elder Brandon Bryan.

also, if you really can convince the young women to send me some letters... that would be cool with me, I guess. xD

LOVE YOU!

I'M Puerto Rico! WOOT!

HA! the reason it seems so long is because it IS!!! HOLY COW, it's been two weeks since I've had my last P day and it's just made me feel so disconnected. wow, it was horrid. but anyways, I'm HERE! I'M Puerto Rico! WOOT! ok. so my first area is... wait for it, wait for it... RIO GRANDE! :D YAY! :D ok. so my companions name is Elder Maldonado. he is a native Puerto Rican, he only speaks about as much English as I do Spanish. ha! naw, he speaks more than that, but sometimes it's really difficult, ESPECIALLY since I can't even speak barely any Spanish. but I can handle it. I just think it's so funny though. I torture him all the time. there's just some words that he really has to concentrate on saying, like bathroom. Ha HA HA! he always says barroom instead, so I just torture him on that. but he sucks it up, cause I can't speak ANY Spanish, so he can make fun of me so easily. :'( but it's whatever. I think it's hi-lerious. (yes, it was spelled that way on purpose. that's how I say it. :P )

but yeah, I DID send a snail mail letter, but I have no idea if you've gotten it or not, but I DID get your package and grandma Jans package, and a letter from Grandma, AND TWO letters from STEPHANIE! YES! I feel so much better now. I'm guessing what happened was that she sent the on back from the MTC to there, but I had already gone to Dom Rep, so what happened was they sent them directly to the mission office. Which is horrid, because I didn't get them for six more weeks, which absolutely felt like a lifetime! GOSH! But I have them. one was from back when I was in my first week in the Dom Rep, and another was from August 9th asking about me not replying yet, so she still wants me to reply, which is a seriously good bonus booster. Makes me feel warm inside. Which is especially important, ‘cause it's just so hard to stay positive all the time. But I DO know that it's important to be positive and I, for serial, try my absolute hardest every day to be happy. And it's getting easier every day. I'm not sure why, but I got out here and like... I dun no, it was the weirdest thing, and I was just instantly... depressed? maybe that's not the right word... I dun no, I just felt... hard pressed to feel happy. it was the hardest thing. but don't think I’m all depressed or anything. :P gosh, IM NOT, ok? :P ha ha ha, no, I was just feeling a little down, but I find new joy every day when me and Elder Maldonado make fun of each other. also, I enjoy preaching the gospel when I don't know what anyone else is saying. very nice indeed. but one thing I've noticed about here is that everyone is seriously way more willing to listen, even if they aren’t interested. that’s seriously VERY encouraging, cause I don't know if my tender little sensitive heart would be able to handle having the door slammed in my face every day. HA HA HA! woot. but really though, it's very nice to not have that happen.

as for the transfer meetings... no, unfortunately... President Dewsnup is a VERY by the book person, and at the beginning of the transfer, when everyone was like hugging each other and everything cause they were so excited to see each other, he started the meeting early and told us he was very disappointed that we could not control ourselves. LAME! but don't get me wrong, from what I've seen, he seems like a pretty cool, nice guy. he just takes his missionary work serious to the extreme. even if it isn't a super serious meeting, like transfer meetings. which I kinda get, but it's nice to sit back just a LITTLE bit sometimes, right?! tell me if I'm in the wrong here. NO sé.

but no, seriously, those snacks have kept me ALIVE! my companion eats NOTHING! one bowl of cereal in the morning, one sandwich or something small for lunch, and no dinner. he waits all the way till nine to eat when we get back to the apartment. ha ha ha! and then he eats like seven cookies and calls it good. ridiculous. gah! he says eating dinner a waste of time. ?! what? since when is eating a waste of time. this guy's crazy. but I'm ironing that out of him. xD ha ha ha!

but heres about what’s goin' on here. the first night I got here? a LESSON! WHAT?! yeah, serious. ha ha! and it was in Spanish. guess what. I'm fresh out of the CCM, I can't understand a LICK of normal person Spanish. so, fortunately, Elder Maldonado still had Elder Teuch (pronounced - tiech. it's a German thing.) so they taught the lesson, and I bore my testimony of how the word of wisdom has blessed me in my life. yup. good thing I kicked that nasty drinkin’ habit before I got out here.

and for the past few other days, I've been building my Spanish. I've noticed that every day, I get a LITTLE tiny bit closer to understanding what people are saying. its nice. now I can pick out like a word every three sentences. I feel so grand.

also, President Dewsnup has set a rule that email is only for Family and fellow missionaries. solo familia y misioneros... *sigh* which is kinda difficult cause I have a few friends emailing me that I would really love to talk to on a weekly basis. BUT, he did say we can receive them. just not REPLY to them. so they can send me stuff. :D but,if you would be so kind, I wish to include a list of those friends' emails so that you could send them a nice little... actually no. I'm going to write something up by next week that I can send you guys as well as the email list so that you could possibly distribute those. but now... I'm out of time. we get an hour out here, but I can never seem to be able to type fast enough... I'm sorry I couldn't get more out... :-/

also, give my thanks to grandma Jan and grandma Nita for their letters and package.

and thank you guys for loving me. that’s just so nice to know that I have he support of all of you at home. I love you guys SO much. it really means a lot. I can't express it fully, but thank you.

it's difficult out here. I can see why Ehren was having such a difficult time. but we have to make the best of what we have, even if we can't enjoy it all fully. but I'm so grateful for the opportunity to be out here.

and now, I am out of time, and I don't even get the chance to reply to much else of your email... I always just have way more that I want to say than I can put. I hate that, don't you?

so I close my email with love. especially now that Elder Maldonado is getting on my back.


I love you all!

~Elder Brandon Bryan

Letter about Packages

THE CHURCH OF
JESUS CHRIST
OF LATTER-DAY SAINTS

PUERTO RICO SAN JUAN EAST MISSION

Urb. Jardines de Caparra
500 Calle Marginal Norte
Bayamon, PR 00959
Tel.: (787) 786-2224
Fax: (787) 786-2579

Parents of Missionaries of the Puerto Rico San Juan East Mission:

In the past some of you have sent packages to the Mission Office address for your son or daughter. When the missionary is working on an island other than Puerto Rico, the packages may sit in the Mission Office for many weeks before we can take the packages to them.

We have made a great effort to take the packages to the islands when we travel there by unwrapping them, placing them in sealed plastic bags, labeling them and placing them in our suitcases with our own clothes. We have always asked the missionary for permission to open the package before we opened it. We were very happy to do it.

Due to the increased charge for extra suitcases we will no longer be able to carry the gifts and necessities sent by you and your extended families and friends to the missionaries. The airlines are now charging for the extra suitcases and the costs are prohibitive.

May we suggest that unless you can send the packages directly to your son or daughter on the Islands of Barbados, St. Kitts, Nevis, Dominica, Antigua, St. Thomas, Tortola, Virgin Gorda or St. Croix, that you send them money instead. Again, by the time the missionaries pay duty and you pay the postage the costs can be very high. The other option is if you do send packages to your son or daughter to the Mission Office, they may not receive them until they return to the Island of Puerto Rico.

Please know that we make this request with much regret but we must be prudent with the Lord's resources.

Sincerely,

Ralph L. Dewsnup
Mission President

1st Letter from Puerto Rico

Elder Bryan

My trainer and new address:

Elder Maldonado
Alturas de Rio Grande
Calle 1 A36 Apt. #4
Rio Grande, PR 00745

Elder Bryan's Side Note:-> Elder Maldonado told me that mail sent to this address doesn't get there super often. So if you send stuff to the mission office I'll be able to get all of those wonderful Packages you send all the time once a week. =D

Ah! first letter from the mission field! Whoa!

Woot woot! So here I am sitting in the chapel in Puerto Rico. I'm finally here and safe as evidenced by my photo. Oh, and look at that, you get to see my nice short hair before I send you a picture.

It just feels .... so weird to be here. Actually out here, doing everything that I've been taught to do. It almost feels surreal.:-o But I am really glad to be here, and I'm especially glad to have learn everything I have at the MTC and the CCM.

Ok. So about my first night a little bit. :D yay! first night! OK ... So my trainers name is Elder Maldonado, just like it says up at the top. =) I got to meat his last companion, Elder Teuch (Toich is how it's pronounced. Crazy German words xD) and this is the end of his first 6 weeks here. Guess where he's being transferred now? Barbados! :-o Lucky! alright! and my new area is Rio Grande, Puerto Rico. Que Bueno, no? =D I like to think so. It's so cool here. Hills covered in Jungle trees all over the place, and at night time? Oh my goodness, I swear that the movies got their jungle sounds from here.. it is just incredible! also, it's a bit ... better than the Dom Rep. here the water is clean, and the traffic is slightly more organized.

Dah! almost out of time. OK, so we have a hurricane heading our way, we might just get rain and crazy wind, though it all depends where it goes through. but I have to stay inside until that time! (obviously, ha ha!) So I might have more time ... ha, like right now. But yeah Sister Dewsnup is warning us about the things we need to do to prepare, like water and food.

Doh, outta time now, but yeah, I will try the best I can to write soon.

I love you guys so much. I really do. Thank you guys for everything.

Elder Brandon Bryan

First Picture from PR

Elder Bryan's arrival in Puerto Rico:
We find him sandwiched between
Sister and President Dewsnup

Letter from Mission President

THE CHURCH OF
JESUS CHRIST
OF LATTER-DAY SAINTS

PUERTO RICO SAN JUAN EAST MISSION

Urb. Jardines de Caparra
500 Calle Marginal Norte
Bayamon, PR 00959
Tel.: (787) 786-2224
Fax: (787) 786-2579

September 1, 2009

Brother and Sister Jerry L. Bryan
8714 196th St. Ct. E.
Spanaway, WA 98387

Dear Brother and Sister Bryan,

I am pleased to report that Sister Dewsnup and I were able to greet your son, Elder Brandon Harley Bryan as he arrived in Puerto Rico. He has been assigned to a companion and they have already begun to work together. Enclosed with this letter is a note from your son telling of his new assignment and relating other news that he may have wanted to convey.

Your son's first companion has been prayerfully selected. As two young missionaries labor together in this great work they bless each others' lives. They both grow as a result of their strengths and their differences. We hope that friendships are kindled that last a lifetime.

As you know, missionary work is intense. It can be both physically demanding and emotionally strenuous. Your son will participate in miracles in the lives of the people that he finds and teaches. He will come to love the work and the people and will grow in ways that he cannot imagine. We love seeing that development take place and recognize that it occurs over the entire length of one's mission.

Missionaries love to receive mail. Please write to your son often. Your letters can be a source of great moti­vation and encouragement for him. We have also asked him to write home every week. His correspondence with you and others of his immediate family can be via email, if that is your desire. However, his access to computers is limited so he will have to correspond with friends and more distant relatives via regular mail.

We are very glad to have your son in our mission. We recognize the sacrifice that you are making to support him and want you to know how grateful we are that you sent him to us. If you have any questions or concerns, you can call us.

Sincerely,

Ralph L. Dewsnup
Mission President

Santo Domingo Dominican Republic Temple

The Santo Domingo Dominican Republic Temple is the 99th operating temple of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. It is also the first temple to be built in the Caribbean and in this Area of the church.

The Dominican Republic training center as Elder Bryan mentioned shares the same grounds as this temple. Additional information about this temple can be found at wikipedia.org and if you and you are interested in knowing more about the Purpose of Temples click Here

First Pictures

whew, so I'm not sure if this is going to work or not, the browser for this email is set up all weird, but if it works you should be getting three pictures that elder radmall snuck onto the computer.



ok, so the first one is a group picture of everyone from the first three weeks at the CCM here in the Dom Rep



the second is of (in order from left to right) me, Elder Radmall, and Elder Moore



and the third is of, in order from left to right: the Jamaicans: Elder Forde and Elder Powell (they were called back to Jamaica), Elder Radmall (he came with me from my old district into my new district here in Dom Rep. he's going to to the same mission as me, and he's pretty tight. been in a few bands this one has) and then his new comp here Elder Robertson (who is totally exactly just like Austin. same type of humor and everything, its great. he's going to the Santiago mission and is deathyl afraid of spiders) and then Elder Wehl, who was from Surinam. he spoke dutch and was called to the west indies mission endlish speaking. and oh my goodness, he picked up english ridiculously fast. but the jamaicans and Elder Wehl were all only here for three weeks.

so yeah. just tossin ya those so you have SOME semblance of pictures before I get to Puerto Rico. have some super duper fun! :D