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) :)