Current Location and Address

UPDATE: Reassignment (click)

Puerto Rico, San Juan - East Mission


Puerto Rico, San Juan - Mission
E-mail: Brandon.bryan@myldsmail.net


(Remember to keep things upbeat and supportive try to not to share or say things that might distract or make him feel homesick.)


He will be happy to hear from you all.

Current Location:

P.O. box 33
Adjuntas, PR 00601

Mark 1:4 and 9

4 John did baptize in the wilderness, and preach the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins.

9 And it came to pass in those days, that Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee, and was baptized of John in Jordan.


Christ was not baptized for the remission of sins because he had none. But, as Nephi recounts, he was baptized for the following reasons:
(1) As a token of humility before the Father;
(2) As a covenant that he would keep the commandments;
(3) As a prelude to receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost;
(4) To gain entrance to and be saved in the kingdom of God, for no one, not even the Son of God, can so obtain without baptism; and
(5) As a pattern and an example for all men, and so that he could say: “Follow thou me” and also, “He that is baptized in my name, to him will the Father give the Holy Ghost, like unto me; wherefore, follow me, and do the things which ye have seen me do.” (See 2 Ne. 31:5–12.)

Bruce R. McConkie, “A Man Called John,” New Era, May 1984, 4

Wednesday, May 26, 2010

Rain, rain go away!

Wed, May 26, 2010

Oh, goodness. this week has been quite soggy indeed. :-/ fortunately, things weren't TOO horrible, but I did get a LITTLE wet. :) you know, the whole walking thing doesn't really help much. but yes, it's rained, we got some thunder, but not TOO much lightning. even better, every time it rained, the humidity just shot up ridiculously high, so even if it wasn't 90+ degrees outside, it still felt ridiculously hot.\

OH HECK YES I read ALL those fish! every single one! basically what I did was I just pulled ém off the string one by one, read ém, then I folded them right back up. why WOULDN'T I read all of them? that's AWESOME that so many people were willing to sign them. so NYAH. :P I read ALL of them.

as for the card that you sent to Annie, I don't believe that I got to see it... :-/ but her letter to you? yes. FOUR pages. both of us are VERY good friends to her. :) as for this area and finding a friend like that? hmmm.... I think that might be a little difficult here.... I'm going to try, but almost all of the members live in Hato Rey, the other area connected to our ward... plus it's difficult to visit people when we're so limited without a car... :-/ *sigh* I'm just not too certain it's possible here. but I shall try. no worries! :D but I'm glad that you got my card. :3

Ha ha ha, it's RALSTON. :) just so you know. but yeah, he's pretty sweet. I think, even though this might be one of the hardest areas that I might serve on my mission, I'm gonna have a good time. this would be his second transfer here in Santurce, but he knows it pretty well, plus we have a little mappy that we carry around with us. :) He's a pretty tall guy (6'3'') but hes not like super buff or anything. he's got the same metabolism that I've got, so... yeah. but so far, I think that the most hostile thing that I've run into is those fanatical Catholics and... *shivers* the Jehovah's witnesses. yeah. they're fun alright. just makes me wanna jump for joy. oh, when we were in a car area, no, we never had to pay for gas or anything. that was paid by the mission.

Caguas gold... that would be a place where I picked up a sweet bracelet... heh, I'll have to take a picture of that. :)

I'm outta time... I took too long to get myself situated, so now I've got to bust a move. sorry about that... I'll be sure to take less time next week so I can get a full email out.

I LOVE YOU more than Elder Harvey loves sugar! (and that's a LOT! ha ha ha!)

~Brandon

Photo from Mission Activity in Ciudad Jardin de Bairoa - April 7 2010

Wed, May 26, 2010

New Mission President

Wed, May 26, 2010

Dear Elders and Sisters:

In the May 8, 2010 issue of the Church News the picture and short biographical sketch of your new mission president and his wife were published. We wanted to send you this information as soon as it was available to us.


Cai Lu and Jorge M. Alvarado

Jorge Miguel Alvarado, 39, and Cari Lu Rios Alvarado, three children, Puerto Rico San Juan Mission; Caparra Ward, Toa Baja Puerto Rico Stake. Elder Alvarado serves as an Area Seventy and is a former stake president, ward Young Men president, branch president, ward mission leader and missionary in the Florida Tampa Mission. Coordinator, Church Educational System. Born in Ponce, Puerto Rico, to Miguel Angel Alvarado Santos and Iris Elena Pazo Santiago Alvarado.
Sister Alvarado serves as a seminary teacher and is a former counselor in a stake Primary presidency, ward Relief Society, Young Women and Primary president and ward enrichment leader. Born in Ponce, Puerto Rico; daughter of Jose Blanco and Maritza Santana.

President Alvarado and his wife will arrive in Puerto Rico to begin their service late in the day of June 28, 2010. There will be ample opportunity for us to see all of you before then. In fact, we will begin our last round of zone conferences next Monday, May 24th. We love the wonderful attutudes that you have all shown and your tremendous flexibility and willingness to accept change. Thank you for working so hard and for staying focused on the things that matter most. Oh, how we love you. May the Lord bless you with great success!
Love,
President and Sister Dewsnup

Wednesday, May 19, 2010

Re: Shake, rattle and roll

Wed, May 19, 2010

Report!

Hey hey hey! he heh heh, I actually didn't even FEEL the earthquake when it happened! I actually had no idea that it happened until the next day, so yeah... I think that because it was so far away that it didn't really reach all the way out here. but yes, I'm kinda glad it didn't make it all the say out here, but still. that's like... the...fifth? major earthquake in the last little bit, right? wow, man. it's getting crazy out here in the world. I just hope that everything stays nice and safe over in the northwestern part of the world. :3 that would be nice, you know?

so. on to the new area. Santurce. it's definitely different out here. I like it, but I'm still not sure if I like it more than Caguas. ;) but, my new comp is Elder Ralston. (like I already said. :) ) He's from Virginia, and he's a pretty funny guy. very nice and chill, but he's a hard worker, which I'm really glad for. I'm been waiting for a super hard worker. and even better? He's not a conversation hog! :D YAY! I actually get to TEACH! sweet. he's only got one more transfer than I do, which is actually the same as it was with Elder Bailey. but he's a good teacher. he's served in a few other areas, including Barbados (which is kinda hard on the Spanish seeing as you don't really speak it out there) but things are going super good. :) very nice guy, funny, hard worker... yeah. I'll get some pics sometime soon so I can get those sent out. and speaking of things getting sent out. ok. so, since Santurce... well, it isn't exactly the SAFEST place around. that and we're both not really exactly sure of the address of the apartment... soooooooo, I'm thinking it might probably be BEST for people to send stuff to the mission office. at least for now till I can test it. but, just to throw it out there in case people STILL don't have it, it's:

Elder Brandon Bryan
Puerto Rico San Juan East mission
500 Calle Marginal Norte
Bayamón, PR 00959

sweet. we actually have the moving Elders in our district and so sometimes they stop by the office for errands once or twice a week, so they would be able to pick up stuff and then give it to us at district meeting ever Tuesday.

but yeah. Santurce is a nice walking area. yay! :D ha ha ha, but really though, I don't really mind it any more. it was just the first few days when it was like, öh wow... TONS of walking all the time" but it's all good now. you know. :3 and my tan. ooooouy, it's gettign good. I can't wait to just show it off, you know. ha ah ha, I'm just gonna like end up with a permanently tanned face and arms and the rest will never match. kinda like zip off pants, you know? wear ém as shorts and then wash ém one time, ONE TIME, and they NEVER look the same ever again. no matter how many times you wash the bottoms or leave ém out in the sun. ha ha ha!
great. I'm excited. xD but yeah, it... it SEEMS like it's bigger, but that's almost just cause it's a walking area, so I really have no idea how it compares to Caguas. BUT, one thing that is a bit harder is that it seems there's a lot more... "hard" people. those people that are just super... "duro" as it's said in Spanish. AH! difficult. defícil. that's the word I'm looking for. :D ha ha ha. yeah... I've been noticing that I'm forget a lot more of my English recently... like, I KNOW the Spanish word, but the English word just eludes me! horrible.

dang. so Dianne STILL needs one more family for the program... DANG man, thats crazy. is this the longest they've had to wait before, or have they had to wait till the last minute? however, that's good that you got Donny his passport...gosh... Donny's getting SO OLD! WHAT IS THIS?! jeeze.

Jessica Lliddle... Jessica Liddle... wow. that name sounds SUPER familiar... :-/ that name I've heard before, but I can't put a face to it... where does it say that it she's a follower? does she have like a profile or something like that that you would be able to check out? maybe on my FaceFook? I dunno... gah, why can't I remember? I'm forgetting everything! :'(

AH, finally! my plaque has come. only a year late. *sigh* oh wells, I guess. at least it's here. BUT, yes. for sure I think you should send them the piercings foto! that would be hilarious! you should send me one of those, too. I need one for my foto album. along with one of my senior pics. AND a family foto! :P kinda convenient that they still managed to mess up what mission I'm at and have it STILL work out. cool beans. :D

ok. so for the card from Annie to you. I BELIEVE that I saw it... AH! yes. I remember now! I helped her translate it! xD ha ha ha! speaking of cards... did you get the card that I sent you? she actually gave me a letter that I'm in the process of translating :) it's a four page letter... and unfortunately, it's a bit harder to find free time when you don't have a car to take you places... but we're going to be getting bus fare next month, so that's gonna take the strain off of running around all the time. however, I'm working on the letter and after I get that all finished up, she also had a few gifts that she gave me to send. so you should be getting that hopefully soon... :-/ it all just depends on how long it takes me to get it all taken care of. :) but she was VERY grateful for everything. she really is the best though, you know. she has definitely become a friend for life. the only problem about her emailing me, is that I would be able to reply to anything that she said. BUUUUUT, she can send me stuff all she wants, that's no problem at all. I've even asked president about that. people can send me stuff to their hearts content, I just can't reply unless they're family. :)

but yeah, president Dewsnup actually sent us out the info on the new mission pres, too! ha ah ha. I've actually talked with him before. he's a super chill guy. very very nice and funny, so I'm excited to see how everything goes. i have a feeling there's going to be some changes that don't include the mission combination, but we'll see. we'll see.

MAN! EVERYONE is getting into car crashes now! gosh, I guess it's not a good thing that I don't have a car this transfer, ha hah a! keeping me out of trouble. maybe it's the new fad... I might have to follow this to see how it pulls out. I might just have to jump on the band wagon. :P

but yeah, I suppose that's it for now. not a SUPER whole lot of news this week. it's mostly the get accustomed to things week as well as the whole meeting everyone. so yeah. I'll be sure to get more news soon. Plus I'll be getting stuff sent out by the latest next week to get everything organized and picked up.

but yeah... I think that's everything for now... well, I LOVE YOU! I love you more than people love getting into car crashes. :P xD ha ha ha!

no fotos this week cause I'm still trying to get this computer figured out... it's a little different than normal.

Monday, May 10, 2010

lemme get those pictures of steve







fotos

fotos-I actually changed my mind, I'm gonna send the larger amount of fotos later when I have more time :)


1)a super sweet door that we passed by... ja ja ja, I think it's some apartment door, actually. xD


2)A sweet room behind a gate :D


3)the gate! :D


4) this looks like something that you would see on Mr. Rogers neighborhood! :D
ok! NO MORE TIME!

Wednesday, May 5, 2010

Re: Sunday, Sunday, Sunday!

Wed, May 05, 2010

*EPIC MUSIC* DA DA DA DA!!!!!! DA DA DA DA NA NA NA DA DA DA! (I dunno what tune, I just pushed some random buttons. :D) ANYWAYS! BEHOLD!!!! I have given birth!!!!! attached pictures shall appear sometime some. :D and turns out, it was a boy. so It's perfect that I named him Steve. ja ja ja! I had been going to the bathroom Saturday night and I just felt his little... erm... pressure? I GUESS that's the word I could use, je je je. and guess what, I felt it come down, and I was like "AH! my water broke!" and then it stopped. I ran out of pee. and guess what? he was only halfway out. yeah. awkward! so I went and chugged some water and didn't sit down because it was... kinda tender having some extra cargo there.... je je je, so yeah. I waited for about another half and hour and then "oo, I have to go to the bathroom again." so I got a cup. hey, I'm not just gonna let him get away after all of this! *pop* surprise. I now have a new baby. I stuffed him in a little tabasco bottle that they stick in the MRE's, you know? I emptied it out and cleaned it with some soap and water. so now I have Steve in a little bottle! WEE! I've also become the new poster child for sister and president Dewsnup about drinking water. ja ja ja! they used me in Zone conference to give a little "testimony" about how everybody should drink water or they'll get a kidney stone xD ja ja ja! but all in all, it wasn't very bad pain. just a little discomfort at the most. BUUUT, a LOT of the tension in my neck has been clearing out, so I think all of that may have been from Steve. that little stinker. xD I'd give it about another week to see how everything feels. Ha. and President told me that I might have already passed it. I KNEW I hadn't passed it. JA! xD what angry face were you talking about? I can't remember.... was that from me? :-O

So yeah. that was fun. OH! ha ha ha, the bishop here, Obispo Román, told me he's gonna look for a smaller bottle so I can keep him with me always. xD Lolz

so yeah. I'm sorry if I'm kinda slow in explaining things today, we had been originally planning on going to the bowling alley with some other elders, but they weren't able to make it, so we're a little bit late and I haven't had any lunch yet. :-/ *sigh* so I'm a bit tired and hungry. WOO! go hunger. :'(

ok. so for this Sunday. I think I might be able to call a little bit later. gosh. part of the problem was that Elder Harvey needs to make his calls too, and he had ben planning on going AFTER me, seeing as he keeps making all kinds of plans. he's one of those more, do it himselfs kinds of people, you. without consulting... so yeah. that just makes everything fun. everything. OK. but from what I just got from talking with him is that it's all cool if I call at 6:45 our time. that's a bummer that you have to skip out early on church, but this is more important. ha ha ha! I'm supposing that you want me to call your cell phone then. No Problemo. :3 We'll be talking this Sunday! :D WOO!

yay! package with cookies! :D I hope it gets here soon. I've been lacking cookies. xD

goodness... things to talk about? oh WOW... I'm gonna have to think of LOTS to talk about... ja ja ja. well... I guess I can find some stuffs. :P

I actually haven't really been emailing a super of other people. Steph's the only person that I've really been emailing other than family... come to think of it, she's the ONLY person I email besides family.... but last week was the most recent... before that... it's been like a month. I'VE BEEN TRYING to email more!!! :'( I really have! *sniff'* I'm sorry.... I'm going to try harder to email more.

goodness, from what I gather, Annie thinks you're pretty cool, yo! I mean, I think your pretty cool. isn't that enough? :D

Ah, I'm glad you got your package! that's crazy it got there in two days.... wow. that's a LOT faster than I thought. :D but yeah, I thought the soap smelled amazing too! gosh. did you get the card that I sent yet? if not, it should be on it's way. Along with Donny's letter that I sent him... what did donny need his passport for?

OH! ha ha ha! that movie quote had actually been from Jumanji, when the vine on the side of the road eats the police man's car? do you remember that? it was like, right after he got it. he was all proud of it and everything and the it gets eaten. but I might have been misquoting it. I don't know. it's been WAAAAY too long since I've seen it.

ja ja ja, I like the thing you sent! but it DEFINITELY was written by a sister missionary. it HAS to be.

but yeah... it really had been super hot here recently. the other day it was over a hundred. bummer that the weathers been sucking so bad for you out there. I've been really enjoying it out here. except for the whole sweating cause it's so hot thing. you know. all that fun stuff. AND YES. I have been drinking TONS AND TONS of water. no way am I going to get another kidney stone. oh heck no.

but yeah. I think I'll talk about recent things that have been happening here in my phone call. I think that's good. this way I can appease Elder Harvey and not take too long email. that whiner. he got done after 30 minutes! CRAZY! that's not anything! and he wrote BOTH his parents. there is just nothing to his emails. well, I guess he just doesn't love his family as much as I do. I think that's it. ;)

but yeah, I guess it's time to bust a move. lemme get those pictures of Steve, eh? :D WOO! now, while you look at these pictures, just think. this thing is super hard. and I had to pee it out. the first ones a bit blurry/ but still. it's better than nuthin. :P

so, while they load. what did you think of my car picture that I sent a while back? eh? EH? I really like it. :3

LOADED! ok, off I go!

I LOVE YOU SO MUCH THAT I'M GOING TO CALL YOU ON MY MISSION! :-O *GASP!*

~Brandon (Elder Bryan)