Re: Bueno, Bueno, Bueno!

Wed, Apr 27, 2011

AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH! RIDICULOUS! I opened up my email today, right? And look at the first thing that’s in my inbox!:

"Elder Brandon Harley Bryan  Release date: 07 Jul 2011

To make the arrangements for your return flight home at the end of your mission CALL SISTER BUTTON TODAY AT THE MISSION OFFICE 787-786-2224  WITH THE FOLLOWING INFORMATION:

Nearest Airport to Home _________________________

Parents email:__________________________________

Name of Parents ________________________________

Address ______________________________________

City___________ State ____________ Zip___________

Home Phone number(      )_____ Cell Phone (     )______

Stake_________________________________________

Name of Stake  President_________________________

Please circle if your parents are considering coming to pick you up in Puerto Rico. Yes     No
If yes, President Alvarado has requested that your parents call him directly."


Freaking ridiculous, man. Ridiculous. Heh, heh. Yeah, so much for being able to keep focused. :-/ but I HAVE noticed that being somewhat occupied with planning district meetings and making evening phone calls DOES suck up all the free time that I used to have thinking about stuff. Wonderful. Now I have even LESS time to think about writing in my journal and intending to catch up on letters.  Naw, but really... that last district meeting was pretty horrible... I wasn't very organized, and I was SUPER tired, so nothing really came to my mind... bleh. We spent a lot of time in uncomfortable silence. :) But this week’s was MUCH better. :D since our entire district all in Ponce 2 ward, we can discuss more deeply about how we can apply specifically to Obispo Feito and the members that we work with every week. In fact, I had Elder Black share a little bit about the importance of the members (from Chapter 9 in preach my gospel) and some of the things that we've been discussing in companionship study. :) it helped us think a little bit about some of the things that we could start sharing with the members, including teaching them the restoration (basic. you know. everyone does that. :D ) as well as teaching them about the doctrine of Christ. which is actually one of the things that we have been learning about, that’s included in the list of things that I had been wanting you guys to study... so you know how Nephi  talks about the Gospel of Jesus Christ in 2 Nephi 31(click to read)? There’s even something deeper than those five principles in the Gospel. As a matter of fact in a way, 2 Nephi 2 goes along with it. Elder Bednar had been sharing with us how we need to teach in a way that allows our investigators to be AGENTS, not OBJECTS. As Lehi explained in verse 14, God created all things, things to Act, and things to be Acted Upon. Well, we as children of our heavenly Father, have been given the gift of Agency from the beginning, which all of us used to follow Jesus Christ and come here to the earth. Verse 27: "wherefore, men are free according to the flesh... and they are free to choose liberty and eternal life... or to choose captivity and death." so we're free to choose. It was a gift verse 16: "wherefore, the Lord God gave unto man that he should act for himself. Wherefore, man could not act for himself save it should be that he was enticed by the one or the other." in order for us to be able to choose, we HAVE to be tempted. It’s necessary for us to be able to choose. If we don't have a choice between good and evil, there’s no choice.  So there’s a little bit about Agency and being an Agent. :) Now, in 2 Nephi 31, Nephi explains a little bit about the Gospel of Jesus Christ and WHY he, even though he was perfect, was baptized. So, now that you've been studying the crap out of 2 Nephi 2 (click to read) I suppose that you can move on to 2 Nephi 31. So, while you're studying that... I would invite you to think about WHY the savior was baptized. Why, of all people, did HE have to get baptized? Baptism is for the remission of sins (Acts 2:38), but Jesus was perfect; he didn't need that... he was showing us something. I would invite you to study and think about that. :)

So yeah... now that I've rambled on for the past twenty minutes about agency and stuff, let’s talk about the EASTER CONFERENCE! :D woo! so on Friday we got there and we practiced the whole day (3-7+ dinner) to sing, and then in the evening we had a fireside about Christ's sacrifice and resurrection with investigators from all over the island which we sang at. Then the next day, we did a cleaning service project at the stadium right next to Plaza Las Americas, and then we went inside to go eat. And sing. :3 it was so cool! :D the entire floor got super quiet when we started and everyone clapped and had a good time and came up to say how good we sang and everything. Cool. :D coincidentally, the BYU soccer team was there. :D after that we went to the Trujillo Alto stake center to do some workshops and some sports, and then ended the night with a Luau! :D WOO! The Luau is about the family, and so we had a Hawaiian evening complete with full pig, with hula dancers and the Polynesian elders... and some others... heh, and president, doing the Hakka. :D after that we had a testimony meeting, and then in the End, Elder Nauahi did some fire dancing! :D (He did it professionally before the mission) I'm gonna steal the vid from Elder Hargadon. It was super awesome. I'll get some pictures sent out soon.

AH! I had actually meant to say "AYAH, Jackie!" maybe that will help. If not, try to read it with an Old Chinese man voice. :) or "one more thing!"

WOW! That story about the girl in the National Guard is so COOL! Things are gonna work out. That’s TOTALLY sounds like a classic story you would find in the Ensign. :D

Aw! We were riding around last night, and there’s this one spot in a neighborhood that these three dogs ALWAYS bark really loud and chase after us. They don't do anything, but they always chase us and Elder Black HATES it. XD and this time, he was riding crazy fast to get away from them, and when he got to the corner to turn, he totally biffed it hard core. Ripped out one of his knees and tore up his arm a little bit, and today he's super sore all over, but other than that, he's doing good. :3

Poopers... I'm gonna have to bust a move now... BUT. I tried to get a hold of Cody, and I'm not sure what I did wrong with his email, so would you happen to have his email somewhere?

I love you more than Elder Black Loves those dogs. :3

~Brandon (Elder Bryan)

Re: YET another week with an empty mail box

Wed, Apr 20, 2011

Well... that is surely an old picture. However, I can't tell who that weirdo is. You know that second one from the left? Crazy kid. Where the hecksters did you find that picture?

DAH! I'm sorry I haven't sent the pictures yet!!! KNO EESTA BHUNNEE!? :'( I'm such a failure! ...and then this week is gonna be even more difficult, cause we have the Easter conference this weekend, and because of that president has cut our P-Day short... we only have until TWO today to get stuff taken care of... but it's ok. we got up early to start our day earlier. :3 so yes. news. that puts us at... this Friday and Saturday. :D hers the email that I received from President about the conference:

"Queridos misioneros:

La Misión va a celebrar la Pascua este año con una Conferencia de la Misión viernes el 22 y sábado el 23.  Todos los misioneros necesitan llegar a la oficina de la misión a las 3:00 pm viernes el 22 vestidos en sus trajes.  Necesitan saber y traer lo siguente:

1) Los Líderes de Zona necesitan asegurar que los misioneros vienen en forma de "car pool" o sea juntos para no gastar más gasolina que sean necesaria.2) Si tienen sus pasaportes o visas o I-94, hay que traerlos consigo y entregarlos a la Hermana Button.  Ella va a guardarlos.3) Todos los misioneros de las Zonas de Ponce y Mayagüez van a quedar la noche de viernes en el area metropolitana y por eso necesitan traer consigo sus propias almohadas y sábanas y toallas.4) El sábado vamos a hacer un proyecto de servicio y por eso deben traer ropa para trabajar que puede ensuciarse.5) El sábado también deben traer ropa misional para otras actividades después del servicio.6) El sábado deben desayunar antes de venir a las actividades y deben traer $10 para comprar su almuerzo.7) Van a regresar a sus propios apartamentos el sábado por la noche para poder estar en sus propias áreas el domingo.

Si todos venimos con un espíritu de amor y reverencia y lo mantenemos durante la Conferencia de Pascua, va a ser una de las experiencias mejores de toda nuestra misión.

Presidente y Hermana Alvarado"

Unfortunately it's in Spanish... so you can't really understand it... heh. And then, to make matters worse, Google translate sucks. Oh well. basically all that it really says is that we're going to have a service project on Saturday that we need to bring clothes for... um... come in our suits... bring our passports if we didn't leave them in the office already... heh, heh... oops. Yeah, I gotta do that. Have ten dollars for lunch on Saturday, and eat breakfast before coming out to the service... stuff like that. but we ARE going to be doing a special singing montage that wasn't mentioned there where we are going to be singing a verse each of how great thou art, I believe in Christ, He is risen, and then that other Easter song that I can't remember the name to in English... poop. Oh well. That other Easter hymn. You know the one. :)

Other news: President Alvarado came and stopped by each of the bishops in the Ponce stake center (Ponce cuatro y Ponce dos) and had a little talk with them about Jacob 5:48... (I think...) basically, that is the reason that we are doing the centers of strength and all this crazy stuff with tons of missionaries in one place. The roots do not have enough strength to hold the branches. (speaking of which, the other two new Elders are in a  different apartment, thank goodness) so now with us having three companionships in one ward, and Elder Radmall leaving to do his special project, there was a vacancy left for district leader. After church, President and Elder Button, the secretary for President, came to give us some specific instruction on how to work more effectively with Obispo Feito... and something else happened. Something ridiculous. I'm now the district leader! :-O It's ridiculous! I just gave my first district meeting yesterday... gah, I was so tired too, and because we have them at 7 in the morning in the chapel... it was horrible! I never realized how HARD it is to be an effective district leader. Well... I guess that’s what I get for asking the Lord to help me build my faith. I have a lot of stuff to work on... but. At the very least, I'm very grateful for this opportunity that I have received from my heavenly father to serve others. Apparently there’s something that I know that I can teach to other missionaries. Apparently. I dunno, we'll see. This last Monday and Tuesday, we also had the excellent opportunity to get to work with two Elder's from the special project: Elder Zenger, ex assistant, and Elder Crawley. Elder Zenger came with Elder Black and I, and Elder Crawley went with Elder Hargadon and Elder Jensen. I learned a mountain of things... wow. How grateful I am for the chance that I had to be able to work with someone who knows how to be a good missionary. I'm even more grateful that Elder Black had the chance to see an excellent missionary’s example to help him grow. It was crazy.

So yes... that’s the crazy news for this week... quite crazy.

For Donny: tell him heck YES I want to have lunch with Mr. Bain when I get back! That would be so awesome! I had actually been thinking about asking him if I could do trumpet lessons again... but this time actually practicing and everything. You know. So that I can REALLY learn how to play... that would be fantasmilastical. :)

Maybe Ella was tellin everyone else that she wasn't gonna come back up so that she can just spend some private time with us? :3 you think so? I dunno. I definitely think it would be worth finding out though. Would you happen to have her email?

Well, at this point, it almost sounds like Pierce has more points in it. Especially from adding yours into it. eh heh heh heh.    So it sounds like Hannah might be going to school with me! :-O cause, I mean... WARMOTH?! That’s almost a complete Trump card there, man. Getting to work at Warmoth... oo, it makes me feel all warm inside and want to giggle. Guitars, guitars, guitars... mmmm, custom guitars. ooohooo hooo.

Poop... no I have yet to complete a letter to send out to Miss Stephanie... I know that I need to get something out to her quick... I've been getting the prompting that I NEED to... but I every time that I sit down to write, I just can't get my thoughts organized enough to get things moving from my mind onto the paper! Gah... I should be able to soon... hopefully...

BUT, you need to send me some pictures of those crazy pancakes! :D and to answer your question about french toast, actually... I did make french toast about a week ago. :3

Well, it appears that everyone’s all finished; I suppose I have to go.

I love you more than I love giving wonderful district meetings.

~Brandon (Elder Bryan)

New Assignment

District Leader

Re: another week with an empty mail box :'(

Wed, Apr 13, 2011

WOOO! I FINALLY get to do email! :D after a ridiculous amount of time spent trying to get things figured out for transfers, things are finally figured out. So, before I continue, CHANGES!

*announcer voice* in this corner we have Elder Black and Elder Bryan, to continue as an excellent tag team. Now unfortunately, there’s been a few changes on the Ponce 2B side of things. As we all know, Elder Radmall has been getting pretty old up in hizzle, so it's about his time to retire, but not completely. His manager, Prez Alvarado, has been pullin a few strings, and after a few changes, he's gonna be touring around quite a bit. he and the fourteen others that have been in the same round as him since day one are gonna be touring the areas for the next little while. Now, even more cool, they're gonna be going to the islands for a time as well. His old partner, Elder Hargadon has taken the reins in Ponce 2B, and they’ve brought in... Wait a second... is that... a second transfer NEWBIE?! no! YES! It is! It appears that part of the changes that president has been making includes a 12 week training program to get greenies ready to train after two transfers! WHOA! Pullin stuff out o' nowhere! Seems like he's been working on some of his technique. After some boundary changes in the areas of Ponce, it seems that the manager has been looking for an extra boost to build up some more strength. And so in the third corner, He's cut out Coto Laurel from Ponce 2A and added another pair of missionaries! That’s right! THREE pairs of missionaries in Ponce 2 ward! Is he crazy!? That’s unheard of! *ding! Bell rings* in other news, all of the people that Elder Black and Elder Bryan had been working with, were ALL IN COTO! So they, once again, shall be starting from scratch trying to find people. Well, here we are folks, at the beginning of another round. We'll see how it goes. Be right back after these messages.

Oh my goodness. That pick punch is AMAZING! Look at that! Picks out of ANYTHING you could possibly imagine! Planner covers, old gift cards, homework, bills, binders, your neighbor’s cat, plastic food, and more! The possibilities are ENDLESS!


As for the blocks, I HAVE used them, actually. Very handy. I left some with Elder Harvey and Elder dye a while back because when they saw them they wanted them. :) I unfortunately have yet to ask HERE, but I shall. :) However... guitar shop tour! WOO! :D

Oh man... I completely forgot about the Baltimore part! It’s just been so long! But at least you got to watch the vid. :3 you know... it kinda seems like a socially acceptable way to just throw used food at someone. ;) Bryan's my friend. :)

Oh man... I think you just gained us some points ... with Bryan... that was freakin SWEET! High five! *high five* oh yes... I'm very excited now. But what does Bryan have in his plans? What has he been concocting?

So, I'm gonna include a picture of the pros and cons thing for school that I kinda drew up with some free time... I just realized that if I DID stay in Washington, Ken Warmoth would possibly consider hiring me. I mean, he did tell me that if I was going to do secondary schooling and stay in the area for an extended amount of time then I could reapply and he would highly consider me... oh man. That would be so sweet. But not everything is on the sheet, yet. Just the basics for now... but yes. I think I have most of the pros and cons on there, but feel free to add or subtract. Honestly though, don’t worry about it being on my mind. I find I’ve been getting help keeping that out of my mind until I really do have free time to think, o say, after planning at night. That’s it. ;)

Picture two, me as an Amish missionary, courteously of Elder Gordon. XD what started out as a missionary drawing exploded into something unexpected!

Picture three... me and Elder Gordon at conference! Wait... is that... Elder Bailey?!

Man, Ehren really only has ONE week left!? Oh jeeze... crap... that’s gonna be ME in eleven WEEKS! DAH! RIDICULOUS!

So where is Hannah doing running start at? O sea, where will she be taking her courses... I think that might be a better way to say it and ask it. :)

Do you happen to have any updates about what is going on with Ella and when she's planning to come up to finally visit us?

I like how most of sister Duda's books are about Breakfast foods. That’s funny.

But anyway, I have to say, I love you more that president loves being ridiculously RANDOM! Gah. :D

~Brandon (Elder Bryan)

Re: picies, my pickies, oh where r my pickies? :-(

Wed, Apr 06, 2011

Wow my goodness. Conference this year was amazing, sir! :) it's just really seems like every year they get better and better, sir. I'm not sure if Dad was able to mention anything to you about the priesthood session... but... heh. I thought it was funny. There were at least TWO talks about the necessity of marriage. One from Richard G. Scott and the other from President Thomas S Monson himself... and then for some reason I could a sworn there was another one, but I'm not sure. But yeah, I loved Elder Bednar's talk too! mmm mmm. Good old revelation through the Holy Ghost. That’s good stuff, that is. Ah man! Just reading the word.. wordS "meat bread" brings the taste to my mouth... ooo, so tasty. And cinnamon rolls... *sigh* soon, my friend. Soon you shall be able to taste the wonder of moms cooking... *ahem* anyways. Sorry about that. Um, where was I? Ah yes. Lemon crack bread. This sounds amazing. I must taste of its goodness!

Speaking of conference... you remember how I was telling you about how we needed to get family foundation to go to the Saturday sessions of conference and everything like that? Heh. Well, turns out, we only needed to get NORMAL foundation for that. Elder Radmall was just bein a funny guy. Pretty funny he is. Pretty funny.

Question: applecore, who’s your friend?

So, I just got done writing an email to Cody.... I've been meaning for a VERY long time to be able to get an email out to him... but I re-received his email from Grandma, so made sure to set some time apart before anything to be able to get it sent out to 'im.

OF COURSE I remembered Stephanie's birthday! What am I, some kinda heathen? Goodness me.

So, last week you mentioned how Brother Marjerison was working with USA guitars to make his nephew a guitar and everything, yeah? Well, I don't know how, but replying to that completely slipped my mind! OF COURSE I would want to go on a tour when I get back! That would be so awesome! :D you tell him yes.

Hey... I remember that you told me that Ella was waiting for me to get back before she came to visit. Have you heard anything more about that? When’s she supposed to come up? She better be coming up soon after I get back, that bum. She still hasn't even emailed me ONCE since I came out. Or even before that... but that’s not important. She needs to come up when I get back. Have you talked to her recently?

So, about the disk: check this out. Everything goes good, until it makes it to the "process your order" section. So I'm sittin there, waitin for like ten minutes while the computer is running through the ridiculous amounts of pictures that I've just loaded up, and it makes it to halfway. And then it just STOPS! :'( it says that it can't process it! NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! WHY?! Soooo... no DVD with pictures on it. I'm not sure if I should try it again or not... because I still need to hang on to my pictures... but I want to send them home... *sigh* I'll try again today.

Wait... you said that Hannah thought it would be cool to go to school with me... is she doing running start or something? Hmmm...but it sounds like I'm going to have to think a little bit about school... and pray. But it kinda sounds like waiting till winter quarter would be more feasible and plausible... I can work, save up some cash... and it sounds like it would be good to wait for BOTh of the options, so I can do that... more thinking.

Poop... I'm gonna have to bust a move... I took too long. Again. I'm sorry... I'm so lame!

I love you more than I love not sending the pictures...? :3

~Brandon (Elder Bryan)