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) :)

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

it goes quite fantastico

oh, it goes quite fantastico, my muchisimo-ly cool madre!

actually no, we were quite rain free this entire week, except for two nights ago when it rained in the evening, but we were all inside for the night. ha, what am I saying. the only time we go outside is for gym and going to university. ENTONCES, we were all done for the evening, not all inside. xD oh my gosh though, I love the thunder. it's so sickly awesome! :D but you might just have that chance to experience it when you come to PICK ME UP :P since you won't let me come home first... :P

I know what you mean by the whole not being able to socialize with the other wards kinda thing though. it's just so difficult, cause I totally feel like our ward is the outcast ward, cause no one really would socialize with US cause they already had their friend groups... but I didn't let that stop me, I would still go out and party it up as much as I could. you know. :) but I think what you could do abouts that is that you could just give 'em a talkin about how they would all SOCIALIZE! :D tell them to just not care and go out and have fun. I now talks like that always got me pumped up. xD

speaking of other wards though... how's Shawn doing? whats going on with him now?

that's really cool that Dad got to party it up with some of his old friends. good deal. I love chillin with my old friends. in fact, I loved it so much that I just kept hangin out with 'em. but that's a story for a different time. HA! AND there was somebody you knew from beauty school?! COOL BEANS! :D

Also, I can't wait for all of my snackage. :') *sniff* it's going to be SOOOO tasty. oh, and the balancing it out thing will be no problem. seriously though, I have had a banana a meal everyday for the past four weeks. I love those things! it's so weird. seriously, that is one of the things I look forward to every day. they are just like candy. oh, also I'm going to get myself a picture of the food to send to you guys, so you can get a better idea of what I have to go through every day. :P

oh gosh, I wouldn't LISTEN to all the stuff on there! I would just have it to LOOK at! :P also, I don't know if I would be able to get all the stuff from the CDs on to the MP3 player, so I might have to improvise or pick myself up a CD player out there.

also, my flight plans for next tuesday is that my flight leaves at eleven and I get to puerto Rico at about noon thirty. so there is a chance that I might get to talk to ya guys, but you have to be home and AWAKE so that I can call. so pretty much just don't go anywhere all day Tuesday and there is that slight chance that we might get to talk. also, have Bryan there. that would be nice.

DOH! it's service time, so I will be back in about and hour and a half. also, I like how you wait till the last minute to send me an email. :P gosh. ;) anyways, be back in a bit.

ok, so I'm back. we had to run down to the gym/hair cutting room too, cause Elder patrick was getting his head buzzed. everyone in the district is getting their head buzzed for "unity". yeah... I'm not letting that happen to me. I already look bad enough, and if I got my head buzzed... I don't know, I don't think I'd be able to handle it. :'( but it's all good, cause I'm NOT going to! :D

also, I thought dad was going to just be posting things on the blog, so thats pretty sweet that he's sending stuff out to people personally. that way it looks like I'm making a larger effort than I actualy am. ALRIGHT! :D

and as for Bryan, if things go well, they way that it's lookin is that if I tried to, he would. I'll have to forward it to you, but even though we cant talk to each other face to face, our friendship is getting even stronger, which I LOVE! nothings wrong with having a guy thats just SO perfect wait for me. ;)

but yeah, I wouldn't mind going to LDS BC first. really. it's just that my crappy grades scare me. :'( also, I dunno... I mean, I love moochies and all, but the fact that I come home smelling like grease and stuff isn't really that appealing to me. I loved to do it, but I didn't love the smell. so that would be a fight. xD

hmm... speaking of Stephanie. yes. well, I got three letters from her when I first got to Provo, and then I replied, but I never got anything back. nada. not an email or a letter. so I sent her another letter about four weeks ago, just to stir the pot a little bit, but I havent gotten anything back from that either. so I'm just hoping that she's waiting for me to get to Puerto Rico before she replies. yeah, thats it. she ujst waiting till I get out into the field.

and yes, I actually DID know about ATW. (atrigan tank wars) it was pretty sweet, but its a bummer they quit working on it. I was pretty excited to FINALLY be able to see the finished product when I got back. xD ha ha ha!

but yes. check my facebook messages. I wish to know what people have said. cause that would be nice. oh, and Dillon called!? see if I have his email written down somewhere... I need to get back to him! I coulda sworn I told him that I was leaving... I'm not sure... he might have been on vacation while I was telling everyone... :-/

heck YES I need a machete! what kind of question is THAT?! :P ha ha ha! but no, those rats aren't here. they are up north, from what I know. up in santiago, where my comp is going for his mission. (Elder Patrick) same for the spiders. luckily for us, la CCM is on the temple grounds, and the church has put in a filter system for the water, and we are actually allowed to FLUSH OUR TOILET PAPER. did you know that Dom Rep doesnt have a water filtering system? so the water is bad. and you can't flush your toilet paper after you use it. and the government turns off the power whenever they want. :-O but we have backup generators here, so we never have to worry about the power. from what I understand, we are pretty lucky to have the stuff that we have. and I believe it too, from what I've seen out side... I guess Santiago has Riots all the time too. citizens trying to get money from the government. Karaizee!

whoa, like, Ella literally has a bone sticking out of her arm?! what, they didn't set her arm at the doctor? :-O wait... and her grades that she got here don't count? are you serious? so whats the point of her coming here then? I thought it was for immersion, english study, and to take classes here. also, her not being allowed to use the comp would explain why I havent gotten an email back from her yet. I was gonna say that she better not be avoiding me! I would beat her if she was. :P

and yes yes, I AM getting pictures of all my comps. :P and I'm working on getting some of our whole district. also, we've instituted this little dance thing that we do every night. ha ha ha! I'ts so great. I'm gonna see if I can get a recording of it. xD my beatboxing "skills" are coming in handy! :D

and yes yes yes. I write in my journal every night. :P so calm yourself down. gosh! ;) at least a page every day. but my average is two a day. :)

and please tell donny that I AM having fun, and that I want his email, seeing as you didn't get me hannahs and his. :P

oh gosh, I'm sure mr bain didn't know. :P how is he doing by the way? you gonna be a band mom again since donny's playin the Baritone in there now?

YES!!!! WOO HOO! Dad got a JOB! :D YES YES YES YES YES YES! whats he do? twelve an hour isn't too bad, it's still better than nuthin. is he workin fourty hours a week?

lets ee. wo what has been going on with me since I have some free time to reply now...

well, I've been memorizing a scripture a day. Elder Blake, one of my old roomates told me that President Hinkley gave a talk, and he promised that if you memorized a scripture a day, that you would come home with a photographic memory. now how sick would THAT be, huh?! fo sho. I am totally down for that. Imagine the uses! oh my goodness, when he told me about that, I got so excited. thats alwasy something I wished I could have, and now I have the means of making it happen. so right after he told me that, I got right on it. I've already noticed that it's SO much easier to visualize things. I love it. super excited! :D :D :D :D :-O :)

ah yes. and I'm getting a nice tan, since it's sunny here practically every day. that and I tan super quick. and don't burn. thats always a bonus. :D

hmm. most of our days are spent totally inside except for the fifty minutes for gym time. and now that we are in the last six days, our teachers are FINALLY working on really teaching us grammar. ha ha ha, that's always a bonus, right?

i think our district is the reject district here... ha ha ha. a few of the guys in there are really... they aren't super super spiritual, so that's not what they come to class for... they come to joke around... it makes it hard, but last thursday, we had our weekly planning session, (in the evening) and we turned that into a "district inventory meeting" and you know the coolest thing, was that I was able to introduce the Socratic Method to them. I think I've explained that to you, but I learned that back in mrs. fullers class in eleventh grade. we learned about it from a text written by Kant about the third level of friendship. so anyways, I explained that to them, cause a lot of them have a real bad habit of trying to talk over people if they have something to say, cause they want to say it right THEN. not after the other person is talking. no, they want to say it right THEN. ha ha ha, ridiculous. so yeah, that thursday, everyone learned how to listen. and I cried because it was so beautiful. also because the spirit was there. because we talked about how to improve ourselves as a district. but mostly because it was so beautiful. :P

so yeah. thats a little bit of where I'm at. I'll get some more whenever my next P-day is, seeing as I have no idea when P-days are out in Puerto Rico, BUT, I will do my best.

until then,
I love you all!

~Brandon

pg 3 of my longest email EVER! xD whoa! we just had some crazy rain!

Ha Ha HA! you totally destroyed that tastiness, didn't you? good stuff. also, you shouldn't let any of my Frangos go to waste either. they are just too tasty too be wasted. ;) :P so eat 'em!

Oh, gosh. I'm TOTALLY going to take a picture of it. I have figured out that if I rip my bangs hard to the side that it looks like a basic combover... but... ha ha ha, if I just let them hang straight down then it looks like a spock haircut. no joke. :'( it's killer, yo. but yeah, I finally have that missionary haircut. :P oh my goodness... I just realized that I only have a week and a half left until the field... :-O CRAZY!

speaking of which, my spanish is doing much much better, however it's still super difficult to understand anybody in the outside world, but now I have more of a semblance of what they are talking about. :)

and yes yes, I understand about the soup and the possibility of it being all they have, but still! :P oh, we had our safety meeting last week too, and the doctor told us to NEVER eat at a members house in the Santiago mission, it's just too risky. uncooked food, unCLEANED food, all that stuff. so he said, for puerto Rico, be SMART about it. if you think it's bad, you MIGHT have an allergy, or you MIGHT be fasting... HA HA HA! I thought that was so great when he told us that. xD

oh goodness. I am so glad that my girl is looking more like a cat now. you should send me some pics so that I can see her! :3 and wow. I am impressed that you were able to hold her upside down. but then again, she's always loved anyone else but me. :'( oh well, she love me when I get back. or not recognize me. then I can get a FRESH START! :D

gosh, thats a bummer about Andreu though... lame sauce. well, he's gone now. I don't think we'll ever get one that will trump Miriam, though. she was just way too awesome. :')

aw yeah, I heard about that storm. we got tons of rain, but we were all safe here. I love the thunder here though. it's just so crazy loud. :D

and yeah, we do get to go to the university every week. every Tuesday we get to teach and every thursday is when we go do service out there. :)

and as for Puerto Rico... I just can't belive I'm gonna be out there in a week and a half!!!!! :-O thats just crazy!

oh. and I be gettin emails from Ehren, you guys at home (speaking of which, I wanna get hannahs and Donnys emails. (hint hint hint) ) and I just got one from Cameron a little bit ago, Rueben, I sent an email to Bryan last week and got one back, Steph babb, austin, and I got one from Ella that I replied to, but she hasn't replied to it yet. so that would be everybody. oh, and I got one out to Grandpa Tony last week but he hasn't replied yet. so we'll see how that goes. :)

... and Oh goodness, I hope Lou is ok! :'( tell her I will be praying for her por favor!

and I will be praying for dad as well as putting his name on the prayer roll... I was actually gonna ask if there where some people that you wanted me to put on there, cause next week is my last week of going to the temple for the next two years so I was going to get everyone that I could. xD

aw suckage, a green pool! xD

thats crazy that they are finished enough on the Junior high that they can have people in there already. bummer about the Elementary school changes. Pioneer Valley is RIGHT THERE! ridiculous!

oh goodness, you want to get all the YW to write me and Ehren?! Crazy! ha ha ha! I can only imagine how that would be recieved. "EW, Brandon? EW, Ehren!? thats disgusting!" ha ha ha!

oh my gosh, I'm so glad that you went on that hike. I love that one so much. I'm so glad you remebered the name, too. I'm gonna put that on my list of things to remember. xD

ah, and for stuff that I need: MY PATRIARCHAL BLESSING! I've wanted to look at it so bad, and Dad forgot to get it back to me before I left... :'( and a mouth guard thingie for when I'm sleeping! I woke up and my mouth was all tense and tired... so yeah. I need one o those. :) and what else... oh! my memory card thingie that I can just plug it into the computer and have my memory card in it. if that wasn't really clear dad should know what I'm talking about. :) but that will make things so much easier to send pictures. :3 also: Twizzlers! starburst Jelly Beans! Candy, snacks! :D :D: D

oh my goodness! here in the East mission of Dom Rep,they have Banana spiders with bodies the size of two fists put together! :-O and we can buy machetes, so I'm gonna pick myself up one, cause thats just way too cool to pass up. xD also, they have rats seriously the size of small dogs. and they chase you. and nibble on your feet and hands. and not softly either.

poop! outta time, but I will be back after lunch!

~Brandon! :D

Page 2

so ANYWAYSIES, I just got back from doing service. this week we weeded the temple grounds. :) facil, pero it takes tiempo. le gusta mi spanglish? :) me gusta mucho. xD yeah, I guess like hurricane bob or somethin is around the corner, but it's far enough away taht we can't even see it. but we got like this flash rain attack, so we headed in about a half an hour early.

also, don't tell anyone, but I take more than a half an hour to type out your email... shhh!

so anyways, things that I would be needin' in my package? hmmm... lets see. more candy. oh, theres alot of people that have some instrumental music, and I was thinkin that you guys could send me my Ipod, cause alot... in fact, almost all (except for like Satch and Steve Vai and a few of the other instrumental guitar players on there) of the instrumental music that I have on there would be acceptable. :3 that would be nice, seeing as I've pretty well worn out the three CDs that I have on the MP3 player I have here. what do you think of that? maybe too risky to send in a package? yeah. better not risk it, but it was nice to think about it. thanks for offering though. ;) lets see... crackers... cookies... what else?

speaking of FB and gleaning things from it, how is my page doing? you even touch it once? do I have any messages? has anybody sent me anything? I sent out like four or five messages to some people before I left and I wanted to know if they replied to me at all. :P

oh, but yeah. I really love the fremont trail. it's such a gorgeous hike all the way up and it's so great up at the top. I'm really glad you were able to go. :3

aw, thats suckage that the Sabins are moving...

oh, so I sent my email to Bryan last week like I said in the first page, and I totally was like "dude, you know what would be the coolest? is if we went to college together!"


Page 3

sorry, I just had to send that before the computer freaked out. It almost closed itself down. but yeah, I figured if I could get Bryan in college with me then 1)he'd actually GO to school, and 2) it would be a GREAT influence on him if I we actually both got into BYU, but from what I've heard, I probably have like NO chance of getting in there until I boost my GPA... :'( man I suck. oh goodness! I've heard from one of my old roomates (Elder Lane) that BYU I automatically accepts ALL return missionaries. but I mean, it's BYU *I*. :-/ it's just not the same. plus I still have LDS BC, right? I dunno. but you should at least look into the whole BYU I accepting all return missionaries. that would be good to know. also, I've been told by another Elder here that theres more and more people applying to BYU, so I should actually apply as soon as possible. at least, it would be a good idea to. but I don't know if I can apply tha far out, can I? would it be a better idea to wait? no sé. you should find out. but yeah. thats that. :)

so yeah, I'm gonna try and email some other people now. :P even though I've BARELY told you anything about here... I suck at that sometimes. I'll see if I can write about it in a letter. for now I'll just start with my companion. :) his name is Elder Patrick, which is nice. he's a fellow first name for a last name-er xD um, he's from Orem Utah, and played hockey for BYU. he was a forward. and he still has ALL of his teeth! :-O he's about my height, Brown hair. pretty cool guy. I enjoy his company (fortunately, whew! xD) so yeah, thats what I've got for now!

I love you guys!

~Brandon

giNOURMOUS! ..... Skidoosh!

Subject: up, up, down, down, left, right, left, right, start, select.

Hey! I'm sorry I didn't get an email out last week... :-/ I was really super busy last week and they only give us so much time to get on the computer and then they have something else planned... it's not like it is at provo where you have the entire day up until 6 to do whatever the heck we want to. nope, here we have a TON of stuff to do on our "P day" so I'm doin' the best that I can. :)

but oh my goodness. I just got back from going to the university here to pick up garbage for service. ha ha on our way to get there and all of a sudden clouds just came out of nowhere. so like halfway through our time out there we just see flashes of lightning everywhere. and oh my goodness, the thunder here is just giNOURMOUS! it sounds so cool. I even felt some of them they where so loud. xD augh, and then it just all of a sudden just Skidoosh! the rain was everywhere. man, it rained so hard. and its not like it is in Washington where it gets super cold when it rains. here, its still super warm, and the rain's even warm. it's pretty cool. ha ha ha, I'm pretty sure the phrase "when it rains, it pours" came from here, cause it was RIDICULOUS. but at first, everyone was like, "oh, this isn't too bad" and so they just kept on cleaning, but then the rain got even harder. so then everyone was like "ok, we're done." xD ha ha ha! yeah. so we start to head out of the university and the entrance, which isn't very big by the way, had water literally gushing in. (it was a concrete wall with a gate, not like a building entrance or anything :) ) so we just decided to run up the stairs. we were already super soaked anyway. on our way back to the CCM all the streets were just flooded. it was just absolutely hectic out there. but whats really funny is, everybodys driving got a little bit better. not a whole lot, but it was better than nothing. xD so no one got hit on the way home. that was nice.

AH! and right before we headed out for service, I got my haircut for the first time out here. wow, it looks absolutely horrid. I'm sorry. but the guy pretty much exclusively uses the clippers and it just... gah. horrid. he left the top too long and cut my front way super short. so now I have this goofy lookin thang of a haircut. whatever.

lets see... what else has happened... nada mucho para serio. it's gotten pretty dull around here now that everything has calmed down. oh! OH OH OH! you know what?! we had SPAGHETTI for dinner! :-O KARAYZEE! finnaly, something different to eat! my goodness, I feel so privileged to have something else to eat.

speaking of eating, get this. ha ha ha! so, yesterday was the santiago mission temple day, so we had a ton of Elders from the outside here just chillin around when they finished up there. well, we had one of the Elders come into the cafeteria so we could talk to him and we got on the subject of the "outside world" and what the Santiago mission was like. and this is what he told us about the food: so he went to an investigators house like five or six days ago and she was gonna feed them before their lesson. alright. so they get there and sit down, and the lady places a bowl soup the pretty much looks just like broth, so he's like "alright, I can eat this" so he grabs his spoon and stick it in the soup and then... two chicken feet float up to the top. BLECH! like, legitimate chicken feet, talons and all. ha ha ha, gross. and he totally had to eat them too, cause he looked up and the investigator was looking at him with that expecting look. nummy. I just can't wait. xD

lets see... what else... oh, on Tuesday we went to the university to do some contacting. and guess what? it rained again. well... technically not AGAIN, cause that was before today, but still. so anyway, we're out on our way to the university and it starts to pick up raining, so we run to get under the overhang of the library. he he, so we did contacting under the overhang. the were TONS of people just chillin there, and its not like they could RUN AWAY or anything, ha ha ha! so we just did a few there.

but yeah. that's pretty much all I have for now... so I'll just answer your email, K? :)

that's a bummer about Andreu... was he like that the whole time? or was he just like that on the last few days? oh, and he wasn't a drinker or a pot smoker was he? that woulda been lame. *disappointed face*

but yeah, my suit IS starting to smell better, but it's still lingering a little bit. :-/ so I'm doing the best I can to clear that out. and I'll do the best that I can to get it dry cleaned before I get it stored.

oh goodness! I jsut remembered. apparntly, in the Puerto Rico San Juan Este misión they have you stay in Puerto Rico itself for the first like 8 or 10 months so you can learn the language and THEN you can go other places. at least that's what I've been told. so we'll know in about three weeks, eh? :-O

ew... and for the food and my tummy... lets just say EVERYBODY has been having problems, eh? :P

ah, and I DO have some Pesos, thank you! but the vending machine is empty, and we never get to leave, so I'm pretty much out of luck. but we DID get to leave to go to a store like a week and a half ago. so I got some snacks and some polyester ties. but the snacks are all long gone now... so I'm hungry all the time again. :'( but I got some pictures of the ties so I can send those home when I get the chance. oh, and they won't let us send pictures through email here, so I'll just wait till I get in the field to send those back to ya. not that I'll have very many here for that. :'( cause the second you pull out your camera and it's NOT your first or last day, the teachers immediately dive on you and say "your not a tourist! your a representative of Jesus Christ." LAME SAUCE! out in the field it doesn't really matter, but here it does.

I HAD heard that Bryan had something for me, but he hasn't emailed me or told me what it is.

ah! that's so crazy that sister Nuemann is going home! but she'll be back there soon enough. she wants to move there anyway, so you're good. xD

How was camp? how's my cat? how are the guys doing? how are YOU guys doing? you should send me a longer email next time. :P hows your chocolate? you eat it yet? no?! why not just send it to me? I would LOVE some snacks. you could send them through fed Ex! gosh would I love that. wouldn't YOU love that? naw, don't worry about it. by the time you send it, it would be too late. gosh, I wish I had snacks now. ha ha, I get looking forward to having those rice and beans now, but after I finish I just don't feel full. its horrid. so HUNGRY! :'(

blarg! and Cole got his ears pierced?! hes been baptized, he can't do that! fix it! speaking of which, how's uncle John and Grandma doing? anything new there?

and now, I've used my time up. so you better at least FIND some time to get back to me missie. :P I want a REAL email, not that sissie tiny one you sent last time. get on it! ;)

enjoy!

~Elder Brandon Bryan

Dominican Republic MTC update

HEY! whats the deal, yo? no reply in two weeks?! :'( I'm totally dying here and you're just like, "oh, meh. it's just Brandon." :P

ANYWAYS, if you didn't get my email from earlier (besides the fact that I sent it to jlbryanx2@gmail.com instead of juno.com, but this is what I said:

"Hola Mi familia! I have to make this quick cause that's all we get for now, but my goodness... I didn't call you guys back yesterday cause we were delayed like... seriously four and a half hours or five hours in Dallas. :'( no es beuno. from there we went to Miami and then were totally just shoved onto a flight last second to Santa Domingo cause it was so late. so you wanna know whats great? I don't have my luggage. nothing except my carry on which I decided to fill up with all of my books and three polos which I can't wear anyway! blarg. so heres my address for now and my time us gone! Love you guys! oh, and I'm safe. By the way. :)

Elder Brandon Bryan
Dominican Republic
Centro Capacitacion Misional
Av Bolivar 825
Los Robles
Santa Domingo, DR"

and that SHOULD be the correct address. :) and we used to be able to do pouch mail, but not anymore, so you're going to have to send it through nrmal international mail, which means that all the stamps that I have don't work here, and you're going to have to send them with international stamps. :) but yeah. so I ended up getting my baggage back three days later, which means I wore the same shirt (and MY SUIT! :'( ) for three days straight with no deoderant. lame sauce. yeah. I didn't even get a chance to shower.

well, right now I'm feeling like I like the Provo MTC better. this one is seriously tiny. beyond tiny, actually. and they won't let us take pictures. at all. none. only on the first day and the last day. and we didn't get a first day because we got here at two in the morning. oh, speaking of which, we were super delayed in Texas. for like five hours. first we had a problem with the landing gear hydrolic fluid, then we had an instrument problem, then we had to have the airline inspectors come to make sure that everything was ok, so by the time we were all done there, we had been there for five hours. :'( so we get our flight, get to Miami at like... nine? nine thirty? no se. but our group leader talked to one of the flight attendants, and get us on a flight that was literally leaving five minutes later. so they rushed us on there. well, from there, we get to Santo Domingo at like 11. well, we go to customs, get our "tourist card" ('cause we're only gonna be here short term) and then went to baggage claim. and waited. and waited. and waited. no luggage. crap. so we go to wait on the other side of the room hoping that something might happen and they would magically appear (which they STILL don't :'( ) and then we all decide to go to the baggage claim counter. they got nuthin. woot! that and the mission prez wasn't there to pick us up. xD ha ha ha! what a fun day! yeah, that was some fun stuff.

anyways. here at the CCM, every morning we have cerial for breakfast. three choices: raisin bran, corn flakes, or fruit loops. then beans and rice for luch. NO exceptions. xD ha ha ha! but occasionally we get a nice little suppliment, like today we got pancakes as well, and yesterday we got French toast, which was SICK! :D I was like "YES! finally a REAL breakfast!" and dinner is usually tacos or burritos. :-/ so yeah. not much variety here. :'(

my new companion is Elder Patrick. he's a fun guy. knows some good spanish. oo! and my spanish... yeah. about that... heh heh, it's going alright. the teachers are using simple words for our benifit. so I can understand almost all of what they are saying, when they speak slowly. xD but we got the chance to do contacts out at the local university two days ago. yeah. I know NO spanish whatsoever.

but yeah, that's pretty much the highlights around hizzle. whats going down out there?! cause you totally don't email me anymore. or send me packages. I need some SNACKS! :'( all the vending machines here take PESOS! I don't have PESOS! so i have no more snacks.

OO! I willingly had a banananananana(s) <--(for the hecksters of it) yesterday (also, that would be one. and then this morning I had another.) one of the TWO hermanas that we have here are going to the West Indies mission <---I think... (english speaking) and they are from Surinam (sister Girdharry (pronounced: gird-ari) and the other sister... I can't remember her name. yesterday she had to take some pills instead of getting one of the shots, and she is totally a weeny. ha ha ha, but she tried to hide them! and then throw them away. so I tattled on here. ;) ha ha ha, so she had to take them, and for that I had to eat a banana. and I did. and I guess its ok. :P

so yeah, that's pretty much that.


oh, so I'm gonna need some new shampoo soon. maybe in two weeks? three? four? I dunno. Elder Patrick doesn't have any, so I'm down to half a water bottle left. (I know that, because that's what its in.) xD ha ha ha, I dropped the bottle and the bottom broke so I needed something to put it all in. xD yes, and I need snacks. LOTS of them. not just sugar, but like crackers, cookies. ANYTHING! I just need some variety! :'(

also, If you have the opportunity, could you check the price of the eternity circle ring? I think it's the one that's Joseph smith had? I have no idea, I coulda sworn that's what I heard. but the "distribution center" that's right next to us has them for like twenty bucks. :) but yeah. since I just wrote to you guys so much, I had no time to write to anyone else! :P but alas, this concludes the end of my email. I shall include another letter with it, and it will hopefully get to you. from what I know, it takes about eight days from the postmark date. :-/ no es bueno for time, but it's better than nuthin, I suppose.

I shall email again in a week! :)

OH! also, I've heard that if we are out far enough, like on one of the islands, we don't have to send letters at all cause the mail takes FOREVER, so we might get the chance to email alot more often If I go out to one of those. :)

Till next time!

~Elder Brandon Bryan.


Write me back! send me A PACKAGE! por favor!

YAY!!!! :D

huzzah for me! I just got my email set up! :D and guess what? well, you probably already saw what my email was, but it's exactly the same as my home email, so it's great! :) so, it's my first REAL P-day, and I just got your letters yesterday so I figured I would send you an email first and THEN get on to your letters. but yeah. it's so different here. it TOTALLY almost feels like EFY cause we have the whole dorm thing, so I don't think that my mind hasfully gotten used to the fact that I won't be seeing you guys or a while. :-o but I'm sure that I'll just get hit by that when I get to go out to the mission field.

so in the mail yesterday, I got a little itinerary for my flights. It's looking like Grandma won't be able to see me. they had a little note on there that mentioned the fact that they don't really want us to see any family there, so yeah. thats pretty much that. ha ha ha! xD

also, you need to tell Robin that she needs to get out of denial and admit to the fact that she misses me already. don't belive that "oh, no. I don't miss him" crap.
:P ;)

so my companion is Elder Eversole. he is such an awesome guy. he is from the big Las Vegas! suuuuuper nice. he actually has a really great conversion story. I might have to just get that in my letter though. it's a bit more private. :) the food is really just your basic college cafeteria food though. it's cook by the BYU staff and everything. but it is pretty good. and I'm happy to say that I STILL havent gained any weight. :P so HA!:P :P :P

and you guys are getting elders?! and they are staying at the OZIERS?!?!?!?! QUE BUENO! that is so awesome. that means they will get the Oziers to start going to more than just sacrament meetin', eh? ha ha ha, thats so cool.

also, Ella owes me a letter. right now. I demand that she teleports it here as soon as she finishes it. because I derserve it. :P and I get one from Donny too. and DAD! :P

also, I really did want to get the chance to talk to Grandma laster before I left. I will most definitely send her a letter for sure.

but the spirit is just so strong here. I love it. I get to go to the temple every P-day in the morning, and we have constant testimony "builders" like the lessons and tesimony meetings. hmmm, and every tuesday we get the chance to get a fireside from a general authority. this last tuesday we had a talk from Brother Angel Abrea of the seventy. we actually don't get to find out who speaks until we get there, but the prophet hasn't been here for a while, so theres a chance that I might get to hear him speak before I leave!!!!! :D :D that would be so incredible. :3

but getting the opportunity to just be here at the MTC has built my testimony SOOO much. I can tell you guys with absolute certainty that I know that this church is true. I mean, whow could it NOT be? were ELSE could you learn a language almost completely fluently in nine weeks?! I've seriously learned more about spanish here in a week and a half than I did the whole two years that I took at school. well... ok. maybe not COMPLETELY, but still more than nothing, a'ight? :P

he he he, I got two letters from Stephanie today. :D doin good SO far. no dear john yet. :P but if it's supposed to happen, it will. I just so hope it does. xD ha ha. I mean, I DID get that feeling that it wouldn't be able to get our situation resolved until I got home anyway, so we'll see.

ANYWAYS, I have no idea how much time I have left, cause my computer is the only one without a pop up timer, so I'll have to end it here.

I LOVE YOU GUYS!!!!!!