Ok so I did - Too much Puerto Rican Sun and Water

Wed, Feb 24, 2010

(also! more pictures. DAH! I forgot a Subject line for the last email.... lets make it... oh, I don't know.... come up with something. :D)


1) BEHOLD! the Scratader. a hybred... hibred? bighbred? highbread? <--- thats the "special bread" I think. ha ha ha! anyways... a hibred... hybrid AH! there it is. he's a hybrid between scrat and a predator. and very Epic. be carefull. :D

2) yay! Elder Harvey, Annie and I! :D that was at a family home evening that we had at the parents house of a recently left missionary. (they arent members yet)



3) mmm. a Polo and a tie. the new hot style for 2011! trying to keep right in front of the next hot fashion, yo!

Re: Howdy dude ;D

Wed, Feb 24, 2010

AH!!!!! I remember now. but I don't really remember telling Annie not to tell you or not... he he he... yeah. I really don't remember that. no joke. :3 that's pretty sweet that you got those vids of Puerto Rico. share them with the WORLD! everyone must know the awesome that is Puerto Rico.

YAY! stinker kitty! DAH, I'm so glad that you sent me a new pic of her. it's very nice to see that smug face of hers. Ha Ha Ha! and that dunkin' donuts pic is HILERIOUS! I love it.

no way. you seriously got to see the legendary Pippy Longstocking picture?! you gotta get that scan ability up and running cause I need that picture. :3 maybe on your next level up you can put some points into that ability.

ooo, so you guys have moved to Comcast, eh? at least you guys got the computers up and running. thats what counts, right? :D question about the phone TV and internet being combined: if you're using all of them, does that limit the amount of Bandwith the computers can use for the internet? or is the computer just super duper high speed now? :D stinks about not having any DVR though. that's a bummer... you gotta figure out if that is an option, cause it was fantastic being able to record... oh wait. that's said in the front room... so does it work in the living room (our living room) then? and just not in Grandmas? either way, that's kinda inconvenient...

YAY! Stephie loves me! :D I wonder if she put that on there cause she got my letter I sent to her. I hope so, cause I sent that letter like two weeks ago. so she better have it by now. ha ha ha!

hey hey hey! I told you that a member back in Rio Grande gave me a side bag, remember? :P so I DO have a bag, but I'm thinking of finding myself a backpack, cause I'm not sure if the bag is causing this, or a PART of it, but I have some of the most horrible tension in my back... like, I just get up and feel the POO! its horrible. my neck, too. just like... I'm not sure whats causing it, but it really really REALLY sucks. :'( I've been trying to stretch it out and everything, but it just hasn't been getting any better. BLARG! what do I do?

Sincerely,
Stiff necked Steve.

So yeah, Tell sister Schliep HI BACK! :D

so for the baptism (singular, the second one isn't until this Saturday ;) ) it went GREAT! Lester was really excited. I'm gonna attach a foto cause, guess what? I HAVE MY CORD THIS WEEK! YAY! :D but yeah. His mom was super super super happy xD she was baptized about a year ago and has been working on her sons for the past EVER! but Jesus, (hey-zoos, not Jeezus. it's spanish, yo!) has been talking about, "well, when I get baptized..." so yeah, we might aNOTHER one coming up soon after Fernando JR. :D

would I SERIOUSLY not have any problem getting in to LDS BC? even with my HORRIBLE S.A.T. scores and nasty 2.9 of an overall GPA? really? cause that gives me some hope for my life now! SWEET! but you ARE right about Warmoth... Ken is a super smart business man... unless I was gonna stick around, he wouldn't be up for it... hmm... so if I DO get accepted to LDS BC, then I will STILL have to hold off on my Dream of working for Warmoth... hmm... much thought and Prayer for sure. is there any required essays or anything for applying for LDS BC that I should know about? or do I get off easy and only have to send in my nasty grades to 'em?

and yes, that water is VERY potable here in Puerto Rico. almost. it mostly depends on your area, but mostly everywhere here in Puerto Rico is safe for water. however, houses are STILL made out of concrete blocks and are still super hot all the time. :'( buuuuut, I think my teeth should be safe for now. at least after I get that last cavity taken care of this next Wednesday.

BEHOLD! Lesters baptismal fotos attached! 1) Lester, Elder Harvey, and I. 2) Lester and the bishop 3) Lester and his mom, Adelin Nieves.

sweet. OH WOW! that's super awesome that Hannah got almost 100 on her final! SWEET! I didn't get to hear anything about her concert from her yet, though. I'm excited to hear about it, however.

DAH! poor sister Hansen... that really sucks. that would seriously kill me if I won tickets and they told me that they were for a different night that it actually was but I'm pretty sure I'm gonna get a huge letter from Grandma about the concert. I'm pretty excited to hear about it though. :D

excellent. I'm glad that Cameron got my letter. I didn't get a reply yet from him, though! where is it?! >:(

also, I have some news. we are losing a TON of our senior couples here. and president Dewsnup has been mentioning to missionaries to talk to their families and friends. (also, single sisters can serve a mission no matter what age) and so, if someone signs up for a mission, President Dewsnup can put in a request for that person to come to this mission. President Dewsnup has mentioned that it's basically almost free to live here for the mission and that it's practically a vacation here anyway. ha ha ha, so if you happen to know anybody that would like to serve a mission in the Caribbean *wink wink nudge nudge* you know who to talk to. :D

aw, thank you for loving my "awesomeness" sometimes I don't feel so awesome, but it's good to know that you still think so. xD ha ha ha! :D

but yeah, we have our baptism this week with Fernando, Saturday at nine in the morning, and then we also are working with a newly wed couple that we found about a week and a half ago that I'm pretty excited about. they seem very Promising, and they accepted a baptismal date of march 13th. so we'll see how things go! :D

but yeah... I gotta bust a move and Email Robin now.

I LOVE YOU!!!

~Brandon (Elder Bryan)

One for the Money, Three to get ready, Toe to go

WOOT!



ok, number one. BEHOLD THE POWER OF ELDER BAILEY!



number two: YAY! Fernando's baptism. date: 12/20/2009



number three: sweet final day of my toe picture. ENJOY! :D I've got some other sweet ones too. :D

Re: to both, just to be sure!

Tue, Feb 16, 2010

I wanted you to wait to tell you what? o.O I can't remember what you're talking about... OH! for sending you pictures? ha ha ha! no no no, I just thought that it would be funny to say. I really wasn't just gonna make you wait, I just didn't have my camera cord. :3 wait... that doesn't make any sense... inside information? for what? WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT!? :'( maybe about being transferred? well, for that I didn't know until yesterday! :D and now I know! :D I'm not going anywhere! YAY! I get to stay right here in Caguas! woopee! and with Elder Harvey too. he ain't goin' NO where, so for the first time in my mission, I now have a companion for more than one transfer. sweet. now I feel a bit less ridiculous. :D

Dah! I KNOW I need to eat Annie's food! it's just so hard after being stuffed full of OTHER food! :'( but quite honestly... she feeds us quite a bit. :3 quite a bit indeed.

ok. so now for my dentist appointment. it went well. not too many problems (ha ha ha, well NONE, actually. xD ) but still. it went well. they took care of one on my right side, upper. there were actually two over there, right next to each other, that costed about $160 *sigh* so I paid for that, yes, with my home money. :P and now I've got to take care of the one on the other side. my tooth though is really really sensitive, and has been for the past two days. not before that, but now it seems to be getting more and more sensitive, so I have to talk about that to them next week. they drilled it out and did a reconstruction on my tooth... gah, and I've got to get one on the other side taken care of as well, which is on the appointment next week. and like you were asking about the dentist, yeah, it's basically the same here as it is there. at least THIS one is. but it's not too bad. As for that water battle with the filter that you mentioned, he he he, we actually got one for Christmas from the mission, so actually, you don't have to worry about that. :D

hmmm... that article about the missions changing really IS poorly written, heh heh, cause we are most definitely not combining with the Dom Rep mission. it's just us and the San Juan west mission, which is going to be the San Juan mission. As for the Santo Domingo east and the west indies mission I BELIEVE should be combining with each other. but not us, oh no.

for the islands that we are losing, Aruba, Bonaire, Curacao (part of the west mission right now) they are going to the Dom Rep mission. they actually ARE the ABC islands. :P and Barbados is going to the west Indies mission. we get to keep the rest, from what I remember. :)

OO! they didn't tell us who the new mission president was going to be! Jorge M Alvarado, huh? sounds like a Latino name! it's gonna be interesting. I wonder if there's anyone else that knows? when they DO put up the Bio of him, please DO send me that. I wanna know about him. :D and I'm really excited that we're gaining Ponce in the mission. I think it would be SWEET to get the chance to go THERE! :D oh yeah!

yes yes. Elder HARVEY is my companion, NOT elder Bailey. :P but I DID mention things about him in my LAST email! but you're right... I haven't really talked about him... well, he's from Logan, like I said. he's got a farm out in Wyoming. he's more of a Farmie kinda guy. not much for the city. Loves Cars, longs walks on the beach, the smell of rain. ha ha ha! no no no, not the last two, but he really DOES love cars. knows quite a bit about ém, in fact. so yeah... about five eleven, 200 pounds, light brown hair. he's got a girlfriend ladies, so no touchie! ha ha ha! anyways... yeah... what more to say? I don't know... I'm really tired so I can't exactly think right now... :-/ I know, I know... LAME :'( oh, and he's only got 8 months left. yup yup yeppers.

so for my email, now, my email is brandon.bryan@myldsmail.net I still can receive emails from the other one, which will be bumped over to this one, but I don't know for how long. SO, it would be easier just to send 'em to the new one, yo! just do it. like Nike says. also, I bought a sweet Thundercats shirt today. I'm excited. :D

SPEAKING of today, we just went bowling! :D YEAH! I wold send the pictures, but I forgot my cord again... I'M SORRY! I'm always just SO TIRED... *sigh* I'll get them next week for sure. but yeah, we WERE supposed to go with the zone leaders, but Elder Donovan is getting transferred to Barbados... so we brought Lester, our super cool super awesome investigator with us. (that was already part of the plan anyways, but still. :D ) but yeah, it was really fun.

ha ha ha! sweet deal for the tubing up at paradise! sounds like Donny and Cameron had it good for that activity! all girls and them? ha ha ha! xD

so for the dunking, Lester's baptism is this Sunday, and he's not sure who will do it yet, so we'll find out sometime this week. for Fernando the Younger, well... we don't know that one either ha ha ha! we gave him a little paper that he could fill out with the prayers, hymns, talks and baptism, so we'll find out soon enough who he wants to choose to do the dunkin xD

wait, are you saying that your birthday isn't important?! heck yes its important, what are you crazy?! :P I needa get you somethin'. maybe... I think I've got an Idea.

DAH! no FREE TIME when I get back?! :'( what about visiting Puerto Rico with you and Dad? don't you wanna do that? as for the job, will I have time for that if I'm gonna be running off to school two months after I get back? but then again... *IDEA* oh my gosh... you know what? If I don't get into any school cause of my crappy grades, I'm probably gonna have to go to pierce for a little bit, right? to boost my grades? oh my goodness... this would be incredible... oh my goodness. ok, so if I have to stay a little bit to go to pierce... that would mean that I would get the chance to work at Warmoth... oh man. Ken DID say to check them out when I get back, as long as I promised to continue with my schooling. and I don't got no prawblem wif dat! :D oh man, that would be SO sweet! (as emphasized by my giant text.) what do you think? do you think I have a much bigger probability of having to stay and boost my *sigh* my crappy grades before I go anywhere? what do you think about the whole working at Warmoth thing? cause I've even already met Ken, and Thim at Macys is his Ex wife, and we talked quite a bit when I was there... so I think I might have a little step up if I were to go with it. oh goodness that would be sweet.

Blarg! I KNOW I haven't said what Elder Bednar talked about... ok. I'm probably gonna have to grab that next week, cause I can't really remember right now in my tired state... :-/ I know I know, another week, but hold your horses! :P I'll get it, I promise. :P

ha ha ha, no, I have yet to hug my companion. He saves those only for in the evening after comp prayer.

and I would really love to get a Valentines day card. :3 I LOVE YOU! :3

so yeah... I gots to bust a move, outta time, just like always. :'( why is time always so short?!!11oneoneone??!

also, has Bryan sent my package yet? I've been waiting since November.

and keep torturing my cat, cause she's gonna have to get used to all the torture when I get back Ha ha ha!
but yeah, it's time to bust a move, yo! LOVE YOU!

~Brandon (Elder Bryan)

PS: I LOVE the picture that you put up as my Facebook pic. PERFECT! HA HA HA! Annie showed me last time we were there.

MONKEY!

Re: he talked about....?

Wed, Feb 10, 2010

Ha Ha Ha! Annie ("Sister Martinez") TOLD me that she found you! sweet! ha ha ha, we had actually been talking about stuff and then Facebook came up and she was like, "oh, do YOU have a Facebook?" and I said yes, so she found me on there, and I told her to look you up to. heh heh, I guess she wanted to send some pictures too! xD blarg! It's not MY fault I don't have all the time in the world to just toss a million pictures around! :P jeeze.

as for what she was trying to say, hmmm... in Spanish texting and stuff, they usually take the "que" down to "q", so it could either mean "that" or "what" depending on the context... AH NO! she said that I eat slow when she cooks?! DAH! It's not true! it's just that usually when she cooks, it's like right after we've eaten, or we just had lunch or something! :'( blah! besides. she's never even made us hamburgers. hmmm.... enchantment would be enjoyment, yes. encanto is either "to love", or "to enchant" depending on the context. :) um, Elder Bailey got transferred. six weeks ago. :P gosh, don't you remember that I told you that?! he got moved to Antigua. my new companion is Elder Harvey now. and... has been. for six weeks. this is our last week before transfers. with Elder HARVEY. and Yes, she Is divorced. it was... *sigh* it was an RM, and he... didn't really know what it meant to be Married. he was... a player I guess you could say. long story... :-/ chevere means cool here, but in some areas it means terrific. :D but it's pretty much used just like we use cool. so yes. it means cool. :D ha ha ha! yeah, her Brother DID give me glasses. I guess she DID take some pictures with me waering them... heh, I completely forgot that she did. HA! but I LOVE those things. in those pics I had been wearing Her Brothers, but he picked me up some after I told him that I absolutely LOVED them! he grabbed me some Brown ones, but they didn't look as cool, so hes gonna check and see if he can find the black ones so that I can enjoy them with ALL of my outfits. xD Ha Ha! yes, after we went to go eat at her house on Sunday, she gave me one of those giant KitKats and got elder HARVEY, not BAILEY anymore (:P), a Resees. those are his favorite. xD

shes totally super cool mega awesome +5. :D aw, YES! send her a picture of me with the long hair! I think that she told me that she saw some of those on dads Facebook, but she would totally love to get one! ha ha ha! I told her about it and she was like "do you have pictures?" but I didn't... so yeah, hook her up, yo! :D she also watched my little video up on YouTube. ha ha ha, beastie, that crazy cat xD yeah, I can tell her about that, no problem. :)

I do NOT have seven months! I only have five and a half. :P the CCM and MTC don't count!

Ha Ha HA! yeah, I'm glad that my letter made it to the Keys alright. :D

oh man... did I really make $5408?! BLARG! where did all of it go?! :'( man, I suck... how exactly does a tax return work, anyways? cause I was wondering about that. Tawny told me in her letter that she's getting back like a thousand bucks, so I was like, wow... I wonder if I get money back... but I don't even really know how it works... you wanna hook me up, yo? :)

yes... I must get a letter out to Darren soon. I will do that today. :)

as for my dentist appointment... heh, that's actually today. :3 I completely forgot that it was today, and not next week... so yeah, today at one thirty. it's gonna be super fun, yo! I can't wait! :D yeah, and elder HARVEY, NOT BAILEY anymore, has to get like six hundred dollars worth of work on his teeth... sweet. I'm just getting one filling, but he's got quite a bit of work to do. the water out in Antigua has a LOT of sulfer in it, and he said it just goes to town on your teeth. so Elder BAILEY out there, Not Elder HARVEY anymore, is going to have lots and lots of fun. :D so yeah... but the dentist is here in Caguas, just right down the street from Annie's house, actually xD ha ha ha!

and for Fernando, he put his OWN date for the 27th. :D we also have another guy, Lester, who is the son of a recent convert who put his own date as well for the 20th. so I've got two baptisms comin up, yo! :D and we also had a person who has come to church with a friend this last week who is pretty interested. we've got an appointment with her this Thursday and it's pretty likely that we're going to have a date placed with her the next week after the 27th... so yeah. life's pretty good out here I guess. xD

ok ok... so no tie hunting this last week... so whats new beginnings? and do you think you can go and do some tie hunting THIS week? :3 cause that would be pretty sweet you know. just throwing that out there. :3

BLARG! I KNEW your birthday was coming up! DAH! I never remember when it IS though! ... when is it? :) also... when exactly is Ehren's birthday as well? I gots to know that too. :)
hmm... heyitsfree.net sounds like a quite fantastic website... you gotta remind me about that when I get home. I've got some birthdays to catch up on. ;)

ha ha ha, I like that Annies been sending you emails. I think its sweet! it kinda makes it like... I dunno, like there,s a more connectino, I guess? I dunno. but I'm glad you guys are talking. :D

yes yes. don't you forget that next week is transfers! I SHOULD be able to have the opportunity to write no problem next week, so we'll see how the cookie crumbles. :D

so, a few other things to throw in here:

-is donny still using my backpack!? He better not be!

-also, Ive got big news! in June, something big is happening. it's bigger and better than ever! its: the combining of the Puerto Rico San Juan east and west missions! *ScReAmS* NOOO! but yes. it's true. and there is no escape.

-something else. myldsmail.net has now combinded itself with Gmail. so now, myldsmail is much better, much more awesome, and I'm lacking all of my email contacts! :D yay! so now, you gotta hook me up with all my emails that I sent you so that you could send THEM emails. well, send 'em already! also, I'm not exactly sure why, but they changed my email. it was kinda like this automatic "we're going to give you a new email thing"... BUT, all the OLD emails I have, and all emails that are sent to brandonhbryan@myldsmail.net will be automatically sent to me at brandon.bryan@myldsmail.net so yeah... thats my new email./ use it, love it, keep it in your hearts. thank you.

-also, have you fixed the BlendTech yet? cause I know for a fact that when I get back from the mission I'm gonna want a berry smoothie! cause then I'll have TIME TO BE ABLE TO MAKE ONE! sweet. free time. mmmmmm, free time. and practice my guitar time.... mmmmmm. that will be nice.

but yeah... not much has really happened this week so far... hmmm... not really much at all, really. we've been doing lots of finding because we have time to... yup. thats about it. so yeah. not much else. :D

and now its time to go. welp, I love everybody! have a good February tenth to the sixteenth! WEEE!!!!

~Brandon (Elder Bryan)

how come forks have four prongs?!

Wed, Feb 03, 2010

CAUSE THEY'RE FOUR-ks. :D HA HA HA! lame. xD

Ha Ha Ha! I'm glad that the short bus comment was entertaining! xD ha ha ha!

naw, Elder Bednar actually had to leave right after that stake conference to the airport, so he busted a move pretty quick outta there. but he talked a little bit about (yes, he did not finish his sentence)

yeah, you know. that whole getting to sleep on time thing really makes everything a little different. you sleep a lot better too. ;) that's good that Dad has gotten into a nice routine for work AND school. is he just super busy all the time now? :-/

who did Robin bring to the Priest Laurel activity? just a friend from school? DAH! I can't believe that you told Brother Christianson that! blarg... I'm NOT a problem child... :'( *cries* ITS NOT TRUE! >:(

whoa! Sister Earl and McCorkle went home?!11oneoneone?! that's crazy! and no. I Have NOT been out for seven months, thank you. I only count the time in the field. the MTC and CCM don't really count. so I've only been out for 5 months. nyah. :P

wait... whats the Levy election for...? :)

and I just said hi to Robin, along with a fairly decent sized email, so she should have a corazón apacible now. (quiet heart. xD)

are you serious?! did I seriously make over $5000 last year?! how is this POSSIBLE!? dang... I would've had MORE than enough money... for the amp, a cab, AND a custom Warmoth... *sigh* blarg. well, I SHOULD still have some money left over when I get back. BESIDES, I did pay for some stuff back at the beginning of my mission. ;) Plus, I'm gonna have to buy like a whole new wardrobe! :D I need new clothes when I get back, yo.

ha ha ha! sister Curtis really wrote the same stuffs? well, no problem then. I'll get right on writing Darren. :3

YES!!! Joe Satriani DVD and CD waiting for me when I get back. ALRIGHT! was it a NEW CD by him? :3

didn't Bree and Bryan both say that the package would be on it's way soon last time? and the time before that? COME ON! :'(

oo, Tell April and Angela ""HI!" :D and tell April that she needs to write me. now. cause she's a bum.

Eh... I dunno If I'll stay with this comp or not... I guess it all depends. :P however, more than anything I really really REALLY hope that I stay here in Caguas, more than anything. I LOVE it here. all the people are totally the bestest.

yes. where is my old memory card? HMMMM? you send you would send that back! jeeze! :P

so, news from this week! WOO! I'm excited now.OK, so, you remember me recent baptism, with Fernando? the guy that was TOTALLY prepared and found out about the church through the internet? well, we had a lesson with his SON this last Saturday, our second one after sharing the restoration DVD with him and leaving him a book of mormon and 2 Nephi 31 to read, about the doctrine of Christ. He is PERFECT!!!! OH MY GOSH! so we get there, and he pulls out his Book of Mormon, and a NOTEBOOK, and he's goes ÿeah, I read what you guys left me, and it just all makes sense. and then, I was flipping through the book and was picking out chapters that I liked"". He totally read like 10 chapters EXTRA than what we left him! WHAT?! he read Alma 7, Mormon 7, Moroni 7,8,10, 2 Nephi 31, and a few others that I can't remember right now. and those are some of the most doctrinal chapters in the Book of Mormon. he is a beast! Moroni 8 is about the baptizing of little children, and he was like "yeah! I had a question about this before! it totally makes sense why they shouldn't baptize kids." and he's just... wow. hes just got this incredible hunger for the Gospel, just like his father does. speaking of which, Fernando... wow. (side note: his sons name is Fernando as well ha ha ha!) so Fernando, the FATHER, has been doing his studying. he works in the Radio, so while he's there, he's got TONs of time to read and stuff, so hes been studying the duties of a priesthood holder, the Book of Mormon, DOCTRINE AND COVENANTS, AND the Gospel principles book. all. at. once. holy COW! (Santa Vaka! (except tha'ts not a saying in Spanish. xD)) they both are very prepared for the gospel, and I'm really excited about Fernando (his son) he's only 18, and he has this HUGE hunger for the gospel. right after our lesson with him on Saturday, we had a lesson with his father right afterwards, for after baptism lessons, and we retaught the plan of salvation a little bit. that was going to be our next lesson with his son, this THURSDAY, and while we were teaching it, Fernando his SON comes out and says, hey, I just read about that in the pamphlet you guys gave me! and sat in on the rest of the lesson. Wow. super totally awesome. plus, after our lesson with the SON, he asked for all the chapters that we had on the plan of salvation. *jaw drops* WHAT?! so we gave him four chapters: 2 Nephi 2, 2 Nephi 7,Aalma... 34 I think and Alma 40... I think. I can't remember right now... hm... blarg... I need to remember that... eh, I should have it in my planner. :)

so yeah... super awesomeness. AH! I have lost myself my memory card to USB thing... (thats why I wasn't able to send pictures last week) *sigh* so I'll probably pick one up at Walmart today. BUT, I do have my camera cord with me today so I CAN send SOME pictures. :) I'll get those sent in just a sec.

Also, how is your search for the EVH style tie goin?! :D Tell me you're still LOOKING! :D do you think there might be one hiding on the internet some wheres? :3 I bet you $2 there is! BUT, you can't win the $2 unless you LOOK! :D ;) GO! go and look! :D :D DO IT! *eye twitches*

so yeah... lemme get those pictures sent. :D

I love you guys lots!

~Brandon (Elder Bryan) :3

hey, my tooth feels funny

Wed, Jan 27, 2010




NO WAY!111!! dad got the Job?! YES!!! WOot! MAN! and he even gets a ride on the SHORT BUS?! he's is totally super awesome lucky. "He gets on the train in Tacoma goes to Seattle and takes a short bus ride" <---- ha ha ha! wow... that really does sound like he's gonna be tons busy. that's crazy!

wow! and robin got accepted to BYU I?! dang, she's got some stuffs to work out, yo. I personally think that SLC would be better, cause she would have the family support and all that stuff, but then again, maybe BYU I would be a nice eye opener, eh?

oh my gosh. elder Bednar is TOTALLY the coolest!!!! WOW. I mean, just the way that he teaches is incREdible! my gosh. so, ok. we had our missionary meeting on Saturday with him, and he was just... basically, the whole thing was led by the spirit. and it was obvious. (but I'm not sayin' that he's like, not to be guided by the Spirit, I mean, he IS an apostle of the Lord) but it was just incredible. we went over a LOt of things. he shared a few stories with us, and ESPECIALLY how to improve our teaching. focusing on the area of questions and how to better them. one thing that I've noticed a lot is that some of the questions that people ask kinda just... I dunno, they're bland. and kinda obvious. and fake. I dunno... it's just like... blah, I don't know. people just kinda go into this auto mode when they are teaching and they don't seem to really think about what they are saying or about involving the person they are teaching. they just go. meh. so He kinda addressed that and a few other things, you know. good stuff. AH! and on Sunday, which was absolutely awesome as well, I GOT TO SHAKE HIS HAND!!! :DDDDDDD OH YeaH! I was handing out paper copies of the hymns that we were going to be singing during the meeting with him, and it kinda died down. I look over the parking lot about two minutes later and his van pulls up! I was like "NO WAY!!!" and he and hiss wife get out, and Elder Costa of the 70 and his wife, and some other security personnel and they all come up to the entrance and we shook their hands! :D I was still holding the hymn papers so I was like "Elder Bednar... would you like a hymn paper?" Ha Ha Ha! he was like "sure. why not." and took it. SWEET! yeah... it was really cool stuff. and it was so weird. it really kinda almost felt like conference when he was talking. I mean, he sounds EXACTLY the same as he does when he's talking in conference. it was just trippy. but yeah... yup. super awesome superness +2

gosh, I hope you've called Breanna about her card now. :P you loser. yes, and talk to Bryan about my birthday package! I want my present. don't forget, you could always remind him about when he destroyed the front of our suburban. they'll get him to hunker down. xD

wow. I can see just how important your son's dental hygiene is. I understand. it's whatever, just go and forget to write him about it. I mean, it's not like he really NEEDS his teeth or anything. :P however it IS true that I probably wouldn't have been able to get that letter on time anyway. *sigh* oh wells. I did end up paying for it with my savings. gosh, 90 dollars today for the check up/cleaning and x rays just to make sure that I don't have any other ones than the one that I already did know about. for February 17th (my next appointment) its gonna be about $125. I'm going to have to get my cavity filled, and MaYBE some sealants done. I don't really know dentistry lingo in Spanish, you know, so all I really know is at LEAST, I'm getting my cavity filled. but it's going to be $125 for sure. *sigh* man, I was really hoping to be able to buy a new amp when I got back. well, the JSX amp, Joe Satriani's amp, is only $800, you know, so I'd still be good. :D just throwing that out there. ;)

holy crap though... oh my gosh, do you realize that I would pretty much just die if you won that guitar. you have to do all that you can to win that!!!!!!! talk to my friends, my coworkers, people on the street. EVERYONE!!!!! oh my gosh!! that would be so epic. *puppy dog eyes* please try as hard as you can. I bet you grandma and grandpa would likely help as well. and maybe Great Grandma even. :3 but yes. that DVD and CD super combo would TOTALLY be way mega better than valentines goodies. no joke.

ok, I'll get that letter sent to Ehren right away, cause I actually kinda got that one a while ago... heh... yeah. so I'll get that sent to Ehren. :)

yeah, all four sets of the scripture mastery cards would be sweet. :) they wold actually be for me to use. I actually wanna get all of them memorized, so If I had the cards I wouldn't have to make up some new ones. :) ...but I still have yet to find my scripture marker... *sigh* I might have to talk to the office to find out if they have one and pick one up through them. and as far as I remember, they SHOULD be all in my scriptures already, but for some reason I don't think that I do... so yeah. those cards would help with that as well. :D

as for that tie... you should really keep searching that out, cause that would be EPIC if it existed. so... yeah, you wouldn't mind doing that would ya? :3

but yes... I should probably bust a move, cause Elder Harvey has been done for like twenty minutes already. I swear, nobody seems to talk to their family here. its ridiculous. *rolls eyes* oh wells.

SO, Until next week then, I LOVE YOU!!! have a supercrazyawesomemegahypersweet week. LOVE YOU!

~Brandon

some SUPER awesome news, actually! :-O

Wed, Jan 20, 2010

NO WAY!!!! *sniff sniff* man, that makes me sooo happy. you don't even know. what got Bryan to take the discussions?! oh my gosh, oh my gosh... what did he say? did he have any questions? but for the baptism thing, what we've been asked to do as missionaries, is to extend the commitment as soon as possible. which usually calls for the first lesson. so that's a little fill in on there... is he reading? is he going to pray? cause that's the only real way that he can KnOw!

speaking of Breanna's kitties. what do they look like? also, did they say anything about that package that Bryan still owes me from back in August, plus my birthday, plus Christmas? cause I'm still waiting. plus, my bestest best friend ever in the world won't even WRITE ME A LETTER! :'( *sigh* I just don't know what even to say. it just kills me inside. (but that doesn't include the fact that he is emailing me, cause I can't email him back. :) )

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!! JULIA NUNES WAS IN SEATTLE!!!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!!!!!!!1111oneoneone!1111!!!!?????questionmark! WHAT!???? why does it work out this way!? Julia! WHY COULDN'T YOU WAIT!? :'( *cries* NOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!! *sigh* weeeelllll... there's always when I get back, I suppose. *sigh* *dies inside*


ah ha ha ha ha! *triumphant* I HAVE gotten my suit dry cleaned now! :D now, the BIGGER question is when do I get to pick it up from Walmart? TODAY! WOOT! so now... "the deed... is done." so I guess that means that I'm gonna get a different "question of the week" now, right? I better. :P

actually... about my tooth. erm... well... it's kinda looking like I might pretty much have a cavity. maybe one and a half... *sigh* I had an appointment set up this morning... but I forgot my WaMu card... so we had to run back to the apartment and grab it, and by the time we got back, it was an hour later than the appointment was set up for (blarg!) so we had to reschedule it for next week. next Wednesday at 9 to be precise. so.. yes. I actually have a few questions about that. ok. so lets go. um, I don't have any dental plan or coverage, do I? so if not, I probably have to pay for this appointment/surgery/filling or whatever it turns out to be, right? cause the mission doesn't cover dental... so yeah... how am I gonna pay for that? um, I'm thinking it would be really good if I could get myself, maybe, a letter from you guys before next Wednesday with some info about that, cause that would be really spiffy. you know. just some info. stuff like that. info that would be come in handy. maybe some cash in my card to help soften the blow. ;) you know... stuff like that. but especially the info, cause thats good to know.

yeah... I HAVE heard about Haiti... it's horrible. people are running around with machetes killing people for food from the food truck... the entire capitol, and over, from what I understand, 200,000 people dead. and rising every day. it's, uh... its pretty interesting. but yeah, the construction on the houses, was pretty much the worst possible. they didn't really have foundations, and they don't have any building regulations, so they have some houses over there that had like five or six stories that people had built onto their houses. not exactly the SMARTEST thing to do... but yeah... it's pretty horrible over there.

oh, Grandma didn't leave until today... no, yesterday? wow, I thought she left sooner than that!

DAH!I am NOT a problem child, thank you! :P gosh, the LORD chooses where I go and who's my companion. gosh. so maybe I'm their companion to help THEM! actually, now that you mention it... I'm pretty sure that I'm getting so many companions because I'm just that awesome. yeah. that must be it.

NO WAY!!! I got called for JURY DUTY!?!?!? GAH!I've always wanted to do jury duty!! WHY DOES EVERYTHING HAPPEN WHILE I'M GONE?! this is HORRIBLE! I feel so cheated.

so, news from me for the week. guess what?! :D exactly.

also, we have an apostle coming this week!!!! WOOT! I just barely found out who it's going to be. David A. Bednar! thats right. and this Saturday we're going to have a missionary conference with him and a Seventy! SWEET! so for Saturday, we're going to have that conference, for both the San Juan east AND west missions, and then on Sunday He's going to be in stake conference here in Caguas!!!!1 YEAH! also... he going to be staying in a hotel here in Caguas... so we're kinda worried that there might be an off chance that he might say "you know what? I'm feeling like checking out the Elders apartment here in Caguas." heh ha ha, however, I highly doubt it. I'm sure he has more important things to do than that. you know. busy people. busy lives. stuff like that. :3

also, I have a question about ties. do you think that you might be able to search around on the imtermet (thats right, the imtermet) to see if there is any... =Van Halen= styled ties? you know, maybe with some stripes? that would just happen to be Red with black and white stripes? or maybe black with red and white stripes? cause you know... I would really like to know if these ties do happen to exist.

also... I seem to have misplaced my superkaraizeeawesome scripture marker... *sigh* I've been looking for it for a while and I just can't seem to find it.

so yes... not much new really this week. we've been doing a LOT of searching fro new investigators. also, I WOULD include a picture of Fernando (FINALLY!) but I forgot my little card reader this week. of course. so yeah... I'll get that sent this next week. ;)

Note: I've gotten a letter from Sister Curtis that,. heh, was ACTUALLY intended for Ehren. sooooo... I'm thinking he may have gotten MINE? I'm not too sure... I'm gonna have to send this back to her, but if you could, ask her about that. :)

also.... just another also, I guess. would you happen to have any scripture mastery cards lying around? :)

so yeah... I guess that's the most of it... yup. I can't think of anything else to go with, so I'll go with this :)

so, once again, Thank you for being the most awesomest mommy EVER!

I Love you ALL!!!!!! especially all the people that sent me presents. I'm sending out one more shout out to them :)

~Brandon :3

I'M ALIIIIIIIIIIIIIVE! :D

Wed, Jan 13, 2010

WOOT!!!! OK. wow. so, now that the world has once again resumed DOING something here, instead of just partying, I FINALLY get the chance to EMAIL! YES!!!! gosh, it really feels like it's been forever. *sigh* well, at least I can write now, eh? :) but I'm glad that you guys got my post card all good and everything. AH, and I got your emails in the mail too! YAY! :3 thank you for those. that was good thinkin' right there. :D

well, here's the quick dealio on whats happened in the last little bit. OK, so I myself, have stayed here up in Caguas. :3 yes yes yes, but Elder Bailey has been dumped off to the little tinie island of Antigua. *sigh* so ONCE AGAIN, I have myself a new companion. His name is Elder Harvey. Cool guy. nice and easy going. excellent sense of humor. I guess I'm getting off a bit easier now xD ha ha ha, but yes. he's twenty. born in.... June? 1989. I'm not sure what month for certain, he he, but he's from Logan... I think, Utah. yup yup. So yes. and he's got about a year in the mission, and basically he and elder Bailey switched spots. He came here, and Elder Bailey went there.

OOO!!!! ok, so on the 24th, we're going to have an Apostle come to stake conference here! :DDDDDDD SWEET! we're also going to have an area seventy come too. I'm very excited to hear. so yes. that's on the 24th, and then on the 23rd, all the missionaries from here AND the PRSJW (Puerto Rico San Juan West) mission are coming to Caguas for a special fireside. very cool beans. :D

as for the earthquake... I actually had NO IDEA about it until Magdiel, one of the guys here in Caguas told me about it last night. ha ha, so yes. Magdiel said he felt it a little bit though, but I didn't feel anything.

YAY! :*-) *sniff sniff* I got my email from Bryan. :3 I'm so happy now. Now if only he would send me that letter that he's been hanging on to since like, November 7th and my birthday/Christmas present. ha ha ha! now if only I could print it out... lemme see if I can. hold on one sec

* * *

YES!!! Woo Hoo! I get to print it, but I have to stuff it onto a pen drive first. so I'll put that on there first after I'm all done typing to you guys. :3

wow, Bryan Bree and James are renting an apartment in Lakewood, huh? now... the really question is... where is that? cause I can't remember where that is... heh heh. good news is I can still remember the layout of the house!

UH! psha. did I remember that it was Bree's burfday. gosh, is the pope catholic? of COURSE I remembered it was her birthday! ha ha ha! so yes, I'll be picking her up a card today as well, but I'm going to have to send it to you guys at home, cause I have NO IDEA what their address is. :)

speaking of sending things, so yes, since I'm still here in Caguas, it's still OK to send me mail there. everyone. especially Bryan. right to my apartment. yup, that's right. straight to me. :)

so, for Christmas. Wow. all of you guys are amazing. that Christmas card is ridiculous. ( :P ) and I thank all of those who took their time to write me something. :) I thank the Ward for my awesome package. that [origami] paper is totally the coolest to write on. :D I thank Grandma Nita for all that candy! YAY! speaking of which, the Goldfish, and those cookies from Pepperidge farm, called the Tam Tams. wow. those cookies are so flippin' sweet. I loved those. Thank you mom, and mi Familia, por lo mejor regala de Navidad nunca. Ustedes son Lo mejor. Yo no sé que decir. solomente que Ustedes son lo mejor que hay. (My Family, for the best Christmas gift ever. You are the best. I [have] to say. solomente that you are the best there is.) so thank you guys. I love the bowling set. ha ha ha! and the Archie Mcfee shirt. and thank you Grandma Jan! those cookies are very tasty indeed. however I have one thing of bad news... Elder Harvey accidentally bumped the tree on the table... and the tree fell over... *sigh* and since every single house here has tile for floors instead of carpet... *sniff* the ornament BROKE! :'( NOOOO! how lame... the bottom right corver popped off. there's two larger pieces, but there's a few gaps that broke into pieces too small to salvage... so... *sigh* I guess I can send home what I have... but thats about it. sooooo.... yeah.... I'll sending a package home soon as well. home comes the Christsmas gear, so I don't have to leave it anywhere in case I get transferred next transfer. ah, and to the Keys family. my other family. thank you SOOO much for the package. you guys are the best too. gosh, I just feel so blessed to have all of you guys as family and friends. I definitely don't deserve you guys. +10 points to your awesomeness. :) and thank you Franzens for your christmas card, and everyone else. again, I have the best Ward EVER!

also. Bryan had MONEY WHEN HE CAME FOR A HAIRCUT!? MAN! it really IS coming to the end of the world. wow. :P

ok, so my location. the whole Urb is basically called "Bairoa" but the sub urb is Bairoa Park. hmmm.... you could also try "mirador de Bairoa" thats the next
sub urb behind us, so that might get you somewhere. sidenote: were you guys able to see my apartment back in Alturas de Rio Grande?! :-O the Las Catalinas mall... I actually have No idea where that is... but there ARE some botanical Gardens one more exit south from us on the Freeway... (the 52) that's about the best that I can provide for the moment to you guys on an empty stomach. ;) the 6 lane highway that you were talking about might be the 52...

that's good to finally hear back from Ehren. good stuff sounds like. bummer that they get shorted so much on the miles. ha ha ha, we get 1250 every month (probably cause our areas are WAY bigger.)

oo, you know what would be REALLY interesting? Ehren's planning on going to LDSBC, and if Robin doesn't get accepted to BYU I (which would be kinda funny. BYU I from what I've heard pretty much accepts everybody) and then I ACTUALLy can make it into some sort of college (the plan is LDSBC, [LDS Business College] and then I get the chance to drag Bryan along with me, cause he's not gonna stay away from me anymore when I get back, then all FOUR of us would be going to LDSBC! :D how cool would THAT be, EH? :D I think that would be some pretty cool beans there.

let dad know that I'm sorry that I haven't gotten back to him yet about the MTC and CCM stuffs, it's been pretty difficult to mail people for the past two weeks. besides no email,. Elder Bailey had a LOT to take care of, and people to visit, so I didn't get the chance to write to much. but I DID get a letter out to the Franzen's. FINALLY! :'( to them: I'm SO SORRY that it took so long to get that out to you guys. I really wanted to be able to write you guys in spanish. and for some reason I just didn't even think about writing you guys in English. however, It's done. I wrote in English now, and... yes. sorry for my lack of thunking. I wersnt thunkin two haerd ther.

so yes. I also didn't get the chance to email Robin back either, cause I've had so much to type and put here for this week that I didn't really get the chance to write anybody else. so I'm sorry about that Robin! I Still love you! :P

yes yes, so now that I've exceeded my time... again... and that Elder Harvey is asking me if I'm done yet, I should probably bust a move and get outta here. so, until next week, or my next letter,

I LOVE YOU GUYS! EVERYONE! oh, and a note to Cameron: letter on the way! either this week or next week. :D and tell Carter that he TOTALLY copied your note. :P ha ha ha!

YES YES! ok, So. until next time!

*is busting a move*

BYE!

Love, Elder Brandon Bryan :3

Dominican Republic Catalog

I have a new slide show for Elder Bryan covering some of his time in the Dominican Republic CCM or MTC (English version). Plan on spending a little time 5-10 min as there are 221 pictures this time. Not all, in fact most, pictures do not have captions. However, I have added a few that seem an appropriate fit. Look for them as there is a test later.

(Click Here to View)

http://s264.photobucket.com/albums/ii162/jlbryanx2/Dominican%20Republic%20CCM/?albumview=slideshow

Enjoy the weekend.

JLB

Hint: What does he like now that he would not touch before?