October 22, 2012

Family and Friends first transfer done, Oct 22, 12

It sounds like you guys are getting all ready for Halloween and have some pretty cool costumes made. I better see some pictures of you all in your Halloween costumes I will be waiting for those. ha-ha! I can't believe Jake and Ryan are already home from their missions! Man I wish I could see them and see how much they have changed. I saw Tallen again this week at the gym. Sorry I didn't tell you I saw him last week I just forgot, I will try to right down things during the week that I want to share. I am a little jealous that you guys went to the mountains and got to ride the razors. I haven't touched a steering wheel of any kind in like 3 1/2 months and still counting, ha-ha I am happy though that I get to live in the mountains everyday though.

So this week was the end of the transfer and Saturday we found out that we are still staying in this area and I am keeping my trainer. I am really happy that I still get to teach these people because we are about to have some great success during this next transfer. Also I get to work with the best Spanish ward in Provo and live with the Embrey's, who are so nice and feed us very well. This week was tons of fun and full of different events. Last Monday for p-day we got our whole zone together and went Lazar tagging at Nickel city. That was a blast and just one of those extra things we are blessed with serving in Provo. We also got some new bikes this week from some members. They are good bikes for being purchased at Wal-Mart, but with that super soft seat that mom sent me it rides like it was bought at a mountain bike convention, ha. I just need to take it easy on it because I already pop the tire once trying to do some cool jumps!

I feel like this week we started to receive all the blessings that we have been trying to work for the past 5 weeks. We put two people on date for baptism on the 17 of November. The first one was Noel Gomez. He is a single dad about the age of 50 and is wife passed away about a year ago. We started out teaching him about the plan of salvation and it was weird because it didn't really catch much of his attention. But the more we started teaching him the restoration the more he started asking questions. He would start arguing with us about the Catholic church, but every time he asked us a question we would answer it with a scripture or testify and it would just make sense to him. Then this week we met with him and he just totally shocked us. He said how that he is starting not to believe in the Catholic church and doesn't really like it. Well, we jumped right on this opening and in the lesson asked him to be baptized and he said yes!...

The next person we put on date is the Cordero Family. This story is just the best because when we first met him, he opened the door and said sorry I'm Catholic and I am not changing my mind at all. Well after meeting with them a lot and just being friends with them, the dad started opening up and was asking us a lot of questions. (It is the best when investigators have questions) The great thing I have come to realize in Hispanic homes is if you usually convert the dad you convert the whole family. Well there are 7 people in the Cordero family with five boys that are all baptismal age. So we worked really hard and patiently with brother Cordero and he has just absorbed everything. We asked him and his wife to be baptized and he said yes, but she said she isn't ready which was a little shocking because she was almost more interested than the husband but we were just SO happy that we had gotten to the dad. I can't even tell you how much I love this family too. Besides the Alberto De la Rosa that we baptized I this family is my favorite. Some of people that we teach I feel right at home with them. You can tell by the spirit which family's the Lord has been preparing for our message.

This week I also had the opportunity to go on splits with Elder Ray who was my companion in the MTC for a little bit with Elder Jackson. I went into his area and we were really tested our Spanish not having someone that was fluent in the companionship, ha-ha. That day though I felt like the Lord help me with my Spanish more ever. We taught some pretty good lessons together especially to this one girl Christina who is 16. She runs cross country and so I really used this to relate with her and taught her a principal on faith. It is amazing how close you can grow to someone in just 20 minutes when you are feeling the spirit together. She started opening up to us a lot after not being there for too long and was like on the edge of her seat with everything we told her. She then told us something very personal to her, she can see spirits sometimes and how she can't even go into hospitals because she just gets SO scared. I didn't really know how to act at first and didn't want to get deep onto this subject at all so I just testified to her that with whatever problems she may have she can always pray to her Heavenly Father for help and he will comfort you. I asked her to kneel down with is and pray that she may feel comfort and peace. As she said the prayer you could tell that this was probably the first prayer she had ever said out loud and with such a sincere heart. It was a amazing experience to see her feel better and the power of prayer really help this girl.

I still feel so lucky to be able to invite the spirit into people's life's and see how they feel or look when the feel the spirit really strong for the first time in their lives. The Holy Ghost is the best thing that we have ever been given to help us here on this earth. It is so real and truly is the love of God. I am so happy to hear that mom is really trying to make these fiestas she is doing for Halloween and opportunities to do missionary work. You don't have to be on a mission to be a missionary and when you invite a friend to take the lessons or come to church you are just a blessing to the missionaries in your area. Like this Sunday we had a member in the ward invite a friend from work to church and we didn't even know anything about it! It was awesome to just have another investigator walk through the door like that and after meeting with him after church and having a quick lesson he told us that he has been looking for a long time for a church that he can feel a remission from his sins from. It is also a great feeling to be able to tell him with full confidence that this is that church! It is so easy to share the gospel when it is the truth! It is the true church and I know with all my heart that nothing I am teaching is false or not from the Lord. Thank you so much for your support this week and for the your prayers. I love you so much and glad that I have the last night Breinholt which no Hispanic can pronounce. ha-ha but have a good week pray for obedience in the Provo mission:) I love you again.

Elder Breinholt

(p.s.) does Pampa remember a missionary from his mission field in Mexico with the last name Hokanson? They are the same age and this guy is teaching English in our ward for a mission with his wife and thinks he remembers a elder Breinholt from back in the day in his mission in Mexico.

Photos Sent Home From Cory

October 15 2012

 

That was really scary to hear what happened to Emaree this last week. You guys keep scaring me with these little kids! I hope that they really start getting better soon. I put pictures up on snapfish last week so I don't know why you can't view them. It sounds like mom and dad are really busy back home and getting to know some really exciting people. Even though the people that I have been meeting are not has known to the world they are becoming so special to me. Things are starting to turn around in a positive way for my companion and I. We put 3 people on date for baptism on the 27th of October and we have a couple more people we want to put on date this week too. Our teaching pool has been slimming down a little bit because we are starting to see who is serious and who wants to learn more, but we are always visiting people trying to make sure we are being good friends.

This week just went by way too fast and was kind of a blur as a whole so I don't have too much to report this week. We went to a wedding for this guy that my companion baptized earlier in his mission and it was a really neat experience. Afterwards we went to go get something to eat and for the first time on my mission we had someone pay for our check when we went to leave and pay.

I have really come to find out in this mission that there a lot and almost the majority of Elders in this mission are lazy and just don't follow all the rules. It's sad and it almost comes off as you're not a cool missionary if you are 100 percent obedient. It makes me sick, because I am trying and want to be the best I can! It's not that any of these Elders are bad, but I think people just need to realize that we can have even more success in this mission and have more miracles if we are being the best we can. This is just something I really want to try and strengthen while I am serving in this mission, because this mission is going to grow even more by 1/3 of its size and needs people to have a different mindset for the new missionaries we will be getting.

Anyway it's not like I'm changing anything by talking about it oh well. I only have one week left of this transfer and I find out if I keep my trainer or get a follow up one this Saturday. President pretty much told me that I am staying in this area so if I get a new trainer I will have to take a little more action and introduce him to the area and the people we have been teaching. That is all I have time for this week I'm sorry it's not much, but I would like to leave you with a scripture that I want you all to read. Its in 3 Nephi 27:8, just remember that this church is Jesus Christ's church and we are only the wonderful tool that help run it. I am so grateful that I have the opportunity to be a tool in the Lords hands right now 24/7. I love you all and I hope you have a wonderful fall break!

Thank you for your prayers and support,

Elder Breinholt

October 8, 2012 -

Dear family,            

  I just want to get one commit out of the way since someone has been complaining about my typing (Cole) ha my typing has come a long way over the years and I try to type as fast as I can so that I can tell you everything I want, so sorry if what I say doesn't always make since. ha-ha ok, wow this week has been up and down like you wouldn't believe. Mom thank you for the package and I force those vitamin pills down everyday kind of like I would with your relieve shakes. My bike is still broken so I haven't put the seat on to use it but it looks great. Also I would still like some protein because I need to have motivation to work out every day so I don't get fat! I do get feed way to much here and a couple days this week I had to eat two dinners! ha also I am going to try the picture thing right after this hopefully I figure it out.

     Anyway This whole week we had so many lessons that just didn't go through and it was disappointing because some of them were people that we wanted to put on date. Also my companion has been having a really hard time back at home (and with his girlfriend) so he has kind of been in a bad mood this week. Can I just say man am I happy that I don't have a girl friend to worry about! ha-ha I wonder how good it feels for mom and dad to hear me say that. But seriously there is already so much to worry about out here in the field that you can't think about home and stress about it. I feel like that I was put with my companion for a reason though and that I can help him with some things that he is going through.

    Besides the down parts the week defiantly ended the best it could have. Never in my life have a learned so much from conference and felt that each session went by so quickly. On top of it I didn't even think about falling asleep like a would at home! ha-ha My heart is full though from the words I heard this weekend. When I heard them telling about the new ages for when boys and girls can leave on missions, never have I felt the goose bumps so strong. The missionary service in the church really is going to grow and we are going to see sooo many more young women serve missions. Also young men too! I feel that President Gordon B Hinckley's dream of missionary work is finally in sight. If you don't know this talk he gave about the future of missionary work I advise you to look it up its great. Yes I was a little bummed that I had just missed this cut off by a year, but then I see how much my life changed and how much I grew just in the one year out of college. I am out here now and happy so I was not down about the news personally but just so excited. My companion and I almost shook the house down we were so excited about the news. I noticed a theme though about all the talks. they seemed to all lead to one thing. Following the savior Jesus Christ. What really hit me over the last couple days is that everyone in the world needs to know, and have a relationship with out savior Jesus Christ. He is out brother, our father, and our best friend. This is why we need to do missionary work so that others can know this too. I hope that each and every one of you have a personally relationship with the savior, and if you do that you try to strengthen it every day! not just on Sundays, or in the morning when we are reading our scriptures but throughout the day.

           There is a lot that I could say about this weekend, but I just want to bare my testimony to you all. I love you so much and I carry you in my hearts everyday and on every door I knock. I have a testimony of this gospel and I know that it is true. I know that president Thomas S. Monson is a prophet and he is a man of God. He is there to help us and guide us here on this earth. I am so grateful for the opportunity that the lord gives us twice a year to learn from and grown are testimonies from the leaders of this church. This work is a marvelous work and I wonder and we are engage in a good cause. I know that we have a savior Jesus Christ and he atoned for the sins of the world, he is glorious and we should represent who he is through are actions. I love my savior and am grateful for what he has done for me. And I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

               Elder Breinholt

October 1, 2012

 

Dear Familia,                                      

     The last week as been great and full of different events. I found out that you go on splits for 24 hours. ha I didn't know that before the mission, but I had to go on splits with one of the zone leaders this past week. It was a good experience because we literally had lessons from 1 to 9 that night with pretty much no time in between so we didn't get to eat dinner back at our place until after 9. That was Thursday and Friday we had our first zone conference and Elder Calligar  from the quorum of the seventy talked to us for 4 hours that day. The spirit was really strong that day and things were said that I just really needed to hear at that time. The experience as a whole though was very uplifting for me and just what I needed. It really prepare me spiritually for Saturday for the Baptism of Alberto.

     Saturday was one of the best days of my life, and I will never forget that baptism. Sorry Cheyenne and Cole but I have never felt the spirit it so strong before as it was at this baptism. As I have said before the mom of the family is a strong catholic, but the spirit was so strong that her and all their family were crying. We are really going to try this week to meet with her while that feeling is still fresh in her mind.

   

 

  So about brother Marriott he is such a nice guy. We were just walking down the street Saturday night just about to go home when my companion and I thought we should go check on one other person. So we were walking down the same street that this guy lived on when we saw brother and sister Marriott out front and they call us over. They just asked us to go talk to their son that is home for a little on medical release. We went in and talk to him for a little while and shared a spiritual thought, and when we were leaving brother Marriott just came over to us in tears and said that are message that we had tonight was just what his son really needed to hear. It just really goes to show that the Lord puts you where you need to be if you just let yourself be guided by the spirit. What my companion and I did was nothing special and was no different then what we would do at someone else's house. Even though that was a great experience for this family is was a great experience for me too and it was just another reminder to me that this is the Lords work. We are his tools to getting his message across to the people in Provo Utah.

     I feel so blessed right now in my life to have such a good companion, great people in our area, an amazing ward that wants to do missionary work, and the spirit I get to feel every day. All I need to do now is just stop stressing so much about this Spanish and just learn it so I can share more of my thoughts and do this work to the fullest.

      Other then that I am going to try and develop some pictures today so that I can send them home in a envelope I have with a letter for mom, Blair, Avery, Logan. I just got  letters Sunday from Alli and Katie so I will try to write you back soon. Oh, also we got some fishing poles from some members this week and on p-days we can go fishing in this river in our area that had some nice trout in it. I would also like it too Madre if you could send some chocolate protein because we have a free membership to Gold's Gym and go to the gym in the morning about 3 or 4 times a week. Well I love you all and I want you all to take some good notes this weekend watching conference. I am so excited for this weekend. I didn't get tickets to it this time but I guess you get to go watch conference at least 2 times while you're out in the field so I will probably be going to the one in the spring. Anyways have a good week and stay out of trouble.

Elder Breinholt

Monday September 24, 2012

 

This week I had some good days and just bad some other days. It is really hard to find more people to teach in a area that you don't know anyone and sometimes the best tactic you have is to go track. We have started to become friends with a lot of the people this week and build a relationship. I have already realized that sometimes you have to just be peoples friends and just talk to them before you are even able to get your foot in the door for a message. Even though we don't have a ton of people we are teaching, the ones we are teaching are really opening up to us.

I do have my very first baptism this Sunday with Alberta de la Rosa. He is awesome, and we are going to try and invite a lot of people to the baptism this week so that we can maybe spark something up with them. I'm not sure if you remember but last week I said how the mother of the de la Rosa familia is a strong catholic and is the only one in the family that wants nothing to do with us. Well last night we finally got her to sit in on a lesson and I could tell that she really enjoyed it. This morning we found out from the son in the familia that he caught her reading the book of Mormon the other day so I am really excited to see what is going to happen in the next couple weeks with her.

I may not be the best teacher with all the lessons yet and with my Spanish, but with my companions help I was able to come up with a really cool way to begin teaching lessons, and so far every new person that we have met through this activity has been willing to have us come back; so I feel like me and my companion and are pretty good at making people feel comfortable around missionaries. I think this week is going to be good because we are going to try and double the amount of lessons we are teaching and put some people on date for baptism.

Last week we taught a family home evening lesson with this guy and two less active girls and afterwards this guy Zack said that he would one day want to serve a mission because he sees that it really helps you figure out who you are and stuff. Well we are teaching Zack again tonight and my companion and I feel like we should maybe ask him to be baptized.

Other than that nothing too crazy has been going on with teaching, but I won't lie we bike a lot during the day. My butt is starting to become raw from my bike seat ha-ha. I come home every night so sweaty and gross, it's great. Oh, a funny story, we worked on a farm one day this week so that we could get to know the Hispanics and we had to move these huge bags of soil. So me and this other Hispanic were lifting this bag when all the sudden he grabs me and pulls me away. I looked at him like what's wrong and then I saw this huge wasp nest on the side of this big sack of soil. I was so lucky I didn't even get stung and there were a lot of wasp in it, ha-ha other than that and almost getting hit on my bike this week nothing else major happened.

I just want to wish Logan and Avery happy birthday and I'll wait next week to wish mom and Blair happy birthday and Craig and Kristin happy anniversary. I think that is all I hope if I left something out let me know.

I am going to trying and put some pictures up right now so I have to go, but also tell Young that I am so excited about his mission call and start the Spanish now! ha-ha I love you all of you. I want to just leave a scripture with you guys to read. Mathew 5:14-16. for some reason this scripture has came up a lot since I have been out in the field and I love it. Read it and remember to try and have to light of Christ with you always. don't do anything that will drive the spirit away, but only invite it. Its good if people say you look Mormon, because that's means the see something different in you.

Have a good week and I will pray for you all,

Elder Breinholt