November 26 2012

 

The feast is over! Nov 26, 12

It sounds like you guys had a wonderful thanksgiving and it was full of adventures. Mom thank you for the sugar cookies, I forgot how much I love those cookies. I shared them with my district because I don't think it would have been good for my weight to eat all of them. I am watching my weight well though and I only weigh 150 after the great Thanksgiving feast. Of course that is a 150 pounds of pure muscle though. My companion and I had 4 dinners for Thanksgiving and by the last meal I was soo sick of eating and of the taste of ham. It was a really neat experience to see the traditions that people have for Thanksgiving. It made me look back on all the cool things we do and how we usually go up to the cabin and play soccer in the morning with all the Breinholt. I must say that you guys better watch out because I play a lot of soccer here and my touches have been getting a lot better. ha-ha

Also grandma I loved the scarf you made me and I used it a lot this week. It was cold every single day this week with lots of wind! Our turkey bowl Thursday morning was awesome and our whole district made shirts for it. I'll put pictures up of them, but I was really surprised to see how good president McCune was! He was a animal out there and has a really good throwing arm. He played all time QB for us and he loved our shirts and said that we have to get one for him.

I can't believe that this is the last week of the transfer and after this week I will be done getting trained. I found out this Saturday if I am staying in this area or staying and getting a new companion. I am crossing my fingers that I stay in this area because it is the best and we have a lot of baptisms coming up in the next couple of weeks. We got a call from some Elders in a different area this week that told us a family they had been teaching was moving into our area Monday (which is today) and the mom just got baptized yesterday and the four kids are planning on getting baptized too. The two daughters want to get baptized this Saturday so we are going to have to put on the baptism now since there in our area and there are two sons that we are going to try and get baptized either this Saturday too if they feel ready or the following week. We have an FHE with them tonight and so were going to talk to them about it tonight and see how it goes. Also on top of that, the De La Rosa family who was the family I had my first baptism for out here in the mission, we talked with the mom this week and she said that she will let her daughter get baptized now too. So we put her on date right there for the second week of December. I want to stay in this area just to teach here and see her get baptized because we have been working so hard to make this happen.

To end it, we had a baptism for Natalie Yvette Gomez this last Saturday and it was awesome. I was able to perform my first baptism in the field and also in spanish and I won't lie being back in the baptismal font took me back to the times with Cole and Cheyenne. There is a spirit it that font that you cannot describe and I felt very honored to be a part of Natalie's baptism. She is the sweetest little girl ever and I love going over to her house to teach her because she is always so excited to see us. I am going to always check up on her throughout my whole mission to make sure that her and her siblings are still going to church. The baptism as a whole though was a great spiritual experience and just that extra boost that I needed to get more excited about this week. I just want to say that I am soo grateful for everything I have and I am so grateful for all of you! Yeah I missed you guys a ton this Thanksgiving and it was weird not being with you all but it made me that much more grateful for my family. I am so grateful for this gospel and for the opportunity that I have to just serve people for two years. I have a lot more time to go and I am happy because I'm not even close for this to be over. I am just warming up!! I love you all sooo much and hope you are all getting along.

You should all be because compared to a lot of other families that I have seen. We are soo blessed and have it a lot easier. Don't ever forgot of how blessed we are and that we only have what we have because of our heavenly father and we have amazing parents that serve the Lord and are faithful!

Thank you mom and dad, and I love you guys,

Elder Breinholt

Send A Photo Message to CORY!!!

 

Hello all!! This is Cory’s sister-in-law. I am writing because for Christmas this year Kelly had a great idea to send him a photo book with pictures of family and friends holding up a special message for him.

If you would not mind sending us a picture of yourself holding up a message we would really appreciate it and we know Cory would love it. You can get as creative as you want by having multiple photos for a long message or just one photo with a simple ‘I love you.’ Below are some examples of what we are looking for (obviously the messages are not but just so you can get the idea). Please let Kelly or I know if you have any questions.

Thanks so much!

Send your photos to me at ckbreinholt@gmail.com by December 1 so that we can get the book put together.

 

November 12

Dear family, Nov 12,12

I would be lying if I said that this wasn't the craziest week on my mission. Mom and dad I got your letter with the money and thank you so much. I am going to go buy some boots and gloves today. I had one of our investigators make me a scarf so I don't need to buy one of those anymore. Also I got to drive a car this week because one of the English Elders in our district got hurt so I was the only one eligible to drive him to the hospital so it was nice to get behind the wheel for a little after four months. The snow here is awesome and I couldn't believe how much came in just one day. I'll try to put some pictures up if I have time. But I don't really want to waste time on my message today so I am going to get straight down to it. I saw a lot of miracle's this week and have heard a lot of information.

Ok so first I want to talk about my companion. He is a great guy and really funny but is one of those really, really manly guys who is too good to ever show emotion. For instance he has only cried twice before in his life and never on his mission he said. Well I won't lie I have been praying since I have been his companion for his heart to soften up in some areas and this week he just broke down in one of our lessons while giving his testimony. It was with Brother Cordero who has just gone downhill after he went on the Internet to look up things about the church and in our lesson this week he pretty much just called us liars and how the church isn't true. But after Elder Cebreros gave his testimony the guy had nothing else to say and said that he is going to just try to pray and come to church once and if he doesn't like it then he is done with us.

Well I am really hoping that he feels the spirit at church when he goes and likes it because yesterday at church didn't go so well. It's funny cause sometimes you have the mindset that all you have to do is take them to church and they will feel the spirit and have a good time but it's never like that. Yesterday we brought two families to church, one that has been on date for baptism and the other this lady who we have been working with since day one I have been in this area and we finally got her to come to church. Well this lady Adriana told us once sacrament was over that she wasn't liking the way church is going and she wanted to go home so she just took her kids and walked out. Anyway so that was a little hard nut then on top of it this girl Maria Angeles who is suppose to get baptized in 2 weeks told us after the seconded period that she didn't like her class and she actually didn't want to get baptized anymore. I won't lie after she said that I felt like a train hit me and I was just soo down. But we found out that in her class that none of the young women said a word to her and didn't try to make friends with her at all and then on top of it I guess she was asking the teacher if he could teach in Spanish and he just kept teaching in English and she doesn't really know english. Well we had a lot of fun in the third hour of church talking to the young women in the ward and the teacher. It is important that members realize that our responsibility as missionaries we are suppose to teach them and bring them to church and once they are at church it is the members sole and responsibility to take them in and make them feel included. That was probably one of the most frustrating/disappointing Church's I have ever had and I just hope that all of you back home are going out of your way when you see a non member at church. So this week we are really going to try and focus on helping these people see the good in the church and that we don't go to church for the people that are there but for our heavenly father and to partake of the sacrament. hopefully everything works out ok.

I really want to talk to you about this week with the elections and Elder Bednar though. First of Elder Bednar is just a stud and man he is the best teacher in the world. I just wish you all could have been in that room and felt his spirit. He talked to us about faith but we focused a lot on how we need to treat others as agents and not objects. It was really fascinating to learn and realize how much the opposite happens though. For example we should never tell people what to do but just invite them to do something and extend the invitation. That is how he taught us the whole night where he never called on anyone to answer a question, but simply would ask a question and call on us if we wanted to give a answer. It was pretty cool too cause I stood up to answer one of his questions and me and him ended up having a little conversation about the issue so I can definitely say that I have had a conversation with a apostle. ha-ha Anyway it was really cool cause I got to open the door of the church for him and shake his hand before and after the meeting. It is experiences like that mission conference that helps you realize with your own eyes that these really are apostles of the Lord and are the most perfect examples we have here on the earth today and they receive direct revelation from the Lord.

Now I want to tell you what my mission president told me when he was with Elder Nelson from the quorum of the twelve Saturday morning before our thing with Elder Bednar. This has to do with this past election and also that now in America we have more states that are for gay marriage and abortion than ever before. President McCune told me that Elder Nelson stood up in the middle of the meeting they were having that morning and said that this week and had received Revelation from God that he is not happy with this country right now. With the path that this country is heading down that God is not happy at all and he will soon have to take force into his own hands because of the corruption of man. Well with that said you wonder why these things disasters have been happening on the east coast and I just found out yesterday that a 7.0 earthquake is predicted to hit Utah within the end of this year. But the important thing is that Elder Nelson said what has been said again if you are on the right side you need not worry.

It is true, we are in the last days now, and before the apostles and the prophet have told us to prepare and prepare but now all they say is to strengthen your faith repent and share this message so that we can help has many people as we can before it's too late. I know though that what we are doing right now and by following the teachings of this church we are doing what we need to do and we shall not fear if we are on the Lords side.

So do not let all this news that has been going around bring you down but help it motivate you and let you know that we have been saved for these times because the lord knows that we can be those instruments that he needs and that we can overcome anything's with his help. The church is true and man am I grateful to be a part of it. I love you all so much and I hope you are really preparing yourselves showing that this church brings happiness even when things get bad. Thank you for your support and prayers.

with love,

Elder Breinholt