Monday, August 19, 2013

August 19, 2013

Dear family and Friends!                                  Aug 19, 13
     It just never stops out here. We had a lot of things to do this past week and we even have more to do this upcoming week. It sounds like dad got to spend time with some exciting people this last week. He always does manage to sneak his way into events like that. ha-ha It is a good trait to have.
     This last Tuesday we had a meeting called MLC where all of the zone leaders and sister training leaders in the mission have a meeting together with president McCune. It was a 9 hour meeting where many things were discussed about how we are doing on Facebook and how we are raising the bar in the mission with the standards of excellence changing.   President has been pretty straight forward with the fact that we need to stand up and take responsibility. There has been a big problem I guess in the mission with sisters and elders having feelings for one another. President has a big list already of people he can't put together in the same district when transfers come. This week in the zone we even had a problem with a sister talking to a elder on Facebook...
    Anyways, this week my companion got a boil on his be-hind ha-ha;  so we have been going to the doctors so that the can drain it and make sure it's not getting infected. He was kind of like dad before saying that he was in pain but he didn't want to go to the doctors so I finally talked him into getting it checked out and I guess it was good that he went because it would have kept growing bigger and bigger.
    Our lessons were a little low this week because a lot of our investigators couldn't meet with us. Ana Lopez this lady we ask to be baptized last week showed up to our lesson on Wednesday just beaming! She had read 5 chapters in the Book of Mormon and said she could loved it! It is crazy to see how much her appearance has changed in just a week. She was suppose to come to church on Sunday,  but had trouble with work. Once she finally makes it to church I think she will sky rocket! Also that same night my companion and I had about an hour left for the night to visit people,  but for some reason when we got in the car I felt that we shouldn't  visit any of the people we had planned on visiting. I started driving to an area that felt right and ask my companion if he knew anyone in this area and he said no. I then said well lets go closer to our house since it's getting late so we went through a different neighborhood now and I asked him again if he knew anyone that lived here and he said no.. but then was like well there is this one person my last companion told me about.
     Next thing I knew we were on the front door step and a man opened the door. Before my companion could introduce us he was just like "Elders' come in! " We started talking with him and he introduced himself as Alex, opening up to us being very friendly. Then he told us that ye had actually just been thinking this last Saturday that he needs a change in his life. He doesn't want to fight with his wife anymore and he feels as if life is not going anywhere. He then told us how his wife is a member of the church and really likes the LDS church. So the Sundaybefore he went to church with her and just felt that this was the change he needed in his life.
   My companion and I testified powerfully and shared a little of the restoration with him and told him to pray tonight to God if this is what he needs in his life. We hope to meet with him this week to follow-up, but after walking out of that house I was so happy.   It made me feel good that the Lord had guided us to this man. I have some high hopes for this upcoming week with a lot of people we are teaching. 
      Another family we are teaching the wife is a non member and the husband  is a less active.  We started teaching them about the Book of Mormon and the wife was asking us questions about the Book of Mormon when the husband turns to his wife and just starts testifying to her that this book his true and this is the answer to her prayer! For about 15,  they just had their own conversation about it all as we just sat there. ha-ha It was so cool to see this man teach his wife like that and our goal is to get him the priesthood soon so that he can baptize his wife! They don't know that yet, but It will happen. ha-ha :)
    Well this letter is long enough. I love you all like always and really feel your prayers. Lets me know if you need some up lifting and I can send you a personal letter! Have a good week! The church is true!
                                                                 Love,

                                                               Elder Cory Breinholt

P.S.  Hey so this week I didn't really have time to post much on facebook so I will try this week to post the videos. Also if everyone in the family could share the post I put up that would up so that more people can see them throughout the web!

Monday, August 5, 2013

August 5

Oh my dear Family and other Comrades!                                           Aug 5, 13

     This week might have been one of the weirdest weeks in my mission yet. It was very fun having two companions this week, but it is a little chaotic at times trying to get to other people focused to work. ha-ha I learned a lot from the other missionary though. His name is Elder Abbott and of course he is from Phoenix, AZ. I am glad I will be able to see him after the mission. Right now I am hoping that dad is feeling better. It sounds like he has been in a lot of pain this week. I just said a prayer for him so hopefully he felt it. :)
     So I don't have that much to say this week besides a couple changes that have happened. First off we had a training Tuesday where we were announced to be the 8th mission in the world to go live on facebook. I am now officially a facebook missionary and we are allowed one hour a day or more if we need it to go on and chat with people. It is a little weird I won't lie to go on the internet and I feel like a sinner sometimes. ha-ha Anyway you all have probably seen my post and just remember I will not reply if you try to talk to me on there. ha
   It is that time again and this  morning we got our transfer call to see what is happening for next transfer. So I am changing areas and my companion is getting a missionary that has been out the same time as him. I am going to Provo again! I don't know what I did right , but I was also called to be a Zone Leader. Of course I have very shocked because I have never had leadership on my mission and I have never really cared to, but I guess it's what the Lord wants me to do right now. I love Provo though and my area that I will be in is right next to BYU. My new companion is Elder Aguirre, who is one of the hardest working missionaries I know and he only speaks Spanish so it is going to be a blast!! This area has treated me well and I will miss it dearly. I have made friends for life here that I will always want to come and see! 
  I love you all and I am excited to start a new era of my mission. I have a testimony very strong that the Lord answers prayer and he does whatever we ask for if we ask with faith and are contrary to his will. Thank you for all of your letters this week as well, they're great!


                                                                                                                         love,
                                                                                                                    Elder Breinholt

Tuesday, May 21, 2013

May 20 2013

Dear family and friends, 5/20/13

This week has not been easy at all. Since are area has cut in half we only have 2 families that we are constantly teaching every week. Let me tell you that 2 is not a very high number especially for this mission. What my companion and I have been doing to keep busy is every single day we try to have a service activity every single day at 1 so that we can get out of the house like we are suppose to. I have really found service useful to find new people to teach and it just makes you feel good every time you help someone. In the morning to make sure we get up on time we go to the private gym at Vincent's Monday, Wednesday, and Friday and then Tuesday and Thursday we play basketball with some ward missionary leaders. I can say that my companion and I are trying to be as obedient as we can so that we can bring forth the miracles that we desperately need right now.

Every single night during the week we have had a ward missionary leader take us out and show us every single person who are in their ward boundaries so that we can find every possible victim and no one can escape us. ha-ha Its is a lot more helpful then us just knocking on random doors and now when they tells us they have no one in correlation for us we know that there are Hispanics that they can visit with us. After yesterday my testimony on ward council grew tremendously. One of the stake presidents we have had a stake council that was centered just around us missionaries since now we are at their finger tips and don't cover that much area anymore. Then he had representatives go around to each ward council and have them center the ward councils on us missionaries. We got some amazing calls yesterday at the end of the day from some excited bishops that are ready to help. I know that we have the people to help get the work going now and the desire, we just need the lord to point us in the direction to the people to teach and serve. Never, ever in my mission will I try to do this work on my own, but only go through the members and have them help us to find people. I am excited to see how that barbeque goes at the house and I am not sure if that book I had send to the house ever got there..

Anyway we are really changing things up to help the work. Also if you guys remember on the phone I told you about the Garcia Family and how we found out that they aren't married. Well we set a wedding date with them for June 15 and they are excited to go through with it. It was going to be sooner, but they want a certain bishop that they know to do it and he doesn't live in the area, so I guess we have to write a letter to the first presidency to get permission to have him marry them. I am learning a lot about the whole marriage stuff that I didn't know and will probably learn more in the next few weeks, but don't worry I am not getting trunky.:)

That's it for this week though and hope Derek kicks butt again selling this week and Craig and Kristin get a big buyer coming through. I can see the blessings that you all are receiving from your obedience to the lord. keep it up and I love you!

Elder Breinholt

P.S. I had to give 2 talks this last Sunday in English. I No longer have fear of standing in front of that pulpit. Also congrats to my best friend Elder Searle for being made AP!

Monday, May 13, 2013

May 13

Buenos Diaz, May 13, 13

I got a letter from dad this week so I am just going to send my letter to him this time since I know mom is busy. Before I say anything just want to give a shout out to Derek and wish him luck on the long summer ahead. Alli I hope you stay busy so that he doesn't feel like he is gone for forever. The good news is its only for a couple months instead of a couple years right? Also about the whole mother's day thing. I decided I am just not going to call home so I can stay a little bit more focused out here.... NOT I will be calling around 4 pm if that's ok. I'll that morning to make sure it's ok and if you guys have come up with a better time to do it just let me know we I call but I can't do it from 9 am to 3 pm because I will be in church those hours.

Speaking about church, yesterday I was in church literally all day for about 8 hours or so. Talked about being exhausted.. I did figure out though that it is easier to fast all day when you partake of the sacrament 3 times. We got a new bishopric in one of our Spanish wards yesterday which was kind of sad because I loved the bishop in that ward. It's funny because I feel like these wards are like my wards back home sometimes. Elder Isom and I blessed the sacrament in both of our Spanish wards too and taught both of the gospel principle classes too. I realized that before yesterday I had never blessed the sacrament in Spanish which I find a little funny.

Even though our lessons were few this week I would say it was a successful week because I finally had a baptism Saturday. I will try to put pictures up today but it was a very spiritually baptism and meant a lot to me sense it had been a while since I have had a baptisms in the area I serve in. Edith Rodriguez the girl that got baptized was the happiest girl person in the world that day. After the baptism we had a stake Cinco de Mayo party that we went to which was the biggest church party I have ever seen! They had a whole show full of cultural dances and a mariachi band that was so sweet!

That was everything that I can remember right now that happened during the week and I am still praying that I can have another transfer with my companion before he takes off to Argentina. I will know next Monday what will happen with our next transfer and I will talk to you all in 6 days. I can't wait to hear from you all and hear how weird Avery and Logan are going to sound. I love you all and be safe.

Love
Elder Breinholt

Tuesday, May 7, 2013

May 6 2013

Buenos Diaz,

     I got a letter from dad this week so I am just going to send my letter to him this time since I know mom is busy. Before I say anything just want to give a shout out to Derek and wish him good luck on the long summer ahead. Alli I hope you stay busy so that he doesn't feel like he is gone for forever.  The good news is its only for a couple months instead of a couple years right? Also about the whole mothers day thing. I decided I am just not going to call home so I can stay a little bit more focused out here.... NOT I will be calling around 4 pm if that's ok. I'll call that morning to make sure its ok and if you guys have come up with a better time to do it just let me know when call, but i cant do it from 9 am to 3 pm because I will be in church those hours.

   Speaking about church, yesterday I was in church literally all day for about 8 hours or so. Talked about being exhausted.. I did figure out though that it is easier to fast all day when you partake of the sacrament 3 times. We got a new bishopric in one of our Spanish wards yesterday which was kind of sad because I loved the bishop in that ward. Its funny because I feel like these wards are like my wards back home sometimes. Elder Isom and I blessed the sacrament in both of our Spanish wards too and taught both of the gospel principle classes also. I realized that before yesterday I had never blessed the sacrament in Spanish before which I found a little funny.

   Even though are lessons were few this week I would say it was a successful week because I finally had a baptism Saturday. I will try to put pictures up today but it was a very spiritually baptism and meant a lot to me sense it had been a while since I have had a baptisms in this area I serve in. Edith Rodriguez the girl that got baptized was the happiest girl person in the world that day. After the baptism we had a stake Cinco de Mayo party that we went to which was the biggest church party I have ever seen!  They had a whole show full of cultural dances and a mariachi band that was so sweet!

     That was everything that I can remember right now that happened during the week and I am still praying that I can have another transfer with my companion before he takes off to Argentina. I will know next Monday what will happen with our next transfer and I will talk to you all in 6 days. I cant wait to hear from you all and hear how weird Avery and Logan are going to sound.  I love you all and be safe.

                     love,

                          Elder Breinholt

Monday, April 29, 2013

April 29

I sometimes don't even know where to start when I sit down to type sometimes. I totally forgot that I am going to be calling in two weeks on Mother's Day. I don't mean this in a bad way, but it almost just feels normal now to just live away from you guys and do what I do all day long. Of course I always miss you guys but I just don't think about home anymore since it doesn't help too. I am hoping in the next couple of weeks though to send home some extra stuff in a box that I have just collected since I have been out here. There was a yard sale a couple house down the street from where we live this week and I got some really cool old church books there for a dollar each! I got a old Hymn book that is a red color and a really old missionary handbook with scriptures in it that they used back in the day.

There were some great things and some bad things that happened this week. Yesterday between 3 different wards we had 8 investigators at church and we are teaching 3 families that are really interested and I think will all get baptized one day. We are still having a baptism this weekend for Edith Rodriguez. Also if you guys still remember the Garcia family that I used to teach in this area and they go to a different ward, they decided to hear from the missionaries in that area after church instead. They are also getting baptized this weekend, even though it isn't our baptism. I am still happy that in the end they are getting baptized.

Ever since I have been in this area I have been praying so hard and trying so hard to get the members active in the week. Well, my prayers were answered this week with one of the stake presidents over the Sharon Park Spanish ward that we cover. They had a meeting with someone high up in the church and let's just say that he is more pumped than ever to do missionary work. My companion and I gave talks in that Spanish ward yesterday and after our talks he stood up and straight up told the members that they need to find people for us to teach, they are to fill up are planners everyday! ha-ha it was a missionaries dream come true to hear the stake president say that. On top of that we finally had someone called Sunday as a ward missionary leader in our other Spanish ward, so we finally will start having support from that ward too.

I have said this before, but I am really happy right now and am so happy with the companion I have right now. We have so much fun together and get along great. I am praying a ton that my companion doesn't get his visa and he is praying a ton that he gets it, so we will see who's faith is stronger... ha-ha. I went on splits with one of the English Elders this week and we thought about going over to my companions house to have dinner with his family, but I just decided to wait until he leaves. I finally got the video from him of when he scared me with a snake after I was saying my nightly prayers, so I will send that to you right now. Tell Robby that I love him and that I hope he can make in another 9 years living in this crazy family. I love you guys and you guys have been amazing lately with writing me letters thank you soo much. Keep it up!

Monday, April 22, 2013

April 22

Dear Family and Friends, April 22, 13

This week I must say felt longer then usually, but it had some great highlights to it. Katie and Blair I hope that baptism goes through this week and you guys are having contact with them every day so that Satan can't come. I would love to hear from all of you guys on how your missionary experiences are going. Since we are already on the subject I just want to bring up that I had the opportunity to hear a fireside this week from Clayton Christensen who wrote a book about being a member missionary. He is a very big guy at Harvard university and is a Emeritus from the quorum of the seventy. I guess the book is pretty popular right now. He really opened my mind up though about the way to share the gospel with others. I got to go up and talk with him after and he gave me his email address and said that he would send me a free book if I tell him were to send it. So I think I am going to have him send it to the house so that one of you there can read it and pass it around.

The biggest highlight of this week was the lesson we had with the Rodriguez family this week. Saturday night we had the best lesson yet with them and the spirit was soo strong! At the end of the lesson the daughter who hasn’t been baptized yet told us that she was now ready to be baptized! So I then invited her to be baptized on May 4th, and she said yes!! If this goes through it will be the first baptism that I have had in the area I am serving in the last 4 months. I did have some baptism in here when I first came into this area, but it just isn't the same since I had no idea who they really were and had never taught them. The Lord is really blessing me right now and the other family that we have been teaching actually went to church this Sunday which is a great sign too!

I just want to end and share my testimony with you all about something that hit me hard this week. Before my mission I can say that I had a strong testimony in the church, but now that I look back it didn’t really have a strong foundation. I believed in Joseph Smith and the priesthood, but I had never really questioned if it was true or false. Since I have been out on my missions I have had lots of opportunities to really question if the things in the church are true and through those questions I have really received my own personal answers about lots of the teachings in the church are true and that without a shadow of a doubt this church is true.

Also an investigator said something to me this week that he is very happy with his life right now and receives lots of blessings in his life and couldn’t ask for more. I really pondered about it and my companion and I were talking about how blessings are very, very important and helpful in our lives, but they are not the big picture. The big picture in our lives is to achieve eternal life and live in the presence of God. Knowing what we know that we must make certain covenants with God, so that we can show we want to follow him and use the power of the atonement to help us return back to him one day. There are lots of things in our lives where we get caught up in those little principles and things that don’t really mean much, and if we would only step back and look at the BIG picture of things then we would be more at ease and realize the things we really need to do and why! I know that through the ordinances that are restored in the gospel that we can obtain Eternal Life and live with God one day. I also know that everything in our lives happens for a reason and that God has his time for everything and already has everything mapped out, but we just need to be patient and steadfast. I know that we can receive personal revelation in our lives and have a personal relationship with God. If you don’t feel strong on a principle in the gospel, study it, pray about it, and I know that you will receive the answer and testimony you want and need. I love you all and hope all choose the right this week. I leave my testimony with you in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

Love,

Elder Breinholt

Monday, April 15, 2013

April 15

Que tal?

I can't believe how much is changing back home every single week. It blows my mind and I still can't get a finger around it all. I am always getting emails from people about their mission calls and then I feel like I'm not even going to recognize the house or the people that live in it when I return. The best part about it all is it's only been 9 months! I feel like since I have been out here in the mission it has changed A LOT from when I first came out as well. For example, this last Thursday we just received information on new changes that we will have.

First was about the music rule. We are now aloud to listen to any type of music that is uplifting, not just music by the church. (So that means I will be looking in the mail every day for a CD from you guys with some kind of country music and what not that is uplifting:)

The next thing was the jacket code. We no longer have to wear jackets from conference to conference all winter long. It is now whatever you and your companion decide on wearing for the day. The bad news that we received though was the new policy on gyms. We are no longer allowed to go to public gyms in the morning to work out. So right now my motivation to get up and work out is horrible, but my companion and I have been trying to just get up and go to a church nearby and shoot hoops or something in the morning.

Now it's time for the BIG news that we received. We were informed that within the next couple of months this mission will be a trail/pilot mission for the church. EVERY single missionary will received a tablet (probably a mini I pad) and those will be our new planners! We will also be able to do our area books in them and have a GPS system that we can use. Everything that has to do with paper in the mission will now be done on these tablets. I am so excited and we should receive them sometime in June or maybe sooner. Like I said in my letter last week there are just so many bonuses/blessings from serving in this mission. I still haven't used any gift cards that you guys sent me because every time I try to go to the place and use it somebody pays for us!

OK, enough with that stuff and time to talk about the work this week. I wish that I could explain the way this area was when I first got here, but the best word to use is just crap. My last companion and I did work hard to try to get it going, but we still didn't see much success. But every since Elder Isom has been here its has gotten a hundred times better. This week we put 2 people on date for May 4th, and found someone else while tracking that has a lot of potential. Even though it is a lot better, there are still times where I have no one else to teach or place to go and have ran out of ideas. It is never fun to be in that position for the day and I feel bad for my companion since he is still just so pumped up to teach and always wants to be teaching , I have been doing the best I can to keep us busy.

You might have already heard but I had to go to the MTC for my companion Wednesday and I ended up seeing pretty much everyone I knew in there. I saw Brandon Brinkerhoff, Tyler Hatch, Jason Web, and Troy Hicks! It was crazy to see all of them, and I had a great experience being able to talk with all of them especially Troy in there. That Elder is a stud like always and his Spanish is actually pretty good for just having about 7 weeks or so in the MTC.

I noticed this week especially, that now when I speak Spanish and teach in a lesson I don't even think about the words they just come out. The hardest thing with serving in the states in Spanish is trying to learn more words since I never get to order anywhere in Spanish.

Also before I forget I wanted to tell you about a game that my companion and I are playing where we are trying to always scare each other throughout the day. The other night he got me so bad after I had just finished my nightly prayer and I went to jump in bed and he had put a fake snake in it! He got it on tape and I will try to send it to you today. That is all I can remember right now about this week, but I am doing great! The only thing that could be better is baptism right now which I am trying so hard to make happen. But like always the Lord has a time for it all and I hope that time is soon.

Love you all and try not to refurbish or buy too many crazy things this week. ha-ha I hope you guys are all working on that commitment I left you with too:)

Love,

Elder Cory Breinholt

Monday, April 8, 2013

April 8

How's it going party family, April 8,13

This week has felt very long for some reason, but I think the least stressful I have ever felt my whole mission. I can picture in my head all of you guys racing around Disneyland and Knott's Berry Farm all day. It sounds like the kids had a blast though and weren't ready to go back home on the car ride back. ha. I received my new companion Wednesday this week. His name is Elder Isom from Provo Utah! yes Provo, he is waiting to receive his visa so that he can head on out to Argentina. He is awesome and we are very alike and both love golf and fishing! It seems like such a long time ago since I came out of the MTC, but at the same time it seems like it was just the other day, weird right? His Spanish is ok kind of like mine was I guess, but I am trying to only speak Spanish with him to help him out (unlike my trainer). We have both been working hard this week and can see our obedience already bringing blessings in just the first week! We put someone on date this week for May 4 and found 3 new investigators to teach.

On top of it all, the Rodriguez family who we have been teaching for a long time and just needed to get married, went to the Sunday morning session of conference which was perfect for them. There were a couple of talks that were about getting married and what kind of husband or wife you should be. The only bad part was they didn't get any translators and since it is in English they didn't understand much, but I know that they still felt the spirit there. I had the opportunity to go to SLC to attend conference at the Saturday morning session and I sat about 10 rows back from the front! It was awesome! We took the light rail down there and then just walked two blocks up to temple square. Somehow everyone in our group that we went with missed the train home and me and another Elder were the only ones that made it on, ha-ha. I have some pictures of it all that I will try to put up today. I don't know if you all noticed, but there was a bold theme this conference. It was centered around missionary work! Wonderful right! One of the big things about missionary work was the importance of being a member missionary. So with that said, I have a challenge for all of you back home. I challenge all of you in the next 3 weeks to invite someone to meet with the missionary's and have them take the lessons in your house so that you can be a great fellowshiper for them. It would be best if it could be someone that lives next to you like a neighbor so that the missionaries in your area can teach them and then they could go to church with you. I know that you guys have busy lives and all, but if you want more blessings in your life and help with the trail you may be going through then fulfill this commitment I have for you.

Especially for all of you that have served missions you know the importance of it and how it can bless your life. We have a perfect example of the blessings of this work in our family as we have a wonderful sister n law Kristin who is a convert to the church. This work is powerful, real, and is now being pushed more then ever by the leaders of our church. So follow the words of the prophet and be a member missionary, not just by finding referrals for the missionaries which is great too, but be a fellowshiper. I know that you all can have these experiences in your life if you just pray for them and ask the Lord to allow you to have a missionary experience in your life. I can't wait to get these conference talks next week and help the members in the wards I cover so that they can become better member missionaries too. I would love it if you all wrote me about the experiences you have over the next couple of weeks as you try to share your testimonies to others. Maybe for Family home evening tonight you all can have Blair, Craig, and Derek teach you how to come about a conversation with your neighbors and do role plays with you. ha-ha

Monday, March 25, 2013

March 25

How's it going?

Every single letter that I have been getting lately dad is buying something new. I am not sure if business is doing that much better now or if it is the fact that there aren't very many kids in the house anymore he has all this extra money floating around. ha-ha That truck is awesome though. I want to take it down the street for a ride so bad! Also I can't believe Pampa is finally selling those cars. Is he still keeping that blue corvette thing he had in the other garage because if not I will take that one off his hands! ha-ha By the way dad the garage looks cleaner then I have ever seen it in my whole life. Now it won't be so embarrassing to when I open it up to get something out when I have a friend or someone with me. I am sorry about the pictures also, I forgot my camera at home so I can't put any up today but don’t worry I am going golfing today so I will have plenty for ya'll next week.

There were some amazing things that happened this week and I hope that I can explain what happened without destroying it with my horrible typing. I was asked to go to a leadership meeting that we had Thursday this week and in the meeting we got to hear from the guy that was the mission president in California as they filmed the district 2 (the missionary "show" that they have on the BYU channel now). He introduced to us a new way that we are now going to be teaching as missionaries. Yes, they are now changing the way we teach as missionaries... It isn't a really dramatic change, but he put it as "we are now hastening the work, and we now need to hasten the way we teach too so that we can prepare even more people for bap". We still have the normal lesson in preach my gospel, but we are now authorized to teach every single lesson with the pamphlet that they church has.

my whole mission so far I have always used the pamphlet as a homework assignment in a way where I give it to someone to read. now, we teach with the pamphlet, but we do not read it page by page with them. You are suppose to use the pictures they have and the little boxes on the page if you want to add more information. It is suppose to be a very basic and quick way to teach though and we CANNOT be in a house longer then 20-25 minutes without asking them to be baptized if they find these things to be true. I know that isn't very new and its always been said to be done, but now it is strongly being enforced. There were many other things that we learned that we need to do with the book of Mormon and when we teach someone to pray and or the atonement but I will not be able to explain it very well over text. All in all though this new way of teaching we were introduced to is remarkable and I absolutely love it! My companion and I have been doing it in every single lesson now and it is amazing how much stronger the spirit is and how much the investigators are really understanding it. I know that it is revelation from God and it is going to speed up the work in this mission tremendously.

On top of that amazing meeting I received a call later that night from a less active in my last area that I was working with and is a good friend, he told me that Saturday he was going to be sealed to his wife and kids in the temple and he wanted me to come and be one of the witnesses. That was a amazing experience for me and a one of the most sacred experiences I have ever had in the temple. With anyone we teach out here that is the end goal that we want to see them partake of, being sealed to their families for time and all eternity. On top of that (it felt like the blessings never stopped this week) I received another call from my last companion in my last area about this lady Isabel Cruz and her sister Maria De los Angeles. I have talked about them before and this family is very important to me since my companion and I found them my first week in the field and I taught them for 5 ½ months. Anyway I was told that they finally want to get baptized and are getting baptized this Wednesday at 7!! You have no idea how happy I was when I heard that news, it really made me feel like all those prayers and hard work I have put forth towards them as finally paid off... What an amazing feeling of joy that is and it is the reason why all of us are out here so that we can see the joy in other people's lives though this gospel.

I have one more week left of this transfer and then I find out this upcoming Monday if I am staying here (which I think I am) and keeping my companion. I think I am actually going to be receiving a new companion, maybe even training finally but we will find out soon. I love you guys soo much and wish me luck on my golf game today!

love,

Elder Breinholt

p.s. just a reminder for all of you out there! girls, boys, men, woman! especially to the woman my address is:

Monday, March 18, 2013

March 18, 2013

Buenos Diaz familia, March 18, 13

It sounds like mom tried too many crazy foods and ended up getting the revenge from it. I feel really bad for Avery and I hope that she is feeling better. I fell like that girl is always sick! She needs to go outside and roll around in the dirt more or something so that she can build up that immune system! Ha-ha I also feel bad for Robert because spending spring break at home isn’t always the best. I hope that little guy is doing alright and maybe I will get a little from him soon. Dad I am glad that you are really busy with work and I think we have switched places lately where I done have any work and have been doing everything I can to find some. I don’t know if you guys heard but Brooke Webster got her mission call to Atlanta, Georgia and leaves July 10th. There are soo many Hermana’s that are coming out in this mission within the next 2 transfers it's kind of scary! Just wanted to make sure that Haley Brown and Brittany Breinholt get a shout out also and that I wish them the best on their missions.

Since nothing has really changed this week I done have much to say but I do have high hopes for this next coming week. After waiting 4 weeks we finally just got a list from both of our Spanish wards yesterday with all the less actives in the ward on it. I am way excited and happy that we have more things to do because I need a break of knocking random doors. The highlight of this week for me I guess was when I we went to the Timpanogas temple Tuesday morning. I am not sure if any of you have been there but soo far that is the most beautiful temple I have ever seen in person. I was blown away at the architecture and stain glass in that temple. It is amazing to be able to go to the temple while I am on my mission as many people do not have the chance too. There are soo many bonuses to serving here and I am sold that this is and will always be the best mission ever no matter what. For the first time ever we were walking the other day and some lady pulled over and gave my companion and I both 20 bucks so that was pretty sweet. Also I we had dinner with a family this week and guess what they are big into golf. So if course I worked my magic and booyaah we are going golfing next Monday for p-day. Words can’t even explain at how excited I am and I can wait to see how bad I have gotten! ha-ha

That’s all I have for today and I hope that I have more for you all next week. Keep up the fun BBQ's and exciting trips and all the crazy things you guys do. I miss you all and hope that I can see that truck done by the time I return maybe. ha-ha

sincerely,

Elder Breinholt (aka la patron de Utah)

Wednesday, March 13, 2013

3/10/13–8 MONTHS DOWN

Buenos Diaz!

What a week. Can you believe that I have been out for 8 months today! It's crazy and the time is going by too fast. I still have so many things that I still want to accomplish and yeah my Spanish is fine and I can speak it, but there is always room for improvement. This week has been long but short at the same time. We still go out and tract everyday and we found 4 new people that we can start teaching but will see how it all ends up. This week I was really frustrated for some reason and I felt like my patience were defiantly being tested a little bit more. I am trying to invite the spirit in my life more and more so that instead of teaching and talking with more knowledge I can have more power behind it through the Holy Ghost. It is so true that someone can teach with simple words and have it be so powerful, just from the spirit they bring. It all starts with humbling yourself even to the dust of the earth as it says in Alma 34:38.

Sometimes I get so stressed out from not feeling like we are teaching enough people or not doing something the right way. I have come to a conclusion that as long as I just do what I am suppose to be doing and be a good boy I don't need to worry because the Lord will help me with the rest. Sometimes I do feel like we're not making a difference at all when we are walking around and knocking on doors and having zero success, but I know that if we show that we are working and have a desire too, the Lord will help us in the end. I mean were making more of a difference then just sitting on the couch in are apartment and doing nothing! ha As you can probably tell I just had a whole week of me feeling like a didn't make a difference at all and its hard of course when I really am trying all I can and am trying to help this work move forward.

Yes it wasn't the best week, BUT it did end very well and like always the Lord gave me the strength and hope that I needed at the perfect time like he always does. I had the opportunity Saturday to go to a baptism for someone that I taught in my last area for 5 and 1/2 months. I have to say that so far in my whole entire mission I have never felt the spirit so strong and had so much joy in my heart as I did at this baptism. It was for a man Francisco Valle who has been waiting and waiting for this day to come in his life as he has had to wait 3 years to be released from probation. He asked me to give the talk on the Holy Ghost and man for some reason I was more nervous than I am when I give a talk in sacrament meeting! ha As I watched him be dunked under the water and rise up again I will tell you that it was probably in the top 10 moments of the strongest I have ever felt the spirit in my life. The best part too is that I will still be on the mission when he gets sealed in the temple with his wife and will be able to go to it!

I want every single one of you back home to know how much I love this gospel and I will defend it until the day that I die. I am soo grateful for the trials that I have so that I can be more deeply converted and realize where my faults are. I know that Jesus is that Christ and he is my best friend. Never in my life have I been comforted more by the Holy Ghost then my times here in my mission. Remember that the Lord doesn't ever owe you anything. He doesn't owe me anything after serving him for two years. I always owe something to him... I love you all so much and you guys are the best support ever! Thank you for your words of encouragement.

Elder Breinholt

Monday, March 4, 2013

March 4, 2013

QUE TAL MIS AMIGOS!

I must say that my week hasn't been full of crazy and exciting events like moms has. The big question is what kind of trip is dad going to go on with out mom or is he just going to buy another toy and call it even... haha I'm just playing. Mom i am jealous but I'm sorry when it comes to seeing the Latino culture i have you beat! haha Thank you so much by the way for the big box of food. It came in a heater box so i was a little scared that for a seconded you really did send me a heater until i found all of the good food and 20 boxes of fattening cookies for me to eat. Its OK though because i go to the gym 6 days a week and am running a ton. I am feeling pretty prime right now and have the biggest pechos i have ever had.

My companion and I are doing fantastic and we have a wonderful relationship. Yeah he says a lot of bad words but i finally got him to turn off the radio! Mom if you would have called the mission home on that i would have been pretty upset. With all of my companions they always have some kind of habit but it just takes time and you having to earn there trust first before you can bring it up and discuss things. We had a zone conference Tuesday and it was just what i needed. Like always i learned things that i can improve on but also i realized how awesome it is to be living at this time. We watched a video by Elder Nelson in the quorum talking about how in the last general conference when the announced the age change for missionaries that, that meeting was the most important meeting he had been at in his whole life.. and that we are in the middle of history. We have gone from running a Marathon to sprinting with the missionary work. There was one thing that he said that stuck out to me a ton and has made a impression on me. He said " the missionaries in the world today are now paving the road for the second coming." How amazing is that to be able to help prepare the way for the savior. This helped me realized even more of how important this work is that i am doing and that it should not be taken lightly at all. i have always know that but it is always great to be reminded of things and have a different perspective.

So i want to tell if two little miracles that happened to me this week. We have been struggling to find people to teach and i have been praying harder then ever so that we can find new people. Well we received a call Wednesday from a man in the ward who is the only member in his family and he told us that is wife who has had a hard time accepting the Church, is finally OK with allowing there 12 year old son and 9 year old daughter be baptized as long as they want to. What an amazing call to receive has a missionary and has we went over there to start teaching them we did realized that is it mot going to be easy as this 12 year old boy boy Brandon and his sister Andrea want to take there own time and they aren't fully committed to wanting to be baptizes yet but that is OK with me and i am soo happy we have the opportunity to teach these kids. Also Friday we were driving around and i saw this Hispanic man outside racking his leaves and told my companion to pull over so that we could help him. So he did and we went over and started talking to the man and helping him with his yard. We were just about done when he told us, "I was just about to call you guys one of these days because i have been talking with my neighbor and i have some questions i would liked answered". So of course we were excited and made a time to come back and talk with him the next day. Well we went there the next day twice and both times no one answered and we didn't think much because Hispanics are the worst with having scheduled things. haha So Yesterday you can just say that we had the worst luck in the world and We had two investigators lie to us about some things and it was a little discouraging . It was pretty late and i was ready to give up on the day and go home when i finally turned the radio off in the car and said a prayer. After The prayer My companion and i both thought that we should go stop by Albertos house the man that we helped with his leaves. To are surprise they opened up the door and were really happy to see us! We were there for about 30 minutes and probably had the best lesson we have had with someone yet. This man and his wife are really wanting to learn more and i have a really good feeling about them. I walked out of that lesson so grateful and feeling a lot better about the day. All in all it was just what i needed and i felt even better knowing that the lord is still with us and cares about us. It was another stepping stone to streghthening my testimony.

I am loving everyday out here and it is awesome because ever day is different and you never know when your going to knock on the wrong house and have it be full of people having a meeting for the catholic Church or have someone flip you off as you are driving. There is always fun adventures and that's the best part about it all. I love you guys and mom be safe on your trip and also i was wondering the other day is that truck done yet!? i would love to see a picture of that thing. You guys have a good week and i am going to go try and see Cole in the mtc soon! haha

Sincerely,

Elder Cory Breinholt

P.S. Did i ever tell you that the only catholic church in all of Utah is right is the middle of my area. Awesome right!

Monday, February 25, 2013

February 25, 2013

Dear Family and Friends!

Honestly i don't know where to start right now. My whole life out here has taken a 180 degree turn. Also i got a call about a package Saturday so i am going to be getting it tomorrow at our zone conference. Allie i hope you had a amazing birthday and man i wish i could see yours and Derek's house. send me some pic's of it!

So Wednesday i moved into my new house in Orem and man is it the ugliest/oldest basement i have ever been in. haha On top of it i don’t think the carpets have been cleaned or even vacuumed for ten years or more! The have a really bad smell to them and every time i get out of the shower i try to tippy toe into my room and put socks on as fast as i can so i dont walk on the carpet bare foot! There were 3 baptisms scheduled with i got in this area and they successfully happened Saturday. It was a great feeling to come right into a area and have baptisms. It boosted my energy and desire up more and made me have a very positive look on this area, which is something that i need because now that those people were baptized they are literally only teaching 4 other people and that is it! Soo our teaching pool it tiny and we have a lot of work to do looking for new people to teach. This area is also at least twice the size or more then my last one and we cover 5 stakes and and 2 Spanish wards so this last Sunday we went to 2 churches back to back. it was great and we have about 4 correlation meetings a week which are kinda pointless right now since we only have about one person to report on at each correlation meeting.

I have a very funny story to tell you guys that happened Thursday night this week. My companion and i were visiting people so i could meet the new people in this area and we went by the Martinez family who had 2 kids that got bap. this last Saturday. I was sitting there talking with the mom and getting to know the whole family for a little bit and met Andrea who is 12 and Kevin who is 10 who were getting baptized this up coming Saturday. We were there for about 20 minutes and we my companion started asking questions about the there baptism coming up and he asked them who they would like to baptize them. The 12 year old girl Andrea says "well can anybody i want baptize me!?" And of course we explained that she could have anyone she wanted as long as they are a male that has the priesthood. Well right after we got done explaining she immediately stands up and points right at me and says "I want him to baptize me! " Well you can imagine the look on my face as i was shocked to death because i had only known this girl for 20 minutes or less! On top of it i felt a little bad since the missionary that had been teaching them and i came in and took his place, we are really good friends and we were in the same district together in the MTC. I tried talking her out of it and suggesting Elder Hill should do it since he had been teaching her but she was not going to change her answer, so this last Saturday I got to baptize Andrea Zulema Navarro Martinez. It was an amazing experience and I feel like that it is now my responsibility to look after this girl and make sure that she is always active on the church for the rest of her life. It was a very humbling and touching experience for me and am still wondering why this girl wanted me to baptize her.

Last of all i want to talk about my new companion Elder Arnett. He is from Louisiana, has about 3 months left in his mission, and is twice the size of me. He was state champion in wrestling 3 years in a row and lets just say you do know what to be on his bad side. To start he does not like talking to much, so our first day together not too much was said but things have been getting a lot better. We do have a car in this area, so i am not walking anymore, but my companion drives and just in the last 5 days we have almost been in 3 accidents. Oh and also he listens to the radio in the car (mostly the country stations) and lets just say you do not tell him to turn it off. So it looks like for the next transfer or so i might be having to deal with that and he does not like doing planning at all and doesn't care at all about what other people think. So looks like i am going to be in for the ride this next transfer and I hope i make it out alive! haha Also it is soo funny to hear him speak spanish because he has a thick south accent when he speaks English so he sounds really funny when speaking Spanish and the Latinos always give him weird looks when he starts talking. haha

That is everything major that has happened and i feel like i am going to be relying on my prayers a lot this transfer but in the end i am still excited and know that i am going to learn i lot from this transfer. I am so grateful for your prayers and i love you guys soo much. Have a wonderful week in the nice warm weather!

Elder Breinholt

P.S. I have been going to the gym every single morning since we have one right down the street from us and hopefully i will be able to get rid of my chimpmunk cheeks!!

Wednesday, February 20, 2013

February 18 2013

Time for change!

I felt really bad about not having a letter for you guys last week and I will try to fill all of you in on what's been going on lately.

I don't know if you remember me telling you that this transfer is only 5 weeks instead of 6 so today I got my transfer call and... yes, my time is done in this area and I am leaving. I am sad of course, because I will miss a lot of people but I am not going too far away. I am getting transferred to Sharon park in Orem! My companion is going to be Elder Arnett and from what I have heard he is a really good guy. I could just feel that I was going to change areas and that the Lord needed me somewhere else. I won't lie, I thought I was going to be a trainer this transfer but, President reminded me again today that he wants to use me to help uplift others so maybe one day I will have a son out here on the mission.

I hope that everyone had a wonderful Valentine's day and mom thank you for the goodies! You guys can send me any kind of goodies you want now because I am going to have a gym every morning in my new area. This area the past two weeks has been really good and we have been teaching more less active lessons than almost lessons to investigators, just in the last two weeks we have gotten 3 families to come back to church and it has opened up the doors for us to start teaching some of their kids that were never baptized. I have really seen more importantly then ever how important it is to teach less active members.

Also we had something amazing happen that I wanted to tell you about last week. Hopefully you remember the De La Rosa Family and how everyone in the family was baptized besides the mom. Well a miracle happened where the mom has a friend "Dulce" and her daughter living with them from Mexico. One day we went over there and started talking to her friend and she was interested about learning more right away, so we have been teaching them for the last couple of weeks and the mom has been sitting in on every lesson with her friend. It's amazing how the Lord works, since the mom wouldn't hear us out at all and now that her friend is interested she actually wants to learn more too. In my eyes this friend is a answer to many prayers.

Besides that we have found a couple more people to teach and are still planning on having two baptized at the end of the month. I can't think of anything else to say right now, but my head is still kind of going crazy thinking about my new area right now.

The hardest thinking about being in a area for too long is that it is so hard to leave and I am just hoping that I will have enough time tomorrow to say goodbye to everyone. I was shown once again though that God has a great sense of humo,r because I said yesterday that the one place I don't really want to go to is Orem and of course that's where I'm going! It's like the time I said, I don't want to serve a mission in Utah and then I got called there! ha-ha, but look at me now. I love this mission and I know that I will probably love it in Orem. I want to congratulate Derek and Alli in getting their house finally, and mom and dad with having another anniversary! I love you all and I want to hear how Coles farewell goes! Good luck Elder Stechnji and I know you will do great! Have a good week everyone and preach the word!

Elder Breinholt

Tuesday, February 12, 2013

February 11, 2013

Dear Family,

Well if you guys want to know of the worst thing that could ever happen. I was just about done typing my letter this week and all of a sudden everything I was typing just got erased. I feel horrible and I wish I could just re type it all for you again, but I don't have any more time. But I just want to say that Young I love you and I am proud that you made the right choice. Cole I am so excited for you to be up here soon! Cheyenne, that is awesome that you got your patriarchal blessing and always read it for guidance. and last dad I can't believe that mom out worked you with that trainer on your vacation! ha-ha its all good but the church is true and I love you all. I am sorry you can't hear about my week, but just know that is was really good and I saw some big blessings come through this week.

Elder BREINHOLT

Monday, February 4, 2013

February 4, 2013

Feliz Cumpleanos Papa!

By the sounds of it, you guys gave dad the best surprise party ever! That is so awesome and you ever thought of having the cop call and be there was a genius! I would have never thought of that! I wish I could have been there to see it all, but it's all good I guess.

I don't know if you remember me saying that I am done with the snow, but it came back to bit me in the butt this week! It snowed for two days straight here and the snow was deep! It is melting faster than it did before but I found out that it's pretty fun riding a bike in a foot and a half of powder. I just tried to visualize that I was snowmobiling and I got my own thrill out of it. ha-ha, My companion was hilarious to watch as he tried to ride in the snow. Just imagine a 250 pound Mexican riding a bike in the deep snow, I can't even count how many times he fell. The best one, was when we were trying to ride through these big piles of snow on the side of the roads and they were pretty soft to where you could just plow right through them. My companion was ridding as fast as he could into one and half way through he hit something hard in the middle and he FLEW over his handle bars and landed on his face! ( luckily he landed in the snow.) I was laughing soo hard though!! I love my companion though. He might say some weird things in the middle of a lesson sometimes and think he is a gangster from Cali, but he has a soft heart.

With teaching this week we had a wonderful lesson with Izabel Cruz who I have been teaching since I have been here and it was the first time I had ever seen here cry in a lesson. she is so ready to be baptized, but she just doesn't feel like she is herself because she says that sometimes she is just lazy and doesn't feel like going to church or reading every night. She doesn't realize that all of that is normal! ha-ha She had a boy friend though that is a member and was a horrible example to her and also broke her heart so that is another obstacle we are trying to tackle. She is going to meet with the Bishop of our ward this week to talk to him about it and get these feelings off her chest. We ended up dropping another investigator this week though. The worse part about it was is was a 10 year old girl! We have been teaching her for a month and a half and she is just not understanding anything we tell her. She has ADHD and said that she would love to be baptized, but she can't even comprehend the meaning of faith and won't give us any response back when we ask her a question. I honestly don't want to baptize a little girl if she doesn't even know what she is doing. We finally told the mom that she just needs to talk with her daughter about it all and call us when this week if she has agreed or not to work with us as we teach. Hopefully it can still work out in the end...

That is all the info I got for you peeps back home for now. Mom, Dad thanks for the sweet pic you sent me and be save out there on the slopes. I hope all of you that had birthdays last month and got my letters. But please pray for my investigators and especially Izabel Cruz, Maria De Los Angeles, and Hermana De la Rosa. I love you all!

Sincerely,

Elder Breinholt

Tuesday, January 29, 2013

January 28, 2013

Como esta mis gorditos, Jan 28, 13

This week was full of teaching and crying people unto repentance. I gave a talk in church yesterday and actually didn't mess up once with my Spanish so I felt pretty good with that. I talked about the atonement because I have been trying to get this ward more involved with doing missionary work. In Preach My Gospel, it says that as you come to understand the atonement your desire to share this message will grow and you will want to share this knowledge with others more. So that was my main focus on what I talked about. I closed with a scripture in Alma 38:9, that I have really come to love. As I have reflected on the life of Jesus Christ and thought about all the amazing things he did for us; and this is crazy to think, that if you just took the atonement out of his life, his whole life would have been meaningless for us. But the suffering that he went through the day before he died in the Garden was the most important thing. I don't know why, but that just really hit me this week as I was reading through Alma.

Things are looking a lot better with our investigators, but we still have a lot of improvement to make. We have one lady that wants to get baptized, but she needs to get a new job so that she can come to church. I think we found her one this week though, we just have to make sure she wants to do it. I have been so a lot happier lately, and have had a lot more confidence with teaching as I don't worry about the language and just talk as the Spirit directs. I have really grown to love teaching and I find it kind of fun talking with others and telling them new things that they have never heard before from a scripture or just being in a lesson when the Spirit is strong. It does get frustrating sometimes when people have doubts and they just can't get over them, but at the same time that's what makes it fun, and it makes you think a lot more and want to go out and read the scriptures more so that you can expand your knowledge.

Anyway I'm great, warm and enjoying everything. Sorry I totally forgot to tell you about seeing Elder Jacksons dad! He is a really nice guy and it was fun to be able to go out to lunch with him. We shared a lot of good stories and I hope he didn't say I was looking to fat. I'm trying to work out in our house in the mornings, but it's not the same as going to the gym. It stinks that I'm stuck at home, because if I want to go to the gym I have to pay 20 bucks a month and my companion doesn't want to pay that either.

DAD! I can't believe I'm missing your big 50! Man I have to make sure I do a lot of activities with you when I get home before you have a walker or something! ha-ha I'm kidding sorry that was rude. I just ran into Parker Schwartz here at BYU today, he went to Gilbert high and I use to run with him at Greenfield Jr. back in the day. He just got home from his mission from Texas and is up here going to school.

Well, you all be strong this week and stop praying for the snow if you could. I'm sick of it. ha-ha I love you all!

Elder Breinholt

P.S tell Brittany congratulations on the call. One of my favorite Elders out here is from Atlanta, Georgia and he is awesome. They only have the accents more in the South, but they still do love fried chicken so watch out! Also tell Stephen and Cole to write me!

Wednesday, January 16, 2013

January 14, 2012–6 Months

Six Months! Jan 14, 13

I finally it the quarter mark in the mission and I got to burn one of my ties! It was a fun experience and I did it with an Elder I was in the MTC with. Mom I thought I told you that I enjoyed everything from Christmas. I don't really know what to do with the bowls and cups so I bet the people we live with will like them! ha-ha Also tell Susan Haviland thank you for the cereal and letter. I am definitely going to write Hayden too! I also got those ear muffs the other day and man they help a lot!

Things are changing up here in the mission with transfers this Wednesday and I have been thinking of ways I can improve some of my weaknesses and pick our area up some more. I am staying in my area again for another transfer and my new companion is Elder Ruiz, who I have met before and I am excited to work with him! I know that if we work really hard these next couple of weeks we can definitely have baptisms by the end of the transfer. This transfer is only going to be 5 weeks long though so we are going to need to work our butts off. I think this transfer is going to help me a lot though since I am the only one that knows the area and it will give me a good opportunity to step up and take the lead on some things. Elder Cerberus my companion is going to be a zone leader though so I am happy for him since he has been trying hard to be obedient and achieve that.

This week with the work we not too much has changed. We brought the bishop over to one of our investigators homes that we have been trying for forever to baptize and they go to church all the time, but just can't commit. I think that visit was good for them though and this Sunday especially because a lot of members in the ward really made them feel welcomed. We have a guy named Mario who we are hoping will get baptized within the next month but he still won't come to church so we will have to work with him more but we have a good relationship with him now. The only thing that was a little sketchy was that our investigator that gets off parole in February and wants to take his own time with the discussions, his wife told him that if he doesn't get baptized that she will divorce him...soo that wasn't good. The one thing he didn't want was to feel pressured into getting baptized so that almost killed it for him, but we had a good talk with the family and I think everything will be ok.

Last night I got the chance to hear from Dieter F. Uchtdorf at a fireside and I learned a lot from his talk. It was all about finding the truth of things out for yourself. He talked about how too many people in the church rely on the church leaders and have so much trust in them that whatever they say must be right. In the world especially on the Internet now, we can get our hands on a lot of information and some of it is true, some false, and some false with a little truth. The best way to learn for yourself is to be cautious and let the Holy Ghost dictate what is right and true. That is just another wonderful tool of the Holy Ghost, that we can feel it if worthy what is right or wrong when we don't have the evidence right there when we need it to prove it.

I learned something this week about gifts. Not real gifts but gifts from our Heavenly Father. There are so many gifts that we can have in our lives that are available to us. We already have them but we just need to seek for them and pray for them in our lives. Like the gift of patience. some people say that they just weren't born with patience, ha well you have it you just need to seek and pray for it and be worthy to receive it. I love the opportunity that I have right now in my life to learn so much and to practice and work at a lot of things. I feel like there is always one thing big that I learn every week and it usually comes from just reading the scriptures and discussing it with others.

Dad I hope that your voice gets better and I didn't know that it was so bad. I have been meaning to get letters to all you that have birthdays this month. Craig's happy late birthday and I hope it went well. Kristin, Derek and Dad happy birthday to you all and I can't believe that my dad is going to be 50 this month! man that's old! ha-ha I'm just kidding but I love you all and if you have time go online and watch the broadcast of that fireside.

Take care!

Elder Breinholt