Hat Trick + Almost One

Hello Family,

Unfortunately I haven't been able to host anyone yet. You can't do that until you have been here for 7 weeks, so I won't be able to host Brendan or Jase. Thanks for the stamps and envelopes, they got ehre just in time. Also thankyou for the candy. I weighed myself on Sunday and I have offically gained 2 pounds...kinda lame. Yeah Casey taught me a couple of weeks ago, it was kind of wierd, but it was still cool. We see each other all the time. As far as how much Spanish I am speaking, we have a goal in our district not to speak English. So I really only speak English when I forget, when I am explaining something gramatically to someone or when I am talking to someone who doesn't speak spanish. I find myself stating off conversations in Spanish, forgetting that the other person doesn't speak spanish. It is hard sometimes, but I like it. I can't talk as much as I normally would and it is forcing me to listen. I listen and learn. I am in an intermmediate class, so is Casey. there are 3 levels of spanish at the MTC, beginner, intermediate and advanced. The advanced is the native speakers, so I got into as high of a level of spanish as was possible. That was not a good sentence, sorry. So for a schedule it usually goes like this.
6:30 - wake up
7:00 - personal study in the classroom
7:45 - Breakfast
8:25 - Gym
9:45 - Class
12:30 - Lunch
1:15 - MDT (we choose what we want to study and we don't have to be in the classroom) For MDT I usually do a half hour of spanish Book of Mormon out loud, then a half hour of Preach My Gospel study, then a half hour studying vocab (40 words a day), then a half hour spanish grammar from our text books, then a half hour study in the english Book of Mormon. When I have more time then I start the process over again. We also try to go contacting, we try for 16 contacts a week where we share a scripture and our testimony in spanish.
5:30 - Dinner
6:15 - Class
9:00 - Planning Session ( we plan what we are going to do for MDT the next day and write down the schedule)
9:30 - Be back in the residence (write in journal, extra study...)
10:30 - Lights out
Once a week we teach a full lesson to an investigator in the TRC, and twice a week we go to the RC to make calls (in spanish) to people who have ordered things from the Church. On Thursdays we have service in the morning where we go and clean one of the buildings, and then on Thursday nights we have gym at 8. Night gym is the absolute best. We play soccer on the big field under the stadium lights, in spanish. The Best. It's pretty much go, go, go, from 6:30 to 9:30 all day every day. I hope that answers any questions. By the way my new teachers do not include Hno. Burrup, he teaches beginner spanish. I have actually only gotten 1 or 2 nosebleeds so far. I have been trying to dink a lot of water because they happen more often when I am dehydrated, and it is really easy to get dehydrated here. If you do send another package, could you send one of my long sleeve t shirts? Probably the navy blue cable bridge run one, it is starting to get colder here. As far as food goes I'm pretty set, but if you were to send food I would want healthy things like granola bars and trail mix as opposed to candy. We only have an hour to be in our rooms (where our food is) after the day is over and eating a ton of sugar makes it hard to go to sleep. Could you send me a couple talks please? The first one is by Marion G. Romney called "The Light of Christ," it is from April 1977. Also "Tjhe Spirit World, Our Next Home" by Dale Mouritsen. Thanks. OOO the 2nd best thing happened on Monday, I scored a hat trick. 3 goals, it was the best gym ever. 2 in the large field and then when everyone left early I joined a different game and scored in it too. I almost had four, but an elder jumped up and blocked it with his chest, then I kicked to rebound but the goalie just barely tipped it. The 1st best thing was that on Tuesday Elder Holland came! My district was ushers for it too, so we got really good seats. I don't have enough time to talk about it here, so I will talk more about it in the letter. I will also send the SD card with the letter. Thank you so much for everything. I try to pray for you all everyday, I love you so much.

Braden

Gifts

Dear Family-
This week for personal study I have been studying spiritual gifts. Usually for personal study (45 minutes before breakfast when we have to be in the class room) I pick something interesting and research it. So for spiritual gifts (Moroni 10:8-18, D&C 46:11-33, 1 Corinthians 12) I learned some cool thinks. Faith is not something we can gain for ourselves. It is a gift from God to those who qualify for it. Also every single person is given a gift of the spirit, be it faith, healing power, power to be healed, gift of languages or interpretation of languages or some other miraculous gift. We all have one. But do you know what they are for? D&C 46:12, 26. They are for others, so that God may show forth His power through us. And we can all gain more than 1 gift if we ask. But we must ask with the intention to use the gift for the purpose it was intended, to edify others. That is sometimes hard for me because I want the gift of languages because i think it would be cool. Because I want to speak Spanish. Or so that I'm not embarrassed when I get down to Mexico. But I will never receive the gift unless it is so that I can preach the good news of the Gospel of Jesus Christ to the children of Lehi in their native tongue. It is like this so that God will only give extra gifts to those who are truly humble and submissive. In this way God can "call upon the weak things of the world, those who are unlearned and despised, to thrash the nations by the power of (His) Spirit; and their arm shall be my arm, and I will be their shield and their buckler; I will gird up their loins and they shall fight manfully for me; and their enemies shall be under their feet..."(D&C 35:13-14)
How awesome is that promise? If we can simply submit to the will of the Father, Christ will preserve us by the fire of his indignation.
I love scriptures like that. Well, I love you all and hope you are all doing well. There is a reason for everything, we just have to find it. Also, could you send me some inspirational quotes? I love quotes. There is one that says something like "It is not that we are weak that scares us, our greatest fear is that we are powerful beyond belief..." Something like that. It is a long one. I think it is by Ghandi. Also ask Cameron to send me some good running quotes, those are always good. Thanks.
Love,
Braden

Studying My Brains Out...

Hello Family!

I loved the Krispy Kremes they were super good, thank you to Sis. Hare. I need earplugs because when I get back from class at 9:30 we have an hour to write in our journals and do whatever personal things we need to do. I actually write in my journal and do personal study from Jesus the Christ and other books, but a lot of other Elders don't, and they are loud sometimes. The earplugs help me concentrate. I'm sure whichever school Joe and Darci decide to go to it will be the one God wants for them. Speaking of the Hills, I see Paul sometimes. At the Sunday night devotional last Sunday he played the piano with a cellist and a vocalist, they played I Know My Redeemer Lives and it was probably the best special musical number I've heard in the MTC. The speaker asked them to do an encore for the closing hymn. I was sitting on the front row so I got to see everything really well.

Well this week was crazy. Sunday especially because my district had to put on a Sacrament Meeting for the cafeteria workers who had to work on Sunday. They told us maybe an hour before the meeting was supposed to start. We had to come up with two talks, music, and the sacrament. I haven't played piano for 2 months, but I played the prelude music although it wasn't very good. That is motivation for Kolby, and also Cameron to learn the piano. You never know what the Lord might require, so you might as well be prepared to do anything. Playing piano is super useful, because even here at the MTC there are not very many people that can play. So I played prelude, and gave a talk. I converted my talk from Spanish to English and it was weird teaching in English. My talk was on spiritual gifts. After that we had to hurry to make it to Priesthood on time, where I was asked to lead music. Playing music in front of people is so scary.

I had 2 more goals and a couple more assists this week. But last Monday was super frustrating. I had 3 shots go off the post, 1 off the cross bar, and 2 a couple inches wide. I should have had 6 or 7 goals...but oh well, I guess that is how the Lord is teaching me humility. Soccer is fun, but the gym is opening soon so I will probably be playing basketball soon.

We don't know why we are being transferred zones, but it is probably to save classrooms. The MTC is the fullest it has ever been and it keeps getting more full. Bad English I know, but I'm learning Spanish so I don't care. It hasn't happened yet so I don't know how it will go. We combine tomorrow with another district so we will have 14 in the new district.

By the way, Mom, one thing that helped me come to love the Isaiah chapters is the fact that we are the house of Israel. When Isaiah is talking to the Israelites, he is talking to us. All of the promises and rebukes apply to us. It's not just Jews and Gentiles, it's believers and non-believers. Isaiah was one of Christ's favorite prophets (look it up in 3 Nephi). Melissa, I don't know if you already have but read from 3 Nephi 11 through 27. That whole things talks about when Christ comes to the Americas, it is one of my favorite passages. Cameron, D&C is awesome, there is so much in there that is so deep and so profound. Answers to all of the weird questions about the gospel are usually found in there. Also reading the Book of Mormon is probably one of the most important things anyone can do to gain or strengthen a testimony of the restored gospel of Jesus Christ. I am also trying to finish the whole Book of Mormon before I leave the MTC, although I'm a little behind because I have also been reading in Spanish. Kolby, good things about agency can be found in Alma 34:34 I think, also Alma 5. Dad, the beginning of the Book of Mormon is the best. Reading through the first couple chapter in the Book of Mormon we can find so many things that validate the restoration. Lehi receives a vision, then a book. Because of the Book he makes a decision to leave Jerusalem. The journey of Nephi and Lehi can be a archetypal journey of our own lives and of the life of the Church. Well I want to say more but I'm running out of time. I love you all and I am doing awesome. I am studying my brains out...it literally feels like that sometimes, but the Lord doesn't require much, He requires all.

Love

Braden

The Secret Garden

Dear Family- 8/17/10
Thank you for the package! I will use all of everything you sent me.
So this week was crazy. We taught the 2nd lesson in English in the TRC and it went really well. I love teaching, every time I get a little nervous before, but then the Spirit takes over and it's awesome. We also taught the 2nd lesson in Spanish to a native-speaking district. It was super scary. They talk so fast and although I may understand most of what they say, there are so many little intricacies and dual meanings that it is hard. But we got through it. I felt like a complete gringo, but, hey, I guess that's what I am. It was definitely a humbling experience.
Also, as an aside, I had an accident this week. (Peggy: NOT what I wanted to read)I was sitting on a bench outside reading my Libro de Mormon, when a bug flew straight into my eye. It was like 9/11. I didn't even see it coming...then wham! I had to wear glasses for a couple days, but I'm o.k. now. I had actually thought that I needed to clean my contacts but I decided to push it 1 more day. I guess God wanted me to clean my contacts on schedule.
By the way, I hope Cameron and Kolby could decipher the letter I sent last week in Spanish. If not, send it back and I will translate. Also, I would like it if everyone could tell me what they studied in the scriptures each week so I can compile a list of topics to study.
I see Chris Christensen, Eric Turner and Casey all the time.
Also, we found the best place to study this week. usually all the benches and tables are full, so it takes a while to find somewhere outside. But we found this place called the Secret Garden, la Secreta Jardin. It is way in the back of the MTC, surrounded by trees and shrubbery. It's also close to the real world, so sometimes we get to see sinners (outsiders).
Last week we went there as a district w/Hermano Haight to so soapbox preaching Dan Jones-style. You get up on the curb and start preaching while the rest of the district yells at you. Usually we yell "We don't need your Bible!" "I won't worship Joseph Smith!"...things like that. Anyways, last week when were doing it some little kids came up to the fence.(We were preaching really close to the MTC fence, so the outside world could hear.) anyways, these little kids came up to and Elder Denna started talking to the little boy about his play horse the kid was holding. He taught them the importance of the Sabbath day and committed them to go to church. It was way funny, because they were telling him how much they love Primary as he talked to them through a chain-link fence. Little things like that are the best. Well I love you all and I pray for you everyday. If you could pray for me I would love it, but I would rather that you all study the scriptures everyday for me. Also I found a scripture for you in case family prayer ever gets hard to do on a regular basis. 3 Nephi 18:21. Christ is actually saying this. Anyways, I love you.
Love,
Braden

GOOOOAALLL!!!

(*Paul Hill is Joe's brother who is in the MTC and going to Fiji)

Helloo Family,

So first of all, visas are not looking good right now, although they are getting better. The Mexican consulate is being really slow right now, in fact she's on a 2 week vacation right now. It's more than likely that I will either be temporarily reassigned or stay in the MTC for a couple additional weeks. I think that Mexico is the only place they are really having visa issues. But I don't care, I will get to Mexico when God needs me to get there. There is a reason for everything, including this.
Also, yeah getting that letter from *Paul was weird. He just happened to be in the district of someone who had gotten one of my letters, and it just so happens that I was standing right there when he opened it. I see Paul probably 4 or 5 times a week. The MTC is split into a bunch of different buildings like BYU. There are something like 20 buildings. It's nice because we get to walk outside when we are going places, and we usually study outside during MDT (when no teacher is there). The MTC provides everything. Goals, balls, flags, everything. I have played frisbee a couple of times but we're not allowed to play ultimate so that stinks really bad. Usually when we play frisbee we just toss it around. There is also sand volleyball and softball and 4 square. You can also run around the playfields if you want. As far as acronyms go, I don't really know what you mean. All of the buildings have a real name, like the Dan Jones Building, but then they also have a number assigned to them, 1M through 21M. TRC = Teaching resource center, it's where we go to teach lessons to volunteer investigators. It is the pinnacle of what we study for each week, it's game day Friday's, cause that's when we go teach. The TE is where we go teach teachers, for practice.
So far it is still just me and Elder Warr in our room, and I hope it will stay that way. It is nice being able to go right to sleep at 10:30. The haircuts here leave much to be desired...Elder Warr got a haircut that looks like Will Smith's flat top from Fresh Prince of Bel Air. It is way funny, but it is his fault because when he went in he told them to "surprise me." No I don't like pop, I will just have to get used to it when I get there. Also, I will send Darci letters as soon as I have her address, until then it will be very difficult. But I would love to hear from her so if she would send that to me soon I would appreciate it.
A ton of things happened this week so we'll see if I'll be able to fit them all in. Last Wednesday we went to the RC (Referral Center) to make calls following up on people that had ordered things from the church like Books of Mormons and DVD's and things. It is probably the best place on campus except for the TRC. We were supposed to be done calling at 4 pm, but the other Elders in my district told me to make 2 extra calls. So I did. On the second call this lady, Macarena (haha...I know) picked and sounded like she had been crying. I talked to her for a while about what was going on in her life and what she knew about our Church. She said she had some major issues with her son and didn't really know what to do. She was Catholic but didn't really go to Church very much. So I taught her the first lesson and she let me send missionaries over. I also challenged her to get baptized if she could find out for herself if the things I was telling her were true, which she said she would! I get to call her back tomorrow, so we'll see what happens but that was one of the coolest things that has happened to me since I got here. It's crazy how tired you are after things like that. It is physically draining to feel the spirit and teach and respond to people with the spirit.
Also I see Casey all the time because he is in my Zone, which means his classroom is 3 doors down from mine. But a bit of bad news, for some reason they are taking my district and combining it with another district, so they are moving us out of the zone. Therefore, I will no longer be in Casey's zone. They are taking our teachers away from us also, which is probably the worst part because they were the best teachers in the MTC. You think I'm exaggerating, but I'm not. That will be the worst, but I know that it wouldn't happen unless there was a purpose for it so I'm trying not to complain too much. But...the good news of the week is that I got my first goal!!! Someone's shot hit of the left post and off the goalies hands, so I was there to kick the rebound in. It was the best. I love it when the South Americans play, because they yell things in Spanish, and although I don't really know what they mean, it makes the game seem way more legitimate. Well I'm running out of time, so I guess I will just say I love you all. I am so thankful for Christ. The Atonement is so much more than I thought it was. It cleans us from our sins, but more than that it allows us to throw all of our trials, infirmities and weaknesses at it. It empowers us to become so much more than we could ever hope to be without it. Every single thing, everything is in someway connected to the Atonement. Well that's my thought.

Love you

Braden

The Lord's Focus- To Progress, Not Impress

Dear Dad- 8/10/10
That's awesome that Cameron got up. Tell him that skiing is more fun when you don't sit down. I'm jealous though because I would love to go skiing. It hasn't been that hot here though. Actually, it's been raining alot so we haven't had that good of skiing weather.
Melissa must be getting braver, hopefully she'll be skiing by the time I get back.
I love the MTC because there is really nothing to do here except study. No TV, no internet, no nothing. So it just kind of baffles me when people don't study because they honestly have to look for something else to do. If they could see, just for a minute, how much this gospel could mean to people, I think they would work so much harder.
Everything is going well here. I feel like Spanish is coming easier than I thought it would. The days go by so fast, but I am getting so much done. It's crazy how much you can get done when you get up at 6:30 am. Thanks for everything.

P.S. I almost forgot I had this thought the other day, so I wrote it down.
The Lord looks past us, never at us. He does this not out of disappointment, but hope. He looks past us, all of us, all of our shortcomings. He focuses not on what we are, but what we can be and the direction we are going. He cares that we progress, not that we impress. Men judge so quickly because we see each other as dots on an infinite plane. When viewed as such it is easy to consider another small, reproachful, insignificant (person). But every soul is great in the sight of God. he sees us as lines in an eternal plane. He sees where we came from and where we are going. That is why God doesn't judge, that is why His son Jesus Christ could atone for us. Christ sees us for what we truly are. This is His atonement.
Tell Mom to put that on the blog, that's my thought for the week.
Love,
Braden

Braden also sent a letter to his "siblings" as he calls them. But it is ALL in Spanish. I can't translate, but the "siblings" understood it just fine. He is really enjoying the language, although he did write that it was good that Melissa "translated" a new food. We think he meant 'tried'. One of the letters was his testimony of Joseph Smith in Spanish. Muy bien!

English is So Boring!

(Note: TRC is the Teaching Resource Center and the RC is the Referral Center)

Dear Family- August 10, 2010

The TRC is the best place besides maybe the soccer field and the RC. We have taught two lessons, the first lesson (the message of the Restoration) we taught it our first week in English and last week in Spanish. Usually missionaries don't teach in Spanish in the TRC until their 4th week, but Hno. Haight said he thought we were ready. Everybody was so nervous. All week we practiced for it by preparing a bosquejo (lesson plan) in Spanish and bearing as many testimonies in Spanish as possible. The mood in the room right before we went to the TRC was super tense, but I think being pushed so hard humbled us. When we got there, it was a miracle. Words just came out of my mouth, I was using tenses that I wasn't very good at. I know we were blessed with the gift of languages. It's not that we were saying things that we had never practiced before or saying things that we didn't know, but God gave us control over those principle of the language that we had practiced. I'm sure to the people we taught (natives from Mexico) thought we were pretty bad, but I felt the Spirit. It doesn't matter how bad your language skills are, if you can invite the Spirit then God will do the rest. We even invited them to be baptized in the first lesson, when they came to know the truthfulness of the Gospel. I don't like teaching in English anymore, it is so boring. I love having to rely on Heaven's help for Spanish. Not that I shouldn't rely on God for English it's just we are compelled to be humble when it comes to Spanish.

We haven't really gotten any food/culture lessons, they save that for your last week. But there are 4 Elders in my district leaving tomorrow for the Peru MTC, they are soo lucky. I really only get hungry in the morning. It's really hard to read at 7 in the morning, but other than 1 hour of soccer a day we just sit in class for 12 hours a day so I don't really use that many calories. I thought you would like to know that I have only gained 27 pounds mas or menos, but even that is debatable because I was wearing my suit. By the way that was a lie....sorry. I have only gained 1 pound, if that. But I loved the fruit snacks and thank you so much for the package. Now I can go to gym without smelling like a dead cow. Melissa thank you for the pillow case, I use it everyday. I like the cactuses. Yes I will use the phone card, I haven't really looked at it but I'm sure I can figure it out. My companion and I get along well, he and I are both pretty easy going so it works out. I took pictures of the whole district with our teachers yesterday so I will send those home maybe next week or something.

I am having trouble thinking of words in English because all I hear is Spanish. Brendan (Hunt) is going to change a lot when he gets here. There is just so much to say when it comes to the Gospel that I'm sure he will change.

This last week in the RC ( I can't remember if I told you this already so I'll tell you again) I called a lady from Jamaica, NY. We talked for 35 minutes about Christ. She had received a bunch of materials from us and thought that our Church was the real deal. But for some reason she wasn't coming. She said that all truth could be had through the Bible, so even though I tried really hard I couldn't get her to kneel down and ask God if the Church is the only true Church. It was very frustrating, she just didn't understand how important have the plentitud del Evangelio del Jesucristo (fulness of the Gospel of Jesus Christ) on the earth today.

It has been raining here a lot. We had two thunderstorms and 1 other rainstorm this week. It was awesome. I started setting new goals this week to try to push myself harder. I am reading the Book of Mormon in Spanish for 30 minutes a day out loud so that my pronunciation and sentence structure will get better. It is kind of weird when people walk by and I'm just reading to myself but I know it will help. We had a testimony meeting for our district before the 4 Peruvians left (in Spanish), and it was soo cool. Sometimes even people who you think have no clue have the most awesome testimonies in the world. Vivieron por la gloria, murieron por la gloria, y gloria sería la recompensa eterna. (They lived for glory, they died for glory, and glory be eternal reward) That is what I shared and bore testimony about because for the Sunday night movie we watched the Joseph Smith movie. Now is the time for glory, everyday God gives us opportunities to glorify him. What have we done with those....that is the eternal question. Well time is running out. Love you all.

Braden

The Great Apostasy

8/3/2010
Dear Family
This is the coolest diagram that we learned this week. All of the divots are apostasies, whereas the large divot is the Great Apostasy. Catholics believe in an unbroken chain of priesthood authority, thus making the Great Apostasy non-existent and the restoration unnecessary. Our job as missionaries is to prove that the Great Apostasy happened. Each of the prophets is the prophet of that dispensation.....sorry the fire alarm just went off and we had to go outside but I think I'm deaf. There wasn't actually a fire, they were doing work on the stairs and there was too much smoke.
Anyways I just thought that diagram was way cool. Either the Catholics are right or we are right. Also, its not that the Catholics are (wrong is crossed out here) bad, they did the best they could with the light they had. They didn't have a prophet so they "were kept from the truth for they knew not where to find it." (D&C 123:12)
Anyways, I love you guys, I hope everything is going well.
Love,
Braden

Somos los Mujeres!

Hello Familia! Tuesday, August 3, 2010 7:53 AM

Lightning struck? That's crazy, I wish I could have seen it. We have had 2 thunderstorms since I got here. No I don't want my flip-flops i already have some. Thank you for depositing my paycheck. No I do not have FHE, basically everyday except Sunday and P-day we are in class from 7 in the morning until 9:30 at night with breaks for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and soccer. We play soccer everyday and it is soo much fun. I usually play striker/midfield...sometimes defense. I just play wing on one side and run up and down the field all day. I have 1 or 2 assists and like 7 shots on goal but I haven't gotten my first goal yet. When I do it will be the best day ever. Yes everything works just fine as far as clothes go, I could use two more athletic shirts and 3 more pairs of athletic socks because I usually smell pretty bad by the end of the week in gym. Casey gets here tomorrow, that's awesome, he will be a noob. All new guys are noobs until saturday or sunday. We call them chapuseros. My spanish is coming along pretty well, we are teaching the first lesson in spanish in the TRC (to fake investigators) this week and our teacher doesn't speak English anymore so all I hear is Spanish. I usually feel pretty confident about my spanish until I speak to a nativo (native speaker) and then I am really humbled. I can write it way better than I can speak it.

So there is this Elder in our district named Elder Denna. He basically is really funny The other day we did something well as a district and so he yelled "Somos los mujeres! Somos los Mujeres!" (mom says: rough translation: "We are the women!")....what he meant was somos los mejores (mom says: or "we are the best!") , but it was way funny. One other thing Elder Draco Malfoy is in the MTC. That's not his real name, but he looks exactly like him. I will try to get a picture covertly to send because he looks exactly like Draco Malfoy.

Elder Warr and I have been bearing our testimonies in spanish to 2 companionships a day every day except p-day and we're not allowed to pray in English anymore. Reading the scriptures is way hard because they are written in vosotros form, which no one uses anymore becuase it is familiar and everyone uses ustedes which is formal.

Yes we have been able to go to the temple. We go on tuesdays at 9:45, and it is way crowded all the time, but I love the Provo Temple and it is one of the few times where we are not supposed to do anyhting except sit there and listen. I have been trying to memorize 40 spanish words a day, and I have been learning 1 tense a day which is hard but I know that when we set hard goals and give everything we have the Lord will take care of the rest. We have been given 2 years to set aside everything else and work our guts out for the Lord so that he can bless us and so that we can bring souls unto him. My favorite quote by Steve Prefontaine says "To give anything less than the best is to sacrifice the Gift." What more can I say? We are talking about a gift even more speacial than running, the gift of salvation to the wandering soul, the gift of eternal life.

Everything is good. I am learning soo much and everyday I wake up ready to learn more and more and more. Sometimes it is frustrating because I can't teach what I want to teach or say what I want to say because I am limited by my language skills, but I know the Lord will provide. That is one thing i have really come to appreciate here is the atoning sacrifice of Jesus Christ. If anyhting in the world was ever impossible, the Atonement would have been it. It was a miracle. But Jesucristo accomplished it so that we can be together as a family forever. He did it so that everyday when I mess up and do things wrong I can fix it. For God so loved the world....that means to me that God is truly interested in the the minute details of our lives. That brings so much comfort to me. One last thing before time runs out. I can't spell very well anymore. I always spell things half spanish half english. Sometimes I will be writing in my journal and i will put in a spanish phrase or two without realizing it. It is way cool but kind of annoying at the same time. I love you guys so much, Kolby whne I come home I'm going to school you at soccer, and practice your piano both you and Melissa. Cameron I hope you had fun at the temple and realize how important that work is. Mom=, Dad I love you, and Dad everyday I admire you more and more for serving a mission. It is not always fun and Glory. I love you guys

Braden