Email #34
Area: Grange area of the Firle Zone
Companion: Elder Touti
Excerpts from Mom's email:
Hey Mom!
This week went pretty quick for me like most weeks. That's so weird that they are moving out. Still don't fully believe it. Yeah send pics! My new companion is pretty cool, but he is pretty quiet so far. He slowly is figuring things out though and opening up a little bit more day by day. His name is Elder Touti from Samoa! He is teaching me some Samoan, so I'm learning a more of the language. I learned a little in California, but just basics. Everything here is super different to him. Especially the food I guess. Typically Samoans can eat heaps, but he doesn't eat much at all, I eat more then him haha. He is pretty cool though, still can't believe that I am training again. Pretty crazy and the pressure is real! I don't really worry about it anymore or get overwhelmed since I am used to it now, but I was noticing the other day just how busy I am and how many responsibilities I have. Don't really have a moment in the day haha. I was talking to another missionary the other day and he was talking about how he thinks President will be calling me as a Zone Leader soon... Haha that would be crazy, because then I would be even more busy then I am now, which is hard to believe. It's all a good experience though for sure! I feel like training is the most rewarding for sure, but also the most difficult. My last companion was pretty prepared, but I have a feeling this time around will be a little tougher. We get along super great though!
This week was pretty exciting as well! Really didn't have a moment to spare, didn't even have time to go finding 3 hours everyday (which we are supposed to do). Played catch up, because I was out of our area for a few days. We now have 3 on date, all of which are this month. The new one is B.... S...., who has been investigating for about a year now. A year ago he was close to being baptized, but then a week before, he got hit by a car and was then in the hospital for 9 months (tore his legs off...). He is in a wheel chair now and has ulcers on his legs and the nurses say he can't be submerged in water until they go away. Well this last lesson we had with him, we watched a video about a man named John Tanner. Watch it! It is really good, LDS.org! There is a part that shows how he was healed by his faith! After the video, we talked to him about how this same power can apply to him now! He then asked for a blessing and a member, Brother Gabehart, gave him an amazing blessing. Very powerful! We then put him on date for Oct 29. We are praying for a miracle now! It's all in the Lord's hands.
Did I tell you about the referral from God method? It's something new that we have been trying. As well, the BLITZ idea is now going mission wide and we did a training on it to all the leaders, so they could apply it in their districts and zones. Now the Referral from God is something new. It's a way of finding where to go finding instead of knocking random doors. I did a training on it last week and we went from an average of 3 new investigators a week as a district to now this past week we had 9 total. Just yesterday, we had 5 new in a single day. It's all about putting our faith in God and using revelation to find those he has prepared. It's actually been pretty cool!
Love ya Mom!
-Elder Bryner
Excerpts from Dad's email:
Hey Dad!
So the way conference works over here is we see it a week late. We will be watching it this coming Saturday and Sunday. Idk why they do it that way, but that's how they do it. Investigators are all doing okay, some much better then others. As always, F... is doing super well! Man I am getting anxious with him, because he is just soooooo close!!! I love his family so much and always look forward to seeing them every week!
Yesterday was pretty cool! We went and played basketball with our investigator T.. and we invited F... as well. He ended up bringing his two sons who are really cool as well. Pretty dang good at basketball too!!! That was cool, then last night we had dinner with the H.....'s and a lesson with F... afterward. His daughter L..... has started sitting in on the lessons a while back, but now during some of it, F...'s boys sat in. We talked to him after and he told us about how he keeps getting offered free coffee at work and all these things, but he is resisting it all! He only has the one cup in the morning. He was talking to a work mate who has quit coffee and he gave him this alternative that taste just like it. The best part is this week he thinks he will give it up completely! Not much farther to go! After that, all he has to do is set a date and go through with it. Month of October is all I know. Even then though, we are letting it all be up to him! He got a little pressured last week by a member and that's never good. Doesn't seem like it bothered him to much though so all goods. Next lesson is on Sunday. Stay tuned:)
I'm loving the mission field! It really has flown by for me and it continues to go fast. It's pretty crazy. Not sure what lies ahead, but I look forward to everyday. Like I said before, I may never have an investigator again like F..., so I look forward to seeing his family every week. We have started going to members homes to talk to them about missionary work and how we can help the ward. A lot of them sure feel that the ward needs a change. They said years back they used to be like a family and had social events, but now not really. It's definitely a good ward don't get me wrong, but there is a lot to improve. Many of the members were complaining about it and how they want it to change so our goal is to instead of complaining about it, fix it. To take action and take the steps to repent and change. We explained to them that that is the way repentance works. So we have already set up a weekly sports night on Friday night for all those that can attend. It would be good for many of our investigators as well, because many love sports. A lot of the ward is elderly as well, so we talked about how we want to do other activities that can be done simply and weekly. Board game night, chess, things like that. The members seemed to like the ideas, now we just have to help them come together and actually take action. That's the hard part, but we are going to do it. Then we talked to them about Applying the Referral from God method for streets around their area. Then they give us the streets, we knock those streets, then we report back. We'll see how it goes.
I found out that tomorrow in district meeting, President Parker and the Assistance are attending... Should be cool haha, but a little nervous as expected. Wish me luck!
Love you Dad!
-Elder Bryner
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