It doesn't feel like this week is Christmas - Dec 23

So because I haven't heard what y'alls decision is about how I will get a hold of you I will choose for y'all. First let me give you the low down of what is going to happen. SO I will be calling about 4pm (Louisiana time...or Central time whatever you want to call it.) I will try to either skype you first if that doesn't work then I will facetime y'all. For skype just use mine or if one of you has one that you would like to use instead go right a head. . If I remember right the usernames is littlemissmo but I don't remember the passoword but the email that it is connected to is my thisgirlluvsmusic account. You will need to add the member that we are using her skype account which is Laurie.holbrook1. What we were thinking is having us call before we skype to make sure everything is set up and ready on both ends.

Anyways on to the more spiritual side of this week. We had the ward Christmas party on Saturday. We were all disappointed a bit because none of the people we invited had come. The Covington Elders had a less active that they were referred to came, which made it worth it a bit. It was a lot of fun though. Us missionaries sang in part of the live nativity that they did. Apparently we sounded good which is a relief because when we sing at district meeting it is an entirely different story. It was nerve wracking because I haven't done anything like that since I was 12 and sang for the ward Joseph Smith thing that I did with Sydney, Emily, Katie, and Meg. It was ok though. Also sacrament meeting and relief society were awesome! What they did for the speakers/lesson is they had people bear their testimony about Christ and then between each one we sang the Christmas Hymns! I just love the Christmas Hymns! The spirit that they bring is a lot different then all the other hymns. It was weird not singing the same old songs that they would sing back home (though that wasn't bad either) It was cool though because they used the organ and the piano for all of the songs for the meeting, minus the sacrament. It was cool though because in relief society I got to do my unofficial calling (relief society chorister...which reminds me I need to thank Sister Pinkston for teaching me that when I was in her activity days group.) I am one of a handful of sisters that know how to lead music and will be there every week so the relief society presidency knows that they can always ask me to lead if they need me to.

So picture descriptions.

The first is what presents we had as of last week.....we now have a lot more.

Second, is a sign that I found that bugs me every time I see it. (Yes, there are a lot of comma rules but that doesn't mean you can go placing them where ever you feel like.)

Third, is a shed thing in front of a members house. There are trees growing on top of it and even wheat and grassy stuff it is really odd.

Fourth is the temple cut out that was at the ward Christmas party.

Fifth is Mary and the baby Jesus...even though you can't really see them.

Sixth is what it looked like with all the lights, it was really cool.
Seventh is Sister Schmutz and I....yes I know shame on me for not wearing my glasses....and yes Ave I now own a sparkly skirt thanks to Sister Schmutz giving me clothes.

And the last one is my district. The one that is standing by me and looks angry is Elder Madsen.....I went to high school with him and he lives by Brad and Jeff, they are actually in the same home ward.....and the one on the other end is Elder Stewart who come to find out is a variation of Hunter aka liked a lot of the same music and geekery before the mission.

Well that is my report to y'all for the week. Love y'all and I can't wait to talk to y'all on Wednesday!

Love lots

Sister Brady

WITH THIS STORY YOU ARE NOT ALLOWED TO FREAK OUT BECAUSE I AM ALIVE - Dec 16

So this week was an interesting one. On Wednesday the Covington Elders and us were going out out to eat with a less active family for the last time (because we normally would have the two companionships but we aren't allowed to do that anymore). Well the elders were in the truck with the head of household and we were following behind about 30 feet in our car. Well we were going down the road and some lady swerved and hit the truck and pushed them back about 7 feet. Luckily nobody got hurt (there was a lot of divine intervention there). Well we stayed with the elders so that way they had a way to get home if needs be. Ya we were there for a good two hours or so waiting to find out who's jurisdiction the accident happened in. It was in Covington's but just barely. This made me realize just how much the Lord is watching out over us missionaries, because if they had got hit even the tiniest bit harder they would of rolled into a ditch. SO moral of this story is pray for the missionaries to be protected because God will protect us. So yes I am fine everyone is fine. It just smelt like burnt pineapple pizza afterwords. Oh I also found out how not sheltered I am because at one point standing in the street talking to the son who came to take his dad home asked if we smelt alcohol, no one else could smell it/knew what is smelt like but me (Ya I am not sure if that is a good thing or a bad thing)

 

Besides that nothing new.

Have a good week y'all, I love y'all bunches,

Sister Brady

I hate being a damsel in distress! - Dec 8

So I have a story for y'all this week and it reiterates something that mom and dad have raised us girls on thinking....being a damsel in distress is not worth it.  On Saturday we were super busy. We went to the ward's Relief Society breakfast and then went to the baptism for one of the Mandeville Elder's investigators. Well a member of the Relief Society presidency asked us to take the treat they had to some of the sisters we were planning on seeing that day, and so we told her that we would do it after the baptism. Well we were heading back to central Covington and decided that we were going to see a less active family that was over that way. Well I may or may not have told us to go in the opposite direction that they lived, so we went on a side street to turn around. Well earlier that day it had rained quite a bit so the ground way muddy, and so what do you think happened as we turned around on that street....We got stuck. Well one tire was stuck and the front end was stuck enough that digging us out would take forever and a half. Well so we sit in the car and laugh about it. I try pushing us out and didn't get anywhere. Well we text the elders to see were they were, well all the elders were at a members house after the baptism, so we ask them what they would do if we were stuck, and Elder Ciana, our wonderful district leader, calls and asks us if we are ok and if we're stuck, we tell him ya to both and he says that they would be there in 30 mins. Well after we got off the phone a truck stops by. It's dark and cold and so my first instinct is to be a bit apprehensive. The guy asks if we're stuck and if we need help. We told him that we were stuck and so he goes to his house to get the rope harness thing to pull us out. We let the elders know that we found a way out and if we don't text back in 15 mins to come and help us. To finish the story the guy got us out in just enough time before the elders would come to help us. Ya being a damsel in distress is to stressful of a job for me so I think I may stick with being as independent as I can.

Anyways besides the craziness of that I found out yesterday I GET TO STAY IN COVINGTON!! (insert happy dance here). I really do love it here, but I know at some point I will have to leave but that doesn't get to happen anytime in the for see able future....because there is the chance that I could get emergency transferred out..but happy thoughts.

Hope Y'all are doing alright and have an awesome week. Love y'all.

Sister Brady

Things that will make or break us are the things that we remember most - Dec 2

So this week was a hard one, with everyone leaving early for Thanksgiving we had to figure out other things to do, and we did. Here they get an entire week of for Thanksgiving, and so a lot of people leave early in the week. Thankfully we had our appointment for dinner on Thanksgiving, I am not sure how one of the elders didn't go into a food coma but when into an work out frenzy.

We did do quite a bit of service. The days leading up to Thanksgiving didn't feel like Thanksgiving possibly be because I wasn't home away from school, but the day after felt like the day after Thanksgiving because we helped a member who has cancer put up her Christmas tree and decorate a bit, which is what I would of been doing if I was home. Anyways it has been really cool as we have got to get to know the members and show them that we care about them and that we need their help. One of the ward missionaries said something that made me think. She said that part of the reason that she lets us come over as often as we can is so that her son will have the desire to go on a mission and that while he is serving she knows that he will be taken care of because she is taking care of someones sons and/or daughters. That made me realize that not only the success I have out here come from the members help and what I do but it also matters what is being done at home because those are blessings that go both ways.

Anyways here some of the pictures I have taken in the last two weeks or so.

The first is two of the elders in my district Elder White and Elder Madsen. I went to high school with Elder Madsen and graduated with his older brother, oh and they are in Brad and Jeff's home ward. Elder White is from southern Arizona. They are both awesome elders to work with . Elder White is in Covington and Elder Madsen is in Mandeville.

The second is the fuzzy socks that I bought because of how cold my feet were getting at night and in the morning.

Third is a birthday card that we did for Elder White and Elder Ciana (our new distirct leader) They loved it...and yes there are Twilight stickers around Elder White's name. He is one of the few guys I've met who liked them, and Elder Ciana got super heroes ( he likes the Hulk)

 the Fourth is them with the card.

Fifth is what the stairs looked like while we were cleaning our living room and rearranging it.
and last is the Christmas tree all decorated.(I've changed a few things on it since I took this picture.)

Well I love y'all lots and lots have a good week

Sister Brady

It's cold and I don't like it. - Nov 25

Hey y'all,

It is getting cold down here, and well it is colder then I thought it would be. Today when we went out to the car it was cold enough that I could see my breath. Days like this make me grateful that we have a car and a nice warm apartment.

This week has been one of adjustment. We have a new district leader, Elder Cianna, who was born in Peru but was living in California before the mission, he's been out a transfer longer then me, and was actually trained by our former district leader. It's weird though because he is a lot like Sister Schmutz and I, quite until we are comfortable with you then we will talk a lot.

Also we had exchanges with the Sister Training Leaders, and I was with Sister Tiller, yes my trainer. It was weird because I have never had to lead the area with her there before. Last time it was Sister Schmutz and Sister Tiller in Covington. Anyways it was weird leading my trainer who had spent three transfers in the area.

Oh we also helped from windows and take down some walls for a less active family.It was really funny because the house had a back porch shade like the one that Rita has and the people who were renting it never cleaned it off and so there was dirt and fire ants on top of it and the elders were asked to take it down, well they were beyond dirty by the time it was down. (I'll send you a picture them next week)

It's weird to think that Thanksgiving is on Thursday and that Ashery is 13...which means Christmas is almost here, which is a very weird thought because next week I will have been out for four months.

Well I think that is all for this week Hope y'all have a good Thanksgiving and a good week.

Love y'all

Sister Brady

Well, I don't know - Nov 18

So this week has been really good but a struggle. We found out on Saturday that our District Leader was getting emergency transferred out, and that he's going back to Kenner. Finding that out was hard for me because I felt like what I had envisioned for the area was now going to be shattered, but I am going to be a big girl and deal with it and work with the change. We have been teaching a lot more this week. Our recent convert that we have been trying to teach the new member lessons to since before I was here finally had time for us to teach her (all thanks to her home teacher).

So with the pictures one of them is one that I took while we were driving through downtown Covington. The others are part of service that we did this week, helping them set up for Court of Honor, which was a lot of fun. Cool thing was I remembered what order the scout advancements go (who knew that having parents being a part of scouts for so long could be useful?)

Anyways things are going good, we have a busy week of dinner appointments and trying to figure out when we are going to teach our new investigator (lucky for us she is pretty much always home)

Well hope all is well back home.

Love y'all lots.

Sister Brady

All is well in Covington - Nov 11

So yet another week has gone by and things are good, and I am good, no really I am good. We've been working hard and trying to figure out what to do when it get's dark because hardly anyone will let us in when it's dark. This email will also be a picture filled one because I have a lot.

So let me somewhat explain each of these pictures.

The first is what we did for Halloween. We couldn't be out tracting or contacting after 6 so a member gave us a brownie mix, and well we didn't have a mixing bowl, or a cake pan, or any oil but we made due with what we did have.

Ok so the next one is one of the elders in my zone who was also in my district at the MTC Elder Benson...who was playing with my camera as we were getting ready for the sisters picture.

Which explains the next picture. Those are all the sisters in my zone. Two of them were leaving, one just got her visa and the other is going back to Temple Square.

Next is part of our area that we hardly ever go and are thinking about going on a P-day at some point in time. It is the areas gator farm.

The next two are just part of the scnerey that we have in Covington/Abita Sprins area.

Ok so the first on this one is the sunset as we were on our way back to Covington from Abita Springs.

The second one is our bookshelf that we have so wonderfully orgainzed.

And the last is a flower arrangement that we did at our one of our service projects that we do; we go to a retirement home/assisted living and go help with their craft day which is always a lot of fun.

Well y'all I don't have much time this week but I hope y'all have a wonderful week. Love y'all.

Sister Brady

Trust in Him and you will find success - Nov 4

So something amazing happened yesterday. We had a lot (as in I can't even count how many) of less actives come to church yesterday. One of them we had met briefly the day before. She said that when she moved here she didn't look up where the church was but felt that she needed to come back and bring her son with her, she asked us were the church was and we gave her simple directions on how to get there. We were surprised when she showed up, and then the others start coming in. The elders even had one of their less actives  (well one that we know about) come and I think that he stayed for all three hours of church. Seeing that many less actives being were they needed to be just put a smile on my face. With less actives in mind it was the first week that I have ever had were we have had more less active visits then member visits.
 

Oh it gets better. Every week we pass around the missionary meal calendar so that members can sign up to feed us. Well this week was a good week and all three companionships had pretty full calendars which hasn't happened all the time that I have been here. People signed up that either haven't signed up since I first got here or have never signed up before. It just made that smile that I had earlier grow even bigger.

It goes to show that what Elder Ballard said in conference is true. " It is impossible to fail when you do your best when you are on the Lord's errand."  This is why I am out here. I needed to be the one to help some of those people who were at church yesterday to come back and to be were they know the should be to draw closer to Christ. There is no where else that can happen but in a place that is dedicated unto the Lord through the Restored Priesthood authority of Christ. Where we talk of Christ, we rejoice in Christ, and we learn of Christ in all three of our meetings.

 

Love y'all and I hope you have an awesome week!

Sister Brady

I'm Still Here - Oct 29

Well y'all another transfer has gone by and I found out last night that I will be staying...oh the dreaded phone call. Only one elder in my district is getting transferred out,and oddly and rarely none of the sisters in my zone are getting transferred. I love the sisters in my zone. When we all see each other it is a giant hug fest. Plus we only get to see them twice, maybe even three times a transfer which for those of us who don't have sisters around it is a big deal seeing each other.

Anyways the work has been picking up and we have been able to visit more people. We are getting people to sign up to feed us that I never thought would have. It is hard though because we are still having the same families sign up to feed us that always feed us. Not that I am complaining, I just think that more of the ward needs to get to know us and know what tools we have to help them. It's funny though, a lot of the people that always feed us are either converts who love missionaries or are the key people in who we report to quite a bit, aka the ward mission leader and the relief society president.

Well I hope that y'all are doing well and have an awesome week.

Love

Sister Brady

And the end of transfers is coming up - Oct 21

Well y'all it is almost that time again. We find out Monday if we are staying or going. These last six weeks have gone by really fast. I feel like a lot of it for me is because I have been the one leading the area. It is hard to lead an area after only being there for six weeks, but luckily I was trained as if I was going to lead the area.

 

This last week I have felt like the Lord has been helping us quite a bit. I felt down last week because we were able to teach five lessons and most of them were members. I knew that I needed to turn to the Lord and ask for his help. I can definitely say that he was able to help us out. This week we taught 14 lessons, most of them were members but we had more other teaching appointments and lessons taught then I can remember. We also were able to meet more members and find out if any of them are willing to help us by coming out with us or want to have the missionaries over for dinner (which is always nice and something that I know the elders would like more of). We also decided that we should also put in calendars for next month into our Feeding the Missionary Calendar binder, we had it passed around Primary (both Sr and Jr) and Relief Society, and well we were able to get more dinner appointments, and we even got a dinner appointment for Thanksgiving. I really have seen the Lord working with us more this week because we are trying harder to get the work going. I see it like we are trying to push this load up hill and we occasionally will get help but it doesn't last long so we start moving backwards a little so we try harder and start getting the momentum to get going back up the hill. It is hard but I know the Lord is providing angels to help us push and pull the load up the hill.

 

This week is going to be interesting though. We will be on exchanges so Sister Schmutz will be down here with Sister Tiller (yes my previous companion Sister Tiller) and I will be up in Amite ( a town that is pretty small, I think of it like Blanding) with Sister Tiller's new companion Sister Maxfield. Oddly enough last time I was on exchanges I went up to Amite but was with Sister Maxfields previous companion Sister Haskell (who is yet another one of Aunt Jenn's students that I have met since high school).

 

Well let me know how things are going for all y'all and any changes in things.

 

Love y'all

Sister Brady

When things go wrong all you can do is look up - Oct 14

Well this last week everything seemed to go crazy, especially Thursday. We had Zone Conference and we thought it was at the building were we normally have all of our meetings at but no it was in Denham Springs. Thus we were late for it. Also earlier last week we were told that a member that Sis Schmutz worked with was going through the temple and wanted her there. I knew that would would have permission if we found a ride but no one could take us. So Thursday we work it out with President that we will stay the night in Baton Rouge and help the North elders see people in the area, and then stay Friday night and come back to Covington Saturday morning. Well how that was crazy is we came up with that at Zone Conference so we weren't prepared with anything. Luckily the LSU sisters were kind enough to let us stay the night and borrow some of their clothes. Spending a day not in our area was weird and hard because all those that we saw that day wouldn't count in our numbers for the week, but it was good because we were able to tell the elders who they need to see ASAP and teach the district leader that you need to follow up with missionaries that you assign families to. Oh and all the libraries in our parish (known  everywhere else in the US as county) were closed for training. Hope all is going well and that y'all are doing well.

 

Love y'all and I hope that you have an awesome week. Sister Brady
P.S. the picture attached is one that I took on our way to Zone Conference, yes it is fog and that is a small airport that you can't really see. Also for Ash's pleasure here are some pictures of squirrels that I have taken.

Oct 7 - Conference Weekend

So did y'all watch conference? I sure did, it was one of the sets of elders, us, and one member who fed us watching it at the church.  The four missionaries who were there we noticed that in the Saturday morning session they called out the members and told them that they need to be involved with missionary work, which is totally true. Missionary work is not just up to those of us with name tags it involves members more so, because as members you know the people and the area more so then the missionaries do. I also liked Elder Christofferson's talk about the importance of womanhood  and how sons of God need daughters of God, and daughters of God need sons of God.

 

Things have been crazy this past week and will only get crazier with all that we have coming up. Well I invite y'all to take part in missionary work in what every way you can find...which may mean you need to get to know the missionaries in the area pretty well.

 

Hope y'all have an awesome week and that y'all have fun with the things that you are doing and have in your lives.

 

Love y'all to pieces,

Sister Brady

Sept 30

This week has been a pretty slow one. I am still trying to figure out how to best visit an area and have back up plans for our back up plans. It's hard though because when we get to our slow time at night there isn't much we can do and those that we can visit either aren't home or we have already visited with them once this week already.  A cool thing is I get to make our "potato salad" Friday night for a lunch after the first session of conference on Saturday, it makes me excited just thinking about it. It has also been hard because of the amount of miles that we are allotted for the month is getting really low, luckily we just have to wait until tomorrow.

 

Hope all is going well and that y'all got my letters.Love y'all lots.

 

Sister Brady

 

The first picture I don't know if I sent to y'all but it is one that I took on our way home after our weekly service project fell through.

The other is a delicious fruit that I can't remember the name of. It looks like a lime but on the inside it is an orange, and apparently it is a Louisiana thing, but they are good.

Sept 23

So this week was an interesting one between getting a new companion for my birthday (she's awesome) and learning to lead an area. My new companion's name is Sister Schmutz (don't bother trying to pronounce it because most people get it wrong.) She is from Cotton Wood Heights. She has been out for seven months.

Anyways I have been learning a lot, especially opening my mouth and actually talking to people. Sister Schmutz is like me when it comes to talking, at times you won't get a word out of us and other times it will be the most powerful thing you have ever hear. Apparently the district seems to have the idea that it needs to be a goal to get her to talk, to that I say it will happen in time. Also there is a greenie in my district that I went to high school with and I graduated with his brother. He lives in Brad, Jeff, Rachel, and the Ashle(e)y's home ward. It is kind of weird to see someone that you went to the same high school with while on a mission.

What all is going on at home? Anything interesting or exciting happening in the land of Oz? Soo these pictures are a few that I took this week. The first is the presents I received from an investigator and a family in the ward that is super willing to help us out. (She said that she was going to send you pictures mom, and if you got those I hope you enjoy me being typical me and making faces.) The next one is our somewhat little friend that we found in our living room after we came in for the day yesterday (Sunday), and the last is a street sign by a member in our wards shop/beauty salon thingy ma jig. There is also a place down here called Brady Island and a restaurant in Hammond called Brady's. So there is a bit of me everywhere I go in the Denham Springs area.

Hope all is well and wish yall all the love in the world. Love yall to pieces.

Sister Brady

Sept 17

So I am staying in Covington but Sister Tiller is getting transferred, so what is God giving me for my birthday? A new companion with me leading the area. It's going to be crazy but I know that it will be good for me and what the Lord needs to happen. Here it isn't unusual for you to be follow up trained by someone else, and apparently you sometimes get to stay in your area too. It is crazy to think I have been out for six weeks and that by the fourth transfer it will be December.
Besides that everything is going well, minus having two investigators drop us. One because of how close she was to Sister Tiller and Sister Evans and the other because she didn't have enough time to study her religion and figure out what problems she has with it and investigate the Church. Oh well I know that one day they will be lead to the gospel again and they will be ready for it

Well I hope that everything is going well back home and that y'all are having fun and staying out of trouble.

Sister Brady

Sept 9th

It is weird to think that I have been out in Louisiana for almost six weeks, that I will be 21 in a little over a week, and that things are going by faster then I would think.

Each month we choose a Christ like attribute to develop and work on. For September mine is patience. I am mainly working on being patient with others but also at the same time being patient with myself. I can't control others I know, but there are times when I just want things to work out. It get's really hard when week after week you put a 0 for something that you know that someone could of filled, but when you do get to put a number it feels a lot sweeter knowing that someone chose for them self to do something to bring them closer to God. I know that I am my own worst critic and enemy. I have been trying really hard while I have been out not to beat myself up over things and realize that I am not in control and that God is in control over everything I am doing for the day, week, month, year. and the entirety of my life. I need to stop being a backseat driver and give Him the controls. It has been hard but I can already see a difference. 

Sister Brady

Sept 3rd

This last week I was able to have an interesting experience. Sister Tiller and I had got done with our exchanges and went out to meet with one of the older sisters in our ward to learn a bit about her granddaughter who also lives in the ward. After we were done with her we were heading over to the elder's apartment to pick up a dvd from them, on our way though we both had a chocolate craving and felt like we needed to satisfy that before we went to the elder's. So we stop by a store that isn't to far from where the elders live. We get our chocolate and head to the check out and our cashier starts asking us what we are going to do for the rest of the night and we start telling her about how we are missionaries for our church and end up giving her our number and a Book of Mormon and she seemed really interested in what we believed and told us that she would text us soon so that we could set up a return appointment with her. She hasn't contacted us yet but we were so excited that we possibly could have another investigator. If we wouldn't have given into our chocolate craving we would of never met her and she wouldn't of learned about the church when and in the way that she did. 

This weeks pics are of Lake Pontchartrain...

Sister Brady

Don't Let the Rain Stop You

This week has been one of interesting moments. Wednesday we had our day of service. We drove out to Hammond to do a service project at the Hammond home, which is a place were they help rebuild homes for people who can't afford to do it themselves, but they have to help with at least 60 hrs of the work that goes in. The sisters were de-nailing wood because they reuse what they can. It was actually a lot of fun. We then drove to Amite to meet up with the other half of our zone to have lunch and then help clean up the sides of the streets for Amite city. It was really interesting to hear how they were afraid that we wouldn't show up because of the rain like a lot of the other groups that had offered to help that day. It was awesome to show them that you can not only count on the missionaries but you can also count on the members of the church to be there to help.

 

Also this week we had our rain experience. Ya, 10 miles of biking and a lot of it was in the rain is not very fun but is something that you got to do from time to time.

 

With all that it has been a good week. I think it is a week were, looking back, I have seen myself grow more because I haven't complained and I have just pressed on.

 

I love the ward here! They are such awesome people. One of the families that actually gave us a referral asked if one of us is having a birthday this month. We told them that I will, but because the transfer meeting is on my birthday I am not sure if I will still be in the area or not, so they said that the day before they wanted to have us over for dinner. Also they are so willing to help us out. We have had a lot of people tell us if you are in the area and need something drop by, or I would like to go out with you guys. It is nice to see that they want to help us with the work, and also that we can share the tools that we have to help them in being more missionary minded.

 

Love yall so much,.

 

Sister Brady

 

Picture Time:

So the first picture I call rain, sweat, humidity, and a bike helmet. This was the day that we thought we would be smart and bike because we are getting close to our monthly mile limit. Well it rained on us not once but twice. The first time wasn't that bad but the second one was to the point were we couldn't see anything. Luckily we were by a member's home and she was nice enough to let us get out of the rain and eat chocolate while we dried off.  The moral of the story don't wear a white skirt on a bike. 

 

The second picture is what it looked like during the first time we got rained on.

 

The third picture is to show you just how big the insects here are. This is a spider at a members home. I don't have a picture of it but we had a cockroach in our apartment the size of an adult big toe, and the wasp/bee things here are like the ones at home on steroids.

 

The last one is just how pretty it is here. There isn't a lot of buildings and such in the skyline, it is mainly trees and sky.  

Week 2

This week I have come to notice that the ward will give you more work to do and be more willing to feed you if you  are willing to work hard and show them that they can trust you. I say thins because that is what Sister Tiller and I have been doing, and I can see that the ward does trust us and because of that we are getting really close to the mission goal of number of lessons you teach in a week. Also that getting recipes here won't be very likely because a lot of times they don't even know what they put into it because they have the basics down that they don't even have to think about it, so if I don't come home with many recipes don't be too disappointed because I may have the basics down enough to not need one (well at least that is what I hope will happen) I was able to go to the temple this last week. The mission president has the rule that we can go when our ward goes, and so we got a ride with the 2nd counselor in the bishopric and his wife. They are awesome and were a lot of fun to talk to and get to know because she is in primary so she doesn't get to talk with us in Relief Society . It was really good to go, also there was a family in our ward going through to receive their endowments so that they could be sealed the next day. It was really special. I was able to receive an answer to a question that I have had for a while but didn't really want to think about. I didn't get the answer until we left, and were talking about things that we noticed  and stuff that happened before the member of the bishopric and his wife were married. It was actually really cool because she served in the Temple Square mission and went to Utah State, she studied family and consumer development. A lot of what she said that had gone on I could relate to. Well I wish yall the best of wishes this week and hope all is and goes well
 
Sister Brady

Field Week 1

So...a lot can happen between President telling a new missionary were they are serving and were he says they are going in transfer meeting. I am proof of that. I was going to be in Alexandria but now I am in the wonderful area of Covington. I love it here and I love Louisiana so far. I can stand the humidity pretty well, and I love how green it is. My apartment is surrounded by trees and a stream. Because we have water near by we also have frogs that we fall asleep to. My companions name is Sister Tiller, she's from Salt Lake, and is awesome sauce.
 

On my first day here we had a dinner appointment and we had stuffed peppers. I knew that the meat wasn't hamburger or sausage so I decided I better not ask. At that same appointment I had chicken liver, which was alright, but I say that because it was wrapped in bacon. I can say now that I have tried some interesting stuff while being here only a week.

 

I have taught the first lesson twice in the field so far. Once in a members home, we were teaching a coworker of the brothers, and on the door step of a single guy who really wants to get married. We don't know how those two will end up playing out.

 

I suggest that you feed the missionaries well and often because it helps not only them but you as well. The ward that I am in has a goal to have the missionaries (there are three companionship) in their homes to eat and teach a lesson. I would highly suggest that you try it also.

 

Look for ways to serve, love, and teach those around you. Remember who you are and who you represent being a member of this church.

Sister Brady. 

PS These are pic of some of the things that I have found......to explain the stairs one, they are steep enough that I go up and down slowly AND I have to have the light on when I do. Dad I thought you would like the Tabasco one.

I WILL SURVIVE

So I have survived by two days at the MTC.  It's crazy how busy we are.  We were tired by 5 pm.  It's crazy how much is going on. 

My district is awesome.  There are 5 sisters, 3 of us are going to Louisiana and the other 2 are going to Winnipeg Canada.  There are also 6 elders.  I found out that there will be 12 of us reporting to Louisiana, 4 English speaking elders, 4 Spanish speaking elders, 1 Spanish speaking sister and 3 English speaking sisters.

If you haven't guessed by now, I'm in a trio.  My companion's names are Sister Steele who is from Sandy and Sister Lindstrom from Rexburg, ID.  Sister Lindstrom was supposed to report in May but had surgery then found out three weeks ago that she would report today. 

So I found out that the Elder Skousen is in my zone is the one I was supposed to find for Granny.  Well, that assignment was easy.

Sister Steele, Sister Lindstrom and I were called to be our branch music specialists.

Mostly I've been exhausted because I have pretty much zero free time and  trying to live by exact obedience - which is a lot easier said than done.

We are currently working with an investigator named Jennifer and our first lesson with her will be tomorrow after dinner.  

Oh and Jess was right about the chocolate milk.  It is pretty much all I drink at breakfast, lunch and dinner.

Love,
Sister Brady

It is always hard to say good-bye

Most people hate saying goodbyes. I am one of them. At my farewell yesterday I was saying good-bye to so many people that I won't be seeing until I get home from my mission. Oddly enough I know that in the end the 18 months that I will spend away from my family will make me stronger and a better person.