Mansions, accidents, snow, and zone conference‏

Well this week was crazy, but great!

We went tracting last night on this street with MASSIVE houses! They were all 10,000 square feet and higher. Some with basketball courts others with gates. It was crazy! We met this great family who told us to come back because they were putting their kids to bed. We also met another family who lives in Florida every other week. They prayed with us, and were super nice. We met Baptists, non-denominational, Muslims, and Jews. It was quite a diverse neighborhood. I am excited to go back and try that family that told us to come back!

We are teaching this family with three kids. The Jones family! They are great! We haven't been able to teach them that often because they are so busy. Hopefully we get to teach them more these next couple of weeks. The dad, JD, is in nursing school. The mom, Tasha, is a dental hygienist. They have an 11 year old, 9 year old, and an 8 year old. Two boys and one girl. I am so excited for them to progress in this gospel! They are definitely going to to get baptized!

We pulled up into a parking spot and it was dark...well Sister Heywood was going really slow and we hit a curb. Neither of us saw it. It only broke of a little piece of the fender that can be hooked back on really easily. It was all good.

We got 5 inches of snow on Friday night and Saturday morning. It felt like home. We had planned to ride our bikes that day, but instead we walked. It was definitely an adventure. We walked a good 10 miles that day through a lot of snow. They don't believe in shoveling here. haha.

 

 Writing Mormon.org in the snow for everyone to see.

The beautiful snow angel I made and put my name tag in.

We had zone conference on Wednesday. That was really fun! I won the cleanest award again! what what! I learned a lot at the conference though! They are pushing us to have more lessons in members homes, and to bring less-actives to lessons with us. They are also pushing exact obedience more because a couple missionaries just got sent home apparently! I love learning about how I can be a better missionary!

We are teaching a lady named Ramona. I don't know if I have mentioned her before. Well, she is super duper fantastic! She asks so many questions, and I love it! I love it because they can all be answered by the Book of Mormon! haha. She is really starting to progress! It is awesome!

I got to see Brittany on Saturday! She is doing pretty well, but has been sick quite a bit lately.

We went to a members home on saturday night. They are our neighbors. It is a younger couple, the Boohers, and they are awesome! She showed us her dead bug collection, which was cool! We had the most interesting conversations with them. It was amazing! They are hilarious!

We had a member, the Cox's,  take us out to lunch on Saturday. They just happen to drive past us while we were walking in the snow. They pulled over and took us to lunch! It was so nice! I have been in this area for 5 months and have never really talked to them. They are both lawyers. Sister Cox just talks your ear off, and has a great southern accent. She is so nice. It is funny because she is a lawyer who builds things for fun like fences, bridges, who knows what else. She also owns a farm with horses and other animals. She is a total farm girl lawyer! haha.

I forgot to tell you all! Last week I tried Indian food. This family that is the elders investigators from India, made us some real authentic Indian food. It was actually really good! I am broadening my horizons everyday!

It was a pretty great week! I love Somerset Kentucky! I hope you all have a great week!

Love,

Sister Bradley

Trials

Hello family and friends,

 

Happy Birthday to Morgan my Beautiful Sister in law! I know it is not today, but I still wanted to give you a shout out!

 

How are you all?

 

I hope school, work, and whatever else you might be doing is going fantastic!

 

This letter will be short because the library is closing early because of the weather. The people here don't know how to handle snow very well, so the whole town shuts down when there is any.

 

 

Well this last week was definitely a growing experience. Every single appointment we had with an investigator fell through. Literally every single one. It was definitely a downer, but we still got to see a lot of less-actives. We also got to do a lot of service, which I love!!

 

We got to help a less-active family clean and pack so they could go to Lexington. Their baby was having surgery in Lexington this past weekend. We also got to help a member of our branch pack yesterday because they are moving to Utah. I am sad they are leaving! We need more people from Utah to move here not from here to Utah! haha We also got to do some cleaning for another member. It was fun!

 

Even though it wasn't the best week there were a lot of tender mercies.

 

One day we were driving and we decided to stop at one investigators house and set up an appointment with him. After we did we got in the car and started to drive away. I saw a girl walking to her car in the same parking lot. I told Sister Heywood to stop, and I jumped out of the car to go talk to her. I walked up to her and introduced myself. I proceeded to tell her that I felt like I needed to come talk to her.  She was crying, so I asked what was wrong. She told me that she had just found out that a friend of hers has cancer. The only thing I could think of was to give her a hug. I asked her and she was like YES I really do need one. Well we talked for a little bit and I told her a little about the gospel. She then was like I really know that you were supposed to come talk to me. It was a way cool experience! It was a testimony to me that I need to always be aware of everyone arounf me because I never know who I will miss that is waiting for the gospel. 

 

Then on Sunday we were calling people to wake them up in the morning. We needed the calling list in our car. I ran out to get it and a guy was walking in our parking lot. I talked to him, and next thing I know he ended up becoming a new investigator! 

 

It is crazy how the Lord works sometimes. We might be having a rough time, but Heavenly Father still blesses us. It is awesome to listen and follow spiritual promptings because then we know that we are truly doing the Lords will. I love being a missionary! I love seing the Lords hand in my life every single day. I love the power of prayer. Heavenly Father knows us perfectly. He hears our prayers, and answers them in his own way and timing. I am so blessed everyday to be on the Lords errand. The Atonement is so real. I feel it in my life, and I know that the more I understand the atonement the more I love my Savior. The atonement doesn't only help us to repent, but it helps us to make our weak things become strong. The choices we make everyday show how much we love our Savior. Are you making the right choices in your life? How much do you love your Savior? As we are striving to be obedient to the commandments and be like our Savior Jesus Christ we can show our love for him. I hope you all can study the atonement more and understand it a little bit better than you did before.

 

You should all read Eldar Bednars talk on the enabling power of the atonement. It is a great one! I loved it!

 

I love you all, and hope that you have a great week!

 

With much love,

Sister Bradley

Sub Zero to Tropics

Hi, How ya'll doing! Yes, I say ya'll all the time now. Don't judge. I love it!!

 

Well I know you are all wondering why the title is sub zero to tropics. The weather was in the negatives/single digits at the beginning of the week. Then by the end it was in the 60's. The weather here is nutso! I love the change though it is nice.

 

We went to dinner last Monday at the Richardsons. They are such a cute family! They have this little daughter, who is one, named Ella. She loved me and wouldn't leave me alone the whole time, it was hilarious. It is a rule that we can't hold children or let them sit on our laps. Well... we were sitting on the ground doing family home evening with them, and she just came and sat herself down on my lap. I wasn't going to make her get off because she is just so cute! She kept hugging me and reaching for me to pick her up. It was precious!

 

There is this less-active couple, the Jones, that we go and visit a couple times a week. Well Brother Jones told us that if either one of us ever leaves they are never letting the missionaries back in their home. He was joking, but they are hilarious. Brother Jones is super sarcastic and Sister Jones never stops talking. It is always an adventure when we go over there. They love Karaoke as well. We told them that they have to do Karaoke for us one day.

 

We have a new investigator named April. Yes, another April. We had three and now we have two. We are teaching her and her son Michael. They are so humble, and I am so excited to get to know and teach them more.

 

Sister Crosby and her daughter Brianna are recent converts. They got baptized in August. We are working with them because they are somewhat active. I love going and visiting with them. They are struggling with reading everyday, so we put up sticky notes with chapters or verses all around their house. It was fun! Then every time they read one of the verses or chapters they get to take the sticky note down. It is totally working, and I love it! Sometimes you just have to think of creative ways to help people make read. 

 

We have this other investigator named Ramona. I feel like she is the perfect investigator. She seriously loves everything we teach her. She asks us a billion questions, but all of them we can answer through the Book of Mormon or Bible. It is awesome! 

 

Did I ever tell you all about Sister Hamm. Well, she is this older German lady who is less-active. She is a fashionista, and is always dressed super nice! She has this cute accent too!

 

There is this older couple that we tracted into a couple of weeks ago. Their names are Jim and Vivian. Vivian is this super tiny petite old lady, who has a little amnesia. They are funny and she wanted us to help her do her make-up because she goes to the salon every Wednesday. We will be doing service for them, which is exciting!

 

 Samantha has a baptismal date for February 1st. She is doing well, and came to church this week. She told us she wanted to be baptized for her grandma. She doesn't know for sure why she wants to be baptized for herself. We are working with her. She keeps all of her commitments, but isn't converted quite yet. We are helping her realize the importance of Baptism and the Book of Mormon. We want her to love the Book of Mormon. She is a very smart girl, and understands the things that the spirit teaches her.

   Amy has a baptismal date for February 8th. She is finally starting to keep commitments! She is realizing that she has to act on her faith in order to gain a solid testimony. She loves the Book of Mormon! I am so excited for her to keep progressing towards conversion and baptism.

  We are still working with many of the less-actives. We are meeting at least one or two new less-actives a week. We are teaching most of them the lessons. We are also leaving commitments with them such as reading, praying, and coming to church. We are hoping that this will help them regain their testimonies. This branch will be a ward by the end of this year! With the help of evreryone I know it can happen!

 

It was so cool because on Saturday we were so busy we were literally at someones house all day long. We went from one to another with absolutely no free time! It was great! I love super busy days when we don't have to go tracting or anything.

   I love the people here in Somerset Kentucky! I love this work with all my heart! I am so grateful everyday for all the people I get to meet and teach. I love being a servant of the Lord, and seeing miracles happen.

 

random fact: I have met over ten Breanna's on my mission so far! Crazy huh!

 

I love this: YOSO- YOU ONLY SERVE ONCE!

 

we saw this pillow at walmart with the frozen characters on it. We decided that they made one of them after me! She looks so much like me!! CRAY CRAY!

 

 

Well have a great week! I love you all:)

 

Keep on keepin on!

 

Love your favorite missionary,

          Sister Bradley

Ice Ice Kentucky!

Hello Family and Friends! Happy New Year! I hope you all had a fantastic New Year! I can't believe I will be on my missions for this whole year! CRAZY! I am so excited for every second of it though!!!

 

Sister Heywood and I will be together for another transfer. I am soooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

STOKED!!! It is going to be another great transfer!!!

 

I tried Tamales, tequitos, and posoli this week. You should all be proud!  Three new things in one week. I didn't like the tamales, but I liked the other two!

 

The weather here is so wierd. One second it is 60 degrees and all I need is a sweater. The next second it is snowing and freezing. Yesterday it was fairly warm, and then half way through the day it started to rain. We got home for the night, and then it started POURING! I have never seen it rain so hard in my life. We were about to go to bed when Sister Heywood looked outside, and it was now snowing super hard. Well today we both decided that it feels like home with the snow. They closed school today and tomorrow. They close their schools down before the storm even comes. There is definitely a lot more ice here though. It took us 20 minutes to scrape the car windows because of all the ice. The wind chill here is super cold! It bites through every layer! It is supposed to get in the negatives tonight, so we will see what happens.

 

The most devastating thing happened this week. April, the 25 year old, dropped us this week. We have been going by quite often, and calling her. She hasn't been home though or answered our calls. Well the Elders said that they had seen her, and we just needed to catch her when she was home. We went by on Tuesday, and her neighbor came out and said, " She is baptist and doesn't want to be Baptized a Mormon, so stop coming by." I was heart broken when I heard that. Well I decided I was going to let it go until I heard it from April herself. Well, five minutes later we saw the Elders. We told them what happened and then they go, " Oh we saw her last night and we set up an appointment with her tomorrow at 2." I was a little upset because they set up an appointment with our investigator. I got over that real fast because I was happy she was still willing to be taught. The next day we were at district meeting, and the Elders said, " oh April texted us last night and said that she isn't interested anymore and that she didn't want to be Baptized." I was even more devastated. April was so prepared for this Gospel. She had come to Church many times. She knew members of the Branch. She was reading the Book of Mormon,and obeying the Word of Wisdom. She was ready to be Baptized. I was so heart broken when she dropped us. I think of how Heavenly Father feels when people stray away or don't accept this Gospel. To see his children not be the Happiest that they can be because of their choices. He loves us all so much! It must be heart breaking to watch his children not choose the best thing that this world has to offer. I love April so much!!! I know the potential she has, and she is an amazing person! I know that one day she will be Baptized!

 

 We met with almost twenty less-actives this week. We meet with more less-actives than we do investigators. I feel like we have gained a lot of "investigators" because we are teaching most of the less-actives from the beginning. They are all really nice, and just need to remember why they joined the church in the first place.

 

We met with one less-active named Sharon Abney. We talked with her, and she told us she wanted her name removed from the Church. I did not want to let her do that! She was really nice, and we talked with her and gained her trust. We then shared a message with her, which she liked. It was cool because by the time we left she completely forgot that she wanted her name removed! We are going to start teaching her again. I am excited!  

 

I hope that you all have a great week!

 

Happy Birthday to my beautiful niece Amelia Winward on Saturday!! I love you Mia!!

 

I LOVE YOU ALL!!

 

Love,

Sister Bradley

 Ic

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

Happy New Year everyone! well almost...

 

I hope you all had the best Christmas ever!! I hope all your dreams and wishes came true!

 

This week was great, weird, crazy, and who knows what else. We went to Louisville on Sunday night! We were the chosen ones to stay at the Mission home. haha. It was six sisters and a whole bunch of elders. We stayed up until midnight playing games with President and Sister Woodbury. It was so much fun! It was weird staying up that late though. We then went to the mission wide Christmas Conference the next day! It was awesome! There were a lot of musical performances, food, and fun. We sang so much that my voice was almost gone by the end of the day!  It was really fun though! On Christmas eve we went caroling with some of the members to less-actives. Christmas day was fantastic, and very busy! We had breakfast at the Cooks, and then went to a meeting. We then skyped our beloved families! Which of course was marvelous! We visited a few other members and then all of a sudden the day was over. Time flies when you are on a mission.

 

We still have baptism dates for April, Amy, and Samantha. We haven't been able to get a hold of Amy or April in almost two weeks! Crazy! We have stopped by, called, and texted them. Hopefully we can teach them this week! Samantha is doing great! She is a super genius! Sometimes I feel dumb teaching her because she understands everything so well.

 

Last Thursday almost all of our plans had fallen through. I thought of an investigator who said she would be busy for the next couple of weeks. We decided to try going over to her house anyways. Well sure enough she was home and willing to meet with us. It was amazing! It is so amazing how the spirit prompts us.

 

We went to a referral that a member gave us and had an interesting conversation. Her name was Lisa, and she is hardcore Baptist!  She asked us all these questions. Some of them were hard to answer without getting into deep doctrine. Well, she didn't have a lot of time, and told us to come back later. It was funny though because before we left she said " It will be funny when you get to Heaven and realize there is only one heaven and not 3 different Kingdoms." Sister Heywood replied back with " It will be funny when we go to the spirit world and you realize Joseph Smith really was a prophet." It was hilarious!!

 

Well we mainly met with a lot of less-actives this week! It was fun! There isn't much else to say. Sorry it was a short letter this week. I hope you all have a great week, and a Happy New Year!!

 

I love you all!

 

Love you favorite Sister Missionary,

Sister Breanna Bradley

 

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!

Merry Christmas to all of you! I know that it is a week early, but I won't get to e-mail next week. We are having a mission wide Christmas party in Louisville next Monday. I am so excited!

Interesting/funny/crazy:

- Sister Heywood and I went to interviews wearing the same outfit! It was hilarious! We both have the same skirt and sweater. We have a shirt that is the same color too, so we wore the same outfit! President and Sister Woodbury loved it! President told me that he was going to write about it in his journal. I told him I was stoked that I made it into his journal! haha. Sister Woodbury said that we were a companionship made in heaven! Everyone thought it was Hilarious! We are going to probably wear it to the Christmas party next week! I forgot to take a picture of it, so we will next week. 

- We biked almost all day on Tuesday because are miles for the car are really low this month! It was really fun and I actually miss biking a lot! I never thought I would say that.

- I tried a tomato this week. Yea they aren't that bad, but they are really bland.

- I also tried meatloaf!! I told myself I would never try meatloaf. It was okay, but I will never eat it again! 

- The other night Sister Heywood came out of the Bathroom and I scared her! It was hilarious because she jumped about 5 feet!

- We spent 30 minutes looking for an address yesterday with our map and GPS. When we found the road it was closed. so lame but whatever haha what can you do!

- We had the branch Christmas party on Saturday. It was loads of fun! We had delicious food, and we played jeopardy. Sister Heywood and I were in charge of the activity, so we made up a jeopardy game. The branch loved it! The best question we had was about Elder Black. How much has Elder Black gained since he has been on his mission? Almost the whole branch was jumping up and yelling out answers or laughing their heads off. It was great! Elder Black approved the question before we asked it, so it was all okay.

INVESTIGATORS/SPIRITUAL:

-Well this week was delightful! We were able to get quite a few new investigators which is great! We also visited with a lot of less-actives. I love meeting with the less-actives because they are all so kind and willing to listen. Well most of them are. haha. It is amazing because a lot of them we have to teach just like our investigators because they don't remember anything.

- April is doing great! She is so great! It is sad because she has such low self esteem, but we are working with her on that. She is still on track to get baptized in January. It was awesome because she prayed in front of us and started crying afterwards. We talked about it, and explained that it was the spirit. She told us that she feels so happy and peaceful every time she prays and comes to church! It was fantastic!!

- We met with a girl named Samantha Meece this week. She is 17 and a super genius! Her mom and grandma are members of the church. We committed her to baptism as well! It was awesome! Her and April have the same baptism date for January 18th.

- There is one new investigator named Ramona who is so cool! She is a single grandma in her 50's or 60's. She asked us all these questions. It was sweet because for the first time every question she asked I thought of a scripture that could answer it. We answered all her questions using the Book of Mormon, and it was great! I was like woah I suck at remembering scriptures where did that come from. It was definitely not me that is for sure!  It was the Holy Ghost all the way!

- We are teaching a woman named Claudia, who doesn't speak English. I think I mentioned her last week. We took one of the young woman with us this week  to teach with us, and it was a huge help. Her name is Heidi and she speaks fluent Spanish. She was able to translate everything for us, and teach in Spanish as well. It was really amazing!

-We had interviews with President Woodbury this week. The assistants did an amazing training, and I loved it! It was about exact obedience! We were obedient before, but now we are trying to be exactly obedient in everything! It is fun and I enjoy it! haha.

Well I hope you all have a very Merry Christmas!!

Happy Holidays, and remember the real reason why we celebrate Christmas!!!

Love you all!!!

Love,

Sister Bradley