9 Months....SAY WHATTTT!!!!!

Shout out to TYSON BRADLEY! HAPPY BIRTHDAY ON SATURDAY!!!!!! I LOVE YOU!!!! 

FUNNY STORY: Well, one day we were eating lunch and we saw that a wasp was flying around our apartment. We didn't know how we could kill it so we had our neighbor Crystal come do it. Yes, I was a wussy. That was exciting! That night we were teaching a lesson outside with a member and the tornado sirens started going off. We continued teaching because it wasn't even stormy and everything was fine. We finished the lesson and got in the car. The minute we shut the car doors it started POURING with super crazy winds. It was insane! Then halfway home it started hailing good quarter sized hail. We ran into our apartment form the car and were soaked by the time we got inside. Then we planned for the next day and went to go to our room. Well, little did we know that while walking to our room we would walk through a huge puddle 4 inches deep. Our apartment was slightly flooded! We got it all cleaned up and taken care of though. It was an adventurous day to say the least.

 

All of the sisters in our zone.

 

This week was such a marvelous week. Sister Vikari and I are seeing many great miracles! We are being blessed with so many wonderful people to teach. The members are so involved in missionary work here. They are always so willing to come out with us, and let us into their homes.

We had a very spiritual lesson with Tom this week at the Bishops home. We did a spirit sandwich with the Book of Mormon. We had everyone testify of the Book of Mormon, and how it has blessed their life. It was a powerful lesson. At the end we all knelt and said a prayer to ask if the Book of Mormon was true. It was amazing to see how every single person felt the spirit strongly! Tom has a strong testimony of the Gospel. Now we need to help him recognize it.

Brother and Sister Greff are amazing member missionaries in our ward. They come out with us frequently, and are always trying to share the Gospel and find people for us to teach. One day they came with us to contact a referral that they gave to us. While we were contacting them Brother Greff went and talked to their neighbors who were outside. We finished and Brother Greff walks up to us and says, " You have an appointment with this family Sunday at 3:00." Yes, He got us a family to teach! They came with us on Sunday to teach this family, and it was an amazing lesson! It is the Henry family. There is a husband, wife, 8 year old daughter, 16 year old son, and the mom of the wife. They are so prepared for the Gospel! They have a baptismal date for July 12. I am so excited to continue teaching them! They asked great questions that neither Sister Vikari or I have ever been asked. 

The whole Lyon family came to church this week! Sam, the husband, finally came! We took the Elders Quorum President with us to teach them a lesson. He befriended Sam and made Sam feel more comfortable. They are continuing to progress! 

 

One night Sister Vikari and I were with a member and the appointment fell through. We had many back ups, but decided to pray about where we should go. We did and the Lee family came to my mind. We go there and they weren't home. Sister Vikari and I knew one other person that lived in this same apartment complex. We felt like we needed to go there. Her name is Lexi, and she is 11. We have been trying for weeks to meet with her because she came to church with Hank about a month ago. Well, she was home and so we taught her the first lesson. She has read the whole Book of Mormon already! We brought her with us the next day to dinner at a members home who has a daughter Lexi's age. They bonded and became friends quickly. Lexi also came to church as well! She is ready for Baptism! 

 

On Saturday one of the members had a BBQ at their home. There were many people from the ward there. They invited the Lyon family and they came as well. They also invited some of their nonmember friends who came. We talked with this one couple, and were able to set up an appointment with them for this week! The members are simply amazing here in Richmond. 

 

We are meeting with a part member family in our area as well. It is the Samuel family. The wife and 10 year old son are Baptized. The husband and 8 year old son are not. We are going to teach the 8 year old with the whole family involved. We think that will help the Dad as well. They come as a family to church every week. Everyone in the ward thinks he should be a member. He told us if all he had to do was sign a paper he would be a member. We are going to try and help resolve his concerns. 

 

Crystal is a less-active that we have been working with for a while. A few weeks ago we made goals with her, and her main goal is to go to the temple. We were able to teach her the 15 step program last night! She is excited but nervous to quit smoking! We know that she can do it though!

We also has zone meeting! It was fun to see everyone, and be spiritually uplifted! 

There is a family in our ward who is moving to Rexburg next month because he got a job at BYU Idaho. They are excited! I told them all these places to go to, and things to do! 

It was an amazing week!!!!! I am so blessed! We have so many people progressing towards baptism! I have only told you about a few of the people that we are teaching! We have 12 people right now with Baptism dates and quite a few people who will have them by the end of this week! The Lord is truly Hastening His work! I am blessed that I get to be an instrument in his hands! 

don't laugh but I fell asleep in a lesson.... We were watching the restoration movie. The investigator was sitting next to me and was super into the movie. It was a long hot day and I tried so hard to stay awake but apparently it didn't work. A member tool this picture because she thought it was so funny!

Sleeping Beauty!! HAHA!

Have a fantastic week!

Love,

Sister Bradley

living Vikariously!

Why hello my dear family and friends! ( say in British accent)

I know you are all excited to see who the new companion is! Drum roll please.... Sister Vikari, hence living Vikariously. It is spelled wrong on purpose. She is one amazing sister! She is from North Bend Washington which is close to Seattle. She is super fun and it is going to be another great transfer! She is actually 25 and has graduated from BYU Idaho in Vocal Performance. She is an amazing Opera Singer, and I make her sing to me all the time. She is going to teach me to sing better as well! I love to live Vikariously because it is the way to go! haha:) 

This week was another amazing week! I am so grateful that I have this opportunity to be companions with Sister Vikari! This is going to be a great transfer working with her. I know that miracles are going to continue to happen here in Richmond! 

Last night we went to a fireside in Lexington with Nikki and Destiny. It is a fireside for investigators and recent converts. Well, after the speakers they allow anyone to bear their testimony. I told Destiny that she should bear hers, and she did! It was a powerful testimony! She said that she wanted to go on a mission one day. She said how she loves coming out with us, and how grateful she is for the Gospel in her life and us. It was so precious! She has such a strong testimony for only being 13. I got to see some former companions too! I saw Sister Durfee and Sister Peterson there! I also got to see the Cook family from Somerset! It was awesome to see all of them. 

This last week a member from our ward passe away. It was Brother Adams who I wrote about a few weeks ago that we went and saw. It was a beautiful funeral service. I talked to Sister Adams on Sunday when I saw her. She cried and  told me how grateful Brother Adams and her were for when we came. She said it was a blessing for them and especially him because we brightened up his day. She said that we brought the spirit into their home and really helped them forget about the hard time they were going through. It was so touching. I told her how grateful we were for their strong testimonies. It was a very tender moment. 

We are still working with the Lyon family. Sam still has not come to church. We were only able to meet with them once last week, and it was only with Roxy. They aren't finding the Gospel very important in their lives, so they don't meet with us very frequently. We have been doing a lot of praying and studying on their behalf, and are going to try many things this coming week. They are still interested and know that this is what they need to do, but it is not urgent for them.

We were able to have a powerful lesson with Charlie this last week, and set a baptismal date with him! It was truly a spirit guided lesson! He realized that he can do all things through Christ, and with our Heavenly Fathers help. 

We are also meeting with Tom again. He is striving to really know the truth and gain a testimony. He also has a baptismal date. He is really studying everything out in his mind, so he can know that this is the right decision in his life. I am excited to see him continue to change! 

We are also meeting with two older sisters named Gladdis and Emma. They are wonderful! Emma is spunky and asks a lot of great questions. Gladdis is more calm and really ponders everything we say. They both have a baptismal date for June 21. 

We are also continuing to work with the Lee family.They are so prepared! We are trying to meet with the whole family. It is really hard because they are all so busy. I know that the Lord will help us to work with them more and be able to teach all of them. 

I am grateful for another amazing companion! I am so blessed, and have learned so many things from Sister Vikari already. She is a fantastic, diligent, obedient, fun sister! 

I love you all and hope you have a fantabulous week! 

Love, 

Sister Bradley

Bitter Sweet...

Well hello friends and family!

It was nice talking to the fam bam yesterday on Skype! All the grand kids are getting so big! Well, lately Sister Durfee and I like to relate everything to the Gospel. We were compared riding our bikes to the Gospel, or playing chess to the Gospel, or how eating can relate to the Gospel. It is quite entertaining and hilarious! 

  Our District

Sister Durfee is leaving me tomorrow! Sad day. She is an awesome companion! She is becoming a sister training leader, and staying in my zone. Luckily I will still get to see her quite often! It is a mystery as to who my new companion is. In order to find out tune into to my Blog next week where the new sister will be revealed! haha

A creepy picture

There was many miracles this last week that happened. They continue to happen every single week! We are now teaching a couple families. We were able to gain very promising new investigators. We were also able to contact many wonderful people. The Lord continues to bless this area and help more and more people accept the Gospel. 

Destiny came with us last Saturday. She walked around with us from appointment to appointment. It was amazing. She bore powerful testimony of what she knew to be true. It brought the spirit into the lessons! That was a miracle to see her willingly come with us and to hear her beautiful testimony. 

We are now teaching the Lee Family. It is a husband, wife, and three kids. The kids are 18, 15, and 12. They have a strong foundation in Jesus Christ. They are very open to the Gospel and to learning. We taught the mom last week, but tonight we are teaching the whole family. I am super excited to see them progress in the Gospel as a family! 

We taught the Lyon family a family home evening lesson. It was a lesson on how to grow your faith. We taught towards the kids, so it was simple and direct. The kids are being a strong example to their parents. They pray during the lessons. They love to talk about Jesus, and they pray for their parents to quit smoking. Roxy is doing well and continues to progress. 

This member in the ward had surgery and her daughter doesn't know how to cook. We went over there one day and made dinner for them and taught her how to make breakfast for dinner! It was great and they were so appreciative! 

Let me tell you all about the Christensen's. It is a couple that lives two blocks away from us. They helped us so much! They fed us dinner frequently, gave us rides places, let us teach people in their home, and many other wonderful things. We were able to get to know them very well! They sadly left this week to Bear Lake for the Summer. They told Sister Durfee and I that we could come and stay with them next summer! I am super stoked! 

The work continues to be amazing here! I love it more and more every single day! I have never been so happy in my entire life! Who wouldn't want to serve a mission. It brings happiness, spiritual and temporal knowledge, peace, joy, friends, spiritual strength, and many other wonderful things!  Who wouldn't want to experience all those things??

I am so grateful for my Father in Heaven who truly knows each and every one of us perfectly. He is very aware of our circumstances, and the desires of our hearts. He knows how to best help us, and can do anything as long as we put our trust in him! Thi Gospel is simply...AMAZING!

Have a great week! Happy Mothers Day to all the wonderful women in my life!

Love,

Sister Bradley 

Derby Day!

Shout out to my cute niece Macie Barnum! Happy 8th Birthday Macie!! Love you! Love, Nana!  

This last Saturday was Derby Day! Sister Durfee and I are so awesome that we made hats and had great dresses to go with it! They were total derby style! I hope you enjoy the lovely pictures of it. To go with the Derby the ward had an Ultimate derby race. It was a derby car race with no rules and for all ages. It was fun! We made a car, and it got 5th place. Not bad... haha.

The Lyon family is doing well. Destiny Sawin, a recent convert, came with us to their lesson yesterday. It was amazing to see Destiny teach and testify of what she knew to be true. I think  she is the best fellowship for them! She hasn't been coming to church, so we think this will help motivate her. She brought toys for the kids, and was able to really relate to them. We will definitely be teaching a family home evening lesson when we meet with them tomorrow. We are excited to see them continue to progress.

We were able to meet with a girl named Jessica this last week. She is very open minded and said that her and her husband were looking for a church. We will be meeting with her again this week  with a member to teach the Plan of Salvation. We are excited to teach this because she has two young children. It will help her understand that her family can be together forever. We are trying to get the Husband involved as well, but he works quite a bit. She has the cutest little girl named Addison who is 2. While we were there last week they showed us a cool thing that Addison and Jessica's husband do. Well, he throws Addison up in the air and stunts her. So she stands on one leg while he is holding her with one hand. She was solid too! It was amazing to see a 2 year old do that! CRAZY! She also could almost do a straddle press handstand, and she is 2!!! I told Jessica that she better get her in classes quick because that little Addison has talent!

We were also able to see Charlie Walling. We taught him a very loving but bold lesson last night. He is ready to make all the steps to Baptism, but he is struggling with procrastination. He keeps thinking that he will when the time is right. When he is settled. We are truly focusing on his needs as we meet with him tonight. The Gospel is truly what he needs in his life right now.

I love seeing the tender mercies of the Lord. It is humbling to know how aware the Lord is of every detail. Saturday was a rough day with many things that happened. I saw so many tender mercies throughout the day that I was just happy and hopeful. I knew that God was still helping us and blessing us, but it was just in other ways than what I thought it would be. We met with two amazing members on Saturday evening. The husband is suffering from cancer, and we were asked to go and visit them. They had a strong spirit in their home. It was amazing to teach and talk about the Restoration of the Gospel with them. It was a very touching experience for Sister Durfee and I.

We had our last interviews with President Woodbury, and Sister Woodbury. It was sad... They were really great interviews though! They have one more transfer left until the new ones come. We had a great training about how we can focus on Church and getting investigators to Church! We need to be fully converted in the Gospel before we can expect to truly help others come unto Christ!

Everything is going great! I love the Gospel! It is amazing to see people change as we are lead by the spirit! God knows us personally and perfectly!  We have been sharing what we call a faith ladder with a lot of people lately. It is a great thing that can apply to anything in the Gospel!

One example could be Charity.

step 1: Desire- It has to start with a Desire to have Charity.

step 2: Belief- As we study the scriptures we can gain a belief of Charity by reading Moroni 7.

step 3: Action- As we gain a belief we want to act on it by Praying for Charity and being more Charitable.

Step 4: Trial- as we act we go through trials.

Step 5: Witness- We receive a witness that what we are doing is real and true!

I just wanted to share that because I love how the Faith ladder really applies to everything!  I invite you all to apply the faith ladder in your own lives!

I hope you all Have a great week! Love you all!

Love,

Sister Bradley