two to four in one day!

So, this week there were many great things that happened!

The Hermana's are now living with us! They moved in with us due to some circumstances that they were living in. It is super great to have them! I love it!

2-The wonderful QUAD!

 

We got to see and preview the movie coming out called "Meet The Mormons." It was amazing!! I totally recommend everyone seeing it opening weekend. It comes out on October 10th! 

The Women's Broadcast was amazing! I loved it! I love when Elder Uchdorf talked about how we are all Children of God and he truly has a perfect love for us always! No matter what are weaknesses are or what we do in this life...HE LOVES US! I also loved how he did the Umbrella analogy with blessings. Heavenly Father never withholds blessings from us. It is us that put up umbrellas to stop them from pouring upon us! So great! We had a dinner and chocolate fountain thing before hand which was awesome!

Investigator status:

Nick - He is doing well! He finally came to a conclusion during our lesson with him at a members home that he lacks faith and doesn't trust God. We committed him to live like a Mormon for 3 weeks by reading and praying everyday and coming to church. He is trying and we know that he also loved the Fireside last night in Louisville. He is going to know it is true soon enough!

Jean- She is so wonderful! We had a wonderful lesson with her on Friday with Sister Hartgrove and she set a Baptismal date. She set her own because she wanted to do it six months out. We know that she will be baptized way sooner though. She came to church way sooner than she thought already, so Baptism is next. She is loving everything! She reads and prays everyday. She wanted to come to the Broadcast and church this last week, but couldn't because she was sick.

Sherrie- She is doing fantastic! She came to church and the fireside yesterday and loved them both! She is reading and praying as well! She is so willing to do everything God asks of her.  She was sick this last week and received a priesthood blessing from the Elders. She loved it and felt the spirit so strongly! It was great! She is awesome!

Tiffany- She is so amazing!!! I can not put into words how Elect she really is! She is reading whenever she gets a chance since she is a mom of three. We taught her the Plan of Salvation this last week and she absolutely loved it and thought it was intriguing. She grew up in Church of Christ and converted to Catholicism later. Well, there are things in both of those faiths that she does and does not agree with. What is great is that everything she disagrees with such as infant Baptism we can answer! Everything she does agree with in the other faiths we also believe! It is wonderful! Now we just need her to realize that this is exactly what she is looking for. Her husband is slightly holding her back because he is satisfied with his faith. It will all work out though!

We met a new awesome family! It is the Moerce family! They are so great! We had a great time meeting them and we are super exciting to start teaching them this week!

One little tender mercy of the week... We were buying construction paper, so we could heart attack a member of the ward. Well, we met a guy while we were getting the paper and had a lovely discussion with him. He was so grateful for us being out here and sharing a message of Christ. He then bought the paper for us! It was super nice! I felt like I was in Utah for a minute as a missionary!

We had interviews with President and Sister Brough this last week! They are just so wonderful! I love them so much!

Everything is great in good ole Evansville! I hope everything is going well for all of you!

1- My man from the hood BOBBY!!!

 

Love you!

Love,
Sister Bradley

 

There's a first for everything!

This week was simply...FABULOUS!

SISTER HINTON:

-Is 19 and just graduated from high school this year.

- Is a dancer :) 

-Has a younger brother and sister. 

-Is from Kaysville Utah

-Loves licorice and anything chocolate

- Wants to be an elementary school teacher

- She loves to have fun and hates seafood just like me!  

So, pretty much she is awesome!!! I love her to death! 

The things that are a first from this week....

1. Driving for the first time in a year! 

2. being with a new missionary

3. Eating Toroni's amazing pizza!

4. Taking an investigator's vodka away from them because she asked us too and because we might have slightly persuaded her because she was already drunk..haha...sly! 

5. Helping someone move in one hour

6.Having an investigator tell us that they went to Jail in the week that we didn't see them

7. Tracting into a members home...( look at bottom of e-mail for story)

8. Tracking down family history all the way back to Adam and Eve. 

9. Having someone tell me that I was super hip and asking if I grew up in the hood! He is pretty much my favorite person! His name is Bobby! He is legit! 

10. Last but not least... Having a bird fly super hard into our patio door and break its wing. It was seriously like on the movies where a bird just hits a window. It was a brand new sliding door that they had just put in, so it was super clean. It was HILARIOUS!! Also, it was really sad because we are pretty sure it broke it's wing. We called to see if we could take it anywhere and no one takes wild birds. Hopefully it is okay! 

p-day skipping rocks

 

The investigators are doing well! This area like I have said before is about to explode! 

Sherrie- She is an investigator that I have only met with a couple times until this last week. We helped her move, we taught her, comforted her and strengthened her. She is going through a lot  and is having a rough time. We were able to teach her the plan of Salvation and she absolutely loved it! She agreed with everything and believed it was God's plan. I had Sister Hinton commit her to Baptism and it was super powerful! It was Sister Hinton's first time and Sherrie said YES! It was so great! We set the date for October 26 and she wrote it down on her calender. She wants to tell everyone that she is getting Baptized and is super excited! She then came to church on Sunday and loved it as well.

Nick- He is doing well! We were able to teach him a couple times in members homes this week and we taught him the Plan of Salvation! He had quite a few questions. They were great questions and we were able to answer most of them. He is a thinker and really desires to know that this is true.

Jean- She is an investigator we have been working with since I have been here. She is wonderful, but always wants to take baby steps and not be pushed. Well, she has been reading and praying everyday so we convinced her that she needed to come to church. MIRACLE- SHE DID!! She was so defiant last week about coming to church, and then this week she came! HALLELUJIAH! It was amazing! She didn't answer our phone calls Saturday or Sunday morning, so we didn't know if she was going to come. She did though!! It was awesome! At our lesson on Friday a member, Sister Hartgrove, came with us for the third time. Jean told us a story of how she needed a car part for her car and someone to fix it. She knew this man and paid him to do it all and he spent the money on other things not pertaining to the car. She was very distraught about it and said how she would have to work weeks to make up that money again. When we promised blessings after committing her to church Sister Hartgrove promised blessings as well. After Sacrament meeting on Sunday Sister Hartgrove came up to Jean and said, " You know how I told you that you would be blessed for coming to church?" Jean replied, "yes." Sister Hartgrove then proceeded to give Jean an envelope and said, " Here is for your car part." She then got up and walked away. Jean was in complete shock. She didn't know what to say or do! Neither did I for that matter. Jean had just been telling me how much she loved sacrament meeting and then you add that to it and her mind was blown. Jean was shocked that a person whom she had only met a few times would give her this good chunk of money for her car part. It was a miracle and tender mercy in Jean's life. She was so grateful. She just looked at me and said, " what church is this?" I replied, " Welcome to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints." I really believe because of the whole church experience and the car part miracle that Jean will get Baptized soon enough. She is wonderful!

We had a few minutes to spare before we needed to go to a dinner appointment one evening. We decided to drive and tract a few doors on the way there. We were driving and we both looked at this house and decided we should try it, so we did. We pulled up and knocked on the door. They welcomed us right in without even asking who we were, so I was a little confused because no one does that. We sit down with them and we offer a prayer. They then proceed to tell us that they were members or are members. We don't know for sure yet because they aren't on the roster. It was really cool though that we decide to try one house and it just happened to be a members home! They said that they don't come to church because they work night shift. They were very welcoming though! We had a great discussion with them and said a prayer. We will hopefully go back in the next couple of weeks because they are busy.

Brodie- He is an amazing 15 year old that we are now teaching! He heard at his Lutheran church people talking bad about our faith. He said he was really confused because he knew a girl and she was not anything like the things that they were saying about our faith. He then at school asked this girl about our church. This Girl is Ana, and she is in our ward. She invited him to church and he agreed to come. He came once and we as missionaries all noticed him, but they left before we could talk to him. The next Sunday I introduced myself to him and told him who we were and what we did. That week we got a text from one of the youth and said that Brodie wanted to meet with us. We met with him for the first time this last Wednesday and it was a super powerful lesson! We taught him the message of the restoration and the spirit was so strong! The two youth Ana and Cody were there and they bore powerful testimony as well! It was so cool! Brodie has now been to church 4 times and he committed to Baptism yesterday for October 26th. He wants to be baptized, but he has a father that might not let him. We called and talked with his father and we are going to meet with his dad in a couple of weeks. We are excited! Brodie is awesome!

We had so many investigators at church once again! It was amazing!!! 

The primary program was yesterday, and it was so precious! I love the plain simple truths that they sing and bear testimony of! It is so cute! 

Well, I have another companion down. Sister Vikari has gone home! I will have two more companions going home in 5 weeks! CRAZY! 

Last P-day we went down to the river to play...name that song.. Anyways It was really fun! We had lunch, took pictures, and skipped rocks. We were going to go to a trampoline park and I was stoked, but they are closed on Mondays! Yea I was super upset! 

 I hope that you all have a fabulous week!

Prayer: Please pray for Jean and Nick will receive their answers!

Challenge: I invite you all to try and write down 10 things you are grateful for everyday! 

Scripture: Moroni 10: 32

Love you!

Love,

Sister Bradley

 Headstands!!

I'm PREGNANT!

We got transfer calls on Saturday and I am super sad that Sister Stacey will be leaving me this next transfer! I will miss her tons and have learned so much from her! She is an amazing sister!

                                       Sister Stacey and I!

I received the news that I will be training this next transfer. I am going to be a mom of a brand new missionary!  It will be an exciting adventure! The thing I was scared of most when I received the call was that I have to drive and I haven't driven in over a year! I have been on a bike for most of the mission...haha! We will see how my driving skills are this next week! haha. My child will be born into the mission tomorrow!

This last week was fabulous!! We had over 6 investigators at church and let me tell you that hardly, if ever, happens! It was so exciting!!! We had three people come that we weren't even expecting! We also are going to start teaching a friend of a member in the ward that has come to church a few times! So exciting!! His name is Brody and he is so prepared! We get to teach him on Wednesday!

The Investigators are doing well!

Nick- He came to church again and he is continuing to find direction through the Gospel!

 

Grandma Robisons Birthday Party

 

We got to teach one of the Cundiff children at her mom's house because it is a split family. Her name is Sharandah and she is 11. We taught her and her friend and they both came to church and brought two other friends! So, we had four children at church and we had to entertain them/ teach a lesson during the Sunday School hour because the primary was practicing for the primary program...Super exciting! She loves the Gospel and is excited to learn even more! Now we have to get the parents and other children to come to church.

Eric is new and he is hilarious! He always tells us all these bible jokes! They are fantastic! He is doing well and I am excited to work with him more!

We had dinner with members every night this week! It was amazing to get to know more of the members and build relationships with them! There is one person in the ward that is from Pocatello! Her name is Emilee Wood. Her maiden name was Cook, so if any of you Pocatellians know her I am in her ward! They are an amazing family!

Our District!

 

The Dixons are another family in the ward! They were baptized three years ago and they have 3 children! They are sooooo cool and super strong in the Gospel! I love seeing convert families!

So, I want to mention how much I love Family History work!!! It is the best! It has only been 2 weeks since we started doing an hour every week of Family History, and I love it! I have read so many cool stories of ancestors!! I invite you all to go to familysearch.org and look up your family members! See their pictures, read stories, and add things that you know about them! It is so cool to see what our ancestors went through and did!

Here is a story from my ancestors that I want to share with you all!

Maria fends off wolves

MARIA CHARLOTTA ANDERSON SHORT STORY as remembered by Lynne Warford Maria Charlotta and John Alfred Newren lived in a log cabin in a densely wooded area of Utah. The cabin wasn’t much. Just one room with a cook stove, table and chairs, a bureau of drawers, a bed, dirt floors, and a stone fireplace. It was a snowy, bitterly cold winter afternoon.. They didn’t have much food and wouldn’t be going into town any time soon, so Newren had taken their only rifle and left the cabin to try to find some kind of meat to get them by for a few days. Maria lay in bed and nuzzled Alfred, her new born son. He was perfect; but he certainly took his own sweet time arriving. Other women had warned her that the first child was usually the most difficult to deliver. She hoped they were right! She carefully got out of bed and added some wood to the fire. It had been a hard, cold, winter and the wolves had been bad that year. She could hear their sounds in the distance. She worried about Newren. He should be home by now. She crawled back into bed and fell asleep. She was awakened by a thud, then a scratching sound at the cabin door. “Newren?,” she said. No answer. “Newren?,” she said more loudly. More scratching. It wasn’t Newren at the door; it was a wolf trying to dig under the cabin door. There were more wolves nearby. Newren had the gun, but what kind of a match would he be against a pack of wolves? Now she was afraid he WOULD come home. The wolf continued to dig and claw at the frozen earth. Slowly the tip of a nose appeared. More digging. Nose, then eyes and ears appeared slowly. She realized there was no safety anywhere. How could she protect her baby, and, how could she stop the wolf? She knelt at the side of her bed. She prayed for Newren to be safe and she prayed to know how she could stop the wolf from digging in any further. She prayed that, somehow, they could all be safe. Maria looked around the cabin. The cook stove had an oven. It hadn’t been used that day, but was still somewhat warm. She could put the baby in the oven, and maybe, maybe, she could prop the oven door open just a little with a small piece of wood to allow air. There was no way of saving herself, but maybe she could save Alfred. He was asleep now, but for how long? Frantically, she looked around the cabin one more time. There was a straw broom leaning against the stonework of the fireplace. She may have had a dirt floor, but she keep it swept and free from other debris that was walked or blown into the cabin. She knew what to do! She could now see most of the wolf’s head. She put the straw of the broom into the fireplace. It caught fire instantly. She then shoved the flaming broom into the wolf’s face. With a howl, the wolf backed out from under the door. She could hear its cries as it ran from the property, the other pack members running after it. Newren came home. He had found game. He lost his breath when he saw wolf tracks and the hole under the door. Miraculously, his little family was safe for now. But then, they were only beginning their life journeys.


Isn't that cool!!! I think it is!! That is a story from my Great Great grandpa on my Mothers side! SO AWESOME!
It was another amazing week in the life of a sister missionary!
Prayer: Pray that The cundiff family can continue to progress all together!
Challenge: Do family history!
Scripture: Ether 5: 3-4. This scripture can be compared to member missionary work! How three of us together is always better! (missionary companionship and member)


Have a fantastic week!!! Remember who you are and...Remember who I am!
Love,
Sister Bradley

Go Go Evansville Sisters!!

Go Go Evansville Sisters...bum..bum ( sing to power rangers). So, I made up jingles for everyone in our district. Every time we call each other we have to sing the other companionship's jingle! It is great! I did it with Sister Vikari in Richmond as well. Our theme here is superheros!

​This week was simply busy busy busy and crazy!!!

Let me tell you a little bit about it in a summed up version without the mundane things...

Monday- We tracted for a couple hours and got some free tomato's! It was cool because our 8:00 appointment fell through, and so did all of our backups. After that happened a random members name popped into my head. I have never even met this member yet because she has surgery. Well, we decided to follow that and she was home and let us in! Perfect! I love promptings! Heavenly Father is great!

Tuesday- We had the beloved zone conference! It was amazing! I learned so much! It was cool because one of the trainings was on how literal and important our calling is! These two sisters did the most amazing musical number! It was a Joseph smith medley! We recorded it another day, but I can't send videos in e-mail. We taught Nick afterwards with a member! It was a little weird at first because we taught him at the church and sister Stacey was with Sister Brough in an interview when he and the member got there. I had to teach part of the lesson by myself which was weird. haha! He committed to being baptized on October 19th though! President Brough is having us do an hour of Family History each week now! I am excited for that!

Wednesday- We did service at the recycle center and had lunch with all of the volunteers after. It was great because they all asked us a ton of questions!  We saw this wonderful member Sister Holmgren! She is amazing! and has a powerful testimony! We also had an awesome lesson with an investigator Sister Kuhlenhoelter. She is married to a member and she is so wonderful! We taught her the Plan of Salvation! It was powerful when we got to the atonement!

Thursday- We saw a new investigator Rebecca. She is super sweet! She is getting Baptize in October as well! We had a meeting and also had dinner with a member. We saw one less-active member named Sandy! She is so cool! I just love meeting with her! She has so much charity!

Friday-  We did service for a member that was recently activated.  We helped her clean out a bunch of boxes. I suffered because I didn't take my allergy medicine and she has cats...bad mistake!  We had a great lesson with an investigator and some members! His name is Mark. He used to be an investigator last year and we are teaching him again. He is so prepared! It was a powerful lesson! Then the craziness happened... We went out to eat with two members at a buffett with the elders and Hermanas. Well, the hermanas were going to be late and then we got a call from them saying that they got a flat tire and neither of them had fixed one before. Then the elders had to leave because they had to fill up the font for a baptism. So, one of the members goes and picks them up and brings them to the buffett. Then one of the members sits down in her chair and falls over to the ground and gets injured from falling. It was a crazy night! All because we were going to a baptism after dinner! The baptism was amazing!! It was super powerful! We had an investigator come and he loved it!

Saturday- We did a whole lot of service. We cleaned and organized for a member. Then we went and helped an investigator paint their deck. We had dinner and then has an amazing lesson with the CUNDIFF FAMILY! So, whenever we teach them the parents haven't really been paying attention. So, Sister Stacey went and taught the mom while I taught the children. It was a super powerful lesson! Just picture me and 4 children ages 8, 9, 10, and 11 talking about the plan of happiness! It was amazing! They told me that there uncle had died this last week and started to cry. it was so sad. They started crying when they found out that they get to see their uncle again! It was so tender and precious! The spirit was really strong! Sister Stacey also had a powerful lesson with their mom! While she was teaching her we finished and I played games with the kids to keep them entertained!

Sunday- Church was great! I had to teach Gospel Principles, and it went well! We had a great lesson with some less-actives! We also had dinner with the Isaacson's! They are amazing! I love them so much! We had a great time together!

Have a fabulous week! I love you all!

Love,

Sister Bradley

Storms

We had a conference this week with Elder Cardon of the seventy! It was fantastic!  I learned so much! We talked a lot about how to recognize and understand the spirit. We also talked about praying with families and how key it is to have the head of the household pray in lessons. It was really great!!

We had a power outage this week and some really crazy storms. The lightning is seriously so cool here!!! One storm was CRAZY! There was lightning everywhere! Our power went out while we were making eggs, so we had to go out to eat. It was funny!

Abby and I! She decorated my face!

Evansville is fantastic and continuing to progress!! We were talking to the Hermana's this last week and we decided that Evansville is truly about to EXPLODE! There are so many people here who are just waiting for us to knock on their door or contact them! There are also many that we are teaching that are definitely going to get baptized as they continue to progress and gain their testimony. I just love this work so much! There truly is no better work than the Lord's work! We are teaching three FAMILIES! Best thing ever! I dream everyday about seeing a family get baptized, but ultimately sealed in the temple! I know that is going to happen here in Evansville!

We were able to do quite a bit of service this week! I absolutely love service! Like the primary song says, " When you're helping your happy and we sing as we go." It warms my heart to be in the service of others 24/7! It was very touching because twice this week we got to work with older folks. They are so precious and have lived such wonderful lives! It was really cool as well because they were so kind and loving. We made cards with one group and then we played bingo with another! It was fantastic! It was definitely a tender mercy from Heavenly Father by being around them. We also did service for a soup kitchen. It was great! We had a great time with the members and people!

FUNNY STORY: We knocked on this house and she was like you are in the wrong area, and was waving her finger around everywhere. Then we drive and are stopped at a light but can't go through the intersection because there is a train. The person behind us does some rude gestures and then gets out of his car and starts dancing! It was hilarious!

Investigators:

Matt- He came to church again yesterday! That was great! He is so wonderful! He is trying to find his place and direction in life.

Jean- She is just going with the flow. We are trying to push her a little more, but she wants really little baby steps. She is reading everyday and praying. Her next step is coming to church, so hopefully we can help her get there this next week.

Nick- He came to church yesterday! He only stayed for the first hour, but that is better than nothing. He enjoyed it and hopefully he will come again. He is really searching for the truth and wants answers to his prayers. He is really great and has such a sincere heart. He played professional soccer! Isn't that cool!

Freda and children- We picked them up this week! They are AMAZING! We felt prompted to teach them the plan of salvation first, so we did. It was one of the best Plan of Salvation lessons I have ever been apart of! She has three children. They are Jillian (10), Justice (10), and Jackson(13). They were so enthralled in the lesson, and asked the best questions! They also knew more than most people about the plan! It was amazing! The children wanted us to come back the next day, but unfortunately they were going out of town. We won't be meeting with them again for a few weeks, because the children will be at their dad's house. Right as we were leaving, Jillian got out a piece of paper and said, " I am going to write down all of my questions for next time." It was so cute! I love when people really have a desire to learn, especially children!

I wasn't able to attend most of church yesterday because I went and took care of Hermana Butts. She had the flu and Hermana Hopwood had to translate at church, so I went and stayed with Hermana Butts while they went to church. She was not doing so well, but she is feeling better now. It was really weird missing church as a missionary.

Sister Short! She is going home soon!

 

Prayer: please pray for Nick to be guided and directed!

Challenge: I invite you all to really pay attention to how Heavenly Father speaks to you, and strive to recognize the promptings of the spirit.

I love you all and hope all is going well! Have a fantastic week!

Love,

Sister Bradley