Cuttin up is the best medicine!

It has been an AMAZING week here in Louisville Kentucky! Where we say Ya'll, and love to cut up!  many of you probably have no idea what cut up means, so I will explain. It just means joking around, laughing, or having a good time! I love the great Kentucky lingo!

 

Funnies:

 

A recent convert is speaking in sacrament about following Christ and says, " I am in love." slight pause. "I am in love with Jesus Christ and my wife." It was so funny!! He also said this another time." One time I was walking and I was like hey whose with me, oh wait it is the Holy Ghost that is with me, Hey Holy  Ghost."

 

This is for my siblings!!

 

    A member told us this about kids yesterday:

oldest child - I make the rules

middle child- I am the reason for the rules

youngest child- I am the exception to the rules!

 

 

 

Story time/spiritual:

 

Phillip- He is a new investigator that we taught a couple lessons to this week. He is so prepared for the Gospel! He has had a rough life and the Gospel is helping him already so much! He is a single father of 3 children, and is great at it! While we were teaching him the other night. We were laughing about something at the beginning, and he looks at me and says, " I bet you have brought  a lot a of people to Christ with your personality and sense of humor."

 

Ladicia and Abraham- They are amazing and came to church for the first time this Sunday! They enjoyed it too! They apply everything to themselves and blow me away every time we go!

 

Katie- She is a member that has come out with us a lot the last week! She is in her 20's and is Hilarious! She came out with us and rode her bike with us to an appointment on the day that it snowed. What a trooper. It was a ton of fun! She also drove us to a funeral on Saturday up in Indiana that we went to for a recent convert that Sister Briggs taught.

 

Jessica- She is my soul sista! Literally, She is the reason I am serving in this area! I love her to death and she quit smoking this last week! She has two adorable little girls and a wonderful husband who is a member. They will definitely be in the temple next year being sealed as a family! She at first was so against learning and her heart is changing a ton! We go over now and she throws all these questions at us. We answer them with the Bible and Book of Mormon, and she literally just sits there and goes," these Mormons are right..." It is quite funny!

 

It was a great week! My e-mails are going to be shorter in the next weeks because we are going to be busy doing fun things around Louisville!

 

Prayer: pray for Jessica and John to continue to not smoke.

 

Challenge: Remember to be yourself and be the person that God wants you to be!

 

I love being a missionary, it really is the best thing of my life! There is no greater joy than sharing the Gospel! I hope ya'll have a great week!

 

 

 

Love,

Sister Bradley

 

6 WEEKS!!!!

I cannot believe that I am starting my last transfer of my mission....NOT OKAY. I think I could literally be a missionary for the rest of my life! I tell people that if I could be a missionary while being able to see my family, I could definitely do it for the rest of my life! It truly is "THE LIFE!"

 

Let me tell you about this crazy week....

 

To start off I should let you know that today was transfers and I am now companion's with Sister Briggs! She is amazing I am so excited to be with her!!! We are going to have so much fun together! She is from Orem, Utah too, so I already know that you are going to love her mom!

 

Monday- We were having the usual p-day when an investigator of ours called us and told us that she just lost her baby due to a miscarriage. It was so sad! We spent the rest of our p-day with her talking to her and bringing her ice cream! We then had what we call DLC the rest of the night! I love those meetings! Super enlightening!

 

Tuesday- We drove down south to Columbia Kentucky. We spent all day Tuesday there with Sister Parker and Sister Bunker. They are both wonderful! We walked into their apartment an were hit with the spirit! So cool!  I got to spend the day with Sister Parker! She is so AMAZING!!! I love her so much! She is a spiritual powerhouse! I met some amazing people in Columbia that day and saw a lot of miracles! Funny story for you: We knocked on this house and this couple from a European country answered. The woman goes we will pray with you because we love the Lord not because we love your church. I say the prayer and as I am saying it she ends it and says thanks for bringing these girls now by by...it was so weird....

I think she didn't understand English very well, so she thought I was finished or something and she added her two cents to the prayer! HILARIOUS!

 

Wednesday- We left Columbia that morning and drove to Glasgow Kentucky where we spent the day there with Sister Webster and Sister Nesser. They are both awesome sisters! It was cool because I got to be with Sister Webster who goes home tomorrow. I love  her and learned a ton from her that day! We had a great time doing service, and teaching some fabulous people! It has been cool to see the miracles that are happening from focusing on SHEPHERDING GOD'S CHILDREN TO THE TEMPLE! It has been the focus of almost every lesson and it has been soo cool!!! We had dinner with this amazing member who has every talent and ability that I wish I had! I just sat and learned all that I could from her!

 

Thursday- We drove up to Louisville to go to zone meeting and got stuck in traffic for about 2 hours! There were a ton of accidents because it snowed like half an inch....RIDICULOUS! People here do not know how to drive in snow. haha! It is okay though because we made it safely to our meeting, but just ended up getting there late! haha. The rest of the week was really warm! We have been in the 50's! SO NICE! We went and did service for a less-active member that day and helped her organize and clean! I love organizing and cleaning! SO MUCH FUN! It is so cool how when you have a clean organized home the spirit can be felt so much more! We then had dinner at our investigator Jamie's house! She made some good food and we taught her the Word of wisdom! She loved it and was like this is what God needed me to hear! It was amazing! We then saw Ladicia and Abraham! The young marvelous super prepared couple! They are so great! We literally go there and the spirit is so strong! We taught them part of the Plan of Salvation and they loved it! they just soaked it up. They also told us all the things they were reading in the Book of Mormon and explained everything they read and how it applied to them! I can totally see them in the temple in about a year! LOVE THEM!

 

Friday- We had an exchange with the Radcliff Sisters! I was with Sister Rammel in Fairdale that day! It was tons of fun! We did service for our investigator/ part member family the Madrids. I love them so much! Jessica, who is the mom and the investigator, is HILARIOUS! We just sit and throw witty comments back at each other all the time! She is like my sister! Her husband is a less-active member coming back into activity! So cool! They have two adorable little girls Shelby and Kasey. Jessica set her own Baptism date and it is for February 28th! So excited! It has been so cool to watch because she has made a complete 180 in the last few weeks since we met her! She at first didn't really want to take the lessons. Definitely didn't want to come to church, and really didn't want to quit smoking. Since she is married to a member she knows a lot about the church and why we come over. Well, I am happy to say that we are teaching her to quit smoking today. She is coming to church, and she is planning on getting baptized now! SO GREAT! MIRACLES!  We saw this less-active Sister Elliot and she is working towards the temple! I love her and am excited for her! We also saw Emanie, who is a recent convert. We helped him prepare his talk because he was asked to speak in sacrament meeting. We saw a few other people too! Sister Rammel is hilarious and we had a great time together!

 

All of the missionaries in our ward.

 

Saturday- We had some meetings, then we saw a recent convert Sister Moon! She is an older lady that is so cute! She gave me a brand new pair of running shoes because they didn't fit her! so NICE! TENDER MERCIES! We then had lunch with our district at a place called Tumbleweed. I have never heard of it until I came out here. It was good! We tried this referral and let me tell you how interesting this was....We met two guys. One named Andrew, who is gay, and the other named Joseph who was definitely not. We had a great conversation with Andrew and he just kept telling us how much he loved us! Then Joseph kept sort of trying to flirt/ ask us creepy weird questions. Andrew was legitimately interested in our message, while Joseph just kept making random hilarious comments about the preachers on Tv and how good they are. It was such an awkward/hilarious situation! Then as we walked away there was a man sitting on the steps that heard us and asked us to say a prayer with him. We did and then he just got up and left. That was the weirdest 20 minutes of my life! We saw Ladicia and Abraham again and had a great lesson with them! We also saw a less-active member Sister Hilquist! I love learning from her and teaching her! Also, we found out that Sister Goodrich was leaving...

 

Sunday- We had an amazing CHURCH TIME!! I love CHURCH! I love partaking of the sacrament! It is amazing! After church we saw a recent convert named Paula! I love Paula so much! She read's and read's and read's, and I am pretty sure she knows more about the Gospel than I do! She has only been a member fro 6 months! We then had an amazing lesson outside with Derek! He is really searching for peace in his life and told us that he knows that we can lead him to it! We went and saw a new investigator Phillip. We didn't share much with him because he was high and so he was a little defensive and can't really feel the spirit. We go back this week though. He really is so awesome!  We saw some other investigators and members too! It was a great Sabbath day!

 

Monday- We had a crazy busy p-day yesterday visiting people and helping Sister Goodrich pack! It was fun stuff! We didn't e-mail because the libraries were closed, so that is why I am today!

 

PRAYER this week: Pray that Jessica and John can quit smoking. Also, Pray that Ladicia and Abraham will continue to progress.

 

Challenge: read your patriarchal blessing! They are amazing and I know that they help a ton!

 

Scripture: 2 Nephi 32: 9 ENJOY!

 

 

LOVE YOU!

 

Love,

Sister Bradley 

BROUGHS are amazing!

First off I want to tell you all how I have the best Mission President in the WORLD! President and Sister Brough are AMAZING! They are just so loving, so fun, and such great examples! I know you all are so jealous that you don't get to serve under them! haha

 

Let me tell you about the week in a summed up version:

 

1- A fun pig statue outside the bowling alley

Funny things that happened:

 

The elders came and gave one of our investigators a blessing because she was sick. Well, she has a huge pit bull that is harmless and he was all over one of the elders. Our investigator says," He is making out with the elder, that is the most action you will ever see on your mission." It was so funny and the elder was so embarrassed! HILARIOUS! I probably shouldn't have shared that, but it is hilarious!

 

When we are on an exchange and our investigator thinks that Sister Wu, who is Asian, is Hispanic and says, " You have huge eyes for being Asian. Are you sure you are Asian." Sister Wu's parents are both from China by the way.

 

When some members are talking about Joseph Smith and how so many people don't believe that he saw God and Jesus Christ. They said, "how can you not believe that, but believe that Noah put every animal on a boat and the whole earth flooded. Or that Moses talked to a burning bush...hmmm I think they should believe Joseph Smith if they believe that." It was hilarious! They were so into it!

 

We are teaching our investigator Andrea and at the end of the lesson she is talking about prayer and having faith to receive answers to prayers. She gave an example of a person praying for a refridgerator, and then the member that is with us, says " do you know someone that needs a refridgerator, just curious?" She responded and said,"I was using it as an example, and I don't know why, but we actually do." The member then precede to tell her that they have been trying to get rid of a refridgerator for a few weeks. SO FUNNY and so cool at the same time! They were both just laughing and blown away at the miracle that just happened!

 

Stories/Spiritual:

 

We had MLC this week which is missionary leadership counsel. It was so much fun, and so spiritual! I learned so much! We came up with a mission vision for the year, and it is....drumroll.... SHEPHERDING GOD'S CHILDREN TO THE TEMPLE! We decided to go along with what the stakes are focusing on and how we should not just be trying to get people to baptism, but to the temple. That is the ultimate goal!

 

We also learned from the assistants a really cool thing at MLC. They were teaching us how we can better help missionaries and they taught us these things.

1. We must first seek to understand then seek to be understood.

2. Then we must teach correct principles according to their needs. build their desire/vision

3. Then the missionary must govern themselves by setting goals according to those principles.

4. Help them govern themselves.

We talked about how we need to build desire so much that they become self-motivated and we don't have to follow up because they will do it themselves because of their desire. It might not sound very cool to you all, but it was super powerful and amazing!

 

We went Bowling with our district last Monday at the oldest bowling alley in America! So cool! A member owns it and let us go for free! Super fun!

 

2-  Emanie and Marie! Emanie- a recent convert and Marie we are teaching

 

We had an amazing lesson with a less-active and she wants to go to the temple now! When we first starting meeting with her she would cancel all the time and didn't seem to interested in talking with us. Now she wants to go to the temple and is working towards it! MIRACLE!

 

We are teaching a new adorable family! It is Ladicia, Abraham, and their 2 year old son Abrean. They are so cute! I love them! We had 2 lessons with them last week and they are soaking everything up! They are so prepared! They are already applying the Book of Mormon to their own lives! It is amazing! I can totally picture them in the temple in a year!

 

We only had one exchange this week and I got to be with Sister Wu here in Fairdale. She is an amazing missionary! We had such a great day together and I learned so much from her! I love getting to be with the sisters and learn from them! It is so cool because it was so inspired that she needed to be here in Fairdale that day. We saw so many miracles that wouldn't have happened if she wasn't here.

 

I learned a cool thing from a member this week. E+R=O Which is event + response = outcome. He talked about how we all have Agency and when something happens it is our response to it that makes all the difference of what the outcome will be. I thought about it a lot and am trying to pay attention to how I respond to certain situations.

 

It was so cool! Andrea, the one I talked about earlier with the refridgerator, she is amazing! We were teaching her the plan of salvation, and we were only to earth life  when she said she had a dream and she feels like there are different levels of Heaven. We just sat there with our mouths open for a minute. I love when Investigators have questions or responses that are exactly what is taught or answered in the Gospel! It was amazing! She is awesome!

 

We are teaching a part member family where the wife isn't a member. It is so cool because every time we show up at her door, she is always like, " I hate you all." We asked her why, and she says, " because every time I pray for something or ask God a question you all show up at my door." It was hilarious! It is so cool to see hearts soften on individuals. She was so adamant when we first met her on not coming to church and only going to her church. Well, last week we went over for our lesson and she said she hated us again because she doesn't feel like her church is home to her anymore. Guess who came to our church on Sunday! SHE DID! It was awesome! She is progressing quite a bit and I know that she will continue to do so!

 

I have so much to say, but don't have as much time anymore!

 

prayer: Pray that Marie can receive a clear answer.

 

quote: Act, don't be acted upon.

 

Challenge: Try to use the E+R=O this week!

 

I love you all and HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MIA AND MORGAN!!!! LOVE YOU!

 

 

Love,

Sister Bradley
 

2015...Here to soon!!

I can not believe it is 2015!! HOW CRAZY!!! The year of 2014 was definitely the best year of my life because I got to be on my mission for the whole year!!! LOVE IT!

 

Here are the highlights of the week:

 

FUNNIES:

 

This cute family from Haiti that we teach said.... The dad talking about his son said. " Emmanuel looks like a guy from a movie." Then the wife says, " who 50 cent." it was hilarious!

 

A member of the ward said this to us the other day.... " I am a confirmed Bachelor."

 

on an exchange someone said this. " My kids baby mama rebounds faster than Lebron James."

 

When we are teaching someone English and they keep swearing because they are trying to say it and can't.

 

A recent convert ... " I hate the word convert, I am not a convert I am a switcher. "

 

That moment as a missionary when  we say so many prayers that I  forget to even Address Heavenly Father and I just start saying the things we are grateful for in a group prayer with a member.

 

member- " We had teeth until we came to Kentucky."

 

 

Stories:

 

I got to go on two exchanges this week! I was able to be with Sister Ward and Sister LeFevre!! They are both super duper amazing sisters!! I love learning form other sisters!

 

It was such a cool moment to sit in Gospel Principles Sunday school yesterday and see that  everyone in the class was a convert, and 95% were in the last 2 years!!! SO COOL! There were about 20 people in the class.

 

We had interviews this week and we had a sweet training by the Assistants! Talk about spiritual overload!

 

We learned a lot about INTEGRITY!

 

I am going to share some thoughts about it.

 

Integrity is the heart of Spirituality.

 

It is our true intent, doing right regardless, who you are when no one is watching, being accountable.

 

There are 7 attributes of integrity:

 

1. Foundation of our character and virtues.

   TRUE DESIRES???

 

2. Not just what's legal but Christlike

     Are you a loophole looker?

 

 

3. Making Decisions based on eternal consequences

     Don't give up what you want most for what you want now

 

4. Disclosing whole truth and nothing but.

    

5. NO alibies/excuses

    Justification is repentance worst enemy

 

6. Keeping covenants/commitments despite inconvenience

    Miracles occur when we make  the right choice despite inconvenience.

 

   

7. Not governed by others, internally driven.

  Creator of circumstances, not a creature of circumstances.

 

I love integrity!! It is amazing!!!

 

I hope you all have a great week! I love you!

 

Love,

Sister Brradley