Mar. 30, 2015 in Rock Hill, SC

Our week was pretty great this week, because we were able to teach tons of people!! Unfortunately, none of those people are actually progressing!! So please pray for the people we're teaching, that we will be able to teach them and they will actually understand and do. Thank you!

Time is once again short, so I will write quickly and send many pictures!!

So as far as my week goes, we have been showing "Because He Lives" 

 Because He Lives

(new Easter video) to everyone!! I love the message and how it defines us as a church!! We love Christ and we love His resurrection!!!! :D It has been specially good for this month, because there has been tons of death all around. I feel really sorry for all these people we have been meeting, just in the past month there has been the E's, the S's, a family named the N's, a woman we helped move named C., and more. It's been so sad. I am so grateful for the atonement though, and life after death.

One story. On Friday night Elder S. and I were on exchange and just as we got home for dinner a man stopped us in our apartment complex and asked us if we could help him move a washer and dryer to his new house. We said yes, let the other Elders know, and took off. The man's name was J. and he explained that he was buying this washer and dryer from a woman who had cancer named C. She had to move out of her apartment, so she had to sell it for cheap. We got to C's place and helped bring the washer and dryer to his truck, then took it to his place and unloaded it. He was super grateful, and we were able to share quite a bit about the gospel with him. He's not super interested, but he understands lots more about the church than he used to, and we were excited to plant that seed. We told C. we offer free service, and she asked if we were available the next day on Saturday! We said yes, so on Saturday we got to go help her move with a bunch of her friends! It was a great seed sowing opportunity as well! They were definitely sweet serendipities for us, and just good moments I'll always remember. :)

I sure love yall!

Elder Branch

Helping C. move. (This is Elder S.)

The 4 of us Elders share an apartment. Elder B. is transferring this week. He was also one of my totally awesome trainers back in Concord, NC.

 Helping Bro. B. provide service for an older couple.

Mar. 23, 2015 in Rock Hill, SC

This week seemed so long! It was in a good way, we just had tons of different things going on. A member's daughter passed away, and they had the funeral this week, so we were able to go to that and support him. He was shattered by the passing, especially because he is divorced and his daughter was not a member. Instead of our church, they held the funeral at her Baptist church she went to with her mom and step family. It was a very interesting experience to get to attend the service, with their preaching and singing. There was some tension at times in the service and some false doctrine preached like when the second preacher said not everyone is a child of God and that little children are going to hell. That really bothered us!

Nine people were saved at the service, and that was interesting, because even thought there were those moments throughout the preaching where they were sharing false doctrine, when the people went up to be saved, there was a certain measure of the spirit there. It testified to me of the good that can be found in all religions. It also helped to strengthen my testimony of the Restored gospel. I know we are blessed with the fullness of the gospel and the priesthood authority and prophets today, and that because of the Atonement we can live again with our Father in heaven.

We also were able to do lots of service this week, as well as receive wonderful training from Elder Kapischke. My favorite part of the meeting was where he promised us more success as we relied on the members more. I also loved singing the hymn "I'll go where you want me to go". That hymn was so perfect, especially with transfers coming up. Whether Elder A. and I stay or go, I have a strong testimony of transfers and the revelation that takes place to determine where we serve.

We set up appointments this week with a number of investigators for this coming week, so hopefully those go through.

I do know this church is true, and not just partially. God is fair and he is good. There is a Spirit world where people have the opportunity to learn about the gospel. We are all his children, and he loves us unconditionally. Elder Kapischke shared a quote he heard Elder Holland say, that said " I hope that somehow, God has a backdoor opened for my brother Judas Iscariot." What a quote! Charity never faileth.

I sure love you all!! Thanks for your letter!! Yall are da best!

Love Elder Branch

ps. You asked about forsythia plants. We see even more here than in Utah! I told all the other elders about the game, and now we get super competitive. Elder A.'s been awesome at it recently!

Jan. 12, 2015 in Huntersville, NC

We were able to contact or meet with all our investigators this week, as well as meet a couple new ones. M. hasn't been reading the Book of Mormon, but D. and J. have been!! We are super excited for them. J. plans on coming to church this week and feels like this could be the church for him.

I had an exchange with Elder E. in Mountain Island, and we were blessed to find 3 new investigators after only knocking on 7 doors. It was a really great exchange.

I studied the talk "The Sacrament and the Atonement" by Elder James J. Hamula today. One of the best parts of the talk was where he talked about the Doctrine of Christ! He says:

 "When we receive this doctrine and conduct our lives accordingly, we are in effect washed in the blood of Christ and made clean. Through the sacramental prayers, we express our acceptance of this doctrine of Christ and our commitment to live according to it. Brothers and sisters, the most important event in time and eternity is the Atonement of Jesus Christ. He who accomplished the Atonement has given us the ordinance of the sacrament to help us not only remember but also claim the blessings of this supreme act of grace. Regular and earnest participation in this sacred ordinance helps us continue to embrace and live the doctrine of Christ after baptism and thereby pursue and complete the process of sanctification. Indeed, the ordinance of the sacrament helps us faithfully endure to the end and receive the fulness of the Father in the same way Jesus did, grace for grace."

I got the opportunity to help pass the sacrament in Huntersville this past week, because they didn't have enough young men, and I was so grateful to get the chance to assist in that special sacred ordinance. The Sacrament is always the highlight of my week, because I can concentrate on the Savior and feel my sins from the past week being washed away.

With love,

Elder Branch

Some pictures of "tie surgery" from a few months ago.

Dec. 29, 2014 in Huntersville, NC

These past 2 weeks have been really good for Huntersville. We are finding more investigators and seeing more miracles. In fact, we have 2 new investigators. One is named D., and we met him knocking doors. He moved to America a year and a half ago from the Dominican Republic, and he feels like God called him here. We taught him the Restoration and he wants to read the Book of Mormon. He's been sick the past couple days, so we haven't been able to visit him, but we keep praying for him and for the Spirit to touch his heart.

The second investigator is a man named J. We taught him the Restoration and he really liked us and the message, but over Christmas he got anti-ed by his Sister. He told her though that he would meet with who he wanted, and that he hadn't seen anything wrong with us. We were able to clear up some confusions about Joseph Smith, polygamy, and the Book of Mormon with him and he wants to read the Book of Mormon! We are super grateful for him and for his courage, and for his kindness to us. We're praying that the Spirit will continue to guide him as we meet!

We also met a woman named J. and her wolf (a husky) :) I was grabbing the mail, and Elder S. was on the phone when all of a sudden around the corner, this giant dog comes pulling this woman. She asked if I worked at the apartment and I told her "No, we're missionaries!" She asked what we did, and so I gave a rundown of the Restoration real brief and talked about the Book of Mormon. Elder S. joined me then and we talked all about dogs and life and Elevation church (look it up, it's wild!) and such. We gave her a Book of Mormon and a pamphlet, and we should be going to visit her and talk more some time this week :) So thank you for your prayers! God is listening and he is answering!

  

...Before my mission, I'd read the Book of Mormon a number of times, and knew that it was true, but I'd never realized how much it teaches the Doctrine of Christ! I can hardly find a chapter where it doesn't mention something about faith, repentance, baptism, the Holy Ghost, or enduring to the end! I love that the gospel gives us the chance to change and to improve. If my destiny was based of a "Santa Claus, naughty-nice list" idea, I don't know how well I'd do, I'm far from perfect! But because I can have my mistakes erased and forgotten through Christ's Atonement, I can improve and learn to love to live like our Father in Heaven! I'm grateful for a Heavenly Father who loves me and who accepts my best efforts. Jesus Christ lives!!! 

Love, Elder Branch