May 16, 2016 in Statesville, North Carolina

Hello Everyone!

This week was crazy busy but so fantastic in the end! C. got baptized! I think one of my favorite parts was when we saw C. hug her Mom while us Elders sang a special musical number. The confirmation went well the next day too.   :)

D. is struggling to understand the Godhead, and is pretty set on the Trinity, so her baptism is off for now. We had a really good lesson with the M.'s, then on Friday, they came to the church for a church tour, and we had a lesson in the chapel. That was a good lesson too, we were able to read Alma 32 and they are coming along. They couldn't come to church this week, but they said they could come next week!

Sister T. is doing good, and she also plans on coming to church next week! Hurray! I love it when great things happen with the people we teach!

Things are on the up and up here, and we are seeing great things from the members. They pray for missionary experiences often, and even pray for us by name. We love them!

All in all, life is great! Thanks for everything! LUVS!

Elder Branch

C.'s happy day!   :)

Nov. 9, 2015 in Catawba, South Carolina

Hello!

Wow, so I know I say every week is crazy, but this one might have been even more so! We had a great start to the week and were able to see a couple people, but come to Wednesday and things just got super busy! On Wednesday we had a Zone Conference with the Alexanders and it was fantastic!!! The best Zone conference I have ever been too, hands down! We talked all about the Sabbath, the Sacrament, and watched Elder Holland's talk entitled: "This do in Remembrance of Me", from October 1995. It is only the best talk about Sacrament ever!

This Do in Remembrance of Me

Probably the wildest part of the Zone Conference came in the second half when we talked about Vision, Goals, Planning, and Accountability. We were having a really good discussion and all of a sudden the Alexanders surprised us by telling us that we would have no more "standards of excellence" and to excursive our faith so that we could be personally accountable for reaching goals. I think it is amazing! Later in the week as we did our weekly planning we saw a huge difference! Our goals are higher than ever this week, and I feel full of more faith to personally accomplish them.

Anyways, after the conference, Elder H___ and I went on exchange but it turned into more of a sleep over because we got back pretty late, went to coordination meeting, and went to bed. The next morning we studied and then went back to Catawba to exchange back. So all in all nothing eventful, except for the fact that I traded him for a snazzy tie with tiny little shields on it that looks pretty legit. So we are going to do another exchange later on. On Friday we had Zone Meeting and it was pretty good. They announced that we are going to start having Zone Conferences and Interviews every single transfer, so that will be way fun too! I sure love the Alexanders!

As far as friends, M___ dropped us. It was all really weird. Sad. Good news is that R___ came to a church tour on Sunday! She wasn't able to make it to Sacrament, but she was able to come later and we showed her the building and had a super spiritual lesson. She liked everything, and she has next Sunday off so she is going to be able to come to church! :D  Her husband hasn't shown interest yet, but please pray for her and him, that everything will continue to work out! We did have 3 friends show up for church this Sunday, they are a family we have been teaching for a little while. We hope to help them understand baptism this week. So pray for them too, their names are the C___ Family.

So anyways, that's my week. I haven't chosen a Ponderize scripture yet, I might do last week's again, I wasn't able to Ponderize it as much as I would have liked due to the craziness of the week. It was wonderful though, and I know God answers humble prayers of faith! I am so excited for the next week!

A couple other random stories about today: I got to see Elder G___ and the other Rock Hill Elders! We ran into them at Sams Club, and they were able to set up a time to see K___, so I got to see her! It was a party and a half! :D Anyways, thanks for the emails and all the stories. Y'all are the best.

Happy P-day!

Love,

Elder Branch

May 20, 2015 Transferred to Greensboro, NC with Elder G.

Transfers were quite exciting, and I'm glad to be with Elder G. here in Summerfield. The work here is progressing well and we have seen quite a few sweet serendipities this week. When I got in the area Tuesday, there wasn't much going on investigator-wise, but we were able to plan and work together well throughout the rest of the week and were blessed to see so many people open up to us. We found 2 new people to teach, and a number of other people that we are hoping to set appointments with. It's been great. As of right now, we have 10 lessons already scheduled for the next 3 days, and we have members to come with us to every single one! It is so exciting! The Lord has been so good to us.

When we have been contacting people, it's been really interesting to see their attitude throughout the conversation as we ask questions as lead by the spirit. We get the opportunity to watch their hearts soften right in front of us. It's a great privilege to witness those experiences.

One person we met this week was named M. We knocked on her door one night and she came out and started talking with us. She feels there is too much arguing between different denominations and she doesn't understand why there are so many. It led us into a discussion about the Great Apostasy and how so many churches were formed, but how through the Restoration, Christ's church was brought back. Then I felt impressed to add "and it's not so much about the denomination, but it is really about strengthening our relationship with and faith in Jesus Christ." Then she started asking more questions. At one point her boyfriend came out to tell her to come back in but she shushed him and told him that she was talking with us, so he headed back inside. At the end, she asked for a Book of Mormon and a pamphlet. It was great to feel the spirit lead our words,  And it wasn't just with her that that happened, we probably saw the same thing with at least 4 or 5 other people too. One lady wanted nothing to do with us at first, but as we talked about our common relationship in Christ and showed her "Because He Lives", she ended up accepting a pamphlet and giving us some root beer! :)   so tender mercies have been everywhere, and we are so grateful! Thanks for your prayers for us!

So last thing from this week. On Sunday it was Greensboro Stake Conference and we had Elder Kopichke. It was neat to see him again. The Stake Conference was on the same topic as the one in Gastonia-Councils and the Sabbath Day- and it was super neat to see some of the same things as last time, and also some different things. One of my favorite parts was when he talked about signs we have to help us bring spiritual experiences into our life. Some of the main signs or reminders we have are the sacrament, our garments, scriptures, and the one that really stuck out to me is how we use the Sabbath Day outside of church. He said that how we dress and appear on the Sabbath is a sign to the rest of the world. We should treat the Sabbath day as a specific, holy day, and when we as latter-day saints keep it holy (wearing church clothes all day, spending time with family), it provides a wonderful opportunity to share the gospel of Jesus Christ. It was a great conference, and gave me lots to think about :) so yup, all is well!

Sure love yall!! You're the greatest!