Nov. 23, 2015 in Catawba, South Carolina

Hello!

Things in Catawba are just peachy. Peachy as in R___ accepted a baptismal date for the 19th of December! Woohoo! And she came to church again this last Sunday and loved it. We had a lesson Wednesday with Brother B___ (Ward Mission Leader) about the word of wisdom and it was super good! So yeah, R___ is pretty much the best. At the end of that lesson, Brother B___ told her the story of the Catawba Tribe (he is an Indian, though kinda distantly) and she was super amazed. She really likes Native Americans. Keep praying for her! Thanks for all the prayers already! 

Church on Sunday was wild, cause we had something going on all the time, plus ward council, plus choir at the end. We got to share a training in ward council on Vision, Goals, Plans, and Accountability. It was pretty fun. Then in church we helped pass the sacrament, as well as give the opening and closing prayers. Elder B___ taught the Gospel Principles class the second hour, and the 3rd hour we stayed for part of Relief Society so that Elder B___ could play the piano to accompany Sister R___ while she sang a song. It was good!  After church we went to choir. The Sister who conducts is super nice, and makes good apple crisp.  ;)  The piano player is the actual choir director, but he is usually playing the piano. Elder B___ helped people get some things worked out  and it all turned out good.  That was our crazy Sunday to cap a crazy week. But that is how I like it!

On exchanges this week I went to Monroe where we were feeding the homeless. Some other highlights this week include seeing the C___'s.  During our lesson with them this week we were teaching their 10 year old son and 8 year old daughter, and the son totally wants to get baptized soon and at the end of the lesson the son volunteered to pray and prayed that he could be baptized! So please pray for them too.

We saw Brother S___who we are going to start teaching. We also saw Brother P___  and the C___ Family. Brother C___ makes Catawban pottery, and he had some sweet pieces he showed us! We had a good lesson with them, gave them blessings, and at the end they invited us back when we didn't have a dinner sometime, so nice of them.   :)

On Saturday we went to Sister C___'s (yes, they are related somehow) and raked her leaves from her huge backyard into one gigantic pile. Here in the fall, everyone out in the country rakes their leaves into piles, lights them on fire, and let them smolder for the next 3 days. We made a huge pile and then jumped into it. It was a blast! (Elder B___ had only jumped in leaves a couple times before, so he really enjoyed it). Afterwards she fed us homemade soup and banana pudding! (Banana pudding is my favorite! :D) It was well worth it. I'll include some pictures.  :)

We are always praying and fasting to find more friends to teach. We found a couple good leads this week, so we are looking forward to this next week, especially with it being Thanksgiving. I've realized even more than before how thankful I am for my mission, and the longer I am out the more I feel this sense of urgency and excitement for the work.

I am ponderizing 2 Nephi 2: 25-28 this week.

Adam fell that men might be; and men are, that they might have joy. And the Messiah cometh in the fulness of time, that he may redeem the children of men from the fall. And because that they are redeemed from the fall they have become free forever, knowing good from evil; to act for themselves and not to be acted upon, save it be by the punishment of the law at the great and last day, according to the commandments which God hath given. Wherefore, men are free according to the flesh; and all things are given them which are expedient unto man. And they are free to choose liberty and eternal life, through the great Mediator of all men, or to choose captivity and death, according to the captivity and power of the devil; for he seeketh that all men might be miserable like unto himself. And now, my sons, I would that ye should look to the great Mediator, and hearken unto his great commandments; and be faithful unto his words, and choose eternal life, according to the will of his Holy Spirit;

Thanks for the emails and fun stories! I sure love ya!

Happy P-day! 

From Elder Branch

So I have always heard about the infamous doughnut hamburger, two Krispie Creme doughnuts for the bun, burger in the middle. This week, thanks to the anonymous kind gift of a whole box of doughnuts and buying hamburger meat, I decided to give it a whirl. It honestly tastes a whole lot better than it sounds, but it is definitely the messiest and probably highest calorie hamburger I've ever had.

 

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!

Feb. 23, 2015 Transfer to Rock Hill, SC, New Companion, Elder A.

Hello! :D

So Elder S. returned home. I'm so happy you got to go to his report! He's awesome!

I was transferred to Rock Hill, SC and my new comp is Elder A. He is way funny. He's happy all the time and just makes you smile :) There are 4 of us in the apartment, Elder A. who came out with me and was trained by Elder Z. for 1 week before I stole Elder Z.  Elder S. who was trained for 6 weeks by Elder S. and is in charge of special musical numbers for the mission meetings. Elder B. who I was with in Concord!!! Haha, it's way fun being with all these elders that all have tie-ins with each other.   All of the elders I'm with now are big into scouting, so that's pretty fun too.  :)  :)

Elder S. and B. have a person getting baptized next week so that's exciting.

More news about my new area: It's a very different culture here than in Huntersville. We got told twice in Walmart today that we should renounce our faith or we're damned, so it's been pretty wild and we have work to do.

I appreciate your prayers and know God will help us here :) "Do Gods Will and Accept His Timing."

Thanks for the emails!! Yall are the best!! The church is true!!

Love Elder Branch :)

Another picture of J. - love him.