Week 12 - November 25, 2019 - Quick Quap

Ola! I hope all is well in your places of living. I miss you all so much and I appreciate the prayers and support I've gotten from each and every one of you. you guys mean so much to me.

This week has been crazy, But there have been good things that have happened as well.

It started out with me on Tuesday, Taking over the area for the very 1st time. I was so scared. Good news though, All went well. I was with sister Renan's that day.  She is usually an Eagle Mountain but both of our companions had a meeting that day, so we both were companions for the day. She is super sweet and it was a lot of fun to switch things up for today. And I learned I could run an area #ScaryExclamationMark.

Also, I am kind of lazy today and using the speak to text voice thing, so if anything comes out weird that's why.

Our week was a little bit sad. We are supposed to have to baptisms on Saturday, but one of them fell off date due to one parent pushing back. Our other one, Tanya got pushed back to the next week. Please pray that we can move forward with Tanya. 

We started teaching someone new this week. He is 9 years old and his mom actually wanted us to start teaching him so he could be baptized! She is inactive, but super supportive of her son! We are so excited! 

We did a lot of walking and contacting this week, and good news! I did wear a jacket this time! Other than that though, are week has been pretty slow for some reason. We've had appointments, but we've also had people cancel. I am noticing that the closer it gets to the holiday season, the more people are busy or out of town. Who knew! 

At the end of the week, I got sick. I am still recovering and it is not fun. But I should be better by tomorrow! Fingers crossed!

This week, I just feel a lot of love for my Savior. It is definitely starting to feel a lot like the Holidays, and with Thanksgiving coming up, I feel and an extreme amount of gratitude for my Savior and His Atonement. He suffered so much for my sins AND my pains. He knows ME! He knows each of us. And my life would be a complete 180 from where I am now without Him. My heart is full of gratitude and love for my Savior. I am also grateful for a loving Heavenly Father, who has shown me His love through each and everyone of you. I dont believe in coincidences. I know you are all in my life, on my email list, and in my thoughts for a reason. Thank you for being examples and influences in my life! I would not be the person I am today without all of you, my family, my Heavenly Father, and my Savior, Jesus Christ and His gospel. 

I hope you guys have an amazing Thanksgiving this week! Keep being rockstars and good humans! You all have a special place in my heart! 

Love, 

Sister Brady:)

Week 11 - November 18, 2019 - Ight, Imma Head Out

Zooooweeeee! Another week! And I honestly cannot even remember what happened this week! But I will try my best! 

On Monday, I did probably the coolest thing I have ever done! I had a staring contest with a kid we are trying to get to go to church and it last 48 MINUTES!!!! Yes, I held my eyes open for 48 minutes and beat the world record. I'm insane. But he said he would go to church! 

We had monthly interviews with our mission president this week! He's super awesome and he cares a lot about his missionaries which I am grateful for! 

A lot of people canceled on us for appointments this week, SO we did a lot of walking and street contacting (well, Utah style). It was nice though because I got to know the neighborhoods a little bit better and we met some cool people. And scheduled a few appointments!! The best part about this was seeing people's reaction when I wasn't wearing a coat! In my defense though, it wasn't THAT cold!

We also did this fun thing called a district blitz where we go to an apartment complex as a district (5 companionships) and knock the doors and see who lives there. We did it in the evening and it was fun just to knock doors and meet people! Once again, I did not have a coat on and people thought I was crazy! Maybe next time I will wear a coat... 

ANYWAY, the COOLEST thing that happened this week was with Joe. For a quick reminder about Joe, he is 85 years old and his wife and children are all members of the church! We had a great lesson with him on Thursday. We read 2 Nephi 9, and got to talking about baptism. We talked about what it would mean to not only him, but to his family as well. The spirit was so strong, so Sister Davis jumped at the chance and invited him to be baptized next month!! And he didn't say no!! But please, please, please keep him in your prayers! He is so close! 

This week has been a week of coming to understand and know my Savior a little better. My mission president encouraged me to start reading "Jesus the Christ" and it is AWESOME! But I have found myself, this week at least, focusing a lot on the gift of grace. Specifically the grace of our Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. This gift is amazing. A lot of people think that we believe that we are saved by "works" and not grace. That's not true though! We are saved by grace "after all that we can do" (2 Nephi 25:23). We are given commandments from God and we are told to keep them. However, we are all imperfect people. We all fall short. But it is through Christ's grace and suffering that we can be made whole again. He can help us turn our life around after we mess up. And it is all about what we do after we turn to Christ. It is about striving to be more like Him! His grace is real and it saves us! But we can't just not do anything because we know that. We keep the commandments and strive to be more like Christ because we LOVE God and His Son. That's why we do it! And that is why I am here serving the people of Utah. Not because I felt obligated to, but because I have felt the grace of my Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. And I my heart is filled with love for them. That is why I am serving a mission. And I know there is no other place God wants me to be right now than here. 

I love you all! Thank you for your prayers, support, emails, and pictures. They bring me so much joy! Keep sending them my way pleeeaaaseee!! 

Love,

Sister Brady

Ps. If you ever need someone to pray for you, email me and I will add you to my prayers

Pictures! 

1. Staring Contest

2. We fit our whole district in the car! 

3. Utah is pretty :)

4. My companion and meee

Week 10 - November 11, 2019 - Dear Pepe'

Yo yo yoooo another week has come and gone and honestly, it's not okay. Where is the time going?? I feel like I just left like yesterday. This is weird. Ahhhhh. 

I just wanted to say thank you for all the emails and the prayers. I have definitely felt them and they have helped so much! I love hearing from you guys and getting updates from back home! So again, thank you! 

This week has been wonderful! I don't even know where to begin! We met with Thanya again, and we invited her to be baptized... and SHE SAID YES!!!!! AHHH IT WAS SO COOL!!! I am so excited for her, and as long as there are no complications with her parents, she will be getting baptized in just a couple weeks! It is so amazing to be able to watch her journey with God and Jesus Christ happen. That's definitely a perk of being a missionary! 

We also started teaching someone new which is super awesome! Her name is Ruby and she is just the sweetest thing. I look forward to seeing how that goes with her! 

I mentioned this last week, but Transfers officially happened and it was sad to see some of our district and zone go, but the new people are awesome and it will be fun getting to know them! I am just glad that I'm staying with my super awesome companion. She rocks! 

One of the coolest things that happened this week though was that last night we had a "Why I Believe" devotional. This is a thing that our mission president started, where he invites someone to come and talk about their conversion story to the gospel of Jesus Christ! And we got to hear from Tony Finau and his wife! For those of you who do not know who that is, he is a professional golfer who just got picked for the Presidents Cup which is rad. But honestly it was the most amazing event I have been to. We brought Thanya which was super cool and me and my companion sang the musical number (YIKES). It went well, but I was super nervous and we sang it a capella hahahahah BUT IT WAS A GOOD EXPERIENCE! And I got to shake his hand which was groovy. Man, the spirit that was there though was absolutely beautiful. I wish you all could have been there. 

In the spirit of that wonderful event that we had last night, I would like to share why I believe. I have had my ups and downs in my life just like every person, and I have made my fair share of mistakes too. But I will say this, I have never felt more peace in my life, more guidance, more joy in my life than when I am trusting in God, putting my faith in Christ, and living the commandments. The world screams at us that certain things will bring us happiness, but if those things aren't in line with the commandments of God or are contrary to the truth, the will only hurt us in the long run. I've learned that the happiness that the world offers is only temporal. The joy that Christ and our Heavenly Father offer is eternal. It will always be there. Through stormy days and happy days. It is simply always there. I have felt that and know it. And that is why I believe! 

I love you all so so much. Please send emails and pictures! I will try my best to respond (sometimes days get busy)!!!! 

Love,

Sister Brady

Pictures:

1. We matched our drinks we had that day! 

2. We got a new car and I found a hat in it that I really like

3. THIS IS MY FAVORITE SIGN and every missionary gets a pic there so why not me?

4. An Elder in my old district that oddly looks like my nephew???

Week 9 - November 4, 2019 - JTM!!!

It is the dreaded transfer week... and me and Sister Davis ARE STAYING TOGETHER IN SARATOGA SPRINGS WOOT WOOT! We are so happy! We still have a lot of work to do here and we are thrilled to keep doing that! Part of our district is leaving though and I am super bummed. We went on a district activity today and I'm going to miss the Elders that are leaving! Sad day:( 

Me and my companion have become obsessed with JTM (James the Mormon). He actually has some pretty cool and missionary appropriate music! It is the best! 

Speaking of the BEST.. we found someone new to teach!!! Her name is Thonya and she isn't technically in our area, but we got special permission to teach her!! And she is soooo ready for the good news of this gospel!! We had our first lesson with her and she said she believed that it was true! This is by far the coolest experience ever for me! This gospel is so so so true!! I cant wait to keep teaching her!

This week has been crazy busy though! On Halloween, we got to go to the temple! It was so amazing! I love going to the temple and I love the beauty and peace that it brings into my life. Highly recommend going to the temple or at LEAST visiting temple grounds once a week! If I wasn't on a mission, I totally would! 

On Friday though, we got to hear from an apostle of the Lord! Elder Rasband came and spoke to our entire mission!!! It was so cool! He spoke to us a lot about how we are meant to be here and we are needed here! It meant so much to me to hear that. I know a lot of people might think that Utah missions aren't really cool and or necessary, but those people are so wrong. There are so many people here who need this gospel right here in Utah county. We are teaching people who are learning how they can come closer to Christ! I dont care what anyone says, but the Lord is gathering his elect to Utah and my job is to help them become closer to Christ! 

I am so grateful for the teachings of Christ. I am grateful for his love for me individually. Sometimes it is hard to feel God's love when we feel that we are far from perfect. But God is perfect. He does not make mistakes. He understands that we will mess up and go through hard times. He knows we get prideful. But he still loves us. He gave us His Son, Jesus Christ, so we don't have to live with our sins and mistakes for the rest of our lives. I encourage us all, including myself, to swallow our pride and turn to Him. Talk to Him. He loves you more than you know! 

I love you guys so much! Thank you for your words of encouragement and the prayers. I have felt them immensely! I am here for God and for all of you! Keep believing and trusting in God! :)

Send emails and pictures!! 

Love,

Sister Brady:)

Ps. Me and my companion dressed up as my mission president and his wife for Halloween hahaah

Week 8 - October 28, 2019 - Taco Bellllllll

Guys. I'm getting taco bell today and I'm so excited. You have NO idea. I love gross but also really yummy fast food. And you know what, TREAT YO SELF. 

This week has been awesome though! I'm honestly just trying to remember it hahah. 

We had some ward parties this weekend because Halloween is on Thursday! (ok that's just weird) the ward parties were so much fun though! They had it all set up and decorated all over the church with games and everything! It was so cool! At one of them, the bishop asked me and Sister Davis to sing the song we wrote. Thankfully, Sister Davis brought her ukulele and we could do it! It is so cool being able to share a message of Christ through song! I love music!! 

We also spake at church yesterday! Again! It was about... you guessed it! Sharing the gospel! The thing that I really tried to emphasize the most is that we missionaries need YOU to help and so does God! Just because we wear a nametag and you dont doesn't mean that you can't be a missionary RIGHT NOW!!! Come be a part of the Lord's work! It's the best!

The biggest thing we did this week was exchanges! So for those who do not know what exchanges are, they are when you basically trade companions for 24 hours! So I was with Sister Comstock in the Polynesian Stake! And Polynesian people are the best! I met so many amazing people that day! And Sister Comstock was soooooo much fun to be with!!! Me and her laughed a ton and had a really good time! Next week though, I'll take her companion and I will run this area for a day (SCARY)!!! 

Teaching has been good, but we still need a lot more people to teach! Please pray for us! There are a lot of people that we dont know of yet who need Christ's gospel! Keep us in your prayers!

This week was definitely a week of growing closer to my Savior for me. It started with the song we shared on Facebook and then the attention it got. Which was UNBELIEVABLE for us! I was honestly expecting like 25 likes. Or less. But over 150 likes and over 3,000 views! Thank you! I know that everything we sang it that song is TRUE! Christ bore all of our sins. He knows our pains. He knows our weaknesses. And he loves us in spite of it all. He and God love us when we are happy and when we are struggling. Their love is perfect. If we asks for Christ's help, he can make us whole again. He will help us return to God. He is with us every step of the way, even when we think he isn't. 

I love my Savior. I love my Father in Heaven who has given me so much. They love you as well. They know you. They need you on their team. Turn to them. 

Please send emails. Please send pictures. I will try my best to respond! I love you all!

Sister Brady

Week 7 - October 21, 2019 - Caffeine Addicted Teens

Salahm and good evening to you! (Hah get it. Aladdin.)

Another Pday??? Already?? Is this for real?? I can't believe it's been another week, but boy has it been a busy one! Where do I even start? 

So many of the kids here hang out at the gas station and drink red bull. Sometimes I wonder what's wrong with Utah. SOMETIMES. 

We had the Saratoga Springs Temple Ground Breaking this weekend!! Sister Davis and I spent all of Friday night in the freezing cold dropping off flyers for it in the freezing cold. I'm not gonna lie, I had to rely A LOT on God to push through! But it was a very refreshing feeling when we finished and i was glad we did it! The groundbreaking itself was so cool and I can't wait to watch this temple go up! I feel so lucky to be a part of this journey!

The weather this week has been the "calm before the storm." I can tell that is gonna snow soon... I just KNOW it. And it's only October! What the heck?? It did rain on Saturday and I was SO happy!!! It felt and smelt like Oregon rain. I almost cried. Sister Davis was not as happy. She ran to the car while I stood outside. RIP Sister Davis during the winter time. 

I experienced my first zone conference and that was wild. At the moments where I least expected it, the mission president would call on me to answer his question, so I mean that was pretty stressful! But I made it! And they had really yummy burrito salad things for lunch and I was in HEAVEN for 30 minutes. 

The teaching is going good! No one new yet, but we will find them! This week was hard because everyone was on fall break and out of town. Literally half of the people we asked to come visit didnt even text us back. Oof. We took the L this week on appointments. BUT with the lessons we did have we felt the spirit and I could tell they did too! 

Sister Davis and I also started writing songs this week! It was spur of the moment, but it was super fun!! Its just us sharing our testimony through music. And I love that I get this chance to! We shared it a lot this weekend with people we love! We are going to post it on Facebook so stayed tune!!! (And share it!!!!) 

I talked in two wards this Sunday and it was insane. One talk was only 5 min, but one had to be like 15 min and I didnt know till we got there! But they went well! We talked about loving others as Christ does and that's what I want to share with you all today! Sometimes we over complicate what the gospel of Jesus Christ is! We think we have to say elegant phrases about the teachings that Christ taught. But we dont! We should just be trying to be like Him! Christ loved everyone and we should do the same. Just because someone doesn't believe what we believe or think the same way as us doesn't mean that we can be unkind or unloving towards them! The arr still God's child and our spirit brother or sister! Let us all work to love everyone the way Christ does. Unconditionally and as perfectly as possible in our earthly life. 

I love you all! God loves you! Christ loves you! They know you! They are with you every step of the way! Keep enduring. It is so worth it and the blessings will be unimaginable! 

Sister Brady :)

Week 6 - October 14th, 2019 - I met famous people (well their mom and dad)

Shalom! 

Another week has passed us by, and I am not sure how! I'm trying hard to remember what exactly happened this week! 

We have been sharing a lot of messages with members which is awesome! We are really trying to stress how important they are to the missionary effort! The families here are so wonderful too! And they all the most creative names (I mean this is Utah, so it makes sense)! 

I met the Canaan family this week (they are members), and we were talking about how I am a theatre major and they casually said their son was on Broadway for 25 years! And they showed me a picture and their son is Paul Canaan! I'm sure no one knows who that is, but I do and I couldn't believe it! Then she showed us a bunch of videos and pictures of him with my favorite Broadway stars. Oh my gosh I have to say that I was definitely in heaven for 45 min. 

BUT on a more spiritual note, we found some new people to teach! One of them is named scarlett and she is the sweetest thing! And her brother is super nice as well. Scarlet is 11 and her brother, Ellis is 14. AND THEY LOVE US WHICH IS THE BEST PART! We are going to start teaching them every week which is awesome!! 

We did a lot of door knocking because we are trying to pass out flyers for the temple ground breaking, and we met a good chunk of people! Some of them weren't interested, but some of them were totally okay with us coming back to share a message with them!! So yay!! 

On Saturday, we got to help finish the shovels for the temple ground breaking in Saratoga Springs! It was a nice break from door knocking and member messages and service always feels awesome! I encourage all of you guys to serve at any opportunity you get. It will bless you and the people you serve. And it makes you feel good! Win win situation, amiright???

Our mission president has challenged us to memorize 10 scriptures about Christ. I am honestly really excited about this challenge because I really want to know the scriptures better! One scripture I am memorizing is in the Book of Mormon. It is 2 Nephi 33:6, and it says, "I glory in plainness; I glory in truth; I glory in my Jesus, for he hath redeemed my soul from hell." I know it's not super long, but it's super powerful to me. The gospel of Jesus Christ is simple, and through him we can be made whole. It is not some big complicated thing, it is just this. God and Jesus Christ love each and everyone of you reading this. You are His sons and daughters. Turn to Him. Find peace in Him.

I love you all!! Thank you for your love and support! I think and pray for you every day! Miss you dearly! 

Please send me emails and pictures! It makes my day!!

Sister Brady:)

Week 5 - October 7, 2019 - Everything's a Blur

Heyooooo family and friends! 

I hope your week has been awesome! My week has flown by and I can't believe it's P-Day! Also, we had general conference this weekend! Wasn't it absolutely AMAZING?? I really didn't appreciate it when I was younger.  

I'm trying to think about what i did this week.  Last p-day we went on a hike and i sent pictures of that last time. I'm not gonna lie. It's not like the homes in Oregon and i was a little disappointed! You just really can't beat Oregon beauty!! It was still beautiful though and a nice break from looking at houses all day hahahah! 

On Tuesday we visited the people in charge of making the shovels for the temple ground breaking! For those that don't know what I'm talking about, there is a temple being built in Saratoga Springs (so IN MY area!!!!). For the start of construction, one of our apostles comes and uses a shovel to represent the starting of construction and then many others join in as well with shovels to start the ground breaking! It's super cool! Unfortunately, we don't get to go, but we get to watch it at a chapel!! I'm SO excited!

Also, a TEMPLE IN OREM???? We will be the first mission ever to have two temples under construction at the same time. And we will be the first mission ever to have 3 temples in it!!! I feel so lucky to be here at such a historic time! 

We started teaching Silviano the follow up lessons. He is progressing so well and I'm so proud of him! He truly has a testimony and I can see it when we teach him. 

Joe has been sick so keep him in your prayers!! They think it's just allergies, so hopefully he will get better soon! 

We knocked doors again this week and we are trying so hard to find new people to teach. It's so hard when people open the door, see our tags, and want nothing to do with us. If a missionary knocks on any of your doors PLEASE invite them in! The need some uplifting vibes! We get rejected a lot! 

This weekend of general conference was crazy! We were at a new place for each session and running to do things inbetween! But honestly, it felt a little bit like Christmas for us. We are usually the ones teaching, so it was nice to sit and be taught by prophets and apostles of God! 

As I reflect on the things that were said and the truths that I learned this weekend, the one I want to focus on is our faith. More importantly, the questions that may rise as we continue on our journey here on earth.  We are all going to have questions and moments where our faith is going to waver. Some of us will probably have some doubts as well. We need to understand that these questions are okay. Talk about them with those you trust and church leaders. If we think they are bad, they fester and Satan's lies take over our thoughts. God doesn't expect us to understand and know everything. What He asks of us is that we trust Him. If we don't understand a principle, pray to Him and ask for understanding and peace regarding that question or concern. The answer may not come right away or in the way we expect, but if we are honest and sincere, God will bless us. If any of you feel that your faith is diminishing, fight for it. The first step is a hope for the things that are true. If that's where you are at, that is okay! God loves you! He hears your prayers! The trials and experiences you go through are for your good! Continue doing the things that he has asked you to do! Pray to Him! Read the Book of Mormon and Bible! The truly are the words of our Heavenly Father and Christ! When you do these things, especially when  you have questions or doubts, the Lord will speak to you! Some one at conference said, "we may lose faith in God, but He will never lose faith in us." 

Everything comes back to Christ though. As you search for more understanding, search for Christ. I know He lives. I know He loves me and He loves you. Turn to Him in your hour of need! I know He will be there for you because he has been there for me! 

I love you all! Thank you for your love and support! You mean the world to me! 

Sister Brady

P.S. my mission home address is 612 W 100 S Lindon, Utah 84042 (cause my mom said people might want it?)

Week 4 - September 30, 2019 - Saratoga Springs Week One!

Welcome back to my channel!! 

Holy moly you guys. I'm in the real world now and it feels GREAT! I am no longer confined to the gated world of the MTC! And I no longer have to deal with that cafeteria food. GROSS. And there is quite a bit of work to be done out here. 

I'm not gonna lie, this week has been insane. So much is going on and I'm trying to keep up with a lot. I'm trying really hard to remember what I did this week, so bear with me on this weeks email. Here we go.

My companion is Sister Davis! She is wonderful! She's from Florida and has been out for 11 months! Almost a year. She knows what she is doing for sure. She's also a great missionary and I'm already learning a lot!

So contrary to popular belief for Utah missions, we definitely knock doors here! Granted it's selective knocking, but it's still knocking on a stranger's door! We have a map of people who are and are not members of our church and then we go around and get to know them. We will ask if we can share a message with them, but usually they say no which is sad :( but it's okay!!! Some people want to hear!

We actually had a baptism on Saturday which was so cool! His name is Silviano and he has been taught by missionaries for 4 years!!! And he finally got baptized on Saturday. It was such a beautiful baptism and the spirit was so so so strong there. I was so lucky that I was able to be there for that. He wants to get sealed to his wife in a year!!! Ahhhh so cool!!!!! 

We are teaching a few others that I haven't really met yet, but one of them is Joe. Joe is 85 and just about the sweetest soul ever. His wife and children are all active members of the church and its wonderful because they will join us for lessons with him! Right now we are reading the Book of Mormon with him and he seems to take a real interest in it. I'm serious when i say that the Book of Mormon is POWERFUL AND TRUE! Please please please read it. It will change your life. 

The biggest thing I have learned this week is that members are so important to the work! Just because you are not wearing a name does not mean that you have nothing to do! Everyone can be apart of the Lord's work!!! In fact, us missionaries need your help! The message we have been sharing with members this week is that the gathering of Israel is now and we need to bring as many people to the Lord's church as possible! I don't know about y'all, but I want to see every one of my friends and family with me in the next life and when Christ comes again. So share the gospel!!! I'm not saying you need to stand on mountain and preach, but just extend that invitation to help with a service project or come to a church activity. Some people are just waiting to hear the truth. They just need the invitation! 

Everyone, I love this church and without it, I would be in a very dark and ugly place. But through Christ I can be made whole again. I am never alone in my sufferings because Christ is there for me when I ask Him to be. Turn to Him. He loves you so much. 

Sorry this email is so long! I love you all! Send emails and pics. Much love!! 

Sister Brady

Week 3 - September 24, 2019 - Goodbye MTC

Helloooooo from Utah!!!!

First things first, will someone PLEASE tell me how the Area 51 raid went???? I am dying to know. I am so sad I missed it. 

Also, I have a confession to make. I have an addiction to cinnamon altoids. If you think I'm joking I ate almost an entire box of them in 3 days. And then I ate 5 donuts two days later. Oops.

But more onto what I did this week. It was such a sad week!!! I love my district so much and I am so sad to leave them!! We are a bunch of misfit toys and weird combination if I'm being completely honest, but also I don't think I have ever loved a group of people this purely. I can only imagine the amount of love God has for each of them. I truly wish them the best with their missions.

Oh yeah, by the way, just a reminder that I LEAVE today! What the actual heck! This time seriously flew by. I didn't believe it at first but here I am! Leaving and its definitely a bitter sweet moment. I miss everyone and everything so much already (except the food...how I can't WAIT to have real food).

I've learned so much here at the MTC. I've decided that I should share the top 3 of a long list of things I learned. So here I go! 

The first thing I learned here is how important it is to love everyone. Our Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ love each of us so much and individually. If we really want to be like Christ and God, we must do the same. I'm not gonna lie, it is way more difficult than it sounds. As humans we are so quick to judge! I do it a lot and it has been something I have really been working on here. I've prayed a lot to feel love for everyone and honestly it works. My love and my capacity to love those around me has grown. I still have not so great thoughts about people, but I'm improving and that's all that matters! I can testify that as we strive to be more like Christ, he will help us and expand our hearts to love more fully.

The second thing I learned was that God really does answer my prayers. Before coming out on a mission, I believed it was true, but being here now, I know it is true! Not to say that God answers them in the way we want or in the way we expect, but He will answer them in the best way for us and in His timeline. I've had amazing teachers that I know taught me things that I needed to hear and learn. I was with companions that helped me learn to push myself to be better and to be patient with others, but most importantly myself. I've felt God's hand in almost every aspect of my journey here, and when I didn't, I turned to Him in prayer and He did answer. I promise He can do the same for you if you pray to Him with a sincere heart.

The most important thing I learned here though is that Christ is central to everything and needs to be the center of our lives. Jesus Christ died on the cross, was resurrected, suffered for our sins, and felt every pain, sickness, tired day, and any other feeling that we have ever felt. He will walk with us through all of our trials if we only ask Him too. I cannot imagine what He went through for me, and I can't even fully comprehend it. I am so grateful though for what He did because as the past 3 weeks have gone by, I have sure needed Him with me. He has been my rock here. He has been my shoulder to cry on. And the best part is He understands what I'm feeling. I can testify that he understands each of us. He knows our pains and will help us through our hard days. Turn to Him and hold onto Him. Never let go. He will be there if you ask. 

I love you all so much and miss you all with every fiber in my being. I know that I am here for a reason though and for these next 18 months I'm going to give it my all! 

Send me emails! Send me pictures! I love seeing and hearing from you! Thank you for your support!! 

Sister Brady 

More Pictures:

1. Elder Condie made a super cool cup tower!

2. We dropped Sister Hammond off this morning at 4am! Good luck in Yakima!! 



3. I drew my whole district and our teacher!



4. Cute polaroids of me and Sister Dunn! 



5. My whole district! I love them so much!

Week 2 September 17, 2019 @themtc

Family!!! Friends!!! Oh how I miss you!!! But I'm having a blast and learning so much. I honestly can't believe I've been here 13 days and only have 8 more to go??? Insane! Wowza! 

My preparation day was awesome. It was pretty relaxed and I got to talk to my mom and dad (which was the BEST)! Also, we got to go to the temple as a district. It was so awesome to go with people who I hold very dearly. 

This week, you won't even believe it. We got to hear from an apostle! Elder Gary E. Stevenson spoke to us at our Tuesday devotional. We never know who is speaking at these devotionals, but this week we got to hear from him. Ugh. It was incredible. When he walked in, we all stood up as we were singing "I know that my Redeemer Lives." The spirit was so strong in the room.  As he spoke, it felt like he was speaking just to me. He spoke of how divine and inspired my call is. I know that this is where I need to be. I am so excited to share the light of this gospel and I know that God has a special purpose for me. I know that God wants me with the people of Orem for a reason. 

For exercise this week, we played a lot of basketball. And I'm serious when I say that I'm actually getting good at it! I know all my YSA friends are thinking that I'm lying about that but seriously we played it every day because we had workout time after lunch and we couldn't do anything too intense. My free throw skills are SICK now. You're welcome. 

All we eat ever is chicken. I'm starting to think I can't eat chicken ever again. If I come home a vegetarian, the MTC is why. (Its really not that bad I'm just dramatic hahahahah) 

My companions and I are having a blast together. The more time I spend with them, the more I come to love and appreciate them. The are such beautiful and wonderful humans. 

We are starting to teach more and new people. This week we taught Adrienne some more and it was so cool! She was following the invitations to pray and read and she seemed to enjoy what we were teaching her. Sadly our last lesson with her was Friday because that's the way things work here at the mtc. We have to practice teaching different people. Another person we taught this week was Tom. Tom is so cool! He is a composer! And he works for the Utah symphony!! Teaching him this week was so fun, but he is also QUITE the talker. But I think we helped him to feel the spirit during our lessons! After we stopped teaching Adrienne, we met Kenly! Our first lesson with her was on Monday! She really wanted to know what the Book of Mormon was, so we focused our lesson on the introduction portion!

On Sunday, my companions and I taught two lessons! Back to back. We taught relief society AND district council. Our topic for relief society was the creation, the fall, and agency, so we focused a lot on 2 Nephi 2! (That is such a great chapter in the Book of Mormon, I HIGHLY recommend that y'all read it!!!) Then in district council, we taught about the Atonement of Jesus Christ and having pure hearts and clean hands! I was so happy the way the lesson went! We showed the youth music video from 2014 "Come unto Christ" WHICH IS SUCH A GOOD VIDEO GO WATCH IT!!!! I cried a lot during the lesson cause I'm an emotional person and love Jesus Christ so so so much. He's amazing. And He loves me too! He loves all of us!!!! 

YSA FRIENDS!!! Remember Elder Nordfelt? He served in our branch in 2018? Well I met his little brother the other day! He is going to Fuji which is so rad!!! Wowza. It's crazy how many connections you can make to so many people here. 

Also, I keep telling people that my cousin is Tom Brady but no one believes me????

Some of our friends are leaving Wednesday and that makes me sad! Ugh. And I got my travel itinerary because I leave in a week!!!! Can you believe that?? I just got here wowza.  All my companions and district leave before me so I'm gonna be alone for 5 hours. RIP.  

Everyone. I just want to say how amazing being here is. Seriously. I am growing so much and the amount of things I have learned here is incredible. I know that Jesus Christ loves us so much, and I know that He has felt every sickness, trial, anxiety attack, sleep deprived day, and rejection that we have felt in our lives. Our faith in Jesus Christ is so much more than the belief in Him. It is the action to follow Him that will bring us closer to Him. Study the scriptures! Especially the Book of Mormon. It took me 19 years to realize how cool and amazing that book is!!!! I can't believe I was missing out for this long!!!! Say your prayers. We may get discouraged sometimes that God doesn't answer our prayers right away, but that is okay. Everything is according to His time line. If we have faith that He will answer it will come. In His own way though, not in ours. I love the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints so so so much. I am eternally grateful for Jesus Christ and Heavenly Father. They have helped me through many struggles these past two weeks. Turn to them. They love you. They will help you. 

I love you all. You hold special places in my heart and have shown me so much love in my life. Thank you for supporting and praying for me. I feel it. I really do. Keep being awesome and amazing people. I love you lots!!!

Sister Brady

ps. please send pictures. please. please. please. I love them.