Chief Booty

Dear Family,

This week was awesome!  I had one of my best weeks in a long time!  We finally got to go to the temple again......I made it all the way through this time...AND...I finally got to see the new temple video, which is awesome!  It was just a really good day. 

There were a few things I thought were interesting.  Honestly, I think Satan was the best done part.  During the whole session I was a bit frustrated with myself, I was thinking, “Man...I’m really not supposed to like this guy, but he looks like he’s pretty cool.”  Looking at him(Satan)...he seemed like the coolest one in the bunch to go and hang out with. 

It really bothered me, and then it hit me....”duh!  That’s how I am in life as well.  Satan looks like a pretty cool guy, looks fun, looks nice, doesn’t seem too bad...but then he is, and we are in trouble.”  It was something simple, but I thought they did a really good job with that part.  The added emotion shed a lot of interesting insight, for me, that I really liked.  So, that was a really sweet day!  After the temple we had kind of a ‘going home’ zone conference for President and Sister Judd.  It was super small, super personal so it was sweet.  It’s starting to feel a bit more real, but not really.... 

Dad, I thought your story was hilarious about Jeff and the new boat ha ha.  How sweet for them to have a boat!  That’s awesome!  Hopefully next time it will be a bit smoother for them.

Elli...Congrats on the elections!  Thats so sweet!  I’m the only one that wasnt a student council-or I guess....

QUESTIONS:

Spiritual Stuff:
- Temple was really really sweet!  Then the next day we went and helped out a recent convert on their garden/farm so that she could have time to read the book of mormon, it was super sweet!  Only one problem...I worked for like an hour and I have five blisters on my hand...I’m a softie now, I guess.

Companion stuff:
-He is doing well.  We get along fine.  He is good though.

Health stuff:
-doing great, rash is just about gone

P-day stuff:
-next week we have a district activity with the sisters....going golfing...ha ha, so pray for us that day.....

Great Story Stuff:
-Okay we have this investigator named Chief Booty.  Yep, that’s really his name, and we call him that.  Anyway he is a big time Nigerian chief, super loaded, but a really cool guy.  We contacted him and taught a quick lesson one night and then went back for our official first lesson.  When we went in and Arsenal (his team) was planning in some big final of some cup.... so we just decided not to try and butt heads with that...so we kinda just sat there and got to know him a bit while he watched the match.  It went really well, he really likes us.  We started teaching his son and it was all good.  We were getting ready to go and he walked up stairs, so we waited.  He comes back down and hands me this envelope, and says, “just a little something now that we are friends”. 

I explained that we couldn’t take money and all that...he countered it with all this cultural stuff that he was obliged to do.  Anyway...we exhausted all of our excuses very quickly, and were late for a meeting with the bishop so we took it, he told us just to go and get dinner and that he would pay for it.  So...we somehow justified it.   We left, and I opened it up, 200 cedis!  That’s what the mission gives me for an entire month of living expenses!  It was crazy!  We talked a lot about it, talked it over with Elder Honour and his companion...and I guess determined that it was okay...since it was for dinner....  So...we picked the nicest place in town and went to get some food. We sat down and it just hit me that it was so wrong.  So I cancelled the order and went straight to give it back to him. We went there, he let us in, and I just told him, “Chief we appreciate it, but I really cant take this, I feel like I’m sinning.”  God really helped us out on this one, and he was a bit drunk so it was all good :).  Crazy experience thought!

Lessons Learning:
1. don’t take money from investigators.  ever.
2. Don’t let my kids play video games
3. Rely on Heavenly Father.

Well I love you all so much!  Be safe, have fun, read your scriptures.

Love,

Elder Bradshaw