Last Transfer...

Dear Family,

This week seems to have never happened!  Time is flying by faster than I can even believe.  This is transfer week, I don’t think much will happen considering my ‘guaranteed transfer’ next time, so I think I’ll stay put.  I think Elder Clarke will stay, he is making a lot of progress, so I think the Lord will leave him here for another lap around the park.

The area is going okay.  Highlight of the week was Kay came to church on Sunday, and loved it!  Sacrament meeting was an absolute flop, I can’t even lie to you about that one...but I sat there praying the entire time that he could feel something...and I think he did.  I prayed, “God, I know this church is true, I know these people are trying, and I am so sorry, but they just aren’t cutting it this time...please, please just give him a little bit of something like I feel when I am here.”  I don’t think it came in Sacrament meeting, but he seemed to love the other two hours!  I had to step out and do some interviews so I wasn’t there, but Elder Clarke says it was great!  Seems to have gotten him hooked, and he said he will be there next week...so hopefully!  I really clicked with this guy, and I really want him to be baptized.  Its my goal...before I go home, he would be one really really good one. 

Things in the area are going pretty well though, not incredible, but good.  We have a lot of people coming to church but they seem to be new people each week.  We are struggling to get people back for round two.  Got some cool people though.

Toward the beginning of this week I was getting a bit discouraged, Elder Clarke and I have contacted more over the last six weeks than I think I have in the whole first year of my mission.  We continually contact and nothing just seems to be happening.  I felt almost like we were making no difference and that we were not really accomplishing our purpose as missionaries.  Just as I was hitting the peak of my pity party...we had quite and incredible experience with one of our investigators. 

She is a Nigerian student from the University of Wisconsin.  We have been teaching her for a few weeks now and its just been incredible to see the progress that she has already made in changing her life to what she needs to be.  The other night when we went to visit her we sat down and as we did I had a distinct impression to teach her the ‘Law of Chastity’.  My first thought was, “no way”, it just didn’t seem, to me, the right time, nevertheless we proceeded to teach her the law of chastity.  We had a great lesson...nothing very notable...just a normal lesson.  A few days later we came back for our next visit.  As soon as we sat down, she was already freaking out, she was so excited, you could see a change in her that was incredible.  We sat down and she proceeded to tell us how the past week the university had called her and said that they had upped the cost of tuition after she had already graduated, by the way.  They told her that if she didn’t pay it soon...they wouldn’t let her graduate.....  To make a long story short she told us that her and her friends had, in a last ditch effort, decided to do something horrible to make money, something that if she did she would never be able to forgive herself for.  The told us that the night when we had come and taught her the Law of Chastity, was the first night that she had decided to go out.  When we were there...we told her that after she had promised to live this new law that Satan would try and do all that he could to get her to go against what she had just promised to do.  Even that he would try in ways that he had never before tried. 

She told us that that night she went into her room and told her roommates about what we had said, one of them tried to throw the book away.  Another disagreed.  But she told them, “the missionaries told me this would happen, God has asked me to do this, and if he has asked me to do it, then he will make a way.  You do what you want...but I will leave mine to God.”  She said instead of going out that night she stayed in her room all night and read the books we had given her and prayed that God would help her to find another way.  The next day she organized, not a riot, but a ‘stand up’ to the university.  Which, after just one day, they brought the cost back down and she wasn’t required to pay any more!  It was amazing! 

I left the lesson that day with just so much amazement that God could bring two little white guys from California and Utah half way around the world...put them right in the right place at the right time...and then inspire them to teach exactly what someone needed to hear in order to continue on their path to Christ.  I know that I am nothing, but I also know that with God and I can do so much.  I know the spirit gives us what we need.  I know that if we are trying our best...no matter what...we are always being used, no matter how much we can’t see it, to do the things that God needs us to do at that time!  God lives!  He is there!  He cares so much about each and every one of us.  I know perfectly well that as I turn myself to God, as our investigator did, God has already prepared me a way to overcome my own temptations and hardships. 

Yeah...Chief Booty is doing good, he is in Nigeria on business right now, but he called us the other day and told us, “I’ll make it up to you when I get back”, so that should be interesting. ha ha.

Lexi you are crazy!  That is too many performances!  I can’t believe how good my two sisters are getting at dance.  I am actually pretty excited to come and watch when I get home!

QUESTIONS:

How was golfing? 
-Didn’t go.  Went and played rugby with the other zone leaders from the zone next to ours.  Later the sisters came and we all made lunch together.  I am so sore right  now...I don’t know if I can even walk out of here.  I did pretty good with Rugby...even though I’m the old man around here now.

Healthy this week?
-doing great!

Great things about your week?
-the experience in the story above was pretty cool. 

Also, the my last transfer is starting.....I’m next!

Healthy.  I can eat rice again, I was so sick of it so I detoxed for a while...and now it's good again. 

Spiritual things?
-had some really good studies this week, some that I just really enjoyed.  I finished the Book of Mormon a few weeks ago so now I am kinda just going trough doing some random studies.

Things you learned.
-I learned truly how God can consecrate our afflictions, our mistakes and our infirmities for our gain, if we let him of course.  That was a bit of my study this week, dealing with Ammon in particular.  I think he and I were kinda similar.  In our bad days, we both liked money, we were not as excited about church stuff, we were really good with words...especially when using them to get what we wanted in a (somewhat) conniving way, we were the sons of some pretty awesome parents, who we caused a lot of pain at first to...then we changed, loved missionary work, used our tongues for righteous works, became poor servants...{and personally I think the people in Ishmael lived in round houses, around dark skinned people, had some hard times, but turned out alright:). }

Well I'm not really sure what else to really say.....  Things are good, I am working hard, I’m healthy, I’m happy, I’m getting along with my companion, getting ready to get home, not overly but yeah, I think thats really about it.

Well I love you all so much, thanks for being awesome.  Sorry I was like the lame Ammon for a while...hopefully I will be more like the cool Ammon when I come home.

Love you all,

Elder Bradshaw