Letter #6 - A New Life

Hello All!

Here is my current address if you would like to send me letters!

1400 H G Mosley # 2206 Longview, TX 75604

Holy smokes. Where do I begin? It has been 11 days since my last P-Day. I guess I will just jump right into my days!

Thursday: we took a grammar test that everyone has to take before leaving the MTC. I got a 51%... which apparently is good. They said anyone who gets 40 or higher is on track. So I guess I'm good? Haha, I definitely have lots to learn. It was about average for our district. I also really started to miss my district on Thursday. We were all going our separate ways. It is kind of sad. But I know they will all be great missionaries.

Friday: the day FLEW by. We had a day full of classes preparing us for the mission field. It was pretty cool. I learned a lot about how to use members in the missionary work. It also POURED on Friday. It hadn't rained at all since I had been in Mexico, so that was nice and refreshing.

Saturday: i started packing. It felt weird packing my stuff. I had lived there for a month and a half. Saturday was my last day with my teachers. They all wrote me very nice comments in my transfer book. I have learned a lot from them and will definitely miss them. I have their emails, though so I will keep in touch.

Sunday: my last day in the CCM! It was bittersweet. Church was relaxing. I bore my testimony in Spanish during fast and testimony meeting. Our branch president gave us all these cool Mexican bookmarks that were hand painted by latinos somewhere in Mexico. It was nice. I finished packing and went to bed early. I also ran into Becca Lindsey from our home stake! We took a very awkward picture included below.

Monday: traveling day! I woke up at 3:00. I got dressed and packed the few things I had left. I went to reception by myself. We got permission to do that because I left earlier than everyone else. I was alone. A lone wolf. I got to reception and two latinos were waiting for me. They weighed my bags and then took me down the street where a van was waiting for me. I got in and I was on my way. Just me and my latino driver. It was a pretty quiet ride. It was such an awesome drive. The city was still asleep, so it was cool just seeing the buildings and everything. Once I got to the airport my driver told me that two other men would help me through the airport. So I got out and these two latinos guided me through check in and everything. They said goodbye to me at security. I went through security by myself in Spanish haha it was cool. I waited for two hours before my flight. Elder Jorgensen came through security a half an hour before my flight. So we hung out for a little bit and said goodbye at my gate. It was nice. The flight only had 30 people on it. No one was next to me. It was a long and boring flight haha. I arrived in Dallas and was so happy. I got both my bags and went to the exit. Two elders were waiting for me. They are two of the APs. Elder Walkins and Elder Bunker. In the video that my mission posted, elder bunker was the last elder bringing in suitcases. He left this past Wednesday to go home. His two years are finished. He is an awesome guy though. Elders Walkins and Bunker drove me to the Mission Office where we waited for a couple of hours. We were waiting for all of the missionaries from the Provo MTC. We met them at the Dallas temple. That is a BEAUTIFUL temple. And it is bigger than it looks in pictures. President Taylor was on a trip somewhere else in texas, so Sister Taylor just talked to us about the importance of the temple and missionary work. It was awesome. We then drove to the mission home where President Taylor had returned from his trip. We took pictures and had an awesome dinner. They gave each of the new missionaries PRO rings... it stands for Pray Read and Obey. It is a reminder to do those things every single day. It is an awesome idea. We finished at the mission home at about 8 pm. Then the APs took us to an apartment complex where we set up a projector and played videos of Christ and went and contacted people in the complex. I talked to three people that night. Two in English and one in Spanish. I placed two copies of the book of Mormon. One in English and one in Spanish! It was such a great experience. We then spent the night at the APs apartment. The sisters stayed with the local sister training leaders. What a great first day in Dallas.

Tuesday: we woke up and went to the local chapel. We had chick fil a for breakfast and it made me so so happy haha. After breakfast, we had meetings until 4 pm! We met our trainers and talked a lot about rules and stuff. I learned a lot about being bold and how to teach with a double edged sword. Sometimes people do not commit if you just tell them the blessings, so you have to tell them the punishments too. It's a cool way of teaching. My trainer is named Elder Judd! He is from Las Vegas Nevada. He is the second youngest of 9. He loves to lift weights and play frisbee. We get along very well and I have already learned a lot from him. He is a great guy. We are assigned to the Longview Spanish branch. We cover a large area. East texas is very open and very beautiful. Our branch covers five English wards, so we have a car. Longview is 2 and a half hours east of Dallas. We missed our dinner appointment because our meetings in Dallas went over. We had to go straight to an appointment in Henderson which is 40 minutes south of Longview... It is a lady named Blanca who is from el Salvador and has been inactive for awhile. She wants to come back to church. So we tried to find her house, but we could not find it anywhere! We called her and still could not find it. So we missed our second appointment as well just because he lived so far away. So we went to the grocery store to get my food and went to our apartment. It is a nice apartment.

Wednesday: we woke up and went to the gym in our apartment complex to run on treadmills. We then had a district meeting. There are 6 elders in my district. 4 English speakers and then us two Spanish speakers. We talked about how faith is essential to gain miracles. After that meeting, I learned that I am in a facebook mission! So we tried creating a new facebook and then found out that it is against facebook's policy to have two profiles, so i either had to delete my old one or just change everything on my old profile. So I have to go through and erase every single post on my facebook. Kind of sad, but oh well, this is a new life for me! I also have to unfollow all of my current friends so that I cannot see their posts on my feed. That is a lot of people to unfollow haha. Ramon took us out to lunch. He is an awesome guy. We went to dinner with la Familia Gonzalez. They are so nice. The spirit is so strong in their home. After dinner, we went to the home of one of our investigators. His name is Rodrigo. He is a 9-year-old boy, his family are inactive members. We talked to his parents about setting a baptismal date and they said they would talk about it, so that is a good sign. We then went to talk to President Johnston. He is our Branch president. We had to talk to him about the mission-wide Initiative. It is probably going to be called "Rise with Jesus". The plan is for every single font in the mission to be filled on the night before easter. We are trying to get a baptism in each ward or branch throughout the mission. What an awesome idea.

Thursday: it was my first day of knocking doors! We went south to Kilgore. The bugs here are big. Wasps look like flying cockroaches haha. Door knocking is fun... you watch people walk into their homes, then you knock and they never come and answer... we talked to a girl named Marta about the BoM. She just kept saying that the Bible cannot have another book. It was silly. I found out Thursday night that I would be giving a 15-minute talk in church on Sunday in Spanish.... I got really nervous haha. But it was on la expiación (the atonement), so it was pretty easy.

Friday: we went to go get gas for our car. We need to print the receipts for records, but the printer was out of paper, so we had to go inside. We got the receipt and the girl behind the counter asked why we were so dressed up. We told her that we were her local missionaries! She then said, "oh well could yall do me a huge favor!? I am good with God and all, but my fiance needs some help. Could yall stop by tomorrow morning?" It was a miracle. I testify that God works miracles and puts people in our paths. It is a miracle that we picked a machine that was out of ink and that we had to go inside.

Saturday: sadly the girl from the gas station got called into work so we couldn't teach her... but we set another date. We went to Hermana Rubio's house for dinner. She cooked this delicious chicken. The latinos here make this agua de Melón. It is basically watermelon water. It is SO good. We then met with one of our investigators named Lucero. She is 25 years old and is from Mexico. We focused our lesson on baptism to try and get her to want to commit. The whole lesson she was very hesitant. She didn't want to join the church and then fall away... she was so worried that she wouldn't be able to stay strong in the church. So the whole lesson she was kinda fighting it... and then the spirit gave me a memory from sometime in my youth. I was in a lesson and someone drew two stick figures on the board. One of the two stick figures had a 1 and a 2 and a 3 going from his head to his heart, to his legs. The other stick figure was the reverse. With a 3 and a 2 and a 1 going from the head down to the heart down to the legs. The first guy represents satans plan. Satan puts bad thoughts in your head, which battle and change your heart, which then leads you to make a false decision. The second stick figure represents Gods plan. You start with an action of your faith. Then it affects your heart positively, which then confirms to your mind that it was the right choice. So I tried explaining that to her in the little Spanish I knew, and she said that she would do it. She took the leap of faith to get baptized and start a new life. A life with Christ. It was amazing. I KNOW that God expects us to act in faith. He expects us to rely on Him and strive to grow closer to Him. Once we do, he will pour out happiness upon us. It was such an awesome experience for me. I got my first baptismal date on my first week. Crazy. I know that whoever taught me that dumb little stick figure drawing was inspired to do so. I know that i was supposed to know that for Lucero to finally make the commitment. I love this work so much. She is such a happy person.

Sunday: the day had come. I needed to give a 15-minute talk in Spanish to a group of maybe 50 latinos... I guess that is my payback for being the only elder in my district in the CCM who did not give a 5-minute talk in church. Instead, I had to give one the length of all three of theirs combined haha. It went well. Afterward, President Johnston got up and told the congregation that he has never heard an elder speak that well in Spanish straight out of the MTC before. It made me feel good. After church, a ton of the members were telling me good job and to be more confident in my Spanish skills. I can understand a lot of Spanish, but talking is sometimes difficult for me... Sunday night Ramon came out teaching with us. We finally were able to find Blanca's house and had a good conversation with her. I also got to meet another of our investigators. Her name is Giovanna. She is 18 and has a1-year-oldd daughter. She is super shy, but she is a progressing investigator.

Well, that was my crazy long week! I love it here. I love the work. I am healthy. I am well. I love texas.

Have a good week,
Elder Bullough

Elder Brandon Benjamin Bullough
Texas Dallas Mission
La Iglesia de Jesucristo de Los Santos de Los Últimos Días

Letter #5 - My Purpose

¡Hola Todo!

This week was short. 5 days? I leave for Dallas on Monday!!! I cannot wait. It is really funny though because I am traveling alone... I included a picture of our travel groups. I thought it was funny that I am the only one in my travel group. I will be driving to the airport at 4:30 in the morning on Monday. I will be driving in a van with just my driver. It should be a... different... experience. I am excited none the less. I will be flying alone. I figure I will try and ask someone on the plane if I could practice my Spanish with them.

Here is what happened the past few days.

Friday: I ended up not getting my haircut because Elder Youngblood did not notice that he signed him and Elder Rowe up for seat 2 on Friday, but Elder Jorgensen and me up for seat one on Saturday.... So Elder Jorgensen and I are getting our hair cut in about a half an hour today. I played lots of volleyball during my Pday. Friday night, Elder Page (He lives in our casa) received a package from home that had popcorn in it. Our casas do not have microwaves, so he tried to pop it in the dryer.... It didn't work haha. So then he tried popping it by using an iron. It was really really funny. He never got it to pop.

Elders who live in the same house (casa) as Brandon

Saturday: Saturdays are always the worst in the CCM. They are really really long. In TRC we taught this returned missionary who knew English really really well. We barely even taught him. He spent the whole time giving us advice. 1. Be confident in yourself. Do not doubt your knowledge of Spanish. Be confident in your mistakes. 2. Let the investigators correct your Spanish. They like doing that. You are helping them by letting them help you. 3. Share your testimony throughout your whole lesson, not just at the end. It strengthens the spirit. 4. Share your story of why you are here. Write it down in Spanish and practice it every day. 5. Do not share stories with an investigator that do not apply to their life. Relate EVERYTHING to their life. 6. Do not laugh. Take lessons very seriously... It was a really cool lesson with him.

Sunday: Elder Youngblood spoke in sacrament meeting. So next week is a fast Sunday. That means I am the only Elder in my district who made it through the CCM without giving a talk. I am not mad about that haha. I learned a lot on Sunday. We talked about how apostasy is not a "falling away" but it is an Unrighteous Uprising by the saints. The church becomes the people's church instead of God's. I thought that was interesting. I really like the scripture Luke 9:23. I think it really explains our purpose in this life. It says, "And he said to them all, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me." Not all my days in the mission field will be fun. Not all of them will be easy either; however, Christ did not WANT to be crucified. We have to take up OUR crosses daily and follow Him. We have to press forward because we KNOW that we are about HIS work, not our own. I had a sad experience on Sunday night. I was people watching. It really is sad because most of the Hermanas are totally ready to be missionaries. However, MOST of the Elders are super immature. They all claim they know why they are here, but I truly wonder if they do actually know. It saddens me that so many young men do not see their part in the work.

Travel groups

Monday: A bunch of Latinos came into our house at night. They were looking for Elder Jorgensen. Apparently, Elder Jorgensen ended up in a travel group with a bunch of Latinos serving here in Mexico... Elder Jorgensen is on a bus with them all that is driving an hour out of the way just to drop him off at the airport and then continue on the bus to their mission. It was really funny. He is still super confused why he is in that travel group. 

Tuesday: Before I left on my mission I was super bummed out that I got called stateside... I read a scripture this week that really helped me with that... D&C 61:3 says, "But verily I say unto you, that it is not needful for this whole company of mine elders to be moving swiftly upon the waters, whilst the inhabitants on either side are perishing in unbelief." Everyone needs the gospel. It does not matter where you serve. President Bennet spoke very boldly to all of us Tuesday night. He told us that we need to be more obedient. We need to speak more Spanish, We need to be just plain better. I loved his talk. Sadly, there are a lot of people who just do not care. Many people were murmuring that night. Even two Elders in my district. It makes me sad that they will not even listen to their President... I ran into Becca Lindsey at Dinner!!! She seems really excited to serve. She will be great.

That is all for today. I am pretty sure I will get to write on Monday, but I do not know. I love you all!

Letter #4 - Humilidad y Caridad

MUY IMPORTANTE: In the last week at the CCM, on Friday you take a language assessment. Because of this test, I will not have a Pday.



Instead, I will have one on Wednesday. March 1st. So please send me your weekly email before then. I love to hear about how your lives are. I report to Texas the following Monday, so I am thinking I will get to write that Monday too because it is a Pday. 

I ONLY HAVE TEN DAYS LEFT IN THE CCM! That is crazy. I love it here, but I am definitely ready to get out into the field. My language is mediocre at best, but I want to start teaching real people who need the gospel in their lives.

I NEED to make one thing clear. I did not realize how bad I made the Elder ****** situation sound. I promise it was not as bad. It is just that we both have very different personalities that clash sometimes. He has a strong testimony and a powerful desire to serve a mission. He is a little stubborn, but I am patient. I let some things get to me that I should not have, and I apologize. He is a good man. He will be a good missionary. He just has a more loose interpretation of the rules and guidelines in the White Handbook. More often than not, we do get along.

Let's just hop right into my week!

Friday: Friday was interesting... I was kind of feeling down and I did not really know why... I haven't felt homesick at all since I have been here, so I really sat down and pondered on why I was feeling the way I was... I could not narrow it down to a specific reason. So naturally, I blamed Satan for trying to get to me. I decided that in order to fight back, I needed to show more love for those around me. This week I went out of my way to help the people around me feel happy, study, understand concepts, learn Spanish, I even helped the kitchen staff clean a little bit. It was a good week.

Saturday: I did the math. On Saturday I was 3.5% done with my mission. That was weird to me. as of today, It is more like 4.5% CRAZY. On Saturday, we also started teaching our classmates as other investigators. We all had to create our own investigator. Mine's name is Antonio. His parents are divorced, he lives with his mom and stepdad. He has a smoking problem as well. It is kind of fun to play the role of an investigator. We also had TRC which is when you teach real people from Mexico City. Most of the time they are members. I taught an hermana who served her mission in Dallas! She told me to tell President Taylor that she said hello.

Sunday: Elder Jorgensen gave a talk in sacrament meeting. It was good. Elder Kent from the younger district in our zone went to the hospital because of a stomach problem. He is back now and everything is good there. Sunday night, President Machado made me and Elder ******** sit down with him. He made us talk about our feelings and everything. Afterward, President Machado told both of us what we need to work on. He told me I need to work on charity and love... Which honestly in the moment did not make sense to me. I have my mom's caring heart. I love everyone haha. But I went home and really really prayed about it and I think I have a good plan on how to be better with that. I also was told to work on humility. Guess I hadn't noticed a pride issue with myself. So I will work harder there as well. I just want to be the best missionary I can possibly be. I spent the whole hour and a half of personal study praying. I really wanted some questions answered that I had.

Monday: Monday was a REALLY good day. After dinner during personal study, I just noticed how happy my district was. I really noticed how well we get along. I feel like a huge part of that is because we have the gospel of Jesus Christ. The gospel truly does make us happier. We have the answers to all of life's biggest questions. We do not need to waste any moment of our time on wondering what will happen after we die. We already know that. I was really enjoying just observing my district that night. 

Tuesday: PRESIDENT NELSON CAME! Literally such an amazing experience. Every missionary got to shake his hand. He moves pretty well for a 92-year-old man... The main topic of his talk was that the Lord uses the unlikely to accomplish the impossible. He talked about the story of Gideon and how the lord was able to use 300 men to wipe out an army of 150,000. The Lord did that so that they would not be able to deny the power of God. It is a really cool story. He also talked about how Joseph Smith translated the Book of Mormon at a rate of 9 pages a day. President Nelson said that the church's best translators today, translate about one page a day. Joseph Smith translated the Book of Mormon in less time than most of us read it. He also mentioned that 176,000,000 copies of the Book of Mormon have been distributed in 110 languages worldwide. He talked about how the BoM is a gift from God to ALL mankind and that we should really handle the BoM with care. The Book of Mormon refuses the Myths of the world. It proves the Godhead are 3 individual beings, It tells why baptizing babies is wrong. It also proves many other things. He also talked about how the Book of Mormon is the most perfectly translated book ever in existence. He talked about how Helaman 3:14 has a ton of "and"s in it. In English, that is a major grammatical error. However, when you translate it back into ancient script, it is correct. They actually wrote like that back then. He also mentioned that he was on his 14th draft for his conference talk in April. He still has two months haha. He also mentioned that we all won the battle of abortion to be here on this earth. I had never really thought about how abortion is a REAL battle that a lot of people do indeed have to fight in order to make it to earth. It is really sad. To close his talk, President Nelson left us all with a blessing. I had NEVER heard of a member of the quorum of the twelve ending a talk with a blessing for everyone in attendance. I tried to write the basics of the blessing down: I bless you with a burning desire to learn of Christ. I bless you with zeal. I bless you with health and strength. I bless you to be obedient. I bless your loved ones that they will be drawn closer to the Lord because of your service. It was such an awesome night. Afterward, in our personal study, Hermana Caldwell told me that I should read a talk from the April 2016 general conference called, "Do I Believe". I felt that this talk was an answer to my prayers from the other night. At least the questions that were not answered by President Nelson haha.

Wednesday: I LOVE THIS QUOTE: "Be the kind of missionary that when your feet touch the ground in the morning, Satan says, 'Oh Fetch! He´s awake!'" It just reminds me of the kind of missionary I want to be. I want to do some damage to Satan's kingdom. I really started to miss my district on Wednesday. We still have a week and a half, but I know I will miss them.

Thursday: yesterday was really hard for me. I woke up at like 3 am and could not fall back asleep. I was really tired for the rest of the day. We did not really do a whole lot, but it was good. 

TODAY: Today I am getting a haircut. We will see how I like it. You can either get a 2 or a 3. Those are your only options for a haircut haha. My district is also having a ping pong tournament later. It is going to be fun.

As for the language, I learn more every day. I go to bed every single day tired, and I really hope that I will be able to go to bed tired every single day of my mission. THAT is what will make me a successful missionary. I love where I am, I love what I am doing. I love this Gospel. I know that it blesses the lives of so many. I know that Jesus Christ lives and is my savior and redeemer. I know that through Him, All mankind can be saved. I know that it is because of Him that I can live with my family for eternity. It is because of His sacrifice that I can see my Grandpa and Grandma again. I KNOW without a doubt that God loves ALL of his children perfectly and that no matter what someone has been doing for their whole life if they come to God and repent, they will be saved by the Grace of God.

I love you all so much. Please remember I have Pday on Wednesday. 

Love, 

Elder Bullough