Letter #29 - Training District Leader

Hey, Y'all!

Another transfer has come and gone. Come tomorrow, I will be a District Leader, AND I will be training a new missionary. This will be an interesting experience for me! I will not find out my companion until tomorrow. Needless to say, I am extremely nervous and excited for what lays ahead. Sadly, I will no longer be covering the English ward. I will only be working in the Spanish Branch.

Here is my week!

Monday - For PDay, we played lots of signs again. After PDay we did a lot of finding work. Not too exciting.

Tuesday - We had an awesome district meeting. It was Elder Huggins last district meeting of his mission. So we took some pictures of his "funeral" and i even wrote an obituary for him! We had a lesson with Cambrie! She is doing well. We had a good visit and shared a great message with her.

Wednesday - We had a good lesson with Jose de Leon. We taught him the law of Tithing and the Law of Chastity. It went well. Sadly, we will have to push back his baptismal date a little bit. But he is totally prepared.

Thursday - We had another lesson with Cambrie. We brought Brother Harper. He was a great fit. The lesson went great. Cambrie committed to come to church! She also told us that she would like to be baptized in the future, but she still is thinking about it. She is a great girl.

Friday - we had a lesson with Lucina Caballero. We read some Isaiah chapters from the Book of Mormon that she couldn't understand and went over them. She is still reading, but we are unsure if she is praying about it. We are still trying with her. She is a really nice lady though.

Saturday - We went on exchanges. I was in our area with Elder Williams. We had a good time. We did some more yard work for Brother Hays. We spent a few hours there. Besides that, just a whole lot of biking to potentials and former investigators.

Sunday - Church all day! Cambrie came to church! Jose de Leon and Lucina did not :(

This was a good week. I am sad to let the English Ward go. The ward is incredible. I look forward to the new challenges that await me.

Love you all,
Elder Bullough


Sorry for the lack of pictures.
1. Elder Huggins Funeral.
2. My first name as a business.

Letter #28 - Is That Bread?

¡Buenas Tardes!

I had a good week! It was a lot cooler than normal. Clouds and rain almost every day! I loved it! Except for the fact that I was biking through rain haha.

Here is my week!

Monday - During PDay, we had the most fun game of Signs that I have ever played in my life. It was so much fun playing with our whole district. After PDay ended, We went back to the house and Elder Huggins got sick... so he went to bed and I started calling people and setting up appointments.

Tuesday - We had a good district meeting! (Picture Included). A random contact was cleaning out their garage and was throwing out a model train set. It was a really cheap plastic one. Elder Jensen and Gomez Alonso wanted it, so they asked if they could take it. Elder Jensen gave a "Train"ing in district meeting using the model train. It was pretty good. Later that night, we had a lesson with Jose de Leon! We talked about the Word of Wisdom. He has totally been prepared to receive the Gospel. He stopped drinking about a month ago after he had been reading the Book of Mormon more. That was before we even taught him about how drinking was bad! He is an incredible man.

Wednesday - We weekly planned! That night, we had to go and do the Stake President Report because the zone leaders are not even in our stake. Because they are not in our stake, the District Leader does it. So Elder Huggins gave the report to the Stake President. There are lots of great things happening in the stake here.

Thursday - ZONE CONFERENCE! It was so much fun seeing all of these missionaries that I have grown to love and look up to in so many different ways. The main focus of our mission has been tuned into Teaching Repentance and Baptizing Converts. It is such a neat experience to see the Lord working through President Dalton. I am excited to see where he takes our mission. After the Zone Conference, We went straight to dinner and ate homemade pizza with the Moss family. Then we went out to Princeton to try and meet with a referral and a couple of less active families. We did not see a ton of success.

Friday - We had dinner with the Moss family again. Only, this time was a little different... Friday is our car fast day. It is a mission rule. We cannot use the car one day of the week. So we had to get a ride to dinner. Sister Moss did not relay the message to Brother Moss that all four of the Elders were going to be coming to dinner, so he showed up to pick us up for dinner in his small Camry with his son sitting in the back seat in a car seat... We tried to squeeze in, but there was no way that three of us were going to share the back seat with the car seat there. So, I climbed in head first and pinned myself in between the front seats, and the legs of Elder Gomez Alonso and Elder Huggins. It was extremely uncomfortable, but I took it like a champ haha. My head was right next to Brother Moss' son's feet. He was totally passed out. He was holding something in his hand that looked like a roll. I asked Elder Gomez Alonso if it was bread and he said, "No, I think that is play-doh!" and I was like, "Are you sure? It looks a lot like bread.." He then reached over and poked it and said, "Nope, It is bread." While I am typing this, I have no idea why it was so funny in the moment, but it was... Maybe it had to do with the fact that I was very uncomfortable and jammed into a car haha. Oh, and I forgot to mention that almost the whole ride back to the Moss Home, we were following a police man, so I was trying to get as low as I possibly could. After dinner, we went to go visit an older member in the English ward named Sister Colley. She was super sweet. Her husband is not a member and wants nothing to do with the church, but we had a nice visit with Sister Colley. She even told me that she thought one day I would be a Bishop haha.

Saturday - It Poured rain... We were on bike too. We went to a pavilion to get some cover, but it did nothing. It was pouring and the wind was so strong. The wind would just blow the water under the pavilion and get us wet. It was a fun time haha. We also got to go to the adult session of Stake Conference. Elder Hammond, who is an area seventy, attended. It was an incredible conference.

Sunday - We attended Stake Conference. It was a great meeting. The themes seemed to be centered on the family and not being content with fitting in. I learned so much and felt the Spirit in abundance. We tried to contact bishop referrals for the rest of the day.

Well, That was my week! I hope y'all are well and healthy. I know that there is no greater work on the Earth than that of Preaching the Restored Gospel of Jesus Christ. The Gospel can help us in all aspects of our lives.

I love you all so much!
Elder Bullough

Pictures!
1 - The McKinney District!
2 - Me getting drenched.
3 - Elder Huggins and I, wet.
4 - Three of the zones here in Allen, McKinney, Plano, and Frisco

Letter #27 - "Probablamente Me Voy A Casar"

Hey Everyone!

Don't worry, i am not actually getting married. I will explain.

It definitely does not feel like I have been on a mission for 28 weeks.... weird. I hope y'all had a great first week of August!

Here is my week:

Monday - Even P-Day was uneventful. We had to run to the mission office in Dallas to pick up a new money card for Elder Gomez Alonso. We went back to the church and just

played basketball. In the evening, we mostly were just calling people trying to set up appointments.

Tuesday - We had district meeting and then went on exchanges with the Zone Leaders. I went with Elder McCann down to Allen for the day. We had a really good time. He is an incredible man. We went out knocking on potential investigators' doors and when they didn't answer we would knock all of the neighbors. We knocked on a neighbors house and they let us in! He then told us he wanted to know everything about our beliefs! Elder McCann and I totally thought this was a miracle that fell from heaven.... boy were we wrong. Not 5 seconds later, another man walks out dressed in a white shirt and slacks. The man who let us in said, oh this is my brother. He is our pastor. Uh oh. Yep, you guessed what happened next. We got bible bashed hard core. The preacher brought up the scripture in Revelations about not adding to the bible or you would be cursed. I calmly and kindly mentioned that the bible is a compilation of several books. John was referring to just the book of Revelation. I continued and read him the verse in Deuteronomy which says basically the same thing as the Revelations scripture. I said, with the logic you have about Revelations, you should really be Jewish. If it says the same thing in Deuteronomy, then is the rest of the bible useless? He didn't have an answer and just responded with other anti mormon stuff he had read online. It got no where. We bore our testimonies at the end. I KNOW that the spirit was their during those testimonies. It was powerful. Anyways, long story short, bible bashing leads no where.

Wednesday - We had a lesson with Lucina Caballero and the Franjesevic family. We watched the first half of the Joseph Smith the Prophet of the Restoration movie. It went alright. It is a very strong movie and is pretty sad at points. Our goal in watching this movie with her was to help her understand that Joseph Smith didn't write the Book of Mormon and that he wasn't just doing it for money or for fame. Afterwards, we had a lesson with Jose de Leon! We set a baptismal date for the 20th of August! We are so excited for him.

Thursday - After 4 Wednesdays of painting with 6+ people each week, We (finally) finished painting that trailer! Took long enough. I am pretty proud of how it turned out. Brenda was very grateful for the help. Later, we passed by a member named Pearl Semer. She is recently divorced and living with her sister. Her ex was abusive and has done some not very nice things recently. Keep Pearl in your prayers. There is a lot of crazy and scary things going on right now.

Friday - We spent most of the day on studies and weekly planning. We had another Lesson with Lucina Caballero and the Franjesevic family to watch the second half of the Joseph Smith movie. It went well. Afterwards, we talked about the importance of Joseph Smith and the Book of Mormon. We also talked about all of the sad things that the early saints had to suffer through. We talked about how they kept pushing forward through their afflictions because they knew it was worth it. They knew that the Book of Mormon was true. It was a spiritual discussion and the Franjesevics bore great testimonies as well. Lucina is just starting the 2nd Book of Nephi.

Saturday - Brother Hays in our ward has been sick for months. He has really high blood sugar and the doctors cannot seem to get it down. So we went by in the morning and helped him in his yard. We pulled lots of weeds, mowed, and weed whacked. It was fun! We then went out to Denny's with a member family named the Garzas. It was delicious. After that, the Zone Leaders asked us to go help blitz an area in our zone. So there were 7 companionships all in the Fairview area trying to find new investigators for the sisters there. Their area hasn't had a baptism in 8 years. We talked to some people and got a couple of good potentials for the sisters.

Sunday - We woke up, went to church to be at Ward Council at 8:45 and then stayed at church until 6 in the afternoon. Still not used to that many meetings. Both churches went well! Great wards and great people. During Priesthood at the Spanish Branch, Hermano Garcia gave a lesson on marriage and families. He made a comment about how everyone in the room except the Elders had kids. They started joking around about it and talked about how after our missions, we shouldn't  be afraid to get married. They were talking about how most missionaries are afraid of getting married when they get home. They asked the four of us if that was correct. The three other Elders agreed and i just said, "Pues, probablemente me voy a casar." Which means, "Well, I am probably going to get married." They all laughed after that. Latino humor. It's awesome. After church, We ate dinner with the Archibald Family. It was a blast.

That was my week! I still love it here in McKinney. The work is moving. The Lord is blessing us. He is sending His angels to prepare the way.

Spiritual Thought!
John 3 : 3 says, "Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot SEE the kingdom of God." This is referring to baptism. Nicodemus didn't understand what Christ meant by this, so he basically asks Christ to clarify. Jesus answers again in verse 5, "Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water AND OF THE SPIRIT, he cannot ENTER into the kingdom of God.

This is very important when it comes to the importance of being baptized and receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost. When you are just baptized, you can still see the Kingdom of God, but unless you recieve the Gift of the Holy Ghost, or are born of the spirit, you cannot ENTER into the Kingdom of God. I know that to be true with all my heart. Baptism is an important step. The Gift of the Holy Ghost is super important as well. Both have brought such great joy into my life. I know that I am so blessed because of the steps I took to be baptized by someone who holds the authority from God to do so, and to recieve the Holy Ghost from a man who holds that same authority.

I invite all men everywhere to repent and to be baptized by someone who holds the authority from God and to recieve the Gift of the Holy Ghost. I promise the blessings of Heaven in your lives. I promise eternal happiness as you strive to follow the commandments and be better each day.

I love you all to Kolob and back,
Elder Bullough

Pictures!
1. Elder Huggins and I after service.
2. A cool Texas state shape carved into a brick.
3. Elder Hansen, Huggins, McCann, and Me after our exchange.
4. Half of our zone here in McKinney and Allen.

Letter #26 - I hope She Comes Back.

Happy July 31 Everyone!

It is crazy to me that July is over. Where did it go??? This transfer has been flying by. The members here are incredible. The work here is moving. I am in kind of a richer area, so sometimes the work is pretty slow, but we have got some good things going!

Here is my week:

Monday - For Preparation day, our zone met up and played some different games. My favorite was Ultimate Frisbee ;) haha. I have gotten pretty good at volleyball on my mission as well. Monday night we had scheduled an appointment with a
former investigator named Lucina Caballero. We went by and had a REALLY good lesson with her. She has a couple of concerns about some of the doctrine revolving around eternity, but she has sincere desires to find the truth so she will find it. She is a single mother of 3. She is really sweet.

Tuesday - Elder Huggins was sick last week and must have given it to me because all I did Tuesday was sleep and try not to puke. It was so much fun... NOT.

Wednesday - We went by that lady named Brenda again to help paint her trailer (who knew how long it would take 3 sets of missionaries to paint a single trailer??). This time, the sisters were on exchanges with sister training leaders, and so we actually had 8 missionaries there helping to paint. One of which is Hermana Gomez! She is from Guatemala! We still didn't finish the trailer so we will be going back hopefully one more time next week. Wednesday night we had a lesson with a man named Jose de Leon. He has been taking missionary discussions for a year on and off. We had a REALLY good lesson with him as well. We asked him what he has liked from what the missionaries have taught him and he said, "I love the Book of Mormon! It is the purest book on Earth!" It was incredible! He already has a deep testimony of the Book of Mormon. So we asked him that if he knew the Book was true and he liked everything the missionaries taught, would he be baptized? His response was, "Oh Absolutely! Why wouldn't I?" It was awesome. He then talked about how his wife is out of town in Mexico and that he is waiting for her to get back so they can be baptized together! He kept saying, "I hope she comes back!" It was hilarious. He was joking around with the thought that she was ditching him and was going to stay in Mexico haha. She gets back in town Tuesday and we have a lesson on Wednesday so I will have more info on him next week!

Thursday - President Dalton requested that all District Leaders go to the monthly MLC this week, so I was on Exchanges while Elder Huggins, Elder Soto and the zone Leaders went to MLC. So I was with Elder Baquedano! He is from Honduras! He is an awesome guy. He doesn't speak English. We had a good day.

Friday - We had interviews with President Dalton! They went well! You can definitely tell that he is new. He was very robotic in the interview. He is a great guy. I also sang in District meeting. I sang My Soul Hungered. I sang that song at my farewell. Sister Hendricks played the piano for me. We will be performing it at zone conference in a couple of weeks.

Saturday - One of the sets of sisters in our district had a baptism! So we invited Jose de Leon to come! He came and felt the spirit there. He doesn't speak a whole lot of English, but he told us he could feel the spirit. Afterward, a member came up to him and started talking to him a little bit in English and Jose said that "someday he would be in there" referring to the font! So cool to see his desire to be baptized!

Sunday -  I am still not used to the whole 6 hours of church thing. That many meetings just wears me out. They were good meetings though. Jose de Leon even came to the Spanish branch for all 3 hours! After all of the meetings and after dinner, we had another lesson with Lucina Caballero. It went well! We talked about the Book of Mormon and learned that she has read some anti about him in the past. So we will be watching Joseph Smith the Prophet of the Restoration with her and a member family hopefully this week.

Spiritual Thought!
This is when Nephi is commanded to build a boat. He starts building, and his brothers start mocking him! They tell him that he is foolish and that he could never build a ship and make it across the ocean. Then they start complaining about how their father led them away from Jerusalem. They complained about how Jerusalem was a great city and could never be destroyed. This is the end of what they say to him. It is in 1 Nephi 17 : 21 "Behold, these many years we have suffered in the wilderness, which time we might have enjoyed our possessions and the land of our inheritance; yea, and we might have been happy."

Laman and Lemuel never caught the vision that Lehi had for his family or the vision that God had for them. Laman and Lemuel were too distracted and caught up on worldly desires and pleasures. They never caught the vision of eternal happiness.

Sometimes in life, it is easy to get distracted by worldly possessions or activities. I will be the first to tell you that these distractions are tools of Satan. The last thing Satan wants is for us to have a firm purpose to obtain eternal happiness. He wants us to be miserable. He wants to blind our minds from the vision that God has for us. I know that is true. I promise that as we focus on cutting the distractions from our lives, God will pour out the blessing of happiness upon us. We will more powerfully feel His love and we will more clearly see the vision he has for us.

I love you all so much! I hope you have a great week! Sorry for the long letter...

Love,
Brandon

I am so sorry for the lack of pictures... so here is one of Elder Hansen and I. He is awesome.