Merry Christmas!

Da nzho' ((Pronounced Don-Joe) Jicarilla Apache for Hello)

This week has been crazy! Transfers were supposed to happen on Tuesday, but as a result of a ton of snow in Salt Lake and Denver, the new missionaries coming into the mission had to wait two more days to catch a flight. They finally came on Thursday. So The transfer was pushed back, for anyone not training, 'til Wednesday.

Wednesday Elder Goodell picked me up and we went to Dulce. It's about a 2 hour drive from Farmington to Dulce. As soon as we pulled into Dulce, I immediately fell in love. It's incredibly beautiful. Mountains be e'ry where! Let me just say, it does not feel like I'm serving on the rez. The houses are pretty good sized. They have a super market here that is super nice. it feels like an Albertson's. It's just a neat little place! We had the Brach Christmas party that evening as well. It was a lot of fun getting to know people in the branch.

Thursday, we had to drive down to Bloomfield for District Meeting. It was a good time! The drive back was... interesting. We started driving back, and about 30 minutes in, the gas light came on... We had to drive 30 minutes back to Bloomfield and get gas. So the 1 and 1/2 hour trip took 2 hours. it was unsettling. Elder Goodell and I handled it well. When we got back we had a dinner/ lesson with a part member couple, Christian Woody and Minnie Browning. We had a really good lesson with them and we committed Christian to be baptized. He said it's something he wants to do. We are pumped!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Friday was really slow. We have been doctoring a horses leg wound for Sister Tafoya. It's been fun to do that. He is a really good horse. He's only 1 year old, but he has been broken pretty well. He doesn't get scared very easily.

Saturday, we went and taught Koby. He's a 15 year old kid that is pretty interested in the gospel. We hope to put him on a baptism date sometime here pretty soon. He and his sister are the only ones who are investigating the church in their family. He is pretty awesome.

Sunday, we had a good sacrament meeting. Elder Goodell spoke. He pretty much rocked it. Last night we had a really awesome lesson with a less active named OJ. We discussed Alma 23. We talked about putting down our weapons of rebellion, and went into it deeper in 24 and talked about burying them. It was a good discussion. When we were at home last night preparing to call our numbers in for this week, a drunk guy came to our door and started yelling/ swearing/ drunkenly mumbling at us because he was mad that a. we wouldn't open the door b. we wouldn't give him a ride and c. we wouldn't let him sleep at our place. He left after about 5 minutes of us telling him no. It was definitely interesting.

This week has been a learning experience. I'm in a new area, with a way new culture, and new people. It's been awesome! I've learned so much about myself. This whole mission thing is pretty much the best thing I could've possibly done.

This work is the work of the Lord. We are nothing without him.

I'm excited for this transfer. We have a lot of people to work with, and it will keep us busy if we let it.

Ihedin (Thank you/ Goodbye) and a Merry Christmas,

--

Elder Breinholt

Missionary 

New Mexico Farmington Mission 

This Week!

I'm going to keep this relatively short.

Oh Farmington, Oh Farmington, I bid thee farewell, I'm going to the mountains of Dulce to dwell.

So this week, we had 21 lessons. and we found 5 new investigators. It's been pretty stinkin busy. I had a feeling I was going to be transferred, so I resolved to work harder than I ever had! It worked!!! I'm pleased with how things have been going in this area. Elder Davis will be taking over the area, with Elder Geilman. He will do well.

So yesterday was a little rough saying goodbye to so many people that i've grown so close to over the last 4 months. It was hard, but next transfer and Dulce will bring new experiences and a lot of new faces. It's going to be sweet!

I had a cool experience this morning. I decided to ask the Lord, "What lack I yet." The Spirit plainly and simply told me, "Work harder." So sort of baffled by the response I asked, "Work harder at what." The spirit said, "In your relationship with your companions, and spreading the work of the Lord." It was a pretty neat experience. I am going to try and focus on doing just that with this next transfer.

I've had a lot of good experiences this transfer, and am really quite sad to leave 4th ward. I'm really excited to move on to where the Lord needs me though. It's going to be sick!

Anyway, This church is true. The Book of Mormon is true. Jesus Christ is our savior and redeemer. This is his church and his work. We must do it his way, for there is no other way to do so. Keep the Faith, Love the Lord and Live the Truth

I bear my witness to the world in the name of Him whom I am called to represent, Jesus Christ the Son of God, Amen.

Deck the Elder!

Yo Yo Yo.

This week has been a good'n. (One of our investigators says good'n all the time. He's an old cowboy, and he is awesome!)

Tuesday, we went and taught Vicky Neal. We showed her the new Christmas Video, A Savior is Born. She really enjoyed it! We also had dinner with the Dollars. They are Less active, but super awesome none the less. We had a good visit with them with showing the Christmas video.  We also had a good lesson with John Valdez. It was super spiritual reading with him in the book of Alma regarding the Conversion of Lamoni. He really enjoyed the scriptural account and message that sends. 

Wednesday, we went on exchanges with the 8th ward elders. I was in 8th with eler Loucks from Morgan, UT. We walked the entire day. We met a guy (Super inactive, but really friendly and invited them (the 8th ward elders) back anytime) who is originally from Green River. I told him i was from Gillette, he said, "I'm sorry!" haha it was pretty funny.'

Thursday, we had District Meeting. We later went and saw Teresa Nelson. We taught her the last half of the restoration. She had a lot of good questions and I hope we answered them all in the like manner that Christ would. It was neat! We also saw John Valdez again. It was a great lesson as always. Full of testimony and the spirit. 

Friday, we did our Weekly Planning Sesh. It was awesome. We received a lot of sweet revelation regarding the Farmington 4th Ward. That led us to want to do some super hard work the next day, and this week. We went with Jared Haynie to go see Kenney Vogt, one of our recent converts. He was a little inebriated, but that's okay. He  is a very emotional drunk. He felt the spirit as did we. He knows the things he needs to do in order to change. He's almost there,  but when he gets there, he is going to be so successful. 

Saturday, we had a great day. We went on exchanges... again... but this time with the Zone leaders. It was awesome. I made Elder Hozman so tired with how hard we worked that day. We had a few really good lessons, but the thing I learned the most that day is... People open up to our message if we involve christmas with it. It was so neat to see people enjoy the new video. 

Sunday was a great day. We had a great fast and testimony meeting. The Casons, two of the greatest people to walk this earth, were sealed for time and all eternity in the Albuquerque Temple on Saturday. A little back story. Tom Cason was Baptized about 7 years ago, but before that was a heavy drinker. He was baptist and didn't have anything to do with the church. Lena and Tom were married in 2004. After years of praying, the Lord finally heard Lena's call. Tom received his endowment on Saturday and later was sealed to his wife. He told me of the experience, "I feel like I'm floating. The spirit was so strong in that room. I didn't want to leave. I am just so excited." I kinda said, "I told ya so." I told him that it would be the most amazingly rewarding experiences of his life. He didn't doubt for a second. I am so happy for that family. They are just phenomenal. Anyway, we also saw Ivan Mills. We went with Brother Gary Morris. Ivan is finally a progressing investigator. His wife is really active and works in the Temple in Albuquerque. I'm sure she's been praying pretty hard in that holy place for her dear husband. We have been praying pretty hard as well. He is "Hard Shell Baptist" as he puts it. He read our commitment we left with him last time, and we didn't think he was going to even do that. We asked him to read John 10. Months ago, he would have said that he didn't need to. We left him with a commitment to read 3 Nephi 11. He accepted!!!!!!!! Things are looking good on that plane. 

This week has been rewarding! We have started to see the fruits of our labors. It's been rough, but we are getting somewhere. It's been kind of like, trying to garden in Gillette, WY. Difficult to get anything to grow. But with enough faith, "all things are possible to him that believeth," as the Savior counsels. This work is the work of God. I've seen that time and time again this week. The Lord's work is truly amazing.

I hope you all are well! Keep up the good work!

P.S. 

"Life is movement. We go up or down, and develop the best or the worst of us in the journey.  Some journeys are full of struggle...some are full of success.  But the thing that makes for success is the struggle and difficulty for without difficulties to overcome, there would be no such thing as succeeding.  


Difficulties develop strength, resolution, resources.  Problems are too often regarded as enemies, but they are not such.  Storms and dangers alone make skilled sailors.


The fiercest of foes develops your strength and your skill.  So do not be frightened by problems and difficulties or discouraged because of them.  They are your opportunities for winning.  Your chances for success."


Charles H. Darkhurst

Good Week!

Received November 30, 2015

This last week started out pretty slow.

Tuesday we taught Abe Trujillo. We had a good discussion with him about the pre earth life and why we are here. He said he's not too interested in reading the Book of Mormon, but we are going to help him to get to that point. We also went on exchanges with the 8th ward Elders. I went with Elder Dupin. It was pretty fun. We saw John Valdez and read some scriptures with him. He is slowly but surely progressing towards the priesthood. We are pumped for him.

Wednesday, we had a lesson with Elmer. He is a new investigator. He is almost 90 years old. He is pretty cool. Quick as a whip though! He is concerned about his wife. She passed around 3 years ago, so we are planning on going through the Plan of Salvation with him. Hopefully that will put his concerns at ease. 

Thursday of course was T-Giving! It was hard being away from family, but it was good to be with the Haynies. They are practically family to Elder Davis and I. We love them and they love us. We also ate at the Allens, who live right down the street from the Haynies. They are an awesome family as well. Sister Allen let us throw some clay and make our own pottery. It was cool. 

Friday, we did our weekly planning. We saw Sister Hale and had an awesome lesson with her. We focused on being steadfast in Christ. It was a good lesson. We went to the Jail and taught Shelby Davis. He is really close to his release date. As soon as he get's released he will go back to live with his family in Kirtland, NM Just down the road from Farmington. 

Saturday, we did some tracting. We found some potential in the area we knocked. But other than that, it was just a lot of walking. 

Sunday, we had a lot of success. We taught a lesson to Ivan Mills. We committed him to Read John 10. He said he would, so that is a start for him! We also contacted a Less Active Lady with MS named Myra. She wants to come back to church so bad! We are going to help her through the ward, as much as we can. Her husband is not a member, so hopefully some good comes out of that! We also saw Kenney Vogt. He is wanting to come back to church. He knows the things he needs to do in order for him to be more spiritually helped by the lord. 

Things are really starting to pick up here in the 4th Ward. We are going to work our shoes off this week. The lord prepares people, including missionaries in strange ways, I have been feeling lately, that I may become a Spanish Elder next transfer. I don't know why, but I will go and do the things that the Lord commands. I have no clue if it'll happen, but I think it would be cool to learn a different language.... Something a little more useful than Navajo. haha no offence to Dine Bizaad. It's a  super neat language, but it is dying. it's sad, but true.

Anyway, hope y'all are doing good things! 

Hagoonee',

Happy Thanksgiving Week!

Received November 23, 2015

Yo! Sounds like you've done a lot of driving lately! Glad you've had fun! :) I will for sure pray for my family!

Pray that I don't devolop symptoms of hauntavirus. We were up in an old attic for 2 hours this morning sealling a shotty HV/AC job. It was so dusty and dirty. So, pray for that please! 

I'm happy y'all are going to have a good time. We are going to the Haynies for Thanksgiving, so that'll be as close to home as I get! Sounds good. I'll be looking for them. We have to go to the post office today to get a key for our mailbox. 

I will write robbie back right now. If he's there, I'll just email it to yours! 

It's okay, we have had a few slow weeks. In fact, we were tracting yesterday, and we handed out 3 copies of the Book of Mormon, the three people we handed them out to... don't live in our ward. It was pretty discouraging, but hey, we tried our best, that's all the Lord can ask of us! Haha those pictures! :) haha. Yup,  John Lowe is the editor of that page. He came to our ward, and asked if he could take a picture with us, so we said yes. I havent even seen that page, so yeah. I probably look like... a turkey! :) 

So, yeah. We're trying to work hard, and this week has been a bummer. But we will try harder this week!

Email me back please! 

Love elder b

This week has felt like walking a Mastiff!

We have been insanely busy this week.

We have had some great progress. Focusing on the members in the ward and getting to know them has been great! 

We had a lesson with Megan Perez, a new investigator... to us. She was taught the Restoration before, but we could never contact her until Tuesday night.  She rocks! She has a testimony of the Book of Mormon and she loves how the church focuses so much on Family. She is the Real MVP! 

So we have been teaching the regulars, like John Valdez, Jack Shindler, the Hales, and all those fine and dandy people. We have been running like mad from place to place. We have done quite a bit of service as well, from helping Brother Grant Pennington set up his music synchronized christmas light show, to walking dogs, hence the subject of this email.

Yup, I literally walked a Mastiff. His name is Clifford. If we could have dogs, I would adopt this big teddy bear! I might get a Mastiff when I get home. He about ripped my arm off a few times.

We walked dogs again a few days later, and that time I walked a Black Lab named Moses. I thought it was only fitting to have him be walked by me. haha I couldn't get a good picture  with him, but I wish I had a good one.

This week has been so spiritual. The lesson we had with Megan was much needed. With that, we are seeing more and more success with less active members and recent converts. Its been a tiring week. 

This week should be even more exhausting than last. We are going to do a lot more tracting and finding. This week should feel like... hmmmm... walking a Great Dane. There we go. A mini horse, that's right. haha Bring it on life! 

I've come to find in recent days, more than I have in the past, that this is the Lord's work. You've gotta do it his way. He doesn't like "Idle Worshipers" Because then, as a result, you are being an "Idol Worshiper". We as missionaries (Yes, Members are supposed to be missionaries as well) cannot be lazy. We have to be proactive in our approaches to share the gospel and serve the Lord. Be Creative! Find ways to share with your friends, acquaintances, but most importantly, the common stranger that you meet in your everyday walk. Us Full-Time Missionaries can't do it with out you Part-Time missionaries! We love hearing that your friends want to hear the gospel! We would love to teach them! We would love for you to teach them with us! "Wake up and do something more, than dream of your mansion above! 'Helping the Missionaries' is a pleasure, a joy beyond Measure. A blessing of Duty and LOVE!!" Yes, focus on your personal progression, but one of the best ways to help your progression is to do the Lords work! 

Anyway, hope y'all are doin' fine! Keep studying and living the gospel. Living a Christ centered life is the best way to do it! 

Love the Lord, Keep the Faith, Live the Truth

Cooler days are coming!

Received November 26, 2015

I've been missing jazz and playing drums the last couple of weeks.  We have a kid in our ward, Caleb Ward, who is preparing to go on his mission. He play the drums, but it is put away right now, because his mom, who is awesome, want's him to focus on preparing. I think she just doesn't want the noise, but that's just my opinion.

Philmont will be sweet!!! Speaking of the Klamms, how is Tyler doing?? How are the Ringers as well?

My health is great! I've been taking Vitamin C every morning. I did get the box! Thank you!! :) The notes were so nice. I got Gpa's Card!! Thank him for me too!! I did get 2 new shirts! Thank you!!

I have a strong testimony of the atonement. In missionary work, we are held to a much higher standard. Almost everyday, you do something that isn't as obedient as it probably should be. As a normal member, you would think, "Oh big whoop, you woke up late. Oh darn, you listened to music other than church music." To the normal member of the church, its not a big deal. But to missionaries, The guilt sets in... You know you've let yourself down, and the lord for that matter. The atonement works miracles in the lives of missionaries. Everything is centered on the atonement in everything we teach. This church is true. The Book of Mormon is the word of God! Contained in it's pages are some of the most amazing spiritual moments of my life. Do all you can now to prepare for a mission! It will change you for the better. You come to know yourself better, but most importantly, you come to know your savoir more fully. I know that this is the work of God! In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

Well, mother, I love you. I am so happy with the way you and dad raised me. This has been a tough transfer, but you have raised me to never quit, and do be resilient. Breinholts never quit! Every time, I want to lay down on the floor and give up, I think of that. We don't quit. Our heritage determines such motivation. "Our lives are not measured by how many times we fall, but by how many times we stand up, dust ourselves off, and move forward"  - Dieter F. Uchtdorf.

I love you so much. I probably wont get to write an email for you to post onto the blog this week, so I'm sorry for that. 

Thank you for keeping me out here,

Elder Benjamin Moses "Relsilient" "Determined" "Motivated" Breinholt

How are you?

Sent November 9, 2015

Elder Davis is a goofball. :) He's like the little brother I've never had! He is awesome! He's a hard worker, and knows what his purpose is. We are starting to be more and more busy here, and we are going to have to start going on splits in the evenings. It'll be good!

We have started executing a plan that we have been formulating over the last little bit. We are starting with the active members of the ward. We befriend them, let them know we are here for them, and help them invite their non member friends to let us be their friends and teach them. Then we go to the less actives. We are trying to become best friends with Bishop Mortensen. He's pretty busy, but he knows we are here and we are ready to work. He is pretty cool! Anyway, with that we have started going down the ward list doing what we have planned to do. Last night, we went by to get to know the Pennington's. They are a younger couple, about Elisabeth and Bobby's age and they said they haven't had the missionaries over in a year, due to the fact that they said that everytime missionaries would knock on their door, they didn't realize that they were members. They are a cool family. They do a Christmas light show every year. They sync it to music. We offered to help him set it up, and he said he would take us up on that offer. It's going to be pretty sweet! 

We did some tracting and found two potential investigators. One of them believe it or not is from Gillette! We were walking by, and I pointed to a house with two trucks in front of it both with county 17 Wyoming plates. We knocked on the door and talked with the man for quite a while. I told him I was from Gillette and he smiled and then proceeded to tell us about how he worked as a pipe runner for a lot of the oil companies in Gillette. He moved here about a year ago but had lived in Gillette for about 18 years. His name is Ron Calingias. He was fun to talk to and invited us back.  

We have been having a lot of success with recent converts and less actives here in the 4th ward. It's been neat to see so many peoples hearts start to change over the course of me being in the 4th ward. 

I've had a lot more opportunities to bear my testimony, and as a result, start babbling like a baby, to so many people. I'm learning so much from Elder Davis (who came out the transfer after me) and we are getting along just fine! :) He is from Kaysville, and marched for Davis High. He plays the trombone and he was in Jazz Band as well. We bond over silly geeky band stuff.  It’s a lot of fun. 

We are working our hardest and trying our best, that's all the Lord asks of us! 

We are the Hope of Israel! We are the Messengers. This is the work! 

Love you!!! 

--

Elder Breinholt

Missionary 

New Mexico Farmington Mission

YO!

Sent Monday October 19, 2015

So this week went well. We had some success with less actives coming to church! The Hales family is slowly coming back into activity. It's been super neat to see the progression of that family. They were at church. This is the 3 sunday in a row that they've come. We're pumped. 

Tuesday, we saw Kenney Voght. He is trying to stop drinking and get back on top of things. He's a recent convert really trying to get his life back on track. We are going to try to stop by this week to see how he's doing.

We also saw John Valdez. Again, everytime we go over, he improves a little each time. We read some scriptures with him with Brother Van Coleman. He and John are really good friends. It's pretty neat!

We met Abe Trujillo this week, and he is a NEW INVESTIGATOR!!!!!!!! He is quite the character. He is a cool dude. We taught him about the prophecy in Ezekiel about the stick of Ephraim and the stick of Judah. It went well. He understood why we have the Book of Mormon so that was good. 

We taught Jack Schindler the Recent Convert. He is doing better and hopefully soon, he will be able to stay for all 3 hours of church.

We taught Devin Dollar. He is less active due to his work schedule. He is a San Juan County Sheriff and works most Sundays, but when he doesn't work, he comes to church. We taught Alma 7:11-13. The explanation of the atonement more in depth. He wishes he could come to church, but he's gotta provide for his family. 

Well, that's pretty much it for this week! We had some dang good success this week.

Hope y'all are doing well!! 

Love you all,

--

Elder Breinholt

Missionary 

New Mexico Farmington Mission

Good Week!

Hello all. I'll try to keep this short...ish.

Tuesday, we had zone conference! it was super neat. It was a very long day. We also saw John Valdez. He is doing better and better every time we see him. 

Wednesday, we saw the Peace family. They are less active, but slowly they are coming back. They fed us dinner and we talked with them for a while. We also saw Teresa Nelson. She is a spiritual giant. She wants to come back to church and get to the temple. Its so great to see that burning desire in someone. We saw Freddy Eskeet for the first time in a long long while. He was so happy to see us and we read with him from the Book of Mormon.

Thursday, we had Zone Training. It went well. They challenged us to do more tracting. I hate tracting, but it's a necessary evil. We saw John Valdez again and yet again he is doing better and better! 

Friday was weekly planning day, so that's what we did. 

Saturday, we cleaned our apartment. It was bad. Definitely needed to be done. 

Sunday, was church of course. It was uplifting ad it pumped me up to take on the world! I was so excited to work hard starting this week. We are going to hit it hard and get to work!

Love you all! 

--

Elder Breinholt

Missionary 

New Mexico Farmington Mission

Ya'at'eeh

Ya'at'eeh,

So we didn't have the opportunity to email yesterday, because we went to the temple yesterday. It was super neat. We had an awesome experience going to do that. The Monticello Temple is very very tiny. Smaller than the Billings Temple. It was cool though.

Tuesday, was transfer day! I picked up Elder Ellis and I knew that he and I were going to get along just fine. We taught Jack Shindler the Plan of Salvation. He is doing well, but he needs to make church a regular habit. We also taught John Valdez. He is getting closer and closer to receiving the Aaroninc Preisthood.

Wednesday was super super slow. We don't have really any investigators in 4th Ward at the moment, because all of the investigators that we were working with last transfer were in 7th ward. We are trying to do some finding in order to teach new investigators.

Thursday was a pretty good day. District meeting was good. Very uplifting. We tried to contact some less active members, but some of them were not home. Later that evening, however, we got a call from the Spanish Elders and they told us to stop by one of the less actives that was on our list of  people to contact. We showed up, and she told us that she was happy to see us, and asked us to share a message with her. She told us to come back the next day so we could have another lesson, and give her a blessing. After that, we went to John Valdez again. Every time we go over there, he get's closer and closer.

Friday, we did our weekly planning. We also went to the less active lady's house to give a lesson and a blessing. A little back ground on her. She got offended a while back, and she didn't want to come back because of the certain member that offended her. Well that certain member brought her some things she needed and the less active woman decided to come back to church because of the goodness of that lady's character. It was a cool experience to hear about, and she wanted to come to church on Sunday. We also went to the Jail and had a good discussion with one of the guys that we are meeting with on a bi-weekly basis.

Saturday, we tracted a lot. It was difficult, because almost every door was slammed in our faces. There was one older woman that politely declined and wished us luck in finding people.

Sunday, The less active woman and her family came to church!!!!!!!! When I saw them, i was pumped! We also had a few other less active people that came. It was AWESOME!!!!!! 

Anywho, that was my week. Hope all of you are well. Keep the Faith. Live the Truth. Love the Lord.

Ayoo' Anishnii'. Hagoonee',

Elder Breinholt

Missionary 

New Mexico Farmington Mission 

Sup Y'all??

Ya'at'eeh,

So, this week has been well with me. Tuesday was bitter-sweet. We had some dang good lessons with some less actives an some recent converts. We taught Jack Schindler the Restoration again, because he has to be taught all of the lessons after baptism. We had the Cason's with us. They are some of best Ward Missionaries around! They did a pretty good job teaching the majority of the lesson. One of the Part Member Families that we have been teaching, just dropped us out of the blue. It was really sad, and we thought they were doing just grand with the lessons. I was pretty sad after that. But we had some lessons in the evening that cheered me up.

Wednesday, we had a lesson with a less active family and they said they were going to be comming to church yesterday. Only the husband came, because the wife wasn't feeling well. It was good to see him there though! We also got to walk dogs at the shelter, so that was fun! I walked a dog named Galadriel. She was a neat dog, and If we could have pet's on the mission, I would adopt her.

Thursday, we had district meeting. It was pretty fun, because we played a Jeopardy game that Elder Richards came up with. I scored on the church history questions (Thanks Mom for teaching the Doctrine and Covenants last year). That was pretty neat! We had a pretty slow day, because all of our appointments fell trough. We disd see John Valdez, and had a really good discussion with him.

Friday, We went to the Jail and had a good discussion with an inmate in there. He is doing well and trying to "get out by November so that" we "can Baptize" him. He is a neat dude. We also saw Sylvia Ortiz, she is doing well, and is back on date for baptism again. She is scheduled for Oct. 10. She is so ready and wants to be baptized so badly. 

Saturday, We did some service with some members in 1st Ward, the Palfreyman's. It was a lot of fun painting some lady's house. Elder Bratt also got the call, that he was going to be a district leader in Luepp, AZ. He is pretty excited to leave Farmington, mainly because he as been here for almost 6 months, and that's how long he's been out. He'll do well. I will be in 4th Ward here in Farmington, with Elder "Brown" Ellis. Everyone calls him Brown Ellis, because he is one of two Elder Ellis's, but he is the only Brown one. He is Half Mexican, Half Northern Ute. It's his last transfer, but I guess he is going to finnish strong! I'm excited, because he sounds like a pretty neat dude. They are Splitting our area, 4th and 7th, Halleluja! We are Excited. 7th ward is being Pink Washed by 3 sisters. It should be a "transision". They'll do well though.

Anyway, Hope all is well with Y'all. Thank you for your Prayers. Keep the Faith, Live the Truth. Love the Lord.

Ayoo' Anishnii'. Hagoonee',

Elder Breinholt

Missionary 

New Mexico Farmington Mission 

Hard Work Pays Off!

Ya'at'eeh,

Man... this has been a crazy week.

Tuesday, we taught a less active family and had a pretty good conversation with them. The wife is blind, and the husband has heart problems. They have been sick for a while, and so they haven't been able to come to church for a long time. They are taking the right steps to get back to church. We also saw a part member family named the Trujillo's. The mom is a member, but the kids and the grandchild is not. Victor, Valentino and Valentina (Twins), and an older daughter that i can't remember her name, are Sheila's (the mom). Zac is the older daughter's son. These kids are stinking smart!! They have a strong understanding of the small and simple truths of the gospel. It's super neat to talk to them.

Wednesday, I was on exchanges with one of the Zone Leaders, Elder Hozman (pronounced Ohzmahn (the H is silent)). He is Colombian, and he is really quite short. He is a goofy kid. He likes to joke around a lot, but he knows when to be serious. We tried to stop by some people in our area book, but unfortunately, they were not home. We did teach Jack Schindler, one of our Recent Converts. We had a good lesson with him. We tried to tract a little bit later that day. We were in this neighborhood, and I saw a Wyoming License plate with county 19 on it. I said, "Cool, someone from Evanston!" We knocked on the door, and this lady answered. She said her niece just got back from the New York Manhattan mission. We asked if she was a member, she said, no. But we think her husband is a less active member.  She offered to feed us anytime. So that was pretty neat!

Thursday, we ran into (knocked on her door) a less active lady that was baptized back in 2011. She lost contact will everyone from the church, so she was super happy to see us. She said she had been waiting for us to stop by. Earlier in the day I was going through the area book, and saw her daughter was listed as an investigator. I got the prompting to stop by and so we did. She said she wants us to re-teach her the lessons, so we said we would. It was super neat to meet her, because she is Lakota Sioux. She was born in Valentine Nebraska, and knows of course where Gillette is. Small world! 

Friday, we did weekly planning, and then we went and saw a Less Active Member. She is only probably 25 or 26, but she has SEVERE ADHD..... Talking to her, I got Exhausted. She hadn't taken her medication that day, and so it was like she was talking in circles. It was crazy!! I was so tired after that lesson. 

Saturday, we helped a man in our apartment complex move. That took up the majority of our day. He is a JW, but he was super friendly to us and he was very appreciative of the help we offered him. 

Sunday, We had Stake Conference, and so we only had 2 hours of church! It was a very very good conference. The theme was on Keeping the Sabbath Day Holy. Since we only had 2 hours of church, We didn't know what to do for the rest of the day. We did quite a bit of tracting. We tracted around member's houses, and asked if there was anyone they thought we should see. We have also been trying to ask for referrals from everyone. When we ask from those who are not interested themselves, they open up a great deal. It's been such a blessing since we've started doing that this week.

Anywho. I hope you all are well. May the lord bless you in all of your endeavors. Keep the faith. Live the truth. Love the Lord.

Ayoo' Anishnii'. Hagoonee', 

--

Elder Breinholt

Missionary 

New Mexico Farmington Mission 

Come unto Christ and be perfected in Him

So we had some pretty neat stuff happen this week! 

Tuesday, we had Jack S.'s baptismal interview. It was super neat to see him be ready for baptism! We also saw the Mills (4th Ward). Carolyn is a super active member that works in the temple every two weeks. Her husband Ivan is a born again Christian who is just a cowboy at heart! Going over and talking with him makes me miss home a bit, but man he is a great guy! They are in their late 60's early 70's and we talk to mainly Ivan. Carolyn puts her words in and helps us out a lot! Ivan just needs to gain a testimony of the Book of Mormon and he is set. We also saw an investigator in 7th ward named Evalisa S. She is a great investigator and really honestly wants to learn. We bring a member named George F. along with us, because she is Dine (Navajo) , and he is Dine. So they get a long quite well. Evalisa is living with her boyfriend Brian Y. They have two kids. We decided that we might as well just teach her about the Law of Chastity and the Word of Wisdom. Man... Was I glad that George was there! He helped out a ton teaching Chastity. We invited her to obey the Word of Wisdom, and she said she would. We also invited her and Brian to think about getting married. She said she would, so they are doing quite well. 

Wednesday, we went and saw Sylvia O., an investigator in 7th ward. She was supposed to get baptized this weekend, but her son, who's a member, said he couldn't make it. So we are hoping for two weeks. We had a good lesson with her, and she is getting really close!

Thursday, we had District Meeting. Side note, I have been playing the piano in District Meetings ever since I got to Farmington. I'm improving every time I play! Mom... You were right, I should've taken Piano lessons more serious. Tell Carolyn that I am sorry. You told me and I should've listened! But I am getting better and better! I can play quite a few songs with both hands now! The Lord is blessing me in that regard! 

Friday, we did weekly planning, and also went to the San Juan County Detention Center. Since it is in our area, we have some inmates who request visits with us. They are all really kind to us, and we are super excited for Leroy J. to get released this next week so that we can formally teach him the lessons and get him baptized. He is a really good guy who is in jail for one stupid decision. He really has desires to change, and also go to the temple. His ex-girlfriend is an active member, so he knows quite a bit about the church! He has read the Book of Mormon 3 times so far, and he said every time he reads it again, he finds more and more! He is really quite prepared, it's just a matter of getting him taught, Baptized, the Aaronic Preisthood, and then eventually the Melchizedek Preisthood and to the Temple! He is a solid dude! We also had the Ward Barbecue for 7th Ward, and they had the big inflatable balls that you get into and can run into each other. It was a lot of fun, and Elder Bratt and I decided to run full speed into each other from 30 yds. away. Let me just say, that Elder Bratt is 6'3" and 215 lbs., and I'm only 6'1" and 190 lbs, so needless to say, it felt like I got hit by a bus. It was a lot of fun!  

Saturday, was a great day! We finally had Jack's Baptism! He was so prepared and so excited! He is a really great guy! He has such a desire to do what is right! He had been waiting for that day for quite a while! He just knew it was right! 

Sunday, Jack was confirmed, and he received the gift of the Holy Ghost. His eyes lit up after that! He was ecstatic and he was also very emotional! It was super neat to see how the church has changed his life thus far. 

Anywho, I "Hopi" (haha sorry) you are well! Stay fast to the iron rod! Keep the faith. Live the truth. Love the Lord! 

Hagoonee'

--

Elder Breinholt

Missionary 

New Mexico Farmington Mission 

Good Things are Happening in the Kingdom!

Ya'at'eeh,

So this last week was pretty good! On Tuesday, we  helped out at the Bishop's Storehouse. It was so neat to see where fast offerings go and how they help those in need!  We also saw an investigator named Jack Schindler. We went over the baptismal interview questions with him. He is ready to be baptized this Saturday! We are having his interview this evening. He has such a strong desire to be baptized! He is a great guy and his heart is in the right place! 

Wednesday was interesting. We had a member of the First Quorum of the Seventy come and do a Mission Tour. We heard earlier in the week that, Elder Cristoffel J. Golden, was going to inspect our apartment. We tidied it up, and he was impressed. He said that we had a pretty nice apartment and that we should keep it up! He was a very kind man, and he taught us a lot in the conference that we had with him. He went pretty deep into some doctrine that was in the Book of Moses. It was very enlightening. My favorite thing that he said to us was, "This is not a church for sissies." That's absolutely true. It is hard to live the commandments in a changing world, but it is worth it.

Thursday, we spent our morning pulling weeds at a members house. Sister Compton was very appreciative of that. She cant bend down to pull out the weeds herself. She was really happy that we could help her out! We had a pretty slow rest of the day. People weren't home or they were too busy. We did go to the shelter and walk dogs. I walked a dog named 

Friday, we did weekly planning, and that took up the majority of the day. we did however go to the jail and see a less active member named XXXX. He is trying his hardest to get out early on good behavior. He is doing his best!

Saturday, we moved apartments. It's cool because our new one has a washer and dryer. That will be super nice! 

Sunday we had church and that was good! 

That was my week! We have 2 baptisms scheduled for this week! 

Ayoo anishnii. 

hagoonee!

--

Elder Breinholt

Missionary 

New Mexico Farmington Mission

Work!

Received August  17, 2015

Ya'at'eeh

Well, this has been an interesting week. So on Tuesday, we went to try some people, but all of our appointments fell through, so we tried some other people, and they weren't home.

Wednesday, We saw Sylvia and Charles. Sylvia is on date for September 5th. She is almost ready, she just needs to continue to go to church and pray and read. Later that day, we went and saw a man named Chris. He is in a physical rehab facility. He is a really cool guy that really wants to get baptized and be a member of the church. He's great. We also saw Evalisa Stevenson. We taught her the Gospel of Jesus Christ. She had questions about  the Holy Ghost, and also questions about repentance. The spirit was really strong, and she had a solid understanding of what we were teaching about. She is progressing really well. Her boyfriend, Brian, is also progressing well, but he hasn't been home for some of the lessons. We are hoping to get them Waptized (Wedding and a Baptism).

Thursday, we had District Meeting, and that went really well. Elder Richards our DL is super cool. We had dinner later that evening with the Aiekle's. They are a couple in their 20's. Johnathon was recently called as a ward missionary, and he is super cool. He also played in the Energy Classic Tournament in '06, so he knows where Gillette is! That was cool.

Friday, we did weekly planning, and that ate up the majority of the day. It was good though. I also got the opportunity to organize the 4th ward area book. (It was a mess) 

Saturday, we did some service. We went to the animal shelter and walked some dogs. I enjoy doing that. The dogs are super chill... most of the time. Then we helped an investigator named Sudel (he is a Liberian man) move a pool table. Luckily, it was a wood topped one, so it wasn't to heavy to move. We tried to contact some referrals later, and none of them were home.

Sunday. Man you think 3 hours of church is hard? Try 6! That's all I'm gonna say

Well that was my week. Hope you all are well. Ayoo' Anishnii'

Hagoonee',

Received August 10, 2015

Ya'at'eeh!

Well, this week has been a crazy one. I was put with Elders Thalman and Bratt here in Farmington 4th and 7th wards. It has been fun with them. This email is mainly going to focus on some of the lessons we taught. It has felt like the longest week of my life, so I can't really remember absolutely every detail.

Monday, we taught a new investigator, named Megan Perez. She is awesome, and she reads on her own before we get there, and without even asking her to. She is the only one in her family on board, so we are hoping and praying that the rest of her family will listen to the lessons as well.

Tuesday, we taught a recent convert named John Valdez. He is a really great guy, and wants to do the right things for himself, "...not nobody else," as he puts it. He is trying to make it through the Book of Mormon, and we are reading it with him. He is a great guy with a solid testimony. 

Wednesday, we went by Ivan Mills' home. Carolyn, his wife, is a member, but Ivan is not. He is a born again Christian from Oklahoma. He talks about his years driving the Church Bus for a Baptist church when he was younger. He is a really great guy. He is about in his 70's or 80's. He is really funny. We talked about salvation and the atonement with him. He got a lot out of it I feel like.

Thursday, we taught John Valdez again. He talks about how he feels like he has been forgiven, but he hasn't forgiven himself, because he feels unworthy of receiving the preisthood because he still feels like he can try harder. We directed him to 2 Nephi 4, and helped him realize that even prophets have a hard time forgiving themselves. It was a pretty neat lesson.

Friday, we taught Shelby Davis. He is a Less-Active member in the San Juan County Jail. He wanted to meet with us. He said that he wants to really try when he gets out. He was a great guy with his heart in the right place.

On Saturday, we went over to the Pofreymans for breakfast. After that, we went and painted the living room of the house of a member. It was nice to be able to serve them. Their walls needed it. Later that day, we received transfer news. I will be staying in Farmington 4th and 7th with Elder Bratt, and we will be training the same missionary.  

We had a lesson last night, with a Native man named  Jonathon Catson. He just wanted to argue with us about points of doctrine that he interprets in his own way. We testified as hard as we could. He was confounded, and couldn't remember scriptures that he thought would back his points up. I felt really sick yesterday, but the spirit was sustaining me through it. I didn't even feel that bad during the lesson. As soon as we walked away, I felt my headache and stomach ache again. I was EXHAUSTED! We got home and I fell asleep at about 9:00.

That's all for this week. I'm sure I'll have more to talk about next week.

Received August 3, 2015

Ya'at'eeh,

This week was good. Tuesday we tried contacting a mormon.org referral. Turns out, the guy's friends were just playing a joke on him. That was hard. We decided to stick around Bluff for a bit, and knocked on a part member couples home. The wife, Anne, is a member but the husband, Jerry is not. They were very friendly towards us. they invited us to come back, so let's hope something comes of that. Then we went out and taught Niyah one of the recent convert lessons. That went well. We then went and tried a bunch of people, but people are still out of town. 

Wednesday, we went to a recent convert's house. Briannon has been baptized for a couple of months now, and we are just trying to keep her and her family at church. They are preparing to move to Cortez, CO. So they have been in and out of town. We went and taught Don Tsosie also. He actually was at church this last Sunday, so that was pretty neat! We also taught the Laughings, and they are getting closer and closer to baptism.

Thursday, we went to Blanding for district meeting. It was good. We came back to Bluff, and worked around, but pretty much no one was home, so that was disappointing

Friday, we had weekly planning, and that took a lot longer than it usually did. So we stayed in Bluff for the rest of the day. It was just a long day.

Saturday, we went and saw Betty, and we shared a message with her. She is awesome. She brought Yvonne, her 104 year old Shima, to Church yesterday, so that was pretty neat! Wilbur also came to church for the first time since I've been in Bluff! We also saw the Gruette's later that day. Gene is a recent convert, and he is just an awesome dude! We shared a message with them and Jackie brought up some really neat insights. They are an amazing family.

Yesterday, we went to church and there were people there that I haven't seen in a while. There were more Dine than Anglo's at Todah. That was super neat! 

In studies this morning, I was reading the Teachings of Joseph Smith, One part, he said, "When we understand the nature of God, we know how to come unto him, and he knows how to come unto us." That is such a true principle. As we understand the nature of God, we will start to recognize the blessings as they come. I've seen that a lot this week. 

Anyway, I hope you all are well. Love the Lord, and keep the faith. 

Ayoo Anishnii'.

Hagoonee',

--

Elder Breinholt

Missionary 

New Mexico Farmington Mission 

Received July 27, 2015

Ya'at'eeh,

This past week has been pretty busy.

Tuesday, we went and saw Don Tsosie, a less active man, and visited with him and shared a message. He was very receptive, and actually came to church yesterday. That was cool. We also saw Betty Bigboy, and talked with her for a while. We shared the Sermon on the Mount with her, and she really enjoyed that. Then we saw Leroy Boy and we helped him take the tires off of his old Jeep. He has a bad back, so we help him out as much as we can. It was nice to be able to help him. The rest of the day was pretty slow, because people are getting their end of summer trips out of the way, and also... It's Rodeo Season! 

On Wednesday, we had exchanges. Our district leader Elder Butterfield came out to Bluff, and we had a pretty good day. We went out to the Sam's and had the Baptismal interview with Niyah. And prepared her for Saturday. She was nervous at first, but answered all of the questions like they were nothing! It was awesome! After that, we tracted Red Mesa Rd, more specifically a housing group out there called Yellowman's Camp. We knocked a few houses, and no one was home. We finally ran into Kathleen Begay, we gave her a Book of Mormon, and she told us to come back some other time. It was pretty neat. After that, we taught the Laughing kids about Repentance and Baptism. We did the rocks in the backpack object lesson, and they liked that.  After the Laughing's, I had a bitter-sweet experience with one of our investigators, Dwayne Lameman. He is such a good guy and is really trying to change his life. We taught him about prayer, and we asked him if he wanted to get baptized, he said, "Yes!" Then we found out that he had recently gotten a job out of state, like in Missouri or Mississippi, I don't remember which. Anyway, he said he was leaving on Saturday to start training and 3 months of school. Its hard to see him go, but it will be better for him. He is really excited for the job. He told us to keep in touch with him, and he said he wanted to still meet with the missionaries when he gets out there. We gave him a Mormon.org card and told him he can request missionaries to meet with him from there, he seemed pretty excited about that. I'm gonna miss him. After that, we taught the Begay family, Paxton Pearlphena, and her brother, sister, and mom. They were really receptive to the message that we shared about the reasons for baptism. The mom asked us about the authority needed to baptize, and she was really interested. We hope they progress more. They are a great family. We came back in from the Reservation, and went and saw the Gruettes. Gene is a Recent convert, and Jackie is a member. They are so fun to talk to. Gene is just a cool guy. He invited us to play pool with him next p-day, so we might take him up on that offer. 

Thursday, we had Zone Training in Blanding, and it was good. Elder Middleton and I trained on 'Goals'. Our entire training consisted of Elijah's goal to refute the prophets of Baal in 1 Kings. It was super cool. We feel like everyone got a lot out of it. After Zone Training, we went out to Lameman's Camp, which is a housing division out on the reservation. We met a less active member named Luci Begay. She was happy to see us and so were her Grand kids. She is having surgery this week and rolled her ankle the day before we visited her. She asked for a blessing and we gave her one. She felt more at peace after that. 

Man, Friday was tough. We did weekly planning, and went out to try people after. We tried 12 houses (that's a lot for the rez because it's so spread out) and nobody was home!! So that's how that went.

Saturday, we had to fill up the Font for the baptism. I'll send you pictures next week. We had the baptism at 12:00 and it went really smooth. We went out to try people, but it was the same as Friday. 

Sunday was good. I had the opportunity to confirm Niyah. It was a cool experience. We went out to the Sam's that afternoon, and taught Damien the Restoration. after that, we played football, and I ripped my pants!!! It's a good thing that there are gifted seamstresses at the Fort, that can fix it with no problem! It was a mighty sweet catch though! We had to call it a day after that. 

Today, we have just been doing laundry, and we came up to Blanding to chill at the ZL's house. It's been fun. Anyway, I'll have pictures next week! Talk to you then. Ayoo' Aniinishni.

Hagoonee',

--

Elder Breinholt

Missionary 

New Mexico Farmington Mission 

Might be short.

Ya'at'eeh,

Aa' (how are you)? This past week has been slow, but good. 

On Tuesday, we went and saw Nigel Sam, and talked to him about receiving the Aaronic Preisthood. He was super excited for that and had a lot of questions. That entire family is amazing. Valentina, the mom, is trying to get back to the temple not only for her, but for her family as well. Niyah is being baptized this Saturday on her birthday. She is excited. After she get's baptized, She is headed to Youth Conference with Nigel next week, and they are going to the Temple in Monticello. Valentina, Nigel, and Niyah are all really excited for that.

On Wednesday, we had Zone Conference in Cortez. It was great! It was super long, but very uplifting and helpful. We did How to Begin Teaching roleplays, and I was paired with Elder Lewis, one of the Assistants. He thought I'd been out longer than I had. He was very helpful with just giving me compliments. He goes home at the end of this transfer, so it will be super hard to see him go. He's super cool, and just down to earth. During ZConf, Elders Nichols and Hudson did a training on teaching with the Spirit. My favorite quote from the day was from Elder Nichols, he said, "If you want to drop a spiritual A-Bomb on someone, bear testimony!" Elder Middleton and I could not keep it together after that. We died laughing. After Zone Conference, we went to Wal-Mart with Elder Nichols and Elder Hudson. We did some shopping and left the thriving metropolis of Cortez Colorado. 

On Thursday, we went and saw Eric Begay. He is super open to hearing from us, but the thing he struggles with is the Word of Wisdom. We haven't taught him that yet, but we are for sure going to be listening to the spirit with that one. We went and did some service for Leroy Boy, a member. We also shared with him the Gospel Principles lesson about the Gifts of the Spirit. I felt like he got a lot out of that. Later in the day, we went and saw Rose Goodman. We aren't sure if she is a Member or not. We had some time to kill in between appointments, so Elder Middleton got the impression to go to her. She was very happy to see us. Her grandson just died at only 4 months old. She was super upset about that, so we shared 2 Nephi 32:9 and told her to pray and seek the strength of the Lord. She Invited us back, so we are going to see her this week.

On Friday, Nobody was home. We did weekly planning, and we got out to the Reservation and pretty much came right back in. That was hard.

Saturday was the same as Friday, except we got a lesson with a less active member named Don Tsosie. We are trying our hardest to get him back to church. He comes every so often. But the branch needs him there more!

On Sunday, President and Sister Adams came to church in Bluff. It was nice to have them there. They are such amazing people. After church, we went out to the Sam's for Nigel's youngest sister Pia's birthday party. It was a lot of fun. We got there late, so all of the mutton was cold. Let me just say that cold mutton is pretty much the worst. I ate about half of my mutton and couldn't do it anymore. 

We have Zone Training this week, and Elder Middleton and I are training on Goals during that. Well that's pretty much it. I hope you all are well. Ayoo Aniinishni (Love you all)

Hagoonee',

--

Elder Breinholt

Missionary 

New Mexico Farmington Mission 

First of the month is hard on the Rez

Sent July 13, 2015

So this week has been pretty difficult. This email might be shorter than those in the past, because  it's the first part of the month, so all of the natives receive their monthly check from the government and they leave for weeks at a time. We haven't seen a lot of the people we teach regularly for about two weeks straight. We have a less active and a nonmember that we are teaching named Wilbur and Jolanda Williams. Wilbur's dad is a practicing Medicine Man, and he has been trying to pull Wilbur away from the church and to practice again. Wilbur is a Roadman (Medicine Man) for the NAC, or the Native American Church. He says he wants to go to church, but he never comes. We have been trying to see them this week and they have been gone for about 2 solid weeks now! It's frustrating, but if they aren't home, we usually go over to Betty Bigboy's. She always feeds us, and that cheers us up. She taught us how to make real fry bread this week, it was awesome.

On Wednesday, no one was home, so we went exploring. We stumbled upon an Anasazi cliff dwelling just south of the San Juan River. Anasazi is Navajo for 'The Ancients, or Ancestors'. It was super cool. I'll attach some pictures of that! It was a bit of a hike, mainly because it was super steep, but it was well worth it. Elder Middleton and I  were discussing how crazy the Anasazi were. They must've been really skilled rock climbers. The climb down must have been really scary for them. It was super neat walking where an ancient people walked. We also taught the Laughings on Wednesday. we taught them about prayer, because we want them to have a solid testimony so they can ask for themselves before we invite them to be baptized. They are so close to being ready!

On Thursday, we went up to Blanding for District Meeting. It was good. Sister Brady did the training on following the spirit. It was super helpful. After district meeting, we ate lunch and went back to the Rez to work. We taught the Tuni's. Tiffany Tuni is a recent convert to the church, and her husband Lyle has been a member for some time. They rodeo competitively, so they have been gone a lot this summer. They are a good family. As soon as rodeo season slows down, I'm sure that we will see more of them at church. We also taught Paxton (14) and Pearlphina (20). They are brother and sister and are really benefiting from the lessons. Elder Middleton threw me in the deep end and told me to lead the discussion. I was reluctant, but it was good. For the first time, I felt like he and I were working as a team. The spirit was so strong in that lesson. And Pearl and Paxton could feel the spirit and they understood the importance of prayer.

Friday was a crazy day. We had weekly planning, and as we were about to leave, Elder Middleton lost his wallet. So we called the Vehicle Coordinator, Elder Jensen, and he told me to drive. I didn't want to. I feel like I didn't know the area well enough. But it turns out, I know it better than I thought. We retraced our steps from the day before, thinking that his wallet was on the Rez some place. We couldn't find it. We got Fry Bread, and that was good. We didn't see anybody that day. It was discouraging. We went back to Bluff and Lo and Behold, His wallet was in the pants that he wore the day before. It was a funny moment.

Saturday was also very slow. We drove on the road out to Betty's. One of our investigators named Dwayne Lameman lives on that road. We drove past and saw a Tee-Pee. That's not a good sign out here. When you come into contact with people out here, they may say that they are traditional. Traditional may mean one of two things, they practice the Navajo traditions, or they are members of the NAC. Tee-Pee's are not traditional among the Navajo. Navajo's have Hooghans. When we saw the Tee-Pee, we were both like, "NOOO! NAC!!!! WHY!!!???" The NAC doesn't like the Church. They like that we talk about Christ, but they don't like anything else that we teach. It makes it hard to teach members of the NAC.

Sunday was good. Since it was the second Sunday, the branch does a pot-luck. Kasey Boy, a native man, made mutton stew. It was so good! We went out and got Niyah Sam's Baptism all scheduled and planned. That family is so great. The mom Valentina is trying to get to the temple. The oldest son Nigel is receiving the Aaronic Priesthood next Sunday. Niyah is getting baptized on the day she turns 12 (July 25th). Damien is getting closer to baptism. They are such a strong family. Elder Middleton and I are so excited for them.

Anyway, that's all for this week.  

Hágoónee’,

Elder Breinholt

Missionary 

New Mexico Farmington Mission 

Finding Hope Through Disappointment

Sent July 6, 2015

Man... this past week has been pretty hard. Tuesday was cool because we got to talk to Eric Begay. Eric is a man in his mid 20's who lives in a hogan (the traditional Navajo dwelling) with a dirt floor. Hogans only have one room. It was pretty neat. He is in a band called The Lower Deck Band. He claims that they play, "Country Rock... Rez style." He breaks horses for a living and from my understanding, Is pretty good at it. Anyway, we went to his hogan and saw that he had all of his instruments all set up (yes there is a drum set :D). He invited us in, and it was quite hot in there. We sat down on his couch and talked to him for a bit. Then out of the corner of my eye, I saw a chicken. I looked at Elder Middleton and he looked at me, and we started laughing. We asked him about his chicken and he said that he found it on the side of the road about 3 years ago. It just roams around his hogan and poops on the floor. It's dirt, so I guess it's okay, but still really gross. I kept on eyeing the drum set, and he said, "You can play it if you want!" So, me being me, I did. It felt so good to play. Even though the drum set was not very nice, it just brought back so many memories. We shared a scripture with him and he invited us back and told us he would have his stuff set up so that we can jam with him. After that, we went and saw Neilia Jone. She is a shima in her 90's and only speaks Dine Bizaad (the language of the people), but her son Cody, who turns out to be an investigator is her translator. We went to her last Friday (June 26th), and she was in bad health, because her oxygen machine was not working. She asked for a blessing and so we gave her one. We came back last week, and her oxygen pump was working again, and she was feeling a lot better. We shared a scripture and tried some more people, but since it was the week leading up to the 4th, everyone peaced out and went to either Shiprock, NM or Cortez, CO.

Wednesday, we only had one lesson. We met with the Laughing kids. They were super receptive to the message that we shared about Commandments. Mainly, because we played Simon Says and gave them candy. They are super cool kids. The invited us to their Cousin, Eli's birthday party. Eli participates in the lessons with us. He's a cool little kid. 

On Thursday, we only got to meet with Leroy Boy. He is a less-active member who goes to church every Sunday, but he doesn't stay for the entire time. His issue is the fact that he lives with his girlfriend. We are trying to help him become fully active again. He is a great guy. He has a bad back, and we do a lot of service for him. We usually pull weeds and stuff like that. We went to Eli's birthday that evening, and it was under the bridge that is over the San Juan river. It was a sweet party spot. Eli was really happy to see us there. His cousins Wally 7, Trevor 4, and Christian 2 or 3 (we're not sure), are super funny. When we were walking towards them, Wally and Trevor said, "The church people are here," and then they ran off. Christian, however, stood there and looked at us and yelled, "MORMONS," he ran off as well. It was so funny.

Friday, we had our "Get to Know You" Zone Conference. We got to meet President and Sister Adams. They are really cool. President Adams was the Stake President for a YSA Stake in Logan, so he gets us young hooligans. He has a vision in this mission for Activation over Baptisms. Our main focus as missionaries is to activate those less active members. There are so many inactive members that there could probably be a ward in Bluff. With the branch presidency called from those members. Our branch leadership is almost all from Blanding. We are working with President McPherson to reactivate those less active members of the branch. That is our main focus in Bluff right now.

Saturday, the Zone Leaders invited us to Blanding for the Fourth of July. If you want a good 4th celebration, Blanding is the place to be! It was awesome. All of the companionship in the zone minus one, were all in the parade, on this 8-man bicycle contraption. I forgot my camera in the truck, so I don't have pictures. We also had a booth on the fairgrounds. We just talked to anyone who came up. We had this Navajo man who came up and asked for a Navajo Book of Mormon. We didn't have one at the booth, but the White Mesa (Ute Rez) Elders went to the zone leaders house and grabbed one for him. He and I talked for quite a while. We talked about music, and the blood disorder that he has. He was probably in his 70's. He was pretty cool. We left Blanding at about 5:00 and went back to Bluff. Bluff doesn't have fireworks (Blanding steals all of the festivities) so Elder Middleton and I had to make due with glow sticks. 

Yesterday was interesting. We went to Branch Council and that was cool. The Bluff Branch has 2 groups. They have one that meets in Bluff, and one that meets out on the reservation in an old Pre-School that Leroy's dad bought and turned into a community center. There is a small group that meets out there, to better meet the needs of the Navajo people out in the isolated reservation. It's pretty cool. We went out to the Rez later that evening and all of our plans fell through. We knocked on this door, and the lady said, "Come in!" Natives just let anyone come in willy nilly. So we walked in, and she said, "Oh... Sorry..." I went to shut the door, and she said, "Don't close it. You need to leave now." It was super awkward. All I was thinking to myself was, "If you don't want certain people in your house, why do you let everyone in with a 'Come in'?" It was super uncool, but it wasn't detrimental to my day, so it's whatever. 

Anyhow, that is was my week. I hope you all are well. Do all the member missionary work that you can. It helps us out so much! Love you all!

Hágoónee’,

--

Elder Breinholt

Missionary 

New Mexico Farmington Mission

Ya'at'eeh!

Sent June 29, 2015

Well. This week has been pretty great! On Monday when we got to the mission home, they had pizza for us, which is good, because traveling all day made me really hungry. The pizza was pepperoni and green chille it was pretty delicious. They told us that you will either learn to love green chille or eventually hate it. I love it, and that will never change. We had our interviews with President Batt, and in mine, I told him that I wanted to learn Navajo (Dine Bizaad (Language of the People)). I am just glad that he took that seriously. That night, we stayed at the AP's house, it was a zoo!!! Transfers are super crazy here! There were so may elders there!! it was hard to find a place to crash.

We went to the Mission office Tuesday morning. The orientation training meeting that morning took forever! We found out who our trainers were. Elder Middleton is my 6'5" trainer. He's pretty cool. When I found out that I would be serving on the reservation, I got super excited. I also found out that we could order Navajo name tags, and so of course... I did! We left and went to Bluff, and since the hippies in Bluff are all descendants of Apostate members, they don't like us much. We live in Bluff, but proselyte on the Reservation. Since we couldn't proselyte, we went over to the fort. Bluff Fort is like 50 feet from our trailer (which is on the Church grounds). The people that work there are all senior missionaries. It's like I've inherited 12 new grandparents!! They're all great.

I got my Initiation to Rez culture on Wednesday, when we went to visit an investigator named Leo Blackhorse. They were having a cook out, and I got to experience eating some interesting food! I ate ach'ii, which is sheep intestine wrapped around the fat of the animal. It was surprisingly good! I also ate chopped intestine with green chille on a tortilla! I enjoyed it. Tell Annie, that the natives point with their lips. I also got to meet a member named Betty Bigboy. She reminds me so much of Grandma Breinholt. She cares for her 103 year old mother (shima) so she doesn't make it to church all of the time. We saw Betty three times this week, and she always feeds us when we go over there. In Navajo culture, it's offensive to decline an offering of food. If a 60 year old shima offers you food, you take it! Even if it is to-go. We taught this man named Dwayne Lameman about prophets, and he completely understood! He is definitely ready for baptism. We are also teaching a Part Member family, named the Laughings. we are teaching the kids. They are frustrating, but also fun. They were in the pool when we were teaching them, and they decided it would be funny to squirt us with their water guns! It felt nice, but it was not so nice on Elder Middleton's planner. We're going to try to commit them to baptism next time, because they were asking if we could baptize them in their pool.

Thursday was super slow. We had District Meeting, which was good. After that, we went and did service for a less active man named Leroy Boy. He's pretty cool. We dug up weed's in front of his dad's house. It was really hot that day, it got about 105. Elder Middleton and I were dead after that. No one was available the rest of the day! It was tough! There are no addresses out on the Reservation, so we have to remember where everyone lives. That's really hard. We drive a Nissan Frontier, and have to blaze our own trail sometimes.

Friday, we got to eat Fry Bread (Da' Dinilgahzh) the size of steering wheels, at the flea market near White Rock. It was delicious. Friday was pretty slow as well. We tried to find some people and they were out of town. So that was pretty difficult.

Saturday was good. We ate at Betty's house and she made enchiladas. The food that the natives make is either really hot, or really bland. It was bland, but with salt, it was very good. The work out here slows down on the weekends, because everyone is out of town, usually in Shiprock, New Mexico or Cortez, Colorado.

Sunday went well. Church is only two hours, so that's nice. They have the Bluff Branch, and also the Group out at the Todahatakani Community Center out near White Rock. Leroy Boy and his dad own it. After church Elder Middleton and I went and taught the Sam family. Their Mom, Valentina, is single, and Nigel the 14 year old son, is the father figure of the home. They're both members. He is such a great kid. Next Sunday, we are going to get him ready to receive the Aaronic Priesthood. He is so ready. We are teaching Nya, 11, and Damien, 9. We committed Nya to baptism and she is going to be baptized on the 25th of July. We're pumped.

Well, that was my week! It was pretty fun! I can't wait to do it again this week! This gospel is so true! I am so happy to be out here! The people are amazing!

I hope you all are well! Love you all!

Hagoonee,

Elder Ben Breinholt
New Mexico Farmington Mission

And the fun begins!

Received June 23, 2015

Yateh Shima!! (Hello Mother) I'm being trained in Bluff by Elder Brock Middleton. We live in Bluff (P.O. Box 116 Bluff, Utah 84512) but can't proselyte here. We do most of our work in White Rock which is on the reservation! I'm learning Navajo! I'm so exited!!!! Elder Middleton is super cool.  Its so hot here!!!! I'm so happy to be able to be here. There's not much in Bluff, but our trailer is on the church lot, and is really nice! I'm really sad that President Batt is leaving!!!!! He is super cool! This email is really only for you! I'll give you more details next Monday. We have cliff dwellings in our area! I'm pumped. Tell you more next week!!!!

THE MTC!

Sent on June 17, 2015

Today is my P-Day. It's crazy to think that I've been here for a week. It feels like a month! On Sunday's devotional address given by the administrative director here at the MTC, he said, "You can split your mission into three parts by perception. (1) Your first three days in the MTC (2) the rest of the MTC and (3) the rest of your mission. I absolutely believe that is true! The first three days felt like an eternal round. Elder Lethco is my companion, and he is so cool. He is incredibly smart and definitely listens to the spirit before making decisions about what to teach our investigators. He and I get along really well.

Wednesday was insane, mainly due to the fact that I had no idea what I had gotten myself into. I seriously felt as though I had taken a fire hose to the face! During the New Missionary Orientation, a member of the MTC Presidency said that, "The MTC is the second most holy place on this earth, because in both the temple and the MTC, you have to be a worthy holder of a Temple Recommend." I strongly feel that within these walls. The spirit dwells so strongly in this place, that it's almost tangible.

I sincerely appreciate Gym Time in the MTC. Not only does it promote physical activity, but it also promotes gaining friendships within the districts. We have a mean Four Square streak in all of us (the District). Elder Vineyard is ruthless!!!! Everyone gangs up on him in FS because he is so mean! Every member of our district is going to Farmington. I'm really glad. I've come to love and appreciate every single person in the district. The sisters in our district are so great! They all have such strong testimonies.  

Thursday felt like the longest day. I don't remember much about it, except for the fact that I felt the spirit so strong. We had our interviews and meeting with the Branch Presidency. On Thursday night, they issue assignments that come into effect on Sunday. Our District leader is Elder Anderson, he is hilarious and also super spiritual. The STL's for our zone are Sisters Cardon and Scoffield. And the Zone Leaders are Elder Lethco and me. Before President Gerke (Grrr-Key) pulled me in to interview me, I felt the spirit tell me that I was going to receive an assignment. I was scared to death!!!!!!  Luckily, its not that responsibility heavy. We just have to make sure everything is going well in the districts. 

Friday felt like forever ago, so I don't remember it.

Saturday also felt like forever ago. 

Sunday felt like yesterday. It was so spiritual! Sacrament meeting was so uplifting. We had the Sunday Walk around the spaceship (Provo Temple) It was just nice to know that the outside world still existed. We had the Devotional, which I quoted in the first part of my letter. It was great and we talked about the power of prayer and recognizing answers given by the Holy Ghost. After that, it was film time. One of the members in the Branch Presidency challenged our entire district to go see Character of Christ, a talk by Elder Bednar 4 years ago at Christmas. They have show it every Sunday since. Our entire district was in tears. It was so moving and uplifting, but at the same time made you feel like crap, because you know you need to be better. It is seriously my favorite talk ever. 

Monday flew by.... We taught our first investigator. Her name is Sharon, she is from the Bible belt in eastern Tennessee. She Loves Christ but doesn't love God, because she feels that God has never been there for her. As we learned of her concerns, I developed a great love for her. I also hurt because I know that God wants to hear from her. She won't pray, even after committing her, she says she'll "think about it." In missionary terms, that pretty much means, "I'm just saying this to get you off of my back." She is frustrating. We also taught an investigator named Ashton. He is about in his 20's, and was really willing to listen because he lives at his cousin's (Members) house and was really interested in what we had to say. Our first lesson with him was over Skype, because he was at home sick with strep throat. We were glad to teach him.

Yesterday, we went somewhere with Sharon... We got her to understand that God does want to hear from her. This is what we needed. We were really down on ourselves due to the first lesson that we had with her. She said she was still unsure about prayer, but said she would honestly and sincerely think about it. We felt like it went better.

Our Devotional last night was given by Elder David F. Evans of  The Seventy. We talked about Work and Obedience. My favorite thing he said was, "Just don't be stupid!" 

Well, I must sign off for now. Talk to you next week! I love you and miss you all!

With love,