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