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