Hello, everyone!
Happy American Thanksgiving!
It's an exciting time of year, and, like last year at this time, I'm still sick. A year ago, I was in Midland, and the day before Halloween, I got a cold. This year, I got it a little later. I'm taking vitamin-C, Theraflu, and I got a priesthood blessing. Now, a week after it started, I'm well enough to go out and teach and do things.
A family in the ward invited us to their home for Thanksgiving, and we're excited. Because of some doctor's appointments for the Sisters, we're also having District meeting Thursday morning. Other than that, we don't have much planned for the day. We've been asked to work, but not go tracting.
Elder Allred's MRI came back, and he's got tendonitis, whatever that is.
By the way, I loved the Line of Authority cards and "Remember This" cards that you sent - they're great. Could you send more of the "Remember This" ones? I'm going to hand them out to missionaries.
A new rule came out for this mission: we're only allowed to listen to hymns from our hymnbook for music. This doesn't really affect me, because I don't really listen to much music anyways, or mind one way or the other.
I was reading the latest issue of the Ensign (the blue one with the St. George temple on it), and there was an article about sharing the Gospel online. Elder Christensen said it'll never replace missionaries (for a million-and-one reasons - mainly the personal witness of the Holy Ghost), but it can greatly help in spreading the word. It got me thinking about anything I can do. I have a blog online now, but it's mostly stories and things that happen. I got thinking, took a blank sheet of paper and started scribbling and sketching on it. I designed a website that simply outlines the beliefs of our church, in a way that'll make people want to read more. One day, I'll make it.
On Sunday, I'm going to baptize a boy that we've been teaching. He and his older brother have such a great spirit about them and they love coming to church. They're really excited and he's been waiting for a long time. The following Sunday, we're having another baptism. We're all really excited.
It's a great time to be alive. It's a great time to be a member of the Church. I know the Church is true.
I love you!
-Elder Brandon Wong
Wednesday, November 25, 2009
Thursday, November 19, 2009
Thursday, November 19, 2009 - OD'd on Vitamin-C
Hey!
I don't have too much time (it seems like I have less and less every week) - today, we're going fishing / having a picnic on a member's property.
Oh, and I'm sick. I started with the usual dry throat and now it's a full-on sickness. It seems I've successfully averted it at least twice in the past. I had a dry throat, but I OD'd on vitamin-C and hard work, and pushed it off. I thought I could get rid of it forever, but I guess not.
I went on exchanges to Eastland with Elder Hanks. So, I had a dry throat, and we were biking around Eastland in 30-40 degree weather. It was miserable.
Speaking of biking, Elder Allred woke up one morning with a foot that was purple and swollen. The doctors had no idea what caused it. They put it in a brace and said to come back later. In the meantime, they're using the minivan, so we've been on our bikes.
By the way, to answer Elder Kaufman, I did know Elder Olson. I was never his companion, but we served around each other and I got to know him a little bit.
This week, our most progressing investigator accepted a baptismal date. It was tough. The lesson took three hours. Most of those hours, I was distracting the kids so Elder Cherrington could teach uninterrupted. She was reluctant at first, but she knows that this is what she needs. Now, we all speak in terms of "when it happens", rather than "if".
It's wonderful to see someone go through the conversion process. Since I grew up in the Church, I myself took it gradually - over many years - and hardly noticed it happen, so I'm not used to seeing it happen so quickly (comparatively). It is a true testimony that true conversion does happen. Whether slow or fast, it is as sure as the sun rising, and as strong as a summer Texan heat.
I know that this church is true. It is not based on the opinions or interpretations of men, but on knowledge from God.
I love you! Have a good week. Don't get sick.
-Elder Brandon Wong
I don't have too much time (it seems like I have less and less every week) - today, we're going fishing / having a picnic on a member's property.
Oh, and I'm sick. I started with the usual dry throat and now it's a full-on sickness. It seems I've successfully averted it at least twice in the past. I had a dry throat, but I OD'd on vitamin-C and hard work, and pushed it off. I thought I could get rid of it forever, but I guess not.
I went on exchanges to Eastland with Elder Hanks. So, I had a dry throat, and we were biking around Eastland in 30-40 degree weather. It was miserable.
Speaking of biking, Elder Allred woke up one morning with a foot that was purple and swollen. The doctors had no idea what caused it. They put it in a brace and said to come back later. In the meantime, they're using the minivan, so we've been on our bikes.
By the way, to answer Elder Kaufman, I did know Elder Olson. I was never his companion, but we served around each other and I got to know him a little bit.
This week, our most progressing investigator accepted a baptismal date. It was tough. The lesson took three hours. Most of those hours, I was distracting the kids so Elder Cherrington could teach uninterrupted. She was reluctant at first, but she knows that this is what she needs. Now, we all speak in terms of "when it happens", rather than "if".
It's wonderful to see someone go through the conversion process. Since I grew up in the Church, I myself took it gradually - over many years - and hardly noticed it happen, so I'm not used to seeing it happen so quickly (comparatively). It is a true testimony that true conversion does happen. Whether slow or fast, it is as sure as the sun rising, and as strong as a summer Texan heat.
I know that this church is true. It is not based on the opinions or interpretations of men, but on knowledge from God.
I love you! Have a good week. Don't get sick.
-Elder Brandon Wong
Thursday, November 12, 2009
Thursday, November 12, 2009 - Temple and Beef Jerky
Hey!
I was afraid I wouldn't have time to write a letter (because someone was on the computer earlier), so I recorded a lot of it on the sound recorder of my camera. Turns out there was enough time to spare anyway.
[The rest of letter was dictated from his sound clip.]
First of all, Happy Remembrance Day! Here in America, they called it Veterans’ Day. I think it’s always on the 11th, just like ours is always on the 11th.
It was just another average week, except we went to San Angelo on Tuesday for interviews. Plus, Elder Cherrington and I went to Lubbock on Wednesday evening to go to the temple!
Ace Green had been baptized for a year now. He had invited me to come over and to go through the temple with him. And so, we’ve asked Brother Bryan if he could come and drive us to Lubbock. I think he’s pretty awesome. Brother Bryan drove us all the way up there and all the way back, and he didn’t even go through with us.
It was a very good experience. I got to see pretty much everyone from the ward that I served in Lubbock. There were a lot of people at the temple; the place was packed. Even President Robison and Brother Sybrowsky were there. I got to see Ace go through the temple. It was very nice. Also, I haven’t been to the temple for a long time. This was good.
Also, I got the printouts that I’ve asked for. Thanks a lot! I’ve already laminated them and I’ll put them into good use.
And, I got those beef jerky from SendOutCards. That was awesome! I love beef jerky! It’s probably my favourite thing in the world. Probably the only thing that’s better is bacon, …and [potato] chips, …and maybe poutine. But I love beef jerky! That was really awesome. And, Dr. Pepper beef jerky, too…I’ve never even heard of that. That sounds kinda cool, too. I haven’t had it yet, but I’m excited for it.
Anyways, have a good week!
The Church is true.
I love you
-Elder Brandon Wong
I was afraid I wouldn't have time to write a letter (because someone was on the computer earlier), so I recorded a lot of it on the sound recorder of my camera. Turns out there was enough time to spare anyway.
[The rest of letter was dictated from his sound clip.]
First of all, Happy Remembrance Day! Here in America, they called it Veterans’ Day. I think it’s always on the 11th, just like ours is always on the 11th.
It was just another average week, except we went to San Angelo on Tuesday for interviews. Plus, Elder Cherrington and I went to Lubbock on Wednesday evening to go to the temple!
Ace Green had been baptized for a year now. He had invited me to come over and to go through the temple with him. And so, we’ve asked Brother Bryan if he could come and drive us to Lubbock. I think he’s pretty awesome. Brother Bryan drove us all the way up there and all the way back, and he didn’t even go through with us.
It was a very good experience. I got to see pretty much everyone from the ward that I served in Lubbock. There were a lot of people at the temple; the place was packed. Even President Robison and Brother Sybrowsky were there. I got to see Ace go through the temple. It was very nice. Also, I haven’t been to the temple for a long time. This was good.
Also, I got the printouts that I’ve asked for. Thanks a lot! I’ve already laminated them and I’ll put them into good use.
And, I got those beef jerky from SendOutCards. That was awesome! I love beef jerky! It’s probably my favourite thing in the world. Probably the only thing that’s better is bacon, …and [potato] chips, …and maybe poutine. But I love beef jerky! That was really awesome. And, Dr. Pepper beef jerky, too…I’ve never even heard of that. That sounds kinda cool, too. I haven’t had it yet, but I’m excited for it.
Anyways, have a good week!
The Church is true.
I love you
-Elder Brandon Wong
Thursday, November 5, 2009
Thursday, November 5, 2009 - Spiritually fed
Howdy, y'all!
What's up?
It's been a pretty unusual week. All the district and zone leaders drove up to Lubbock to have leadership training from Elder Christensen (of the first quorum of the Seventy). It was weird, since the district leaders only had one hour with him, and I thought, "we came all this way for one hour?" In the end, though, I had more notes than I had ever written from one meeting in my life!
During this and the zone conference the next day in Midland, we were truly spiritually fed. I love the way he thinks - very logically and practically. He has a good understanding of how God works, and how He wants us to work. He gave us a lot to think about and tips to improve our missionary work.
So, what happened is, the leaders from San Angelo and Brownwood drove to Abilene, we all hopped in the minivan (yay, carpooling in the minivan...), and drove to Lubbock. They gave us lunch there (McAllister's catering) and we drove back. Almost immediately after arriving in Abilene, we got all the others together and drove up to Midland. Around halfway there, we discovered a leak in one of our tires, but it wasn't bad enough to stop and change it. Upon arriving, we dropped the Sisters off at President Jones' house and we went to the Bushmans' for the night. We got to take a look at Brother Bushman's museum in his back yard (yes, museum). The next morning, they gave breakfast to all 16 missionaries who were staying there.
The zone conference itself was really short - it ended right after lunch. Afterwards, though, we had to stop at Discount Tire and wait for them to replace three tires (only one was leaking, but two others were so worn down that it was dangerous to drive). So we ended up having a lot of driving to do, but I think it was well worth it.
To answer your question, it seems that every church in Abilene had a Trunk-r-Treat.
Another thing, we are having our Family History public open house this evening. That reminds me: how much of our family history has been done? I know we have a book of remembrance and there's one line going back four generations on new.familysearch.org, but I don't know anything beyond that.
Alright, well, I hope y'all are doing well, and will have a good week!
The Church is true.
I love you!
-Elder Brandon Wong
What's up?
It's been a pretty unusual week. All the district and zone leaders drove up to Lubbock to have leadership training from Elder Christensen (of the first quorum of the Seventy). It was weird, since the district leaders only had one hour with him, and I thought, "we came all this way for one hour?" In the end, though, I had more notes than I had ever written from one meeting in my life!
During this and the zone conference the next day in Midland, we were truly spiritually fed. I love the way he thinks - very logically and practically. He has a good understanding of how God works, and how He wants us to work. He gave us a lot to think about and tips to improve our missionary work.
So, what happened is, the leaders from San Angelo and Brownwood drove to Abilene, we all hopped in the minivan (yay, carpooling in the minivan...), and drove to Lubbock. They gave us lunch there (McAllister's catering) and we drove back. Almost immediately after arriving in Abilene, we got all the others together and drove up to Midland. Around halfway there, we discovered a leak in one of our tires, but it wasn't bad enough to stop and change it. Upon arriving, we dropped the Sisters off at President Jones' house and we went to the Bushmans' for the night. We got to take a look at Brother Bushman's museum in his back yard (yes, museum). The next morning, they gave breakfast to all 16 missionaries who were staying there.
The zone conference itself was really short - it ended right after lunch. Afterwards, though, we had to stop at Discount Tire and wait for them to replace three tires (only one was leaking, but two others were so worn down that it was dangerous to drive). So we ended up having a lot of driving to do, but I think it was well worth it.
To answer your question, it seems that every church in Abilene had a Trunk-r-Treat.
Another thing, we are having our Family History public open house this evening. That reminds me: how much of our family history has been done? I know we have a book of remembrance and there's one line going back four generations on new.familysearch.org, but I don't know anything beyond that.
Alright, well, I hope y'all are doing well, and will have a good week!
The Church is true.
I love you!
-Elder Brandon Wong
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