Monday, June 22, 2009

6-22-09

Hey!What’s up? Sounds like everyone’s doing well. That’s so sick about Blake. He told me 2 weeks ago he sent his papers in and told me not to tell anyone so I didn’t but I'm so excited for him. Dominicans are so flippin hard to understand. That’s good that dad got my card, I hope he wore the pin ha. Happy fathers day dad! We had an activity at the church Saturday night for father’s day. It was pretty nuts. Some of the clothes of the women wouldn’t have been approved back in AZ but it’s all good ha. The reunion sounded fun. Today we were walking and saw the same movie “A COUPLE OF DICKS” getting filmed again and this time we saw Bruce Willis. He was like 50 feet away and was filming scenes. It was so awesome. My companion got videos and pics but I’m mad, cuz I didn’t have my camera. I heard a funny rumor about Mormons that I've never heard. My companion and I were walking down the street and I heard a lady ask who we were to some man in Spanish. She didn’t think a couple white boys would understand. I heard her, turned around and started talking to her. It was funny she was surprised. We told her we were Mormons and she said, oh you guys don’t believe in gasoline, what else do you not believe it? We just busted up laughing. Its funny the things people say about our church. I thought I had heard it all until then.This week was a good one. We baptized EFREN yesterday! It was so awesome. My companion baptized him this time cuz I baptized Geraldo. It was kinda sad cuz none of his family came to support him but we had members there and youth. It went really well. He’s so humble and has so much faith. We would teach him about the word of wisdom and tithing and would commit him to live them and he always says ill do it cuz I know god wants me to. He doesn’t have a dad that lives in the house and his mom always leaves him and his sisters so he and his older sister provide for the family. They don’t have any money at all but he has so much faith to say “I will pay tithing”. Geraldo calls us from Equador like everyday. We’re gonna get in trouble cuz it costs a ton but oh well we tell him not to call and he does. He is so grateful for us and for changing his life and bringing him into the truth. It wasn’t us, it was the spirit and we are only tools in Gods hands but it is an awesome experience to help out. He is meeting with the missionaries in Equador and his brother is interested in the church. He’s also doing baptisms for the dead this week. I found out last night that I’m staying in Ridgewood. My companion is also ha-ha it’s so weird, but he’s moving to the other Elders apartment and is district leader. I’m getting a new companion in our apartment. It’s pretty cool that were in the same district and branch but different companions now.I’m excited about this next transfer we get or new mission president and we have a few people that I think can get baptized. I’m looking forward to it. I’ve already been so lucky to have had 2 baptisms this early. That’s the average per missionary per year so I’ve been blessed. I’ve seen a lot of miracles here and it goes to show this isn’t my work it’s the lords and as long as I work hard people will fall into my path. The last 2 baptisms we got were people that randomly came to English class. It’s been a good tool to teach the gospel. I will send pictures next week of the baptism. I love you all and thanks for your love and support.

Love,
Elder Breinholt

Tuesday, June 16, 2009

"I'm living the dream" 6-15-2009

Hello,
I think I might be getting transferred next week so this might be my last week here. My companion and I are just gonna live the dream, cuz one of us is leaving so we went out and bought a gallon of ice cream and tons of things to make shakes. Its gonna be a good week ha. Did you get my pictures I put on the internet last week?This last week was great, but not too much happened. It was some Puerto Rican holiday yesterday which was Nuts! All of Brooklyn was parading in the streets with girls only wearing puertican flags and people going nuts. I was surprised we were allowed out. It was pretty cool to see and in a few weeks is Dominican holiday which is supposed to be just as crazy if not worse. My companion and I built a huge closet for a member that needed our help. Sometimes I think the members here don’t think missionaries do anything. They don’t know how busy we are, but I guess service is good. Not too much of anything else has happened. We've been teaching the 19 yr old kid still, Efren. He’s getting baptized on Sunday we hope. His mom left him and his sisters like a month ago with her boyfriend and then decided to show up last week. She’s been taught before and wanted to get baptized but couldn’t cuz she has a boyfriend and doesn’t want to get married. She likes the church but said she hates baptism. She’s mad cuz she couldn’t get baptized cuz she wants to keep sinning. Kinda retarded? Ya... She doesn’t want him to get baptized but we asked him what he’s gonna do and he said I'm 19, I’m getting baptized. He's hilarious.We had another new investigator come to church that we met on the street. We don’t know what’s up with him yet though. We've been working hard and same with the other Elders in our area but none of us have the greatest pools right now. We have been working a lot with less actives. We're trying to help the old branch president come back to church. He’s been inactive for 6 years now. The work is going good though and we just got to keep working hard. It’s difficult at times it’s all good I love it. I’m starting to put on some weight ha-ha I’m kinda scared cuz I've only been out 3 months and I’m not gonna tell you how much I’ve gained but like I said, I’m just not gonna worry about it, I’m living the dream.We have a zone activity right now so I got to go. Thanks for everything love you, Elder Breinholt

Thursday, June 11, 2009

The Book of Mormon has the power to change lives 6-8-09

Familia,

How are all you. Cory happy birthday!
Here is an explination of the pictures, the one with writing on our faces were from games we played at family nights. It’s a good way to get inactive back in the church or recent converts so we have them a lot. Mom send me a lot of pictures of stuff I have no pictures and its boring.I’m not worried about the bed bugs I haven’t been bit yet so who cares ha the other elders have them so as long as they stay on their mattresses I'm fine. Our apartment has always been pretty clean. We had the maggots for no reason it was crazy. I just sent some more pictures on the website so look at them. The parrots were just outside someone’s house so we started playing with them ha-ha it was really weird some guy was just chilling outside with them and the pictures of the city and stuff is around our house and from on the train which is right next to our house. This week was a rollercoaster ha it was nuts. I got beat up by a girl! Ha-ha not really but my companion and I were playing soccer on pday and we were kicking the ball back and forth. My ball was behind me and some kid was like hey that girls stealing your ball. Some crazy Dominican girl was in the street holding it. I yelled at her to give it back and she took off so I took off after her. One of her friends pushed me into a railing and they started cussing me out. There were 3 girls and one guy about 17 or 18. I simply said, give me my ball back and then she hit me in the face ha and took off so I chased her and I told the kid they better give it back or he'll be the one that gets hit ha-ha, I was pretty mad. We weren’t wearing nametags or anything so nobody knew I was a missionary and my companion was gonna fights them too ha. He started getting scared and yelled at the girls to give it back and finally they did. It sounds stupid, but you had to have been there. It was nuts ha-ha, I got hit by a girl! So that started the week. Some crazy guy in the middle of the week yelled at my companion and I as we walked by and said “JOHN SMITH WAS JUST A MAN.” I started busting up laughing and was like ya bro I know. He said john smith was just a man. He wasn’t Jesus Christ. We kept walking laughing and he came after us. Some nutty guy spent thirty minutes trying to tell us that he was basically Jesus Christ and we decided he was basically possessed. It was so crazy but one of the funniest things.Geraldo the kid from Equador that had been coming to church a ton and we dropped cuz he just didn’t want to get baptized. My companion had told him to pray about the church when we were talking on the phone one day about a week ago and we would pray for him and when he got an answer call us back. He called us back and told us he got a peaceful feeling and wanted to get baptized. We couldn’t believe it like I told you. He needed the permission of his mom like I said and he could get baptized. We met with him everyday and he asked his mom who lives in Equador twice if he could get baptized. She’s really strong in her church and so she told him he was crazy no way. He was Catholic for 4 years then Jehovah witness for 2 then Evangelista then his senti church for a year. We prayed so hard for his mom and fasted the she would let him make his own decision and be baptized cuz we needed the ok from her to baptize him. My companion and I taught him all week and had the district leader interview Geraldo Wednesday night. He had a testimony of the doctrine and covenants but still didn’t believe the book of Mormon was true. He doesn’t like to read chapters we ask him to read, he just likes to open the scriptures and where ever it opens he thinks that’s what god wants him to read. On Monday he did this and opened up to Alma chapter 5, I was stoked when he told us this cuz it’s a good chapter. We asked if he had verses he liked or had questions. He read verse 26 to us and said that when he had read it earlier that day he received a witness that the book of Mormon is true. It talks about having a change of heart and if you have can you feel it? He said he felt his heart change right then and there and testified of the book of Mormon. This was the biggest miracle, you have no idea what we went through to help him believe in the book of Mormon, he was so against it. Then Thursday morning my companion and I were planning on ways he could get the ok from his mom so Geraldo could be baptized Sunday. He called us and said his mom moved his flight from the 30th of June to this Tuesday morning. We were so depressed, we had prayed so hard and had planned so many things and met with him all week, so much work. Here you baptize one week and have to confirm the next. He couldn’t get confirmed cuz he would be gone and so he couldn’t get baptized. We told him to just get baptized in Equador but he said no way. You guys taught me for the last 3 months I won’t let anyone else baptize me, I only trust you guys. We made a plan to baptize him Saturday and see if we could confirm him Sunday. Just after we thought we could do this he calls us back and says his mom moved the flight up to Sunday morning! There goes all hope we thought! We had an appointment with Geraldo at the church at 7 and until then we walked around depressed because we had worked, prayed, seen all these miracles with him that you can’t believe and then he couldn’t get baptized. I prayed and said God, you gave us all these miracles and now he can’t get baptized. If it’s meant to be then it’s in your hands but if its not meant to be then it’s your will. We went to the church at 7 to meet Geraldo and he was upstairs in the church in a room with the district leader and we didn’t know why. We waited for him and then the president of the mission comes out with him and the district leader. We were like what the heck?! President says, 'well brethren I've interview this young man and he’s getting baptized Saturday night and confirmed right after! We couldn’t believe it! He told us he didn’t need the approval of his mom, it’s not a requirement. This was the biggest miracle ever. We made plans and had the baptism. I baptized him at 2 on Saturday, It was the coolest experience. My companion confirmed him and gave him the Holy Ghost right after. Geraldo then shared his testimony and it was the strongest experience ever he said he wants to serve a mission but his first mission is to convert his family. When he came out of the water and told me he felt so clean and was the happiest he's ever been. He was so thankful for my companion and me. He told us in his testimony how he received his answer that the church was true and we had never heard it. He said he was praying and saying the church wasn’t true, that Joseph smith wasn’t a prophet and the book of Mormon isn’t true. He said he heard a voice so loud and so clear that said incredulo (unbeliever). Then his heart started racing and he said he knew so strongly that this church was true. He has the strongest testimony and it was sad saying bye to him Saturday night. He was crying because he said we changed his life and he has to leave, he was so grateful. It strengthened my testimony so much that after all we can do the lord will step in and do the rest. I know the lord has a special work for this kid. You guys can’t even imagine the change in this kid, if you only had the slightest idea. I never thought I would see him get baptized but we were able to do it. I gave him a triple that I had for the first person I baptized. He said he'll read it all and was so excited to get it. Its crazy cuz as before he hated the book of Mormon and now he can’t put it down. It really has power to change lives. I’ve seen it and I know it’s true. Thanks for everything; I hope you have a good week. Love,Elder Breinholt

P.S. by the way it was really lucky i already witnessed (was a part of) a baptism. I guess the total baptisms a year in the mission is almost 500 so that means every missionary has 2 baptisms a year on average. Some go their whole missions without any. I'd heard the mission was high baptizing, but the statistics came in and its pretty terrible. 2 people a year. its really tough here so I was lucky to have had a baptism and we have another planned in 2 weeks so hopefully that goes through as planned. I'd just forgot to tell you. And I cant believe cory is driving and is a priest thats nuts !

Chinches, Bed Bugs!! 6-1-09

Hola,

Well its summer for all you! That’s freaking nuts I still can’t believe it. Everyone in New York graduates in a couple weeks its weird. That’s awesome that an apostle came to Blair's ward. Yeah my companion has been rough to deal with lately. He's a know it all and bugs the crap out of me but surprisingly I haven’t let it get to me too bad. I’ve learned patience with him and learned to bite my tongue. This past week was pretty good. I ate some cow guts with some investigators which was pretty cool. They weren't bad. We had our last interview with president. He leaves in 3 weeks and we get a new one which will be interesting to see what he does with the mission. He's the CEO of Intermountain Health care so I’m guessing he's pretty well off. They were filming a movie today 4 blocks away where we do laundry. It was in some diner and Bruce Willis is in it. Some comedy called a couple of dicks? They’re cops or something but it was cool. MOM, did you get the pictures I put on that website? You never said anything and I did it 2 weeks ago?..... By the way, WE HAVE CHINCHES!!!BED BUGS! It freaking sucks! They’re impossible to get rid of. The other 2 elders are getting their blood sucked like crazy at night and they have these huge bumps all over them. My companion and I don’t have them yet but it’s only a matter of time. Got to love New York ha-ha.This week we found a couple of good investigators and we're trying to tell people we're there from the beginning to baptize them so we don’t have a lot of people waste our time teaching and not wanting to be baptized. We have less people to teach but better ones. We dropped the kid from Equator last week Geraldo cuz he just wouldn’t except our teachings and was moving back to his country. He kept calling us in the beginning of the week but my companion didn’t want to talk to him cuz it was a waste of time. I said we needed to talk to him just so he doesn’t think we were his friends to baptize him and then get a bad view of the church. I decided to keep calling him everyday and show him we're friends. He told us Friday that his leader from his church had come to his house to visit him cuz he hadn’t been to church in 5 weeks cuz he'd been coming to ours. He told his leader everything and his leader showed him a couple ridiculous scriptures fighting our church and said pray. Geraldo called us and told us this and we said our church is the only church that has the authority on the earth. We talked about authority and bore testimony and then he went silent and got sad. He said he was confused again. We told him to forget EVERYTHING he had ever learned and been told from his leaders at his church and forget EVERYTHING we have taught him and just pray and call us back. We got off the phone and my companion and I pray that he would receive an answer. He called us back about an hour later and said he received a peaceful feeling and wants to get baptized. This was seriously a miracle. We didn’t believe it cuz he had always fought us and been ridiculous to deal with. We set a date for next Sunday and came to church yesterday for the 6th time. He's only 17 and has to get approval from his mom to be baptized who lives in Equador and is really involved in his old church. He called her and she said he couldn’t get baptized. My companion and I fasted all day yesterday and we're hoping that she has a change of heart so he can be baptized. He goes back to his country in 3 weeks so we're gonna prepare him as much as we can this week to see if we can baptize him and get his moms permission but if not he'll get baptized in Equador which kinda stinks but its better than nothing. We also had a kid come with us to church for the second week in a row. He’s 19, and his name is Efren. He's a funny little Hispanic. He said he knows the book of Mormon is true and wants to get baptized but wants to be prepared more so we're gonna try to help him prepare as well. It’s going to be a good week. I’m excited to see what happens with Geraldo. Sounds like you guys are all pretty busy at home having a lot of fun. Thanks for everything.

I love you, Elder Breinholt

May 25, 2009

Hello,

Well sounds pretty nuts at home right now with a lot going on. I can’t believe everyone’s graduated especially Taylor, that’s so weird. The summer is definitely here now.It’s Super humid and our apartment is rough on the 3rd floor and a little AC in the window ha. This morning was awesome, there are 4 elders in our pad and 2 phones that wake us up every morning. Both our phones were on silent from church yesterday so we ended up waking up at 730 instead of 630. We walk Into the kitchen and me and my companions study area and there’s like a million maggots all over the ground. We spent a long time vacuuming maggots and cleaning up the place. It was pretty terrible. Then we did our Laundry, shopping and went to the place where we email and it’s closed. Then we tried the library and it’s closed too because of the holiday, but finally we found a place to email.We’re going to the Brooklyn Bridge after I’m done to take pictures I think. It should be real cool.The thing that happened last week wasn’t anything to stress over just terrible. I woke up at 2 am with my companion and we listened to our neighbor under us beat his wife half to death for over an hour. Throwing things, both of them were screaming and there was nothing we could do. It was really sad but that’s life here it’s ridiculous. This past week was a hard one, probably the hardest but I’ll stay positive ha. We had so many appointments with solid investigators and all week almost all of them cancelled so we walked around fear Lessing a TON. We had to drop Geraldo the kid from Equador that we’ve spent so much time working with. He is moving back to Equador in 4 weeks and is just too hard hearted. We’ve been meeting with him every other day for five weeks, he's been to church 5 times but is so set in the ways of his church. We had a member comes with us who is probably the strongest member of the branch to teach with Geraldo. He explained the book of Mormon so well cuz Geraldo still has problems thinking it’s of God because the bible says you can’t add to it,but only an educated person knows that in the bible it says you can’t add to that certain book. He bore the strongest testimony and the spirit was there so strong and Geraldo just says, “the book of Mormon isn’t true". After that we all were in shock. The member later told us it felt like he had stabbed him in the heart with a dagger. It was hard to drop Geraldo because we worked so hard with him and its like we didn’t get our paycheck. He still came to church though which was kinda weird. We had 4 investigators at church with us. We're working with a couple guys my age who are way sweet. One of them already believes in our church after one visit. He has been researching the church online and knew more about Joseph smith than I do, just kidding, but his parents hate all other religions so we'll see what happens. We had a lot of good investigators drop last week but I guess it’s not their time to come into the church. My companion and I are trying to work with the less actives. We’re trying to work with the ex-branch president who has been inactive for 5 years since the last president were called. His wife who isn’t a member wants him to go back to church. Less actives are hard to work with because they juke us more than the investigators even if we call them the day of and remind them we're coming. The other elders had a baptism yesterday which was awesome. The kid is 20 and bore the strongest testimony afterwards. There’s been 2 baptisms since I've been here and both were in their 20's so Elder Childs and I are gonna focus on working with the youth in the branch and their friends. The problem is there’s not very members in our split off area and it’s hard to work with them, but usually success here is thru members. Its good to hear everything is well at home. I love you and thanks for all the support.

Love, Elder Breinholt

Blessed with PATIENCE 5-11-09

Well hey,It was good talking to all you yesterday. I'm glad you had a good mother’s day. Last week was a good week as you know.I've been spending a lot of time with this 17 yr old Geraldo from Equador. We meet with him almost everyday. He was strong catholic for 4 years and then was baptized in the Centi and was a leader for 2 years. It’s been hard to change his beliefs. He told us 2 nights ago that he wants to be able to bear his testimony of this church, and he wants to be able to say he knows Joseph Smith is a true prophet. He said he knows it was no coincidence that he saw a paper on the church when walking by 3 weeks ago for english class. He came to english class and we started talking to him about the gospel. He knows he was sent to us for a reason. He’s praying constantly and having a hard time reading the Book of Mormon cuz he’s so into the bible but he’s really looking for an answer. We had a lesson on receiving answers to prayers yesterday so I'm praying he receives one soon. He might move to Equador in a month but I hope not. Maybe he'll receive an answer and get baptized before then? He’s been to church 3 times and goes to all the activities.On Friday we had a mother’s day activity at the church. This branch has a HUGE problem with starting anything on time so they’re trying to change that. They said we would start at 7 Friday night. Me and my companion show up with 3 different investigators and we had a few less actives also show up at 7. The party didn’t end up starting till 840. It was so ridiculous. I was so frustrated cuz by around 730 we had 7 investigators there and they all waited. We had to leave at 915 cuz our curfew at 930 and a couple the investigators that came with us left with us. It was frustrating and I was embarrassed but there’s nothing I can do. One of our new investigators Carlos that we contacted on the train is awesome. He’s a young guy and we left him with a chapter to read last week. He came to the activity on Friday and said he read 10 chapters and promised us he'd read the whole book in a week. He's so sweet. We also have been teaching this one guy Rodriguez. He's struggling in life and needs the gospel bad. We taught him a lesson in an apartment he was living in and as we left he had to leave the keys inside take his laundry bag with all his belongings and we walked him to his car where he is now living. Pretty nuts. It’s hard to find work. We committed him for baptism and he said yes but I don’t think it’s gonna work out cuz he’s a freaking bum ha.Our district leader who is going to be a future apostle leaves home tomorrow and on Friday at district meeting he taught us the most amazing lesson on Your Calling and Election made sure. It was ridiculous. I have a different outlook on life. Anyone who wants to read talks on how to make your calling and election made sure. It’s basically ways to eventually receive a witness in this life that you will go to the celestial kingdom. It’s not easy but it’s a lifelong journey. Nothing too crazy happened this past week. No crazy stories. I’m staying here for another transfer at least with my companion. He’s cool but I really hope a switch next transfer cuz he’s starting to drive me nuts. Great missionary but I want to be with a companion that knows what he’s doing and that can teach me everything he knows so I can be a better missionary. I have to teach my companion a lot and he’s really difficult in many ways but I’m being blessed with PATIENCE Ha-ha it’s all good I love him. Thanks for everything and I love you all.

Love elder Breinholt

May 4, 2009

Familia,

Well mom sounds like your pretty crazy about this swine flu thing. I don’t really care about it. That’s crazy they closed a school in chandler. I guess we don’t really see the news so it doesn’t affect us. I saw it on in an investigators house and they closed the school that’s about 200 meters from our house? Basically the distance from our house to Greenfield elementary. Ha-ha it’s really close but president hasn’t said anything to us so it’ll be fine.I would like if you could buy some good arch supports and send them in a few weeks or next time you can. I don’t have a bunch of money or even time for that. And the magic tricks whenever too. Not books just easy cool little tricks is all.But I was planning on calling around 7 here next Sunday cuz I figured dad would be at church and all that stuff so ill try 730 which is 430 your time I believe. I’m pretty excited to call I’ve just got to figure out how I'm gonna do it and make sure there’s money on the account cuz I know I have to use a calling card. That’s awesome Robby bore his testimony. I was gonna yesterday but we ran out of time. My Spanish isn’t quite there yet anyway so I guess next month. Cory buzzed his head too? Ha-ha I did again today cuz it was getting too long. It’s a 3 on the sides and 4 on top so you know how it looks. I love it. Any Ways this past week was sweet. The Millers sent me a big package with tons of good stuff. It made my week.Not really any crazy stories. The supervisor of our apartment lives on the first floor and she got in a huge fight with her sons girlfriend. They were ripping out each others hair and saying a lot of colorful words which is normal. All they do is sit outside and smoke weed. We get high every time we walk into our building basically jk, but its nuts.We're teaching a lot of people right now. Not sure if anyone’s too close yet. Its hard cuz everyone’s catholic so they feel they need to be prepared to get baptized. We have a couple people that want to be baptized but just more preparation so we'll see. As for our other commit she has cancer and is getting surgery next week so we're not sure what’s going on with her. We have different investigators that have been coming to church with us but they just won’t commit to baptism. One girl is really shy but comes every week and she reads and progresses but every time we commit her for baptism she says she’s not ready. We read scriptures to help her out and testify, but I think it’s because her mom can’t get baptized cuz she works on Sundays or else she would and she’s really close to her mom and doesn’t want to do it with out her. The other kid is really strong in his other church and is really confused cuz of our different beliefs. He knows the bible front to back and it makes it hard to teach people like that but he loves us cuz we're the same age. Hopefully he humbles out.My testimony has grown so much being out here. I’m learning a lot of patience with my companion. Trying to not let the little things bother me. He just does a lot of things different but I just have to learn to deal with it. Transfers are next week but I think ill be staying in the same area. I’m starting to get to know the members a little more which are helping cuz we're starting to get their trust and they’re starting to give us referrals which are like gold. The mission is awesome and there’s no place else that would be better for me. It’s difficult at times but it’s so worth it when you can bear testimony of the truthfulness of the things we teach and feel the spirit teach through you. It’s really an awesome thing. I'll talk to you guys next Sunday around 4-430 your time, I’m so excited. I love you and thanks for all the updates.

Love Elder Breinholt

April 27, 2009

Hola,
Well I can’t believe kirstin is engaged! I knew she would but that’s nuts. She owes me a hundred bucks cuz I bet her she would be before summer. So we definitely skipped over spring here. It’s been raining since I've been here and freezing and then all the sudden the last couple days it got hot. I'm used to the cold and now so its 85 degrees here and I'm dying with the humidity. This last week went by so fast.I just heard about that swine epidemic today it sounds kinda crazy. I guess it’s in our area cuz we work in queens but whatever I’m not worried. I was sick Friday morning and threw up and stuff but I went out and got better. There’s always something crazy I see during the week and the crazy thing this week was pretty crazy. Me and Elder Childs were just walking along the road yesterday minding our own business and this car stops at a stop light, blocks the intersection with his car turned sideways and gets out of his car with another guy, goes to a BMW behind them and starts yelling. I’m standing there 15 feet away wondering what’s going on, then I’m looking for my companion and he’s halfway down the street. I’m like what the heck is going on and I looked at the guy again and he’s got this Huge glock out and so I decided I'd better get out of there too ha-ha it was pretty crazy we thought we were gonna witness a murder from a little road rage or something but nobody got shot. That’s about all I got for stories. But we’ve been really busy this past week.One of our commits dropped cuz she didn’t come to church but the other is still good to go. We've been getting fed like crazy by members. I’m gonna gain weight, I know it. The food is always the same. arroz con pollo. I’ve eaten some weird looking stuff but nothing too bad yet. We had a couple investigators at church. One girl comes every week she just doesn’t feel ready to be baptized she’s super shy it’s hard but were trying to get her to commit. We also had this kid that met with us 4 days in a row last week. He’s fresh from Equador just like everyone else but he was a leader in his church in Equador called the sent. It’s like a knock off of our church from what it sounds like. He wakes up every morning at 5 to read the bible. He says he feels the same spirit in our church that he felt in his. He loves meeting with us and is way interested but it’ll be hard to have him forget about his church and show him that this is the true church. He’s way sweet and we have a couple appointments with him this week. Its hard cuz most people here came here to work and all of them say they’re catholic so we leave them alone but we don’t give up. Most people think all religions are good and we're saved by faith and doing good things. It’s hard to explain there’s more to life and more things that are necessary to return back to god. We're teaching a lot of awesome people.I also have a sweet quarter trick that I do for little kids on the street. Magic is good to use cuz the people love when you’re good with their kids and then we share a message. It works out pretty good. A lot of the missionaries use magic in their lessons which is way cool cuz it keeps everyone’s attention. All I can say about church is be grateful for your wards and the members. It’s a whole other church out here. Nobody wants to serve and basically the missionaries run the branch. People get offended and leave the church for the littlest things. The branch President is an idiot but there’s nobody that can replace him. Just be grateful for your wards and the people cuz you don’t know how good you have it. I love it here and can’t believe it’s already been a month. It went by so fast. 21 more ha-ha I’m not even thinking about that it’s forever away.We're staying busy and learning a ton. I wish I would have studied more before I came out. It would have helped so much.Thanks for everything.
Love, Elder Breinholt

April 20, 2009

Hello,

Well it’s been a busy week. Sounds like everyone’s doing well at home. That’s crazy prom is this week I just realized school is almost over ha I have lost track of time. Well we have had a really busy week with a full schedule everyday. I got your package this week Thanks so much packages here are the best cuz we need food ha-ha that package was perfect thanks a lot everyone’s pretty jealous. Dad also sent me a card so thanks dad. The weather is ridiculous; it rains a ton and is always windy. But anyways, this week we found more new investigators than anyone did it was pretty crazy. I went on an exchange with the zone leader and we had to teach English class we brought an investigator, with us 30 minutes before class starts at the church and started teaching her the plan of salvation. When class started only one other lady showed up so we decided to keep teaching the plan of salvation. We drew it all up on the board and it was so good. My companion made it easy to understand using analogies and at the end a couple youth came in and bore their testimony cuz they were in the hall. We committed them both for baptism and they both said yes. I’m in the area of Ridgewood and there are 6 Spanish missionaries here so we have it split in 3 different areas. Luckily my companion I was on exchange with is getting the baptism for the investigator he brought and the other is in my area so she’s set for the 10th of May. We might have problems though cuz they have to go to church 3 times before getting baptized and she works on Sundays so we'll figure something out. Shell get baptized some time she’s golden. I and my companion got all our goals this week and more it was awesome. All our handwork the first 2 weeks and no success started to pay off this last week. Opportunities to serve were everywhere. I helped a lady on the street with a big box and she brought us into her appt where there were 3 older ladies. We thought to ourselves CRAP old ladies hate us cuz their all catholic and so set in their ways. We sat down and started talking to them. The lady we helped, her apartment burnt down Christmas Eve and she had it paid off so in New York when it’s paid off they stop paying insurance. She lost everything. She’s been struggling and so I think we can help her. The other 3 ladies ended up loving us for some reason and invited us to come over yesterday to eat it was awesome.I had a lot of cool experiences this week. We gave a couple blessings of comfort which were really cool. A couple weeks ago me and Elder Childs were coming home at night and our neighbors door was open which is right in front of our door about 2 feet and we had never talked to her. We felt prompted to say hi and share a short message. She had us look inside and on her wall was a huge portrait of her son. She told us 2 and half years ago he was thrown off a 5 story building. He was 19 and she doesn’t know how he died other than he was thrown off a building. She was crying and we testified she would see her son again. We have been visiting with her and shared with her family’s forever video and that was 2 weeks ago. This last week we came for an apt and she told us it was the only week she hadn’t cried in 2 years. She felt so at peace and comforted because we shared with her the plan of salvation. It was an awesome experience. We committed her yesterday and she’s gonna get baptized the 17th of May, She would the 10th but is getting surgery. I hope everything goes through with her she’s awesome. We also had a couple investigators at church. One of them is a 14 yr old girl whose sister my companion baptized and we confirmed she comes every week but is sooo shy, were trying to baptize her so we'll see. We also brought a really less active guy to church with us. He has the strongest testimony but fell away for some reason. We did some service for him for a couple hours Saturday and he can help out the branch so much. We also had a less active family come because we helped them move and they appreciated it so much they promised they’d come and they loved it. It’s really cool to see people come back to the church. The church here is like another country. People we talk to on the streets are constantly telling us, I was a member of your church before but the branch Pres. was taking the tithing money and tons of stuff like that. A few months ago someone from the 70 came and talked to our branch because little things that someone thinks turns into doctrine to them and then if you try to change it people get offended and leave the church. In our branch they said you can’t take the sacrament if you’re not a member. The guy from the 70 came and laid it on them I heard but in a loving way. The branch Pres doesn’t give new converts callings and doesn’t really do his job. The counselors don’t even know what they’re doing it’s so crazy. Things are starting to turn around though. I heard a little bit ago the church was so bad here but it’s completely headed back to where it’s supposed to be. The youth are awesome here. There’s only a few but they’re so sweet. They come on exchanges with us all the time and with out them we'd be in trouble. We’ve been doing family nights with investigators it’s been pretty sweet they love it. I get to call in 3 weeks I'm pretty excited it’s only been 3 weeks but there’s always a lot to talk about. My companion is a good guy but he’s only been out 4 more months than me so there’s not a whole lot to learn from him. Were both learning. He likes to teach most of the lessons so I’m starting to get frustrated cuz I need to learn Spanish so hopefully this week is better. Thanks again for the package. Everything is good here I love it. It’s not easy but it’s fun and interesting. I’m learning a lot that’s for sure. We got done playing soccer Saturday with investigators and members and we leave the park and there’s a brand new BMW M5 on the street totally ruined. The tires were popped, windows bashed, backseat full of gasoline, hood with holes in it. It made me sick I guess a drug deal gone bad. I’m learning a lot of patience with the black kids that have mouths. I wanted to kill one so bad but that’s probably why I came to New York for patience. Its non stop cussing everywhere we go its crazy nobody cares and there’s no modest dressing that’s for sure lots of things you don’t want to see that you do. Everyday is interesting. The other day we were walking along and this guy is sitting outside with these huge Parrots on his fence ill send pictures if I can. People are crazy man this place is wild but it’s awesome. I’m still having bad arch pains so if you can in a few weeks send some good arch supports cuz the ones I've been using are worn down. Thanks for everything have a good week.

Love elder Breinholt

P. S. This is really important and I forgot to tell you. This is kinda a big deal for me. I SHAVED MY HEAD today ha-ha one of the zone leaders elder Rios did it. It’s a number 3. I wish I would have always done it like this it looks so sweet ill take a picture and you’ll see sometime but I love it. Ha-ha just wanted to tell you that cuz it’s pretty wild. Love ya ----

April 6, 2009

Well hello,

Thanks for your messages as you know it’s been a couple weeks since I've been able to email. New York is awesome. It's sooo much better than the MTC. The first second we got off the plane we went to a place called Jamaica. You could imagine who lives there, Jamaicans. They’re all black and it’s in Queens, pretty ghetto. We started contacting in Spanish and it was so fun. We slept at the president’s house last Monday and then Tuesday had some meetings.My companions name is Elder Childs and He is from Nevada. He is Awesome, My prayers were answered ha-ha I just wanted a companion I wouldn’t want to kill and he is a cool guy and is 5 foot six instead of 6 ft. 6 like my last companion so I'm happy. He’s been out for 7 months and his Spanish is really good. He does magic tricks to entertain the kids and so they love us. I’ve learned a few already its kinda fun. The first night we went out and “fearlessed” which means just talked to people on the street. We had all these appointments but of course nobody lets us in. I thought dad walked fast, but my companion walks faster. We basically run everywhere it’s awesome. We get fed so much by the members. The church is SOO weak here but the members even if they’re less active which almost all are, will feed us a lot. The branch president doesn’t even show up to priesthood. There were maybe 10 members total at conference and that’s from 2 branches. Shows you how weak the church is here. Theyre from Equador, Mexico, and everywhere you could think of.My companion is white and we live with the zone leaders. Everyone is chill. I am in an area called Ridgewood in Brooklyn. There are no houses. Just all 4 story apartments. We live on a third story. They’re pretty crappy inside but we have hot water and were living as good as everyone else. There’s nothing but shops and apartment buildings with graffiti all over the roofs. There are churches everywhere. Every religion you can think of is in New York. There are tons of Jews and they have crazy hair and look funny, there is so much adversity it’s ridiculous. We have mice but its fun to kill them. There is no such thing as germs anymore ha-ha; we all use the same dishes. I’m learning how to cook too. The Elders I live with like to cook. We’re right across the river from Manhattan so we see the city everyday. It looks so cool but we don’t get to go there. We walk almost everywhere but we ride the train a lot which is cool cuz it’s above the roads. Me and my companion teach English classes on Thursday nights for free at the church. We share spiritual thoughts after and that’s how my companion baptized his last person. We talk to people EVERYWHERE we go. We have a lot of investigators but the thing about Spanish people is they tell you they’re interested and so you get their address and make an appointment. When you show up they NEVER answer ha. Its so frustrating cuz we spend so much time walking to their house and it’s a waste of time. We have a few people that are interested and I’m hoping we can get a baptism in the next month. They have to go to church 3 times before getting baptized but we don’t really have anyone too interested.I thought I could understand Spanish until I got here. I don’t understand hardly anything ha-ha. The Puerto Ricans are speaking a different language. I catch bits and pieces and just bear my testimony. I’m getting better. I love it here though. It’s so fun. My and my companion run every other morning and do other exercises the other mornings, I don’t want to get fat. The food from the members isn’t great but I eat whatever they give me cuz living off 40 bucks a week is rough so I take what I can get. They mostly feed us rice and chicken so it’s all good. Some of the stuff is interesting but whatever. We try to work with the less actives a lot and the hardest thing is getting into houses. Spanish people aren’t very good at keeping appointments. They just make an appointment to make you feel good and then don’t care about the rest. We had 2 really good lessons last night though. Conference was Awesome. We had a lady show up with us who hasn’t been to church in 30 years so it was awesome to see her there. Its crazy how much more appreciative I am of conference and of talks from general authorities since I’ve been on a mission. My perspective on life is totally different. I’ve learned so much and my testimony is so strong. The field is so much better than the MTC in every way ha-ha I love it. It rains a lot and is pretty ghetto where we are but it’s so fun. We're confirming someone this Sunday who my companion baptized a week ago. I wish you could all see what area I’m in its pretty sweet; nobody likes to talk to you. We basically run after people on the sidewalks to talk to them ha-ha and all the white people won’t look at you or say hi when you say hello; I just crack up. We don’t knock doors cuz there are no doors to knock. All the Apartment buildings are locked and can only be opened if you call someone on the door and they open it for you and nobody does, so we walk the streets which are full of people. It’s a whole different world here. I can’t really explain how unhappy people are and how lost they are. No matter how many people reject us or don’t let us in, its still fine because the more we show heavenly father were trying and we keep our faith up well be blessed.I’m not gonna lie, it’s hard out here but I think that’s why I love it so much. It really is all about attitude. It doesn’t get easier to wake up and at night were so tired we pass out. WE walk miles a day and are working as hard as possible. We don’t have a lunch but have PAD time from 3-5 each day which is prep time for appointments and dinner/lunch. Apartments are called Pads’ in New York. You don’t call them apartments. My Spanish is terrible, and I’m not forced to speak it so it’s hard to learn. Everyone is pretty understanding cuz they’re all learning English so they know what its like. I try to speak and if I mess up the people help out so it’s not bad. Everyone speaks a little different cuz there are so many countries so you have to learn to say certain things to people from different countries. Hopefully ill learn quickly. There is not enough time in a day to learn. Personal study, companion, and language study isn’t long enough. We only have an hour for each. We leave the pad at 11 everyday and have to be in at 9. Don’t ever send packages to our pad. They get stolen. My companion had a package sent to our pad and the landlord saw someone walking away with it and had to chase him down. Were in New York, packages on the sidewalk will be gone it 2 seconds. Always send packages to the mission home. The zone leaders will pick them up and bring them to us every week or two so try not to send food that goes bad fast but please do send food. By the way THANKS FOR THE PACKAGE. It saved me so much money and my companion and the zone leaders love you. We needed all that stuff and thanks so much. It was hard getting it to our pad from the mission home on trains and buses but it was worth it. Give names to the missionaries always, Members are the best way to find people. Always be thinking of someone that can benefit from the gospel which is EVERYONE so ALWAYS give names to the missionaries. It’s so important. I hope everything is well at home. Everything is great here. I’m loving it. It is frustrating and hard but I’m learning a lot of patience ha-ha that’s why I was sent to New York. I just let things roll of my back now. You have to learn to just keep going with a good attitude or you get stuck in the past. The mission office address is 85-69 60th drive. Elmhurst, New York 11373. Send packages there please. And send cash randomly please not on credit card cuz lots of places only take cash. Thanks for your support, love, and prayers. I love you all. Let me know if I forgot to say anything or if you have any questions ha-ha sorry for all the randomness but there’s so much to write.

Love, Elder Breinholt

March 23, 2009

Hey everyone,

Sounds like last week was fun thanks for rubbing it in ha-ha just kidding it really doesn’t bother me I know that what im doing here is way more important so it’s all good. I gotten no mail for a week and a half kind of sucks but whatever. I HAVE ONE MORE WEEK HERE!! I got my flight plans I leave next Monday the 30th at 830 am. Direct flight to New York kind, I will call at the airport if I have time. This week was super hard but I’ll try to be positive ha. we had to learn lesson 2 in Spanish and teach baptism and the word of wisdom. Really stressful and hard week but it was a relief when my companion and I taught. Our teacher spoke with the lady we taught afterwards and told her she was a convert 10 yrs ago at the age of 12 and as we were teaching her she said she didn’t think she could ever feel what she did when the missionaries first taught her again, but she did. It was a cool experience. L. tom Perry from the 12 also came this week. Once again the room changed dramatically as soon as he walked in, it was so cool. He spoke about the importance of being with your companion all the time and NEVER being alone cuz the world today is corrupt. Living with and learning to deal with a companion is one of the most important things we can learn on a mission. He spoke about the importance of being willing to listen and be taught by your companion. We need to stay humble so we can do this. Learn to serve each other and develop a love for each other. I’ve noticed as I try and serve my companion we get along a lot better, however we get on each other once in a while cuz were together 24/7 which is rough being with a dude that long. In D & C 121:46, it talks about the spirit being our companion. We have a companion the rest of our lives which is the Holy Ghost. We are commanded to always be with our companion. When we have contention that constant companion leaves us. Our companions protect us and help us and when the Holy Ghost leaves us we are not protected. Make sure that as you’re at home, you’re striving to always have the companionship of the Holy Ghost with you. He’s there to protect us and guide us; take advantage of that. His testimony was like thunder it was awesome.We also were able to be a part of the draper temple dedication yesterday. A building here was an extension to the temple for the day and we all participated. It was so cool we got to hear the prophet and 2 apostles speak. We all sang the spirit of god afterwards and the building was shaking. Over 2000 missionaries singing this, try to imagine the spirit. I know the church is true and i'm so excited to finally go teach. I cant wait to get outta here, its nice and everything but I’m ready to leave ha. Thanks for your support I love you all have a good week. Hopefully I can talk to you guys. Be ready around 6-630am cuz were an hour ahead in Utah. Love elder Breinholt

March 16, 2009

hey familia,

This week was really good, probably the best week at the MTC. To start off an elder in my district had his girlfriend sneak us some real cheeseburgers in. We have never been so happy in all our lives! You should have seen everyone drooling ha-ha. During service this week we also found "the pillow room". Its a huge room full of pillows 5 ft. high. me and a couple elders set up jumps and would get running starts and do flips, It's best thing I've done in 2 months fun wise. We also had zone conference on Friday and it was so awesome. I learned a lot about the atonement and it pumped us up to get in the field and work. For the fireside on Tuesday James J. Hamula spoke to us. I'm callin it right now that he's the next apostle they'll announce it in a couple weeks, it was a really good talk. He spoke about our return to God. The greatest question of our existence is whether upon our return to our presence of god, we will be able to stay or be turned away. The power of redemption of sin is for everyone but it is not free. As missionaries we are to inspire faith in the lord Jesus Christ, inspirer and motivate people to prepare to meet God. When you understand why and what our purpose is you will invite others to make commitments. If interest is in the investigator you will not only teach doctrine but invite them to live it. By being here we realize that this is the most important thing we can do, is to invite others to come closer to Christ and to look at the eternal perspective of things. Our purpose is to prepare to meet Heavenly Father, our job is to teach others this. Its not just something I can do as a missionary but for the rest of my life. The message that stood out to me the most was we will all return to God but thats why the atonement is so important. I cant imagine the feeling of being turned away from the presence of the Lord. I gave an hour talk yesterday in our zone about Christ's earthly ministry. I'm sure all of you know a lot about it but I invite you to study his life while on earth, this week. I promise you will gain or regain a better appreciation for the atonement. I love you all and am grateful for your support. I'm so excited to go to new York in 2 weeks. my Spanish still isn't great but with a few more months I'm sure ill catch on. I know that this is gonna be the best 2 years of my life. It isn't easy and I know it will get a lot harder but I'm going love it. as Leroy says its all about attitude.

I love you, Elder Breinholt

March 9, 2009

hey everyone,

I want to start by saying thanks for all your support and for all the cousins letters. they were awesome. I think everyone thinks I'm in New York already but I'm not for 3 more weeks. I wish I were. I would love to write them all back but I cant with time so tell them how much I appreciate them. This week I got to go into Provo with my companion he might be getting back surgery, a compression fracture to vertebrae but well see. I have 3 more weeks here and its hard but with I good attitude I've learned to love it. I have grown so close to so many people. Tyler is in my zone and 2 doors down from me. I think he was put in my zone for a reason he's struggling really bad. I've been trying to help him but I don't know all I can do is pray. His companion got sent home this week and that was hard on him , pray for him and write him or something. I've learned a lot this week. We had the opportunity to hear from Yoshihiko Kikuchi from the first quorum of the seventy it was such a powerful talk , he's awesome. He spoke on repentance and as we serve the lord we get closer to him the more we serve god we will receive cleanliness , as we continually serve the lord our tears and sins can become patched together as one again. A s we read the B.O.M everyday, we are promised the spirit of the lord. He also promised us some pretty cool things. We also had a devotional on the spirit of the lord and as we try to listen to the spirit and recognize the language of the lord we will realize how much the spirit whispers to us. When we learn this the lord will speak to us more and more. I have learned I need to forget about myself cuz this is the lords work. Its been really hard with everything but I'm trying to be obedient and work hard. Yesterday in priesthood we talked for an hour on priesthood blessings our branch president is problem the most amazing guy I've ever met. He told us of all these crazy miracles because of priesthood blessings and how to speak thought the spirit , I learned sooo much. He talks to all the apostles and has received blessings from many of them. His stories are so amazing. Don't ever be scared of asking for a priesthood blessing sometimes things happen because Heavenly Father wants us to not forget about the power of priesthood blessings. Its good to hear everything is well at home. Thanks for your letters mom dad and Cory I loved them. mom, I cant read your handwriting ha-ha and I sent that memory card a few weeks ago so just send new ones? I love you all and thanks for everything.

Elder D. Breinholt -----

Feb 16, 2009

hey familia,

I like the family picture it looks good thanks so much for the package. Its almost been 3 weeks, just 6 more. It seems like I've been here forever, but its only just begun. The butt pads you sent were the best thing ever my companion says thanks and he loves you. I haven't gained any weight cuz I've been running and I drink Metamucil so I have normal poops ha-ha. I don't eat junk and run everyday how's the rest of the family at home? I finally hear from Cory but no Robbie? dad, thanks for writing me it was really good and helped to hear that. I am working hard, I'm kind of bummed about being district leader cuz I have meetings now which stinks but oh well. Mom I'm sending you my 4 gig card and send me 2 2gigs. Sundays are the best days we study in the morning and prepare a talk in Spanish cuz each week we are randomly assigned to talk in sacrament so we have a subject to prepare, we then go to priesthood and sacrament, then rest for a couple hours and have a fireside at night then a movie; I love Sundays. We all took an attribute test on the computer and of course the thing I need to work on is patience. I have already been getting better with it but my goal is to be way more patient by the time I get home. I read that being grateful for what you have will help you to be more patient instead of focusing on what's going on and getting frustrated or mad I need to stop and think how grateful I am for everything I have. In doctrine and covenants 78:19 it says we received al things with thankfulness and shall be made glorious and be blessed, last night we had a great devotional and talked about our blessings serving a mission and how it will always bless our live; we heard some good stories. I love Tuesday nights the most cuz we have general authorities come and talk. I'll write a letter about it this week.
I love you all. thanks for everything
Elder D. Breinholt ....

Feb 9, 2009

hello familia,

This week has gone by fast. I'm getting used to the daily routine.It's very long still class is about 12 hours a day and I don't even know how to think anymore for myself I feel like I'm in concentration camp ha but its all good. All we do is eat study and pray. I run everyday in the gym so I 'm losing weight which is good. Today is Monday, p day so we got to go to the temple again it was awesome, we also get to do laundry and email but other than that its the same as every other day. Tuesdays we have devotionals and last weeks was soo good. we got to watch the restoration of Joseph smith movie last night on Sunday and it made me feel terrible. the early saints went through so much so that we could have the gospel and I'm complaining about the MTC. don't worry I repented. I cant wait to get in the field. This is hard and I need to learn the language but its rough. we have 10 elders in our district and 4 of them leave next week to the Guatemalan MTC so there will be 3 of us going to new York including my companion and 3 going to Costa Rica. My district it cool so it helps a lot. We had someone speak at the fireside last week from the 70. the spirit was so strong. he told us stories and of what to do if we get held up at gun point, so don't worry mom I know what to do haha. I also learned that we are given mission calls directly from god to only apostles. He told us how it worked. its so good to know I'm going to New York for a certain reason.. I taught the first lesson with my companion and got reviewed. we did really good surprisingly. He is a cool kid but staying with him non stop gets annoying but we have to learn to love each other. he's just a little slow sometimes but its ok. Its good to hear everyone's doing alright. thanks for sending that package it means so much. I love you all. keep doing what your doing. write letters.

I love you....Elder Breinholt