Mother's Day!

Helllllo Home!

OH my stars it was so good to be able to call home and talk to my family- love you all SO much! Sorry I was so waterworks! Haha I just get all worked up sometimes! I felt SUCH a warm peace afterwards, knowing that all of you are safe and happy and well and all that jazz :)

I'm so excited for tomorrow night! We're having a special Spanish fireside by Elder Lynn Robbins of the Quorum of the Seventy- he's coming and speaking in the Kingsbridge Chapel! All the Missionaries are invited too, and we're bringing with us a bunch of recent converts and investigators! I'm so excited! The little flyers we're passing out to our members and teaching pool say "Especially for those who have recently joined the Church and for those who are non-members!" We're taking with us (I'm PRAYING) at least 6 of our current investigators, if not more! Oh I'm excited! :D

Haha funny experience Yesterday... we had a lookup for a man named Victor in one of the big apartment buildings down in our area, so Juan from the ward (our future-missionary), Elder Minter (we were on a companionship exchange, District Leader stuff...) and I went out to search for this Victor man. We went all the way to the top to what was supposed to be his apartment, but a lady answered and told us to go knock on a different door, and the family there would know how to reach this Victor. We said thank you and gave her a pass-along card and went a few floors down to the other apartment. The same thing happened- a man answered... "Victor... Victor... ya know, go to apartment 2G, their a friend of his sister..." So again, we said thank you, asked him if we could come back and teach him (said no, but took a pass along card), and went on our way to a different apartment in search of Victor. This process repeated several times! It was like our fun little game of Clue- only "Where's Victor?" We would ask "Se encuentra Victor?" We'd always get back a funny answer like "Uhh, the fat guy? Yeah I know somebody who knows him.." So we played this game for quite a while- to find out that the Victor we'd been searching for was no longer living there- but that it was also the wrong Victor. Hahaha! At least we got a few good contacts in the building!

.......then the computer cut out on him.....GAH.

Wednesday, May 5, 2010

Cinco de Mayo!

OH hello!

Another week has simply flown by! It's a Beautiful May morning here and it's glorious!! NYC in the Spring!

So last week Momma asked how transfers work...

SO. The Monday night before transfers (Transfers are on Wednesdays) the Zone Leaders get a call from someone in the Office (President, Assistants, or Senior Couples) as to who is being transferred and who is staying. The Zone leaders then call the district leaders, who then call the individual missionaries to tell them they are being transferred. That way, you have a full day (more or less) to say goodbye to ward members and investigators before getting shipped off to your new area on Wednesday morning. It's quite the process. We all meet in the gym at the Kingsbridge Chapel where we meet the new incoming missionaries from the MTC, say goodbye to the old missionaries going home, and have a big suspenseful party as the names of who-will-be-who's-new-companion are shouted out by the Assistants. There are hugs and shouts and occasionally tears as old friends reunite and new friends are made. It's all very strategical. Bahahaha if I was mission President... I would tell everyone to pack up (all 150 Missionaries) and we'd meet in a big open field. I wouldn't call beforehand to let anybody know if they were being transferred... then I'd shout at them "RUN! GO! PICK YOUR NEW COMPANION!!" Bahaha then I'd laugh an evil laugh as the chaos ensued. Good thing the Lord gives the direction and not me, right? Hehehe...

SO I heard there was a tornado in Utah? In Logan nonetheless? Whaaa? Somebody fill me in!

Maaa, Have you gotten my letter in the mail yet?! I sent you a birthday card! :) Also, THANK YOU so much for the package- I got it yesterday- the sudafed and benadryl work miracles! :) I LOVE getting letters from you. Some Elder's parents have stopped writing their Missionaries- promise me that won't be you guys! :( haha I know it won't be- you guys are my best friends! :) Although I don't get to write back much due to time, please know that I think about you ALL the time-

I love my new companion Elder Prue! He's going to hit his year mark in a couple of days, so neither of us are quite Veterans I'd say. We work good together- we're a team! We have some big plans for our area and hope to see some fruit this cycle! We have already hit it off well and have taught some great new families and hope to teach more!

So I'm on top bunk, right? Maybe this should change. A few nights ago, I somehow managed to fall off during the middle of the night and bonk my head REALLY hard on the wooden armrest of the couch. This must have knocked something (hopefully temporarily) loose, because for some reason my next thought was "Bathtub!" ....? ....? I know, right? So I crawled to the bathtub rubbing my head and just climbed in and laid there for a good half a minute... until I kinda came to and realized I was laying in an empty bathtub in the middle of the night. SoI crawled back to my bed very confused and went back to sleep! I really don't understand quite what happened but I woke up the next morning and had to laugh at myself (as I babied the big bump on the back of my head!!)!

Yesterday our zone and the Kingsbridge zone had a meeting with President Smith at the Kingsbridge Chapel. It was so cool! We talked about numbers and baptisms and the new vision of the mission. We also got spiffy new notebooks full of information and stuff! Oooh! I love President Smith- he's such an incredible man! When does Bishop Taylor leave for the MTC, do ya know? That's so exciting! He's going to be so great!

Yesterday I was giving a blessing to a sick less active woman in the ward!! It was such a powerful blessing! It never fails to amaze me how much the Lord has to say through his Priesthood Holders!

The other night, Elder Prue, Juan and I did a really sweet FHE for one of the families in the Ward! It's a Sister and her 4 children, from age 12 and down! I went to the store and bought a $2 white polo shirt and took some sharpie pens over. Then, I read with them in Alma the story of Captain Moroni and the Title of Liberty. Then we all went crazy and rent the shirt into peices and wrote on them the things we would defend! Liberty! Religion! Family! Jesus! All the kids wrote down the things they would fight for- and one of the younger girls wrote "Los Elderes!" That's me! Awww it was so cool!

Oh and next week P-day will be on Tuesday, because we have a Meeting up in Scarsdale on Wednesday!

Baahahah we're going to another Yankee's game! President is going too! Haha a lot of missionaries go this time of year apparently!

OH! And Bishop Zamora in the Ward! Deseret called him and they want to do a special documentary segment on his family for part of a special they are making about the Temple! Bishop said he would try to pull some strings and get our district in part of it! Hahaha how cool would that be?!

So, funny story... We were leaving our apartment in the elevator and we asked a little old lady in with us how she was doing. She said "Fine, how about you?" I replied "I'm great!" She then got a slightly crazed look in her eyes and contorted her face and in a very creepy-witches-from-Macbeth-like way said "You wouldn't be great if you knew what I knew..." I nervously/awkwardly glanced at the other Elders in the elevator ... and turned back and said, "Oh... yeah? What do you know..?" Trying to sound truly inquisitive and trying not to crack up. She said "We're all going to... DIE! There's a big volcano under this blasted city and it's going to EXPLODE!! Then she cackled and hobbled out of the Elevator... Bahaha we all busted up laughing!! I wish I had it on video!! It was priceless!

OH right. So I bought some little Empenadas from a street vendor down in our area- we were very hungry, and you've never truly lived until you buy Hispanic food from some little Hispanis guys van-bodega. I saw on the menu everything that I thought sounded familiar... so I ordered a combination empenada. I took a first bite- it was good, but very odd and different tasting. I took another- and again it seemed completely new to me. I kinda peeked inside... and nearly threw up. (maybe I should have, considering that what I saw was now resting inside my stomach...) Turns out there is a delicacy in Ecuador called Cui- its like a rat/guinea pig thing, and lots of families cook it for special occasions. I was eating BABY CUI- and they were still full bodied in my meal!! Their little tails and all! AHHHH!! Bahaha!

Hermana Walker got transferred to Inwood in South Manhattan- so her singing will be missed so badly in the Olmstead ward! Luckily, she got special permission to come to the baptism of her investigator last Saturday, and her and I sang "El Espiritu de Dios" (Hymn 2) as our last final harrah!

We had an incredible first lesson the other day! I LOVE teaching the Restoration. It always amazes me. The Story of it is quite incredible- and for some just hearing the facts simply seems impossible. But when coupled with the Spirit- it's one of the most powerful experiences I've ever experienced. It's so funny- (well not funny funny, but funny), EVERY SINGLE TIME a missionary starts to talk about Joseph Smith's first vision- SOMETHING goes wrong. A telephone rings, the police come banging on the door, a child in the house goes feral and loses his mind- SOMETHING always always always goes wrong. It's actually, to me, a testimony in and of itself- the message we have to share is SO important- anything the Adversary can try to do to stop it he will do. Still, even with the hectic and annoying disturbances, the First Vision invites the spirit into the room SO strongly and It edifies everyone there. Every time I teach it, my OWN testimony gets strengthened- my Spirit shouts and says "Hey! I know that's true!"

I love my Mission with all my heart!! It's tough- but I'm doing just fine! Thank you for all your love and prayers for me out here!

Church is TRUE!

Be Safe, Be Happy, Be Strong!!

Always,

Elder Brandon Hellberg

Wednesday April 28, 2010

Let round 3 begin!!

BWONNNGG!! *big orchestra symbol*

Ahem.

SO this morning was...

DUM DUM DUM

TRANSFERS!!!

And finally I have a companion!! After 2 weeks of going solo (and crazy mind you) I finally have.. Elder Prue! From Orem, UT! He seems great! He's been out for 9 months, so we're both pretty new in the Mission-but we're gonna PWN i can tell. I've only been with him for about 2 hours but I love him already! He's been in the mission for 9 months! I'm SO happy to stay here in Olmstead! I'm not done serving here! I was relieved to stay :)

Quick story from Monday..

SO Elder Fox, Elder Bayard and I went down to my area to look up what i thought was a sweet street contact. So we go down there, all prepped and excited to start teaching this family i met on the Zone Blitz a week before. I'm leading us around my area looking for an apartment building, and after searching this one giant street to no avail, I discovered that we had been on the wrong street.... for nearly 25 minutes. FAIL. SO I redirected us to the correct street, and we continued looking for another half an hour- turns out the phone# and apartment# were FAKES. EPIC FAIL. I was very disappointed and feeling rather low, when I realized that in our wandering, we had come near a building of the home of an investigator that we were about to drop because she wasn't keeping any commits. I strongly felt the need to go back to the building, even though I knew she probably wouldn't be there. We went inside, climbed 4 flights of stairs, and knocked. We waited. We knocked again. We Waited again. Nothing. By this point I was very frustrated and felt not only sad and disappointed but felt embarrassed and dumb. We had what felt like wasted almost 2 hours in my area, with no success. We went back down the stairs and as we were exiting the building, we ran into a little Ecuadorian woman with a little girl and a massive laundry bag in a big cart. I offered to help and back up the stairs we went, Elder Bayard and I carrying the cart for this woman. We kinda talked to her on the way up to her 5th floor apartment, and then started talking to her about the church at the top. She told us she was actually baptized many years ago in a small branch in Ecuador! She told us that when she moved here to New York, she got married and couldn't find a church close to her apartment so she stopped coming. She told us that she recently got an unlimited metrocard and would love to start coming back to church!! As we were talking about this, her little girl ran over to a door for no apparent reason and started to knock- we all laughed and said "Look she's a little Missionary too!" As her mom pulled her back and told her not to knock on other's doors, the door opened, and when the Ecuadorian woman started to apologize to the lady that opened the door, we immediately started a contact with her. Pretty soon, us 3 Elders and the Ecuadorian woman were testifying and the lady in the door said she wanted us to come back and teach our "beautiful message" to her family! THEN (I know there's more, right?) on the way out of the building, we ran into the lady we went to go see originally- the lady we were going to drop. She came running up and said "Elders! Can you come see me tomorrow? I have so many questions!" She told us that she read the chapter in 3 Nephi 11 like we asked, but that she couldn't stop reading and is almost done with Moroni! Hahaha! So awesome! We left and I literally felt like laughing- I was so relieved, and felt silly for being so frustrated- THIS is the LORD'S work. I just need to be happy, do my best, and be obedient- and the Lord's got my back.

Yes Mariano got baptized! So sweet! He's so awesome! He's getting the Aaronic Priesthood this coming week and getting set apart as a Priest! Then him and I are going to bless the sacrament together (en Espanol) in 2 weeks! Woot!

I have some new pictures to send home soon! Of the Yankee game and baptisms and a bunch of stuff!

The weather here has been rainy recently- but I love it! The rain just kind of... i dunno, equalizes me. I feel right in the rain. Dad did always call me the family fish.. always in the water..

Sister Walker got transferred and we had a big (sad) party for her last night in the Ward. Her and I sang "You Can Change" from EFY 2009 and For Good from Wicked.. so sad! Haha she's like a wise older Sister to me (and most the other Elderes in the zone)- she'll be missed! Especially by ME becuase now I have nobody to trade off with playing the Organ at church! Dang it! Hahah!

Last week for Sacrament Meeting, the Young Women were in charge. It was SO powerful. All these young valiant Hermanas from the Bronx stood up and gave short talks and bore such strong testimonies. They were all wearing different colors- the Colors of the Young Woman Values! It was incredible- the power these young women have. I was so babied growing up in Utah, where EVERYONE is members- it's easier to keep values and standards when all your friends believe what you believe. But here in the Bronx... well you can imagine. The members here are SO faithful and SO close to the Savior- they'd have to be here- they are brilliantly shining lights amist a thickening darkness. The Chapel here in the Bronx is a safe-haven- literally. Spiritually and physically protected. It's so awesome to be a part of the Ward of Warriors here in the Bronx.

Oh man. SO i do have a terribly funny incident that happened to me this week... but I think the only thing that can adequately describe what happened is on my camera. Bwhahahaha so you'll have to wait until I send home my memory card!! Hehehe!

Well I'm off! Wish me luck- sorry this e-mail is so short! We had to use a different library today and we have really strict time-limits here with the computers! Love you all!
B happy B safe B strong!!

Church is TRUE!!

Always and Forever,

Elder Brandon Hellberg