September 6, 2011

MAAYONG PASKO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It's Christmas time again!!! hahaha. Well, at least it's Christmas time again here in the Philippines. As long as the month ends in 'ber' then it is Christmas! Being that it is Christmas time again, it really is kind of a wake up call to how close I really am to being home. Just trying to keep my head above the water of "trunkyness" and just keep doing the things that I need to be doing.

You know, I've realized that Satan never was able to discourage me about my mission all these months. Not once did I ever feel real discouragement. I always knew that I was in the Lord's hands and that He would not let me fail. But now as I approach the end of this tunnel and begin to see a little clearer things that are waiting for me outside of the tunnel back home, I'm starting to feel a little bit of discouragement. There are those who are doing their best to keep the commandments and stay on the path. I know this and I thank you. You are safe. But we must be mindful of those whose path is a little more rocky and a little more unstable than ours. Sometimes, even when we are trying our best to build our foundation on the "rock of our Redeemer", Satan sends those mighty winds that shake and those whirlwinds that disorient us.

It is in these times that we must remember where we stand. We are members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. We know what we know and we know how we know it. "If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God" writes the Apostle James (James 1:5) and "By the power of the Holy Ghost ye may know the truth of all things" (Moroni 10:5), writes the ancient prophet Moroni. How do we know that this is Christ's Church restored through the Prophet Joseph Smith? We have been answered by God through the power of the Holy Ghost. How do we know that the Book of Mormon is the word of God? The Holy Ghost. How do we know that there is a living prophet today? In the same manner. Is there any other way to obtain the knowledge that man cannot give? Truly, Moroni meant "all things".

There are those outside of this Church who are intent on its destruction. Satan of course is the head of this attack, for his role is to deceive. And that he does in any way possible. There are those who write, speak, film, record and in other ways produce media that attempts to tear down the teachings and beliefs of this church. But this is Christ's church. It will not fall. It is the Kingdom of God. It has been restored in the dispensation of the fullness of times, never to be lost. It is the kingdom seen in vision by Nebuchadnezzar in the book of Daniel which "grew to fill the whole earth". It is here to stay. Try as they might, these attackers of the true church of Jesus Christ might as well "stretch forth [their] puny arm to stop the Missouri river in its decreed course, or to turn it up stream" than to try and stop this work from progressing. It is not the work of man. It is the work of God.

 Archaeological evidence is not the basis of faith. Physical proof is not the basis of faith. He who says, "show me and I will believe" echoes the words of the same men who ordered the death of the Messiah. Those hypocritical Pharisees did not want to believe. Signs would change nothing for them. And they will change nothing for us. For us to know, we must learn as Peter, that great Apostle did:

“When Jesus came into the coasts of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, saying, Whom do men say that I the Son of man am? …

“And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.

“And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Bar-jona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven." (Matthew 16:13-15)

Why was Peter blessed? What set him apart? Because he had the faith to trust. Yes, there was the evidence of the Savior's divinity in each miracle that he performed. Yes, there was power and authority in the holy and sacred words that departed from His lips. But how did Peter really know that Jesus was the Christ? Our Father in Heaven by the power of the Holy Ghost. That is faith. The physical evidence was just an additional testament to the Apostle. What really had testified was the Father. This is revelation. This is wisdom. This is life eternal.

So to those who deny the works of God, to those who say that the Heavens are closed, to those that say that God does not call prophets any more, to those that reject new scripture, to those who have not ears to hear and hearts to feel, I say this: God is working just as much now as he ever has. He has called a prophet to lead us and guide us. He has caused Another Testament of Jesus Christ to come forth, even the Book of Mormon. He offers to answer our prayers and our questions by the power of the Holy Ghost to those who diligently seek Him and desire to know.

I testify of this. Because he has answered me. And he will answer you. Trust Him.

I love you all. I know I didn't talk much about what's going on here or back home. But its all good.

Love,

Brandonrandon

August 30, 2011

Hey family!

So let me go ahead and make some comments on some things that I have not commented on the past few weeks. There's been some death going on back home and everyone affected is in my prayers. That's awful. But it makes me glad for my understanding of the Plan of Salvation. You know what I mean? We all know what happens after this life and its all so comforting. Heavenly Father doesn't want to leave us in the dark with stuff like that.

Elder Serrano and I have been putting our shoulders to the wheel and doing the best that we can to do the Lord's work and in his own way. We had a really great zone conference with President Teh of the Area Presidency about obedience and stuff. It was really great.

Elder Serrano and I had a really great experience this week that allowed us to use our Christlike attributes. Here you go...in NARRATIVE FORMAT!!!!!

Elder Serrano and I sat down across from Barbe. There was a a smile on her face that we hadn't seen before as she sat down with her Book of Mormon on her lap. "How have things been going?" I asked.

"Good," she responded.

"How was your reading?" I inquired. It seemed as if there was something about her that was not there before. We had been praying and hoping for a miracle with Barbe to help her with conversion. Two things were in the way of that--her reading of the Book of Mormon and her church attendance.

"It was really good," she said. She opened up to it and began to tell us that she had prayed about the passage about Alma baptizing at the Waters of Mormon. She reported a feeling that she hadn't quite felt before. "I feel that its true," she said.

We opened up our scriptures and read with her of the desires of the hearts of those who were baptized at the Waters of Mormon. Of their desire to follow Christ no matter what the costs. Of their desire for eternal life and them seeing baptism as an inexcusable method to achieve this salvation that they desired so much. I looked Barbe in the eyes and asked, "Barbe, do you desire eternal life?"

She nodded her head.

"Then will you, Barbe, enter into the waters of baptism and be baptized by proper authority into Christ's restored church this October 1st?" The commitment seemed to flow so naturally. The Spirit was behind those words.

She paused for a moment in silent pondering. She looked at my companion and then back at me. "Yes," she replied.

All of a sudden, a howl comes from inside the house as if someone had just been seared with a hot knife! The door to Barbe's house opened and out stepped her father--shirtless, tattooed and eyes wide in a drunken rage! "GET OUT HERE!!!! GO BACK TO YOUR CHURCH! GO HOME! YOU HAVE NO BUSINESS BEING HERE AND IN FRONT OF MY HOUSE! YOU'RE ANNOYING! GET OUT OF HERE! YOU HAVE 15 MINUTES TO LEAVE MY HOUSE OR I AM CALLING THE POLICE!"

"Get back in the house Dad!" yelled Barbe. A wave of sadness swept over us, quenching the fire of the Holy Ghost which we had been feeling just moments before. Barbe was embarrassed. I was somewhat upset at his instant outburst towards the two of us. I had talked with him many times before and without problems. He was a kind man as long as he was sober. Mumbling to himself, he stepped back into the house.

Taking a deep breath and trying to regather ourselves, I looked at Barbe again. "So October 1st, Barbe," I said. "It's going to take some work but we are here to help you out. You are not alone. You know what you need to do though... It's going to take at least 4 weeks of you going to church in order for you to--"

"HEY!!!! ARE YOU MORMONS DEAF???!!!!" I put my head down realizing what was about to happen again. The door opened and out stepped the man again--a little more crazed and a little more angry. The cigarette in his hand quivered from the shaking of his half-clenched drunken fist. "DO YOU WANT ME TO CALL THE POLICE?!?! WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU HUH?! I DON'T WANT YOU HERE! GET OUTTA HERE! GO HOME BEFORE I DO SOMETHING THAT I'LL REGRET!!!"

"GET BACK IN THE HOUSE!!!! MOM!!!!" Barbe had reached the point of anger now. Treating her father kindly in his foolish drunkenness now no longer seemed the correct option.

Her father continued with a pointed finger at us. "YOU HAVE 5 MINUTES TO GET OUT OF HERE! THIS HUT IS FOR PEOPLE TO REST NOT FOR MORMONS TO SPREAD THEIR LIES!!!!" After a second or two of staring at us, he went back into the house and slammed the door.

It would be a lie if I said that I was feeling a little of the natural man pulling at me. I could easily have yelled back, piped up, given him a piece of my mind so to say. But I held my tongue. What would Jesus do?

I gave Barbe a fist bump, re-emphasized October 1st and we stood up to go. Just as we were standing up, the door to the house swung open and out charged out of the door holding one of the thickest wooden poles I have ever seen! "YOU DON'T WANT TO GET OUT OF HERE THEN I'M GOING TO BEAT YOU ALL TO DEATH! GET OUTTA HERE!!! NOW!!" He moved closer but I backed away, grabbed my comp and walked away. It was against what I really wanted to do inside. But I did it. I was patient. Even though I could have showed him the Spirit World very quickly. It was an awesome experience. Cuz Barbe is getting baptized!

See you next week!
Love you all,

Brandon

August 24, 2011

Okay!!!!

So its a BOY! And its FILIPINO! hahaha. I was totally expecting an American greenie with the construction of the MTC and what not but that's okay. His name is Elder Serrano and he is a BOSS!!!!!! He's from Quezon City so he speaks Tagalog....and ZERO Cebuano. haha. But that's okay. He has a nice American here to teach him how to speak a Filipino dialect. He thinks that's hilarious. He tells everyone that its so ironic. He's really good at English and he works really hard. And THEN!!! Both of our zone leaders (that were Anti-Elder Treadway for some reason that I still cannot figure out) got pulled out of the area and Elder Culala and Elder Hardin got put in who just so happen to be two of my really good buddies! I'm so stoked! It's awesome! So now it is me and my two buddies and my kid all in the same house. Its so much fun and we can really feel the Spirit because there isn't a single bit of contention at all! That was something that was constantly present in the last transfer. It was Elder Prescott and I knowing that the Zone Leaders didn't like us but them ACTING like they did with no genuineness. It was really tough. Probably one of the hardest challenges I've had in my mission. To be in a house with people that just could not get along with me no matter how much I tried. Sad.

But Elder Serrano is a boss. He and I went out yesterday and we tore it up! We got some pretty hard rejections and some pretty blatant lies right in our face like some kid telling us that we couldn't visit him because he went to school from 7 am to 8 pm. hahahahaha. That's not school. That's slavery. I told him that most people just can't say no so they try to make it sound like they really want to listen but just don't have the time. But since it was raining yesterday, everyone was stuck at home and it was doors in our faces and people telling us to never come back and all the good stuff. I love it. I'll take some doors in the face for the Lord. I'm trying to teach him that whatever happens, the Lord is in it. I really want him to understand that early on in his mission. 2 Nephi 2:24 has become one of my all-time favorite scriptures. Why do bad things happen to good people? Why does life seem so tough? There's your answer. Game, set, match. Definitely one of the greatest lessons I will ever learn in this life. I'm glad I learned it this early.

Love you all!

Brandon

August 16, 2011

Hey everyone

So this was a really good week for Elder Prescott and I. We changed our schedule so that we could teach Goody every day this week and he is making a lot of progress. The other night we were walking home and he waved to us so we went over to talk with him and we ended up meeting one of his friends that is also doing some religion searching. We gave her the shindig and let her know what we had to offer and she was really into it it seemed. Well then she texted Goody and told her that she was really interested. So Goody is now offering his house for us to teach her. As for Goody though, he told us that he is looking at getting baptized in the church. But its a tossup between us and the Seventh Day Adventists. haha. We'll see. We've been answering all his questions and giving him the good stuff kids go for. He just loooooves deep doctrine. Too much. But we try our best to stay on track. He told us the other day that he believes everything that we have told him an that he really trusts the both of us. He said that he's met with other Elders before but he feels that the two of us were really sent to him FOR him. He's great. Really great.

Aaaaaaaand on another note, I'M A FATHER!!!! AGAIN!!!! hahaha. I'm going to be training another kid this transfer! I'm so excited to train again. And then my really good buddy is coming to be my zone leader and stay in my house! I'm gonna die with training and having my BRO in the house! Love it! The area is going great too and its going to explode once Goody gets baptized! MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM.......tastyyyyy. haha. Love this stuff!

Nice to hear about Brian and school. Jones' class is the greatest thing ever. Its funny. The other day I told someone that when I get home that's one of the first things I'm going to go do. Go kick it with my high school teachers and principal. They gave me kind of a puzzled look but....its different for them for sure. haha. Miss NP3. If any of my teachers are reading this, prepare for my RETURN!!!!! haha. Awesome.

Yeah. So my birthday is in 6 weeks! This upcoming transfer is my birthday. Weeeird. But yeah, the list of birthday wishes is out now! You may be wondering why I only asked for food and razors. Two reasons: A) I miss that food like crazy. B) I figure that college is coming up in 4 months or so and I really am going to need a nice Macbook for college. So I figure, go light on the birthday and ask big for the good 'ol Holidays. I think we're catching the drift that I'm blowin... haha.

As for everything else, love you all! Take it easy! See you next week! 11 more emails left.

Love,

me.

August 9, 2011

Hey everyone.

So its been another week for me out here in the Philippines and first off, BEN IS GOING TO ITALY!!!! WHAT THE HECK!!!!!!hahahaha. That is way too boss. When I read that, I was just like, "Hey everyone! My brother is going to Italy!" And they were all cheering and stuff. Pretty awesome. He's going to do great out there and just tear it up. We are sure going to have a lot to talk about after our missions. We are going to have some very similar teaching experiences I would assume. Problem is, when he comes home, pizza, spaghetti and lasagna aren't going to be delicious. As for me, I would kill for some lasagna. Or just a burger with real beef. haha. Food back home is calling me....3 months kapin.

Things with our investigators are going well. We're teaching them the doctrine and trying to help them keep their commtiments. With Goody, one of his buddies stood up in the middle of the lesson and asked me kind of flippantly to prove to him that the Book of Mormon was true. So you know what I did? I stood up too and held up the Book of Mormon and said, "You want the evidence of this Book? You want proof? Listen to the words of a Prophet of God. (Then I read Moroni 10:3-5) That is your proof. By the power of the Holy Ghost you may know that this Book is true. There is convincing evidence, yes. But none as convincing as the testimony of the Holy Ghost. You feel that you need to judge this Book. No. You're wrong. You are the one who is going to be judged and this Book will be used in that judgment. So I advise you to do as Moroni invites. Read it, ponder it and pray about it. That's my answer to your question. And its the prophet's answer. And it is the Lord's answer." Then I stood there for a second. I felt like ABINADI!!!!! hahaha. It was awesome. It was powerful and not accusatory. Bold but not overbearing. It was the Holy Ghost through me. It was sweet.

Sorry that this email is so short. I sent a long one to Ben and we have a temple session in 30 minutes.

Love you all.

Brandon

August 2, 2011

Hey everyone!

So this was just another week in the life of Elder Treadway. Making work happen and letting things fall into place.

I'd say that the coolest and most interesting thing that happened this week was when we got let down by one of our investigators (or as we call it here, punted). She was really sick so she told us to come back the next day. While walking, Elder Prescott was like, "what are we going to do now?" I felt like we should go back to the house since we were close and maybe grab a couple former investigators out of the Area Book to follow up with. We get back to the house and I had to go to the bathroom but I told Elder Prescott to go grab two or three pages out of the Former Investigator section that he felt good about. He came back down and told me that he felt like we should go visit this one girl that lived kind of close to the church. We took this one road not sure if it would lead to the house we were looking for. As we were walking, we passed this little path with a man walking in our direction. He yelled out, "HEY!" (Which is totally common since people just shout to us since we're American). I ignored him but IMMEDIATELY I felt the distinct impression to talk to him. So I spun around and walked to the guy and started talking to him.

Turns out this guy, Goodie, has no religion because he is confused. He's bounced from church to church and has found falsehoods in each of them. He's studied the Bible like a maniac and knows the thing inside and out. He's listened to the Elders once before but neither of them were very good at Cebuano so he didn't want them to come back. We talked to him a little bit and he was just spittin his beliefs at us which lined prefectly with the restored Gospel! We just stood there for the next 45 minutes just talking. It was a super awesome lesson. He really wants us to visit him. We did yesterday and it went REALLY well. He's read into a lot of stuff. I'm sure a little bit of Anti-Mormon stuff and so we'll be excited to answer those questions.

But I just feel so deeply that we were led to him by the Spirit. I went back and highlighted all the times I said "felt" in the last couple paragraphs. Over the course of my mission, that's how I've only been able to define the promptings of the Holy Ghost. A feeling. And I just feel deep inside that Goodie has been prepared for us. So hopefully we can do some work. I'm excited. He asked for 1 1/2 hour time slots on our schedule. Its gonna be sweet.

Outside of that, just doing what we do best. And loving it.

I'm really looking forward to hearing what happens with Ben. I'm gonna call Florida. haha. Idk. There's a lot of places he could go. My advice is this, man: Whatever happens, the Lord is in it. And that's the way the cookie crumbles! haha.

Hope everything is going well for you guys back home. Love you guys and think about you all the time. Well, enough. haha.

Thanks for all your love and prayers,

Brandon

July 26, 2011

Hey crew!

So just to get the news out. Yeah. Elder Prescott and I did NOT hit 400 contacts this last week. We got 362. haha. Close but not quite. But its cool. The Zone Leaders, APs, and President couldn't believe it. haha. But we're feeling really good about the way that the work is going. We're just working our butts off and trusting that the Lord will deliver the rest. He's doing it so far. So things are feeling great. I just feel really good about the work right now. I'm working my tail off. We come home every night exhausted from walking everywhere, walking in the rain, talking to people, teaching people, dropping investigators, getting let down, getting stood up at appointments, eating, and just doin work. haha. Love it. Dad, you said we're keeping Satan on his heels. haha. Nope. I think he's on his back.

The referral that we got last Sunday, Rowena, brought her husband Ernie with her to church on Sunday and they both just ate it up. They loved it. Elder Prescott and I were both speakers in church. We had both really prayed a lot seperately to know what to talk about. He felt he needed to speak on the importance of the First Vision. I felt really impressed to speak about the importance of Joseph Smith. It was funny when we told each other later what our talks were on. Then we get into sacrament meeting and the opening hymn was We Thank Thee, O God, For a Prophet and the closing hymn was Joseph Smith's First Prayer. Crazy! But in my talk I really focused towards the end about the Book of Mormon and its importance in knowing that Joseph Smith is a true prophet. So then last night Elder Prescott and I went to go teach Ernie and there he was at 8 o clock at night reading the Book of Mormon by himself with a flashlight. haha. It was awesome to see that. I couldn't be happier. Both of them are determined to get an answer that the Book of Mormon is true.

Sounds like things went great at the Treadway Trek. Really excited to be there next year with all the girls too! I think its a good idea too to get the women more involved. I mean, we all love camping right? And Big Sur? Awesome! Love Big Sur. The fish stories from the Trek though were hilarious. When you said that Ben's fish was just swimming around I was like, "Ooooooo....He's goin in after it." hahaha. Sure enough. Way to go Ben. You're a champ. And then Brian pullin in the champ! Way to go Boss!

3 months to go baby! Alright. Word on the street is that I'm going to be a trainer this transfer. But whoever I train will know Peter from the MTC so we can chat a bit. I probably won't see him at all though. We'll have to see. I wanna see him before I check outta Cebu.

 Aight! Love you guys!

Write me back if you didn't this week!

Peace.

Brandon