New companion same area

Ich reite einen Elch, that's I love you for eternity in German.

So Elder Ehigiamusoe is being transferred to Schweinfurt, and Elder Leppert who will be district leader will be joining me in Krefeld.

So remember last weeks gummy lassos? I won't say anyone got welts but....this is Elder Pfluemmer:)

We had a street display on Saturday and it was a nice day, sunny all morning, perfect for a street display! then what happens? out of nowhere a hailstorm and freezing winds! so that was fun. 

​ 

Something that came to my mind was how miracles are different in each mission. some places people have visions or are brought back to life or baptize 30 people a week, And because these miricales are very obvious the tendency to only see the big miracles becomes prominent. By doing so however we miss out on the little miracles around us. The work is dead here in krefeld, or at least from an outward perspective, no one listens and any investigators we do get drop us immediately. I think if I was able to stop and look for God's hand though I could find it. It may not be a flash of lightning or rolling thunders, but it may be found in the small whispering of the spirit, or in someone finding a job, or simply a stubborn person's attitude change to be a little more humble.

  Here's a picture taken by a siter missionary, Sister Kaylie Madsen at a transfer meeting

Gaining experience in Krefeld

Krefeld has been a new challenge for Elder Brande. He has been super busy the last few Pdays so this is a combination of his last few letters:

We are going down to sollingen today and need to catch a train pretty soon. I love you so much. Things are going better (as much as they can), the best way to improve a situation is to improve yourself, I've been studying chapt. 6 of Preach My Gospel and taking it to heart.

Our apartment is on the top ( fifth story) so it's a struggle to go home at the end of a long day. This apartment is not much warmer than the last. I think I just need to get used to the cold

 I'm pretty sure the internet is slower in the eastern hemisphere. It takes way more time than I have to download pictures. The work is slow but it's six day until transfer calls so things might get better. I'm almost a year out. At the year mark people burn a shirt, but open flames are illegal in Germany so I'll probably just do nothing. It's  carnival or Kaneval time right now. Kaneval is so crazy! It's so different. Everyone dresses up and not always modestly :P we can still go out but we have to be careful (it'S like Mardi gras but X10) 

Well it's the last week before transfer calls so we'll see what happens. This has easily been the longest/hardest transfer of my mission so far :P but hopefully that means it will be the transfer that changes me the most. I've already learned what kind of leader I don't want to become and what can be inspiring.  So if I ever get to a position of leadership I now know something not to do :) Something I started to do (and something I wish I had done sooner) this week is keeping a study journal. It's something people in the MTC suggested and PMG talks about keeping one, but I blew it off because who wants to write more? So as the past few days I've had this little journal next to me as I study the scriptures and I'll write down impressions that come to me, and It has become already a spiritual treasure to me. I never realized that I would recieve all this inspiration, and then forget it, but know I receive Inspiration and I can look back on it and remember the impressions I've had. I strongly suggest it :)

Last week we went to a Haribo factory in Solingen and of course my district leader and me bought the largest thing we could find. These are a large gummy lasso. Here's me and Elder Melanson

Here's some crazy candy. I just wonder what this is and why?

Here's our group in Solingen

Me dressed up as Capt. America 

Picture of the district 

Left to right: Sister Wood (she was in my district in when I was in Bitburg), Sis Jackson, Elder Nelson (He ripped his pants this day and stapled it shut, thus me pointing to his leg, He's also my ZL), Elder Pfleumer (Pfloy-mare, He's swiss and a real cool guy, he also serves in Krefeld), Me (also super cool), Elder Bennet (the other ZL), and Elder Melanson (my District leader)

Adjusting to a new area

Things are good, I'm just trying to readjust to Germany all over again. Krefeld is a bigger city and I  prefer the country over the city any day.My companions name is Elder Ehigiamusoe, and I'm the junior companion still. (Elder Anderson was his trainer) I love Elder anderson, he was so fun and everyone here in the mission knows him and loves him,he's actually training again. My german is still rough. the hardest part about leaving Bitburg is that it's just different and having to adjust to my new area

As far as What I've learned goes, it's just learning (for me at least) that it's all about the simple things; pray, read the scriptures, and going to church, and doing all of that with real intent. there is a talk on Lds.org 

https://www.lds.org/broadcasts/article/worldwide-devotionals/2015/01/living-with-purpose-the-importance-of-real-intent?cid=HPSU011115617&lang=eng

That explains real intent real well (at least that's what I got out of it)

Love 

Elder Brande

Here is a picture of he and his new companion. His companion was born in Vienna and grew up in London. 

Transfer time

To give his letter a little context, to be funny, I often put in the subject line for his emails something silly. This week I went with a little Cockney Allo Guvna! Also Michael and I have been asked to speak in church in a few weeks and the topic is parenting. I was asking for his advice and feelings about how we could have been better about encouraging testimonies in the home. Here's the latest:

That's a funny title, mostly because my new companion is from London (but he was born in Austria). I can't spell his last name for the life of me so he is called Elder E. I'm also going to a new area called Krefeld (pronounced Cray-failed) so I am way nervous about going to a German area again, (he has been in a military English only area for about 6 months)I totally am lacking in the language! Thankfully though, I am kept humble by hard and trying times. 

I'm still in Bitburg until Thursday. [they speak] Platt Deutsch in Krefeld  [which] is super hard to understand, a few people in Aachen spoke it and it sounds to me  like a completely different language, it sounds like French! 

I'm sure you guys will do fine with your talks, I'm pretty sure no one is a professional parent. My testimony didn't even begin to start growing until after I finished High school. My testimony is strong now and it has only come through reading my scriptures and praying. All of us need to get down on our knees constantly and ask God if his church is true, if Joseph Smith was a prophet, if the Book of Mormon is true, etc... If you don't have a testimony it's easier to want to hang out with the "in" crowd and do "cool" stuff, because you don't know what  Heavenly Father wants for you. Parents can ask their children if they have prayed with a sincere desire, if they read the scriptures.  Also do the things you need to be doing; read your scriptures, pray, go to the temple often and regularly. That's what all faithful saints need to do. The power of example is more forceful than a heavy hand. I'm no parent, That's just how we help others here come closer to Christ. 

Love Elder Brande

Here's a map of the city he is going to. He's been in a rural area for a while and this looks much more urban. It borders the Netherlands and looks like it gets a lot of rain. I checked the weather for next week and it looks like it will rain and snow every  day of the week but one. He'll love that! Not!

Source:Wikipedia 

Catching up

It's been a while since an update. We had a wonderful Christmas phone call with Elder Brande. He is focused on the work and loves the area he is in. He said the members in the area are so helpful and always working so hard to help the missionaries. He says he is very well fed. He is in an American area and focused only on serving the military base in the area. His only sadness is that he isn't able to use much German. He and his companion are only to teach the Americans and other Elders are assigned to Germans in the area. He most misses the sun and being warm. I asked him if he missed home and he said that he didn't want me to feel bad but he was focused on his mission and that was really all he could think about. He said it's almost as if life before his mission was a dream and the future seems unreal. All he can see and focus on is his mission. He says that he and his companion are working very hard and he's never been so tired but it was a good tired. He looked so good and happy it was the best Christmas gift a mom could ask for. Here are some excerpts from recent letters:

01/01

It was really cool to see you all and see how different everyone looks. Elder Cole is still sick, the problem is that in Germany medicine is pretty bad, The really potent pain medication they give out is baby Tylenol. I've managed to stay pretty healthy trotzdem but today I started to get a little cold. Yeah the Leach's are pretty awesome. (The Leach's we're their hosts for Christmas and we're kind enough to let him Skype is from their house - so grateful for their care of our son)

Haha Sugar does not look happy at all. (I sent him a picture of our cat in a Santa hat) That skateboard is huge! (Lucas got a ham board for Christmas and it's basically a big land surfboard) I didn't even realize what it was at first, I thought it was a wake board, That thing is almost as big as Luke! Dad looks almost younger with a beard, ya get what i mean?

So I was reading in 1 John 5 today and I thought it was really good, even though it was a little confusing and took me a couple read-throughs to get it all

I love you mom and I hope you have a great new year

Love 

Elder Brande 

12/22

It's strange to think that Christmas is just around the corner, it feels like not to long ago I was with you guys getting ready for Christmas. so on Thursday  I'll be skyping from the Leach's house (the recent convert) our appointment begins at 1800 (local time) but we'll be going one at a time so we're not sure when we will begin skyping or who's going first so maybe I'll call you guys. What skype name will I be calling?  

I'm glad that you were able to have such a wonderful experience with serving with the Temple lights. I miss being able to see all the christmas lights, They don't do that kind of stuff in germany. Christmas is so foreign here and it just doesn't feel like home. But I guess I'm not home :) 

Here's a picture a brother Calder sent us of Elder Brande & Cole. I am so grateful for all those over in Germany who are feeding and taking care of my son. I don't need to worry because I know that they are watching out for Him. 

It's beginning to look like winter

here's the latest from Cameron.  it's pretty cold in Germany. Being an Arizona boy,mthe weather takes a little getting used to.  Everyday i wake up and check the weather and it's in the 30's with rain or snow at least half the week. People from Germany have told me the moisture in the air makes it a particularly biting cold. He told us their apartment heater has been out for a while and they have not been able to get it fixed so he's truly getting to enjoy the full scope of the weather. 

"Funny story I actually just got boots today, a member gave us some extra military boots, hopefully that works with missionary attire :) Ipads are a rough subject over here. according to the church we should have had them by next month, but the word from up top is that earliest would be april :P 

I got quite a few thanksgiving meals yesterday so I'm good with food :) 

so we spent P-day playing around with really expensive stuff :) really cool stuff that boys love. I got to wear the Bomb suit and it was quite fun and Heavy! but Elder cole and our member took turns kicking me and I couldn't feel a thing, so I guess it works :) "

I don't think this week will be as chilly for me as last week. So we have a car, but last week we had to turn it in for a few days for repairs, guess what happened the MOMENT we started riding our bikes home from the dealership? IT FLIPPIN' SNOWED!!! just my luck :) we spent a lot of time traveling in our area (one day we spent about nine hours just walking and trying to catch the few trains there are around here). but now we have our car so we are very thankful :) 

also I don't think I'll ever get that package but who knows :) (I accidentally sent Cameron's birthday to the wrong address so somebody else is enjoying his presents :()

Elise better not start dating until I get home. (Fat chance.  His sister Elise just turned 16 and is now allowed to date and already has a few lined up - mom and dad aren't ready for it either)

I always find it interesting that we Judge Peter at all in that story. Of all the disciples he was the only one with the faith to go and meet Jesus on the water. so if you feel like you are Peter in that story I would say that you are well off. ( I was letting Cameron now how sometimes I feel like Peter in that I have faith and I have witnessed things in my life that confirm my testimony with out a doubt. But just like Peter who saw Jesus walk on water and walked on it himself he started to fear and doubt and sink and how important it is to call out for help to The Lord when we are troubled.  I had never thought of how it's true that Peter did have the faith to jump)

Dad should grow out his beard until I get home. Don't let him shave it until then. (Michael started to grow a beard for Noshavember. It looks pretty sweet and we sent Elder Brande a pic- Michael says its going pretty soon)

So Elder Brande and Elder Cole got to do some pretty neat stuff at the military base. He says they were able to maneuver the bomb robot. Below is a picture of him in a bomb suit. The suit weighs 80lbs and the helmet weighs about 20. He sent us some hilarious video of Elder Cole trying to kick him in the suit and him trying to do a pull up.  It seems like they had a lot of fun. It was super nice of one of the members to take them on base

Tell Everyone Hi.

Love you 

A great day

My week has been good! It's cool to find out that we are somewhat related. (This in response to finding he and his companion are second cousins twice removed by marriage :0))

Something really special that happened this week is that DL was baptized this last Saturday. also on that same day we went to go do baptisms for the dead with the recent convert Bro. M. While we were there in Fredrichsdorf afterwards grabbing some pizza for lunch a member did some awesome member work and shared the gospel with a man who came into the restaurant who is crippled. it was pretty cool and as far as we last heard he is going to take the discussions from the missionaries there. 

 

Here's pics from D's baptism 

A few pictures

Well, unfortunately, as has become the norm not much details to report. This is his response to my letter asking how things are going and please send some details. 

Good, still good. details are hard. especially detail to "things"

Yep. That's what constitutes a letter around here. At this point I just have to laugh. He had his 20th birthday on Sunday. I thought I sent his package to the mission home but it got sent to his old address. I am sure the Aachen elders are enjoying his birthday presents :0). He did send a few pictures. The first is of Porta Negra - it's a Roman gate, the second is of a piñata he and his companion made and the third is a picture of Cameron and his companion, Elder Cole.

Good things

Just to give a little context to the letter - his birthday is coming up so he is responding to my asking him if he needed anything. We also wrote him how much we missed his help with yard work. He was always a hard worker. Here's his latest letter:

So I'm staying In Bitburg with Elder Cole. thanks anyways, birthdays out here aren't really anything special :) I'd kill for some warm weather over here, it just gets colder and colder and our heaters in our apartment don't work so :P I actually miss yard work, but then again maybe the grass is always greener on the otherside :) 

Things are going really well here, the families we have been working with are awesome, one of them is stalking my blog because I told her about it so give a shout out to sis. Calder, she made me rice krispy treats and she makes fun of me for not writing to you enough! ( thank you Sister Calder for taking care of him and please don't let up on him about writing his mother - I need more information :))That's pretty sick about Michael, give him my best of luck ( he's referring to his friend Michael Pettingill, who just received his mission call South Dakota)

A quick update

Just a short but promising update:

Friday we were meeting with a part-member family and it was a lesson about Eternal families and we ended up giving him the invitation to be baptized and he said yes. He's  a super cool dude from Hawaii. His wife was/is less-active but she has been trying to come back to activity. I absolutely love this family, they are so cool, they bought us Spam and chocolate chips, I don't know why. But it is super awesome anyways

A little help for a friend

Last week they had a district Pday and did a lot of traveling so he didn't have time to write. The first part of his letter was just general items for me. He has a new companion Elder Cole. He said this picture pretty much sums him up - sounds like they are having fun:

He also said he is eating well and sent a comparison of German and American pickles. The American pickles are your standard Vlasic. The German pickle jar is only about as big as his hand 

 

Gifts from the scriptures and a baptism!

This is the kind of letter that makes a parent's heart swell. We can really see the spiritual growth and the power that Christ can have in all our lives. He is currently living in Binsfield, Germany. He has a new companion, Elder Jacob Cole. They are by the Air Force base so he says there are a lot of Americans. 

As he has been studying the scriptures these are some things that have stood out to him:

Lehi says to his sons in 2 Nephi, Awake and arise from the dust. That scripture really stuck out to me and I am impressed by how many times he tells his sons to awake or arise. 

As I've been going through my scriptures I've started actively studying and marking. It has made all the difference. As I have been striving to be active in improving myself instead of waiting for God to do it for me I have found that I have been yoked with Christ and that he has been carrying me. His Grace is sufficient. 

Mission conference with Elder Ballard was interesting, He talked a lot about the power of  a smile and how the major converting factor to the investigator is the missionary. That was strange to hear, we know that it is the spirit that converts, but Elder Ballard said that the overwhelming factor as said by investigators and recent converts was the missionary. Being who you are is really important and as you stay true to yourself you can allow people to feel the spirit. 

During our stake conference Elder Bednar came to speak. He is such a powerful speaker! He taught about how we should be striving to be the action not acted upon. We should ask God for the ability to do, not for Him to just do everything for us. He also said that when he served in Germany he had an American Area and said that it was the Celestial Kingdom so I give that a big stimme dazu. 

We just had a baptism this weekend and it was an amazing time. D. is such a spiritual powerhouse and he has made so many improvements in just three months. It was so awesome to be able to participate in his confirmation and to just feel the spirit so strongly. Afterwards, I saw him sitting with his family and they were all so happy and I just can't wait for them to become an Eternal Family. The gospel truly does bless families and I've been able to witness it firsthand. 

Love Y'all

Elder Brande

Enjoying the new area

Well it seems the pleas for a little more info did not fall on deaf ears. He sent us a letter with a list of answers to questions asked over the last few letters. He put it in list format so I hope I got the right answers with the right questions. He also sent us a fun package with chocolates from the Lindt factory in Aachen. It was such a treat to receive. We also got some fun pictures of his new area.

Here are the questions and answers

I'm very anxious to hear about your new area. How do you like it?

Yes, I like it

 How about your companion?

Good

 What part of England is he from? -baldock town, north of London 

How are you getting along? good

It looks like Bitburg is every bit as rainy as Aachen. 

-it hasn't rained too much here, our apartment is in Bisburg

How are you handling the rain? Good. It gets tiring after a while

Have you learned to love it or loathe it?  good

Now that the portion of this letter devoted to motherly guilt is over how are you?  Good

Have the Germans settled down after their win?  It sure looked like an exciting time! -yes, like two days after it was like nothing happened

Meet any new people? everyday I do. 

How are your investigators?-they come and go

What do you think of Aachen as a city?it was good

Any advice you  have for Lucas entering his first year of highschool?

advice for Luke: have fun, don't get caught up in the academics 

Where is your companion from? Utah  (this was in reference to his old companion, Elder Jack)

 How is the work going?  Same old, same old

How are you feeling about your language learning? Gut

How are you feeling spiritually, physically, emotionally? Good

Cameron enjoying the weather

His companion Elder Smith.  He's from London so Elder Brande thinks he talks funny and says he says Smith like Smiff. I can only imagine how he thinks Cameron speaks :)

Here's Elder Brande and Elder Smith in Trier,, a city in their area

Here's Connor Moores.  He describes him as a mini missionary that will be working with them for the next week

Here's a snap of the letter that came in the package

Transfer and a new companion

Well I don't know that we'd call this a letter,  more of a minimal informational update.  Despite asking specific questions and begging for more details our requests have been denied. Here's what we know. If you receive a letter from Elder Brande we would love to hear from you. Maybe if we all piece our information together it will form a bigger picture 😄.

Latest Email from Elder Brande:

seriously im not depressed I just dont like writing long letters :) its too much effort :) Im lazy you know that .) I just got transferd to Bitburg and I´m going to be serving with a Brit named Elder Smith. also I will be driving D: it´s hard to write in english now and I cant spell anymore :P My new area is apparently a military ward, so my german is probalbly going to take a dip :) 

Yep that's all he wrote folks.  I'm not bitter ( I say sarcastically 😜).  I looked Bitburg up online and it looks like a really neat place. They are a fairly small city, it looks quite picturesque. The Bitburg Air Force Base is there and it's next to Luxembourg.

It's a city in the German state of Rhineland-Palatinate

Different Day Same as the Rest

It's been two weeks since we've had an email. His father was terrible at writing with great frequency so maybe this is the result of the dreaded curse, "I hooe you have a son just like you!" Although, that wouldn't be a terrible thing as Michael was an amazing missionary who loved his time in Alaska.  

Despite asking tons of questions in our letters to him he provides surprisingly little detail.  However, I guess I really shouldn't be surprised as Cameron has never been a big talker.  So here's the email, all six sentences :)- Enjoy!

Hi, I'm alive. There's nothing to write about It's been the same thing every day, except we finally have an investigator. His name is Tapas, he's Indian and Hindu. We had zone training and interviews on Friday and we didn't get home from Düsseldorf until 930 because they found a WW2 explosive and everyone had to stay inside until they figured everything out. It was way more boring than it sounds. I got my visa taken care of, so now I'm legal. 

Putting your shoulder to the wheel

Cameron's latest letter:

So Kenya Oma isn't the one who accepted baptism and it's kinda rough, Dania, the lady from Cuba who accepted baptism.....We're going to have to push back her Baptismal date pretty far back. we've also lost all of our investigators and now our teaching pool is empty. hopefully we can get back in contact with some or find new ones, but losing all those people has been hard

------------------------------------------------

As his mother, I'm not going to lie. These short letters are killing me. The internet costs to use so they're short and lately not too sweet. Missionary work is hard and he's experiencing the hardness of it. Sister Newmeyer, (http://rememberiwill.blogspot.com)

a missionary from our ward shared this great quote that I think sums up the work:

"... mission presidents, you will have an occasion to ask and your missionaries will have many occasion's to ask, Why is this so hard? It's true, Why don't the people just flock to the font? Why isn't the only risk in the mission field that of pneumonia? being wet all day and all night in the font, Why don't the people just listen president? Why can't we have success president? Why is this so hard? ... because Salvation Is Not A Cheap Experience, why do we think that this would be easy when it was never ever easy for Him..." - Elder Holland

Some weeks are better than others

We haven't had a lot to post the last few weeks. Elder Brande is in an area where the internet is expensive to use so his emails have been pretty short. So here are some excerpts of emails he has sent to various family members. We hope to hear more soon. On a fun note, their Mission President's farewell gift was to allow them to watch the Germany/USA World Cup soccer match. It was kind of neat watching it on our end knowing he was watching too. Even though, he only had a short time with President Shwartz he was very impressed with him and grew to love him and will really miss him.

Here is his new companion, Elder Jack:

To give this letter context Michael wrote to Elder Brande detailing his experiences at Girl's Camp:

Dad,

I'm glad you survived that much Estrogen and pain :P It's funny, you can relate anything to the gospel, and I think that is what is so amazing about our church, there is simplicity and all comes back to it. Just when we think we are most prepared that's when temptation hits the hardest. "Let me tell you something you already know, life ain't all sunshine and rainbows. It will beat you to your knees and keep you there if you let it. Me, You, Nobody, will hit as hard as life, But it ain't about how hard you can hit, it's about how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward."- Fun Quote

Love you Ganz Liebe

Elder Brande

 So where to begin? Well I found out that my trainer is going to be leaving me in the middle of my Golden cycle and that a new elder is going to be finishing me up :P We had a HUGE storm come through Aachen last week and it went in as far inland as Düsseldorf, it knocked over a bunch of trees and completley knocked out the train systems out here. Public transportation is the only way people get around here in Germany and this storm made it so when we went to Zone training in Düsseldorf, a normally 2 hour straight train ride turned into a six hour adventure. Getting home on time isn't an option anymore :P Good thing is that it has given me the oppotrunity to talk to my Mission Präsident a lot before he goes. I'm in a small little internet cafe in the middle of Bonn now, because we are having our own Distrikt Meisterschaft :) the downside of it all is that this place charges waaaaaay too much for me to justify writing a longer letter so Tschüß 

'm so tired and I don't know what to write about and I don't have time so yeah, ask dad if he knows a Blackley family from Alaska, with a kid named Brandon, just curious, I think I'm a little grumpy because we haven't been eating well because I was out of MSF waiting for some reimbursements, because me and Elder Anderson thought we had at least another transfer together. I'm so hungry and tired. I hope dass alles gute. Love ya

Chio  

Elder Brande

Here's a little excerpt from a letter he wrote to his Uncle Justin. This kind of hurt my heart a little bit but I am so proud of the way he and his companion didn't get discouraged and kept working. It's a great life lesson for all of us.

"Thank you so much for all the letters. They have been a strength to me on tough days like today. Just today we were cursed and spat at (though that's pretty normal). I have a man accuse me of the most horrible things, then a punk kid body checked me and said the most vilest things to me. We got back to our wohnung and I wanted to give up and honestly,just cry. Instead we went out and worked, and we found people that God had prepared and put in our path.

An invitation for baptism

He's been extra busy so his letter is short and sweet. Don't ask us what his "German" says. It doesn't quite make sense in Google translate so I'm not sure if the spelling's correct 😄.

Ja, alles klar. Mein Deutsch ist nicht schlimm. Mein mitarbeiter und ich sind töll. Die Idea von meine schwesterin fahren gibt mir ganz angst! So we just hit a minefield of investigators, here's a quick list of all of them; Dragos is this romanian guy who's homeless but not a druggie and he seems quite intelligent, Susan is an older lady who we call Kenya Oma because she is always so nice to us, Matthias is this old 40 something man who REALLY loves AC/DC, Till and Patrick are two Uni students who live in a HUGE frat house, Taran is a turk who is really religious the only problem is he worships the wrong side, then of course there is Dania who Nammen die gelegenheit für taufen an! Dania acceptet the invitation for baptism and here date is on the 19 of July! She was just so prepared and I was just lucky enough to extend the invitation. I love you and I hope that everything back home ist klar.

Elder Brande

Here's a picture of Elder Brande on a P-Day having fun with his Dusseldorf zone.  He's holding up his zone leader Elder Varney.

Finally making some contacts!

Here are some excerpts from Elder Brande's latest letters to us

It's been a little crazy for me here this past week. On Monday afternoon  Anderson, the other two Elders in Aachen and I traveled to Köln and stayed the night in the Köln Elders' apartment. I don't suggest ever visiting there. Tuesday we traveled to Frankfurt for Golden/Trainer Meeting. Then I returned to Köln that afternoon and went on a split with Elder King from Köln to Bonn. After he lost me in the Köln Hauptbahnhopf für eine stunde I went to Bonn and we taught a man. He's a great guy but he is Islamic. He just won't accept Jesus Christ as anything more than a prophet, and I know if he just prayed that he could gain a testimony, but he wont because he says the way we pray is like building a relationship with God and that is the one thing in his religion that is unforgivable :P then we had Zone conference that same afternoon and then I went on a split with one of the zone leaders, Elder Varney. We contacted like crazy, but no one was interested but I was able to bear my testimony to one man and change his whole outlook on prayer, but he still didn't want religion. We then taught a man from Greece. we taught him the stop smoking program, and he agreed to do it, and so far he has been doing great! We then taught a member, sister G I was able to use some of the Spanish I learned from landscaping to make her laugh (she's from Spain), then we gelehrt a guy from West Africa and he was baptised a few months ago and he wants to go serve a mission! Finally we thought A man from Guatemala and he accepted the Erlösungsplan  and the invitation to be baptized! Friday afternoon Elder Anderson and I returned to Aachen. We now have about five investigators and one of them showed up to church! her is D and she is from Cuba. She wanted to learn more and we will meet with her on Mittwoch, she also wanted us to teach her 10 year old son A. I'm excited to see where things go! 

Aachen is so hilly and you have to walk everywhere, your legs definitely get that burn :) We're going to hike out to the Tri Punkte land today, so I'll make sure to send you pictures of me in Germany, Netherlands, and Belgium :) As Die GML, Gemeinde Missionare Leiter, or Ward missionary leader, please help the Elders/Sisters build up that relationship with Die Gemeinde and prayerfully pair up the Untersucher mit members that would be the best für them. those are the Best GMLs :) There's quite alot of crazy stuff happening with the whole election thingy going on. Elder Anderson and I got caught up in a little etwas, a certain group of 10,000 people were marching through Aachen and were going to end infront of a Synagogue. Now a certain group of people like this attracts opposition and it needs police involvement. Elder Anderson and I were unaware of this and if it were for the fact that it was a little rough it would have been awesome. Nevertheless we didn't become Involved at all. really. Elections were yesterday and people here get pretty heated so that's why we're having P-day outside of the city :) 

Please Keep your commitments! as a missionary there is nothing quite as frustrating as someone not keeping there commitments! for being so practical and rule following, Germans aren't so good at keeping missionary commitments :P 

Ich liebe dich, und Ich weiß, dass wir Gottes kinder sind. Ich weiß, dass Jesus uns leibt. Ich glaube, dass beten und hören die geboten ganz wichtig sind, damit wir zu unser Vater im Himmel zurükkehren können.

Love Elder Brande

It's a one jacket week!

The weather has been pretty nice for the last few days and I'm finally able to wear just one jacket! We had a really neat experience the other day; we left our apartment early for an termin and we ended up heading the wrong way (we don't completly know the way around town yet) and out of a blue a lady called out to us. She had just gotten out of an internet cafe in which she was trying to Email a missionary she had lost contact with, so she found us and we set up a time to meet with her this week or the next! It was a huge testimony to me that the Lord puts his missionaries where he needs us. 

To be honest I kind of miss being able to work outside and I don't know why but I'm craving some yard work.

I'm sorry to hear about Aunt Karol. I hope that Grandpa is doing fine, I can't even imagine what one of my siblings passing away would do to me. The Branch here in Aachen is really amazing, and the building is in the Städtteil Brand so every member has brought that up to me. the Elder's Quorum Präsident, Mario is a really great guy, he's always taking us to appointments and helping us with   Weniger Aktives. He's a convert and he went on his mission to Frankfurt (he's German) and moved here to Aachen afterwards and became a baker ( he's always giving us bread and that's awesome!). We found out that he was once married, but his wife died in a car accident, which is totally sad! but it is amazing to see how groß his testimony on the Plan of Salvation and forgiveness are. 

Ugh! look up a picture of a German keyboard. You don't realize how often you use Y until it's switched. Also forgive my spelling, German is kind of killing it. The good thing about German is once you begin to understand it it's really easy to spell. We have cell phones and it is nice to be able to use those, helps save us 40 € train tickets :) 
-We don't have Ipads as a mission, but our district got chosen to be the test group with some new Ipads so we'll see where that goes! 

-No pain really, I did a net weight gain of -4 in a week and a half, but I gained about 18 pounds then dropped :P don't worry I've been doing Morgen Sport so I've been staying in shape :) 

-Elder Sprunt went to Bommburg, Apparently that is one of the nicest Wohnungs, I found out this week that we are liveing in one of the most rundown/Ghetto Wohnungs in the Mission, but that's how I want my first one to be, it will make the rest seem awesome :)

-Cmbrande Mch13f777

Love Elder Brande