Hello everyone! Yet another week has come and gone. I think they go by faster and faster each time.
On
Saturday we had our branch activity about family history. Some members
from the stake came and taught us how to do family history. To be
honest, the activity was a failure. Being in a small branch with very
few members its much harder to organize and have good activities. Well,
in total we had 3 or 4 come. It was at the house of one of the members
of the branch who has a little day care at her house, and has some
computers where she gives classes in the summer. Two people who came
were that sister and her husband, one other member, and one other came
later. Then we came plus the members who came to teach us. It was rather
sad to be honest, but it didnt really matter, because they trained my
companion and I too. Now we know how to use familysearch.org and new.familysearch.org
to do family history. So our new plans are go to the houses of the
members and teach them how to do it, that way they cant get out learning
it. When we started the activity it was interesting to see that my
companion got really excited when he started searching for his family
members not in the system. At the same time I felt really interested,
and so did the others that were present. It was really interesting to me
to see how that desire to do family history work took hold really fast.
I think it will have the same effect with the members when we go to
teach them. I hope so anyway. So I am really excited to start teaching
that to the members of the branch.
The other big news, much
bigger actually, is that the way in which we as missionaries work has
been changed dramatically, starting this week. The area presidency of
Mexico proposed a new system of missionary work to the Quorum of the 12
and they approved it. The changes have already happened in several
missions in Mexico and have had amazing results in a very short time. As
far as I knew the system is only in place in Mexico because of the
unique situation Mexico has. Starting tomorrow we will rarely knock
doors or contact people in the streets. We still can, but it is supposed
to be as the Spirit directs. The new idea is that we will spend our
time working with the members, less actives and actives alike in the
time where we arent teaching investigators and then we will teach the
members and rely on them to give us referrals as our main source of
people to teach. That way we strengthen the members and involve them in
missionary work and we have investigators who already have friends who
are members to help them get to know more about the Church. It is really
interesting, and I am really excited to see all the changes that are
going to take place.
Elder Matthew Bray
November 3, 2012
October 8, 2012
Email from October 8, 2012
Hello everyone! Wow. I love general conference. I had never looked
forward to it so much as I did this past weekend as a missionary. It
felt like a vacation, or as much of a vacation as a missionary will get
anyway. We went to the stake center to watch, since it isnt broadcast on
TV here, not that we are allowed to watch tv anyway, and we cant watch
on internet either. So we made the trip down to the stake center and to
enjoy the whole day there relaxing. It was nice to relax, that is a rare
thing for a missionary.
One thing was weird,
normally in the stake centers they have the spanish broadcast for those
members who speak Spanish back home, well, here they did the same thing
for us. It felt weird to be one of 5 or so North American missionaries
watching the english broadcast. It was weird to be the minority, but its
exciting all the same. On Saturday I watched the three sessions in
english, but on sunday there were more people, so they had to use the tv
and room for more people, so I had to watch in spanish. It was cool,
and I didnt have any problems understanding anything, but it just wasnt
the same. It doesnt have the same impact. Just imagine listening to
Elder Holland talk in a monotone voice. Its not the same. On sunday
listening to the sessions in spanish something that really struck me was
the hymn in the middle where everyone sings. The video that is
broadcast to the whole world is the same, english subtitles and all, and
they dont translate the choir either, obviously, and the sound that
comes from the speakers in the intermediate hymn is the same, its in
english, so everyone brings their hymnbooks and sings the songs in
spanish while the sound is in english. It was a really neat experience.
Everyone stood up and in the background we could hear the english song
(it was the hymn Called to Serve) but I along with everyone else started
singing in Spanish. It felt weird, but it made the fact that the Church
is a worldwide one reality. It felt really cool to realize that as I
was singing in Spanish millions of other people were joining in singing
in their own language. It doesnt sound that exciting, but I promise it
was.
As far as investigators go in the sessions
of conference, for us it was a let down. We had more than 50 people
committed to go. 5 came, including 2 who we never invited in the first
place who a member brought. I felt really frustrated, but it really is
ok. Two of the people that came are a really good family who is really
interested in listening to us and I think I will see them baptized one
day. I really like that family. Speaking of baptisms, we have one lined
up for this Saturday! There are a lot of obstacles to work around this
week for it to happen, but we have plans made to take care of them, so
if all goes well we will have a baptism! I am really excited for it. I
am pretty sure its going to happen. I will tell you more about the
family next week since we dont have much time to write today. Thats all
for this week
Elder Matthew Bray
October 5, 2012
Email from October 1, 2012
Hello everyone! This week was a good one. Because of general conference
next week we have changed the focus of our efforts to trying to get
investigators to general conference. Our mission president has set a
goal to have 900 investigators in at least one session of general
conference in total for the whole mission. This has been mentioned for a
while now, even as far back as when I was still in Nativitas. Elder
Veloz said it was a really good idea because he has had good experiences
bringing investigators to general conference. He says when they go they
always feel the Spirit and acknowledge that the speakers really are
prophets of God. When Pres. Valadez introduced the goal to have 900
investigators at general conference he promised us we would see a lot of
good results. We spent most of the week hunting down all the
investigators we know in the area and teaching short lessons about
prophets and inviting them to general conference. We are really hoping
to see our efforts pay off next weekend. I am so excited to actually see
general conference. I have never felt excited to see it before, but now
I am not just excited to see it to see if investigators go, which I am,
but I am actually really excited to see the prophet and apostles speak.
Maybe its just because I am a missionary, who knows.
The branch I am serving in is really small, but Elder Santos and I really want it to grow. We really think that it is going to grow a lot really soon. We have had some interesting experiences recently. We have run into so many inactive members in the street who have moved here to Ajusco who didn't know where the church is (we don't have a chapel, they are renting a house that they use for their meetings) or who have simply gone inactive. We don't know a lot of them and they contact us and they ask us where the church is so they can reactive again. The other day we had a miracle. We were near our house with less then two hours of proselyting time left in the day and it began to rain. Hard. We ran back to the house and waited a minute. It didn't look like it was going to let up any time soon, so we grabbed our umbrellas and went back out in the rain already thoroughly soaked to look for one more person. We walked through the streets that were more like rivers because they are so slanted being on a mountain to go to visit one last investigator I had never visited before, but Elder Santos wanted to visit. We turned onto a street that Elder Santos thought he lived on, but then looked confused and said it wasn't this one. We went to the next street, but that wasn't the right street either. We checked every possible street and he didn't recognize which one it was, we even double checked. So, cold and wet we decided to give up and go home. We started walking up the hill when a car pulled up and the driver called to us, calling us elders, so we knew he must have met missionaries before. He offered us a ride and we accepted. He took us home and told us that he had been baptized about 20 years ago, been a bishop for 5 years and a counselor in a stake presidency too, he even worked for the church here in Mexico and his son served a mission. He had moved to Ajusco recently and had gone inactive. He told us he would like to start coming to church again and we told him where it was.
We realized from that experience that maybe we wanted to visit a certain investigator, but God had a different plan. He prevented us from recognizing the street so that we could meet that man. It was a really neat experience.
Other than that life goes on like normal. I have been eating a lot of corn tortillas, a lot of rice, and a lot of beans. I didn't think they were really that common when I first got to Mexico, but they really are. Ajusco is a poorer area than Nativitas and they eat a lot of tortillas rice and beans. I have gotten over my dislike of beans and now I like them. They aren't my favorite, but I eat them willingly. I would be rather miserable if I didn´t. I have also discovered something that I like a lot. Here in Mexico they sell crushed up chile peppers (think of crushed red pepper, but ground finer), so I imagine it would be called chile powder there, that's the translation anyway, but I know that's not it. Anyway, they use that a lot in their food, and they put it on fruit. Yes, on fruit. I have come to like it a lot. I didn't like it at first, but now I do. They also sell special kinds called Miguelitos, which is like chile, but flavored. They have lots of different flavors, and they are delicious. I bought a bottle of pineapple flavored, and I love it. I buy fruit just so I can use my Miguelitos. I am really going to miss putting chile on my fruit one day. I know it sounds weird, but its really good, trust me.
That's all for this week!
Elder Matthew Bray
The branch I am serving in is really small, but Elder Santos and I really want it to grow. We really think that it is going to grow a lot really soon. We have had some interesting experiences recently. We have run into so many inactive members in the street who have moved here to Ajusco who didn't know where the church is (we don't have a chapel, they are renting a house that they use for their meetings) or who have simply gone inactive. We don't know a lot of them and they contact us and they ask us where the church is so they can reactive again. The other day we had a miracle. We were near our house with less then two hours of proselyting time left in the day and it began to rain. Hard. We ran back to the house and waited a minute. It didn't look like it was going to let up any time soon, so we grabbed our umbrellas and went back out in the rain already thoroughly soaked to look for one more person. We walked through the streets that were more like rivers because they are so slanted being on a mountain to go to visit one last investigator I had never visited before, but Elder Santos wanted to visit. We turned onto a street that Elder Santos thought he lived on, but then looked confused and said it wasn't this one. We went to the next street, but that wasn't the right street either. We checked every possible street and he didn't recognize which one it was, we even double checked. So, cold and wet we decided to give up and go home. We started walking up the hill when a car pulled up and the driver called to us, calling us elders, so we knew he must have met missionaries before. He offered us a ride and we accepted. He took us home and told us that he had been baptized about 20 years ago, been a bishop for 5 years and a counselor in a stake presidency too, he even worked for the church here in Mexico and his son served a mission. He had moved to Ajusco recently and had gone inactive. He told us he would like to start coming to church again and we told him where it was.
We realized from that experience that maybe we wanted to visit a certain investigator, but God had a different plan. He prevented us from recognizing the street so that we could meet that man. It was a really neat experience.
Other than that life goes on like normal. I have been eating a lot of corn tortillas, a lot of rice, and a lot of beans. I didn't think they were really that common when I first got to Mexico, but they really are. Ajusco is a poorer area than Nativitas and they eat a lot of tortillas rice and beans. I have gotten over my dislike of beans and now I like them. They aren't my favorite, but I eat them willingly. I would be rather miserable if I didn´t. I have also discovered something that I like a lot. Here in Mexico they sell crushed up chile peppers (think of crushed red pepper, but ground finer), so I imagine it would be called chile powder there, that's the translation anyway, but I know that's not it. Anyway, they use that a lot in their food, and they put it on fruit. Yes, on fruit. I have come to like it a lot. I didn't like it at first, but now I do. They also sell special kinds called Miguelitos, which is like chile, but flavored. They have lots of different flavors, and they are delicious. I bought a bottle of pineapple flavored, and I love it. I buy fruit just so I can use my Miguelitos. I am really going to miss putting chile on my fruit one day. I know it sounds weird, but its really good, trust me.
That's all for this week!
Elder Matthew Bray
September 17, 2012
Makeover!
This blog is currently going under major renovation. :) It is now called "From the Field" and will have stories from Matt's mission. Since all the stories will come from him and I am typing them for you to read, we are still both the authors.
So for those of you who don't know, Elder Matthew Bray is currently serving in the Mexico City South Mission. He left April 11, 2012. It hasn't been butterflies and roses and rainbows all the time, but the good always outweighs the bad. I am continually amazed at how positive he is.
Our hope is that you find strength through these stories. I know that I always do.
Michelle
So for those of you who don't know, Elder Matthew Bray is currently serving in the Mexico City South Mission. He left April 11, 2012. It hasn't been butterflies and roses and rainbows all the time, but the good always outweighs the bad. I am continually amazed at how positive he is.
Our hope is that you find strength through these stories. I know that I always do.
Michelle
February 24, 2011
Death
"I have lost the will to live, the problem is it keeps coming back when I get hungry" --Matt Bray
Once upon a time at swim practice, where so many of my quotes are born, we did a really difficult workout. After it was all over I probably tried to pull myself out of the pool and laid on the deck. Thoroughly exhausted I didn't want to move. That's when the quote came. You see I did feel like dying, because it probably felt better. Losing the will to live tends to be a frequent occurrence after swim/polo practice. But every time, without fail, it comes back. Often it comes back because I get hungry. I realize that I'm hungry and that is even worse than all the pain I'm going through, I'd suddenly want to live again so that I could eat. At least I think that's something like what I meant when I said the quote, I don't really remember exactly what I did mean.
I've felt like this the last few days. Tuesday was the first day of polo practice and my coach's new favorite workout/punishment is lunges. Lunges are very painful in large amounts like my coach makes us do. He makes us go around the pool, 150+ yards of misery. Let me describe how this feels for those of you who have never had this experience. We start off at one corner and go around. The first 25 yards are alright. After that it all goes downhill. By 50 yards the legs start to burn and don't want to bend any more. By 75 they are burning so bad it feels like it is impossible to continue, but you have to. By 100 yards your legs start to shut down and feel like fire. Then you have to go 50 more. When all 150 yards are finished you stand up and your thighs feel like dull, metal knives that have been held in a fire for about ten minutes are stabbing your legs all over and it is almost impossible to walk because if you move your legs at all it only makes it worse. So now sitting down sounds like a great idea and you do. You sit down and in order to do so you have to bend your legs again it makes it hurt worse, then you sit down and the thigh muscles seize up and feel like they are pulling your knees into your hips all the while still feeling like those heated knives are stabbing you. This description does not even do it justice. Then to make it even better, every time you try to stand up or sit down for the next 3 days you make grandpa noises and/or whimper because it hurts so bad. To cap it all off you have to waddle around because of the pain.
I've felt like this the last few days. Tuesday was the first day of polo practice and my coach's new favorite workout/punishment is lunges. Lunges are very painful in large amounts like my coach makes us do. He makes us go around the pool, 150+ yards of misery. Let me describe how this feels for those of you who have never had this experience. We start off at one corner and go around. The first 25 yards are alright. After that it all goes downhill. By 50 yards the legs start to burn and don't want to bend any more. By 75 they are burning so bad it feels like it is impossible to continue, but you have to. By 100 yards your legs start to shut down and feel like fire. Then you have to go 50 more. When all 150 yards are finished you stand up and your thighs feel like dull, metal knives that have been held in a fire for about ten minutes are stabbing your legs all over and it is almost impossible to walk because if you move your legs at all it only makes it worse. So now sitting down sounds like a great idea and you do. You sit down and in order to do so you have to bend your legs again it makes it hurt worse, then you sit down and the thigh muscles seize up and feel like they are pulling your knees into your hips all the while still feeling like those heated knives are stabbing you. This description does not even do it justice. Then to make it even better, every time you try to stand up or sit down for the next 3 days you make grandpa noises and/or whimper because it hurts so bad. To cap it all off you have to waddle around because of the pain.
February 7, 2011
Scars
“Rule number 1: don’t spray your coach with his own water bottles; bad things happen.” --The Chard and Matt Bray
This last weekend was state swim. It was way fun and our team did pretty good. It reminded me of this quote that occurred at state polo last year. Richard and I were sitting on a bench watching the championship game. Kirt, our coach was standing in front of us off to the side and Richard was babysitting Kirt's water bottle. Why? I don't know. It was a weird bottle, it was more of a bag with a cap like a regular water bottle.
Just as a side note, Richard was playing with the bag that you put inside the bucket for ice at the hotel earlier that day. The ice had all melted so he had a bag of water. He managed to spill it all over the room and get some of our stuff wet. He did the same thing again in our same room, in the same day. So you can see how this is going to go.
He discovered that you could spray the water pretty far from this water bottle/bag. He filled it up several times and took great delight in spraying across the deck. Being Richard he got the brilliant idea to spray Kirt, and being Richard, he followed through with this plan. Kirt turned around ran toward Richard. Richard looked for an escape route, but there was none. Over me was his best option, he clawed me frantically trying to get away but his plan failed. Kirt got a hold of him and showed him who's boss. I discovered my arms had been cut up from Richard trying to escape. I still have scars on my right arm to this day. The quote is self explanatory here.
But Richard is not the only person to leave a scar on my right arm from a polo experience. Our good friend Carri left a nice little scar on my forearm one day too. We were at practice one day and scrimmaging. I was guarding Carri and she happened to have the ball. I had my arm up to block, but I thought I could hit the ball out of her hand. Somehow her head appeared where I originally thought the ball was. I managed to knock out one of her brackets from her braces and received a scar from the impact. I really enjoy teasing her about that one.
February 3, 2011
Complications
"If you didn't worry about what other people think when you talk, life would be so much more simple." --Martin Bradwards
This quote came along on a Monday. How do I know this? It was referring to Saturday and Matt was not there, thus making it a Monday.
The Friday before was region swim. As you may remember from this post, we had a lot of fun laughing. It was one of the greatest days ever.
The next day I went on a date. I did not (and still don't really) know the kid very well. His name is Joseph Potter and he is really funny. I had no idea what to talk to him about or anything. So I recounted my night with Matt and Richard. I mean, when you laugh so hard and spend so much time with two people, everything reminds you of them.
Long story short, I felt a little guilty for bringing up Matt and Richard while I was on this date.
On Monday, I informed Richard that he complicates my life by being so funny. Then the quote was born.
And it is true in everything.
The Friday before was region swim. As you may remember from this post, we had a lot of fun laughing. It was one of the greatest days ever.
The next day I went on a date. I did not (and still don't really) know the kid very well. His name is Joseph Potter and he is really funny. I had no idea what to talk to him about or anything. So I recounted my night with Matt and Richard. I mean, when you laugh so hard and spend so much time with two people, everything reminds you of them.
Long story short, I felt a little guilty for bringing up Matt and Richard while I was on this date.
On Monday, I informed Richard that he complicates my life by being so funny. Then the quote was born.
And it is true in everything.
January 31, 2011
Problems
"The problem is we can't find the solution." --Matthew James
This quote came about in a conversation that Matt and I had the other night. We dig deep into the details today. The point is that we were trying to find the solution to the problem but couldn't find it.
Isn't that always the problem?
Isn't that always the problem?
January 28, 2011
"As much as I want to sit here and complain about how bad I feel, I look into your faces and you look like crap."
Today in Madrigals, Mrs. Tawa wasn't feeling very well. Since we are a family, she feels like she can complain to us. She stood in front of us, instructing us in the ways of sweaters. She then said the quote and we laughed. And laughed.
I wrote it on the board.
I wrote it on the board.
January 27, 2011
Cookie
"That's great. Do you want a cookie?" --Jeremy
I know it has taken a while for this story, but I promise that it was worth the wait.
The other day we were eating lunch. Big shocker there, right? Our friend Marci came over and chatted with us. She plays Water Polo, but last year she broke her collar bone and couldn't play for the season. Now she can lift her arms enough to play efficiently.
She was showing Katie that she would be able to block people. Jeremy, this kid who we love very much, said the quote. Just blurted it.
It's even more funny when you can hear Jeremy's voice. We laughed, hard. So hard that I had to hide my face on Matt's shoulder.
The other day we were eating lunch. Big shocker there, right? Our friend Marci came over and chatted with us. She plays Water Polo, but last year she broke her collar bone and couldn't play for the season. Now she can lift her arms enough to play efficiently.
She was showing Katie that she would be able to block people. Jeremy, this kid who we love very much, said the quote. Just blurted it.
It's even more funny when you can hear Jeremy's voice. We laughed, hard. So hard that I had to hide my face on Matt's shoulder.
January 21, 2011
Laughter
"I think I just swallowed my nose." --The Chard
Thursday and Friday this week were the region swim meet. Thursday went rather poorly for both Richard and I to say the least. But to make up for everything Friday went pretty well. Our relay took first in our region, earning both of us our first gold medals which was really exciting. To celebrate we watched Bill Cosby again. Richard was being Richard to the max after our races. I can think of only two times in my life I have ever laughed as hard as I did Friday night. It was really entertaining.
I spent most of the night looking at this face. Needless to say I have never had a better ab workout, it lasted about 4 hours. I can't look at this picture without laughing my head off, typing this post is really difficult. The quote finally came in between laughs. Fortunately he still has his nose, so what he meant, no one knows....... but it was funny.
I spent most of the night looking at this face. Needless to say I have never had a better ab workout, it lasted about 4 hours. I can't look at this picture without laughing my head off, typing this post is really difficult. The quote finally came in between laughs. Fortunately he still has his nose, so what he meant, no one knows....... but it was funny.
January 20, 2011
Seeping
Yesterday was an interesting day in my house. We have a turtle tank and it flooded, seeping through the walls and ceiling in the basement, ruining carpet upstairs. It was quite interesting.
Heather described the room as a pond. My mom left work to help Heather clean up the yucky turtle water. Once it was all gone from John's room and they showered, I discovered a bubble in my ceiling. Yeah... not the greatest thing. And then it went downhill from there. The water had seeped down through the walls in the basement, the carpet was wet in three rooms, just not our idea of a "good time." (Any Bill Cosby fans out there?)
Anyhow, my mom and Heather stayed super, cleaning and pondering what to do. My dad called a guy and he came with fans to start drying the walls, floors, and ceiling. It was decided that everyone, but my dad, would have to go somewhere else to sleep because of the noisy fans. I called my friend Jill and stayed the night at her house.
As I was thinking about the whole fiasco during seminary, I came up with a good analogy. The turtle tank flooding is the world, pouring nasty water on to us. We are the walls; we soak up the world and it causes problems. Heavenly Father is the fan (well, there are six fans) that came help us heal.
When the world pours its water onto you and the winds push against you, remember that "these things shall give thee experience." (D&C122:7)
Heather described the room as a pond. My mom left work to help Heather clean up the yucky turtle water. Once it was all gone from John's room and they showered, I discovered a bubble in my ceiling. Yeah... not the greatest thing. And then it went downhill from there. The water had seeped down through the walls in the basement, the carpet was wet in three rooms, just not our idea of a "good time." (Any Bill Cosby fans out there?)
Anyhow, my mom and Heather stayed super, cleaning and pondering what to do. My dad called a guy and he came with fans to start drying the walls, floors, and ceiling. It was decided that everyone, but my dad, would have to go somewhere else to sleep because of the noisy fans. I called my friend Jill and stayed the night at her house.
As I was thinking about the whole fiasco during seminary, I came up with a good analogy. The turtle tank flooding is the world, pouring nasty water on to us. We are the walls; we soak up the world and it causes problems. Heavenly Father is the fan (well, there are six fans) that came help us heal.
When the world pours its water onto you and the winds push against you, remember that "these things shall give thee experience." (D&C122:7)
January 13, 2011
Breathing
"Over-breathing may feel good but it's bad for you. Under-breathing may feel bad but it is good for you... like drugs!" --Martin Bradwards
Once upon a time this quote somehow came to exist. How? We don't really remember. It was too long ago (one whole day).
It probably had something to do with Richard and his bags, once again. This tends to be a daily occurrence in our lunch time.
But now it stinks because someone has class during lunch Monday, Wednesday, AND Friday. Yeah. You read that right.
So, if quotes are lacking, check back on a Tuesday or Thursday. Or on a weekend. Or everyday just to be surprised.
It probably had something to do with Richard and his bags, once again. This tends to be a daily occurrence in our lunch time.
But now it stinks because someone has class during lunch Monday, Wednesday, AND Friday. Yeah. You read that right.
So, if quotes are lacking, check back on a Tuesday or Thursday. Or on a weekend. Or everyday just to be surprised.
January 11, 2011
Flow
"You cannot push a river; let it flow on its own." --Doris Murphy
I just had the wonderful opportunity to visit one of my neighbors. Her name is Doris; she is 92 years old with arthritis and other things that make her weak physically. She is a wise, grateful woman of virtue. Sharing her company is one of the greatest blessings because her happiness takes you over.
Dorris heard this quote from her grandson and his wife. They travel the world together. While they were in China, they sent a card, or something of that sort, to Dorris that had the quote written on it. We discussed the importance of taking time to enjoy little things, letting life run on its own.
I know that I often try to push my life in the direction I want it to go. One day I will be better at letting things just happen, letting the river flow by itself.
Dorris heard this quote from her grandson and his wife. They travel the world together. While they were in China, they sent a card, or something of that sort, to Dorris that had the quote written on it. We discussed the importance of taking time to enjoy little things, letting life run on its own.
I know that I often try to push my life in the direction I want it to go. One day I will be better at letting things just happen, letting the river flow by itself.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)