Email from Braydon

 Monday September 16, 2013

Email from Elder Braydon Galland (Brother)

I have done so much work this week its not even funny! i have never worked more, prayed more, and done so much in one week! this week was another mentally tough week being away from the family in this hard time but i have been so blessed as well! Elder Robinson has helped me so much the last few weeks, he is such a blessing in my life! He will be one of my best friends forever! i cannot believe we ever fought as a companionship! you guys will meet him when he comes home, and you will love him. hahaha he told me he might be more excited to get home to go visit my family more than his own hahahah hes such a funny person! today me and him went to this giant field that looks like the pride lands from lion king and so we both sprinted and acted like lions for like 10 minutes while wrestling and rwaring and then we realized we had ran like a mile into the field and were so far away from the other elders! hahahaha i love elder robinson.

now after sharing that strory i was about to say i feel like i am now 30 years old because of all the marriage work i have done this week but that would be a lie, i still feel like i am 9 years old. haha but Titos and Ana. i feel bad because i have not talked enough about them to you guys and they are pretty much my third family after my family and the piggotts. they too have helped me so much with the kollin situation. they pray so much for our family its incredible. they ask every day about kollin. Titos and Ana and their 6 kids will be apart of my life forever. i have spent about  hours with them a day this week doing marriage paper work in the city and teaching the family. he has work and so i have to teach the family at 2 different time so they can all my baptised the same day! as of right now, Titos, Ana, Lila the oldest sister, Alberto the son, and Lauda the other daughter will be baptised the same day. the other children are under 8 and one sister is never home but we will get her for sure! ah this family is a miracle. they littlerally are my family. they are proggessing so well. they are so humble. their lives have COMPLETELY changed because of this gospel. they have stopped drinking, cheating, looking at porn, practicing witchcraft, and more, in 3 weeks, because of the Lord. i have wittnessed, and had the amazing opportunity to be right in the middle of this proccess. oh mom, ana wanted me to tell you that you are absolutley beautiful and she thought you were my sister:) mom, and i wanted to you that you are so hot as well:) sheesh! wooo!! anyway, every single lesson with titos and the family has been guided by the spirit. Have you ever had to tell 2 people that witchcraft isnt from god and they need to stop? its a weird experience but i said a prayer first and they were so humble about it. they just had no idea! all they need is to hear the truth and they accept it. They have never questioned one thing that i have told them. This was the fastest i have seen a family in mozambique get the first lesson and be married and baptized. all in about 4 weeks. their life flipped upside down , but more like rightside up. Titos thanks me everyday and he says he was lost in the world and i reached way down and picked him up by his arm and lifted him up. I told him it was not me, but it was the lord. THat god never forgot about him and his family. This family has changed my life. More than anyone other than luis manuel cerveja. I love my titos family. God is blessing them like crazy. we were at a government building waiting to pic up their atestado de residencia so we could open the process for marriage,  for some reason the people at the governement buildings hate us. but titos or ana have no idea how the processes go and so i litterally have to do everything. it was a really cool experience having 4 mozambicans get mad at me and being able to understand every word they are saying, as i hear the other workers gossip about me and hearing every word as well. hahah after having a heated conversation for like 10 minutes (dont worry i never raised my voice or said anything i regret or that god would be sad at) and to stop and realize that i am speaking a different language. anyway, the lady told me to leave and that it wasnt done. so i just waited and said a prayer. ten minutes later i talked to a new young man there, i explained the situation because it needed to be done that day or we couldnt do the marriage! the spirit touched him and he sneakily did all the papers himself and gave it to me one hour later. ah the story has so much more but i cannot explain so i will just wait to tell the full titos ana story when i get home in 5 years. but you guys should pray and thank heavenly father for leading titos and ana to me. because they have given my the most happiness of my mission! we have family night with them and play games and litterally are just family.

THis week i had a hard day because i was so sad for kollin and i was litterally so sad and nothing was making me happy.anyway we left the house and had about 5 lessons, and i realized that i was sad unitll i would bear my testimony. everytime i bore my  testimony, i was FILLED with happiness more than i can explain. i know the power of bearing your testimony. i suggest to all of you guys, for family night tonight to bear your testimony even if its 10 seconds long. My testimony has gone leaps and bounds this week. I know this church is true. On saturday, we taught a first lesson to a family who did not who who god was, and never heard the word prophet. we taught so simple the first lesson adn i invited him to later that night, kneel down and ask god if this church was his church. his name is james. james than asked if he could do it right then at that moment. the spirit was so strong so i said please do. we then all got in a circle, kneeling on the hard floor. I taught him how to pray, and very simply, he said outloud, Meu Deus no ceu, quero saber se esta igreja e verdadeira. (my god in heaven, i want to know if this church is true.) we then stayed silet for about 5 minutes with eyes closed, arms folded, kneeling on the floor. he then closed the prayer. i asked him how he felt, and he said his heart was beating so hard and fast.

ah i almost cried. durring the 5 minutes of silence i was just begging god to answer him. i then explained how that is how god speaks to us. through the holy ghost. and then i bore my testimony. it was was of the happiest moments of my mission as well. such an amazing experience!

ok i have to go, i have pics of titos and me and the family and also mira, who will be baptised on the same day! i love mira! i feel so bad for not talking about her so much too! she is the 19 year old reference girl from the member! we are such good friends! but sadly i cannot send pics because i am at a different comp place that doesnt have the option haha so i will wait for next week! 

LOVE YOU ALLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL