Hey everyone! I am now a missionary and I will be leaving on my mission tomorrow. I’m sending this as a test email to make sure I get everyone on the list that wants to be on. Let me know if I am missing someone or have someone’s email misspelled. I’ll be doing my best to send out weekly emails. Thank you all for your support so far!
-Elder Breinholt
Hello dearest friends and family!
I must say that this week truly was killer. In a good way.
On Tuesday was Elder Blair’s first MLC! Plus it was a special one, because after the meeting, we all carpooled over to the Mission home and had a barbecue and played games! So awesome. It was so great to be able to hang out with a bunch of solid missionaries and have a good time.
I don’t know if I already mentioned but people reach out to feed us a LOT here. Unfortunately, we have had to cancel dinner with quite a few because of how busy we are with mission business… :/
We picked up a solid new investigator named Robert and taught him a short 15 minute lesson on the Book of Mormon, and he was very humble about receiving it and wants to learn more, read, and pray. 🙂 Also, we put a cool girl named Tykeasha on date for baptism! She was gone to California for over a month, but came back and remembers what we taught her.
Quick story:
I was calling numbers for BINGO at the Railside Community Center on Wednesday, which we do every week, and there was a brand new lady there who had never played BINGO before. She was being helped by Elder Blair, but was still having trouble, and was getting frustrated because she hadn’t won yet. We needed to rap up so I started calling numbers faster, and she got SUPER close to winning, but then someone else won the last round and got the prize. As I stepped away, she looked into my eyes with malice and said “You were calling to fast you dumb bunny!” with a lot of emphasis on “Dumb Bunny.” Haha I laughed and cried a little on the inside, but hey it was pretty funny x)
I love you all and I hope you have a wonderful week! Love the unlovable! That’s something we learned at MLC, sometimes there are those who you have difficulty serving, or loving, and perhaps those are the ones you ought to spend more time with.
Sincerely,
Elder Breinholt
Step 1. Think of something nice you can do for a friend
Step 2. Borrow a lawn mower and go start mowing your friends lawn
Step 3. Your friend arrives home and is very grateful and begins working with you
Step 4. Your friend takes a turn with the mower while you rake sticks
Step 5. Your friends dog somehow gets out of the house, but you think your friend sees her
Step 6. Your friends dog disappears when you look away
Step 7. You should have told your friend when you had a chance, and now your friends marriage is in jeopardy.
THE END
Did you like the story?
Just kidding it’s not the end, they did find the dog 🙂
Hello everyone it was a GREAT and BUSY week! Elder Blair, my new companion, is awesome! We found out he and I are actually Third cousins! Plus, Elder Blair has a guitar!!!! AHHH! So I’ve been teaching him and it’s been awesome. We’ve seriously had a blast and we’re working our hardest to serve the 36 missionaries in our zone. Admittedly, I haven’t even had time in the evening to work out or write in my journal for 4 days, but I will repent!
I had the wonderful opportunity to Skype my family yesterday and talk to my Mom, Dad, brothers, sister, Grandma, and 2 aunts and an uncle! It was awesome! To all of my family who will read this: I love you guys and I miss you and I’ll see you again soon! 🙂
One thing I really learned this week which God has been preparing me to learn is that He answers prayers the way He knows is best, not just the way we want or in the time we want. In searching for the dog with Andrew last week, I stopped us all to say a prayer, and was a little confused and worried when we still couldn’t find her after an hour. We had to leave, and I was stressed out the rest of the day. Late that night, Andrew texted us and let us know they found her, and he’s sure that the prayer helped, and the experience brought him closer to God. I don’t know the whole story of how he found her, but God answered my prayer in a better way that what I had hoped for! A similar experience happened for the Breinholt family this week. I won’t go into any detail, but I hold in reverence the memories of my dear Grandfather, who has passed onto his next stage of existence, and I believe that he will continue to strengthen me and the rest of the family from the other side of the veil.
I hope all you wonderful mothers had a happy mothers day and I and billions of others appreciate all that you do.
Love,
Elder Breinholt
Hey everyone!
Chandra was baptized this morning! Hooray! We’re all so proud of him. Once again there were a bunch of missionaries there to support him and us. Elder Medina and Elder Freeman both used to teach him, and Elder Medina baptized him. It turned out to be a great service.
We got our transfer calls Thursday night from President Jacobsen. He messed around with Elder Turley for a bit, but he is sending him to Jackson, MI for his last transfer! A missionary named Elder Blair who’s only been out about 9 months is going to take his place with me as a new zone leader. He didn’t show it while talking to President, but after the phonecall ended, Elder Turley was infuriated. He really doesn’t want to leave Wyoming… However, we were able to have an awesome last PDay with him here, as a group of Elders in the zone met together in Holland to go to the beach! The wind was blowing hard and it was cold, but we had fun anyway. 🙂
I’m excited to have the chance to train Elder Blair to be a zone leader, although I’m still not sure I know what I’m doing yet. The Lord is the one who has put us in this position, and I know and have a testimony He will qualify us! The Lord qualifies those whom He calls, and that is something I learned from Elder Alley, my first zone leader who was an inspiration to me at the beginning of my mission.
Remember, the Lord has called you to do amazing things! And you need not fear, because He will qualify you if you put your trust in Him. If you have an overwhelming calling, find yourself afraid to open your mouth and do missionary work, or work things out within your household, stop relying on your own power and lean unto the power, knowledge, and understanding of God. (Proverbs 3: 5-6)
Elder Breinholt
Hello everyone!
Actually had a pretty normal week.
Lots of errand running still, but we had lots of opportunities to teach, so it was great 🙂
Father and Son
We did run out of miles before the end of the month so we did a bit of walking but it wasn’t bad.
We’re getting ready to head out to our zone pday for the day! We had all these awesome plans to go to the beach in Holland Michigan, but it turned out to be a muggy, rainy day. Kinda sucks but we’ll have fun at the Stake Center!
Turtle I found
I love you all and I will actually be emailing again on Saturday because it’s the end of the transfer. Also, Saturday is Chandra’s baptism which we’re super excited for! Make sure to include him in your prayers so whatever opposition arises will be overcome and he will make it to Saturday!
A couple of crazy people
Elder Hatfield, Boyd, and Whitesides
I just want to say that I’m so grateful to have the privilege of being out here. Not everyone is granted this opportunity, but I’m especially grateful because I really needed this. I’m a different person in so many ways, and I’m so much happier. For those who don’t have this opportunity, in a lot of ways I believe it is because you are strong and you’re able to learn a lot of these principles where you are! Stay strong and keep pushing on! I love you all and hope you have a wonderful week!
A wild Elder Quintana but everyone thinks he’s me.
Ttyl!
Elder Breinholt
Hello everyone!
How is everybody doing?
It’s been a taxing, but rewarding week. We had 3 tradeoffs, and the Assistants to President Jacobsen stayed over at our apartment from Tuesday night to Wednesday. Also, we had zone conference on Wednesday for between 7 and 8 hours. So it’s been a little crazy! But Elder Turley and I had a great time with all the Elders who came through and worked with us, it was a blast.
We have officially dropped some of the people we were teaching because they’re really not making an effort to learn or change right now, and it’s amazing how quickly God provides us with new people to teach. We picked up three solid investigators to teach who I’m really excited for. Chandra, a man we teach from Nepal, has officially given up his habits of drinking tea and is preparing to be baptized on May 6th! Ahh! We’re so proud 🙂
Spending more time with the Spanish Elders was fun. I feel like my comprehension of spanish is improving little by little. I like going around after church when the Spanish ward is just starting and I try to talk to some of the people coming into the chapel. x) We went up to the stake center Friday night to play soccer with the Spanish Elders and their investigators and members and I have never seen spanish used in such heated ways!
Elder Turley is nervous President Jacobsen is going to transfer him somewhere else for his last six weeks, because he’s been hinting at it. Uh oh that means I might have to hold down the fort when he leaves… But that doesn’t come for another couple of weeks.
We are very well supported here and I am happy. I just have been trying to continue to adjust to all the differences and find the right balance to remain consecrated, yet not become robotic or obnoxious. I just want to follow the example of Christ. My studies right now are focused on the life of the Savior in the New Testament. I challenge you all to take some time to study his life as well! It’s impossible to do so sincerely without it having an impact on you or your spirit, I believe. His love is unmatched, and I need to have that love for those I serve, too.
So, I love you all!
Have a wonderful week I will talk to you later!
Elder Breinholt
I don’t even know where to begin but I just know that I’m still tired from what happened on Thursday night into Friday morning:
Hello Everyone!
This was a busy week but it was great 🙂 It probably just felt busy because I’m still not used to all this. Nevertheless let us begin–
Monday – Pday! Ran a couple of Elders around to do their errands because they don’t have a car, and then we and a bunch of other Elders went to the driving range and had some fun! I was really terrible though and it was frustrating but that’s okay. Then of course we played basketball
Tuesday – Thursday – Interviews with President Jacobsen! Interviews now happen every transfer over 3 days in each zone to get all the missionaries through. Elder Turley and I have to be there all three days and stay with the missionaries and be part of their district meetings at well. Favorite district meeting was the Spanish District’s! I did NOT realize I’d be able to comprehend everything they said but it happened! I still had difficulty talking back but it was a fun time 🙂
Thursday Night – Friday Morning – At the hospital in Jackson. Elder Liu, and past companion of mine (my 2nd one, you’ll probably remember him) ended up in the hospital to have an appendectomy. We were just starting our tradeoff with the AP’s so we ended up going down there with them to be there through the surgery and his stay at the hospital. We tried to assign shifts to stay with him so others would be able to sleep, but it wasn’t easy sleeping on the cold Jackson apt. floor with nothing but a couch cushion as a pillow. Haha. So we ended this crazy experience with maybe two hours of sleep and some crazy videos taken in the waiting room while we all tried to pass time.
Saturday – MISSIONARY WORK! Finally had a chance to be in our area for a whole day and do some teaching 🙂
Sunday – Easter! We had a bunch of awesome less actives and investigators we work with come to church and they loved it! I have to say I feel very blessed to be serving here in Wyoming, it’s a great ward, we get fed almost every day, they make friends with new people and with investigators, and things are going really well for those we teach.
I love you all, I hope you had a wonderful Easter and have a great week!
TTYL!
Elder Breinholt 🙂
Hello friends and family!
How is everybody doing?
Elder Turley and I are having a great time here in Wyoming 1. I am still trying to figure out why they would name a city Wyoming no where near Wyoming. But hey, Michigan has a city called Hell as well.
Anyway.
Went on a couple of tradeoffs this week! We had a lot of fun with Elder Mitchell, Elder Christensen, Elder Valentine, and Elder Quintana. I forgot to get a picture with the latter two, but a lot of people seem to mistake Elder Quintana for me. We don’t look that alike but I guess it’s enough that people who knew me for six months still couldn’t tell the difference. No big deal 😉
This week we are having interviews with President Jacobsen as a zone. As zone leaders we go to all the interviews for all the members of our zone, so they’ll take a big chunk out of our day tomorrow, wednesday and Thursday. Plus, after Interviews on Thursday we’re going to Lansing with the Assistants to the President for a tradeoff with them at MSU! I’m so excited I hear it’s super fun serving at MSU, I’ll let you know how it goes.
Well Easter is coming up soon and I just want to let you all know how much I love the Savior, Jesus Christ. He truly is risen, He is not dead. And because He lives, we will all live again. I invite each of you to take 2 minutes for him and watch this video which uses music, words, and faces to remind us of the Resurrection of Christ. Once again, I know He lives and that He, along with our Heavenly Father, loves each of us and desires our happiness, so let him into your life! Pray! Read from the scriptures! Go to church and just listen to your heart! I know if you do, your heart will be changed for the better. I love you all and hope you have a wonderful week!
Elder Breinholt
Hello lovely friends and family!
It’s your friendly neighborhood Elder Breinholt here. How have things been going?
The Kriegs from GRap Ward
Elder Turley and I have been serving here in Wyoming 1 together for about a week now and it’s been great 😀 Elder Turley has had a lot of experience as a zone leader so he’s training me on all the responsibilities really well. We make and receive a LOT of calls as zone leaders. For example on Sundays we have to call through all the districts to get information on all the areas key indicators, baptismal projections, and how the missionaries themselves are doing. It’s been super busy, but also very fun. I’ve loved getting to know these missionaries a lot better, and we already went on one tradeoff last week and had a blast. Tradeoffs now basically always involve a sleepover because all the missionaries come to our area to work with us.
Awesome friends we made from Calvin College
So I guess what I’m trying to say is I’m having lots of fun and I’m happy! 🙂
I’m grateful to have had the opportunity to watch General Conference, and to hear inspiring words from the Prophet and Apostles. One awesome talk was Elder Bednar’s talk in the Priesthood session about the difference between being called to serve, and being assigned to labor. Remember, we are all called to labor in the Lord’s vineyard! So go out and be a light unto the nations through your example and the love you show to others by sharing what makes you happy!
Kevin, Alisha, Cam, and Kayla :’) (Made us steak and ribs for my last day)
I love you all and hope you have a wonderful week!
TTYL!
Elders Quorum in GRap
Elder Breinholt
Hello everyone!
We got the transfer call. We actually got it Thursday night instead of Friday which was a surprise, but I was called as the new Zone Leader in Wyoming Michigan!
The District.
I am SO excited! I’m going to be serving with Elder Turley, who has been my favorite zone leader. We’re going to have a blast together. I’ll give you all details as we go along 🙂
My new companion Elder Turley!
I won’t be emailing Monday, this week Saturday is our PDay so that’s why I’m emailing today. Sad to be leaving, but I’ll still be able to see these people 🙂
Katalina, a current hilarious investigator
Sister McClarin who we visited twice a week for 6 months
The Banners (without them, we wouldn’t be able to get much done)
I love you all, hope you have a great week! TTYL!
Elder Breinholt
