Hello everyone! 😀

I have left my “birthplace” of Sturgis, Michigan, and am now in Oscoda! Right on the coast of Lake Huron! Staying in a small individual home that is seriously right next to the lake. It’s awesome.

I’m excited for new adventures which I will tell you all about! There are a couple I want to mention from my last week in Sturgis:

One of our investigators got out of a truck and walked to toward us while we were knocking, and asked what we were up to. And we replied, “doorknocking” and he said, “let’s go!” So off we went to doorknock together! First door, we start a conversation, and Leo, the investigator adds some great input and says that our church has a lot of truth, and then proceeds to pull out a pack of cigarettes, light up, and offer one to the person at the door….

Oh Leo…. ;P

It’s already about time for me to get going. But I love you all! I am so sad to have left Sturgis and all of the wonderful people there. We were teaching a Muslim, a Jew, A Pastor, and today we would have picked up an Amish family, but Elder Janes has taken my place in Sturgis! (He was my MTC companion.)

I’ll talk with you all again next week and let you know just how hard this transition is…. haha. But seriously don’t be afraid to send your prayers. Love you all, so so dearly, and I know that the Savior does as well, or else he would not have done everything that he has for us–and not to mention, everything he continues to do for us. Rely on him, and you will be so much better off.

Elder Breinholt

Hello Everyone!

This has been a great week and I am so grateful for the time I have had to serve in Sturgis, Michigan. I have been here almost six months, so it’s probably about time for me to move on, even though I don’t feel I want to; we have a bunch of wonderful people we are teaching, many of them brand new who are prepared to learn and repent, and will eventually be baptized. But I just wish I get be there through the whole process! That’s kind of the frustration of the whole “transfer” thing… :/ But it’s alright.

So the other day, while in the middle of a lesson, one of those wonderful new investigators called with a slight emergency: She had picked up a woman from off the street who had no shoes or socks or coat, but then quickly realized this person was a little bit unstable mentally. The investigator also had her daughter in the back and, worried at all of the random demands of this stranger and the fact that they didn’t actually know where they lived, called us and had us meet her immediately in Sturgis. So we all sat down in a McDonalds and Elder Liu and I were trying to figure out the situation of this young woman from the street by asking her simple questions. We also quickly realized there was not much we could do for her and she was seemingly delusional and quite possible a danger to herself, so we proceeded to call the police discreetly to have them meet come and be the one’s to help her get wherever she needed to be. The police came in, and apparently there was some miscommunication because they looked around and I kept trying to signal them and they looked confused and left… After which this girl also ran out from the building and across the street…. And yet somehow, it all worked out in the end because she actually came back, and the police and lifecare came and after running away from them, ran to a firefighter who she willingly went with, and that was that. So perhaps this was all meant to be, and she could have hurt herself or frozen her feet off by herself, and we helped her into the hands of those who are trained for all sorts of situations like this. But yeah, that was a pretty weird day.

Things have been great here and I am so grateful to be a missionary, and to be learning to help people draw nearer unto God and overcome their biggest struggles, including addiction. I think we are all addicted to something whether we realize it or not. Society tries to addict us to things all the time–why? Because it makes them more of this: $$$, or gives them fame or popularity or pride. Be aware, my friends. Don’t let Satan pull you into these things. Be strong and of good courage, and do not fear. Pray oft that ye may come off conqueror. I love you all and I hope you know that!

Have a great week and talk with you later! Oh and if you are planning on sending anything this week send to the mission office:

4910 S Hagadorn Rd
East Lansing, MI 48823

Elder Breinholt 🙂

Hello everyone!

Not sure whether I got out an email or not last week so I sent it again just in case… hope that’s okay. 🙂

Had a great week. Having accomplished almost all our goals last week, we shot for higher goals for this week and worked our hardest to achieve them. Some of them worked out. Others, no matter how hard we tried, we could not make the numbers happen. And maybe that’s the problem, because we were focusing too much on the numbers, and not enough on simply doing what the Lord wants or needs us to do at any given time. We are still trying to learn the balances of missionary work, but one day, we’ll find them. Probably not even in this lifetime… but eventually 🙂

Jason the Brony is preparing for baptism! After more than four months he is feeling ready and is planning on being baptized on the 23rd before I leave! I am so excited for him and have loved seeing him progress and seeing his faith grow. He’s already met basically everyone in the ward, and every missionary of the district. Now opposition is going to hit and try to make things difficult and test his faith. Satan doesnt want him to be baptized.

Anyway, we tried hard this week and we were still able to accomplish great things through the help of God, and I am so grateful to be a missionary. We are teaching about 20 very different people right now and it’s hard to know how to manage them all, especially since throughout training the average number of investigators I had at one time was about 3, and for Elder Liu it was 1. God be with us, because we are teaching some wonderful people who are ready to make changes in their lives, but they can’t do it on their own.

If you can, pray for Carrie, who is facing opposition and trying to overcome addiction, for her daughter. The father doesn’t want her to be meeting with us, and doesn’t want her to succeed, and he filled her gas tank with sugar. Her car is indeed ruined, and she lives down in Indiana. This is one of the many ways Satan is trying to stop the work here. But with the help of God, nothing can ever go permanently wrong.

Stay strong my friends and family, I love you all!

Oh. And the title of the email: We taught a muslim the other day and he kept promising us “There is no bomb.” It’s been fun teaching so many different people: A Jew, A Muslim, A Wesleyan Pastor, etc. 🙂

Have a great week!

Elder Breinholt

Hope you all had a happy New Year Anniversary and I just wanted to send out yet another weekly letter and let you all know that you are loved and that you are awesome! You, yes, you. I am talking, to you.

We have not had a baptism for a while, but that is okay. I’m not sure if I mentioned before but the average number of baptisms per missionary in this mission is about 1. So I am grateful for the chances I’ve already had to teach and help people on the path of becoming more like Christ, and I know that some of the investigators we are teaching right now are eventually going to be baptized if they stay on the path they are on. I likely will be leaving this area in the next three weeks or so, which is sad, but at the same time I will have been here in Sturgis for six months, or a quarter of my mission x)

I just lastly wanted to say that I am grateful for all of the wonderful things my Father in Heaven has given me: An amazing family (including extended family), Supportive and Inspiring Friends, Chances and Opportunities to become a better husband and father in the future, and Peace and Comfort in every time of need. I could not ever ask for anything more, and I feel undeserving already of the things I do have. I was a prideful person in the past, and the past I cannot change. But at this moment God is helping me to change, to abolish past attitudes, behaviors, and sins from my life, and become like unto Christ, little by little. I testify that the Savior is real. He is not just in our hearts or our minds, nor is he a figment of imagination, but He is a real being who dwells somewhere more glorious than we can understand at this time. And He loves us, even though we truly are nothing without him. He sees us as what we can become, and not only will he help us to get there, but he will never give up on us. Of this I testify in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

We’ve probably all already broken some of our resolutions. That’s why I’m grateful for the Atonement and for Repentance. 😉 Stay strong, friends, and family, and do what you know is right. Those are the thing you will not regret.

Sincerely,

Elder Breinholt