From Braedon

hey everyone,

sorry to hear that byu didnt quite make it all the way. but 2nd is pretty bomb. and even though they lost in the last game, it sounds like dad had a blast. golf and byu for a week. dads dream come true.

like byu, our week was just one small step away from a super legit week. lots of good stuff that happened, but it all just needed that one extra click to make it golden. on saturday night we had a lesson with sabrina and lidia. we reviewed the baptismal interview questions and talked about what the Lord asks of us at baptism (be believing and willing to follow His prophet and such). it went really well. after we had finished looking at the interview questions and clarifying a few things with them, both said they felt ready. that really threw us off. i mean we suspected that sabrina would be, but we thought that lidia was a little further behind. turns out that shes been rocking it in even though we havent been able to see her much and she hasnt been coming to the services/activities in the past couple of weeks. but this week she opened up a lot and said that she has been praying each night and that she had been reading from the book of mormon frequently in that time. its cool, cause last week we taught her and she still had her weird questions and seemed a little behind, but this week she toned down a lot with her odd questions and had less doubts/issues. reading the book of mormon takes a lot of those weird quirks out of people. i love it. anyways, we were shocked by her response but stoked about it. so, we invited them to prepare for baptism this coming sunday (20th). they said that theyre getting baptized...but that they want to talk to their family before they say for sure on the 20th. just one step away from being prime. however, its smart to get all straight with the family first, and im pretty positive that itll work out fine and happen quick, theyre pretty solid about it all. this week were still having their interviews so that if the family supports it then it can happen without any other barriers. and to help get the family more comfortable with everything, were taking the whole family to the church this weekend for a tour and to show them the 'finding faith in christ' video. they havent come to the church yet, so i think itll help the rest of the family feel more comfortable with supporting the baptism and raise their interest in it all. so good stuff there.

the entire cruz family came to church for activities on wednesday and loved it. the kids were accepted right away by the YM/YW and were having a great time with those activities. the parents came to english class and we also took them on a tour of the church. they liked it all too. the dad was super tired but rather said that he was glad to be there regardless because he knew it was good for the family. they didnt make it to church on sunday though. the mom and dad worked (theyre trying hard to get enough cash to rent a place so the kids can have a place to sleep besides a bus bench and an actual place to bathe...those parents are determined to get the best for their family), and although the kids wanted to go to church with the member they know, the whole family was up til 4 AM working sunday morning and slept late. (one step from being awesome...darn it. thats why bedtimes are good boys...) but, they like what theyve seen and heard and already feel accepted by the church. well being doing pizza and a movie night for them at the church too this week, probably with the ochoa family so they can keep getting more comfy with the members.

griselda franco went to the YSA family night and enjoyed it. shes becoming more interested bit by bit. shell be a tough case, but any time this stuff actually breaks through to her, she loves it. like premortal life (the whole plan of salvation is hard for her to get...she was confused about God's plan for her thanks to erroneous teaching from her JW uncle during her childhood haha). once she actually got the premortal life, she loved it. its tough to make stuff click with her, but with each hard fought click, she digs 'the mormons' more and more.

the garza family finally sprang to life again. they watched the video we left with them months ago and loved it. we stopped by just to see how they had been and if anything had changed in the past weeks and the wife was stoked about the video. she says shes excited to talk about the video and stuff shes read from the book of mormon (this is the same lady that told us months ago that she was no longer interested and didnt want us to come by). so theyre back into it and now well be working with that family again. good stuff.

english classes have given us a good group of potentials to work with. one lady, carmen, said that she wants to get close to God and start going to a church so she can raise her little son right. so we gave her a church tour after english class and introduced her to some members. she couldnt come on sunday but we got her address and will be visiting her outside of the classes. also, a funny thing happened as we were giving outu english class fliers in 'downtown' calexico. elder mata gave one to this guy and told him in spanish that the classes are free. the guy looked at him blankly, looked at the flier, and looked at us blankly again. then he told us in english, with a super thick accent, that he doesnt speak or read spanish. so i started trying to communicate with the guy in english, but ill tell you what it was hard. what i got out of the conversation was that his name was something like akmad, that hes a recent immigrant from egypt, and that he wanted to learn spanish. i have no idea what an egyptian that cant speak spanish is doing in calexico, but we set up a class to teach him spanish! im excited. maybe ill have him help me decipher the facimiles in abraham....hahah.

also, i have some interesting news. well, remember the black ipod that you sent me in the MTC? it might have been ashtons or something, im not really sure, and im not really sure whos it is now either. our apartment kinda got broken into on friday haha. so to ashton or whoevers it was, sorry, but your ipod is no more haha. luckily, all they took was the ipod and about 60 bucks in cash from my wallet (they left the wallet there), but they left everything else. my cards were still in my wallet, which i found surprising. but then i noticed that the cards are expired haha. they probably did too, and thats probably why they left them. all of my other stuff was fine and i had my important personal info with me/packed away really well, so i didnt lose any of it from what i can tell. still, if you could just keep an eye on my account id appreciate it. i doubt that they can access the account with an expired debit or credit card number and such, but if im wrong, then cancel the cards! hahah. 3 apartments were broken into that evening. they came in through our back window. what kind of person would break into and steal from an apartment with pictures of jesus all over? oh well, no big deal. weve got tons of food left and the 60 bucks were just extra stuff from what mom has sent me. but all is well, dont worry.

well, thats about it. im going to get my hair cut because im lookin a little shaggy. ashton, make sure youre doing what they ask you as you prep for the mission (preach my gospel, book of mormon, the missionary videos, etc), cause the missionaries of your time are stepping things up even further. im jealous cause youll smoke our class of missionaries, but itll take more prep on your part. do it, you wont regret it. promise. love you all, im taking off.

elder roney

ps. mom sorry ill answer your questions next week. i know, im horrible. i forgot until just now. sorry! love you, youre the best mom ever!