Do the small everyday simple things...

Hey I am doing great here in Dangriga with all the sand flies!! Everything is going good!! I hit a milestone in my life yesterday... I presided over the branch for Sacrament meeting... haha cool stuff. We did have the highest church attendance though that Dangriga has seen in a while. Things are going good! We are working so hard to baptize! Please pray for us that we can see miracles and receive those tender mercies!

Also hope that the Falcons can win their first Super bowl!! That is exciting!! But anyways... I forgot to write down all that happened this week. I did interchanges in Belmopan...caught my first fish in the ocean... got two new friends until kids shot them with rocks... and am getting stuffed off coconuts!!!

It is kind of chilly today though...it is weird! Anyways, we are doing good!! Trying our best to be obedient! Cooking Mac and cheese with hot dogs everyday!! haha and telling drunk high people to repent :) It's a fun life and you feel good about it after haha. Also I am getting pretty good at beach futbol so anyone who thinks they can beat me..every thursday at 4:30 hahaha just kidding but it is fun! Anyways... DO WHAT IS RIGHT!!!! Do the small everyday simple things and GREAT THINGS shall come to pass:) I love you all have a great week!!!

I caught my first fish in the ocean!!!

 crazy activity night

 my friends and my view from the computer

Dangriga

Here I am in Dangriga speaking Garifuna!!! haha Just kidding I haven't learned it yet just the basics but everyone here knows Kriol so it's fine. Ummm...here is WAY different than Orange Walk....I feel that I am in a different country! But I get to live with Elder Richards so that is amazing!!!

We just went to this tourist beach in Hopkins today which was super cool!! Things are going great just the branch that we are in is struggling so much...please keep your prayers out for us and the branch!

But so I was thirsty yesterday on Sunday and I was like dang it...I can't buy any water...but then I realized oh I'm in Dangriga.. so I climbed a tree a little bit...grabbed a coconut..and smashed it on the tree and drank it. SO GOOD!!! And it fills you up fast!! Here is so amazing!!

We live right by a river that leads into the ocean... and we are about to go fishing in the ocean just without fishing poles but there is a long dock here. Also I am looking at the ocean while writing you guys...haha so pretty and blue not to make you guys jealous :P But here is amazing just the only down side is it's pretty small and people aren't the nicest..and we come home smelling like alcohol and marijuana everyday because of the amount people here take. It is really sad :( They could spend their money on a lot better things. But things are great!

My companion is Elder Hernandez from Guatemala and I am teaching him English! So we have two gringos and two people from Guatemala here. It is so amazing!!! Ummmm... lots of things interesting happened haha but I will tell them some other time :) We are just really praying for success and miracles so please pray with us. God hears prayers like Chapter 27 in Mosiah helps us to see. https://www.lds.org/scriptures/bofm/mosiah/27?lang=eng
But things are going great!! Time flies so fast... :(

just like it says in the Bible. So live it!!

So the last two weeks!!! Ummmm...it has been actually kind of cold lately haha to be honest. At least in the mornings and at nights...I shiver as a walk haha I don't know what happened....but it is so nice!!!

I AM GOING TO DANGRIGA!!! Right on the ocean side haha I'm so excited!! It will be sweet! I love Orange Walk so much and I am sad to leave but it is about time. I forgot to explain the mission schedule change. So the missions changed the schedule. We still have to wake up at 6:30 but we can personal study...excersice...and now we plan in the mornings not at night and we can do that whenever we want between 6:30 and 10. Then at 10 we leave to go teach but we come back for two hours that we choose would be best hours to come home and do language and comp study. It is really nice and helps everyone to go to bed on time and not be so stressed in the mornings! So that is cool. 

Also I have learned and experienced the powers of priesthood blessings, which are real and help so much according to the faith of the person. I LOVE THE MISSION!!!! Also last week OW3 (Orange Walk 3 - area) had a wedding and the people were going to get baptized...but since their wedding they haven't been ready to be baptized anymore so they are pretty down...please pray for the Orange Walk branch!! But it is doing great!

Also a deadly caterpillar crawled on me...haha pray that doesn't happen again either haha. But that is about it!! I can't remember much and I'm just super excited about changed and nervous and whoah...haha and I am actually fighting with Elder Richards over who is DL (district leader). We both heard different things. I heard he was and he heard I was and we will live in the same house haha so hope that he is!!! I am excited to go see him!!! But anyways...THE GOSPEL IS SO EXCITING!!!! AND HAPPY AND AMAZING AND TRUE!!!! the only way to know it is true is by living it just like it says in the Bible. So live it!! Love it!! And you will find out if it's true or not :) (which p.s., it is!!)

Randolph is who wrote that (top left corner)...

he is one of the smartest investigators ever and such a nice guy

Here's a close-up of what Randolph wrote to Brandon...such kind words.

Do what's right!!!!

HEY SORRY!!! I will write more next week I have to go!! I went to Lamanai today and holy cow that is so cool!!! I hope you all are doing well! THIS WEEK WAS AMAZING!!! And we are having tons of success. The branch attendance was 93 yesterday so we were pretty happy!! But I will explain everything next week!! Do what's right!!!!

Families can be together forever!

Hey!!! HAPPY NEW YEARS!!! Sorry I'm a day late, I couldn't really use a computer haha but I hope you all had a great new years! I had the best new years!!! The best forever!! Things have been kind of going slow here with all the party party and I have been stuffed forever...I am still stuffed I don't even want to think about food. My companion and I haven't boughten food since the 24th of December and we won't have to for a while... that's always nice for a missionary :) It is weird thinking I spent that whole year as a missionary...it flew by!!!

Anyways...so new years whoah I couldn't sleep...haha people are crazy here but we woke up early to go show this investigator named Randolph where the church is because he is dying to go. This week he has been doing so much personal research about the church. We found him a while ago because he was praying to know the truth and no other religion satisfied what he was looking for, he said there had to be more. We showed up and he quickly let us in and he taught us the Restoration lesson asking it if it was all correct and he knows more about it than I do....hahaha.
So we have been teaching him for a while, and this one lesson we taught him how the gift of the holy ghost is important after baptism because he was baptized as a catholic when he was little, and he was scared of being rebaptized. But he is the smartest person I have talked to down here it is insane how smart he is and how much he remembers. Anyways he was talking about how we wants to be rebaptized and we somehow got into where we go after this life and he said "But it doesn't make sense. What happens if I go to the celestial kingdom and my wife and kid go the the terrestial kingom...I wouldn't want that" and my companion and I just sat there in awwww....and then yelled out as fast as we can 'WE HAVE AN ANSWER FOR THAT!! FAMILIES CAN BE TOGETHER FOREVER!!!!!" and his mouth just dropped...the only reason he isn't married but lives with his wife is because he hates the line until death do we part, and he never wants to hear that. So we told him we would prepare a good lesson for him and left him with that. He was texting us all day the next day asking if we were coming and I went on interchanges with Elder Abilez and we taught him an amazing lesson!! He is so cool!!!
So he took the hour long walk with us at 7 in the morning on new years day, didn't drink for the first time on new years and instead spent the money on his family, and at church he talked with one of the counselors for an hour telling him the story how he feels so different when we come to his house and how he wants to go to the temple and get sealed and asking who he needs to talk to to get baptized...it is insane. He is going to try and bring his family this next week.
He made my week and it was the perfect way to start off the year. We are bringing him to a family home evening today with him and his family at a members house so we are excited. Please pray that things will go well. But anyways haha this is what makes the mission amazing!!! I hope you all have a great week and close to as good as new years as I did! Take care!!!

last free pizza party

so much food...ughhh

I bought a cool swimsuit but I never tried it on before

and it is too big for me...I need to eat more

we messed up the first batch...haha but they were super good!!

(Brandon asked for this recipe during his Christmas skype:)