Montevista Este

Aqui estamos, en Commerce City. I'm still with Elder Orejuela and our area got split. There will now be a Montevista Central area, and we are now on bike! Crazy. We're the only Spanish area on bike in our entire mission. We're going to tear it up though. Crazy miracles happened this week. It was awesome. I'm so excited about Daniela. It was some of the most frustrating, and some of the most rewarding days of my mission. What a blessing.

So this week, we saw lots of miracles and blessings. Sunday was one of the most frustrating days of my life. Not to be down, but absolutely nothing worked. We tried like everyone! And nobody panned out. Tuesday we met with Rosa y Alondra and it was a good lesson. I love the question, if you could ask God a question, face to face, what would you ask him? It is a question that gets you to know people's questions of their souls right away. With Rosa, she wanted to know what church is right since there are so many. Alondra wanted to know what her purpose is in life. We taught the restoration and it was good. I don't know how much is going on in their lives, but it was great to teach them. Rosa is getting treated for cancer, and they go through rough times--Alondra is a madre soltera. I pray they'll progress, but they are no longer in our area, they're in the Central area which is Elder Diaz (my old comp) and Elder Sarmiento.

Daniela! So we taught Daniela first on Thursday, and then on Saturday. Thursday's lesson, we read 2 Nefi 31 with her, and she loved what it talked about. When we invited her to be baptized, she said she wants to, but it's something she wants to take so seriously, she doesn't want to rush into it. So we tried to resolve the concern, but ended up leaving the lesson frustrated because she is so golden and wants to do what God wants her to do, but she doesn't want to commit to be baptized for him. So I prayed, and tried to figure out what to do to help her, and we taught her again on Saturday. The first thing we asked her after starting the lesson was, "So we talked about baptism last time, and how have you felt about it?" She said, "It's funny because I've been praying about it, and I don't really know why, but I feel like I should be baptized before July!" What? It was a complete miracle. I'm so excited for it. She is prepared, and we're teaching her again tonight.

Well family, I have to go, but the time is nearing the end. Not that I'm trunky. I feel sometimes the furthest thing from it. I talked to Elder O yesterday about how missionaries are joking and poking fun at me because I DON'T want to go home, not because I do. It seems weird. But I will give it my all. Giving my all is the only thing I can do because any other way is doing my mission in my way, not the Lord's. I'm so grateful for the miracle, the blessing, the sacred grove my mission has become. And it will continue to become such for the next 6 weeks. I love the Lord. With all that I have, I want to and will continue to love him.

Love,
Elder Logan Bryan

Feliz Cumple Mamá!

I love you mother! I thought about you several times yesterday and prayed you would feel my love for you. I love you with all my heart.

This week was magnificent! We taught 20 lessons, and found 7 new investigators. I think things are really starting to pick up in our area. It was a good area, but I think things are going good and things are starting to heat up. One of the investigators we found last week is named Sergio. He is awesome. We had an appointment with him this past Monday, but he no-showed. But on Saturday, we were driving by his trailer and he was walking, and he stopped us and was super friendly. He shook our hands through the windows and it was awesome. He asked if we wanted to come and talk right then, and we said of course. So we went in and talked with him. He had read what we had left him--4 times. What?!!
He is awesome and we had a good talk about the Book of Mormon. After the lesson, his family that lives in Alamosa came up and surprised him by visiting him. He wanted to introduce us to his wife and kids, and he told them, "These are our new friends!  And they're friends of God too." What a cool experiencia. I love Sergio. 

Daniela is doing well, not too much to report on her. She graduated this week, so we'll be meeting with her way more frequently this week. We found some really good potentials while doing service this week. We met a guy named Jorge, and helped him do some landscaping at an apartment complex. While helping, 2 ladies were carrying a fusbol table, and we went and helped them. They're from Idaho, and just moved here. They said they knew a ton of Mormons in Idaho, and we have an appointment to meet with them tomorrow at 12 noon!  

Elder Orejuela and I are doing really well. I love the work! We had one of the best zone conferences I've ever had this week. President showed us a video of clips from talks by Elder Eyring and Elder Holland about missionary work and the atonement. Powerful. I was crying. Also, I gave my departing testimony, as well as Elder Mckay. It was awesome. I am sorry I don't have more time to email the long one as it is usually, but I spent most of my time talking with you guys. I love you!!!!! 

Love,
Elder Logan Bryan

Mothers Day!

Mom, I love you!

My thoughts and feelings about you are best expressed through the words of Abraham Lincoln.  I have shared the quote before, and I will say it again, but I owe who I am to you, my angel mother!

This week was good. Tuesday we taught Daniela. She's doing well, and it's been a joy to teach her. We taught her about the importance of reading the Book of Mormon, and invited her to be baptized and she accepted!  We also met with the Vasquez family again, and invited them to invite their friends to a FHE. It was great!

Wednesday we taught our investigator Audiel Villegas, and it was a good lesson that we needed to have where he basically told us that he doesn't feel ready to go to church. We'll still keep trying with him, and trying to get him there, but he has come up with a lot of excuses. He loves what we teach and agrees with everything, but he just won't come to church. That day we also met with Familia Barrera to tell them about the goal we have as a ward, and to invite them to work towards it and do their part. They said they would, and they took on as a family the goal of helping a former investigator/part-member family we have that the last missionaries were working with. We met also with a recent convert family, Familia Lavanderos. They were baptized in February, and are awesome!  We also taught them about the goal we have as a ward, and talked to them about doing missionary work!

Thursday we met with a less active family named familia Olivas.  Sister Olivas is the sister of Sis Vasquez, which we had no idea of before. It was a good lesson, and full of excuses.  I think we developed a good relationship, and Elder Orejuela totally spiritually slapped Bro Olivas in the face with Ether 12:37. It was great! We also met with Daniela again.  She told us she had been having some weird dreams. She had dreams of dead people, and also a shadow next to her bed. We read with her the complete Joseph Smith story and offered a blessing.  We met with Fam Rivera again, and they hadn't come to church, so we told them we would come bang on their door Sunday morning to wake them up for church, and we did! And they came!  Sweet!!!!  We also met with Fam Plata again. They're awesome!  I know the reason we were there that night was not for them, but for their daughter Jessica. She's a former investigator. She had left in the middle of the lesson, and at the end of the lesson, I asked how she was doing.  We had asked about a blessing of healing we had given her a couple of weeks ago, and they said she was better the next day--completely better.  She knew it was the blessing too.  So I asked them if when she got back that night they would ask her if she wants to talk to us again.  So...in the middle of us talking about her, she came back into the apartment.  And her parents asked her, Jessica the missionaries have something to ask you!  So we talked, and she told us how she had known the blessing was awesome, and she had talked with missionaries before, but now she said she's a big girl and it's time to get her life straight and she wants to get it on course.  She told us she wants to meet with us individually so we can teach her separately from her parents (who are less active).  It was awesome, and I know we were there and were prompted to ask about the blessing and about her.  And we were given the opportunity to talk to her and get her to start investigating again.  Miracle!

Friday, we went tracting and one door opened and the guy just said, "Pasenle". Sweet!  We taught Sergio the first lesson, and he liked it, and we're meeting with him again tonight. We're also going to help him remodel a trailer and I think that will help our teaching and relationship with him!

Saturday we taught a lady named Pati. We're going to meet with her and her family again on Wednesday. It is going to be great teaching the family. I hope they'll progress.

Sunday of course was the Mothers' Day call. That was amazing. I love you family!

Elder Orejuela and I are doing well!  We're loving it here in Commerce City, and we're loving the work.  It is the Lord's work, and every day there are tender mercies, miracles, the hand of the Lord in our lives.  It's an amazing blessing to be a missionary.  I love being a missionary and learning to love the Lord and learning to love others.  It is truly a miracle.  I love you!

Love,

Elder Logan Bryan

Tara's and Michael's Baptism in the Broadlands Ward--Saturday, May 11, 2013.  Brother Kaiser picked me up so that I could attend!  A most wonderful experience, and one I'll never forget!!!

Week 3 en Montevista

Me and Elder Guzman at the Camarena's Home

Hola familia!!

Well this week was pretty dang good! We saw a ton of miracles this week. We had a goal to teach 20 lessons. We hadn't done that so far in this area, but we were bound and determined to this week. So, here's how the week went. Monday, Elder Guzman and I went on a mini exchange to teach Sebastian. It was an amazing lesson. Elder Guzman went so that we could pass him over to the YSA missionaries. Sebastian is so prepared, and it was amazing. At the end of the lesson, he was asking, "What do I need to do to prepare to be baptized?" We read with him D&C 20:37, and testified to him, and now he has a baptismal date of May 25th. I'm so excited for him.

Tuesday we taught a few families, and it was good. Familia Vasquez is an awesome member family, that we stopped by a couple weeks ago to teach a lesson to and get to know. Sis Vasquez asked us that night,  "Elders, I want to share the gospel, but I don't know how." So we taught her this past week how to share the gospel from PME.  I shared the quote under Listening in Chapter 10, and she loved it and said, "Este es la clave".

Wednesday we taught a less active family named Fam Rivera Espinoza, and it was a good lesson. They committed to come to church, and then didn't :(  We also taught a potential and her mom, named Mariela and Juana Sanchez, and it was an ok lesson. I don't know if I ever told ya'll about a specific church I ran into in Cheyenne. Esta iglesia  es no buena. They're the ones that think that Jesus came in his second coming down in 1918 as a Korean man, and they believe heavenly mother is on earth right now in the flesh. Needless to say no bueno. So Mariela's brother belongs to this church, and I think she has some misconceptions because of it, but we'll work with them.

Thursday we taught Daniela. We got a referral on Tuesday from church HQ of a lady named Daniela. So Thursday we taught her. She's awesome!  She works at a little mercadito close to where we live. We taught her there. She works there with a member of the church, and she had been chatting with a sister missionary online for a while. It was awesome. She is excited to read the Book of Mormon and come to church. I think Daniela is going to be really promising. We also taught our ward mission leader, Hno Bermudez. He lives alone here in the states. His wife and kids are still in Mexico (Acapulco). We have gotten pretty close to him so far because he lives in Commerce City near us, and he is free to go to appointments with us a lot. I love Hno Bermudez. He has a simple, powerful, loving testimony that helps us so much when we're teaching people.

Saturday we had a lot of appointments set up and pretty much all of them but one cancelled. But we still taught one of the potentials we had, her name is Cruz. It was good to teach her with Hno Bermudez, and we have an appointment with her this next week as well. We also taught a less active family. Fam Plata. They struggle with going to church, but they're an awesome family and I love them.

Sunday. We needed to teach 7 lessons yesterday to teach 20 for the week, and we did it!  It was intense, amazing, crazy, but so spirit filled it was nuts. We had pretty much everything cancel, but for backups people came to our minds, and we visited them and we got to teach them. It was an amazing testimony builder that when we have a goal that God wants us to accomplish, He will help us do so. I love being a missionary so much.

My testimony is that of work. Work gets the job done. Work is the action part of faith. Work is the conversion of a testimony. Work is the purpose of our lives. If we work, everything falls into place. God's WORK and his glory is to bring to pass our immortality and eternal life. It's our privilege to do his work. I love it!

Love,
Elder Logan Bryan

Us, the Sisters, and the Elders in Montevista at the despedida of  Oscar Rodriguez.  He's going to the
Singapore Mission!  WHAT??!!!

Me in front of I-70, the small bit of land you can see under the bridge is in the Denver South Mission!
We go to the borders!!!

Elder Orejuela, Me, and the Sisters at Obispo's house having spaghetti, wearing aprons.