4-11-16

4-4-16

This week was killer!!! One of the best of my mission. Conference is just amazing!!! It's such a great experience to sit down, listen to men that represent the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, and receive revelation for our own lives. It's weird... the speakers say one thing, but we ALL hear something different and unique that we can use and apply. That's one thing I love about scripture and modern revelation: it's applicable. I remember when I was in High School and my English teacher made me read a book called ''The Lord of the Flies''. It was a great book, and my teacher asked me what I thought the author meant when writing it. I was to write an essay with my opinion, then she graded me as to how close I got to what she taught the authors ''meaning'' was. I hated that... the book spoke to me and taught me something completely different from what it taught her! Luckily, the gospel is applicable to us as individuals. We can all read the same passage of scripture and learn something different from it. Isn't it wonderful!?? :)

Okay, here are some of the things I learned from Conference (remember, I haven't seen the last session yet due to time differences):

• We are all Children of God. Do we remember that? When asked to identify ourselves, the first thing we should think of is our Godly parents. If we remember who we really are, we need not fear.
• A car without keys is nothing more than a big pile of metal and plastic. It may be full of gas and electricity, but without the keys, it is useless. The same is true with Priesthood keys. Priesthood keys are necessary for us to gain access to the readily available blessings of God. The Dark ages were simply a long period of Humans suffering from a bad case of lost keys. Luckily, the Lord has promised us that those keys will never be lost again. 
• Being worthy to attend the Temple is just as important as our Temple attendance. We may not have a Temple right nearby us all over the world, but we can have that same Spirit of the Temple by holding ourselves worthy.
• We all know Saul like individuals with Paul like potential. 
• Let us all forgive others and not be judgmental. All injustices will one day be made up through the love and power of God.
• Remember to win and lose with grace. 
• The Atonement is not only for those who need to repent, but also for those who need to forgive. If it is hard for us to forgive someone, let us ask for God's help.
• Humble yourself before you are compelled to humility. Understand how much you rely upon the Lord and you will be more humbled.
• We are authorized Priesthood holders, but we only have Priesthood power if we are worthy of it. We can gain more power through prayer and honoring and loving your wife. Treat her with love and understanding. Never let your own pride keep you from loving her.
• The greatest leaders are the best followers. They follow the Savior, who follows God, who follows eternal laws and so on.
• Knowing someone’s name can make a huge difference. 
• Families should always remember to counsel together on all levels. 

That was just a few things from a long list :) I also noticed something funny during the Sunday morning session. As a kid, I would always pretend that I needed to use the bathroom so that I could get out of listening to the boring talks. Yet now, I suffer TWO HOURS of having to pee so that I don't miss a single word that is said... Isn't conference great? 

It was also interesting to see how President Monson's talks are getting so short... I guess someone got smart after last year and told him to keep them quick ;) What a great man he is. Still has his good humor even in his old age! The power of God is in him and you can see it.

I love you all!! Have a great week!!!!!!

Ældste Jed Bradshaw

3-28-16

Happy Easter everybody!!!

I hope your week has been as great as mine! This week a lady named M* was baptized in Slagelse! She was the Sisters investigator and has been investigating for centuries!! I even came and taught her a year ago when I was district leader in Nykøbing Falster, but now she got baptized!! It was an experience never to be forgotten. It took 4 of us Elders to carry her into the baptismal font and get her underwater because she is quite a heavy woman and paralyzed from the waist down...!! What a great experience it was though. I was then able to give her the gift of the holy ghost the next day at church. Great week!

Otherwise, we've been out finding and teaching as normal... easter was a great day. Not much else to report. Lots of pictures!!! Enjoy!

Ældste Bradshaw

3/21/16

Dear everyone,

happy first day of Spring!!!!!!!!!! It finally broke 5 degrees C yesterday, so that was nice. Hopefully the heat will start rolling in now.

So, I got my flight plans today. Weird. Really weird. I think they're going to have to push me onto that plane to make me leave. I can't believe it's almost here!!

This week has been wonderful as always. We've been really caught up with doing service for the Bishop this week. We spent almost two entire days chopping down trees and chopping them up into firewood. It was so much fun!!! Just call me Lumberjack Jedidiah!! Nothing beats a good long day of manual labor and a solid night of sleep. I'm now professional at using a chainsaw and axe. Splitting wood is the absolute best.

We have started teaching lots of new families, which is great because Elder Gudmundson and I prayed specifically last week to be able to find families to teach!! And now we have 3 of them!! I have high hopes for one of them in particular. They're from Greenland and love the missionaries.

We have also been traveling lots again. Elder Gudmundson and I have been giving trainings to all of the districts in the zone individually at their district meetings instead of at a big zone conference. It's been great. Our subject has been taken from Jacob 5 and is all about area stewardship. Great concept.

Nothing else to exciting to report on for now.... lots of pictures this week!! Enjoy!

I love you all!! Have a great week!

Ældste Bradshaw