Week 37- San Tan Valley

Hello mother and family! thank you for the happy birthdays! yeah it's weird that i'm almost 20. i'm sure having a birthday is going to be super exciting on the mission... anything i would like for my birthday? ummm... Bordeaux again? one pound again? i'm not really sure what else i would want. a few ties? (skinny ties. non skinny ties always tie bad knots.) but don't make them too skinny. otherwise they are not approved. i trust your stylet. just like what you and hailey were talking about.... something you are better than aunt linda at. but i didn't say that.. you did. the 33x34 was good. they are my favorite pants now. yes i will send the others back today hopefully. 

sounds like jeff and karlee are workin through some tough decisions? keep working hard! brother kerr got in an accident? shoot. mack emails me and didn't tell me! no i don't see anyone from my wards in gilbert. nobody comes down here. i don't think i've sent you any pictures as to what it looks like down here... haha. yes we have new people that we teach every week! dayquan gets baptized this weekend. tomeka in a couple more weeks. new companion is awesome! it's so good to be training again! i love training. elder legrand is his name. except it's pronounced "laygrawn" with a soft n. and a weird throat noise on the "gr". he's French! straight from the south of france. in a place called perpignan (pronounced piowpenyawn). he's awesome! he doesn't know much english at all. and it's a lot of fun teaching him haha. but he's got an awesome testimony. we work well together, teach well together, and find well together (it's easy to walk up to someone on the street and say "he's from france! wanna come to church!" just kidding.) He's cool though.

weather is getting a little warm. we lost our car.... so we're biking all the time again. "we lost our car" sounds like it was taken because we abused privileges. not the case haha we just had to split up our ward into two areas, and elder haus and his companion took the car because their area is bigger. anyway.... i'm still going to beat marcus in basketball when i get back, no matter how tall he is! hear that, marcus?? yes there are about 200 missionaries. yes we go to the church to watch conference. i'm so pumped. anyway... sorry that my emails are always super lame. i never talk about experiences. just about random stuff that doesn't matter much. love you too! 

elder bronson

Week 36 - San Tan Valley

Mom and Family! no i don't have a green tie. but i don't plan on wearing one either. it's pday anyway. so basketball is calling my name right about now. anyway... yes i saw pictures of your vacation to florida. looks like a lot of fun! was it warm? i'm sure it was awesome. the pants? haven't received them yet. i'll try them out and let you know. thank you for helping me out!

well i hope everything is going well in tennessee. marcus looks like he's like 6'! crazy... and is kristen pregnant yet? i'm pretty sure we all had an inside joke that kristen would be the first to get pregnant. obviously it didn't work out that way. so courtney's gettin a belly, huh? i'm so excited!

investigators are well. Debbie was baptized last week. and we did family history with her and a couple nonmembers yesterday. it was awesome. they are doing really well. came to church yesterday. it was stake conference. Elder cardon spoke and did very well. our bishop is now the stake president. so we are going to have a new bishop, new stake president, new companion (we got calls last night. i'm training again), new area (same area actually. they are just splitting me and my companion up and giving us both new companions. so we have to work in the same ward. it's going to be tough.), and a new transfer. a lot of changes. anyway... i feel like being a missionary is all i've ever done, and it's all i'll ever do. which is a pretty good feeling.

no daylight savings in arizona for some rebellious reason.

anyway.... sorry about the short email. love you much!

elder bronson

Week 35- San Tan Valley

florida, huh? not bad! it's actually been really nice here too. 60s and 70s. well i think. i don't really know. just how it feels outside i guess.  yes thank you for all of the pictures. i love seeing what it's like back home/vacation/family. yes i am doing well! san tan valley is awesome. a little different, but the ward is so humble, and kind. church was good! Debbie was confirmed yesterday, and baptized the day before! Awesome service. Dayquan was at church too. a new investigator we picked up this week. i haven't sent the pants back yet. i will hopefully pull it off today. otherwise i'll have to wait til next week.mom, you are 50? what! i could've sworn you were 40!  no i haven't seen the new church video on bullying. i'm sure it's awesome. speaking of President Uchtdorf, the superbowl is coming up (general conference)! i'm way excited. nobody in the ward writes regularly. marcus' sunday school class wrote me. but i haven't written them back. i've been looking at pictures by the way... and what happened to marcus? how tall is he now? looks like he's 5'9" or something? i wasn't that tall until senior year! what is happening. make sure he stops playing basketball... so i have a chance when i get back. anyway... gonna be short this week. i gotta go shop and get back in time for some bball! looks like the family is doing great! you all look happy! love you much!

love, elder bronson

Week 34- San Tan Valley

momma and family! whaddup. yes all is going well! another snow day? haha dad said that is was not even an inch of snow on the ground. that's hilarious. dad's home and marcus too? they're probably fakin it.. haha just kidding. I was sick for like 3 weeks! it's hard to get over an illness when all you do is nonstop thinking and teaching and biking and talking. that reminds me. my zone leader's answering machine is, "hello you've reached the missionaries for the church of Jesus Christ of latter day saints, elder schwab and elder Swenson, we're out teaching, preaching, exhorting, expounding, and administering in the ordinances thereof. if you'd like to leave a message..." it's hilarious. anyway... elders over for dinner, huh? awesome. hope you didn't keep them longer than an hour! 5-6. Courtney and Kristen are coming too? that's awesome. sound like fun! kellie's going to Germany? what the heck? that's nuts! who approved that?! yes I received a couple packages in the mail! they were so great thank you! I got the see's three days ago. ate the last one yesterday. I thought I could stretch them out a couple weeks. eating one, maybe two a day. yeah........ they're gone. but I did give 2 away. I don't think that helps my case too much though. but i'm still fine! haven't gained a pound! the only reason I take pride in that (unlike every other part of my life) is because every other missionary here has gained 30 pounds! crazy. they all look at me in envy (because I eat 2 packs of chips ahoy, and 1 pack of oreos a week) haha it get's a little expensive! I got the pants too! they are a little small... I may have to get the 33x33. but they are way nice though! I looked at the thing and it is an easy exchange. all I do is call, and send the other ones back and they can do an easy exchange. can I do that?  you don't need to send suit pants. the suit pants are not ripped or anything. I take care of them. it's just the day to day pants that are torn up. so no worries! no shirts needed.
 
new area is definitely coming along! it was a little slow when we got in... but we have a baptism this week so that's good! We have been getting a lot of new investigators. this area is a little different than gilbert. I was going to send a picture. it's basically a lot of desert and cacti. yes I went to the temple dedication. we watched it in our stake center, but afterward the missionaries got to go clean up the temple. we saw president monson and president eyring leaving when we got there. it was awesome! It's so great to have a prophet of God on the earth. He was about to leave and then someone started singing, "we thank thee, oh God, for a prophet." and then he turned around and started leading us haha. So we kept singing! I also got to meet and talk to elder callister. that was awesome! he is my favorite! he is like the smartest man ever. watch "the blueprint of Christ's church." he gave it at a CES devotional I think. it is incredible. basically tells the whole world that this is Christ's church. and proves every other religion wrong. all using bible scriptures. it's awesome. love it. anyway...good to hear from you. gotta go!
 
love, elder bronson

Week 33- San tan Valley

Hello mom and family! sorry this one will be short as well. i have no time! size of my pants? 32x32. you don't need to send some. it is fine. unless you already did, then thank you. missionary work is going great. definitely feeling more comfortable in the area. we are teaching a few families. and there is so much potential in this area, that we should be teaching even more soon. we got 6 new investigators this week and hope to get the same amount next week. just one ward; the brenner pass ward. bishop is good. yes i have made some connections. wanna hear a cool story? so there are 2 over age youth in the ward with the last name wright. anyway we  have tried to contact them before but have had no luck. but we felt like we should the other day so we did. knocked on the door. no answer. a minute later a guy walked out to go to his car. he looked familiar. he said to me, "are you stalking me?" i was stunned. elder abramson and i had street contacted him in my last ward a couple months back and had helped him out with making a flower thing. anyway... talked to him for a while and of course he asked why i was here. so i told him wer were looking for sister wright. he went inside and got her and we talked to her for a while, established a relationship with her and her two over age youth. then her husband came home and we talked briefly to him too! crazy how the Lord always knows what's up. He always has a way of bringing people together. that is cool about imagine dragons. yes i know who they are. yes we live in a house. four us living there. yes we went to the gilbert temple again. pumped for the dedication. brother slaughter i think is getting rebaptized this week so we may go down. so i'll send pictures...

sorry for the short note

elder bronson

Week 32- San Tan Valley

How's it goin?! i'm good thank you. yes i got the valentine package. thank you! i saw that you addressed it to elder bronson and elder haus. so i was obligated to give him half the chocolate. kinda sad... but i live with it. queen creek is awesome! well i don't actually live in queen creek. i live in what is called "san tan valley." well that's what everyone tells me. it is way different from pioneer ward that's for sure. It is called brenner pass ward. It is about 15 square miles. it's huge. we are working on the support and such. but we just put a family on date yesterday. it was an awesome lesson. oh don't worry about the fact that he crossed himself before dinner. all catholics do that whether they are active or not. The Gospel is for everyone! the church is way accepting. "tattoos and temple worthy" is the phase that's catching on these days..... and anyone with a catholic background (especially mexican catholic), holds more to family tradition more than anything. they are afraid of social outcast more than anything. it's a family thing, not a religion thing. anyway..

okay answering questions now. yes i'm in a car now and it is probably the greatest thing that has ever happened to me. I seriously prayed for a car haha but we still bike too... but if we manage our miles we only have to bike a few miles a day. the area is huge. like 15 times the size of the last area. yes we are teaching some people. This area is awesome. we picked up 6 new investigators this week, and the standard of excellence is 2 new inv per week. so it was a good week. We put 3 of those 6 on date last night. the spirit was way strong. Eddie is her name, and she has two daughters, shelby and emily. They are awesome too. a little shy. anyway... we are also teaching a few others that i don't have time to talk about. i realize that i always email you the useless information, when i'm sure you want to hear more about who we are teaching/baptizing rather than what the weather is like and who my companion is. But his name is Elder Haus and he is my favorite companion yet! they just get better and better! He's awesome. and we are quite the duo. do i want khaki pants? whatever you send me (if you send me anything. and you are certainly not obligated to do so), it needs to be decently high quality. i only wear one pair of pants, because the others have issues in some way or another. and the ones that i'm wearing have a huge rip at the bottom haha. but i wear them every day anyway and wash them biweekly. yes we can wear sunglasses and that is certainly my next investment. There's a member here that can get me some spys for cheap. so i may go there. need them soon though because it's getting hot. don't send me glasses though. i look retarded in ninety percent of glasses.  yes i packed everything into one suitcase. pretty awesome, huh? i haven't acquired much, and i throw away a lot of stuff. not much of a hoarder. love you too.


good to hear everything is going well! keep up the good work! send pictures. sorry i forgot to. will do soon.


Elder Bronson

Week 31- San Tan Valley

Momma and family! always good to hear from you. president nuttall is the greatest man in the world. what are you sending??? when will it be coming? Brother Garcia is awesome as well. He was the pioneer ward ward mission leader. we did a lot of work together. and yes, his wife's mexican food is the best thing you will ever have. it seriously is delicious. it beats any restaurant you've ever been to. Yes my replacement in that area is certainly a good missionary. His name is Elder Bailey. He is a hard worker.

Oh! i'm so glad that christine moody emailed you! She is seriously the greatest. Being a part of her conversion was just as good if not better than a baptism. "greater light, greater condemnation." She is awesome though. I could go on forever talking about my last area but hopefully the last emails will suffice. Gotta move on. But save all those letters an emails. i'd like to see them in a couple years.  yes i remembered that story of king lamoni as we were working with her. in fact... we initially helped to just throw out some cement blocks for her and it did wonders! really helped build my testimony of service. i'm going through quick because i don't have any time. so sorry... but that is great that Jeff got in! he's been working hard for that so it finally paid off! so what does that mean for jeff and karly?? memphis?? sounds great!!

umm i will send in that referral. not in our area but we'll get missionaries to that house in no time.

love elder bronson.

oh yes elder haus is from kentucky. he's a great guy. he is not a greenie but he's only been out 5 months.. we'll do good work together. can't wait.

Saying Goodbye to Gilbert

Week 30- Gilbert

Parker will be getting transferred for the first time this week! He has loved his area so much and we all know it will be hard to leave.  I will put his updated address information on here when I get it. 

hey mom and family!
 
sorry not a lot of time today.. we're about to leave the library so i will be short. good to hear president nuttall got in contact with you. he is an awesome guy. very loving. he sees people as the Lord does. and i don't know about that whole humility thing... but i'm glad somebody is writing down my experiences because i'm certainly not. i am so bad at writing in my journal. at least we got pictures. and hopefully we'll be able to rewatch everything on the urim and thummims we get later. hopefully because i'm countin on it! that is so cool that elder perry came. and yes that is hilarious how he pointed out the placement of the clock as stupid. a lot of the apostles are actually really funny. i've heard elder holland is hilarious, and when elder anderson came he made a ton of whitty comments as well. during the mission president's broadcast in june, i recall elder perry walking up to the pulpit, with another apostle walking from the pulpit, and elder perry shoulder checked him a little bit. it was hilarious.
 
anyway...  the gilbert temple is an awesome opportunity. and it is incredible. simply incredible. that is cool that you confided in aunt linda. i recall that any time that you ask an authority of some kind, they tell you to make your own decision through prayer. and then you get frustrated, because you hoped the decision could be made for you. happens a lot on the mission haha...
 
yes the cultural celebration should be awesome. i don't think we get to watch it though...
 
alma 14 is intense. used to be my favorite chapter. alma and amulek watching their recent converts go through so much physical struggle. i am getting transferred. i got the call yesterday. so we're getting transferredwednesday. i love this area too much! so it's going to be hard. but come what may and love it!
 
love, elder bronson

Week 29- Gilbert

 Hello Mother! and family! again! ummm i'm not sure if anyone used to call me partner. maybe dad? i don't know. yes i am happy! not super healthy though. i've been a little under the weather. it takes a long time to recover from an illness on your mission because you are always doing something! never resting. So i've been sick for about a week. yes i always go into gospel principles class. never go to gospel doctrine. but gospel principles is way better anyway. no way emily is going on a mission! that is awesome! tell her hi for me too. I saw her at byu i think a few times. She will do awesome. Marcus is still growing? he better not pass me up! how tall is he? yeah keep encouraging him to play basketball, that way i challenge him when i get home. that's cool that the sister missionaries taught your class this week. how'd they do? were they/are they get teachers? yes everyone in Gilbert knows everyone in Gilbert. it's really weird.
 
has anything happened with my converts and the temple? not sealed of course. They have to wait a year. But yes Martin Rocabado and his daughter Ashley, and Brent Gray, and Alle Welker all did baptisms for the dead last week. We don't get to go to those though. We only get to go to an endowment or sealing. And We went through the gilbert temple open house with alle welker and her nonmember parents. they loved it and were asking us questions the whole time. We also went through the open house with the slaughter family. The Slaughter family was also baptized on Saturday! it was an awesome program. The spirit of course was very strong and many tears were shed. Mostly by the bishopric. Bishop Turley is a stud. In order to have success in a ward, you have to have a dedicated Bishop. All work in the ward goes through him. The night of the baptism, they invited us over for some tacos. we shared a message with them about the gift of the holy ghost and then alexia (who is 10) said she wanted to share with us her journal entry (from her newly received journal from her baptism). So she read aloud the three page synopsis of her baptism and the months leading up to the event. I've never heard so much faith from anyone let alone a ten year old girl. i wished i could've recorded everything she said. I recall a few things like, "I know God loves me, and that I am a child of God" "I know all of this is true" "when i went to church, it was the first time I felt the Holy Ghost" It was beautiful! The spirit was there. and I was even tearing up! She then told us that she wanted to share it in sacrament meeting. So we quickly got a hold of bishop and made it happen. she brought the whole congregation to tears. That whole family is incredible! Dakota (14) is the smartest person you've ever met. he picks apar the scriptures like it's nothing. Bug (17) is way funny, yet quiet too, and loves his family. Chantell (mother) is full of faith and is so sensitive to the spirit. Blake (father) loves his family. They all love each other so much and the Gospel will bring them even closer together.  I've been so humbled to be able to witness the conversion of this family. The Lord loves the Slaughter Family. And the Rocabado family (other recent converts). and the welker family (other recent converts). and the gray family (other recent converts).
 
Anyway... the mission is the best. except for coughing all over the computer screen. that isn't the best. oh! i wrote in my journal for the first time sincenovember 3! i'm really bad at that. So i guess these emails will have to suffice.
 
advice of the day: obey the spirit
 
Love, Elder Bronson

slaughter family at the temple friday and baptism on saturday.

Week 28- Gilbert

Mom and family! man that's crazy to hear that there have been such low temperatures.

That is an awesome story Mom! keep up the good work! it is so cool to hear that you guys are serving the Lord in member missionary work!  i don't have a ton of time because we are about to go ball it up. But I love hearing the bronson family is doing member missionary work! it takes faith doesn't it?! it's a little scary! But when we let our faith overcome our doubt, and simply "be not afraid, only believe" the lord will bless us with miracles! tender mercies (oh by the way. you can delete the following sentences, but you said "through me a bone!" that's not the momma bronson i know! i guess it was 7:00 when you wrote this, so i'll let it slide...). keep sharing stories like this with me! I love to hear about them! there is power in the book of mormon! the book of mormon and the spirit are our two greatest resources in this work! and what's one without the other?! so keep inviting them. and update me on their progress! but especially on the family's progress as far as member missionary work goes. i know i've emailed the following promise to you before, but will you incorpororate it in the family's prayers? i promise it works!

elder Neil L anderson (from the april 2013 general conference, in the talk, "it's a miracle") said:

i promise you that if you pray to know with whom to speak:
 1. names and faces will come to your mind
2. words to speak will be given you in the moment you need them
3. opportunities will arise
4. faith will overcome doubt
5. The Lord will bless you with your very own miracles

from your story with the clarke father, it sounds like a few of these promises were fulfilled, but keep praying specifically to allow The Lord to bless with you with these blessings and miracles!
  
and watch the following video with the family today for FHE.

http://www.lds.org/media-library/video/2013-06-1031-ill-go-where-you-want-me-to-go?lang=eng#2013-06-1031-ill-go-where-you-want-me-to-go?lang=eng&_suid=138964615736606880510483655322

deal? deal.

Love you mom and family!

oh yeah quick updates. The Slaughter family is doing great. we took them to the visitor's center on friday. the spirit was very strong. we taught about temples and being sealed as a family and invited them to prepare to be sealed as a family, and they all accepted. They are on date to be baptized on january 25.

Alle Welker, the one married two weeks ago, was baptized on saturday. It was awesome. the spirit was way strong and there were many tears, including many from her nonmember parents. The slaughters were there too. the confirmation was quite a spiritual experience as well. That whole sacrament meeting was great. oh a brother in the ward named Rob Gardner sung a musical number. he is famous. look him up! he composed the "savior, redeemer of my soul" song. which i love. one of my favorites. ummm what else happened.... martin (recent convert) is doing awesome. he and brent (recent convert) are going to do baptisms for the dead with the eq on saturday. They are way excited. Anyway... love you much!!

Love, Elder Bronson

Week 27- Gilbert

Hi mom and family! i am doing very well! and yes i know you start out every letter with "how are you doing?" and not gonna lie, i would never tell you if i wasn't doing well! haha but yes i am doing well. man that is crazy weather. it was a little chilly last night, but obviously only relatively. it was about 50 maybe. maybe a little more. they say my blood has thinned out from the summer, so that is why i'm so cold. i just think i'm a wimp. anyway... you stayed home? how was it for them? how was north carolina? and how does calv and court's house look? Is courtney getting a belly from the baby? i'm so excited.
new years resolutions? cool cool. january 1 came and went and we forgot to do new years resolutions. but there's always next year. haha just kidding we'll probably get caught up. make sure they stick to their goals! (use the SMART acronym). anyway... you're going to have them do their own laundry? not bad... they'll turn out much better than me. i certainly never knew how to. not until college ha. i think marcus could do well in track. or cross country or something? does he like to run? i certainly do not.
 
that's cool that you are doing youth conference! i never did that. at least i don't think i did. my suggestion to get kids over there... use food/candy in the minute to winit stuff. We did a little bit of that for our christmas party. it was pretty fun.
 
missionary work is going great! i love this area. I've been here forever but i still love it. We're still working on the 6th ward. all of our success comes from pioneer ward. The Bishop is awesome (Bishop Turley), and we got a new EQ presidency too. they are studs! we're way excited. We are teaching Alle, who just had her baptismal interview. She is getting baptized on January 11. I don't know if i mentioned it, but she and Eric got married on december 28. it took a while, but it happened. She is doing great. We are way excited for her. We are also teaching the slaughter family. We first taught them once at the end of december. I think i may have already mentioned them to you. They are doing awesome. Sister Slaughter gave the greatest prayer in history the other day. They are on date to be baptized on January 25. We do not have anyone on date for February, and our stake president keeps asking us about it. faith and dilligence. and patience. Dad told me about your goal to bring a family into the Gospel! that is great! and if he didn't tell you yet, tell dad 'sorry' for me for spilling the beans.
Are all the people that we've baptized still active? Frank, the first guy we baptized is having a hard time, but the rocabado family is all still active. Martin, the father baptized on november 23, just gave a talk in sacrament a week ago. He did so good. you would never had guessed he had been a member for a month. We're still working on getting him to the temple. he just received a calling as ward missionary though! so he'll be working closely with us now. Brent Gray is still active and is working with the primary kids now. He teaches 10-11 i think with a former bishop. he is doing awesome! he has almost finished the book of mormon again, after restarting after his baptism. and he just was baptized on December 14! he is a stud. I feel inadequate when i am around him haha. Christine moody (not baptized but a former inactive member) is still coming to church and doing awesome. She was sure the Gospel wasn't true, and then she came to church. Kinda like martin. ummm.... Eric (alle's husband) is still active. Alle had to stay home with her sick daughter yesterday for church, and eric came by himself. partly because Alle forced him i think. which is good and bad haha. And the slaughter family has come the last 3 weeks. pretty awesome. i think i answered your question.
 
yes i got the package of treats. the cookies are seriously the greatest cookies i've ever had in my life. david's cookies are where it's at. Elder Abramson loves them too. The other day he said, "WHO IS DAVID?! that man deserves a prize." anyway... yes i already had a jesus the christ. but i'ts okay. i may just give the newer one to my comp because the older one you gave me has a little more in it for some reason. i'm not sure what i'm going to do with the stocking though.
 
That's awesome to hear that austin is going out! that kid is a stud. Anyway...
 
Love you mom and family!
 
Love, elder bronson

Week 26- Gilbert

love and miss you so much too! i have zero time today. we played volleyball for a long time and it was awesome. i'm not going to be able to respond to everything. no it didn't bother me it was just great seeing you guys and no it was fine afterwards. haha great story about the pajamas and i love them! i use the slippers every day. it's perfect because i hate getting my socks wet and the floor is always wet from something so the slippers always come in handy. that's great that you got to spend so much time with courtney and calvin. sad that courtney is having a hard time. i'm pumped to be an uncle. awesome that Jeff is working full time. yeah i didn't want to hang up either. i thought i'd be really homesick but it was fine actually! plus we played 3 hours of basketball afterward and got to watch the lion, the witch and the wardrobe! pretty cool. anyway... love you much!
 
Love, Elder Bronson

Picture Update- 12/16

Elder Pettit and Whetten

Week 25- Gilbert

Hey mother! and family! yes sister priday wanted to send another picture and i thought you would like it! haha elder abramson and I are awesome together. He's an awesome companion and we do work here in pioneer ward! oh man king noah, abinadi, alma? good stuff. Abinadi is awesome. and if i remember correctly, he quotes the divinity of the savior in Isaiah 53 (which is my favorite prophecy of the savior). and then alma! what a stud. he teaches with such clarity and persuasion! "what have ye against being baptized?" that's some exciting seminary classes! but it's true, you never know how many you're going to convert.
 
no i did not get transferred! i was so relieved! i didnt want to leave this ward! they are catching fire! and i love it. Elder Abramson and I have been able to witness many come into the fold! but i'll certainly be gone next transfer. guaranteed. the package actually got to me on saturday so perfect! yes you can send another to the same address.
 
Investigators are doing awesome! brent was baptized a couple days ago and confirmed yesterday! it was awesome. We are teaching a couple new people this week! so we're excited. Eric and Alle finally set a date for marriage. they're getting married at the end of this month and alle baptized the end of january.
 
tell Hailey happy birthday! i totally forgot... my bad. that story is awesome though! what a cool guy! and a kindle! that's awesome.
 
and happy birthday to calvin as well!
  
As far as skyping goes. i assume google chat will work. but i'm not sure.
 
anyway... merry christmas to everyone! read isaiah 53. it's my favorite!  sorry short email today...\
 
love, Elder Bronson

A letter from Mary Stock

Dear Charlene,
I believe your name is Charlene.  Please forgive me if I have it wrong.  But, I just spent 2 hrs with your son and I wanted to tell you about it.


Elder Bronson and his companion have been regularly visiting a non member, elderly woman(88 yrs) and her daughter for a number of months.  The mother is Norma, and Patricia, her daughter is in end stage cancer.  Elder Bronson may have told you about them, but I know he has not understood how sick Patricia really is.  I talked to him at length at Thanksgiving about her illness, but I'm sure he didn't understand the gravity of the situation until tonight.  Patricia has been in hospice care for several days now and Norma and Patricia are the sole survivors in their family.  Which of course will leave Norma completely alone very soon.


 Norma hasn't appeared too  interested in the gospel, but has loved having the Elders over often. She presents herself as being rather silly and fllighty.  But, as her daughter has taken a turn in the last couple of days, I have been able to have some calm and meaningful conversations with her and she has been receptive.  So, last night I talked to her about having a blessing, which I knew she had witnessed as the Elders have administered to her daughter a couple of times.  So, we made a date for tonight.  It was me, Elders Bronson, and Abramson and another, Elder Golding, and the ward Mission leader.  We certainly filled up her tiny apartment!  The very loud and incessant barking of the dog behind a bedroom door was quite a distracton for Norma, as she is hard of hearing, but we pressed on and for 1  1/2 hours we collectively preached the gospel.  


Now, when I say Norma is flighty and silly, I am not kidding.  She often says some things that are inappropriate, but you can see it is out of nervousness and selfconciousness.  Your son has handled that like a gentleman, as a lot of it has been directed at him.  I've been impressed by that and you can be proud of him for it.  But tonight, with the seriousness of the topic and the amount of time that we had been there, she was able to relax and was a verbalize that she had just realized, at that moment, that she had prayed the missionaires to her door ;That she had been asking for help and was at her wits end as to her situation and that 'all of this' could not have been a coincidence.  She had had a moment of pure intelligence.  She saw the tender mercy and began to cry.  


I looked at your son, who was sitting next to me and suddenly he seemed to have grown a full foot taller.  The funloving young man, who, by the way, I have grown to love, was gone and there sat a rightious, serious man of God who spoke with the clarity, dignity and the power of the Lord.  It was a wonderful moment for us all.  He quoted scripture and invited her to church and challanged her to baptism.  She meekly accepted.......I wish you and your husband could have been there.  It's what we as parents, pray for.....it's what we want for our young men....it's the epitome of a lifetime of the teaching that you and you husband put into this man.  I know he will always be funloving, but a boy no more.  It was the best evening I've spent in a long time and I am hapy to have been a part of this most joyous night.


with love,
Mary Stock

There is a post script to last night that I didn't mention.  When Elder Bronson began Norma's blessing, the dog was still barking.  In fact, it hadn't quit barking the whole time we were there.  So, as he began the blessing, I prayed that Heavenly Father would quiet the dog.  And so, the little mut began to slow the noise until it went silent.  The blessing could be heard by all.  I stayed behind as the men left, to talk to Norma and she let the dog out of the bedroom.  It resumed barking.  All was well and she indeed felt comforted.  I will pick her up for church and look forward to her meeting all of the sisters in Relief Society.  She needs them and we need her.  Afterall, we are not just lace tablecloths and chocolate cookies.  She will remind all that we are here to relieve the needy.  I personally look forward to the near future with her.   Again, know that your Elder Bronson is in the right place doing the Lord's work
  Don't know about you, but my buttons are bursting!!!  I had a hard time going to sleep last night as I kept reviewing the evening.  The night was grand.

Picture Update

Week 22- Gilbert

 I am doing well this morning, thank you madre! yes it is definitely colder than usual this last week. It was freezing actually. and it rained a lot! like for two days straight! so i had to use my zone leader's jacket the whole time, because they have a car. So i need a jacket. but i think i already told you that. But anyway... yes Martin's baptism was on Saturday. I always think that baptisms can't get any better. and then they do. "In the ordinances thereof, the power of godliness is manifest." it's true. you feel the spirit so strong at any ordinance! especially saving ordinances! sacrament too. and confirmations. and any ordinance. no i didn't peform the ordinance. i have never performed the ordinance. except for the dead. but never on the mission! We are encouraged to have the member fellowship be the one to do it. Ultimately it is the choice of the investigator however. So obviously none of them have liked me enough. haha no but it was awesome nonetheless! he is so solid though. he got up crying from his confirmation. I had the opportunity to teach and baptize a  family! Martin is the father of the kids we baptized last month! i already told you that story though so moving on... 


yes i'm having pretzel jello for thanksgiving. yes sister stock is awesome. Fusion cartridges are perfect! that's what i initially was going to ask for. I have the razor yes. costco socks would be awesome too. those ones i used to have? the girl ones? those would be perfect. that is so cool to hear the story of Kellie ad Cassandra! She's such a missionary! The Lord needs more members like that! Willing to reach out and feed His sheep. 


i have no idea what to get courtney and calvin haha... ummm... something to do with cooking for Calvin? He seemed to love the noodle maker. and for Courtney? ummm... no idea. i'll keep thinking. remember to remind me. yes the ladies young and old like me a lot. mostly the old ones so you have nothing to worry about. Hahaha the sister's name is Sister Elder? that is awesome. Tell her hi! are they in the Little Rock mission? and tell them to step it up! When was the last time your ward has seen a baptism? ask dad if you don't know. and ask bishop if he doesn't know. and get working on it if you all don't know. it's all up to the members! President Hinckley has made it pretty clear. and every prophet before and after that really. anyway.... i don't have much time at all today... i apologize. But anyuway... love you much!


Love, Elder Sister
i mean bronson. 

Week 21- Gilbert

yes i definitely am blessed. just responding to the title of your email.

good to hear from you mom! well it always is! and thank you for the letters from the kids! i really appreciate it! mail is like the greatest gift. well behind eternal life. oh you got sister menden's pictures? how'd i look? haha just kidding. yeah the members tend to like me. which is weird, at least in 6th ward. We only have one investigator in 6th ward. the work is super hard in that ward. so i don't know why they like us. but everyone in pioneer loves us too! haha the members are awesome. love them. yes i am definitely grateful that heavenly father sent me here too. It gives me a chance to use my social talents! i didn't even know being social was a talent until i got on my mission. it totally is. anyway... you participated in a youth fireside, huh? awesome. haha you were the old couple? yeah, what are you guys, 60 now? just kidding mom, i still remember how hard it was for you to accept that you were turning 50 haha. saddest birthday ever. hopefully you don't put these letters on a blog or anything. otherwise, you'll have to edit this out haha.

no i won't get transferred. calls were yesterday, and i didn't get one. so i'm good! i'm staying with Elder Abramson another transfer. which is awesome because he is seriously my favorite companion. he's so funny. and we work way well together. i'm so glad i'm staying too, because we just put martin on date for the 23rd. i would've had to miss the baptism if i got transferred. and hopefully alle will get married to eric this month so she can get baptized too. it's been a long process with them but they are awesome. We love them. I kinda told dad the story over email about martin. so i'm probably just going to copy/paste it to you. because i don't want to write it again...

man those pictures are awesome! pretty crazy though. and pretty nasty for the fish head thing. yeah it'd be tough to eat that. we get fish head like every day in Gilbert though so i'm getting used to it. just kidding. anyway... yes all the members in the ward love to take pictures of us and send them out! usually missionary moms. yes i love our wards! especially the pioneer ward! they love us too! it is awesome. bishop is a stud. he's the kind of bishop where meeting with him is one of the first invitations i want to make to investigators haha because bishops' offices are revelation central. can't walk out of that place dry-eyed. yes i will definitely try to keep up the pace!

miracles this week dad. well miracles every week, but some pretty awesome ones this week. definitely journal entry ones (i hardly write in my journal, brecause i'm so tired at the end of the day it's the last thing on my mind). but alle and eric our hopefully getting married this month. but that's not the miracle. well it is, but that's not the one i want to share.

k so you know ashley, tristan, and tobin? the kids that got baptized two weeks ago? yeah well they got confirmed in sacrament 8 days ago because stake conference was the previous week. anyway, martin (marteen) is the father of the kids. He's catholic and didn't want anything to do with the church, up until he went to the confirmations. we had 3 confirmations, 2 baby blessings ("and in the ordinances thereof, the power of godliness is manifest"). so he felt the spirit way strong. there were so many good testimonies too! because it was fast sunday. and usually it's iffy for investigators and fast sundays. but every testimony was simple and powerful. pure doctrine is what brings in the spirit. and that's what was shared. many simple testimonies of Christ. So the spirit was SUPER strong. anyway that night, aubrey called us (the mother of the kids, husband of martin), and told us to come over. so we did. she told us that martin wanted to meet with us, so we set up a time. Brother bitter came and aubrey came as well. We literally asked him one question: "why did you decide to meet with us?" and he responded with his feelings at sacrament meeting and how much he felt the spirit and ended with, "so i want to convert." so we put him on date for november 23rd. we're super excited, and so is he. it's gonna be awesome. anyway... not much time. but thankyou for the updates. i love updates!

gotta go!

Week 20- Gilbert

once again good to hear from you mom! emailing is like the best part of P-day! yes a lot of people like to take pictures and send them to moms, especially the ones with a son out on a mission haha. yes we had an awesome time for halloween. Our mission president wouldn't let us proselyte so we had to stay inside, but he gave us permission to go to a member's house. My zone leaders cover a ward where all the rich people live. Well everyone is wealthy in gilbert, but these ones are extremely well off. So mission president let us watch "ephraim's rescue." it was a pretty lame as far as movies go but it was a good mormon movie! but yes i beat everyone at ping pong. one of my zone leaders is really good but i won 3-1. wassup. yes i love this area so much! we have so much support! it takes a couple months to really gain the trust of the members, and get them excited about missionary work. it's kinda hard. you have to get them excited about missionary work, so you can have success. but you have to have success in order to get them excited about missionary work. it's a vicious cycle. luckily, the Lord blessed us with success first.
 
yes please don't come to Arizona. i'd probably cry if i saw you. or i'd probably just get really mad at you for coming. tell you about our investigators? Welp... this will be a long email because of all the miracles we saw this week. ready? k go.
 
Well... last friday (i think i've talked about this already) i was sick. But Eric and Alle wanted to go to the visitor's center super bad so they wouldn't take my "sorry i can't go. i'm not feeling well" for an answer. So they worked it out themselves to drop me off at Bishop's house, so Elder Abramson could go with our zone leader to the visitor's center. Elder Abramson told me that it was such a great lesson. After going through the "God's plan for the family" exhibit, they went and taught part of the plan of salvation. They were balling. And then they came to the adult session of stake conference the following day on saturday and met with elder perkins personally. They decided to have their baby blessed. And Elder perkins of the seventy was there at stake conference, and called them up in front of the whole stake conference to talk. They told the whole stake how appreciative they were of us and the bishop and everyone, and alle bore here testimony. she said "i just know it's true." i wanted to cry haha. and then they came to stake conference the day after that, and went to dinner with the Barney family (who they have been working with). and they went to their house the next day too. And then we had a couple lessons with them this week, until sacrament meeting.......
It was their baby's blessing and Eric's mom was there who he hasn't talked to in a year. and his whole family was there. and Alle's dad was there. Usually it's a little nerve racking bringing an investigator to fast and testimony meeeting, because sometimes people get carried away in their testimonies. However, it was perfect. Everyone bore simple, powerful testimony. And then. Eric got up and bore his. It was incredible. They are making so much progress and are working on getting married now, so they can make steps toward the temple. so after all those miracles, I have to tell you about this other one. During that same sacrament meeting, the three osorio children were confirmed (because it was stake conference last week when they were baptized). Martin, their dad decided to come when he had previously not wanted to at all. He is catholic, and doesn't want much to do with the church. But the meeting was so incredible (with 3 confirmations, two baby blessings, and awesome testimonies) that he felt the spirit way strong, and it completely changed his view. He had us come over and set up an appointment to meet with him. MIRACLE. Elder Abramson and I are so blessed to be in this part of The Lord's vineyard. We are thankful every day for the miracles we see. People are truly being prepared every day through the wisdom of Him who knoweth all things. So get going Bronson Family! There are people in your lives who are prepared to hear the great message of the restored gospel. I promise.
 
Yeah so that's how our investigators are doing. We have a few others as well, but no time to write. That is awesome that you are moving into Jacob. Jacob has some of the coolest scriptures. It's one of those books that you have to read very slowly. and ponder more than read. but yes pride his huge. and it talks about chastity. and the olive tree. good stuff. good luck with the olive tree. i don't have a ton of time left because i wrote so much but yeah i'll email aaron. i've been emailing ben ever since i got out. k go take a nap! oh i always love letters and packages so thank you so much!
 
Love, Elder Bronson