September 15th- Gilbert

hello there mother and family! yes of course i am doing well! really? more rain? interesting. we are getting quite a bit lately. carter woods is leaving for a mission? holy heck that's crazy. i always felt like he was so much younger than me. apparently not! any other news from idaho? haha i remember her taking a picture and asking, "are your moms on 'missionary moms?'" and i responded that i had no idea. so she decided to put it on anyway. of course i should've taken into consideration that somehow you'll know someone who knows someone who's heard of someone but willing to contact them that knows me. just like the athlete's foot! haha. palmyra new york, huh? that is so awesome! the prophet joseph is incredible. tell me what you learn! i wanna hear! 

yes i am of course still liking my new companion! he is awesome! he was one of the first missionaries i met in the mission field. we came out together, and spent our first night in the field in the same member's home. just us two. we were split up randomly. he is from longmont, colorado. church was good. we had our two singles ward investigators at church this sunday. Andre is awesome! he is doing so well. accepting every commitment we give him. we had our lesson at the church so we could show him the baptismal font. good lesson. word of wisdom. 

anyway... thank you for all of your letters/emails. always love receiving them. this may be a little short because i'm not sure what else to write. i think i answered all the questions. oh shoot! yes my foot fungus is healed you don't have to worry, mother! 

love, elder bronson

September 8th- Gilbert

hahahaha oh gosh... yeah i was trying to make sure you never figured it out. IT WAS BAD. and that's why i didn't want you to know. i figured it would just go away. and it didn't. and 9 months later. it was really big. and the podiatrist didn't know what to do. in fact he made me spend a ton of money on random ointments that weren't working! it turns out it was more eczema, than it was athletes foot. so the dermatologist solved it pretty quick. i gotta send you picture now that it's basically gone. it was SOOO bad. i forgot to take a final picture before it healed up. so the latest one i have is like a month out of date. anyway.. it's bad. i have both insurance cards. but missionary medical usually takes care of it. i think i used both to cover the deductible. i have a new companion. elder bailey! he's awesome. i've wanted to be his comapnion for a long time! we spent our first night in the mission field together! since we came out with like 30 missionaries, we didn't spend the night int he mission home, we had to go to some random member's house. and we went in twos. and i got put with elder bailey. didn't know him at all before hand. but he's awesoem. good worker. super funny. yes a couple of investigators caome to church this week. andre in the singles ward is ond ate for sept 27. he's doing awesome. he texted us the other day... "hey so how do i receive revelation. how do i know if i am getting any? how does it feel? what's supposed to happen?" we called and answered his question for him. it was awesome. well with a few scriptures. alma 5:20ish i think. alma talking about how he knows for himself. anyway... he's doing great. he wasn't going to make it to church yesterday. but booked it out during his break so that he could make it to sacrament. what faith. i don't know what else to day. saw a ton of miracles with our mini missionaries this week. we got to take a couple out from a nearby stake. they were hilarious. it's pretty funn doing that. they have an awesome time. we do too. and they always decide to go on missions. the stake president, president lines, was like, "these two were on the fence about going on a mission and it's amazing to hear them bear their testimonies that way." (they bore their testimonies during the closing of the mini mission. little meeting thing). it was great. anyway... love you much family! i'll send pictures

elder bronson

Picture Update

mini missionaries with us for a few days. brother ray and brother patterson. love thsoe guys

haha sad

elder benson is back!

elder fuhrman and sister rawlings. my ward at byu. in the tempe mission. had an mlc together. 

elder rohrbacher. love that guy. tempe mission. in my district int he mtc. 

September 1st- Gilbert

hello mom! yes i'm having a good day. well kinda... we have to drop elder lybbert off at the office today. in like 2 hours. so that's too bad. but other than that it's been pretty good. actually a little hectic. lots of mini errands to run this morning. but we're pushing through! there's a small BBQ in singles ward but we won't be going because i will be sticking with some other elders for a couple days covering two areas. oh that pizza place with the woodwards was so flippin good. hahaha classic courtney. that was quick! i'm sure he didn't like that joke either. i don't know how much weight i've gained because we don't have a scale. but i don't think i've gained too much. however... the other day i looked at my license picture (taken senior year when i was working out a lot), and then at the mirror. and then at my licence picture. and then at the mirror. i've got some nasty neck fat.however, it was so relieving to exit the denial mode and enter the "fix it" mode! so here we go haha. 

yes andie is very cute. it's weird not being able to interact with her though. i got way excited when dad sent a video of her. but this ancient computer won't play it. sad. but anyway...

yes elder lybbert goes home tomorrow. yeah it's super sad. he's an awesome missionary. we did great work together. he's loved by many. haha it's actually kinda funny... we go to say goodbye to some people, and they cry. and i'm sitting here like, "whoa this is weird. he's been here for like 4 months." so it looks like i gotta develop a little more charity. because i haven't shed a tear yet, and don't see it happening at all in the future haha. his plans? he doesn't have much for plans. he went to a community college before his mission. he says he may want to go to byui. or byu. but he hasn't applied at all. so he's going to go home and work and such. and then go to school. i don't think he'll be married, but you never know! i know that was a joke but it really happens. some of my old zone leaders are engaged. so yeah. it happens. 

yes thank you so much for the package. i love pecans. and the pistachios were a nice addition! and all the rest of course. that week was awesome. i got like 5 letters and a package! and we had 14 people at church this week. it was pretty great. so we went off with a bang for elder lybbert. we get transfer calls today because

yeah we have a dust storm once every couple weeks. it will rain hard during the dust storms too. it's pretty cool. anyway love you too!

love, elder bronson

August 25- Gilbert

hhahaa i love it. that would've beeen a catchy title! if you just said, "i can't come up with a catchy title." sorry i have to be short this week. whenever i say that, i end up writing a lot though... hailey has her first soccer game, huh? take some pictures! i wanna see her in action. she is our last hope for an athletically successful family member! courtney was the closest... but no one else could make the cut! that's awesome that jeff and karlee were the witness couple though... pretty amazing. i remember you telling me how special it was to, about 5 years ago, have your whole family in the temple. every sibling for the first time. pretty awesome. can't wait for that day! president nattress says, when speaking about the temple, "imperfect people, can have perfect moments." that's one of those perfect moments. where nothing else matters. and all you feel is joy. pure joy. no baptism this week. she fell off date. but she will be back on soon. "it's like Novocaine. give it time, it always works.." (remember the titans). some are referrals... some are tracts/street contacts. the family we just baptized was a tract. but the one that fell off date this week was a referral. but i did get a text the other day from the assistants that said... "you've been requested to attend a sealing for the westcott family. give them a call." an inactive family that we just knocked on their door. and they just took off. just needed a little kick in the pants. he just received the melchizidek priesthood. and they are taking temple prep right now. they will probably get sealed in september. so i will be able to go to that. they are awesome. i've sent a picture before. so you'll just have to search for it. yes i feel like i will stay for a while in this ward. next transfer is next wednesday. but elder lybbert is dying this transfer and they won't whitewash the area, so i will definitely stay another transfer. i feel like i'll be here a lot longer than that though. which is fine because i love it here in higley ward. love the members. 

Brother and Sister Bronson,
My name is Rodney Ross (I go by Rod or Rocky). Just a few moments ago, your son left our home after having dinner with us. I want you to know that Elder Bronson is an excellent missionary. He is a natural leader, very spiritual and personable. You should be very pleased that you have sent out such a fine young man to serve the Lord.

You will note that I have included a few pictures of your son and his companion, Elder Lybbert. These pictures are just a few minutes old. We take great joy in sending them to you.

Our best to you. Your son has changed lives here in Gilbert. I'm confident he will continue to do so.

Rodney Ross (the fat guy in the middle of the 3rd picture!)
Gilbert AZ

August 18- Gilbert

hello mother! i'm doing well, thank you for asking! finished seminary? oh good. mondays are tough? no! mondays are the best! emailing family. playing ball. relaxing. good stuff. hahaha jeff bowling? you may have to take him to practice before his orientation. teachers quorum president? that is awesome. one of the few people in the ward that hold priesthood keys. make sure he understands that! we had a meeting at president nattress' house this weekend. and he talked about a 12 yr old kid that came up to him and started asking him questions about his calling. he told him a few things. but the main thing he told him was, "aaron... you have the keys of finding, teaching, baptizing, and reactivating all the 12-13 yr old people in those ward boundaries." months later, he ended up reactivating every single deacon. and had four 12 yr olds meeting with the missionaries. pretty amazing. so same thing for marcus. except 14-15 yr olds. so that's the advice i would give him. that's his responsibility that the Lord has entrusted him with. He can know he is fulfilling his calling if he is building the faith of the current teachers and helping them to make right decisions (perfect the saints), reactivate and baptize (preach the gospel), and he can redeem the dead too through the temple. his mission is the same as the church's. and the same as the missionaries. to invite others to come unto Christ. anyway... utilize your missionaries. investigators are coming along well. Marlene is getting baptized this weekend. thomas should be getting baptized at the end of the month.  we love the Higley ward. elder lybbert goes home in 2 weeks though... yes my clothes are holding up. shoes are good too. cup of bleach, huh? yeah i don't think i've ever used bleach. my garments are super nasty too. arizona sun will do that. i don't need money for drycleaning. we get it free here in gilbert. just got free haircuts today too. I LOVE GILBERT. anyway... love you so much! sorry i'm short today! thank you for your support! 

elder bronson

Picture Update

Week 58- Gilbert

good morning! man you get up earlier than i do! but you get the weekends! "there aint no rest for the mission, money don't grow on trees.." tell that one to marcus. he'll like it. 17 students, huh? that's awesome. the seminary teachers here, in coordination with president Nattress, want elder lybbert and i to drop in and teach every week. so we're trying our best to hand it off to other missionaries. because we like to proselyte. church was good yesterday! had an investigator come to church yesterday. and another! oh good story. our stake president's son got back from his mission last week. before he got on the plane, he prayed to father to be able to teach the gospel one more time as a set apart missionary. so he got on the first plane to texas from mexico. no go. then on the plane from texas to arizona. yes go. the woman next to him began talking to him about how she is on a spiritual journey. and how she feels like it's ending. so elder allred (now mitch allred) taught her the restoration of the gospel. both in tears. he invited her to be baptized. on the plane. she accepted. so she came to church yesterday ( just a few days after the flight) to see him give his homecoming talk. she loved church. we met with her a few hours after church at the allred's home. it was an awesome lesson. spirit was way strong (pretty crazy... we asked her to read galatians 5:22 because we were talking about the role of the holy ghost in conversion. and she says "whoa... i just got the chills. i just marked my scriptures there this morning with the restoration pamphlet mitch gave me the other day.) pretty neat. anyway there were a lot of super cool experiences in that lesson. the gospel is the best. we also tracted into a couple more investigators last week. elder lybbert and i love tracting. but a good week. elder tagg, our district leader, noticed this morning, that for the last 7 weeks, our district has had a baptism. we only have 4 companionships. so that's pretty amazing! we have not gone a week without one! anyway.. the blessings of the Lord are certainly pouring out upon the Higley Stake. okay... back to answering your questions. our new member family?  doing great. 3 of them went to the temple to do baptisms this last week. pretty awesome. we got to confirm them, but the temple president doesn't like us to baptize. which kinda stinks. but still pretty awesome. Jamie (the 20 yr old babysitter) wanted to pray before we left the temple. so she asked if she could say it. we all gathered in the lobby (just us, the wadley family, and jamie, hailey, and makala) and jamie offered a simple prayer. i've had a lot of experiences on my mission. but that was definitely one to remember. it was powerful. talking about it later, jamie said, "i felt like i could barely speak. the spirit was so powerful!" so pretty awesome week, i'd say. so they're definitely progressing to answer your question. haha yes i've heard much about obama and immigration. many people have plenty to say about it. but you are right mom! the second coming has to come somehow! thank goodness that we have a prophet of the Lord on the earth today. we cannot be lead astray. Wilford woodruff, "The Lord will never permit me or any other man who stands as President of this Church to lead you astray. It is not in the programme. It is not in the mind of God. If I were to attempt that, the Lord would remove me out of my place, and so He will any other man who attempts to lead the children of men astray from the oracles of God and from their duty." pretty comforting words right there. i'm sure dad has read it, but read, "the seven deadly heresies" by bruce r. i read it this morning. i don't know how i haven't read it before! so good. that is awesome that you are going to the church sites! i would love to do that. my personality? it hasn't changed much haha. my testimony and knowledge of the Gospel has. and i'm still working on becoming a little more humble! but anyway.... love you much! and the whole family of course.

elder bronson

Week 57- August 4th Gilbert

mother and family! good to hear from you! first day of school, eh? i get to say 'eh' now. my district leader is from edmonton, canada. i don't know why that gives me the right, or the confidence to do so. but anyway... summer is way too short? haha yes you are correct, we have different opinions on that. we went iceskating for a zone activity a couple mondays ago and it was super weird to feel cold. but after busting out some backflips i was back to being hot again. i lied about the backflips. good scripture... d&c 6:36. it's easy to quote, but hard to do. look up d&c 35:13. good one. helps me out a lot. that's too bad that they switched some things up in the districts there. they seem to do that here a lot too! but not the school districts. just the mission districts! haha we have to keep changing our mission 3rd verse to called to serve. because it includes all the zones in the mission in the song. so we have to memorize a new song every couple months. anyway... you had an elder for 10 1/2 months? not bad. i remember those days. not quite so long. but i stayed in my first area for almost 9 months if you recall. i was certainly ready to leave when i did leave. as much as i loved pioneer ward. i'm sure he was happy to move on as well. oh jeff and karlee are going to live with you guys? 30 minutes, huh? that would be tough. i'm sure it works out better financially to live with you guys, regardless of the 30 min drive. yes dad told me about the fishing trip. he's still getting skinny? shoot that's crazy! i keep seeing pictures and thinking, is that just the camera?" haha anyway... i'm not sure if i sent pictures last week. actually i think i did. probably to courtney though. a picture of the last baptism. we had a baptism this saturday as well. 5 of the kids that jamie (who got baptized last week) babysits got baptized. they are so awesome! so young but such powerful testimonies. three 12 yr olds. hailey makayla and liliana. all are so excited for the temple. already got their limited use recommends for next tuesday. we'll probably be able to go too. they are so great. anthony and june got baptized too. also part of the family. the mother of makala and hailey came and actually stood up and shared a few thoughts during the testimony meeting while elder lybbert and i were getting dressed. she's not a member, and she stood up and thanked everyoen and told them how much their support means to her. pretty incredible. sad i didn't get to hear it. we will be trying to work with her this month. but pretty incredible week. i will send pictures to courtney's email. oh! and they love the gilbert temple. well who can't love it? when i get sealed... it's going to be there. don't care where she wants to go. it's going to be at the gilbert temple. 

anyway that is so cool that hailey got up and bore her testimony so powerfully. dad said, "by the mouth of babes." true prophecy right there. jerry (5 yr old in the same family that got baptized) on our second lesson with before we taught him the plan of salvation said, "i lived with God" and when we taught him the restoration, when quoting the first vision, he walked up to the pamphlet (because we were showing the picture of the first vision) stared at it, and then put his hand up and slid it across God and Jesus Christ. it was awesome. didn't really hit me until after the lesson but it was pretty amazing. he was just in awe. a 5 yr old. not sure what the realease date is. but i'm pretty positive it's june 23. actually yes it is. or else like may 2. they let us choose./ but i don't want to go then. so june 23 it is. anyway yeah that will be crazy when kellie and i go to byu together! love you mother and family!

love elder bronson

Week 56 - Gilbert

Hello mother. that's great you got to see her again! i started reading this email thinking it was dad for some reason. and as i read i thought to myself, why would calv and court need help with the baby from dad? hahaha anyway... and you're watching walking dead? shoot mom! do you like it? that's an intense series. and lost? pretty good. don't get too into it. or you'll do just that... get too into it. D & C this year, huh? that'll be great. when do you do book of mormon? hopefully i'm back by then. i'll just teach it all for ya! i'm good with that! haha! sorry i may be a little brief with you today. got a few emails this week and i have to have time to send you some pictures! I always love it when someone asks to take a picture, because i know that you will love it. yeah we were all at cafe rio at the same time. and none of us meant to be there at the same time. the reeses puffs weren't mine! they were our mini missionary's! we went shopping on saturday because he needed food. we picked him up that morning. he's still with us, and will be until wednesday. just a guy preparing for his mission. he's going to minneapolis minnesota! pretty crazy. awesome guy though. he'll be a great missionary. jamie's baptism went great! she was confirmed yesterday. i'll send you pictures in a sec. yes christie came, and jean even came. which is a miracle. they all loved it. we will see them again tonight. 4 of the kids should be getting baptized this upcoming saturday. anyway.... got to go so i have time!

elder bronson

Week 55- Gilbert

good to hear the week went well. the week went well over in higley zone too! yes i received a ton of pictures. and a ton of my new niece. in fact. i had 55 emails this week. and i was pumped. until i realized that 90% were pictures of andi. haha i'm not complaining... but it was just funny. anyway... yes i heard that she surprised everyone. that's pretty typical. i bet she was planning i t the entire time. everyone gushed. yes i believe it. i saw a few pictures. and everyone looked like they had just been to a funeral! yes everything is going well for the new family. Jamie is getting baptized this saturday if she can keep it up with not smoking. she's doing great. and progressing so well. miracle yesterday. her aunt (kristie) who came to church once and wasn't very interested talked to us for a while yesterday. the kids were at their dad's house so it was basically only jamie and kristie and a few kids. so we were talking to jamie about some things and i don't remember the exact chain of events, but we just started talking about the restoration. she asked tons of questions, relating to the plan of salvation and the restoration. very smart lady. she would make comments like, "oh so after Christ and his apostles were killed, people started to make up their own things. and start to worship idols and stuff. Ohhhhh!" It was pretty awesome. we basically taught her pieces of the plan of salvation, the restoration, and the gospel all in one fairly short 20 min lesson. and she gained a huge interest. so we're going back tomorrow and seeing if the interest is still there. this lady, 3 weeks ago, was totally turned off to the kids getting baptized, and is now pretty interested. we're pumped. the Lord's tender mercies. anyway... hahaha i'm sure jeff and karlee would love to sub for seminary. the seminary teachers here love it when the missionaries come and help teach. in fact, we are currently sitting in the family history library at the seminarybuilding/stake center and brother jardine, the semiary president keeps asking us about his email to president regarding who will be helping teach this school year. pretty funny.  i just want to do traditional good ol missionary work. yes we always celebrate pioneer day. usually a parade or something. a few parties. pretty cool.so i don't think he can be better than him. i'm glad you liked my letter. yes it is all due to you're wonderfully facilitated family gatherings, that the family is what it is! thank you much mother! and family. love you all so much! hope i answered all the questions. and i'll probably email you elder lybbert's funny moment of the week too.

love, elder bronson

Week 54- July 7th Gilbert

hello mother and family! yes i had an awesome week. full of miracles. yup we had our first dust storm of the summer! they're great. a lot of fun to watch. we are advised not to go outside, because you can catch what's called "valley fever" from breathing in these viral spores. so hopefully i'll be okay! haha yes thankfully we have a car. i can't believe i am not an uncle yet! i don't think i can wait another week! you will have to send me a picture or something during the week. maybe i will have a member send you a picture of elder lybbert and i and you can reply with a picture of my niece! sunday was good yesterday. yes the family that we are teaching came again yesterday. pretty crazy story... so jamie, who is 20 broke her foot saturday night. she is the most progressing of the investigators in that family. she is basically the leader if you will... so she was in the hospital all night sunday morning and didn't get back til like 5am with the family. so she didn't come to church. and a couple of the kids who needed more sleep didn't either. thankfully 4 others in the family came. kind of a weird family situation. but there is kristie the parent, jamie the babysitter who is 20, blake 13, hailey mekayla and liliana 12, anthony 10, mary june 8, alex 7, jerry 5.  we we were thinking about how much of a setback it was that jamie broke her foot. But the Lord is the driver. The Relief society president, when she heard about it in ward council, organized some meals to be brought over. we went over this morning to check up on them, and the mother of some of the investigators (kristie) was so grateful for everything the ward has done thus far. Kristie has been a negative factor in the family's conversion. She doesn't want them to go to church, or participate. but The Lord has a way to soften hearts. We have really been praying for her heart to be softened, and the Lord provided a way. as he always does. So I will keep you posted. 

anyway... back to answering your questions... playing, eating, and walking, huh? that sounds great! wednesday is when it will happen? man! when was the estimated date initially? what did i do for the 4th? went to a morning breakfast, went to a baptism, did some proselyting, and was in by 7. we were not allowed to be outside due to potential drunk drivers. new gators probably coming this week. we have a ton of appointments scheduled. yes it is horribly hot. good to hear you are keeping up with the book of mormon reading. keep up the good work! if you are only underlining the phrase, "the doctrine of Christ" you will only find it probably 10 times in the book of mormon. probably 50 for the phrase, "gospel of Jesus Christ". so you have to underline the content! faith in christ, repentance, baptism, the gift of the holy ghost, and enduring to the end. anyway... I love the area. love the zone. love the ward. love the members. everyone is great. i love gilbert. there are about 20 missionaries in our zone. but it's the biggest zone. 

good to hear you're starting up with tennis again. you'll need to reteach me everything. i'm probably horrible now. 

anyway love you much! nothing else to report!

elder bronson

BOM Challenge

underline "faith in christ" in green (or any other color you want)

      - belief in Jesus Christ

      - obedience to his commands

underline "repentance" in red (or any other color you want)

      - maybe include sin if you'd like to go that broad

      - humility, confession, forsaking, asking forgiveness

underline "baptism" in blue (or any other color you want)

     - baptismal covenant

     - baptismal ordinance

     - i even went as broad/general as just covenants. i included even the abrahamic covenant. but you can do whatever. just ideas.

underline "the gift of the holy ghost' in black (or any other color you want)

     - i included promptings that came to prophets from the hg

     - of course the gift itself

underline "enduring to the end" in orange (or any other color you want)

     - things like 2 nephi 31:19-20

     - other things you want to do to "endure to the end"

underline "the gospel of jesus christ" or "the doctrine of christ" in all colors

i hope this doesn't sound controlling. i am just suggesting ideas. just trying to get the point across that when i did this exercise, i wasn't simply reading the book of mormon. i studied it. picked it apart. and underlined the doctrine of christ everywhere. and it changed my mission. and my life. love you all! i will be doing it again! and i want to hear all your incite and experiences!

love you much bronson family!

elder bronson

Week 53- Gilbert

Hello mother and family! well first off... might i remind the family of our unofficial bet of who would have the first baby... Although kristen was not married at the time (only engaged), we all guessed that she would be the first to have a baby. lo and behold... she is the last to have a baby (unless I am but uninformed). pretty crazy, huh?! i can't believe it! i'm going to come home to a 1 year old and a 6 month old! maybe even another (kristen) (or courtney again...). anyway i'm just super excited. 

thank you for writing me even though you were on vacation. i got transferred back up to Gilbert! I love gilbert so i am so excited. I mean san tan valley is great... but gilbert is the best place ever! I love it so much! so i'm serving just about 3 or 4 miles south of my first area. i'm serving in the higley stake, in the higley ward. and we cover a singles ward too. i have an awesome companion, elder lybbert. He is awesome and we do really well together. He's going home in 12 weeks though... so we won't be together too long. and the Higley zone is awesome too. just pumped to be back in gilbert. no i don't know anyone with the last name escobido. i didn't have to throw away anything this time when packing. I don't really have much anyway. i try not to gather a ton of junk. it's weird having only a large suit case and its contents to your name. 

new address.... well i'm just going to use the mission office because we apparently don't know where the mail key is... 1001 n burk st gilbert, az 85234

moment of the week-- pudding, kid, mom, lick

elder bronson

Picture Update

me with my oreos....

skyline zone. pday activity. it was hot. 

brother and sister jones

jones family and elder legrand

old ward mission leader brother dearden. 

 reactivated westcott family. they are so studly. love them so much.

bishop rupp. stud. 

president mcelhaney. previous bishop. 

Week 48 - San Tan Valley

hello mother and family. yes it is definitely getting hot. it's killer. but biking is always better for the work so we do it anyway. barely surviving though. yes transfers are this week. i got a call so i'm leaving this wednesday. should be great though. don't know brother langstraat. it seems like the blessings are a lot more direct and specific? mine is definitely not specific. i always get a little disappointed to how vague it is! but it's alright. yes we got a ton of new investigators this week. but i'm leaving anyway so... but elder legrand is staying. father's day on sunday? shoot thanks for reminding me. shoot you scheduled a vacation over father's day? haha that's hilarious. i don't have any time today so i have to get going. love you though! i will have more to talk about next time for sure!

elder bronson

oh and tell hailey i miss playing soccer with her! we play soccer pretty much every morning now and i always think about her!

ONE YEAR MARK!

Elder Bronson's year mark is June 5th. He has been loving his mission and has kept his fun-loving humor and personality. He is right where he needs to be. His missionary experience comes with many challenges (not excluding the AZ heat :), but his love for the people of the Gilbert area and his testimony of the gospel has proven to humble and strengthen him in so many ways. We love you Elder Bronson!

Here is to another great year hearing about his time in the Arizona Gilbert Mission!

Week 47- San Tan Valley

hello mother and family! haha what did dad say about reminding me of vacations that i will be on next summer? i don't want to discuss my coming home date or anything but it's at the end of june not the beginning. just a heads up. how am i? i am doing just swell! yes it is definitely getting unbearably hot here. slowly but surely! we're usually at like 105ish. constantly. and it doesn't look like it's going to cool down! it is supposed to be one of the hottest summers ever! that is cool to hear about everyone coming over and seeing the home and asking so many questions. you never know how much of an effect you have on people with those pictures of Christ. i thought it was just totally normal growing up. now i go to houses and i'm like, "where are the pictures of Jesus?" especially during Christmas. Santa is just not as cool as Jesus. you can quote me on that. that sounds like a good quote. no didn't have any investigators this week at sacrament. it was a bummer.... but i got to go to a baptism yesterday! i will send you a picture. His name is Tony. he was in my last area. elder abramson and i taught him for about a month before i left. he was studly. he was one of those people that can recognize truth instantly. the story is actually pretty cool so i will tell it real quick. 

we were eating dinner with the randall family. we asked brother randall who it was outside working on his house. he told us it was one of his good friends that has helped him with projects around the house for years. we went outside and started talking to him and asked him if he would join us for our after dinner message. we decided to share our "temple presentation"(baiscally a video on the temple and some testimonies). he didn't have any questions but we felt inspired to talk about baptisms for the dead. not really something you always feel inspired to do. but we followed the spirit and did so. he told us that he had a few children pass away. the lesson was great and we asked him if he would meet with us again. two days later we taught the restoration. he knew it was true. those are the best kind of people! the people that recognize truth from the Holy ghost when it comes. he has been catholic his whole life so he understood the holy ghost. we invited him to be baptized. he looked distraught. we invited him again. he looked up and said something to the effect of, "I know this is true and i know i need to be baptized. but i have too many hurdles to jump before i can. i don't know if i can."we share our testionies and promised he could do it. he accepted a date. and then i left. it took him a few months to overcome his smoking problem, but he did it. the service was the most spiritual one i've ever been to. it was incredible. after he was baptized, he turned and gave bishop walker a hug (the guy who baptized him) and started crying. and so did the whole congregation. it was amazing! anyway... he's such an incredible guy. the most sincere guy you've ever met. so funny too. but a heart of gold. he just wants to do what's right no matter how hard it is.

anyway... there's the story sorry it was a little long. the story doesn't do the experience justice. we don't bear our testimonies very often. always when we get into a new area though. we have the opportunity every hour of every day! you can't force anyone to share their testimony. you can invite but it won't do much either. when the spirit invites, that's when it's important. but yeah the fear gets in the way sometimes. just have to obey the spirit with courage. 

love, elder bronson

Oreo Collection

Tony and Elder Bronson at his baptism

the simmons family

Week 46- San Tan Valley

(Memorial Day)

good morning to you too! mother and family! shoot i love the beach! i don't so much miss swimming as much as i do the beach. marcus is going to efy? what a stud. everyone says they go for the spiritual experience, and i hope they all do feel that way, but that wasn't necessarily my top priority when i went. "the power of every day missionaries" is an awesome book. i actually have not read it, but i know the principles taught in the book. i love it. i think one of the principles taught, if i remember correctly, refers to our outlook on who is ready to receive the gospel. sometimes we think, "man that family is perfect! they would make great members of the church!" when we should be thinking, "man! that woman is having a really hard time. the gospel would help her so much!" We should share the gospel with everyone, not matter what situation they are in, but sometimes we think that way. I was reading an incredible talk this week. it's not out of general conference or anything, but it is from Elder corbridge. It's called, "the fourth missionary." Basically teaches us what types of missionaries there are and what ones we should be. It really helped me understand the effect my mission CAN have on my life. Christ doesn't force change upon us. he invites us with open arms, and expects us to come unto him. "return unto me, and be converted, that i may heal you" or "follow thou me" or "come unto me all ye that labor..." he invites us to change. in order to allow your mission to take the most effect, you need to give it all to Him. leave nothing back. give all of your desires, passions, habits to him. and he will change you into what he wants you to be. We need to surrender our own will to the will of the Father. "offer our whole soul as an offering to him" (omni) like Christ submitted to his father. "not as i will, but as thou wilt." Christ is a perfect example of utter submission. "I came into the world to do the will of my father, because my father sent me." We need to put off the natural man (our own desires, passions, hobbies, future, expectations), and become as a child, "willing to submit to all things which the Lord seeth fit to inflict upon him, even as a child doth submit to his father." (mosiah 3:19). Alright preaching complete.

Well good to hear you went out with the sister missionaries! if you help reactivate 2 people, you will get a baptism. statistically speaking. yeah it is so crazy that you can see her face. it's not even going to be a surprise at all whens he comes out. that's not even fair! you never got to know what we were going to look like! anyway love you much!

Elder Bronson

Elder Ash is going home this transfer

kichelle simmons. moving... dayquan's cousin.

elder harmon. one of my roommates. stud

black widow

Week 45- San Tan Valley

momma and fam.

haha no more seminary, huh? happy day! sleeping in must be pretty great. i can't imagine!! that is so great that you only missed one day of seminary. whom the lord calls, he qualifies! even if that means qualifying you with a capable back and a healthy body! what the heck. kellie is graduating in a year? when you said that, i thought you were kidding. that is crazy to think about! does she want to go on a mission? is she thinking about it? tell her to start studying! i'm so grateful that the desire to study and learn the scriptures was instilled in me since youth! thanks to dad's scripture chase stuff! nothing is better than learning from the scriptures. they are the best. the book of mormon is true! "the church is true, the book is blue." Anyway... yes i got the forwarded email from christine moody. man she is the best! yes i keep in touch with mostly everyone. i don't email them every week. but probably once a month. I am also probably going back for a baptism at the end of the month. elder abramson and i taught a guy named "tony." he is getting baptized at the end of the month. it was awesome teaching him. he is catholic. We would teach him truths of the plan of salvation and restoration, he knew they were true. didn't even have to think about it. when he heard truths, he recognized them as truths. We were teaching him once and he was somewhat frustrated when we invited him to be baptized. we asked him what he was feeling, and he said something to the extent of, "I know this is true and i have to get baptized. It's just going to be really hard. But I know i have to." He had some things to overcome but he is ready to go now!  what a stud! anyway... i get to see him get baptized at the end of the month. so pumped. 

next possible transfer is 3 weeks from wednesday. so not for a while. you're going out with the sister missionaries? that's awesome! for what? a lesson? i hope so. having good members there is one hundred percent essential. marcus is 5'7"? shoot. he's catching up. 6 more inches and he's got me. don't let him do it, mom. holy cow valerie had a kid? she got married like right when i left! you're going to israel and italy? shoot that is awesome. haha yes dad would definitely be mad if he knew you were talking about it. anyway... love you much! keep up the good work. i hope you get a new calling this summer so that you have no time off! but only because i love you! have a good week!

Elder bronson

Week 44 - San Tan Valley

Momma and family! yes it was so great to talk to you guys yesterday! i thought i would be trunky after talking to you but i was totally fine! so that's good. ready right away to get back to work. ummm yes my face is a little better. here and there i get some acne (i hope this isn't going to be sent out), but yeah overall it's fine. haha a sister missionary said she wanted broccoli? oh that caserole is so good. our mission is so small, that when we play ball on mondays, it's usually a zone or 2. or whoever wants to come in the area. oh yes i forgot to forward you that email. i'll take a sec and do it right now. there ya go! Sister moody is seriously awesome. I remember first talking to her. We just saw her on the ward list, and didn't know who she was so we went and contacted her! She was friendly, but didn't want much to do with us. she lived in an apartment, and she had like 30 cement bricks behind her. we were in a service kind of mood that week so we decided to go bring them to the trash. it took a 30 mins or so, but later she said that was one of the defining moments for her. not a defining moment like, "the gospel is true", but a moment like, "maybe i should reconsider". We would try to build her testimony on the porch week after week, with not much success. However, Elder Abramson (who is decently quiet), really spoke up that day, and basically told her, "hey christine, experiment upon our words. come to church. if you want to know if it's true, you gotta do (john 7:17. that rhymed, unintentional). so she decided to come. She came and felt the spirit powerfully. ever since then, her faith has been building. She's made incredible changes.

anyway... moroni 6 is awesome. i love using that. "nourished by the good word of God." just like President Hinckley said. once their baptized, they gotta keep coming. meet together oft to fast and to pray. alma 6:6. you're right, we need to help others. most of the time, we focus too much on ourselves. even building our own testimonies. why am i not happy? the best way is to fix all the problems at the same time. serve others. it's part of our baptismal covenant (mosiah 18), and if we do it, he will pour out his spirit more abundantly upon us. we can be happy, we can have our testimonies strengthened. Just this last week, we were teaching an inactive family (who came to church this last week). and she brought up a concern of hers. she said that she doesn't receive the attention and doesn't have all of her needs met. no one has reached out to her for the year that she has been here inactive. except us. For a short time i almost lost my temper, and wanted to rebuke her for thinking so much of herself. i wanted to say, "how can you say that? you have not so much as thought of yourself, when there are others in the same position! why should they be required to help you? who have you helped to come back to church?" thankfully i did not say such things. but simply invited her to try again. they did and were met by good members of the ward that showed interest and love. It's too easy to think of ourselves. But when we think to feed his sheep, he rewards us (mosiah 2:22). and then we are still indebted to him. i digress.

love you too! have an awesome week!

elder bronson