Sept. 26, 2016 in Exeter, New Hampshire

Hey Pals!!

This week was really good!! It was a busy week with Zone Conference, a Tuesday P-day, and we had exchanges with the zone leaders in their area, so we didn't get to work in ours as much as we would have liked. It was still a good week though! We picked up an investigator named L. who teaches Latin! Her and her husband are retired now and they have a super nice dog. She has taught LDS kids before and even went to one of their temple marriages and stood outside! She had questions about why that was, because she thought it was just a church. We explained temples and churches and how anyone can come to church. We talked a while longer and she said we could come back, and we even prayed with her so that was rad!! :)

Our investigator with a baptismal date is named S. and he is the real deal! He just got married to a member this week, and is going on a two week at the end of this week and then he will be baptized on October 29th! He has a sweet accent and is so grateful for what we do as missionaries. He is a high up businessman and played football in college. He is such a fun guy and he loves how the gospel not only has the spirit, but that it just makes common sense!! :)

Do you have good conference talks or pretty music to listen to when you want?
For music, our standards are only LDS artists, but can be any spiritual and good song by them. And if it is a group, they just have to have at least 1 LDS member. I have nothing to play music on, so we never have listened to mine, but we listen to Elder B.'s on his USB and iPad.

Do you meet as a district on Mondays?
We actually do our district meetings on Wednesday mornings them eat lunch together. 

Thanks for finding some pants for me mom. I'm 7 pounds fewer than when I left home, 12 fewer than when I left the MTC so those pants make it feel like I just got off the biggest loser!!

Sure love you all and can't wait to talk next week!
Elder Branch

Hey President B.!

I am good on questions 1-9, I do want to start my prayers earlier so I am in bed by 10:30, but everything else is going great!
I forgot that darn paper that gives us the format again, but I found it this week, read thru it multiple times, set it on my desk where I'd be sure to remember it, and then I forgot it... But I will put I reminder in my iPad to bring it for next week, and I'll try putting the paper in my case behind the iPad.

This week has been really good! We had meetings and exchanges which took time out of the week in our area which was to bad, but we were blessed too. We picked up a new investigator who is a school teacher who has taught some LDS kids and even stood outside one of their temple weddings! She was cool with having us back so I'm excited to teach her! 

I've been doing a lot better this week, this finally feels like "home" or life, not just like another camp or something, so that has helped. This area has so much potential! We feel it, as do the members. It sounds like this ward has had some internal struggles the past few months/years, and people feel like the ward needs to keep improving to be blessed with new members, so I hope we can help them. Elder B. is a great missionary and likes to go out working till 9:30 like every night, so I'm grateful for him.

Thanks for all you do for all of us!
Elder Branch

Sept. 20, 2016 in Exeter, New Hampshire

Hey family!!!  

How's it going!? Life is so hard but good. Missions are so good but hard. My letter to the Pres. sums it up, 

"20 Sep 2016
Hey President Blair!
I totally forgot that there is a format of what we are supposed to write you, I'll make sure to bring the paper next week so I know what to write specifically. My first week has been pretty great! The members are really nice and our investigator with a baptismal date is really cool too! 

There has been a lot to take in and learn this week, but I'm working on getting use to it. It is weird because I have done lots of hard things before, but being a missionary is really hard so far. I just want to become the most I can be and do so much, but there is so much to work on, but I'll get there eventually. 

It is also hard for me to just be lead as a missionary right now, because I'm use to leading I guess. There are things I want to do as a missionary that my senior companion may not think are best for the area, so I'm accepting that and trying to follow, but it's hard. There are some things that I think will really help our area though, so I'll try to make those happen, I'll let you know how it goes next week. Let me know if you have anything you want us to do.

Thanks so much for all you do for us!
Your friend and missionary,
Elder Branch"


1. Dad asks do people have accents?
Yes!! They weren't too apparent the first few days, but ya, people say "idear" for idea, and just as a whole add and drop R's as they please.  :)

2. Tell us all about your companion, please. :)
He is a great guy! He's name is Elder B. and he's from Arizona. This Friday is his year mark. He likes to get out to work, we're out to 9:30 like every night!! :)

3. Do you have dinner appointments very often?
So far we have had 4 out of 7 dinners provided so that's been super nice of people! :)

4. Have you hopped up and done the dishes at dinner appointments?
I've been trying!!! I offered at houses, but I'm gonna have to just do it and talk to Elder B. about it too. Idk if he'll be down, but we'll see.

5. Best experience teaching/contacting so far?
My first day we met a lady smoking under a tree and talked to her for a while. She was waiting for the bus for her kids and she said we could come back on Thursday. On Thursday we were going to meet her and there was a man on the corner. We talked with him for a long time and it turned out that he was her husband! That lady was actually having dental surgery that day, but the husband said he had seen her Book of Mormon and we could come over later. Then we went to go visit on Saturday and we met the Grandpa!! He talked and talked with us and said he had meet with the missionaries before and said we could come back!! So we have met with all 3 adults in the house and they are all cool with us so that was awesome!!! :)

6. How was Monday's training?
Oh, it was so incredible!!!!!!!!! I have so much to work on its ridiculous!!! But I learned so much, it was really good. :)

Love you all!!!!

Elder Branch

Sept. 12, 2016 Made it to New Hampshire :)

Hey pals!

I made it here safely! I'll write more to you on Monday next week! :)

Love,
Elder Branch

Sept. 8, 2016 in the MTC

Hello all!! :) 

To answer some of your questions...

"How was your week?"
It has been just a dandy week! I only have a few days left at the MTC which is nice! I like it here but I am so excited to get out to the field. 

"How is your district doing?"

My district is doing well this week. We are all use to the MTC and are over homesickness which is nice! This week flew by, just like every other missionary says the second week does! We learned a ton this week and have all grown. I love all the Elders and Sisters in my district, they are real deals! 

This week we had interviews with the Branch President as companions which was nice! Since I'm DL he had me and Elder Petersen (my comp.) go last. It was really nice cause the Branch Pres said that without asking about how I was doing, 4 or 5 of the other missionaries had brought me up and said I was doing fantastic as DL, and he said he was impressed by how much they loved me. That was really nice to hear! :) :) We have some of the craziest guys in my district, but also the funnest so it's good! :)

I'm all done with teaching here at the MTC, and I only have 3 more classes!! Tomorrow we have In-Field-Orientation which all the missionary's seem to love so we're excited!! 

"What will you miss most about the MTC?"

I think I'll miss the other Elders and Sisters from our District and Zone the most of anything from the MTC. It's sad how I won't see lots of these people again, at least not for 2 years. I've already grown to love so many of them so much that it's gonna be hard. I'll also miss the devotionals a ton!! We got to hear from Chad Smith (played for BYU and then in the NFL for the Eagles when they went to the Superbowl) on Sunday and D. Todd Christofferson this Tuesday and it was really cool!! You get so many notes and so much inspiration during devotionals!

"What will you miss least about the MTC?"

 I think I'll miss sitting in classes the least! While the classes are really good, they start to get old after you have heard it a few times.

"Do you get to go to the Temple every week?"
We get to go to the Temple every P-day at the temple. It is really cool to do sessions there with so many other missionaries! We also get to go walk around the temple on Sundays which is a nice break. 


When we were having our interviews this week with the Branch Pres, our schedule said we should study some things in our green book of references. Lots of missionaries from our zone were hanging out in my districts classroom right then and looking at missions and stuff on google earth. Elder Jones and I decided to go out into the hall lounge on exchanges to study the green book so it would be quieter, and pretty soon a few other missionaries followed us which was cool. The Sister Training Leaders for the Zone are in my District and they came over to study with Elder Jones and I. We had a really good study and learned a lot together! After like 40 min Elder Jones had to go for his interview so I started to head into my room to grab a new companion so we could keep studying. The Branch President is a cute and fire-y little older man, and he saw me heading towards my classroom and asked where I was going. I told him I needed a new companion now cause Elder Jones had to go, and he said something like, "It looks like you already have 2 good sisters right there." So I got to be an honorary Sister missionary for 10 minutes!  It was a little different to not have any other Elders around, but it was fun! Not to brag, but... the sisters told me that Elder Jones and I are their favorites in the District and they are glad we take it seriously and know our stuff, so that was nice!

Oh, also about Elder Jones, we decided to celebrate "Jones Day" this week! We found out just this week that Elder Jones had a girlfriend who worked in the cafeteria for the MTC!!!! Legendary!! ;) So that night we all got candy and met in a lounge in the dorms building to hear the back story. After he told us all about it some Elders picked him up on their shoulders and ran around the halls with him while cheering Jonezy!! It was a pretty funny night! :)

There are some pretty great nick-names in my District. We have Elder Jones-Jonezy, Elder Thatcher- Thatch the Catch, Elder Glenn- The Warrior, Elder Thorpe- Huckle (because it's his actual name and it's fun to say), and then they call me Elder Branch, Overlord (cause I'm DL), President Branch, and Branchy. It's a party! ;)

In closing, something I've really noticed this week is that as missionaries, who you are is up to you. You have to be the missionary you want to be. I heard a song called I Decide by Dustin Christensen that explained it pretty well. As a missionary you can become by really studying, learning, striving for the spirit and putting everything into becoming who you can become thru the Lord and his atonement. It takes lots of work and study, but doing these things and being obedient is what separates the missionaries. In the words of my 2nd counselor in the Branch Presidency, there are normal missionaries who go to an area and help people and teach them the gospel. When you leave the area some people will miss you. Then there are exceptional missionaries. They go to an area and change lives! When they leave people cry, names kids after them, and always remember them. These missionaries really understand the gospel and they truly love the people. Then, once in a while, there are legendary missionaries. These missionaries learn to understand the spirit. They study for hours, go the extra mile for more knowledge. They dedicate themselves entirely to the lord, not just for their mission, but for the rest of their lives. I though this was really amazing counsel, you can guess what kind I'm gonna work to be. ;)

Love you all so much, thanks for all the emails and love, I sure love all of you and am so grateful for your support. I'm so sorry for any who I haven't gotten to write back to, I'll try to write next week!

Elder Hunter Branch

Doing laundry

Elder Jones

Sept. 2, 2016 Missionary Training Center

Hey there Pals!! :D

To answer your questions,

1. I am doing really well! It has really hard to have to wait over a week for a slightly relaxed day, but it was a fun week! The first 2-3 days of the MTC, like all my friends were saying, were really slow and really hard. It is so much class with all these new people, and everything is so new and slow and fast all at the same time that it makes it really rough. I was made District Leader for my MTC crew the first day too which added a lot more work and stress to my beginning at the MTC, but I love getting to serve and getting to know people so it has also totally been a blessing! :)

2. I don't get my IPad yet :( It sounds like I'll get it in the field. I've heard we'll be leaving the MTC on the 12th, we get flight info this week I think. 

3. So once you make it to Sunday in the MTC, the week really picks up! The first few days were hard, I'm trying to think how to even word the feelings. You miss home, but not like miss miss... I knew why I was out here and wanted to be here, but thinking about the things I was missing was hard. I couldn't hang out with my fam and play with the dog, I couldn't just text someone when I wanted to talk, I couldn't just go play Pokemon Go with the pals! ;) I didn't get all the good food my mom makes, I couldn't go get a snack for free when they feed us at the MTC at 4:15 and you're starving by the time you go to bed at 10:30. And really just missing talking to people I already knew and trusted, family and friends. So the first few days are incredibly rough, I don't think there is really a way to prepare other than having a solid testimony, knowing it is gonna be HARD, having faith, and getting to know your district and become close. It was also hard cause I had late meetings the first few days as DL, so I would get back to my room around 10 with the other new DL from my zone (we would send our companions back at 9 and we would be companions on the way back to our dorms) and after getting back at 10 you still have to get ready for bed and plan for the next day by 10:30, so I got no alone time to write in my journal which made things rough too. BUT, once Sunday came it was so much better!! We had a Devotional which was good that night, but some struggles and questions came into my mind during the end and I just wasn't really feeling it. I was wanting a spiritual experience but I just had this empty feeling. It was really hard, but I kept praying for the last 20ish minutes of the devotional. Finally at the end I was feeling a bit better, but still was trying to really feel a strong spirit. I wanted to gain personal revelation on how I could change to become an incredible or a "Legendary Missionary" (as the 2nd counselor in our Branch Presidency says), and also how I could help my district to become the most they could in their time at the MTC. After the devotional we went and watched The Character of Christ by Elder Bednar, and that was perfect!! I prayed again as we sat down to watch it and got out my notes and pen, and the next hour or so I wrote so many inspirations down I filled up the last 20 pages of the mini notebook I had been using! I didn't write things that Elder Bednar said either, I just had so many promptings that were inspired by the talk, but then were lead by the spirit. I learned a ton about what I need to do to become who I need to be to change others lives, and also about how I need to lead my district. It was an incredible experience! :) Also, I just have to say how much being on a mission changes your perspective of missionary's emails! All of a sudden all the stories of other missionaries are so much more real! There is just so much that can't fit in the email, and so much work, and most of all emotions that I never felt before from the outside looking in! 

So that experience on Sunday was probably my favorite part. Oh, also getting letters or packages is the most exciting thing ever!!!! :) Real letters and the Dear Elder letters are both so fun! Since I'm DL one of the things I do is go get mail for my district at the end of lunch and dinner each day, then pass it out before we head to bed and it is like the most exciting part of the day! Thanks so much fam and Deb for your letters, I absolutely loved them! :) :) :)

Monday night was also really awesome! We had a meeting with just our district (so no teachers), and as we were having the opening song and prayer, 3 of our Elders just started laughing for no reason and they couldn't stop! It was okay and funny for a bit, but after a minute or two it was really distracting so I had to ask them if they could step out in the hall so we could continue our meeting with the spirit. They all were cool with that and left, and then we had the other most incredible experience as a district... well most of a district ;) We'd planned to go over some things from the Fundamentals in the Green MTC book, but the class went a totally different direction! We had a really good time sharing inspirations, worries, and thoughts. The spirit was super strong and when I talked to the class about how we can get priesthood blessing to help us, one of the sisters asked if she could get one! It was way cool! The 5 elders who were still in the room all participated and the spirit was booming! Then we also all knelt down and had a prayer as a district to help us and strengthen us as we adjust to mission life and I think we were all crying, I know I was. :) 

4. My companion is super cool, his name is Matthew Peterson from Springville UT, so he lives like 5 min from the MTC! He is super good at spikeball, doing funny accents, kendama, and being really happy and fun with investigators! :)

Sure love you all family and friends!! :) I'd love to hear from you in emails and/or letters! 

Elder Hunter Branch

Companions

Wow, what a nice shed!