June 25, 2018 in Ellsworth, Maine

Hello!

This week was pretty strange, we were out of our area or doing random stuff all week.

We had new missionary and trainers meeting on Tuesday which was really good. It is beautiful at the Joseph Smith Birthplace Monument! The meeting was really great, as always. That’s my favorite meeting. 

Wednesday we went on exchange in Nashua NH. We did that because of a meeting the following day, so rather than drive all the way up back, we went on exchange. We had a GREAT time! We talked with these Elders and decided to go hard! On just Wednesday alone, we found 14 new people! They ended up getting just over 30 for the week! We were so busy and met so many great people. Nashua is a bigger city, like Manchester, so that was really fun.

Thursday we had our meeting and it was awesome! Elder Bennett of the 70 came and talked to the whole Mission! He didn’t have time to take a group picture or to talk to other missionaries, but we got to wave! He talked about lots of things, several of which he had talked about when he came to the Mission when I was a new missionary. The most important part in my mind is helping people do things to learn in-between visits. If they only act or progress with us there, then they will never gain the spiritual traction needed to keep moving when we leave.

We played in Phillip’s softball tournament this weekend. It was great to have the ward help us out and I believe it made a big impact on P. :) 

We think life is relatively more smooth now, so we’re excited to get things going in our own area again!

Have a great week! :)
Elder Branch

Oct. 18, 2017 in Manchester, New Hampshire

Happy Wednesday!

Hello everyone! This week we had a meeting with all the new missionary and their trainers up where Joseph Smith was born on Monday and Tuesday, hence the Wednesday email!

Last week was busy! We had 2 Zone Conferences which went well. We finally were pro's at training people on Smartphones and their set-up by the third one (which was the last one) so I guess we learned how just in time!!.. ;)

This week one of our investigators named N. accepted a baptismal date for my favorite day, November 11th! :) He is doing really well, but his wife had bronchitis this last week so he wasn't able to make it to church. That was too bad she was sick. They both want to come this next week!

Last week along with M., up in Newport where I was before Manchester, S. and D. were baptized!!!!!! They got married a few weeks back and now they are members of Jesus Christ's church! :) It is so exciting to see people who have changed their lives, I remember the night Elder Carlson and I knocked on S. and D.'s door and their cat ran away so we had to help them catch it!! :) Haha, it's pretty cool how that eventually lead to them getting baptized to bless their new family for generations to come!!!!!

We have a pretty open week this week, so we're excited to get to do more missionary work!!!!! It is so exciting to get to teach and talk to people all day rather than be doing things in the office! I remember at the beginning of my mission I though it would be nice to get to be inside doing office stuff haha. I love the saying that "a ship in the harbor is safe, but that's not what it's made for." It is fun to realize how my attitudes have changed where I am looking forward to my chance at the "ocean" when stuff keeps us stuck in the "harbor" for a while! :) We have MLC next Tuesday, but other than that these next few weeks are beginning to look a lot more open, and I'm excited! :)

We found several new people to teach last week, even though we only had a bit of time, and one of them named J. is especially cool. It was about 8:50 at night and we had just taught some other people and we're heading back to our truck. We walked out on the street and J. walked out just before us. We tried to talk to him as we walked down the street, but he just answered all our questions about sports (since he had some cool sports stuff on) without even turning around to look at us. Eventually we got next to our truck and he still hasn't stopped, so I just said something about how it was good to meet him, but we hadn't even gotten his name, and we'd love to shake his hand! He stopped finally and shook our hands, then started talking! He told us all about him and his background, and how he's been praying for answers and help, and he thinks we were who God sent, he just hadn't recognized it till he got to talk to us. He has a rough past and is excited to get to meet, learn more, and try out church. It is cool how people are always being prepared, and we can't give up and have to do everything we can to help them chose the right and listen.

Love you all, hope you have a great week and go get out of the harbor!
Elder Branch

The Elders all slept in here because it was 27 outside. 

(These pictures are from the fantastic Senior Missionaries 

and Mission President's Wife)

Sept. 18, 2017 in Manchester, New Hampshire

Hello Hello,

This week was just wild, but great!! We had a meeting with all the new missionaries and their trainers at the Joseph Smith memorial on Tuesday which went really well. It is always so nice to be up there! It is really pretty and they have hymns playing and it is great! :)

Wednesday we had exchanges with the Winthrop Elders! Elder Peterson (my mtc companion) went with Elder Bester and I went with Elder Jacobson and Elder Wells, they are a trio. We had a great day, and on this one street found 6 new people to start teaching! We also ran into one of the people they were teaching named C. and got to teach her, which resulted in her calling us later in the week on Saturday night and deciding to come to church!

Thursday we got to go teach people most of the day and then had to get ready for Elder Bednar. We had dinner with the Blair's and planned, which was super fun and exciting!

Friday, Elder Bednar came, which was awesome!! That morning was crazy since Elder Bester and I were in charge of getting everyone there and in place and ready for the meeting. We were going to take a picture outside, but knew there was a chance of rain. The Blair's were picking up Elder Bednar and we had to move people a ton because it started raining so everyone went in the gym and set up for the picture inside. Then it stopped raining so he all went back outside and set up again! Haha, but everything ended up going really well! He was fun and taught a lot. He had it be really interactive and was always having us ask questions and he was asking questions. The main message I got from it was that there are agents and objects in the world. We need to help people to be agents and use their agency. As missionaries as well as in life, we need to try to make situations for people, ones where they can use their agency to choose the right. He talked about how putting people on the spot as well as asking questions in a way that makes it the "guess what's in the teachers mind" game both turn people into objects and doesn't let the Holy Ghost touch them. After the meeting he just had to leave quick and didn't have time to shake hands, but since Elder Bester and I were sitting next to him he shook our hands and just said, "You learn things sitting up here that you learn in no other way." That was a pretty neat experience!

Saturday we were on exchanges again and I was with Elder Dudney. We had some massive pancakes up in Laconia NH and then worked in Manchester for the day!

So sad news this week. T.'s mom is getting involved with his baptism. It's a long story, but he won't be getting baptized this Friday any more and we're not sure what'll be the end result. :( M. came to church though and brought her grandson, J.! C. also came and they all loved it. M. will probably get baptized in 3 weeks, since general conference is in 2 weeks.

Sure love you all and have the best of weeks!! :)

Elder Branch

(Thank you dear Senior Missionaries and Sister Blair for the great pictures!)

Dec. 19, 2016 in Exeter, New Hampshire

Hey pals!!

I hope you all have had a great week!

So we had a great week this week! J. wants to be baptized and she decided on March 18th, which is actually her birthday!! It's so sweet!

C. couldn't come to the Christmas party or church this week (we think because of the snow and freezing rain), but we did get to meet with him and R. (his girlfriend) on Wednesday which was sweet! We hope to go back and see them tonight or tomorrow.

We've been contacting people in the area to confirm with them that they would like to have some donated food brought over to them for Christmas, and it was a really cool opportunity to meet people!! There was one lady named E. who was super nice and she has been wanting to get into religion! We were able to share a message with her and become pretty good friends. We will be checking back with her this week! :)

The church had a pipe break so on Sunday rather than ward council meeting, we cleaned out water! The building is all ok now though. :)

Elder C. and I are great!! Last night we had a really cool contact with a guy who we actually are going to start teaching, and Elder C. took the lead and did most of the talking, which was really awesome! He is a really good guy! Elder D. and C. seem to be getting along really well, so that is awesome! They found 10 people to begin teaching this week! ;) The Sisters also are doing well. Sister D. was really sick but she is doing better now.

I'm still working on being District Leader. Teaching this week was a lot more fun because I knew what to expect from the week before. It is actually really fun to get to teach and lead the conversation! The Zone Leaders give me good advice after each meeting, so that has been nice to have them there to help me improve and change! Elder M. and Elder W. are super great, Elder C. says that we are lucky because they are really good Zone Leaders, and I agree!

So for Christmas I'll probably be calling you from the G.'s house, so that'll be fun!

We have a half mission Christmas meeting this week that will be at the Joseph Smith Memorial, which is where the prophet was born, so that will be really cool too! :)

Sure love you all and Merry Christmas!!
Elder Hunter Branch :)

Baby it's cold outside!

During our dinner hour, 

we made magic cookie bars for our friend

 who had a loved one pass away.