April 29 - Bradley Riley

Hello Everyone!

So this past weekend we had a baptism and it went great! There were so many people there it filled the chapel it was nuts! But it was a really nice baptism! His name is Braden Lenz and he is 12 years old and he will be the first one in his house to have the Priesthood, so that's way cool!

We got a lot done this week! We were able to teach a few new people and they seem like they are pretty interested! We found this one family and their last name is Riley! haha The parents are never home but we stand on the doorstep and talk to the kids! They are pretty interested! We gave three of their kids Books of Mormon and one of the girls really likes it! She took it to school with her and is reading it there! So I can't wait to get in there and talk to her family! We did meet their uncle! He is pagan so he believes in witchcraft and stuff like that! He was an interesting fellow!

We are currently teaching a little girl, she is 10 years old and she wants to know more. We have gone over just 2 of the lessons but she really likes it and wants to be baptized.  Her mom wants her to be baptized but in order for that to happen she has to attend church twice and she hasn't so that's tough and her Mom doesn't really enjoy church that much so its a struggle! But we will get her there so no worries!

Now we are trying to get this one investigator to stop smoking so he can be baptized but he's having a hard time quitting. He likes to smoke too much so that kinda suck but he comes to church every Sunday and he says that he really likes it! So he's gonna keep coming! I'm hoping someone will say something in a talk or lesson that stands out to him and he will then know how he can put away his bad smoking habit!

Well that's about it for this week! Thanks for all the support of my family and friends and the ward! 

Love - 

Elder Bradley Riley

Brad Riley April 14, 2014

Hi all!

This week went all right! We got another baptism date and we are excited about that! We had a couple lazy days this week where we didn't get much accomplished but we still taught 21 lessons this week and picked up a new investigator! So we were pretty stoked about that cause we found him while tracting and we are hoping that he will continue to let us in!

This past week we picked up another ward the 8th ward and so that will keep us really busy! Plus now we have 6+ hours of church each Sunday, but that's okay! It will keep us busy and on track! (mom insert:  Is this my son talking?!!)

We are excited to start riding bikes this week! It will save us miles and plus gives us a chance to see people doing yard work and we can help them! So that's good.

So I don't know if you know this at all, but as some of my friends and some of my family I am a 49ers fan and this week we were teaching a samoan family and while we were there this kids brother-in-law walked in the room and it was Mike Lupati. He is one of the top  guards in the NFL and he is less active but he wants to be more active and learn more so we taught him about Joseph Smith in a little more depth! But he is so cool and a lot bigger than me! haha

Well that's about it! Love ya!

-Elder Riley-

brad and Mike Lupati.JPG

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Brad's latest April 7, 2014

Hello!!

Just got transferred and I am in a car area and we are trying to save miles so we are going to start riding our bikes, so that means I need to get it fixed! Our new address is 25612 Kingsbury Road, Middleton, ID 83644.

Okay this week has gone by so fast! We worked our butts off and I am so tired! Ae committed someone to baptism and he will be getting baptized on the19th of april! So we are pumped for that! My companion Elder Weston and I have made a goal of getting more baptisms this transfer so it gives us something to work for!

We are in a car area and it's nice to be in a car again haha but we live 2 miles outside of our area, so that's kind of a bummer! But the place where we live is pretty nice! We have a small kitchen and a small room and a shower that's about it! But where we live is nice! We have this pond in front of our house and there are hundreds of frogs in it so we get to hear that all night! haha

General conference was all right, but the best part of it was priesthood session! It was so good. I think that it was the best one that I have ever heard! I highly recommend watching it whether you have the priesthood or not! There we a lot of really important things said that really stuck out to me that would really help us in our missionary work!

There was something that was said in conference that I really liked! "Be persistent even in the face of discouragement". I have a huge testimony of this and how the Lord will bless you if you are persistent and another thing is to have courage. Courage is so important as members of the church! We need to be able to stand up for what we believe! I testify that this is the true church everyday and I have seen the blessing of it! So have the courage to stand up for what we believe!

I am so grateful to be serving here in Idaho and for the help I have received from Heavenly Father and being able to be tools in his hands! I have personally seen peoples lives change because of this gospel and I have seen families become closer and more united because of it! I know that this is the true gospel of Jesus Christ and am so proud to be apart of it!

Thank you to all that have been there for me and helped me get to where I am now!

I love you all!

Have a good week!

Love, Elder Bradley Riley

Catherine Aldous, March 2014

From Sister Catherine Aldous:

We found some amazing new investigators this week. K was walking
her dogs when we were walking back from unsuccessfully contacting a
referral. We "talked with everyone" and started a conversation with
her. Over the course the conversation, we learned that she has been
wondering to herself what her husband will be to her after this life.
It's hard for her to accept that he would just maybe be another spirit
to her and that their relationship would not continue after this life,
but that is what she's been taught her church. She said "I guess you
don't have an answer for that, but is something I'm thinking about."
Do we ever have an answer for that?!! We were so excited to share with
her the doctrine of eternal families. We will be taking her to a
lesson in our church building tomorrow morning. Moments like that make
me so happy to be a missionary. I realize the kind of traditional doctrines that
people have a hard time with that have great answers in the Restored Gospel.

We also started teaching in 18-year-old high school senior named J.
His girlfriend is a less-active member in Washington. He was excited
to take a Book of Mormon. We are also teaching a spunky old lady name
S. She pretty thoroughly understands what we teach, and she
really tries to understand. We will be giving her a chapel tour on
Wednesday. She even understands the apostasy, and called it a "cycle".

We were part of an incredible miracle this week. A few weeks ago, we
had an evening appointment with our stake president and his wife, who
are in our ward. They learned that I played the organ. He asked if I had
played in the 18th Street building. I said how much I loved it. The
man who built that organ is now extremely anti-church and Mormon. It's
really sad. His daughter and her family live with him and his wife.
His daughter is the Relief Society president. His wife is a faithful
temple attender and a lovely member. But his daughter can't even feed
the missionaries in his home, because he gets so upset about it. I
don't know what happened, but it's a really sensitive situation. He's
definitely a "do not contact."

Pres. Barnes how did the idea that I could approach him as a musician rather than as a missionary. I
mentioned it to his wife and she asked him. We were shocked at what
resulted. I had envisioned simply going to their home for maybe fifteen
minutes and asking him about his experience with the organ. Completely
unexpectedly, he agreed to come to the church building and actually
show me the organ. He has not been in that church for possibly
decades. But in addition, they invited us to come to dinner with
them. This is the man who less than a month ago was sneering his daughter
for feeding the missionaries. On Friday night, we met them at the
church building and he spent almost an hour showing me pipes, the back
door and repair areas, and so much about the organ.  Then, almost two
hours taking us to dinner and giving us another appointment. It was
an incredible miracle.

T was baptized on February 9. He loves the Church and feels that God has led him here He loves having "technical" discussions with us, not to bash but because he loves to understand. For example, he wondered why we don't use wine and unleavened bread in the sacrament, and was completely satisfied by the answer in Doctrine & Covenants 27. He said, "There it is in black and white."

An excerpt from Catherine's journal:
"Experience is the prize of mortal life, the gift of God, the result of agency. Through it I learn the good from the evil. This life of experience is only a good thing because Jesus Christ is the Savior. Without Him, agency and experience would be condemning in their consequences.

"From Hymn 195:
'How great, how glorious, how complete
Redemption's grand design,
Where justice, love, and mercy meet
In harmony divine!'

"I don't think I have felt this grateful to my Heavenly Father before. I love Him! And I love my earthly parents for their role in bringing to pass my immortality and eternal life. A mission would be totally worth it, if only to have this moment of perspective, understanding, and gratitude."