August 31,2015

With that scripture, (Mosiah 1:5) when I read that it made me think of a talk by Jeffrey R. Holland that says that the book of mormon sheds light on another modern day truth that "In the Last days, mens hearts shall fail them, even the members, the Elect of God we might even say" I promise you mom, that if you are reading the scriptures with Dad every day, that your days will be better. Because when we open our scriptures every day, Our Heavenly Father has no choice but to bless us. Daily scripture reading is a commandment of God. So when we read, we not only keep the commandment, but we recieve blessings. Keep Reading the Book of mormon mommy!!

 

With the contacts, Get those things sent out!:) I want them bad! 

 

Guess what?? President invited all of the members of the secretaries and us to go and eat lunch at his house today! It will be so awesome!! Actually, today, about 15 minutes ago, President cam in and told all of us to get in a circle. He then tested us on the Articles of Faith and the prophets, and the book of mormon, commandments, and D&C 4! I didn't miss one!!! Actually, on D&C 4, EVERYONE messed up and so president turned to me and said "Elder Black, I know you have memorized everything, tell me D&C 4" I recited it off in Spanish perfectly and told everyone to follow my example ;) I felt kinda cool ;) haha

 

Question:
What is it that is giving you the courage to stay out there on your mission? Why can you do it?

 

To answer that question, IT's hard during the week. There are times during the week that I think, "I just want to go home" but then I just go to work. I look for things to become closer to Christ and one of my goals is that I want to perform a miracle everyday in someones life! As I share my testimony, it helps me strive to bless the lives of more people. Thank you for all that you do mom! Say Hi to dad for me and let him know that I love him too! <3

August 24, 2015

I saw some white tailed deer today!!!!I'm doing good! President came to our baptism!! it was so cool!! its our 3rd baptism this month!!Russel M. Nelson did a webcast conference with all of the missionaries in Central America! He Pronounced an Apostalic Blessing upon us during the conference!! He promised us that

-Our Families would be blessed.

-That we can get rid of any sickness that we have.

-And that each one of us would return to our families safely!! Its cool huh?? The spirit was so strong!!!

Mom and Dad, I need you guys to send this picture to John Osburne okay?? Ask him if he knows a Miguel Aguilar (on the left in yellow) that served in his mission!! Love you guys!!!

President Laboriel came to our baptism!!

Zoo Day

August 17, 2015

Well hello everyone! How was your week? Well, Today was Change Day! Elder Vorwaller sorry to say had changes. He got changed to Santa Cruz Guanacaste. And now, I have a new comp! His name is Elder Valtierra. He is from Guadalejara Mexico! And actually, he is the mission nurse! and he as the nurse has to go to San Jose 2 times a week, AND if there is a missonary thats sick, he sometimes has to go to the hospital at 3 in the morning! Pray for me! To be honest, Elder Black(the zone leader) pulled me aside and told me that he just wants me focusing on him! because he is apparently negative and very prideful, so he told me to help him out. I'm not a district leader anymore! haha! HOWEVER, guess who is my new district leader?? ELDER TULLIS from Guacimo!! I'm so excited!! it is going to be great! So this change could be very awesome and also pretty difficult, but I know that the Lord is going to bless me!

Actually, I had a baptism on Saturday!! We finally baptized ANGIE!!! she got baptized by Elder Vorwaller! She was a little scared of the water though:) I gave a talk on the Holy Ghost, and after, her mom got up and broke down and bore a powerful testimony about how she knows and can feel the truthfulness of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day saints! She told us that she will be following the example of her daughter. She then told us that she had cancer! so pray for Angelica. The branch president then got up and said, "the next baptism we have will be your right?" she said Yes!! However, we had a miracle this month. A young man named Even has been coming to the church for the past 3 weeks! He has read 1 Nephi and going on 2 Nephi in 3 weeks! He will actually be getting baptized this weekend!! so we are so excited for this area! i hope that with my new companion we can work just as hard!

So i guess i left out a bit of info...on the 22nd of August, an Apostle is coming to Costa Rica!! We don't know who yet, but we are so pumped!! Personally...I hope its Holland;) It will be great!! 

So yesterday, Fransisco, one of the converts from last year, finally received the Priesthood!! He is a little slow, so that's why it took too long. But he got it, and right after he came up to us and said "Now I can leave with you both to do visits right??" We said "oh ya!!" and he left with us that night!! He cant walk...like barely at all, but he is so strong and he loves to bare his testimony!! He is a very strong member of the ward:)

Me, I'm doing good! Last week was pretty hard, but I know that the Lord is blessing me and also blessing you! Even when times get hard, even when nothing goes your way, Heavenly Father always has something in his plan ready to changed your mood from sad, mad, or frustrated- to happy, healthy, and ready to work, and sometimes he throws in little miracles to take down teh stress level;) I love the work, its so frustratingly hard, but i love it so much! I have almost 10 months now, and from my first change, I have grown so much. Obviously im not perfect, nobody is perfect. Nobody will ever be perfect, but we can we perfect in trying our  hardest! A scripture that I read this week impacted me alot. D&C 4:4. Some know this, but really take the time to study the blessings that come from missionary work. Take the time to share your testimony with someone today, tomorrow, and the next. I promise you, you will feel a difference, and the Lord will bless you. I hope you have a great week! I love you all so much!! EVERYONE!!! If you need anything let me know! You're always in my prayers!! Love, Brady

My new comp Elder Valtierra

Baptism of Angie w/ Elder Vorwaller

August 10, 2015

Hi Mom!! Hey I hate that stuff is so expensive here! The American dollar isn't worth anything here! Its terrible, and so when I have money, it goes by SO fast! Pretty soon I might have to buy some new shoes. My mailing address is:

     Elder Brady Roland Black

          Apartado 859-1000

         San Jose, Costa Rica

Let dad know that I'm okay! I appreciate you both so much. Thank you for everything! I love you guys!! If you need ANYTHING just let me know! I will try the best I can! Your always in my prayers! I love you!!!

August 3, 2015

OKAY!!! Wow do I have some weird news! So do you remember my old companion, Elder Guevara, and the reason why he left? So this week the girl that he was talking to, acted really weird and stressed. So I asked her, Marbel, are you okay? and she told me that there was more that she should have told me! So I asked her what it was, and she said that Elder Guevara and her had been kissing behind my back!!! RIGHT?? So she begged me not to tell anyone...HA! ya right! So right after I left the house, I called the Zone Leaders:) I told them what happened, then we went to our baptism!!( details about that in a bit) And then at night, The Assistance called me and asked for the information i knew! So on Sunday, My branch president called us in and told us that marbel had asked for an interveiw and confessed all that she did with Elder Guevara. so the branch president told me that if he gets sent home, I will be sent home too, because I didn't see them doing it! And now I probably know what your thinking, why wasn't Brady watching his companion! NO! I always had my eye on him! they did it behind my back or in the bathroom! So this morning, the assistance(Elder Dales Cousin) called me up and told me to be in the office at 10 because President Laboriel wanted to have an interveiw with me! So you called probably feel that I was so scared!!!! Thoughts about getting sent home raced through my mind. Finally I had my interveiw with President, He told me to tell him what I knew, and then he told me that Im absolutely fine! He had had an interveiw with Elder Guevara this morning, and he had confessed everything!! I think Elder Guevara is cool, but really is not out here for the right reasons. anyway, Im good and everything is fine. Neither of us got sent home...dont know why him, but okay. I Love you!!

SO...I do actually have some really bad news...Do you remember Gerson? My convert from Guacimo? The 2 Twins, The Young Mens President from Guacimo just called me and said that Gerson was in the hospital yesterday with cancer...And that about an hour ago...He Died...So hes in the spirit world now, Happier than ever i imagine. So ya, that hapened today too :/

SO!! On saturday we had a baptism!! On saturday August 1st, Yenny Bonilla was baptized! She asked me to baptize her!!:) So, I was in teh water with her, I did the prayer, then i baptized her! when she came up...She looked up at the stars, started crying and said "mi muchachito, estoy aqui" Which means "My little man, Im here":) She turned to me crying, and said "Muchas Gracias mi hermanito!"  Which means "Thank you so much my brother" she was so happy!!!! I have never felt so good as a missionary!!!:) I love the work! I love seeing miracles, and making people happy!:) Lately, Elder Vorwaller and I have been looking into houses with open doors, introducing ourselves, and singing "Families can be together forever" We actually sang thay song on a bus with 40 people!! When we sang, the spirit filled the bus, and everything got quiet!! Then we handd out our number for people to call us! The Zone Leaders called me last night and said " WOW, THIS IS THE BEST WEEK THAT SANTA ANA HAS EVER HAD" They Congratulated us for our work and told us to keep working hard. It really topped off the week when 8 investigators came to church and we had a new high score attendance of 78 people!! This week was great! I love you guys so much, have a great week! I am alot more happier this week! Hope everyone is doing good! Adios Mi Familia!!!

Jenny Del Carmen Bonilla Gomez , from Nicaragua.