Great to be a "dad"

Hey family!!!

 

Well it is true I had my first child last Tuesday morning. His name is Elder Lopez he is from Leon so he is only about 2 hours from his house here in Tepa! Crazy huh? I think that would make me go nuts! He is 18 years old. Not scared of anything which I love. He loves the work and is constantly sharing his testimony. I think he actually came pre-trained. I am just here to make sure he doesn't die or anything haha. ;)

Thanks for the tips to help him. I am going to try to explain really well to him everything we do. That was the hard part for me at first. I walked around just completely lost haha. I think that was definitely because of the language haha.

 

That is way sweet that the spear came out well. I still think it is really weird that is was a spear this year! That is so awesome that Kayelee won homecoming queen! Tell her congratulations for me!! That is way awesome!

 

I don't think it is too early to be training. There is another American that is training who only has 6 months. He is training an American. That should be fun for those two.

 

The weather is good. The same as everyday still haha. Nothing has changed at all!

 

This week was pretty good though! Nearly all of the investigators were on vacations so we couldn't get too many lessons but I believe we visited every member at least once! We are getting everyone ready to have a real spiritual experience for General Conference! It was a lot different being in charge of everything but all turned out really well. Nothing too bad! We had a lot of good lessons with the members and I could feel the Spirit really strong with Elder Lopez. He hurt his foot from walking so much. Poor guy :) haha.

 

Elder Lopez seems to be enjoying the work so far though! He will complete 1 month in the mission this week. WAY GREEN! Haha. He is already a pro at missionary work! 

 

We have a baptism lined up for the 13th of October!  My companion is really excited for that! :) It will be his first one!

 

It was a good week. I am really excited for conference! It should be a really good week. Be safe and don't have too much fun!

 

Love you all!

 

Elder O'Brien

Expecting...great things

Hey family!! How are you all doing?

Well to start off, I have some exciting news for you....I'M PREGNANT!!! Yes I am about to have my first little boy this week. In case you have gotten worried about the meaning of this statement, it means I am TRAINING! Yes that might have sounded a little strange. I'm sure you would rather have heard that from one of your daughters in the far future but it is true! I am PREGNANT. Tomorrow I will be going to the offices to meet my little boy! I am not sure if it will be a Native or an American but we'll let you know next week! They told us last night and I was pretty nervous but I feel pretty good up to this point. It will definitely be an exciting experience! I don't feel qualified but the Lord qualifies those he calls. I think of a saying a friend once told me, The Lord doesn't like comfort zones. He continually moves around his choice servants that they may grow and serve him even more. I know the Lord is preparing something special for me and I am excited to find out just what it is!

That's definitely the exciting news for the week!

I can't believe Mishelle Wasden is still in the hospital.  I hope they can get her healed soon.  She must be going crazy!  Does Dallin know everything that has happened?  I will keep her in my prayers.

That's awesome McKenzie will be coming home for the weekend! Enjoy the weekend with her! That is crazy Zac is already giving his farewell! Oh that sounds so weird to hear! Definitely let him know that he is going to be an awesome missionary! He is going to be rocking that ice cold Russia! At least we know he'll be eating well for the next three months in the MTC. That way he can store up a little fat for the winter ;) hahahaha. Austin Rogers is off to Texas! That's great! Is he speaking English or Spanish?

The only thing I have to say about homecoming is that it is pretty lame they changed the club to a spear? WHY? haha.

What can I say about the statement ''Gone but never forgotten.'' Somethings in life are unforgettable ;)

Ahh man you already had the primary program! That was always my favorite Sunday of the year! How did it go? The usual kids going crazy, making ridiculous faces at those in the crowd, and singing like little angels? ;)

That is an awesome new calling that you got! Enjoy it!!! You be teaching the same stuff as I. Is that different than Gospel Principles?

Well the temple trip went really well! I really enjoyed it! We didn't get home until 10:40 though. I felt like a rebel being out so late haha. We weren't able to have the FHE again but we'll be hoping to have it this week!

Well I've already told you the majority of the news for the week. I will definitely be needing lots of prayers this week. I know that the Lord will guide me on this journey I am starting with a young companion and that through my obedience, prayers, and personal sanctification I will always have the Spirit to guide me in these coming months! I hope you all have an amazing week and that the Lord will continue to bless you all!

Love,

Elder O'Brien :)

Goin' to the Temple

Hey family! 

Well it was a pretty nice week here in Mexico! Nothing too crazy to report! All went really well though! Another good week trying to help others to understand a little bit more of the gospel!

That is really good that everyone got out on missions! That is a success in itself I suppose!

That is crazy you are taking out the balloons! When you are able to get helium will you put it back up? Why is it so hard to get hold of? Ahhhh McKenzie going on dates already! Well I guess we all knew she had it coming haha. Not much I can do now but in a year and three months those guys better be watching out! ;)

Are you guys going to the game on Thursday? That ought to be a good one! Be sure to let me know how it goes!

At times we have some spicy food. Some of the hermanas down here give me peppers just to watch my face after. I am sure it is pretty hilarious cuz at times they are pretty hot!

Well something cool this week was that Elder Jones came up to Tepatitlan to do divisions. We had a good time together. I really like working with him. I feel like we really work well together and we can really focus in on the needs of the investigators. We spent Friday together and I feel like I really learned a lot! Elder Jones was in the same zone as me in the MTC so we knew a lot of the same teachers and missionaries so we are able to remind each other of stuff the teachers taught us since it has been a while since we were in the MTC! Almost to nine months already! It's pretty crazy! I didn't realize time could go so fast! Elder Jones and I also made chocolate chip cookies and ate Domino's. Classic divisions tradition ;)

The work is getting pretty slow here in Tepa. There are very few members so we are typically visiting the less actives a couple times a week or visiting the few investigators that we have at this time. We have been very blessed and some people have been contacting us in the street. We are hoping they will be able to progress and we will start baptizing again. The last while has been pretty dry haha. We still have faith though and continue working hard day after day! We have a FHE tonight to get our first references so we are really excited!

Changes are a week from today! I am pretty sure I will be staying here in Tepa but we will see what happens! Elder Alvarado will most likely be headed out after 8 months here haha. I hope I don't last that long! Ha. That is a long time in one area!

Oh question mom. Can you send me a french toast recipe! I am pretty sure I know how to do it. Eggs, sugar, milk, cinnamon. Something like that. I want to be sure though haha. I don't want to make myself sick ha.

Well Elder Alvarado and I are going to work hard one more week here in Tepa! We continue to look for the blessings of the Lord and we realize we are receiving many! We are headed to the temple with the branch on Saturday! It will be a great week!

You are all in my prayers and I know the Lord is blessing you in many ways! Love you!

Elder O'Brien :)

Who knew it was so simple?

Hey family!! :)

 

Well it was another really good week in the mission! All seemed to go really well. It definitely had its hard moments but I really feel like I put my heart 100% into the work this week!

 

We set teaching goals for the month, so Elder Alvarado and I both prayed and we felt there are 4 people we need to work with. We weren't 100% sure where they would come from at first but we knew that should be the goal! We then got the advice from Elder Jones that we should pray to know who those four would be so we could focus ourselves in. We then prayed and wrote down who we felt. Once again we compared and the names were exactly the same! Definitely a week of receiving revelation which was one of my goals for this week!

 

So far it is looking really rough to see anyone getting baptized this month, but what we have been talking about a lot is faith. I know that I received revelation from the Lord and that He will not fail me in this if I am truly giving 100% everyday! I am not sure how the future will go but I must trust in the Lord and do my part and the blessings will come!

 

That is really crazy that McKenzie is in college! Her dorm is definitely much nicer than mine! But just so Markus Beus doesn't say anything if he ever reads this, BYU Provo will ever be the Lord's true University ;) It sounds like McKenzie is having a good time up there! You two look pretty down about her leaving haha. That is so weird though that Ashley is the only kid in the house! How is she liking it so far? Bored out of her mind or is she keeping pretty busy?

 

Sounds like you had lots of fun this week Dad, but how did Mom like that? Haha. Did you find a bunch of information for genealogy at least?

 

Thanks for the addresses. I sent Dallin a letter a while back. Did he never get it? If not I will send him another one! Tell him to send the college pictures also ;)  Thanks for the updates on Mishelle too.  I can't believe she is still in the hospital.  I will keep her in my prayers.

 

That's pretty crazy that the blog is already up to 2000 views. I'm not sure why. My letters have been pretty boring lately! There isn't much to do here in Tepa haha. On P day about all we do is wash clothes, clean the house, eat, write the family, then at the end of the day write some letters, sleep, or just chill for a bit. It is kind of sad being an hour away from the rest of the zone haha. 

 

Oh I had some questions. Is Wade on his mission? Kevin Jurgensmeier? Craig Sanderson? Will you check on that for me please? :)

 

How is Ashley liking being back in high school? Does she think she in the queen of the world? Haha :)

 

I hope you all keep receiving the blessings of the Lord in your life! I know it is by the obedience that we receive blessings. One of the greatest blessings we have here on the earth is the family and the Spirit. As we allow the Spirit to be present in our home through obedience and the commandments of the Lord we will truly find happiness in life. That is the secret to happiness. The Spirit! And how do we have the Spirit of the Lord in our lives? By truly living the gospel of Jesus Christ. Keeping his commandments, developing Christlike attributes, searching the scriptures, praying, and by serving others. Who knew it was so simple?? :)

 

I hope the Lord will continue to bless you all in every aspect of life this week and forever! Keep being great!

 

Love you!

Elder O'Brien :)

Looking for the Chosen

Hey family!!

 

Well this was another quick week! I'm not sick today either so I can actually remember it all hahaha.

 

That is way exciting that you are getting everything ready at the Hobby Center again and making it all pretty! Ha. That is absolutely disgusting though that you've had some stuff in there for 20 years! Haha. I bet it feels great to get that all cleaned out and everything is looking new again!

Kuna got another new football coach eh? Well they already have won one game! That ties the amount of wins they had as a team my Senior year! It is good to hear they started off the year well! Grandma told me that BSU lost their first game to some no namer but BYU won. That's all good with me! :)

 

That is weird to think that McKenzie is finally off to college! Tell her good luck! She is going to absolutely love it up there! And she will be right next door to Jenny all the time so that's good! Tell her to keep her room clean and help keep the kitchen clean and everything! ;)

 

I haven't gotten a letter from John and Michelle and them yet but the Zone Leaders are going to the offices on Wednesday I believe so it should be here for next Tuesday! We'll see what they say though?

 

That is crazy about Mishelle Wasden! I will be sure to keep her in my prayers! I hope everything goes well for her.  Keep me updated on how she is doing.  That must be really difficult for her family.

 

That is great what is going on with Joey up there in Tijuana. Tell him to keep having fun up there! Will you get me his address please? Also Michael Shreeve's address if you could? :)

 

Well nothing too crazy to report this week! We have been trying to look for more chosen investigators. Many have been so so in the interest to follow the commandments of the Lord. That is something that has really surprised me more that anything in my mission. The true reason the church membership is fairly small isn't because the people are looking to prove us wrong. I thought I would have to be dealing with that all my mission. But the true reason is that the number of people who truly want to know the will of God in these days is very limited! We were very blessed this week! We found two more very chosen people yesterday and one during the week! One actually started crying the first time we met her!

 

We went to visit the mom of a less active family and this lady was sitting outside talking with her also. So naturally we introduced ourselves and she asked what we did as missionaries. She then asked us some questions and we wound up explaining part of the Plan of Salvation. It then started to rain so we went inside of her ''garage'' to talk. She told us a story for about an hour about how her son had gotten extremely sick and just how big of a trial that was for her when he nearly died. She was a little teary at one point. We had to be getting back home but I was able to testify of the purpose of life on Earth and we have another appointment to see her on Wednesday.

 

We also met the girlfriend and the sister of a current investigator. We have baptismal dates for them all at the end of the month. We truly were blessed this week to find so many great new investigators! :)

 

Something funny this week. I went to make pancakes this morning and we mix it in the blender cuz we don't have a mixing bowl. I put everything in the blender cup thing ready to mix it up. When I went to lift it up EVERYTHING spilled on the counter, on the floor, and on me! I was so confused. I had no idea what happened. When I looked over by the blender machine I saw the bottom of the blender cup. The bottom was not connected! Oh man was that quite a mystery solved and definitely a big mess to clean up! :)

 

Oh just a heads up for the next package that you send...will you send some marshmallows and graham crackers? I hope you know what I am planning to make :) Oh and pudding mix also if you could! The type where you just add milk ;)

 

Well it was a really good week and we saw many blessings! I know that obedience, faith, prayer, and fasting really do make a difference for all of us. I hope you have a really good week and that the Lord continues to bless you all in every aspect of life!

Love you all

 

Elder O'Brien :)

Tender Blessings

Hey family!!!

 

Well this week went by way fast! I am having a hard time to remember all that happened!

 

The interview with President Camarillo went really well! He is a really great guy! It is amazing how you are able to feel the Spirit just talking to him! The food isn't too different here in Tepa. The people are really nice and all is good! We don't ever feed ourselves besides P day. The same members feed us every week which is nice because I am able to get to know the members really well!

 

Haha I am pretty sure that there is no such thing as normal life mom. That is why it is called life hahaha.

 

Is it weird only having one kid in high school? We only missed having all three of us in high school by one year!

 

Well I am a little sick right now so I don't remember everything from this week. It went well. We got to meet with some good investigators. We have 6 people with baptismal dates right now which is really exciting! Edgar has been having a hard time lately and didn't want to come to church but his parents came and stayed the WHOLE time! That was definitely a tender blessing of the Lord. It was all thanks to the members. It was so great to see them all getting involved! Definitely a dream come true!

 

Another cool spiritual experience is that I was feeling pretty sick last night but we went to visit an investigator who is really coming along. It was really hard for me to stay focused because I was seriously about to fall asleep. But I was praying for the Spirit and then when I went to testify I felt fine again. It is amazing how the Spirit helps us!

Not too much else happened this week. We kept working hard and we have some pretty great results! We still need a lot more references but we are trying our best!

 

Well hope you have another great week family! Good luck everyone is school and college! Life is great!

 

Love Elder O'Brien ;)

All is well in Tepa

Hey fam!!!

It was another quick week! Hope everything has been going great!! All is going well here in Tepatitlan! Sounds like everyone has been having lots of fun back home in the last couple weeks of summer! Everyone is starting to get busy again that is for sure!

Oh good you got my package! I wasn't sure if it would make it to you or not haha. That's good to know everything made it there safely! Have you started studying you Spanish yet?? ;)

Well I've only got 8 months out but hey it's a going and going quick for that! The language has definitely improved a ton in the last couple months. Elder Alvarado speaks literally zero English so it has definitely helped a ton. It was different having an American companion for so long. Now that the language has improved, I feel much more at home now. I have a feeling I will be here in Tepatitlan til Christmas so if it doesn't feel like home yet it sure will soon! Haha. 

It has already been a year since the sealing! Man time sure goes quick!

You are leaving to Portland again?? Man you spoil Dad way too much! Haha. What is McKenzie thinking to do for her birthday? It is true. Good thing Grandma lives right next door :)

Is McKenzie all packed up and ready to go to college? haha. I'm sure she is just dying to get out the door!

Things have been going pretty well here in Tepa. It was a quick week. We were definitely blessed in many different ways! During the week we worked hard to visit many different people and we were able to see many great results on Sunday. We had  39 people in church!!! It was much better than the 29 last week haha. We were also able to get 5 investigators and 5 less actives to come with us this week. We are going to keep working hard with everyone and we hope we can get more and more in church every week! It is definitely exciting to see!

The spiritual experience this week happened during my interview with President Camarillo. He is doing interviews with everyone and I was the first one. I'm still not sure if that is good or bad hahaha. We got talking and he asked me a question that really got to me! He said, "What do you think your family does at the end of every night? 'Haha man I couldn't hold back the tears when he asked me that. It really made me realize how blessed I am here in the mission because of your prayers and all the help you give to me. Thanks for all that you do for me fam!! :)

A fun experience this week was last night we went to have a FHE and we got to play some games. We are working a lot with the less actives because we still haven't gotten references from anyone. That is the harder thing about being out here in a small branch and we can't contact. We have a FHE tonight though so that should be really helpful to get some good references going!

It sounds like Mark and Dallin had a really good week! That is crazy that Mark's trainer is Elder Henderson! It seems like forever ago that I was with Elder Henderson at EFY. I saw him a bit in the MTC also! Hope they are doing great. Dallin sounds like he is staying busy out there in  New Mexico haha.

Well I am looking forward to another real great week in the mission! I have a feeling I will learn much this week and I know as I look to learn the Lord will help me to receive the revelation to help the people here in Tepatitlan so that we can continue to have more and more people in church and to receive more and more references from the members!

Thanks for everything fam!! Hope you have a great week! Be safe and have fun!

Love ya!!!

Elder O'Brien :)