April 2, 2012

 … I am not sure why I was chosen (interview with the Brazilian newspaper). They just called us over the intercom one day and told us to go to this specific room, so that was pretty cool. I will try and get on my email one more time today in the next half hour or so, before I am off for the day, just incase you want to know anything else or if anyone else responded! Love you guys!!

9:40am

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM! J

…Yes I did get to see myself sing (in General Conference), I just got onto LDS.org and skipped to the singing part. I am glad I was a good shot of me for you guys to see. I was really praying that there would be a good shot of meJ. We practiced every morning for about an hour for the past week and a half or so. We took the bus to the conference center at 9:45 AM and listened to about an hour of the first session on the bus. We got to the center and went to in a side room and practice for a while. Then we went through some tunnels and entered into the conference center. IT was really cool to see everything from the choir seats. After the session we walked back through the tunnels and got back to the busses and got back to the MTC just before the Priesthood session started. We were not aloud to take anything with us to the conference center so I could not take notes, so I was not able to take notes for all of the Saturday sessions, so that was not very fun. … Russell M. Nelson came up and talked to us for just a little bit. So that was fun. Because I was in the second row, I could not see any of the Apostles or prophet very well, I could not really see the pulpit either, so that was kind of a bummer. I could see and read the transparent glass that they use for their talks though. It was kind of weird though because I could read part of their talk before they even said it. Yes, I did know (David Archuletta) he was right in front of me. I actually talked to him for a little bit. He is a really shy person believe it or not, but I think he is a really good kid. He was been the talk of the town here at the MTC. They did seating arrangements by height so that is just kind of how it worked out. I probably could have tried to stand next to him, but I didn’t. that is pretty cool that my picture was in the Desert News! I think my favorite talk was the one that talked about Judging others. I am not sure who it was by. I do not know why, but it was really hard to get what I normally get out of Conference when I am home. But it was really nice to hear the Prophet’s and Apostles voices.

We go to the Temple every Monday morning, and if we do a session it is normally the 7:20 session, but sometimes we do initiatory or sealing’s. (Africa) I am really excited and scarred, both at the same time!! J It is kind of a weird feeling, but I really want to go and start trying to teach people at least! J I have not heard anything else about my visa. When I went to New York I got a paper that said I would leave on my departure date. When I went to New York I just went and signed for it, so once it is processed they will send it to the MTC I think, but I will not know if my visa got here until about a week before I leave or so.

I love you Mom! Sorry for all of the stupid things I did before my Mission that would make you and Dad worry about me. I have really started to see how awesome our family really is. It is incredible how you and Dad have raised us! Thank you so much!! Love you! Your Son Forever!!!

Elder Tilley

Elder Knighton

Braden,…So do you want to teach me a little bit about what you know or believe about the Spirit of the Law and the letter of the law. It has been hard for me because I do not really understand it yet. My companion is a great missionary and is really trying his best, but sometimes does not see the need to be on time to different things, and things like that, and I feel that it would be just better to go along with then to have contention arise and drive away the Spirit. Also a lot of times I am in bed saying prayers and I finish my prayers past 10:30.  I am constantly feeling like I am not being exactly obedient and that I am not doing my best because of these things. Also some of the times our district is just laying in bed past 10:30 just talking, and I feel that sometimes this is when we have become closest together, but then I always feel bad because I am not being obedient. I am sure you probably had some of the same thoughts and feelings, so I just wanted to ask.

Thanks for writing me! I love you man!!

Elder Tilley

March 26, 2012

So this week has been pretty crazy. On Tuesday I found out I would be singing in the MTC choir for conference. We are singing in the Saturday afternoon session. I am pretty excited!!! Then Tuesday night Elder Dallin H. Oaks came and spoke to us, so that was fun to see another Apostle.

Tuesday night went to the airport and left at midnight. We arrived in New York at about 6, and we did not get much sleep on the plane. We then got picked up by a guy named chucky who is this big half Irish half Indian guy who was a pretty crazy driver (Typical for New York) He was not a member, but supposed any time one of the Apostles or any one like that come to New York he picks them up, so that is pretty cool. We drove to the Manhattan Temple/ Church and met with a senior couple. He took us to the second floor and took us to a back room so we couple sleep for an hour or so. That was really nice! Then we got up and walked to the Sub way and got to go to Grand Central station! That was pretty cool! We took the subway to the consulate, and we got there turned in some paper work got fingered printed signed something a left. Talk about a long trip for something so small. We then got picked up by Chucky and went to the airport and then flew home at 3:30 or so. We then got back to the MTC by about 10:45. So it was a really long day. New York was crazy thought! We were not even there for the worst time of the da, but everyone was going 100 MPR all of the time. It was crazy and to tell you the truth I got a little shell-shocked! I was actually really excited to be back in the MTC. The New York trip really helped me to appreciate the MTC more!

Thank you for fasting for me! It really means a lot! Thank you so much!

...We get $6 on a card every Wednesday so I have been trying to save up so I do not have to use my debit card. …I love hearing about all the stuff with Braden! It does remind me when Josh and Jalin were dating that is a lot of fun! I would definitely say the one in the green!! That is who I am rooting for!! I love you so much!!! Mom! Elder Tilley

Braden-Hey man I heard you were sick! Are you doing better now? I hope you are doing better. So I remember before I left that you said that the Lord will show me my weaknesses and He definitely has. It has been crazy to see how much I have learned in the past six weeks and how much I do not know. It has been really hard for me lately because I feel like I have really been shown my weaknesses, and because of this I feel like I am almost worthless and that I am not the confident/ happy self I normally am because I have all these weaknesses. I do not know if you kind of went through something like that. Yesterday I felt the Spirit a lot though and I felt a little bit more confident about myself, so that was good. I love you so much man! Keep it up with the ladies!!  Remember to keep giving me the play by play action.  Remember it took Josh awhile to convince Jalin to like him!  Haha just kidding…kind of. Love you man keep up the great work! Elder Tilley

…So there was an Elder here named Elder Tappen who left to Brazil a week or maybe two ago and one of the Elders here got an email from him that said his trainer in the Mission field knows me and his name is Tanner Peterson! Pretty crazy!! Anyways I will get back on in a little bit and see if there are any replys.

… I think I am here at the MTC the best time ever because one we got to here Elder Holland and Elder Oaks, then we are here for Conference, then we are here for Easter, which at the MTC is similar to Christmas except it is not as sad to be here, and a General Authority is going to come and we are going to have the Sacrament with him with the entire MTC also we get to sing in the Choir. I think I am in the MTC at the best time! I am not sure if anyone else is in the Choir I know or not. I am not sure…. Yeah it is so cool that I get to sing in Conference on your Birthday hopefully you will be able to see me! That would be fun!!

  

Yes Elder Whilhem the Carmichael’s nephew came to New York with me. Him and the other Elder, Elder Hansen are really good Elders and really want to share the gospel. It is going to be a lot of fun. I have to go now, but I love you so much! Thanks Mom for being sooooo Awesome. I love You!!!!!!

March 19, 2012

(My companions) are doing a lot better, we have had a lot of talks together with them and we have had some really good experiences. I am learning and growing so much it is crazy! So I still have the same companion.

So I put the SD card into the camera and I saw most of the pictures, but it said there was a reading error so I could not see all of them, also I could not see any videos on it either. Any way so I put it into my companions camera and the same thing happened. I then Put it into Elder Awbery’s camera…it pretty much froze his camera, made the screen go black, but then wouldn’t turn off. So it pretty much broke his camera. … Anyways to finish the story with Elder Awbery’s camera I felt so bad!!! I told him sorry and said if I needed to I would pay to get it fixed or whatever I needed to, but that night I prayed so hard that the Lord would fix his camera. I told the Lord that I know he could very easily and I asked the Lord with a lot of faith if you would fix it. I woke up in the morning and when I was saying my morning prayers I prayed again that his camera would be fixed. A thought came into my head that said “go look at his camera” I went to look at his camera, but could not find it. I went to the bathroom and came back and Elder Awbery said hey Elder Tilley look at my camera it works again! I was so happy and I was so grateful that the Lord answered my Prayers. It was a simple thing, but it meant a lot to me!!! I love the letter from Jailey so much!!!

First crazy thing! So last week the lady from a big Brazillian newspaper came here to the MTC to interview some of the missionaries here. She is not a member and there was about 9 of us in the room and she just asked us about the MTC and if we felt we are prepared to leave our families and things like that. It was really cool. I told her that I love my family a lot and because of the gospel I know I can live with my family forever and I want to share that gift and knowledge with others and that is why I choose to serve a mission.

Second crazy thing!-Elder Cardon (brother Cardon’s dad came and spoke to us) It was really good!!

3^rd Crazy thing!!-I am flying to NEW YORK tomorrow night!!! I am going there with 2 other missionaries to meet with the consulate of Angola and get fingered printed and get my visa. I am pretty excited. My flight leaves tomorrow night at 11:55 PM and we get back Wednesday night around 8 or 9 I think. It should be a lot of fun and I am pretty excited!

4^th crazy thing!! I went and saw a talk by Elder Bednar that he gave here at the MTC on Christmas called the Character of Christ. I have heard this talk was really good, and before starting the talk they announced it as one of the greatest talks ever given here at the MTC. I watched it and I would say this is one of the greatest talks I have ever heard in my life. He talked about so much and my mind was blown afterward, but if I can figure out how to really apply what was said and what the Spirit told me, it will not only affect my mission, but it will dramatically change the way I live the rest of my life. I will try and give little bits and pieces, but you probably wont be able to get the same affect as I did. He talked about Testimonies and conversion and how if we only have a testimony then in 5 or 10 years from now we will be in danger of falling away. We have to not only have a testimony, but we have to be converted to the Lord by consistently living what we know. He also said that the way we do this is by turning outward when we are in our deepest struggles. After Jesus Christ was fasted for 40 days and tempted by Satan, what did He do? He sent Angels to go minister to John because he was in Prison. After He was in the Garden of Gethsemane what did he do? He healed the guards ear! When He was on the cross He told John to take care of His mother and he forgave those that were doing this to him and was doing missionary work to the others on the cross. He said that to be converted we have to turn outward during our greatest agony! Wow how crazy is that! He also said that the way we find ourselves is by turning outward and helping others. I will have to tell you another story to go along with this later today, but his talk has been really turning in my mind. Love you !!! Elder Tilley

March 12, 2012

My week was pretty good, I saw Dalton Brough and I also saw Zack Brough. Oh and I saw Taylor Simons, so that was fun! Also I have seen Spencer Sarger as well. He is going to japan and he leaves today. He has been here for 12 weeks! Pretty crazy! So I have been worrying about my Portuguese, my teachers and my leaders have said that I have been picking it up really fast, but I still worry about, but last Tuesday we went to something called TRC and it is where we go and teach members a lesson, but it is in Portuguese, and one of the members we taught was from Brazil and I do not think she spoke English very well at all. So I started talking with her and then I said the opening Prayer and she asked me how long I had been speaking/learning Portuguese. I told her 3 weeks and she was blown away! That made me feel really good, and was a tender mercy from the Lord.  Also every Sunday the Branch President has 2 missionaries speak during Sacrament Meeting for 3 to 5 minutes, but nobody knows who is going to speak until he announces after the Sacrament. Also it is suppose to be in Portuguese. This weeks topic was on repentance and forgiveness. Anyways so about 10 seconds before he announces who is going to speak, I kind of felt like I was going to speak and sure enough he called me to speak. So I got up there and for 3-4 minutes I gave a talk in Portuguese, so that was fun! Also I got called as the Branch Music Coordinator so that will be fun! I pretty much just choose songs to sing and have someone do a special musical number.

I have not heard anything about singing in Conference so yeah we probably won’t J. So Our Music director likes to tell stories and different things that relate to the song that we are singing, anyways so he was talking about how a lot of times in Sacrament meeting we sleep through it or we give each other back rubs or play little different games (it was in a funny manor though, he is a way funny guy). Then he talked about the Savior and how he went into the Garden of Gethsemane and when the pain was so bad He looked for a friend and he found his apostles sleeping, and He says “could he not watch for an hour?” Our Choir director said that he realized that Sacrament Meeting was an hour also and can we not wait and watch and remember the Savior for an hour. I thought of this after, but I think the Savior comes out and tells his apostles this three times, and I thought about how church is 3 hours long. It really hit me.

So there have been some issues with the other companionship in our District and it has been pretty bad, and what I heard was that our President is going to do a companionship switch within our district if something does not change this week. We have been trying to help these other two missionaries in our district, but it seems like they just can’t figure it out. I hope we do not have to switch companionships though. My companion is great and I am learning so much from him. It has been fun to see how I have helped him to grow and how he has helped me to grow. He is trying to do the very best that he can I believe. He was definitely not raised how I was, but he does have a testimony and is trying his best with Elder Tilley always on his back pushing himJ IT is a lot of fun! If you could please pray for Elder Awbery and Elder Prenoveau that would be great! I hope they can start figuring things out!

Also Yesterday we had one of the MTC directors speak for our Fireside and he talked about goals and how sometimes we feel like we fail when we do not reach our goals and when we do not get baptisms. He then said in the Hall of fame missionaries in Heaven are we going to find Ammon because he converted thousands and not Abinadi because he did not convert anyone, (to his knowledge). He went on and talked about the Perhaps Principle. (Ex. Jacob 6:50 and Alma 29:9, I think those are the scriptures he used, but I might be wrong) but anyways it talks a lot in scriptures how God does something THAT PERHAPS his children may come unto Him. So he said God does what he does for a MAYBE. He does what he does that maybe his children will come back. Then this is what really hit me hard! He said that Jesus Christ went into the Garden of Gethsemane for a Maybe… that Maybe others would follow Him and choose to repent. WOW! That was awesome for me, and I felt that if Jesus Christ could suffer all the pains of the world for a MAYBE, then I will give all of my heart, soul, time and energy in serving the People in Africa, that MAYBE some souls will come unto Christ.

Yes I was able to talk with the other missionaries that left to Angola. They were in my zone so I got to know them pretty well and we pretty much live on the same floor in our Residence halls so I knew pretty well. I took a video of me introducing them to you (the fam) on my camera so you can meet them!

Elder Curtis the football missionary a week ago to Orlando Florida so that was kind of a bummer, but a new Elder came and he is really good! He is about my height, but a little bit thicker and he is a really good shooter! I saw him playing and Pride got the best of me and I felt like “who is taking over my court!?” So I played with him and pretty much stunk it up really bad! I could not hit a shot and it was pretty embarrassing! But it is all good now! I actually really like playing on his team because he knows how to play basketball so it is fun to pass him the ball and get some pretty sweet passes in return also. I love you I hopefully will be able to write again this afternoon! Elder Tilley

Braden-…Way to go on the Suns game date!! Are you going with anyone else or is it just you two!? Definitely let me know how it goes! Nice job on the 20 pointer that is pretty sweet! It is kind of funny because I look forward to Sundays and Preparation Days, but I have kind of grown to not like them as much because we spend a lot of time doing nothing which means my mind thinks of home and different things a lot and then I just kind of feel like crap, but it is all good!

Yeah so when did you typically say your morning prayers? I have been praying as soon as I get up from bed, but I am still normally half asleep so they are not very affective. Then I tried getting up and getting in the shower first, then doing it after shower, but then typically I run out of times to say my prayers before I go, or everyone is coming in and out of the room and it is hard to concentrate, any suggestions? Thanks for the letters bro they really mean a lot!

Rach-Thanks for the letter! I never really understood how much missionaries love letters. I knew a lot of missionaries say that they love letters, but I never really understood until now! So thanks so much! I think about you and Joshy Boy all of the time! I can’t wait for the letter that says you’re having another one! Maybe you can wait but I can’t!
…I know what you mean when you say I live this way because the Prophets have told me that this is how I should live. My companion is a convert to the church when he was 16, but then fell away and got reactivated right before he left on his mission, and I have definitely lived a lot differently than he has. I have not had to necessarily explain to him why I live the way I do, but I have had to show him a little bit and it has been difficult, but I definitely know what you mean! (I feel like I am supposed to give you some profound answer and tell you how to do it, but I am kind of drawing a blank right now because I am trying to figure out the same thing to). A couple of weeks ago I was talking with one of the Elders in my district and we started talking about Prom, and he asked me if I kissed my Prom date and I told him no, and he kind of freaked out and was blown away I left for a little bit and then started to come back and then he asked me if I had ever kissed a girl. I told him no and then he flipped out even more and at that point my whole zone knew that I had not kissed a girl, and I kind of got made fun of for a little bit. But then my companion gave me some props and then the zone leader gave me some props as well. So there have been things like that and also things like not watching PG-13 movies and stuff. I have not had to really explain to anyone why I do not do these things, but it constantly on my mind how I would explain it. I am not really able to pull the whole I am a Mormon thing on them, that wouldn’t work very well, and I do not want to say, well its because I follow the Prophet, I do not think that will go over very well either. So I have been trying to figure out how to explain that too. If you come up with anything let me know and I will do the same for you! I love you Rach keep up being an awesome Mother and Wife!!!

Pops!-Thanks for the letter they are always so uplifting and encouraging thanks so much! Keep up the hard the work and everything I know that the Lord is blessing you because of your hard work and discipline! P.S. You should have a companionship inventory with Mom! They really are helpful and I think one of the times I have felt the spirit the strongest was when we were having a companionship inventory but with our district! It was really cool though. You have to make sure that you do it right though or else it could turn out really bad!  You will have to get some better instructions from Braden but just remember to start with each other’s strengths and then end with each other’s strengths and it will be a great experience!!! Love you! Remember Pride is of the Devil!  Love you!!

Rebecca-So I heard you started Catz! It is pretty sweet huh?! Not being able to move for a couple of days is a great feeling! I am just kidding!:) Just think of all the Basketball girls that are on your team and that are on the other teams that aren’t doing a dang thing right now and how you will just stomp on them when next season comes! Just keep up the hard work and it will all pay off in the end. Something that I have realized recently is that the most memorable things in my life and the things that I have grown the most from are the things that were the hardest!  And it is interesting because now looking back some of my favorite moments in life were running my guts out in practice or working out harder then I thought I could and it was these experiences that have helped me the most! Just keep pushing though and think about how much better this is making it, not only in basketball, but in life as well and this experience will help you be a better wife and mother! Love you Becs keep up the hard work!!

YO P-Dog-what is up Bro!? Yeah that kind of stinks that you could not win a lot of stuff at field day. At least you had an excuse! I just lost because I was not very good! Haha just kidding… kind of. I hope you are feeling better!  Crazy story about the new dog! That is pretty crazy! Keep up all of the hard work man! I love you!

Eu amo voce, familia! Eu estou a fazer bem! Eu Amo O livro De Mormon e sou grato por meu Salvador Jesus Cristo. Eu tenho sentido o espirito muito aqui a o CTM. Eu amo voces e eu oro por voces cada noite. Eu amo voces!

Com AmorElder Tilley (Google Translate:) I love you, family! I'm doing well! I Love The Book of Mormon and am grateful for my Savior Jesus Christ. I have really felt the spirit here at the MTC. I love you guys and I pray for you guys every night. I love you guys!

with Love

Elder Tilley

March 5, 2012

Mom… I have been trying to figure out how to send pictures, but I can’t figure it out. The MTC has some pretty heavy restrictions on the computer, so I have been trying to figure it out, but haven’t been able to.  … Are you going to do a blog or are you going email all those people?  Just wondering.

So this week as been pretty intense on our Tuesday devotional Elder Jeffery R. Holland came and spoke to us! He was so bold and up in our faces! A lot of people afterward said that it was so inspirational to them, but to me afterwards to tell you the truth I kind of felt like crap! Like I needed to have a stronger testimony and I needed to be a 10 times better missionary that I was. I definitely felt chastened, but it was good for me. One part that I really like though was that he said never go back to how you were before you mission. Then he said I do not care how good you were before your mission never go back to it! It was an awesome talk!

Then yesterday for our fireside Alex Boye came and spoke to us! He did a little bit of music but he is an amazing speaker! He was really funny and told us about his conversion story and it was incredible! It really got me pumped to be a missionary! So it was a pretty intense week with seeing pretty famous people! I was able to go do sealings in the temple today, I had never done them before and it was a really cool experience and I felt grandma Tilley was there with me! So it was way awesome! I just acting as a child and as a witness, and it was really good. Were you able to figure out anything with my visa? It is something that is just always on the back of my mind because there are a lot of missionaries here in general that haven’t got their visas and stuff! Love you a tons mom! Should be able to get on this afternoon again! Oh and next week on Sunday daylight savings starts so the time I email will change by an hour just so you know. I don’t know if you have sent the package yet but if you haven’t could you throw in Braden’s mission filter bottle. That is if he doesn’t need/want it! Thanks! Love you a tons!! Elder Tilley

  

Rebecca-The MTC is pretty good. It is kind of weird because it feels like the Days go by really long but the weeks go by really fast. It is kind of weird but I am learning a ton! Well it is not like I have a certain amount of class, but I will tell you a typical day. First we wake up and go to Breakfast at 7:10. Then we go to our classroom at 7:40 and are in the classroom for 3hours. During that time we teach our investigator and have a Portuguese Lesson for about an hour and then some other kind of training. Then we have personal Study time at 10:40 to 11:40, which is in our classroom. Then we go to lunch at 11:40. At 12:25 we go back to our classroom for another 3 hours and do the same thing we did before, but with our other teacher. At 3:25 we have personal Language study in our classroom for am hour. Then we go to dinner at 4:40 then we have gym time at 5:25. At 6:25 we go to a classroom with a bunch of computers and do an online course that helps us with Portuguese. We do that for an hour. Then we go back to our classroom at 7:45 to 9:00 and do Personal study time again. At 9 we do planning and at 9:30 we go back to our residence to get ready for bed. So I do not know how many classes I have, but I am pretty much in the classroom all day unless I am eating or at the gym! The food here is pretty much like cafeteria food. It took me a while to get use to it so it is not so bad anymore, but yes definitely cafeteria food! I have never tried the eggs or orange before because I have heard they do not do good things to the body! If you know what I mean My companion tried both of them and lets just say I believe the rumors, or at least I smelt them haha really funny with the whole spear thing!! Maybe I will learn how to be nice on my mission or something and I wont get angry any more! Good luck in Basketball just remember to work your very best!!!! Hmm we better figure out something better then (sparkle bun power) any ideas?  Love you favorite little sister! Elder Tilley

Preston-That is pretty crazy man! I am glad you are doing better. I have been praying for you every day and have been fasting for you and I know the Lord is answering my Prayers! That is so cool that Josh was able to get you guys a dog! I forget did he get you guys an Australian Sheppard or a Queensland heeler? I love you tons man! Keep up the hard work! And you are in my Prayers every day!! (my concussion?) … Lets see man, so right after I fell off the bunk bed (and got my concussion) I did not remember anything really, but after a while my memory started to come back. What I remember is that I was sitting on the bunk bed with my feet over the bars and I was saying the poem I memorized for school to mom. The next thing I remember is everybody around me in my room and I did not really know what was going on. Then I remember going and threw up in the bathroom except I do not think I made it to the bathroom the first time! :) So that is what I remembered! So I guess we are concussion buddies!! Except yours was a lot more intense! Love you man!! Just remember that the Lord is always watching over us and everything that we go through is for our own good!! Love you!!

Mom-… I need the water bottle for Africa I am not sure if they have them there. I just know that they are pretty expensive so if Braden did not need his then maybe I can just take his…I do not think I told you about my companion, but he does not really do any kind of music stuff, but there are a lot of guys that sing here so we have been harmonizing and stuff and he loves it!! It is so funny he loves to sing now! He is a big black football guy who now loves to sing it is pretty funny! And there is about 4 or 5 of us who sing songs as we walk around the MTC it is a lot of fun! One of our favorites we like to sing is Army of Helaman, some of the other ones you could say aren’t church songs, but I think it really helps us to become closer together it is really cool. We have some other songs too, We also have practices in showers! Probably one of the highlights of my day! It is kind of ridiculous but it is fun!! One Elder who is leaving tomorrow that I have never seen before came up to us and said hey can I hear one of your guys’ songs before I leave! That is kind of funny! My companion decided that we are going to be called the" Sons of Mosiah" I am in the choir and that is alot of fun we have sang come thou fount and be still my soul! I do not know if we are going to be in conference yet. I have not heard anything. I have definitely been feeling the spirit more in my personal study. Just today I was having my scripture study and I just felt so happy! It was awesome! Our district is doing a lot better, it is fun to see everyone including myself grow so much in such a short amount of time!

Pops!-I am so glad that Preston is doing better. I have been praying really hard and fasting that Preston would be able to play sports again. I know how much sports helped me and meant to me and I did not want him to miss out on those things. I am so grateful that the doctor thinks he will recover so quickly the Lord is definitely answering my prayers!

It sounds like you are cleaning house at work! And it sounds like things are going really well! My Portuguese is coming. Spanish has definitely helped me a lot. And it has been good for me because all of the rules are pretty much the same so I know how to conjugate and stuff. The conjugation endings are a little bit different, but it is not too bad. We are pretty much teaching lessons without having to read a lot of the stuff. The hardest part is understanding the investigator and figuring out their needs.  It is definitely really hard though sometimes with the language, it feels like we will never be able to speak really well in Portuguese, like our teachers, but the Lord is definitely blessing me! I feel like I can speak better Portuguese then I ever could speak Spanish so I know that the Lord is helping me. Our district on Saturdays from now is trying to only speak Portuguese, so we will see how it goes!

Would you be able to check on my visa this week! It is just a little bit stressful not really know what is going on with it! And if you figure out anything maybe just dear elder me it! Thanks! One of the district Presidents was telling us a little bit about the election. How is it going? I heard Romney is still the front runner, but that Super Tuesday is tomorrow? Let me know how it goes? I think there are two other missionaries in the other zone that are going to same time as me I only know the Carmichaels nephew I am not sure of the other one, but there are three Elders that are leaving on Thursday for Angola so that is pretty cool!

Love you!!

Braden…That is way cool about the girl with her trials! We are soooo blessed it is not even funny! Thanks man for the comfort it really does help!  For a while I felt like Hell was shaking me! But I am starting to shake Hell back!!! (quote J)

Thanks so much man Love you!! Love you family!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

February 27, 2012

I am glad Preston is getting back to his old self! It has been really cool though because our District has come closer together because of Preston, when I read the letters my companion and the other Elders in my district could tell something was wrong so I told them about Preston and they have been praying for him ever since they found out. Elder Prenoveau who is in our district is kind of a crazy guy and has done some pretty crazy things in his life, but one night he game up to me in my bed and looked at me in the eye and said your brother is going to be ok. Also he said one night he was on his knees praying and he felt he needed to pray about something before he finished his prayer but he wasn’t sure what, he then turned around and saw me praying and remembered Preston and said that that was what he needed to Prayer for.

Elder Fitzgerald is on a Football Scholarship and it is actually for Southern Utah State University. We typically have one companionship inventory a week. My companion and I are doing pretty well and we talk really well with each other. Elder Preneveau and Elder Awbery are having a hard time especially Elder Awbery, he is trying so hard, and he is just really struggling. Also his family does not send him a lot of letters.

I saw the Carmichael’s Nephew (Wilhelm) for the first time last night, he is in a different Branch and so our schedules are completely different, he seems like a really awesome guy though. There are also three other Elders who are going to Angola in 10 days I think. They just got their flight plans and they fly to Texas and then have a 5 hour layover. Then they fly to London have a 10 hour Layover and then fly to Angola. I think they will end up getting there two and a half days after they leave with the time zone switching. Oh would you or Dad be able to call that one lady about my Visa her phone number and name are in my missionary packet? The other Elders that are going to Angola said that the second week they had to fly to New York and meet with an Ambassador from Angola and get finger printed and stuff. So would you be able call her and see if I am going to have to do that and find out how my visa is coming along? Thanks!

I have seen the Palmers, Wesley Ashcroft, Doug Gillette, James Wirthlin, Rachel Robinson, Morgon Rogers (she works here at the MTC). It is a lot of fun to see them around.

I go to the Temple Monday Mornings at 7:20, for some reason the Provo temple is open then. So that is kind of a bummer (we won’t be able to attend at the same time). Thank you so much for the Dear Elders they are great!

I am not quite sure how to send pictures … I will let you know though. I should be able to get back onto my email around 1:00 or 2:00 again so if you want to know anything else or if you just want to write me again… I will probably get it and I will be able to respond Love you! Mom!

Pops!-Thanks so much for the letter it is very comforting to know that things are going well with work and everything! Thank you for your testimony it really does help me a lot. I think I felt a lot of the same pain you did as you were with Preston. I am so grateful for the gospel in our lives and how it blesses families. Thank you so much I love you!

Braden-Thanks for the letter Bro. That’s a bummer that you got rejected! I feel your pain I think I got rejected… oh wait I don’t think I ever got rejected!  Haha Just kidding Bro just keep up the hard work. I definitely know what you mean about how this is a different hard work and there is a little bit of a twist thrown into it. Its funny because I feel like this is one of the hardest things I have done, but when I take a step back and look at it, it is not really that hard. It is kind of a weird feeling. I am stressing a little bit about the language, but not too much.  I am doing really well with the Lords help. The Spanish that I had in High School really has helped me because there are pretty much all of the same rules, a lot of the words are the same or similar but they are pronounced a little bit differently. What has been the most stressful is teaching in Portuguese! But one of our teachers Irmao Peterson (he was our first investigator) taught us a lesson. And he showed/taught us the first lesson and I felt the spirit so strong and then he had us practice teaching, with hardly any preparation. And it was really good for all of us. In our Lessons we were pretty much just reading things in Portuguese, but with this practice with out hardly any preparation, it showed me and my companion that we can teach in Portuguese with our just reading stuff. I am a lot less nervous to teach now. After the instruction with our teacher I felt like I just wanted to talk in Portuguese all of the time and for about 5 minutes I did not want to talk in English at all. That feeling soon left though But I know the Lord is blessing me with the gift of tongues.

I have been struggling with Personal study too. I have been having a hard time because normally when I study my scriptures or even pray I am normally alone by myself and I feel like I can really feel the spirit, but now I am with others and it is hard to really feel the Spirit strongly. Also the Elders in my district kind of feel the Personal Study Time, means Free time, so it is really hard to dive deep into the scriptures, but we are definitely doing better, and my companion has really fallen in love with the scriptures, he pretty much does not know any of the book of Mormon stories and so he read about Ammon the other day and loved it! So that is good, but I am having a hard time feeling the Spirit really strongly. I do not know if I have any advice for you, but I feel like I am going through some similar things. Love you man thanks for your Prayers!!

Thanks so much Rach! I love you so much! Don’t worry you are an awesome sister! Thanks for always being there for me and being an awesome older sister! I love you Joe and Joshy Boy so much! How is Joshy Boy doing? and Joe in School? I hope they are doing well. Tell Joshy Boy I love him and give a Kiss for me!! and show him lots of pictures of me so he doesn’t forget me! Love you so much Rach love you!

This is where we are from . . . 

This is where we are going!

We have an Elder here in our Zone, Elder Curtis who is a Quarter Back for Utah State, I think he Red Shirted this past year and then he will play after his mission, but he is a really good basketball player too and we were playing the other day and he was about two or three feet behind the three point line, and it was about time for our gym time to be over so I told him you better shoot it and he didn’t so I stole the ball from him turned around and shot a three from about 3 feet behind the line and made  it. Probably 5 seconds later a person came over the microphone and said that gym time was over, it was pretty sweet! Then the other day he was about 7 feet behind the line and he looked like he wanted to shoot it and I said “its too far” and he kind of smiled at me and was like “what!” then he shot it and drilled it! So then everyone told me to top it so I went up and shot it from about 7 feet behind the line and drilled it. Then Elder Curtis went back to about 10 feet behind the line and drilled it! Then I went to top, but missed it, just to the right. IT was a sick little battle though. Love you family. Thanks everyone for the letters they are a lot of fun to get! Hope you guys have a great week! Love you guys!

February 20, 2012

I only have 30 minutes to be on my email…Our schedule changes every day, but a typical day is getting up and getting ready for the day and then we eat breakfast. After that we go to our classroom and have Classroom time which consists of a Portuguese Lesson companionship study and other kinds of lessons, that is normally three hours long, we then have personal study. After that we have lunch and then language study.  And then we will probably have personal study time then dinner . Then we normally teach our investigator after that, which is pretty intense but ill tell you about that later.  Then we plan for the next day and go back to our rooms and get ready for bed.  My companion is really cool he is on scholarship to Cedar City University.  He is probably 6`3  or 6’4  and he is half white half black and he is pretty cool. We actually get along pretty well. His name is Elder Fitzgerald. We also have two other elders in our district and we are pretty much a four some. Elder Prenevoue ( prenevo) is from Conneticut and he is pretty cool, we quote a lot of movies together and it is a lot of fun! Elder Awbrey is a little bit different you could sayJ He was in band all of his life and to top it off he let his sister paint his toe nails before he left on his mission. Definitely a humble guy to let his sister do that to himJ Our district was butting heads for a little bit and last night we had a legit companionship inventory with our district and it was really good and after we were all best friends. Our teacher Irmao (brother) Maxwell is pretty cool he is from Buckeye Arizona, but he has been in buckeye the past couple of days so we have been having substitutes.  So with our investigator his name is “Jody” we started teaching him on Friday, but it is really crazy because we have to do our lessons in Portuguese! It is so hard because when I talk it is more like Sportuguese (mix of Spanish and Portuguese) J and my companion does not know a lot so he reads a couple of things and that is it. So it has been really hard on me because I have to do most of the work. He is not a real investigator, and we found out the other day that he is actually our other teacher, but he acts like a real investigator and asks questions that I would not even know how  to respond to in English let alone Portuguese. Also it is really hard to understand him because I don’t really know Portuguese but we still have to resolve his concerns he has and help him understand. Also a lot of the times he pretends to fall asleep during our lessons and that makes me so mad! But I guess it is real mission prep!  I had a cool experience the first day here when we  (about 40) new missionaries taught three different “investigators” they were acting but I think the stories they had and how they acted was their stories and how they acted before they were baptized. So the 3^rd investigator was asking about his son and wife because his wife died and his son died when he was three days old and was not baptized so we taught him that we can live with our families again and that his son was not doomed to destruction. He said he felt really good, but how did he know that when he woke up in the morning that he would not feel good and everything would be back to normal. I had a big smile on my face because he was feeling the spirit so he asked me this directly and I bore my testimony about prayer and he asked if I could show him how to pray so I went up and prayed and I felt real love for this man and I prayed with all of my heart that he would know that he could be with his family forever. I closed and I felt the spirit so strongly it was really cool.

I definitely have been struggling though we have had a lot of devotionals about how to be the best missionary and one of those things is obedience, and I am trying to be as obedient as I can, but it is really hard when my companion and the others in my district do not want to be 100% obedient. It is very difficult and I feel bad every time I am not 100% obedient, but I do not want to cause contention between my companion and I or between the district, but I am trying my best and trying to figure out how to do this and I just do not know how.

Preston! Holy cow that is so crazy! I love you so much! You have no idea! Way to be a man! I heard that when you woke up you asked if you could go back into the game! That helped me to be happier when I heard what happened. Way to be so tough! I love you so much man!! I love you!!

Rebecca-Hey so I was thinking about some new “power moves” if you know what I mean. How about Sparkle Bun Power!!? Does that work or do we need to think of something better? J Love you BEC! Remember next season starts today!

Braden-Thanks for writing me bro! I have been having a hard time! My companion and I are able to talk with each other pretty openly and that is way good! He is actually a convert for about 5 years now, but he just got reactivated probably a year or so ago. He wants to be obedient and he really does try hard to be obedient, but he told me that he can not keep up with the “hard work “ that I am doing. And honestly my hard work is just trying to follow the schedule. He said that he is lazy and that he cant really go as hard as I can. So I am trying to be obedient as much as I can, but I feel like I cant really be fully obedient because he has to take a lot of breaks and goof around a lot. We are definitely doing better and we are both trying really hard! But it is just so hard. We have actually have had 3 companionship inventories already! Pretty crazy! One was just because we had to and the others were real one.

Jeff and Laurel Tilley Family

Thanks so much for the letters! I felt like the guy on the Best two years because the whole zone was there to get the mail and my name was called like 6 times and it was sweet thanks so much Love all you guys!

So is Preston alright!!!??? I love that kid!

Sorry I forgot to tell you about the package. If you could send me my consecrated oil that is on my car keys that would be great…some Pens would be nice as well. Then do not have to be nice just like the Moxie pens or some like it would be great Thanks So Much I Love You guys. Maybe send me a Dear Elder to let me know how Preston is doing because I can get those every day, but only emails on Mondays! Love you!! Elder Tilley