Mom Note- I've been out of town recently & not able to update his blog,so here are Brad's last 3 letters! Sorry! Don't tell him!!! :)
Sept 30, 2015 Hola Familia!!!!
Hello everyone!!!
Wow I don’t know where to start. Today was Pday, in which my
house the other 3 elders we decided to get out of Santiago and we went and
hiked this hill, called La Bellena, and it’s called the whale tail. It’s just
this hill, outside of our mission (thank goodness we get to leave, our mission
is SO small! we can go an hour outside of our house pretty much) and it was
AMAZING. I miss hiking and fresh air and just feeling the sun and in normal
clothes, AH I miss it!!! It was so nice. So nice to actually exercise and feel
like I was doing something, and enjoying it!!! The view was really good, so
close to the Andes Mountains and yeah it was just great!!! Then were at the
top, and of course we were not going to go down where we came from, so we went
down this other half and walked to this river, which I forgot the name of, but
we just explored the river and walked in fields and yeah, super tranquillo and
beautiful, we don’t get that in our area! Haha turns out the river, the part we
were in, we were not supposed to be there, woops. We never saw a sign, we went
in a different way! But it was so nice, I felt like I was back in CO
adventuring and being myself!!! Haha it was a prime Pday!
Well this week we watched the funereal of Elder Scott, and
we were watching it in English at the beginning, then something happened and it
was all Spanish after that. It’s just not the same watching stuff in Spanish.
Like Mormon messages and talks, it’s just weird because it’s a translator’s
voice, not the actual ones! Anyways, it was really good. I just pray I can
watch conference in English; they usually allow it for people with 3 or less
months in the mission, so pray that I can! I just want to be spiritually
edified, not lost and confused and yeah, but if it’s all in Spanish, pray for
me as well that I can understand at least something!
Super excited for General Conference, it will be great!!!
This week, we worked pretty hard to invite people and commit
people to come to church, and we were so hopeful, hoping to have a really good
meeting and what not and nobody came. None of our investigators. So I was kind
of disappointed, just so frustrating! SO hard to get people to church. But we
will not give up.
The members in the ward are really good, really great
people! It’s been a little hard with some though, I feel like I just can’t
connect nor understand a lot of them, and they don’t really have mercy on me
and how I am trying to learn their language and trying my best but that’s all good!
Hopefully their hearts can be softened.
Me and my comp are working hard, some days it’s rough. We
have to watch the preach my gospel videos, the district and all that, and it’s
just so funny. I love those videos a ton, but they are SO different from reality,
from where we are. In the videos it has like, oh we had 9 lessons today and 3
baptisms for this week. Here, yeah, Oh we had all of our appointments fall
through and walked for 8 hours and have no baptism! Haha but all is well! Those
videos are great, but I can’t wait to be done with my training. And yeah, I am
almost only halfway through...rough.
That’s like here! Here in Covarrubias! I want everyone to go
read 3 Nephi 11, when Christ came to the Americas. It’s so powerful. But I
mostly want everyone to read and focus on Joseph Smith. We had a lesson by
President Cook and Hermana Cook about Joseph Smith and the power of it, how it
is through him we have the restored gospel, how much he changed everything, the
world changed. I am super grateful for Jose Smith and for his sacrifice. I
always remember standing in Carthage, in the room where he died, and the
window, and just bawling the first time we went to Nauvoo. That is where I
gained my testimony in fact. I will always remember it. I am so thankful for
Joseph Smith, he was a prophet, and his words have SO much power. READ JSH this
week. Do it.
I love you guys!!! Life is good. Spanish is a struggle.
Always, Pero estoy tratando! Someday, hopefully I can get it. Right now, just
patience. One step at a time. I love you guys!!! Please tell me about your
lives when you can! I miss you all like crazy and pray for you daily!!!
Love, Elder Carney
Oct 7, 2015 General Conference
Hola mi familia!
Wow. This week. General Conference.
Guess what? I GOT TO WATCH IT IN ENGLISH!!!!! It was amazing!!! Praise the
Lord. At first they didn’t have anything set up, because honestly nobody cares
and the members can be brutal, but I freaking asked around and asked the stake
president and they had a TV set up in English just hidden in a closet, in this
little room. SO me and elder Maciel from Uruguay watched it in English!!! His
English is pretty good and it’s SO much better in English than it is a
translator’s voice. I really needed that spiritual boost, really bad. I screwed
up in a lesson and told them, Tenemos conferencia GENIAL which is awesome,
instead of GENERAL, but hey, it is awesome, both work!!!
I loved it. I never needed it more
in my life. I just soaked up every word in I could get. My favorite talks were
from Holland about mothers, man I teared up hardcore, I just wanted to hug you
mom! And then Allen D Haynie about being clean, and Neill F Marriott, the women
(which I didn’t fall asleep) she did an amazing job, super sincere and I just
loved the motto, It will all work out.
That might be the motto for my life.
For every day here and for all that can occur, both good and bad. No matter
what, it will all work out.
The language, man. I just at some
points want to give up. It’s so frustrating. It’s frustrating when others don’t
understand too. I am here, 19 year old trying to share my testimony, my love
for this beautiful thing and I can’t! I feel like I am going backwards
sometimes too, like my progress is decreasing and it’s been hard this week. I
feel stagnant and I hate that feeling. But hey, it will all work out. All is
well. I know I can do it. I will NOT be able to do it without the Lords help, I
know at some point, heck might take 2 years, and I will be able to speak with
people. For now, just riding the struggle bus!
One of our investigators Jaqueline
is getting baptized this Sunday!!!!! Super excited! She is 15 and she is just
amazing. I didn’t do anything, me and my comp didn’t, it was purely God. She is
incredible. But my comp extended his mission to train me (just 6 weeks) and he
never baptized anyone here, and she asked him to do it and it was really cool,
I feel like he was meant to stay here and I am happy for him to have this, he
just cried when he found out.
So yeah, one of our guys in our
department (apartment) got changed, Elder Maciel (mi amor) he is the best, love
that guy. But now we have a new guy who, guess what, is finishing his mission
with not only my trainer in 6 weeks, but also his companion, which means, I am
killing (means they are leaving) 3 PEOPLE. 3 people in my house, gone. These
are their last weeks. And yeah, that either means they are whitewashing our
sector which I will stay in, OR they are cutting the other dudes half of the
sector and giving it to just 2 people, me and some other person. Really
intimidating. Like super. But all is well! I guess we will see! Heck I’m still
clueless when it comes to my sector, but I know I can do anything!!!! We will
see!!!
Well, much love familia! I love you
all so much. SO much. Here are some of my favorite quotes from conference
He understands it all. Perfectly.
It{s for all of us. All who will ask
for it.
If you want more, reach up, not
across.
HALFWAY DONE WITH TRAINING (praise
the lord.)
Elder Carney
SHALOM!!! Oct.
14, 2015
Hello Familia!!!!
Wow. This week. Hmmm what a crazy one. I don’t know where to
begin. We had a baptism!!!!!!!!!!! We baptized Jacqueline Gonzalez, a 15 year
old we have been teaching, well God has been teaching. She is incredible.
Truly. Like I feel like I didn’t even teach her, she just already knew
everything. So she got baptized!!! And my comp did it too, in which he extended
his mission to train me and this was his first baptism in the whole mission,
and she asked him to do it and so that was an answer to his prayers. Her
family, I just love. They are incredible. The mom is less active but has been
coming back to church and just, I just love their family!!! So the baptism was
incredible, oh and we ALSO got to clean the font beforehand. IN which that
thing probs hasn’t been used in like, over a year. No joke. There were dead
cockroaches and just filthy. It was disgusting. I was a little mad, haha, just;
hmmm this hasn’t been touched at all...so turns out missionaries are maids
also. And the font took 10 hours to fill up also. Yeah, but she is
incredible!!!
What else. Chile won against Brazil in futbol, sorry not
sorry Danny!!! Haha Chile killed Brazil. Guess we know what the true promised
mission is.
Oh, the weirdest thing happened. I was walking down the
street this past Sunday and I said hola to a guy I was walking past, and saw
his shirt that had an eagle and Dakota Ridge Basketball, this polo shirt, and
at first I was like, hey cool, Dakota. Then it hit me, I was like, WHAT THE
HECK!?!? And it had the D-ridge eagles and everything; I like stopped and just
kind of freaked out!!! Like, hey, that’s my high school, in Chile!!! Haha the
weirdest thing....so weird! SO yeah, this one old Chilean dude with no teeth is
rooting and supporting Dakota Ridge!!! Haha SO WEIRD!!!
The weather has been raining here, and just kind of weird. I
don’t know, its throwing me off. My mood especially. But all is well!! It
should be super hot, but nope, it’s been the opposite. It’s a lot like
Colorado, hot and sunny some hours then next it turns.
This Pday we went bowling as a district and it was super
good! Then we went to the mall and stuff in the Oeste Mission and went inside
the Nike store...yeah, never again. Gosh, I was so trunky. Just saw Nike shoes
and all Nike and normal clothes and I got SUPER sad for a moment, just, I
wanted to wear normal clothes!!! And to top it all off, their was track and
field, the Beijing 2015 meet going on and with races and everything, I just
couldn’t do it. IT KILLED ME!!!
Anyway, it is happening. My house, I have 3 missionaries
leaving, I am killing 3 missionaries, they are going home in November the next
change, and yeah, my sector is being cut. SO it will just be me, my other comp,
and with the other guys sector as well as mine. It’s stressful and
intimidating, a lot. But you know, I can do it! I have the Lord on my side. Lost,
yes I will be. But all is well!! I am not going to worry about it now.
So I decided my mission, my mission goal, is to submit my
will to God. Yeah sounds weird, but I want to change. I feel like I need too.
It’s going to be really hard, like an internal battle constantly. But I want
to. I feel like I have already changed a little, but I don’t want to go home
the same. I want people to see Christ like attributes that I have developed. I
know it’s going to be hard, it already is. But I know I can. I wrote on my
wall...So trusting my all to thy tender care, and knowing thou lovest me, I´ll
do thy will with a heart sincere; I´ll be what you want me to be.
Yeah so that’s my challenge for you all. To do it with me.
Because we all can become a little more like Christ, no matter what. Yeah, we
will never be perfect, but we can strive to become more like him. To submit our
will, our heard hearts, our firm minds, to his. To COME WHAT MAY AND LOVE IT. I
love you all. It’s hard being a missionary. But it’s also amazing. I love it! I
miss you all and pray for you daily!!! LOVE. LOVE. LOVE.
Elder Carney
