May is going to be a wet month!

Here we goooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

Ok, so, to start out, gotta say thanks to grandma jeanie for the information about nathan and sean! SOunds like they are doing great...although i still havent received a letter from them yet. Gosh, i dont even know if they even received my letters...isnt south american postal service fun!Secondly, thanks grandfather for the awesome email, and all the information. Sounds like a winner! I cant wait to hear more. Braydon, glad you are having fun in the good ol OR, and good luck with the socal adventure.... Alright, i did receive the package with the rubiks cube last week, thanks mom! Its been great, and yeah, the peanut butter and gatorade has been awesome. Also thanks for all the great pictures and everything! As for what i want for my birthday, still just church DVDs CDs of MOTAB, Classical music, maybe Jacot could hook us up with some good CDs. Other than that, just more pictures and letters. Also, i am kind of missing cheezits and wheat thins. Some good old american food would be great. That would be cool.

Onnnnnnnnnn to the week. Last week wasnt that eventful. Thursday was zone conference in Sorocaba, and over the weekend we taught a lot. Oh, some cool stuff is that we have been getting a few less actives to come back to church. Sunday was a miracle day. Elder Cruz and I just didnt stop teaching! Usually what happens out here is you go to an appointment, its good, go to another, it falls, go to another, it falls, go to another, teach, others fall, etc. But, on sunday, everything held up, it was AWESOME! We have some awesome new investigators, and we have gotten a few more people committed to baptism! May is going to be a very wet month for the branch of Boituva. Very wet indeed. Monday was a division so that our zone leader Elder Pereira could come out to Boituva to give the baptism interview to Carlos. First off, that day was pretty exciting. I was working in Sorocaba with Elder Krugman from socal. It was a great day, we commited three people to baptism and taught some awesome other lessons. Plus, Elder Krugman is an incredible leader and I was able to learn a lot from him about being a missionary. Great experience. Anyways, Carlos passed the baptism interview with flying colors and will be baptized this saturday! WAHOOOO! Even the stake president is going to come out for the baptism and sing a song with his wife. Going to be pretty spectabulous.

Yesterday was just an awesome day also. I taught one of the most spiritual lessons of my life with Felipe, son of Carlos. He is 17 years old and has been going to church for a few weeks, but he is worried that if he enters the church he wont have time to continue with his studies and everything. However, last night the holy ghost was incredibly strong and just gave me word after word after word, truly filling my mouth and telling me what to say. Long story short, the promise in 2 Nephi 33:1 came to pass. What a lesson! Just for all of you to remember as well, you are a unique and special child of God, chosen to come forth at this day to fulfill your truly limitless potential.

Miss you tons. Give all a hug for me! Elder Squig

April 21 update - no pics this week

Hey Mom!!!

Sorry, today is coming in a little late because of some things that went down today. First off though, glad that you all ahd fun in San Francisco! Sounds like it was a blast....and no, i have never been to alcatraz...i did watch the movie The Rock though....so that ALMOST counts. HAha
And yes, i just got a package today!!!! With shorts peanut butter candy flash drive, it was awesome. Thanks mom! Saved my life haha. Gosh, it is kind of funny how obsessed i am with peanut butter these days....probably when i get home i am going to be obsessed with eating rice and beans (but dont count on it...ugh. rice and beans are alright, but seriously, every day does get a little bit tiring)

and for me to write anna i need her address...or should i just write home? is she still going to be staying with you guys this summer? glad to hear she was alright though.

just a quick shout out to caryn!!!! HI CUZ!!! HOPE YOU ARE DOING GREAT!!!

Ok, on to the semana.

This week was actually pretty awesome, to tell the truth. Elder Cruz and I taught like bandits (that is to say a lot...not illegally or anything) and we had a ton of spirtitual experiences. The best one was probably with a 18 year old girl that we are teaching named juliana. She is the friend of a member and has been going through tons of stuff recently. She already has a son and just split up with her boyfriend cuz of some other stuff, and she is between a rock and a hard place right now. But, we taught an incredibly spiritual lesson about the atonement on sunday, talking about how Christ did it for HER, and was thinking of HER specifically during those painful hours. Just the same as it applies to everyone, but i dunno why i said it, it was a true testament of the spirit filling my mouth and speaking through me. Then we invited her to baptism at the end of the lesson and she was like ´baptism?´ we said,´úh huh´ she said ´claro que eu aceito!´ being translated means of course i will be baptized! Pretty awesome. We have also been able to find some awesome new families and mark some other baptisms with people, plus it has been great really being able to talk to people this week, and start the healing process in whatever problems they may have...whether it is drug addiction, bad marriage, etc. It has been an awesome week.

Then, to cap it all off, we all went to sao paulo to the temple today! It was a great experience. It is always a lot of fun when you get a lot of missionaries together. Tons of great guys. And then yah, the temple is just an incredible experience. It is amazing the power of the spirit that you feel there...i was able to receive some answers to my prayers that i have been waiting for for a while, it was way wayyyy cool.

Elder Bry

Here are some kickin pictures from this week Obviously, one is of my with Evandro before he got wet Another is of me and the coolest little kid ever...Matheus. My goodness, he is a two year old with the vocabulary of a high schooler...some really funny stuff comes out of his mouth haha another is elder cruz and i celebrating with some awesome pizzaand the last is us both with evandro...but take a special notice at my hair...im turning blond! haha, pretty interesting.love you mom! glad that you liked my testimony this week and the story of evandro.

(Not necessarily in the right order)

Oh, I received an awesome set of drawings and a kickin letter from Sarbear! Thanks sarah! Hope the drawing keeps going well and keep me updated on that project of yours! And of course you can name that character Briggs! Wouldnt have it any other way. Oh, btw, sending a letter in return today Plus, thanks to the grandparents for the letter that I received from them and the good information about whats going on at home! It was great! Hope you two are doing great in Anacortes! Miss you guys. Also, I received all of those postcards that you guys sent from palm springs. There is a socal guy in my zone, and he was pretty excited to see all those pictures of places close to his house. Elder Krugman, what a silly b.Yah, Mothers day is going to be awesome! But, I have no way to be able to plan it like i was able to plan the christmas phone call. It is the sunday after transfers...so i might be in a completely different part of the mission! Honestly, i kind of hope so. I love Boituva, and I have some awesome investigators here and lots of people making the baptism commitment and accepting the gospel, but i have spent a lot of time here...and if i stay for the next transfer, odds are that i would stay for at least two more because of mission math (i dont know why i am trying to guess what is going to happen, cuz it is impossible to get it right).

Plus, for the birthday package, if you are starting to get it ready, I would love to receive some church dvds that i can share with investigators...of course it has to have a portuguese language option...all in a cd book instead of their regular cases for easier transportability.

But anyways, on to the week!!!!!So, this week was awesome...pretty crazy actually. It was the week of Evandro´s baptism!!! So exciting. You want to know the even better part? I performed my first baptism ever! So soooo cool. Evandro is going to be such a stud in the gospel. He is dead set on serving a mission and being a strong example in the church, especially in hoping that he gets his family into the gospel as well. But yeah, it was a great week. We ahve also been able to find some awesome new investigators this week and mark some more baptisms! Lets just say that there are going to be a lot of wet brazilians here in Boituva in May... soooo awesomeBut anyways, on to the story of evandros baptism. He was interviewed last week, and passed with flying colors. However, the difficult part was going to be getting the signature from the parents, has they are both from different religions that dont think too kindly about The Church.

Anyways, we went there last thursday night to talk with them about Evandros choice and what he really wants. It was a bit scary. At first they were talkinga bout how he is too young to know what he really wans, how it is a committment too large for him to take on at the age of 15. Luckily, Evandro was persistent the entire time saying that he KNOWS this is what he wants for his life and that he will stay consistent with the churhc. But, things didnt really change for the better until Elder Cruz and I both felt that we needed to teach the message of the restauration to the parents. My goodness, one of our best first lessons yet. The spirit was so strong. the mom was washing dishes, and at the part about joseph smith she stopped, and was just looking at us, listening intently. And then, when we got to the part of Moroni´s promise, she came over to the table to read the scripture promising that those who read the Book of Mormon and pray about it will receive the truth. Right after, the parents took Evandros baptismal papers and signed them, and promised that they would all go to the baptism on saturday. Was amazing. And then, the baptism went excellently. Such a spiritual experience for everyone. I am very very excited right now.

Once again, i will just bear my testimony about this work, that this is truly the work of the Lord, that ´marvelous work and a wonder´ spoken of in the scriptures. I have seen so many miracles in the lives of people it is incredible. I can say without any doubt that I know that this church is true, that it is His church on the earth, that Jesus Christ is our Savior, the Redeemer of Mankind. I am supremely grateful for my opportunity to dedicate this time of my life to the lord. I have really been able to come to an understanding of the scripture that says that those who lose their life for the saviors sake will find it. I testify that the gospel of christ has been restored to the earth and that we have a living prophet, a man with the power and authority and station of Moses, of Noah, of Adam, of Abraham, of Jacob, of Isaiah, of Peter. There is a plan for our lives, there is always hope. I love you moM! Miss you tons! Miss you dad! Miss you kels! Also, everyone else that is following the blog, i miss you too! Hope everything is going well with you guys and remember that you are all in my prayers. Elder Boo.

Kelsey's Birthday

HAPPY BIRTHDAY KELSEY!!!!

So, seriously, the first thing that ran through my mind this morning was `holy crap, my younger sister is a legal adult....Im getting old, you are 18, going to college, all that fun stuff. Doesn't time just fly. Man, I just barely graduated Summit, and Kelsey is already there as well.

Shout outs to Bishop Garrick, Bishop Sanborn, Mom, Grandma Jeanie, and assorted missionaries. Thanks for the awesome letters, I will try to get letters back to you soon.

And grandfather, thanks for the awesome emails and the advice. of course I will write you a letter...but I thought that I already did just recently...but who knows. And man, we got a STEAL for Cutler. Two first round draft picks, a third, and another QB?!?!? AWESOME

Ok, I definitely and trying to get personal and connect with people. Following the rules is great...but you don't have to be a stranger. Some missionaries lose this aspect of the mission, that people trust you more and you become a better missionary and a better teacher when you become integrated into the peoples lives...not just a wierd stiff that visits every couple days to talk about religion.

THIS WEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEK
The highlight was definitely general conference. It was pretty sweet. We made the good trip to Sorocaba to the capela de Trujilo to watch conference on Saturday and sunday. What was even better, was that they set up a room for us english speaking missionaries! WAHOO! Sure, it was broken for the first session of Saturday conference, (portuguese is cool, but just doesnt have the same feeling as english...there is only so much translators can do). But yeah, after it was fixed and I was able to watch the rest of the sessions in english. L. Tom Perry´s talk was definitely very good for all the members. REMEMBER HOW IMPORTANT IT IS TO GIVE REFERENCES. I think here in my mission, about 70% of the baptisms are from member references...and the rest are finds of the missionaries. Pretty crazy. It just helps a lot.

But, personally, my favorite talks were those by Jeffrey R. Holland, and the priesthood session talk by President Uchtdorf. But Elder Holland´s was amazing. The spirit that he gave talking about the last week of Christ´s mortal life was incredible. Everybody here had eyes glued to the tv, pens set down, and mouths hanging open. It was an incredible talk...and I learned a lot about missionary service and the inconceivable power at our dispense through prayer and faith. Amazing.

We had two investigators go to conference this past weekend. yep, you guessed it...Carlos and Evandro. Was great. Evandro was interviewed Monday for baptism and he will se batizar this saturday at 7 pm....if any of you can make it haha. But yeah, he is a very special kid and is going to be a great addition to the Lords Kingdom. He has already committed himself to serving a mission of his own in the future..what a stud. I think he will really help the branch here in Boituva. And Carlos, he will be baptized next month, 2nd of May. He is very excited and is an amazing person. Elder Cruz was just talking with me about this last night...Carlos and his family arent investigators anymore...they are like are grandparents and cousins...its incredible how much love they have for everybody. Truly a good example of what it means to be charitable.

Elder Bry

Allright, so, here we go on the photos...in backwards order....one of them is elder cruz and I eating my first chinese food here in brazil! We ate a a chain called China In A Box, it was pretty good..but a little bit pricey for missionaries. Another is just of Cruz and I in the house before church. Another is cruz and I in a bunch of trees, Another is me taking a classic sacred grove pictureand another is me and my zone right before transfers. Yee haw!

Ok, Im still in Boituva with Elder Cruz. I was scared that I was going to get transferred, but the Stake President likes us a lot and I am pretty sure put in a good word with President Cooley haha. Goodness, our stake president is hilarious. But yeah, I am still here in glorious Boituva, at least until May 6. I am pretty happy about it too. Elder Cruz and I have a great companionship going, and we ahve a lot of people we are hoping to get wet this month. I* will go more into detail about them in a bit.

So this week has been pretty interesting. Has a few highlights. First, I got to give another sacrament meeting talk. And not jsut a normal talk, but I was the 3rd speaker, meaning that I got to have fun making my talk longer than I prepared for haha. Anyways, my topic was amor ao próximo, aka love thy neighbor. Went really well, of course talked about the good samaritan, talked about Mosiah 2, talked about sermon on the mount, lots of good things. B Ut yeah, was pretty fun. Woot.

Another highlight is that we have another excellent investigator right now who I am pretty confident we will be able to baptize either this transfer or the next. Her name is Juliana. She is 18 years old and has a kid and isnt married, so that complicates matters a bit. BUT, she has been reading the book of mormon and praying and she has told us that she received the answers to her prayers and that she KNOWS that this church is true. Cool stuff. She is the friend of one of our members and yeah, its been good. (Hint Hint Kelsey, introduce your friends to the mishies) She has even committed to make the journey to Sorocaba with us this sunday to watch general conference! She is one of like 12 people that have said that they will go with us. Wahoooo.

Next, Evandro. I think i have already talked about him, our 14 year old investigator that wants to serve a mission and always calls me Bryan instead of Elder Briggs. I dont get it, he calls Elder Cruz Elder Cruz, but me, I told him my first name and he just wont let go of it haha. But yeah, he is a stud. We have a date marked for him next weekend, and even better, he is already committed in his mind to serving a mission. Plus, he is trying to learn english and i have had some fun teaching him things like Dude, whats up, and kowabunga.

Finally, Carlos and family. These guys are a golden family. It is very rare to find people as open and loving as they are. I am still way excited that we found them and that we are able to teach them and help them come unto christ. However, We have decided to push back their baptismal date a bit because the mom, Marli, still hasnt gone to church and we feel she needs to ´conhecer a igreja e desenvolver o testemunho dela um pouco mais.´ But, it is still great. This entire family also will be going to general conference with us, not just sunday but maybe saturday as well! yAHOO! I am soo excited for general conference.

The opportunity to hear the prophet and apostles of the Lord Jesus Christ is definitely something special. For some reason, it takes special impact for me now that I am on the mission. Sure, before the mission it was cool, but now it is one of my most awaited events! It is going to be awesome. It is an especially good mish opportunity, people can not help but feel the spirit when the prophet is speaking, and they understand really what the church is like, what it is all about. Also, its good for us in Boituva because we get to take our investigators to see a real chapel, and Brazilian chapels are amazing.

So, my invitation this week is for everybody to watch general conference this weekend...and to make the effort to not just watch at home but to go to the church and watch it there (at least for one of the sunday sessions), and perhaps take notes. Gosh, I cant wait.

H Ope everything is going great! Oh, could you ask grandma jeanie to send me a copy of my priesthood line of authority??

Oh, shout outs to Elder Kevin Walton...congrats on the success there in Tampa! Will try to get a letter out to you soon.

Also a shout out to Katrine, thanks for the heads up on the letter and have fun in Spain!

FOND FTW

Glad Kelsey has gotten those letters and that she is writing back and everything...it seriously makes a big difference in the lives of the missionaries... it is one of the only things that is a 100% guaranteed good day when you receive a letter from a girl haha....Goodness, just passed 6 months and I am already thinking about 1 year haha, need to control myself. Of course, tell Dale that I say hi, and to not mess up your computer too bad. Plus, I wanna know what games he is playing right now........Elder Bry