May 5th, 2014

Dear family, friends, freaks, fellow Americans and foreigners alike.
To my sisters, my parents, ward members, creepy stalker people, and associates, and lovers, and those people I just talk to but have no real connection with. To all of them, and you other people left over, I say hello!!

This week was Fast Sunday, we had some really neat and really great testimonies.  A brother in the ward stood up and told me I was next to bear mine after him, I was surprised but hey I didn't argue. All week I had been thinking about perspective and how many people are different.  I have also been thinking about agency (the power to choose) and how we use our agency and the effects it has on others. Obviously none of us try to negatively effect others but sometimes, due to our different perspectives, we might actually damage someone.  So how does one solve this conflict to know if, what, and how they are doing things the right way?  President Thomas S Monson said,  ''When God speaks and man obeys that man will never be wrong ''.  Pretty freaking cool!   So, we never have to worry if what we are doing is right as long as we follow Gods commandments.  Our perspectives? Well we wont have to worry about them because if we keep them at an eternal perspective then it will be easier to follow Fathers commandments. 

Had a great week loving the mission, still wild and crazy this week!  We had a drunk guy smell our ties!! Haha, it was so funny!!!!

Anywho, this was kinda short, I can't think of to much more right now. 
 Take care have a great week! 
God Bless!! 

Elder Braman 

   I made some home made from scratch, not a precooked bag  chicken wild rice "stuff".

 Super good and thick as mud! 

 View of the Colombian River from a high place, the water level is low   

 I think I was dancing at this point..

 Hahahah not what ya think..

Yes, snow on top of Sherman Pass, in May!

March 31st, 2014

Well, one week until transfers! I am hoping to stay but doubt I will since I have been here for so long. We had a good week filled with a lot of appointments and a lot of service.  We did a total of 24 hours of service in one week! 

We had a district meeting at Cascade Falls and a taught an investigator lesson in a barn... literately a barn, not a shed.  It was great, manure everywhere and everything. Now one may ask why the heck was it in a barn?  We went over to teach him and he had to run out to do chores quick and so we helped him.  While we were working I asked what his hold ups were, what was slowing his progress from coming closer to Christ? He paused and said a weird thing.  He said, ''I feel like I cant be a normal person and a Mormon at the same time"  I asked how so and he said, "No Mountain Dew and no tv".  My reaction was of course a snicker and an odd look but we taught him how it actually is. He thought because we as missionaries cant watch tv and because I don't drink Mtn Dew, that he couldn't do those things either.  But it lead me to a train of thought, in all reality being a follower of Christ is normal and doing those things makes us feel normal because its what he did and that is the example he set.  When we follow his teachings and example we receive blessings which make us feel happy which in turn gives us that normal feel, HAPPY!

I have for sure only one week left in Republic for sure so next week you could get pictures of me with people saying good-bye. All in all I've had a good week this week and we have a great week planned this coming week! 

Take care! 

Miss and love you all!! 

Love Elder Braman 

 Snow pictures from my favorite road to drive .. Good old Trout Creek 

 Pretty sweet looking tundra stuff  

 Big water balloon we chucked off this bridge into the river below. 

This bridge is where we chucked it off of 

a very Minni .......Minni Cooper 

March 24th, 2014

I don't have a lot of time today but I wanted to share the love with some pictures.

I'll try to write more next week.  Thank you for all who have been writing, I enjoy the letters!

Elder Joshua Braman

 That would be me (Joshua Braman) at the head of a mine shaft pretty neat, eh ? 

 Elder Padilla got a cowboy hat and it fits him way to good, I laugh every time he wears it!!

 I thought we would take pics to look cool! Elder Padilla looks like a stud, hahaha!

Elder Rawson and I representing with the gas mask on oh ya!

 Every body needs a gas mask including the missionaries!

March 17th, 2014

Well its been two weeks since I have written so I have a lot to say but only a little time to do it so this will be more jam packed with info and not as many details. 

Last p-day we went hiking up in Canada to Cascade Falls to watch the spring run off, it was pretty sweet. On the way back we saw a herd of rams and mountain goats/sheep! We saw two of them head butt, it was really neat.

On Wednesday we had district meeting on top of a mountain!  I tied a bunch of primary chairs on my back and we all hiked up there and on the way up we had questions we had to answer, you could only take steps higher if you got them right!  And once we got up there we role played some lessons, did some training and learned some neat stuff! Best district meeting ever!!

We had some great lessons this week and found a few new investigators.  Our less active work has slowed down a bit...people and there agency, I tell ya.....  Our four solid progressing investigators are doing good . One doesn't  think he needs to be baptized and the other doesn't like this branch and wont be baptized into it but is waiting to be baptized when he moves (in two months).  The other is going slow and steady and will eventually be baptized.  The last has been ''baptized '' into another church and wants to just be a Mormon and not be baptized again, it's an odd situation but they're all doing good and coming closer and closer to there savior each day and that's all that really matters in the end right? 

Well I am out of time, take care have a good week!

Don't do anything I wouldn't do! 

Love you all Elder Braman 

 This mountain is out side of Republic and apparently that is where a lot of Indians were buried. 

 The rams we saw while we were in Cascade Falls in Canada.

Me with a chair back pack, we needed chairs for district meeting.

 The best district meeting ever on top of Morning Rock!!  

March 3rd, 2014

Happy March! 

This week was a great week,  we drove many miles in these last few days  for a few reasons.

One we both are sick and nobody wants to meet with us because of that. Instead we drove around to all the people who don't answer their phones and we knocked on their doors and tried to meet with them. Other reasons we drove a lot is because I let Padilla do all the planning since we had more miles this month and we drove to one place back to another right by the place we just were and well, Padilla is a work in progress!

On one of these excursions we were driving to contact a referral and on the way we were going around a sharp corner and there was ice and we already were slowing down, like 20 mph and then, boom!  Right there in the road was a rock the size of a watermelon and we had no choice but to hit it and then we had a flat.  I made Elder Padilla change it since he had never changed a flat tire.

All in all this week was fun we deep cleaned the apartment because we were sick we had to stay in the apartment, that only lasted for a few hours. We also did a few service projects and lets face it, since when has splitting wood not been fun?   Those are some things that made this week great 

Announcement!  As you know today's date is March Third ...  so that being said if you don't know today March 3rd  is Ms Toria Bigham's birthday, 19 whole years ago her cute little dome piece took her first breath on this earth! So shout out to her.... Happy Birthday Chief! So if you all want flood her phone or facebook. Go ahead and do such a thing ...

This week we also had a few good lessons with our investigators and less actives. A couple more good lessons and such with one of our investigators and I think he will pick a date for baptism.   It's winter time so any bit of snow is an excuse for people not to come to church so there are good Sundays and bad ones and by bad ones I mean slow where only 40 people come to church .... 

Today i have been out 9 months exactly which is crazy! Time flies when your having fun right? 

Thanks for all the emails and letters, I always enjoy hearing from all of you. 

Have a great week and stay safe. 

Love Elder Joshua Braman 

 Our Jeep with the flat tire.

 I turned the lights on at like 2 am and this is how my companion was sleeping hahaha!

We came upon this little guy. Who doesn't want to build a snow man in the middle of a lake?

February 24th, 2014

Another great Transfer in Republic and I am staying here with Elder Padilla, there will never be a dull moment with him!

This week was crazy as usual we finally have a good teaching pool again a lot of our people came back and we have two new investigators so they are keeping us busy along with less actives and member visits.  Now onto spiritual stuff. We had three really great lessons this week with investigators .. not that the others were not great but that lesson was just really good. # 1 One investigator took a turn for the better when we were just about to drop them due to not progressing but then BAM  the spirit did its thing! :)  #2 is a guy we found through street contacting and he is super legit, not interested in being persuaded in changing religions at this time. We said, "Perfect we will do the informing and let God give you your answer, that is all we ask!"  He said that he could do that so we just had our first lesson with him and it went great   #3 we had been spinning our tires with an investigator and we had what I call a  "Come to Jesus Meeting '' and we were frank and we asked questions and such .. pretty much now we are all on the same page!

 

Now to some fun stories.  We went to contact some referrals this week  and I will just want you all to know that contacting or let alone just finding a new address here is way crazy!! (especially since my GPS broke) So now we get maps out and such and luckily I have a good sense of direction so that helps a little. Between odd sets of directions and roads that the GPS knew the names of but there no posted signs, it makes for some interesting times!!  On this particular day we were following the directions correctly and the road got narrow and then the snow got deep.  It was to late to turn around so we keep going pushing snow in front of our jeep and trying to stay on the packed part where vehicles have gone before.   I was looking for a turn around at this point or the house that was suppose to be here by now and there was nothing and no place to turn around and deep ditches on both sides!   The packed snow was pushing us on and off and some how we didn't sink all the way down to get fully high centered!!

The bad part dun dun dun ... so the packed snow pushed us off due to two different ruts and than BAM, we were high centered and spinning aimlessly and in the middle of no where.   We were on the top of Vulcan Mountain Road Curlew, WA, no one around.  Lucky me I wasn't in proselyting clothes and I had a machete with me so we cut down a bunch of little pine trees, dug out the under part of the Jeep and dug trenches behind the tires, filled everything with pine bowels to spread our weight to help us get out.  Elder Padilla isn't strong enough to push a car out and he is from Arizona, he has no clue how to drive a car to get it unstuck from a situation like this in the snow (it takes skill and throttle control ).  I put him in the driver seat and with trial and error and a lot of learning and me pushing with all my little heart, we got out!  Elder Padilla was pumped and he just learned a new skill!  And we were saved!!  But ya two hours to get unstuck  with only a machete :)  After we got out we then we had to back out in reverse for four miles, I kept track but it was the longest back out ever!!

Now you may ask, "Josh you have AAA why not call a wrecking service?"... ahhahaha  no cell coverage! And its not like we could have walked to a house for help because the last 6 or so houses we past didn't have a car,  they were just little shacks.  Good times!

We also found a sweet place to go climbing and see mountain sheep. There are even stairs at one point so we can get even higher .. but not to worry we only climbed half of it and then we will do the rest next p-day with the Canadian Elders.

 On march third is my 9 month mark which is crazy!  I can't believe it's already been 9 months, time is flying out here in the mission field! 

All in all I am doing good, having fun, and trying to do great missionary work.  I hope you all have a good week!  Thank you for all the pictures of little ones and all your cute faces!  Stay safe and warm and do something crazy this week!

Enjoy the pictures!  Nothing to specific, just fun stuff we've seen lately!

Love you all,

Elder Joshua Braman 

Curlew Mountain

We had a trip down to Colville for Zone meeting and on our way down we took  Mustache pictures and some weird videos but ya that was fun to have the trip over the pass made interesting!!!

February 3rd, 2014

Hi there kids! 

Due to messed up schedules in the past with odd p-days and what not, this last week has been taking forever to pass by, not a bad week just a slow week time wise. 

This week we are going to the Temple and I am excited for that, its been more then a month since I have last gone so I cant wait to go again! 

Story time!  We moved apartments this week, we moved from apt 3 to apt 2.  It's smaller and cleaner and newer and freshly redone.  In the moving process we found out our couch was a hair to long so we had to cut the sucker in half (pictures included below).  A knife and a saws-all worked wonders, it was a good time. 

We had a less active drop us this week it was a interesting phone call  it started with a good conversation and kept up for like ten mins  then he got in to how bad life is and I asked if he was still reading and praying, he said "nope".  The conversation  round about lead to him telling us he's not in to religion or God right now yet he did say reading and praying helped yet he doesn't want to do it.  This led me, Joshua Braman, to an interesting train of thought.   I thought about it pretty much all day that how often do we as people know how to solve our problems and concerns yet we don't act on it or try harder and then we complain about being mad or sad as if the Lord has forgotten us.  This just goes to show ya don't stop reading or praying because that's the fastest way for Satan to get to ya!! 

Funny story!  Mostly makes me feel dumb. so I don't want to hear about this later, okay?  The Canadian elders come down to sleep over on the nights before we have a meeting in Spokane or Colville  because the the border does not open till 8am and our meetings usually start at 9am and we are all at least an hour or two away.  Any who, so Elder Rawson put his body soap in a empty dawn dish soap container so he doesn't have to pack the whole bottle when he comes to stay at our place over night.  His body soap has been like that, in our old dawn soap container, for months.  I knew that Elder Rawson did that and in the midst of the move Elder Padilla, who did not know this, took that soap (Old Spice Swagger to be exact ) and mixed it with our current bottle of dawn dish soap to make two half bottles on to one.  I didn't know that he'd done this.   For the past week we have washed our dishes with it and with out knowing, this morning Elder Rawson ask ''hey is my soap still down there?''  And I said that it was.  Elder Padilla than asked,  "what soap?"   We explained what soap to Padilla ....oh my we laughed and laughed so hard!!!  I was like "Ahhh this makes sooo much sense to why our dishes smelled so good and we all of a sudden had a full bottle of dawn dish soap!   I felt so dumb for not connecting the dots  but oh well it was the last thing on my mind while moving.  This also explains why I was sicker then a dog all week couldn't keep anything down!!  Let this be a lesson to you all  1. don't let your companion do the dishes because he wont notice if the soap smells like Old Spice Swagger  2. do not ingest Old Spice Swagger it gives you bubble guts!!   3. Don't be dumb.

Well, all in all I am doing great and loving it out here!  Its crazy how fast time flies by!   Have a really great week, stay safe and stay away from the swagger soap! 

Thanks for all the emails and letters!!!  

Love you all, taker easy! 

Love Elder Joshua Braman

Elder Padilla - Elder Sevigny 

Elder Braman - Elder Rawson

This is our district, we named it Divide Asunder!  We're a bunch of cool dudes with bad attitudes.  This picture is historic as it's the first time all four missionaries were in Canada at one time so we figured we shall take a picture of the awesomeness!

 Beautiful Washington.

Don't worry, Minnesota is still better. 

What do you do when the couch is to long to make the corner in to your new apartment?  Cut it in half :)  First we cut the fabric then we took the saws-all to all of the wood and such and then it made the corner just fine!  Hahaha it was good times!  I just remember our neighbor walking by and giving us the weirdest look hahah so so funny!   Only in Republic, WA. 

 As one can imagine, once we cut the couch in half we needed a way to put it back together.  Nothing that some screws and some brackets can solve in a situation like that.  We also wired back the springs together and sewed the leather back up slapped the cushions back on and you really cant tell from the front side! Now from the back?  Yeah it looks like a bomb went off!! Good times!  

Pictures of our new apartment

The view of Republic from our window.