February 17th, 2015

Okay people gather around and put your reading glasses on...

And, begin.

1. We biked from Post Falls, ID to Coeur d'Alene, ID.  It was nuts!! 

2. I jumped a huge jump on my bike and ate dirt. HARD. 

3. We have plans to bike to 'MLC' a missionary meeting in Washington Spokane, it's 25 miles  and it is going to be sweet! 

4.  We met some sweet people..like a lot. 

5.  We got dumped, dropped, and screamed at and then the next day the lady that screamed at us gave us cookies, and we ate them! I don't quite know why because they could have been poisoned but that was an after thought.  Whoops! 

6.  I took a lot of pictures. You are welcome.  

7.  I got my trunkies (i.e the papers that tell me i am going home and when i leave .. June 1st  no surprise there)

8. We had Stake Conference and there were a lot of really great talks and some answers to my prayers.  
 

We had a great last two weeks and are having fun and working hard and loving the work. I hope you all have a great week and keep it real. Wear out those knees, work hard and pray your brains out. 

Love Elder Joshua Braman 

 Just a normal picture of me at the city park. 

My companion and I competing at a bike fight. A bike fight is where two people go head to head and battle it out on a stationary bike for 60 seconds and see who can peddle the longest distance.

 On someones door.  I added my special touch.

 ????

February 2nd, 2015

One knows they are in Northern Idaho when at testimony meeting when a man stands up and says, "I'd like to say a few words about chickens..."  Also, when did everybody start hating Mormon? 

Transfers were last week and I am now living in Post Falls, Idaho and we live on a freaking golf course!!  It's a hoopty golf course in fact!! Like, over the top fancy!!!

The work is going well we are in a finding mode, nothing but trying to find new investigators.  This area is new & hasn't had missionaries in it for a long time so its been fun to start from scratch and meet TONS of new people. Miracles are every where and its strengthened my testimony a great deal.

My companions name is Elder Haws from Provo, Utah  He is weird its a good weird..like me.. we work very hard and teach really well with each other (at least we think we do) but we have way too much fun together. And he talks in lessons!!  That's kinda a new thing for me, the last couple of my companions didn't talk much. 

Our ward is interesting. Lets put it that way... maybe it is just me or the fact that I just came from a ward that understands missionary work and the auxiliaries all worked together with the bishop, or maybe its just the bishop here, but either way the work is moving forward and each area is hastening in there own different ways. 

Hope you're all still alive and kickin... thanks to my sister Lauren keeping count I only have 119 days left... no worries though I am still going strong and working my tail off.  I'm not planning on slowing down until I'm done here. 

Love Elder Joshua Braman ...     

or as my other tag says Brayman (I was just tired of people of getting my name wrong :) 

PS. I am fat, 220...... not cool!!!!  Don't worry mom, I'm being well fed here! 

January 26th, 2015

Hello (insert name) how are you?  

I am well, thanks for asking, EXCEPT FOR THE FACT I AM GETTING TRANSFERRED!! ugh  Okay, time to be real for a second.  The one thing I hate about being a missionary  is; here lets put you in this place and then you will learn to love the people and you basically have a new family and then, we will rip your heart out and make you go to a new place and then once you really, really love them and the missionary work is going really well...then we'll do the same thing all over again except this time it will be your heart and your liver...

Goodbye Dishman Mica Ward, my heart and liver will always be with you. 

I am being transferred to Post falls Idaho Second Ward and my new companions name is Elder Haws.  I actually knocked doors with him on his first day so I already know him. Weird, eh? 

This week was great, I will give you a series of events that happened this week 

I ate really good Chinese food a member cooked.

I got bit by a dog again... 

When I packed last night I fit all my stuff in to two suit cases instead of three.

I finally got Elder Li to eat peanut butter, he almost threw up.

I got to see a bunch of other missionary's who I know, that was cool. 

I will be sad to be leaving this area and the people.  I will miss them very much and once again my heart, and liver will always be with them.

I hope you all have a great week!!

Love ya,

Elder Braman

January 6th, 2015

Hello people I never email :/ that's my bad but I am doing it now and I have a lot to cover so it will be fast and wild a little bit of ADD in there as well... shocking, eh?

Christmas here in Washington Spokane was sadly a brown one and there wasn't much  to write home about weather wise that week so sometimes I feel like Christmas never happened.  This week it snowed about 6 inches but as I type it is melting, dumb.  City life... Christmas was great, we had a eventful morning between Elder Li face timing  to China at 5 in the morning, two breakfast's and the my highlight was talking to my family!! That was the best ever. It was good to talk to them but really weird because the next and last time I Skype with them I will be seeing them in a couple weeks later which will be weird.  

After Christmas was good still working hard and then to news years and we watched THE BEST TWO YEARS it was good just felt bad to sit for that long, I like to stay busy doing missionary work! 

We ate a bunch of dang good food n then went home.  But the next morning I was sick, I thew up until my little stomach almost died, and then I was fine. And then I got a really bad case of strep throat and it swelled really bad and was having trouble breathing.  I went to the ER and they doctored me up and the next morning  back to work and loving life!  I am doing better now still a sore throat and headache but that will go away eventually, eh?   

Those are my highlights for the last few weeks, its been fun and its been some wild missionary work but it is going well!  We are having a lot of successes and we are working hard and loving it!  Our minivan's horn broke and sounds funny, ads some humor to our days!  

Elder Li and I are doing well, the language barrier is still weird but I just put my nose down and keep going and he will follow and learn the language. He is doing better and better each day, this week he learned compaction and compassion.. those to words sounded the same to him but are definitely not!  

I hope you all have a great week!!  

Love You All!!!

 Elder Joshua Braman 

December 8th, 2014

This week was great! Still no snow or cold but rain and meh... clouds.  We did a lot of finding this week and had some success the Christmas video that the church put out. "He is the Gift" has been a great asset to us, its an amazing video and really brings the spirit. I love asking people how Christmas makes them feel and then telling them that good feeling, that is most the spirit and they can feel like that year round. With Christmas right around the corner people are crazy, there are people every where and stores are packed. 

Our ward is awesome, we had a Christmas party and there were so many people there!  It was a great time to eat food and to fellowship. 

Transfers are coming up this Sunday :(  Elder Toner and I have been in Dishman Mica ward for twelve weeks which is usually the max so we are wondering who is leavening. I venture to say I am gone but ya never know, Elder Toner could leave or the best, we both could stay!!!! 

Our Christmas tree we got is sweet!! We got more lights for it and made a better stand and a star out of a metal coat hanger,  its way cool!! 

The sister's missionaries I came out with go home in 6 days, that is a weird thought and one which makes me feel old.  Another weird thought is I have been out on my mission for a freakin long time!  It is sweet to see how my testimony has grown and the great experiences I have had over the last year and a half. I love the Lord and am thankful for the sacrifice he made for me.

Love Elder Joshua Braman  

#sharethegift

December 1st, 2014

Hello!

This week was great !   Like way great, I can barely write it all down it's so awesome!! 

We found a lot of new investigators this week and a few were from our members..crazy story.. ready...go! We have had this member take us out and go with us a lot.  His name is Dan Kerns, and he found and invited a lady to meet with us all on his own. He said the spirit wouldn't leave him alone!  Now shes on date for baptism the tenth of January!! 

Thanksgiving was great.  We went to some awesome peoples houses and enjoyed the day.  I learned my lesson from last year and only scheduled one dinner appointment instead of four, but we did eat a lot of pie!

My testimony this week is of prayer and how the Lord will answer our prayers even if we think they are small and insignificant, the Lord still cares and will always answer our prayers. The answers will come, sometimes they wont be as direct as we would like but he will always answer prayers.  That's what I know and I love!!

Love Elder Braman

November 24th, 2014

Let me start off by telling you how spoiled I am. I got to visit with my Uncle Todd whom I love very much! Our visit was last p-day, it was awesome and not to mention my cousins were there as well so double awesome! And then Sister Reimer (my cousin) came to our baptisms on Saturday so I got to see her again, too!!  See, told ya I am spoiled. 

We are teaching some awesome people, one of them is doing missionary work for us which is sweet each time we teach her she always brings someone. Another lady we are teaching the new convert lessons to. She has so much faith it blows me away sometimes how trusting she is in the Lord and it humbles me to be able to teach her and her family. 

This week biking and black ice have proven to be a great thing to make us laugh, just randomly your companion will drop right in front of you, it makes for a fun time! 

For thanksgiving we have two appointments to eat dinner and supper,  then many many desert appointments a lot of left over  dinner appointments!  

We have been doing a lot of member work and visits which has increased our member involvement in lessons which has helped our investigators tons!  

I love my mission and the church is true!!  But just knowing that wont save you that's why ya gotta live it and love it! 

I hope you all have a great week!!

Love you all, 

Elder Joshua Braman