Josh's Mission Oct 28, 2013

Things sound so good. and It's good to hear about what is going on. We are having a devotional for the 100 years of scouting, but we aren't really involved with it. It is great to hear of some of people in the ward trying to come back to church it is so important that they can realize that the reason we go to church is not because we are perfect, but because we are not perfect. We go to church to learn, feel the spirit, repent, and to draw closer to our Heavenly father. we have a few Less actives that have the same problem, they feel like they can't come to church because of the things that they have done. and some of them don't want to meet with us because they realize that they are not doing what they should be and they feel guilty for what they have done and feel like they can't repent, so thank you mom for the quotes, i really think those will help.

Hard to hear about those who don't choose to listen to the gospel!   We have a problem with that as well. We meet so many people that say, oh I don't have enough time, or that they are too busy. I think how sad that is that they don't realize what they could have. and then I was thinking. am i like that. do I make excuses and say that I can't do this because of this reason? how many of realize what we have? We have the restored truth of Jesus Christ. We know that He is our Savior and that we can live with our families with Heavenly father forever. We know that we can repent of our sins and feel our savior's love. Will you help someone feel that love? will you think about the many blessings that they Lord has given you and express that Love by helping someone? Please let me know what happens, i would love to hear about your missionary experiences.

Things are going good. This week has been better. We were about to meet with a couple member families and talk to them about FFT's. I don't remember if I told you about that, but it's that the members need to be Finders, Fellowshippers, and Testifiers. but hopefully that will continue to progress, because i know that we can not do this work with out the members help. We have talked about sharing responsibilities, the missionaries and members. we are all missionaries and we need to be to help everyone feel and know of this wonderful message that we have. 

I don't know if the missionaries there have this problem, but we have a hard time getting meals and lessons with the members. will you invite the missionaries over for dinner some time and have them teach a lesson? 

our area is really big. it covers only half of the ward boundaries though. we stay mainly in Dubuque because we don't have the car every week, we share with the sisters in our ward. so we don't get to see most of the area. we live in a really compact neighborhood. the streets hear are crazy. elder dragon described it like this, it seems like a blind man drew the layout of the city. that's exactly how it feel. it's not a bad neighborhood though. the people are good. there are some crazy neighborhoods, near by though.

thank you dad. I really appreciate that. i love you so much and i am so grateful for your example, love and prayers. 

that's really good to hear about Chad, i've been thinking about him. i hope that he gets better. and that's crazy about candice! (I mentioned to Josh that Kandice - who is Nicaragua - cannot drink the water there and they don't have bottled water, so she has to drink soda, which she isn't fond of.  I told Josh because he isn't a great fan of soda either) 

I love you all so much and I am so grateful for you. i am so blessed to have a wonderful family who loves me and who can write to me. One last thing, will you pray for our investigators and our ward. we have a few investigators that really need help right now. we committed one guy, Tom, to be baptized on the 30th Nov, but he doesn't think that he'll be ready. He is really struggling. He has so much desire though, it's amazing. He wants to find out if it's true, but he doesn't thin he has the faith. and he doesn't think that he has ever gotten an answer to his prayers.

again, I'm grateful for you and your love. I love the scripture in Moroni where it is talking about charity, "Charity never faileth. wherefore, cleave unto charity, which is the greatest of all, for all things must fail - but charity is the pure love of Christ, and it endureth forever...wherefore pray unto the father with all the energy of heart, that ye may have charity." I know that that is true and that we can have charity for everyone around us, if we do the things that the Lord has asked us.

Love

Elder Broadbent

Josh's MIssion Oct 21, 2013

Things have been pretty good. We've been able to meet with some really great people the last week. We met with a man that has been a member for some time, but he has to work a lot, so doesn't come to church and when he can come, he finds an excuse not to. He knows that the church is true and he has great desire and faith, but for some reason he lacks the will power to endure to the end. He really is a great guy though. We also met with another less active who is Marseilles  works a lot, and doesn't really understand English, but the lesson that we had with him was awesome, the spirit was so strong. 

We have a new investigator as well, his name is Tom. He is really curious and has so many questions, but he doesn't really want to be baptized right now. The first lesson we had with him we talked so much about his life and what he's been through and we also talked about how we know that the gospel will bless his life. it was really great. We also met with an older couple who were taught back when blacks couldn't receive the priesthood, so they weren't baptized, but they are so great. Last night we stopped by just to make a return appointment and they let us right in and gave us dinner. and we talked with them for a while, it was really great and I hope that they will see that making time for the gospel will bless them, that's what they really struggle with, and hopefully we can rekindle that fire they had before.

Thank you for the letter from trudy's daughter, i've actually been think what are some things that I need to change so that the Lord can work through me better, and I know that that was my answer. thank you so much family for your love and support. I truly am blessed to have such a wonderful family who is so strong in the faith. 

this past week we have been talking about how we can get members more involved and we are going to call and talk to a bunch of our members to teach them more about missionary work. What can you do to further the work of the Lord? Our mission President has a little saying that we are using to help the members, it's FFT's. We need members who Find, Fellowship, and Testify. will you all Find some that you can Fellowship and Testify to them of the truths that we have? and then invite them to meet with the missionaries? 

I love you all so much and i really am grateful for all of you. A scripture that I really love is D&C 101:16 " All flesh is in mine hands; be still and know that I am God" I love that! this week I have been really working hard on being still and listening to the Spirit. I love you, thanks again for your love and support.

Elder Broadbent

Josh's Mission Oct 14, 2013

Hello family!

It is so good to hear from you. I really can not contain my joy to hear that all is well with you. I wish that I could have gotten to call you at the airport, but I was the Zone leader and had to make sure that everyone else got to call before I did and then there wasn't time, but that's okay, I can wait till Christmas. I love you all so much and I really am glad that things are good for you. the house looks great! that will really be awesome when it's all done.

This week has been great! I'll just start at Wed, because before that not much happened at the MTC. So Wednesday when we arrived in Iowa, Pres and Sister Jensen were waiting for us at the airport. they are so great! they have a wonderful spirit about them and really remind me of family, Uncle Steve and Dave and you as well dad. and sister Jensen is has a lot of energy, i know that I will come to love them more and more. On thrusday, we drove to Iowa City, we were at the mission home in Des moines, for transfer meeting. we all got together and I met my companion for the first time, elder Dragon. I instantly knew that we would work well together, have our challenges, but that we would be able to do the work the Lord has for us. We live in Dubuque. it's right on the Mississippi, on the east border of Iowa. our ward covers a lot of ground, but there aren't that many members yet. a little less than our ward i would say. it goes about 20 miles in to Illinois and the 40 back into Iowa in a square. the bishop is great. 

When we got home, my first lesson was with a former investigator who wasn't keeping commitments, but is really nice. an older gentleman that can't walk and feels like he can't really do what the Lord want's him to do because of it, but hopefully we can help him to understand that he can. we've met with a family that is really interested in the gospel and we're hoping will be baptized soon if they can come to church and quit smoking. smoking is a huge problem here in dubuque, so many people smoke. elder dragon and his former companion didn't have much success, for what ever reason, but him and his trainer did and e. Dragon wants to get back to where he was at before, with his trainer. we are going to try and really work with the members, because they have a hard time really committing to missionary work. they have the desire, but need help know what to do. so we will help them. 

Just a few things that I should tell you:

when sending letters or packages make sure to send them to the mission home. the address is:

Elder Joshua Broadbent

Iowa Des Moines Mission

8515 Douglas Ave. STE 19

Urbandale, IA 50322- 2924

packages should be sent first class or priority. not us UPS or FEDEX. and Christmas mail should be sent by DEC 15.

It's already starting to get cold here, but the weather is really nice. during the night though it gets cold. 

I love you all so much. I really can't tell you that enough. as you go throughout this week will you each try to do something better? will you try to serve someone that you haven't? and will you try to find someone for the missionaries in the stake to teach and give the referral to the ward mission leader. I know that the only real way that this work will continue to progress is through the help of the members. 

A quote that I love from general conference is "doubt your doubts, before you doubt your faith." I know that that is true, and I know that as you keep your faith centered in Christ, He will bless you. 

I love you all so much,

Elder Broadbent 

oh, one thing that I forgot to tell you. there are a lot of marshalese people here, people from the marshal islands. we actually have a marshalese speaking elder in our district. and I've already learned how to say hello and an expression of frustration. hello id yakay (pronounced yag way) and arare ( i think that's how you spell it) ( that one is hard to explain how to say it's like are rawr)

Josh's first two letters! Sept 26 and Oct 2 2013

Hello everyone!!

Well I was going into withdrawals not having Mary's letters - and truthfully I was a bit worried that Josh's letters would be - well quick and not so inspiring - well boy was I wrong!!  I don't know if he will keep this up but the first two letters are great!!  He wrote the first one the day after he got to the MTC but didn't mail it until the 30th - so we received two letters in two days!  I'm pretty sure he won't be able to write next Wednesday because he heads to Iowa that day so it will likely be more than a week before we hear from him again - oh well!

Please let me know if you do not want to keep receiving these emails!

I hope you are all doing great!!  Thank you so much for all your love and support!! 

Laurie

Sept 26, 2013

Dear Mom, Dad and family,

I made it through the first couple days!  Everything has been so great!  I have a wonderful companion, Elder Harper.  I can tell already that he is going to be an amazing missionary, help to me and blessing in my life.  He is so on top of things and pumped to do the Lord's work.

   The Spirit here is absolutely amazing.  It's like nothing I've ever felt before and I love it!  I want to tell you that I was anxious as we pulled in the parking lot and down pass the swarm of missionaries, but as soon as I stepped out of the van I felt a calm and reassuring feeling from our Heavenly Father.

    I am just so excited to be here doing what the Lord wants me to do.  Yesterday as I lay down for bed, I marveled at the day's events and how much I've already felt the spirit bless and help me.  And all through today I felt different than I have have.  I can already feel a change within me and it is awesome.  I feel like I should tell you about the investigator that we met today and that we will be teaching.  Dale is a great guy who has a lot of qualities.  He feels like he doesn't know what he should be doing.  He doesn't have the greatest of families and doesn't believe in God because of that.

   It made me realize how blessed I am to grow up in the gospel and to know that I have a loving Heavenly Father.  I am so grateful to you, mom and dad, for teaching me and helping out family to keep the spirit in our home.  Thank you all for your great faith, testimonies and prayers.  I really do love you and you want to know what?  I love Dale already, so much.  He is a wonderful son of our Heavenly Father.

    We've talked a lot about how I am doing what Christ would do if He were here.  It truly is a blessing and a privilege to bear His name as well as our family name over my heart.

    I really can't even describe how I feel right now.  This is so natural and it feels like I've been out for at least a week.  Not in the sense that's it's taken forever, but that there is no way I've experienced all of this and done anything I have in only 2 days.  It's unreal but amazing!

     I know that this is right, that I am here right now for a reason.  I know that what I am doing is real and that the spirit's teaching real people.  I love this Gospel so much and I already love this work, so I can't wait to have that feeling in the field.  One thing that the Branch Pres said is that "You think you have a testimony?  Do you have a testimony?  I know you do.  By the end of this 2 weeks that testimony will grow more than you could imagine."

   I love you all!!  I love this Gospel!!  I know Christ lives, that Heavenly Father loves me and everyone!  I hope that I can feel that love for the people that I teach.  I love you and thank you for your support.

                      Love,

                           Elder Broadbent

Oct 2, 2013
What a wonderful week. As I'm sure you've noticed, my p day is Wednesday, but I'm not sure if that is how it will be in the field. I don't know if I can express the love that i feel from our heavenly father and the help that he has given me already in the past week. It has just been so amazing and I've realized just how much I need the spirit to really do His work. I hope that this makes sense, but I feel like i have been here for more than just a week. i feel like I have learned and grown so much in the last week, that it's hard to believe that I only left last Wednesday  Just think about it, I think that the reason for that feeling is because I have never learned so much and felt like I have grown in such a short amount of time. 

I just want to say thank you for being such a wonderful family. I have really felt your prayers of strength and comfort. I love you all so much. 

alright so I just want to tell you that I know that the lord puts us exactly where he knows that we need to be. My district is amazing! they are the greatest bunch of elders and sisters! they all have such strong spirits and I know that we needed to be together at the beginning to really kick us off good. One of the sisters, sister Malloy, was having a hard time the first few days, she got really sick and she asked if we would give her a blessing which we did (awesome by the way!!) but she was still feeling homesick and that something was wrong at home, she was thinking that she needed to go home, but on Sunday she did a complete 180 degrees flip and she is now helping all us more than she will ever know. at the beginning we all decided that we didn't want to have the plateau effect that some missionaries feel, and we almost did, but I know that sister malloy is the one that will keep us from having that and that she will help all of us to reach the higher standard that the Lord wants us at. 

it has just been such a great week and I can't tell you enough how much I love everyone already, how much the Lord has helped me, and how I know that this church is the the true gospel of Christ. I know that Joseph Smith was a prophet of God. He did see God the Father and His son Jesus Christ. He translated the Book of Mormon through the power of God and I know that the book of Mormon is the words of God through His prophets. I Know that Christ loves me, I know that he suffered, he bled, he died for me and that He was raised from the dead three days later. 

We had a devotional yesterday with elder David a Baxter (he came to our Stake Conference a couple of years ago -L), he is so awesome. I want to share something that He said " we are the Church of the New Testament, restored. We don't use the cross as our symbol because we follow a living Christ. we do not believe in a dead God." have you ever thought about how the LDS church doesn't have "symbol". If we did, what do you think it should be? oh, and he also brought up a lot of questions that I really felt like we will have to answer. will you all think of a question about our church that you want answered and pray about it? I would like to hear about it in your next letter.

i love you family. so much. you have been such great examples to me and I know that as we all continue to keep Christ as our example and to live as he would have us, that we will be blessed. I really do love this gospel so much and I can't tell you enough or express to you through words how much I love you.

One more thing that I need to tell you. At the beginning of the week, we were talking about a missionary in the field that was have such great success. He went from dead area to dead area and everywhere he went, there were baptism after baptism. Finally, his mission president came to him and asked, "why are you having so much success? what are you doing differently?" the elder said, "whenever i knock on a door and someone answers, I picture them in baptismal clothes and that helps me to get them to the waters of baptism" later we were talking as a district about that, and Elder Harper (my companion, I told Mary that already) said that his motivation is his family. He will picture his investigators as his own family and feel the same love for them as he has for his family. I went a couple of days thinking about this. and I felt like I needed to have my own source of motivation. I know that I am out here because heavenly father needs to be, but I felt like I needed that reason to wake up in the morning and continue with the work. my purpose is to invite others to come unto Christ by helping them receive the restored gospel through faith in Jesus Christ and His atonement, repentance, baptism, receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost, and enduring to the end. that is my purpose, but I needed a reason. and so I went and prayed with that question. what is the reason for me to get up in the morning, why am I here? the reason that I really did it is because we had a teacher take us to the chapel and say that this is holy ground were we will receive revelation. I really liked what she said, expect revelation, expect and answer. and so I prayed and I expected an answer. I asked, what did Christ do for me? He died for me, he gave his life for me. I asked why? because he loves me. that is my motivation, I will do anything, literally anything to bring others to Christ. I will give my life if necessary. why? because I feel the love that Christ has for everyone and I have the same love. 

I love it out here so much. I love you all. thank you for everything that you do for me. 

Elder Broadbent