Josh's Mission Letter Dec 29 2014

We had a wonderful video chat with Elder B!!  It was great to see him!!  To laugh with him, talk to him and cry with him!!  He is a good man and such a great missionary!!



Salut Family!

it was so wonderful to talk to and to see you. :) I'm really glad that we are able to so that. When I finished and went in to the other room, everyone asked "are you crying??" so now all the Crawfords know of the Broadbent blessing :) It's such a wonderful blessing to have our wonderful family. Constantly I am reminding of Heavenly father's purpose and goal for each of us, to live with him and to be a part of His eternal family, and I'm grateful that we are able to have a little taste of that here. The gospel is so special that way. When we live the Commandments Heavenly Father has given us, we are blessed with a glimpse of what we have to look forward to.

This week, was wonderful. We were really blessed to see Tammie quite a few times. I don't know if I've really told you about her yet, it's only been about 2 weeks that we've been teaching her. Tammie just moved to Iowa City, she left her family, because her boyfriend was not very good. She is working and trying to find a place to live. She is so accepting. we talked about the Plan of Salvation and she just ate it up. She loved the truth that we lived with Heavenly father before we came to earth and that we would return to Him one day, if we choose to. 

We are still working with Linda, but she didn't come to church yesterday. She had family over for Christmas and we got to meet her kids so that was really great! 

We also were finally able to meet with Erick, a guy from the Congo. And we learned a couple more things in French. He was trying to teach us some commen phrases (if I miss spell these, sorry), like pas de souci -which means no worries- and a couple others i can't remember. it was great to teach him. Erick is so humble and he loves the gospel, he said that he really believed Joseph Smith is a prophet, and we got him talking to a missionary who speaks french on mormon.org

 

thank you so much for your love support and especially your prayers. I love you and I hope that you have a happy new year! talk to you next year!!

ij iokwe eok!!
Elder Broadbent

Josh's Mission Dec 15 2014

my dear family!

I can't believe that Kami is home already, it feels like yesterday that she was leaving. that's great that Kandice did well! Kalib Brandley?? he's getting his eagle, that's awesome!

that sounds like a really great Christmas Program. :) that's way cool that there was a few different faiths there, that would be really neat.

this week, we had a Christmas Party for our ward, which was really good, we sang it with the ward mission :) it was great :) and we ate loads of food, it was great!

So, to start off, I love Christmas!!! it's just such a great time of year! I was thinking of all the great traditions that we have :) I just love the feeling of this time of year. :) yesterday in Church I was just thinking of how special it is to know that we have a a Savior who loves us. the Church has a great new video about seeing Christ in the acts of service that we give. it's called the old shoe maker.

I love that when we are trying to do all that we can for each other that we are helping the Savior. We have been going caroling as a ward mission, and it's been really awesome to see the effect that it has on people. :) the Christmas spirit just opens peoples hearts, when we get right down to the real reason for Christmas, it's a wonderful time of year. :)

Linda is doing well, she was a little sick this week, but the ward is just welcoming her and trying to help as much as possible. She is really enjoying everything so far :) then we were really blessed to find a lady named Tammie. She is going through a lot of really hard things right now and it was really a miracle that we found her. We had been trying to see a few people in these apartments and happened to be leaving when Tammie and a member from another ward were coming in. :) it was sweet!

oh and on saturday we had a huge miracle happen in our Zone, there was a baptism in the YSA ward here. Marco is his name, he orginally wasn't going to be baptized for a couple weeks, but he is going out of town and so he decided to be baptized this week, and then in the next couple of weeks, there are a few people who will be baptized which a really amazing Christmas miracle.

We have some plans to take a couple of Christmas Pictures, so I'll send some to you.

Please know that I love you and that i really appreciate everything that you do! thank you so much for your love and prayers! I pray that all is well. I know that our Savior loves us and that he was born and still lives!!!


ij iokwe eok!!
Elder Broadbent

Josh's Mission Dec 8 2014

Salut My family!!

it's been a pretty crazy week, but really good. It was crazy how fast the time that I had with e styles, it really felt so much shorter than 6 weeks, but we had a really good time together. I really learned a lot from him. So my new companion is elder porter. He is from Blackfoot Idaho, has 3 months left on his mission, is super funny, loves to laugh and have a good time. what else about him, he love basketball, reading, and music. and really he's just super awesome!

So a couple of really amazing things that have happened the last week. We were super blessed with a few new investigators. One, Linda Johnson, is so prepared and such a huge blessing. We knocked on her door Saturday night, talked to her, and invited her to church. She came to church - loved it!!- then she also came to the Christmas devotional last night at a members house (the Crawford's). It was really amazing too, at church she really felt like this was what she wanted for her family. She has gone to a lot of different churches and just never felt like any of them really felt right or fit what she believed. The members really took her in and it's just super great! it was a huge miracle. we're hoping that everything goes well with her and that we'll be able to continue to help her.

We also had a great time watching the Christmas devotional. I really loved Elder Christofferson's talk. And Pres Erying's was amazing. 

I loved that they they talked about the great example that Holy family: Joseph, Mary, and Jesus. One of my favorite quotes was "when God wants something really important done or a great wrong righted, He goes about it in a very unusual way." I just thought how very true that was, that Heavenly father always has a purpose in what he does, we won't always understand those purposes are, but if we have faith in Him, then everything will be okay. It's really amazing to see throughout the scriptures how Heavenly Father always does as much as He can to help us. 

Also, I think I mentioned it last week, but I just have to again, the He is the Gift video is really amazing and everyone should look at it and share it with everyone. 

 I was thinking about what I really want for Christmas, and when we were talking about Christmas with a member, he brought up something that really made me think. I think one of the best things that I would really want for Christmas would be a letter from each Family member. in the letter will you right your testimony, how you have come to know it, and experiences that have strengthened it. also, if you have any missionary experiences, i would love to hear them. The reason that I kind of change my mind is because I have just come to realize a few things that I need to work on. I have realized how not important a lot of the worldly things that I hold on to are. I know that the really important things are those things that we will take with us when we depart this life, family, relationships, and testimony being a few. 

that is so wonderful that Jr was baptized!! any chance I could get pictures? please tell him how much I love him and am really happy for him and his family. 

that really sounds like a great family party!! and I really hope that you get feeling better dad, I will keep you in my prayers. thank you so much for everything that you do, please know that I love you and i really look up to you. 

again, I have to say I love you and I can't tell you how much I appreciate you, my family and friends. I love this Christmas season! it is a wonderful time of year to increase in faith of our Savior Jesus Christ who I know lives! He truly is a Gift. 

I love you, thank you so much for everything. especially your prayers, and love. I hope that all is well and you enjoy this wonderful time of year

ij iokwe eok!!

Elder Broadbent

Josh's Mission Dec 1 2014

Hello family!!

I was thinking about the good times that we had helping out at DBH this week, and how much I appreciated that time to serve others and be with the family. that was really a great blessing. and that's awesome to spend some time with the rest of the family. could you send some pictures of the family?? I realized that I don't have very many. we really are blessed with a wonderful family! I'm so grateful for you all and the wonderful examples that you are to me, I love you!

that is wonderful news that JR is going to be baptized, tell him that I love him and that he is awesome! I will keep him in my prayers.

thank you so much for your love, I can't tell you enough how much I appreciate the wondeful family that heavenly father has blessed us with. it is such a huge blessing to be able to share that love we have with others and help them to enjoy the blessing of eternal families.

Well, it's been a really good week, lots of food, good times with our ward, exciting news for transfers and as always ups and downs. But I just have to say that this past week I have really felt a greater appreciation for our Savior and how he feels. I know that he really does love us and he knows exactly what we go through. I am very grateful for the atonement and I'm trying to better understand how to really apply it in my life and in the life of others. 

So first off, transfers are on thursday, elder Styles, will be transferred and I will get a new comp. It's been a way fast transfer and I'm sad to see elder styles leave but I know that we've had a good time together and we'll be good friends always. 

We had a wonderful thanksgiving. we spent most of it with the Crawfords. They are really sweet and definitely they make me feel like family, I'm excited to be able to stay and work with them closely. 

Other than that not too much happened this week, with the holiday, it was kind of slow, and black friday didn't really help anything either, but I'm very grateful for the good times that we were able to have with the people here. 

I've realized very recently just how important it is to really rely on Heavenly father. I have really gained a deep appreciation for the scriptures and prayer and the sacrament, in doing what heavenly father wants we come closer to him and are able to better understand how to follow the perfect example of Jesus Christ. How do we become what Heavenly Father wants us to be? what are we supposed to do? I know that Father in Heaven has answers for us, he is readily waiting for us to talk to him and ask what we can do for him. 

I'm very grateful for this time of year to focus more on what Christ means to me. On LDS.org there is a great video about a new initiative called He is the Gift. it's really powerful and I'm excited to see what will happen with it. I'll let you watch it, and not ruin it for you, but I just love how when we really focus on who Christ is and following him, everything works out, I'm very thankful for you all and please know that I  love you!! thank you so much for your love, support, and prayers, they are felt and help. 

ij iokwe eok!!

Elder Broadbent

Josh's Mission Nov 24 2014

merci family!!

so first, not a lot of time so this will be short

 It has been a wonderful week! there are so many blessings that the lord gives us and I am so grateful for this wonderful time of the year! can't believe that it's thankgiving already, I had a couple thoughts in mind but I don't have time. I know that it is very important that we thank Heavenly father for all that we have and then show that we are grateful by showing him that we love him, by serving others and helping them as much as we can. I love in 3 Nephi 12 where is talks about the beatitudes, also in Jacob 2: 17-19 

 17 Think of your brethren like unto yourselves, and be familiar with all and free with your substance, that they may be rich like unto you.

 18 But before ye seek for riches, seek ye for the kingdom of God.

 19 And after ye have obtained a hope in Christ ye shall obtain riches, if ye seek them; and ye will seek them for the intent to do good—to clothe thenaked, and to feed the hungry, and to liberate the captive, and administer relief to the sick and the afflicted.

I know that it's very important for us to try and think of ourselves and others as Christ would think of us.

It was a really wonderful week end!! We saw B be baptized and there was another baptism in our zone as well, it was really sweet!! Here's a picture :) it's so awesome!! 

Josh's Mission Nov 17 2014

Salut famille!!

Well, it's been a really great week! We've super blessed with people to teach and we are trying to help them come to church now. we had a wonderful time with elder Cardon of the 70 on Thursday and had a sweet sunday.

It's been way cold this last week! Every morning keeps getting colder and colder. the really bad part is the wind. it's snowed a couple of times this week, so that was great! the snow is so different from UT and I'm trying to get used to driving in it again.  can't believe that it is almost Thanksgiving already, seriously this year went by so fast! And it'll make it even fast with Brevin's baptism this week. Which we are way excited for.

WE had a wonderful day yesterday with Brevin and his family. we got to have a sweet lesson with them about the commandments and I was thinking how important it is that we know what the commandments are and how to live them. It's such a big blessing to have a prophet who talks with Heavenly father and then tells us what we need to do. I've been thinking a lot lately how important it is that we have a prophet, especially because we have an investigator that really wants to know about our prophet and why we know he is called of God. I've also been thinking a lot about hos important it is that we keep the commandments and andure to the end, so that we can have happiness and promised blessings. and how when we keep the commandments we are protected from the power of Satan. It's always astounding to me how much Satan tries to pull us down.

We had a great lesson with a family, the Jensens, last night about trials and enduring. In Ether 6:1-12 it talks about how the Jaredites were driven by the wind to the promised land. but they had the light that was provided for them from Christ so they didn't have to be in darkness. it was just really powerful to me how the Lord always takes care of us especially in our trials, he always knows what we are going through and he always has a way for us to come through them and be stronger.

Our mission tour with Elder Cardon was great! basically all the mission tour is, is a meeting, like a conference, that we are trained at and we get to hear what he wants us to do better at. it was super awesome! We got to huge him :) and we got a lot of direction on what the prophet wants us to be doing. Something that really stuck out to me is something that sister Jensen said that goes right along with Thanksgiving. she said that it is very important that we are grateful in all our circumstances (pres Uchtdorf's talk) and especially that we need to show gratitude to those who are around us. she also said something very powerful to me "if you right 2 sentences a day about the things that you are grateful for, your testimony of the Atonement will grow, your realationship with our Saviour will Increase and you will be able to withstand trials with greater strength." I know that is true!

that is crazy that Anthony, Ali , and Amy are home already, I can't believe it's gone by so fast. tell them hi for me! and Anthony that he should email me :)

I love you all so much and I just want to thank you for everything that you do!! I love you so much!! I am very grateful for your love, prayers and support! Please know that you are in my prayers and again, I love you!!

ij iokwe eok!!

Elder Broadbent

Josh's Mission Nov 10 2014

Salut!! 

It sounds like it's be a great week!! 

It's so true that the mission helps you so much, I know that I have changed and grown a lot so far, and I hope that i continue to grow. that's really good that all the ladies you hired are doing well. :) 

that really sounds like a wonderful standards night. I'm glad that everything went so well with it. I definitely understand what you mean, sometimes I just want people to do everything we tell them, especially because we know that this will help them. but I've realized that it's how you tell that really matters. I'm trying to work on being more charitable and virtuous so that my thought, attitude, and actions will be more christ like. yesterday I got a very gentle but firm reminder that I need to do better. In church, we had fast and testimony meeting because we had stake conference last week, someone bore their testimony and said something that really struck me. Our bodies have an amazing ability to tell us when something is bad. If you burn yourself, you know because it hurts. our body is telling us that we shoudl stop doing that bad thing. It's very similar to our spiritual bodies. that if we harm ourselves spiritually then we will hurt. so we have to get rid of or stop what ever we are doing that doesn't make us feel good because obviously it's not good for us. it was just very apparent to me yesterday how I need to do better and not worrying so much and get rid of some spiritually hurtful things. 

 and it was a really great week! we were really blessed with a new investigator, S, he is from Samoa and super great!! he is preparing for baptism onD ec 27th. we also had a really great meeting with our whole zone. it's so wonderful to see how much everyone is doing and the great success of all our missionaries. the lord has really blessed us a lot this week.

We've been trying to work a lot on Unity in our Zone and working for the common goal of bring our brothers and sisters to Christ through the essential ordinances and covenants of Baptism for the remission of sins and have the guiding gift of the holy Ghost. we talk a lot about relying upon others especially our savior. in Ex 18 it talks about moses receiving help from Jetho his father in law, and we related that to relying upon other. We also talked a lot about the doctrine of Christ in 2 Ne 31, especially vs 21. We talked about how important it is to have a purpose and to know that when we accept baptism for the remission of sins that our purpose becomes what Christ's purpose is and what Heavenly Father's purpose is: to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man. 

We also had a really great time yesterday with B and the C's. I don't know if I've really told you about them really. but B is getting baptized on the 22nd of Nov. he is sister C's son, but they've been separated for 12 years but recently found each other. it's really a miracle that they found each other, she has been praying for him and his siblings for a long time. it's been such a huge blessing to get to know him and to be a part of his life and help him. 

oh and this week we have a mission tour with elder Cardon of the seventy. it's going to be really great! :)

I love you and I am very grateful for your love, support and prayers! Please know that you are in my prayers. I love you!

ij iokwe eok!!

Elder Broadbent

ps it's been forever since I sent pictures: 1st is elder s and I 2nd is back in knoxville during general conference

 this picture was sent to me by a sweet sister in Iowa City - she said Josh was helping to load some wood and was a very good young man. - always great to hear that!!

Josh's Mission Nov 2 2014

It has been a really good week!!

I don't have a lot of time so this going to be short.

this week has been a little bit slow because we had a meeting on tuesday, interviews with pres jensen on wednedsay, and then thurday and friday we had to be in at 6 because of halloween.

the lord really blessed us though. we found a few investigators. Brevin we taught last night. he is the son of a member. it's really an amazing story. they we're separated when he was 6 because she got a divorce but they recently found each other again, he's 18, super excited to be a part of the gospel and is going to be baptized in a few weeks. it was really amazing. then we taught sonia on tuesday. she is from Congo, going to school here, and is very receptive (more on her next week). 

It's really amazing how the Lord blesses you so much when you put forth the effort and the faith. I've really been trying this week to just give everything to the Lord and trust Him that He will take care of what needs to be done, as long as we work hard. I know that the Atonement is very real and allows us to be free and enables us to do better.

Thank you so much for everything that you do!! I love you all so much and I am very grateful for your prayers, love and support!!

ij iokwe eok!!

Elder Broadbent

Josh's Mission Oct 27 2014

Bonjour family!!

It's been a great week! I really love it here in Iowa City! It's great to be in a big city!! different for sure but really good. it really is crazy how fast this month has gone by, I can't believe that it's Halloween already, again. 

That sounds like a really great experience with the older couple! (I wrote about an older couple who just went through the temple and the experience I had with them.  Their children, who have all been married in the temple, have been waiting 30 years for them to go to the temple!) I love hearing about the different parts of missionary work that go on! I love being a part of those first beginning steps for people to take on the path of eternal life and it's great to see and hear about all the other great steps people make. :) it's really just amazing to me how much happiness the gospel brings to us. 

Speaking of that, yesterday in church we had an amazing miracle. One of our members (B) brought a friend (N) to church yesterday and he loved it!!! we taught him yesterday and he has a baptismal date for Dec 27. It was really sweet! he said that he has been friends with b for ever and that he just felt like he needed to get more spiritual. he really loved church and was just super happy and excited to learn more. We're way excited to help him more. It was great too, I think N's happiness and excitement rubbed off on a lot of the members, because everyone loved him and just really made him feel welcome, it was a really great sunday

We also found a family of French Congo people to teach yesterday. :) the husband is a pastor for a missionary church from Congo, but they all still want to learn. their sister has been taught by missionaries before, when she lived in Spain, so she is excited to keep learning and be baptized as well. It was just really sweet!

 

My comp is so great! Elder styles is from elk ridge, UT. he loves skate boarding, he's been out for 20 months. he's probably on of the best humble missionaries I've been around and he doesn't always see how well he is doing. :) he has a great family, he's the last of 6. 

I'm super excited to learn french. I've noticed already that it's going to be a little difficult already knowing marshallese, but I've thought that maybe I should use marshallese to learn french, but I'm not sure how that is going to work out. though. but it really is amazing how heavenly father answers our prayers, definitely not how we think usually. But something what I've learned is that you tell heavenly father what you want and then you ask him what he wants and you'll do the right thing. so I'm hoping that I can learn french quickly and help the people here, because right now all I can tell people is bonjour and goodbye ( I can't think of how to spell it right now) 

my address is 370 w cherry #2 North Liberty IA 52317, that's really cool that uncle dave and aunt michelle got to come over here. I told e styles that I had relatives that lived here and he said that I'll probably never serve around there :) just because we are supposed to see family members or people we know :)  (my nephew Ben and his wife have moved to Cedar Falls, Iowa)

I love you all and I am very grateful for everyone! thank you so much for your prayers, support and love!!! I hope that all is well and I love you

ij iokwe eok!!

Elder Broadbent

Josh's Mission Oct 6 2014

iokwe Baamle!!

It's been a really good week. We had a few great service projects, a great time watching the new movie "Meet the Mormons" and an awesome General Conference.

So has everyone heard of the new movie that the Church has come out with called "Meet the Mormons"? it is really awesome! if you have the opportunity to go and watch it, do it! it was a great movie. Elder Holland gave a really great intro to, which I believe is on youtube.com. it's a documentary, about 6 people around the world that talk about their lives and how being a member of the Church has helped them. Invite your friends! it is really good.

I really loved conference! it was really powerful. One thing that I really loved, is how personal it was. It has been an amazing experience to see how aware Heavenly Father is of me. I felt like there was so much that I needed to hear and to feel. One thought that I had was that I was so sad that it went by so fast! I just couldn't believe that 2 days could go by so fast. But as I was thinking about that, I had another thought, just because these 2 days are over doesn't mean that you have to stop. There is still the rest of eternity to go on, and at least for the next 6 months I am excited to look over these talks again and again, so that I can keep learning and growing.

a couple of common themes that stood out to me are: Obedience, Testimony and then Conversion, relying on the spirit, be prepared NOW, and look to the prophets and the Lord for direction- not the world. It really just seemed like there is so much that I need to do and that I need to improve on, sometimes it can be very overwhelming, but something else that i realized is that everything happens in the Lord's time, so it's very important to give ourselves to the Lord so that we can do everything according to His will.

Something else that I really stood out to me is that a few of them talked about Adam and Eve. One thing that I needed to learn again, is that everything happens for a reason! We can not know the Good with out the Bad. We go through hard times so that we can know how to humble ourselves and rely on the Lord and so that when the Lord needs us we will be ready to answer "Here am I...thy servant heareth" (1 Sam 3:4-10)

I'm not really sure what talks I like the most, but it was really amazing to see how as I went with questions to have answered, they were! there were even concerns that I hadn't really realized that I had, that were addressed. We spent Saturday with a great member family, the Bishops. they have a family of 5, 1 boy who is the oldest and 4 little girls. it was crazy! and so awesome! it was really fun to see how even the little children felt the need to listen, when they would actually sit down. :) and then for the priesthood session, we were really blessed to have an investigator (Dave) come and her really enjoyed it. He said that he could feel how the seed that was planted was good. and he wants to keep learning and have it grow! :) Also, Taika was able to watch some of it, and she said that it was very moving.


Good luck with your job! that's really exciting, but understandably stressful. You'll definitely be in our prayers. And that's awesome that you get yo walk to the temple with the primary! :) that will be really great!

i love you all!! thank you so much for everything that you do! thank you especially for your love, support and prayers!

Kajoor ilo Christ
ij iokwe eok!!
Elder Broadbent

Josh's Mission Sept 29 2014

Iokwe Baamle!!

Yeah we heard about the flooding from couple of people, I'm glad that everything is alright though. that's so great that the little kids are being such great missionaries! (I told him about our Primary Program on Sunday) it's so true that they do so much good. they are wonderful examples. there was a story told yesterday in Sacrament that I really liked; it talked about a little girl that was preparing for baptism. she learned about repentance and how important it is to be honest and treat others how you would want to be treated. the story went that her sister had a candy bar that she really liked and wanted to eat it but her sister told her that couldn't have any right now. When the girl's sister left for work, the young girl took some of the candy bar, telling herself that it would be just one piece. that same night she went and talked with her bishop about being baptized. She knew all the answers and said everything right. Her bishop also emphasized how important it is to be honest with others and yourself. as the week went along the young girl continued to take some of her sister's candy, until one night her sister caught her taking it. Her sister yelled at her and called her a lair and a thief, and the girl responded unkindly. deep down the girl knew that she really did something wrong and she felt that she needed to repent before she could be baptized. So she talked to her bishop and she decided that she would wait for a month before she was baptized. For the next month the girl worked really hard at a neighbors house to earn some money. finally she earned enough that she could buy the candy bar that her sister had had. when it came time for the girl to be baptized, she talked with her bishop again about how she had been trying to repent and correct the mistake that she had made. Her bishop told her that he felt like she had fully repented and that she now needed to talk to her sister. So that night she did. She gave her sister the candy bar and said that she was sorry. The next day she was baptized. as she went down in the water with her father, she felt a strong feeling of love and peace that she was doing what was right and that had truly repented. After she came up from the water, she hugged her dad and look at her sister through the glass and felt really warm inside. 

It really impressed me yesterday how important it is to be childlike and to do everything that heavenly father would want us to do, with all of our heart. 

 

It's been a  really good week. it's so strange how fast time flies I just can't believe that It's October already! This week we did a lot of service, it was wonderful! I think that I really like doing service so much because of all the hard work that we did as a family. We helped a few people move, a lady (who we are teaching) asked to paint her garage which we are finishing up tomorrow. And i just remembered this, but we also went and gave a couple people blessings, which was a great service for them. it was for a returning member family; one of the daughters was pregnant and wanted a blessing, unfortunately, she had a miscarriage a couple days later. But her brother, who is a member, talked to her and helped her to understand the blessing was from Heavenly father and everything is in the Lord's time.   From that I learned, again, how important it is to just give our life to the Lord and trust him to make us who He needs us to be.

 

We had a really good time studying from the Book of Mormon this week. it was really amazing to see myself change. all through the week, it just seemed like the spirit was different, but I guess it was me that was different. i noticed a lot this week as I read, that the words in the Book of Mormon didn't so much tell me what i needed to learn, it was definitely from the Spirit. the book of Mormon is so wonderful and  I know that when we read with the intent to ask, seek, and knock, that Heavenly Father will help is to find the answers that we desire, he will fill us with the spirit and lead us in the path that we need to go. 

This past week we did a lot of work with our Less active members and we tried to talk to our members a lot about what our branch needs to do to improve and move forward in Heavenly fathers work. 

We are also trying to find those people that Heavenly father has prepared by working with the members here a lot more. Something that one of our leaders said really stuck with me. How can we work with people that we don't know. we have to get to know the people that we are serving with, we have to help other understand that we love them, we show that we love them by listening to them and then helping them to come closer to Christ.

We are way excited for conference this week! I just can't believe that it's here already, it feels like just 6 months ago we were getting ready to watch it..... I guess it was 6 months ago. :) so i've been trying to figure out some questions that I want to go to conference with. What are somethings that you are going to ask heavenly father to answer?  oh and we are trying to have all the members her invite someone that they know who is either a non member of who is less active to come watch conference with them. 

Oh and have you seen the new Mormon message that is out?? it is really good. It talks a lot about feeling successful and realizing what you are accomplishing. 

I love you all!! thank you so much for your prayers, love, and support! 

Kajoor ilo Christ

ij iokwe eok!!

Elder Broadbent

Josh's Mission Sept 20 2014

Iokwe baamle!!!!

it's been a very good week!! I really don't have a lot of time, but I just wanted to say thank you so much for all that you do. Your email was wonderful!! It definitely pulled my heart strings, but it just makes me glad that I'm out here serving the Lord. I love our family so much!! that is really one of my biggest motivations, is family. I just want everyone to enjoy the blessings of the temple like our family has. :)

The dedication sounds like it went really well, I'm so glad that Ogden has a temple so close, that is a huge blessing :) thank you so much for helping us to be a righteous family.

This week went by very fast. It seems like the time is just flying by, and I don't want it to.  As a mission, we are doing something different this week. We were invited by our AP's to read the book of Mormon exclusively this week. the reason is that we are trying to "lift our mission" and try harder to do what heavenly father wants us to do. I know that the Book of Mormon is true! It has such a strong spirit and when you read from it daily, it will strengthen you. they also asked us to pray specifically for a vision and a strength in testimony of the book of Mormon.

We were really blessed with our investigators this week as well. Taika is doing very good. her parents still are being stubborn about her being baptized, but she said that one sunday one of the talks really spoke to her. She felt that She needs to be persistent and endure with faith the trials that she is going through. She told us that she knows that this is what Heavenly father wants her to do, and that her parents will come around. Then Yesterday we found a new investigator, which was a huge blessing from heavenly Father. Her name is Lori, and she is a really sweet spirit. She told us that she feels really good and warm when she prays, and when we read over the first vision with her, she said that she felt the same way. :) it was really amazing to see the spirit work with her.

I love you all!! thank you so much for everything! Thank you for your support, prayers, and love! I love you!!

Kajoor ilo Christ

ij iokwe eok!!

Elder Broadbent

Josh's Mission Sept 16 2014

(Josh didn't explain why he sent his email today instead of yesterday - so here it is!)

that's really great news that you will be able to be there for the dedication! that is way exciting! is mary going to be in there too? or just you and Dad? I really wish that I could be there, but that's okay, you are there for me. I really hope that you have a good time there!

thank you so much for your help. I can't tell you enough just how much I appreciate your council and advice. I have definitely been doing some repenting this week and trying really hard not to focus so much on what I think I need or want and focus more on what Heavenly father needs me to do, then asking his help for that. As I've been studying this week (I started the Book Of Mormon again) I've noticed just how important attitude is. Having a good attitude effects everything. Nephi is such a great example of that. he goes through the exact same trials that his brothers do, but the out come is so different. Nephi chooses to but God's will first and have faith and hope for better things. And some times we don't see how the trials that we go through will actually be a blessing to us. 

there is a part in 1 Nephi 15 that I really like. In verses 3-6 Nephi says that he is overcome by his afflictions and was grieved, and then he says"after I had received strength I spake unto my brethren. " for some reason that just really stood out to me, that Nephi is having a really hard time, but he presses forward and then after he receives strength, he goes out and talks to his brothers. It's very impressive to me how diligent Nephi is.

And I really like that in John 4:36,(I mentioned that I had been reading in John and this verse was one I had never paid attention to before -- 36 And he that reapeth receiveth wages, and gathereth fruit unto life eternal: that both he that soweth and he that reapeth mayrejoice together.)      I don't know if I've ever really connected that. Some thing else that i've realized again this week is that this is the Lord's work. this is not my mission or my investigators, this is Heavenly Father's mission, this is His time, and I am serving Him, by serving my brothers and sisters. I've realized again, just how precious this time is to Him and really how precious our lives are to Him. This is a very short time, the mission that I am on, but I know that it will be the best 2 years for my life and eternity. 

Well, it was a really great week! Oh and I am staying in Knoxville, I don't know if i told you that yet. On Thursday we went to transfers and got a new Zone leader and so our short time as a trio with our other Zone leader was over and we were able to spend the rest of the week in town. 

there is this really sweet old lady here, a returning less active, (I don't remember if I've told you about her yet) sister T. She is so great and she takes care of us so well. She is trying really hard to come back to the church so that she can go to the temple. she has such a strong spirit! She told us that even though it is very hard to change, she doesn't want to let Heavenly father down and not do what he wants. Hopefully she'll be able to go through the temple while I am here, but we are helping to prepare her. Also, a recent Convert, C S is trying really hard to go to the temple! We had a really great lesson with her about how we need to always rely on Heavenly father and especially be sensitive to those who are around us. You can watch it here. 

it is really awesome helping other prepare for the temple! That is something that I have really enjoyed while serving here. I've come to have a greater understanding and purpose of the convents that we make. Something else that I noticed in my studies is in the dream that Lehi has about the tree of life it talks about how there were others how came and took hold of the end of the rod of iron. I realized just how significant that is. there is a beginning to our journey here on earth. it really begins when we decide to grad hold of the end of the iron rod and accept the covenant of baptism, then we move forward, holding tight to the iron rod, and choose to follow Christ, until eventually, we will partake of the fruit of the tree and have everlasting life. i know that this is true! I know that Heavenly Father loves us and that he really is there for us. 

thank you so much for everything that you do! I love you so much and I am very grateful for your love, prayers, and support!

Kajoor ilo Christ

ij iokwe eok!!

Elder Broadbent

Josh's Mission Sept 8 2014

Iokwe Baamle!!

Our mission mom, told us to tell everyone that they are putting pictures up of our mission on facebook now the page is: Iowa Des Moines Mission Jensen 2013-1016. So check it our on facebook! 

That is really amazing that you invited and helped Sonny and Ben to the open house. It is so true that you are planting those seeds. I know that they probably felt the spirit and if nothing else, they know more about the true Church and I know the spirit will work on them.

I just have to say thank you. thank you so much for saying thank you. I just realized that it feels really great to be appreciated and to know that others are benefiting from the things that the Lord has us do. I've been having kind of a hard time this week feeling like I am really worthy to be a leader and a missionary. I just feel like there are so many other people that are better than me. there are tons of great missionaries that are doing so much better than me and I just feel like I'm not doing enough.   But then to go along with that i know that heavenly father puts us where we need to be and he expects us to work as hard as we can with what we have. I know that as we rely on Christ and come unto Him and try our hardest he will help us through and over everything. i know that Christ truly is our Savior and that He knows what we go through. Just like Enos, sometime I wonder "Lord, how is it done?" and i know that as we have that "unshaken faith" in Jesus Christ, we will know that all things are possible through our Savior. Just like Enos we will have "a desire for the welfare of" our brothers who are around us. and the Lord calls those who have those to desire to His work.

Again, thank you so much for everything. 

that is really great that Stacey is on a mission. It is definitely hard sometimes to not think about all that things that you miss, but those things will wait for you when we come home. 

That is really exciting that Ben is moving out here. maybe I'll be able to serve around there someday. 

Well, this week has been an adventure for sure. So I'll just start with the beginning, it's a very good place to start. :) so last week I don't remember if I told you, but our Zone Leader (elder Cleverly) got called as the Assistant to the President. So we drove him up to Des Moines on Monday, and we've been with his companion, our other Zone Leader (elder Morgansen). So all week we've been working in both of our areas. the ZL's area is about Half hour away from us, so we've been doing a lot of driving. It's been really great though! I think that Heavenly father Definitely knew that we needed to spend some time with him, it's really help me a lot and it's really helped Elder Stoddard as well. i think one thing that I really realized this week is the importance of improving. It is so important that we are always striving to move forward and only look back on things in the past to learn from them, never to dwell on what was. we have to focus on what is in front of us right now. A couple of conferences ago, Elder Dube gave a great talk about that, which you can find here. I love his story about looking forward at what we still have left to do. He said "In the sight of the Lord, it is not so much what we have done or where we have been but much more where we are willing to go."

I know that is true. The Lord is always willing work with us as long as we are willing to work with him. 

So just a little update: we did find out this week that Taika was able to go to the Young Women's in Excellence that was out on this week, which is really great! He dad was also able to go to that, which is just awesome!! we haven't heard how everything went, but We are really hoping that this will be the turning point for her and her parents. Other than that, there isn't too much new that we know. We're excited for this week though, it is really going to be great! Transfers are on Thursday, and we find out later today if we are staying or leaving, most likely both elder Stoddard and I will stay, so we're excited for another transfer. 

I love you all! thank you so much everything that you do! thank you mom and family for diligently letting me know what is going on at home :) I love you! thank you so much for your prayers and support! have a great week!!

Kajoor ilo Christ

ij iokwe eok!!

Elder Broadbent

Josh's Mission Sept 2 2014

Iokwe baamle!

hm, I don't really know where to start. I feel overwhelmed by the spirit right now for some reason. I am so grateful for the wonderful family that we have. our earthly family, our church family, and our Heavenly family. I know that I say this all the time, but truly I am so grateful for family. I think that when we realize that Christ is really the center of everything that we do, everything becomes clear and focused, despite how hard Satan tries to make us think that it is complicate and hard.

That's great that you had 3 baptisms! I do understand though what you mean. it's hard when we feel like those people aren't ready, but I like what you said, that you are going to help them to want to keep coming, even though it's hard to. That is really one of the most important parts of missionary work, is holding on to the fruit, holding on to those people who need the gospel.

this week we had a great time at interviews with president! He is such a great example. we talked a lot about how Heavenly father has a great plan for each of us to some back to him and enter into his kingdom, but we  must be willing take his hand to enter in.

It really can be hard sometimes, it's true. I think that as members of the church we are bombarded at every angle with the fiery darts of Satan. this world is not easy, but I again, reflect on what Alma tells his son in Alma 37, that it is easy to follow the path of Christ. His way is the only easy and best way to have happiness. But sometimes because it is so easy, we feel like we have to make it hard for ourselves. I know that I definitely do that sometimes. I think that things have to be complicated or hard, but really they don't. I know that when we decide to do what Christ would have us do, that everything becomes easy. His yoke truly is easy and His burden really is light.

We had a really great lesson this week with a less active. her name is Cris. I been meeting with her since I got here, and we've been trying to figure out what we could do to help her progress and especially come back to church. She is in her upper 50's and has a little bit of a mental disorder, but she is really sweet and loves meeting with us. But this week, she told us that she wants to go to the temple. We had a great discussion about the things that she will need to change and do so that she can enter the temple. It was a huge blessing.

I love you! thank you so much for everything! know that I really do appreciate all that you do!

 

ij iokwe eok!!

Iokwe Baamle!!

That sounds really great! Shish Ka bob, I miss that. i was thinking about vernal the other day, but I can't remember why right now. Oh and I told the story about the pine trees in the city that is close to that (he's talking about Heber, where Grandpa Broadbent helped plant pine trees around the city county building when he was little, with his Dad), in priesthood yesterday. We were talking about the Legacy of faith that we are leaving, and that came to mind. I really love how our family has such a great legacy, it really helps with people out here who are mostly 1st generation converts. it helps to talk about how we often don't know the impact that we have on people and rarely will we see really the influence that we have on people. I am so grateful for the wonderful family that we are blessed with. It really just amazes me. I think that I've really come to appreciate what a good family really means and the hard work that it can take. I was thinking yesterday about all the great lessons that you and dad taught all of us. One that just came to mind is working in the garden and on the house. there was a lady at church yesterday that was talking about how she just doesn't have time to do a garden. I sure am glad that you took the time to have us work on planting and weeding and everything like that. It was just a lot of fun and it really helps me to realize all the blessings that come from working. thank you!

Is everyone getting excited for the temple dedication? isn't that coming up pretty soon?

this past week was really good! A lot of blessings and miracles and also surprises that we didn't really expect. So, I guess to start off, reindeer meat is delicious. :) also elk bacon is pretty great. Combine all that into an omelet, add some ranch and hot sauce and you've got a great breakfast! Some members, who moved here from Alaska and had all that meat, fed us breakfast! it was really great! then they gave us a bunch of fish and other great stuff, oh and tamales! :) really a huge blessing.

Lets see on thurdays we went up to Des Moines and had a really great meeting with all of the missionaries who are training in the area. Just a couple of things that I really liked that President Jensen and the assistants talked about: the mission is just a preparation for the rest of eternity. Elder Holland said that his mission meant the world and more to him and the it prepared him and everything that he learned on the mission has helped with his life. President also talked about how being on a mission allows heavenly father to bless so many people. being on a mission and serving Heavenly father will bless our families, the people we come in contact and ourselves, more than anything else that we could be doing. there are so many people that have very important missions, that heavenly Father has for them. there is a member here that was only on his mission for about a month and a half. He said that he just had a really strong feeling that he needed to go home. he didn't want to but heavenly father told him that his mission was for a different purpose. So he went home. He found out a little while later that he had cancer and had to go through treatment, and he also found out that his mom had cancer, which she passed away from about a year ago now. But always tells us that we have no idea that impact we have one people and that we are where we are for a reason. Everything Happens for a Reason!!

Also, this week we were really blessed with 2 new investigators!! Alyssa is a former that was taught by some sister missionaries that served in Pella about a year ago. She is really great!! and is really excited and ready to make changes in her life. it was a really huge miracle that we found her actually. because she had moved from her address that we had. While we are finding, we knocked on her door and were finally able to meet with her this week (we found her when Elder Blackburn was here).

Well a little update on Isaac. He is moving in the middle of September to Las Vegas. He also told us this week that he doesn't believe in God. he said that because of his experiences he just can't accept that God is there. but he still wants to come to church and learn. we know that Heavenly father is preparing him to accept the gospel and he has really felt the love of the members here. So when he moves to Vegas, we'll send some missionaries to him.

thank you so much for everything that you do!! I can't tell you enough how much i appreciate your love, support and prayers!! I know that the lord works in his own time and that everything happens for a reason. And as we actively exercise our faith, he will lead us to do his will. 

Oh and if you haven't seen this, you should really check it out. Elder Bednar gave a really great talk about the use of social media and a lot of other really great things. You should really check it out!!

Kajoor ilo Christ

ij iokwe eok!!

Elder Broadbent

Josh's Mission Aug 18 2014

Iokwe Baamle!!

 we've had a number of people here that have gotten baptized and then left right away, and it makes it really hard to get them back. But I know that everyone has their agency. that's something that I've really realized lately though, is that EVERYONE has their agency. especially those who choose the right. When we are keeping Heavenly father's commandments, we are free to choose liberty and eternal life, or to choose captivity and death. Agency is also really amazing because we have the privilege to choose to help others come to Christ through our actions. I really love what D&C 28:16 says heavenly father tells that "thou must open thy mouth at all times, declaring my gospel with the sound of rejoicing." heavenly father expect us to share this great news and just like Enos we should "desire for the welfare of my brethren...wherefore, I did pour out my whole soul unto God for them". those are all things that we must choose to do. Heavenly Father doesn't force us to do anything. but he does expect us to take responsibility for our actions. And I love that, because if we choose to follow him and his commandments, then our faith will begin to be unshaken in the Lord and we "shalle see his face with pleasure, and he will say unto [us]: Come unto me, ye blessed, there is a place prepared for you in the mansions of my Father." (Enos 1:27)

Sorry, that was a way long tangent :) I know that everyone has agency and that they must choose to come to church. It's super important that they come a few times so that they can really get that conversion. it's happened quite a bit in the past in Knoxville, where someone is baptized and then they fall right off, and that makes it really hard to help them back. Church is great because the spirit is there and as we go looking for answers, we will find them and our concerns will be resolved. and it's the same for investigators. Luckly the Lord has really blessed us with Isaac and taika. they Both love coming to church!!

Unfortunately we weren't able to meet with taika and her parents at all this week, but she still came to church so that was a huge blessing. Her parents told her that they don't want her meeting with us, but they will still allow her to come to church. She thinks that they won't let her get baptized either, but she really wants to. so she said that she'll have to wait until she turns 18, in April. We're praying that her parents hearts will soften and we're going to try and help her to have the courage to go through with it.

Isaac is doing really well too! He loves coming to church and is getting very close to his baptism. His sister who is a member and lives in Idaho, seems to be supportive but not really in his picture. So we might have to work more with that. He is just struggling with recognizing his answers, but he has an outstanding desire to keep looking for them and he really wants to keep learning and growing. When we asked him if he wants to know if God is really there for him, he said yeah!! I really do.

It's a really great week and the Lord has really blessed us! It's amazing how when you work hard and really it's more than just working, but working diligently and faithfully, blessing come and the Lord just opens the way for his children to find him. Last night we were introduced and gave a blessing to a friend of a less active. Her name is Cristiana and is just really going through a ton of hard things. She has awesome faith despite her trials though. And we really hope to meet with her on Wednesday.

thank you so much for everything!! I love you and I'm so grateful for your love, prayers, and support!!

Kajoor ilo Christ

ij iokwe eok!!

Elder Broadbent

Josh's Mission Aug 11, 2014

Iokwe Baamle!!!

It was a really great week! I am feeling much better, thank you for all the prayers!

that is really cool that you got to talk to elder stoddards dad :) facebook is a wonderful thing. Which while I'm on that topic, we recently got some information and more to come in September, about us getting online proselyting, using facebook, and getting ipads. We still aren't totally sure when everything will be happening, more info in September, but we do know how much the ipads will cost, because I will have to buy it. each will be $400, If I remember, and the church will be able to help with paying for it if needed. But I get to keep it after my mission, so that's really good.

Yeah, I noticed the moon a couple of days ago, and elder Stoddard said "wow, never seen it like that before" It really is amazing all of the wonderful blessings that the Lord has given us. We were with the elders in our district on Sat. down in Centerville, IA, and elder Sjoblom (he's a new missionary, from south...somewhere, I can't remember, it's really close to Ogden though and if you remember the Hansen's that used to help out with the bagpipe corp-Zack Hansen and his mom-they are from where e sjoblom is from) but anyways, elder sjoblom and I were talking about the blessing that we receive, and We were talking about how sometimes, on those bad days, all you can say is, "we didn't get in a car crash today, thank you Heavenly Father" we talked about how it's important that we are grateful, and strive to have that "attitude of gratitude"

So this week has been really great! We have been trying really hard to just get everything organized, to make things easier to work with. And to do that, we are still trying to help our members here come up with family mission plans - forget if I've already talked about this before, but it's on my mind :) - so we are just trying to help the members do missionary work and help everyone realize that doing missionary work is really simple and easy, just like it says in Alma 37:40-47 (I know that I've said this before but I really like it :) )
"40 And it did work for them according to their faith‍ in God; therefore, if they had faith to believe that God could cause that those spindles should point the way they should go, behold, it was done; therefore they had this miracle, and also many other miracles wrought by the power of God, day by day.
 41 Nevertheless, because those miracles were worked by small‍ means it did show unto them marvelous works. They were slothful, and forgot to exercise their faith and diligence and then those marvelous works ceased, and they did not progress in their journey;

 42 Therefore, they tarried in the wilderness, or did not‍ travel a direct course, and were afflicted with hunger and thirst, because of their transgressions.

 43 And now, my son, I would that ye should understand that these things are not without a shadow; for as our fathers were slothful to give heed to this compass (now these things were temporal) they did not prosper; even so it is with things which are spiritual.

 44 For behold, it is as easy to give heed to the word‍ of Christ, which will point to you a straight course to eternal bliss, as it was for our fathers to give heed to this compass, which would point unto them a straight course to the promised land.

 45 And now I say, is there not a type‍ in this thing? For just as surely as this director did bring our fathers, by following its course, to the promised land, shall the words of Christ, if we follow their course, carry us beyond this vale of sorrow into a far better land of promise.

 46 O my son, do not let us be slothful‍ because of the easiness‍ of the way; for so was it with our fathers; for so was it prepared for them, that if they would look‍ they might live; even so it is with us. The way is prepared, and if we will look we may live forever.

 47 And now, my son, see that ye take care‍ of these sacred things, yea, see that ye look‍ to God and live. Go unto this people and declare the word, and be sober. My son, farewell."


this work isn't meant to be hard on us, Christ said "take my yoke upon you, for behold, my burden is easy and my yoke is light". He also said in Matt 16:25-29

"25 Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross and follow me.
 26 And now for a man to take up his cross, is to deny himself all ungodliness, and every worldly lust, and keep my commandments.

 27 Break not my commandments for to save your lives;‍ for whosoever will save his life in this world,‍ shall lose it in the world to come.

 28 And whosoever will lose his life in this world,‍ for my sake, shall find it in the world to come.

 29 Therefore, forsake the world, and save your souls;‍ for what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?"

I know that if we lose ourselves in his work, no matter where he are, that we will be happy and we will be amazed at the miracle and blessings that the Lord has prepared for us.

Alright, so on to our investigators: taika Is doing very well, she was able to come to church again this week and is loving it. it was really funny, she said "I have to bring my big bag just to carry all of the stuff I need for church". Awhile ago, she was having a lot of questions about if God was really there for her, and she told us this week that she really feels like He loves her and is actually there :D it was awesome!! she also told us that her parents want to meet this week, so that will happen. Unfortunately though, her parents don't want her to be baptized...yet :), so hopefully we can help them to understand and feel that this is right. But if they don't let her now, she said that she will be baptized when she turns 18, no matter what, that's in April though.

Isaac is doing very well also. He loves coming to church and actively participates in classes and stuff. Unfortunantly though, he is thinking of moving to Las Vegas to be with his family, which is good though. We just don't want to let him go.

things are going  very well, I'm just still trying to figure out how and what to do to train a missionary...I sure am glad that the Atonement is real, because I know that I couldn't do this with out Christ's help.

Thank you so much for all your love, support and prayers! I love you!!
Kajoor ilo Christ

ij iokwe eok!!
Elder Broadbent