Josh's Mission April 28, 2014

iokwe!!!

Well this week has been full of ups and downs. being a missionary is so great, but it sure can be hard sometimes.

So Mandy, who was getting baptised on Sat, didn't get baptised. She went and talked to her mom over easter and she told mandy, that she needed to give more consideration for her church. But Mandy, is just great!! She told us that even though her mom wants her to look more into her church, she knows what she needs to do. She knows that the only true church is the LDS church. but she respects her mom and so needs to figure out why the other church doesn't feel as good as ours. She is stilling going to come to church and still wants to learn, but she needs some time to figure things out. She is going to be picking a baptismal date the next time we meet with her though.

We had a great sunday yesterday! E Underwood gave a great talk about elder utchdorf's talk in conference about being grateful in all circumstances. It was awesome! I am going to work on being grateful more. and just think about why it's important that we need to be grateful, even in our trials.

We also had a great dinner yesterday with an awesome old lady, that we call Oma (grandma in german). she is trying to come back to church and read more from the Book of Mormon.

Earlier in the week we had a great dinner with some members, it was curry chicken, dates, and some other middle eastern foods, it was really great!!

There is a great scripture in 3 nephi 19 about treasure and what that means. what are somethings that you treasure?? that are really important to you? this is what it says.

19  Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and thieves break through and steal;
20  But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal.
21  For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.

I know that the gospel provides us with that great treasure, eternal life, that is so important to share. I love this gospel! I know that Christ loves us and knows what we go through. it's so important to be grateful no matter what our circumstances.

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

ij iokwe eok!!

Elder Broadbent

Josh's Mission April 21, 2014

iokwe baamle!!!

What a great week! full of miracles, blessings, and it went by way too fast! We had Interviews this past wednesday with president and sister jensen. We had a great baptism service for Cindy. and a wonderful easter!

I really love president and sister jensen! they are both so great and I am so glad that I can serve with them. Interviews were great. President told me that E Underwood will most likely be leaving this next transfer. He's been in Knoxville for 10 months. But either way, it will be great. I feel like I am just starting to get to know the people here, and I feel like there is so much work to do here. So I hope that I can stay. the people here are so great! we have a great branch here! they are all so loving!

This week we went around sharing with everyone the easter message! I love easter so much! It's just such a great time to refocus and center your life on Christ. I truly do know that Christ Lives!! There is a wonderful video on mormonchannel.org, it's one of the newer ones, I think that it is called "because of Him" it is so awesome!! It talks about everything that is possible because of Christ. I know that through Him all things are possible. It always amazes me how much Christ loves me. He sacrificed everything for us, and the best part is that he is still there for us. He knows what we go through. He know the suffering that we have to go through every day. and He knows the only way that we can be truly happy is by following Heavenly father's plan for us.

I was thinking about the resurrection earlier this week and I had a thought: the resurrection isn't the end of Christ's atonement. Christ's atonement is infinite and eternal. The resurrection was the final act of the atonement. it completed it. Christ lives! I know that He does.

We also had a great baptism for Cindy Snook yesterday! it was so awesome!! SO just to tell you about her story a little bit. E Underwood and his trainer had been tracting in her apartment. when they were about to leave E Underwood said that he felt like there was someone that they needed to talk to. So they went upstairs, knocked on her door. when she answered, she told them that she had been praying that they would come back. Apparently, Cindy had been taught something like 14 years ago. She had almost been baptised, but had been pushed too hard and anti-ed by some friends. They started to teach her again and has progressed very well. She was so prepared for it this time. the really great part is that her dad and her step mom are both converts and have been such a great support to her. Her dad was able to come down from Chicago area, with her step mom, to baptise her. it was such a wonderful service! the spirit was so strong the whole time. Cindy was glowing, her dad was beaming, it was just so great!

it was such a great blessing to be a part of her story. and then Next saturday we have another baptism, for Mandy. Her story is almost and in some respects just as amazing. But I'll tell that next week.

I know that this is the Lord's work! and I know that He is truly hastening His work.

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

ij iokwe eok!!

Elder Broadbent

PS

 Couple of pics :Cindy, her dad, E Underwood and me, and E Underwood and I

Josh's Mission April 14, 2014

Iokwe Baamle!!!!

What a great week!!!! We were very blessed! We saw so many miracles!

So we've been staying really close to Cindy (her baptism is on Sunday), she is doing great on not smoking! and is very excited for her baptism!! Her dad is going to come up from Kentucky I think to baptise her. She is going to be interviewed finally, this week. It's been so great to see the miracles and blessings that have been happening with her. We gave her a blessing and she has had pretty much no desire to smoke since. She has been really stressing with her job and her family though, Satan is working very hard on her, but she is staying strong and is so ready for baptism.

 Mandy (her baptism is on the 26th) is doing great too!! We had a great lesson with her this week about temples. She has been really stressed with work, school, and her family and Satan is working so hard on her. She has been really down, because she realizes that she needs to read from the book of mormon, but hasn't been every day. It's so amazing how well Satan knows us and our weaknesses. He works so hard on us to make us doubt our selves and have fear. and it's interesting how people go through different things so differently. It's really like the analogy that there is only one gate that we can enter in by to receive salvation. We all have different ways of getting there but we have to decide whether or not to enter in that straight and narrow gate and follow the iron rod. After we talked to Mandy, she has a stronger resolve than ever to do what is right. She is going to North Dakota this weekend to visit her mom and talk to her about her baptism. She is so prepared and very ready and willing to do what is necessary for baptism.

We were also blessed with a new investigator this week! His name is Chuck. He's 14 years old and loves to learn about the gospel. We met him on exchanges with the elders in our district. when we knocked on his door and started talking to him, we realized that we had to go, because we had a dinner appointment. So we gave him a pamphlet and told him that we would be back in about and hour. When we came back, he had read more than half the pamphlet and had so many questions to ask. He has been through a lot in the last while, he lost his dad to lung cancer and has turned to Heavenly Father for help. He is really awesome!! and we're super excited to teach him.

I am so excited for Easter!! I've been thinking about a scripture in Mormon 7:5-7 and Moroni 7: 45-48. I think that they are perfect for easter! the one in Mormon talks about the resurrection and how because of what Christ went through we can have eternal life and happiness for ever. We shared that one with a lady who has some mental problems, and she told us that she didn't want to hear that right now, that she is going through things that are too hard for that to be true, but it is true!! Christ knows each of us perfectly and because he suffered for us we can be happy for ever! it just struck me, that we do need this wonderful message that Christ loves us, even if we don't think that we do.

The one in Moroni talks about charity, and how important it is to have love for everyone. and that we should pray to have charity! with easter, it also reminds me of this great bible video online at mormonchannel.org called "he is risen". The easter message is so great! I know that Christ lives and that He truly is risen!! I know that He loves us all and that He knows how to help us with anything and wants to help us as long as we go to him. It's so important to share this message with everyone and pray to have the charity for our brothers and sisters that we will share it with them. Easter is a great time to again refocus on Christ! I know that my Redeemer lives and that he loves us!

Thank you all so much for your love, your support, and especially your prays!!!

ij iokwe eok 

Elder Broadbent

Josh's Mission March 31 2014

Iokwe Baamle!!

So even though I am no longer in Dubuque I am still going to try and learn Marshallese. I don't know if anyone remembers, but back when I sent in my papers I said that I didn't care if I went state side, or even if I didn't learn another language, as long as I learned one in the field (bad stipulation, Heavenly father does have a sense of humor) so I am going to learn Marshallese.

So, I am in good old Knoxville IA. It's way down south of Des Moines, so basically on the other side of the mission. I am serving in the Knoxville branch with Elder Underwood. He is from Washington, but originally from Germany. He is probably knows more about anything, than anyone I know. He is way smart, especially about the gospel. He is actually a visa waiter of about 11 months, so I kind of think that he is going to get it soon. but something kind of crazy is that Knoxville is his 1st area, so I definitely think that we are only going to be together for this 1 transfer. He is really great though and I am way excited to get to know him better.

We have a really great district here as well. the ZL's are in our district and then 1 other set of elders, so relatively small district. and everyone is at least 30 min away from each other, so that's way different from my last area where everyone was with in the same city.

We have a  really great small little branch. Our whole building is probably about the size of the Gym and chapel back in Ogden. so really small. I don't know an exact number but we probably only had maybe 50 people there yesterday. they are all really great though!!! testimony meeting was so awesome and the spirit was super strong!!! they have a great love of the gospel and of each other, so we are working with them to expand that to everyone they know.

We have a good area too. we are working with 2 people that have bap dates for this next month. Cindy, her date is the 19th of april, is really awesome!! she has been an investigator for more than like 10 years, but has finally decided that she is ready. and our other one is Mandy, she is so awesome, she has such a strong testimony!!!! if I didn't know her I would have guessed that she was a member.

I love you all so much and thank you so much for everything!!!! I know that our savior lives!!!! and that he loves us!! I know that because I know that the Book of Mormon is true!! I know the Heavenly Father really does want to hear from us and that he knows what is best for us and as we follow his words and the words of the prophets, we will be blessed.

Thank you so much for your love, prayers and support!!

ij iokwe eok!!!
Elder Broadbent