New Apartment

Letter from December 15

we traded apartments this week. the last one smelled like smoke because the house beneath was like a meth house or lots of pot or something. but the new house is really nice. I like it a lot. for the first time on my mission I have a washer and dryer though! I have never been so excited to do laundry before! so that is cool. and warm. because I have multiple choices now. we also live right next to the church so we can ball it up! and light it up!

we had a member bring someone to church this week. that was the first time we meet him. his name is bill. he is super solid. on date. I like him.

we had a hard time finding this week. so that stinks. I think that batman is the best

the mission is asking us to read the book of mormon. obviously. but we started nov. 26 and need to finish before christmas. we are highling faith in green and atonemen/christ in red. and it is a killer. it takes so much time to highlight that much and read in so little time. ouch.

I dont know about baby pictures. hopefully you photoshopped a t rex in or something cool like that. and I am holding a pineapple.

well love ya mom. more than superplumfaires... or sugarplumfaires

Author Fame in Kansas at a Baptism

Letter from December 8

yeah, I almost died. as soon as we started to drive away my comp was like "I thought we were gonna die." and I had to agree there. 

we went down to Wellington for baptisms on saturday. three of elder de jongs were getting baptized and we got to go back. so that was kinda cool. my last companion is in wellington right now so I got to see him. during the baptism the bishop gave a little talk and mentioned how the world was changing. lots of bad stuff going on. how the world needs more positive influence. then he said "and I now have a book in my library written by elder daines' mom." and then talked about how we need good mormon authors. good influences. is was kinda awkward and nice at the same time. a little earlier I was talking to him a little bit and he said that you have a gift more making people become interested in your characters. and people are drawn to them and thats not a gift many people have. so great work!

no investos came to church again this week. I don';t know what we did wrong. but this week we will try to do some finding and start over. so that is our plan this week. 

I mostly cleaned up the egg. but I left lamar beach so I don't have to worry about it right now :) 

I ripped my khakis. I need a sowing machine so I can fix them. 

my suit jackets are good. just the pants took same terminal damage. I named one of them my samurai pants because they bellow and blow in the wind. and I feel cool. and with the pants could we go a little smaller waist size :) that way they fit better and they encourage me to lose more weight. and could you send me maybe one pair of golf pants. those are pretty good. some stretchy cool colored golf pants. like blue or that shiny silverish color. 

I went to texas roadhouse and ate a lot of rolls! since I have been spanish again and eating a but ton of bread based foods I have gained 5 pounds since I've been here. :(

I know jesus is my saviour. I am gratefull to be out serving him and inviting others to experience the joy that comes from him. #HeistheGift. by the way if you don't share that video and print the picture and write on it and share that also I will be really disappointed. christmas.mormon.org . send a picture of your stuff also 

and that is my letter! love you more than most mormon authors. I say most because your a mormon author and I didn't want to say mormon authors in general and confuse you. it doesn't work that well but I do love you! 

Back to Spanish

Letter from December 1

Sweet. Well thiis was an awesome week! Almost caught a possum, ripped a pair of pants last week I think. And am spanish. So that is awesome. And so is Keaton

It is interesting being spanish again. I don't know much spanish. niether does my comp Elder Keaton de Jong. So we are trying. But it is super awesome here! The possum ran under a house so I couldnt chase it. In the spanish after the english sacrament we had about 13 people. Including the missionaries. So it is great!!  

I really want to baptize a family this transfer!! like the Chavez or the Santos families. or both. Please pray for that! 

Anyways we gotta bounce. enjoy http://www.mormon.org/christmas . then #sharethegift . just do it. it is what the cool people do!

#loveyoumorethanhashtags

elder brady daines

Palm Reading and Egg Disasters

Yes, Bo was baptized!! it was super awesome! it was at 1 oclock! it was super awesome! the Maestas came to the baptism, and it was really good! She came to church again also! for the primary program, and she gave up coffee so she is pretty solid. I love them a lot! I baptized Bo and my comp gave him the ghost on sunday! he is a funny guy! I really like them, the whole family! it was a really good day! 

 

Sweet. We had a member of the 70 come friday! Elder Schwitzer! it was super cool, he talked about the Book of Mormon, the baptismal invite, and Jesus Christ! I loved it a lot. he is pretty cool! I loved it, it was in Great Bend Kansas!

 

A psychic also read my palm yesterday. for fun. a few things he mentioned were that I was going to go to alaska and save someones life, and that would inspire me to go into the medical field. also that I will marry a hot eskimo girl! I like that part. some of my ancestry is from the celtic barbarians, that is where I get my height from. he also can look into the past. and into his past lifes. one of them, was during the titan war. when the titans were fighting the elves men and the giant turtles were helping us so the titans were also killing them. giant turtles like in avatar. and he thought it was a dream, then he realized it was a vision that he was having where he was on one of those turtles and learning martial arts from an asian elf. it was pretty cool! he also said my wings were beautiful and I am gifted with preminitions. oh, he also said that there are several girls in the church that have a crush on me. so that was cool!

 

I am so happy to be a missionary. it is the dopest of the dope. and there is a lot of dope in colorado. but this is the real dope, it brings lasting happiness, not just the "chocolate high." or actual high. I know that this is the true church, if it wasn't "the missionaries would have destroyed it a long time ago." and I can testify that is true, I am not a very smart person, but God is,
and he answers prayers and loves his childen! and that is also why he blessed us with families. to strengthen us and help us.

I didn't want to boil an egg, but I wanted to eat a hard one, so I decided to microwave it. I wrapped it in towels, but it didn't help.

 

All he wants for Christmas...

The past two weeks fall came and went. It went from 80 to cold. this Wednesday it is going to be about 25 degrees. Bienvenidos a Kansas. or Colorado I guess. 

You said I hope they are feasting on the words of Christ, and that is something that Kenney said. That he just wants more and more of it. and he came to church the past few weeks in a row! super cool, and his wife came and his son has come twice! super chill. his wife and son are on date for the 29th. she said she believes Joseph Smith is a prophet and in the book of Mormon. but I am nervous she will want to know more and more about the church before she gets baptized. so that is what I am a little concerned about. please pray for her to have confidence and such and great faith.

Bo Neal will be baptized on Saturday. please pray that all will go well. I love that family and Kenney and Jessicas family a lot. they are really cool! Bo lives in Holly which is about a 30 minute drive to church and they have come a few times and got Bo a new outfit for his baptism! I will be doing the dunking again so that is cool. I am excited. 

Time goes too fast. and that is the end of my letter. oh one more thing, I want to let you know before it is too late, hopefully it is not already to late, but I don't really want anything for Christmas. I don't have room for anything in my suitcase. and I don't want candy or treats cause I am trying to loose weight. maybe just two or three ties, like the jon ashton or landend, and one grizzly bear tie, and that is it. I don't need/want anything really but I figure you want to send something so the ties will be just fine. :) my bike is working great, my gps is awesome! my pants are not ripped. and I am a little fat, so no treats :) sorry.

I love you more than Christmas madre.

con amor, elder daines, brady daines

He's Teaching and Working Hard

Letter from November 3 

I realized this morning. I only have 4.5 transfers left. so that makes me sad. 

Pres Bell came to church with us on sunday. all the way out in colorado. 

Bo Neal will be baptized soon That is super cool. his family lives 30 mins away from Lamar and they were less active but have been starting to return. that is awesome! and Kenny and his family are really awesome! they gave us some of the best ground beef! fresh, grass raised. it tastes so good! and that family are some of the most reliable people I have meet. if they say they will do something they will. and he is paralyzed from the upper chest down. and that is why we wear seatbelts.

I am missing emporia and the ward a bit. they were so willing to help and go out with us. and I was friends with pretty much everyone there. I knew their names and they would talk to me more. it is pretty different here. there are some really cool families that I have meet so far. like the millers are one in particular. we visit them about twice a week. they have two nonmembers living with them and one will get baptized very soon! so that is cool. and when I say I am missing them a bit, I really mean a lot. 

I don't have much else to say sorry. Halloween I dressed up as a white belt for dinner. I got one in VC from a less active part member family. they talk us a bit. and I wore it into dinner, then took it off pretty quickly because it wasn't the most comfortable thing in the world.

I appreciate all the letters you guys send! and I love y'all and hope you have a really good day!!

love you more than lamar beach

New Area: Burlington Colorado

From October 13

the new area is great. I am out west finally. you should tell wes and maddie to come down on team-ups with me! I don't know what the rules are on that but it sounds good to me. I really like my comp so far! he is very musically inclinded and plays the guitar alot! we are working on expanding our teaching pool which normally is a big focus at the beginning of the transfers. but I have enjoyed my comp a lot so far! I have been eating wheat toast with peanut butter and eggs for lunch and dinner almost everytime. because I don't have a very big budget and I am eating less so I am loosing weight! yay!

[This is a picture of Albert, the man Brady taught and converted, but Brady was transferred a few days before his baptism.]

Turtles in the Road (Caution: contains graphic images)

Letter from September 9

I am going to be honest. I don't like emailing that much. by the time I get here I have now idea what to say. 

this week was good. we are teaching our bud Albert. he is so fun! he is in his 60s and adores my companion! he also adores his preacher! so we are working on getting him to choose the right. he knows Joseph Smith is a prophet and believes the book of mormon. but doesnt want to offend or leave his church. he said he deosnt feel like they are family. but he came this sunday to ours!! and everyone was so nice to him! so I think we made excellent progress with him! he is stellar I love him a lot. 

we gave a book of mormon to zz top

I got a free guitar. it only has three strings. I have been playing that a bit. like the mission song on it. 

I fixed two flat tires this week. one on my comps bike and the other on a sisters. I like stuff like that. I kinda wanna work at a bike shop when I get home. 

sad story. tortuga is a turrtle I named. tortuga is dead. we were driving to the church cause we were out of tp and we see a car pull over and move a turtle out of the way. so i was like cool. lets pick him up on the way home! so on the way back he was back in the road. so we pull over and I walk over to pick him up, and he had been nicked by a car. the side of his shell was broken and he was bleeding and was obviously going to die. so we were like "oh no!" what do we do? we decided to put him out of his misery... so we put him in the middle of the road and went around to hit him. hoping that someone else would do the dirty work. but alas. they all dodged him. so it had to be us. we hit him and he broke and me and my comp were like "oh no!" so sad! it was tragic. 

on a brighter note I love you more than tortuga!

Letter September 2

Letter from September 2

So I got this idea from another missionary and that is take notes on what  you can send home in your planner so you can flip through and see what you have to say! So I did that a little! and I don't have my planner with me! yay!  So we will spit ball again! So first my comp is dl and he had a meeting in topeka for 3 hours. So me and someone else went to wallmart for 3 hours and talked to people about The Gospel. That was fun! 

We have someone named cody that we teach. He is super awesome! He is on date for this saturday and he is worthy and able. Been keeping W.O.W. for two weeks. married. been to church 3 times. But we might push it back a week. to make sure he is serious enough about it and understands that commitment. So we might have a bap this saturday. please pray for him. 

my companion is Elder Myers from draper Utah. I love him a lot and he is a good worker! We have this one man that we just started to work with his name is Dave.  

I freaking love it out here on the mission. best place ever! "with the sun beating down, yes I'm [in kansas]. and there's nowhere else that I'd rather be!" that is from brother bear.

it is getting colder again so that is cool. I like it like that. and I like it how I like it.

anyways thus concludes this weeks letter! and I love you more than this letter!

Giant Spider Named Jeremy

Letter from August 18

Well this week was full of emotion. from creepy, then happy, to sad, then sadder, then joyful about to burst happy, then sad. let me explain... Jeremy. jeremy is this freaking huge spider I caught. way bigger than a silver dollar. yellow and black big spider. likes to spin web and eat things. and he's a mormon. 

it all started when I was at someones house and my comp was doing a baptismal interview and I was telling a story about chicken when I saw it. a big spider in the middle of the web. my story went sorta like this: "so they gave us this chickens with HOLY COW LOOK AT THAT SPIDER!" and that is the creepy part. so let me tell you the happy part. I caught him. in a water bottle. it took a while but me and my comp caught him. 

we pinned him down with four sticks then i put the bottle next to him and we scooped him into it. he didn't fit too well. it probably hurt so that is too bad. then I biked around emporia for about 2 hours with him on my bike! and i named him Jeremy. and I was super happy to have a friend. I think I heard him sing "you got a friend in me" at some point. 

now I got sad afterwards. because I got home and moved him to a milk jug. I pinned up a picture of a temple next to him and wrote jeremys goal, but I felt bad. he had a pretty rough life in there. can't even see through the walls. and no food. so I was sad. I was sooo sad. so I released him. I lost my friend. that is the even sadder part. I let him go in the bushes out side our apartment :(. 

but there is a happy ending!! the next day I went out and lo and behold, he had made a web in the bush! I was so happy to have a friend that I didn't feel like I was imprisoning. every night before bed i would go outside and play him a song on the crappy guitar in our apartment! then not a happy ending.... last night was a rainy and thundery. and I woke up and he was gone. either the wind blew him away or he packed up and moved. so i am sad. hopefully the wind just broke his web and he will make another soon. and that is my story. 

there was someone this week that we talked to, that did not believe we were christians. he believed the internet over what missionaries for that church said. I know that jesus Christ is the savior of the world. the son of God. and nobody telling me that I don't will change my mind. I know that the book of mormon is a blue and true book. I hope y'all and great week! love you!

love you more than Jeremy :)

Missions are the Best (and Black Widow)

(Letter from July 7)

My companion wrote a new song this week. in the chorus he sings about how the KWM (kansas wichita mission) is the best. and coming on the mission is the best decision! I can certainly attest to that. I love it so much. I am going to ramble about that again this email, so if you get sick of reading that then dont read it :) 

Before I came out on the mission I thought I had a pretty decent life. I never really realized just how blessed I was. I will not ever regret coming out. Everything will still be there when I get back. Except maybe Maddie and Wes, I got some sort of going away party invitation from Uncle Ross. But I will be able to listen to that weirdo fox song from Norway when I get home. And can watch that weirdo movie about not being cold (the cold never bothered her anyway) and building snowmen when I get home. 

But know what, I will not be able to learn what I have at home. I would have continued on my merry way doing nothing with my life. I repeat the words of Jacob Osborn when he said, the lessons learned on a mission are lifelong! I have been able to see a big difference in me also since I have been gone! I love it! Not being gone, but the mission. I will be so grateful for this in the future. College can wait. 

If by chance anyone that does read this is going on a mission soon or trying to decide if they should, do it! it will be a blessing that you will love. It is a lot of work. You wake up at 6:30 e'eryday and go to work. I bike mucho miles every day in 100 degrees, and it is freaking humid here. I heard it is more humid here than texas. From people that lived in texas and served missions there. So I can get a little sweaty at times.... *cough* but I love it so much. It is totes worth it. Totes cray cray, but totes worth. 

What my companion also sang about is praying about it. You can get an answer and know what to do. And then follow it and be happy! Every body wants to be happy, and sharing the gospel makes you happy and others! Which in turn makes you happy! 

And due to popular demand, my mom asked me, I should answer the question "what it means to me to serve and teach in the saviors name and be a missionary" paraphrased. But it is wonderful. As stated before, not a better place to be than out serving my Lord and my God. The Savior suffered and died for the people of Kansas. 

"They say the worth of souls is great in the sight of God, but really, it is the life God." That puts it in better words than I could. When Christ was in the Garden of Gethsemane it was not an instant giant mound of sin and pains that he felt. It took him hours where he suffered and died for us personally. For me. He spent the time suffering for me, and for my dear Brother Stuart. Spent the time bleeding from every pore for him. And for Jacob and Maren. (I am not trying to call them repentance or something just to clarify. I was just trying to apply it. So I used my siblings. I love them a lot and think they are wonderful.) 

But he HAD to have been prepared for that. Not just emotionally and spiritually, but physically. That pain is beyond what any human could endure. A drop of blood through a pore is a basketball through a garden hose, and that was going on all over his body. The Atonement is so real and the way to know that is to pray and apply it to yourself. I am out here to share it with others. 

In lighter news I got a cup with Black Widow on it from the avengers... and Man Scarlet Johanson is mighty fine! She pulls of that age quite nicely if I do say so myself! 

Anyone have any good advice or lines? send here: brady.daines@myldsmail.net

And my bite is doing a lot better

Spider Bite! WARNING: This post is not for the faint hearted

Ya, last week i ran out of time.... Bummer. I had less than an hour. So ya that stank. I didn't get to email dad cause it kicked me off. sorry dad. but ya I got a bite.  

I noticed it monday night. and but tuesday it was this. the black sharpie is the outline of the infection. it is hard to see in the camera

next day it was this, that is one day later.

here it is draining this morning

also this one

and that is my bug bite :) enjoy

and other than that, not much happened. I was on the couch a lot of the time, I couldn't really walk, whenever I did, it was really slow and funky looking. and having to go to the bathroom during the night was the worst. it hadn't moved for a while, so when I would stand up it would hurt really bad, then the blood would rush to it. and it would hurt even worse.... muy malo. 

[Side note from mom: he did go to the doctor with this. I know because I got a call from the doctor's office asking for insurance information.]

Isaac is going to get baptized soon! this saturday!! how exciting is that? he is wonderful! he is Jamaican from england! wow! I am excited for him!! It reminds me of about a month ago, when Cheryl was baptized!! that was so great!! ya, and they just took elders out of valley center, so hopefully things keep going well there. 

anyways, love you tons!! more than spiders!! and cellulitis infection!

First Week in New Area (Letter from June 23)

Well this week has come and passed. I say that a lot. It happens a lot.

Anyways I hope you have a great day cleaning. I have some cleaning to do. but this week was fun. I bought an organ for our apartment :) yep, 5 dollar organ from goodwill! it works pretty well, only a few keys dont work but it is electric so we dont have to pump it. and it has two rows of keys, foot keys, and all sorts of cool effects you can use!! how cool is that!! for only 5 bucks!! score one for the republic!! man, it is weird being back in Emporia. it is a little nostalgic. it makes me miss my friends that I was with last time. 

The work is going good here though so far. I have been enjoying it. we do biking every other week. and car every other other week. so ya. not much to say here. Isaac is on date for this saturday. he is a little iffy though. I think he can make. he is ready. he just really needs to be on board for it. he knows he needs to be baptized and is just working on a solid testimony of the Book of Mormon. I dont have much time so, ya, enjoy this wonderful letter! love you all! fun pictures you sent. covey looks like a mountain man. 

love you more than a mountain man!!

TRANSFERRED! (Letter from June 19)

ah man! I am really going to miss those huckleberry shakes.... 

Well I got transfered. I am in Emporia. Which is just outside Burlington. Emporia is the main town here and Burlington is 30 minutes away. I spent two or three days a week in Emporia, so this is kinda like going back to my second area. It is really weird. I dont like it too much! I am really missing the missionaries I was with here last time. Like Elder Owens, and Elder Bird, and Elder Godfrey. and Sister Tycz and Sister Harston. That was a really fun group! At pizza ranch, a pizza buffet, Elder Owens and I and Sister Tycz would quote Spondgebob to each other the whole time. I am feeling a little nostalgic here, in case you didnt notice. :) 

Valley Center was a great area! I am going to miss it... it was super hard to say good bye to the Oliphants which are one of the best families ever. They are wonderful! Grace, one of their daughters, made me this little picture thing, which picture I will include in this email. She also asked me and Sister Tycz to write our names on their pantry door and favorite scriptures. We were the ones leaving so we got to do it! She also just started that tradition so right now, we are the only people on that door. super awesome. I can send a picture of that also. Also lynnde the 5 year old that I was with during the skype, she drew me a picture! so that is hanging up next to my study area also. I will send a picture of us with her picture also. also a picture of the whole gang! 

my new comp is Landroche, he is going to go work in the office in about 3 or 4 weeks. so I am going to have to take over the area in a few weeks. wow. I only have a little to learn the ward and area and investigators. That is going to be hard. He is also the district leader, so they will have to bring in another district leader afterwards. Man cray cray. Also I got a cologne at the dollar store for fun. But man, I am really missing some of my good friends out here... :(

Uneventful Week - except for roadkill armadillos (Letter from June 9)

ya this week was good! ya my companion gave a talk. it was good. we hit standard again. that is good. it was kinda a boring week. sorry team

that is good about Brooke [a girl in our home ward who just returned from a mission in Texas]! I bet her talk was wonderful. there are so many miracles on a mission and it appears she noticed them and was able to make more through her work and faith like you said! congrats to her from me!  

we saw a roadkill armadillo yesterday! so of course I took a photo for y'all! coming up please enjoy!! [The roadkill picture didn't really come through very well, sorry]

I remember them easy days of summer. well i dont get that anymore. just normal days now.

I am pretty much just stringing together a bunch of random sentences for this letter.

this was a pretty uneventful week.

we have dinner tonight with the Barushocks tonight. 

we have dinner tomorrow with the Oliphants! they are lots of fun that is whose house I was at when I skyped. 

I hope you guys have a good week!

love y'all!

and I love you mom more than food

A Baptism is Scheduled (Letter from June 2)

Man, England was so fun! I am so grateful for the opportunity to have gone there! and I hope you are enjoying it also!

Well I am writing today because the library was closed on Monday. So here I am. but monday was awesome. we didnt have to email on that day so we went to a members house, the Mocks, and did our laundry and played cards and farkle with brother mock for about 3 hours. then we went to the sisters house with their members and played pokemon, a horse game, and scum for the rest of the time. it was so fun! also not much has happened cool stories wise. sorry team. but the hutch sisters moved yesterday so we helped them move, and our sisters are moving tomorrow so we are going to help with that again!!

Good news!! Cheryl is getting baptized on saturday!! this is my third! and saturday will be such a wonderful day for her! it is wonderful to see how happy people are when they follow the commandments and serve others and the lord! and now because Cheryl kept her commitments, reads the scriptures and comes to chruch, she will be able to experience one of the happiest things this saturday the 31st.

I am on exchanges with Elder Banderas. he is from equador. not mexico. if you call him mexican he gets so mad! he will want to punch you and hit you. and wrestle you! so you better well walk softly stranger. but he is so fun! I love him a lot! and he speaks spanish. so i can sorta talk to him in spanish. I have really bad spanish.

well I hope you guys have fun in england. party hardy! love you!

Our District

Brady gets a head cold (Letter from May 19)

Well this week I am not feeling so great. It is like a cold. Dang man. I feel bad for my comp I probably woke him up a few times in the night. Cause I woke up and had to fix my nose. It is sorta like sleep apnea but instead of me stopping to breath I get snot logged and can't breath. So then I snort and choke and all that stuff till the snot wall leaves and I can breath again. Hooray! Lucky him!

One person named cheryl is on date and she rocks! I love her so much!! She has been to church twice and we only need to teach 4 more doctrinal points before she is baptized on the 31st!! This will be my third baptism. Angelina Rodriguez, Kristi Jennings, are the other two! A mission is the best thing ever!

And other than that stuff everything is about the same. I got a letter from Aunt(cousin) Ratto! And what the heck mom! She said you were behind on my blogs! Dont you know that this should be your monday night routine! Get jacob to do his homework, family home evening, pray for Elder Daines, pray for the missionaries in his area (Sisters Tycz and Howell, and Elder Olson), pray for the missionaries in his district (Elders Sweeton and Banderas, and Sisters Prince and Hymas), pray for his zone leaders (Elders Moyle and Mckellar), pray for the aps (Elders Stopper and Page), pray for President Bell! and update the blog!! Have you been falling out of routine mom?

Anyways that is about it. Love y'all so much! I like the last three versus in D&C 122 a lot!

love,

elder daines

there apparently was an argument going on in a neighborhood, so someone painted this on his house! haha

Roadside Assistance (Letter from May 12)

[Some of this is in response to things we talked about Skyping on Mother's Day] 

I got pretty good at throwing pokemon cards also! I have torn cards when they hit the wall because of the sheer velocity of awesome I throw them! That was up in Burlington. I havent thrown a good card for a while. I need to make sure and practice some more.  

And also I covered just about everything in Skype yesterday, so not much else. But the Oliphants are awesome!! They are a less active part member family!! So ya, it was kinda awkward talking about people we are working with because they are who we are working with:)  But they are doing awesome!! They came to church last week and this one! and Lindie was wonderful during the skype call!! Sorta like Thorin! Except she is cuter! What! I cant believe I just said that.....

Last night someone who was rolling on their spare tire had an oopsy next to the highway. It came off. Oops. So we went to go help, but we werent needed. The sisters found them first and called us. And we went and one of the officers decided just to call a tow truck because the bolts were locked onto the tires so the spare wouldnt have any bolts and would have fallen off again....

Well that is about it. Sorry. 

Love you mucho! 

How Brady and his companion decorated their apartment with stuff they found lying around the city, including the grandfather clock they found on the curb.

It's Hot, Yo. (Letter from May 5)

This week what happened.... it gets kinda hard to remember all the time. Well on Wednesday night the APs called us up and were like yo, Eldas, let us go with y'all tomorrow!!  So we be like aiight. Tight yo, whats happenin'? And then they said not a thing bra. We just wanna work with y'all! So we be all tiiiiiight broskiis! So we spent the Thursday afternoon trackting with the APs. I went with Page, and Olson went with Stopper. That was lots of fun! I love trackting a lot, I am just really bad at it so it was nice to go with someone who knows what they are doing pretty well! I loved it! 

Then we went back and had dinner at the Mocks, these awesome members (they gave me a knife :) I was so happy!!!!! I loved it much! it is a small fold up knife but looks slick. It is a classy knife). And we had an investigator over for dinner also! Her name is Cheryl! She is their daughter's step mother. And she also came to church on sunday, and she is awesome!! I love her a lot! She is really cool! Please pray for her!

Saturday we did about 4 hours of trackting with me Elder Olson together! Loved it! But it was hot! We got one new, and a lot of potentials to follow up with!! 

Someone once asked me if it is hot right now... well it snowed last week. Yesterday, I took a picture of the car thermometer at 109 degrees. So yeah, it gets hot. We did the 4 hours of trackting in 100 degrees! I really wish I brought out more short sleeve and less long sleeve.

Love you tons!! More than hot weather!!

La oruga muy hambrienta (Letter from April 28)

Well, Easter was yesterday. I hope you all watched that Because of Him video that the church made for it. If you have not, go do it now before finishing this letter! (mom, please insert link here: http://easter.mormon.org/ , thanks) Wow! Isn't that a wonderful video! So powerful yet short! Christ is the best, and that is a good video showing how awesome he really is! It takes 2:45 minutes, but it freakin' rocks my boat!

Well Easter was yesterday. I hope you all had  a really great day! I did! We had lots of less actives show up! It was wonderful and 3 investigators! I loved it! Unfortunately it is kinda hard to talk to people on Easter, so we didn't get much done. The sisters are living with some members so we went over there at night and died some eggs together! (haha get it? it's funny cause the egg gets dead) It was lots of fun! 

We did some good biking this week and found about 4 new investigators! That was awesome! And I have to give another talk on Sunday, at least this one is only 5-10 minutes!! So much shorter than the others. And it is English so that is also nice! wont have to read the story of the hungry Caterpillar again, and try to translate it into Spanish, a foreign language! So that makes me happy!

And other than that, nothing really happened this week, bummer! But have a good one! love y'all!

I love you more than humidity! 

con amor Elder Daines

Dying Easter Eggs

Flaming Tea Bags (Letter from April 14)

Wowzers ma! You always have some awesome story to tell! Or some sick object lesson. Here is a good one. You light a tea bag on fire and it flies! What!! Apostasia! Go ahead, try it, I wanna see the gleaming lanterns fly! 

I think I talked about GC last week but it was awesome, but not as awesome as french toast (sorry grandpa, I won't make that mistake again!:)  

this week we did a Easter activity! The sisters did a lot of work for it, and Sister Rucker and Bro Spencer! A lot of people helped, but those were the main who did a lot of work for it! But it was awesome! We had about 4 non members show up and about 60 members! it was lots of fun! I really enjoyed it! 

We watched some videos in front of the baptismal font about the savior, then we went to the chapel and watched a few about the Atonement, then we went outside and wrote something we are thankful for and tied them to a balloon. And let 'em go. But this is Kansas. And it is windy. So the balloons went almost sideways! Ha! They got caught a lot in our neighbors trees, oops... sorry guys! It was really funny.

Also remember how I crashed my bike the other day after it got caught on my comps watch? Well this week I was riding and one of our members who is about 12 shouted, don't go playing with watches again! it was reallyl funny. I had to explain it to my comp, but it was really funny!

We also went to the temple on Tuesday! Once a transfer one zone goes to the temple, and I got lucky so I went in jan. And now! To the kansas city missouri one and to the Oklahoma one! I am so grateful for the temples! I really love going to the temples! 

But other than that, this week was pretty normal. save for the garage sales... I guess it is the annual city wide garage sale day this weekend. I saw so many freaking garage sales everywhere, So, so many, I have never seen so much junk all over the road! And I got a sick tie for a buck!

Have a great week team! love y'all! 

Love, Elder Daines

Yep, You Guessed It. Ripped His Pants ... Again

Hey! 

Well this week has happened! Yay! I dont know why, but last week I forgot to tell you that I crashed on my bike... oops! But I ripped open my last pair of machine washable pants. That is right. I am all out of normal pants again. No girl is ever going to want to dance with me! (That is a spongebob reference.) We were riding our bikes and I was stupid and rode too close to my comp. My handlebar got caught in is watch. It undid his watch and my wheel got crooked and I went down, skinned both knees, ripping my pants in the process, road rash on my arm and slight wounds on my palms. But it was fun!  

General Conference was awesome also. We got to watch all four sessions this time! (Last time I missed sat aft. and priesthood.) But this time I got them all in! And I loved it! T. Monsons was sublime! I really like his, Eyring, and Holland! We got some investigators and less actives to watch it also so was awesome!

This area is pretty good, the hard thing is new investigators! We did about 6 hours of trackting and got 2. So we are working on finding some new investigators! And like I said last week, I really like the Hudson Lights cd! So much fun! Something new! 

Anyways, other than that stuff not much happened! One family has two Great Danes so that is kinda cool. They are my kindred! get it? I am Elder Daines, they are Danes! lol. That was funny. I am chuckling inside but not outside because I am in a library and I have to be respectful! But Love ya and have a great week!

I love you more than I love french toast! -Elder Daines

Birthday Package Success! (Letter from March 31)

One family, the Housetons, had a son who died so we were talking with them about sharing the gospel with their dead son and about baptisms for the dead! It is so awesome how that works!  The gospel is so perfect!

And thanks so much for the birthday package I really liked it! It was awesome and the gps is so useful! My comp had a tom tom but it fell and broke so we didn't have a gps so we didn't know how to get to a lot of people. I really appreciate it! It is really nice too! And I also like the music! New music is always so nice, I get to listen to the same things over and over so any new one is so nice! A whole new set to listen to! It really means a lot to me! After church someone signed up to feed us that night so that was cool, I wasn't going to get fed that day but someone signed up for that night instead of any of the other open days when they would have been able to have some time to know but they signed up for that night so it made me really happy, they are the Ruckers! They are so helpful!

We also did about 5 hours of tackting this week. It is kinda hard to get new investigators here so in that 5 hours we only got 2 new investigators! Sooooo those days are kinda long and hard! But one family, the K-pats, or the Kirkpatricks, are doing pretty well, the wife is a member and we have been working with them a little I really like them, they are lots of fun!

And sorry but other than that stuff this week was really normal! One member, Brother Watkins, he is pretty cool, has lots of guns and gave me a cold steel magazine, so I looked through that a little. And that ends this boring letter sorry team :)  But I really liked the pictures of Christ in that package, lots of fun! I have already given a few away, so they are awesome! I love them so much, the Greg Olson ones that aren't the Child of God ones, those are them that I like. Y creo que eso es todo!

Con amor elder Daines

Letter from March 24th. New Companion. Birthday Package Excitement.

Well I got your birhtday package about 11 days before my birthday! So lets hope it can make it that far un opened! :) And I guess i don't really have much to say to the ward. Just the book of mormon is the best. It will calm everyone (including Jacob). 

My new companion is Elder Olson! He has served in Abilene for 6 months and this is his second area. So it is exciting! Abilene has about 7,000 people there. It is kinda funny because when I was getting trained I worked in Abilene also for Spanish! so that is cool! I worked some of the members there that are in the spanish branch and he also worked with them!

But this has been kind of a sad week. Elder Henriod went home because he finished his mission. So I am missing him a lot, he was lots of fun! I loved him. Another one of my friends out here is going home. Not because he finished his mission but because it is one of the hardest things to do and lots of other stuff. I feel so sad he will not be able to finish. He is missing out. I am grateful I am out here! It is the best thing ever! 

Well I am excited for my birthday on the 30th because I can know what is in the package! I am really curious....

The Most Beautiful Letter So Far

This week happened. And it happened quick. Things just flew right by. My companion goes home in about 9 days. So... I am thinking of a lot of things. But it is going good. He is going home for his second time. The first time was for his knee. He had surgery.  He said that when he came out, guess how many people outside his family wanted him to go? None. He left anyways. He had to go home. Guess how many people wanted him to come back out of his friends? None. He came back out anyways. He has been a missionary since October 2011. He is happy he came out. 

The mission is the best choice I have made in my life. I will never regret this decision. While things might be hard, or I am missing all the chill new movies. Like Oblivion, I still haven't seen that. I have rubbed a PS4, but that is the closer I have gotten. I am missing this stuff, but I would not trade this for a second. 

One of the la's [less actives] in this ward served a mission in Boston. He didn't like that much, and I pity him. I feel so bad he didn't come out. Not whole heartedly. He had his weapons of rebellion, and he didn't let them go. He missed out and he will never be able to get that back. A member of the 70s was in his home last week and he still doesn't come to church. I wish I could let him redo that. I am so sorry that he did not serve to the best of his ability. 

I am so glad I am out here and serving. And remembering why Jacob [Osborn, our back door neighbor now serving in Chile] did not come back home. I will quote some of him: 

"When you see the peoples lives, broken; shattered; nothing left but a sad , shattered spirit, clinging to his addiction... something changes. You suddenly realize that there is something more important than scoring a Pentakill with Katarina, you feel something deep within, a certain sense of duty to help that poor broken man, huddled in the corner. and you don't have to ask yourself, 'how can I help him?' because the answer is clear. In moments like this it becomes glaringly, blindingly obvious that the gospel of Jesus Christ, the gospel that we have lived in our entire lives, is the answer to all of life's problems. No matter who you are, what you've done, or what you think you want to do, the message that we have heals. And when you get to that state, you realize that there is not a single more selfish act in the entire world than going home from your mission early." 

I testify to that. This is awesome. I know that this message really does heal. This week elder Bednar did a devo for the YSA ward and afterwards something happened to one of our new recent converts. She was baptized in November, but long story short she told us not to come over anymore. She is done with the church. She is making one of the biggest mistakes. She has known the truth and has a testimony, but the way she is coping with this problem is no bueno. Her name is Rachel and I feel so bad for her. I pray she will make it back someday. 

I know that this church is true. I know that it will heal and rescue people. When they put in some effort they can change and feel the love that the savior has for them. I am so sorry for the people who do not partake of this delicious fruit and will never know just how awesome it is to "have Jesus." 

Many people say that but they don't know really what it means. I know that he is my savior. And I am so grateful for the opportunity I have to know this. And that I am a missionary for my Savior and Lord Jesus Christ. This is a little sacrifice. I am so eternally grateful I am here. I urge everyone to come out that can. 

My trainer came out late and he loved his mission. He gave up two simple years and will never regret it. Neither will my current companion. The book of mormon is true and people who refuse to read it because they are "too kool" or some other pathetic excuse are missing out on everything. Everything we have comes from our loving Heavenly Father and I am willing to make this "sacrifice" because I love him. I put sacrifice in quotations because it is not a sacrifice. It is a blessing to come out here.

Elder Daines, tu hijo

Grandfather Clocks and Lots of Unexplainable Pictures

Awesome possum! This week was chill like unto Willy the Penguin. That is a Night at the Museum reference. At least I think it is from that show.

But the highlight of the week was probably when we were driving around Wichita! get ready for a story!!!

                "Come gather round! Bring your young and your old and listen to this campfire story. The C-A-M-P-F-I-R-E-S-O-N-G song. It will help if you just sing along!

One day as we journeyed in the cold, probably around 6 degrees not counting wind chill, and hope was slim, we were freezing and couldn't last much longer. So we took a left and walked into the apartment complex whose sidewalk we were walking on for dinner and to warm up. 

So we made it! We ate a dinner, talked a lot about funny stories and broken bones. But afterwords it gets awesome! We walked out and, hold to your pants, saw a grandfather clock at the dumpster! We ran over and stuffed it in our cruz! We had to lay down the seats, move shotgun up all the way, and lean it forward and it barley made it! I had to sit in the back. This puppy was bigger than me. Far as the eye could see. Like zoinks! 

So after we put that in our car we proceeded to start drifting around Wichita! We got sideways (drifting) all over the place. This...this huge clock! After we made it home about 50 minutes later, should be about a 15 minute ride straight home, we carried it up to our apartment. 

It doesn't actually tell the time but we put my K-state clock up in that joint! So now we have a grandfather clock! Moral of the story, if you see something on the side of the road, especially in a big city, pick it up and take it home with you. There will never be any bad consequences. So next time make the smart choice and pick up the garbage." 

I asked our old neighbor to narrate that for me.

So that was super awesome! We now have quite the timepiece in our apartment! It makes me happy.

Also one of our investigators has been sick and so we bought him a card! it says get well soon! You're one of the only normal people we know! And it has a penguin looking at a bunch of other super weird penguins. One is wearing a cowboy hat, another is suntanning in whity tightys. Cool like unto a dish!

I am a big fan of D&C section 68 because it talks about missionary work! And I'm a missionary!! But I crossed off the name Orson Hyde or something like that and wrote my name. So I think that's pretty awesome. I felt cool. 

I think it is funny also that Dublin fell over. I love that puppy so much! Dubby puppy! She is an awesome dog! You guys should be so thankful you got her. Lots of dogs can get annoying but we got an awesome dog! 

Anyways if you have questions call brady.daines@myldsmail.net

[Brady and some investigators from his Spanish area.]

[No wonder he asked for more allergy medication.]

[I don't know what this is, but it's creepy!]

[He has some kind of possum obsession...]

[They made Hawaiian Haystacks. "It was so good!"]

[The "Grand" prize]

Spanish Speaking Splits

Well this week has past. Not muched happened. One of my favorite days was when we did service with a member and she gave us a bunch of free stuff! So that was awesome. 

This morning for pday some other missionaries came over and we made a delicious breakfast of bacon pancakes and eggs. I loved it. 

We went on exchanges this week and I was with Elder Jensen in their Spanish area. They cover the Wichita Stake and we talked to a lot of people that was fun! I miss working in Spanish. I can't talk that well so I feel bad because since I have been in english most of my mission my Spanish is bad, and I want to go spanish to get better but it will be sad because I won't be able to talk so my comp will have to do all the work. So it is quite a problem. But anyways we went trackting once and in 4 houses three opened. Two only spoke Spanish and we got return appointments! One wasn't interested.

I was thinking this week and I decided I don't ever want to be a district leader or anything. I might just follow my father's (trainers) footsteps and decline if they ask me. There is nothing about being one that I would like to do. 

This weeks letter was one of my favorites. I really liked all the quotes. And I turned on underline not on purpose and I don't want to fix the last sentence so there you have. I wish that I had some awesome stories or something for you. best I got is Sunday was my 3rd stake conference since I left and Elder Snow of the 70 spoke. And on the 7th Elder Ballard is coming to our mission so that will be awesome!! I am so excited! I feel bad because this is a boring letter sorry team... l

Love you though!

I love you more than hippos love me.

Brady's Emergency Transfer (Letter from February 17)

This week was loco! You want to hear about my new area and comp? Well I will tell you! My area is Valley Center (northern Wichita) and my comp is Elder Henriod! That's right I got E.T.ed!! (Emergency transfered) because Elder Heppler had to go home... but it is awesome here! Other than that, everything else is the same. Unfortunatly no awesome stories. 

But one of our LA families has two great danes! Elder Henriod said you will meet your kind here. Then I saw the dogs. Then I laughed. Ha. Good one bud. This week I got the valentines package and it was rad! Super Rad!