My Level of Concern
This week was interesting, things are starting to get heavy, but that's ok I'll just say how its growing steady.
Sept 7, 2020 Mon
Today was P-Day! Went St. George with Gish & Saucier, got lunch then we all joined Hansen and Huxford and went and caught crawdads with a chicken leg on a string. I caught 2, it was so frickin sick. After that hungout, talked to fam, then had a Lesson.
Sept 8, 2020 Tues
We had a full day today. We have been trying to fill our schedule better and today was a success. We did contacts, had lessons, and even had a meeting with the Stake President who is a really awesome guy (but he's got nothing on you President Johnson, you the best!). Also it was like 60° outside and windy so De Voe and I went for a walk for like an hour and a half. It felt so good.
Sept 9, 2020 Weds
We had a couple great lessons today, we also went grocery shopping and got our $110 haul paid for by another person in line and setup a member lesson a minute later in the parking lot. Back to back blessings baby. The more filled schedule definitely makes each day better and feels like we've been more productive.
Sept 10, 2020 Thurs
Today we had District Council Meeting over Zoom which was pretty good, then we filled our time with Drip chart, contacting, up until our lessons in the evening. A very straightforward day.
Sept 11, 2020 Fri
Today was my Dad's birthday! It was also the day that marked 19 years since my Dad's birthday was marred forever, I posted this on Facebook about it:
This day 19 years ago, the greatest tragedy in American history occurred. The repercussions of that day are felt even now. On that day many lives were lost, many lives were affected, and every life heard or felt the repercussions of that day. The repercussions of that day are felt even now. And it is on this day and during days that feel like it, I recall the words of Council given to Nephi and Lehi from their father Helaman;
"And now, my sons, remember, remember that it is upon the rock of our Redeemer, who is Christ, the Son of God, that ye must build your foundation; that when the devil shall send forth his mighty winds, yea, his shafts in the whirlwind, yea, when all his hail and his mighty storm shall beat upon you, it shall have no power over you to drag you down to the gulf of misery and endless wo, because of the rock upon which ye are built, which is a sure foundation, a foundation whereon if men build they cannot fall." (Helaman 5:12)
The devil shall send forth his "mighty winds" and "mighty storms", they may make us fear and they may make us weep, but they will have no power over us. Regardless of the repercussions that stem from those whirlwinds, as long as we build our lives on the rock of our Redeemer, Savior, and friend, who is Jesus Christ, we will not fall.
This comfort is for every person on this earth, all that is required to receive it is to heed the same invitation that the Savior gave to his 12 apostles, "Come follow me."
Never Forget, 9/11/2001
It is something I think about pretty often, especially now. Other than that De Voe and I had weekly Planning, contacting, and 2 fantastic lessons. This a great week, so many blessings, we even had someone pay for our Domino's Pizza.
Sept 12, 2020 Sat
Today was a day of service. We did service basically all day. We helped the District with a service project doing a little yard work and sanding some old tables, then Nielsen and Williams joined De Voe and I at a service project in one of our Ward Mission Leader's. We moved rocks, rolled them over in a wheelbarrow, by the end my body had gotten rocked, but over all the service rocked, I had a lava fun. Puns. :) After that a shower, sandwich, we helped Knowles and Ferguson with another video, and when we got home I passed out.
Sept 13, 2020 Sun
Today we received news that Elder Riley, one of our AP's tested Positive for COVID, and if you remember De Voe and I had Dinner with them on the 4th so now we are under quarantine. Neither of us have shown symptoms and if we show no symptoms all the way through Friday we are fine, but I can only pray we are. Also we found this out during our 2nd Sacrament Meeting we went to, we left early. Other than that we had 2 lessons and hit 11 lessons for the week!
The news that we are quarantined and theoretically could have COVID stinks to say the least. But I am reminded of the talk from Joseph B. Wirthlin in the October 2008 General Conference titled "Come what may and love it".
From that talk I would like to share this experience;
"When I was young I loved playing sports, and I have many fond memories of those days. But not all of them are pleasant. I remember one day after my football team lost a tough game, I came home feeling discouraged. My mother was there. She listened to my sad story. She taught her children to trust in themselves and each other, not blame others for their misfortunes, and give their best effort in everything they attempted.
When we fell down, she expected us to pick ourselves up and get going again. So the advice my mother gave to me then wasn’t altogether unexpected. It has stayed with me all my life.
'Joseph,' she said, 'come what may, and love it.'"
This is an experience that all of us have had in one way or another. I personally have not been a part of a football team, because I wanted to survive High School unscathed, but I have had experiences that caused disappointment, sadness, fear, anger, and or any other number of emotions and feelings.
One thing I've learned and I continue to relearn is that you cannot change your circumstances, but you can change how you react to them. And me personally, I'm going to try to "come what may and love it".
There's a quote from Walt Disney that to some extent says, "Why worry? If you've done everything you can, worrying isn't going to fix anything." So with that, be not afraid, keep your level of Concern from over whelming you and I will do the same. I know Christ is one person who can help us do this. I share that in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.
I love you all and love your emails and updates. Miss you and stay safe.
Elder Bradford
***Parental Note***
We received the following picture on Sunday evening from the Park and Lester family. They also sent the included message:
“Sister Devoe and Sister Bradford, We met with your missionaries tonight for a member lesson. Your boys are both great missionaries. We could tell they are dedicated servants of our Father in Heaven. We teased them about having to cook for themselves but they have a good attitude about that too and they are willing to try new recipes.
They talked about their families and they love you very much. Thank you for sharing your boys with us.
The Park's And the Lester's.”
We are so grateful to receive messages like this. These elders are doing good work out there despite having quite a few challenges placed in front of them
Sept 7, 2020 Mon
Today was P-Day! Went St. George with Gish & Saucier, got lunch then we all joined Hansen and Huxford and went and caught crawdads with a chicken leg on a string. I caught 2, it was so frickin sick. After that hungout, talked to fam, then had a Lesson.
Sept 8, 2020 Tues
We had a full day today. We have been trying to fill our schedule better and today was a success. We did contacts, had lessons, and even had a meeting with the Stake President who is a really awesome guy (but he's got nothing on you President Johnson, you the best!). Also it was like 60° outside and windy so De Voe and I went for a walk for like an hour and a half. It felt so good.
Sept 9, 2020 Weds
We had a couple great lessons today, we also went grocery shopping and got our $110 haul paid for by another person in line and setup a member lesson a minute later in the parking lot. Back to back blessings baby. The more filled schedule definitely makes each day better and feels like we've been more productive.
Sept 10, 2020 Thurs
Today we had District Council Meeting over Zoom which was pretty good, then we filled our time with Drip chart, contacting, up until our lessons in the evening. A very straightforward day.
Sept 11, 2020 Fri
Today was my Dad's birthday! It was also the day that marked 19 years since my Dad's birthday was marred forever, I posted this on Facebook about it:
This day 19 years ago, the greatest tragedy in American history occurred. The repercussions of that day are felt even now. On that day many lives were lost, many lives were affected, and every life heard or felt the repercussions of that day. The repercussions of that day are felt even now. And it is on this day and during days that feel like it, I recall the words of Council given to Nephi and Lehi from their father Helaman;
"And now, my sons, remember, remember that it is upon the rock of our Redeemer, who is Christ, the Son of God, that ye must build your foundation; that when the devil shall send forth his mighty winds, yea, his shafts in the whirlwind, yea, when all his hail and his mighty storm shall beat upon you, it shall have no power over you to drag you down to the gulf of misery and endless wo, because of the rock upon which ye are built, which is a sure foundation, a foundation whereon if men build they cannot fall." (Helaman 5:12)
The devil shall send forth his "mighty winds" and "mighty storms", they may make us fear and they may make us weep, but they will have no power over us. Regardless of the repercussions that stem from those whirlwinds, as long as we build our lives on the rock of our Redeemer, Savior, and friend, who is Jesus Christ, we will not fall.
This comfort is for every person on this earth, all that is required to receive it is to heed the same invitation that the Savior gave to his 12 apostles, "Come follow me."
Never Forget, 9/11/2001
It is something I think about pretty often, especially now. Other than that De Voe and I had weekly Planning, contacting, and 2 fantastic lessons. This a great week, so many blessings, we even had someone pay for our Domino's Pizza.
Sept 12, 2020 Sat
Today was a day of service. We did service basically all day. We helped the District with a service project doing a little yard work and sanding some old tables, then Nielsen and Williams joined De Voe and I at a service project in one of our Ward Mission Leader's. We moved rocks, rolled them over in a wheelbarrow, by the end my body had gotten rocked, but over all the service rocked, I had a lava fun. Puns. :) After that a shower, sandwich, we helped Knowles and Ferguson with another video, and when we got home I passed out.
Sept 13, 2020 Sun
Today we received news that Elder Riley, one of our AP's tested Positive for COVID, and if you remember De Voe and I had Dinner with them on the 4th so now we are under quarantine. Neither of us have shown symptoms and if we show no symptoms all the way through Friday we are fine, but I can only pray we are. Also we found this out during our 2nd Sacrament Meeting we went to, we left early. Other than that we had 2 lessons and hit 11 lessons for the week!
The news that we are quarantined and theoretically could have COVID stinks to say the least. But I am reminded of the talk from Joseph B. Wirthlin in the October 2008 General Conference titled "Come what may and love it".
From that talk I would like to share this experience;
"When I was young I loved playing sports, and I have many fond memories of those days. But not all of them are pleasant. I remember one day after my football team lost a tough game, I came home feeling discouraged. My mother was there. She listened to my sad story. She taught her children to trust in themselves and each other, not blame others for their misfortunes, and give their best effort in everything they attempted.
When we fell down, she expected us to pick ourselves up and get going again. So the advice my mother gave to me then wasn’t altogether unexpected. It has stayed with me all my life.
'Joseph,' she said, 'come what may, and love it.'"
This is an experience that all of us have had in one way or another. I personally have not been a part of a football team, because I wanted to survive High School unscathed, but I have had experiences that caused disappointment, sadness, fear, anger, and or any other number of emotions and feelings.
One thing I've learned and I continue to relearn is that you cannot change your circumstances, but you can change how you react to them. And me personally, I'm going to try to "come what may and love it".
There's a quote from Walt Disney that to some extent says, "Why worry? If you've done everything you can, worrying isn't going to fix anything." So with that, be not afraid, keep your level of Concern from over whelming you and I will do the same. I know Christ is one person who can help us do this. I share that in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.
I love you all and love your emails and updates. Miss you and stay safe.
Elder Bradford
***Parental Note***
We received the following picture on Sunday evening from the Park and Lester family. They also sent the included message:
“Sister Devoe and Sister Bradford, We met with your missionaries tonight for a member lesson. Your boys are both great missionaries. We could tell they are dedicated servants of our Father in Heaven. We teased them about having to cook for themselves but they have a good attitude about that too and they are willing to try new recipes.
They talked about their families and they love you very much. Thank you for sharing your boys with us.
The Park's And the Lester's.”
We are so grateful to receive messages like this. These elders are doing good work out there despite having quite a few challenges placed in front of them
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