Elder Brayden Knowlden

Elder Foutz and Elder Knowlden

Brayden when he was Baptized at 8 yrs old

Solving the Rubix Cube

Brayden with Mom and Dad

Brayden with Mom & Dad

Braydens Baptism

Zone Conference

Week #19 2-25-19
     It was a really slow p-day last week because it was Presidents Day, and everything was closed. We stayed at the house for the day and just relaxed. I was able to call home and talk to my parents and 2 of my sisters, and my nieces and nephew. It was awesome talking to them!  That night we went to the Brown families home for dinner and we had a fun time getting to know the members of the Branch more.
     Tuesday I had an awesome personal study, while reading the Book of Mormon. Right now I am focusing on the atonement and repentance. I have learned a lot from it so far. While reading Preach my Gospel I am studying all the Christ Like Attributes and I am learning to be more of an example on how I can share these same attributes with others!  We are using our technology to our advantage and we called the Brewster Elders (other elders in our district) and did a few role plays. Later that day Elder Foutz taught me how to solve a rubik's cube, it was so cool to learn! That night we left to Brewsters apartment to get ready for Zone Conference. It was fun to travel back to the main land!
     Wednesday we had zone conference! I really did enjoy it. We focused on helping getting members involved with the teaching, and have them share the gospel with their friends. Another thing we talked about was baptism, and we were invited to ponder on what we remember and felt when we were baptized. We learned the Greek word for baptism it is βάπτισμα. For Zone Conference we were paired up with another missionary for the day, I had Elder Christiansen, he was Elder Pulu’s companion right before me. It was an amazing conference. After we had our interviews with President Mavromatis, and during the interviews he is starting to get to know each of the missionaries on a more personal level. Getting to know their strengths and seeing how he can best help the mission.  That night we came back to the island of Martha’s Vineyard.
      Thursday we had a lesson with an older lady and we talked about the Plan of Happiness. It went really well, we even had a member present to help us out, they are already good friends. Later on we stopped by the post office to drop off 10 letters I wrote. I am now at 95 letters so far! 
     It was a quick morning because we had to get the 9:30 am ferry to the mainland so we can be at District Counsel. At District Counsel we talked more about getting the members involved and having role plays with them. As we got back to the Ferry we started our exchanges and I stayed on the mainland with Elder Halsell. We drove back to the apartment to do our studies and they went really well. I am always, wanting to learn more from the missionaries around me. We then did a few contact attempts and had luck with 2 of them. To end the night we had English Corner, that's where the English and Portuguese members come together and help learn English and have fun.
     Saturday we had a lot of fun doing service with a Portuguese member helping them move into their new home. It is so different working with the language program.  We then did some studies and headed back to the ferry to end our exchanges. As I got back to the island we just had a late dinner and prepared for the night.
      Sunday was great, even though a lot of members were gone due to it being school break, the branch felt really small. We had two amazing talks on forgiveness.  In Elders Quorum we talked about praying to know right from wrong and to know for ourselves. After church we sat down and made an awesome survey about the restoration and personal beliefs, we posted it to the island group page. We hope that this will help us find more people to teach, we already have an appointment! The rest of the day we did calls from the apartment. It was a really good week I would say


     2nd Nephi 26:27-28
   "27 Hath he commanded any that they should not partake of his salvation? Behold I say unto you, Nay; but he hath given it free for all men; and he hath commanded his people that they should persuade all men to repentance.
 28 Behold, hath the Lord commanded any that they should not partake of his goodness? Behold I say unto you, Nay; but all men are privileged the one like unto the other, and none are forbidden"
 
      As I have learned from being a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, is that we chose to come down here on Earth to have agency. That is the act to choose for ourselves and to learn right from wrong. As most know that Jesus Christ chose to come down and to be crucified for our sins, so that we can be forgiven. He did this and gave this opportunity to us freely, but it is our choice to use our agency to accept it. We have to have the desire to be forgiven. We should repent and ask for forgiveness and the strength to do better each day. We are all children of God and we ALL have the same opportunity to this free gift he gave for us, and none of us are forbidden. Amen