Profile of a Prophet by Hugh B. Brown

Brayden Knowlden Week 39

I Wanna start my letter about someone who I talked about in my farewell talk. I met this man at I camp for my disease - Neurofibromatosis. He’s very spiritual but not religious, and I was able to give him a blessing of comfort. Before my mission he lived on the West Coast and recently has moved to Connecticut.  Forward now to Monday; I have been talking to him on and off throughout my mission. He has found God in his life for the 1st time and Monday I was able to call him and talk about Christ. I had to make it quick, but I was able to say a prayer with him. That was a big step of faith. For dinner we were at The Trolio’s home. Brother Trolio is in the Bishopric. It was really good to talk with him and his family to see how we can help each other. After dinner we did more stop byes with less active members.  As of now we have found 3 individuals who claim to have never been members.  This is so strange.

Tuesday we had a move up in the North Shore Zone. We were expecting the apartment to be full of items, and it went quicker than expected. We decided to go out to lunch at Chipotle. It was also National Cow Day, so we went to Chick Filet for another snack. Today being July 9th marks a full year since I opened my mission call, It's crazy to see how fast time fly’s.  After we got back we again had to go fix the leaky tire at Firestone. To end the night we had dinner with Brother Rogers. They now have 2 foreign exchange students, one from France and the other from Spain.

Wednesday morning we had an amazing lesson with Kyle on prayer. I truly felt the spirit today, and in this lesson, so much so I started to tear up. After the lesson we came home to do some studies. We then went to do service with Brother Paganella. Elder Kilpack and I transferred a pile of dirt from one side of the yard to under the trees on the other side.  Elder Foutz worked on the path from the front yard to the back. It was a hot, hot day. Luckily we were able to go inside for a break. After service we came home to shower and get ready for dinner. We ate at UNO. After we had a lesson with a less active member, Sister Occean. Luckily, the Buchman’s help us out. The lesson went really well!

Today, Thursday we originally had a move, scheduled, but to save miles we decided to do it tomorrow. At 9 o'clock a.m.  We had to be at an appointment in the bottom of our area. Today we met our new friend Loraene. She hasn't had a strong desire to have religion in her Life. In the past, she has learned and taken lessons from missionaries before. After a first lesson, with her we could tell she is ready!  On the way back home we were able to visit Andy for a lesson. It went really well, and decently long. We're still helping her with the personal concerns she has. She is never said a prayer at a lesson with us before. She almost said it this time, until another lady stopped by the area we were sitting at. She is so close and making big progress. After Andy's lesson we went out to Kentucky Bell for lunch.  We then came home to relax and do some more studies for the day. I decided to write a few more letters. Elder Kilpack was able to call home and wish his Mom Happy Birthday! We then went to dinner at the Rogers home and had taco rings. One thing I forgot to mention was that Elder Foutz woke up with an eye infection.  We honestly didn't know what happened. We were also finally able to meet with our new Ward Coordination Mission Leader and were able to discuss the needs of our friends. On the way home we stopped by to see Charlene and she was doing well! She just got back from vacation. Before we went home, we stopped by CVS to get an eye patch for Elder Foutz.

 Friday came pretty early as we had to go to Westin to pick up the trailer. After that we went to Franklin for District Council. We had a good lesson from Elder Kilpack on “Testifying of Christ”. We listened to a talk called "The profile of a Prophet" by Hugh B. Brown. In the talk we listened to Elder Brown testified of Christ with the spirit on his side. After we did a roll play, on asking questions to find concerns. As we ask questions, we get to know the people are teaching and how we can better help them with their personal conversion. After District Council we had a quick lunch at McDonald's then made our way to the Franklin sister's apartment. They had a member to help us out as well. We took everything out of the apartment into a trailer. They left a little early to be at an appointment so we finished up the rest. We can't turn in the keys to the apartment, the sisters had to do that. We had to wait another hour for them to get there so we relaxed and waited. We had to hurry home to drop off the trailer at Weston. I didn't have enough time to unload it today because we had an appointment we couldn't miss. It was a good lesson on the “Plan of Salvation”, we also talked about a few of her personal concerns. She has been feeling the lack of the spirit recently so we were able to help give her a blessing of comfort and peace. This was the very 1st blessing she's been given and she seemed to find peace in it. After the lesson we planned on going on exchanges with the Zone Leaders but they had to cancel last minute and it was a blessing in disguise.

Saturday morning when we woke up Elder Foutz wasn't doing to well.   His eye looked pretty bad and we ended up going to the Boston Hospital. It was a fun trip to be down there and had a fun stay. We then had to come back for the next couple days. On the way home we stopped by China Gourmet, a pretty good restaurant close to where we live. It was the 1st time we've been there and we really liked it. We really didn't do too much the rest the day because his eyes were dilated pretty bad. That night I did a pretty good workout, while waiting for Transfer texts that still didn't happen. It was very stressful. Lucky they would be out in the morning.

Sunday morning we found out about transfers, Elder Foutz is being transferred. Elder Kilpack and I will be staying here in Framingham. We had a good time at church and my friend Lorraine came for the 1st time, She seemed to really like it. With a couple of good talks and sacrament, one of them was a conversion story the other was on missionary work.  In Elders Quorum we talked about building quorum unity. After church President Mavromaitis was there for the Portuguese Branch, he told us that this will be my last transfer and Framingham and for me to make it count and a work hard. Right after church we came home to eat lunch, then rushed to be in Boston once again for a check up. It took around 30 minutes to find parking, and the appointment took like 5 minutes. We had to be at the doctors again tomorrow at 6:30 a.m. We came home to relax until we went to dinner. Elder Foutz eye is still pretty bad. We had dinner at the Masons home all the kids wanna sit at the big table, so Sister Mason and I sat at the kids table. It was pretty fun. After dinner we sat down with Brother Mason who is our Ward Mission Leader. We talked about all of our recent converts throughout the past year and how we can better help them. After the Masons we did a couple stop byes and went to Charlines. She wasn't there so we decided to go on the roof to look at the sunset. We have some pretty fun photos.  We then came home for the rest of the night.

                  Philippians 4:13

     "13 I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me."

 I have used a scripture a few times this week, and it's true, as we have faith in Christ, having trust in him and go about doing good, Christ will strengthen us. As we have faith we can do all things if it so be the will of God. When life gets you down, remember that Christ was down as well he died for our sins. He also died for the pains and afflictions of every kind. He knows exactly how we feel and he even feels the joy we have in life. Through Christ we can be strengthened, but it's up to us to let him help, he loves us and wants to help. All we have to do is ask. I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

Best P-day at the Zoo

Elder Brayden Knowlden
Week 38

Monday was honestly the best P-Day on my mission so far, Sister Rogers took us to the Southwick Zoo, It was a day well spent!  The best part of the whole Zoo was the open field where deer just roam around and you can feed them corn. We then came back to the Rogers for dinner. As we got home I was able to call my little sister Kaylee for a lesson, we talked about Baptism. As she prepares for baptism, I want her to understand the importance of it, the why we do it and the blessings to come.
     Tuesday we got up and we started out for our Salvation Army Run. After studies we went out to pick up the trailer and furniture at the storage unit. Salvation Army didn't take everything so with what was left we smashed it all at the Weston Chapel.  We were running a little late so we had to push back an appointment with Kyle. Luckily we still had an awesome lesson on Christ and His Atonement. After our Lesson with Kyle, we had a lesson with Evans,  where we talked about tithes and fast offerings. We then invited him to attend sacrament this week and to listen to testimony meeting. He now has a stronger desire to come and attend church! After all that, we were hungry so we went out to eat dinner at a McDonalds. After dinner we did a few more stop byes then came home for the night.
     Wednesday we had Zone Conference all day and we learned a lot. One thing that struck me was focusing on how we can improve just as it talks about in Matthew 19 the young rich ruler. He wanted to improve and follow Christ, Christ asked him are you following the 10 commandments. The boys said Yes I am. Christ responded by saying sell all your goods and follow me. The boy cannot do it he loved his riches more than he loves Christ. A conference talk from 2015 comes to mind. " What lack I yet" As we are doing the best we can we should always ask what is stopping me from progressing. Christ will tell us something personal that we need to work on and something we can do to improve ourselves. After our lunch break we got into our separate zones and had a training on daily contact. It went really well and it gave us insights on how to better help our friends. After our training from the Zone Leaders we had another training from the assistants, our Mission President and the Sister Training Leaders. The sisters talked about using our hobbies back home to make relationships with friends we have today. They invited me to talk about my experience with the young family back in my 1st area of Madison Connecticut. I shared my experience with wrestling and how that really gave me a good relationship with the Young family and their boys. We connected really well and I shared my experiences how wrestling has strengthened my testimony in Christ and how he truly is watching over me. As we connect to people using their personal experiences we can help them strengthen their testimonies as well. In my second area Martha's Vineyard I was going through a hard time, and the Young family sent me emails of encouragement to keep going. After Zone Conference We had a dinner with the Buchmans. The dinner was at John Harvard's we had some delicious steak. After dinner we did some stop byes in Beaver Park. While on the way back to our truck we met a lady named Melissa. She has seen missionaries in her area for over 6 years but none of them have ever talked to her. She seemed really interested and hopes to learn more and we're here to help!
     Thursday was a fun 4th of July, I hope you all had fun as well. In the morning we drove over to visit Brother Paganela. We then all drove to Natick to be in the parade. While we were there we had a pancake breakfast at the Catholic Church on the Main Street. We met lots of cool people, it was also super hot outside. We helped Brother Paganela hand out around 2000 American Flags. We had a wonderful time. On the way home we stopped by the Fire Station to give them flags as well, we met group 3 green squad. After we met them we dropped off some stuff at Brother Paganellas Home. We all then went out for lunch at Boston Market and had a lesson.  One thing I found very cool was as we were going in, a man drove up and stopped us by our truck, he wanted to thank us for Serving God. He did not what to convert us or for us to convert him, he simply wanted to thank us for choosing Christ’s side in a crazy world we live in today. I thought that was pretty cool, because he went out of his way to talk with us. After lunch we came home to shower because we were sweaty, pretty bad. We then were able to go over to the Buchmans home for dinner. They had a friend over and we had grilled hamburgers. I was also able to hold their reptiles. They have a Bearded Dragon, Corn Snake, and a Russian Tortoise. I fell in love with them all. We had a fun time with each other's company while at dinner. We came home then called our families to end the night.
      Friday we had District Council early in the morning, before we left we did our daily planning. After daily planning I packed a couple boxes to send home. We then drove to Franklin for District Council. Today's focus was on A.D.K.A.R.
Awareness, Desire, Knowledge, Ability, Re evaluate/reward. We Talked about how we can use this for ourselves and for our friends we are teaching. This principle is to help us grow and be a better you. With that it helped give us some insights to better help our friend Kyle. After District Council ended, we helped the Foxborough Sister Missionaries do a contact attempt for a man at a rehab home. We didn't get too far sadly. On the way home, we stopped for lunch at Chipotle Mexican grill, it was pretty good. When we got home, we called all of our potentials. We didn’t get too far and not a lot of people answered, we will try again another day. That took a long time, we then had dinner with Brother Roger's. The rest of his family is on vacation. After dinner with him we came home a talk to Linda. Linda has less active family members, and she has a desire to be baptized. We are gonna help her best we can! She even gave us a late dinner it, was pretty good.

Saturday we started to teach Andy again. We met at a dog park it is pretty fun. She's been gone for a few weeks so it was good to catch up with her and see what she remembered. She had four dogs with her and three of them were being crazy. She asked a lot of good and valid questions that we helped her best we could. We also have a few questions to study so I can better help her next time we meet. After Andy we met with a lady named Adelsa. She has a strong desire to find a faith for herself and for her kids. She is not too familiar with any religion and wants to see what is best for her and where she fits in. She sees us as a sign that we have came to meet with her, we are so happy that we are here to help. After her we were super hungry and we went out to Subway to eat. Along with that we also had a fill up our tire with air because it was leaking. After we filled up we stopped by to talk to Evans. We caught him as he was leaving to go see a friend.  We reminded him about church tomorrow, and he said he will be there! After Evans, with him leaving we had extra time, we decided to do stop byes at two members that live close to him, both are less active.  They seemed to have moved a few years ago. The other claims to have never been a member and she doesn't know why her name is on the records of the church, now we are confused. After those stop byes we went to meet our friend Francis. We helped him better understand about the Priesthood, he has a strong desire to hold it after his baptism. He is so close and we are so happy for him! To end the night we spent the rest of it with Brother Roger's. We had dinner with a dessert of a chocolate molten cake. We also strengthened our member relationship with him, and talked about the importance of sacrament in church attendance.

[ ] Once again it was a very amazing Sunday, the testimonies were all focused on Christ. Elder Foutz, Elder Kilpack , and I all bore our testimonies as well. I bore my testimony about the story of Peter walking on water. Just as Peter has faith he still fell, Christ was still there to pick him up and walked beside him. Coincidently, the lesson in Sunday school was on the same thing. Christ will give us all 2nd chances we need if what we're doing is to have faith in him. Even as a missionary I can fall because I’m human, I am imperfect, but I am trying my best and that's what matters. At Church our friend Evans was able to make it, and it was his very 1st time . In Sunday school when he introduced himself he said "This is my 1st time here, and it will not be my last". It was so cool to see that his experience at church was a good one, and it was focused on Christ. After church we came home and we did our weekly planning. Other Foutz has a couple things he wants to work on and we're here to help him. The 1st, he wants to be better example, so I invited him to read in “Preach My Gospel chapter 6”, Christ like attributes (Humility), Along with listen to a talk titled "The Priesthood Man ". Both of these have helped me to be a better example on my mission. The 2nd thing was to find motivation in missionary work. I told him a saying from wrestling I learned, "Sprint past the finishing line" I Love the saying, It has helped me keep pushing even when I want to quit. That saying means don't give up before it's over. After a weekly planning we had dinner, this the 1st time we ate at our apartment for dinner this transfer. After we did a few stop byes In the Beaver Park area. We ended up dropping a couple people due to the fact we can never get in contact with them. We will still try because we have faith in them. Right before we left we talked to a less active member and we have an appointment set up to share a message next week. On the way back to the truck we talked to a lady walking outside named Maria, she has strong faith in Christ and she thanked us for choosing Christ that you should pray for Safety while sharing a message on Christ. It surely was an uplifting week for me!

                     Mathew 14:31

  "31 And immediately Jesus stretched forth his hand, and caught him, and said unto him, O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt?"

     At times like Peter we too can doubt, when the storms of my life get too strong we fear. We should continue to trust in Christ have faith in him and remember not to doubt Him, and the love he has for us. When we feel we are sinking to depths of the ocean in the storm, we have prayer, scriptures, and we also have church. Christ’s love is infinite, you will always have his hand held out for us to hold on to. Christ will always walk with us, even when we doubt. I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

Lots of Service

A Beautiful Cardinal

Lunch after Service 

Teaching my little sister Kaylee the lessons

At the Zoo

Neveah & Lego's

Our snacks

Lego's with Neveah

Service at Brother Paganella's

The Rogers

Service with Bro Paganella

WEEK 37 7-1-19
 Let's start with Monday! I was able to call home and while on the phone I gave my little sister a small lesson. We talked about the "ten commandments". She really liked the hand signs that will help her remember them. It was even a refresher for my parents. Later on in the day we did our shopping and I bought a couple pens. One was a space pen that was made to work in no gravity so it could even work upside down, I also got a fountain pen to make my cursive even better looking. We ended up getting permission to get rid of our big toolbox in the back of the truck, it took up so much room. We then later took it to recycling. We made a stop at the Post Office for some work. After dinner we spent the rest of the night doing our laundry and on the way home we stopped for some ice cream at Dairy Queen!
     We had a small move today, just as most Tuesdays we do. It was all the way in Springfield. We luckily had enough time to have a full study session and mine went really well! We took two mattresses, two box springs to be replaced with older ones that were infested with Bed Bugs. I bet the Elders were so happy to have bug free beds. We drove home and dropped off the trailer. After we dropped off the trailer at Weston we had dinner with the Buchmans at Pho Dakoa, a really good Vietnamese place. I only used chopsticks even for the rice. I am getting really good with them. Before we even got there we had to wait for over five minutes just for two trains to pass, we were just around the corner. It was a later dinner so we came home right after and got ready for the night. As we were walking to our door, there was a set of free speakers in the hallway, so I now have a nice set of speakers for music.
     Wednesday we did have a little time to do studies before we left to meet up with Kyle at a local park. We finished with all points in all lessons, right now our focus is to help strengthen his faith. He is super close to baptism! While in the lesson he shared his experience from Church. While at Sacrament a comment was made in a talk that truly strengthened his testimony in a living prophet today! After our lesson with Kyle we came home and helped out Brother Lopez. He was driving back to Utah and needed some help getting rid of a few things. It wasn't really to much and we ended up getting another speaker to use. For helping out he took us out to lunch at 99. While we were there he told us about the ADKAR principle. It is there to help us grow personally, and to see where on the path to Baptism our friends are. After our lunch we had a lesson with Francis. He too is really close to baptism. We ended up going over the baptismal interview questions with him and he truly is ready. The only thing truly holding him back is  telling his family and it is all his choice on that. After our lesson we drove to have dinner with the Rogers, we ended up having Steak and Shrimp. Also while we were there I helped Neveah with a Lego set she had. I did have a lot of fun!
     Thursday, I woke up to Elder Kilpack right in my face and blasting music. We had a longer move so we left around 8 in the morning. We first stopped by Walmart so I could get an adapter to hook both speakers  at the same time. Later we got the trailer and made our way to Groton Connecticut. While we were there we had the Westerly Elders to help us with the packing. The apartment didn't have as much furniture as I thought it would. The Move went by faster then expected so we ended up going out to lunch at TacoBell,  then made our way home to the storage unit. The Rasmussens met us there, they told us where to put everything. We brought back a few things, but one of the desks was extremely heavy, I didn't like it because it was awkward to carry. We dropped off the trailer and made our way to see Charline for dinner. She made us Brazilian lasagna along with rice and beans. They were all so good! To end the night we came home for some studies. I started to write a few more letters.
     Friday after our personal studies we made our way down to Franklin for District Council. Today's focus was on "The Power of the Spirit in Conversion", it truly is needed to help others. As we focus on the needs and concerns they have, then can we better help them in conversion. On the way home we got hungry so we stopped by Burger King. We then came home to change then head to do service with Brother Paganella. We did a lot of yardwork, most of it was mowing so not to much of a hassle. We did a few other things and finished all of the tasks we had time to sit down and read a chapter from the Book of Mormon. We read 1st Nephi 4 and with in it, the story of Christ in the Garden before he was crucified match up in a way. I will need to do a video of it to share. It is a very symbolic correlation. Bro Paganella ended up giving us coupons for dinner at Burger King, he even came with us to dinner. He said he is now going to share the story of Nephi at a Catholic "Bible Study". He also has a greater desire to learn more, and be at church more often. After dinner we came home and did a little bit of weekly planning.
     Saturday was mostly spent at our place because Elder Kilpack wasn't feeling to well. I did some studies and I wrote a few more letters. With Elder Kilpack in bed all day I decided to clean out all kitchen cabinets. We had a lot of expired things I ended up just throwing away. Along with that I also did a deep organization. We almost went to help a member change their car battery but our schedules didn't match up. We then had a lesson with Francis and we helped him with a question he had and we did our best to help him out.  To end the night we spent it at the Rogers. We had a pretty good chicken dinner along with rice and corn. While we were there I helped finish the Lego set. it was a Lego Ninjago Dragon set, I really liked it. We played a few games of Uno but we then had to leave, so we could get sleep for tomorrow.
     Sunday, the last day of the month. My alarm must have not gone off but Elder Foutz woke us up at 8:15 and we needed to rush to get ready for Church. Luckily we made it on time. While in sacrament we had a couple of really good talks. The third one I was in and out of. I had a really good talk with Kyle and Missionary work. He had some questions from a few experiences from a friend of his. I let him know about How a Mission will change someone, while on a mission you truly find out about who you really are. You learn so much and you grow. He then asked about me, and how I feel I have changed. He told me out of all the missionaries, I am by far one who truly has a strong testimony and I know how to teach someone and not just a lesson. Along with that he let me know I am very personable and that I am very knowledgeable with the scriptures and in helping people. This talk went until the end of church. I just hope something I said has helped him out. We then came home for some studies before we left to the Escobars for our first Dinner. We had lots of fun, and Sister Escobar is trying to get the ward more involved in helping get more dinners for the missionaries. Before we left we helped give a blessing to Brother Escobar. I was the voice and Elder Foutz was the anointer. I can tell He does have a lot of faith. After that we went to help Sister Saxon put in a new car battery, it didn't take to long. Later we had a second dinner at the Rogers. When we got there they had their new Foreign exchange student in from Spain. It seems like they will all have a good time together. After dinner we played some Uno attack, then came home for the night. Tonight I finished my first journal; I started this one on January 1st. It has six months of memories!

                2nd Nephi 4:27-28

   "27 And why should I yield to sin, because of my flesh? Yea, why should I give way to temptations, that the evil one have place in my heart to destroy my peace and afflict my soul? Why am I angry because of mine enemy?
     28 Awake, my soul! No longer droop in sin. Rejoice, O my heart, and give place no more for the enemy of my soul."

     This passage is "Nephi’s lament" Just as Nephi did, we should cast out the evil that comes into our life. As we ask in prayer for an open heart to feel the spirit we will be blessed. Ask for protection from the enemy to all. As we stand up for truth and for the right ways we will be protected! I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen