Braxton had a great week. They baptized Carlo, the atheist, and he is just an awesome man. He goes with the missionaries to preach and to give blessings and everything. Braxton was way excited and said it was really neat.

Braxton had some of the coolest interviews of his mission this week. One was with a woman who was worried about her husband not wanting to accept the things he's taught. She was very nervous and scared when she went in for her interview but by the time it ended she felt peace. (all the discomfort and fear had gone) Another was with a lady who only listened to the missionaries because she wanted her daughter to listen. This lady didn't think she could be forgiven of the things she had done earlier in her life. She had no hope whatsoever in her mind that she could be forgiven. The missionaries taught about the atonement and how Christ suffered and how she could be forgiven of everything if she would repent and be baptized. This lady and her daughter were baptized yesterday!

"It is truly amazing to see how drastic the Gospel of Jesus Christ changes lives. It gives meaning to life and reason to keep trying." (I so agree) "It was definitely an awesome week to watch the atonement in action."

Things are going great as they head into the last week of this change and the week of Easter. In a meeting that Braxton went to they had spoken about how important the last week of Christ's life was. If Christ would have given up that last week the whole plan of salvation wouldn't have worked. Also, it's in the last week of work that we truly show our love for God.

"I'll be calling in about two weeks to talk to everyone before Jaydan leaves."
Love you all!! Elder Ropelato

Working Hard

Braxton has been working hard this week but not in his area. He has been interviewing the missionaries and different things.

This week they had a way awesome activity. On Saturday the zone got together and everyone brought investigators. They were taught about the Three Kingdoms. They had a few people get baptized and then the Mission President talked about faith, repentance and baptism. The Stake President spoke on the Atonement and then they watched a slide show. Braxton and Elder Rubalcava sang a duet with a violin. It was a really spiritual activity and got a lot of people excited about baptism.

Braxton found out that Ivy's grandpa works in a Church High School that just happens to be in his area and so Braxton went to see him. They talked about a lot of things. Carlos and Sonia (Ivy's grandparents) have been good to Braxton when they have seen him. They have even taken packages over to him for us.

Got Flight Plans

Even though there weren't any baptisms this week it was still awesome. Braxton found a lot of new people to teach. The only bad thing about the week was that the whole district was pretty much sick and so Braxton and his comp (who weren't sick) worked at full speed.

Braxton learned more about the Spirit this week. He said that at times we just get in a groove, like knocking doors or contacting and we don't think much else about anything else including listening to the Spirit. When they did listen to the Spirit they were led to new~ great people. They were even fed breakfast by some of these new~great people. They taught an atheist about faith and God and on their next visit with him they challenged him to baptism and he accepted.

Yolanda went to church and invited her boyfriend to listen to the missionaries and he agreed to. Things are going really well and are fun and tiring. But, Braxton said he couldn't be happier!

Braxton got his flight plans this week. He will be arriving in SLC at 4:04 pm. (woot! woot!) We might be sticking around the airport for a while though since Elder Roylance has a 3 hour wait for his flight to Washington. There will be a few more Elders arriving at the same time.

Braxton can't believe how the time has flown by. He said it seems like he just got there yet at the same time like he's been there forever and that he'll never make it home. He doesn't trust the flight plans since he had plans to leave Provo 2 years ago and was put off a few weeks. (it won't happen this time)

Brax said: "may God bless you as much as He is blessing me."

SuRpRiSe!!!

Brax....look who I met! I even got a hug from him and seriously it made me feel closer to you.
What did you think when you saw his pic? Did you tear up? (I did) You can't believe it huh? I expect a response. :)

look we matched!;) You have a great friend Braxton. I'm glad he is your best friend from the mission because he is a great guy. His report was awesome and it was fun for me to hear. Afterwards he told me that you and him followed each other from area to area. I didn't know that. Have a great day Son!

Time is Flying

Braxton didn't take good notes this week and so he really couldn't remember a lot of what happened. (he's too young for that(;)

They did have a baptism of a 9 year old girl. They met this little girl, Esmeralda, when they went to re-activate her family. Braxton said it was a really neat baptism. (I'm pretty sure all baptisms are pretty neat)

Braxton got a H1N1 shot. (it's about time....I think he may be immune by now)

They spend time looking for new people to teach and found 7 this week and taught 17 lessons.

Braxton can't believe how fast the time if flying by. It's kind of scary since every day people tell Brax he is going home. It makes him nervous and he wants to finish out strong.

He is excited to come home and see everyone again....it's coming quickly!

Week Full of Changes

This week was full of changes and meetings. There were office meetings and Zone Conference, but everything was really good and Braxton learned a ton in the meetings. (as always)

On Tuesday, Braxton was in the office eating when Elder Roylance took a strawberry off of his cake and tried to steal a second one. Braxton wasn't going to let him get away with two and so Braxton grabbed his hand and bit hard until he let go of the strawberry. Braxton felt kind of bad afterwards since Elder Roylance couldn't move his hand or thumb for a few hours. (man....I swear I taught my kids not to bite!) Anyway they just laughed since Braxton has a messed up thumb and so did Elder Roylance for awhile. :) His thumb was fine after awhile.

Braxton has been in the mission long enough that he feels like he has acquired the official title of "babysitter". His comp has only been out for four months and seems really young to Braxton. Braxton doesn't mind though because he remembers being the young, inexperienced one too. (it happens to them all) It's a bit of a challenge but all is well anyway. (Braxton didn't really ever like babysitting)

Braxton learned a lot while fasting this week. He has fasted a lot in the mission but he never gave offerings. He realized that it was something that he needed to do even though he really doesn't spend money on dinner or breakfast. As soon as he started giving he received blessings. They came right away after he had given a fast offering. The blessings he mentioned were references, new investigators and things like that. He learned that God requires payment in full before he can give the blessings. You have to earn them and there is no such thing as monthly payments....it has to be upfront. (D&C 82:10)

Everything is going well and Braxton will return home on May 17th. He tried to make arrangements to go to Uruguay and see Jaydan before he came home but with the stipulations on Visa's it won't work out. He said: "I am perfectly happy here in Mexico."
(this part of the mission is hard....leaving people you might not ever see again that you have grown to love so much!) (but his family is very excited to get him home)
These pictures of the basketball hoop brought back memories to me (Dawn) of the day when Braxton jumped up and grabbed ours and the hoop twisted and split Braxton's thumb open. (I could see all the way through it....yuck) That is how he got his twisted thumb. He even went to a plastic surgeon to have it fixed. All the doctor said when he unwrapped it from the surgery after it had healed for a week or so was: "oh, it's a little cockeyed." I took him back years later after he had grown (like the doctor told me to) and nothing more was said about fixing it. So that is Braxton's identity mark.

I get to hug that kid in a few months! I can't wait!