And It Came to Pass - sent 5/30/11 - finally caught up!

So, as most of you have heard, there was a pretty devastating storm and tornado that went through Joplin, MO this past week. Right now, the number of casualties it has claimed is 166 souls, and 232 people still unaccounted for. They estimated 75% of the city of Joplin has been damaged, if not destroyed, by the storm. It destroyed the stake center there, but all of the missionaries are safe. There was a group of elders that had their apartment destroyed, but they were fine. Seeing some of the pictures is pretty intense. We were speaking to a man in our ward who was giving us a ride to an exchnage about the disaster, and he said it reminded him of the destruction in Germany and Austria during World War 2. Amazing what a storm can do in just a few hours...But, relief efforts have been on overdrive! They have so many volunteers they don't know what to do with them. There are so many people that have gone down there and started helping with the recovery of missing people, and then once that is taken care of, they will move to the clean-up efforts. Right now, we are told that we are to stay in our areas and continue to work. They have too many people that it has made it hard to organize all of them, so they want us to just continue on with where we are.

I was able to see all of the wedding photos, and they are really great. Shay looks really beautiful in her dress, and I am excited to have Taylor as a brother-in-law. It was really great to see the rest of the family. Ben and Will are huge!!! That is so crazy. What have you been feeding those monsters?!  It was also really great to see many family members from Mom's side of the family like aunty fran, grandma and grandpa Lury, Johanna and her mom, Bishop and Sis. Lauck, and Bro. Shroedter(i hope spelled that right). And I don't know how you talked my mission president into letting me come to the wedding!!! You must have some pretty good connections in order for that to have happened. I'm also really glad I was able to dance with the bride!  It looks like it was a ton of fun, and I am so glad to see Taylor and Shay so happy.

The work has been going well. I do not know why I do not have much to talk about in regards to the work this week. I am trying to stay really focused, but it has been a bit difficult at times. I thank all of you for the encouragement you gave me in your emails. I really needed that extra. For the last 5 months, I have seen a missionary in our apartment go home...so the apartment has been pretty trunky for awhile, but I'm working out the kinks in myself and I have a rejuvenation of the spirit of missionary work, especially in these last 24 hours.

I promise that I will never, ever give up.

Elder Brad Fellows

 3 Nephi 5:13

Some pictures sent in May, 2011

Hola Peeps!! - sent 5/23/11

So...I heard there was someone who got married....

 

I am so happy for Shay and Taylor being married. Being able to go through the temple to be sealed for time and eternity is one of the great blessings our Father in Heaven has given us while here on earth, and I look forward to seeing them when I come home.

The temple is such a beautiful place and the Spirit is present in the House of the Lord so that all who enter might be comforted and instructed from on high about God's plan for us and what our possibilities are. I read somewhere in mom's email that I was able to attend...or maybe it someone else who looked exactly like me...don't let President Merkley find out. HAHA

 

Please send my best to all the people at the wedding. Tell them I miss them and I love them. I hope they are all healthy and I pray for all of them. I wish I could been there, but I'll see everyone soon enough. I still have some things to do here in Springfield.

 

As for me, the work going on in Springfield is going well. The two people that we have set baptismal dates with came to church. The first one is Raven Gordon. She is a 9 year-old who's family is becoming more active and we are helping them make friends in the ward. The second one is a man named Frank Stoops. He is a man in his 50s who has had a really rough past, but since he's been meeting with us he's been recovering from those things that have had him bound for decades. Sometimes he has relapsed, but we have not given up on him, and he is determined to be baptized and to shake off those chains that hold him captive. There is also a man who is RLDS with whom we are visiting. Well, he's from a church that broke off from the RLDS church when they became the Communtiy of Christ. He's a hard one to figure out, but he is a really nice guy and we love visiting with him and his wife. We are also helping quite a few less-active families attending church again. With many people, there has been something that has happened in the past that has pushed them to cease going to church, but Elder Argyle and I have working out the kinks with these people and miracles seem to be occurring. Slowly but surely, the Lord is pouring out His blessings upon th heads of these people.

 

Also, for the last couple of days, we have ahad some pretty weird weather. There was a tornado that touched down in Joplin, MO wiping out much of the city and many people are announced dead. All of the missionaries are safe, but an aparment complex that a set of elders were staying in were destroyed, and the stake center in Joplin was also destroyed. It has been said by reports that 89 are pronounced dead from the destruction. Events like these make me ponder on the great plan our Father in Heaven has for all of us as His children, and I am so thankful for a Heavenly Father who knows all things and who is watching over these events, not only in Joplin but all over the world. Because of the knowledge that comes from the restored gospel, I know that those people are now in a place where they are able to teach and to be taught more about that great and eternal plan, and one day, they will return to the earth to be resurrected. This is all made possible through Jesus Christ and His Atonement.

 

I love all of you and I pray for all of you, and once again and I am so happy and excited for Shay and Taylor.

 

As always...Never give up! Never, never give up!

 

Elder Brad Fellows

Another Week in the Life -- sent 5/19/11

This past week has been semi-eventful, but only semi-eventful for missionaries. I have noticed that missionaries' experiences are very different from normal people's everyday expereiences. Missionaries find the weirdest things amusing and the oddest things important. I am slowly trying to wane myself off of the "scripture jokes" because no one at home would probably find those things funny.

Anyway, we have been trying to our best to help our investigators come to church, but it seems as if gettin them there is like climbing a mountain. I do understand where they  might be coming from because there are times when I do not want to get up and go to church when I could sleep in or use those three hours to catch up on work at school or at home. I wishb they catch the vision of the importance of keeping the sabbath day holy.

The work here conitnues to move forward here in Springfield. We have our Mission Tour coming up next week. Elder LArry W. Gibbons of the Seventy is coming and speaking to our mission, and there will be a Q&A session which I am very excited for.

 

Thats all I have for today. I love all of you and I hope you are having an enjoyable week.

 

Elder Brad Fellows

Mother's Day - Post Game Update -- sent 5/9/11

Hey everyone,

 

So, as many of you know, Mother's Day was just yesterday and I spoke to my family(many of whom are reading this email).

It was so nice to hear from all of you. To hear your voices was a priceless gift to receive, and I thank my Father in Heavan for being apart of this family.

There was a family with whom we had lunch with that was able to have Skype, but it would have been too much of a hassle, so I decided to just call. It would've been really cool if I had been able to see all of you and speak to you.

Yesterday was really uplifting in church. Every time I hear the Primary sing to the mothers or fathers makes me beam. The children who are Primary have such tender hearts and they understand who Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ really is.

The one "interesting" thing that happened was during one of the talks. The youth speaker spoke first, and then the next speaker got up, and she started spekaing about her "mothers". She said while she was growing up, her mom was a great lady, and she learned much on how to be kind, loving, and a good disciple of Chrst from her. She then said later in life her dad married another lady, and she comments that she had always wanted two moms(IN SACRAMENT MEETING). I think it would have been okay...if she had clarified that she is a convert from the FLDS community living in Stockton, MO. But we had two investigators at church, and three non-member nursing students sit with us in Sacrament Meeting. i think we might have some things to talk about with all of them this week when we meet with them. I'll keep ya'll posted. 

So, I have found my USB cable to download pics, so i thought i would send some with this email. I hope you enjoy the photos.

 

I am so glad I was able to speak to all of you yesterday. It was great to hear how things are going in your lives. Just remember that the Savior is always there to lift your burdens. We are not perfect, but we may be perfected through Christ.

Know that i love all of you very much and I pray for you every night before my head hits the pillow.

 

Elder Brad Fellows

Rain! Rain! Rain! -- sent 4/25/11

Hola!

 

So, last week, we heard that a number of thunderstorms, tornados, and high winds were on our way and they would last for some time. Well, I don't know how the rest of the mission is being affected by the weather, but it has not stopped raining since the beginning of last week. I feel like i'm in Seattle...even though i've never been there. I've only heard it rains a lot there. Weather like this does not completely stop the work but it does create an irritant.

 

Something really interesting happenen this week. So, on wednesdays we have our district meetings where we go to the institute building right next to MSU campus, and after the meeting a student attending comes walking into the institute and tells us of a man thats preaching on campus. So, Elder Bracken quickly jumped on that and all four of us that live in our apartment walked over to the campus with this student member. When we got to the place, we saw this old man in his sixties walking back and forth on this pavillion telling all of the students around him that they were sinners and they needed to repent and that he was sent from God to preach the truth unto them. It was quite entertaining, and there was quite a crowd of students heckling him because he saying things that he had no authority to say. A couple of things he stated were that you can have no sin in you to preach the gospel; he had also seen Jesus Christ 4 times and He gave him authority to preach the gospel; he also stated that he was perfect...anyway he talked a lot about sinning and the avoidence of sin. But, Elder Argyle and I had a good conversation with a guy who was watching and we invited him out to church at the university ward. Something good may have come from that guy's rant.

 

Anyway, I hope you are all doing well and are safe. I pray for you every night that God will protect you and that you will be blessed in your temporal daily activities.

 

I love all of you very much and I thank you for your support.

 

Elder Brad Fellows

I don't have a clever title for this email ... sent 4/18/11

Hey everyone!

 

So, we had a bpatism this past weekend of a young man that goes to the University Ward her in Springfield. Some people didn't think that he would get baptized, but we had hope for him. He's kind of a crazy guy who gets his kicks and giggles out of making other people uncomfortable, but he's hilarious.

 

This week has been pretty normal as far as missionary work goes. There isn't really much to report on the subject. We did have some great experiences with feeling the Spirit, but I cannot remember them from off the top of my head.

 

...i don't know what to write...this is a first...

 

Something that I really liked hearing in general conference was my favorite quote:

 

“No pain that we suffer, no trial that we experience is wasted. It ministers to our education, to the development of such qualities as patience, faith, fortitude and humility. All that we suffer and all that we endure, especially when we endure it patiently, builds up our characters, purifies our hearts, expands our souls, and makes us more tender and charitable, more worthy to be called the children of God … and it is through sorrow and suffering, toil and tribulation, that we gain the education that we came here to acquire and which will make us more like our Father and Mother in heaven.”

-Orson F. Whitney

 

I love all of you.

 

Something else that I have been thinking of recently is a song by Josh Groban:

 

Don't give up
It's just the weight of the world
When your heart's heavy
I...I will lift it for you

Don't give up
Because you want to be heard
If silence keeps you
I...I will break it for you

Everybody wants to be understood
Well I can hear you
Everybody wants to be loved
Don't give up
Because you are loved

Don't give up
It's just the hurt that you hide
When you're lost inside
I...I will be there to find you

Don't give up
Because you want to burn bright
If darkness blinds you
I...I will shine to guide you

Everybody wants to be understood
Well I can hear you
Everybody wants to be loved
Don't give up
Because you are loved

You are loved
Don't give up
It's just the weight of the world
Don't give up
Every one needs to be heard
You are loved

 

Sincerely,

 

Elder Brad Fellows

General Conference Favorites - from April 4, 2011

Well, general conference was amazing and I wanted to share a few of my favorite talks with all of you, and I hope you read the ones that have been dear to my heart:

 

1. Elder Jeffrey R. Holland's "Ensign to the Nations"

2. Elder Dallin H. Oaks "Desires and Actions"

3. Elder Richard G. Scott's "Love in Eternal Marriage"

4. Elder M. Russell Ballard's "Flecks of Gold"

 

and the winner is...

 

President Thomas S. Monson SMACKDOWN TALK AT THE PRIESTHOOD SESSION!

 

I hope you all have the chance to read and/or listen to those talks given at conference. It was an amazing conference where the "pure doctrine of Jesus Christ" was taught.

 

I love all you. Spread the "pure love of Christ" and "pray unto the father' for the gift of charity. I know He will grant the righteous desires of your hearts.

 

Elder Brad Fellows