Update on Elder John

Elder John and Elder Rosales with Humberto

Elder John and Elder Rosales with Luis

Elder John and Elder Oldham with Manuel

Brennan sent us these pictures of his three baptisms. He is doing great.Elder Rosales went home about a month ago and he has a new companion Elder Oldham and transfers are coming up again very soon. Elder Oldham is from the states and Brennan was thankful to be able to speak English to someone. He loves his mission and is working very hard. He is scheduled to get a new mission president on July 1st. He has been very adventurous in trying new foods. I am so proud of how he has changed his picky eating habits. He seems to like the food in Mexico for the most part. He says that the Spanish is coming slowly. He can understand about 60 percent of it now. He said that he can actually speak in the moment sometimes now instead of just memorized stuff. Keep praying for him to master the language and pray for his investigators. Thanks for all of the love and support!!!

Tayler's Dance Concert

Tayler had her Hunter High Dance Company Concert last week. Her concert was Mon. thru Wed. of last week. The girls did a fantastic job!!! Tayler was in quite a few of the dances. She danced to the couples dance Love Shack, what a cute dance that was!!! She also choreagraphed a dance to Leann Rimes Amazing Grace. It was a beautiful dance!! She has been getting up very early and working hard to get ready for the concert. Now some much deserved rest!!!! You are a beautiful dancer Tayler!!!! We love you!!!

Week Two in Mexico for Elder John

So I got Brennan's email on Monday. He didn't write very much. I guess my email must have taken too long to read. I will have to start writing snail mail to him and just leave the time so he can just email. He is doing OK. He is a little frustrated with learning the language. He is having a hard time understanding his companion and the people in Mexico. He wants so bad to teach and let the Mexican people know he cares but it doesn't sound like the communication is going too well yet. I am sure he will overcome it soon. He is adjusting nicely to the food and weather and he says you haven't lived untill you have had a Mexican bus ride. We missed him on Easter at our family dinner. Keep moving forward son!! I know you can do it!!!

Elder John is in Mazatlan!

Brennan's Study Area

Brennan's Desk

Brennnan's Closet

Brennan's Bed

So I finally received an email from Elder John today. He is in Mazatlan. Actually he is in a town called Villa Union and it is about 30 minutes outside of Mazatlan. He said the town is very small and poor. He is adjusting. His companion is Elder Rosales who is a native and is on his 23 month so Brennan is his last companion. Brennan said he only understands about half of what Elder Rosales is saying. I guess his Spanish will get pretty good. He said his bathroom is outside and they have no hot water. He and Elder Rosales make up half of the priesthood in the town. They have set 6 baptisms and are working hard. I can't wait to hear from him next week! I recieved two packages from the MTC today of stuff that Brennan didn't want to take to Mexico with him. He included his memory card from his camera so I will post a few MTC pictures.

Guess Who is in Mexico!!!

March 23, 2010 10:56 p.m.

Hahaha, so what can I say!!! I love this place!! President Johnstun is awesome, we got here and he took us to get tacos at this street restaurant. Pretty much all those things that you were worried about, I dunno they aren't such a big deal Culiacan is awesome and I know I am going to love it here!! I will talk to you all soon!!!! Love you all.
Love Elder John

So that was Brennan's email that he sent us. We are way excited for him. We talked to him for about an hour this morning. He called us from the Salt Lake Airport on his way out of town. It was so good to talk to him and hear his voice and ask him tons of questions and get answers right away. Kevin, the girls and I were all home and we put him on speaker phone so we could all participate in the conversation. He is soooo excited to start the next leg of his journey. He has learned so much and grown so much. I am sure Mexico will just add to that. I think his P-day will be Monday's so we probably won't be hearing from him again until next week. Keep him in your prayers!!!

Prom!!!!

So Tayler and Rylee went to prom on Friday night. They both had a great time. It was Rylee's first date and she said that if all her dates are that great then she will sail through her dating years with no problem. Tayler went with a friend Mike Connely and Rylee's date was Nathan Brown. They did not go in the same group. It was so fun watching them get ready together and seeing them both be so excited.

Week 7 !!!!

Ok so Brennan's time in the MTC in winding down. His latest news is that he got a new companion. He is no longer in his Trio. His new companion Elder Frost has been in the MTC for 12 weeks now. He is waiting for a visa to go to Argentina. Brennan loves Elder Frost, they are very good friends. Elder Frost is actually writing to Tayler also. He is from Prescott, Arizona. As of today we received another letter from Brennan updating us telling us that they are shipping Elder Frost to Colorado Springs, Colorado Mission on Monday to wait for his visa so that was a short lived companionship. I guess Brennan will go back to his Trio companionship with Elder Barclay and Elder Lubina. Brennan told us that he got his travel plans and Elder Lubina will be his travel companion, they are both going all the way to Culiacan together. He is scheduled to leave on Monday March 15th if his visa comes through. There have been rumors that only about 50 percent of the mexican missionaries are getting their visa's but Brennan doesn't seem to think there will be a problem with his because we sent everything in so early. Let's hope so!!! He also has been working in the Referral Center and loves it!!!! He has gotten 4 or 5 referrals for missionaries to visit. He is so excited to get out there to Mexico and get to work!! Keep Praying for him!!!! Thanks for all of the support!!!

Getting Ready for Prom

Ok this is just for Tayler and Rylee's benefit because I know they think I neglect them and think only about their brother. We spent all day Saturday getting ready for Prom. It is coming up this Friday!!! We went and found dresses for the girls. They picked really pretty ones!! Pictures to come later. Then they went to the mall for shoes and earings and then to the nail salon for nails and pedicures and eyebrow waxing. We had a really fun great day spending time together!!! We even got Kevin involved!!!! Next time you see him ask him how his pedicure was =) We will also be celebrating Rylee's Sweet Sixteen this weekend!!! More updates and pictures to come on prom!!!

Weeks 5 and 6

Ok so I know I am a bit slow at updating this blog but my computer has been out of commission for a couple of weeks. Hopefully everything is fixed and ready to go now. It is
amazing at the changes one week can make. Brennan just started week 7 at the MTC. Only a couple of weeks untill he heads to Mexico. So in his email from week 5 Brennan talks about learning the Spanish language and this is how he described it..... Most of the time I feel like someone is standing over me continually dumping a bucket of water on my head and I am getting drenched and every once in a while I come up and grab a gulp full, but for the most part
I am just soaking wet. Then just one week later this is what he had to say...... I understand the Spanish language!!! I may not know all of the little intracacies yet but I understand what people are saying when they are speaking!!! I have also been teaching for the past week in Spanish!! I have a testimony of the gift of tongues because I am experiencing it!!! Wow he just keeps amazing me!!! Thanks Lindsay Bell for praying that missionaries can learn their language!!

Wed. Feb 10th Email- Brennan's Half Way Point in MTC!!

Can you believe that Brennan has been in the MTC a month already? It has gone by so fast but so slow at the same time. From what he says in his email the time is flying by for him.The following is an excerpt from his last email. He says it is a story and this is how he wants his mission to be....In Mosiah 11-17 it goes over the teachings of Abinedi to the wicked people of King Noah. In 11 it shows the people tried to kill him but Abinedi kept following the Lord, even though it looked like nobody was listening. He stayed on the path and even all the way to chapter 17 nobody listens. Then 1 person does.... Alma, had Abinedi given up(which I think many people would have) and said that the Lord wanted him to do something impossible. He had a good excuse, these people were trying to KILL him but he followed the promptings of the Lord to his Death. All for 1 soul and what did that soul do? He baptized hundreds at the Waters of Mormon, set up and became the prophet of a Church in Zarahemla, had a son who messed up at first but came to the right path and along with Amulek converted many Nephites who have fallen away. Influenced the Sons of Mosiah who served missions and converted thousands of Lamanites. This one soul who listened to the prophet Abinedi, led the way to thousands and in a sense Millions because it is in what we call The Book of Mormon and Mormons are what 13 million strong? My point in Abindedi didn't know. All that he knew was the Lord sent him and he fulfilled his mission no matter how hard or scary. He has become my Book of Mormon hero. His willingness has reminded me of another scripture in the gospels. Jesus gives the parable of the servants who were given talents and after the servants show what they did the ones who did well the master says "Well done thou good and faithful servant" I want that more than anything. I want the Lord to say to me..... Well done thou good and faithful servant on my plane ride home.
Wow!! he is learning and growing so much!! What a great missionary he is turning into. I love that boy!!!!

Week Three at the MTC

I received Brennan's email today! Today's email was a little bit shorter than the others have been. I think it is probably because he wasn't feeling well. Brennan says that it is not if you get sick at the MTC but when and his turn has come. He didn't give too much detail I guess it is just a cold. He asked me to send him some Nyquil and Dayquil. Other than that he just answered a bunch of questions that I had been asking about. He told us where his companions were from and where they are going. He told me to say Thanks!!!!! Aunt Kellie for the donuts. He bore his testimony in Spanish to us. That was about it. I am hoping for some snail mail or hopefully a longer letter next week. Love to all of you. Pray for him.

Brennan's weekly email

Hey Everyone!
Things are going pretty well. Brennan sent us his weekly email last Wed.
He also sent us some pictures today. He said in his email that everything is
fine. He said the time is flying, his words were.... The weeks are like days and the
days are like weeks. He said the language is coming too. He can pray and bear his
testimony in Spanish.

All Work??? I think not! Culiacan, Mexico












Welcome to the MTC Brennan's District












Brennan's Companions





















As for the rest of the family, we are all doing well. Tayler is excited for her upcoming birthday.
She has been busy getting ready for the spring dance concert. Rylee is also excited for her upcoming birthday... She turns sweet sixteen this year!!! Her birthday is two days before
prom so she is hoping to go. Soccer season is almost upon us. Kev and I are plugging along mostly work, work, work.

Finally an email!!!

Well I finally received an email from Brennan today!!! I was going crazy waiting to hear something. His P-day is on Wednesday but I guess the MTC messed up and inserted their service hour in the middle of their P-day so he actually has a split p-day half on Wednesday and half on Friday. He sounds good. Has already had some great and not so great experiences but he sounds like he is already growing from them. The companion he was suppose to have never showed up to the MTC so they put him with two other Elders in a Trio. One of his companions is the District Leader. It sounds like he has been very busy. He sounded a little worried about the Spanish but says that he feels the spirit even in a different language. He says he is sending some pictures soon so I will post them as soon as I get them. Love you all. Thanks for the support!!

Still Waiting

Still waiting to hear from Brennan. I am hoping that today
will be his P-day and we will get an e-mail. It is hard not
being able to talk to him. We are all anxious to receive his
e-mail and hear about his companion and everything he has
been doing since we dropped him off on Wednesday.

Brennan enters the MTC

Well we dropped Brennan at the MTC in Provo today

It was a very emotional day. We are excited for him to

go to Mexico and share the gospel but also very sad to have

him not here with us for the next two years. He will be in the

MTC until March 15, 2010. We went up to the Provo Temple

and took some pictures with him before we dropped him off.

Then we pulled up to the curb at the MTC, unloaded his bags,

hugged him and that was it he was gone.

Before we left home

Driving to the MTC

Brennan's Farewell

We had Brennan's Farewell on Jan. 10, 2010. There were so many friends and family that came to support. We ended up with over 150 people at the house that day. Brennan is truly loved and supported. Thanks everyone!!

Brennan goes to the Temple

Brennan went through the Jordan River Temple on Jan. 2nd.

Kevin and Denise Webb, Wendy and Mitch Bowman and Rich and Annette Nichol went through with him. Thanks for all of the support everyone!

December 2009

Christmas at the John house. I didn't do too much decorating this year. I didn't have much time and couldn't really get into it. Probably just knowing Brennan was leaving, I didn't feel up to it. Good news I did get the tree up.

November 2009

November brought Thanksgiving. We stayed home this year for Thanksgiving and had Grandpa and Grandma Nichol over. We ate great food and played games after. It was really fun.