Ever heard of missionaries getting arrested?

 Week two in the field guys! It's been alright but I'll keep this short and highlight a couple parts of the week.

So on Tuesday we had splits with the zone leaders, Elder Peterson and Elder Lawrence. Both Elders are awesome and so fun! I was with Elder Lawrence and Elder Neilson that night and we went to a little pocket that was just FULL of Guatemalans. We seriously talked to over 30 Guatemalans that night by street contacting. We were talking with this guy and then there was a neighbor I could see in like a separate neighborhood but he was just filming us for a while and I just waved over at him and then he got on the phone and I was like whelp he's calling the cops hahah. About twenty minutes later we were across the street talking to another guy and then I see two cop cars driving down the street and then two min later we see the lights behind us. Well we ignored it and just kept focusing on the lesson we were teaching this guy and then the cops came up and said they were getting complaints and then Elder Neilson started talking back to them and started getting kind of aggressive and Lawrence and I tried to calm him down but they ended up trying to cuff Nielson and he started resisting so they tried to take him down but since he's a big guy they had to start tazing him!! Elder Lawrence and I were like we gotta help our companion so we started getting involved and anyway we all got cuffed and brought us in and we had to get bailed out by our mission president, but while we were there we ended up converting everyone that was there that was in a cell with us. Nah I'm just playing that didn't happen😂just had to see who is actually reading these emails! The cops actually really didn't care they were more just annoyed the person who called and said we were fine and then left. But anyways we ended up giving the dude a Book of Mormon and he said he would read it. He didn't speak any English so he was probably super confused why the police were talking with us 😂(I just learned how to use emojis on here it makes me so happy). We ended up finding 6 new people that night, which means that we taught them a lesson, gave them a commitment and scheduled a time to visit again. So it was a good night.

Okay then this Saturday we had an area blitz! Basically our entire zone for the whole day went proselyting in one area to help kick start it. In the morning I went out with the 2 other new missionaries in the zone and we went out knocking in this neighborhood that apparently had a lot of spanish speakers. We only saw a couple but it was good we were able to hold conversations and everything and understand. We also got a couple references for the English speaking missionaries. Then we had a member pull up and give us a whole pizza so that was sick. Then in the night i went out with Elder Peterson and Elder Gunnell who is my favorite. Him and I have a similar personality and just relate well together so it made it for a fun night, we found a guy from Argentina and were able to pray with him and scheduled another time to come by and he seemed interested. The blitz was fun and we helped a lot with the area to get more people and it was much needed for me because I needed a change since this week really dragged ngl, so I would call it a success. 

And to finish off the week after church a member gave us a full rack of ribs!!!! So we ate that and then went to a members house to do a quick lesson and visit with them because they haven't been coming to church as much. They are from Honduras and man I could hardly understand a single word. And the mom loves to rant so the whole time I would just smile and nod, and then she would a me a question and it would always catch me off guard😂she would also start randomly laughing and I guess it was at me because she knew i wasn't understanding a word and was just smiling and nodding. Anyways super kind family and they fed us a ton, I was trying tk be careful about finishing my plate too quick because everytike I got close she would refill it😂 but it was fine the food was really good. 

But yeah not much went on this week so I'll leave it there, and my thumbs are tired from typing this out 😂so enjoy a couple pictures 

1. Zone Blitz

2. More PUPUSAS!!!!!

3. Jurassic Park Jeep

Mi Primera Semana en el Campo

 Hola Amigos!!! I made it to DC this Monday and man was it hot and humid coming out of the airport!!!! The flight was actually only 3 hours so it wasn't terrible. It was sad leaving my district since we all became super close. We then ate dinner at the mission home and met President and Sister Crankshaw. They are super nice but the mission rules are by far one of the strictest, but I'm lowkey grateful for it cause I need it. 

I ended up getting not only one companion, but two!!! I guess it's going to take two to really break me hahahha. It's pretty fun being in a trio but it's kind of hard to force myself to really speak spanish because the other two are pretty good and take over a lot.. It's funny when we're knocking doors cause it's kinda scary having a bunch of men show up at your door, the first door door knocked we scared a kid who answered the door, but the mom thought it was funny and we had a nice talk with her.

I'm not too sure what my area is but we cover lot of Chantilly, Herndon, South Riding, part of Fairfax, Centerville, and right up to manassas, etc. Hahahha it's a large area! And we have a car thank goodness don't worry.  

The days have been busy with a lot of service and driving around because sometimes it takes 30+ min to get to where we need to. We have been doing service at a medical center in Monasses (where there are a ton of spanish speakers and is definitely one of the more ghetto areas in the mission) and we translate for the doctors there. We also served at a couple different food donation centers. Then for when we go tracking I must be good luck because every door I knock we get an answer and the people are always so nice. They're hardly ever interested but we normally are able to leave a pass along card or even get their number if we're lucky. I haven't had anyone get mad at me or slam the door yet, so let's see how long I can keep that up hahaha.

We taught a few lessons this week but a ton fall through. Normally I would be happy but it actually makes me pretty sad when it happens. However we have had a few. Yesterday we had one with a lady and her son who aren't really active but we invited another couple to teach with us cause her husband wasn't home and taught a lesson and she fed us a ton after. Then earlier in the week I met an awesome family in our branch named the Rodriguez's. They are from Peru and they fed us soooo many snacks. They are so fun to talk to and are very willing to help me with my Spanish. Then we had a couple video call lessons this week. 

Okay now for couple  CRAZY/FUNNY/INTERESTING PEOPLE stories now!!! There were a ton but I'll only share two...

Okay so my second day we were out tracking on the streets and then as we were walking home we stopped by a gas station and then this guy comes up to us and just says "I'm soooo drunk!" And then we started talking to him for a bit. His name was Sammi and he was born in Iran and then grew up in cali. Super cool dude. Then like two min right after that this guy driving by yells out "Hey Mormons I got a question for yall!" And he pulls over in the McDonald's parking lot and we talk to him for maybe like an hour. I won't get too into it but I'll highlight the funny points. But he was talking about the latest conjuring movie and how instead of preaching the gospel we need to take the fight to Satan and his demons. He said we have a lot of power and need to all unite and harness it and completely obliterate Satan. For those of you who have seen the show Supernatural, he basically was telling us we needed to go out and fight demons and everything. And when he would ask us about a movie like the conjuring or a horror movie and we didn't know about it he would say, "You guys need to do your research!!!!" I believe there is some truth in horror movies and the idea behind it but yeah this guy thought it was literal doctrine so it was funny talking to him.

The other encounter was a good one and it was with a few of the nicest ladies I've ever met. We were at this nice soccer field studying and getting ready for a video call. Then we has a lady from Ethiopia and another from Sudan ask us if we wanted any food because they were having a picnic with some of their kids. For those of you who know me you know I never turn down food. So I went over and got a huge helping of food. Then they just kept pulling out more and more and it was so good but tbey wouldn't stop hahaha. They also gave us really good cake and some deserts. Then when we were leaving they insisted on giving us stuff to take home, so we came home with a huge case of waters, apple juice, pomegranates, bunch of chips, a brand new thing of peanuts and much more. It was seriously so nice of them and we told them a bit about about we believe and what we are doing out here and then I left then with a passion card with our number. Seriously the nicest ladies ever. With all the food I've been fed I'm sorry to say it ladies but I may be rocking a dad bod when I get back. Jk jk, I hope it's a joke

I also had my first Spanish sacrament meeting today. My Spanish is okay but so hard out here because there are so many different accents and then with the make on top of it i have a really hard time understanding. It makes my brain super tired so during the talks i kept going in and out of sleep and I guess a couple families including one we taught were laughing at me the entire time hahahah. They all say my Spanish is really good for how long i have been out which is encouraging but I still don't really have any idea what's going on except for picking up a few words here and there and sometimes I get the gist of what they are saying. Anyways I'm just constantly praying for the gift of tongues. 

Oh it was also Halloween! I was sad to find out that the Spanish wards and branches don't do trunk or treats:(((( but they have another thing they do but i just missed it so it made me really sad. We also couldn't be out past 4 yesterday and couldn't answer the door yesterday so basically called people to set up lessons and used Facebook to meet new people while we had kids banging on our door (I felt so bad that we couldn't answer kinda broke mi corazon) but now we have like 5 lessons scheduled! 

This is basically it hahaha. I'll add some pictures I don't have a ton because i forget forget take them but ya. Miss you guys a ton!!! We have a few more lessons this week that I am excited for and pray for us that they follow through and that we can find more people!  

Ps I don't reread these so hopefully it makes sense lo siento

1. Me and the Crankshaws.

2-3. Me with PURPUSAS (soooo goood) and some other elders in our district.

4. Me with some big boy weights (thank goodness we have at least something)

5. My at home proselyting outfit.

6. Me and my new comps

7. Me and Elder Jolley and Elder Memmott leaving for DC

 

Last Few Days at MTC

Hii guys!!

This Monday at 5am i leave for for the field!!! It's a 6 hour flight to DC, so wish me luck hahah. I fly out with a few of my fellow elders in my district and then we have like 20 other missionaries as well. Watch us convert the entire plane and then we could just fly it straight up towards heaven. But anyways I'm super excited to make it to the other side of the gates of the mtc and be back in the real world hahaha. No more prison food!!! Yall have no idea how excited i am to eat some real food. The moment it touches my taste buds will be glorious. In all seriousness though the MTC has been a great experience and i have grown to love my district so much and each of their unique personalities. Ill miss our little family in the MTC. 

The past week we had a couple more lessons in spanish. We taught a lady named Elizabeth and the lesson went really well. She didn't talk much at all so we had to work pretty hard to get her to talk and asked a lot of questions and had scriptures to get her involved. We also taught another lady named Angela from Mexico. We were planning to teach her the restoration, but ended up taking it more into developing a relationship with God and about the Atonement. She had a TON  of questions about the atonement and it was very difficult to explain some of the things in spanish. But Elder memmott and I did our best and I shared my testimony maybe 20 times with her cause I didn't know what to say some of the time. We both walked out thinking it went so rough because we got really deep into the atonement and didn't know the exact words to help answer her questions, but we got our review back and she gave us a perfect score for everything and said she felt a lot of peace and comfort and just good feelings overall, so that made us feel a lot better.

Since Elder Memmott and I are the zone leaders, this week Elder Memmott got to get to know the new districts in our zone. They are French speakers and Haitain speakers, which is so cool hahaha. They're a bunch of great guys and I'm excited for them.

We have been talking a lot with the native Spanish speaking district here at the MTC. They are seriously so funny! They teach us how to say some different phrases and slang and it's super helpful. It was also funny because one of the Hermana's and I have a mutual friend in Colorado so it was funny. 

This week we also have been given the challenge to speak only in spanish. It has been so hard, and ngl we did really well for maybe the first two days but then it kinds feel apart after that. But I have noticed everyone's spanish sounds so much better. I know we have a long way to go but I'm proud of my district. 

Nothing else has really going on this week, we're all just anxious to get out to the field. I can't wait to share my experiences with all you and about the people!! 

PS: I know everyone knows what day it is and that you have all been anxiously waiting for this day. 20 years ago little baby Braxton was born. Yes crazy to think it's been 20 years. I'm happy today is my pday because we get to go to the temple and can do a few fun things instead of being in class all day, which is a wonderful blessing ahaha. Anyways thank you for the birthday wishes it means a lot!!:) 

Here are the pictures from this week, we didn't have too many but after this weekend there will be many more I promise that will bless your eyes. SIKE I am uploading them rn and there are actually a ton so forget what i said.

1: me and Hermana Rodriguez (native speaker with mutual friend that I mentioned)

2. Just some missionary bonding with Elder Glover

3. Me working diligently in class

4 and 6: our district after 50 tries of getting photos but none really turned out but it's okay

5. District with our maestro, THE Hermano

Anderson 

 

10 DÍAS MAS of MTC!!!!

 Hi Guys!!!! I just have 10 more days of the mtc and then we fly out to DC! The mtc has been a great experience and have met so many cool people. The classes are still hard to stay awake through but I have been doing better! Also my Spanish is getting better.

Since my last email, Elder Memmott and I have had 3 lessons in spanish!!! We have met with a man named Dario from Ecuador, a woman named Oliva from Mexico and then yesterday a guy named Nick from Columbia. Two of them were for only 15 min and one was for a SOLID 30 MINUTES. Pure Spanish. The lessons actually went really well! It's cool seeing the gift of tongues in action because my companion and I could understand everything everything were saying in the lessons, and they were even speaking really fast. The only hard part was answering questions they had because we knew how we would answer the question in English, but using our limited vocab we were able to find out ways to answer their questions and to communicate with them. There were some pretty funny things still that happened in the lessons. In one of them we were sharing a scripture on the atonement in Alma 42 and had them read it, but we accidentally had her read a verse in  Alma 43 and it was talking about the lamanites sending spies and then the nephites and lamanites murdering each other!! Elder memmott and i just look at each other very confused and then we all started laughing so hard. It still ended up being a great lesson but that was just one of the funny things that happened in them. 

Here in Provo it has been raining pretty much everyday, and i hate the rain. Luckily i got a fancy umbrella and let me tell you, I used to hate on umbrellas because I thought it made me look like a loser, but now that I am a missionary I don't really care and I have been using it and they work surprisingly well!!! So now i carry it around with me everywhere and I love it and when i am feeling christlike ill even sometimes cover my fellow missionaries.

Also on Wednesday my companion and I got called to be zone leaders lolll. A couple weeks ago we thought we were going the clear of not being a district leader, but nope they had bigger plans for us. I think we're pretty good zone leaders, there really isn't much to do besides planning sacrament and introducing new districts in our building and making sure everyone is in bed. We have been bad about thay because lately as a whole floor with 20 plus missionaries we have been playing a human version of Among Us every night. We have gone all out with it by making cards for tasks and playing the music and getting real serious about it. It's been super fun but I'm sure if a member of the branch presidency saw it they'd think it's so dumb and might get Elder memmott and i in trouble. But it's a sacrifice were willing to make for our districts. 

Anyway that's pretty much what has been going on!! Here are some muy guapo pictures from the week:)

1: (From left to Right) Elder Memmott, Elder Bennett, Elder Handsome ;), and Elder Jolley

2. Us after the temple today. I do be looking like i gained 60 pounds but I promise i am not fat. Its muscle I promise I am still the same weight lolll. 

3. Us with the elders in another district that we love 

4. The view of the mountains from our classroom.

Hola Amigos!

 Hola!!! I'm coming up on a month of being a full time missionary! Time has flown by but also been going really slow, so been trying not to think about it too much lolll. 

I have been desperately trying to keep the gains over the mission so far. It's funny cause I'm known as like the buff one in the district and I always have other missionaries asking what my workout routine is and everything so it's just funny. They have some weights here so that makes me muy feliz.

This general conference weekend was a special one for me. For those of you who know me I normally am asleep for any sort of church meeting, including conference. But this time I made an effort to stay awake and I took notes on every speaker and I got so much more out of it! I hope you all were able to listen and if not I invite you to look back at a few of the talks because there were a lot of good ones this conference, one I especially liked was given by Elder Rasband. We even ran into Brother Sikahema, who gave a talk at conference, and took a picture with him. Also as President Nelson said about attending the temple as often as you can, my district and I have made an effort to go more, so we went again this morning and it was a good experience, however we got poured on on our way back. 

The dorms have been a lot of fun but also really crazy!! There's always someone screaming and the bathrooms are pretty gross. The clean freak in me is going just a bit crazy. Last night one of the districts axe bombed one of the rooms and our whole floor so we're all gonna be smelling like middle schoolers for the next few days.  

There was also some beef with another district. Basically my district leader said a joke to this guy he was playing chess with earlier and then the dude got super pissed. He grabbed our leader and said "A tip for the mission, don't be a d bag!" Our leader told us what happened and we were ready to throw hands. We would die for our leader. 

Tomorrow my companion and I have our first lesson in spanish!!! We have had several in English already but we're gonna me full on Spanish for this one! Not gonna lie I'm feeling pretty good about it. I know it probably won't sound too well but I know know I can find a way to get my point across. I'll definitely be using a lot of hand motions so they can understand lol. We have been practicing a lot in our classes and with being in class for basically 6 hours straight I've been having a hard time staying focused and awake, so maybe if one of yall can send some sort of caffeine it will be greatly appreciated:) 

Sorry my email is all over the place hahah. 

I'll let yall know how our lesson goes next week! 

3rd Semana of MTC!!!

 Hola Amigos!! This Wednesday I arrived at the Provo MTC and it's been a blast so far! My district is so chill and we get all get along really well. Our classes have been pure español and it's so funny because we all have a longggg way to go. We also had a chance to go to the temple yesterday which was good, but a one of the sisters ended up throwing up and everyone was just chilling while this girls masks was filling up and spilling all over!! I felt so bad but made it a memorable experience so thank you Sister, whoever you may are. Don't know what else to talk about because not much has been going on but enjoy a few pictures of me and my muy guano district from our top of the line Samsung cameras;) 

Saludos,

Elder Hirsbrunner

Off to Provo MTC

 On 9/29/21 Braxton was off to the Provo MTC for four weeks to finish his studies and focus on learning Spanish before his final destination in D.C.  It was hard to say good-bye but we knew he was doing what he was supposed to do and would be a strong force in spreading the gospel and serving those in his mission.  

Mission Farewell

 Braxton had his mission farewell on 9/12/21.  Kaylee and MJ flew in from Arizona and Grandma and Grandpa Hirsbrunner drove in from Utah.  It was a special day to spend with family.  He was set apart right after Sacrament and was officially a missionary.  He started home MTC for two weeks on 9/13/21. His Grammie came to stay with us to be his companion during that time.   It was great to be able to spend a few more days with him before he was officially off to D.C.