I forgot to tell everyone. If you were going to happen to write a letter this week write it to this address in case I get transferred.

3301 W Gonzales Rd

Oxnard, CA 93036

I'll know by next week if I am switching areas.

Tracting!

This week was awesome! We decided to tract down member's streets and find some people to teach. We have found a lot of PI(potential investigators) and have gotten some referrals as well. It is super cool how God wants to bless us, and if we do the things we feel prompted to do, then we will receive blessings. It's amazing! We just need to act on it trusting that our Heavenly Father will help us.

So we visited a LA/PM (less-active/part member) family. They are an old retired couple. It was funny because the wife told us she wanted her husband to take the lessons, she wanted him to be baptized, go to the temple, everything. She asked him and he said something like "well, sure." It was cool and funny. So we get to teach them.

This week I want to challenge everyone to pay attention to General Conference. Think of a question you have. Write it down somewhere that you won't forget about it. Before GC starts, say a prayer and ask your question. Then as GC goes, pay attention and listen to what the Holy Ghost tells you. It will be awesome! You will find an answer.

Have a good week everyone and don't forget to listen to the inspired words of our prophets,

Love, Elder Bronson

                                         We decided to cook homemade pizza this week.

I don't know what's up with E. Mulford here...

Zone Conference

Exchanges and a Fortune Cookie

This week has been great! We had Zone Conference. They are super cool. Basically, missionaries from a couple of zones all come to the same building and we have a big meeting. It was a lot of fun. We talked about the importance of the Book of Mormon. Afterwards, we had a tie exchange. It was like a full out market. Everyone was bartering and trading. Some Elders laid their ties out on a table. Other walked around showing off their ties. It was kind of funny.

I also got to go on exchanges on Tuesday. I went to the Pismo Beach/Arroyo Grande area. E. Harvey showed me rich person lane. It was amazing. Apparently, Pismo has one of the best beaches in California. The views were the best I've seen since being here. The picture definitely doesn't look as good unfortunately.

On Saturday we had a young man preparing for a mission come with us. We were on bikes, so he was nice enough to give us a ride all day. We went to a Chinese place and this is what my fortune cookie said. That's an awesome fortune, right?! Now I just have to figure out what my goal was :)

So my challenge for all of you this week is to make a new friend. Find someone who seems left out and include them in what you are doing. Remember that we are all God's children and He loves all of us. Just think of how happy it makes Him when we help others be happier.

I miss all of you. The Gospel is the ONLY way to find TRUE AND LASTING HAPPINESS. Find joy in living it each and every day. Help other find that joy.

Love, Elder Bronson

STAKE CONFERENCE

Hi everyone. How has everything been going? Hopefully great.

This week was a great week. We had Stake Conference and it was awesome! Elder Pementel of the 70 came. He decided to do a meeting before just for recent converts and investigators. It was so cool. He shared lots of good things. During the normal meeting, he talked about understanding the Atonement and the Love of God. It was such an awesome meeting. It is cool how understanding the Atonement better leads us to understand how much God loves us. Because of that we also start to have a stronger desire to share the Gospel with others. It is really cool.

My challenge for this week is for all of you to learn more about the Atonement. Read in the scriptures about it. Pray to be able to understand it better. Then use it! There is no point in having it there if we don't use it. It is so amazing that the Atonement helps us overcome all suffering. It helps us with suffering we feel because we sinned, but it also helps us overcome the suffering that we feel from things that are not our fault. To start, all we have to do is pray and ask. If we do that with faith, then we can find relief and find true happiness. It's amazing to think that God and Jesus Christ love us so much, that this can be possible. That through Christ we can overcome all things!

Well, I didn't have any funny stories or anything this week, but have a good day and don't forget the challenge,

-Elder Michael Bronson

                                                   This is view from our apartment.

They have really awesome plants here.

Coffin Measuring & Testimonies

 This week has been awesome! So on Monday a member decided to play a joke on us. He asked for a volunteer, so Elder Mulford volunteered to get measured for a coffin. Elder Mulford had to put a blind fold on. The member measured how tall he was, then measured how wide he was. Next, he said he needed to measure E. Mulford's leg. So he lifted it up dumped a cup full of cold water down his pants leg! It was so funny! E. Mulford and I decided to do it to some other missionaries when we went on exchanges. One thought it was funny, but the other didn't as much...

We had an awesome Fast and Testimony meeting yesterday. It was kind of interesting at first. One of our investigators got up. She started to tell stories about how people had offended her and she was now suing them. She asked everyone to pray for her as she sued them. Then she proceeded to bear her testimony on the importance of forgiving others. Meanwhile, we look over at Sister Ellsworth, a member, and she was shaking her head, whispering to her husband, reading the hymn book, and praying. She couldn't stand all of the doctrinally incorrect stuff she heard. Then another member went up and bore his testimony on how great it is to come to church every week. He also told us how he was "inspired to come up here because everyone else was doing it. So..." It was awesome. He bore a really good testimony.

Yep, so this week was pretty awesome. This week I would like to challenge everyone to think of a question as you read in the Book of Mormon. See how the stories answer the questions that you have. It is amazing, because when you go to the scriptures with a question, it is answered. You just have to look for the answer and have faith that it will be there.

Have an awesome week,

  Elder Michael Bronson

We went to a members house to see if we could do some service for her and she ended up giving us all of this. Apples, oranges, lemons, limes, and even some figs! Figs taste super good.

Elder Mulford went crazy with his sharpie...