Christ Died For Our Fish. (Email 7/27/12)

familia y amigos -

Ahh its already Friday again! Life is great here in the MTC. Its tough at times, but I am so happy. I love hearing from everyone all the time! Mom, thank you so much for your package. It was awesome getting those muffins in the mail. Packages are the best here, and those muffins were amazing. My roommates loved the "1" that was for them....I enjoyed the other 9. Hey at least i TOLD them this time I had food! I'm getting better from the past when Shardae made me food. Sue me, I love your cooking mom.

Okay so its really hard to remember what happened when here, but anyway I'm going to do my best to talk about as much as I can. These e-mails are always way too long I feel like, so I'm sorry! Anyway....here it goes.
So our first practice "investigator", Adan, is now one of our teachers. His name is Brother Derrick Adams. He is seriously incredible. I don't know how much of his story I told you before, but he really was atheist and is a convert of about 5 years ago. In his own words, "The most important thing in my life was being right. That's it. I had no conflicting beliefs, and I knew my beliefs fit together. But I was miserable. Utterly, indescribably, hopelessly miserable. My life goal was to wait until my parents died, and then kill myself. I hated life." His family hated him, his dad told him and his brother, "I wish I had never had you" multiple times. Anyway, after the missionaries came once, he laughed at them and mocked them and stuff. But a seed was planted. And after a couple of months, he had this sudden urge to pray. He didn't want to for months, because if he prayed and all this was really true, then EVERYTHING about his life was wrong. All his philosophy was wrong, his pride was wrong, he would have to answer to sins he had committed in the past...but my favorite quote was when he said, "A father in heaven who loved me? Someone who would listen to me? A brother who loved me so much to DIE for me? How could i NOT want that? of course i wanted it! i just couldn't admit I was wrong for a long time". Anyway, he received an answer. Through simple prayer, he came to know it was true. His testimony is so strong, and we just love him so much because he has opened his heart to us and bore simple testimony, something that we as missionaries can all do. So powerful!

Anyway, so we love him. he teaches us along with our other teacher, Hermano Stephenson. Some of you have been asking about what we do every day. We have two "sessions" of class for 3 hours each. usually we teach once a day for about 30 minutes in Spanish, to either one of those teachers. They act as people that they taught on their mission, so the stories are real and stuff. Its tough to get super into the lessons, because you know that it really won't affect anything (but yourself). But I keep thinking how Matt (thanks for this) talked about the MTC being like the pre-season to lacrosse...which, by the way, was awful. I ran every single day and lifted and did those awful workouts at the Duddys for about 5 months, all before a 3 month season. Anyway, so I keep thinking of it as training. So the harder I work here, the more I will be prepared once I hit the field! The other hours of class either have like Spanish grammar instruction or some teaching practice. There is no "religious class". They teach us how to use our personal study time more effectively, then we do all of our study on our own! There is about 2 hours a day for that.

So, I had one really frustrating day this week. one of our lessons just went awful. The investigator was super passive and didn't care, so it was hard to make it meaningful. Then we rushed the end and it was just a disaster....but something Hermano Adams said a couple days later has really helped me. Everything he says is pure gold. Seriously.

He said, "You are not powerful enough to screw up the work of the lord. Trust me. no matter what you do, you cannot screw up the lord's work." His whole point was that, as missionaries, we need to stop wondering whether we are being led by the spirit and stuff. We need to stop worrying about whether or not we are consciously aware of the spirit and how that affects our lessons. I guess it comes from a talk from Bednar that he gave at BYU-I, but we should always EXPECT we are being led by the spirit. Because, if we have the gift of the holy ghost and we are living righteously, it has been promised to you. So, rather than constantly wondering "was that from the spirit? Did I miss a prompting? Should I have done something different?", just TEACH how you know how to teach, and you will be guided. Just because we aren't consciously thinking "THIS THOUGHT IS FROM THE SPIRIT" doesn't mean that it isn't. The conscious awareness blesses us as missionaries, and lets us see God's work in action. I think That's something that is so interesting. God could convert these people any way he wanted, but for some reason he trusts us 19 year old, immature boys to go out and witness his work. And the more we are living righteously, the more we can be consciously aware of what the lord is doing. and THAT is what blesses us. We get to witness first-hand God work miracles in these people that we teach. Isn't that such an interesting thought? It applies to every facet of life. I don't even know if I fully comprehend it yet, but it just helped me so much. I have been worrying about whether I am acting by the spirit and stuff, so it was such a different attitude thinking that i am ALWAYS being led by spirit. So hopefully that helps some of you as much as it has helped me.

Anyway, now for some funnier stuff. I play volleyball every single day. its amazing. Haha its really funny, because we all try SO hard to just make it fun and not get competitive, but lets be real....we are stuck in a room like 23 hours a day, this one hour is the most intense thing ever. I'm diving all over the court, getting all sandy. Its pointless, but so worth it. Kids are stretching beforehand, giving coaching tips to each other. The other day we had a little tournament going and everyone was yelling at each other and stuff. Its definitely a funny sight. I think next week we might get back into the gym to play some "Four-square". You know that will be intense as well!
Oh! This is pretty funny. So as you might imagine, learning a new language can sometimes lead to some unusual word choices and some mis-communication as you pick the wrong word. SO...the word for fish is "pescado". The word for sin is "pecado". needless to say, my investigator was very confused when i told him that "Christ died for all of our fish". hahaha it was hilarious. There are a million other little Spanish jokes and puns that I am learning. I guess some other elders mixed up "mensaje - message" and "masaje - massage" and told their investigator they had a massage for them. So it could be worse. Either way, we are just laughing at ourselves all the time and trying to speak it as much as possible!

Haha another funny story. So as missionaries here are SUPER obedient, and for some reason whenever someone tries to get everyone quiet, its like instantaneous. So, naturally, I think this is hilarious and have begun to abuse it. We were in a hallway the other day, probably about 500 elders waiting to get in to the devotional, and i go "SHHHHHH" super loud. The whole place got quiet in about 5 seconds, with everyone shushing everyone else. it was HILARIOUS. i was cracking up, because everyone was so confused and like looking around trying to figure out which important church figure we were being quiet for. I'm terrible, but it was hilarious.

I have made so many friends here, and seeing my old friends from college too is amazing. I am happy, enjoying myself, learning a TON, and growing closer to Heavenly Father. I love being here so much. Its really hard, super frustrating, and sometimes I don't want to be here, but every time I feel the spirit and forget about what my OWN emotions are, I am once again so excited to be doing this great work. The Lord's hand is in this. There is no way 19 year old boys could be doing this otherwise! This gospel has meant so much to me, and I am happier when i live it and share it. Its as simple as that. Thanks family! You guys are the best. Until next week!

Con Amor,
Elder Tengberg

2nd Email! Dated 7/20/2012

Brady and his friend Taylor Lythgoe outside the Provo Temple!

Hola familia! I am doing great here in the MTC. Its crazy in some ways that it has already been a week and a half, and then in other ways it feels like I've been here forever. But I am happy and I am learning a ton! So that's all that really matters I guess.

First - quick shoutout to Grandma and Grandpa for Birthdays this month! I wish I had cards to send but I don't. All I have is Spanish Book of Mormons and Spanish pamphlets on Chastity. Haha happy birthday though! hope the new house is treating you guys well. You'll have to have my mom teach you how to use DearElder because I want to hear about the house and everything!

Also, I feel like I am working the least out of anyone in the family still. STOP WORKING SO HARD! I am supposed to be the hardest worker of the family while I am on a mission, but between Blake studying for the bar exam, Jennae for the Boards, Shardae in Boston, Brett in controlling the stock markets....I am slacking. C'mon guys.

Anyway, my week has been good here. I should probably explain this whole "investigator" thing with Adan because Jennae told me I was less than perfect in my explanation. So they have teachers here at the MTC be actors so that we, as brand new missionaries, can teach people. They are not real investigators into the church. They are just actors so that we can practice teaching without potentially insulting or offending a real investigator with our pathetic Spanish. This guy, Adan, we just finished our 5th lesson with him. He has a wicked sense of humor I think. Well - he laughs a lot. I can't really understand what he is saying so I don't know what exactly he is so funny about, but hey he seems funny. He actually becomes our teacher tonight. They do that so that the teachers for the rest of the time in the MTC know how to help us and know where we need improvement. They don't break character at all though! He was going to kick one of the other companionships out because they were trying to pressure him to move his "baptism date" up closer. He didn't like it. But anyway we got him to commit to being baptized, taught him repentance, baptism, law of chastity, law of tithing, Sabbath day, word of wisdom....pretty incredible since its all in Spanish! But I definitely think its smart they do that, because it encourages us to focus our studies on what our "investigators" need. That way, our studies are focused on the lessons, and that's ultimately what we need help with the most. Hopefully he is a good teacher as well!

Gym time is definitely the highlight of the days here. We play sand volleyball out on the fields next to the temple. I wish I could say we are all just happy and congratulate each other on crappy shots, but we don't. Its pretty intense. Haha its fun though! Our district is pretty good, so it makes it fun to play. Then we all have to sprint back to the dorms to try and get a shower, so I'm sure it looks ridiculous seeing about 100 missionaries sprint back to the dorms at once across the street.

We realized something the other day...we are basically robots here. We get up. Shower. Wear a uniform. Eat. Study. Eat lunch. Outdoors time. Shower. Study. Eat dinner. Study. Teach. Study. Shower. Sleep. hahaha its the same thing every single day. WHO THE HECK SHOWERS 3 TIMES A DAY?!? Everyone does here, its the weirdest thing ever. I've never felt so clean in my entire life. Get it? Clean? Spiritual? Dad, you know you liked that one.

That's basically my day every single day. Sundays are a bit more studying since we don't have classes. Sunday night and Tuesday night we have devotionals, so that's fun too!

Some spiritual stuff I've learned so far....I guess that's important too. My favorite thing was from a talk we watched by Jeffrey R. Holland. It was all about spiritual power and stuff. He said, "Miracles don't happen because we don't take ourselves, spiritually, to the point where miracles do. You can boil water forever at 210 degrees and you will NEVER get steam. Its the 2 degrees that make a difference." it was all about having to put a ton of work into this and going past where we are comfortable in order to have the Lord truly be able to work through us. I don't think I fully comprehend the quote yet. its probably much deeper than I think. But either way, its cool. The best part was when he said "Man's extremity is God's opportunity." Only when we are willing to get out of the boat will we be able to walk on water. Cool! Definitely makes me want to work harder and push myself further than i think I can.

Speaking of that, my Spanish is coming along pretty well! Its not great. But its getting better. We pray only in Spanish now. And our lessons are about 45 minutes long, so I am talking to people for that long only in Spanish. Its definitely hard, but I am getting so much better. Its cool when you can hear someone talk and be able to know what they are saying. Hopefully by our Christmas call I'll be close to fluent! They usually say its around 6 months that missionaries are super comfortable with the language. I'm hoping so.

Oh this is funny. So in Spanish you say "Como estas?" to say "How's it going?". There are probably a ton of answers, but the only one i can think of is "Estoy bien", which means "I'm good". So i say it all the time. People must think I'm the happiest person in the world, because all I have is the same response that I'm good and happy. I mean i am most of the time...but some variety would be nice. Hopefully I'll pick up some more vocab haha.

Anyway, I am happy out here. The Lord definitely blesses his missionaries! We are feeling the spirit constantly. Its easy to sometimes think you are doing things on your own, but I am being humbled constantly and reminded that we need the Lord in all things. We may be able to be okay on our own, but we always need Him. He stands there, waiting to bless us. We just need to humble ourselves, recognize that we need him, and ask. I have learned that so much already, and I know that the people of Chile are waiting to hear the same message. The gospel is so happy, peaceful, and perfect. I can't wait til I can see a real investigator accept Christ in their life!

I love you guys so so much! You guys are the best. Keep up the good work at home, and I'll do my part out here.
Con Amor,
Elder Brady Tengberg

1st Email and Pictures!

Hey guys!

So I can't believe I am in the MTC still. Like it honestly seems so weird to think that I am a real missionary. It sometimes kind of feels like I am just at EFY but its starting to feel more and more real. Haha sometimes its a scary thought but for the most part its kind of exciting. Anyway since I am sure you guys are curious what I've been up to, I'll just kind of describe what my first few days have been like!

After I got here on Wednesday, this huge samoan elder was the one who got my bags for me. Thank goodness, because even he was struggling a little bit with that big suitcase...probably too many bandaids mom. Anyway he was super cool and made me kind of excited to be here, because he just loved it so much. We were almost all done with orientation when I realized I still had my phone! So that was kind of funny. Anyway it all worked out okay and I am here.

My companion's name is Elder Watt. He is a super chill guy. I wrote the family a letter the other day about him and my other roommates but I doubt it has actually gotten there yet. But he is from Moore Park, CA, right above LA apparently. He played football in high school, was at Building 9 in Helaman Halls (we recognized each other but we were never friends), and is just really fun to be around. We have a great time together, we are both easy going and like to make fun of each other for how bad our spanish is. Haha we are seriously both the worst in our intermediate class. I definitely should have done beginner. Most of these kids were in AP Spanish their senior year or took some spanish in college....one of them is an Elder Martinez. Its not even fair. But, needless to say, we are still having lots of fun and I think it will help us in the long run since we are kind of immersed and forced to learn fast. It'll be good.

My other roommates are Elder Long from Las Vegas, NV and Elder Welker from Orem, Utah. They are both good guys. Elder Long is super funny, he was on the BYU Folk Dance team after never taking a dance class or anything, he just thought it would be fun. Elder Welker is quite the character, he is super good at spanish but is goofy and keeps us laughing. We love him. We all get along really well in our room, which apparently a lot of other districts/zones don't so I think thats kind of a blessing for us.

I LOVE MAIL! Haha its so funny, every night when the district leader comes around to deliver the letters to the rooms, we all get so excited. Haha its always a competition to see who gets more. DearElder.com is probably the best way to write me. Even family, its super easy. I think you just go on there and need my MTC Mailbox (#215) and my mission (Chile Concepcion South) and it should get to me the same day. I get those every day, so I can look at them and read them whenever I have time. Unfortunately I can't write letters or emails on any day other than my P-day, which is Friday. They gave us a little half p-day today so we could do laundry and write home, but from now on in the MTC i will be writing home on Fridays. Shout out to Shardae, Sister Mecham, Mary and Joey for being my first letters! You guys are awesome. I'll be writing you guys back today. Sorry if it takes longer, our days are just so packed that its hard to get around to anything.

So some funny stories...Elder Watt and I love to joke around, and since we have the same sense of humor we always try so hard not to laugh during stuff. Like one of our roommates had this loud ticking clock as his alarm clock, and apparently at some point in the night he turned it off. But the next day, Elder Watt and I were both like "I seriously was not going to last 3 weeks with that clock. I almost broke it myself" and we were just cracking up. Since our spanish is so bad too, we always end up laughing during classes because we just dont know what ANYONE is saying. Haha our teacher had to move us from the far edge of the class to the center for "better classroom set-up" but really we know its just because we need people who speak better Spanish on both sides of us so we don't just laugh the whole time at how pathetic we are. But hey, we're having fun, right? Our district of 8 elders loves us just because we are always cracking jokes and trying to keep the mood light. It can get a bit serious here, so its nice to just relax and laugh sometimes.

The last big news for the week (sorry this email is so long) is that we have been preparing for the last couple of days to teach an investigator in Spanish! He is actually a teacher here at the MTC but he converted a year before his mission, so he just acts like his old self before he was a member. Adan is atheist, likes philosophy, is incredibly smart, has met with the missionaries before, and wanted to talk with missionaries again. So thats the back story. Since our Spanish is not very good and we don't have a lot of on-the-fly ability, we had to plan out most of the lesson (which was 45 minutes). We had all this stuff written down about his earthly father and his heavenly father, that we are children of God and that God loves us, and basically the whole first discussion. Great plan, right? Until Adan tells us that 1) he hasn't talked to his father in years and he does not even LIKE his father. 2) He is atheist, doesn't want to pray to something that he doesn't believe in. 3) He has already heard the missionaries - we asked him what he knew, and he already had essentially the first 3 discussions. Well.....there goes the entire plan. And mind you, he speaks a million miles an hour so we only get about 1/2 of what he says. So we had to just set our notes down and just talk. Instead, we asked him what he likes to do. We asked him if those things make him happy and stuff. He said yes. We asked if he LIKES to be happy - and he doesnt. He said he wouldn't believe in a false thing just to make him happy, because happiness can change so fast. So he was difficult. Haha but eventually we talked about how he had a desire to know the truth. We shared with him Alma 32:27 about how a desire to believe is sufficient Faith, and basically just challenged him that he had to work on that desire. I told him that finding something that is true and meaningful isn't easy. He couldn't expect to be sure right away, but that if he would work hard he could eventually feel the spirity in his heart. He kind of challenged us, saying "You PROMISE that if I read and pray, he will answer?" Elder Watt and I both just broke down. We both bore our testimonies that God loves us, and that if we go to him with a desire to know, he will tell us in our hearts that it is true. The spirit was SO strong in the room! We were both in tears, as was Adan. It was such a cool experience. I know he is just a teacher and not a real investigator, but it gave Elder Watt and I such a testimony that the Spirit is what converts people. It certainly wasn't our Spanish! So that makes it easier, confirming that we don't need to be perfect at Spanish to touch people's lives.

I love you guys! Missionary work is not easy. Its pretty hard, and is not "fun". But it is worth it. When Elder Watt and I got to teach by the spirit, it was one of the most amazing experiences! I am happy, and know this is where I am supposed to be right now. Adios, familia.

Elder Brady Tengberg

Here is an overload of pictures of us saying goodbye to Brady and dropping him off at the MTC! 

 He was so proud!

 The final wave goodbye

 See you in 2 years Elder Tengberg!

Brady accidentally forgot to give up his phone when he reported and didn't realize until he was already in the building! He had to come back out and the security guard passed the phone over to Dad haha

Farewell For Now

Well its official, Brady is a full-time missionary for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints! While he is gone, he has put me in charge of updating his blog. I dropped him and my parents off at the airport this morning and he is excited and ready to get to work. While he is in the MTC, there are several ways to write him should you wish to do so.

You can do any of the above options to contact him. The easiest and quickest way to contact him though would be through dearelder.com. I included the instructions at the top, but here they are again. You can type a letter on this website, and the MTC will print it out and put it in his mailbox for you. If you write it before 12:00 noon, he will get it on the same day. 

Instructions for Dear Elder emails:

1. Go to dearelder.com

2. Click on the Provo MTC on the left

3. Fill out your home address in the top left spaces of the "letter" so that he can write you back

4. Fill in his information. He is MTC Mailbox #215. You can leave his estimated departure date blank, but if you want to know it will be around September 5th. 

Of course, you can always just send a normal email to brady.tengberg@myldsmail.net! I tell you, writing someone has never been easier :)

Last Sunday, he gave his farewell talk in our chapel. He did an amazing job and had so many people there supporting him. Several people flew in from other states and drove many hours just to be there. Many of his high school friends came as well, and it was wonderful to see all of them again. After Sacrament meeting, we came back to our house for some food and goodbyes. Here are some pictures!

We'll see you in a short 2 Elder Tengberg :)