No Excuses, No Regrets November 24, 2014

November 24, 2014

hope the title of this email doesn't have some copyright infringement. It is the title of the book about Eric Weddle. It describes this week...or a moment of this week so perfectly though. I am sure they will understand.

It. The Final day. Is approaching very very quickly. The feeling however is hitting me oh so slowly. The sensation is...unreal. I got a good talking to by President this week with a small group of us that are returning home very shortly. It was his, "don't get trunky" pep talk. It came just after my final interview and just before the beginning of a very long final zone conference. It was a good Zone Conference though. We discussed a lot about how we can increase our faith and the way we do that is just by pushing ourselves past the points where we think we will break. President showed us a clip from a football movie. I am almost positive that it was from Facing the Giants. Anyways, in the clip, the players were all sitting down after a practice and one of the players asked about how good they thought one of the other schools was that year, and one of the players said, "a lot tougher than us". (I am paraphrasing of course). The coach then told him to get up and he had the player promise him to give him his best while doing the "Death Crawl" blindfolded. The player thought he could only get to the 50. Long story short, he made it the full length of the field before his arms finally gave up on him. The point President was trying to make was that we all can do more than we think. We just have to put down the mental blocks we put up and push past the point of exhaustion. That is my goal for the final two weeks, and I have had a good week so far since doing my best to do that. I want to leave this area better than I found it and was given some great suggestions during the Zone Conference that are also helping me stay focussed. They also sang Happy Birthday to me at the end of the conference and I got a package of Peanut M&Ms. So I was happy :)

And yes, you read that right. I did have my final interview this week as well. Nothing too crazy. I was happy with the interview. Happy to know that I was never on the "worry list"...which means Santa may have to be good to me this year ;) Haha. Then I received some advice of things to do when I get home, but also some advice to not fear coming home. And at the end, President asked me, "do you have any regrets from your mission?". To which I confidently responded. "No Regrets Sir". Ok...I didnt say it like that. Haha I did say that I have no regrets though, and that I have been grateful for the experiences that I have had on my mission. It has been everything, but at the same time nothing like I expected it to be. If that makes any sense. And I expect these final two weeks to be just the same and I am gonna do everything that lies in my power to make it that way.

The Baptism of Gabby this coming Saturday is one of those ways in which I am trying to finish strong. We are excited for her. This week we have a few more things that we need to go over with her and then have the interview and then we will be good to go for Saturday. Things are just continuing to go well.

My final thought for today is that the key to living with no excuses and no regrets is by taking and using the Atonement in our lives. Do everything you can to go 100% each and every day. My football coaches used to always tell me that it is much better to make a mistake going full speed than at half speed. I have come to know that it is so true, and the Atonement will make up for those mistakes. I am grateful this week for this mission I am on. I am grateful for all that I have learned and experienced up to this point. I am grateful for Jesus Christ and the Atonement.

What are you grateful for this week?

Dad- Ok,so I am glad you enjoyed some good football this week. Seems like there was some real nail-biters. I like games like that. When I am on the winning end of course :) We will make it back New York one of these days for sure. As far as my Thanksgiving, Unfortunately...No Turkey bowl. We aren't allowed to play as missionaries and I do not believe our ward is even doing one as a majority of our ward is about in their 60's. We are allowed to have two dinners that day though and it looks like that will most likely be the plan.One with the Ross family in the afternoon. Supposedly there is supposed to be about 60 people there. They have lots of relatives here,including some family from my first area. Then we should have one that evening as well. I hope everything goes well for you all that day and that you are able to enjoy watching Kaepernick lose. Did I ever tell you that I just barely missed a chance of meeting him? If not,I will have to tell you another time. Not a very exciting story...but yeah. haha. Anyways, I will take you up on that challenge. I hope you do the same with things you have learned over the past year or even two and also the things you are grateful for :) I also hear from Juan weekly and I think that would be awesome if you could do that for him. What a blessing for sure. As far as invites to the airport. I think small is good. Any family and maybe a couple close friends if they would like. I am not too picky though. If you want to make it big, that is fine too. Just make sure invites for my talk are extended though. Too as many as possible. Food. Well...I do like the Cheesecake factory as well as My Big Fat Greek. Umm...nothing in particular though. I just want biscuits and chocolate gravy the morning of the 11th though. If possible.Thank you so much for your email Dad. I sure do love and miss you and I hope you have an awesome week :)

Mom- Get some rest :) haha. I love and miss you Mom. Thank you for all you do. Especially for the little time you take to just express your love to me. I appreciate it probably more than you know. I hope you have a great week :)

Jeri Lin- As always, thank you for your short, sweet updates :) Glad all your kiddos and hubby are doing well and that you are hangin in there with them :) But yes. Holy Smoke! There is a lot coming around the corner. Lots of excitement. It is gonna be good :) I love you lots and hope you have a good week :) Smile!

Keila- I love and miss you :) Our Birthdays are coming super soon! Have a good week!

Sydney- Thank you for your email and the things that you shared with me. I just kept thinking about the things you shared from your fireside and from your lesson at church and how I have learned and come to understand all those things more fully on my mission. It excites me that you are learning those things already. I have come to develop a great love for so many different people with so many different personalities because of the opportunity that the mission has given me to look past myself and serve others. It is such an incredible experience and it is coming swiftly to an end. Maybe one day you may have the opportunity to do this. It is so worth it, I can tell you that :) Anyways,you are looking good. Looking forward to seeing you for real without braces.. Haha. Love and miss you! Have an awesome week :)

Leslie- My goodness, you are right. I am on the home stretch. I have never been one that is into the whole stretching thing, but I am doing my best to stretch myself even further at the end. Thank you for your encouragement. I love and miss you! Have a good week :)

Brooke- Hey. I am gonna see you in a couple weeks. How neat is that? :) I love and miss you! Have a good week!

Hayden- Hey kiddo. You are awesome :) Have a good week! I will give you art lessons soon. Love and miss ya Buddy :)

That is all I have for the week.

The pictures are a progression of my Baskin Robbins Ice Cream party a couple nights ago. Enjoy :)

Love,
Your Son
Your Brother
Elder Bryton Dane Shinkle :)

Let's Build a House November 17, 2014

November 17, 2014

I will get to the title of the email in a minute, but first. I want you all to know that I LOVE YOU. And also know that I have had a pretty good week :) Despite the fact that the weather is cooling down. It definitely makes getting motivated to get out and work a lot more difficult for me. Nevertheless, we did get out and work and some good things are continuing to move right along. I have found that work brings positivity and I am grateful that I have been able to learn that lesson on my mission. :) I have learned lots of lessons on my mission. And this week I received in the mail something we like to call "Trunky Papers". My brain still hasn't wrapped itself around the fact of how much time I really have left to continue doing this awesome work. I am not sure it will until I am probably on the plane. Which isn't a bad thing, because I am just in that missionary mode and it helps me stay focussed as much as possible and get things done.

Now what happened this week. Well for about two weeks now every District Meeting, our zone leaders have been announcing that all the missionaries with cars this Saturday were going to have a mini missionary with them from the Carson City stake. I was thinking,"ha, don't have to worry about that. I don't have a car". Just as I always do when they make announcements that have anything to do with cars. Well, Saturday came. I am on companion exchanges in my area. Just eating breakfast and preparing for personal study and Elder Ihler tells me that the phone is being blown up. We had some text messages.A missed call, and our Zone Leaders were calling us again. I was wondering what the heck was going on and they told me that they were in need of me taking a mini missionary for the day. Wait..I thought it was only for the ones with the cars?? Well,there aren't enough with cars and we trust you. We will come drop him off they tell me. I have to tell you that I have become pretty good at hitting these curve balls that the mission likes to throw, because they like to throw them at me a lot. The good news is that we had a pretty good day. Bryce,our mini missionary, did a pretty good job keeping up with us on his borrowed bike. We had some good lessons. I just hope it was as good experience for him as it was for me.

On that day, we met with Gabby as well as Coral. They are both continuing to progress towards the days they have agreed to be baptized, so that is exciting. We met another less active family this week that would like for us to continue working with them. No new investigators this week,but a few more potential people. So things are just moving right along.

This week I also had the opportunity to speak in Sacrament Meeting. This ward likes to keep me busy I guess. That is where the title of the email comes from though, and I want to share a few of the thoughts that I did in my talk.

My topic that was assigned to me was the Book of Mormon. Many, if not all, know that I would like to be an Architect when I grow up. Right now, I want to build a home using the Book of Mormon.

First, every home needs a plan or a blueprint. The same is necessary for our study of the Book of Mormon. I have found on my mission that planning makes a huge difference. There have been times where I have had little or no plans, and others where I have plans on top of plans. When I have plans on top of plans, it makes life a whole lot easier. When building a home the more detailed and specific the plans, there is a lot less chance for error. The same goes for study. Set a plan.

Second, as your plan begins to unfold, there is a process. There is an order to things and the foundation needs to come first. The Book of Mormon provides a foundation of our testimony. President Dieter F. Uchdorf taught principles in this past general conference that are and have been the way to build a flawless, solid foundation for centuries.
1) Study
2) Consider, Ponder, and Strive to Believe
3) Pray
4) Live the Doctrine
As we do those four steps with the Book of Mormon, we are promised to have a solid foundation.

Third, we can now begin to actually build the structure that will be able to protect us and help us. That structure is a Testimony of Jesus Christ and his Gospel. Jesus Christ has suffered and gone through every pain and sorrow that we have and will experience. That is why he provides the safest, soundest structure for our homes. The Book of Mormon is Another Testament of Jesus Christ. It is convincing evidence that Jesus is The Christ. We will learn to rely on him and his Gospel as we read and study the Book of Mormon.

Fourth, we finally can put the finishing touches on our home. It is a lifelong process though. We are continually finding new and better things that bring peace and beauty into our homes. We find these new and improved things though the Book of Mormon. We apply its teachings in our lives. Which in turn brings us closer to our Heavenly Father. After all, "Heaven is a continuation of an ideal home".

And that is exactly what the Book of Mormon does. It helps us build an ideal home. I have been talking in a figurative sense, but the Book of Mormon helps us have an ideal home in a literal sense. I know that to be true, because I have witnessed it for myself. Now it doesn't mean that we won't have struggles and trials, but it will bring us real protection and real strength. I am grateful for the Book of Mormon :) I share those things with you in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

Dad-Thank you for your email :) I sure do have another one completed and congrats on you completing your race. Mom sent me a picture and you look pretty good :) As for my birthday, I just let you know what I would like. I don't want anything sent here, because I need to send stuff home as you know.Don't really want to pay extra baggage fees. haha. But yeah...music is always good. I like just about all of it,so you can't really go wrong. As far as plans that day. Probably finish packing. Breakfast with Isaac. Planning on Dinner with a family here in the ward. What we do between that time..I have no clue. We will just have to wait and see. I am glad you have had a good week and hope you haven another good one. I love and miss you Dad! :)

Mom- Thank you for all the pictures as always! I need to get better at doing that. I just haven't taken a whole lot, or I forget my camera. I am a slacker. Hopefully Isaac makes up for my slacking haha. As far as the MMR vaccination, I just texted Sister Hermansen. Hopefully she gets back to me soon, but I will try and get it done this week. It looks like you all did have fun for Hayden's birthday, and I am glad. I am glad you had a good week and I hope you have another good one! I love and miss you Mom. Thank you for all you do :)

Jeri Lin- I feel you with the freezing part. It is no fun for sure. Haha sometimes I want to just cry like Hyrum, but then somebody lets us in and my body recoups a little bit.haha. It sounds to me like you all are doing alright. I am looking forward to being able to see all of you. No matter when you come. It is going to be a very very good time :) I love and miss you Sis. Have a good week!

Keila- Hey. I love you :) Have a good week!

Sydney- Thank you for your funny story and for your email :) I am looking forward to having good and funny times with you and Leslie and Keila and Brooke and Hayden and Jeri Lin and Tony and Hyrum and Lindi. Eventually Baby Brown. Even Mom and Dad :) You know, all of us cool kids. haha Sounds like you have some good things happening and things to look forward to! I hope you have a good week! I love and miss you :)

Leslie- Thank you for the pictures. Looks like you had some good times at the zoo lights. I love and miss you and I hope you have some more good times this week :)

Brooke- Mom sent me a picture of you doing a handspring at JumpStreet. Impressive :) I can't even do that. You may have to teach me when I get home! I love and miss you! Have a good week :)

Hayden- It sounds and looks like you had a good birthday. I am glad you didn't get hurt at JumpStreet this year. I am also happy to hear that you won your football game this week. Good job! :) I love and miss ya man. Have a good week!

I love and miss you all!

Love,
Your Son
Your Brother
Elder Bryton Dane Shinkle :)

I Need Thee Every Hour November 10, 2014

November 10, 2014

This Hymn has been stuck in my head all week. Probably because my trusty companion and I were volunteered to sing a special musical number yesterday during Sacrament meeting. It actually went very well. It is nice when you sing with someone who actually knows how to sing. I just love to sing and that is about all I have going for me. Time does go faster while you are having fun and singing. :)

What else do I have to report on this week? Well last Monday was my companions Birthday.I may have mentioned that last week. I don't believe that I mentioned that I had a surprise for him that morning though. I woke up about 11:30 the night before and got up and drew on his whiteboard above his desk. Then I wrapped up some presents for him using old printed off conference talks, napkins,mormon.org card box, and band-aids. #missionarylife haha. While doing this, I planned on making it look like I was in the bathroom just in case he woke up. I turned on the light and shut the door. I forgot that the lock on the bathroom door is messed up though and that you are not able to open the door from the outside even if it is unlocked. So thinking I had gotten the surprise off cleanly. My heart sank when I realized I would now have to break into our bathroom without waking him up in order to turn off the light. "I Need Thee Every Hour" could not be more appropriate as it was about midnight at this point. I said a prayer and I was eventually able to open the door using two butter knives. I have to tell you that is was well worth it to see his surprise the next morning :)

I also had an experience on Tuesday night that I would like to share. There is a less active family we are working with,and that night while we were there, there was a bit of an argument and fight that broke out amongst them. I tried talking with them, and so did my companion. I was talking to the Mom while my companion was talking with the daughter. I was thinking about just giving them their space and giving them time to cool down. My companion on the other hand was thinking the exact opposite. Which ended up working out for the better. That night we were able to bring them closer as a family and also closer to us. I credit a lot of that to my companion. We worked together, but it was his desire and stubbornness that I lacked that allowed for us to have the experience that we did. Not only that, but it was also because the love of our Heavenly Father and the Spirit that was felt in that room that night. We needed him in that hour. No doubt about it. :)

Things continue to move forward. Like I said, Time goes quickly when you are having fun and listening to music. Even if you are just listening to your own voice while biking down the street. We were able to set our investigator, G. with a baptismal date of November 29th. She is the one that we were reading the Book of Mormon to because she is legally blind. We also have few more people we are beginning to teach and a few more potentials that we hope to begin working with soon.Which is just about the news for every week. Things are going well and I am happy to be a missionary. I am going to need Heavenly Father every hour as my hours are drawing to a close. I have no doubt that he will be here though. :)

Dad- It is looking like you are gonna need Heavenly Father every hour of the day today as well. Just do your best. That is all it takes. Thank you for updates on the football world. I am very happy to hear about ASU winning that is awesome! Do you think that they could make it to the playoff this year?? To answer your question, No. I hate shaving everyday and yes I am looking forward to not having to do it every day. My beard is getting a lot thicker too. Might be pretty nice when I am home haha. We will see. Thank you for all you love and encouragement. I love and support you Dad. Have a good week! I miss ya.

Mom- #NikeSwag You probably don't know what that means. Just know that it is a good thing :) The someone who sends you pictures and videos is Isaac. He is my very good friend and I am gonna miss him lots. He has been a huge help and support to me on my mission. As for a job. I have thought about it a little bit. Some thoughts that I have had have been possibly working for Nike actually. I would have to look more into that. Home Depot wouldn't be bad except for the whole Sunday thing. They make that very difficult. I also have thought that on the side I would like to maybe be a coach? I dunno. Not super stressed about it, but just some thoughts. Thank you for all your help. I sure do love you Mom and miss ya. I hope you have a great week!

Jeri Lin- Thank you for your emails :) I am glad you are doing well and that you were able to have an enjoyable Halloween :) That is crazy that Hyrum has to have glasses. I guess not too crazy as a majority of our family has them, but he is in the minority with me of being farsighted. haha. I do have to agree with you with the Day light savings time. I hate it. haha. It also makes missionary work a lot harder, because people automatically think you should not be outside when it is dark. Oh well. We just do our best. I hope that all continues to go well. I sure do love and miss you :) Have a good week!

Keila- Thank you for the update on your "boring" life haha. :) I am glad you are doing well! And also thank you for letting me know about Jordan. He is a good guy, and I am happy to hear that he is having success. I also will continue to keep up the "god" work. I think you meant to say good work. But hey. It works. I am doing both. Haha I love you and miss you :) See you soon! Have a good week!

Sydney- I Love and miss you! :) Have a good week!

Leslie- Thank you for a letter this week! You should get one from me very soon! :) And just know that you have no need to worry. Everything is gonna be alright :) I love and miss you! Have a good week!

Brooke- Hey kiddo! I love and miss you! Have a good week :)

Hayden- I hope you enjoy your videos and have a very Happy Birthday :) I love and miss you dude. Have a good week!

I love and miss you all!

Love,
Your Son
Your Brother
Elder Bryton Dane Shinkle :)

Reflection November 3, 2014

November 3, 2014

I am really just trying to reflect on what all happened this week.

I have been doing quite a bit of reflection on my mission as a whole this week as a matter of fact. On Tuesday, I was able to see one of my very good missionary friends before he departed for home. I reflected about the times we had in Spring Creek. They were some good times for sure. Always fun to do that. :)

Amongst all of this reflection that I have been doing. Both on the good and the bad. I did begin to feel a real sense of urgency to continue sprinting, but I also began to have some feelings of doubt of whether or not I have been as successful as I should have or could have been. It was kinda getting me down to be honest. However, I actually ended up coming across an old journal entry that I just skimmed through. And at that moment, I couldn't help but feeling like I have been a successful missionary because right in that entry, I expressed feelings of being successful. Everything happens for a reason. There is no doubt in my mind :)

So what else has happened this week. Oh! Halloween. That wasn't anything exciting though. It was cold and rainy here and we were supposed to be in by 6. No trick or treaters at our house, but it wasn't like we had anything to give them anyways. haha. OH! I just remembered on bummer deal we did have this week, my companions bike was stolen. Someone got an early Christmas present. He handled it a lot better than I would have, that is for sure. And we were able to get him a replacement quickly, so it didn't hinder the work too much.

As for the work here, it continues to go well. We are presented with new teaching opportunities pretty often and it is just a matter of making the most of them. In fact, there is a lady that lives here in our area, and I have run into her and talked with her a few times. Whenever we seem to run into her, she seems to be having a rough time, like she is hitting rock bottom. The first time I ran into her was shortly after she had gotten out of the hospital after being jumped and beat up. This time, she had just suffered a stroke a few days before. There is just so much negativity that is beating down on her and she wants to come to church, but her husband is not supportive. So, as we talked with her this week, I just was listening as she was crying and I just wasn't sure what I was gonna say to this lady except that I was sorry. Then, a scripture that I had seen in my personal study that morning popped into my head it was a scripture that at one point I had previously marked who knows when, but it was perfect and I asked if I could share it with her.

1 Peter 5: 6-7

6 Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time:

7 Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you

I have no doubt that the spirit put that into my mind and that moment in time and this scripture has been my scripture of the week. And that is what I share with you all this week. God loves us and cares for us. Cast on him your every care. He will be there to help you. No matter what :)

Dad- Thank you for your email Mr. Clean. That is a way good costume and I am proud of you for getting out of your comfort level and doing that. Was there any kind of prize for second place? :) I am also proud of you for completing Hell week. Keep up the good work :) And just keep doing your best to take everything in stride. It will all work out when the time is right, I have no doubt. Just remember the scripture I shared this week. Thank you as always for the updates. They are very appreciated :) And the prayers. Just know that you are in mine as well :) I love and miss you Dad. have a good week!

Mom- Thank you for your email. Mom, just know that I love and support you and your decisions no matter what. You have always done so for me. Just know that I am doing my very best out here in the field. I have been so very blessed thus far and I expect nothing less as it draws nearer and nearer to a close. Just remember that I sure do love and miss you and that I am always praying for you. Have a good week!

Jeri Lin- No Browns this week, but I love and miss you all the same :) Hope all is well :)

Keila- Hey. I love you and miss you. True story.

Sydney- Thank you for your email. That is no fun that your back has started hurting you! I hope you can get that all fixed up back to normal. And that is cool that you are getting your braces off soon! That will be a happy day for sure. I hope you have a good time on your date and have a good week! I love and miss you :)

Leslie- Letter is coming! Love and miss you :)

Brooke- Hey. what are you up to these days?? Love and miss you :)

Hayden- Good job on scoring a touchdown this week! Keep it up. You are awesome :) I love and miss you!

Well that is all I have for this week! Have an awesome week! :)

Love,
Your Son
Your Brother
Elder Bryton Dane Shinkle :)