Dear Family, November 7, 2010

The story with the burning of the clothes is an old missionary tradition (which I do not believe in). It goes like this, when a missionary has reached his 6 month mark he burns a tie. When he has reached his year mark (half way) he burns a white shirt. When he reaches his 18 month mark he burns a pair of dress slacks. Then right before the 2 years are over the missionary takes an entire suit (suit, shirt, tie, and pants) and burns it. I did not burn any of my stuff. I want to keep them. It is a tradition set by pryo missionaries who want to play with fire. Right now the investigators I am teaching is Shirley Fenderson, Vince Masarick, Don Kanavel, Kevin Brewer, and Gia Denuve (aka Cristi Williams). Unfortuanatly all of the said investigators are not progressing. We might have to drop "Gia" since she has not dropped her "ideas". We are still working with them. I should let you know that there is a cool old couple in the ward who are recent converts and they are both active. They are Bro. and Sis. Cinidr. They are awesome. They love the missionaries. Well, so far I have not heard of any mail for me in Ashtabula for a month now but I have received two letters one from the Warnicks and the other from the Skidmores. I bet the already know about the new address. Elder Leake and I are working things out. I received my driving privaleges back November 4th. Unfortunatley Elder Leake has been grounded from driving which means he will no longer drive until the mission president and the fleet cordinator (in charge of the mission vehicles) says that he can drive again. Which we will never know when that will be. So, I am walking on thin ice right now. All it takes is one more month of me being a yellow driver and then I am grounded from driving. So, I am basically driving like an old man. Our corrolla is in repairs and so at this moment I am driving an 08' Chevy malibu which is a really nice car. It is so much better than the corrolla. The next transfer will be the day before thanksgiving. Yeah I know bad timing but that is how the mission rolls. We have zone conference this friday so I am looking forward to that. There is no snow yet and I hope it stays that way as long as possible so that I do not have to work out in the snow. That is all the updates that I have. You guys have a great week, take care.

Elder Behrmann

Dear Family, November 14, 2010

Yes, I have received the General Conference ensign. Thank you. And Congratulations on Amanda's New Born Baby. Aunt Ann and Uncle Charles must be excited to be Grandparents and also I ton of second cousins for Laura, Austin, and Me. It is so weird that I am 3 hours away from you. My companions driving privileges have been taken away permanently because he got a "Yellow Driver" again for another month. It is too long and complicated to explain, but the system is too strict. Any way I am the only one driving right now and since we are heading into winter and since my companion is from Arizona he is not allowed to drive in the snow anyways. So to put it all together, I am the only driver for the next month or so. Basically I am walking a fine line between loosing my driving privileges and keeping my driving privileges. All it takes is one more month for me of being a yellow driver and then I will be expelled to. Like I said I think it is too strict but it is too long and difficult to explain. We received new phones this past Friday. They are slider phones and have a key pad and they gave us texting to communicate with our investigators more often. So that is really nice. We were able to keep the Chevy Malibu which is nice. So new phone, a better car. My week went pretty well. Speaking of investigators, we dropped three of them this past week. One of them is in prison for not paying a fine and not seeing is parole officer. The other one refused to give up her "ideas" and take them to Japan (Gia!!). And then the last one simply just did not understand our purpose being there and see us and buddy buddy,pal pal friends. So, they are all not keeping commitments (especially the one in prison, hard for him to come to church). So it is going to be a slow week. I can feel it coming. I hope you guys have a great week. Take care.

Elder Behrmann

Dear Family, November 22, 2010

Big News! Transfers are this week. I am staying in Elyria another transfer. Elder Leake will be going to another area. So I will get a new companion. I will let you all know who he is next week. I did receive the care package and enjoying many of the treats. In fact I am being fed really well. I have desserts back at the apartment that are everywhere. Cookies, a Boston creme pie, pecan pie, and the cupcake cake. You all know I love pumpkin pie most. That is my favorite food for thanksgiving, and don't worry I have some one feeding me on thanksgiving. Luckily thanksgiving day has turned out to be an all day P-day absolutely no working on thanksgiving day. Thank heavens for that. So far everything is looking good. The new phones are sweet and I am looking forward to meeting my new companion. Anyway I have a very busy week so take care and hope that everyone has a good week take care.

Elder Behrmann

Dear Family, November 29, 2010

I am glad things are going well for everyone. My new companion is Elder Williams from Kingsman, Arizona (yeah another one from Arizona). We are getting along pretty well. We received 3 new investigators and two days ago we took one of our investigators cigarettes and tea and threw them away in the garbage, because that is where it belongs. I am glad thanksgiving went well. Just as a side note it has not snowed yet and I plan on keeping it that way as long as possible. With my luck I just jynxed it and it will snow tomorrow and I will cry. Elder Williams loves to play basketball. (I thought I would let you all know about that.) Oh by the way, I still weigh 135 pounds. I can still fit in my suits. I am planning on staying that way. Well, that is all the news I have at this time. Take care and have a great week.

Elder Behrmann

Dear Family, December 6, 2010

Awesome, I will be looking for the packages. We received snow last Wednesday and has not stopped snowing since. Which really stinks. Now I will not get any sunlight for the next 4-6 months or until spring. Lame!!! I hear from David that Spencer has been called to serve in th California Riverside mission. Which is really cool. I also have another Christmas/birthday Idea. I found it really cool to have a mini Preach my Gospel book. As far as I know I have not come across any new Christmas traditions besides feeding the missionaries and Christmas day and or on Christmas eve from what previous members have done. So, sorry no new traditions. How can we increase the priesthood power within the home? Good question. What a great way to start is Charity. Serve one another in the home. Always testify of Christ and how he used his Priesthood power. So serve and testify. Anyway, there will be a Christmas zone conference tomorrow held at Kirtland and we will be going into the Kirtland Temple. It is going to be great. It will be my first so we will see how it goes. That is pretty much my updates. I am staying warm and all that fun stuff. Take care everyone and have a great if not a better week.

Elder Behrmann

Dear family, December 13, 2010

To answer your questions: Yes I have received the Kopps care package. I also received your package for the speakers, the big package with all the sunflower seeds (thanks) and I believe a small package also. I can't remember what was in it. I was wondering if I needed to wait to open the presents on Christmas. I opened some presents but not all. So thanks for the cd and the cologne and the book "stand a little taller" and the Jesus story book. I have not looked into my stocking or the last present because I didn't know if I had to wait until Christmas. I do not know where my companion received his mini PMG. I will ask him and let you guys know next week. Christmas conference was amazing. Ever had sacrament in the Kirtland temple? I did! It is amazing! I also thank you for the letter. I believe P-day is on Christmas but they are giving us time to email on Monday so I do not know when I will email you or even what time to call you on Christmas. I will let you know asap. Sad to say I was not able to go to the Christmas devotional. I had to bring an investigator. Two of our investigators came to church yesterday and It was amazing. Our investigators are doing all right. Two are progressing, and there is another two that just doesn't get it, but we are working with them. The ward members are doing okay. Hopefully they will pick up the slack and stop being lazy and stop asking the missionaries to do all the work. GRRRR!!!! So hopefully the investigators that came to church will make them see that hey this set of missionaries is not bad after all!!!!! Anyway, just limping along day by day. We are being pounded by lake effect snow since yesterday and will not stop until Wednesday. That is all the updates that I have take care and have a great week.

Elder Behrmann

Dear Family, October 4, 2010

Everything is going well in Ohio. It is starting to get cooler now that we are getting close to winter. It rained all day yesterday! That meant no sunshine. General Conference was the best ever, I love it all. There was some talks that I did not get much out of but President Deiter F. Uchtdorf and President Thomas S. Monson made all the difference. Just to let you know I have two peanut butter bars left. They will most likely not survive today. I am writing in my missionary journal as much as possible sometimes we get in too late and I do not have time to write in it but I write in my journal whenever I can. Things with our investigators have not been going so well. None of them showed up for any of the General Conference sessions. SAD!!!! Our Ward mission leader and My companion and I have doubts as to the mental status of our investigator Gia. What I am trying to say is that we all have a feeling that our most progressing investigator might be crazy. Sad to say, no we do not have any new investigators in fact we lost one this past Saturday. Her name is Mandy, the person who showed up and we found out that there was no nursery, and she is juggling between her schooling, her kids, and her study of the Gospel. She is a single parent! We went over and found out that she put School and her kids first before taking the lessons of us missionaries. So we know she was not ready and we dropped her. Hopefully she will be ready in the future. I saw the pictures of Dad and Austin on the High Adventure and I thought, "Man, Austin is a Beast!!" I love you all and hope things continue to go well for everyone. Take care!

Love

Elder Behrmann

Dear Family, October 12, 2010

This week has been really slow. We do not have any new investigators. We are trying to search for some more. All we have is Vince, Don, Gia, and Kevin. All of them are stalled at this time except for Gia. Now we are trying to get out ward mission leader over to Gia's and figure out the situation since the ward members think that Gia is crazy. So far she is still set on being baptized on October 24. Just to let you all know I will stay in Elyria another transfer with Elder Leake. The leaves are changing. I took a couple of pictures this morning. It is amazing. Some trees are blood red, some are golden yellow and bright orange. I will take a few more pictures when more trees turn colors. I am glad things are going well for everyone. This past week I ran into somebody while tracting. It is very interesting to know that there are too many people in Ohio that have completly gone off the deep end (crazy). He said that his soul is saved through the elemental gods of Thor!!! That is terrible. He believes his soul is saved through a comic book. Good luck with that one dude! Things continue to move on. Still trying to work with the ward. Take care you will all be in my prayers!

Love Elder Behrmann

Dear family, October 18, 2010

This week was terrible! We went over to Gia's with our ward mission leader a few days ago to get a green light on the baptism. Unfortunately, that didn't go so well. We all found out that Gia is not all the way there as in she is too far on the left field or in other words. She has gone crazy. She didn't know who Thomas S. Monson was, even though we told her 5-10 times about that, and she hasn't been reading at all in the book of Mormon. Gia is telling all these false stories to our ward mission leader how she got a job at a company that no one has heard of and showing her resume with no educational background and many other things but what made the cherry on top was that Gia is not her legal name. The name she used is Cristi J. Williams. So Gia or Cristi or whoever she is, is telling us (the missionaries) on story and goes and tells some totally different story to our Ward mission leader. So to make a long story short we dropped her baptism and now she is not progressing to well. In fact the only progression she has made is that she is still smoke free. So enough about that. It has been a difficult week for Elder Leake and I again. there are many things that we have a hard time seeing eye to eye. Anyway, life goes on out here in the field. I hope things have been going well for everyone at home. We have made great contact with the 5-5-5 families and we even made the mistake of scheduling 2 dinner appointments in one day. It is starting to happen more frequently now that the holidays are around the corner. So my metabolism is continuously under attack so I am being fed super well, Everyday! Oh, one more thing if the time comes around I want the General conference Ensign for November. That way I can enjoy the talks. That is all I have to say at this time, I hope everything is going well for everyone and hope to hear from you soon. Take care!

Love,

Elder Behrmann

Dear Family, October 25, 2010

My Health is doing just fine. I have not been sick for a while. No I have not had the flu shot this year. I bet Sis. Sorensen will nag on the whole mission to get one. We know that Gia is crazy because she believes that she can build a time machine, a hover craft, and a box that can power your entire house and take you off the grid. You know Ideas that are not in tune with the gospel and stop her progression to being baptized. We brought this up too her and she said she will stop these ideas. Also about Gia is that Gia is not her real name. In order to be a member of the church we have to use her real name which is Christi J. Williams. We are in the process of letting her know about that. So in other words we are starting over with Gia (aka Christi). None of our investigators came to church yesterday, oh well there is always next week. I am getting close to sending the SD card over to you guys I am just going to take a few more pictures and send them to you soon. I do not know when but I will send the SD card soon. My suits and shoes are doing fine. Still in great shape. This whole missionary schedule and being 3 hours ahead of you guys drains me of energy and missionaries are not allowed to take naps. Which means we only have enough time to take naps on P-day. So far, none of our investigators are progressing. We received a new investigator last Friday. Her name is Shirley. She is not progressing because she is not keeping her commitments and not coming to church. It is still a working process. Apparently there is a store out in Sandusky called Elder Behrmanns. I have to look into it and once I have found it, it will be worth a picture to send to you guys. Hope everything improves for everyone. Have a great week, take care!

Love

Elder Behrmann

Dear Family, November 1, 2010

This week has had its ups and downs with no improvement with investigators. There was one bad storm a week ago but it was just wind. Sandusky received a tornado watch, but nothing happened. It is now getting cold into the 40's and 50's. I am able to manage, that is nothing. The leaves have fallen and the trees are bare so it all looks depressing. Luckily tho I have taken pictures and will send you the SD Card today maybe tomorrow or whenever time allows me to permit. YES!!! I need you to send me the General Conference issue for November. I need the written word of the prophets!!! Thank you for sending it to me. The ward's party stunk. They do not have a big youth out here on the East side. So no Halloween party no trunk or treat deal just a Pot luck skit thing , but I heard that the ward thanksgiving dinner is amazing so I will see about that. Just a little heads up apparently some packages are still being sent to Ashtabula. So just get the word out to the ward that I am in Elyira. Things continue to move on, I still have not gained any weight so I am still winning the battle, woo hoo. I am still 135- 137 pounds around that range. It fluctuates around there everyday. It has not snowed yet. I am not ready to deal with working in the snow all day. It better snow late in the year like after thanksgiving. It seems that things are going great for everyone. Otherwise, that is my updates. I hope you all have a great week. Take care, and hope to hear from you next week.

Elder Behrmann

Dear Family, September 27, 2010

The leaves here in Ohio have'nt changed yet. I am still waiting for the magnificent fall colors. Elder Leake and I are the only set of missionaries in the ward. The name of our ward is Elyria Ward. We just took a tour of the Johnson Farm and Zoned out the first Monday of September. Gia, our investigator, is doing great. Her comprehension is through the roof. She totally gets what we are teaching her. Her baptismal date was scheduled for Oct. 10 but we found out that Stake conference is that Sunday so we moved it to October 24. So Gia agreed to set her baptism back two more weeks. Otherwise Gia is doing well. Still smoke free, enjoys church, always puts God and family first. She is solid!!! I can't wait for General Conference. I want it here NOW!!!! Hope things continue to go well and hope to hear from you all next week.

Love

Elder Behrmann

Dear Family, September 20, 2010

I am glad your stake conference went really well. Ours doesn't start until after General conference which I cannot wait till it comes. Our next transfer is October 13. So it is not till a while. Still working on the trust thing with the ward just keep working that is all I can do. Believe it or not Elder Leakes suspension was over today so now he can drive and my suspension starts today so we can still drive. We have half of Lorain county. It would be impossible to bike through our area. So we drive to our appointments. We bike whenever we can. My suspension from driving will be for 45 days so I will not be driving until November 3 or 4. Not for a while. I am still working on getting along with my companion. I wish there was a cure to get along with someone who has Greek in his ancestry and who is stubborn. Oh wait there is It just takes a while for it too work. . At least I have a great Ward mission leader that is awesome at his calling. He is trying to fatten me up. Still am the same. I am glad things are going well for everyone. I hope things continue to go well and hope to hear from you next week. Take care!

Love your son, brother, missionary, etc.

Elder Behrmann

Dear Family, September 13, 2010

My week went okay. Last week a ran into a sidewalk bump while parking and cracked the bumper of the Lord's car! Gee that was fun, the driving coordinator person that is in charge of all the cars does not like me at all. I have my driving privileges suspended because of the tiwi of too many "aggressive drivings" meaning too many sharp turns stopping suddenly to avoid hitting a dear. Fun times! Saturday night we were tracking late at night and ran into a drunk baptist! Many fond memories there. Well, I am deeply saddened that my car gave up the ghost! I will miss my car and the fond memories we had together! Sniff! Sniff! I am trying to get along with Elder Leake but he has one nasty temper attitude problem. Still working on it. I went to the John Johnson farm last monday. It was a great place. We had zoned out (like a p-day only with half of the mission). It was a pretty big event with games and workshops and so on and so forth. They called a new ward mission leader and he is awesome. We are on fire. We are making some progress. Lots of room for improvement but we are moving forward. I hope to hear from you all next week. Have a great day!

Love

Elder Behrmann

Dear Family, August 31, 2010

Yipeee! I am your favorite "MISSIONARY" son. My week went well. Just to let you know that Me and Elder Leake are Staying in Elyria, together, for another transfer. So do not worry no changes there. We hit a road block with our investigators since they seem to have a hard time getting to church, but we taught a lady named Gia yesterday and committed her to baptism. She accepted so now we have a new investigator. Nice! The only changes in the ward is the we got a new ward mission leader. He is awesome and we will make great progress. Elder Leake doesn't like my driving because he is a Phoenix driver. What that means is that if I'm going the speed limit then I'm driving slow. He doesn't like me going 65 in a 65 mile zone on the freeway. He even thought that it was 55 on a road once when it was really 45 so that was a fun time. He likes me running yellow lights and stuff like that. He just wants me to be an aggressive driver. You can see why his driving privileges got suspended and not mine. Yes Elder Leake and I are getting along, sometimes, it is just that he is very hot tempered. He has a quarter Greek in his ancestry he has terrible road rage. Worse than mine. Some of his logic is a little odd but other that that I try to get a long with him as best as I can. Have a great week.

Love

Elder Behrmann

Dear Family, August 23, 2010

Yesterday was a great Sunday. President Sorensen came and so did the Stake Presidency. It didn't help that I had a talk in Sacrament meeting and a lesson to do in Elders quorum but it was great. Last night me and my companion took one of our investigators to the mission fireside. The investigators name is Vince. It was the only way to get him to a church setting since he works on Sundays during the church hour services. The whole mission world wide is focusing of 8 points of doctrine all from preach my gospel but our Mission president is all ready on the ball on that so no I have not studied any interesting or new subjects. Just from people who throw deep and confusing doctrine. President Sorensen also said to read the Book of Mormon or any standard works very slowly. For it is the speed of the thoughts that count not the speed of the reading. Since my companion is restricted from driving he is counting down until the day he can drive. He does not like my driving at all. Things continue on in the mission. Transfers is coming up. September 1st is when the transfer is, just a little heads up. Nothing else is new so, I hope things go well for everyone and hope things get better soon. I will hear from you all next week, via email. (Just a side note: I am still skinny. The ward is trying to fatten me up. I am still winning.)

Love

Elder Behrmann

Dear Family, August 16, 2010

Our Investigator Mandy Butcher in not doing so well. Has not been to church for two weeks. We are a little worried. So she is not making progress. What a pity. Do me a favor and thank the primary valiant 10 and 11 girls for their letters. I sent a letter to them today so they should receive it soon. It is getting hotter and hotter by the minute. There are two AC's in our apartment. One was replaced that is in the bedroom so the bedroom is nice and cool. The one in the living room however is just blowing warm air. Yuck! So I am sweating like crazy. The members here in Elyria feed us really well. We have an awesome meal coordinator and loves her calling so we are fed well. The trust thing with the members is slow so we are still working on that and it will probably won't be restored until new missionaries show up a few years down the road. My companion and I just have to continue on. Yesterday and return missionary came home from Ukraine. That was a great sacrament meeting. He bore his testimony in Russian. That was cool. I must ask if our Genealogy work has been completed? And if there are any dead ends? Because there is a member that we visit each week to mow her lawn and is just dying to do some genealogy work. So if you have any names that you need help on let me know so I can pass on the information. I am glad to hear things are moving well for everyone back at home. I hope things continue to go well and hope to hear from you soon.

Love,

Elder Behrmann

Dear Family, August 8, 2010

It is great that dad received my card. That is good. Elyria is alright. A whole lot less abandoned building than Ashtabula. The only time we bike is to Oberlin. There is a bike path that goes from Elyria to Oberlin and it is 7 miles so 14 miles round trip. We only get a total of 1100 miles per month which is really small but we try our best to stay under. Elder Leake is alright has worse road rage than I do. He is a phoenix driver. They drive faster and more aggressive down there. Elder Leaks driving privileges were suspended for 45 days so he has to put up with my slow driving skills. To give you a general idea of our area that we cover ( I have a vague idea too) we cover Elyria, Oberlin, Grafton, Lagrange, and Wellington. So yes more cities to cover. We are trying to figure out how to visit Lagrange and Wellington and Grafton because they are too long to bike ( and get work done) and it is too far to drive because it destroys our miles. For example our miles were reset in the beginning of August and we went to Grafton or Lagrange I cannot remember but to took 70 miles in one day and by the end of the week we went a little over 200 miles. It is tough. The ward boundaries cover those cities mentioned so there is only one ward. Of course it is small and most of the members, not all, but most of the members are old. Since they are old and there are no kids under the age of 4 there is no nursery. Elyria ward is the only ward I know of that doesn't have a nursery which caused some problems. The reason why it caused problems was because a nonmember a couple of weeks ago found the church online and talked with the online missionaries in the MTC. She came to Church. Her name is Mandy Butcher and is a single mom with two kids Cloey and Corrie. Both children are under the age of 3. So no nursery meant that Mandy and her two daughters had to spend the last two hours of church in primary. The primary president was not happy with us missionaries for doing this at the last minuet. Which bothered us because we knew this at the last minuet.The Elyria ward had experience some bad missionaries in the past and the members have grown cold towards the missionaries. Whenever something goes wrong they find a way to blame the missionaries. It is hard but Elder Leake and I are working on building trust which I hear will take years to develop. Otherwise we only have one other investigator coming to church but it is hard teaching him. His name is Kevin and he is sick or sleeping when we stop by. Anyway, the work must go on. I am glad everything is going well, for the most part, for you guys. I hope your week goes well and hope to hear from you soon.

Love

Elder Behrmann

Dear Family, July 20, 2010

Our week went really well. Things have been going very well for Elder Pickett and I. I know a lot about transfers and well it is tomorrow, July 21, 2010, and I will get transferred. I do not know where. Elder Pickett will be staying and will go back home to California September 1st, that is when he is done with his mission. He might leave a week early for school but I am not too sure. I have not received the Ensign yet. I probably will not receive it in time so Elder Pickett will have to send it to the Mission office and they will forward it to me, where ever I will be. It has been interesting serving in Ashtabula for 6 months. Lots of great, and not so great, memories. I will miss my first area and the members here. I will let you guys know as soon as possible as to where I will be transfered to and who will be my new companion. I will continue to do my best here in Ohio and hope you all will do your best at home. Love you and hope to hear from you next week.

Love,

Elder Behrmann

Dear Family, July 26, 2010

Yes it was hard to say goodbye but hopefully I will visit Ashtabula in the future. I am now serving in Elyria, OH (a-leer-e-a). I believe that is south west of Cleveland but I am not to sure. I am serving with Elder James Leake from Phoinex, Arizona. He is the district leader, poor guy has to take care of 8 other missionaries (including me) in the district. Awesome guy. I have to admit we have been demoted from driving an 08' Chevy Colorado truck to an 09' Toyota Corrola. I miss the truck but I still do not miss the tiwi. Still bugs me. I am glad you have received the SD card. Whew! What a relief. Unfortunately however the package you sent me did not arrive to me on time. It arrived in Ashtabula two days after the transfer so Elder Pickett will forward it to me. Here is the address to my new apartment that I will be staying at which has air conditioning yes!

Elder Brennon Behrmann

132 Park Meadow Lane Apt #J

Elyria, OH 44035

Please forward this address to anybody who wishes to send me letters and stuff. Things are great here in Elyria. I have found out that our most progressing investigator is in prison. Stole $600.00 from Walmart and was caught tampering with the evidence. So according to our Mission President we as missionaries cannot stop by him. What a bummer. Hopefully he will get an early release but we will see. I hope you all have a great week and hope to hear from you soon.

Love

Elder Behrmann

Elder Brennon Behrman
295 Third St.
Wadsworth, OH 44281
E-mail
brennon.behrmann@myldsmail.net

Dear Family, 12 July 2010

My week has been very well. None of our investigators (people we are teaching) came to church. Our baptismal date dropped and very sad about it. But we are doing very well in Ashtabula have a lot of people to teach. I have sent the SD card on Monday July 5, 2010. It might take a while to get there because of the 4th of July weekend. Which really means I didn't send it until Tuesday July 6, 2010. Thank you for the Primary Letters and also thank all the family for writing to me. Also THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!!!!! So much for the sunflower seeds. Elder Pickett and I were talking about sunflower seeds last week and you guys must have the gift of prophesy or something but I am enjoying them very well. Can't eat it in the car though. It's the Lords car and needs to stay clean so I eat it whenever I get the chance when I am at home studying or whatever. The members here in Ashtabula are feeding me really well. In fact their goal, or should I say mission, is to make me fat before I leave the Ashtabula area. So I am getting fed super well. Especially with deserts, I am developing a sweet tooth habit. I do hope things go well for you all and hope to hear from you next week. Have a great week!

Love,

Elder Behrmann

Dear Family, July 5, 2010

It is great to hear from you. It looks like it has been very busy for everyone. I am so jealous that you guys went to yellowstone. I want to go there!! It is nice that the extended family is doing very well and has a lot of stuff going on! I will have a lot of second cousins. Whooo Hooo!!! In Ohio it has been nothing but 80 to up in the early 90's for the weather. It is HOT HOT HOT!!!!!!! I sent a birthday card for you Austin last week also I have sent the sd card also be looking for them in the mail. I am glad to know that my brother is getting bigger. I am glad to know that the reunion went pretty well and that the family is okay. I would've helped dad with the driving but I would get in so much trouble for leaving the mission with a mission car and the car would probably shut down because of the tiwi. I would be lucky if I got passed Indiana. I am glad to hear that you had a great 4th of July weekend. Did you shoot off fire works?

There was a tornado in Conneaut (connie-ot) on Sunday June 27, 2010. We have been getting a lot of tornadoes in the past couple of months. We already have 4 that I am aware of. One in Toledo one in Andover another one in Peirpont and just recently the one in Conneaut. Do not worry I am alright. I was in Ashtabula and nothing hits Ashtabula all the weather goes around it for some strange reason. I hope things continue to go well for you guys and hope to hear from you next week!

Elder Behrmann

Love

Elder Behrmann

Dear Family, June 28, 2010

How is my beloved family doing lately I certainly hope things are going well for everyone. I will be sending pictures (the SD card) to you today so be on the alert in the mail. Days up in Ohio have been hot. Roaring in the 80's and 90's. It has been raining but that doesn't quite help. You would think it does but because of the Humidity it makes things a little muggier and it feels a little warmer so that is no fun at all. Things in Ashtabula are great. I have developed a missionary knock or in other words I knock like a cop so there are a good selected few people who do not answer their door. What fun Members are feeding us really well. We were slammed with meals a throughout last week. I have reached 137 lbs. What a shocker I haven't changed in weight very much! I swear it unto you that the members are feeding us well. One of the old members in the Ashtabula ward is moving to Arkansas and on Saturday we were helping them load stuff in the moving truck. Elder Pickett and I were exhausted and tired that day. I have been able to tolerate the tiwi to a certain degree this past week. I want to know who even thought of an electronic back seat driver with continual satelite/GPS signal where ever you drive. Makes it easier to prove it wasn't your fault in an car accident. That is the one nice thing about the satelite/GPS signal on the tiwi. That is the main highlights of my mission so far. I hope things go well and hope to hear from you soon.

Love

Elder Behrmann

Dear Family, June 14, 2010

Hey! Its been rain, rain, hot, rain, hot and hot wet and muggy. Humidity stinks I have sent a birthday card for Laura and Mom in the mail and also a card for Dad on regards to Fathers day. I have received the CD's and cologne, from Austin, thank you for the gifts. I will enjoy them and smell great too. On Saturday June 12, 2010 was mission conference (multiple stakes within the mission meeting together) and Elder Bradley D. Foster of the Second quorum of the Seventy was there. He spoke in April 2010 General conference. His talk is titled "mother told me" something like that. I had a 2 minute interview with him one on one. It was awesome Things here in Ashtabula are going well. A lot of members are feeding us and we have a lot of left overs I cannot keep up. Other wise nothing much else happened just continuing doing what I do. Thank you for your email and your support. I hope things go well and hope to hear form you next week. Take care!

Love

Elder Behrmann

Dear Family, May 31, 2010

How's it going? What is everyone up to? This past couple of weeks have been slow. A lot of our investigators have not been home. We are trying to make in contact with them but we are just having a hard time staying connected. Weather is going to get nicer. Less rain more sun. In fact a lot of sun. Today is going to hit 87 degrees. It is gettin closer to summer more hotter days. Transfers is on June 9. I might stay I might go who knows . I have found the emotion button for the email so I will use this more often. They are so cool. What are you guys doing for memorial day? Or do you have to work? I hate working on holidays. I have a question. When do I replace the head of the toothbrush Is it every 3 months or something like that. Work still moves on here in Ashtabula. The tiwi frustrates me even more but I am learning to cope with it. I hope everything goes well for you guys and hope to hear from you soon. I will let you know if I moved or not on transfer day when I get another chance to email if I know by then. Have a great week.

Elder Behrmann

Dear Family, May 24, 2010
Everything is going well for Elder Pickett and I. To let you know that I have received the SD card and have enjoyed the talks very well. I also enjoyed the one you just gave me by President Eiring. However, I have not received a cd with church hymns. I also have no cd carrying case to put the cd in. So if you feel inspired to send the cd then send a case to hold the cd's. So again I have not received a cd with church hymns yet. Looking forward to it. Weather is getting a whole lot nicer here in Ohio. Getting nearer into the summer time. The sun is showing its influence. Today is going to be in the 70's maybe the 80's so it is going to get nice and toasty. I am so glad that things are going well for you except for the surgeries. That is no fun. Hope mom and dad get well soon. Since we are having more nicer weather a lot of people aren't home all the time so a good chunk of our appointments drooped on us so this past couple of weeks have been a little tough. That is all that I have to report on my end. Hope everything is going well and have a great week.

Love

Elder Behrmann

Dear Family, June 21, 2010

Everything is going very well so far with Elder Pickett and I. It has been well into the early 90's for the past few days so it has been very hot. Over here in Ashtabula (or really in the Youngstown stake) they are doing the Pioneer trek. I want to go so bad but I am a missionary. Oh well Otherwise things here in Ohio is doing well. A few normal missionary days of course meeting different people everyday I guess there is no such thing as an ordinary day for a missionary. Today is the first day of Summer. These past couple of weeks there are fireflies everywhere. They are everywhere! It is very fun to drive at night. When they hit the windsheild they leave a floresent inprint and it glows in the dark for a while then goes away. Those are pretty cool bugs. They are easy to catch to . Well I hope everything is okay. Look forward to your email next week. Have a great week!

Love

Elder Behrmann

Dear Family, June 8, 2010

It is so good to receive your email. I am so glad you received the ceramic dog. There is a less active old man in his 90's that has a ceramic store and served in WW2. So I painted a dog and he sent it over so it didn't cost me a thing. I painted it in February and he finally sent it so I am glad that you received it hope it was in one piece. We had a tornado in our area. Do not worry. It was further south in a country town of Andover, OH. I was in Ashtabula so we were far from it and didn't even feel the effects. In fact I didn't even see it. That would've been sweet pictures. Speaking of pictures I will get a few more pictures in the camera and send it to you, and believe me I have some sweet pictures of the sunset at Lake Erie. Since transfers is tomorrow there is no need to fear. I have found out yesterday night that I will stay another 6 weeks (transfer cycle) in Ashtabula with Elder Pickett. I am not going any where. So now I will be serving 4 transfers in Ashtabula. If this continues on I might kill Elder Pickett, missionary term meaning that Elder Pickett goes home in Ausgust/September. I am not literaly going to kill him if is stay a few more transfers then he will be my companion until he goes home. If that doesn't make sense it is okay some of the missionary terms do not make a whole lot sense to me either. Work still goes on in Ashtabula. It is getting warmer and warmer or at least because of the humidity it feels that way. Sorry to hear about the trees. They seem to struggle, but not here in Ohio it is green, thriving, healthy trees. Well that is all that I have for this week. Hope things go well and hope to hear from you next week.

Love

Elder Behrmann

Hello, family! May 17, 2010

It is nice to know that mothers day went well. It is great to start a garden. A lot of people here talk about it but some say that the garden will fry and wither because of the heat and humidity. Well be thankful for mowing the lawn it rains so much that we mow the lawn every p-day. It is crazy. I am getting very annoyed with this "tiwi" mechanizim attached to the truck. I just got yet another aggressive driving. I did not mean to but apparently, acording to the tiwi, I am an aggressive driver. Things are still going well here in Ashtabula and with Elder Pickett. Our mission president and all the zone leaders have taught us missionaries to try a different tactic on regards to extending baptismal commitments. Lets say that in the past 2 weeks baptismal dates have climbed to 50% over the entire mission. As for me and Elder Pickett we still have our one baptismal date to work with. It is getting very hard to contact out investigators around the spring time. We had a lot of appointments drop on us. We ended up doing a lot of tracking. Which means according to what other missionaries said that, "The more you tract the hotter your wife will be!" I still have a hard time believing that statement. This past week we tracked 4 1/2 hours. That is a lot of tracking. Luckily my shoes are still intact. There still going strong and I'm loving it. Thank you for the quote from Elder Jeffery R. Holland. I may not have a quote from an apostle but I do have this. I do not know where it is from since it is off of one of Elder Pickett's cd collection when we were sitting in the truck driving. The quote that stood out to me is this, "A Ship is safe in the harbor but it is not what a ship is made for. Take your love to your loved ones and take your frustrations to the Lord." What that is saying is that we are here on Earth to experience what we need to experience to gain our privilege to return back to our heavenly father. We may be safe in our "harbors" regarding our comfort zone and stuff like that but that is not what we are suppose to do. We are suppose to move on through life and experience the storms of our lives. It makes the destination worth the journey. Also instead of taking our frustration and anger on our loved ones that we hold so dearly let us turn to the Lord with our problems that through him we will overcome our difficulties. So when ever we hit a stormy part in our lives let us not blame and get frustrated with each other rather let us turn to the Lord in our most difficult times that we may be able to overcome what we need to overcome. I love you guys and hope you have a great week. Hope to hear from you guys next week!

Love Elder Brennon Behrmann

Dear Family, April 19, 2010
Thank you for the emails. It seems that a lot is happening over back at home. I have to admit that spring time over here in Ohio is better than the spring over in Colorado HA HA!!!! I am getting along with my companion a little bit better. Our investigators are doing fine. Hopefully we can extend a baptismal commitment this Friday or next Friday with one of our investigators. Every missionary in Ohio says you will gain weight. I say to that, "We shall see." After all we are given 30 min. every morning to exercise so do not worry. Thanks also for that analogy. I remembered that analogy with the black dot. To tell the members back at home just say the Elder Behrmann is doing great and he is listening to the mission president and the rules and so on and so forth. I will probably drive this coming transfer on April 28. I have to admit that Ohio has a lot of churches and I mean A LOT!!!!! We even have a mason temple in Ashtabula. A MASON, like the free masons, temple!!! I cannot go inside but I thought of that to be rare. I also have received the privilege of speaking in church yesterday. I spoke on member missionary work and how we are all one fold looking toward one shepherd. Anyway that is all that I have on my end. Keep me posted on everything! Hope to hear from you all soon.
Love
Elder Behrmann

Dear Family, April 12, 2010
I am thoroughly enjoying the spring weather in Ohio. I hope everything is going well for you guys at home. Not much is happening down on my end. Even though I got sick this past Friday and Saturday. I do not know what caused it I was fine all day until our dinner appointment and I just puked my guts. My first sick day great! I am doing fine right now. I realized that missionaries are such pack rats and previous missionaries leave too much junk behind. Well, I should let you know in advance that transfers are coming up on April 28. Just to close this email I would like to say this poem to you guys:

Trees and Man

The tree that didn't have to fight
For sun and sky and air and light,
But lived out on the open plain
And always got its share of rain,
Never became a "Forest King,"
But lived and died a scrubby thing.

The man that never had to toil,
The man who never tasted spoil,
Who never had to win his share
Of sun and sky and light and air,
Never became a manly man.
But lived and died where he began.

Good timber does not grow with ease
The stronger the winds the tougher the trees,
The further the sky the greater the length
The more the storms the more the strength,
By sun and cold and rain and snow
In "trees or man" good timbers grow.

Where thickest stands the "Forest Growth,"
We find the "Patriarchs" of both,
Who hold a converse with the stars
Whose broken branches show many scars
Of many winds and much of strife,
This is the common law of life.

That is it the author is anonymous sorry. I hope everything is going well and hope to hear from you next week.

Love,

Elder Behrmann

Dear Family, April 27, 2010

Wow it seems that you guys have had a busy week. So have I. For tomorrow is transfers and do not fear for I will stay in Ashtabula and my address is still the same 1636 E 29th St

My companion, Elder Jensen, on the other hand will be transfered. So that means a new companion. So we thought that it would be fun to have a fun picture together before he was transferred. I have kept me weight at 135.6 lbs. Do not worry the ward members are feeding us well. I have been receiving great weather over in Ohio. Even though it rained for the past 2-3 days. Right now is glorious sunshine. I love it! There is flowers and everything is turning green. Who knew that Ohio does look pretty after all. Next week I will let you all know how transfers went and who my companion is and so on and so forth. Our investigators are doing great. Some are lazy and do not keep commitments very well but some do. The challenge is to keep in daily contact with them or at least keep in contact with them twice a week. My district is great. I simply love my district leader. His name is Elder Love. I love Elder Love! He has been my district leader ever since I have got into the mission field. I have looked into a hymn book that was from the 1948! 1948!!! There is a lot of hymns that do not exist anymore. They took a lot out and condensed it. It was a good Idea but I haven't even heard of half of the hymns in the old book. I was so amazed. It's interesting how the ward/stake has set up an emergency broadcast system over the Radio. That's cool. Twelve families to contact in case of emergency. That's a lot. Imagine trying to keep track of like 15-20 for there spiritual well being. That is difficult. Well hope everything goes well for you and hope to hear from all soon.

Love

Elder Brennon Behrmann

Dear Family, April 5, 2010
It has been a great Easter. For the past couple of days its been nothing but sunshine. YES!!!!!!!!! Tomorrow will be in the 80's yesterday was in the 70's it is awesome. Still nothing is perfect and it has been a little bit more windy than usual. I really enjoyed General conference. My favorite talks were Jeffery R. Hollands talk, Deiter F. Uchtdorfs talks, and of course President Thomas S. Monsons talks. It is exciting to hear that President Brent J. Hillier was called to be part of the quorum of the seventy. Do you know which quorum of the seventy? We are right now in the cleaning up process of our apartment. I will definitely send pictures and the address next email. Since the Turkey incident about a month ago we just took the truck in for repairs today and will be out of commission for a few days. My companion is not happy for he does not like to bike. It is not quite the same here in Ohio. Spending General Conference without you guys is just not the same. My companion says that you enjoy conference better as a missionary. To tell you the truth it is about the same. I just hope things get better. I have to admit though I get to see a giant lake. I do not get that in Colorado. I will let you guys know asap the address of the new home. I hope everything goes well over in Colorado and hope to hear form you next week.

Love

Elder Behrmann

My First Babtism!!!!!

Dear Family,
Everything is going well in Ashtabula. We are still working on the Investigator, Don, for June. In good news I had my first baptism yesterday. It was awesome. His name is Howard Kligge. He has been prepared for 30 years. He is getting confirmed next Sunday the 28th. Sorry to hear about the snow storm. It has stopped snowing hear but since its spring the snow was replaced by rain. So less snow, more rain, and still less sunshine. OH well!!!! Transfers was on Tuesday March 17, 2010. Elder Saxton transfered and I am still in Ashtabula. I have a new companion now his name is Elder Jensen from Pocatello, Idaho. Just a little heads up. I will be moving into a new home in Ashtabula around the first week of April. Nothing is set in stone yet so try and not send anything by mail until I get a confirmed address of my new place. Other than that everything is great and hope to hear from you guys soon.

Love

Elder Brennon Behrmann

Kirtland Pagent & Ashtabula Meeting House

Dear Family, Iam working in a little town. Anyway, our investigator with the baptismal date, June 13th, his name is Don. He had a minor set back (smokes cigarrettes). But that is okay he can just pick up on it and move on. I must tell you that we took one of our investigators to Kirtland on Saturday Feb.27, 2010. It was late at night so I did not get very good pictures, but I took one of the Newell K Whitney store. Also there is an Exhibit at Kirtland called: Reflections of Christ. It only lasts till May 2 so I took the opportunity of taking every single picture in the exhibit since you are allowed to take pictures sweet!!! The exhibit is not paintings it is acutal photographs of real people posing for scenes in Christs life. It is really cool. Something really funny happened this week around Thursday or Friday. My compainon was driving and I was in the passenger seat and we were heading to a members house. We were going about 30 to 35 mph. When..ha ha.. we hit a turkey!!! Yes a turkey!!! It was more like the turkey hit us. The turkey decided to cross the street at the last minute. We made contact and well since the grill (front part of truck) was plastic it cracked. Its head made a dent on the hood. It was hilarious. We pulled over to track it down. We thought is was dead, or so we thought. We saw it running (Okay more like wobbling) through someones property into the woods. THE STUPID BIRD SURVIVED!!!! Any way I saved a feather for my journal. I did not have my camera at the time so... sorry no pictures of that. But since we are driving in a 2008 Chevy Colorado Truck we had to report any accidents and I mean ANY accidents. I'm pretty sure salt lake is not going to believe that we collided with a turkey. Anyway, I took pictures of the apartment, my bike (you will get better pictures of the bike near spring/summer), the truck we are driving in, the Kirtland photo exhibit which was really cool, and if you want I can take pictures of the apartment building we are staying in. Other wise in this town where the sun hardly to never shines we got dumped with snow because of lake effect. A good solid 1-2 feet. Nice!!! Hopefully everybody is doing fine? Just a little heads up I will be sending a special gift to you guys. It is a surprise. Also thank the Lambs. They also sent me a valentines day package when you get the chance. Love you guys and hope to hear from you guys soon!


Love your Eldest son

Elder Brennon Behrmann

Dear Family,
I am sorry to hear that Laura is sick. the number again. The SD card is fine I received it and it is in good shape. I am not quite sure if you want pictures of the town. The town, sad to say is pathetic. I am working in the slums. A little depressing town. Anyway, our investigator with the baptismal date, June 13th, his name is Don. He had a minor set back (smokes cigarettes). But that is okay he can just pick up on it and move on. I must tell you that we took one of our investigators to Kirtland on Saturday Feb.27, 2010. It was late at night so I did not get very good pictures, but I took one of the Newell K Whitney store. Also there is an Exhibit at Kirtland called: Reflections of Christ. It only lasts till May 2 so I took the opportunity of taking every single picture in the exhibit since you are allowed to take pictures sweet!!! The exhibit is not paintings it is actual photographs of real people posing for scenes in Christs life. It is really cool. Something really funny happened this week around Thursday or Friday. My companion was driving and I was in the passenger seat and we were heading to a members house. We were going about 30 to 35 mph. When..ha ha.. we hit a turkey!!! Yes a turkey!!! It was more like the turkey hit us. The turkey decided to cross the street at the last minute. We made contact and well since the grill (front part of truck) was plastic it cracked. Its head made a dent on the hood. It was hilarious. We pulled over to track it down. We thought is was dead, or so we thought. We saw it running (Okay more like wobbling) through someones property into the woods. THE STUPID BIRD SURVIVED!!!! Any way I saved a feather for my journal. I did not have my camera at the time so... sorry no pictures of that. But since we are driving in a 2008 Chevy Colorado Truck we had to report any accidents and I mean ANY accidents. I'm pretty sure Salt Lake is not going to believe that we collided with a turkey. Anyway, I took pictures of the apartment, my bike (you will get better pictures of the bike near spring/summer), the truck we are driving in, the Kirtland photo exhibit which was really cool, and if you want I can take pictures of the apartment building we are staying in. Other wise in this depressing town where the sun hardly to never shines we got dumped with snow because of lake effect. A good solid 1-2 feet. Nice!!! Hopefully everybody is doing fine? Love you guys and hope to hear from you guys soon!


Love your Eldest son

Elder Brennon Behrmann

My MTC district in front of the Provo Temple.
My MTC companion is Elder Williams. He is in the bottom left of the picture

The second photo is of my MTC district in front of
the world map. This group includes a couple of my teachers.

Elder Behrmann w/Mission President Sorenson & Sister Sorenson

Dear Family,

It was great to hear from you. I am safe in Ohio. I am in my first new area called Ashtabula. Ashtabula, Ohio is the farthest east you can think of. It is in the top right hand corner of Ohio. I read your email and I am impressed. I will never look at guidance the same way ever again. Thank you for the message. I have a little more time on the emails. So that is nice. On the email however the picture or movie or whatever was blocked. I could not see it. Anyway, I will not be able to go to the Columbus Ohio temple =( but I have gone through the Kirtland temple. It was amazing to be there. I just wish I could take pictures inside the temple but it is forbidden. I will, however take pictures of the Temple itself on a nicer day like in the spring or summer time. This is a picture that was taken at the Mission home when I arrived on Tuesday February 2nd. I love you all. My first companion in the mission field and my trainer is Elder Saxton.

Elder Behrmann

Elder Behrmann at Timpanoagas Temple

Here I am at the Timpanogas Temple before I enter the MTC to Start my Mission. I went to the temple with my Parents and it was a awesome experience.

Setting Apart

From left to right: Bishop Bell, President Hillier, Mark, Brennon, Gale, Austin, Laura & taking the picture Vance Kopp. It was a wonderful time where great advice was shared.


Pictured: from left to right is Stake President Brent Hillier and Elder Brennon Behrmann

First Week in MTC

I simply love the MTC. The rules are strict and the food is great. They even put extra fiber in it so you can "STAY REGULAR" when it reality it causes problems. Everybody is releasing dairy air like crazy. We, as a district, did a temple walk and that was cool. Even though missionaries gather around that place since missionaries are not allowed to be anywhere else. It was really cool on the first day when Elder Jeffery R. Holland of the twelve apostles spoke. It was great seeing him in person. Although it was only for 4 min he was great. Also on Tuesdays is the devotionals and Elder David F. Evans of the first quorum of the seventy spoke really well on the importance of the Book of Mormon and how to use it to teach investigators.