Fourth Letter August 31, 2012

 Hi Mom and everyone,
SOOOO I hope you get this, unfortunately the computers here are kind of cheapy and the internet program is super glitchy because it is so locked down to keep anyone from doing anything besides LDS stuff haha.  I'm sorry to hear about Bobby that sounds really rough, but he showed his patience, in a way, where I would not have been able to hold myself back from getting upset with that kind of bad treatment.  I hope you start feeling better soon mom, those tests sound like literal torture techniques.  I pray for everyone every night, but i will be sure to send a little more for Bobby.  I miss everyone so much to be honest, especially the girls, every time I think of how much I miss them I start to cry.  I just love our family so much.  I loved Bobby's letter that he sent it was super funny and I was dieing laughing and a bunch of the other elders that i showed thought it was super funny too.  Tell dad thank you for his letter too, but I'm super jealous that he got to fish the South Fork without me.  I showed a bunch of Elders brian's picture and they all thought it was epic and super good, one of my Zone Leaders, who is one of the funniest guys around because he sounds serious all the time but says the funniest stuff, said "Well this is awful because first off you have no sleeves on your suit coat which is definitely against the Missionary Handbook and also what are you looking at? You shouldnt be standing around you should be tracting" hahaha but then he said it actually was really awsome. 13 MINUTES!! So I get to write letters and email on Pday which is Friday for me, I found out the email is for family and elders only :( So i get to read my emails only on Friday and email back also.  BUT i get letters and dear elders any day of the week whenever they come in, with all the letters and dear elders you have sent in, my drawer is almost full haha not really :P OH so guess what?!?!? One of the councilers in my branch presidency is Kenneth Jennings Sr. He is super smart, served his mission in Taiwan, went back and worked in China for a bunch of years, then was mission president in Taiwan, oh and also his son is Ken Jennings, THE GUY WHO WON TONS OF MONEY ON JEOPARDY! Isn't that awesome? maybe not, I thought it was anyway haha Oh and before I forget could you or the fam write some letters for the elders in my district? OR just DEARELDER them (oh that's a swell idea) you could just write little ones, even on the same paper, and in the same envelope and ill hand them out. They are Elders Kitchen, Yano (Went to school at WEST POINT, super super prestigious), Thompson, Dougherty, Allred, Ellison, Garcia, Stephens, Choate, Hauser, and Hansen. If not could you just write one or dearlelder one to my companion Elder Kitchen? his mailing adress is the same as mine and he has only gotten one letter so far.  Could you please send me a couple more shirts if possible? everyone here has logos on everything they wear to gym and p day and I barely have any shirts, send any, you or Kim or Aaron could pick them out? thank you, but really if that costs too much or is too much hassle dont even worry about it I'm gettin by just fine with the shirts I have :)  So i forgot to bring my journal to the computer lab today, 50 SECONDS, which is full of my stories and things from the week, but all in all not much happened, I went to the Temple last week and did a session, and then today I went and did initiatories, no idea how to spell that.  It was really good, right at the end, as I was sitting there I began to think about the men I was helping and the Spirit filled me up and told me that the work I was doing was true and helped me feel a bit of the joy that those men were feeling right then.  Yo se que la Iglesia de Jesucristo de los Santos de los Ultimos Dias es el mas correcto iglesia en el mundo hoy.  Estoy muy agredecido por esta iglesia y por la oportunidad a servir un mision para mi Padre Celestial.  Les quiero tanto. I went over time and now it's counting down negative haha. 
One thing I have learned while i have been here is that it doesnt matter how much you know about the Gospel necessarily, showing love for your investigator is what works,
Love always, Elder Branden Carl Astle

PS I try to have soda every once in a while, I think twice since I have been here, and it's so hard to drink because it messes up my stomach a bunch but i gotta get used to it for Mexico. BLEH! You can quit mom i know you can do it if you believe in yourself you will learn how to not drink soda :P Oh and also I have a dream pretty much every night and they are always crazy, stuff like pirate ships and puzzles and dragons and wizards and breaking into banks and the ocean and fighting robots and flying and all kinds of stuff, and my comp gets to hear about them while we wait in line for breakfast haha. Love you much.