Hello from Steamboat, Arizona!

After zone conference in Gallup Wed. Members
took Elders Sandberg and Brown out for dinner!

If you have been wondering where I have been and why I have not emailed, it is probably for a reason that even I myself am unsure of..

For those of you who don't know, I am now serving in Steamboat Arizona.. This will be my last area, and I plan on doing all I can to give my all for this last stretch..

Still love the mission and all is well!

Elder Sandberg

Steamboat, Arizona...

I am now in a place called Steamboat... It's the deepest I've ever been on the rez.. It's quite well known for break ins, shootings, and people going missing.. It should be great :D The only thing that has got me down is just the fact that we don't have any food... Food is great... I feel like a pioneer right now.. Just waiting for some kind of caravan to come in with food :D

My comp is awesome! I actually knew him while I was in Shiprock! We were in the same district and we got a long super well.. We still do! We've just been tearing it up making it happen... The prayers, along with a blessing I received, and all else are making it super easy to focus.. Last transfer was harder than this one has been.. It honestly doesn't feel like I'm \coming home! It probably won't happen for another year or two! Go figure! :D

Guess my mom sent a package with a ton of food to Shiprock, but such package was never received.. Never knew it would happen in Shiprock, but the rez is quite well known for having mail go missing...

THe closest grocery store is a gas station, but it's SUPER expensive.. Aside from that, there is a Bash's a hour away that we hardly get to... I'm basically out of money because of the food I bought in Shiprock...

We don't have a gym, obviously, and the last thing that I want to happen is to come home as skinny as when I left!

Also, pray with me that we can have at least one baptism before I head home! We have high goals with a couple potentials.. It would be crazy to make happen with the church requirments this mission has, but we believe it would be epic to white wash an area and have a baptism within a transfer.. It can be done! We had a prayer the other night that asked for this very thing, if it be according to His will, and not ours, and the Spirit hit like a freight train! We are going to do our best and get out and work! Regardless of food :D

PO Box 681
Ganado Arizona, 86505



Love ya!

Elder Sandberg



A note about Steamboat, AZ
 Steamboat has a total area of 2.4 square miles, all land.
The population was 284 at the 2010 census
The racial makeup of Steamboat in 2000 was 97.42% Native American, 0.00% White, 0.43% from other races, and 2.15% from two or more races. 2.15% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.

There were 56 households out of which 55.4% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 50.0% were married couples living together, 32.1% had a female householder with no husband present, and 10.7% were non-families. 10.7% of all households were made up of individuals and 3.6% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 4.16 and the average family size was 4.50.


The median income for a household in Steamboat was $9,276, and the median income for a family was $9,276. Males had a median income of $0 versus $0 for females. The per capita income was $3,767. About 83.0% of families and 75.4% of the population were below the poverty line, including 84.7% of those under the age of 18 and none of those 65 or over.

I will soak up every moment I can, because I will never get it again..

Things are going GREAT out here in Shiprock! 

Just a quick summary of this week-

Did service for the library here in town where we went through loads of books to see if they were any good or not with our sister from Shri Lanka.. She is amazing!

Replaced a water heater and once again enacted my skills of acting like I knew what I was doing.. In the process, I got soaked because of a lack of drainage...

Had the fair come to town and it was insane.. It sufficeth me to say that there are now even more guaranteed blessings in heaven due to things said... It was hard to go though with conference and how much time that took up..

Powerful lessons are occurring everyday with myself and those I am called to serve.

Although it might appear I am ready to see you all again, if I'm being completely honest, I would be okay to stay here... I love the mission so much and it means the world.. The only thing that excites me about going home, is the fact that I know that is what the Lord is commanding me to do.. He does not want me to get caught up in the mission and live here forever... He has far greater things in store and I am eager to do His will.. 

I will soak up every moment I can, because I will never get it again.. 

"I know that which the Lord hath commanded me, and I glory in it.."

With love,

Elder Brayden James Sandberg

Cat with mustache... Yup...

Cat with moustache.  :)

Doing service... got all wet from a water heater.

Wrapping things up...

November 27th will be the day I give my homecoming talk in Bountiful Utah...

With love and dedication to the work,

Elder Sandberg

Service with a smile in Shiprock!

Saturday we helped clean up the yard for a woman in Shiprock. She is from Sri Lanka! She made us some wonderful food afterwards and took some fun pictures to send home. She is so sweet! She is a gem in the rough... I don't know how in the world it is possible to come into contact with someone like that all the way out here... 

Things have been so great lately.. I'm still growing a ton, but I've learned to learn.. It's an interesting concept, but I love it... Right now, I am on a schedule of waking up at 5 in the morning so that I can get an extra hour and a half of studies... I have LOVED it so much... I'm studying more than I ever have in my entire life. It's amazing to see how I can still have the desire to study even after that long... That didn't exist before!

Another cool thing is how much the path in front of me is starting to take shape... I'm really doing my best to give my all to the work, but time and time again, there are little tidbits of information that help me understand what I need to do upon returning home!

I love the mission....

Thanks for everything!

Elder Sandberg

Clowning around Sandberg style!

Waptism!

What a beautiful and powerful week it has been! This week has been full of nothing but the highs and lows of a roller coaster..

To start off we had the opportunity to see Brother McDonald and his wife get married on Saturday. After their wedding, we had the opportunity to help Brother McDonald and his daughter to enter the waters of baptism to become clean and qualify for the companionship of the Holy Ghost! I don't know why, but I feel that the most spiritually enlightening experience, was when the marriage occurred.. Some have said it is because I'm trunky for such a thing, but I think it is more so because of the fact these two individuals were showing an immense amount of faith with taking that step and making that change.. It was absolutely HUGE! I am so grateful they tied the knot, and I know their six kids are as well.. I have grown to love this family so very much and I am so grateful for them..

Lesson from this week can be found in 2 Nephi 4:20-21

"My God hath been my support; he hath led me through mine afflictions in the wilderness; and he hath preseverved me upon the waters of the great deep.
He hath filled me with his love, even unto the consuming of my flesh."

I have learned through my studies, that the principle of "flesh" as contained in the scriptures, typically relates to the natural man or the weaknesses of mortality. ​​
SO, for those of you who are looking for a greater change and a greater influence of God in your life to overcome your shortcomings, sins, weaknesses, and all else, do what's necessary to feel God's love more fully for you in your life..

Love the mission! It's the best! 

Elder Brayden James Sandberg

Bringing the SandAhCheeberg storm!

Beautiful people!

Since coming into this area, there has been ALL kinds of ups and downs. Everything from not knowing where we are, where people are, what we're doing, and everything in between.. Five weeks later, our groove is starting to be found and the area is on fire... Miracles happen everyday, but this week has been full of some bigger ones.. 

First, there is a family that we have been working with that the elders taught before we got here, and from the very first moment we met them, we just loved them.. The plan for the family was that the daughter would get baptized the weekend we got here.. She is only 9 years old, and upon evaluating the situation, we made a different decision.. The family has met with the missionaries for a while, and the kids have all got baptized at different points, BUT the father and mother have remained unmarried.. With that being the case the father, who is not a member, was unable to get baptized. 

So, instead of following the plan that was set up, we had different plans.. The plan was that we would do our best to help them understand that the Lord's kingdom is a family affair... Long story short, the parents have a marriage license, a baptismal date, and a deep desire to follow the Lord.. WAhoo!

Next miracle is deeply connected, or at least I think, with the family history work I have been doing.. With the very limited time we have on the mission, I have found at least 10 names to take to the temple! On Thursday, I was finding connections like crazy and felt really good about everything! As soon as we are done, we go to an appointment with the intention to teach this sister who is working on going to the temple, and in the process, we start teaching her son and daughter in law.. They are absolutely amazing! They are actually an answer to a prayer I had about wanting to teach someone who hasn't been taught by missionaries in the past.. They actually remind me of a couple in Tuba City.. So, they have been easy to love because of that connection.. The husband is super buff if that gives anyone a hint for who it might be.. Obviously you might not know if you're not from TUba! 

I love you all! The work is going great.. I'm doing my best to stay focused and work my tail off.. I love the mission so much and wouldn't trade it for anything in the entire world... Thank you for making it all it has been...  

Elder Sandberg

Week 84 ....

Good morning!

Shiprock is an absolutely amazing area.. I love it here so much. If anybody asks though, say I don't like it.. Reason why, is that you typically get transferred once you start getting attached to the people! For whatever reason, that's how it goes!

This week we had an opportunity to go over to a brothers house who's water heater had broken.. He had already taken the old one out and was needing to change out some of the parts on it so it would be a propane water heater instead of a natural gas one.. I asked if I could help, then acted like I knew what I was doing and switched out some of the parts! The whole time he figured I knew what I was doing, but I had no clue.. The joys of doing the things you didn't know you knew!

Message for this past week comes from a brother who we visited who has not been to church for quite some time.. He and his wife are converts, and have had a whole life time of learning and knowledge of the Gospel restored in its fullness.. This brother has had general authorites, stake presidents, and loads of elders come by his house. They have all tried their best to persuade him to come back..

Some of the missionaries have gone in there to meet with him and said that they would like to start from the beginning with the lessons. To just start square one and move forward.. This idea sounds reasonable, but that's not what he needs! The lesson this week is about helping others build their faith.. Without going to into detail, the opposite of faith would be fear or doubt.. One of the greatest, and oft unused ways to build someones faith is to sincerely, strategically, and lovingly compliment someone.. True compliments build faith because it helps someone to have the confidence that "the path they are on is according to God's will". Given, these compliments are best given when recognizing the things they are doing that are actually a good thing!

This week has been a learning one, but I am so grateful to be out here.. I know I'm exactly where I need to be, and know there are great things coming..

Love you all

Elder Sandberg

News from Shiprock!

First official day in Shiprock! Just applying the cleaning skills me motha taught me! 

Last week all we heard from Elder Sandberg was that he got to Shiprock and CLEANED HOUSE!  Literally.  He sent this picture.

This week he had time to answer a few questions I asked:

To answer your question about white washing, it can be a PAIN at times.. Last week we literally spent an hour looking to find this place to email at.. And this is not a big town.. Then the joy of having records of past elders with all this information for these teaching appointments, and NO contact info! USELESS! Ah! The fun part is that lately I've had to resort to one of my least favorite finding methods- tracting.. The reason I'm not a fan of it, and the reason I try my best to teach all the elders I train and serve, is because they need a support system.. The best way to go about the work is through the members, building relationships with them, and then lighting a fire underneath them to do the work. Long term, it is so much better! Short term, tracting is good... Since we don't really know where anyone lives right now, we are doing lots of tracting!

Things are going so good.. The first couple weeks have been rough because of getting thrown out of my groove, and just all the newness of this place has made it challenging.. It has kicked my BUTT! BUt I love it! It's exactly what I've been looking for, and I now see things even more clearly... 

The only real downside to the area is no free weights! AHHH! I haven't had that since Crownpoint! I'm going to die... Who knew that I became such a gym rat! 

REMEMBER:

PO Box 3013

Shiprock NM 87420

Good bye Holbook!

Hello!

Looks like I am going to be leaving Holbrook.. It is super hard to leave here.. It has only been 3 months, but I have built relationships that I will treasure forever.. The only bright side to this is that I will be with my comp from Tuba City- Elder Ah Chee!!! He has been one of my favorite companions.. My mom doesn't know this yet, but I told him he needs to move here from Samoa, and if he needs a place he can stay at my moms.. I might not live there, but I volunteered it for him... Don't worry mom, he's a good house keeper :D

One of the fun things this week occurred while we were teaching this new person here in town.. We had a family of about 8 people, it was pretty crowded, and my comp and I had a spot near the door. We were going along teaching the lesson, and then we hear a knock at the door.. So, I volunteer to get up and answer it, and as I open the door I can clearly see that this individual is a door to door salesperson.. It's this shorter blonde lady who starts to talk and is clearly not from America..

She starts to give her pitch and says something along the lines of, "I am Sirje from Estonia on an exchange student program here in Holbrook. That's why I talk funny like dis.."

In a split second, I had flash backs to summer sales, as well as the rare few times of tracting on the mission. I joked around and told her that it was my house.. She looked at me funny and then I told her I was kidding, that I was a missionary, and that we were sharing a message... I opened the door all the way, started walking toward everyone else and told her, "come on it! We've got a great message for you..."

Boy! If you would have seen the look on her face when she sees all these people gathered around, and everyone is staring at her... I ask her to sit, play the restoration movie, and have a great lesson.. It was a good time!

It's rough to be leaving here, but I know it is for a reason.. Whatever that reason may be, I will find out soon enough!

Message for this week is to remember that Christ's suffering, not your own, is what changes you and redeems you from sin...

I love you all! Take care and do a good deed.. Report back when you have done one!

Elder Brayden James Sandberg

Whoops, I forgot!

I am going to Ship rock, NM!

My new mailing address is

PO Box 3013

Shiprock NM 87420

Someone sent me a big package of mustaches and eye patches. I finally found just the right time to use them!

Your leisurely time will reveal your true nature.

My new companion: Elder Geilman!

Hope all is well...

THings are going so well out here in Holbrook Arizona.. It is way too hot for my liking.. Those mounds of snow that I once despised are sounding a lot more appealing now.. 

Last week was a crazy one because things kept falling through and it threw us for a whirl! Normally, unplanned opportunities are something I thrive on, but not when you have a day planned to go out to Farmington for the whole day, or you have planned to have another set of elders to work your area with you.. It's been a crazy week! Lot's of good things on the way though..

One of my favorite people right now is a man named Richard Ramirez.. Holy cow! This guy is just stellar! He recently started taking the discussions and has just taken off with his testimony of the restored gospel.. He's not in our area, but him and I have a great bond.. Something about him reminds me of the conversion experience I had while in Canada.. It's neat to see.. What is really so inspirational about him is the fact that he almost didn't get baptized because of a ton of opposition from those he loves.. To spare the details, it amazes me to see his commitment to be a part of the restored kingdom upon the earth... The picture is at his baptism, and you can just tell, we get along well... We will see how it goes!

Another miracle person who is actually in our area, is a lady named Mary.. Mary took the lessons in the past from the missionaries in Snowflake and could feel it was what she needed to be a part of.. For some reason she lost contact and is now engaged with someone in our ward.. She is the most gun hoe person I've seen with wanting to be a part of all of this.. It's incredible to see the Lord prepare all these wonderful people... 

The hard lesson I learned this week that has been a great source for my uneasiness, has been the confirmation of how prideful I am.. Never a fun lesson to learn from the Spirit, but one that is required... With it I know the Lord is helping me to grow into the man I would like to be... I love this gospel so much and I will never give up with trying my best to be my best and help others do the same...

I love you all! Smile goofily to a stranger today! 

Elder Brayden James Sandberg

New Transfer

Happy Birthday Elder Van Ry!

Got a new companion! His name is Elder Geilman from Twin Falls Idaho. He is a blast! HIm and I are already getting along great..

Had a miracle on a way to a service project.. Lately we have been walking a ton more because of the need to save miles (zone goal!). We were walking to where we thought we needed to go, and then we walk past this welding supply store where a man comes out and stops us. He says that someone inside the building needed us.. We hesitantly walked in and found that there was a gentleman who had just fallen out of his truck and felt as though his back might have been broken.. He was hoping to get a hold of someone to give him a blessing, but was unfamiliar with the are because he was a truck driver.. As he was pondering on this, he sees two guys walking down the road in white shirts and figures out that they are missionaries! Miracle!

Another great thing that has been happening has been the progress of those we are working with.. Sometimes it can be so hard to tell who is going to take it seriously and who isn't.. This week it was a woman named Xotchi, who actually reminds me of my mother. She is a super open individual and has been listening to everything we say.. We left her the intro to the Book of Mormon to read and for a while she hasn't gotten to it when we ask her in passing.. We went last night for a lesson and she had read it! It was awesome.. For some that might seem weird why I would get all excited about that, but those little decisions make a HUGE difference!

Helped out for the Route 66 Festival this weekend! It was a blast. Got an awesome tan line, and lot's of new faces and names.

Psalms 19:1-4

Elder Brayden James Sandberg

A little Q&A with Elder Sandberg

Tell me a little about Holbrook. Holbrook is the town that Cars is based off of! The place where the animators for the film actually worked at a particular restaurant just down the road from our house! Our house is basically a giant room with a half way wall in it.. First place with no washer and dryer, windows to open, a dining room, and overall just a homie feeling.. It's strange but it's good for us!

Who are your favorite people to visit right now? Favorite people to visit... Hmmm well.. This might just be a little rant for right now, but since coming here we have had to build the area up! I don't know if I've ever had so much resistance on the mission. Most people are easy to get in with and to grab hold of, but the Lord has not put such people in my path yet! Maybe it's just a growing opportunity but right now I am working to find those people I love to visit! 

My fav members to visit are my Ward Mission Leader! He looks like the guy off 300! SPARTA! Beard and all.. He is a beautiful man with a great family.. It was his son that I fed the ice cream too.. He's probably one of the best wml I've worked with, which is quite a few being in Monticello!

Is the food pretty normal or are there some traditional foods you eat that would seem strange to me? No traditional foods! Holbrook is pretty main stream because of all the white people and stuff.. It's cool :D WE do have a gym though! AH! I Pray if I get transferred again that I can continue to have one.. The people who open it are out of town this week so I will have to do various other excerciess bluh... :p

I have set a new goal of being able to dunk! SO that means my new big focus is doing squats, squats, and more squats! If you know of any work out plans to improve your vertical, that would be great! I'll be the next Michael Jordan! ;D Not..

Do you still make tortillas? I don't have to make tortillas as much anymore! They are very time consuming and I finally have down a cheap, fast, and somewhat healthy way to have food! 

Things are great! 

People giving me a hard time here is a good thing right? Hopefully it's not from being to big of a knucklehead 

Love ya!

Elder Sandberg

What did the donkey say when you took his pants off? "Who put these pants on me!" :D

To be completely honest, this past week has been a butt kicker! Maybe I'm just soft, but rejection after rejection after rejection.. Normally, by this point, I'm at least able to shmooz someone, but it just hasn't happened! It was a rougher week for whatever reason!

Something fun though was two accounts of children that were hilarious. The first one was at our Ward Mission Leaders house- Brother Black.. He has a man of a beard, and is just super awesome.. His son, Bridger, is about 4 years old and is a cute little kid.. We went over to talk about the missionary work at his house, and while we talked about it, they invited us to have some ice cream. Me being the turd that I am, decided to get their son all hyped up on sugar by sharing my ice cream with him.. It started out with a shyly accepted bite from my spoon. Then, as it came time for business, we started with a prayer and he was right next to me looking down into my bowl in my hands.. During the prayer, I fed about 4 spoonfuls of ice cream to him while everyone was reverently bowing their heads for the prayer.. Probably not the best decision in the world! But it was funny :D

THEN we went to visit a family who had 3 little kids. Age 3, 6, and 7. We were teaching them about the Holy Ghost, and did so by blind folding one of the little girls and having the voices of everyone in the room yell where to go. When she was blindfolded, we picked one person to be the Holy Ghost to lead her in the right direction, but everyone else would lead her astray.. We started and the voices started yelling where to go.. THe whole time she was familiar with my voice because I told her where to go.. So I told her to start moving ahead and she took off on a fast sprint and ran face first into the wall and fell down! Luckily, she was laughing. Even better, she now knew that my voice was not the Holy Ghost :D

I love being out here.. Some more brutal honesty, lately I've been super trunky.. BUT I have not been trunky for home or anything of the sort.. I'm trunky for Crownpoint.. Lately there have been members out here who have had some kind of connection to people out there and it is just AMAZING to hear about the growth of certain individuals! I miss the people out there dearly..

Then there is Monticello! Where do I even begin? Monticello is like a second home.. I honestly might retire or move there someday.. There are many people that I wish I could call and connect with again, but can't right now..

Most recently, Tuba City! I didn't even know at the time, how much I would miss Tuba City.. It was a tough area for me due to personal challenges, but getting to know the people out there, and thinking about them, I miss them dearly.. Especially ELder Ah CHee! Love that guy.. BUt also the people there.. I feel there was a deep connection that I made with quite a few.. Many of whom are receiving this email..

I've learned from this "trunkiness" that my life is forever changed because of the people in the four corners area.. The thing I look forward to most upon returning home, is being able to stay in contact with everyone.. WHAT A WONDERFUL BLESSING IT IS TO HAVE YOU ALL SO CLOSE!!!! I love it! None of you will ever get rid of me.. It's just how it is...

Below are some pictures of our zone BBQ! Elder Sandberg- the grill master doing his thing!

Love you all!

Elder Brayden James Sandberg

"I just have to say, not only do you have Jesus in your life, as well as Captain Moroni and Joseph Smith, but you look just like Clark Kent!"

Hello all!

It has been incredibly windy down here in Holbrook.. Holy Cow! I think I'm sick with something, but I'm not sure.. I don't have enough time to think about it.

The above statement comes from a man while on exchanges who looks like Doc off of back to the future.. :D Absolutely made my day!

Things are going great and I look forward to the continued progress we are making in this area. I'm learning a ton and sometimes I wish I could take you all in my pocket so you could see what was going on... Too much to tell!

Love you all!

Elder Sandberg

Flying by the seat of our pants!

I will probably get shot when I say this, but I'm feeling less and less the desire to email on Mondays! Things have been so crazy, we didn't even have time for it yesterday. I haven't been this tired ever.. It's exhausting..

I normally suck at pictures, but here is one from one of the many many exchanges I've gone on! This is elder Udy. I absolutely LOVE this guy.. There have been countless individuals that I have made relationships with, but he is one that will definitely remain close upon returning home.. There are quite a few others, but I figured I would say that about him considering that is who the picture is of!

Lot's of miracles happening every single day.. Yesterday, we were flying by the seat of our pants, and responded to an elder who had been struggling for a while.. He has been super stressed and depressed, and we responded to a subtle prompting to just get up and go.. It was totally spur of the moment, left us even more shot on miles, but was totally worth it.. He's on the right path and I know good things will come of it..

Got cursed at by someone last week! YES! It felt great... I love it.. 

This week I hit my 18 month mark... SUPER weird.. If I start to seem more and more distant as the time approaches to come home, it's because... Well, i'm not sure why, but I can foresee it happening.. Don't shoot me because of it! 

Things are going super well.. Thank you so much!

Love ya!

Elder Sandberg

"Preach the Gospel at all times, and if necessary, use words"

Mother's Day phone call home!

It has been a great week here in the Holbrook area! Since I got here about 2 weeks ago, I've only been in this area for about 4 full days.. The main reason why is because of the different meetings that my companion and I have had to attend to.

I screenshot a picture of Elder Sandberg's address for you all!
I don't know if the sign is still up!  

My comps name is Elder Van Ry. He is from Riverton, Utah. He likes long walks on the beach as well as bubble baths.. Him and I get along super well. We live in what used to be a video store. It is on main street, and we have random people walking in our house thinking it is a business sometimes... Like this morning! I was doing my thing, making some eggs and protein when I hear the screen door open, and I hear someone trying to open the door! They then started to knock so I picked up my tomahawk and answered the door. Boy! If you could've seen the look on that guys face! HAHA! I guess that's what it's like to be on the other side of having people knock on your door and answer with a weapon.. :D

The work is going great, from the 4 days I've been here, and this week will be a better one.. I'm ready to get out there and tear it up! The greenie fire is back and not much will stop me from leaving everythin
g on the line for this last little stretch!

Last Saturday, Elder Quentin L Cook of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles came and spoke to our mission.. What a powerful experience that was! His witness of the Savior will be something I will treasure and hold sacred for the rest of my life.. He talked about your true success is based on your act of inviting. Not just as missionaries, but members as well. You can know you are successful by how often you invite people to do various things!

Love you all!

Happy Mothers Day! 

Elder Brayden James Sandberg