Cassidy's Junior Prom..........

It feels like it was just yesterday that Cody went to Junior Prom, and now its Cassidy's turn.  She was nominated to be a part of the Prom Royalty at Murray High School along with two special needs students (Dustin & Jebba) who were voted as King and Queen.  This story caught the attention of our local news and they came and interviewed everyone including Cassidy.  What a great experience it was for all involved.

Murray High School holds Junior Prom at the Utah State Capital building and parents are invited to the promenade and then the first dance of the night is reserved for dads to dance with their daughters and moms to dance with their sons.  Christine & her friends along with Emma, one of Cody's good friends, was at the house to help her get ready, and then of course her mother was there to take hundreds and hundreds of pictures.......so yes, you will have to scroll through quite a few :).

Letters from Elder Backus..........

Hey Momma!

Hey Mom (:!  You need a letter from me, sorry its taken so long!  So, some cool updates from Roswell.  We are currently visiting/trying to teach a less-active member from MURRAY HIGH SCHOOl.  Haha his name is Josh Fitisemanu......not sure if I spelled that right!  He is about 25, he was a big football star back in the day, his family is all still active in Taylorsville I believe.  We are now starting to teach Brennan and Ashley, the two teenage children of Bobby & Evdora.  Mom, that family is just incredible, they really are doing all they can to live the gospel.  They are a family that just makes the whole mission worth it.

So mom, I think you're probably right, this definitely is the most crucial time in my mission so far.  The first councilor in the bishopric asked me if I had mold underneath my fingernails from being here so long.  Haha, it has been a long time.  I have had my birthday, year mark, Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Years, and Valentine's Day all in Roswell.  It is a good place though Mom.  I think I'm at a crossroads now.  I can either stay where I have been at spiritually for the rest of my mission or elevate to a whole new level.  These next 3 weeks are going to be a big test.  But in the strength of the Lord we can do all things, right?

So Mom, what can I do for you?  What keeps you up at night?  How can I help?

I love you Mom.  I am so grateful for your dedication to the Gospel and the countless hours that you have spent in prayer on my behalf.  I love you so very much.  Thank you for your support, it means everything to me.  I love you Mom!

Love,  Your Seed (:,

Elder Cody



Hey Dad!

The month of March is fast approaching us and once again I won't be feeling too much of the madness (he must be referring to March Madness), but thats okay.  I am so very grateful to be out here.  It's funny, being in Roswell this long has been pretty hard, but even the hardest part of my mission I am still more happy than I have ever been.  One thing that I have learned is that when you put other people's needs above your own, time just seems to fly.  These weeks just keep cruising by.  Every now and then I will look up and see that its almost Monday again, crazy!

So, Dad, lets get down to the nitty-gritty.  How has your scripture study been going?  Are you making time for it every day?  Daily scripture study has definitely changed my life out here.  Occasionally there will be some days where we can't do our studies due to a service project or something, and man, you can feel a huge difference that day!  I think Cass and Christine could sure use that right now.  I know I was the main culprit of the family scripture study complaints, but looking back on it, I sure am grateful that you and mom enforced it.

I sure love you Dad!  Every single day I learn 2 things.  One, that Dad knew what he was talking about, and two, that I should have listened to him sooner, kind of like the pump your brakes in the snow thing (:.  I love you!  I hope you have an incredible week.  I look forward to hearing back from you soon.  Love you!  Go Utes!

Love,

Elder Cody

Big D's, The Temple, and The Ten Virgins.........

Momma!

Hey there! So, first off, thank you so much for the package! Haha I took some of the Elders to Big Ds with me, they all said thank you very much (: All the girls there know who we are, haha one of them actually had a bunch of questions and said that she would like to learn more! I will give you credit for that find (; 

So, the temple, Pres Heap now allows us to go to the Temple every transfer. Last transfer was the first time I was able to go in 10 whole months, it was much needed. I love the Temple. I remember the first time I went, haha it all went over my head, but as I have been able to go with an attitude to seek learning by faith, I have truly received an endowment of knowledge, which is power. I look forward to going once a week with you when I get home, be ready (:

I will be sure to get Bishop's pic on the way. I love the parable of the Ten Virgins. There are many interpretations of it, but what I like to think of it as is living up to our baptismal covenant. When we are baptized we are all invited to the wedding feast, we are all called, but whether we live up to that calling is up to us. Many are called but few are chosen right? That then transitions into testimony and conversion. The one who is true to his baptismal covenant will eventually be converted, the one who doesn't will be stuck with just the lamp, or his testimony, without the driving force of the oil, or conversion. 

Sorry I have to brief due to the zone conference we had today and the computer schedule, but I want you to know that I love you so very much! You are my one true valentine (: I love you madre! I sent you a letter today, hope you get it soon!

Love, Cody



(Big D's is a burger joint in downtown Roswell which has been voted into the Top 10 Burgers in the nation.  I called them to get a gift card for Cody's birthday, then for Christmas and now for Valentine's Day.  The girls that work there know who I am now, and as a result, know who the missionaries are.  Looks like one of them will now be learning more about the gospel :)!)

Elder Backus and Elder May at Mission Leadership Conference......

New Relative Finder shows how the Berretts are related to Jeffrey R. Holland.........

BYU has developed a new program called "Relative Finder", which shows you how you are related to friends or famous people in Church and American history.  The coolest thing EVER!!!  The Brown Family is distantly related to Henry B. Eyring, Ezra Taft Benson, Jeffrey Holland, Elias Disney, Emily Dickinson, and many more.  Go check it out!!

Elder Bednar..........

Hey Madre!

Well, first off thanks for the letter, I sure appreciated it. Wise counsel from the matriarch of the family.

So. Mom. ELDER BEDNAR WAS INCREDIBLE. I don't think I have ever felt the Spirit more strongly. He just taught by the Spirit. The first thing he told us was to not write anything that was said over the pulpit, and to only write down things that we learn from the holy ghost. It was cool, he did a big Q and A with us and then we got to do a Q and A with him. Funny thing is he actually lived in Lubbock for a while, he taught at Tech. Most of all, it really just was a testimony to me that this church is lead by prophets, true prophets of God. No one else has that. I will copy some notes for you, but if you really want to get something out of it, he based his remarks off of 3 of his talks, Ask in Faith, Converted unto the Lord, and Learning by Faith. Study those 3 and tell me what you thought (:

So, I can't remember if I had told you about Alec, the 9 year old part member family, but his baptism was this Saturday. It was pretty awesome. Great to see how the gospel bring families together once again.

I sure love you Mom, and I hope you have a fantastic week. Let me know what you thought about those talks (: Love you!

A sister missionary shares her honest thoughts about serving a mission..........

Click on the link below to read a blog post I came across that sums up what I experienced as a missionary as well.  My mission wasn't the best 18 months of my life, but definitely the best 18 months FOR my life, as it became pivotal in every choice I made from that point on.

Sand and Sunshine: The Honest Truth About Missions: "So are you getting paid to do this?" "Nope" "Are you getting some kind of school credit?" &...

Hastening the Work.......

(I forgot to post this letter from Cody)

Friends and Family,

I am so sorry about how long this has taken to write this; despite my best efforts to slow down a bit and smell the roses the work still seems to be moving even faster.  The paradox that states the days feel like weeks and the weeks feel like days is definitely true about missionary work.

Roswell has been treating me well.  A few months ago the stake here fasted for rain, and now I think we will have to fast for it to stop.  Roswell has received more rain this year than in the past 10!!  Some of the crops have started to rot and the mud is horrendous, but it has provided a lot of great service opportunities for us, so hey, the Lord works in mysterious ways.

Every new area and every new transfer I learn something different, and for these past couple months I have learned a lot about our purpose in this work.  “Hasten the work of salvation” has become the new rally call for the church, it looks good on missionary plaques and Relief Society chalkboards, but what does it really mean? 

Look up the word “hasten” in the index at the back of your scriptures (seriously do it, don’t take my word for it J).  What do you see?  Skim through the scriptural references it lists.  What do you notice about them all?  The word “hasten” seems to be portrayed as a negative thing in all of the scriptures, except for one passage, Doctrine & Covenants 88:73.

“Behold, I will hasten my work in its time.”

We learn two valuable lessons there.  First, whose work is it?  It is His, the Lord’s, and no one else.   Second, and most importantly, who will do the hastening?  “I will”, the Lord, not us.  We are not hastening the work of salvation, only He can do that, and He is doing it now, now is the time.  So, if we aren’t hasteners, what are we?  What is our purpose?  We read in the following verse of D&C 88….

“Assemble yourselves together, and organize yourselves, and prepare yourselves, and sanctify yourselves; yea purify your hearts, and cleanse your hands and your feet before me, that I may make you clean”.

That is the purpose.  The hastening is happening, we don’t have to worry about that, the Lord has that taken care of.  We are to prepare and sanctify ourselves so that we can keep up with the hastening.  We should be constantly asking the Lord what we can do to help Him in His work.

Whether that’s through Ward Council, Family History work, Home and Visiting Teaching, or a full-time mission, there are so many things in the church that we can help hasten.

Remember whose work it is and who is hastening it.  Think of at least one thing you can do in your own life, something you can hasten, and then be prepared to keep up with the Lord’s work.  Don’t delay, it’s getting late!

I am so very grateful for this work, especially what its done for me.  Thank you for your prayers, I really can feel them.  Never be complacent, and always ask the Lord what you can do more to keep up with the pace.  All is well.

Love,

Elder Cody Backus

The Work continues..............

Hey Momma,

Haha you saw the tree pictures huh? There is a recent convert who needed his tree taken down, and so we volunteered our service with some of the young men...we took that whole thing down with a hand saw haha it was pretty fun.

Elder Barnes is spanish speaking.

I did get the razors, thank you so much! I am not sure yet how I like them, but I will keep you posted, thank you (:

We just have 3 hours with Elder Bednar, so we will drive in Friday morning and head back Friday evening. He actually asked that we don't take any pictures to distract the Spirit...haha!

Bobby and Charmayne's baptism was great. They had a lot of family come and support, it was incredible. They both were confirmed yesterday and Bobby received the Aaronic Priesthood. Great family.

Things are going pretty good Mom!

I love you Mom, thanks for your support. You are the greatest. Have an awesome week!

Love, Elder Cody

Pic of Bobby and his wife Eudora. Eudora is a life-long member

Pic of Bobby's stepdaughter, Charmayne.

Thoughts on the importance of the Sacrament.......

Dear family & friends,

Growing up in the Church, I have always been taught that our Sabbath day meetings are meant to be peaceful, uplifting, reflective and a time of personal serenity.  However, with kids kicking and screaming, ward members speaking over the pulpit with monotone voices, and the fear of Brother High Priest mentioning Kolob or the curse of Cain to one of our investigators, very seldom do I find myself spiritually recharged and more “fully unspotted from the world” (D&C 59:9).  “True to the Faith” states that our meetings should be a “source of strength” (p. 148).  So what am I missing?

In the 27^th chapter of Matthew we read of two Jewish prisoners.  The first, Barabbas, had been guilty of sedition and murder, clear and severe offenses to the Jewish law.  Under that same law Barabbas’ fate was set; he was to be put to death.  The second prisoner, Jesus, had been accused with high treason, but after examination by both Herod Antipas and Pontius Pilate, had been found innocent of such a charge.

During the Feast of the Passover, in which we find ourselves in this chapter, it was custom for the governor (at this time Pontius Pilate) to release one prisoner according to his wish.  After comparing the two candidates the answer was simple; Jesus Christ was undoubtedly innocent and therefore would be released. (27:20)  “But the chief priests and elders persuaded the multitude that they should ask Barabbas, and destroy Jesus” (27:20).  “Pilate saith unto them, what shall I do then with Jesus which is called Christ?” (27:22), “They all said unto him, Let him be crucified”(27:23).  “And the governor said, why, what evil hath he done?  But they cried out the more, saying, let him be crucified.” (27:26) “Then released he Barabbas unto them, and when he had scourged Jesus, he delivered him to be crucified”.  Against all justice and logic, the guilty prisoner was set free and the innocent Son of God was sent to die.

Amidst the squirmy toddlers and uncomfortable fold up chairs, this account is replayed every week of our lives in our sacrament meetings.  Each one of us through the week, break the commandments of God.  Each Sunday we stand before the Sacrament altar, ready to sacrifice ourselves because we know that we are guilty and must therefore receive the punishment, which is spiritual death.  But as we begin to climb on the altar, the innocent Son of God grabs us, and then, with his merciful and ever-loving countenance, tells us that he will take our place this week.  He will suffer the punishment for us.  He then climbs upon the altar himself, and his body is broken, and as we partake of his flesh and blood we promise to try and take his place this week too.  We, guilty prisoners of sin, are then, like Barabbas, set free.

When we truly understand and look forward to the sacredness and importance of the Sacrament, no matter what, we can guarantee ourselves a spiritually renewing experience at church.  I know that His Atonement was and is perfect as much as it is real, and my hope is that we can utilize it more in our lives by truly appreciating the Sacrament.

Love,

Elder Backus

Cowboys & Aliens.........

Hey guys!!!!

Things are going pretty darn well here in Roswell. This last week was COLD, and we actually got a couple inches of snow. Haha it really kills the whole fearless defender of the faith spirit, but you just have to push through it I guess (:

Bobby and Charmagne (Father and Step daughter) are getting baptized this Saturday at 1pm. They are awesome, they are Najavo Indian. We found them by trying a old media referall, pretty crazy how the Lord fulfills his purposes! Elder Barnes and I are really excited, I will be sure to take some pictures.

Other than that, things are just moving on smoothly! We are all pretty excited for Elder Bednar to come in a couple weeks, its pretty rare that a mission like this one gets an apostle to come, one hasn't come here in almost 20 years!

I sure love you all! Thank you for letting me know how you are all doing, I really do care a lot. I miss you and hope that you all stay safe and warm. I love you and am praying for you!

Love, Elder Backus

Christmas 2014...........

Christmas definitely felt more focused this year.  Elder Backus kept us thinking about what is most important by inviting us to #ShareTheGift.  I loved the video that was shared around the world through social media.....

A group of musicians, producers, videographers, and all those who had a desire to take part, organized a world record breaking, live nativity, which was then made into an inspiring video that has been viewed almost 7,000,000 times........

Some pictures of December..........

We got to watch Drue while Tyler and Camille went ice skating......

Temple Square with Christine and friends.......

Christine's Christmas dance show........

Christmas Sunday..........

Christine and her best friend, Crista, had an ugly sweater Christmas party with 28 girls!!!!!

Christmas morning...........

Christine asked for an instant camera.  I am still shaking my head about how these dinosaurs are making a come back........

The highlight of our day was skyping with Elder Backus.

Grandma, Grandpa, Cindy & CJ.

Every Christmas Eve we open an ornament that is a reflection of the past year, this was Cody's :).

Last week of 2014 in Roswell.........

Hey Mom!

Good to be able to communicate with you again (: Talking with you all was so awesome, you all looked so great. Haha I think every call you get a little distracted, especially the closer you get to the end, but I am fine, I am just really grateful that the Lord is watching over you guys.

Holy smokes Cassidy is 17 tomorrow?? Do you remember when I was 17?? Haha I sure do. Funny to think that when I was Cassidy's age I was already a month into my Senior Year...what are your plans tomorrow? She isn't going to ditch the family for James like I did for Justine on my birthday will she? Haha I feel pretty bad about that one.

So we had 5 investigators come to church Sunday! Wahoo! Bobby, Charmange, Rachel, Alec, and Sid all came. Bobby, Eudora and Sid are all set for the 10th for baptism, and we are still working with the other two. Sweet is the work I say.

Hey, so I need you to check something out for me...its time for the cosmetics portion of our emails. I heard of this thing called 800razors.com that supposedly claims burn-free, do you think you could check it out and let me know? You are the best (:

I sure love you Mom. Thanks for being you, I love you (: Have an awesome week, I miss you greatly and am looking forward to that letter. I love you Mom!