27 AUG 2018 ~ Week 1 in MTC

Well I've made it through the first 1/2 week in the MTC. It's incredible to see that this is a worldwide church, not just a church in America, but THE Church of JESUS CHRIST of Latter-day Saints. Additionally, we are busy every day and spend nearly all day in the classroom, either learning how to be a missionary or learning the Korean (한국말) language. I would best describe the amount of training and information we are getting as drinking out of a firehose... No, probably a waterfall would be the best way to describe it. But it is some of the best information because it is how to become more like Jesus Christ. We learn about his attributes, like patience, diligence, humility, faith, etc. Everything He did, He did thinking outward. He never once thought inward to satisfy His own desires, but aligned His will to God. So this week, the attribute I am focusing on is Patience. Which couldn't be a better choice when it comes to the other missionaries, myself and my companion.


So I am in the Korean Zone which has all of the missionaries in the MTC who were called to serve Korean speaking, which is about 35ish Elders (장로님) and Sisters (자매님). Which divides into several districts. In my district (filled with all of the new Korean missionaries who came in on Wednesday with me) there are 9 Elders and 2 Sisters. My companion is Elder Hwang from Chicago who just graduated high school and turned 18 in July. So very young, hasn't seen the world yet, and doesn't quite know how to live on his own yet. So patience has been a very big challenge for me with him. But he has been called to serve (New York New York City Mission) for a reason and has been made my companion for a reason, so we will learn and grow with each other. Well we'll have to since we're stuck together for the next 2 months. Our personalities couldn't be more opposite and God has a sense of humor for assigning him to be my companion. However, our Heavenly Father has been patient and long-suffering to me during my life in church so I must do the same.


In addition to the firehose of meetings on how to be a missionary, and classes on how to speak Korean, I was called to be the District Leader of my district of 11. So basically the squad leader I would've been if I was at West Point. So in this calling I am the leader of my district and responsible for everything that happens to or from them. I keep track of their health, spiritual well-being, resolve any issues between companions and conduct/teach lessons on Sunday. Before the calling, I spent every second studying Korean or reading the scripture/PMG (Preach My Gospel), but now more time is dedicated to fulfilling this calling. So I now have a lot of respect for my Bishops, Elder's Quorum President's and other leaders. Thank you for your time... However, as more of my time has been dedicated to this calling, Heavenly Father has blessed my abilities to learn the language and the Holy Ghost has helped me in this calling. So I love this calling because I get to know the members of my district better, serve them, be there for them, love them as our Father in heaven loves them, and become more like Christ.


I appreciate my time at West Point and college in general more now that I'm in the MTC. It taught all the basic study skills, time management, and maturity that is lacking with some of the Elders here haha. So it is very difficult adjusting to relaxed behavior, taking their time to get to classes/meetings, playing around in the residence halls when we should be spending our very little free time to study Korean or study the scriptures. 2 Months is a long time, but not that long to master Korean or become a ready missionary. I find myself being the only one taking notes during meetings, tons of people falling asleep, side-chatter during important gospel lessons, and.... So yes, patience couldn't be a more perfect characteristic for me to focus on during this first week in the MTC.

This is the Lord's work. The Holy Ghost earns His paycheck in the MTC as we all are in the conversion process continually. This work is not about me or anyone of us missionaries, but focused on the people we will some day teach because God loves all of His children. His vision is to "bring to pass the immortality and the eternal life of men", and we are here to help in this work. As a result, we will be blessed, but in order for this work to progress we must lose ourselves and get over ourselves because it is no longer about us. We had been exposed to live teaching experiences and it really changed the name of the game because this is the real deal. It's game time. We're talking about people's eternal salvation. As a result, I try to spend every second of the day learning the language or studying the scriptures. In my little efforts, the Lord has magnified and blessed me as I have been able to learn the language at a faster rate and have been able to be an additional teacher for the other missionaries in my district. It wasn't because of my abilities though, it was because of the gift of tongues and the blessings from the Lord.

I would say that the absolutely best thing about being in the MTC or being a missionary, is the name that I have been called to wear on my chest: Jesus Christ (or 예소그리스도 since I'm a Korean speaking missionary). This is His work and His church. We are representatives of Jesus Christ, called to serve by God through a prophet of God, President Russell M. Nelson. I love my calling as a missionary and the MTC. I've adjusted very well to the lifestyle because of my time at West Point.

Sorry for the long email, but I had the time and a lot has happened in these short 5 days. God loves you, and He wants you to come home. Take time to think about what is MOST important to you in your life. For me it's my relationship with our Heavenly Father, my family, and my personal growth. If you see the missionaries, invite them in and hear their testimonies. It'll change your life, if your a Latter-day Saint or not. This is where I'm supposed to be and worth everything I've sacrificed. Until next week!


(P.S. feel free to email me during the week. I can read emails and write drafts, but can't send emails until my P-days which is Monday): brandon.escamilla@myldsmail.net


Love wearing the nametag.


Some things never change... Still have that cadet in me...


Pray for me


Went to the temple today (Monday). My companion (Elder Hwang) is to the left of me.

19 AUG 2018 ~ Farewell Talk

Red Mountain Ward ~ Farewell Talk

Good Morning Brothers and Sisters, my name is Brandon Escamilla and I will be reporting to the Missionary Training Center in Provo, UT in 3 days to prepare to preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ in the Korean language in the Australia Sydney Mission. To say that I was nervous or excited would not begin to describe the range of emotions that I have felt ever since I opened my mission call nearly 4 months ago. Those who have known me, know that I have spent the last 3 years in college. Which is an unusual path for most young men who are mission minded. The majority of my friends would leave for missions right out of high school, hearing the prophets call to serve after the new mission age change. My case was a little different, I packed up and moved to Provo, UT where I would spend my first year of college at Brigham Young University. This would be my first time and experience with being away from home, taking care of myself and making my own decisions that would affect my future. In addition to my own personal growth, my family would also be learning how to cope with my absence from the house. Unfortunately, my dad would also be left with learning how to live with a house full of girls.

I loved my first year of college and BYU will always hold a special place in heart, but my true dream was to become a cadet at the United States Military Academy in West Point, NY. June 27, 2016 marked the day when this dream came true as I entered cadet basic training. Looking back now, I would never have imagined the type of adventure I would be embarking on after that day. I would learn what it truly meant to be busy, sleep deprived, disciplined, exhausted physically, mentally, and spiritually, and what it meant to serve. I was challenged beyond belief and grew up a ton because of these experiences. I was blessed to do some incredible training and world travelling during these past 2 years at West Point. Such as attending Air Assault School to learn how to slingload equipment to helicopters as well as rappel out of helicopters. Or spending weeks sleeping and running around in the woods of NY during the summer. Shooting machine guns and howitzers, rappelling down cliffs, throwing grenades, rucking for miles, staying up all night in the pouring rain with no cover, riding in helicopters, making explosive devices, and getting closer to a man than should ever be allowed. I have travelled throughout the east coast for various academic and sport trips, to the Royal Military Academy of Canada to compete with their crew or rowing team, to Jerusalem to study Hebrew, and most recently to Morocco to study Arabic. In short, I appreciate West Point and as a result, I have grown up a lot and have had many experiences that have helped shaped me into a better man. Most of all, I have made some lifelong brothers and sisters that have endured many rough times with me. Although I was unable to properly serve the nation, I was proud and honored to wear the uniform that has been worn by many great Americans who were willing to pay the ultimate price for our freedom and the American way of life. My life was filled with purpose beyond myself every minute of every day. So for those who have served our nation, thank you. I hope to do the same one day.

I will treasure my time at West Point forever. And speaking of treasure, the Savior also speaks of treasure in His Sermon on the Mount, declaring: “Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal. But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal. For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.” So, where is your treasure? Where is your heart? In a general conference talk given by Elder Michael Teh of the Seventy, he shares a story of a 73-year-old widow that he had met during a trip to the Philippines:

“When the earthquake struck the island of Bohol, the home that she and her late husband had worked so hard to build crumbled to the ground, killing her daughter and grandson. Now alone, she needs to work to support herself. She has started taking in laundry (which she does by hand) and has to go up and down a good-sized hill several times a day to fetch water. When we visited her, she was still living in a tent.

These are her words: “Elder, I accept everything that the Lord has asked me to pass through. I have no hard feelings. I treasure my temple recommend and keep it under my pillow. Please know that I pay a full tithing on my meager income from doing laundry. No matter what happens, I will always pay tithing.”

In these latter-days, we know that rough times are ahead, they are already here. Wars, rumors of wars, pestilences, earthquakes, and more. As a result, we may find ourselves in a similar situation as this Sister in this story. We may even find ourselves in this situation spiritually, as we struggle with problems in our family, work, or finding self-worth. If we do, will we share similar words and bear testimony of how we treasure our temple recommend and the law of tithing? Do we treasure up the words of Christ found in the scriptures or General Conference? Where is our treasure, and where is our heart?

I know, that as we lay up our treasure in heaven, our reward is joy and eternal happiness. Rather than treasure the things of the world, shouldn’t we focus on developing Christlike attributes such as faith, hope, humility and charity in ourselves? Or building our family relationships? Devoting more time to service to others? Or spending more time studying to understand the doctrine of Christ and strengthening our testimony?

I have noticed over these past 3 years, that these things must be treasured in order to grow and develop them. Family, testimony, faith, hope, service, and the doctrine. For me, the time when I would be able to serve a mission is something I treasured for a long time. I didn’t go out of high school because I was still 17. I didn’t go after BYU because I got into West Point. Then the common system at West Point is to complete 2 years, quit to serve a mission, and then reapply to complete the last 2 years. So years kept adding on to when I would ultimately be able to serve a mission, which was hard for me. When I joined the church and learned that missions were even a thing, I decided then that I would serve a mission. Not because it’s something that a lot of people do in the church. Or because my best friends were going. But because I knew that I wanted to share the message of hope and love that showed me who I was. That I mattered and had a purpose in this life and the life to come. That after this life, it’s not the end. That I would be able to see my family who have passed on again. They weren’t lost. That ultimately, that the most powerful being in the universe was my Heavenly Father who knows and loves me beyond belief. Who wants me to come home. If this message could change my life as much as it changed mine, at a time when I needed it the most, then I want to be able to share that with someone who like me at the time did not find much self-worth or was scared for what was to come in the future. But because of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and great Plan of Happiness, I know that I am son of our Heavenly Father. I know that as we endure to the end and keep the covenants we make at baptism and in the temple, we can return to our Father with our families forever. Everything will work out in the end. If you don’t have faith, then have hope and work from there. Brothers and sisters, I want to testify that these things are true. As I’ve been away and tried to live the gospel and keep my covenants. Life is better when we turn our hearts to Heavenly Father and trust in His plan for us. The Book of Mormon is the word of God. The Holy Ghost has testified of the truthfulness of these things in my heart.

When I was in Morocco, I had the opportunity to teach a man, in the little Arabic I knew, about the church. At one point, he asked if I had seen God. I said no. He said neither had he, or anyone in this world. No one has seen God. Unfortunately due to the circumstances with kids running around and meals being served, I wasn’t able to testify to him that there is a man who has seen God. Who has seen God the Father, AND His son Jesus Christ. And that man is Joseph Smith. How incredible is that?! That we have a prophet who has seen God and Jesus Christ.

Brothers and Sisters, strengthen your testimony and help others find the light of the Gospel, that we all need. It is a message that is familiar to everyone. For me, I felt like I was home when I first heard the message and felt the Spirit.

At the end of that conversation with the Moroccan man, he asked me if I really believed in all of these things. There will come a time when each of us will be approached by someone and asked this same question. I looked him in the eyes and said yes. I believe ALL of these things.

Brothers and Sisters, I know these principles of the Gospel found in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints are true. This is the way to find true joy. Don’t let the things of the world distract you from this absolutely incredible, phenomenal, magnificent gift of knowing about the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Mistakes can be fixed. We can find forgiveness for our sins, and move on from the mistakes we’ve made. As soon as we fully repent, God has promised us that He will remember them no more. Although men are not perfect, the doctrine is. We are all sinners and imperfect. But that’s ok. Because we get credit for trying to become better and as we do our best. Don’t give up, there is always hope and you are never far away from our Heavenly Father. He is there waiting for you to call upon Him in prayer. Treasure the Gospel. These things I testify with all my heart, in the name of Jesus Christ our Savior. Amen.