Emails 8-4-08

The Mommy-I said that I am trying to stay in one piece, I do not know if I have the capabilities to do so though. You know me I like to go hard and play even harder. I am not making any promises on how well I will do when I get home, I won't have the same protection as I do here in the mission.I did not feel the quake, I did not even know that there was an earthquake. I guess I am just to far North, or just not very observant. Though I do think that it would be neat to feel or be in an earthquake, and yes I know that it would not be as fun if it were to actually happen, but I was just thinking it would be cool to say that I was in one. Yeah anyways.I was able to set up an email account in the MTC and I did email but it is a REAL pain in the backside. I would appreciate getting his addresses both email and snail mail. Interesting Dinners....Let's see I will start with the first scary one. In Mount Shasta we had this dinner that looked like chicken tender strips, well it ended up being like the frog eye salad ball things that were REALLY dry and disgusting. Than for a gravy to make it better there was meat in it, however it was chicken nuggets from Burger King. The salad was good until I got the hit of cyan throughout the entire thing and then I think I might have chipped a tooth from a rock or something that was in the salad. The best part of the meal was the Mount Shasta Water! Other than that though in Mount Shasta all the meals were rather awesome! Than here in Lincoln....Well my first dinner in Lincoln was rather awkward, but it was good. The members would not talk to us, which made it really fun. They also had no dining furniture so we sat on the couch. Then we had this weird Mongolian rice which looked good, but the stuff that we put on it was simply DISGUSTING! I do not know if I should try and describe how it tasted cause that would be bad. Those two meals were with Elder Remington now we move to when Elder Pancheri got here. We had this very interesting meal that was Solar prepared. The rice was under cooked and it was crunchy and just blah! There was also undercooked chicken which made both of us enjoy the company of the toilet the next day. So yeah there has been a variety of very interesting things that we have had for dinners!I did not know that Scott's contract ran out. That is good though that he had all of you there to help him out. Than he gets to move all over again in a little bit up to Logan! How exciting for you all! Yeah it is really nice to have a companion that you get along with, it makes working really easy. Being a DL is not that bad, though it is a little more time consuming and I really enjoy just doing missionary work. I am able to concentrate on just my ward and those that I am serving which is nice. Though I have been told that I will be a ZL in a transfer or two, than again who knows what will happen. Right now there are 6 in our district, with a possibility of 2 more in a transfer, but I will probably be gone by than.Well door approaches are just interesting in themselves. It is a little crazy because the spirit of discernment lets you know kinda what the people are feeling and if they are interested or not. Some fun things that have happened are: getting offered beer, a guy answering the door saying that he was "busy" in the back room with his girlfriend, a bash (fight kinda but with scripture references), and sometimes people answering mainly girls in things that are not appropriate for missionaries to be seeing. There are a lot of other things like getting yelled at and threatened (not so much though with the threatenings). It definitely makes life interesting!I think it would have been pretty funny to see you spill at the bank though I do feel bad for you. I think that you will be a lot more careful when you are at the bank from now on. This week has been pretty good. We did a lot of tracting and it did not seem to yield like I would have wanted though the Lord decided to bless us in another way. He has given us referrals. We have had a record high of referrals here in the Lincoln area. It has been really nice. The weather has been warm/hot but not to bad. It is still dry and we need some moisture to help stop these fires, but I am sure the Lord will do it in his due time. I do not need to see Lindsey's announcement thanks though for the offer. I cannot believe that all the young women from that ward that I grew up with are getting married. It is a very weird to think about. Well that is cool that Kyle has his return date. I cannot believe that he is going to be home in 40 ish days! Well how are things going there at home? How goes the planning for TWO weddings? I hope all is going well and that you are not to terribly stressed out. I love you and miss you mom. Take care.Love your son, Elder Brickey

Family Curley-Yeah no longer the DL, it is actually pretty nice cause I got to miss the DL/ZL training meeting thing. Being a DL is not bad, but I definitely do like being able to just be a missionary it is a lot easier. I have however been told by my DL that he gives me 1 to 3 transfers before I am a ZL, not sure how I feel about that. I am not sure that it will happen, but than again I never know what will happen. Oh well I guess I will just have to roll with the punches.I am pretty sure that I will be getting transfered at the end of this transfer, which happens to be September 2 (mom and dad's ann.) I am on my 4th transfer here and that is 6 months. President Perry usually did not leave Elders in an area for longer than 6 months, but we now have President Pendleton and I have no clue as to what he will do. I do agree though that you do grow attached to the people that you serve. When I think that I am going to get transfered I want to do as much as I can as fast as I can so I have no regrets. It is so weird to think that I am coming up on my year mark. In 20 days it will be ten months, that is so crazy! It sounds like you have been having fun. From watching the Ritchie kids to making a blessing blanket. I would like to see the things that you all talk about, I do feel a little left out. Though I know that I will be apart of so many memories and the ones that I am making here in Cali will affect me for the rest of my life. I cannot believe how much all the nieces and nephews have grown. It still feels like yesterday that Des was born. And to think that she is 8 is really weird. I think that it is awesome that Dallin is getting in full paragraphs, hopefully when I call on Christmas he will be willing to talk to me. Than again I want to talk to all my nieces and nephews, they are all the best in the world.What water fountain? The one that Dad put in or did we get another something that I do not know about? It sounds like things keep changing and changing at home. I think that it will be really weird to come home and see all of the changes that have happened. Well I am glad that you do not work with complete crazies anymore Ryan, though I did enjoy the stories. It is probably a lot nicer to be working somewhere that you do not have to deal with that much insanity. I do agree though about being excited about going back to school. I am actually a little more excited about the thought of going to school now than I was when I was back home. I have learned a lot about the necessity to further my education as soon and much as possible. I am not exactly sure as to what I will be doing, but I am sure that the Lord will help me figure that out when I get to that point.I cannot believe that Scott and Kayce are getting married! It still is weird to think about. I am super excited for them, but yeah! Wow a bridal shower and than soon a WEDDING! I hope that all goes well for them and that they have an awesome day, though I am a little ticked at them that I will not be able to attend. Oh well I guess I was able to be at Cassie's and yours so I should be content 2 of 4 is not bad. Wow that is a weird thought all of my siblings will be married when I get home, and for over a year!I think that your kids are pretty funny no lies. Dallin is already taken an interest in cars, which I like, and Saedy is a tough little kid. Though I do remember the time that Leland dislocated his elbow or something when we were out there. Kids are stinking tough, I would have been crying like mad! Than again I am a wimp!Well I hope that things go well for you and the final stages of your pregnancy. I definitely keep you and the family in my prayers and in my heart so that you are all taken care of. The number one thing that is important in this world is family, well at least to me. I would sacrifice everything for family. Well I hope all is going well for you and that things keep going well and keep you on your toes. I will do whatever and contribute whatever is needed for dad's b-day and I might need help on something to do to Scott, maybe I will be able to handle it but I am not sure what I will do. Anyways love you all and wish you the best.Oh yeah things are going well for me here in Cali. We have been doing a lot of tracting and it has not paid off in those that we contact. Though it seems that the Lord is blessing us through other means. We have received more referrals than ever before and things keep going really well. We might have another baptism coming up, keeping my fingers and toes crossed, and things are just going awesome. Thank you for all your love and support it means the world to me. Take care.Love,Elder Brickey