HOMECOMING!!!!!!!!!

The homecoming is on this Sunday, Nov 15 at NOON. The church is located at 455 E 300 N in American Fork. After at 1:30 pm there will be a luncheon at 640 N 300 E American Fork. Any who would like to come is welcome. Any questions let us know!

If you are coming from SLC area and North get off the Main Street Exit 278 and head east into American Fork, turn Left onto 100 East, there will be a park on South West Corner, the Tabernacle on the South East corner and a Gas station on the North East Corner, turn Right at 300 N, continue along that road to the Church (455 E 300 N), which will be on the left.

If you are coming from Provo area and south take the 500 E Exit 276, and head North, follow 500 E to 300 N and turn Left, the church will be on your Right at 455 E 300 N.

After, exit the parking lot and head West on 300 N, turn right at 300 E and head to 640 N 300 E which is on the right.

He's HOME!!!

He got home on Tuesday, October 27 around 8:40am. Here are the pictures I have.....

It is so GREAT to have him home!!!

Emails 10-26-09-LAST EMAIL

The Mommy-
Yep this is it, the LAST email you recieve from Elder Brickey. That is so crazy. This last week has been nuts to be perfectly honest. It is so weird to know that I am coming home and to have SO many people saying goodbye because they KNOW that I am leaving. In sacrament meeting my companion and I said the prayers. I thought because the guy who got our names wrote mine down first that I would say the opening prayer. Nope Elder Weight did, so I sat there kinda nervous for the rest of the meeting. Then they get up and announced the closing hymn and prayer. It was the first councelor in the Bishopric and I noticed that the bishop whispered something to him. He got up and announced the hymn and then said "Then we will have the closing prayer by Elder Brickey one of our fulltime missionaries that is going home this week." The ENTIRE ward turned and looked at me, it was so WONDERFULLY awkward. I got my bike and box of stuff in the mission office, they will get it sent out so I am not sure yet how that is going to pan out. I did get the package from you which took me by surprise. It was cool though because everyone really enjoyed the treats. I am up for whatever when I get home. Go to the Temple on Wed, sure. I was actually thinking about trying to find a day of the month that all of us from you and dad down could go and do a session. We will have to talk about it and see if we can work something out. Anyway. I am all packed up and only have a suit for clothing so that is a little weird and scary. But I think that I am ready, so I guess the thing to say is SEE YOU TOMORROW!
Love,
Elder Brickey

Hello-Well the time has come for the end of Elder Brickey. It is a weird feeling though at the same time exciting. It is weird to think that I will be home in under 24 hours. I do look forward to seeing you all again. I do not know though about the whole seeing a lot of people thing. The people that I want to see are going to be at the house or come to me so that is nice. I do agree that it will be nice to not have a shadow 24/7. That is the one thing that I am really excited about. I still LOVE to have alone time and it is hard to get on a mission. I have taken some LONG showers a few times. Well yeah this last week went well and things are going well. I am all packed up and ready to go. Ready or not here I come! Love ya and see you tomorrow!Love,Elder Brickey

2nd to last email (but could be last) 10-19-09

Mommy-The missionary that invented the game I think is Elder Suzzle so that is why it is called Suzzleball. I am not sure if my companion got sick from me or from this person that we met with. I am hoping more for the later. I do not really remember exactly who I was talking to about killing beef but they were interested until I told them about all the things that Grandpa liked to get me to hold. That grossed them out a bit. We have been getting a lot of rain. It has been really good for here too. Though it made it a nightmare to go out and work. I hate getting soaking wet and trying to get into people houses so that is not fun. I have not heard about the mud slides though I would not doubt it with how much rain we got in under a week. It was crazy! I do not remember a Heather Christensen, or Ms. Christensen so I could not tell you how long she has been there. Then again I did not associate really at all with the band portion of the school. My companion is doing better now though so that is good. Though he is getting trunky with me so that is not good since he will have three transfers left after I leave. It does make it hard to get things done and get out and work when you keep getting sick. I feel like the apartment mom because one of the other missionaries we live with, Elder Monson, got sick and I would hear him tossing and turning so I would get him some meds and he would fall asleep then I would be awake for a while then finally fall asleep after 12 or so. It has been a long couple of weeks that way. I feel like I am taking care of a bunch of sick kids. It is fine though I like being needed and helping so that is cool. I am not sure if I will need money or not for the box. It is kinda large though. I think it is 17x17x12 and is really heavy. The mission office said they could send it home and it would be cheaper, I just do not know how much it will be. I would think that I will have some time to email next week. Than again the Library does not open till 12 and I have no idea when I am suppose to be at the mission office. I will try though. That is funny that Truman thinks his bids are better than yours. Than again there are a lot of funny things about him so. Not to be mean or anything but yeah! Things are going good though. We almost had to move this coming week. We are trying to move in with members to reduce the price of living and a member stepped up and the mission pres wanted us in there before transfers. Though when they went to inspect they found out that their daughter-in-law might me moving in for a while and that is a no no so we are not moving now. Things are good though. It is crazy to think that I come home in 8 days but at the same time I am excited. Well I hope you are well and I really appreciate all that you do for me. I LOVE YOU! Take care and I will talk to you later.Love always your son,Elder Brickey

Curley Family-I think I will try to email next week but will give no promises. I have no idea what is going to happen so I am a little lost and confused for that. Things sound like they are going good though. I find that SO cute that Dallin was praying and gets mom to come and say the prayer. He is a good kid it sounds like you did a good job with him. I cannot promise anything about bringing snow but it would be fun to go trick-or-treating with them. I like getting candy. Though I would feel probably really out of place. Oh wells I do look forward to seeing you all so. Wow Dallin had to get a cavity filled that much of sucked. I do not envy that at all. Then again it seems like my teeth are deteriorating and that sucks because I have been taking really good care of them. I am sorry to hear that the job thing is still causing stress and issues. I still say that I am not excited for that part. I so wish that I could get a job that just has me sit at home and do nothing. Than again doing something in the outdoors would be killer too. Well things are going good here. We are trying our best to stay busy and for me to stay focused. It is kind of hard with everyone reminding me that I am a short timer. Even our Bishop reminds me. He is an awesome man though and like to tease me so that is cool. Well other than that not much has been going on. I actually have been packing up a little here and there since I know that I will be leaving in a week. I have a ginormous box that I am trying to send home but I will probably be home before it will be. Well I hope you are doing well and I am trying my best to stay focused and finsh off with a bang. I LOVE you all and hope things go well for you. Take care and I will talk to you NEXT week!Love,Elder Brickey

Emails 10-12-09

The Mommy-Why Hello! How are you doing? Well to answer your question about how I got hurt. We were playing this missionary made up game called suzleball. It is like ultimate frisbee and soccer combined so it is pretty sweet. We usually have a couple people from the singles ward come in and play but there is mainly missionaries. I am doing better though. My leg is still a little sore but I am healing well. I was nervous about giving my departing testimony for a couple reasons. I still get the gitters in front of people and also it is the last time that I would be in Zone Conference. It is a standing tradition that the missionaries leaving at the end of the transfer give a final testimony in their last zone conference. Oh yeah I remember Cherolyn Jones now. Yeah she LOVED my blue eyes. They were a really cool family. Wow so you had all 7 of your grandkids in the house for the weekend. I bet that was exciting. Than again they are all getting big so hopefully they were able to take care of themselves pretty well. Wow that is sad about the teacher from AF. There seems to be a tramatic thing happen to them almost every couple years. That is really depressing. I will probably be taking my bike to the mission office on the Sunday before I leave and they will ship it. I am still not sure how much though I will give them a call and find out so we have an idea of what is going on. Yeah it is the Chase/WaMu account. I was just talking about Grandpa and how he slaughtered his own beef. A lot of people are surprised and a little shocked sometimes. It is really funny. I LOVE it when Grandpa does his own because you are getting some good meat to eat. Well our week has been really slow. My companion has been sick so we have been taking it slow and letting him get the rest that he needs to heal up and get better. Things are good though, other than things slowed down a bit lately. The weather is cooling down and we are supposedly getting rain today and tomorrow. We will see I do not really trust what a weather man says anymore. Well other than that not much is new. I hope that things are going well for you and that you are well. I LOVE YOU mom and send you my graditude for all you have done. Take care and I will talk to you later.Love always your son,Elder Brickey

Hello There!That is to bad that Dallin is allergic to nuts. That would suck, then again I am not really a nut person but nuts are in everything or at least the oil and that would be hard. Yeah I would not be happy if I had to get 4 shots so I can understand Aleana and not being happy. That is so weird though to hear that she is walking. I still feel like she was just born, than again Saedy and Dallin and Desiree were born yesterday it feels like. The weather here has been nice and cool. It is suppose to rain today and tomorrow but then again when was the last time a weatherman was right? The work has been a little slower lately. Than again my companion was sick this past week so I made sure he got the rest that he needed so he could get better quicker. This past week school was also out for some random reason. California schools are so weird and strange. I am striving my best to continue to do my best. But yes Ryan you are right I am drawing to an end and am fessing up to it. It is weird and I know I cannot deny or lie about it so I am just accepting it now. I bet I do drive my companion and the Elders I live with a little nuts due to the fact that it seems to come up a lot about how soon I do come home. It is so weird how often people talk about it and once they find out when I am going home, they bring it up a lot. I am not sure what I will do for work when I get home. I would love to work at like Whitknuckle Motorsports in Springville/Spanish but than again that would be to help me get into motorcylces again and A LOT of people have been telling me that I should NOT get another one. We will see. Well thanks for all you do and I hope you are well. I love you and wish you well. Until next time.Love,Elder Brickey

Emails 10-5-09

The Mommy-Elder Sanchez does not like chocolate or caramel for that matter, he is a weird kid. Than again he is a good kid so that makes up for it. Yeah I hope that I am able to help my companion out with a couple of things before I leave him. It is really interesting to see just how DIFFERENT all of us are in the mission. I have found one person that is a REALLY close similar but no one can be exactly like me. Than again I do not think that the world could handle two of me. That is good that work is still there and still work. I still worry about that one for when I get home. I really hope the economy picks up. It sounds like you are taking good care of your car. I was actually telling the story the other day of how you got the car and how the Astro died. My companion's family has Astros and Safaris, just a little newer I think than yours was. You have to admit, the car is A LOT nicer than the van even though the van had some height and space, the car is quiet and gets good milage. Anyways. That is cool that Cassie had a party with some people from the 17th ward. Wow Jenn Kummer, isn't that the one that came and lived with us? Anyone else come that I would remember? I will not lie I am not sure if I remember who Cherolyn Jones is....is that bad? Than again I have had to remember over 500 names in the last two years so maybe that gives me some room for forgivness. I watched Saturday at the Stake Center here in Antelope, which made for a long day, 9 am to 7 pm. Then Sunday we went over to our recent convert Richard Garcia's home and had breakfast and watched the sessions there. Talk about a beautiful conference. It was really crazy because in the Priesthood session they talked about RMs and Father's of RMs so it was crazy to think that both dad and I were listening to that and I am coming home soon. It was cool. I am feeling great, back to normalish. I actually injuried myself today playing sports. Yeah I know good job take it easier. I got kneed in the calf by someone and my calf has been locking up ever since, which is no fun at all. My tooth is doing really well actually. Well at least I think that it is, nothing is painful or causing trouble so yeah. Wow there are a lot of people pregnant right now. And a lot of people have gotten married. There is a lot of change going on it seems like in our family. Change is good though so no complaints. I have never seen "The Best Two Years" I have heard a lot about it but never seen it so I will have to see it when I get back. I have heard from a lot of people though that it is their favorite "mormon movie" or church made movie so that is good. I just have seen A LOT of CHEESY ones so not really into them. Well things are going good. We had Zone Conference which was nuts. Friday Zone Conference and then Saturday and Sunday General Conference, so a lot of sitting. It was crazy though because I gave my departing testimony and it was really nerve wracking. I almost seem and feel scared to come home. Then again this is a very easy life very regimented and simple so that is nice. Home is a lot more mysterious and open. It is good though and I know that things will be great so no worries I will be coming home. Well things are going pretty good. We have a lot of things that we are trying to get moving here. I would really love to leave this place with it on its feet so whoever comes in does not have to do a lot of grunt work and has jjust tons of people to work with, but it seems like it is not working. The Lord has his plans so we will see what happens. Well I love you and hope you are well. Take care.Love always,Elder Brickey

Curley Family-That is cool that you had a good bday for Aleana. And now I can pronounce it by just looking at it. I just had three different things come into my head as I looked at it. I have been saying it right though so no worries. It sounds like your kids are a lot like us, wanting EVERYTHING that they see and is "cool". Though be glad that their cool is not my cool because my cool has a couple more zeros on it. I am glad that you liked conference I have really come to LOVE it and I have my favorites, like Bednar, Holland, Scott, Monson, Eyring, Uchtdorf, and others. Then again I simply love them all. Just AMAZING. That is cool that you did a private class for some business president. I am totally down for going through the class too. I have been talking about guns, motorcyles, and outdoors it seems a lot lately. I am doing well though a little sore today after playing sports but good. I do not know if I will be a "collectors item" when I get home though I appreciate the thought. I watched all of Saturday Sessions in the Stake Center but then Sunday we went over to our RCs house, Richard Garcia, and had breakfast and watched the sessions there. We did not get anyone to come and watch. We have been having a hard time finding lately. It has been nice though because it has been cooling down so that is really nice. Other than that things are good. We are staying busy as we can and hopefully the Lord fills in the holes we miss. Well other than that not much else besides trying to not get "trunky" but it is hard with EVERYONE reminding you. The other day at dinner with our bishop he brought it up 5 times, so you can only imagine all the other people in the ward too. Anyways I love you and hope you are well. Take care and I will talk to you later.Love,Elder Brickey

Emails 9-28-09

The Mommy-I was told by the one of the Office Missionaries over our medical. She is really quite paranoid and I don't really feel like she knows my body like I do so it is hard to listen to her when I do not think it will help or if it is prudent. I went to this UrgentCare facility, kinda like InstaCare that Dad took me to when I got sick in March of 07. I think it is like $40-$50 to get my bike sent home, than again I could be wrong on that. I am not really up to date on that stuff. I remember what you taught me mom about manners and about at least offering to help clean up the dishes. I still remember when the Elders came over and just sat there, you were not very impressed about that. So I try my best to make sure that I would make you and Grandma Walker proud. I remember a lot of things that the both of you taught me. I got the package thank you. The Oreos of course did not last long with four Elders, well I should say three because one does not like chocolate though I did "help" him eat one. Anywho. I am doing better and getting better, I think basically all healed up. Well that is good that your sharing time went well. I know how stressful things like that are. I actually got up and bore my testimony for the last time on my mission. That was a really weird feeling. I am not sure a lot of the members understood that but it is ok and it is better that they do not really quite know that I am leaving more of a surprise in a way. In our apartment there is my companion Elder Weight (Orem,19months), than Elder Monson (Orem,22months), and Elder Sanchez (Murray,2months). So yeah that is the missionaries that I live with. Well things are going pretty good. I am going to make my companion probably a little more stressed out for the next little while because I am going to make him lead out on pretty well everything. I want to make sure that he makes some connections and knows the area before I leave so this is what I came up with. Well things are going good and so that is all I can ask for. What about you mom? What is new? How is work? How is your car? How does it feel to have your baby daughter pregnant? Well I love you and hope you are well. LOVE YA!Love always your son,Elder Brickey

HI!Well it sounds like you are all doing well so that is good. I cannot believe how big all your kids are getting. Aleana is 1 and I still probably mess up when I try and say her name. That is ok because she can be baby Curley till I get it, or Ale. I hope that the allergy test things go well. I know how hard it was when I was home to keep Dallin at least out of M&M's and such because of the nut thing. Maybe, hopefully, cross your fingers. It sounds like things are going really well for you other than that though. Well at least in the family. I hope that things work out for your job Ryan. I keep that in my mind and prayers to the best of my ability. I am not going to lie I am really touched by your kids. That is really cute that they wanted me to help them with all of that. I am going to have my hands full it sounds like. That is ok because that will keep me out of trouble and plus I like my neices and nephews they are all good kids and keepers. Well the weather is not to bad but it jumps around and all over. This week I have heard is suppose to cool down but than again Cali will just change its mind in a heart beat and be boiling hot. Oh well it is all good and not much longer, which is NUTS. I now know who my last dinner in the mission is with and a few things like that which blows my mind. Still in the denial stage a bit. Well things are good going forward and upward so that is nice. Well I love you and hope things keep going well for you. Give everyone a big squeeze for me. LOVE YA!Love,Elder Brickey

Emails 9/21/09

The Mommy-The baptism went really well and I am so happy for these people that I have been able to help here. I am so thankful that I have been able to see people accept the gospel and get baptized, it has made my mission a lot easier and more bearable. I am still sick. I actually was FORCED to go and see a doctor the other day which I did not want to do. I knew it was nothing big and what did he tell me, it is just an uper respritory infection aka a cold. Though he did say that he had a case evolve into strep so that was a little scary. He told me to take the next few days really easy and to get a lot of rest and a lot of water and he also said that he would give me a note telling the mission that I needed to not be on a bike for a while. Well I had the baptism, church, and a whole load on my plate for the weekend so rest did not happen. I will get some though I promise. My companion is from Orem actually. Over by the Cemetery. He has been out for 18 months so he goes home in February. I do not know if I have the money to send my bike home. It is really weird to be thinking about boxing it up and sending it home. That is cool that Kirt is in the Bishopric. He will do great I am sure. The Zone Leader that comes home with me I am not sure why he is not on the flight stuff. But he is on the same plane, though he is flying to St. George after going into SLC so who knows. For the baptism Richard, the guy that got baptized, had a family friend baptize him (cousin-in-law or something) and then his father-in-law did the confirmation. I know that pretty well all of his wifes side of the family is LDS and they are a lot like our family. They like to celebrate things with food, and they love to invite us over for the food. I know Spencer Poulson really well. He was with me in Redding for my first three transfers. Then I saw him every now and then and then he became one of the APs and I saw him a lot as a ZL in Chico. He is a really cool kid. I can say kid because he is younger than I am. Well other than that things are going well. I am still getting use to the new companion which always takes time. I will probably get use to him just in time to leave. Oh well I guess. It is really cool though because one of the missionaries we live with is Elder Monson, no relation to Pres. Monson, but I have served around him a few times and he is really fun. He goes home in December and is from Orem as well. Though he went to Mt View and Elder Weight went to Timp. Well other than being sick things are good. I am constantly reminded though of how soon I am coming home which is usually no good but it makes me push hard so that is good. Well mom I hope you are well. I love you and hope you are doing well. Take care and I will talk to you later.Love always your son,Elder Brickey


Curley's-Well it sounds like you are doing pretty good. I hope that things work out with your job hunt, as always. I still can say and swear that I am not excited for that. I have been told that I should be a car salesman because I "sell" the Book of Mormon and things really well to people. Than again the lady that told me a lot of this was a little NUTS! Well your kids are for sure Brickey's. I knew how to entertain myself until I got bored and then I would see what Scott was up to and then get him annoyed with me then run and get him into trouble when he tried to retaliate. Yeah I was a big pain. That is cool though that you were able to go out and celebrate your anniversary. It sounds like you had a good night. I do have to say though that I am NOT excited about being on the market again. It is SO much more simple without dealing with that. Well I had a URI or a cold basically. Though there have been some cases that have evolved into strep so that was a little nerving. I have not been able to heed the advice though that has been given to me. I was told to rest a lot and drink a lot of fluids. I had a baptism that I had to get taken care of and people that needed me. It is so annoying to be sick when you have things you want to get out and do. It has been good though because in the last month, two baptisms and a naming a child blessing so that is cool. Though the stress probably caused the sickness. I am not sure I am ready to come home. It will be really cool though to see all of you. I do look forward to that for sure. Though then comes all the other things like finding a car, phone, getting into school and girls! Yeah not so sure about that stuff. I am switching between weeks and days that I count. Though when I count it freeks me out a but and makes me excited a bit. It is so two sided. Anyway. Things are going pretty good. Though we do need to get out and find find find. We lost all our investigators, they became members! What a great way to loose an investigator! Thanks though for all you do. You are the best. Love you all and send you my prayers and wishes. Take care till next time.Love,Elder Brickey

Emails 9-14-09

The Mommy-On pday we have until 6pm. Then we are suppose to have dinner and then lessons and such. Transfers are a little bit harder though because of having to pack and such. Speaking of transfers, I am staying though Elder Lancaster is leaving and going to Chico (Chico 1st to be exact). My new companion is Elder Weight, I have served around him before but not really that close so it will be interesting for sure. From the list of Elders on the plane home I know Elder Carter (he is the one from Chad's stake), Elder Clark is from PG, Elder Hansen went to Lone Peak and other than that I know them by meeting them a couple times. Elder Dalton will be going home on the same plane and he is the Zone Leader over Antelope right now. I basically know them all just some more than others. I think that the weight limit is like 50 lbs for checkon and 40 for carryon. I also can take my backpack through so that is nice. I am shipping my bike home through the mission office. They do it for really cheap I think and I really like my bike so that sounds good to me. The baptism went really well. We had a really good turn out for the baptism of family that are not members so that was really good too. The home teacher did the baptism and the Bishop did the confirmation. It was really quite beautiful. The blessing went really well. It was really fun to get to go and see Lincoln again. There was a lot of people though that were surprised to see me and pretty well all of them were all "Don't you go home soon?" which was fun. It was a really good weekend. Wow a shirt that is white until you go out into the sun, that is cool. I have seen some of the two year calendars for missionaries and they are really funny. Some of them can be a little over the top, but some are so very very true. That is really quite gross that the mouse decided to die in Ryan's shoe. Well at least he found it. You could really joke about Ryan having some really potent smelly shoes and that he might want to get that checked out. Well other than Elder Lancaster, Elder Bailey is also leaving. He is going to Roseville, so I will see him at Zone Conference in October. Well other than that things are good. We have the other baptism this Saturday of Richard Garcia. He is ready and super excited so that is good. I cannot believe the good fortune that we have been given in the 6 weeks that we have been in this ward. Well how are things going for you? What is new and exciting? I love you and hope you are doing well. Take care and I will talk to you later.Love your son,Elder Brickey


Curley's-Hey there! It is good to hear from you and good to hear that you are all doing well. Well at least for Ryan. I do have to say that if your boots are new and the mouse was dead in there you have some really smelly feet and might want to get that looked at. Just kidding. That is a really gross way to find it but hey you are right at least you have visual confirmation that it is dead. It sounds like your kids are doing well, except for the whole spitting up thing with Aleana. Hopefully things settle down and that goes away here soon. That is funny that Dallin was talking to whoever in the bathroom. That kid sounds like a character. The baptism and the blessing were awesome. We had an awesome turn out at the baptism and it went smooth and beautiful so that is nice. The blessing was really nerve racking though. I was really quite scared that I would mess up or something but it was really cool. The little boy that I blessed stood up and waited for me cause I was in the back and he was in the middle. Then he held my hand all the way up to the front which was really cool, and was a really weird insight for me. I am still terrified of the thought of having a kid but I look forward to it because of the look that I got from him at that moment and after. Well anyways. I am glad to hear that your knee is doing better Shan. I have to admit, which I did not tell to mom or dad, that I am sick as a dog. Well something like that. I only got like 4 hours of sleep Saturday night and then last night I passed out at 930 but was wide awake at 130 until about 5ish when I finally fell asleep again. Hopefully these drugs that I am going to get will help me out. If not, oh wells I guess. Wel I am staying. My companion is going to Chico. I am getting a missionary that I have served around a little bit named Elder Weight. He is actually coming from Paradise which is near Chico. Well things are going great here. I hope you are well. Take care and give some love to your kids and each other for me. Might as well give some to our lovely parents too. Make it everyone! Whatever. I love you and hope you have a wonderful week that the job stuff works out.Much Love,Elder Brickey

Email 9-8-09

Elder Brickey was not able to email on the usual Monday with it being Labor Day. So here are the emails he sent Tuesday instead.......

The Mommy-Our baptisms are on the 12th and the 19th, so the next two Saturdays. It is really exciting. The blessing is actually for a 4 year old and that will be on the 13th. I will be getting a ride there to Lincoln for the sacrament meeting there and doing the blessing then. After that I will probably hang out there for a while but we have to get back because we have lessons that night with our investigator that is getting baptized on the 19th. It is really cool to be able to participate in these different ordinances for these people. It will and has forever changed who I am. To get to the Zone Conferences we get rides from the missionaries in our zone that have a car. We have two cars in the zone, well with Elders, so we have to have 5 people in each car. Usually there is a rotation of some sort that the mission has figured out. I will more than likely stay here this next transfer. It will be really weird if they move me this next one with me only having one left. Than again it does happen. Of the four missionaries that are in our apartment. There are two of them that have been here for 4 transfers. My companion is one and one of the other missionaries Elder Bailey. The other missionary, Elder Sanchez, has only been here for 1 transfer so he will probably stay and I have been here for 2 so I will probably stay as well. Holidays do not affect us really. The only ones that do are New Years, 4th of July, and Christmas really. Other than that it is a normal work day or whatever. Since the holiday was on Monday that just means that we have to wait till Tuesday or whatever to email. So no big thing. The fires I think are doing better than again I have no idea. The moon is cool here still too. Though the smell of smoke is not as prevelant anymore so that is cool. So did you get my flight info? I got it last Tuesday. Talk about a weird day and a scary thing too. It is so crazy to see that I am coming home quicker than I think. It is weird also to think that my last transfer starts next week. I do not know of anything that I really need. I have actually been thinning down on things lately. I actually have been giving things away that I really do not need. I need to get the rest of the box of stuff I am wanting to get sent home finished and sent off too. Other than that things are going really well. There are a lot of things going on here which is always wonderful. Though I have had what feels like a lot of stress from having two baptisms coming up and then also the blessing. Added a little bit of weight to my thought processes. It is good though because staying busy makes the time fly by and also makes things really wonderful. Well mom I hope that you are well and that things are going great. I love you and send you my love. Until next time.Love,Elder Brickey

Hello!Well it sounds like your lives are moving right along. It is good to hear that everyone is well and safe. How is your knee/leg Shan? Things here are good. There are getting a little crazy with transfers coming up, two baptisms, and a blessing. It has been good though because it is also making time fly by. Than again that could be bad because I am also sad about leaving these people and this work. It has been fun to get to know these people and to also see the hand of the Lord in the work. I cannot believe that the time is coming to an end. It still feels like I just entered the MTC the other day. Than again when I look at it some of my converts have been to the Temple which means they have been baptized for over a year. It is nuts. That is really funny/gross about the mouse. I am not a fan for sure. Than again we have lots of roaches and other fun bugs here which suck big time. Oh well I guess you get to have certain pests no matter where you are. It has been a good mission though and a lot of things have happened that have helped me learn and grow so that is nice. Well I hope that the job thing works out for you and gets cleared up. I am sorry that it has caused so much chaos and problems. Well I love you all and send you my love. Until next time take care and I will talk to you later.Love,Elder Brickey

emails 8-31-09

The Mommy-Hello there! How are things going in Utah? How are you doing and what is new and exciting? Things here are good. The fires are in Auburn which is kinda close, but not really. You have to drive like 30 minutes or so to get there. I heard it is a pretty bad one though and that a lot of houses are burning down so that is really sad. That is funny that Dallin was running around with his pants around his ankles. I still remember one day not being able to find any clean pants or shorts so I put on dad's belt with some tools and just walked around the house like that. There are pictures I think in my photo album of Shan kissing me I think. Good memories and SO VERY embarrassing! That is funny that Ryan gets embarrassed when that happens. It is ok he is a kid and they do the darnedest things! I do see some of the missionaries that I flew out with. There is one of them actually in my Zone. He was in a different district in the MTC but we have gotten to really know each other and he is a good kid and good missionary. Other than that I see some of the others at like Zone Conference and things like that. The new family that we found was referred to us from the Bishop. The mom is a less-active and the dad and two daughters are non-members. The mom is actually from Sp. Fork so it was cool to get to know her and reminise about good old Utah. The area has been hit REALLY hard by foreclosures and things like that. It is really sad actually. Than again there were a lot of people that did the credit thing and got WAY to much things because everyone else was getting them. It is sad to see families loose so much because of things that they really did not need. Other areas are hit kinda bad and this area is probably not that bad but it is just weird to see as many houses as we do with the foreclosure signs on them. I do not really remember seeing any back home so it is new and there are a lot so it is really sad. Here in Antelope we go to the Library to email, which can be fun. You have to make a reservation to get a computer and sometimes you wait a long time before you get on. In Chico it was nice because we had computers at the complex we lived at that we were able to use. They were really slow though so that was no good. There was a lot of times that I wished I had my laptop because it was 100x faster. We do have only one Zone Conference per transfer. So that means that I only have one more and that is a really weird feeling. We go to the different Stake Centers for Zone Conference. So here in Antelope we have the option of going to Roseville, Citrus Heights, Rocklin, and Antelope. Well other than that things are going awesome. We set a baptismal date with this awesome guy named Richard Garcia. He is married to a member and his daughter is a member. He has had a lot of good experiences with the Church and really wants to move to Utah in the next couple years if he can. He is a really awesome guy. So that is really exciting to have two baptisms coming up here soon. Then I got a call from the Lincoln 1st Ward Elders asking if I would be willing to go to Lincoln and bless Andrea Gonzales's son Jake, she is my convert that I baptized her daughter last November, so of course I said yes and got the permission to do that. So needless to say I am super stoked and excited. Things are just going so superb right now mom it is wonderful. I am so very very grateful for all of the things that the Lord is blessing me with right now. It makes finishing off strong SO much easier and better. Well I love you and hope you are well. I am sorry to hear about Truman and the whole fence situation, I know you have been working at that for quite a while now. Well take care mom and I will talk to you later.LOVE YOU!!!!Love,Elder Brickey

Hello-Things are staying very busy out here. We are starting to teach more and more and a lot is happening. It sounds like you are having LOADS of fun yourselves. I am sorry to hear about the hair"butch" and I know the feeling. I went once to get my haircut and the person mutilated my head. I now cut my own hair which is surprisingly easy. It is going to be SO weird to come home and see Saedy running and Aleana probably running too. I remember that Saedy was not even walking when I left. She was still a bit topsy tervy. It sounds like your kids are just GROWING. That is good though I guess. They definiately have their own personalities. Well I am sure that the job situation will work out for you. It is good to hear that your knee is doing better to Shan. So what is this about a MOUSE? I did not hear this story....I killed a mouse once in the upstairs bathroom. I think it was FHE too and everyone was there. Mickell and Kyle might have helped me kill it if I remember right. Anyways. Things here are going good. We are staying so very busy and have a lot of things going for us. I am not so sure about cool weather though. It was 102 at 7pm on Saturday! That was NOT fun at all. It is good though I think I have lost some weight which is really nice. Well I hope that you are well and that things are going good too. Take care and I will talk to you later.Love,Elder Brickey

Emails 8-24-09

The Mommy-Oh Zack Kinder, that puts everything together now. That is no good about Zack my cuz though. That kid seems to be spiralling out of control. Hopefully things turn around for him. I could get a picture of the couch and send it to you. I have been meaning to send some stuff to you all for a while now and just have not done it. Than again I do not know where the post office is and that makes it hard. Oh well though things are going good overall so that is always nice. Well for finding it can be a little bit of a trick just because one we do not know where roads are and then we get lost sometimes. Some addresses are wrong but usually not. Yeah it is really sweet to have a baptism coming up. I am more excited for the fact that she should have been for about 5-6 months and all she really needed was a slight push/challenge and she was on her way. It is scheduled for Sept 12 so we are working toward that now. She does not really have any family that I know of that could do the baptism and confirmation. Though there are a lot of awesome members from the ward that have adopted her and she could have any of them do the ordinances. I am not sure when I get to go for a ride in the Ariel Atom, though I will make sure that I get pictures and that it happens. It is a really cool car and makes me really speed hungry again. I cannot believe that August is over, and I cannot believe that today actually marks 22 months since I have seen any of you. Time is going by at a very excelerated rate for me it seems. That is SWEET that Camie and Chad are going to have a kid. Than again I forgot that they were able to adopt, so I was not sure at first who Kinsey was. This past week has been good. We picked up a really sweet family to teach. The boyfriend/soon to be husband is not a member and is really interested in the church and has a lot of questions so that is good. Other than that though things have been just easy going. We had Zone Conference which was really good, though at it I realized that I have only one left which freaked me out a little. Well other than that not much has been going on. I did get the package, thank YOU very much I really appreciate it. Nicole looks very georgeous in her pictures. That is probably the worst thing about seeing the pictures, me not being there. It is ok though I am really happy for everyone and their lives going the right direction. Cannot complain about that! Well thanks again mom for all you do. No matter what I LOVE YOU! Take care and I will talk to you later.Love always,Elder Brickey

Hola-Well it sounds like things are going pretty good for you so that is good. That is cool that the kids enjoyed being with Nicole and Ben. I am pretty stoked at the idea of crashing wherever I want when I get home. Though I look forward to going out to the cabin and being in the boons which will be nice. That is fun that you were able to go on a "date" I do look forward to those again. Anyways. That is good that you have some people showing interest and that it is Ogden. That is about half way up to Scott and Kayce. Make little pit stops all along Utah. I actually have not gotten to ride in the car, though I will before I leave if it is the last thing that I do. I do like it when people have toys that I can use and play with. I look forward to coming and playing with the toys that you all have since I will not have any when I get home. I would really like to get a Toyota Tacoma when I get back but I do not know what will happen. I know dad has offered his truck but it gets nots so good gas mileage. Other than that stuff though things have been good. We are teaching more and more people. It is actually really cool because my trainer was trained here and his first convert I am meeting with so that is neat. I get to, maybe, die in my trainers greenie area. Well other than that we are just busting our tails off to get things going and it is paying off. Well I hope that you are doing well and that the job thing pays off. I love you and will keep you in my prayers for sure. LOVE YOU!Love,Elder Brickey

Emails 8-17-09

The Mommy-Before we got the dresser we used our closet and a cupboard/linnen closet to store all the clothes. It was not good, I did not like it at all. It was a real pain especially with my socks. The furniture usually has been donated. It is also from churches that get remodeled or new stuff. Our couch is actually kinda hideous and looks like it came from the 70s or early 80s. It is in great shape and was a custom built couch so whatever, it works. We are kind of able to keep in contact with people from our old area, but not really. We have quite a bit on our plate with trying to get the area moving and finding all the people we are suppose to be teaching. It is somtimes really difficult but hey nothing worthwhile is easy. We do go to the same church but at different times so it is hard to see anyone. We sometimes see people as we come out of sacrament meeting but usually not. It is getting hot here too. I was all happy with the cool weather and it goes and gets hot again, no good. You should see the lawns out here. Between the heat and then SO many forclosed homes there are a lot of sad looking lawns. Wow I did not know that Zack was getting married. I did hear from him that he moved in with a girl and she has a kid. He was thinking that they would get married but not till after I got home. Guess things changed. Our week was really good. We have an investigator named Megan. She is 14 and her mom is a member but was less-active for a while. She has been taking the lessons for quite a while and this last Wednesday we commited her to get baptized and she excepted so that is AWESOME. She is a really smart girl and really awesome, I am SO stoked for her and for her mom too. Her mom was SO happy she was in tears. Other than that things are moving along. We are getting the new area down and meeting more members so that is good. Other than that not much has been happening. Oh yeah there is a member in the ward that is REALLY into cars, so naturally we are the best of friends now. He has an Ariel Atom which is a VERY rare car and suppose to be one of the fastest american made cars. It looks a lot like a formula one car but is street legal. He is going to take us for a ride so I am super excited! That is fun that they are doing more road construction. Hopefully that will all be done by the time I get home. Anyways well things are going good and I am doing well. I love you mom and appreciate all you do. LOVE YOU!Love your son,Elder Brickey

Hey Hey Hey!Whats up FAMILY! How the heck are you doing? It sounds like things went pretty well this last week. That will be fun to go to the Temple dedication. Nicole is awesome, than again our family is AWESOME. I am definiately the most stoked about seeing everyone again. I am glad that your knee is doing better Shan. I am for sure not jealous of that injury. Than again I am just a whimp when it comes to pain and suffering. Though I deal with it quietly. Your kids crack me up. That is funny that Saedy is a bitter. I remember that was an easy way to get the things that I wanted when I was younger, my teeth were SHARP when I was little. Dallin though I do not have any claim on that. I did not really care what shirt I wore at least that is what I remember. Sweet deal though $1, I like that. You will have to tell Danielle HI for me. I have not seen or heard about any Clear Creek peoples in for days. I am doing well, yes still in one piece. A little scatter brained at times but overall good. I will not lie that I have rubbed it in a couple times with the greenie. I told him one that REALLY got to him. I told him that I have half as many pdays than he has months. It was NUTS. I am in the 2nd to last transfer. On Sept 14th, I think, I begin the final one! Wow that is SCARY! I cannot believe that it is that soon already. Well other than that all is well here. I hope you are well. I love you all and wish you the best. Take care until next time.Love,Elder Brickey

Emails Aug. 10, 2009

The Mommy-I did have enough for the dentist. He was really awesome too. He remembered my face from last year when I was in there with Elder Remington. He could not believe that it had been that long and he told me I needed to finish off strong for him. That should not be that hard to do. Well for the apartment remodel it was mainly furniture that got moved around. We also got a new couch because ours was falling apart, we also got a chest of drawers so now we have somewhere to put our clothes which is nice, and I am also getting a new desk which will be really nice since the desk I have is terrible. We are living with two other missionaries. One is Elder Bailey and he is from Monticello and the other is Elder Sanchez and he is from Murray. They are both really young. Elder Bailey is in his fourth transfer and this is Elder Sanchez's first transfer. So YES I am the oldy moldy in the apartment. Than again I am one of the oldy moldies in the mission which is weird to think about. That is weird that it is not recommended by the church to do the co-teach thing but they are doing it anyways. Good luck with that it sounds weird and probably confusing. That is cool that Lindon Days are coming up, and now over(after reading your second email). I miss those they were really fun. I bet that they really appreciate your help then if Bryan is going to be gone and Marcy is still recovering. That is crazy that Rudy is turning twelve and that Chase is a senior. I still remember both of them when they were LITTLE. It will be weird to have Chase be tall. Is he taller than me now? Like it matters I will still man handle the kid and show him who is boss. That is sweet that Mickell was able to go to the Temple with the Mission President. Dang though 6-8 hours to get to the Temple. Which one did they go too? Well things are warm still here in Cali. I would LOVE to be able to have the 70s for sure. Though I will probably complain when I get into the cold when I get home. Than again I do miss the cold and love it so who knows. I did not know that Ray Ormond switched over to Lindon PD. The last thing I heard about him was that they were struggling a bit with church and such. Hopefully they are doing well I love Ray he is one of the reasons that I am comfortable in water. I have a really fun memory with Scott, him, and going to a friends house of theirs out in Saratoga Springs. Well that is cool though that Kirt called. It sounds like he is having a fun time with his job taking him to Europe and the church taking him all over to talk. Sounds like loads of fun to me. That is funny though that Brandon thought it was normal to have a tooth in the roof of his mouth, a little strange but funny. Did they get it removed? That will be a story he can tell for a long time to come. That is really weird that I have been out of school for four years. It feels like yesterday that I was there. Than again it feels like yesterday that I entered the MTC and that is coming up on 2 years. The new area is pretty good. It is really weird to just flop and see everyone in the other ward at church still. We also cover these crazy houses that use to be military housing so they are all the same and a little different. Other than that things are going good. I am having fun and doing the best that I can and it is just great. I would be lying though if I did not say that I am getting a little excited for the prospect of home. I am split still though because I do not want to have to find a job, car, and get schooling going. Well I love you and hope all is going well for you. Take care and I will talk to you later. LOVE YOU!Love always your son,Elder Brickey

Hello There!Well it is good to hear from you. I am sorry though about the schooling and not getting that done. I know how hard it can be when you want something to let it go. Though I know that you will do great at whatever. I have faith in you Ryan plus you are a Brickey and we are just awesome anyways! ;-) Well I am glad to hear that you do not have to get surgery, I am not a fan of that option. Than again it was fun getting my tonsils out because I was awake one minute and asleep the next. The bizarre part was that I did not have any sedative whatsoever, just passed out cold from being so tired and having gotten no sleep for over a week. Mom can tell you about the recovery, I guess I was a little out of it. I am sorry though that you do not qualify for the medicaid. I remember when I got into my accident it helped a lot with those bills. Than again at the time I made no money and had A LOT of debt, well I guess not a lot but I had the motorcycle to pay off. I would not be surprised either if Aleana is running by the time I get home. Hopefully just walking but who knows. It is weird to think that all my neices and nephews are going to be grow up, well compared to the last time I saw them. I find it funny that they are so different and so much like all of us. I can see parts of me in your kids and Cassie's. I can only imagine what Scott's are going to be like. Well things are going good. The remodeling was not that bad, other than we did not have tools so I went and got some. We are getting new things though and that is nice. I cannot believe how well things are going actually. I am hoping that things finish off awesome. Well other than that things are just normal and the missionary stuff. Nothing to terribly exciting other than getting lost a couple of times which stunk. Well I love you all and wish you the best. Take care and I will talk at you later.Love,Elder Brickey

Emails 8-3-09

The Mommy-Things went GREAT at the dentist. Though it was weird to not get numbed up to have work done. He completely destroied my tooth and within ten minutes had a crown made and ready to go in. It was weird to have a whole in my mouth again. I have not had to deal with that for quite a few years. One of the missionaries got a picture so I will have to send them to you, it is crazy. We live with one other set of missionaries, but it is mainly just one of them that kept messing with the tstat and driving me nuts. But today was transfers and he is leaving to Auburn so that is solved. My companion and I actually got transferred, we are now covering the Antelope 2nd Ward, we use to cover the 4th. We switched with the Sisters in the zone it is weird. We will stay in the same apartment and everything but are switching wards. Talk about a transfer that I did not predict. Anyways. That is cool though that you recommended the Lundquists to Grandma and Grandpa. I bet they really appreciated that. I think it would be cool to be a missionary at the MTC. I do have a photo album that I bought when I was in Lincoln a year ago. It is pretty nice and has a good chunk of space left in it. Our week was good though. We actually were out tracting and this truck passed in front of us, then backed up. It turned out to be a less-active member and he asked us if we would come over and start teaching him. He came to church and has such a desire to change and get back into the church. That was an awesome day because one way or another we were going to run into him because we were going up to tract the street that he lives on. Talk about inspiration. It is just sad that now we are covering a different ward and I worry that things will be a little bumpy since he just opened up to my comp and I so we will see and definiately keep a close tab on how it goes. It sounds like the Brickey party was pretty cool. That is crazy that everyone and their families were there. Well as in everyone is married and those that showed up had spouces and kids which is weird to me. Good for them all though. I do not think that we will be able to see the dedication of the Temple to be honest with you. Well I have not heard anything that is, so I am just assuming. You have a co-teacher now, that sounds, uh, fun. Hopefully things go well with that. Does that mean that there are to many people and not enough callings or something? Well other than that I am going to be "remodeling" our apartment with this transfer. It is not in the best of shape and I want to give it a bit of a face lift I guess and I want my bed to be on the ground. Yep I have been on a bunk bed and I really do not like it so it will be nice to be back on the ground again. Other than that things have just been moving onward and forward which is nice. Well I love you and hope you are doing well. LOVE YOU!Love your son,Elder Brickey

Curley Family-Well it sounds like you have had your hands full. Between kids, family reunions, jobs, and whatever else you have it seems like you have no time for yourselves. I am sorry to hear about your knee Shan. I do not envy you at all for that. I have had a couple friends that had to deal with different torn ligaments in their knees and they were never fun. I probably should not have said anything because I think that I bruised something deep in my right calf today, it aches when I walk and pedal my bike. Oh well though if it gets worse or does not go away I will make sure that I get it looked at. I will not lie it sounds like Saedy is a sheer terror. Though I find it a little bit funny at the same time just cause I do not have to deal with it, yet anyways. I know that my kids are going to torrment me for all the things that I have done and do. Your kids sound funny though and seem like they are getting big and developing their own personalities. Though they might not be getting the attitude that you want. Anyways. Well as for me things are going well. Today was transfers and both my comp and I are staying though we are now covering a different ward. We are staying in the same apartment and everything which is weird. We changed wards with some of the sisters in the zone, so I do not know how I feel about that because we just got somethings going the way that they need to be and not to rag on sisters but they are just not outspoken enough to get things going the way they need to be with the ward. Oh well I guess the Lord knows best so what can you do? Just go and do the best you can I guess. Other than that things are cooling down which is sweet since you know me and heat do not get along. I will have to let you know how the new ward is. I love you and wish you the best.With love,Elder Brickey

Emails 7-26-09

The Mommy-I will not lie I do not really sleep when it is super hot. You know me I am a furnace and do not really need the heat. It has been good though because I have programed the tstat so it gets the apartment cooling down for when we get in and by the time we go to bed it is not horrible. The only problem was making sure that the other missionaries did not mess with it or turn it off during the day otherwise it got sweltering hot. I do not think I have gotten heat stroke, though I have gotten sick of drinking water in a day. I drank over 4 liters and that was not good for the belly. I have started drinking juices and such to replace the different things that I sweat out so hopefully that will help. Our investigator from Napal actually moved here for better opportunities and such. She is 50 and lives with her son and his family. She is really cool and made it to church on Sunday so that was good. The only down thing is that the only member that speaks Napale or a Eastern Indian language that she can understand is on vacation for the next two weeks. She wants to get baptized but she wants to give a talk when she does and she is not very comfortable with her english. We went bowling on last Pday with the missionaries from the Antelope zone and Citrus Heights zone, it was really cool. I did really terrible but it has been a while. Things are good here though. It is cooling down into the 90s now so that is nice. I heard that it is in the 80s and low 90s in Utah. I am jealous of that for sure. I am actually really excited for the fact of being in cooler/cold weather again. That is good that the lakes are doing good there. Things here are a little bleek. Water levels are not so good so it is nice to hear that home is doing well. I also want to play in water pretty bad. Our apartment complex has two pools and we ride past the one EVERY day which is loads of fun. I would not mind some pictures from Nicole and Ben's wedding. She might be sending some so you might want to coop that. I have a lot of space in my photo album so I am all good that way. I did get your package, thanks I really appreciate it. It was good to "retire" some old gs, they really needed it. I do not understand how I abuse them so much but I do. Well our other investigators are a bit slim. We have been working with this one lady that has some really serious health issues which prevent her from coming to church, so that is hard. We than are working with this in home nurse and she is REALLY busy, but has a lot of potencial. Other than that we are working with a few of the less actives in our ward and trying to get them back to church, the priesthood, or to the temple. We are working with a lot of cool and good people that way. Wow that is cool that Scott Ellison has been out for that long, I think Scott Twitchell is about the same in his mission. I could not tell you off hand. Well good news I am going to the dentist on Wednesday. I am going to finally get everything finished up so that is good. I am doing well too. There has not been to much exciting going on lately other than missionary work. Well I love you and hope you are well. Take care.Love always your son,Elder Brickey

Hello There!To tell you honestly I had no idea that it was even the 24th or that it was Pioneer day. It was just another day to me. It is weird how holidays do not mean much when you are a missionary. I do not think that the ward did anything to celebrate, I do not know. Other than that it has been hot and it is REALLY fun being out in it, but hey the Lord called and I responded. It is really good actually because sometimes people let us in due to the heat. We were also lucky and had one of our investigators come to church. She is awesome and wants to be baptized, but first wants to improve her english so she can talk in sacrament meeting after. Yeah that is a new one for me. Than again teaching a none christian was interesting in itself. I am doing well other than that. Especially compared to you Shan. Maybe you should go on a mission the Lord seems to protect us a great deal. It seems like you have gotten all the abuse that I probably would have gotten if I did not come on the mission. You know like when I dislocated my shoulder, than almost cut my finger off, than went and got REALLY sick, etc wonderful times. I hope that you get feeling better Shan and take it easy so that you do not make it worse. I really have learned that one here on the mission. That is cool that the kids are all growing up and on the move, keeping you on your toes I bet. That is sweet that Dallin said he wanted to get baptized when he gets older too. I bet that made you really excited and happy when you heard that. Kids are awesome and they are SO fun. Well than again I do not have to deal with the screaming and such so that is good too. I am glad that you were able to have some kind of fun though, even if it had a wreck involved and pain. I guess you need to be more careful and less clutzy, just playing. Well I love you all and send you my best wishes. Take care.Love,Elder Brickey

Email 7-20-09

The Mommy-Well HI there! How are you doing this fine and wonderful day? Things here are going well. I have been cooking the treats myself. I have made the smores like 10+ times and the brownie pudding only once. The brownie pudding was in Oroville with a Hawaiian family, well half Hawaiian their names are the Halls. Sister Hall is really cool to because she liked it better if we called her Auntie because she felt like we were her family. The smores have ranged from members to comanions to my district and zone. It is a huge hit with everyone that tries it so far. I have given out a couple copies of the recipes though and people usually have me come show them how to make them or try when they were feeding us next. It was really fun. It is getting really hot. My speedometer has a built in thermostat and it has read between 76 (which is usually our apartmen) and 127 is the highest I have seen it so far. It really is hot and sucks to be biking in it. We try to ride to get the wind but it is roasting hot too so it does not work so well. I do not know either the Lunt or Glazner name so, I do not know who they are. I still liked their pictures though. We have found our investigators through tracting and one was a referral from the Auburn Zone Leaders. She lived there and moved into our ward. She is really neat she is from Napal and is a little hard to understand at times but it is fun to talk to her. We are about 10-20 minutes from Roseville. It is not part of our Zone. Each Zone is usually one stake. We are in the Antelope stake then there is the Citrus Heights stake then it is Roseville. This past week though has been fun. Today we actually went into Citrus Heights and went bowling which was fun. I did not do so well for a while, I am a little out of practice. Other than that we had a lot of cancelled lessons which was sad but hey that is what happens. We do have some good potencial though. Our one investigator called us her boys and was sad that she could not stay and talk to us for a while because she is a nurse and said that it was to hot for us to be out. That was pretty good. It sounds like Steel Days was pretty cool. They did start going up to Art Dye before I left. I remember because we could not hear the concert as good when they moved up there. Why is Kirt in Europe? That is cool though I would love to drive in Germany and go ZOOM ZOOM. So it is probably better that I not go there cause I might die. Well things are going well. I am still in one piecw for the most part. Things are going good though and I am happy with the way things are shaping up. Well I love you mom and hope you are doing well. Take care and I will talk to you later. Oh yeah I got things lined up for my dental. If everything turns out the way it sounds I will only need $200 put into my account to get everything covered. I will keep you posted though. LOVE YOU!Love always your son,Elder Brickey

Curley's-Well I am glad to hear that you were able to get out of your lease. I know it was causing stress so I am glad it all worked out in the end. I am sure that the job thing will to eventually. If you do go out of state that would be fun to go and chill there for a while. I was actually thinking at one time in the mission of doing like a road trip when I got home but there is that need of money that always stinks so maybe not. Well I am sure the Lord will take care of you. You do have quite the spread though of possibilites with states though I do have to admit. Wow I do have to admit that for suveneurs there is not really anything special. There is the Nor Cal stuff but I can really careless about spending $20-$50 on either a shirt or jacket, no thanks. I have had a few knives offered, once a gun but I am not sure how legal it would have been. There is also a TV that I might be able to get from a guy I was working with in Chico. He wants a bigger TV and I told him that I would love a TV like the one he has, so he told me that when the mission is over to stop by and he might just give it to me. Who knows though because I do not know how I would get that home. I have no clue actually as to why this city is called Antelope. You could probably find it on Wikipedia or whatever. I am ready to call it quits with the heat. It is in the 100s everyday which stinks. I go through A LOT of water. I have a camelback and I drink it like it is going out of style. The only thing is that I get water logged in my stomach but I still feel partched which sucks! Oh well it will make Utah SO nice to come into. That is cool that you saw two deer, and bucks at that. I love to see wildlife, though I have not seen anything for quite a while since I left Mt. Shasta. Well things are going good none the less. I cannot believe that it is almost 21 months since I left. Time is flying by it is nuts. Well I love you and wish you the best. Take care and I will talk to you later.Love,Elder Brickey

emails 7-13-09

The Mommy-Hello there! How are you doing mommy? Things here are good. It is a little weird to get use to the changes that come from a new area but things are going good. For the fourth we only ate at two different places though we did have like six or seven offers. I do not need that to be happening, I need to lose weight not gain it. My bike is doing great and the guy at the shop is not a member. He just has a lot of missionaries come in and get their bikes fixed there. He was super nice and since we give him SO much work he gives us discounts and such so that is nice. For socks I need the church kind, they are my everyday sock. Just some black church type socks that are good. I like the gold toe ones that Shan and Ryan got me for Christmas, but whatever works. As for pants I went and got some today so I should be ok with that. But for your knowledge if you want it was slacks I am a little tough on them. Than again being on a bike is just hard on things. I am not really sure what I am doing to my g bottoms. Between stains, tears, and just being old I guess. I might use a couple new tops but for the most part it is bottoms that get THRASHED on a bike it seems. Or maybe it is just the mission that is hard on them. You know keeping me safe is a difficult job so they get worn out pretty quickly. Wow all of the Pontious clan is getting hitched. If I remember right Alicia is closer to Nicole's age than mine. I did hear about Mary and her need for surgery. I am glad to hear that things went well for it. Hopefully recover and all will continue to be good. I did get the pictures for your primary kids. It was really fun to open it up and see those. I do have to admit that I am not sure if I know who they are but I am grateful none the less. That is really weird that Skyler and Alicia are already expecting. Are they living in the ward with one of their parents? That is funny that Grandpa is joking about Grandma "updating" him. I do not think that Grandma could find a better fit then him. He is the best. Than again I LOVE my Grandparents they are just the best ever! I did not hear that one of your ladies went on a mission. That is funny that they got towed well sad but funny because I kinda know how they feel. I parked backwards in Chico a couple nights and one night we came out and found a warning saying that we cannot park backwards or else we would get towed so that was a fun thing to get. Well things are good. We picked up two new investigators this past week and the one lady accepted a baptismal commitment where she use to live so hopefully things will go well and we will get her committed to a date here soon. Other than that not much is going on. I have found that our receipes are a still a big hit. Especially the Smores and Brownie Pudding always loved. Well I love you and hope you are well. Let me know how you are doing and what is new in the life of my mommy. Take care and I will talk to you later.Love always,Elder Brickey

Curley Familia-Well it sounds like things are still a little crazy for you. I do admit that I am not jealous in the least ways for that. I will be however glad to help out in whatever way I can both here and when I get home. I am glad to hear that you have someone to sign your contract over too, or that you have a good potencial at least. I am sorry though to hear that things are still a little crazy with the job front. I am not excited about that in the least bit. I do not want to have to get a job, car, and schooling stuff going when I get home. But it is a good thing so I will get it done, though I might be kicking and screaming. I hope that you are able to get a job that allows you to stay close to home, though I do agree that if the Lord says go that is the thing to do. No matter where you go I will come and visit. HAHA you cannot get away from me!!!! Just playing though that was a little creepy. The new area is good. Things are starting to pick up and we have some decent potencial right now. I am looking forward to getting things going here in Antelope. I might still like Chico a little more but that is because of the memories and I was there for a lot longer. We do get fed pretty well though the dinner calander just changed so we will see what will happen with that. I do not know what souvenirs I will be bringing home. I really do not think there is anything really different here than at home so......Being "in charge" is not what it is cracked up to be for sure. Plus I still like to make my companion do as much work as I do and participate in everything that way they learn and can be better and do better for the rest of their missions. I do not appreciate all the planning though that comes with leadership and the meetings and such. They are for our benefit I know but it seems like we get A LOT of repetition. Maybe that is just because they have to repeat or that is the biggest problems I do not know. Well I love you all dearly and wish the best for you. Take care and I will talk at you later.Love,Elder Brickey

Emails July 6, 2009

The Mommy-Elder Lancaster is from Smoot or Star Valley Wyoming. It is close to Idaho in about the middle of the border. He was in Rocklin when I was in Lincoln and they are the same stake. Then I was his ZL in Chico he was out in Willows/Orland. So I have been around him a couple of times so that was pretty nice to at least kind of know who I was going to be serving with. The Elder that went to Mt Shasta I did get to talk too. He actually got a ride from some members up in Mt Shasta so I got to see them. It was actually really funny because I went and helped carry down his stuff and when the family saw me there were all "wait a second we know him" so that was really funny. They told me that it looked like I have grown up a bit since they last saw me. So looks like your baby is getting older. In Chico we had Zone Conferences combined with Redding and Anderson so we switched between the three stakes for the hosting area. I was able to get back up there a couple times before I left Chico but Redding is still and hour south of Mt Shasta so I could not run into anyone from there. I might be ok with socks, though I am a size 11 in shoe. Pants I might need a new pair but I could just spend $20 and get a decent pair from Wal-Mart or Kohls. I am just lazy. Than the g situation is 32 regular cotton poly. The missionary from PG is Sister Shannon McCarty. Dad actually ran into her friend at a bank not to long ago which was pretty funny. I think she has lived there her whole life but I am not sure. She gradutated 05 so a year before Kyle and two after Jodi I think so she said that she did not know either of them. We did get part of the 4th off. From 4 on we were with members at BBQs and stuff so that was really fun. Though I probably gained a lot of weight due to eating at every stop on the way. I have no idea if things go on for the 24th or not. That is cool that Brad and Ryan came over. What cause had them come over? As for Brad tell him it was because of religious freedom or something. A lot of them are actually wanted over in Russia so they thought they would be safe in the land of opportunity. I did get my bike fixed. The shop was really cool to the guy took it apart saw that it was nothing big and just fixed it without charge. It was SWEET! I did not know that there was a relative in the area. Does he live in Antelope itself? If so is he a member and should I look him up and go and say hi? I did here about Kyli and that is to bad about there still being problems. I know how difficult it can be to go through the custody battles we actually helped a couple people through them it was CRAZY to see and participate in. You probably need to have a steel and cement barrier put down that side of the house to protect it from damage or falling down. Though that might not actually do much but get chipped down until nothing remains. Things are good though. We have a lot of things that should be taking off here really soon. It was really sweet to see the work of the Lord by placing me where he has throughout my mission. I have insights and things that were and are needed here it is awesome. Other than that though things are just one step at a time and one day at a time. How are you doing? Anything new and exciting going on? Well I love you mom so very much and hope you are doing well. Take care and I will talk to you later.Love always your son,Elder Brickey

Curley's-Hello there! I am sorry to hear about the job Ryan. Though I can promise you that it only means that the Lord has other plans for you. I know that because it is almost like a transfer in a way. At first you wonder why and then you realize later the reason. I do commend you for not putting yourself down. More than likely it is your boss and just her issues. You are a wonderful person and she is missing out on having an awesome person working with her. I am sorry to hear also about the house thing. I will definitely keep you in my prayers. Than again I do not think that you guys have ever left my prayers but I will keep these things on my mind for you. For the subject heading. I did my email to Mom, Dad, and Scott and I did not have one from you. I than had a feeling to check my yahoo account and BLAM there it was. I bet though with your hectic week that your minds were elsewhere but it is all good. I love you no matter what! Well I am getting the area down. It is a smaller city to me at least but there are a lot of houses close together. My bike is working good now. I took it in and got it fixed and it turned out to not really be anything so that was nice. My companion is from Smoot/Star Valley area. It is on the border of Idaho about halfway up the state or so. He loves it there. He goes to U of Wyoming and plans on living there forever. Plus he gets to light off wicked awesome fireworks whenever he wants how cool is that! Well I hope things get going better for you. Love ya tons.Love,Elder Brickey

emails 6-29-09

Mommy-Well things are HOT here in California. Especially since I am on my bike again. I really miss the car but I guess I will get back into some kind of shape due to this. I am actually having some really bad luck with my bike. The left side crank arm is falling off a lot so I have to replace the assembly to get it fixed to not fall off. I got a ride down with one of the less active members that I was working with. Do you remeber me talking about Daniel Adams it was him that gave me a ride. He is so funny he almost cried when I went a told him. He insisted that he take me or else I would get a whooping. It was really fun riding down with him. My new comanion is Elder Lancaster he is from Wyoming. I have actually served around Elder Lancaster twice now so I knew him which was nice. It is a little hard coming into an area and becoming the DL but hey I can do it if the Lord asks. The missionary that I replaced actually went up to Mt. Shasta and the DL that I replaced went to Redding to be a ZL. My new address is 4400 Shandwick #52 Antelope, CA 95843. Wow that is crazy that the Temple was so busy, at least people are going I guess. My stuff is holding up pretty good actually the only thing that I have been a little hard on are socks, pants, and g-bottoms. I will have to find a dentist to get this thing finished or else I will just have to wait till I get home and just take it really easy with my tooth and eating. The city of Antelope is VERY busy. It is a crowded city which you know me I am not to fond of that. It is good though there are a lot of nice people. There are actually a lot of muslims and russians so I was joking around that I needed Brad to come out and help us out. We are actually really close to the Temple and people in both Chico and Oroville said that when they go to the Temple they might just have to swing in and grab me. I would not mind that I love going to the Temple it is georgeous. Wow that is really cool that Chase took state in science. How is he doing? I wrote him a letter but he is probably super busy and has not written me back. My area is pretty small, probably the size of our stake doubled maybe tripled cause I do not remember how big our stake is anymore. I am over 5 missionaries 2 of which are sisters. There is also a sister missionary that is from PG that is in the Zone so that is cool, though she does not know Harpers or Walkers. Well it sounds like things are going well for you. I love you and hope you are well. Take care and I will talk to you later. LOVE YOU MOM!Love your son,Elder Brickey

Curley Family-Well it sounds like you have an eventful week ahead of you. I will admit that I am not jealous. It is hard enough moving stuff that is SUPPOSE to fit into 3 suitcases, though now it is the three, my backpacks, a couple bags, and a couple boxes. Yeah you accumulate a lot of junk on the mission. Though some of it is really cool. Well I hope that everything goes well for the move and such for you. I would love to help but am a little indisposed at the moment so sorry. ;-) The area is good though VERY VERY HOT and that has to deal with the fact that I get to ride my poor falling apart bike. It is in mint condition other than that left crank arm keeps falling off so I need to get it fixed because it falls of a lot. My new comanion is Elder Lancaster and he is from Wyoming. He actually reminds me a lot of Uncle Kirt for some reason. He is fun though and has a big heart. He is getting me use to the area as quickly as he can. Though it is not very fun while sweating gallons of fluid. This could very easily be my last stop. I have three transfers left counting this one so I am not likely to move. I do agree with you though Shan, I may be dying as a missionary but will be reborn as Kincade which will be a little weird. One of the missionaries called me by my first name the other day and it really threw me off. Not sure how use to it I am anymore. Though it did sound good, like a memory of a past life. Anywho. Things are great we are building up the ward and I can already tell why I am here and why I was suppose to be in Chico. The first Sunday the Bishop starts talking about the "Circle of Love", the member missionary plan put out by the brethren, and he was so confused so it was nice that I have had tons of experience with it over the last 6 months. Well I love you and wish you all the best. Take care and give your chillins a SQUEEZE from their favorite Uncle that is a missionary! Love you!Love,Elder Brickey

Emails 6-22-09

The Mommy-Well it sure does sound like everyone is getting married and moving forward with their lives. It is crazy though to think that most of the people my age are married or getting married. My companion goes home in August so he has one more transfer. He will actually be staying here in Chico and I am leaving and going south to Antelope 4th Ward. I will be also dropping down to a DL again so demoted. It is ok though because that means less paper work. I am not sure though how excited I am just cause I love the area of course but I know that Antelope will grow on me too. Chico is a pretty big town while school was in, though now with it out a lot of people are gone and it is smaller. We are still being fed by the ward they are awesome and take really good care of us so that is nice. I did get an appointment but now with me getting transfered I cannot get it done here. I will have to find a dentist down there to finish or something. It will be nice though being south because I will be able to attend the Temple at least two more times before I come home. Other than the fact that I am getting transfered not much else is going on. Things are busy and hectic but good. Well I better get to packing but I will let you know how the new area is after I figure out how to get there and such. LOVE YOU!Love your son,Elder Brickey

Curley Family-Wow that is awesome that you have found a place. Congrats. I am sure just like anything new it will just take some time till you get use to it and the kids as well. I am sure though it will be good. That will be weird to not see you there when I get home. Though then again I am not use to seeing anyone so. Well I am getting transferred. Only four months left and a new area to go and die in. Well I am mixed up on the feelings just because I sometimes hate change. I just now have to find a ride to Antelope which is like 2 hours a way. It is ok though I am sure that things will go well. That and I have to pack. Yuck. Well I love you and I hope you have a good week. Sorry this is short but luggage calls. Talk to you later.Love,Elder Brickey

Emails 6/15/09

The Mommy-Hey there how are you doing? So how was opening the presents? Anything good? That is sad that Brady got the flu, that sucks actually. Hopefully he will recover quickly. That is awesome that you were able to see the Pontious clan. That family is so funy and fun. We had some good memories with them that is for sure. Well that is fun that Bruce is now in the Stake Presidency. I have a lot of respect for Stake leaders since the mission. I have seen the work that they do and how long they work as well. That is good that you are getting a lot of rain. We have been getting a little bit here it has been nice. We had a wicked awesome thunderstorm the other day which was sweet because it lit up the night awesomely. That is funny that you saw the missionaries. I do have to say that I know their pain. I hated it when something went wrong on your bike while you were in the rain. It always made it so you got really wet. Well things here are good. We are coming up on transfers again actually, on the the 22nd. I am not sure what the President is going to do with us or me. Things are good though. We are working on finding and trying to rebuild our teaching pool because of so many people going back home. Other than that though not much has been happening. We are still trying to do our best with what we have so hopefully things will pick up again. Well I love you and hope things are going well for you. Talk to you later mom.Love your son,Elder Brickey

Curley's-Well I am glad to hear that your week has been calmer to say. I am totally in on anything for mom and dad. Just let me know what I have to do or whatever. That is weird that it is already fathers day. Time is just flying by it is nuts. My companion actually goes home next transfer so that is crazy. I did not know that you had so many root canals. That sucks actually. That thing that sucks is that I have never taken better care of my teeth than on my mission. So that stinks that I get one when I am taking the best care of my teeth ever. Oh well I guess. That is crazy that Ale is already almost 9 months old. Than again all my neices and nephew are all growing so fast. Well things here are good. That is not much new. We did start up a weekly cottage meeting at the institute that is pretty sweet. We did not really have a good turn out but hey hopefully this week will be better. Who knows though only time will tell. Well for p-days we have been mainly playing basketball which is ok I guess but I am getting pretty bored of it. I have been good though overall not much going on. We have transfers on the 22nd so that is kind of nerve racking due to the fact that I have no idea what is going to happen. Well I hope that things are going well for you and I will talk to you later. LOVE YOU!Love,Elder Brickey

Emails 6-8-09

The Mommy-I did not hear that Grandma and Grandpa were doing some remodeling. It seems like a lot of people have done some remodeling to their places in the last couple years. It sounds like loads of fun. The weather here has been all over the place. We have been cooler lately and we had a wicked awesome storm a couple nights ago. It was about 10:30 pm when it started up and it went for a while. We had a lot of lightning which would light up the sky like as though people were taking pictures in a dark room. Than we got a ton of rain which was really nice. I am glad to hear that the wedding went good. That is so crazy to think that all my siblings are married now. I did get the package with the tie on Friday actually so I was able to wear the tie on Saturday. I would love to get some, or a lot, of pictures. It is nice to see what all happened and such so I would really appreciate it. I have still 3/4 of a photo album to fill up so I have tons of room for pictures. Things are going well here. We have a couple things that will be starting this week that will be fun. We are having a night set apart where we are inviting all the members and less-actives and non-members to come to the Institute building and "hang with the Elders" so that will be exciting. Other than that not much has been going on. We did have a guy that came to church that has the cure for cancer and he wrote a letter to President Obama and is waiting for a reply. He was interesting to say the least. It really made Gospel Principles interesting. I do not really know of any missionaries being sick right now but I do know that there are a few members that are sick so that is not good. Well I hope that you all remain healthy and well. I love you and wish you the best. Take care and I will talk to you later.Love your son,Elder Brickey

Hola-It sounds like you had quite the eventful week. I bet you did a wonderful job with the cake. It sounds like the wedding went rather well. I still feel weirdthat everyone is married now. I am not sure for myself where I want to get married. I have a lot of favorite Temples. I almost think Manti because that is where it started with Mom and Dad and then Cassie and Steve. Than again I really like the Logan Temple and SLC Temple so I do not know what will happen. I guess she will give the final input. I do not think I am really ready though for marriage, maybe in a few years than again who knows. I am not sure how I feel about coming home. I am at that point of excited to be home but not wanting the mission to end. It is so wonderful and the people make it so lovely that I almost do not want to come home. I am not ready for school and work and all that other fun stuff. It will be fun though to drive a manual transmission and to go and shoot a gun though. I thought that I would buy a nicer scope for on of the .22s and go and just practice shooting. I am excited though about seeing the family so that will be nice. That would have been funny to photoshop me into the pictures for the wedding. Nicole actually thought about getting a cardboard cut out of me. It is ok though because I am definitely where I am suppose to be. The mission is great. I have had quite a few doors slammed in my face. Than again I have also had a lot of doors open and people just stare at us and then slam the door. It is fun to see all the ways people react to us. That is awesome that Dallin prays for me without being reminded, he is a good kid. Than again I am very proud of all my neices and nephews so. Well things are good here. The dentist went good and my companion just sat in the waiting room. It was funny there was a BoM and a Bible on the table when we came in, really weird to see. Well I love you and wish you the best. Take care and I will talk to you later.Love,Elder Brickey

Emails 6-1-09

The Mommy-Well I am glad that I was able to shock you a little bit. I wondered what you would say when I called. It was funny both you and dad were both like "wait it cannot be him because he is not suppose to be calling" which made it fun. Than having you both guess was pretty fun too. Well I go in and get the work done in a couple hours and I will let you know one way or another how things went. That is scary that the swine flu has hit the MTC. I am thankful that I am not in there right now. It is hard because you are in such close quarters that if someone gets sick a lot of people will. That is cool though that Brady is on his way to the MTC and to the field. I did not heard about Elder Nelson being attacked. That is scary, I bet for them as well of course. That just shows you how scary that times are and how bad. Well it sounds like things are going pretty good back home. I cannot believe that Nicole and Ben will be married this weekend. I hope that everything goes well for it and that it is just awesome. Well things here are good. We are working our tails off now that school is out to try and find new investigators. I know that the Lord has some out there just waiting so it is only a matter of time til we find them. I will get the receipt from the dentist and hang on to it. If you want I could send it to you. Well thanks again for the package I really appreciate it. I hope you are well and that this week goes well. LOVE YOU! Take care and I will talk to you later.Love your son,Elder Brickey

Curley's-Well it sounds like you have had a busy week and a busy one lies ahead. I hope that you can find the time for yourselves and relax a bit. It was fun to call home and freak out mom and dad. They had no idea who I was. Mom did pretty good though she did call me Kirt and dad seemed to nervous to take a guess. Then when I told them they were VERY surprised. My companion can either sit in the waiting room or come back and sit in a chair and watch. Either way I feel bad cause it is boring just sitting there. I think it is boring and I am getting the work done! Zone Conference was awesome! We had some good things explained to us about baptismal invitations. In Preach My Gospel it has the invitation on pg 40(ish), 54(ish), 60(ish) and 72(ish) and they are all the same and are BOLD! So that was a good thing to see and it makes me excited because this Thursday we are going to try it out! We also talked about first impressions and what we missionaries need to do to give the best first impression that we can. It was really cool. It sounds like your kids are pretty fun! That is funny that Dallin is a streaker, well kind of. He did not get that from me though that is for sure. Well at least not to my knowledge. Well things are going good here. We have a good climb ahead of us to get things going because of school being out but hey I look forward to it. Other than that we are still working with the wards and trying to get them more missionary minded. Well I hope your week goes well. Take care and I will talk to you later.Love,Elder Brickey