Emails 1/26/2009

Mommy-The baptism was for CJ Forristel. He is 20 and lives with a member in the 2nd Ward. He is in the 6th Ward because he is a YSA. One of the other members of the 6th Ward, Ian Coltrin from Oroville actually, did the baptism and confirmation. It seems better to have a member in the Ward do both that way the new convert has ties to them and to the Ward more it seems. I am a Jr. Comp Zone Leader just because I do not know the ropes kind of thing. Though Jr and Sr mean absolutely nothing really, other than the one companion has more experience or is more responsible. I did get my bday cake made, I baked it. Though when I was about to put it in the oven Elder Rogers told me that he was suppose to do it, I told him that it was my cake so I was going to make it. Plus that way it is how I want it to be. For the suit I got an entire new suit from JCPenny's. It was on sale and it is really nice, well I think so. I will try to get a picture to send to you of it. For the most part everything else is holding up pretty well. My shoes from MissionaryMall have a hole in the sole so with the rain that we are getting I am not able to wear them unless I want wet feet. Other than that though things are holding up really well. I think anyway. I go the suits at Mr Mac's and I do not think that they had a guarantee on them. It is okay though becuse the new suit will still be in really good condition when I get home. We have been getting a lot of rain the last few days. It is nice that I got into a car area and then it starts raining. I am pretty thankful for that. I do get to meet with the Mission President more now. I also get to meet with the Stake President and leaders more often too. I am not sure if I am excited about that but hey I will survive I guess. Elder Nash goes home on the 17 of February. So in a couple of weeks! It was weird to hear his departing testimony this last Zone Conference. I cannot believe that more than half of my companions will be home by the end of this transfer! I did get to say bye to him because he is an Assistant to the President so he is at all the meetings usually that President is at. I do not think I will see him again though on the mission. I get a letter every now and then from Mickell. It is good to hear from him and see how he is doing. Well things are going well here. We actually have another baptism this Saturday. It is an older gentleman named Bill Falk. He is awesome and because of his example his granddaughter that lives with him is looking into the church now too. Other than that things have been a little crazy but good. We are working really hard and continue to do our best. I am sending a box home so it should get there this week sometime, hopefully. I love you mom. Take care and I will talk to you later.Love your son,Elder Brickey

Curley Family-Well it sounds like there has been a lot going on in your lives. I think that your hair does look good Shan and if it is what you want good for you. Though I do agree with dad about liking longer hair more. But hey as long as you are happy I am happy! That is funny that Saedy bites Dallin a little an the Donner or Hannibal side but funny! I love my neices and nephews, they are all such cute kids. I have the pictures of you and your kids and Cassie and her family on the back of my planner so it is nice to see you all everyday no matter where I am. Well I do not think that my suits had any kind of gaurantee on them but I guess you could check. I think that we would have had a gaurantee if we went through Missionary Mall but we went through Mr Mac instead. That is going to be interesting, Shan packing! I think that people should be scared of you anyway, I mean you are a Brickey and that is pretty scary! Just playing though I was told the other day that I have a very nice and pleasant face. I am not sure what that means but hey it sounded good. Well things are going awesome here. The Lord is blessing us SO much it is nuts. He is giving us veins of gold it seems like. We had the baptism of CJ Forristel this last Saturday and now his GF wants to learn what it is that he is into, so she has been to church the last two Sundays. We also have the baptism of Bill Falk this Saturday and his Granddaughter came to church this last Sunday and is maybe interested in taking the lessons. It is awesome to see the Lord's hand in the work and to be lucky or blessed enough to be a part of it. Well I love you all and hope you are well. I will talk at you later.Love you,Elder Brickey

Emails 1/19/2009

Mommy Dearest-I put a hole in the suit coat and in the slacks. I am not exactly sure what happened I just noticed them when I was packing them away which was a rotten deal. I am sorry that I do not give details I kinda forget sometimes and I do not have that much time to email with having to email in numbers and such now. Thank you for putting the money into my account I really appreciate it. Yeah we do teach Seminary every now and then. I think that I have taught Seminary like 4 or 5 times now. We usually get calls from the teachers of the Seminary class asking if we could come and teach a class and so we do. I did not know that Sister Laycock was Sister Elhart's mom, but she sent me a Christmas Card. I still need to write people back from Christmas I am doing terrible with letters right now. I do have to admit that it is nice having a comp that has been out longer than you, that way they are in charge and get into trouble when things go wrong! It would be cool to stay in touch with some of them and I am sure that I will in some way or another! I got the package from you like the day after or something but that was ok because I was celebrating my bday on the 10th anyway. The weather here is in the 70's so actually kinda hot. That is so cool and weird at the same time that they send you letters about the position that I am holding. It will be interesting to read when I get home. Wow it sounds like you had quite the day when Dallin decided to run off. It is nice sometimes that dad leaves his window open, especially for situations like that. Well things are going well here. We have a baptism this Saturday and we have quite a few other investigators that are really close as well. I think that I am in the swing of the ZL thing but still am getting use to the area. Well I love you and hope you are well. Take care.-Elder Brickey

Curley's-Hey now it is not my fault that I got into an ACCIDENTAL wreck. I blame it all on my bike pedal! If it had not fallen off I would not have wrecked, but then again I do not remember if I was wearing my suit when I wrecked so I am not sure what caused the hole! You know something funny, I actually cover Paradise, CA. It is in the Zone anyway. Though I think Chico is more of a Paradise than Paradise, even though Paradise is GORGEOUS! We usually are in the North part of Chico though we do wander downtown every now and then. I do not know if I have ever felt cramped in an area because all of my areas have been HUGE! I heard that Dallin is quite quick and that he did not appreciate you leaving him the other day. I also heard that mom had a fun experience trying to get back into the house after because Saedy locked the house. Wow you are planning on doing the cakes for Ty, DJ, Taylor, and maybe Nicole that sounds like quite the cake fun! I think that it is funny that I forget to go into details, it is just hard to sometimes and sometimes I just forget too. What can I say I am an old man now! Than again that does make the rest of you ancient! HAHAHAHAHA Just kidding do not hurt me :-) Well things here are going really well actually. We have a baptism this Saturday and another lined up hopefully for next Saturday. The work here is awesome! Though there are the few things that you do have to deal with as a leader but that is okay. Well I am getting the duties down and I am doing well in getting along with my comp. It is nice to have a good comp and that he is older and takes the stress kinda off of me. We have had a couple incidents with some missionaries like laptops, movies and wanting to go home which have been fun to deal with. Though things have been good for learning and growing. Well I love you and hope you are well. Take care of yourselves and your kids.Little Brother,Elder Brickey

emails for 1/12/2009

The Mommy-Yeah a Zone Leader. The duties of a ZL are a lot like a DL but yet more. We are responsible for the whole Zone and for reporting to the AP's what is going on and how everyone is doing. I am in a different Zone than before. I was in Gridley now it is Chico Zone. Let me see the Chico Zone has 18 missionaries in it counting us. It covers Paradise, Williows, Orland, Hamilton City, and all of Chico which is pretty big. And techniqually it is all my companion and my area, because the Singles/Student ward covers all of this Zone as well as Oroville/Gridley and clear up to Red Bluff so really we have a HUGE area but we never really leave Chico. Well at least not yet anyway. My new companion is Elder Rogers, he is from West Jordan so another Utah boy for me, but that is fine. He has been out for one transfer longer than me so like a month and a half longer or so. It is sad though because like most of my companions I am older than him, but that is fine too. We are all by ourselves in our apartment, so that is nice but at the sametime having four is fun. My new address is 1459 E. Lassen Ave. #19 Chico CA 95973. I did recieve my birthday stuff thank you very much. It was funny because I told Elder Rogers that you said he HAD to make the cake for me and he said he was ok with that if he got some. I am slowly moving more North, though I do not know if I will be really moving again on the mission. I could very easily stay here for quite a while. Than again who knows President likes to mess with my mind. I know it is weird to think that I am 21. I do not feel any different than when I was 17 to 20, than again I do not feel like those happened so I do not know. My Birthday was actually really sad. Our dinner appointment cancelled the night before. We got up early to teach Seminary to the High School Jrs. We than went to an all day meeting with President and Sister Pendleton with the AP's and all the DL's and ZL's in the mission. We did however get a referral that had a lot of potencial and we taught her and she came to church so that was cool. The day after, so Saturday, we did have dinner with some of the members (my Oroville Family) from Oroville. We went to Logan's Steakhouse which was cool because a member from Oroville manages it so we had awesome service. I do however need some money put into my account if possible. I sort of had to get a new suit because I kinda ruined one. Anyways. I have not made my cake yet though am planning to sometime today if I can get around to it. That is cool that the Draper Temple is opening up. It will be interesting to be able to go to the different Temples when I get home. Things are going well here. Elder Rogers and I actually served around each other in Redding, I was in Mt. Shasta, and down in Rocklin, when I was in Lincoln. We get along really well and he has definiately pulled me up and gotten all the cobwebs out of my teaching and such. We are always working and running from appointment to appointment or from here to there. It is awesome but crazy at the sametime. That is funny that Rudy and Kory were all excited about their letters. All I have to say is that I try my best to write back to those that write me. And everyone deserves their own letter. Well I got a Christmas card from a Sister Linda Laycock and I have no clue who that is, so if you could let me know I would appreciate it. Well I love you mom and hope you are doing well. Take care.Love your son,Elder Brickey

Curley Family-I do not feel any different whatsoever. I still feel kinda like a teenager still. The new area is good. Not so sure about the new responsibilities yet though. My new comp is Elder Rogers from West Jordan. I still have no clue as to what all I am doing though I do know some of it from the meeting we had all day on my birthday! That was loads of fun! Thanks for the teasing about being in the Singles ward. I actually thought that to myself when I got the call. I will not lie there are a lot of pretty girls in the area but it is a trial of faith and so far so good. I will just completely rely on the Lord. Chico is really well known. It is the Party School of the USA! Yeah and I get to be here for some really fun holidays. There is tons to do here. There are tons of biking trails, bowling allies, and other things. The best place to shop for food is WinCo or there is Wal-Mart. Chico is huge and has tons of stuff so that is nice. There is actually a mall here. I went to the mall the first day in Chico I had to stop and get a new suit. I sorta ruined one so I had to get a replacement. Funny story. Saturday I went to dinner with my Oroville Family (members that love me from Oroville) and they told the waitress that I was 21 and she said that meant I needed something with alcohol. So I informed her that I was unable to do so and tried to talk a little about the gospel but failed. Oh well I guess. Well I better get going we are running a little late. Love you and thanks for all you do.-Elder Brickey

emails for 1/5/2008

Mommy-Happy New Year to you! We goofed off all day so that was fun. We went and played and did stuff with members all day. It was an all day Pday so no missionary work, or formal work anyway. Well it sounds like things were a little different this year for New Years. I hope that you still had some fun. Yes it is time for transfers, and YES I am getting transferred. I am sad to leave Oroville and the people here. I feel like there is things that I can do here, but President is inspired so I am going to be going to Chico. Oh yeah I am also going to be a Zone Leader! (that was suppose to be sarcastic) Everyone else in the apartment is staying, so I am the only change in our apartment. Though the rest of the Zone is changing a lot. We are getting like four different missionaries and two of them will be greenies. We are getting rain here. Though we are not really getting pounded in my mind, though that could change so I guess it is good that I am going to be in a car now! It sounds like it is a bit cold there. I am probably going to be a wimp when I get home, I have kind of acclimated to the California weather. There is definitely a lot of things going on this year. I cannot believe that Ty, DJ, Nicole and Taylor (is she still going to) are getting married. It is sad that I will have missed both Dad and Your's 5-0. It is ok though I will survive and I am doing awesome things so it is good. I just wish sometimes that I could be there for those things. Anyway. I forgot that Grammy and Grandpa were at their 55th wedding anniversary. Wow! Well it will be a good year it sounds like. Well not much is happening here in Cali right now. We are getting rain though I wish it was snow. We have not really heard much about the Prop 8 stuff anymore. We hear more about how President Obama is not supposedly a legal citizen and that people are worried what he will do. Though I did hear that Bush gave the car companies enough of a bail out to last until Obama becomes President, so that was kind of funny. I am doing well. Still a little frazzled at the fact that I am leaving, but it will pass. I just grow to love the people that I am serving and I want to stick around and see what happens. Well I love you mom and hope things are going well for you. Talk to you later.Your son,Elder Brickey
P.S.I do not know if I answered your question about being able to go to the sealing of Jim and Wanda Linsley. I found out that it is a negative. I will just have to wait and go with them another time either later on in the mission or after. I will however be invited to the Temple in March when the Newton family here in Oroville get to go through so that is exciting. Well I love you mom. Talk to you later!-Elder Brickey

HI!I do agree with the blog. I can understand if the person wants to know some about the area, or knows me and wants to see what I am up too. I just get a little nervous when it is people that I do not know and they are getting on and reading EVERYTHING that I say kinda makes me nervous that I will have said something that will offend someone. Oh well I guess they will get over it if I did, hopefully. Well transfers are today, well tomorrow really. I got a call last night and I am going to be going to Chico and I am going to be a Zone Leader, so more responsibilities yippee! I also get to cover the single adult ward, wow I am going to need your prayers to keep me strengthened! Well I am glad to hear that your kids are doing well. It sounds like Saedy is a lot like her Uncle Kade after all! I will take the blame. I still remember coming home from work and she would not care that I was dirty she just liked her uncle Kade. I hope that your kids stay well and do well. I am sorry about your computer Shan. I have heard though that HP's have had problems with their input port for the power cable though. That is funny that Aleana already knows that food means comfort. She is so totally a Brickey. That is funny that you and Mom both teach CTR 7 classes. It seems like they think that our family will be a good influence on the kids getting ready to be baptized! Well thank you for the Happy Birthday. There are some members that are going to be a little mad because they had Birthday plans for me. Well things are going well here. I am really nervous about going to be a Zone Leader and leaving the people here because of course I have fallen in love with them. I know though that there is a reason that I have to go to Chico so it will be good. I found out that I will not be able to go to the sealing of Jim and Wanda Linsley up in Medford. So that means I will just have to come back and visit or when they come to Utah we will just have to go to the Temple then. Well I love you and hope all is well and goes well for you. Take care.-Elder Brickey