Emails 2-23-09

The Mommy-We went and got our car out of the impound, which stunk. The person that met us there to teach the lesson gave us a ride to the impound and then we went in and had to pay which STUNK because tow trucks/impounds rip you off something fierce. It was really embarassing too, and we tried to be nice to hopefully get maybe a break since we are also poor missionaries, but unfortunately we did not so that was a bummer. Elder Rogers and I are still together, so that is nice to not have to adjust to another comp but then again that is easy, it is just nice to know how someone teaches and does things cause it makes the work easier. That is good that the water shed/supply is above normal. Hopefully it remains that way. I do not know how it is here, still bad I know. We have been getting a lot of rain though. It is weird it will be 70 and sunny one day and the next in the 40s and rainy, so bizzare. I am sure that you will do well in Sharing Time. I know where I get my nervousness from though so I can blame it all on you. No it is all good because once I get up and start doing it I am totally calm. I hope that Cami's surgery and such went or goes well. I LOVE her and Chad they are so much fun and I still remember the time that Kyle went up and had a triple date with them. Good times good times. Anyways. This week went fairly well. The teaching in our wards have slowed a bit but that just means that we need to find more so that is what we are going to do. I am getting use to being a ZL though I sometimes wish that I was just a normal missionary. It is cool though because the meeting that we have with President was cool and he said that when it warms up he want to make it a full day thing and play some sport and bbq and stuff so that sounds good to me. That would be cool if Grandma and Grandpa went to Nauvoo because I would totally go and see them, talk about VIP tours and such. I am sorry to hear that everyone is getting sick, that is never any fun. I am greatful that I have not gotten that sick lately. I have been stuffed up but I take some drugs (meds) and it all goes away. I did hear that dad and Brother Orten (?) tried to drown the 800 and then had some troubles with the 700. I am just glad that all are safe and no one is hurt. The sleds can be fixed though it is never fun to have to do that. I did notice that daylight savings was coming up. It is weird to think that it is already here and that we are getting into spring and then soon after summer. Weird. Well things are going well here. I hope you are well and you are safe. I love you mom. Take care and I will talk to you later.Love your son,Elder Brickey

Hola-Well I am sorry to hear that everyone is getting sick there. I do have to admit that I am glad that I do not have to deal with it. Then again if someone starts gagging I do and if someone throwsup I probably would. It is weird cause I can handle a lot of other things but not that so well. Yeah I can already see me as a dad and my kid puking and then I do, great visual. This past week here has been good. Really rainy but good. We are trying to find some new investigators which is always fun. It is CRAZY to go downtown to try and find people because there are A LOT of people that like to do......interesting things, yeah. It is just really awkward to have a girl (my age) answer the door with little to nothing on. The joys of a college town I guess. So far on the mission there have been nine baptisms in the areas while I have been there. I have been lucky to be able to participate one way or another in every single one too. That is crazy that the Lord has blessed me with such great opportunities while on the mission. I really did not think that I would see one baptism in any area. I did not think that I would ever actually baptize anyone, but I have been blessed to have had both. Well things are going well and it seems like the weeks are just flying by. It is nuts to think that Saedy is turning 2 this week. She is such a big girl it is weird to think about that. Well I hope you are doing better and that you are all feeling better. I love you all and will talk to you later.Love,Elder Brickey

Emails 2-16-09

Mommy-Yeah towed but thankfully there were not any problems. We did not get into any trouble thank goodness. I actually can drive but if Elder Rogers and I are together he drives. I can drive when we go on exchanges with other missionaries though which is cool. With the watch I guess just leave it and I will see if I can figure something out. If not while on the mission I will when I get home. I think that it is Skylar Haws, whose mom lives on Riverwalk, that is getting married to Alicia Elhart. I will check again and let you know. He is like 24 or something like that. I know he is an RM but I am not sure exactly. The baptism this last Saturday went AWESOME. She, Alicia Bratten, was SO excited and she is SO happy. It was awesome to see her face as she came out of the water and the smile on her face. Than I was the one that confirmed her which made me super nervous but it was good. She was beaming again and looked like she had the whole world in her pocket. I have not sent that picture into Missionary Mall I keep forgetting. I will get it done though I promise, eventually. The weather here is VERY rainy but not to muddy since it is mainly city so that is good. Wow that is an awesome story about the Elder from the Marshall Islands. It is a blessing indeed that he is in the USA so they can get it taken care of, well to their best abilities. Well things are going well here. Transfers were today and I am staying here in Chico so that is nice. Well I hope all is well there and that you are well mom. I love you very very much. Take care and I will talk to you later.Love your son,Elder Brickey

Curley's-Well it sounds like things are going well for you all back there in good ol hatU. That is good that you got accepted but the quiltedbear to sell your stuff you do a really good job. The other day I was actually bragging you up to people. And every missionary is jealous of my missionary calander, so THANKS again. That is cool that the Ritchies have been over more lately. Than again sad news because I am not there but hey things here have been AWESOME! We actually had a baptism on Valentines Day so that was the only Valentines thing I needed. It was a girl so in a way I did get get a Valentine from a girl, just not a usual one. Anyways. The weather here has been really rainy but that is fine because we are in a car. I have not pulled my bike out yet so I am staying away from the accidents with those. I am also not the driver so no problems there either. I do not know if I was a repsonsible driver. I do LOVE to go fast which is not good. Though the other day I drove and I did not care that I was only doing the speed limit and people were passing me. Maybe I am calming down in my old age! HAHA just playing. Well transfers were today and I am staying with my companion here in Chico so that is nice. I love it here it is awesome. Well I love you and hope you are well. Take care and I will talk to you later.Love,Elder Brickey

Emails for 2-9-09

The Mommy-Hey there how are you doing? I am doing well. I am getting better at writing in my journal everyday so that is good. It is sad to see that in a year I have not written very much though. I am trying to get into a habit of writing before 10 pm that way I get it done and do not just leave it till tomorrow, which never happens. The post offices that I have been to were usually nice, the lady that was at this one though was not so nice. Oh well I guess. Alicia Elhart is like two or so years younger than me. She is the same age as Chelsey Coombs and yes she is the one that the Coombs had problems with. I got a newsletter from the Singles Ward and it showed that she was getting married to Skyler Haws. Good for them I guess. Well I am glad to hear that the package made its way home. I will be honest I do not remember how all or where all I got that stuff. I just accumulated way to much stuff and needed to get rid of it. I actually have some more stuff that I need to get sent off eventually too. I did not think that the watch was broken, what was broken on it? If it is to bad I will just figure something out. We are actually getting rain every now and than but for the most part we are staying pretty dry so that is nice. Well things are going pretty well out here. We had a slower week this week but that is ok because our investigator Alicia Bratten that is 19 is getting baptized this Saturday! It is SO awesome to see the atonement and gospel at work. We also picked up a new investigator that wants to get baptized eventually so that is nice. Funny but sad story. This last Wednesday we actually got towed. We went to a lesson and parked the car somewhere I guess it was not suppose to be. When we came out it was gone. It was kinda creepy but then I saw the sign and was not happy. Then the tow truck came back to get the car of the person that came to the lesson with us, so it was a good thing that we got out when we did otherwise we would not have had either car. So needless to say it has been an eventful week. Well I hope all goes well for you and that you are doing well mom. I love you.Love your son,Elder Brickey

Familia Curley-Well it sounds like you have had quite the week. It is good to hear that all the chillins are doing well and they are alive and kicking. I like the usage of "She kind of shouts and moves her limbs like a beached whale" in describing Aleana. I can totally visualize that. Well I hope things go well for your craft selling thing. I also hope that things work out for all the other plans like wedding cakes and so forth. Well things are going well here. I have not had to deal with any Elder Sister relations yet. There are no Sister missionaries in the Northern part of the mission. We have had other issues though. Missionaries are finding ways to distract themselves from the work with yo-yos and magic tricks and other weird things. There is also the fun that comes with Chico State College, girls here are interesting lets say. One of the Sororities (spelling?) has an things where their pledges try and get a pair of garments from a missionary and something else. So far though so good and no problems there. We just have missionaries that do not want to cooperate with the programs that President Pendleton has instated and so that is fun. Other than that though things are good. Transfers are next week and it is interesting to see them from a Zone Leaders point of view. Things are going well in our work though. We have the baptism of Alicia Bratten this Saturday which is awesome. We are also trying to get some more investigators since all of them keep getting baptized. What a bad problem right? Anyways. I am not sure what it is that I want to do anymore when I get older. I would love to drive cars or be in the outdoors all the time but I am not sure I will have to figure that out later I guess. Well things are going well other than that. I will try and make another CD with pictures to send to you. I hope all is well and I will talk to you later. Love you all.-Elder Brickey

Emails 2-2-2009

The Mommy-This week has been awesome! We had the baptism of Bill Falk in the 2nd Ward. He is awesome and it is cool because he is setting an awesome example for his granddaughter, she is in her 20's I think, that is living with him as well as the rest of his family. He had the member that introduced him to the missionaries and is his neighbor baptize him. It was really special. I think it is better for a member to do the baptism and confirmation in a way that way when we missionaries leave there is a bond that they have with members of the Ward. We are having sunny days, in the 70s and such which is really weird. It is kinda nice to not have to wear a suit coat all the time though, because once it hits 70 we can take them off. It is weird though to be enjoying 65-75 degree weather at the end of January and beginning of February. I will be able to take a picture and send it to misssionary mall I will just have to make the time to do it. I have found that if I do not write it down and make sure that I set some time to do it, it does not get done. It seems like things are always coming up and keeping me super busy. I cannot really think of a certain treat that I want to tell you the honest truth. Well it sounds like things are going well for you back home, so that is good. Things are going great out here. We are working hard and trying to find some more people to teach and also trying to help all the missionaries in the zone to accomplish the goals that they have set for themselves. It is interesting to be in leadership because we get to see how everyone is doing and I get to share in the success of them all. There is a scripture in Alma 29 that I really like. Alma talks about he joys in his success but he also rejoices in the success of his brethren, which is totally true. When I get to see the success of the missionaries around me it makes me happy and excited for them. Well I love you mom and hope you are well. Oh yeah I was not able to get the box sent off last week. I got to the post office 2 minutes before they closed and they would not help me so hopefully I will get it sent off today. LOVE YOU.Your son,Elder Brickey

Curley's-Hey there my lovely family. It is good to hear from you and to hear that your little family is growing. I cannot believe how much actually. I think it is funny how much the kids seem to be like me when I was little, but at the same time better than I was. So that makes me a little nervous to have kids of my own. You know the whole kids repaying their parents for how they were with their parents. That could be interesting. Anyways things are going awesome here. The weather is warm and sunny which is interesting. It is weird to have it in the 70's in February. I cannt believe it sometimes actually. It is nice though because we are able to take our suit coats off when it gets over 70. Well my shoes are going to get replaced hopefully. Mom told me about sending in a picture to missionary mall and that they would replace them so that is nice. I will have to make sure that I get that done here soon. I do not like getting my feet wet when it rains. Yeah I know that I am a little accident proned at times but hey what can you do? That is true though it seems like the whole family has their problems though I think I have had the most issues as of late. It is ok because the Lord is watching over me so that is nice. Well I am sorry this is short but my time has run out. So I love you and hope all is well.Love,Elder Brickey