Emails 3-30-09

Mommy-That is good that you got the b-day card. The pictures are a little older. Elder Lowe is/was my companion at the time that the pictures were taken. Yeah I know that my legs are white but it was the first time that they had seen sun in I do not know how long. They look really toned and defined though if I do say so myself. For people bringing me home, I have no idea if people other than parentals can take me. I guess I could ask President Friday at our meeting that we will have with him. I am not sure though if it will necissarily happen but if it does they wanted to come out and visit and go to a couple Temples in Utah. Since we have a couple that are fairly close that is. They do LOVE me though so that is nice, well it seems like it anyway. Transfers are acutally today/tomorrow, but we got the call and Elder Rogers is heading out. He is going to Redding, which is actually where we met for the first time. He is going to be living in the same apartment that he was in a year ago just now he is a ZL instead. I am staying and my new companion is Elder Knight, I am not sure much about him but I will let you know as I get to know him. Wow it sounds like you made quite the haul of things for your bday. That is so weird to think that Brad is coming home and that Grandma and Grandpa are all but finished with their mission as well. Things here are good. It is in the 70s most days which is really nice, but means that it is going to be a WARM summer. The new shoes are good. They are still not quite broken in yet but they seem to be pretty good. My other stuff is holding together pretty well. Things are actually going really well here. The work is picking up really well and it seems like there is a lot going. For conference we will be at the church and then at a members house with less-actives and some non-members. We are going to do a little special thing for the Sunday sessions. We are going to do a little "party" in between sessions. We will watch a really sweet movie that we have about the life of Joseph Smith and eat some grub so it will be great! Things are going well though and the Lord has been blessing us a lot lately. It has been really nice to have things going smoothly lately, it usually happens right before transfers which is weird. Well thanks again for all you do mom. I really appreciate you and the love and support that you have given to me throughout my mission and throughout my life. I LOVE YOU! and will talk to you later.Love your son,Elder Brickey

Curley's-Well the weather here in Cali is warm and sunny! We are mainly in the 70's but we have been getting a lot of wind lately that makes things a little cooler. It is all good though cool is fine with me. I did get the invite for mom's party, I was just scared that if I responded last time that she would see my response and then be all "what a party?" so I waited. That is good that the party went well. You should have known mom, when she goes shopping she does go with the list and sometimes the list can be long. Than again if you go with dad you just have to talk to everyone since he somehow knows them all. Man I love our parents, they are great! Thanks for making fun of my white legs, all I have to say is I wear pants like 24/7. Ok maybe like 16/7 or something like that, whatever. I do however think that my legs look rather toned and defined though! That is sweet that you got a job Ryan. I do agree though about divorces and I never plan on having to deal with them so. That is so funny that Dallin likes to get on his Rameumptom and do is spill. That is not really who he should be looking to but hey at least he is taking interest in the scriptures though. That would be really funny to see I am not going to lie. I got the camera thank you very much. It is in good condition. It is a little slower than I am use to but hey it is a camera and it works so. I have used it a few times. It is definitely different than my other cameras but it works and it takes pictures. So you can give him a good feedback, if you want. I am pretty stoked for conference. Than again it is just something that I have fallen in love with on the mission. It is SO cool to hear the different testimonies and things that the Prophet and Apostles have to tell us for this time. I am also excited to see who the new Apostle will be. Other than that not much is really going on. Transfer calls were today. I am staying but Elder Rogers is leaving me. I am getting Elder Knight, he has been out a little longer than me but I do know really know him so it will be fun to get to know him. We also have a couple really good potencial investigators who might be setting a baptismal date soon so that is pretty exciting. Well things are good and I hope you are all well. I love you and wish you all well.Love,Elder Brickey

Emails 3-23-09

The Mommy-I got the package thank you very very much! I won't lie I have already ate the Pringles and the microwave brownie things, they were pretty good. We do splits a couple times each transfer, like 2-4 times or so. I stayed here in our area and drove our car, the Malibu. The other missionaries have a Malibu as well but it is a 07 so a different body style, ours is nicer in my opinion. I did get the letter from WaMu I now just have to go to a WaMu and get it activated since I am not at home I cannot call them, supposedly. That is cool that you were able to see the Draper Dedication. I heard that they did like 12 sessions so by the end of the last one I heard that President Monson looked really tired and worn out. We still do the clean apartment award things but the people over them now do not send them out via email we now just get a little certificate. We took first place of course. It is easy though because it is just the two of us and our apartment is not that huge so it is easy to keep clean. Other than that things have been really good. Spring break is over at Chico State so our investigators are getting back into town. We actually did really well though this last week even though people were gone. It was nice to see the Lord bless us with more opportunities since people were gone. It was nice also because things have been going smoothly which is always nice. Well I hope that you get my card and that you have a very HAPPY BIRTHDAY mom! I LOVE YOU! Take care and I will talk to you later.Love your son,Elder Brickey

Curley's-It is good to hear from my beloved family! It sounds like things are going busy for you but hey that is good right? Thanks for telling me what an adjunct is. I hope that things go well and that you find a job that you like. I know how difficult that can be. That is cool that you are doing a cake for an investigator Shan. Brownie points? It was a little sad when planning things and finding that everyone was gone, but the Lord was in the work heavily this past week. We still were able to make our goals and exceed some actually. We now have some good things going for us. I feel so lucky to have the Lord on our side, it makes things a lot nicer and easier. We do get the door slammed in our faces sometimes, but hey that is fine. It is interesting though because the other day a guy let us in and then after talking for a while he found out the we were Mormons and he was all "if I would have known that at the first I probably would not have let you in. Now I like you and am interested" so that was pretty cool. I have only been here for 3 months (2 transfers) and President told us in interviews that the Brethren came out and said that they want us missionaries to be left in an area for 6-8 months or maybe longer. So I could be here for a while but I am totally ok with that. That is funny that Saedy is getting her personality out. I am exicited to get pictures, than again pictures are always fun and good. It will be interesting to see Aleana and meet her for the first time. It sounds like she is already blooming out though and becoming her own person. That is sweet that Dallin loves the villians. I am kinda a fan as well, at least in some movies. Thank you for getting a new camera for me, no I do not have it yet, but thanks for at least getting one for me. I really appreciate it. I love my family you are the best. Thank you again. I hope you are all well and I love you very much. Take care and I will talk to you later.Love,Elder Brickey

Emails 3-16-09

The Mommy-I am feeling better now so that is nice. My comp is still under the weather though so that is no good but we will survive. It was awesome to be able to go and see a sealing. We usually do not get to go and see them just because we either are to far away or else we cannot due to appointments or some other reason. I did remember time change. Than again it seems like as though we have a lot of reminders from ward members and investigators so we usually do not miss out on things. I am doing well over all though. We went on exchanges the other day, where we split with another companionship and one of us goes to their area to work and one of the other missionaries comes to our area to work, and I got to drive! We have a 2008 Chevy Malibu so it is REALLY nice and has a good chunk of power behind it, V6. Other than that though things are going pretty good. It is Spring Break for Chico State so there are a lot of our investigators going out of town, going back home, so that puts a damper on the work for the coming week. We will survive though we always do. That is cool that both Brady and Jake have their mission calls. That makes me feel really old. That is cool that you were able to go to Ty and Sammi's wedding. I got an invitation so that was pretty cool to see. It is still really weird to think that I will be the only single Brickey when I get home. I did not know that Misty and Mandy were pregnant. I hope all goes well for them. Thank you for forwarding the WaMu letter. I have not received it yet though I did get my new shoes the other day. They are not the same shoe but that is ok because I like these ones more. They are by far more comfortable, kinda goofy looking but that is ok. Holy cow Chelsea Coombs is getting married!?! Is she back in church or is it going to be civil? Or do you even know? Anyways. Well things are going well. We have had a good bit of sunshine lately and that has been really nice to be able to partake of. I cannot believe how nice the weather is already actually. Well I hope that you are doing well mom. I love you so much and appreciate all that you have done and do for me. Thank you so much. Love you!Love your son,Elder Brickey

Curley's-I do have to admit that if someone were to drill me for an hour I would get pretty irritated and probably snap. I sometimes have issues with people that are dumb or yell at us for like 5 minutes. I am getting better though and usually am able to just walk away from most situations like that now. I do not envy you at all though Ryan, 51 pages is A LOT of paper. I am glad though that you did well and passed. I knew you would do well, you are a good cookie! ;-) Good luck with the summer job thing. I keep hearing about the unemployment and how the US is not doing so well. I heard that the unemployment is like 10% or something like that. I am sure that you will find something somewhere. So I am not exactly sure what an adjunct is so if you could let me know I would appreciate it. I am not sure what I am doing for school. I do want to go to USU, Kyle wants me to go to BYU, so I might just go to UVU for a little while and then figure out what I want to do and then transfer somewhere. I am glad to hear that the kids are doing well. I love hearing their crazy stories and the funny things that they do. I am sorry to hear that Zack is not doing well. I feel bad for the kid. He has such potential too. I am actually trying to get a package together to send home and in it I will be sending something that I would appreciate it if it were taken/delivered to him. I am glad that things went well for the wedding cake. I know it was stressing you out a bit Shan, but I had confidence that it would all be good. Than again I just know that my family is just simply the BESTEST in the world so....:-) This week is going to be an interesting one. It is spring break for Chico State so there are a lot of investigators in the YSA ward that are leaving so that is no good, but we have a lot of other things that we can get going. We are going around to every less-active and asking them if they can help us with teaching 20 lessons a week. So far it has been pretty successful. Well I love you and hope you are doing well. Take care and I will talk to you later.Love,Elder Brickey

Emails 3-9-09

The Mommy-Hello there! How are you doing this week? I am doing well other than I got sick for some odd reason this past week. I than had to go and get my companion sick so now we are battling together to get better. Things are good though. The Temple trip was AWESOME! We did get permission to go down and it was an ALL day trip. We left our apartment at 8 am and got back to our apartment at 9 pm. We went to the Sacramento Temple. It sounds like the Draper Temple is set up a lot like the Sacramento Temple and the Medfore Temple. I think that is the "new" way to build the Temples. It is weird to compare them to Mt Timp because it is SO much bigger. They are awesome though and such a blessing to have and to be able to get more Temples built in more locations that way too. I cannot believe how beautiful a sealing is and how emotional. It was great to be able to participate in it and get to see. Well the contacts that we got at church two Sundays ago we have not really ever worked with the people that brought them to church before. It is cool to work in a College town because all the people in your ward meet and mingle with SO many non-members that is makes the work go forward way faster. We had lessons with all the people that we had appointments with, and they went great. The work went really good actually this last week, even though we had Zone Conference and went to the Temple we almost made all our goals. Wow that is cool that Skylar Carter is heading into the MTC this week. It is crazy to see all the missionaries out from our stake, there are like 20 somthing. Wow they redid the 36th ward, that is sad news. I love Bishop Healey. Then not to mention he helped me get ready to go on my mission so that means a lot to me. I know it is weird to think that I am almost 18 months out on the mission. It feels like just yesterday that I left. It is all good though because there is still a lot that I can do and have plenty of time to get it done. I am excited to get to talk with you all though in May, I do miss hearing your voices. Well I love you mom and I hope that you are doing well. Take care and I will talk to you later.Love your son,Elder Brickey

Aloha-How are you all doing? How did the cake go? How was defending your paper? Hope all of it went well for you and that there was not to much stress involved with it. My week was a good one. We picked up 5 new investigators and had some awesome lessons. It is such a blessing to be a missionary right now. I keep hearing and see a little bit of the financial crisis that the country is in, but it has helped a lot of people turn to religion and made them more humble. The majority of the work though right now is in the YSA ward. Man do they know how to do missionary work. I was able to go to the Temple and it was such a GREAT experience to have. I do not know if I have ever seen such love present in a room as I on that day. I won't lie I even cried a bit, yeah I admit it I cry! Anywho. It was wonderful though to see the light in their eyes and know that they will be together forever. What a wonderful blessing. I would join the church for that reason alone, to be together forever with family. I thought of you all though and thought of all of you and wondered how wonderful the day was when you got sealed and the light and love that showed on your faces. I think it will be awesome to get to go to the Temple when I get home with ALL of my family, what an awesome thing to get to look forward too. Well I am getting to know Chico but do not think that I will be getting transfered for a little while. I will more than likely get transferred though one more time. I still have 5 transfers left so that is plenty of time to get transferred again. Well things are going well for me, well other than I am sick but recovering now. I thank you for all you do and all your love and support. Give the kids a squeeze for me. Give one to mom and dad too for me. I love you very much. Take care and I will talk to you later.Love,Elder Brickey

March 2, 2009

The Mommy-For the car getting out of the imound, yes we were lucky enough to get to pay for it. I do not think that my sarcasim went through the computer but it sucked having that happen. We learned a leason for sure though about parking in downtown Chico at night. We are still getting well taken care of by members. There are hardly ever nights that we do not have dinners. We are also now starting to have dinners with the student ward which is REALLY fun, and they are actually really good. Not just mac and cheese or ramen and such. The week went actually really well, or I should say that Sunday was awesome. We went to church and one of the members in the 6th ward brought two non-member friends with her. They had an awesome experience and they set up a time for us to teach them this coming week. I also went and talked to the boyfriend of one of the members and he is not a member so I asked him if he would be interested in taking the lessons and he said yes, so we are going to start teaching him now too. It was a very productive Sunday and they are all such good people. I am also going to be going to the Temple this Saturday with the Newton's from Oroville. They are getting their endowments out and than sealed, so I am super excited since I missed Scott's and I will miss Nicole's more than likely I will at least be able to see what they are like so I am super excited. Not to mention the Newton's feel like they are family anyway. I did not hear about Uncle Ray. That is scary that his heart condition is genetic, one more thing for me to worry about. I already have the irregular heart beat or irradic heart disrythmia whatever. Wow that is scary that there was a shooting by Aunt Jolene's. I am worries about how the world will be when I have kids from the way things are going. Oh well as long as there is the gospel in our lives we will be taken care of, that is what matters. Anywho. Well I am doing well, a little wet from all the rain but that is ok to me. I hope that you are doing well and that all is well for you and the family. I love you mom and am very thankful to have you as my mother. There ain't no other mother like my MOMMY! LOVE YOU.Love your son,Elder Brickey

Howdy Curley Family-Well I am glad to hear that you had a good time for Saedy's birthday party. I cannot believe my Bug is already two. Than again my Des is almost 9, man I am getting old. I still do not believe that I am 21, I do not feel "special" or different. That is funny that the kids are getting their attitudes, it will be fun when I get home to see how different they all are from each other. Good luck with the job hunt. I am not looking forward to that or to school when I get home. Those reasons almost make me want to extend my mission, than again we should not procrastinate as it says in Alma 34 so, yeah. I can cook really well, when I want to which is not often. I usually do like pasta, oysters, cereal, sandwiches, and of course mac and cheese. I do some interesting variations though that make it a new flavor though evertime I cook something though. I will add a new ingredient or something crazy to spice it up a bit. I make a MEAN mac and cheese that a lot of missionaries like. I also drink a lot of apple juice. I found a gallon for only like three dollars so that was cool. The only problem is I can go through them WAY fast if I am not careful. That is cool that Saedy makes comments about me. You will have to see if someone can remember what she said. I will have to take her for a ride on a "motorcycle" when I get home. I will be the "COOL" uncle. Yeah baby! Anyways. This past week was really good. We were slowing down on the work a bit but this Sunday was AWESOME! We went to church and the Bishop of the 2nd ward wants to get the ward mission plan up and really focused on which will be good. Than in the singles ward we picked up two new investigators with another lesson set for the coming week. It was so cool. The Lord has helped us SO much lately. We have had some fun confessions as of late from different members, less actives, and even investigators. Well I hope you are all doing well. I know that you will to a good job on Ty's cake Shan, you are my sister therefore you are good! ;-) I love you all and send you my love and my best wishes. Take care and I will talk to you later.Love,Elder Brickey