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