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