Nov. 28, 2011

It was a great thanksgiving. We had three thanksgiving dinners with members from the ward and we biked home that night with our bellies stuffed. I'm not sure how I survived the third meal. I thought I was going to die after the second. I ate too much at the first, and I knew it too! As I was eating, I thought to myself, "I should probably save room for our next meal." But then the pies came out...

Another cold front came in. It was in the 50's last night as we biked home and it got down to the 40's during the night. The last time I felt weather like this was in early February. I definitely have become acclimated to the heat. Dang.

I can't believe it's almost Christmas. I can't wait to celebrate it out in the field. The lights are already going up and it's weird because there is no snow. It's going to be even weirder when it starts to warm up again.

Well, things are awesome as usual. We are teaching some great great people. I can't wait to tell you more about them as they continue to progress. One investigator got confirmed on Sunday. It was such a great conversion process for him and an amazing experience for me to witness and be a part of it. Hopefully we can start teaching his family soon.

I gotta run. My email time limit is almost over. I have to spend extra time writing to president because he wants me to give updates on how my greenie is doing. We're doing great together by the way. I'll definitely need to send some pictures back home soon. It's been a while.

Well, les quiero muchisimo.
Elder Brett

Nov. 21

Buenas tardes family!
Yesterday was another one of those "Best-day-ever"'s. Remember the story I shared about finding ___as he was walking from the gym and we were speeding by on our bikes? He got baptized yesterday, and it was the best baptismal service I've ever attended. The stake presidency and branch president were all there, as well as a large group of the YSA branch and even his family attended. ___ gave a wonderful talk on baptism and I gave the talk on the Holy Ghost. I shared the story about how Elder Arens and I met him and he reminded me that the reason we raced past him on our bikes was because we were being chased by a chihuaha. haha I totally forgot about that.
Anyway, things are so great right now. I love being a missionary. It's great being with a brand new missionary who is filled with energy and enthusiasm. We are all stoked for thanksgiving. I have a feeling we're going to be overfed and I'm going to end up regretting eating so much. I'll worry about that later though.
Thanks y'all for everything. I have so much to be thankful for during this thanksgiving season, and you all take a very high spot on that list. Enjoy thanksgiving! It'll be fun to be able to enjoy a big turkey dinner with you all next year!
Con a heckuva ton de amor,
Elder Brett

PS I have lights on the front and back of my bike. They are really bright. I think the squirrels are going to have seizures when I ride past them...

Nov. 14

It has been a crazy/difficult week. It's so hard to believe that two of the Elders, both of whom I knew well, passed away. It sure made me grateful for the plan of salvation. Since the accident, we have had numerous people approach us or talk to us about the incident. Just last night, we stopped by one of our investigators real quickly before heading back to our apartment and Elder Davis' bike sort of busted and he lost one of the parts to his wheel. As he was trying to fix it, and I was trying to find the missing part in the grass and in the street, a large van pulled up and two ladies got out and tried to help me find the part. They brought out extra flashlights and got on their hands and knees with me as we searched for the "needle in the haystack". They told us that they heard about what happened to the two missionaries and said that they felt they had to help us out. People have been very sympathetic and nice. It's so great to know exactly what those two Elders are doing right now and I know that they will continue to help all of us out as we continue in this missionary work.

Both the Manuel's that we are teaching are doing great. I'm so excited for them. We are still endeavoring to find more. We are trying to work closely with the members. That's where we've seen the most success.

Thanks family for everything. I wouldn't be able to do this without you. Your support has been amazing. You are all in my prayers.

Love,

Elder Brett

Nov. 7

Hello familia,

Well it's been a tremendous week. I received my new companion on Tuesday; his name is Elder Davis, he's from Orem Utah, and he is straight outta the MTC. It's been exciting to work with a missionary with that greenie fire. Although, I'm definitely grateful for my last two companions who both had quite a bit of missionary experience. There's this new 12-week training program that has just recently been released so I'm basically guaranteed to be with him for two transfers. I'm excited. I had wonderful trainers (not many have more than one) that shaped and molded me and I hope that I'll be able to do the same. I'm sure I'll learn just as much as he will. I'll definitely keep y'all updated on how this experience goes.

The two Manuel's that we are teaching both came to church yesterday. They are both progressing significantly. It's wonderful to be a part of these processes. I can't believe that I've been out for more than a year now. Crazy huh? I still feel new. I'll have to make sure that this last year is the best year ever.

I'm pretty stoked for the holiday season. I got to experience the holidays in the MTC last year so it'll be cool to see how it is in the field. Hopefully we get overfed! I could use an extra few pounds or so. We're about to head to the store and then play sports with the other elders. We can't decide between basketball or tennis. hmm...

Well, thanks y'all for everything. Especially for the updates. Sorry I can't write personally to y'all very often. Sports are too important ;)

Les quiero!!!

Elder Brett