Christmas phone call

Braden told us that he would call us about 8 a.m. our time.  Everyone waited around anxiously.  Paige started carrying the phone around with her.
The phone rang about 8:20 and everyone gathered around. Everyone got to talk to Braden for a few minutes-except Loren- and the phone started beeping.  We waited for Braden too call back. Thank goodness for caller ID-we called him back.  Somehow, Braden paid for 40 minutes of talk time but only really got about 8.
We put the phone on speaker and talked to him and asked him questions about his mission.

He loves Africa and meeting new people.  His companion right now is a native and not very talkative, so it makes for long days of tracking.  They got to stay in Christmas day and they watched movies.
He has worn out all 3 pairs of shoes we sent with him.  Even his expensive ones from ZCMI that were supposed to last a long time.  So he found some nice ones there and bought them.
He has seen many giraffes and thousands of lizards.  He said that he got a picture a 5 foot lizard. But he didn't send it to us yet.  He has seen a few HUGE spiders.
He built him a rock man for Christmas, since there isn't any snow.  He told us that there is a tribe there that speaks almost the same language as on the Lion King! Ya know-acoona ma tatta.

He told us that he gets up at 6:30 every morning. And they go out about 10:00 and have to be in by 9:00 p.m.. the first house in their area is about 3 miles away. And the walk at least 12 miles a day.

Here are some pic's

Bad hair day...

Sorry i dont have a picture of how tan i am it doesnt show well on the camera.

I had to send the pictures using my own email.

See This is what happens to my shoes.

What happens to my socks

The New Shoes.

Yeah

On 12/30/13, Traci Erickson 
  Braden, It was so great getting to talk to you on Christmas Day! It was
 good to hear your happy voice and know that you still tease people. It is
 amazing that you have worn out that many pairs of shoes already. But I guess
 you do, do a lot of walking. I hope that now Christmas is over it will be
 easier to find more people to teach. For some reason the holiday seems to
 make it harder.Are you doing anything fun for the New Year? Do you have to
 stay in? Paige is jealous that you get to watch movies. It would have been
 nice on my mission to help pass the time on the days we had to stay inside.
 Paige is also jealous of her friends that got to Skype with their
 missionaries. I told her to just be grateful that we got to talk to you. Her
 response,"I know, I know". When we hang up after talking to you, booth Paige
 and Zach hugged each other and jumped up and down. It was quite a sight-wish
 I had my camera handy. When Zach realized Christmas eve,that you got to
 call for Christmas, he was very excited. It is great to see how much the
 kids want to be involved with your work and what you are doing.I have been
fighting a sinus infection and have been missed out on all kinds of things
 this Christmas. I didn't make to to the Christmas eve party at the R's. The
 rest of the family went. In stead of dressing up for the Story of
 Christ-Grandma made shadow puppets that the kids got to hold up in front of
 a light for the big shadow. I'm sure it was easier than dressing everyone
 up. She even sent a set home so we can do it here. I haven't made all of
 the goodies that we usually do. Dad got ambitious and made chex mix. It
turned out good. The younger kids have spent a lot of time playing with
friends. Okay, I guess the older ones to but we better call it hanging
out.Zach gets to talk in church on the 12th. And I get to talk in the 2nd
 ward with the dry council. How fun for me. (Maybe, we'll see how it goes.)I
 ran into Bro. Cop at church today and he asked how you were doing. And told
me to tell you HI.Love ya lots, MOM Remember to have JOY in the Journey!



 its "Red Tell" or something like that.

Teasing people is fun haha :) Yeah i have done a lot of walking i
would send you some pictures but i dont know if i can the computer is
slow today :( We dont really do anything fun for new years we are just
told to return to our house a few hours early so that we dont get
mixed in with all the stuff that will be happening. why was paige
jealous? haha. I would have been able to Skype for a little but by the
time we got back to the house the couple missionaries were a sleep and
so we didnt get to use the computer. but maybe on mothers day?! but if
you want to do that youre going to have to send me your skype
information and im going to have to remember mine....haha jk i think i
remember mine. Really i wish you got a video of that it would have
been very funny to see zach and paige doing that.

You need to get better soon!! Sounds like you will have fun giving
talks though in church.

If you havent already sent that package yet it would be really great
if i could get a 2nd set of scriptures a quad if possible, (the new
one) and a case to put it in. the case i have is starting to fall
apart and some of the pages in the scriptures i have are starting to
get loose. and maybe a tie or 2, WITH FOOD :) :) Thanks :)

calling for Christmas

I will be calling you probably around 8 am if i can 8 am for you not me it will be 6 pm for me. but dont hold me to that i have to use one of the other elders sim cards because i couldnt get mine in time. The mission pres. only wants us to talk for no more than 40 mins so i will buy enought time for 40 minutes max. I have you numbers in my planner so i dont forget. Sounds like Hope is having a hard time with me being alway poor girl. I want to send a christmas package but i need to finish pulling things together. and then i am going to be fearing the shipping price oh well....it will be worth it. Sounds like you had a lot of fun with the missionaries there. and some with hope. I hope everyone gets feeling better befor christmas. Burning no but hot yes!!! maybe i will try to send some of the heat to you :) haha. No we havent found anymore people to teach but we are still working hard. and No again my companion is still silent he talks very little.

On Sun, Dec 22, 2013 at 4:44 AM, Traci Erickson

How are things going? A few questions while I'm thinking of them…

Are you calling us on Christmas or do we call you? If we call you, we need your number.  If you call us here are numbers…801-847-5845 house phone. 801-400-7598 my cell. 801-922-0260 dad's cell.

What time to call works best for you. We will make sure to be awake!!

The Zone conference, was actually a mission conference-the Provo Utah mission.  Elder Arnold from the general authorities was there. He even came in the kitchen and talk to us for a while. Funny guy.  We had tons and tons of food. And sent the left overs home with the ZL's to hand out to all the missionaries.

Cute little Hope, thought that you were going to be there. Poor girl almost cried when I reminded her that you were far away in Africa.  Some cute Sister missionaries took Hope under their wings and helped her get her lunch and had her sit by them to eat.  Hope told everyone that would listen that her brother was a missionary in Africa. 

The lunch was a success but next time we do it, we are going to get a committee to help. Especially with clean up. It was a lot of work but worth every minute of it.

So, the yucky stomach flu made it through the whole family. Even Paige and Zach got it.  I took Hope and myself to the doctors on Tuesday because I could tell I still had a sinus infection. Hope has had a cough and stuffy nose for about 2 weeks. They put both Hope and myself on antibiotics. Lucky me, got a shot in the butt of antibiotics. The doctor said I needed a dole dose because I have been sick for way to long.  Guess what? Hope is feeling better, me, not so much. But hopefully I'll get over this stuff soon.

The temperature finally made it above freezing and today we got more snow. I will get a picture for you.  The roads are very slick because it rained and then froze.  Cars have a hard time getting up our street. I even got stuck once and had to back, back down the road and go around the block the other way to get home. Crazy weather.

So, are you burning up from all the nice warm sun?  Right now, I would love some.  Have you found anymore people to teach? And have you got your companion talking yet?

I'm sure I will think of more later.

Keep up the hard work-We all love you and pray for you daily!

Love, mom

Cooking

Yeah the weeks are going by really fast its hard to believe myself! Yeah it got better the same day, its funny how fast i get better from stuff like that and illness. Speaking of illness how is Zach, Hope, and Parker doing? did they get better? Yeah cooking is a lot of fun when we have the time to cook, i am trying to decide what i want to make for Christmas. My companion is very talkative just not when we are working i dont know i guess he just is day dreaming or thinking about something to hard. I would send some movies to you guys because they are really cheap here but i fear they would not make it to you because they are what the states would call Legally copied...So i cant do that. maybe i will buy you all a uganda shirt but those are sorta expensive to buy. We have found another family to teach that is good, this week are are going to go finding a lot more so hopefully that pays off.  You should send pictures of the snow so i can print off some pictures. It sounds like you are going to have a White Christmas! lucky you! i know i wont :l   I love food! i still have some left from the package you sent with the camera the Mac and cheese is good i only have 1 box left of that but it has helped a lot.  i want to make cookies for my district but i cant find some of the ingredients so i am looking around but i have no idea on how i am going to get the chocolate chips...Might just have to go with out them.  Alright i will give it to my comp if i have the same comp he will love it because he enjoyes playing them the really beat up ones i have right now.  anything exciting going on? how is the lights coming on at 6 going for the 2 older ones?

Dear Braden,

Wow, I can't believe that it has been another week already.  How are you doing? Did your stomach get better?

Good thing you know how to cook or Thanksgiving dinner might have been a disaster. 

Be patient with your companion, it may just take him awhile to warm up.  I had a comp that only had a few months left on her mission and she was still so shy that she still was uncomfortable teaching the discussions.  I was impressed that she actually made it through her whole mission with as shy and nervous as she was. Have you found any more people to teach. This time of year is always hard. My comp and I set a goal to just step inside someones house it was so hard. Hope you are having better luck than that.

So we got a snow storm with big snow drifts and it blocked your car in by the fence, so dad took his car to work one day. Later that day, I got the snowblower working and dug it out.  Saturday it snowed all day an into the night and more crazy snow drifts up to 3 feet high.  Luckily, dad got up early and dug us all out so those that weren't sick could go to church.  Hope, Parker and Zach all stayed home ill, each with something different. Hopefully they are all better tomorrow.

I just found out that The Stake Relief Society is in charge of lunch for the Provo Mission Zone conference next week.  We sent lists around all of the wards for people to help out with food.  We are putting the missionary mom's in charge of making desserts.

The lady that called from the mission home requested that we have 14 long tables for the lunch and training.  Funny thing, our new stake center only has 2, the rest are all round. So, some men in the high council are going to borrow some from the other buildings. We will see what we come up with. We have sister missionaries serving in our area. They asked for people to sign up for meals to feed them but it must have gotten filled up because it never made it to me.:( Oh well, maybe next time. Keep up the good work and enjoy the things around you. 

Love you, Mom

P.S. when you get the next box, it has Christmas gifts in it. Give one to your comp. so he doesn't feel left out. One the size of a card game-there are a few in there.

Smile, it make people wonder what you have been up too.

Thanksgiving

Hello Braden,

I can't believe that it has been another week already. I hope that you are doing well. Was the turkey we saw in one of your pictures, your Thanksgiving dinner? Good to see that you still get to do American traditions.  How was your Thanksgiving, by the way?

We went to Teri's and Mike's this year. There were about 26 of us. Grandparent R's made it. Rob and Chris were both there. Which was a miracle in itself. They usually have to work or just don't show up. There was also Cody and his family, Pat and Tina with the 2 youngest boys and Teri's kids and her grandkids. Oh ya, Aaron and Rikki and their baby came also.  All the men watched ball downstairs-the kids played and the women finished the food and worked on our service project for the year. I know Dad mentioned it to you earlier.  So here is what we are doing.  We are making dresses for the girls in Africa. WE are also collecting dress clothes for the boys.  I thought it would be nice for your investigators or new baptized families to have something to wear to church.  If you don't think that is a good idea, you can give them to the bishop or Branch President  to give to people that may be in need. I won't be sending them until January sometime.  We need time to finish everything up first.

The kids had 3 days off of school, plus the weekend so getting everyone up and out the door will be a challenge tomorrow. Hope probably won't know what to do being the only kid home again.

Dad got switches installed in all of the bedrooms and has programmed them to turn on automatically in each room when the kids should be getting up each morning.(Aren't you glad you aren't here...hehe). Tomorrow is the first trial. We'll see what happens and what the kids all have to say about it. I'm sure Dad will tell you all about it.

Dad and Zach put up Christmas lights. I know, kind of a miracle in it's self to get them up so early.  And it was even warm weather.

I'm finished with all of the ward conferences now. I can take it easy for a few weeks which will be nice. Preschool is going good. The kids make me laugh aver day about something silly or some strange thing they come up with. Like one girl is only afraid of LIVE dinosaurs. Guess we need a lesson on them next.

How are things going? Are you getting along with your new companion? Any baptisms? How is the finding going?

Prayers and HUGS coming your way.

Love you, MOM

Sounds like you had a fun time at teri's and mikes. The picture was just a meal that my old companion and i made. so its wasnt anything really special. the thanksgiving dinner was great we had to help the couple missionaries make a lot of the food because there was about 30 people coming and the kitchen is just not big enough to cook for that many people. but we have 3 kitchens (the couples, ZL house, our house) so it made it easier. it was still a lot of cooking. the food turned out really good and we got a lot to eat, i dont think i have eaten so well here before and that turkey made me extremely tired so i went to bed about a hour and a half early which i have no problem with at all :) Dad sent me a picture of the Christmas lights on the house looks like there is still a lot more to put up. Yes i am glad that i am not home with those lights coming on at 6 in the morning, i think if i was still home i would be sleeping under my blanket so i don't know when the lights come on haha :) im sure dad is going to get a yelling at from the others though. Little kids are really fun to be around and they are extremely funny. Things are going well here, I think i ate something that was bad so my stomach is a little upset with me today but hopefully i will be better tomorrow.  My companion and i are getting along well, he is really quiet and does not talk much at all so i end up doing most of the talking. Unless i stop talking and turn and look at him he won't say a thing until the very end. i guess this is what it would be like training, i guess, but he is not a trainy he is about 10 months on mission, so i think he hit his wall of im tired of this, but who knows. we did have one baptism 2 weeks ago but that was it. we are hoping to have 2 with in the next week or so. Finding is IMPOSSIBLE!!! we went looking and didn't find anyone for 4 hours so we went and got a few less active lessons in since it would be bad if we came home with 0 lessons.

Dear Elder,

Well, we had thanksgiving dinner (actually lunch) at Teri's house this week.  There were a little less than 30 people there.  We got to see some of my cousins that we haven't seen in a while.  Chris was there.  It always strikes me how similar the two of you look to each other.  I think everyone got plenty to eat and most everyone slept on the way home.  

I put the Christmas lights up right after Thanksgiving for once.  It's not much but it's all I had the energy for.  I am attaching a picture, so I hope it comes through for you. As far as the internal lights go, so far I have replaced about 15 switches with the fancy ones from work.  I've programmed the porch lights to come on at sunset and turn off at sunrise.  The Christmas lights come on at sunset too and turn off at midnight.  I also programmed the kids bedroom lights to gradually come up to full brightness over 10 minutes starting at 6am for the older kids.  We'll see how they like that!  :)

I'm glad you got your Christmas box.  There's another one coming I think with some of the other stuff you requested.  I hope you don't binge all that american food down at once!  Please let us (and Grandma E) know when you get her box as well.  There might be some more treats in there for you (and she spent a small fortune sending it)!  :)

I hope this finds you in good spirits.  I am looking forward to the holidays, but I will miss having you around.  Work hard, be obedient and prayerful and you will find rich blessings this holiday season.  Sorry this is short, but it's late.  I love you and am so proud of you.  

Love, 

Dad

That sounds like you had a lot of fun, Chris and i look a like huh i never thought about that maybe we do i dont know i havent seen him a in a long time. I got the picture you sent looks like there is still more to do :) Thats cool about the inside lights though, it really does sound like a toy to play with haha. So whats your next toy you get to bring home? There is no way i could eat all that food at once, no matter how much i wanted to i just cant. I know i need to take my time eating it so it lasts long. the food here is alright but its starting to taste all the same to me now. I would like to eat some of the local food but due to some events here that have recently taken place i dont think that i will be eating anything like that for a few weeks or so. So i got a new companion he is a cool guy he is from south africa, he is really quiet i end up doing most of the talking but i dont really mind. 

I will let you and Grandma/pa know when the other packages get here, but i dont think i will be getting them for some few weeks because we just had transfers and thats almost the only time the ZL's go down to Kampala to get stuff.

This week has been normal for the most part not much really happend but thats normal for the first week of every transfer.

One happy M&M

How was your week? Did you find anyone to teach? Did you get your package?
This week was pretty good. We got snow but it didn't stick for long.  Ethan is still 
LOving school, even Mr. Scott's class, if you can believe it.  He is really into the book series, The Rangers apprentice. There are 12 books in the series and he is on number 11. He hasn't read all of them in order. When he finds them at the library he reads them. The silly kid falls asleep reading them and wakes up at 6:00 to read some more before school. He even gets up that time on the weekends.
Hope had a talk in Primary today. It was on missionaries. She practiced all week and today she would hold the pictures but not talk into the mic. So I got to give her talk. Never thought that would happen. She always talks about wanting to talk in the mic. Guess she decided it was scary.
Dad brought home light switches from work and has started installing them. They all hook up wirelessly to a computerized box. And are programmable . They are kind of fun to play with.
The Morrow's oldest son had his mission farewell today. He gave a great talk. He is going to North Carolina.
Have a great week,.
Love ya, Mom

Things are going Great here, transfer news came and i am staying in the same area but i am getting a new companion, it will be my first African companion, so we will see how it goes. i hear he is a great guy though.  we didnt really find anyone to teach but we still have 3 families that we are teaching so we have been putting a lot of time with them and also with the RCLA's. The Camera made it along with the rest of it!! The camera is really nice, and does a really good job, i figured out that if i have the setting on high it takes really high quality pictures that can fill up the 16g that you sent me in about a 8 min video or about 500 pictures haha. but let me tell you OH how i miss American FOOD!!! its so good!!! The district and zone are having a big thanksgiving dinner tonight with TON of other people and so i am hoping it will go well. we are having turkey and lots of other food as well. cant wait to fill myself up to the point of exploding :) Just kidding haha. I know Ethan likes those books, its a good book i read all 12 of them. they should be making more of them as well. i kinda did the samething as he did. I thought that Hope would talk with no problem but i guess i was wrong, oh well. Sounds like dad is getting the toys, thats cool. well nothing really special happends in the end i work in sorry to say but thats not my choice, the most fun i get is working out, and blasting people when they are being stubborn haha. Hope everything is going well. Its strange to think that i am 6 months on my mission!!! thats crazy!

*I am assuming that RCLA means Recovering the less active-mission talk. -Traci

I also go to see a solar eclipse here it was awesome it only happends once every 100 years or so i got lucky to see it :) 

 Thanksgiving dinner

Mission zone elders

we did also did a fire side and it was kind of funny but it went really well we blind folded the people and they all had to find there way to a spot without looking and then told them that its about just as hard to find the LA people and to bring them back to church but its there job.

* LA (less active)


Hey Elder,

I hope this finds you in good spirits and loving the work.  I want you to know what a good example you are setting for your younger brothers.  Every time Parker prays he includes you, and today at the dinner table he prayed for the people in Africa as well.  I was very touched.  He misses you more than you could know.  Hope is also always asking when you are coming home.  We have to remind her that you are going to be gone for a long time.  Today she asked if you were always going to be in Africa, and we promised her that you would come home when your work was done.  These are moments that tug at a parent's heart strings in both directions.  Pulled one way towards being so grateful for a faithful son, and pulled the other way because his siblings miss him so much.  You are a special servant of the Lord.  Always remember that.  

Bryson Morrow had his farewell address today at church.  He's going to North Carolina and enters the MTC on December 4th.  He gave a great talk and took most of the time.  He is a little older so you might not know him.  We also had a baby blessing, so it was standing room only in sacrament meeting, even with chairs set up to the back of the gym.  Talk about a big ward!

On Wednesday, I am going to the doctor to have procedure to take out a filter that was installed when they found I had blood clots in the hospital.  It's been in longer than they would have liked, but it should still be a straight forward procedure.  

So Thanksgiving is this week.  We're headed up to Teri's house in Morgan.  You remember making that drive I'm sure.  You mom has a special service project planned that is meant to bless the lives of those whom you are serving right now.  I'm not sure if it's meant to be a surprise so I'm not saying what it is just yet.  I'm not sure if Thanksgiving is a thing over there, maybe not, but even if it isn't I hope you take some time to reflect on what you have to be grateful for.  I'm sure you could come up with quite a list.  

On the top of my list is a son who is serving the Lord.  I know I have not always been a great example of what the gospel should be about, but I thank Heavenly Father every day for whatever other influences you have been blessed by to put you where you are today.  It's something that makes my heart swell every time I think about it.  

I hope you are eating well, staying hydrated, working hard and obeying the mission rules.  If you do these things I know you will be blessed.  Know that we pray for you daily.  Please send more pictures when you can, especially ones with you in them.  :)

Love, Dad

i dont know if i want to send pictures of me in them haha. no to be honest i dont really have very many pictures of me just other stuff. Things are going well it sounds like. it also sounds like you are bringing home the toys now thats cool. Well not much has happend here but all is going well i did see the eclipse here that only happends 100 years thats cool. i get a new companion on wednesday and thats about it. sorry to make this short but i dont have much time.

Hey, What's up?

Hope things are going well and that it isn't getting too hot there.

Any baptisms lined up?

Today in church they announced that we have 5 missionaries from our ward out. I could only come up with 3-Dallin will be 4 in December, wonder who I'm missing.

So nothing exciting happened this week.  I did take Hope to get her hair cut. She kept saying that she needed it short Mulan. I was afraid that she would find the scissors again and try cutting it herself.  Her hair is now shoulder length and she likes it.

Today was my last ward conference for the year YEAH! It was our ward. The talks of course were great.  Bishop Gooch talked about how our lives could be like a roller coster ride. Their maybe hard, scary times but there is someone next to you to help you out.  President Spencer talked about our role as parents to teach our children who they are.

Oh, I guess one not so exciting thing did happen this week.  The stake Relief Society was invited to the Spanish wards visit teaching training dinner on Thursday night.  The Stake RS president had offered to talk. Guess what? She thought is was next week and went out of town.  So I hurriedly, while eating dinner, came up with a talk on Visit teaching and the importance of it.  It went well.  It is quit interesting having to stop after every sentence so an interpreter can translate.  All of the women were so kind and thankful. I think I need to brush up on my spanish, so I can at least bare my testimony in their language.

Live life so those who don't know Christ, will want to know him, because they know you.

Love ya lots, Mom

Hey so i have been trying to get on my other email so i could read and email you from there but it has taken about a hour and i still have not gotten on it i think that the church is having issues with there emailing or atleast with mine because i should not take a whole hour to  try to get on it. oh well this will have to do. so i dont really know what you said from your last email so i will just give you fast lay down what has happend recently and what will happen so.

So this is the last week of the transfer i dont know if i will be staying with my same companion he only has 1 transfer left. I do know that i will be staying in the same area though. it seems like i get transfered about every 4 1/2 months which i have no problem with expecially where i am now because it is really hard to fine new people.  My companion is doing great i can kinda see that he is dieing but thats no problem he knows the buisier he is the faster time goes so i dont have to drag him out of bed everyday. Elder Cunningham and i have been working out at a gym every monday, wednesday, and friday and lets just say its a good kind of pain :) We have found a lot of good families that have been learning very fast so hopefully they last a few weeks so we dont have to go finding.....I hate finding...

I am still eating good and i dont think that will stop anytime soon unless transfers come and my next companion doesnt want to do what my companion wants to now. the area i am in is good but i have to walk really far just to get to members houses and also the investigators. we are going to calculate the distance we walk tomorrow. i bet its close to about 15 miles a day. 

I am getting really annoyed with the ZL's here they like to pester me and its getting really annoying, its a good think i have a lot of patience other wise i probably would have yelled at them by now but if they keep doing it and they/I are still around next transfer I probably will yell at them. I hope it doesnt come down to that but i might.

hey so i just loaded i will finish the email on there.

oh zach log on to battle.net and look up the new game coming out its in beta right now its a mix of starcraft, warcraft, world of warcraft and diablo 3 thought you might like it.

Hey sounds like a boring week for you guys, its been the same here.
but like if going well, the gym that elder cunningham and i are going
to is getting us in shape i guess is what you could call it. we
workout every monday wednesday and friday. How ever i am getting very
annoyed with talking on the phone with people here its like they
forget all the english that they know and you have to repeat yourself
20 times. Oh how i hate repeating myself over and over again. but its
worth it sometimes. sorry to make this short but it took way to long
to get onto this email. I am still looking forward to the packages
that are coming the ZL's are going to Kampala next week so i should
get the camera then. all is going well i will type more next time.

Braden,
 How is it going? How many investigators do you have?  Are you keeping your companion going?  Did you get the package?

So about sending packages, Another one is on the way with Christmas gifts and the stuff you asked for.  I was wondering what to hide stuff in and then got a email from another missionary mom that has a son serving in Africa, telling us NOT to hide things inside of food boxes etc.. Another Missionary Mom hide some allergy medication in a stuffed animal thinking that it would make it to her son. Instead, when it was scanned in Africa, they found the pills inside the stuffed animal and thought that they were trying to smuggle drugs into the country and the missionary ended up in jail with his mission president explaining to the police what it really was and why the mom thought she needed to hide it.  Since, that would be fun for any of us, I'm going to just mail things in a post office box and put pictures of Christ on it. Hopefully, they still make it to you.

This week was pretty good, Not much different has happened, well except that Paige put her 2 weeks in at Wingers, I'm sure she will tell you all about it.

Today, I went to the Spanish speaking ward for ward conference.  All of us non-speaking spanish people got to wear head phones.  A man there interpreted what was being said and we could hear it in english. It was pretty interesting.  Their Bishop spoke on paying tithing and to pay more fast offerings and they would be blessed for it.  Then President Spencer got up and spoke in English and a man stood next to him and translated into spanish.  He also spoke on tithing and being blessed. Then we went to Sunday School and the man conducting looked at me and the other councilor and asked in spanish, if we spoke spanish. I replied no. So a sister came over and sat by us and interpreted the lesson for us.  When it was over, the same man asked if I or Jennifer would say the closing prayer. I told Jennifer to go ahead.  It was then that I realized that we stood out, there where lots of men from the high council there and they didn't get an interpreter or asked to say the prayer.  For the last hour the RS sisters and the Elders had a combined meeting. President Bunnel taught a lesson on missionary work and how we as members can help the missionaries.  Yes, he speaks spanish, but I understood bits and pieces of it. Guess I need to brush up on some spanish. 

Hope loves the movie Mulan, a you know, today, she decided she wanted short hair like Mulan and actually cut pieces of her hair. I got mad at her and she cried herself to  sleep. I haven't looked too closely to see what damage she has done. But she may be getting a hair cut tomorrow.

Hope also, set up a picnic for the whole family out side Saturday. She did it all herself(mostly). She needed a cooler with ice to keep food cold.  We all went out to her picnic and laughed and thanked her.  We ate, cookies, grapes, donuts, frozen hot dogs (yes, right from the freezer), and a can of vienna sausages.  YUM! She had also poured every one a glass of water and taken them out in little baskets.  Good thing that the weather was actually warm. Could you see us having a picnic in our winter coats and gloves?  Yes, Hope keeps us on our toes around here.

The gospel is true and changes lives for the better.

Keep on trucking.

Love, MOM

Hey everything is going well here. I am still keeping him moving haha but hes not that bad most of the time i dont have to push him. Sounds like that family had some fun haha.  Sending the christmas package with christmas pictures is probably not the best idea in the world seeing how they will know its a christmas present but oh well hope it makes it.  i didnt get the other package yet it must not have made it it here. the ZL's are going down at the end of this month so it should be there by then.  It sounds like your going to have to keep a close eye on hope for now on hehe. shes a funny girl. elder cunningham and i ahve been going to the gym here and have been working out really hard, i come back really sore and tired but recover enough before we have to go and teach.  we have also been eating a lot more healthy but thats need if you work out the way we are. sounds like you have been really busy lately.

LOL Braden, I said Christ-not Christmas.

Pictures-finally

Dear Elder Braden Erickson,

How has your week been?  Have you found any investigator'?

This was a good week for us.  First, I had Dad help me empty out all of the boxes that were in the garage.  We found some pretty funny things since they are from 8 years ago.  The funniest thing we found was your old retainer!!! Yes, it was in a box.  How it got there, I will never know.  I remember tearing your room apart trying to find it when you lost it. It must have been inside something and then fallen out during the move.  We found toys that are going to the D.I. and stuff for the trash.  The second funniest thing is, we found your 24 hour emergency back pack.  Wow-it was very old. It had pull ups in it and dried wet wipes.  I'm sure the food was very gross. We tossed the whole thing.  It wouldn't have helped anyone in any emergency.

Halloween was fun and laid back.  Dad's work had trick or treating for the younger kids, so I took Parker and Hope over, after we helped out at Parker's class party.  The kids just walk from cubicle to cubicle and collected candy fast.  Hope's little bucket she brought filled up quickly and soon she was putting her candy in Ethan's pillow case.

I didn't think that Hope would care about going trick or treating around the neighborhood. Boy, was I wrong. Dad took her up and down the street and she loved every minute of it.  Then when Parker went later, when it was dark out, Hope wanted to go again.  I bought her a girl pirate costume to wear for the halloween party we had.  Ellie next door is afraid of the scary mask.  Hope was fine with the idea. She liked the costume so much that she wore it for halloween.

Today, we had a Tea party. Hope set it up at the kitchen table and invited everyone. We had punch, milk, fruit loops, chips and bread and butter. For some reason, we had to have lit candles. It was pretty funny.  After, Hope told me that she wanted to hold a candle in her hand. I had a long talk with her about fire and dangers. I then went to the bathroom. When I came out, there she was holding a lit match. Oh MY Gosh! I can't let that girl out of my sight now.  She got a stool and found the matches and lit it herself. She was very proud of herself! Now, I'm going to have nightmares about fires. 

Jacob Squire get his mission call to Thailand. He leaves in December.

Keep up the good work. We are proud of your service.

Love, mom

Hey speaking of containers you should send me the one that i use now before my teeth start to go in every which direction again in the next package you send i have not recived the camera yet but it might be here today the couple missonaries have gone down to kampala and are coming up with the packages so hopefully it is there! i will find out around 8 Pm here or in other words 10am for you guys. 

Wow sounds like hope is turning into a danger girl.

thats funny that you found all that stuff .

 Can you believe this is with a point and shoot camera? WOW

Killin mice in their house.

Braden,
How was your week? How are you getting along? Have you figured out your new area yet?

Grandma got a tip from a neighbor that went somewhere real hot on his mission-to put water proof sunscreen on your nose. He said it helped him stay cooler. Don't know if it works or not. Guess it wouldn't hurt to try.

A few nights ago, Hope was being loud and I told her that she needed to be quiet because everyone was trying to sleep.  She asked,"Even Braden?". I told her yes, She said," Oh, why is Braden on a mission?". I told her you are their to tell people about Jesus Christ and Heavenly Father because not everyone knows about them get them to come to church.  She said, "You mean he gets to tell people where to go". Oh my gosh, she cracks me up.  She then said that you have been gone way to long and maybe someone else should go on a mission so you can come home.  I'm sure 5 months is a very long time to a 4 year old.  You won't believe how big she is getting. she is at least a good head taller all of the kids in her church class and preschool.  She weighs 60 pounds and is wearing size 7 clothes. She needs to slow down.

So, the first semester of school is over for the kids. Ethan is doing amazing all A's and B's.  He comes home excited about something every day and could talk to me for hours. Paige of course has straight A's and just retook the ACT test. She is trying for a 24 to get into BYU, she'll probably get it cause last year she got a 23.  Zach started out great and then didn't keep up on turning in homework and retaking tests, so he had a busy week doing make up work and retaking tests.  We told him that if he wants to drive your car, he has to get good grades. We'll see what happens.  And Parker, oh sweet Parker. He still is in his own little world.  But he is doing his work and getting good grades. However, his teacher has to keep him on track, he daydreams.  I was a little worried about his teacher this year, she wears hearing aids and speaks like she is deaf.  But I have been in her class helping a few times and she is on top of things.  The kids all love and respect her.  So, I'm not worried about her anymore.

This week should be fun with Halloween. Of course the weather is going to be yucky. But it is that time of year.

Hope you are doing well and working hard.

Love ya, MOM

The week was kinda boring this time not much has happend, we played soccer with some of the locals and we beat them...i dont know what they are going to do if we beat them at basketball next week they will probably not be very happy at all. there were some people laughing at the locals because we were killing them point wise it was really funny. i guess we missionaries are just to good for them.

Elder Cunningham and i are getting along just fine we have a great time together he is almost done with his mission he has 1 transfer left to so i might end up "Killing" him but that will be cool! right now i am just keeping him alive so he is not lazy you know how they are haha. I have almost got the area down hopefully i will have it down this week.

Hope makes me Laugh she is a funny girl, and very smart. i think that in kindergarten her teacher will be very suprised with her. is she still rockin out to the eye of the tiger?

I will give the other elder the camera.

Can you send me Headphones (Apple ones) that way i can listen to the conference talks. The mission pres doesnt mind us having headphones as long as we dont listen to bad things. can you send the watch that grandma gave me as well the solar one.  i forgot to bring my watch. Thanks so much!

First transfer and a new companion

On 10/21/13, Traci Erickson 
 Hey Brad, How are things going? Anymore baptisms? Is it any hotter or the
 same?I'm sure it is frustrating to work with leaders that are still learning
themselves. I mentioned it to President Spencer. He said the same thing
happened to him on his mission. To just be patient and teach with love.Did
 you get a new area or new companion?
We had an open house for the new Stake center on Thursday and Saturday. We
 had 2 large groups of 8+ people show up from other religions to see the
 building and ask questions. One of the people that came Thursday came back
 Saturday and went through the tour again and then took 3 Book of Mormons
 home with him. The stake presidency told us to keep all of our signs and
 posters because we may do it again in the next year. I guess it is great
 for the missionaries to show investigators and to find new investigators. I
 went to ward conference at the PP6 ward. (the other half of our old ward).
 It was fun seeing people again and getting caught up. By the way Dallin
 Zollinger got his mission call to Washington D.C.. He leaves the middle of
 December.
Ethan and Dad spent the morning at BYU so Ethan could earn merit badges.
 Zach had already earned the ones they had available, so he didn't go this
 time.
 This last week went by fast! I guess things are getting back to normal
 around here. I am getting another package ready to send you. I told the
 extended family that if they wanted to send you something, that now is the
 time to get it to me, so it can all be shipped together.
 *Doubt your doubts
 before you doubt your believes.

 Love, Mom

I guess my name got changed hu, good to know, I guess i will have to
inform my mission president so he knows my real name now, hehe JK. We
haven't had any more Baptisms lately because a lot has been going on
here. But we have a few people that should be baptised soon if they
keep going the way they are. It is getting a little hotter now its
funny because I know for you its getting COLD and here its getting HOT
and I also am back to walking again hehe. At least I will stay in shape
still. All is going well still here.

I did get Transfered to a new area I am now in a place called Bardege
its a great place i am Still inside Gulu just no longer in pece
anymore. i did get a new companion his Name is Elder Cunningham yes
another person from UT haha. he is almost going home he only has 1
more transfer left after this one. he is great guy and is fun to be
around I have to keep him moving for the most part so he wont be lazy
but thats alright.

The area i am in is good but its REALLY Hard to find new people!!! I
also have to learn the area again at the same time but thats they way
you learn the area the fastest.

Hows the new church Building? How was the ward conference? yeah i wish
they didnt have to split us up but the ward was getting to big.

Really Dallin is going to have a fun but difficult time for the first
few weeks because the place is so HUMID. i remember walking off the
plane and being drenched already from all the water in the air. but he
will enjoy it.

I hope that they had a good time getting their  badges there.

Cool, i cant wait to get it. hey so one of the elders here doesn't have
a camera and so i was wondering if i should give him the one i am
using now. He said he doesn't mind dealing with the issues because he
will at least have something. Do you want me to give it to him or do you
want me to send the camera back home in a package?

We went on lock down for a day because of some of the things that are
going on here but we are still fine and we still go out teaching we
just have to be careful. but its has been a lot of fun here in uganda.

Who wants to be a missionary? A guy we baptized!

Braden, 

How are things? Is the weather any warmer? Did you get rid of the mice and roaches? Any baptisms?

Hope you are doing well.  You really should eat more than one meal a day. That isn't very healthy and hard on your body. So, eat two.

This week was pretty good. Dad even made it back to work on Wednesday.  The end of this week is fall break but Dad has no time off. So, we will have to find something fun to do around here. 

Conference was great. A lot of good messages.  Hope even sat pretty quiet through most of it.  She did ask if one of the speakers was a bad guy. Wow, she makes me laugh. Yeah, we invite bad guys to talk to us at conference-that might be interesting.

I bought you a new camera and food and other things that I am sending to you on Monday. I was going to do it Saturday but forgot the post office closes early that day. Let me know if you like the soup mixes. I will probably send another box of things in mid November.

Love you lots, MOM

Things are going well here a lot has happend this last week one of the elder got food poisoning and we had to take him to the hospital and he has only been here in Uganda for 3 weeks i was nervous but who wouldnt be. The weather here is getting a lot Warming but now that i get to drive everyday i dont mind haha i am lucky haha. it stays in the mid 90s in the middle of the day and drops to about 70 in early mornings and let evenings. we have cought about 10 mice and have killed about 200 Roaches haha. we know there are still more mice but they are in hiding now they fear us a lot. and let me tell you we have come up with some very clever ways of catching them and even killing them. haha. We have been doing a lot of serves lately and doing a lot of digging. I know eatting one meal a day is not good so i havnt been doing it. its hard to make good food because it all takes time to cook and time is something we just dont have unfortuneatly :(  Thanks for sending the Camera and food :) i cant wait! Oh and if you havnt sent the package yet can you send my Call of Duty Sun glass's as well oh and in way they wont break :) thanks :) they should be in the my car unless you took them out. it might be good to send a case for the camera as well so it wont get scratched. THANKS SO MUCH!   Its also good to hear that dad is doing better! if i get time i will send you another email but i need to email Mission Pres really fast.

OH and the Mission Pres. is coming to work with us this week! its kinda scary oh well. there is nothing to fear. he did say in one of his meeting that we should not be supprised that he would just show up one day and work with us. but that was like a week ago i didnt expect it to be that fast. He is a great guy. he even know the area where we live. you know the Days that lived in the old house on the corner on 3200? he knows them, i dont know if he knows that the days moved though guess i can ask him when he comes and find out.

Braden,

So, how did it go spending the day with the mission president? You get to drive in that crazy place-wow. Be careful. I am putting a second package together to send to you. It will have your sunglasses, knife, card games and food. If you think of anything else you need, let me know.

We find out in church today that our ward gets to go to the new stake center just down the hill from us. We are supper excited.  We are having an open house Thursday night and Saturday Morning. The stake presidency for each organization are in charge of telling about that organization with short talks, video's posters etc.  So, of course I will be in the Relief Society room.  We then get to start attending that building on Oct. 27th.  We still don't know when the building will be dedicated.

It sounds like you are finding good investigators to teach. Martin sounds like he would be a good ward missionary.  I bet he can find you more people to teach.  It is amazing how many people you have been able to teach and baptize already. Keep up the good work. Remember to take time to rest and get plenty of sleep.

This week was fall break. We just hung around home and did fun things together and with friends.  I'm taking the kids to the $1 movies tomorrow for the last day of break.

Paige received her patriarchal blessing today. It was very inspiring and long. I can't wait to see just how long it is typed on paper.  He even talked about what an amazing teacher she will be on her mission.  You are such a good example to your siblings and to me.  Hold strong to your believes and your testimony, it will get you through the hard times.

Oh, and if it is hot, drink lots of water.  Even drink some on fast Sundays if you are out about for a long time. I know God understands the human body. Better to be safe than to get dehydrated.

*When you don't feel like praying, pray until you do!*

Love, Mom

October 14th 2013

Sweet Thanks so much for sending the Packages it will be very nice. the elder that wants the rings has been bugging me for the past few weeks about them haha, i told him he is just going to have to be patient and i told him patience  is a virtue haha he laughed for a few minutes and then said alright. i have seen a lot of amazing things here in uganda but they have all been to far to take pictures of. for example i saw a bald eagle in a tree to day that was not to far i pulled out the camera to take a picture and on the camera it looked like a small dot haha. i am going to buy a card reader so i can send pictures next week if i still have some money from the allotment from the email i got to day it sounds like i will still have enough. but not by much. I didnt get to tracted with President i did however with the AP's that was very interesting they said we are doing well and to keep up the hard work. the Mission Pres is a great guy he is really funny and is doing a great job.  you the Todds of course well the people that lived in the house before they did (the Days) he knows them!! we got into a discussion about where we lived it was really cool and scary HE KNOWS WHERE I LIVE!!!! haha just kidding its really cool.

You know i thought that dad would end up taking my car to work when i left seeing how it gets better gas mileage on it haha is the knife really in the car? hmm i dont remember putting it there but if the leatherman is there i guess that it is there. i cant wait to get them. so i am asuming that you took over dads car from what i understand from grandmas E email haha.

You would laugh at the email she send me from what you tell me she didnt do a lot of work and from what she told me she did i love hearing 2 different sides of the story haha. 

Yeah driving here is a little hectic but there is not much i can do about that. i am going to have a hard time again driving a automatic car again....oh well cant help that.

For the package i could use a few needle nose pens and some regular ones as well i have had 3 of them die on me already and i found out that 2 of them are art pens that bleed through paper like crazy.

Thats Awesome that you get to go to the new church building i bet it will be very nice in it. The branch here where i am NEEDS A LOT OF WORK!! the branch presidentcy are the Sunday only type of people and i guess you can say the us elders end up correcting a lot of things and then end up recorrecting the same misstakes i guess it will just take time.

I always have 4 liters of water in the fridge so when i get home every night i drink a lot of water. we are about to go into the dry season here where it gets a little hotter and it doesn't rain as much. my allergies are starting to act up as well but thats why i have all the different kinds of meds. haha.

I will probably get to watch Conference with in the next few weeks.  Transfers are also happening on tuesday cant wait.

Hope all is going well for you guys and thanks so much.