Here in Lira

Dear Braden,

    How has your week been? How is your new area? Are you in the jungle or a town?

You said that you companion is one of your brother's from the MTC-what is his name?



This week was very interesting.  Ethan received his purple belt in class. He is loving Tae kwon do and catches on quickly.



I took the kids to the small lake over my Mount Timp. Temple. The had a good time playing in the water and sand.  We took a fishing pole because Hope said she needed to fish.

We didn't take bait on purses because I new she wouldn't stay with it very long. Zach took her to a spot that they could fish from an found out the rill on the pole was broken. It was okay though, as long as Hope could hold the hook in the water she was happy.



Friday, Paige and I went to BYU Idaho with her friend Kaylee and her mother.  We spent the night in a hotel and then hit campus and student housing on Saturday.  The housing all looks pretty much the same on the inside, except some are larger than others.  The girls decided on the one closest to the campus because they will be there in the COLD winter. On our trip home, we stopped at a Wendy's to eat.  This old lady started choking and her daughter yelled for help. A worker came to help but couldn't get it out. They told the other worker's to call 911. I was scared but knew I had to at least try and help. I went over and told them to let me help.  First time doing the hymlic maneuver (on an adult) and it worked.  The poor lady was so shaky. I sat her down and rubbed her back and asked if she was alright.  She was coughing, but nodded her head, yes. So, I went back to my lunch. They ambulance still came and checked her out and talked to her.  The old lady and her daughter thanked me before they left. It was a scary experience. Poor Paige told Dad, that she almost saw a lady die today but Mom saved her life. I guess I did. I was to nervous to even think of it that way.

It was scary to me but what was I gong to do-watch her die-NO.  I am glad that I have been certified in first aid and CPR. Kaylee's mom said-wow, right place, right time-Traci.  Yes, it was but I don't wish to have to do it again.



Today in church we talked about hastening the work (missionary work) and I thought about my experience at Wendy's and doing what I could to help the lady live, even though I was scared.  Am I willing to step in and help people  people in their spiritual live's? I know I am, but even after serving a full time mission, it can be a little scary. I need to work on the FAITH thing a little more.



So proud of the work you are doing-keep it up.

If you ask God for help-be prepared to put your Work Boots on!



Love, MOM

Sorry Your are going to to have to tell everyone that I wont be able
to reply to there emails today because the internet is being very
slow, it takes over 40 minutes to just load a page to email you. i
guess its a bad day of internet here in Lira! oh well. Yeah, so anyway
i am serving with my brother from the MTC his name is Elder Manuwere
he is from zimbabway he is a cool guy and he teaches very different
from the way i am use to teaching so i guess i will get to learn how
to blend him with me too. Not much has happend besides the fact that
i have been at home most of the time because my companion has malaria
hope i never get it it looks like a bad thing!!! sounds like your
having a crazy week. and also sounds like paige is wanting to move out
of the house haha.anyway hope all is going well.

sorry to make this short but i dont have a lot of time it took almost
all my time to just open the page to email you.

-- 
Never be ♯
Never be ♭
Always be ♮

Another transfer to Lyra

Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday to you,Happy Birthday dear Braden, Happy birthday to you!

I hope you did something fun for your Birthday! Wow a big 20-your getting old-JK.

Pretty funny someone would ask you if you spoke English-I still laugh just thinking about it.

So, did you get transferred? Do you want to? Where would you like to serve before you come home?

So, Sister Todd and I were talking about things that we had to buy for our son's missions. It is interesting how different the lists are, even though you both will be serving in Africa.

For me, this was a crazy week.  First, we went to Pat and Tina's on Monday to celebrate Korbins Birthday. We played card games and then went outside to play lawn darts that dad got for Father's Day! It was fun.  On the way home-on the freeway of course- the low tire pressure light came on- by the time we got home the tire was completely flat! Dad had to figure out where the spare tire was and how to get it down from the bottom of the van. He did get it on. The next day I took it to the tire store and the said that it was shredded on the inside and we need a new tire. However, the tire isn't a very common size so they had to have it shipped in. So I took a trip back the next day.  Also, we noticed that the front tire had a nail in it when we bought it. That tire was still fine but the tire shop was nice and took the nail out and double patched it for free!

We had winter weather this week-yes it snowed in the mountains and was cold and windy here. I refused to turn the furnace on, so everyone put jackets on. Or walked around in a blanket.  By Saturday it was in the high 80* again!

I had a doctor's appointment and Dad tagged along.  I had blood work done earlier and we got the results. Some were not so great. The doctor I went to isn't covered by insurance, so I am now in the process of finding another doctor.

President Keck called earlier in the week to see if I could sit at a registration desk for a Young Adult Conference being held in Orem on Friday.  I really wasn't looking forward to it but it turned out to be very low stress and fun.  The had 5 people at the table I was at ( 2 others from our ward) and One person could have done the job just fine. So we mostly just sat and chatted for 3 hours.

Saturday, we celebrated your Birthday for you at Lagoon.  We went early to try and beat the heat.  I thought that I would take home over to the children's part and just watch her ride the rides.  That wasn't her plan!  She has decided that she is big enough for the bigger rides.  We round the far-is  wheel and she loved being up so high.  We rode the the ride that is like the hopper but much bigger, but get this. Her favorite ride was the Bombora (blue roller coaster) which is a mid sized coaster a lot like the Jet Star2. She went on it 7 or 8 times.  She convinced Parker to go on it with her before we left. Yes, she convinced her older brother to ride it.  Dad got picture's of her on it with the biggest smile ever.  We all were worn out by the time we got home.

Hope now wants to buy a Blue roller coaster and put it in our back yard.

So, that was our excitement for the week.

Hope yours was just as good.  We love you lots and want the best for you. Keep up the hard work and the Lord will Bless you.

Love Mom

Here in Uganda a lot has happend this last week! we had a Drunk guy come up to us and ask us if we speak English very well!!! I looked at him with a strange face and thought to myself "umm duh i speak good english i am from america" haha it made me laugh. the next day we had someone come up to my companion and ask him if he was from Portugal it was so funny! there is NO WAY my companion is from there! I also had some other stuff happen but i dont know if its safe email it so i will just have to tell you in person if we meet up.

Sounds like a lot has happend lately thats good, and also sound a little bad. I did get Transfer news and i will be going back up to northern uganda to a place called Lyra i cant wait! from what i have heard about it its a wonderful place. I will be serving with one of my mission brothers as well! I could say that i want to leave but the area just started to do well! oh well just have to keep working hard huh. I would like to serve in the north so i guess i am getting my wish huh.

Thanks for the Birthday song, i feel old now more than every!

Sounds like a lot has happend lately thats good, and also sound a little bad. I did get Transfer news and i will be going back up to northern uganda to a place called Lyra i cant wait! from what i have heard about it its a wonderful place. I will be serving with one of my mission brothers as well! I could say that i want to leave but the area just started to do well! oh well just have to keep working hard huh. I would like to serve in the north so i guess i am getting my wish huh.

Thanks for the Birthday song, i feel old now more than every!

Update!!

On Mon, May 26, 2014 at 7:04 AM

Dear Elder-son-Braden,

How was your week?  Anything interesting or exciting happen?  Did you get the box I sent?

Just a few more days and you will have made it One full year-Yeah. Paige graduates on the same day that you have hump day and it is Dad's birthday as well. Guess that means it is going to be a great day!

I had pre-school graduation on Friday.  Of course the weather was nice all week until Friday.  It was cloudy and windy. We had graduation outside again and it went well.  I had a slip and slid and wiggly sprinkler for the kids to play in.  They did but it was cold. Hope is already asking when preschool is going to be again.

Then that afternoon, I went and helped the 4th and 5th graders do their field day outside.  The weather had actually warmed up some and the clouds started to clear up.  I was in charge of a banana game.  It was funny. We had the kids get into 4 teams. They laid on the ground with their feet by the next person's head.  Then the first person had to pick the banana up with their feet put their feet over their head and the next person had to grab it from them with their feet.  It was really fun to watch and the banana's got pretty mushy.

Dad got off early that day and we went van hunting.  We found one that is nice and had the features that I wanted.  Automatic sliding doors and back , adjustable petals, and a dvd player.  Both Zach and Page have already driven it. I know dad is going to send pictures, so I won't.

Parker had his last track meet. He did pretty well.  Out of about 30 kids he came in 10th in the 100 and 2oo meter run.  He was second in the high jump.  He jumped 3'6" up over the bar.  He came in about 5th in the long jump. He jumped 8'1". The furthest was a tall boy that jumped 10 feet.  He also did a relay.  The meet was about 3 hours long and we were all glad to go home when it was over.

Paige is now the new ward chorister-yes, the WARD chorister. Today was her first time leading and she did a great job.  She won't have the calling very long because she has decide to go to the young adult ward in July.  A lot of her friends are going, so she is also.  I'm sure it will be a good experience for her.

Zach had his birthday and got an I phone. His old phone was pretty well worn.  He was ordained to the office of a Priest today by dad.  He is excited to be able to bless the sacrament.  

As you can tell, things are going well here at home.

Hugs and Kisses, 

Love ya, Mom

Good to hear that you have some investigator's. I haven't sent the other package yet, I will make sure to include food.

So, the Todd boy that is going to  Johannesburg. said that in his letter it told him to bring 5 nice watches and when someone truest to mug him to tell him he doesn't have anything but this nice watch and give it to them.  Kinda funny. But if it works, it is a good thing. 

________________________

Sounds like you have had a very busy week!!! but i guess that it is about time for that to start now that school is getting out.  WAIT did you say ZACH PASSED!!!!!! thats not good!!! When i get home i think i will have to start walking in the street because i know the sidewalk will not be safe anymore!

So i havnt recieved the package yet, but i might have it tomorrow, Because mission pres. wants to have interviews with us again....oh boy hope it goes well.  He did invite us over for dinner yesterday!! The food was awesome!!! i think i eat 3rds or was it 4ths i dont remember but it was a lot and Sis. Chatfield asked where all the food goes I dont think anyone will find that out. there must be a black hole in me somewhere i just have to find it haha.

Besides all that things are going well here, we are doing a lot of finding and so soon we will have more people to teach and also we are reporting to the ZL's daily now thats not fun! its like being a DL but we are not! We did start to teach one of our recently baptized  person's family.

Have you sent the other package??? if not i think i can go with out a belt i glued the belt back together haha, it was only the outside coming off the rest was fine. For the White shirts i think i will be fine with what i have, i bleached them for a long time and they turned back white but not as what there where when we bought them.  But you can never go wrong with sending food, and candy haha.

Hope all is going well.

the week was good we had interviews with Mission Pres. again!!! it went well I think that he is just worried about the area, because it is not doing well. The only other thing that happend this week was the Baptism that we had on Sunday. It went very well. i will send some pictures next week i dont have my camera with me today.

Sounds like parker did well in track thats good.

Zach got a I-Phone huh what kind??? is it the new one?

Paige is the ward choir ester (ignore spelling there the computer wont let me spell it the right way) haha thats interesting!.

Hmm i never got a email from Dad, you got the van it sounds like! you should send some pictures of it.

Sounds like this last week of may will be very busy.



Braden, 

How goes it?  What if anything new is happening in your area? Did you get the package I sent?  I am in the process of putting your birthday package together and hopefully get it sent out on Monday or Tuesday. I hope it makes it to you on time. I know your grandparents have both sent packages to you, so hopefully you get something on your birthday.

Wow, one year---how does it feel to be on the down side of counting the days.  I never did that. I wasn't even sure when I'd be going home until the AP"s called me and told me that they'd be picking me up the next day. So, I didn't have time to tell to many people good-bye. But it all worked out fine-it always does.

So Paige had her big day on Friday-yeah, she is now a graduate from High School.  It was also the last day of school for the other kids and Dad's birthday. It was pretty busy but fun.  Paige spent a few hours after graduation partying with a group of her friends and then went to the big party at the High School.  It didn't end unit 4 a.m. so she sleep most of Saturday.  She went to the young Adult ward for the first time today.  You will have to ask her about that.

Today after church and lunch, Hope had the great idea of having family time.  We invited each of us to join her in the theatre room in 3 minutes.  We watched Lilo and Stitch #2.  It has been along time since I've watched it.  Hope was so happy that her family could spend time together and watch a movie.  I guess, she doesn't think FHE on Mondays is enough.  She watches shows on U tube on how to make or create things and then wants to do them.  Yesterday she made mud and pored it on the patio because she wanted to make a sculpture. Today, she came to me and asked if I knew how to make cement.  She thinks we should make that next.  I have a feeling that I am going to be very busy this summer doing all kinds of things.

Ethan just found out that he can test for his next belt in Ti kwon do.  He is doing well and loves it.

I can't believe summer is finally here. No more home work. But now coming up with things to keep the kids busy and happy is going to be a challenge. The sleeping in a little longer will be nice though.

Hope all is going well with you.  How is your health? You have been blessed not to have been too ill so far. And I pray that you won't be.  

Today the RF lesson was on fear and not to let fear stop us from doing hard things.  Something that everyone needs to remember sometime in their lives.

Fear: Knocked,

Faith: answered,

No one: was there!

I need to put this saying back by the front door to remind all of us to have faith.

Love ya, keep up the good work, Mom

the week was good we had interviews with Mission Pres. again!!! it went well I think that he is just worried about the area, because it is not doing well. The only other thing that happend this week was the Baptism that we had on Sunday. It went very well. i will send some pictures next week i dont have my camera with me today.

Sounds like parker did well in track thats good.

Zach got a I-Phone huh what kind??? is it the new one?

Paige is the ward choir ester (ignore spelling there the computer wont let me spell it the right way) haha thats interesting!.

Hmm i never got a email from Dad, you got the van it sounds like! you should send some pictures of it.

Sounds like this last week of may will be very busy.

Sounds like a busy week, Im sure paige had a fun time! I remember that time if made me feel old!!! its strange thinking that i will be turning 20 though that makes me feel really old! in facted i cant even rap my mind around it.

So not much has happend this week besides dropping almost all our investigators! (Not Fun!!!) we get to start from scratch again oh well not much i can do about that.

I did get a package from Grandma E, and the 1/2 there package!  The jerky was very nice!!! Thanks

On Mon, Jun 9, 2014 at 6:44 AM, Traci Erickson <tracirerickson@hotmail.com> wrote:

Hey, what's up Braden?

How was your week, You, your comp?

Any new investigator's, I hope so.

Yell and shout school is out.  It has been a nice week. Sleeping in a little later. Getting chores done and having some down time. Even though Hope is keeping us all busy, making sculptures out of mud, making cakes and cookies.  She planned another family movie night and popped bags of popcorn and I helped her make sugar cookies and a few of us watched a movie with her.  She gets everyone together to play hide-n-seek. I think she will keep us all busy.

Paige went fishing on a date and got sunburned. They didn't catch any fish either.

Zach got to say the prayer on the bread for the first time this week. Guess what…he got it right the first time. He drove us home in the van after church. Poor Ethan was scared the whole time. But we made it just fine.

We have a new 2nd councilor in the Bishopric.  Brother Clark was released. He and his family are moving.  Bro. Wilson was put in. I don't think you know them. They live in the new houses that have been going up in the field.  No houses behind us yet!  We still have a great view out the back windows.

I'm teaching summer preschool this week and summer workshops for older kids.  I had Ethan look up information on volcano's. Who knew that Utah has a super volcano? Okay, had. It blew itself apart when it erupted thousands of years ago. Guess I'll be learning new stuff too.

Love ya lots, MOM

This week is going well we ended up getting a 3rd companion again!!! kinda hard to believe that it has happend twice in a row because normally there is never a companionship of 3 on this mission. Its fun though we have to change things around. We are all doing well though.

Sounds like you are staying busy, thats good.

We were able to find one more progressing investigator. he is a cool guy and so we hope to keep sharing with him

I got the packages from Grandma/Grandpa E and R. The socks are great and also the ties!!

are you still playing WOW?? did you find a different guild?

can you put some money into my bank account like around $120 I think i will be needing to buy more shoes again!!!! the ones i have now are getting close to there limits. atleast they lasted for about 7 months :) we will see how long they really last though.

On Mon, Jun 16

Braden, How's the 3some going? What are your comp's name's and where are they from?  When are transfers? And did you get the BIG box I sent yet?

This week was busy and fun.  I started teaching summer preschool, it is a small class but keeps Hope busy and learning.  Silly girl is now watching science shows and can tell you what scientist do what.

I helped Hope, Ethan and Parker make volcano's out of clay. When they were dry the painted them and the next day we erupted them. Ya know, the classic baking soda and vinegar. They all thought it was awesome.

We ventured to Seven Peaks this week and Hope got brave and went down the small slides.  Poor Zach didn't feel well, so we left him home.  We have a pass to the Lehi outdoor pool and need to go more often.

Today is Father's Day! Dad gifts some fun gifts and of course Meat to make jerky. 

The weather has been crazy this week 80's and sun and then down to the 60's with rain and wind.  Today is another cool, windy day.

How is the weather there? Are you keeping hydrated?  Are you using sun screen or are you too tan to need it now?

The gospel is true-pass it on.

Love ya lots, MOM

The 3'some is going well it has been very interesting! I think that one of my companions are starting to get very bad ADD, because we will see a bug as we are walking stop and point at it for a few seconds then continue to walk on haha. guess i need to start taking the vitamins again that i came with (Vitamin b12 helps people concentrate if you didnt know that) dont ask how i know that i just do! maybe you should get some for Parker haha might help. also i found out that caffine also helps people as well. Oh all the soda here has caffine in it so there is no avoiding it but i am trying to keep off of soda for now.

The most exciting thing that has happend this week was we meet this drunk guy and he asked us (Americans) if we know English very well!!!! i couldnt help but laughing at him haha. that and we meet this one mom that was in the states for 12 years it was really cool. besides that not much has happend.

I didnt get the box yet maybe at the end of the transfer. which is next week monday!!! i think i will be staying again with my luck haha. the wheather is hot as usual haha i need to start using sun screen again because i am getting burned again. i dont know why!!