Ogden Temple

Date: Sep 22, 2014 6:57 AM
Subject: Re: Ogden temple dedication, flu shots

On Mon,

Hi Elder,

I hope you are well and happy.  Ebola is still a problem so make sure you're taking very good care of yourself.  I hear you have a new companion from South Africa.  Are you training him?  I hope you appreciate that for many hopeful missionaries from outside the U.S. the prospect of going on a mission can be a big challenge, and many make huge sacrifices to do so.  Treat him well, and be patient.  If you are his first companion, he will always remember you. 

I also understand that you are once again close to an Elder that is a little annoying.  Something about bouncing around all the time?  Just remember that you are there for the same reason, and he has a very different background from you.  Also, you have dealt with a LOT worse.  Just put the people first and you will be able to handle Tigger.

Friday, most of the family got flu shots at my work.  Mom, Zach, Parker, Hope and me.  Paige was working and Ethan was camping (more on that later).  By that evening we were all feeling pretty yucky.  Mom and Parker are still not 100%.  I guess sometimes the treatment is as bad as the disease. 

Ethan went to the Little Sahara desert for an overnight campout.  Did you ever go there?  I went LONG time ago (meaning, when I was a scout), and remember it being a very alien place.  Sand dunes as far as you could see.  Ethan came home pretty tired since they didn't get to sleep until after 3am apparently.  He is totally into scouts, and should be getting his Life rank at the next court of honor. 

Today was the rededication of the Ogden temple.  It was one of the older temples in the region, not counting the Manti, St.George and Salt Lake temples of course.  It was in bad repair, so they "reconstructed" it.  If you recall what the Provo temple looked like, it was kind of like that, but now it looks completely different.  Paige, Zach, Ethan and I went to one of the dedication sessions.  They had three altogether.  That is always a special experience.  I learned a lot from two talks that were given.  One was by a member of the first presidency of the seventy, and was about time.  The second was from the relief society general president, and was about the scripture that goes: "Come, and let us go up to the  house of the Lord, where he will teach of his ways...."  Or something like that.  It was very inspiring.  The only downside was that the choir was not very good, but maybe I'm a little sensitive to that.  It must be pretty intimidating to sing in a small group (20 people) in front of hundreds of thousands. 

We need to start putting together a Christmas package pretty soon, so let us know what you need. 

I love you and am so pleased with your example both to the people of Africa and your brothers and sisters. I'm sure you are not aware of the positive influence you are having on them, especially Zach and Ethan.  Take care of yourself, be obedient, work hard and you will find success.

Love,
Dad

So my companion is not new he has been out on mission the same time as i have Yes, thats right hes a mission brother! this is my 3rd mission brother kinda crazy! The work is starting to pick back up again, thats good we are even having a baptism next week as well. besides that not much has happend. just working hard.

Never be ♯

Never be ♭

Always be ♮ 

Flu shots

Re: Another week

On Mon, Sep 22, 2014 at 7:41 AM, Traci Erickson

Braden, 

How was your week? Who is your new companion, I hear he has quite the name?  Is he a greeny?  Is the Elder that is a trouble maker, making trouble?

This week was quite an adventure. I decide to go on a diet and bought some diet stuff through an essential oils place.  I took the it twice on Monday and was fine.  I took it again on Tuesday morning and during preschool started to feel funny and itchy.  It got so bad that I had dad come home from work and called the preschool parent to come pick up their kids.  I took Benadryl and started feeling better but that stuff makes me sleep.  I guess, I have to loose weight a different way.

Dad's work had flu shot day at his work on Friday. So, I took everyone that was home and we all got shots.  Paige mixed it because of work and Ethan was at a campout for scouts.  Lucky them because the rest of us felt yucky Saturday and Sunday.

A few of us did make it to church though.

The Ogden Temple was re- dedicated today.  So normal church was cancelled.  Only people 8 years and up with their special yellow temple card could go to the rededication at the stake center. Hopefully we are all feeling normal tomorrow.  And the shot better actually work. Cause who wants to be sick for no reason.

Zach got new glasses a few months ago and already broke them. Okay, so they wren't really broken.  The little screw came out so the ear piece came right off. He didn't even tell me until Friday night. So, when all of us went feeling so great, I took him and his glasses back to Standard optical to have them fixed. He can't drive blind for some reason.  We also picked up his and Paige's contacts that have been sitting there for probably 2 weeks.  So now they both and see.  

Both Paige and Zach are still working at Smash burger but have told the manager that they can no longer work Sunday's.  They were being scheduled every Sunday and Paige has a primary class so it just wasn't working out.  She was a fraud that she might be fired but she wasn't.  They like her too much. Zach told them that he can only work 2 days a week.  Working 4 days a week and getting home at 10 p.m. and then trying to do home work was getting a little too much for him.  At  least they both can still work and earn some spending money and college money.

Hope all is going well in Africa.  Hope all of the sudden relayed that she is 5 and when are you coming home.  She was disappointed when we told her not until May. But hey, it is getting closer.

Love ya, MOM

Wow, sounds like you had a interesting week, You do know that the flu shot they give you is normally the wrong one right they is a small % of them giving you the right dose. anyway lets hope it was right one. Zach was blind huh thats silly of him not telling you till now. Yeah, paige sent me a email saying she might get fired or quit if they wouldnt give them sundays off haha. Normally people understand. Just like Winger's did. Hope finally remembered huh thats funny haha its not all that far away just about 8 months. my last companion did the math haha.

So not much has happend really we are just trying to get the area back on its feet again from all the napping we did last transfer. So my comp is not a greeny he came out on mission same time as i did so we are mission brothers thats the 3rd mission brother i have served with wow thats crazy. oh well. so the trouble maker has not been making to much trouble but he has a little i think he has realized that i was no fun to teaz anymore. besides that i am having a baptism next week thats awesome.

Never be ♯

Never be ♭

Always be ♮

Training a greeny...

Re: missed you

.

On Mon, Sep 15, 2014

Hey Braden,

What's up?  We missed the pictures…so remember to send them.  How was your week? Anything exciting or interesting happen?

I forgot to tell you last time… Parker received the Religious knot, Weblos badge and compass and arrow point And the ARROW OF LIGHT at the last Pack meeting.  It was also the pinewood derby and he got to race again.  We thought last year was his last time…so nice of them to do it on his birthday.  He and dad whipped the car together really fast and guess what? It came in 4th place out of all of the cars.  No more boys in Cub scouts now.  Parker is now in New scouts and likes it.  Both Ethan and Zach are very close to getting their life…then they can do their Eagle project.  Hopefully we get them that far.

This weekend was Stake Conference.  All of the talks were on Hastening the work.  They had a returned sister missionary talk about how it is really helpful for the members to do the finding and the missionaries to do the teaching.  More people get baptized that way.  All of the speakers had great messages.

It was Regional Conference so we got to watch it live from the Stake center.  Russel M. Neilson, Richard G. Scott, Elder Clayton  and Sister Stephens spoke.  They all spoke on different topics but it all tied into having your own testimony of Christ.  Sink your roots down deep so you will be firm and immovable when trials come.

They also talked about sharing our spiritual talents with those around us.  

Russel M. Neilson spoke about the Ogden temple being rededicated next week and that we should prepare ours selves by doing family history work.  He also spoke about Angels and how we believe in them.  He spoke about Joseph Smith and the angels that visited him.  He touch on the angels that are spoken of in the scriptures and how they are messengers of good news.  He ended by telling us that we can be angels on earth by giving angelic service-loving acts of kindness to  those around us.

A lot of good information  and a lot to think about.  General conference is fast approaching and i can't wait to hear all of the good news they have to share.

Hope was talking to Paige this week and asked her if she was earning money for college. Paige said yes, Hope quickly ran up stairs..opened up her piggy bank, poured all of the mont into it and brought it to Paige and told her that it was for her college. What a sweet girl she can be.

I hope you are doing well and things are going good.

Love ya MOM

______________________________
































Sorry you didnt get the pictures i will try to send them again. Sounds like you had a interesting week though. I think its kinda funny how when you try to make a car good it doesnt but when you dont try it does really well haha. so the most interesting thing that really happened this week is transfer news, turns out i will be staying in the same area and will be serving with a new companion. There is also bad news to transfer news as well. there will be a elder coming to the house that like to joke around way to much!!!  i was around him in Gulu and now i will have to be around him again!!! its going to be along 6 weeks.

Never be ♯

Never be ♭

Always be ♮

 On 9/8/14,
 Braden,So I wrote you 1,000 word email last week and you didn't even write
me back.
 wait-no I didn't. I only thought about it cause we were camping and didn't

have any service! I know-sad. Poor Paige and Zach almost didn't survive not being able to text for 3 days.

 We went camping for Labor day. And we dealt in a tent. Although we did have
 restrooms with flush toilets but no showers. So we all came home pretty ripe and
smelly.
 We camped at a place called current creek camp ground. It is about an hour drive from Strawberry Reservoir. We actually went to Strawberry one day and rented a pontoon boat to go fishing. It wasn't such a good day to go…very windy and rough waters. We had a fish finder but all of the fish were down really deep. We didn't catch anything. Guess who got sea sick? Yup, me! So after a few hours out we came back in without any fish.The waves kept spraying up over the boat and soak all of us. Poor Hope said that we should call an airplane that lands on water to come save us. She told me that we should never get on a boat again.
 We then went back to camp. Did I mention, we dealt in a tent? One night the wind blew our tent part way down and dad had to fix it. Sound familiar, at least it didn't break. The kids decided to put on skits for us. They turned out pretty funny. Silly Zach, found Hope rain coat and decided to wear it
around. It was hilarious.
 We bought 3 bundles of wood from the camp store. The wood burned really fast. So we sent the kids out looking for wood. We all took turns going and collecting it. It kept us busy. This guy camping across from us showed up with wood that he had brought and told us that he couldn't watch us  anymore. aIt was pretty funny.
 We found out that chipmunks love poppy seed muffins. We watched them eat one that had been dropped for over an hour. And decided that they were probably getting high and addicted to the poppy seeds. It was a fun experience even though we dealt in a tent.
 Do I sound like Lehi yet?
 Hope turns 5 tomorrow and she is soooo excited about her Birthday and present and of course a party with friends. She had me make a birthday list for her sand this is what was on it…pierced ears like Paige. A bookshelf like Ellies, A lamp, an alarm clock, and finally a scooter. Does this sound like a normal 5 year old birthday list-nope. Silly girl. I took her to the mall on Saturday and got her ears pierced because we will be to busy on Monday to do it. She didn't cry but did say her ears were sore and painful.
The sister missionaries in our ward are doing an church open house every Thursday. I helped with one a few months ago. But know they do it on their own for investigator's and anyone wanting to see the inside and know more.
 Our war is now in charge of cleaning the building twice a week so it will look nice when people come through. We helped out on Friday. I was amazed at all of the people that showed up to help. There were probably 20 of us.
I think that is a record.
 I hope that you are doing well and have lots of people in your teaching pool. Keep busy and enjoy the sights while you are there. How is your comp. doing? What does he have? It doesn't sound good. I pray every night that you won't get sick. I know all to well how that is in a far away country.
 Love you lots, MOM 

 So my companion is still sick and he is expected to stay sick for a
 few months it will take time for his body to fight it. so until then
 we are on the nap schedule........not really that fun. He has tetnis
 luckly he had his shot so the effects of it were not as bad as it
 would have been. He said he is going to try to work all week this week
 so we will see what happens i dont think he will be able to because he
 has been struggling these past few days. besides that the ward has
 started to help us a little and so we have people to teach again. but
 slowly they are also leaving so i guess we just have to work even
harder before they all run away. Sounds like school is a blast so
 far. Sounds like the normal UT weather haha it did something similar
 not to many years ago. i think i will let the picture explain what
 happened here... i never thought it was possible though guess it is!!!
 Sounds like you had a fun time camping hope still looks like a big
 girl haha. just hope she doesnt remember the day you said i would be
 home or you might not ever hear the end of it haha. we had have
 interviews with president again that went well nothing really excited
 happend though, although we did have some of the Senior couples come
 and teach some of the elder how to cook Crapes and Alfredo sauce haha
oh also tortillas as well. to bad I already knew how to make it :(
guess i will just have to make it more interesting some how. So the

 district leader said i might end up training next transfer OH BOY that
 cant be fun!!! there are going to be 17 new elders coming dont ask how
 i know this kind of stuff! i just do i hear things haha i have people
 on the inside hehe that sometimes leak information. anyways the work
 is going well i am healthy still teaching pool is still growing but
 thats about it.

  

New area-Makindye

 Dear Braden,
 Glad to hear that you didn't starve and that people feed you lots of good food.
 Zach got his license. Yup he is now legal. He is taking over your car. it is nice that he can drive himself to his friends and school now.
Hope woke up early one morning and decide to cut her own hair. :( I had to take her to great clips and have them fix it so it looks alright. She is quit the handful. Today at church she got mad at me and left during
sacrament. I told dad he better see where she was going-she actually made it half way home on her own before dad caught up to her. She thinks she is bigger than she really is.
 So Tanner Todd had his farewell today. he did a good job with his talk. He
 spoke on service. He leaves in just over 1 week.
 I took the kids to the sir for back to school shopping. I think we got
everything they need. We will find out this week at back to school night, I
 guess.
 How is your new area? Who is your new companion? Do you have any
 investigators?
 Love ya lots,Mom

===========================

Zach is driving my car!! That cant be good at all! sounds like i might
not have a car when i get home. Hope is a handful though thats the
thing haha she might slow down in a year or 2 we will see. tanner is
going where again for his mission? there might be someone from one of
my areas that is going to the same mission.

My new area is Makindye its a good place i like it a lot but the
apartment is terrible its super dirty and wont ever get clean because
it is stained, the pluming gets clogged all the time and the church
has to pay a guy to come unclog it every 2 to 3 weeks and that costs a
ton. we had the stove catch on fire and almost melt one of the handles
to it as well. So needless to say we have been looking for a new house
to go live in and hopefully we will be going with in the next week or
2. besides that i love the new area, it reminds me of Ntinda but with
a lot more hills to it :( i hate hills oh well. the area i am in is
actually not a branch but a ward!! its kinda strange i have only been
in branches. My new companion is awesome!!! he from Dallas Texas and
turns out we played lots of the same video games like LOL, WOW, and
Starcraft. he is also a very funny guy he likes to make jokes a lot as
well. i think i will have no problem with this transfer haha. dont
worry when we work we are focused on the work. we have a small
teaching pull because he had tetnis when i first came so we need to do
find like normal haha.

Mutungo

On 8/4/14, Traci Erickson
Hey Braden, How was your week? Hope it was good and that you got enough to eat. Are you being transferred?
 I think (maybe you already did) you should report your money being stolen to the mission President. If it has happened before, maybe they can figure out who is doing it and put a stop to it.
 So, we have been keeping an eye on the news of the Ebola outbreak in Africa.
They are having all missionaries moved to different missions in the Sierra Leone and Liberia missions. This is a precaution, to make sure No missionaries get sick. Thankfully, there aren't any reports of it hitting
 Uganda, yet.
 This week was actually pretty quiet and low key. Which was nice for a
 change. We do need to go have some fun before school starts. I was
planning on going to 7 peaks one last time but it is supposed to be rainy all week. Maybe we will have to hit the dollar movies instead. Ethan
thinks we should make spud nuts one day. We will see, if I have the energy.
Pres. Spencer and his family took their youngest-CECE- to the temple to be sealed on Saturday. They gave her a name and a blessing today in church.
 They had a big family turn out. Russ Lasson and his family were there. It was fun seeing them again. All 3 of their girls had their white temple dresses on. It choked me up-remembering seeing all of you dressed in white in the temple when we blessed Hope. What a great experience. One that most member's don't get to do.
 In RS meeting today, we talked about not being to hard on yourself or
 comparing yourself to others. That God know that we aren't perfect and he also knows our talents. it was a great reminder.
 Both Zach and Ethan got their school fees in the mail. They both got
classes that they are excited for. And both of them are in choir classes.
Yeah, Ethan-finally something musical. Ethan made sure Dad went on line and
paid the fees because he can't wait to get his real schedule and find out if
he has classes with his friends. I think he is the only one excited about
school starting so soon.
We all pray for you, daily. Keep up the hard work and remember to smile and
 be yourself. 'Cause no one else can do it.-be you-that is.
 Love ya lots, Mom

HUGS

--------------

So a lot has happend these past few days! We were invited to the
branch presidents house for dinner on saturday then invited to the 1
councilor house on sunday for dinner and today we had a big feast
with the ZL's in the area, and received transfer news! turns out i am
leaving Lira already!! kinda strange its the first time i will be
staying in a area for only 1 transfer! i am going to a place called
Mutungo sounds like a good place we will see soon i guess. I kinda
wanted to stay in the north a little longer than that but oh well
atleast i got to come back :) Ethan is taking choir class!!! NO WAY
thats awesome.







 On 8/4/14, Loren J Erickson 
So apparently I don't pay enough attention to know which terrible disease
 is ravaging parts of Africa.  I think I told you it was the bubonic plague
last week  Wrong!  It's the e-bola virus.  It sounds like it is getting
quite serious.  They are transferring missionaries from the affected
regions to other missions.  It still appears to be some distance from you,
but please, PLEASE take good care of yourself.  Watch your hygiene habits very closely.  Don't take any chances with food or drink.  This is serious stuff.  Listen closely to everything your mission president says about it  and follow his counsel exactly.  Hopefully, it will never reach your area, but you need to be prepared.

This week was the first choir practice I attended where I wasn't leading.  It was kind of weird.  I think I can get used to singing in the choir again, even if I'm not much of a tenor any more.  It's hard letting go of that desire to be leading though.  The new ward music chair and choir director is Sister Perkins (again, probably someone you don't know), and she will do a good job.

How are things with your companion?  I think you said there were transfers this week.  Did that affect either of you?  I know it's tough being with a companion that you don't get along with very well, but it doesn't sound like this elder is as bad as some companions you've had (one in particularcomes to mind).  He's just quiet, right?  Do you feel like there is any
 hostility or disrespect behind the silence?  I had a companion like that once and it was a long couple of months.

 We are losing one of our Gospel doctrine teachers, so there is a remote
 chance that I may be asked to fill in while we find a new teacher.  That
 should be fun.  Very intimidating.
 I hope you are healthy and as happy as your present circumstances permit.
 How are your investigators coming along?  What do they have to say about
 what you are teaching them?  I hope you are remembering that the most important thing is to love them and sincerely care about them as sons and daughters of our Father in Heaven.  You know the old saying, "people don't  care how much you know, until they know how much you care."

The last thing I want to do is distract you from the important work you are doing, but I thought you should know that Malynn Erbe is coming home in about three weeks.  I can't believe how fast time has flown.  Your time
will come soon enough. Just keep your head in the work and it will be here
before you know it.

 Know that we love you dearly and pray for you every day.  We worry about
 the current health situation in Africa, so please be careful.  I am so
 proud of everything you are doing to bring the happiness of the Gospel to
 the people of Africa.  Know that you are changing lives eternally.
 Love,
Dad


-----------
I know what you meant when you spoke of the plague haha, i think i
heard about it 3 or 4 weeks ago, even the UG government has a close
eye on it as well so if it does get to UG we will know.  So i will be
getting transfered already!!! its my first time to come to a area and
only stay for 1 transfer haha. its kinda strange!! The thing is I dont
want to pack my suitcase again... oh well guess i dont have a choice
do i. we have one investigator that will be baptised on satuday to bad
i wont be around. they just enjoy talking to us and having a good
time, that area is very friendly to missionaries and most of the
people like us a lot.  we did get to help in Mormon Helping Hands this
week as well that was really fun we got to pick up trash on the roads.

Summer

Re: another week‏

Braden Erickson

7/28/14

On 7/28/14, Traci Erickson <tracirerickson@hotmail.com> wrote:
> Braden,Wow, I can't believe I actually went to bed and then remembered that
> i hadn't emailed you yet. Lucky that I love you enough to get out of bed and
> send you a line or two.Grandma and Grandpa E Left our house Sunday night
> to go to the family reunion. Friday, Nathan and his family came to visit
> for a few days before they went home from the family reunion. We didn't do
> fireworks on the 24th just so their kid could do it with us. Everyone had a
> good time. I will send pictures later. I can't believe how grown up their
> kids are getting.Saturday, Dad and I went to Grandpa R's 55 high school
> reunion. Grandpa asked Dad to take a group picture and some during the
> reunion. That's why we went. Their was a pretty good turn out and they all
> seemed to enjoy themselves.Today ad's Aunt Sharon and Uncle Mike invited us
> over for dinner to get together with their family and Nathan's since we

On 7/28/14, 
Braden,Wow, I can't believe I actually went to bed and then remembered that i hadn't emailed you yet. Lucky that I love you enough to get out of bed and send you a line or two.Grandma and Grandpa E Left our house Sunday night to go to the family reunion. Friday, Nathan and his family came to visit for a few days before they went home from the family reunion. We didn't do fireworks on the 24th just so their kid could do it with us. Everyone had a good time. I will send pictures later. I can't believe how grown up their kids are getting.Saturday, Dad and I went to Grandpa R's 55 high school reunion. Grandpa asked Dad to take a group picture and some during the reunion. That's why we went. Their was a pretty good turn out and they all seemed to enjoy themselves.Today ad's Aunt Sharon and Uncle Mike invited us over for dinner to get together with their family and Nathan's since we don't see each other much. You remember them right? We always have a BBQ in their backyard.
 So tell me all about what is happening there. Anything fun or exciting? Transfers are soon right? I hope you get a comp that will actually talk to you so your days go by faster. Keep up the amazing work. You will be greatly blessed for it-now and later on in life.
 Love ya much, Mom

Sounds like you had a busy week hehe, and also the house must have
been full thats when i go to my room and hide haha.

nothing really exciting happend here, besides the fact that someone
(most likely a Elder) stole 50000 shillings from me, i dont know who
but oh well i know they wont bring it back. and its only about 20
dollars but thats a weeks worth of food oh well guess i just have to
eat light for 3 more days till i get moroni again haha. We also had 5
investigators come to church which is amazing!!! transfers are next
week so yeah, we will see what happens.




Hey Braden,How are things going in the mission world? Any investigators
 yet? Does your companion talking to you more? I'm sure that can be
 frustrating, having him ply talk to other African's in the house.
 How far do you have to walk these days and did you buy new shoes?This week
 was pretty quiet. We pretty much stayed home and kids played with friends.
 We did make it to Lei pool and to the small lake in Pleasant Grove. The
 Spencer's from next door were there also and they kept us entertained.
 Grandpa and Grandma E. arrived Friday and came to our house to visit on
 Saturday afternoon. They went to church with us on Sunday and Dad talked them into singing in the ward choir. ad got to lead for his last time today.
 Paige lead for her last time in Sacrament meeting. She was released and
 put in  as a Primary worker. (You know all about that). She is teaching the 3 year olds. I'm sure she will do well. The Primary Presidency was released and a new one put in last Sunday, so a few more changes needed to happen in the ward. However, they didn't put a new conductor in so we will have t0  wait to see who gets that calling.

 Granparent's E. showed of pictures of the trip the took to China in May.They saw some pretty cool things. of course, Hope is now asking when we can go to China. We better start saving money for her now, I have a feeling that she will be a world traveler when she grows up.

 Hope all is going well for you.Love you lots, Mom
 I can't believe that school starts again in just a few weeks. They kids
 aren't excited about it, yet. And I have to admit, neither am I. Guess we will just have to go with the flow for now and hopefully we will get excited about it the closer it gets.

 Things are going some how better, we had a few investigators come to church,
 this week which makes me happy, we still dont talk much but the work is
 getting better! i cant wait. Not much has happend here but thats ok we are
 now in week 5 of the transfer! its crazy! how time flies. Sound like you have been busy with stuff.

 By the way its a pain emailing today because the Letter "H" is missing on
 the keyboard, i have to hit the small metal circle to get it to type it
lol.

 

Never be ♯Never be ♭
 Always be ♮

 




On 7/28/14, Loren J Erickson 
>

 Dear Elder,
> We keep hearing about the Eboli plague that is spreading through Africa.
>  Please, please remember to wash your hands often.  I worry, especially in
> rural areas, that they won't react quickly enough to avoid serious
> spreading.  I hope your mission president is communicating with you about
> this.  If you have any hand sanitizer left, now would be a good time to
> start using it liberally.  They haven't mentioned Uganda on the news yet,
> but it'll show up long before it makes the news.  Just be careful and take
> your personal hygiene very seriously for a while.  Same with your food.

> We've had several visitors this week.  Grandma and Grandpa Erickson stopped
> in on their way to the family reunion (which we missed).  It was good to
> see them, but Grandma can sometimes be over-sensitive about being an
> inconvenience.  That get's tired to hear after a while.  While they were
> here Grandma tried out Mom's "zero-gravity chair", which is basically a
> lounge chair that tips backward like a recliner when you lean back.
>  Apparently it was so comfortable that she's been gushing about it to
> everyone they've seen up here.  So we are secretly sending one home with
> Nathan and Amanda (next paragraph), and going to have Uncle Brian set it up
> before G&G E get home.  Should be an interesting surprise.

> Nathan and Amanda came up after the reunion and stayed with us one night
> then spent the rest of the weekend with Ann.  With the six of them it
> turned out to be quite crowded in the house.  Nathan's kids have not ever
> done "real" fireworks, because the restrictions in Arizona only let them do
> sparklers.  So we had several aerials left over from the 4th of July and
> did those for them on Friday.  You should have seen their kids faces.  It
> was priceless.

> This afternoon we went to my Aunt Sharon's house out in West Jordan.  I
> don't know if you remember her and Uncle Mike.  Most of their kids (my
> cousins) were there, and it was really nice seeing them all again.  From
> our side of the family, Nathan and Amanda were there and Ann.  Ann seemed
> very distracted and troubled.  She took a phone call during the
> get-together and then just disappeared.  I hope everything is all right
> with her.
> How are you and your companion getting along?  Are you starting to talk
> more?  I noticed that when I was in Japan that the native elders sometimes
> had a little attitude towards "gaijin" (foreign) elders.  My first native
> companion was certainly that way.  I hope things are better between you and
> your companion.  From your last letter it sounded like you had several new
> investigators.  That's awesome!  How is that going?  How are these people
> receiving the gospel message?  We'd like to hear more about your day-to-day
> experiences.

> Know that we love you and pray for you every day.  A lot of people have
> asked about how you are doing and we love telling them about your
> experiences.  Take care of yourself and stay healthy!
>
> Love,
> Dad

We, havent heard much about the plauge going around but mission
president has his eye's on it and he said he would give us a massive
text if it reaches Uganda. he will basically just put us on lock down
until it calms down again.

Sounds like you have had a very busy week huh, thats good. also sounds
like the house was packed...not good...haha

so the most exciting thing that happend to day was, that some one
stole 50000 shillings from me, i dont know who it was by the way thats
only about 20 dollars but that goes a long way its enough for food for
a hole week. i guess we will see if it just comes back most likely not
though. we had 5 investigators at church! that was also very very
nice! we will be trying to see them often now for the next few days
see how things go. besides that me and my comp, we still dont talk
much. but transfers are next week so he has a high chance of leaving
seeing how he as been in the area the longest. there are also 23 new
elders coming to the mission which will make a lot of changes as well.
i might be training i kinda hope not though.

New area LIRA

                                                           July

Braden,How was your week? Hope it was good. How many investigator's are you
teaching? Uncle Chris say's 'hi'. And thinks it would be great to take a
 vacation to Africa and just sit back and watch the wild life. Did you ever
 get your birthday box?
 This week was uhmm, different. My old friend Pam was kicked out of her
 mother's house by her brother. So, she and her kids came and spent the week
 with us. She made lots of phone calls and got on food stamps and is trying
 to get into low income housing. They went back to Manti Sunday to talk to
 their bishop but he doesn't seem to think he can help. So, Pam and her kids
 decided to stay at a camp ground this week and enjoy nature for this week.
 This experience has made me realize just how blessed our family really is.
 Zach has been working with Jacob's Dad. They are laying a tile floor in a
 relatives house. He was gone more than 9 hours on Friday. They have asked
 him to work 3 days this week. It will be good for him. I don't know why but
 he decided to work instead of going to Beaver with the scouts.
 Ethan leaves on Monday(today) to go to Tifie scout camp. He is real excited.
 He has been counting down the hours.
 We spent the 4th of July at the R's. We had a BBQ with lots of good food
 and then set off fireworks when it got dark enough. Hope got mad because
 dad wouldn't let her take her newly lit sparkler and pout it in the bucket
 of water. She said, he was mean and that they make a cool sound when you do
 it.
 Hope things are going well for you.Love ya lots, Mom
 *Imperfect people are all God has every had to work with.That must be
 terribly frustrating to him, but he deals with it. - Jeffery R. Holland



------------------

The week has been good, my alergies have been acting up a lot this
week though Oh and my toncils where hurting like crazy so i had to
take some of the Tylenol. that you sent me with 400mg of it so 2
tablets haha.

Zach is working thats cool!

I didnt get my package yet, but i dont know if i will get it until the
end of the month! because i am once again far from the office and the
only time the ZL's go down to the office is for MLC with the mission
pres.

Tell Chris that i say hi back.

Well i hope this weeks is a little more calm than last weeks.

The area is great and we have already had 2 Baptisms and planing on
another 4 by the end of the transfer.