Well hello and very happy Christmas to you all!

Well this week has been a good one for the most part, although really nothing has gotten done. To start off Thursday we had zone conference it was an unusual one because we really were not taught anything instead all we did was we went caroling in town center right next to the spire; which was weird basically imagine 40 elders in front of the empire state building singing Christmas songs and that's what it would be like for me, but it was still fun. Then on Friday the AP's asked us to do it again, so we did but this time there was about 12 elders. Oh well it was fun anyways we always got really funny reactions to it. On Saturday just a normal day of hard work Sunday was church which was really good and we where supposed to have three investigators at church but none went, it was really heart breaking, but with how good church really was we got over it. Like that was such a good church service really good speakers and good singing. Luckily the primary didn't do anything cuz they are horrible. Then we went home made some good food and went to work visiting less actives in the area which went really well. That night I came down with either food poisoning or stomach flu. Horrible thing and that lasted until yesterday so I stayed in all Monday and slept that whole day- doctors orders. But I'm just fine and feel dandy so things have been good.

Well this is what's up with the phone call I will be calling from a members home the Poznanskies. They never said how long we can talk for, but I would say about a hour so I know how these phone calls go with you mom so get about two hours worth of phone cards. Also tell Jerame I can call him as well so after I call you give him my number to call me as well. So I will call you first give you my number then you call me back. I will be calling you around 10-12 tomorrow your time around 3-5 my time. When I call you will depend on who calls first sorry I don't know yet. So that's the crack.

I will talk to you tomorrow I love you very much and will speak to you and the family tomorrow. And tell Dusty that he better be there to talk to me tomorrow. And I will talk to Julie if she is there as well.

Well much love hugs and kisses

Brady boo

Hello family

How's life going? So far sounds very good. It's cool to hear you all doing so well. Well let me just answer your questions really quick so that they are out of the way so I can tell my story that I'm still trying to come up with.

Packages: I still have not received them president is not letting us get them until zone conference because people stole packages from a car last Christmas so they are all locked up in the mission home safe. But my district leader said he saw a few packages for me in the office so I'm sure I got them.

The Phone Call: okay mom I know nothing about it. But what they have done in the past is what Jerame did in Russia. I call to give you the number then you call back so get some phone cards ready just in case. When I will find out is this Friday then I will email you on Wednesday with the details, but like I said I don't know anything.

The Hives: when I had emailed you last week they cleared all up. So no more hives. I don't know what caused them; Doctor Ballerd didn't care about that he just wanted them gone.

Well the cool story I have now is we have been working with this man named Derek. Derek is an alcoholic and it has ruined his whole life. He is divorced, been thrown out of his house, he is very depressed cuz of it, and it will kill him if he does not get off of it. We got him to a class yesterday for addiction put on by the church. We call him every day and make surprise visits. We have him reading the Book of Mormon. And I gave him a blessing. We got him off it one day. Then we have got him to cut down the amount he drinks as well it's really good. We already have seen a lot of improvement in him. We also have got his family helping out as well so things are looking up for Derek. But please pray for him he is such a good very genuine man who is stuck in a deep pit and needs help out I love the man a lot from helping him so prayers on his behalf would be a great help.

Jade is doing very well we are right now just working on trying to get her to share her feelings with us we need to see the amount of her testimony before we proceed with the lessons. Tomorrow I will be seeing her. We will be watching finding faith in Christ and then getting her to speak openly with us. We need to ask her questions without it feeling like an interrogation. So things should go well there.

The work has been going really strong lately but it has been harder just cuz people are very busy with their shopping. But some really good news today I found 30 euro's which is a blessing because I'm almost broke on my church account because my reimbursements have not gone through yet. But that should go through very soon then I will be loaded with money again.

Well I love you all very much sorry this week as not been a very good week of stories but I hope this will suffice you till my phone call on the 25th.

Much love and hugs

Brady

Whats up Dude?

Well Dude, if you come to Dublin while I'm here I would love to see you, but if I get moved don't worry about it, because Limerick and Belfast are way too far away for you to pay.

I freaking can't wait to see the Dark Knight. Elder Johnson is always trying to upset me by talking about little bits and pieces of it. He thinks its so funny that I'm such a fan and have not seen it yet.

Well, I should be able to call you on Christmas as much as I have heard so far. I will be really mad if I can't, because I really hope up to talk to you and Ames.

Well dude keep the list up to date of movies that are worth watching once I get back. I got to go now can't wait to see you again.

loves hugs and kisses
Brady

Dear Mommy and Daddy, Cody, Dusty, Julie, Charlie, and Andie

Well this has been an exciting week. Let me just tell you. Not really because of any really cool stories but things that have happened. To start off I'm still in Ballyfermot. My companion is still Elder Johnson. We have now been together 3 moves and next move more than likely I will be moved but we will see. We got a new District Leader named Elder Dinning from New Castle England, freaking cool guy love him to death the only problem is he is not very obedient at all, mainly because his mission has kind of sucked. It is almost time for him to go home so he is all trunky. But he is a professional UFC fighter and plans to move to the USA for two reasons. One before his mission he was not a good kid and people want to kill him and two because UFC boxing has more money in the states. But Elder Dinning is loved by almost all missionaries and his work with less actives is amazing he reactivates people in every area he has been in.

Next cool story on Friday I broke out in the worse case of hives I have ever had. It was so horrible! It was on every part of my body but my hands; my face, feet, hair everything had itchy hives. That night I could not sleep so when I did wake up I had a cold and a pounding headache. I called Sister Creer to inform her she told me to stay in and take some medicine. On Sunday they were gone. Good stuff.

Alright now to just answering your questions let's see.

-Christmas packages: president Creer keeps all our packages that are Christmas in his office and keeps them from us but today I will go check to see if I got them.

-Jade: she is a nutter which is not a bad thing. I taught her on Monday with dinning to teach her we read Moroni 7 and 8 with her. She took Moroni kind of rough, not bad but not good, just weird. We talked with her a little bit and then we just talked with her to show her we are friends so all is good and well with her tomorrow we were going to teach her again with a member this time and hopefully see her on Saturday and then get her to church Sunday. Please pray it all works out it will be sweet stuff if it does.

-Phone call: not positive about it but I do know I ring you from a members house but the rest I don't know. We will more then likely talk about it at zone conference which is the 19.

-Cody pimping it out: Cody you're a freaking pimp look out for those women they try to get us Hafen boys. But that's cool you took Kelsie Wells on a date that's something I wanted to do but never ended up happening. You're a star boy keep it up.

-Long arms: even though you didn't have my long arms they where enjoyed at the charity shop this year when we had to decorate the shop is was good fun but nothing had good memories the way our decorations do.

Anyways I love you all very much and look forward to talking to you all. Many hugs and kisses

Brady

Dear Mommy and Daddy, Cody, Dusty, Julie, Charlie, and Andie

Well this has been an exciting week. Let me just tell you. Not really because of any really cool stories but things that have happened. To start off I'm still in Ballyfermot. My companion is still Elder Johnson. We have now been together 3 moves and next move more than likely I will be moved but we will see. We got a new District Leader named Elder Dinning from New Castle England, freaking cool guy love him to death the only problem is he is not very obedient at all, mainly because his mission has kind of sucked. It is almost time for him to go home so he is all trunky. But he is a professional UFC fighter and plans to move to the USA for two reasons. One before his mission he was not a good kid and people want to kill him and two because UFC boxing has more money in the states. But Elder Dinning is loved by almost all missionaries and his work with less actives is amazing he reactivates people in every area he has been in.

Next cool story on Friday I broke out in the worse case of hives I have ever had. It was so horrible! It was on every part of my body but my hands; my face, feet, hair everything had itchy hives. That night I could not sleep so when I did wake up I had a cold and a pounding headache. I called Sister Creer to inform her she told me to stay in and take some medicine. On Sunday they were gone. Good stuff.

Alright now to just answering your questions let's see.

-Christmas packages: president Creer keeps all our packages that are Christmas in his office and keeps them from us but today I will go check to see if I got them.

-Jade: she is a nutter which is not a bad thing. I taught her on Monday with dinning to teach her we read Moroni 7 and 8 with her. She took Moroni kind of rough, not bad but not good, just weird. We talked with her a little bit and then we just talked with her to show her we are friends so all is good and well with her tomorrow we were going to teach her again with a member this time and hopefully see her on Saturday and then get her to church Sunday. Please pray it all works out it will be sweet stuff if it does.

-Phone call: not positive about it but I do know I ring you from a members house but the rest I don't know. We will more then likely talk about it at zone conference which is the 19.

-Cody pimping it out: Cody you're a freaking pimp look out for those women they try to get us Hafen boys. But that's cool you took Kelsie Wells on a date that's something I wanted to do but never ended up happening. You're a star boy keep it up.

-Long arms: even though you didn't have my long arms they where enjoyed at the charity shop this year when we had to decorate the shop is was good fun but nothing had good memories the way our decorations do.

Anyways I love you all very much and look forward to talking to you all. Many hugs and kisses

Brady

Hey family

What's the story? Well things here are doing alright. I'm a bit nervous to be honest. Its moves call tonight we actually where supposed to have them last night but president was too busy counting the baptism's. (jk hopefully someday) no but president was unable to make the moves call so its tonight. Nobody is sure what's going to happen because the way these moves are going to work it's going to be strange.

That's really cool that you where able to go to Saint George this Thanksgiving. I'm jealous. My Thanksgiving was really good though. This lady Lisa made a turkey, roasted potatoes, vegetables, stuffing and she bought a couple of other things soooo good. The cool thing is Elder Johnson and I ate all to ourselves. We were very full after it all. It was really nice. You can tell the family I look forward to 2010 Thanksgiving, but they may be sick of me by then because I've decided I want to go to Dixie when I get home.

Jade is a really cool girl. She is an awesome investigator. She is going to a Catholic school because basically the Pope runs Ireland. But anyways her religion teacher is not happy with her choice to investigate our church. Jade just tells her it's none of their business. Also she has been pulled into her principal's office over it and once again she says it does not matter for them. We have taught her the plan of salvation even though it was a really rough lesson she seemed to get it so hopefully it all works out I think we may end of re teaching that one. Also her mom seems to be now interested in it. Jade went to find her book and her mom had it and was looking into it, so that would be way cool if we could start teaching her mom as well.

We have one really cool thing happen to us this week. We had an investigator named John who we really liked and he wanted all of our books so we got him a triple combination and the bible with his name embossed for him when we went to give it to him we just stopped by with no warning. When he answered it he was not happy and tried to run us off. We asked him if we could just please give him the books (because they would be no good to us with him name on it). We got him to finally take the books and he dropped us, said we could not come back and teach him till April. As you can see it was not what we where expecting and were very sad about it cuz we liked him. That Sunday at church John showed up out of the blue. He was so sorry and felt bad he then apologized for it all and said thanks so much for the books and said it was the best gift anybody could give. He then said we could stop by whenever we want to just phone him before. He also loved church and was really happy for it all. We taught him on Monday the restoration properly and he loved it, we also watched the DVD which he loved and now he is a very promising investigator.

Well it's really good to hear all my friends are doing well. I'm glad you where able to see them all. Like I said they decided they no longer care about me, but oh well. I have my brother's in the gospel that care about me. Chris really wants to stay in touch with me as you can see and Emily writes me frequently that's good enough for me. Justin will get to the field and realize how bad it sucks not to get mail. Maybe I will write him one last letter and see if he replies to it.

Well I love you all and I'm so glad to hear how good things are going for you all. I'm very happy to hear about that.

hugs and kisses

Brady boo

Yo Jer

Well, I know its been my bad this time for not writing, sorry about that.
Well, I'm not going to repeat all I said to mom, cuz I know you will get that soon.

So, how has life been? Tell me how the Dominican Republic was, and where is the Dominican Republic? To be honest, I have never herd of it before. Mom was saying you where in a pretty scary area there. I don't know, maybe mom was just over reacting. So, how nasty are their teeth? Do you think they are as bad as the teeth here? Here every old person has dentures of some kind. It gross! There is this one old lady we talk to often, and her dentures move around all over when she talks. Its so funny and it gives me and my companion a good laugh.

The advertisements for the Twilight movie just went up all over now. The posters look really cool, but mom was making it sound as if you did not like it that much. I was afraid that they might mess things up.

Well, I love you dude
Talk to you later
braids

Hello Mom

Well this should be another really cool Email for you. Miracles really do happen let's say that. But to begin I did get your package thank you so very much for it was freaking awesome. Elder Johnson was way jealous of me that whole week. His mom sends him stuff but it's not very cool. She won't send him the things he wants. So thank you so very very very much for being so freaking cool and sweet. I love you to death. I look forward to receiving your package for Christmas; it sounds like a lot of fun also a lot of money. It's probably all the money you are saving from the drop of gas prices. I heard it's down in the 1-2 dollar range now that's amazing!

Yes I know of legend Spencer Procter. He like I said is a legend in the mission and is one of the "boyz." (Only cool and choice people are one of the "boyz"). I myself became a boy my first zone conference, and so did he. So that's really cool. Also he calls us every once in awhile because his best mate in the mission is Johnson so I hear from him.

Wow it's so good to hear Jeanine is gone out of our lives for good now. Have they decided to move now or something? I hope they move out of the state or something. That's also very sad to hear Bishop Call was released I was hoping to serve my whole mission under him. But I do like Brother Chalmers he is perfect for the job. Also who's name do I have for Christmas so I can be buying and sending that off really soon. And let me know the next email so I can do that. Thanks!

Alright here is my miracle I'm sure you're dying to hear it now. At this charity shop that we have been working at, there has been a girl working named Jade. She is 17 and is working there for her school called work experience. Well we had been talking to Jade and had become really good friends with her. Well one day when we were working we started to talk about the twilight books so I told her Stephenie Meyer was a member of our church which Jade then said which church are you? I then told her we are the Mormons, and then talked to her a little bit about us. She says that she loves to read up about religion and that she has had questions about her own church and things. I then gave her a Book of Mormon and told her how much this book means to me and that it's also scripture and more about Jesus Christ. I asked her to read the introduction. This was all on Monday last week. Friday comes it's the next time we work with her. I start taking with her, she has read all the way up to Moroni 7! Finds the book fascinating and also she had some questions so she got on mormon.org and asked the missionaries. I asked her if we could talk to her more about it, she said yes she would love that but needed to ask her mom. Well, guess who walks in? We introduce ourselves she says yes we can come over and also then tells Jade to just join our church. And says things like that. In a funny way but with some seriousness to it as well it was really strange. Come to find out Mary (Jades mother) had been to see the Washington DC temple loved it. She also thinks that we are the two loveliest boys she has meet, says our moms must be proud of us, then goes on to tell us how handsome we where - no joke. It was a laugh. Well on Monday we taught Jade it was a super awesome lesson one of the best. She was happy to hear more about it she promised to pray about the Book of Mormon and to pray about Joseph Smith. We will be teaching her again tomorrow.

This has been an amazing week also the charity shop loves us so much they are going to cook us a turkey and deliver it to our house tomorrow, I'm so happy about it. So tomorrow I will be having a turkey dinner. Mom, Angela (charity shop boss) has been taking such amazing care of us, I owe her so much. Will you please write her a letter send it to me and thank her for helping me out.

I love you so much and time is up

Love you Brady

Hellloooo (that is to be said in a Douglas Miller voice)

Well this seems to be too soon already emailing you all again. But any who. To start off this week was really good then it was tough in the middle, then sweet and then yesterday sucked. But overall it has been a sweet week. To start off to finish off last week because you did not get to hear the rest of the week we had zone conference. It was a really good zone conference it was all just a recap from the last one with the general authority Elder Kopshickia (or however you spell a Germans name) they are trained on all the things he trained on. So the zone leader trained on faith and the faith cycle and not changing our goals. Then the assistants trained on teach to find which really was crappy training to be honest nobody liked their training they did a bad job doing it. Then President and Sister Creer trained on lots of things but mainly our purpose of being here on a mission. Then they gave us each a book of Mormon (the cheap ones we give out) and a red pencil. they told us to read it all and mark our purpose in the Book of Mormon (our purpose is to invite other to come unto Christ by helping them receive the restored gospel through faith Jesus Christ and his atonement, repentance, baptism, receiving gift of the holy ghost, and enduring to the end.) it's been way cool to do it because it really sticks out and there is a lot of it in there. After that we got our mail from the office and Elder Johnson got Dear Johned already by his girl. It's been really rough on him.

So the work has been a bit harder but he is over it now and the work is amazing (like Amy) two days after I think we got to teach, and gain two more new investigators named Richey and Virginia. Once again they are two Indians they are not a couple but they live together in a student house. They are really cool and want to learn we are very excited about them and we think things are going amazing. Then we went along like any normal area teaching our investigators and some of our less actives very nicely. so it has been a good week then yesterday came. Yesterday was district meeting an normally good day but our district lord (that his new nickname) started off by saying some of our district has been making phone calls out of our area and to the other zone I need to remind you that is not allowed... That would be us something every missionary does yes you are not supposed to do that but 90% of the elders do it. So he called us out on it by the way we had the zone leader our assistant there because they were on exchanges so instead of privately doing it he announced it. gay !!! Then we bought a foosball table at the charity shop we work at for 5 Euros sweet deal but an elder in our area Elder Elston was gay and called us out on it in front of Sister Creer because we had President interviews, luckily Sister Creer is cool and did not care because elders have ping pong tables in their flats but Elston was trying to get us in trouble, then last night our district leader came in an stole our foosball table while we were working so he was dodgy and stole it. gay

Well I have got to go time is up love you very much.

Brady

hugs and kisses

PS by the way I did not get in any trouble

Whats up Dude?

I noticed I have not written you a descent email in awhile so I thought I better do that. So, what have you been up to you lately? I hear from Mom you are going to the Dominican Republic soon for dental stuff, thats sweet! Where in the world is the Dominican Republic, this is actually the first time i have really even heard of it? Also, will you be getting paid to go to this or how does that all work out? Mom was saying that its for the poor, so, is it a service type of a thing? I don't know.

Tell me how you and Ames are doing and where has Ames been to lately? I know she is all over the world, and whats the latest with Ozzy? I know Ames is always doing funny stuff.

They are advertising for a new movie called Body of Lies with Leonardo DiCaprio in it and the directors are really famous. You will have to tell me how that goes, because from the poster it looks good. Well, I know Mom keeps you updated, so, I will not really repeat anything.

But thanks Dude for always looking out for me, and being such a great example. You are the best and I am so very thankful for you bud. I never would have made it here without you. I love you so much.

Thanks a million,
Brady

Alright get your selves nice and comfy!!

You are going to LOVE this email. This week we have gotten 4 new investigators. Yes that's right 4. And all of them are really solid ones as well. To start off with is a man named John. John is an older man in his 60's (no offense grandparents) but he is one of those who really have the gift of the gab. When we call him you are lucky if you can keep it to a 10 minute phone call. But anyways he was a referral from one of the other elders who came an blitzed our area at the beginning to get it started. We have called him a few times and he finally let us over. He has been taught by elders before in London. We introduced to him the Book of Mormon and a quick history of Joseph Smith because it was clear there was no way it could be a traditional lesson with how much he talks. He loves to read and says he is very excited about the book. After wards he wanted a lesson on Joseph Smith and the book so we set up a return appointment this Sunday to teach him he promised us that he would stay quiet long enough to teach him the first lesson.

Next is our miracle. Elder Johnson and I had, had enough with such a crappy area, so we went home and super planned and made some promises to ourselves that we needed to do to get more success at night. That next night we went tracting but we prayed about the road and prayed for the spirit to help us teach that night. We then went out, this road is a funny road, it's an E without the middle thing (-). But Elder Johnson when he prayed for the road had a feeling about the middle part or the back part of the road so when we started we started on house 10 instead of 1. House 10 we knocked no answer house 11 opens up, we say who we are and what we wanted to share, and they let us in. It's a super nice Indian couple from India. We then teach them, they loved it and accepted it. They said it made sense. Then we set up another appointment this Friday. They said when you come back will you also teach our roommates. We said we would love to teach them. This is the funny thing, his name is Joe, and her name is Smitha. "Joe, Smitha" funny huh. But I love the foreigners here. I like the Irish but they are too proud and drunk to understand most of the time. Then yesterday we taught a girl named Alexandria she is 18, she was our very first potential we got in this area. We finally got an appointment with her taught her in a park because her family is strong Catholic and she really does not like the Catholic Church. So we walked and taught her about the restoration she says it really makes sense and she loves the idea of the Book of Mormon because she does not like how everyone interprets the bible differently. So she wanted another lesson so we set it up Tuesday at 3:00.

Those are the stories sweet huh? Elder Johnson and I are so excited about it right now. We can't even explain. Not only has that happen but we have also been having loads of other smaller miracles as well like being able to set up appointments and having people stop us to hear about it, its crazy!

Alright tell Dusty congrats for me I'm so happy he has been finding good girls for him. It sounds like everything is going way sweet for him. That makes me way happy for him. And dude Cody is rocking the pool tell him once I get back, me and him will be going swimming for sure because I need to loose a little bit of weight, I have been gaining from all our super fabulous Philippines. Let me just tell you I love the Philippines so very much. Those are the most Christ like people I have ever met. If it was not for them most of the wards here in Ireland would be in shambles. Also it's them that feed the missionaries not the Irish. Well okay that's not entirely true but I have had two Irish meals while here and 8 Philippine feasts.

Mommy and daddy I love you so very much. The work here is amazing. And the tough times pay off. Thanks again for all you do.

Love Brady Boo Monster

P.S. ha-ha you thought I forgot. Yes those jersey ones are the ones I want. And if you could send me one more thermal bottom and two tops those things are good stuff I suggest you try some mom I really think you would love them. Thanks again many hugs and kisses from me!

Hello Family and Mommy!

Well time is going fast its already time to email you again. Well let's see this week has been an alright week not a lot of really fun stories to tell and Halloween was really not all that much fun, and really wasn't anything to really talk about. Let's see.

Well the cool thing to say is we have a new investigator named David. He is an Irish guy but has lived in America a good amount of time in his life. He is a family guy which makes him even more valuable. He is a catholic which really means he was baptized as an infant and the last time he was at mass was when someone died. The Catholics do not go to church. Anyways his wife is a pretty little thing. She is from Malaysia and is Buddhist. They have a little daughter who is 4 I think? He seems to be really interested and is a way nice guy. Also he is very dependable when he says he will be there, he will. I wish I could take Darren Fisher with me as balanced effort or just to be his fellow shipper. For a couple of reasons. They have similar personalities. They are both into martial arts, then they could talk about it, and then I can stop faking I understand what David is talking about. By the way how is Darren Fisher doing having one of his daughters being married now? That's big time! Tell him Hi for me.

Well I got your package and it has been so good to have new garments thanks so very much. The garments that are straight but loose are the best ones I think they are called the jersey loose or something they are not the mesh or the extra support the other ones you sent me. I have not yet had the chance to use my thermal because we hit a warm spot for awhile which has been good I like it when it's a bit warmer.

Thanks a million I love hearing from you. And if any of my friends call or you see any of them tell them they are lame and need to write me. Thanks a million

Brady

Hello Cody

When you write emails you sound just like mom it's funny how that works. (I accidentally signed my email Cody. I was talking to Cody and I just typed in his name accidentally). Well I'm going into the city today to find out if I got my package and also to turn in two president's letters that I have not turned in yet. Even though I'm out of school I turn in my things late oops. No these are just so he knows what we are doing and really if we have any concerns he would like to hear about. Also I got moves call this week. I'm not moving and neither is Elder Johnson. So everything is the same other then we have a new district leader and then district switched some companions around it's really confusing to be honest I would not be able to type it with it making sense. But the really sad thing is my best buddy here in our district my district leader is the one leaving so now my best bud is Elder Johnson which is not bad it's just sad. Oh well.

Well let's see I really don't have really all that many cool stories this week. I'm sorry about that. The real cool thing was actually all just last night. Last night we had a great big sleep over. Which we were not really supposed to have but Elder Williams was leaving. It was my six months mark. And we all really wanted one so we did. Anyways we partied hard. We did Indian dancing and we ate cookies and chips one of the elders somehow got some root beer which was way good stuff. And we had peach rings. And we played poker with cookies and raisins and chess pieces. And we bet places where to sleep. And comes to find out all those years dad parked cars must have soaked into me because I smoked them all in poker. And I just learned how to play. But it was good fun.

I will be sending off my memory card really soon with a video and pictures of it. Halloween is tomorrow which means we are going to be locked into our flats or something. At night people drink too much and it can become dangerous for anybody outside not just missionaries but people as well. Kids trick or treat up to 8-9 after that they go home and the teens come out drunk and they make fires and shoot fireworks. But they shoot fireworks at people and steal cars and run them into the fires watch them blow up then because they are drunk they will beat people up and steal their wallets things like that. So we stay inside nice and safe watching; Barney and power rangers. Yes!!! The good news is it's supposed to be horrible weather tomorrow so it won't be very crazy. When the weather is bad they don't stay out very long. So things are good.

It's funny I was told cultural shock is supposed to hit me right about now. But I think I have just been feeling it throughout my mission but slowly. I will just hear something and feel a bit weird about it, it's really not that bad. I would say I settled in really quickly without any issues. I have seen a few elders struggle with it but me and Elder Johnson really had no problems.

The more I get to know Elder Johnson the cooler he becomes, right now I'm closer with him then Headington and Bruce combined. I think the reason's are because both American, we are the same age, both Utah, both like similar things. I'm way happy to spend another 6 weeks with him.

Oh the reason I said I will see you sooner is because its moving super fast for me. Also my return date has been moved up by two weeks my new date is April 12, 2010. They are going to do something with the mtc's which moved us forward cool huh?

Well I love you all very dearly

Brady Boo Monster

Well hello family.

Well it's super nice to hear from you all. This has been a good week this last week. On Thursday last week we had a general authority come and speak to us. His name is Elder Kopishkie from Germany. He is in the first quorum of the seventy. Not this last conference but the one before it he spoke about preach my gospel. I don't remember it I think that was the time Dusty and I where sleeping on the couch. But oh well anyways he came in and spoke to us for about 8 hours and it was super good like it held all of our attention, but half way through it we got a brake and then the last half we where rudely interrupted by Elder Oaks who called him for some special reason. It helped us out a lot one of the things he spoke about was finding and how to make it more productive and one of the things he said was if we are not having fun when we are finding we are doing it wrong which I find funny cuz when I tract I hate it so I guess when I knock on doors I must be doing it wrong. (Maybe I should try doing a different knock). But when we do street contacting Elder Johnson and I have lots of fun so that's the one we do.

This week we have had several appointments set up and all of them so far have fallen through. The only appointment we have successfully had is the one with Ammon which come to find out is not his name his name is Eamon which is still cool but not as cool as Ammon oh well.

I am emailing later today because we just got back from this really cool hike called Glendaulgh Lock which I have tons of pictures from you should enjoy. I will be sending my stuff to you soon.

Oh by the way that money you sent me from the ward I gave it to these poor ladies that sale newspapers. Here they give the poor people jobs like selling papers and they get half the income, so I broke it up and gave them the money and said keep it as a tip.

Well I don't know what else to say but I love you all soo very very much and life here is lots of fun and exciting, but cold and very wet. And wish I was warmer but once again I love you miss you and will see you sooner then you expect.

Brady Boo

Hi ya mom and family

Well it’s good to hear from you. This week has been an exciting one. First off we are now teaching which is very exciting. Our investigator is a guy named Ammon, which I find really cool because of Ammon in the Book of Mormon, but his story is actually really funny.


So our district was challenged to get 30 potentials this week by our district leader Elder Williams. So Elder Johnson and I said alright, that’s ten each, not too hard at this point since we already had 4, so we took it to heart. That day we went out on a mad hunt for everyone. We saw this guy who was loading up stuff in his Land Rover, we asked if he needed any help, he said no; and then we introduced ourselves to him. At that point we tried to teach him a bit but he was kind of rude and pushy and was saying that he believes in nature and all this other mumbo jumbo. At this point it was clear there was going to be no way of talking to him or getting anything out of him. Elder Johnson being the funny guy he is says, “Sir you look like a really strong guy, will you hold this book for me?” Elder Johnson hands him the Book of Mormon, then continues to say, “It’s pretty heavy huh?” Ammon says, "Yeah it’s kind of heavy for its size." Elder Johnson then says, “It’s heavy because of all the words of God it contains, that’s what makes it heavy.” At that point we all start to laugh. He then says, “All right you have been nice and listened to me speak for 5 minutes I wall listen to you for 5 minutes.” At that point we teach him a super brief first lesson saying God has called more prophets, and then we ask him if we can come over to his home and teach him some more about what we have to say. He says yes he would love us to come over and then give us his home number, his cell number, his address and then makes an appointment for us to come around.


That was the coolest first lesson I have ever been in, very powerful it broke down many of his barriers. Even though we only taught up to God calls prophets. He then asked a lot of questions including about how we view sex, so I then taught him the law of chastity. The funny thing is it was not awkward at all. I think that was the first time in history of the IDM (Ireland Dublin Mission) that the law of chastity was taught before most of the first lesson. When we where done, he asked us super sincerely if meeting with us would bring him peace, because that is all he wants in life is to have peace. He then said to me, when he is with us he feels peace. That right there has been one of the most spiritual moments in my life.

Anyways I have five minutes left, I love you so much, thanks for every thing. I will talk to you next week

Brady

Well hello family

Well let's see I did get your letter speaking about grandma that's really sad she has been struggling with that. I'm really glad to hear how good she is doing with it. And I feel really bad that she got shingles from it all. I pray for her each night to help her through it all.

Yeah I got a letter from Chris while he was on his mission or just before he left, something it was not all clear, but I'm really excited to hear he got his call it really can't be much cooler to go back to where you live to serve those people. I know he will have loads of success. Also I know Cali is a big baptizing mission so that's so cool for him.

If you ever get word about where Justin is going make sure to tell me in the email I am really excited to hear about it I have gotten a letter from Katie saying he turned in his papers so I'm way excited to hear about it. Maybe he might even write me. He is the only friend I have who has not written me yet. All the other have at least once on my mission.

Well ghost stories I personally have not seen one or heard about one of the missionaries dealing with one but I have heard from other members that have delt with them now when I say they delt with them it was not that they cast them out of their house or anything like that but that they have heard stories and have seen some. We had a less active man who we talked with named Brother Nuewell, who I have talked about before when he lived in Belfast he saw one, that had been murdered by the IRA butchers. Now how much of it is true I don't know because he would pull our legs sometimes, but this one he was pretty serious when he spoke about it. But if I ever see one or hear any good stories I will tell you.

My companions name is Austin Johnson. His dad is a physical therapist, so Buhler should know him. His dads name is Nylin and his mom's name is Jacie. His parents sound pretty cool I know his dad is really busy with his business they also own some kind of gym or something but yeah Elder Johnson is way cool I like him a lot.

Tell KC and Candace hi for me and congrates from me I got their picture and letter and it was very cute and very nice of them to think about me half way around the world.

I did get to see conference I saw the first session on Saturday then on Sunday we watched priesthood then Saturday afternoons then Sunday morning and we did not get to see the last part of it. It was way awesome. That's been the highlight of the week

With the work I really don't have much to say sorry. It's a new area all we really do is street contact and tract over and over again and really that's about it. While I have been here we have taught one person who come to find out does not live in our area so we have to refer him to the missionaries there. But I can say my skills in finding have doubled in skill and my leading ability has gotten so much better I really have changed a lot this move but I still have my fun outgoing personality still so I'm still Brady.

Well I really don't know what else to say love you and miss you tons

Much love Brady boo

Whats up dude

Alright so whats the story? The area is not as bad as what the members have been telling me, so, if mom says anymore just tell her that.

Well, the work has been slow unfortunately. Opening an area sucks, cuz you have nothing to work with. You have to start it all yourself. So, basicaly all we do is go finding, and I'm sure you can agree with me its a lot more fun to teach then to find...especial in an area thats 98% Catholic. Its like a Jehoviah Witness in Utah trying to convert us over, but we keep on trying.

Like I said, the area all the members keep saying is really dangerous isn't really all that dangerous as long as we don't break the rules, don't go into dark areas, and ride the buses at night. So, we are being smart. I can use the buses to get anywhere which is really cool. Is this the reason you like New York so much? Is it cuz its busy and the transportation is really good and easy?

Life is going really good, and I love having all my friends around again in my last zone. They where there and then they where moved. Now they are all back, so, its really fun.

Well, I'm out of stuff to say. Love you man and can't wait to speak to you around Christmas time.

Boo

Hello

Well life has been way crazy with the new area, but on the upside we now have a flat. It's really small but it's just what we need. It's a one bedroom, bathroom, with a kitchen and living room joint. It has all wood floors which I think is a down side because it does not stay as warm, but I do really enjoy it. The last resident was really messy and looks to have never dusted or cleaned because the stuff we were cleaning was just sick. The house has lots of spiders I don't think Amy would like to live in it. One spider bit me and it's sore and itchy, but I know everything will be okay because they don't have anything poisonous here on the island. (Had to edit where the spider bite was and what he had to say about it, but it was hilarious – let your mind fill in the blanks and the rest of the story!)

Like I said we have got the new flat, so the last few days have been all about getting that ready to live in; which means cups, bowls, food, pans, pots, silverware, the whole works. It has been really expensive but the good news was Elder Johnson has been able to pay for it because he came in the middle of the month instead of the end so he had full money for only half the time. He gets to reimburse all of it and use it all later, also I have had to buy some of the stuff and somehow have been able to only use church funds, it's been really good. My ability to spend very little somehow seems to improve each time. Yet I still eat okay stuff.

Ever since I picked up Elder Johnson it has been good weather till yesterday and today; it has decided to have "patty mist" (some Irish term), which I really have no way to describe to you other then you have to experience it. Basically it's the most horrible junk ever; it's just really cold and soaks you through all the way. Umbrellas are the only way around it. But you still get some of it. Right now I'm in Dublin City and I'm sitting with my favorite Elder; Elder Furlong, we are all just dripping from just getting in, even though the sun right now is shining. The weather here is spastic; it rains then shines in fact if you walk fast enough you can out walk it, sometimes it can be raining just behind you but not where you are standing, it's stupid you just have to see it.

Well the area is good fun even though we have nobody to teach right now. So what we do every day is go finding people to teach, it should pay off pretty soon. I really don't have much else to say but love you and see you soon.

Elder Brady

Dude I'm so sorry

I never realized I never wrote you back. Well, let me tell you whats up. Right not I'm in an area called Ballyfermont and its one of the most run down areas you can have in the mission. My greeny’s name is Elder Johnson he is from Kaysville, Utah, and went to Davis High. He is super athletic and way cool. We get along really well, plus, he wants to work really hard which is good. Sometimes I feel myself being dragged along by him. He is what we call a forever finder.

My district is an all American district, which is super cool and does not happen to often. In the last four years it’s only happened three times. In the mission it’s about half British Isle’s and half American, and half of those Americans are from Utah. Of course, then you have the random Canadians.

Well this week I really don't have any cool stories just because we have not been able to work as much since I am opening an area. I have no investigators and I don't have a flat (or a place to stay) right now. I take a half hour bus drive to my area, and then have to figure out what buses take me to the area I want. Then I have to walk around from there. But once I go back home (to Utah) and go to New Jersey to see you I will be able to find my way around, because I have learned here in Dublin how to do that kind of stuff (trains, buses, you name it I've done it...except boats because they don't allow those).

But that’s enough; my area is really cool though. I have these few places in my area, and each one was about the size of my last area in Bangor. I get to travel through them all. The buses I have found are a good way to figure out your area and to talk to people. When my companion and I have to split up on the bus, I talk to whomever I'm sitting next to. But if we are together I pull out the map and study out the area in my heed (that’s head in Scottish which there are a few here), but it has been good fun here. Well I need to email mom now. Love you Jer and tell Ames ‘hi’ for me, and give Ozzy a big kiss. I will see you in a few years

Love Boo

Well hello Mommy and Papa

Well I'm glad to hear you had such a good time at Lake Powell but I would not count that as camping that is just staying at a hotel. Hotel Christensen's yeah that's the name of it. But it still sounds like a lot of fun. I would have to say the wave runner thing sounds nice. But then I would not be able to get my amazing beaner skin.

Well I'm sure you are dying to hear about the changes. My area is called Ballyfermont. Which is part of the Clondalkin ward so when Jer looks for my area just put the pin in Clondalkin or Dublin. My area is a lot of really run down places and can be dangerous so if you are going to pray for me please pray for our safety. But don't be scared it's not that bad just so long as I stick to the rules and be smart. Like I said my area is close to Dublin which makes it really busy also it's about 3-4 Bangor's big. This means buses. Let me tell you I use a lot of buses and trains and everything. No boats because we are not allowed and also there are none.

My greenies name is Elder Johnson; he is from Kaysville Utah not too far away. He went to Davis High and is really athletic. He is a super cool guy and I really like him. We get along really well. He is a super hard worker and I find myself getting dragged around by him. He just wants to talk to everyone. The only problem he has is he is still awkward when he speaks, which he will get over soon. A good story is we were walking in a park and a runner was coming our way, he turned and ran with him told him about Joseph Smith and prophets then gave him a card it was brilliant, I was so shocked with what was happening I got left in the dust of them.

Right now I'm homeless looking for a place to live. Right now we live with Elders but we need a place to stay in our own area this has been a problem for us right now but hopefully will get sorted soon. I say more about it in Jers email get him to send his to you and send this to him. But that is the crack with me (in Dublin crack means anything you want it to be, I can't really explain it).

I love you much and wish you could see me now

Love Brady

Well Hello Family

This has been a wonderful week full of good stories and good times. Last week was a tough one like I said but don't you think for a minute I let that get me down. You know how I am! Honestly what happened last week I had just come back from an exchange with the zone leaders and it was stressful and my mind was so confused so I could not write a decent letter.

Well to start off the week we had church on Sunday and we had the new Newtownards people there. They were not too happy about being in our ward and a few people have decided to go less active because of it. Super lame if you ask me. But they came and at the end of church they all seemed to enjoy it and were talking so that was super good. Then we had a dinner appointment with our stake president, President Nobal (super cool nice guy love him to death even if he scares me a bit). At the dinner he had a family reunion with all his kids and grand kids, which is about 1/4 of the ward. Wow was that busy, the oldest grandchild just turned 8 last week talk about crazy. I think there were about 30 of them but I could not count them all because they would not stop moving long enough for me to count them.

Then we taught two lessons one with William and Colleen who are getting married in the church on the 26th I'm super excited for them. They have a little baby named Luise who is at church each week and they are now active in the church so that's way cool. We then had a lesson with Thomas who is a member but on the verge of being less active. His wife, who is from the Philippines, attends church. She served a mission in the Philippines and works in the nursery and loves it so much she is really cute with the kids.

On Monday we had exchanges again with Elder Barber and his greenie Elder Elis. This time I was in Bangor two area with Elder Barber, way fun exchange we walked around a lot because unfortunately two appointments fell through but we had some good stuff come out of it; we set up two more appointments for a later date. And then we talked a lot about moves and what we think would happen. The next day Elder Bruce and I had two appointment first was with Mary Booth who is an old lady we have to teach her very simply because she cannot understand everything we teach, but it was a good lesson and she understood it, then we raced off to teach Elizabeth. We got in touch with her again and she is doing great we taught her the third lesson an amazing lesson soo good. We got to the bottom of her concerns and resolved a lot of them told her to pray and read her scriptures and that it will help her loads.

Then we really raced home this time to get our moves call here is the big news. I'm moving; I am moving to Clondalkin a city near Dublin. So now I will be in Ireland. So you think that's good but wait there is more (I feel like a sales person) I'm going to be opening that area which means missionaries have not been there for a long time and nobody knows the area. But wait there is still more I will be training a new missionary yes that's right I have gone trainer. And I am not lying about any of it. So basically I'm starting fresh, a new area with a brand new missionary. Way freaky! So be praying for me! Because I'm really going to need it.

By the way I get my new mission credit card today so finally I will not have to use my personal funds luckily I get to reimburse myself so the next while I will not have to use my personal funds.

Well I love you tons and hope all is going well. I can't wait to get mail again from my friends they all stopped writing. So if you see them rebuke them from me.

Much love from me

Brady

Hello family

Well here is your answers mom. Yes I wear my retainers. Yes I brush and floss my teeth. I floss two or three times a day. I brush after each meal, and whenever my breath goes rank. My towel is never on the ground I make my bed every day otherwise it's cold when I get in it. I clip my finger nail all the time. My eczema got worse so I called Sister Creer, she got me medicine. My finger nail has gotten a little better but it still has problems. My skin is clearer. My feet are gross with dead skin from walking all over and blisters but athlete foot wise it's still their so my feet are in bad shape but I put my eczema stuff on it and it helps it. But over all I'm in good health and better off than a lot of missionaries.

This week has been a tougher week but still good. We have not been able to get hold of some of our investigators. So sorry this week this letter will not be as fun to read as the last one. One good thing is I have had many answers to prayers we had a day with really bad weather that night I asked for the weather to be better and it worked that day we had sun even though it was supposed to be even worse than the day before. In the morning I have had troubles staying awake during my studies so I have been praying to help me stay awake and it worked I stay awake during my studies now. I have been praying for your audit to end soon and it did so now it's all better. See prayer works

The big news about Bangor is the stake president decided to change the ward boundaries in a few of the places mainly to dissolve some of the small branches that have been struggling and they did that in our area. There was a branch called Newtownards in our area or district they dissolved it and split it in two gave one area to Bangor 1 (which is my area/ward) and the other half went to Bangor 2 (which is not my area/ward) it's been really hard on the people of Newtownards some people when they heard got up and left the meeting. The thing I'm worried about is their travel on Sundays the public transportation is really bad and does not match up with the ward times. And the Newtownards people will now have to travel 15-30 minutes depending how far down the peninsula they live. Also some of them do not have cars so that means they will have to car pool/ some of our members in Bangor will have to travel and pick them up. All I know is it's not going to be easy going around here for the next while.

With the ward changes comes rumors/new ideas and one of them which has some truth behind it because the idea was brought up by president is the elders in Newtownards will be taken out and Bangor might get a car which means I could possibly have to drive which would be scary but cool at the same time. We will see though it's just an idea still being formed.

I'm sorry this is a lame letter it's been a hard week and I just got back with exchanges with the zone leaders an hour ago and I still don't have my bearings right with my area so my head is all wreaked.

A cool thing that happened I told you that I work at a charity shop on Mondays and sometimes on Fridays I believe. If not well I do for service. But we were working and we had a substitute manger this day and she was from Dublin and she had the coolest accent ever I hope if I come home with an accent it's that one because it was way fun. It's funny because all the things she said were way cool and funny. Example instead of saying what's up you say in Dublin what's the crack. You just use crack for weird things it's their favorite word down there.

Anyways sorry this is lame and I will try to make up for it next time.

Much Love Brady

Hello

This has been a very exciting week with lots of stuff happening. To start off we have gotten two new investigators which are way sweet. Our first one is a man by the name of Joe Talmney. We taught him and he was super prepared to the fact that he was asking questions that would lead into the next part of the lesson. We gave him a Book of Mormon and he is excited to read it and he is going to get it on the computer. It's awesome. Also with Joe when we got there he had sandwiches and juice and all this waiting for us. So he was excited for it all, way way cool experience.

The next one is a lady by the name of Sarah. Sarah was a lady that Elder Headington found while I was serving with him, but he found him on an exchange. We had been trying to set up an appointment with her for a long time but she always had something going on. We thought she was always dodging us. Well Elder Bruce sets up an appointment with her and we got to teach her and that went really well, she also had been really prepared. Come to find out she had been worked on by the Bowens our bishops family and it payed off because she wants to know some more and she says she is going to do everything read, pray, the whole shebang.

It's raining a lot lately, but luckily not to hard, harder then back home but light for here. The really nice thing is the wind has not been blowing it sideways. I don't know if you remember but in the movie Braveheart there is a part where William Wallace is riding a horse in the rain, it shows what the rain is like here, but ours is colder because we get it first and then it moves to Scotland.

Well here is some exciting stuff that happened yesterday; my credit card for my mission got eaten because the machine powered off while I was using it. We go in to the shop and try to figure out what's going on and they tell us we are the third person that had happened to, so because the people were too stupid to put up an out of order sign the first time, my card was eaten. So sorry mom but I have to buy groceries today with my personal funds.

And one last crazy thing that happened on Monday was the Jehovah witnesses blitzed our area. Another wards about 20 of their missionaries tracted all the houses by our flat which is going to slow down the work right close by us. Not only that they tracted our door and we caught them in the act and told them nobody was in that house and they said how do we know and we told them because that's the house we live in. They said oh, then we talked for a while, they were nice but obviously still not too interested in what we do. Oh well I guess I won't be baptizing any J dogs any time soon.

I'm doing well, the work is getting a lot more rewarding now that we have a large teaching pool. I love to teach it's what makes all the walking in the cold rain worth it. I love you all dearly and miss you. Tell Dusty and Cody thanks for their emails and I will try to get to them next time. This time I didn't have enough time because I had so many emails to read. But love you all

Brady Boo Who

Well hello family

Life here in the emerald Isle is wet but all good. We don't have too much going on which is too bad but we are still working hard. Basically all that has been going on is we do a lot of walking around and talking to people. Elizabeth has been kind of dodging us but we will keep persisting and trying to talk to her. This last week she said she would come to church and didn't. Also she hardly ever answers the phone and when they do it's her daughter and her daughter usually says she can't come to the phone. Which is too bad but we keep praying about it and keep trying. Apparently the MacTaggertes did the same thing when they were being taught so I think of them when she dodges us.

But on the good news of people we have been teaching. A less active in our ward William Close and his fiancée Colleen (Cole-lean) (that is an Irish name) have been coming out to church and we are going to see them tonight. The problem is we have to be very careful with how we teach them because they are a bit scared of the church. Basically the reason William went less active was because as a kid he was bullied at church, so to him church is just a place of bad memories so they have been to church twice now. It's really good because no other missionary has been able to get this far with them, so keep them in your prayers.

Well today for pday we are going to the Bangor fair again because it's the last day open and we are going to go have fun. Half of the elders have not been yet and some have not been on a rollercoaster close to a year, I'm excited it's really fun. (Now if I can only approve a swim trip.) I will life guard and then Elder Furlong can life guard me while I swim. I think it's a very fair deal.

Well I have become somewhat of a legend in the Newtownards branch and it's really unfair. I think I said last week that the girls there find me very hot stuff. Well now when I go on exchanges there they just use me to get dinner appointments. All I can say if I was to move there I would be getting dinner every night. Elder Byrne's calls me his man whore, I'm not sure if that's a good thing or a bad thing usually a whore is a bad thing but I am helping out their area. So I think when president comes up for interviews I'm going to ask if I can serve in Newtownards.

Well anyways I'm out of stuff to say love you all

Brady Boo

I'm sorry to everybody who has been reading Brady's blog, because I've been very lazy this past two weeks with publishing his new posts. I recently just moved and don't have access to internet in my apartment. Next week will also be late because I will be out of town. So sorry in advance.

Hello Family

Well this week has been another wet one in fact a lot of Belfast, Lilburn, and other surrounding areas are flooded. There is a tunnel they just got done building that is completely under water. They are pumping out 7000 liters of water an hour but every hour 5000 thousand goes back into it so that's going to be a slow one to get dry. Luckily Bangor did not have to deal with it too much other than our grass was flooded; by the way the grass it's alright. I quite liked it. Our grass is very green and happy. But that meant a very wet day for me and Elder Bruce.

Elder Bruce is a very generous man; he came over with a cold and decided to share it with me. So now I have a very runny nose and a sore throat. Which made choir very hard yesterday! By the way I'm not sure if I told you we are in the ward choir, it's a lot of fun because they make fun of me for saying words the wrong way. Sometimes just to be cheeky I will say, "Hey I'm the only one saying it right this is an American religion." They will just laugh at me more then. Our ward is really good fun.

We have another new investigator her name is Heidi, she is Malaysian and has been living in Northern Ireland for 4 years. She was a referral given to us by Elder Headington on his last day here. Anyways we taught her the first lesson and she started to cry at the end. We asked her how she felt and if it was a good feeling, she said yes. We then explained that it was the spirit telling her what we are telling her is the truth, and we are going to teach her again Wednesday. Also I know you would have asked about Elizabeth. She came back home from her vacation and then had more of her family come over. We called her and we are going to set up a time to teach her. She says she is very excited to hear some more, and is sorry for being gone for so long. We are very excited to teach her again and can't wait.

Brady

Hello Family

Well this has been an exciting crazy week. A lot has happened that's for sure and it's been good. To start off my companion's name is Elder Bruce I told you this last time. He is 6'2'', blonde, blue eyes and very skinny; so we basically look the same. He is from a little town called "Ware", but he tells everyone he is from Hartfacher or something like that, all I know is its 20 minutes from London. Yes he is the district leader. He is a really cool guy we get along pretty well its weird getting use to new things but I'm a very easy going guy as you know so I can deal with it well. We also have a brand new greenie in our district so I'm not the young one anymore. The greenie is named Elder Elis I like him a lot he is a cool kid, he is also English. I forgot where he is from but that's alright.

Funny Story time

So here is the funny story. We have sleep overs at our flat a lot because we live the closest to the church. Monday night Elder Elis is sleeping between me and Elder Bruce on the floor. All we have are these two small single beds, so he is in the middle. That night I have one of those crazy falling dreams and right when you hit the ground you jump. So I had that and I fell off my bed and landed right on top of Elder Elis. It scares me and so I jump up in my bed and both elder Elis and I are just laughing our heads off and Elder Bruce can't figure out what's going on cuz he woke up when he heard the bang. Any ways that morning Elder Bruce is trying to figure out what happened so he asks Elder Elis and he can't remember a thing. He never woke up and was sleep laughing. It was so funny!

Yes mom I got the package thank you so very much I loved it. I have my flag flying in my room big and proud. And I ate the candy all in two days and I was trying really hard to save it and eat it slowly but our fruit candies and caramels are just so much better than they are here.

Elizabeth just got back from vacation we have not been able to get hold of her just yet but we will. And I promise to tell you about her.

With the fourth book in the twilight series it has now gotten to be a big thing here. Girls are reading it all over the place. To them it's a brand new thing when I told them I have been reading them for a long time they think it's weird first cuz I'm a boy and second because it just got to Ireland. But after a while they do the same as every girl and just want to talk to me about it because the books are too much fun. In fact I was on exchange in Newtownards and I had dinner there and I was talking to them about it. This family is the mom and two girls and now they love me to death, and were really mad to find out I was not the new elder in Newtownards, because this was during the changing of companions. Now the Newtownards YW talk about me. It's crazy. I love those books it's the best way to build up a relationship with people.

Well I'm out of stuff to say. Love you all! And miss ya.

Brady

Well Hello Family

Life here is super crazy right now I know you know about moves; I do have a new companion his name is Elder Bruce, as I'm writing you, I have yet to have seen him and Elder Headington is moved, so I'm floating around as a third wheel in my district which is also getting super messed up. Elder Headington is the new zone leader in the north so I will get to see and hear from him all the time. My friend's in Bangor, two are leaving, that area is getting white washed.

Elizabeth is on vacation and we have not been able to see her, we are a little worried because she is with her brother, but if she is meant to be baptized she will.

I still have not got my package I might get it when my companion comes up, if not I will get it when we go to district leader training. Elder Bruce is the district leader. So I get to do lots of exchanges still. I have some more pictures to send you, I will try to send them soon, and because of how things are going today I probably won't be able to today.

Sorry this has to be quick again because everyone is waiting on me I will try to write everyone next week but we will see what happens sorry.

I love you all and I'm so sorry this is a crappy letter
I love you all very much

Jerame,

Hey dude I'm sorry about last week I had a really long good letter and the email killed it and now I'm running out of time again but I will do the best I can.

Well it's good to hear that we have been saying the Hafen name correctly that's awesome. People here cannot say it right I have given up on trying to correct them. Our bishop is from South Africa and has yet to have said it right and we eat at his house every Sunday because his wife is so sweet. She and all the kids are also from South Africa they say it right but he can't. So I'm glad we do.

Yeah I have heard from a lot of people all the movies right now are super good I will be excited to come back and watch them. And it is also really good to know I will at least be going back to have the Bourne in the theater. That way I can go to something once I get back. I thought I would really miss watching movies and TV and stuff when I came out but I really don't kind of weird I would rather talk to my companion and read books. Right now I'm reading the biography of J Golden Kimble I got it approved it's a cool book and the guy is super funny. He was the one who swore over the pulpit and things like that. I will be excited to read some normal books once I get back. By the way, the movie that you took me to in New York right before I left; "21," is that bringing down the house?

Well I have now told everyone in my district I have a stoner for a brother that sucks nitrous oxide. They all just laugh.

Well the work is moving forward and is great. Keep working with the missionaries and be the cool members they love to go to. We have a few and they are legends in the mission field. And if you work with them you will become a legend too.

G2g love Brady



Hello Family, this has been a fun week it's really weird though!

This is the last week I will probably be with Elder Headington we get our moves call this coming Tuesday. Any predictions? Jk You have no clue about the island so that's an unfair question. But I think I will be staying here in Bangor. There is a theory flying around our district that they might combined the two Bangor areas for this one move because president has to close down areas due to not as many missionaries are going on missions because of the raising of the bar. If that does happen I will be serving with one of my new really good buddies Elder Furlong which I would love to happen, but we will see what happens. All we know is there are going to be a lot of surprises.

Well we had president interviews yesterday and he wants me to be his assistant soon. So that means I will have to move to Dublin he said not this move but possibly the next one. NO I'm just pulling your leg, he did not say that, but he did say I'm doing really well and that he sees me training in the future. So he wants me to prepare for it. I would not mind training you get to boss around the wee one. And I know it would help me out because it forces you to become a better missionary to be the example. I know when they made me head guard I became a better lifeguard because you know you're trusted more and are considered the example guard. Anyways that is what president said to me.

Well I have not yet got my package; I think they are holding it down in Dublin hostage because they know I really want it. Which does not make me very happy! Anyways I'm glad it's a big one once I do get it I will tell Elder Headington it's bigger than his even if it's not because he will not see it so he won't know. Ha-ha. (Brady asked me to send him an American Flag, they put them up in their apartment (flat), and he wants it to be larger than his current companions flag that is from Wales-he says that it has a dragon on it.) All the European missionaries are raciest against Americans because we are all patriotic and they are not but it's okay there are a lot more of us then there is of them and president is American so he would join our side.

Well Elizabeth, we hope is good, she right now is on holidays with her brother we are hoping that he does not scare her off of us. But if he is anything like her, then we have nothing to worry about. The ward has really taken a liking to her too. When she was not there on Sunday I think every single one of them asked us where she was. They really do care about her a lot. The other sad thing has been the McCrudden family, the ones who have been the main people to fellow ship her have been out of town in Florida the past two weeks. So her main friends have been gone so that has also been a bit of a struggle, but like I said she is doing great and the whole ward loves her to death. It will all work out. Just wait and see.

Tell Katie if she wants me to write her I need to know what address to send it to, or if she wants me to keep sending it to her home.

Time to go I need to write Jerame again cuz of stupid ldsmail.
Love Brady

Hello Mom,
Well life here is going well. Thanks for not telling me you where in Lake Powell, see now I don't have to dwell on the fact you were there. I had no clue you where their so thanks for that.

Well quick update on Elizabeth, she is so awesome she is progressing super well even in the fact of opposition. We have had a few very small things that have happened but she got over them and still believes it and likes it. So let me really quick tell you what has happened. We went on a member split to go see her so I was with Brother Bardgett a member in our ward the 2nd counselor in our bishopric. Anyways so we just stop by to see her and answer a few questions she may have. She said she had none and so Bro. Bardgett, starts to talk about polygamy, the word of wisdom, tithing, and baptism. I was freaking out; we had not taught her any of that stuff yet. She was way caught off guard; I explained as simply as I could. Then said I promise we will not leave you in the dark at all, we will explain all of this and that we do not exercise polygamy. In the end I was going to kill Brother Bardgett. We saw her in two days explained it all; better resolved all of her concerns, so she is good and is okay with it all. She then came to church then they talked about death from the Joseph Smith manual and in gospel principles class we talked about temples which went well with the last lesson, but it was a bit too much for her at once, once again. We met with her again and she had sorted it all out on her own and was correct. Also in Relief Society she started to cry and all the sister helped her out. They comforted her explained stuff and generally took care of her as if she had been a life member. This ward is amazing, it is like the 10th ward, except it has a lot of less active members we are working with. But it went really good.

Well I'm super happy to hear you are all doing so well. I'm sorry we are super short on time and I just got done writing a letter to Jerame and because ldsmail is so stupid I lost it so now I can't write him, it's lame. Anyways we just got done climbing the biggest mountain in Northern Ireland. Basically we hiked it in two and half hours; so they are small and I have loads of pictures, so that's what's up.

Love you
boo

Hello

This has been a good week so far a lot of really exciting stuff has happened. We had zone conference which is always really good. President talked about the atonement which was really cool if you ever want to know more about that look it up in Jesus the Christ. And the zone leaders talked about the Elder Bednar talk asking in faith you should look that up and read it again if you have not read it in awhile, it's in the conference ensign. And of course this was all over the crazy holiday of July the 11-12

On the 11th the people all get drunk and burn the huge bonfires like I said. This year they all had Irish flags on top of them so the green, white, and orange ones. On the 12th once everyone wakes up after their hang over they start parades. And this is where it can become dangerous because we are of another faith. Last year there was a riot by our flat. But this year it was quiet. On the 11th there was a lot of noise outside when we were trying to sleep. But finally we slept.

Now for the really cool stuff. I told you last time we had an investigator named Elizabeth. Well she came to church with us on Sunday and she fit in really well and her daughter really liked primary and was singing with them and everything. Once it was over we asked how they liked it, they said it was long but they liked it and said they will come next week too. Then we saw her yesterday she is doing really well, she really likes the church and is soaking it all in- it's great. This has been one of the greatest experiences ever. So everything has been super good on this side.

Thank you for sending the package I hope president gets it soon and then he will bring it up when we have interviews. Did you send Dusty's badge with it? I hope you sent me a big American flag because it's got to be bigger than Elder Headingtons Welch dragon. Elder Headington likes to make fun of me because I'm patriotic. He thinks that Americans are brainwashed to love their country because people here hate their own country. They don't like their government and they hate their anthems and stuff, it's weird. So when I sing any American song he rolls his eyes and makes fun of me.

I am sending you pictures today of me and some stuff that I have done. Also inside will be a letter from me so be excited for that.

Well today of course is pday and Elder Headington and I decided we are going to go to the different churches today. We already went to this church called the Bangor Abbey, it was really cool and super old. I guess parts of it trace back to the 14 century. It has been added to throughout the years. The minister or reverend or whatever their name is, came and shook our hand and talked to us for awhile. He had that cool black outfit with the white thing in the middle, we asked to attend a service but they were serving alcoholic wine this time so we couldn't, but we are going to ask president if we can go to the one on Sunday at 6:30 because they will not be doing wine that time.

How is the audit going or is it finished yet? I hope it is. I know it has been stressing you out. I pray each night for it to go well, and the person to chill out and to not be so down in his thoughts. I say it just like that to. I know the Lord understands. Just kidding but I do pray for his heart to be softened.

Well I'm out of stuff to say, I love you guys tons and I think about you still.

Love your favorite son jk

Brady

Well Hello How is everyone?
I'm doing good here in rainy country. Like I said it's wet here all the time and it's always the times we forget to bring umbrellas. So far I have gone through four umbrellas because of how strong the wind is it just destroys umbrellas. But heck that's the weather here.

Well a lot of people have been asking me about my investigators and things in the letters I have been getting so here is the scoop. We have a few investigators but we really have only three solid ones. The other ones just like us, so they are more like friends they don't really want to make the changes. Our first one is Mary Booth; she is an old lady who loves our church because we are so friendly and nice. She is a member of some other religion and has a hard time changing over because if she is baptized her minister wont bury her. Our next one only happened last week and is a way cool story. Her name is Elizabeth she is 38 and we had been fasting and praying for someone to listen and an area to tract. We get the feeling to go to Sinclair Avenue and she lets us in. Once inside we find out its her daughters 10th birthday party so we go into a different room. She tells us about her and how her husband had died 3 year earlier. We teach her about the plan of salvation. She loved it and totally agreed with it. She said, "It almost sounded familiar." I kid you not, that lesson was the most perfect lesson ever taught. Nothing went wrong, the spirit was so strong. She felt the spirit and so did we. Once we left we were so happy that we started to walk off, once we got 2 blocks down the road we realized we forgot to get her address for our return appointment so we ran back wrote it down and went home because it was 9:00. Our next one is a guy named Paul Morris. His wife and kids are members and he has been investigating the church for like 8 or more years. He is a way nice cool guy we think he is progressing, he has been to church several times with us, his family and kids love us. So does Sister Morris. We will see what happens.

So as you can see this week has been awesome I have some pictures I'm sending to you. Hopefully today but once again they have done stupid stuff to our pday and so I don't have much time to write letters and things. Also today is the 11th of July which is the beginning of the 12th, which is a big crazy holiday where everyone burns these huge piles of wood and gets drunk. And every once in awhile it gets out of hand and bad stuff happens. So of course we have to stay inside. And also it's a protestant holiday so with us being a different faith it's a bad idea to be out anyways.

Well I have been having a lot of fun here and things have been really good. I'm no longer considered the young guy, and this next move we will be having a ton of new missionaries come in, so I will become old fast-its way cool. And like you said and heard, and from what I hear, I'm doing really well for a new missionary. People stop me, I talk to them, I lead lessons and teach gospel principles class and I know how to get around my area really well. On exchanges I take people around my area and to appointments. I like it because on exchanges in my own area I become the senior companion, so I'm in charge I can't wait to become a permanent senior. Anyways life is awesome even if I'm wet all the time.

I love you guys

Brady

Hello,

I'm glad to hear you are all okay and alive. I'm sorry this is going to be short because I have half the amount of time I usually have. So sorry.

Well like I said Elder Headington became the new district leader and has made it a lot more fun. These past two nights we have had a big sleep overs with all of the missionaries. The Elder that replaced Elder Powell is named Elder Beryns; he is from the state of Washington and is so cool and funny. We all get along really well in our district. Except this morning we had a mini fight. But it's all settled and we are friends again. I went on exchanges again yesterday, I was in Newtonards and had tons of fun. We went to this less active mans house and I got to play a game on the play station called sing star. It's way fun it's a singing form of guitar hero. You guys should really get it its way fun. By the way I did not break any rules by playing it. It falls under the fellowshipping a less active member rule. At least that is what Elder Barber told me.

Any ways I'm doing great and am learning so much out here. By the time I get home I could sell ice to the Eskimos, as Grandma Olsen would put it. I get potential investigators all the time. And from what I understand the members in our ward love us to death. They think we are the two greatest missionaries they have had in long time. They say they were due for some good missionaries. Right now we have one solid investigator who comes with us to church all the time. She is an older lady named Mary Booth. The ward likes her. She says she loves our church. Everyone in our church is nice and talks to her. In her other church nobody would talk to her. Keep your fingers crossed.

Life is great and I love you all very much sorry this is not very long miss you

Love Brady

Well how is life? Sounds like you are all having lots of fun. It's cool that you are staying in touch with my friends. That was cool to get an email from them. (Some of Brady's friends were at the house while I was sending Brady an email so I let them add to it-obviously he liked that.) I was wondering when you guys would be going to Lake Powell, that's way cool that you had nice weather for it. Did you get seasick from being on the buoy? I hope not if you did I'm sure you would have told me.

Well the rain has begun let me tell you this rain is ridicules! You walk out into it and I might as well have jumped into a pool. The roads turn into massive rivers with fast moving cars. Anywhere you go with stairs out side you walk through mini waterfalls. The wind blows the rain sideways so you hold the umbrella in front of you instead of above your head. But the really stupid thing is these will only last about 20 minutes then the sun comes out and it gets too hot so you want to take your coats off but you can't cuz in 10 minutes it will rain again. People in cars love to soak missionaries with puddles; we are their favorite targets of all time.

Well I have been out one move (transfer) now pretty crazy huh. I'm still stationed in Bangor and I'm still with Elder Headington. Which is very good cuz Elder Headington is awesome. We get along very well. Well because its moves (transfer time) we lost our dear district leader he is going back home to Salt Lake City. His name was Elder Powell. Our new district leader is me, crazy huh! Just kidding no Elder Headington is the new district leader. So I'm jr. assistant district leader. I get all the perks of being the district leader without all the responsibility. I'm very excited about it.

Because it was Elder Powell's last day we went to China China to eat. China China is an all you can eat Chinese buffet. It was really good and we ate a lot, I'm sure the owners could not wait for us to leave because we ate out the place. Elder Headington got really sick afterwards because he went back so many times to get food. It was bad just let me tell you.

Matt Call wrote me a letter so that was really cool we all are going to stay in touch with each other through letters, at least that's the plan. But hey we will see. It sounds like he is doing well. I know he is having more success then we are but that's because Ireland is one of the toughest missions in the church. Found out that one while here.

Our pday has now changed to Wednesday so expect emails now on Wednesday.

Well I have run out of stuff to say, love you all and miss you much. I'm hoping to be able to send some pictures soon we will see how much time we have today in Belfast.

Love, Elder Brady

Whats Up, Ferame-

Well, I have now been out one month. Pretty crazy huh? I'm still stationed in Bangor, so, you don't need to move the pin for my blog. Time seems to be moving really fast; some days move really fast and others really slow. I'm sure you feel the same way with school and life in busy New Jersey. Mission life is getting easier, the only time its hard is when we have nothing to do…which luckily, is not to often.

We were out street contacting the other day, and we spoke to this lady from Russia. She could not speak English (or she pretended not to be able to). Right then I was really wishing I could speak some Russian. After I left her, it made me think about you while you where out on your mission. Thanks for being a good example, and going on a mission. It helps to follow after someone’s footsteps.

So Amy is going to Florida huh? That’s a famous place for the people here to go on vacation. I think I have talked to at least 20 people who are going to Florida from Bangor.

Well the rain has been similar here as it has been in New York, off and on, but it just soaks you here. All the streets turn into rivers, and the stairs turn into waterfalls. It’s not fun. I talk more about it in my letter to Mom. You will have to get it from her.

Well, my time is up on the comp. Love you Jer
Brady

Well hello family,

Well it sounds like you are doing well. Life here is pretty crazy. This past week was a pretty slow week. We did not have very many appointments so we had to do a lot of finding. I will be flat out honest I don't like to tract very much, and that's just about all we did. I'm good at tracting but I don't like to do it. Here in Bangor everyone has heard of or has a copy of the Book of Mormon and said they had a witness that it's not true. Whatever! Oh well I know its true and I know tracting is the most effective way to find people so I plug along and do it. Elder Headington likes to tract and has made a personal goal that by the time he leaves Bangor area he will have knocked on every door. And as of right now he is not very far from it. He has knocked 2/3 of our area, which is a lot of doors!

This week we had some cool stuff happen. There is a big fair going on; it's just like Summer Fest back home. This happens every year and they have these really old ships come over and you can have a tour on them. But they are only here on Saturday and Sunday. We had to work so I could not go on them. They are the old pirate type so masts and things run them its cool. It was really weird one of them had a really big tri color flag on it I was surprised that it did not get burnt down or something. The tri color flag is the orange white and green flag. In Northern Ireland because its a different country its an Ulster flag, if you want to see it look it up online. It's white with a red cross, red hand, a crown and a Jewish star. It looks really cool I have one that I bought, its way big.

Well mom I have bought a few things with my card so you will have to look at it and do the stuff you do. Thanks you are the best!!

There are a few things I would love for you to send me if you can:
-An American flag; this one is important we all fly our home colors in the flat
-If you can I would like my black skater shoes but only if you can
-One more long sleeve shirt for pday I use these in the morning cuz its cold
-A picture of Cody and Dusty I don't have any good ones of them
-More candy skittles, starbursts, and Swedish fish.
-And anything you feel I could use

Daddy happy fathers day and happy birthday, to be honest I'm not sure which day is your birthday but I know it's soon. I have a card that I have sent you but it's going to be late cuz I only sent it a few days ago. It takes about a week to receive anything. You are the best dad ever. Since I have been out here I have seen some really sad things with dads. The average dad here goes and gets wasted with his buddies. I'm very blessed to have you who help and teach me what to do. Thank you for raising me up to know the gospel and always being such a good example for all of us. I miss you but I know what I'm doing out here will bless you and the family. And it will bless the people here.

Well I love you all- you make me proud. I'm so happy that all is going well back home. Keep up the good work. Tell Deana its okay to email me tell her I might not be able to write too much back but I will do my best. Tell Alli congrats from me that's awesome to hear.

Love Boo Boo

Well hello how are you all doing? Life here is busy like always. Lets see what to talk about. Well my talk on Sunday went really well, they gave me a subject so I had to write my own talk. It was on Matthew 11:28 and the theme for the meeting was "Concern for the One," Joseph B Wirthlin's talk from conference. It went well like I said, but the worst part was I didn't find out my subject until two days before I gave it. The bishopric here is not as organized as back home. I wrote down all the things I wanted to say, some stories and got up and let the spirit say what it wanted me to say. It must have gone really well because everyone said I did really well and people were taking notes and all that stuff. And I cried, I'm such a baby! But I started off my talk by saying "I have a confession to make, this will be the first talk I have ever written without my moms help, so if it goes really bad I blame the fact I could not pack my mom in my suit case," they laughed pretty good at that, but not as much as the home crowd back home would have. Home court advantage is something I'm missing, but its alright, they are really nice to me and tease and joke with me here all the time. The Napires love us to death and take really good care of us. Bishop Bowen always asks if we are being fed on Sunday, and if not he will feed us.

All right mom my mission is two different countries right now. I'm in Great Britain and the people are very proud of that fact so up here no Gaelic; that is only in the south and Gaelic is kind of like cursive writing back home, they learn it in school but never use it. Once they are out of school they forget it. Also there is no English accent to catch on to, just the Irish which changes from the north to the south and from city to city. Where I serve in Bangor the accent is different from someone who lives in Belfast, which is deeper, louder, faster, and harder to understand. Right now I'm so use to the accent in Bangor that I can't really describe how it sounds, it's just Irish.

That's so awesome that Dusty got the job. I have been praying for him to get it. He wrote me an email telling me about it. Tell him congrats from me and he rocks. I'm still praying for him every night I know he will do awesome.

So is Cody loving working? I never loved working but I had fun. Once he starts to hate it tell him he just needs to have fun with it. Make a game of it and find ways to be able to laugh. While I have been here I always find a way to leave laughing especially after I'm being told I'm from the devil, to draw them away from the Lord. That's always a funny one.

My High School is being destroyed! That's so sad; try to get me a brick from it. That's my school I miss it.

All right so here is the run down with packages; you send them and I only get them when the president comes up north; he will bring them with him, so I have only got the one package from you, but they forward all mail to my apartment.

My first companion's first name was Matthew Edward Cochrin. He was from Southport England. He was born in Liverpool but he moved to Southport. He is a cool guy I wish I could get hold of him some how, but I don't know any of that stuff.

How is your audit going I pray for you every night that it will all go well.

I love you tons and miss you. I think about you everyday. Say hi to the family

Love Brady

Well Hello Family and Mom because I know she will be the first one to look at this. I now have 6 letters from you all. I got you letter from last week with your explanation of it on the top. I want to make it known to everyone I hate ldsmail.com I really think they should abandon it because its so lame. Well this was not the best week for us. We did have a few exciting things happen. We have a new investigator and that is very cool it's a single lady named Jillian, we taught her the first lesson and that went well. We have an appointment set up with her to come back; hopefully all goes well. Then we had fast Sunday, we fasted for an area to go tracking, and have some success in. We went to a cul-de-sac and got two potential investigators, which is awesome. Other then that we had a lot of appointments that fell through, so we did a lot of walking around.

Lets see the weather here has been fantastic I have only had one day of rain and believe me when it rain's here it rains. But really the weather has been too hot here and uncomfortable because of the humidity. I'm so glad I don't lifeguard in humidity. I have a very funny tan line where my collar goes and where my short sleeves end.

Funny story of the week: all right here it is we where up in area called Belmont, closer to Belfast, but is in our area. We walk by a group of girls who all say hi and you could tell wanted to stop and talk to us. But right then we where to wired about a lady who was just baptized and moved into our area and we could not get a hold of her to make sure the appointment was still on, so we really didn't care about the girls. We get to the corner of the road and we stopped to call Sister Tracey. (She is a member in the stake who really just knows everything. I don't know what it is, but she is the center of gossip/everything. I honestly believe she knows more about the stake then the stake president.) So Elder Headington is on the phone and I can hear these girls talking about us and giggling, and saying all sorts of girl talk. Well we walk off and we return to Belmont to finish tracking the area we started the day before. We see Zeek, a boy in our ward from South Africa. He is a white African; we stop and talk to him and his friend. I got talking to the friend because he is not a member and that's what I'm trained to do. We get done talking to them and those girls come back and walk right over to us and are trying to flirt with us. Zeek and his friend come over and tell them to leave us alone. (One of the girls is the friend's older sister) We finish up talking to them real quick and leave. On Sunday Zeek came over to me and said you know those girls you where talking to on Friday, I said yeah and he said well they fancy you. I just laughed and said thanks for telling me bud and gave him some candy, that I keep on me, and told him not to eat it till he breaks his fast.

Well the comp just told me I'm low on time, sorry I wanted to make this a much better letter. Love you all and will talk to you later.

Love Brady