October 18, 2010

Hey Mom and Dad,
I'm still in Redditch! As you already know. But I'm really excited to be here I love this place. Gerry is all sorts of chuffed that I'll be here for Thanksgiving haha. So am I though, that's really exciting! That means for both Thanksgivings of my mission I've gotten to have a nice dinner. I thought I was lucky to eat with the Hansen's in Hereford last year but I scored big here too. Sweetness.
I'm glad Gerry tells you all of my funny stories haha. The dish towel was interesting I tell you what.
Some things are easy to find as far as recipes go but lots of things they don't have here it's true. Sometimes it's a bit hard to find things. How long does it take to drive to Forks from Grace? I bet that's not a short drive to make. So is Novell "downsizing" a bit as well? That's not good news but hopefully Neal can keep his job. That's a bit scary.
You said something about saving days off for your trip to England and speaking of that, how soon do you need to know my release date so you can plan for that? I'm sure if I asked president he could tell me but I don't know what it is at the moment. I can guess but I don't know if we'll have a five week transfer in there somewhere or something like that so I don't really know for sure.
I'm planning to write Justin a letter today cuz I haven't in quite a while cuz I've been really busy.
Sounds like Devon is having a good hunting season haha. Brandon is probably catching heck left and right haha. He's a funny kid I tell you what.
If you get a chance, tell the Neibaurs and Gundry's and Bronsons hello from me. And tell Tarmi congratulations that's really cool. You never told me what Taigan was up to in the woman department though. I was wondering if he's set his sights on anyone yet.
I'm glad the house is going good for Grandpa and that they are excited for it. That's really cool. Did you guys build the trusses for that like you did the garage or did you buy them this time? I wish I could be there to work on it as hard as it is to believe that. That would be pretty fun I think.
I'm glad you took Nat and Dwight flying that's really cool. I miss that alot. When you took Nat flying and had her fly the plane what did she think of it? She never really said much other than you had taken her flying and she got to fly the plane. You don't have to worry about taking my children flying because I'm excited to take them up too and I've already picked my wife and she is fine with it as well so no worries there.
Thank you for the pictures of the headstone too. I think it looks nice but it seems like there's a bit of something missing. Do we not have a family picture we could put on there somewhere? I would like to see one with the 4 of us. That's just my opinion though. I think the one we took a while back when we were at Ginger's would look nice.
I better get going now though. I hope you both have a great week. I love you both
Love, Elder Brice Anderson

October 11, 2010

Hey Mom and Dad,
The work is continuing to move forward here in Redditch. We're just finding mostly now and that seems to be going ok. Sharon and Katie are doing amazingly well. Sharon got up and bore her testimony yesterday so that was really, really cool. I shed a few tears, but they were manly tears don't worry. But ya that was pretty neat. She's making lots of friends in the ward already so it's going really well. Gerry is a pretty entertaining man isn't he? He makes me chuckle. We were talking the other day about him coming over to the wedding and he said we should get me a nice suit and he knew exactly where to get one. He's a good man, Gerry is.
That's really cool about Ian. He's a good guy. I'm not so great at keeping a journal I'm not going to lie. I try to include stories in Natalie's letters so I have a bit of a backup journal cuz mine is a disgrace.
I didn't even know Tarmi was engaged. That's pretty intense. How is Taigan doing in the woman department?
Devon is a funny kid. It sounds about right for him to be finding an excuse to go hunting. Him and Brandon make quite the pair huh. Gerry thought it was pretty funny when we were watching my "Hump Day" video and Devon was getting all embarrassed to say "Hump Day" haha.
I think that's a good idea for the suit for Christmas. I can buy myself trousers here for cheaper than at home anyways so that's ok.
Thank you very much for the pictures I loved them all. It almost made me miss doing that kind of stuff like working on the garage and everything. Ok I'll admit I probably complained with the best of them but it was fun being with everybody and laughing. Remember when Wes cut the cord to the Skil saw cuz he set it down while the blade was still running? I didn't even know he did it til I heard "#!*% your eyes, Wes!" and saw the cord come flying onto the roof. That was hilarious. Good memories.
Anyways I better get going now ok. I love you both. Talk to you later.
Love, Elder Brice Anderson
Oh and I almost forgot, I probably would have time to make cookies on pday sometime so if you want to send those things that would be lovely.

October 4, 2010

Hey Mom and Dad,
Man conference was wonderful wasn't it? There were some awesome messages in there. Those general authorities just reek of awesomeness! Did you end up going to the priesthood session then? I thought that was really good. Elder Kearon's (the Englishman's) talk was awesome. He said some very English phrases in there too haha. Like when his dad "battered the scorpion with a shovel". That was extremely English. It was good though I thought the message was awesome. The whole thing was good I thought.
Gerry asked for your phone number at the city office the other day so he could tell you my trouser size haha. I couldn't remember whether 3533 was the high school or the city office so we took a bit of a gamble on that one. I told him if it was the high school just to hang up lol. But I'm glad you enjoyed talking to him. He talks cool doesn't he? He always takes good care of us. Oh ya and by the way he is coming to the states next year so that he can take a look at Idaho.  He's never seen the West so he's excited to come over. I told him he could stay at your house. Hope that's ok :-)
For the team Utah/Idaho jacket just hang on to it at home. That's pretty important to me and I don't want to risk having it lost in the post or get ruined or something out here so just keep it til I get there.
So you guys have been flying to get parts this week huh? That sounds sweet I'd love to do that. I miss flying alot. After I get home and get a job and whatnot I want to get my pilot's license too. That would be sweet. But good on Mom to go flying to get the parts. Makes me proud. I bet landing in the dark was the most fun you've had for a while huh?
I'll be looking forward to the pictures of Blake's headstone when it gets done, I hope it looks cool. He deserves to have a cool one. I miss that kid sometimes but I know he's still here helping me and you too. It's just sometimes hard because I see things that only me and him would find funny and I want to tell him about them and I can't. But I'd like to think he's still here laughing at them right along with me.
Tell Spence hi from me and congratulations on getting engaged. Tell him I better get an announcement or I'll kick him in the butt when I get home. But as long as we get a generalized mission one that'll do.
Anyways I better get going now I'm about out of time. I love you both. Talk to you later.
love, Elder Brice Anderson

September 28, 2010

Hey Mom and Dad,
Our week has been really good here. We had confirmations on Sunday at church and they were amazing. Katie and Sharon both asked me to confirm them so that was a really, really cool experience. Sharon just kept talking about how warm she felt inside. We had FHE with her last night at a member's house and she just said it was something she had always looked for but never really knew she was looking for it if that makes sense. But she's found it now and she's doing so good. Seriously her testimony is absolutely amazing. She is a person who was so prepared to meet us it blows my mind. She doesn't come to church or give up alcohol, coffee, and tea because we ask her to, she does it because it feels right. She is so receptive to the Spirit. It really is amazing to teach her and Katie both. I love it.
I got the pictures of the etching but for some reason the picture is huge so I have to scroll around a bit to see all of it so I can't really get a full feel for how it looks. I'm going to try and move it about a bit on the computer and make it smaller in a minute or two when I finish this so we'll see how that goes. Nevermind I just tapped into my vast computer knowledge (ya right) and got it moved so we're good. I really like how that's going to work but I'm with Dad, I don't know about how they have it arranged at the moment. Not that I have a better idea though so maybe I should just keep my mouth shut. But I do like how it's going to be done I think it will look really nice when it's finished.
I really liked your life lesson today Dad. I try to take things in when I'm out but sometimes I forget. The times I remember are the times I send you pictures of stuff like the Worcester Cathedral or stuff like that. Next time you see something like that you should take a picture of it and send it to me so I can see the valley too. I do miss it sometimes.
I actually do remember the potato days fondly. Me and Blake made a few trips down to Kaysville and Provo ourselves to deliver those. The part that I wasn't so fond of was having to unload, that wasn't my favorite at all. But it's all ok, that kind of work makes you buff haha. So there is a lady in Grace now who worked with Dr. Book? That's pretty cool. Have you guys talked to Dr. Book since we lost Blake? I couldn't remember whether you said you were going to or not.
We're really looking forward to conference here. That's my favorite part of the year. I love it. I better close now but before I go I did get your letter last week so thank you very much for that. I got myself some new shoes as well so thank you for that as well. I'm still working on the license. I'm going to try and schedule my tests next week so I can get those done. I'll be sending a letter to you for the primary soon so be watching the post for that. I better go now though thank you for everything. I love you both.
love, Elder Brice Anderson

Hey Mom and Dad,
First things first, I did get the letters from the primary like last week I think but I never sent anything back yet. My bad. I'll repent of my wicked ways and get something in the post for them. I'll print out some pictures as well cuz I'm going to be sending some anyways so I can just print one or two for them while I'm at it.
Our Baptism last night was amazing! Von Brughan got to come back and baptize Sharon and I baptized Katie. And then Elizabeth was baptized by another member in the ward. It was awesome! If only we could help more people to understand how important this is! It was so good though seriously. They were glowing and so were we. I really love baptisms because they make you that much more motivated to find more people so they can share in the joy. It was so good! And me and my new comp are getting along really well so that's all good here too. The only problem with baptisms is that it means your awesome investigators aren't investigators anymore so then it's back to finding some new ones haha. But such is life.
I'm glad you guys got my post finally. I'm glad you like the cuff links. I keep on finding cool ones that are on sale and I think everyone should have a good set of cuffies so I keep on sending you cool ones. I'm glad you guys like the pressed penny too. I couldn't help myself when I saw the machine. It brought me back some good memories of the old vacations we had. We had some good times that's for sure.
The weather is getting cold here at night. And it's getting dark earlier every day. I had forgotten what it feels like to walk around in the dark. But in the near future it'll be darker than heck at 4:30 and not rise again til 9 or 9:30 so we'll practically be nocturnal. That's weird when it gets like that I tell you what. But ya it's all good. Although with the cold I think I might get frostbite through the holes in my shoes. By the way, my shoes are pretty bad so I'm needing to get some new ones pretty quickly I think :-)
Haha for some reason I'm not surprised to hear that Brandon would pull a staple doing something like pulling back his bow. Sounds about par for the course. I think that would be really cool if you put the class of '06 thing on Blake's headstone. What is taking so long for that to get there anyways? It's been forever. Oh well I guess. And what the fetch is up with people pinching stuff from the cemetery? This is about ridiculous in my opinion. My word.
So anyways I better get rolling now. Thank you guys for everything you do. I love you both.
love, Elder Brice Anderson

September 13, 2010

Hey Mom and Dad,
First off I'll answer the questions you guys have. You are correct that everything is not fine and dandy every single day out here but the reason I tell you that all is fine is because on the average everything is fine. I'm not just withholding information for the sake of it or something lol. We're doing good still so don't worry about us. Sharon hasn't gotten baptized yet her date was moved back a week so her daughter can get baptized the same day so we're really happy for that. Her two boys aren't too interested at the moment but maybe later in time they will be. We'll have to see. I got your package and I loved all of it thank you so much. We ate the pancakes already and they were amazing. I did send a thank you card to Maili two weeks ago for entering me in the bike contest so it should have already gotten there.  I'm happy to be here in Redditch still. I get settled in areas and I don't like to move much so I don't mind getting left in an area for a long time. I'm not training Elder Christiansen but he's been out for 3 months so I'm his second companion. He went to Copper Hills High School back home so you'll have to speak to Lola and see if she knows him haha. Knowing her she very well might.
Sister Isherwood told me she had a chat with you on Facebook yesterday.  But ya she wouldn't tell me what you guys talked about she just kept saying "Mum things" haha. But it sounds like it was good so that's cool. The Isherwoods are awesome.
I liked your Austin Powers story Mom lol. That was pretty funny I'm not gonna lie. That sounds like a Blake story if I've ever heard one. And it sounds like Kim and Sue are having a grand old time in the medical department lately lol. What the heck?
If grandma ever gets a chance to meet that person again you should have her ask which ward they were in. If her mother was over the primary in the Birmingham area she must have been in the Birmingham stake. That was probably back when Redditch was a branch too if there weren't any missionaries here. That's crazy. Small world indeed.
Thanks for letting me know that you go down to be with Blake, Dad. It really means alot to me that he gets a bit of company down there. He liked nothing better than to sit around with a pop and have a nice chat. And to tell some good stories about stuff we used to do. That was his favorite. The best was talking about hunting with Grandpa Max. I think that was one of his favorite stories of all time. That one never got old lol.
I'm glad you liked the pictures as well. It's amazing how everything out here greens up when it rains. It's rained a bit here and there lately but all in all it hasn't been too bad. It's starting to cool off a bit but then we still get a few of the hot days here and there. The worst is when it rains and then the sun comes out and it gets hot. Then it's just flipping humid. 
Anyways I better get rolling now cuz I'm about out of time. I love you both. Talk to you later. Love, Elder Brice Anderson.

September 9, 2010

Hey Mom and Dad, life is good here. I got to stay in Redditch this transfer but I've got a new companion, his name is Elder Christiansen from Salt Lake. He seems like a really cool guy we get along well already so that's really good. Sharon is still preparing really well for her baptism so that's all going awesome.  So ya it's all good. Sister Isherwood said she facebooked you the other day as well. The Isherwoods are the bomb they take good care of us as well. We have alot of fun with them. They have us over every Thursday so that's really fun. Oh ya and Gerry's last name is Marsden.
Bear Lake sounds like fun. It's too bad the water is so choppy there but at least you had a getaway huh. I would agree though I would prefer to ski in places where the water is a bit more calm so I can't blame you for that one. At least the boat was holding up for those swells. I miss wakeboarding really bad. We have to do that as soon as I get home before it gets too cold.
It sounds like stuff is pretty busy at the shop lately huh. Better busy than not though right? I liked the cartoon haha that stuff was funny. That was Grandpa Max all over the place. It sounds like most stories we hear other than when he finally decides which one he thinks it is he sticks to his guns lol. Like Chicken Point for example. I also really like that quote you gave me for the life lesson. It's so true though. Especially in missionary work. People hardly ever remember what you teach them the first time but what they can remember is the feelings it brought. In a talk Elder Bednar gave once he talked about how they speak to converts sometimes and most of the time when they ask what it was like to be taught by the missionaries they say that the lessons were the most discombobulated group of scriptures and stories that they had ever heard in their lives, due to missionary faults I'm sure, but the thing they remember is the feeling they had while they heard it so that made them want to learn more. Amazing how that works isn't it.
Tell Devon I'm proud of him for not supporting BYU in the football game. Stay Red. It's the only way to go. That's really cool of Kally to send a t-shirt up for Devon. To be honest I got a bit choked up myself when I saw Blake's initials on the sleeve. I've had a few rough days the last little while but I'm making it through ok. It's all fine. I hope you guys are still going down to have a coke with him on a regular basis.
I didn't know Grace had gone to 8 man ball this year. Is Dr. Steve still coaching? If he is and you see him tell him hi for me ok. I bet those afternoon games are different than usual haha that's weird. That would throw me off that's for sure. Well anyways I better get going now. I love you both. Thank you for everything. Talk to you later. Love, Elder Brice Anderson