June 27, 2011

Hey Mom and Dad how is life this week? Things are going good here. China John brought two friends to church this week, China Jason and China Joey, so we're really happy. They both are really interested, particularly Jason, so we're going to start teaching them now. I guess there has to be someone here in Nottingham for me to find since they are leaving me here so long haha. Lol, I don't think I'll come back with Robin Hood tights but they do sell them so you never know.

Elder Blackwood and I are doing really well. He's way funny so we are always laughing. He's already been added to my list of favorites I've had so far. Well I guess there isn't a so far anymore is there? That's weird. Ya, Gerry's still the man. He's getting the suit all sorted out for me and he's excited to see you guys when you get over here. It'll be funny when you meet him, then you won't be very surprised that he could get them to exchange my shirt. If anyone can convince them to do something it's Gerry.
That's cool that you fed the missionaries this week. I want to feed them when I get back as well. Trust me they are grateful for anything they get that's normal. Especially Papa Murphy's. Blackwood said he loved it when people fed them that when he was in Colorado. I miss it as well. We have Domino's here that's pretty much the same as home but it's expensive especially for missionaries so I've only bought it a few times. It's good for the Guatemalan missionary that is learning English though, he'll pick it up pretty quickly I think. Man the other missionary does have a pretty similar story to mine doesn't he? Losing his brother and getting a Dear John letter, almost word for word in fact but I agree with him that there have blessings because of the trials.
That's crazy about Bishop's wife. How big was the snake that bit her do you know?
I'm cool with having a busy week when I get back. I was wondering if I might be able to make an addition to our backyard in form of a firepit when I get back as well because my body clock will be ridiculously off so what's cooler than sitting outside around a fire at night?
Anyways I better get going now. I love you both and I hope you have a good week.
Love, Elder Brice Anderson

June 23, 2011

Hey Mom and Dad how are things going? Life is good here I'm still in Nottingham so it looks like my mission will end here. I've lost Elder Wang though, he's going home in a few weeks. But the new guy is really cool he's called Elder Blackwood. He's English from Reading and was serving in the Denver North Mission for 8 months but he was having some pretty bad health problems with headaches and stuff and they thought it might be the altitude so he got moved here. It's kinda funny cuz his older brother was our AP here a little over a year ago so everyone already knows who he is. He's a really cool guy though I think we'll get along really well. It was a bit of a weird transfer though. There were 4 of us in this area but the other 3 got moved so I'm the only one who knows where anything is. Gerry came up to transfers though so that was really good to see him again. He got the measurements for my suit as well so we should be good to go. And I wrote a letter to Justin last week but I haven't heard back yet. I don't know what's going on there really.

I'm glad you got my present lol. You should seriously bring your special UK driving glasses (anti-gasp model) over with you though or else you and Dad might be going the rounds. I thought it was quite a clever gift myself ;-) I've started work on Ando's UK Driving Essentials so then I can observe for a while and try to remember what the differences are so you won't have so many surprises when you get here. But don't worry I'll make sure to send it off in time for your trip. When are you leaving to get over here again?
It sounds like you had a pretty busy weekend down in Pleasant Grove and waking up that early to get back to church would make for quite the marathon of a day I would think. I don't know who we're going to have New Year's with now either since Todd & Shelley are moving, but it sounds like things are going good for Conrad and Courtney though. It sounds like July will slim Todd's wallet a bit as well. But that's really cool. Tell them congratulations for me if you get the chance. And I'm up for some wild cow milking at Strawberry Days next year if we're going to do it. I've got wild cow riding in a couple of months with Bedke at the Cassia County Fair as well so that should be good.
It sounds like church was good this week too. I like what you said about tender mercies mom, they are everywhere if we are looking for them. (Although I don't know if not being able to find the solution to Solitaire requires getting that flustered, Mother. Just kidding ;-) But seriously. No really I'm joking, I know it's a stressful time at work right now). I do see tender mercies at work alot here in the mission. Sometimes we are told where to be and what to say and what to do which sorts everything out and we know it wasn't us that came up with it. It's pretty amazing.
To answer your question about whether the church is still sending missionaries to England, no I haven't heard that they only want English ones but they do seem to be sending more and more to missions inside the UK. In fact there are alot of Europeans in general, but I can see why they would want more British missionaries here but I don't see the day that they are the only ones they send. I guess we'll wait and see.
Well sorry this is a bit on the late side but we had a really busy day yesterday with transfers and I didn't have time to email. But I'll be emailing again on Monday. I love you both. Have a good week.
Love, Elder Brice Anderson

June 13, 2011

Hey Mom and Dad how are things going? Life is good here. We're still finding alot. We find alot of people to listen to us but getting the return appointments is the difficult part. But we will truck on. Transfers are next week on the 22nd. Elder Wang goes home halfway through that transfer so he'll probably be getting moved and I'll stay til the end. You never know though. We'll have to see what happens. The time is running away too quickly. I find that the closer it comes the more bittersweet everything seems. I'll probably shed some tears before we leave this place. I've really come to love this land, even through all of the things that are different from home and yet just similar enough to be irritating. I'm going to miss it all when it's gone.

I can't believe how many of my companions and missionaries I worked with are home now. It's crazy. I figured Rapana would gain quite a following haha. Everybody loves that guy. He's the man and that story from Largesse about the drunk girl at the donut shop was hilarious. That sounds like him. Where is he living now anyways do you know?

Thank you for sending those scriptures for me. As long as they are the standard size they should be just fine. I talked to Gerry last night and he said he'd be calling sometime today to talk to you so be expecting that. Also I was going to ask if you could bring a can of pumpkin over when you come,  there's a lady here named Rosa whom I gave some of the pumpkin chocolate chip cookies I made to and she loved them and wants to be able to make some. By the way she's going to give us dinner when we come to Notts she told me yesterday so there's something for you to look forward to. I'm scoring us dinner appointments left and right haha.

Man the weather sounds crazy back there. Hopefully the potatoes will be alright. But I'm sure it'll turn back into Idaho soon.

I've learned that as missionaries you have to be very careful because if a set of missionaries does something not so smooth then the members have a bit of a bad taste in their mouth about missionaries in general for a little while even after the offenders are long gone. And if you're the ones that have to clean up the mess it becomes very difficult to win their trust back. Our actions affect alot more than I thought they would. Anyways I better get going now. I love you both. Have a great week!

 Love, Elder Brice Anderson

June 6, 2011

Hey Mom and Dad,
Man your week sounds pretty hectic. Ours wasn't too bad, just lots of finding. Unfortunately we haven't found anyone yet but we're working on it. It's been pretty warm here the last few days. I'm not sure of the temperature but all I know is it made me sweat. The humidity is killing me I tell you what. But I'm getting a tan, although it's a missionary tan only from halfway up my neck and halfway down my arms but it is a tan. Love the story about Blake's car haha. I bet that was a great surprise for them to see two old guys looking rather out of place in a glow in the dark car.

Thanks for putting together my bike for me. I was really not looking forward to doing that when I got back. You are right bike seats are crap. When I first got on my mission I didn't walk properly for the first two weeks. And about the scriptures I asked for mom, they are standard sized you were right and I would like it if you could send them so I can start marking them up while I still have an hour of study every morning but if that doesn't work out it's fine I can just copy over from my other ones. Not a big deal.

Man it sounds like the school is getting turned upside down this year. That's crazy. Are the Brogans moving over there or is he just going to commute?

I heard from Gerry last week sometime and he seemed fine but I haven't heard from Justin in ages. I better write him a letter and make sure everything is ok.

Oh ya and I forgot to answer your questions about Spence's wedding in Scotland last week. His parents were there because Pres. and Sister Ogden went to it and talked to his parents while they were there. They showed me the pictures at a meeting last Tuesday. The girl he married was a sister missionary in the mission but they never served around each other. They went home at the same time though and started talking afterwards. 

Thank you for the life lesson this week dad as well. I think that quote was brilliant because it's so true.

I'm nearly out of time now so I better get going. I love you both. Have a good week!

Love, Elder Brice Anderson

May 31, 2011

Hey Mom and Dad,

It sounds like you guys had a pretty cool weekend with all of the family and whatnot. And the fact that you took Grandpa Roland on a helicopter ride for his birthday is very cool, dad! I liked the picture of the two of you in front of it. It just made me want to go flying again though. I miss that quite a bit. And seeing the pictures of the valley around the cemetery was cool as well, although seeing Blake's grave all decorated made me get a bit choked up I have to admit. I'm looking forward to taking a little ride in his car when I get back. I'll be sure to do a nice burnout for him haha. Perhaps we can have the clutch in pieces by the time we're done just for old memories sake, lol.

The cemetery flyby sounded pretty funny. That definitely would've merited the "Top Gun" theme if I would've been in the plane with you guys haha and I'm sure Blake was loving it from heaven! I'm looking forward to working on Grandpa's house when I get back. Like I said before I really honestly miss that type of stuff and I would really like to be a part of it.

I bet that missionary that stopped by Kim & Sue's with Benjamin did find the story about Grandpa getting you lost on your trip to Forks even when he was 500 miles away hilarious, because not only is every story about Grandpa Max getting dad lost peppered with a little profanity it's always very entertaining. It's so good when members treat the missionaries like normal people and are willing to tell stories like that. Lots of people don't do that because they see missionaries as machines that won't find those kinds of things very funny. I love it when we go to someone's house and they treat us like a normal person with a special calling rather than these elevated beings with no sense of humor. I'm still just Brice, hopefully an improved version, but I'm still me.

I'm glad my letter to Grandpa Max & Grandma Lois got there alright and they liked it. I really do suck at writing letters to people. I'm glad you liked the story about Ondrej trying to find a way to get the signature from his parents to allow him to get baptized. It was amazing to kneel down and ask Heavenly Father to help him be able to get the signatures and have him call right after and say that his dad had consented and was going to sign the papers. It was a such a cool experience I have to admit. It's amazing how often a blessing is just waiting for you and all you need to do is put forth a bit of effort and ask for it.

Our week here was really good. Our baptisms went through wonderfully. I'm going to send a couple of pictures to you after I'm finished with this email so you'll have to let me know next week if they come through ok. China John is doing really, really well and so is Ondrej so we're really happy for all of that.

We had an area conference on Sunday where we got to hear from the Prophet, Elder Perry, and Elder Kearon. Speaking of Elder Kearon I don't remember if I told you or not but he came and visited the mission a few weeks back. He's a really cool guy with a posh English accent lol. But the conference was awesome. We heard alot about how it's our responsibility as members to go out and find those people who have strayed away and bring them back. Pres. Monson's talk was really, really good.

Anyways I better get going now so I'll have time to send pictures to you guys. 

I love you both. Have a good week ok.

Love, Elder Brice Anderson

May 23, 2011

Hey Mom & Dad,
Our week has been really good here. We've had a few good things happen. China John got his baptismal interview done and everything so he's getting baptized on Thursday. We moved the date up a bit because he and another investigator named Ondrej, who's being taught by the other missionaries, were both ready and it would be more convenient to do it earlier. We're really excited for that. Other than that we're still finding alot. We find quite a few people but just getting them to keep appointments can be a bit of a chore. But we hang in there and keep working on it.
Hey, mom, I didn't realize you could just mix everything together on those pumpkin cookies without adding the eggs & stuff otherwise I wouldn't have had to procrastinate ruining my diet until you could email me lol. I plan on sharing them don't worry. I'm sure there are 3 other missionaries in this area who wouldn't mind helping me polish them off.
That sounds like a pretty nasty accident at Grandpa's house, dad. You're just lucky you didn't break anything. But think of it this way, what would a family construction project be without an accident? Only this time it wasn't Grandpa Max haha. But it sounds like you are already recovering so that's good. I'm sure it was a typical Kelly Anderson job as well where it happens and everyone is thinking you need stitches or some other type of medical care and you just ask for something random like duct tape and paper towels and get back to work. Always reminded me of MacGyver.
Sounds like you had a rip roarin' good time at the scout training, Mom. I think Dad used to call it "happy hour" am I right? I bet it was "happy most of the day" in this case though. But hey let's look at the positive side, you may not be able to take the Webelos camping, but when you get promoted to the higher levels of scouting you will know what you are doing, I hope you took good notes. ;-) j/k  I do have one question I need to ask though, how many songs did you sing during the meeting? Did you break double digits or stay in the singles?
Man the flooding sounds pretty crazy around there. I just can't believe we're worried about flooding right now when for the last like decade it's been all about the droughts. It'd be pretty wild if it filled Bear Lake.
I would love to visit the London Temple when you are over here. I have to get my recommend interview from the Og Dog next week because it's about to expire. They say missionaries should always have a valid recommend otherwise that's a bit like hypocrisy lol. But yes, I would love to do that. I've never visited that one, I've heard the grounds are amazing and I can't wait to be in the temple again.
I bought a new suit this week because there was a huge sale going on so I'll just wear this one til the end of my mission and I'll call Gerry to get the other one adjusted so I can wear that one home. Got it all sorted don't worry.
Anyways I better get going now. I love you both. Have a great week.
Love, Elder Brice Anderson

Hey just one more thing I was going to ask. I got a Bible for my sweet African scripture cases that Elder Von Brughan gave me. I put it together so now all I need is a triple combination, I was wondering if you could go to the Distribution Center and try to find one for me. Sometimes they sell irregulars for cheap so if you could take a look that would be awesome. Love you both

May 16, 2011

Hey Mom and Dad,

Life is going pretty good this week. We've spent a bit of time finding so hopefully some of these people will move forward a bit. China John is doing awesome. He's really excited for his baptism so we're really happy for that. Don't worry about my focus mother, I'm fine and I'm writing to some awesome people so that's been good. But life is going really well. This is the most important thing I've ever done and I wouldn't trade it for anything in the world. I've learned so much in the last two years about growing up, being a man and especially gaining a testimony of the Savior. It frightens me a bit that I thought about not coming.

I didn't get to meet Rapana's parents because I didn't get transferred so I didn't go to the meeting. I wish I would've though, that would have been awesome. 

It's pretty green here at the minute. It's rained on and off every day for 6 days now so it's doing a bit better. You should be able to see the rolling hills you want to see so don't worry. It's amazing here how things green up after one storm as well.

I got all the pictures you sent. Thank you for those. I like the Ute fan face & hat at Blake's grave. I don't think he'd have it any other way. And grandpa's house looks amazing! I didn't realize how big it was until I zoomed in and realized the room at the end was the kitchen. That looks really, really cool. I bet they're way excited. I'm excited to do a bit of work on it when I get back too. I haven't done any work like that in a while. We do service and that sort but the manliest thing we did was cut down a tree. Don't get me wrong it was fun, but it wasn't building something and seeing the result you know. I need to get going now cuz I'm out of time but I love you both. Have a great week!

Love, Brice