Hey!

What a week! General Conference! :D

I LOVED General Conference! I learned so much! I watched all 5 sessions at the church, front and center(well, second row, actually, but no one sat in front of us). It is really cool to watch it at church. No distractions. It was very peaceful. The Spirit was very strong. I loved it.

There were so many wonderful talks. I only fell asleep for two, haha. They were by Seventies who had super thick accents so I couldn't understand them anyways. :P

I greatly enjoyed President Uchtdorf's talk Saturday Morning about God's Love. I also loved the talk in the Saturday Afternoon session by... was it Elder Callister? It was the talk all about Joseph Smith. I loved how he compared him to Peter. Peter made horrible mistakes, but he was still a prophet. So did Joseph Smith. He was still a prophet. They're human. They are not any stronger than we are. We make plenty of mistakes. The only difference between them and us is the level of responsibility God has placed upon them.

My FAVORITE talk, by a long shot, was Elder Holland's. That was marvelous. He laid down everything that he is and has in defense of the Book of Mormon. Perhaps my favorite part of his talk was when he spoke about how anyone who leaves the church must crawl over, under, or around the Book of Mormon. No matter how weak our testimony gets, if we REALLY want to know if the Church is true, the Book of Mormon will answer that question. If we will just read it and apply it's teachings, all our worries will be done away. I love that truth, and I add my testimony to that of Elder Holland. I know that the Book of Mormon is the Word of God. I know that the truths it contains can and will bring us back into our Heavenly Father's presence. I know that it is the most correct book of any book on Earth, and that anyone who reads it will come to that same knowledge. As a representative of the Lord Jesus Christ, it is my greatest privilege and responsibility to share this message with the world. I am so very grateful for this opportunity I have to do that. My personal challenge to all who read this is to pick up your copy of the Book of Mormon and read 3 Nephi 17. I promise you that as you do so, you will feel the Spirit and your testimony of and love for the Savior will increase.

Not much else is new on my end. Life is just wonderful. I hope you all enjoyed General Conference as much as I did. By the way, Mom & Dad, when the November Ensign comes out, can you buy me a copy and send it to me? I really want to have my own personal one to study and share with others. I would also like a CD of it like you made of last Conference's, if at all possible. :)

I really would like the Missionary Mall coat. I think that would be the best choice for my circumstances here. :) Thank you. :)

As far as my pictures are concerned.... I've been slacking a little bit. I have taken pictures, but probably not as many as I should. I will try to do better. Thank you for the reminder :)

Well I must get going. Thank you for everything! You are all wonderful!

Love,
Elder Bracken