Dear Family,

What a wonderful week! It's been a good long while since I've been able to say I had 4 baptisms. It was so fantastic.

Everything was great for the Baptisms. All went well. I spoke at the one on friday(we had one on friday, and the other 3 on saturday). The services were excellent. They were well-attended. The spirit was very strong.

One of our pretty new investigators, John, went to both baptisms. He wants to be baptised now. He knows that the church is true. He has a lot of stuff to overcome. I'm sure with the Lord's help it will all work out, though.

We also had Zone Conference on Tuesday. It was great. For part of it, we watched this video called "Journey of Faith." I HIGHLY recommend it, you could probably get it at Deseret Book. It was fascinating. It was made by all of these Mormon scholars to try to prove that the Book of Mormon is true. And they do a pretty amazing job of it.

In other news, I found out at Zone Conference that the Hattabaughs, the Family we baptized in my first area, have slipped into inactivity. That hurt to hear. I need to write them and encourage them.

I am so excited for General Conference! It is just around the corner! It will be over by the time I write again! Crazy! It's gonna be so amazing. I love hearing the Prophet and the Apostles speak.

I love it here in Neosho. It's a great area, truly. I keep getting the feeling that this is a temporary stop for me though. I might leave after just one transfer. I am unsure. We will see. And that's a ways off still. Though it will come incredibly fast. Time flies by so quickly as a missionary. It's insane.

I don't know what else to talk about. Our whole week has focused on getting the baptisms ready and happening.

Well, I suppose I will get going now. Have a wonderful week! And go to the temple!

Love,
Elder Bracken

Dear Family,

Hey, I did not do the firecrackers. That was so not me. That was our ward missionary. I just..... allowed it to take place. I got to eat at the Japanese Steakhouse for dinner. So :P haha

Yes, I got my package by the way, and I did appreciate it. :) Especially the pictures. Thank you :)

I know Cassi! She's awesome! Tell her I said hi, if you get the chance. :)

We have 4 baptisms this week. One lady on Friday, then three girls on Saturday(all sisters, who's mom has been reactivating the last year or so). The oldest girl is 12. And you will never guess who she is! I'll give you a hint, Spencer loves her.

*drumroll*

The Welch's Grape Juice Girl!

No joke! She is the Welch's Grape Juice girl, and she is being baptized on Saturday! Isn't that crazy!? It blew my mind when I found that out. :)
I am SO excited for the Baptisms! I hope everything goes well between now and then so that they can happen. I don't foresee any problems, though. *knock on wood*

The only problem is that we have to find new investigators to replace this one. And we all know that I'm not very good at that, haha. But I will get better, I am confident.

Yesterday we watched Mountain of the Lord with a recent convert. It was sooooo good. I can't wait to go to the temple. I don't know if I've mentioned it yet, but my goal is to go straight to the Salt Lake Temple and do a session right after I get home. Then go out to eat and gorge myself. :) How does that sound? When are you going to the temple next, by the way?

I don't know what else to talk about really. Everything's going good here. No complaints. :)

I hope you all have a wonderful week!

Love,
Elder Bracken

*** NOTE - Jordan sent some new pictures. Check them out on the picture link. ***

Dear Family,

It's good to hear from you again! It feels like it's been forever.

Neosho is a nice place. The ward is fantastic. Very supportive. I've also been fed very well. Yesterday, we had dinner with the McBryde family. They grilled up all these pork chops from a pig they had raised. Sauteed peppers and onions.They had these awesome bacon and cheese mashed potatoes. Steamed Corn on the Cob and Broccoli. Cookies for dessert. Soooo much food. But the most memorable part was the pepper. Apparently, last year they had an over abundance of habanero peppers, and a few other peppers. Primarily habanero. So the dried them out and ground them up and made pepper seasoning. I smelled it and it made my nose burn for half an hour(at least). My eyes were watering for about 10 minutes. And I put it on my food too. It was sooooo spicy! You would've died, mom. haha.

Neosho, the city itself, is ridiculous. It was built in all these hills. You are ALWAYS going up or down a hill. The road is NEVER flat here. I'm so glad it's a car area. We drive a little Sage Green Mazda 3. It's awesome.

We have 4 investigators with a baptismal date. One I'm unsure about. But the other 3 are these 3 little girls who are all sisters. 2 ten year old twins and one 12 year old. Their mom was very less-active but has been reactivating the last year or so, and now the girls want to be baptized. They will get baptized on the 27th. I'm so excited!

Things are going really well here. Just have to keep it up. Keep teaching. Keep finding. That's it really. No complaints.

My companion is very good. His name is Elder Lybbert. He's from Canada(I think I mentioned that last week). He has very good and righteous desires and he's a very hard worker. I'm impressed thus far.

We spoke in Church yesterday. The Speakers cancelled so on Thursday the Bishop asked us if we could speak. The Topic was "Men in the Last Days--Who can we trust?" Elder Lybbert spoke about prophets and, of course, General Conference. Which I am so excited for. I felt prompted to talk about how we can trust the authors of the scriptures, our local leaders(especially the Bishop), and the Godhead. It was good. I don't think I did too bad. I'm starting to get the hang of public speaking. Practice makes perfect, right?

Neosho had a tornado the night before I got here! I was so mad! It just rained real hard in Webb City. But there were 2 or 3 that touched down near here on Wednesday. I can't believe I missed it!

I have not received any email from Ben. I would love it if you gave me his address and gave my address to his parents. I would really love to still be able to hear from him on occasion. It's been a good while since I last heard from him.

So, that's about it from me this week. Send everyone my love. Have a great week!

Love,
Elder Bracken

Dear Family,

Yes, I am moving to Neosho. My new address is:

1451 Pineville Road A6 Apt. #11
Neosho, MO 64850
My new companion is Elder Lybert(I think that's how it's spelled. It's pronounced like Libbert). He is Canadian. He's been out like 6 months, or so I hear. I am excited. Apparently, Neosho is having great success. So it should be good. :) It's in the same Zone as the one I am currently in, so I won't even have to ride the Transfer Loop. I'll meet at the drop-off point, get out of one car, into another, and I'll be in Neosho in no time. Oh, also. Neosho has a car full-time! I was so happy to hear that. :) I wonder what kind of car they have there. I hope not another Malibu. I hope it's a Focus or a Corolla.

Yes, it was a very pleasant surprise to see Uncle Jeff for a few minutes. I was happy. It sounds like things are going well for the Garcia Clan.

I don't know what else to talk about. Life is good. I'm glad for a change of scenery. Personally, I think 3 months is plenty of time to spend in an area.

I have a memory card ready to send home. I had a back-up picture CD and everything I was about to send it, when suddenly I realized I didn't have a card to replace it with. I thought I had lost it. I was tearing the house apart looking for it. I'm glad you mentioned that you still have it so I don't freak out any more. haha.

Funny story. We aren't supposed to really take pictures during proselyting time. We're counseled specifically to not look like a tourist. So, anyways, we stopped at this one thing in Carterville to take pictures of it, and this guy comes out and hands us souvenir post-cards and excitedly asks, "Y'all traveling the Route 66?" What a spiritual slap in the face haha. I felt so rebuked. It was funny. Worth it though. I needed that picture.

I'm reading the War Chapters in Alma right now. It's quite possibly my most favorite part of the Book of Mormon, or close to it. I love all the death and destruction. I'm such a boy haha.

Do you know what I just realized? General Conference is next Transfer! Hallelujah! I am so excited! I love Conference! It's so great!

When's the last time you made it to the temple? I really miss that place. My favorite place on Earth, truly.

Well, I'm gonna to get going now. Have a great week!

Love,
Elder Bracken

Dear Family,

It's been a long week here. So much has happened. And yet so little has happened. haha. It's weird.

First of all, I'm feeling mostly better. Not 100%, but I'm coughing much less and my energy is returning. I fear I may be allergic to something in the apartment. I've had a cough ever since I've been in Webb City. The other day another missionary was here with me on exchanges for the day and he noticed that I would cough way more in the house than out of it. So I'm really curious about that. Pretty much the only thing I know to do about it though is clean the house very thoroughly and continue taking some over the counter drugs and see if things improve.

We had interviews on Tuesday with President Merkley. It was good. No Mom, they don't make me nervous. I love getting to visit with him for a few minutes alone. It's nice. He's a wonderful man. I didn't get any indication about if I will be leaving or not. Last night President Merkley called me and asked me how things were going because he was pondering about what to do with transfers and wanted to get an inkling of how things are going. But he didn't say what he's going to do. He doesn't know yet. But he said that there are "a lot of possibilities." Whatever that means.

Yesterday was Stake Conference. It was quite fantastic. Bishop Keith B. McMullin, 2nd Counselor in the Presiding Bishopric spoke. He touched on many topics. He even talked about the whole, we can become gods thing, interestingly enough. One of the more interesting things he spoke about was a prophecy in Doctrine and Covenants section 1 verse 35 about Satan. God was speaking and said that Satan did not yet have full power over the earth but that that time was nigh. Bishop McMullin said that that prophecy has been fulfilled and that Satan does indeed have all the power over the Earth that he will ever have. He is unrestrained. Bishop McMullin also blessed the congregation in the manner of an Aposolic Blessing. I didn't know he could do that. That intrigued me as well.

Pres. and Sis. Southward of the Oklahoma City Temple were also present and spoke very briefly. I shook his hand afterward. It was neat because he remembered me. I met him once before. I was in Cleveland Oklahoma on exchanges for a day and he was driving us around that evening. So, he recognized me yesterday. Some day after the mission I need to go to the Oklahoma City Temple and ask to see him. Maybe I'll get to chat with a Temple President in his office for a few minutes. I would love that.

Yesterday, a member had us over to teach a friend of theirs at their house. It went very well. That will be happening with 2 other people this week. One tonight and one on Thursday. Three member referrals. That ain't bad.

So anyways. It's been quite a week. I don't know what will happen. If I will leave or stay or whatever. I should know by next Preparation Day, so I'll let you know. :)

I'm sorry to hear that about Granny. I will definitely keep her in my prayers.

As far as smokers go, I don't know too much more than you do. I talked with Bishop Kolb a little about his. After using several different types over the years, the one the have settled on is an Electric one. I'm not sure entirely how it works, because it does still require chips. It is actually only the 2nd most expensive one they've owned. It cost like.... $225 or something like that. I don't remember exactly. But somewhere in that range. So I don't know. You might do some research on that sometime. It's hard though, because you won't find an expert on it out in Utah, haha. I will still continue to try and learn from people out here all I can. In my spare time of course.
The Church is true. I hope you all have a wonderful week! Keep reading the scriptures, going to the temple, and sharing the gospel!

Love,
Elder Bracken