Dear Family,

First of all, Mom, I DO answer your questions. You wrote two questions in this email. I will answer both.
1- The area isn't too spread out here. It's mostly just the town of Van Buren, which is probably less than 10,000 people.
2- The temperatures have been quite pleasant this week. I've enjoyed it. I fear that Summer might rear it's ugly head once more before fall comes in full swing though. We'll see. I can't wait for the leaves to start changing!

I love being a missionary! I am so excited for Jason to go! It's such a unique experience. We do and see things that you just wouldn't experience any other way. The Spirit is so strong. I love it.

On Sunday we went over to a Member Family's house. They had a non member friend there that they've been working on for more than 10 years. He is finally ready to receive the Gospel. He knows it is true. We taught him the first lesson. The Spirit was incredibly strong. We invited him to be baptized. He thought for a moment, and said, "I have to!" He was excited about it! :) Unfortunately for us, he lives in Alma, a neighboring ward. So we won't get to see all of his growth, but still. It was really awesome to teach him.
The Stake is trying super hard to get 100% home teaching this month. So we were asked to go visit a few families and check up on them. We went to go see a family yesterday. The husband works out of town, and so he wasn't there. We talked on her patio. She was kind of down because he had left that morning. She was very happy to see us. She is also a vegetarian, but had cooked Roast Beef while he was home, so she gave us the leftovers. That was nice. It was just really cool to see how the Lord cares about each of us so personally. She needed somethign uplifting, and we just happened to show up. She was very grateful. It was just what she needed, she said. I'm glad of that.

I never had a testimony of Home Teaching before my mission. I never had a good Home Teacher, and I never was a good Home Teacher. But boy have I seen the importance of it as a missionary. It's one of the most important programs of the Church, I have no doubt in my mind. It blesses so many lives. People are helped both temporally and spiritually in ways that would just not be possible without Home Teaching. And it isn't hard. You just have to go once a month and visit. It's so easy. I truly regret not taking my calling as a Home Teacher seriously before my mission.

I have also learned the Brownies can heal spiritual wounds. :) We took some homemade brownies to a person who had been offended by missionaries, and the problem was solved. :) Thanks again for sending me the recipe! :)

I had a copy of the new Duty to God book, Dad, and I was very impressed. It's SO much better than the old system! The old one was just a checklist that meant absolutely nothing to me. This is a program designed to help you become converted to Jesus Christ and His Gospel. It helps you understand what the Priesthood is and why it is important. I was very impressed.

Tell Anal-ey that I better get a wedding invitation or I'm going to be upset!

Well, I had better get going. I love you! Have a wonderful week!

Love,
Elder Bracken