Dear Family,
 
Well, I am glad to hear that things are going so well. I am a bit concerned, though. You are both putting way too much on your plate, at least from where I can see. Why are you doing that? Have you never seen What About Bob? Baby steps. Don't bite off more than you can chew. Do things a little here, and a little there. The house wasn't built in a day, and it surely won't be remodeled in a day. Your first grandbaby is en route, and your last child is about to return home from his mission. You just bought a brand new vehicle. You've landscaped the backyard and planted bulbs(GASP!). You've finished the basement, and now you're redoing the whole upstairs. This is a tad concerning. Why don't you wait for me to come home so I can help you with some of these things? Rome wasn't built in a day you know. When we read the accounts of the Creation of the World, God Himself took a great deal of time to make this wonderful Earth. He did things systematically, in wisdom and in order. He even took time to rest. There are principles here which we can and must follow, for it is not requisite that a man should run faster than he has strength.
 
So, we heckled a preacher this last week. It was great fun. We had our District Meeting(my last District Meeting. Weird.) at the Institute as we usually do. Afterwards, a member from the Singles Ward showed up and told us that there was a Preacher preaching at MSU campus. So we walked over there with him. It was only like a block and a half away. He was at the Public Speech podium thingy. He was yelling at everyone and telling them they were going to Hell. I had some fun asking him questions, but we left because it was cold. It didn't stop him, but it did entertain us. The young man from the Singles Ward tried to give him a Book of Mormon, but he wouldn't accept one. The Zone Leaders talked for a good while with a young man there who was fairly interested. Hopefully he will come to church sometime soon and check it out.

 We had an entertaining prank the other day. I was on exchanges with Elder Argyle(one of the Zone Leaders). We got back in at about 8:45 p.m. Elder Bell and Elder Fellows weren't back yet. Somehow, I still don't know how, we came up with a brilliant idea. We tore apart the front room, knocked a bunch of stuff over, turned off all the lights, and left the front door a little open. We went into Elder Bell and I's bedroom. After a few minutes we heard them pulling in. They were talking as they walked up the steps, but as soon as they got to where they could see the front door, they went silent. They slowly pushed the door open and turned on the light. After a few moments of silence, we hear Elder Bell shout, "WHO'S IN THIS HOUSE???" and we hear a loud "CRACK!"(which turned out to be Elder Fellows kicking in the bathroom door) and we see Elder Fellows run into his bedroom with a Baseball Bat. It was hilarious. We burst out laughing. They weren't very pleased with us, haha. Later, Elder Fellows took a Sharpie and labeled the Baseball Bat "THE LORD'S JUSTICE."
 
Well, I had better get going. Have a good one!
 
Love,
Elder Bracken

We had a lot of fun tracting yesterday. We did a lot of tracting, but we had a lot of success. Many people wanted us to come back. It was weird how we ended up in this one neighborhood with nothing to do except tract for a couple of hours, but the Lord's hand is truly in all things. We were meant to be there at that exact time and place. I love little miracles like that I am very grateful to be a missionary.

I do not want to go home. Early on in my mission, Missionaries would always say how they never want to leave their mission, that it's the best time of their life, that they have little desire to go home, really. I always thought they were nuts. But I understand how they feel. Well, have a good week.

Love,
Elder Bracken

Dear Family,

It's good to hear from you!(as always, of course). I'll be very excited for that package. The only question that remains is, will I share with the other Elders in the Apartment? :) haha And you are correct, Mom. Meat is indeed, better than chocolate.

Wow. Sounds like I have a busy schedule ahead of me when I get home. I've told you my plan right? We can bag the restaurant idea I suppose. But I do still want to go straight to the temple and do a session when I get out of the airport.

As far as speaking in church, I don't think it would be appropriate for me to be the only speaker. I can take as much time as is needed, but there should at LEAST be a Youth Speaker. No one should have to listen to me yack for 30-40 minutes. And has he assigned me a topic yet?

Well, I don't know that there's too much to report this week. Our area is pretty slow right now, but we're working hard to find people to teach.

As far as food goes, I did try my first Beer Bratwurst. It was good. I still prefer Cheese Brats though. And I still prefer traditional "weiners" over that. Speaking of this, I'm reminded. Still thinking of getting a Smoker?

Oh, haha. Our Assistants have created a "Contraband" list.(I don't think they know they definition of that word). If we have pocketknives, novels, magazines, D&D material, Pokemon Cards, or anything like unto it, they are supposed to confiscate it. I'm going to have some fun with this when the Assistants come on exchanges with the Zone Leaders. haha. :)

We had a District Leader Training meeting with President Merkley. It was fun. Mostly just talking about how to perform baptismal interviews and such. But afterwards he and Sister Merkley took us to Steak N' Shake, a nice burger joint they have out here. I enjoyed it. I wish I would've discovered how good(and reasonably priced) this place was earlier.

I'm sending home a couple of packages of stuff so I will have more space and less weight in my luggage. I also bought some things from Church Distribution. I felt I should get it now while these things are important to me. I greatly fear losing my perspective when I go home. But I will do my very best not too.

Have a great week family!
Love,
Elder Bracken

Dear Family,

It's been a good weekend! I LOVE General Conference! And no, Mom, we haven't had bad weather. It's been really, really warm actually.

Saturday we spent the morning and afternoon at a members house. There were tons of members there having a barbecue. The food was great, but I hardly got anything out of Conference that day. I really want to watch Conference at the Church from now on. I can feel the Spirit so much more that way.

Priesthood Session was fantastic. I loved it. Pres. Monson's talk was my favorite. It was a smackdown. And oh boy were there a lot of talks about marriage. I get the hint, haha.

I enjoyed all of conference. It was great.

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

Love,
Elder Bracken