Hello mi familia,

Your second annual Nacho Party! Woo hoo! I'll most likely be home in time to attend next year. So that should be fun.

I was just thinking about how next week is my 3rd phone call home. I only get one more. I'm old! As far as the time for that, Not sure. It will probably end up being in the evening. We have morning church here and Elder Lybbert's family has afternoon church. So that pretty much just leaves the evening. We also have to work out a means of calling internationally to Canada for him, but we think we've got that sorted out. I may or may not end up buying a calling card. We'll see what happens. Sorry I don't have more specific information for you!

Well, Zone Conference is tomorrow. That should be exciting. Except I think this one is gonna be a kind of a smack-down. Remember how I was talkin about our Mission being disobedient? Well, in our last District Meeting they had the District Leaders announce a number of things. Some of which were A) We are no longer allowed to write a female convert of ours. Period. No exceptions. If it's a family, we can write the family, but not any female specifically. B) We were reminded that we are absolutely never allowed to be alone in a house with females without another male present and C) We have been asked to read the pamphlet we give out about Chastity before Zone Conference. Hmm.......

Also, at the end of June we're having another Mission Tour. Elder Lynn G. Robbins of the 1st Quorum of Seventy will be coming to teach us. So that's exciting.

Not too much else to report this week, honestly. We've dropped a lot of investigators lately, but we've been blessed with some really good new ones. We just need to keep finding new ones.

The other day I saw a half eaten dead fish on somebody's doorstep. You just never know what amazing things you're gonna see out here in Missouri. So random.

Well, I will let you get going. I hope you have a wonderful week!(and that you go to the temple!)

Love,
Elder Bracken

Dear Familia,

Another wonderful week here in Neosho! :)

Things are going really well. Yesterday was tough, though. We had 2 people come to church for the first time, and Scott, from last week, was there for the second time. During sacrament meeting, somebody gave a talk for about 15 minutes about government conspiracies and how the Book of Mormon is the only thing that can save us. That was rough. And then the Gospel Principles lesson was Exaltation. A missionary's worst nightmare. Certainly a strange Sunday. Scott still isn't scared off though. One of the new guys still wants to learn more. I think the third one had had enough after Gospel Principles. He didn't go to Priesthood. :( Oh well. That was the worst part of the week. Everything else has been really fantastic actually. I'm lovin life. :)

The weather here has been great. No tornadoes. It's been one of the mildest Springs they've had in years. No problems there. Perfect temperatures. The only problem is those darn allergies. Thank heavens for Claritin!

Oh man, that's a funny story about about Anal-ey. I'd be so upset. I'd probably get a taxi and drive home haha.

I thought it was weird that you said Thursday was my year mark. I thought it was Tuesday. But I looked back and you were right. It's the 29th. I thought it was the 27th. I've been thinking that pretty much my whole mission. Crazy.

It is weird reaching the Hump-Day. Our mission has no traditions for it. I'm going to bake a cake, put one candle on it, and take a picture haha. But that's it. It's just weird. I don't know what to think. It's been a crazy year. Time has flown. I've learned more in the last year than in most of the rest of my life combined, it seems. About life, myself, the Gospel, God, Families, priorities, the Priesthood. And many other things. But I'm still not a year old yet. Maybe I'll rant more about it next week. We'll see.

I don't really need anything replaced. Well, I'm probably going to buy a couple new pairs of pants at Wal-Mart today, but other than that things are holding up really well. That chould change soon, and I'll let you know if it does. But most little things I can just pick up here on my own.

Anyways, I hope you all have a wondeful week!

Love,
Elder Bracken

Hello Everyone!

Another day in Paradise for Elder Bracken. Nothing to report for transfers. We are totally unaffected. Which, in a way, is kind of nice. Much less hassle, for sure. And Elder Lybbert and I are just starting to really figure out how to work together. It's interesting how you click so quickly with some people and with other people it's like fitting a square peg in a round hole. I don't know why that is. But, the Lord provides and things work out.

We are emailing at the Neosho Library. One of the Librarian's is a member named Sister Moser, she just came over and said to tell our mom's "Hi" for her. So Mom, "Hi."

We had a really great experience yesterday. A member of the Ward brought a relative of hers to church and he really enjoyed it. He believes in God but doesn't really go to church. He sat in on Gospel Principle and it was a lot about the Celestial Kingdom and Exaltation. It didn't even phase him. He also thinks that the Book of Mormon and the Doctrine and Covenants make a lot of sense. He wants to meet with us and learn more over donuts. :) He's a very hard-working, humble man. I'm very impressed with him.

Tonight we're going over to teach some stalwart Church of Christ members(some of them are Pastors even). That should be interesting. Wish me luck!

The Spoonbill was really good. Deep fried with Louisiana Fish Fry. Dipped in a French Tartar Sauce. Fantastic. Their really convenient to eat, because they have no bones in their body. I also had Fried Rabbit this week. It was great. Hard to get to the meat though. Definitely not as convenient and a Chicken Leg. I also had Catfish. It was good. It's not my favorite fish by any means, but it was very edible.
That's pretty crazy about the Volcano and Earthquake. When I read that in your email, the Toy Story Song "Strange Things Are Happenin' To Me" popped in my head. The Second Coming is imminent, and life is only gonna get crazier. I am so glad that we have the guidance of Apostles and Prophets to give us shelter from the storm. We won't make it without that Divine help.
I've seen so many welfare cases lately. It's driving me crazy. I'm so tired of people who do nothing but sit and complain about their problems, hoping that if they complain loud enough and long enough that someone else will solve them. I've heard every sad story in the book it seems, and I just don't care any more. People need to grow up and take care of themselves. True are the words of Elder Holland when he said something to the effect of, "There is no problem in this world big enough that complaining about it won't make it worse!" I know, I know, I sound like a hypocrite right now. I am a complainer by nature. But I'm getting better and I'm putting forth honest effort to improve. These people are not. And also, I don't get what these people expect from me. I have no money, no resources, no connections. I have no advice. All I do is teach the Gospel. That's it. Nothing more, nothing less. I can't solve your pocketbook problems. But I can teach you about Jesus Christ. And the Law of Tithing, on that note.

On a very similar note, I'm tired of excuses. I'm so tired of people feeding me their sad stories of all the reasons why they couldn't read or pray or go to church. Poor them. Boo hoo. President Monson has the greatest responsibility of any mortal person on Earth, and he still finds time to do all those things. He even does his Home Teaching. I've heard many stories of people who go to school full time, work 60 hours a week, run a family, and STILL go to church, read their scriptures, and pray. President Seal, our previous Mission President used to say, "Excuses are like butts. We all have them, and they all stink."

Sorry about that rant, but I really had to get that off of my chest. Phew!

Now I'll brighten things up by telling story of a Miracle. I don't know if I've even told you about the whole story, Mom and Dad. But I may have. Anywho:

Once upon a time I was a very young child. Probably 8 years old I would guess. I got a HUGE(it was huge to me at the time, but it was probably about the size of a Penny) Plantar Wart on the bottom of my foot. It was so nasty. My parents recall that it hurt badly enough to cause me to limp, though I don't remember it hurting. So, my Parents informed me that they had set up an appointment with the Doctor for a few days away. He would have to freeze it off of my foot! Ow! That MORTIFIED me, small child that I was. I couldn't handle that. Freezing it off of me? No way! So, I used the beautiful faith that every child has and I prayed. I begged and pleaded with my Heavenly Father to remove the Wart, so that I would not have to have it frozen off. And guess what happened! Overnight, it disappeared. Completely. As if it was never there. I never had to get it Frozen off. I am so grateful for that experience. Yes, it allowed me to escape great pain, but more importantly than that, it gave me a tesimony-building experience that I've been able to hold to for my entire life since. I felt like I should share that with you.

Well, I've probably rambled enough for you this week. Have a good one!

Love,
Elder Bracken

PS, Go to the temple!

Dear Family,

It's been a long, but awesome week!

Neosho does an interesting thing once a year. It's called a City-Wide Garage Sale. Basically, for one weekend, everyone has a garage sale simultaneously. It was pretty crazy. Everyone was out and about, some roads were made One-Way streets. Hundreds, or probably thousands of visitors from out of town. It was cool. We talked to a lot of people. Didn't buy anything, though.

We also met the 45th President of the United States of America. He gave us invitations to his big campaign speech coming up. He's determined to win. So next election, keep your eyes peeled for a man from Neosho, MO. :)

Our teaching pool is slowly expanding. We just had a part-member family move in. A single mom who has three unbaptized children. She wants us to baptize them. So that should be good. We also taught another new investigator yesterday for the first time. We found here earlier in the week. She had been praying for God to send her an Angel to tell her what to do. We soon showed up at her door. Definitely not a coincidence.

One less-fortunate event is that yesterday my allergies realized that there's a lot of pollen in the air right now. So they're acting up. I'm also experiencing blisters on my left foot. It's so weird. I've never really had blisters on my feet before. I've been fine my whole mission(my whole life, really) until now. Hopefully they will go away.

Oh, I've been meaning to tell you about some food I had in Webb City. It was called Miracle Whip Chicken. Very good. Very similar to Amanda's Ranch Chicken. You just take the chicken breasts and cover them in Miracle Whip, then roll them in crushed crackers(I imagine bread crumbs would work great too). It tasted really good!

Tonight I will be having Spoonbill. It's fish. A pre-historic Sturgeon, actually. I'm excited.

I didn't really get any hints from President Merkley during my interview about if I'll stay or go. I might stay.
We'll see on Saturday. Anything could happen.

We did learn that apparently there is Rampant Disobedience spreading throughout the mission. Especially with things like, missionaries picking up their cell phone and calling home anytime they want(and they want to often). So that was troubling to hear. I had no idea we had the problems he was talking about. Crazy. I hope I never have a companion with problems like that.

Well, I hope that you all have a wonderful week! And that you'll find the time to go to the temple!

Love,
Elder Bracken

Hello Family,

I hope you all had a wonderful Easter Weekend! Mine was phenomenal! :)

I watched all 5 sessions of Conference. It was great, but far too short! I want more!

I was HORRIBLE at writing notes this time. It was sad. I feel bad. And somehow I lost my best page of notes. I now feel like I have a glimpse of how Joseph Smith felt after Brother Harris lost the manuscript. Or maybe I'm just being overdramatic. But I was upset.

At any rate, I loved conference. I learned much. There was a lot said that I really needed to hear. If I had to pick a favorite talk, it would probably be Elder Oaks from the Priesthood Session. I learned so much from that talk. It was great. I also loved Elder Christofferson's about the Scriptures. It was all good. There sure was a lot about mothers and raising families. So I kind of felt out of place with those talks, but whatever. :)

I hope that once again you could obtain for me a copy of the Conference Ensign as well as putting the audio on an MP3 disc for me. That would be phenomenal. :)

Good news: Conference contained a number of talks which touched on the evils of pornography, and it inspired one of our investigators to burn all pornographic material he possesses. So that was quite a wonderful thing.

That was pretty much how Easter was for me. Not a bad way to spend it, for sure. My second General Conference of my mission is over. Crazy.

I'm starting to see what you were talking about last week, Dad. About everything coming together. We had a lesson last week that was pretty intense and I was able to answer every question and resolve every concern, mostly by relating the past experiences of my mission. He would ask a question, and I could say, "Well, in my 3rd area I experienced this..." or "In my 1st area I learned this..." and my experiences were the answer to the questions. Quite remarkable.

I am thankful that you went to the temple! Keep doing it! :)

Well, Mother, the weather here has been nice and warm. No snow for a couple weeks now. It's warming up and all the trees are blooming. It's very pretty. I've taken a few pictures of them. As for why I don't think I'll be here long, it is simply a feeling. We'll see what happens. We have Interviews tomorrow, so I may get an inkling then. President Merkley told me that he transferred me to get me out of the Webb City Apartment because it was killing me. And the problem has gone away, so perhaps I will move on to bigger and better things? Who knows.

Well, it was wonderful to hear from you. I will talk to you later! Have a great week!

Love,
Elder Bracken

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. ***