It is Absolutely Chucking it Down!

Yes, chucking it down. You may wonder what it is that is being chucked? Well I guess it's the water from the sky, commonly known as rain! Today on the way to the library to do e-mails it began to "chuck it down" and with no waterproof trousers yet I'm soaked. And I will continue to be throughout the end of shopping today. I have to buy an all-you-mini-um pan (as they say) to bake the crumb cake you sent me in. What else seems to be new? not too much....

Rain, rain, all the time. It never goes away except the last two weeks in which we had an Indian summer. The best weather I have ever seen in my life was the last two weeks. It must have been in the 70's and sunny all the day and very very few clouds. So that was our Indian summer. Now it's back to cold and wet and some more cold :)

MOM I'M IN A WARD. It seems like that has been the question you keep asking since I came out here to England 4 months ago.... Yes Sheldon is a Ward! And all of General Conference will be taped and re watched by us, the members of any England Stake because of the time difference being so great! I think we get to watch one session live, but other than that I'm not sure seeing as how I'm new to this whole mission thing....

Although I'm still in my greeny area I now know I'm not classified as a greeny anymore. I guess I'm just another missionary.

Well I'm working my hardest and doing my best. I'm tired today but I just can't be bovered (commonly known as bothered, they just say it with a V instead of a TH) and fingy. Well I have to go now my time is up! Tell Dad I liked his representation of what he thought my day was like and next week he'll get a letter comprised of what my day actually consists of.

Well Tra Mate!

Love Elder Brooksby

Where's Dad?

So it's been a few weeks now and all I have gotten is a few mentions of dad over the last few e-mails. While it is nice to get post, and yes I do like it, dad can still send e-mail if he wants to. Anyways, thanks for sending my insoles. I haven't gotten them yet but I expect that I will in the next couple of weeks or whenever someone from the zone goes to the mission home. That is the problem with sending it to the mission home, I don't get the package for a few weeks. But at the same time it's better than me getting some note saying they were unable to drop off my package and want me to come pick it up at some post office far from my flat.

So anyways, what was this I hear that some girl was calling our house looking for my address!?!?! hmmm I like post from Girls....It's nice to be able to brag to your companion who always gets at least two letters a day that you have some girl who will write you! The situation would go something like this:

Setting: Birmingham England
Place: 12 Waterloo Rd.
Background: the post has just gotten drooped through the mail slot!
Elder Brooksby: POST!!!!!!!
Elder Rose: Give me my Post! It's probably all for me!
Elder Brooksby: It's always for you, all I get is referrals from the office....
Elder Rose: One letter, Two letters, 3 Letters and a small package!!!!
Elder Brooksby: Yes I got something!
Elder Rose: Who's it from?
Elder Brooksby: It's from A GIRL! BOOYAZ!!!!
Elder Rose: A Girl!?! ( a little upset that a girl would be writing him)
Elder Brooksby: True Live! It's from the opposite Gender!!!!!
Elder Rose: ooooooo
Elder Brooksby: I know.....I can barley hold in my excitement!
Narrator: Elder Rose quickly begins to read his letters as if not bothered that he didn't get post from any girls and hasn't for quite some time but continually looks up from time to time and makes faces at the all too happy Elder Brooksby!
Elder Rose: How was the letter!?
Elder Brooksby: Excellent I DO certainly enjoy those kind of letters!
Elder Rose: Well there was this girl who said she'd write me too!
Elder Brooksby: And has she?
Elder Rose: No, only my family writes me.
Elder Brooksby: My dad writes me and my mom occasionally. I think they are looking for that happy medium but, I wasn't expecting any girls to write me. And ohhh what joy it does bring to my soul when I do get post like that!
Narrator: Elder Rose gets up and leaves the room. Elder Brooksby then re-reads his letter and cherishes it and immediately plans on what to write back next P-day!

The End!

SO yea it goes like that in the missionary world. I love getting post from home and from girls! It just makes me feel loved and gives me that extra boost in the morning to go out and run around and talk to everyone and convert the World!!!!! OK maybe not, but I do love post when I get it!

As far as the flat goes. Yes, I have an oven so I can use that for my insoles and I also got my Elections letter and I sent that back.

Well I have to go now. I hope everything is good at home. I love you both Mom and Dad (Dad I'm glad to have gotten your letter. I liked the journal thing, it was a good idea). I'm glad that the whole family is doing well. Yes encourage every young man at home to serve a mission. You'll probably hear something in Sacrament meeting in the next few weeks pertaining to that because I plan on writing the Bishop today! Anyways I have to go, time's up. I hope you enjoyed this edition on Elder Brooksby's Missionary Life!

Role Play done by Elder Brooksby ;)

No e-mail ):

We got no e-mail from Brett today. However, after reading on the missionary moms
e-mail site it sounds like he had a zone football (soccer) game today. There were approximately 100 missionaries playing football. Some other moms that had heard from their kids said it was great fun!

Wet!? You Can't Even Imagine How Wet!

Yes, the last few weeks have been pretty wet and tiresome! It has been almost a constant downpour for the last few weeks and yes I am totally wet. And seeing as how my trousers don't have a water proof lining they often get wet, then stick to my legs because of the wetness, and then all sorts of uncomfortable things happen next. Sooo, I'm out to get some rain trousers to keep me dry which in turn means I'll be warm :) Anyways one thing I have realized that I do need is inserts like those that I have in my brown Vans. I guess in the mean time I will just be wearing my boots and my other pair of Ecco's, which are top notch by the way! Those Ecco's were the least comfortable to break in, and the most comfortable on the earth to tract in and do everything else in!

Anyways so I think that's it still and I'm sending you a package today that has a few little things from England in it and there will be a letter in the post as well. Well I have to go. Sorry this has been a short letter but I hope the Post will make up for it :) You'll love it!

Hello mudduh hello fathuh

It's been raining a lot this week, so yes, your estimations that it would be raining here were correct! There's just nothing like tracting for 6 hours in the rain because your teaching pool is not very big anymore after baptizing all the people in your teaching pool. So last week I got word from the Elders I served with in SLC South that one of the ladies I got to teach with them got baptized.

Now like I said we just have to build up that teaching pool and that means we need to start to tract even further away from our flat. Which means probably taking a train out to a different part of our area and then staying there all day while we tract.

Now to answer some more of those questions:
The Camelbak! It is wonderful. It can carry my rain jacket, my scriptures, and my umbrella and also all the water to keep me going all throughout the day! What a wonderful choice to have! However, even though it is nice it is not a shoulder bag so it is harder to get you Restoration pamphlets out or the Plan of Salvation pamphlets out of. But that would be the only downside. And a lot of missionaries do use them, so I'd recommend them to those leaving on missions soon!

The rain gear is wonderful. That one rain jacket we bought from Missionary Mall works good because it's easy to pack with you and it is also very water proof and keeps you dry and warm as a result. I haven't had to break out my trench coat yet but I have used my rubbers and my boots. So all in all, my rain gear is working out alright for me :)

The Fall - I guess you could say that it is starting to come....it gets dark like black dark at about 4:00 pm. and makes tracting feel like it's going all night, and it just makes you more tired I think. Then you also have to have lights on your bikes and all sorts of reflective gear, so that's good but you always have to have your lights with you after lunch because you won't come home till dinner at 5:00 pm. when it's already dark. Yes, it is getting colder but still no snow yet so it's not as cold as NY yet.

Dinner appointments have to be finished with by 6:00 pm now which makes it incredibly difficult to be fed by anyone in the ward, but those are the rules and we are blessed if we follow those rules! Although we are still getting fed by a couple in the ward 2X a week, so I guess we still get fed.

Well that's all the questions I have to answer. Things are going well here in Sheldon. Especially because we are baptizing, and we got a Sheldon B Companionship now so Sheldon B helps out cover our area, which is quite huge. So - I'm doing great and all I can say is I love post but haven't gotten any in a week and my companion gets some every day, so it's kinda difficult because of that - but you know, what can I do about it?

Anyways, I love you all and I'm glad to hear about things from home. I'm glad you tasted 16 miles of bike riding. Now just do that every day and tack on another 9 miles onto that and that's what I've been riding recently so I guess you kind of understand how I feel!