Happy Halloween!!!!!

Brett said that he's happy it's going to be Halloween because there is a ward ward "safe" Trunk or Treating activity at the church where he might meet some new friends.

He also said that a family in the ward is taking them to a place called the Great Pit. It's a coal mining museum. He said that they'll get to go down into the shaft with hard hats with the little light on top. Apparently at one time Merthyr Tydfil was the largest coal producing city in the world.

He also said that tomorrow is Zone Conference, so he thought the week would be pretty nice.

Brett said "I've been stoked to learn the piano again! I think I could really stick with it this time. I'm just so sick of singing a capella all the time in different units. If I could learn some songs I could play in church then I could keep on improving from there!"

I told him that I ordered the book Hymns Made Easy from the Birmingham distribution center. They said he should get it in about three weeks. Although I've heard that they're having a postal strike in England so he might not get it as soon as I'd hoped.

I also told him that I'd sent a package. Brett said that his companion really loves wintergreen lifesavers. Apparently they used to have them in Switzerland, but don't any more. He said if I send another package to stick some of those in there for his companion.

Brett ended his letter by saying "I really can not think of anything I need, except if you can find some kind of chav repellent, then that would be nice."

This week has been crazy!!!! But it has been crazy fun!

We got a great letter from Brett today. He said that he is loving being with Elder Burri. He's from Bern, Switzerland. They were in the same District before transfers put them together. He said that he and Elder Burri are co-senior companions. They alternate weeks being the senior companion.

He said that they just found out that their investigator is in another ward's boundaries. So they will be turning him over to other missionaries. He said that he is just glad he's still getting baptized. Brett also said that they have another baptism coming up soon.

We told Brett that we're going to send him a box and asked if there was anything in particular that he wanted or needed. He asked for some American candy. But he said "just not Hershey's waxy chocolate". He assured us that once we'd tried English or European chocolate we'd never like Hershey's again. He also mentioned that one of his recent converts loved Twinkies and that maybe we could send some of those too. He said she thought they were 'lush"!

Brett also said that he's fixed up his bike again and that with any luck "it will now last me until my dying breath as a missionary". He only has 7 months left. Wow, where does the time go?

The Latest from Wales

This week we got a very nice letter from Brett. The work is going well and not surprisingly he's had more bike repairs to make. I guess missionaries not only wear themselves and their clothes out, but also their bikes. It's a good indication that he's working hard. Here's an excerpt from his most recent letter:

"Well, not much else is new. You can always tell when you've hit the later months in your mission because alot of people give up writting to you. Even if you send them letters back I think they just get sick of trying to [write] things down like Twynyrodyn or Wolverhampton or something like that. ... Yeah pretty much my post has completely stopped! Minus Dad but even that has slowed....its okay Dad everybody is doing it!* ... I just think its funny how everyone said eventually your post will stop and people will quit writting you and then you will realize you've been on your mission a really, really long time! And thats kinda what I've realized just lately. I am a really really old missionary in the mission! But thats okay I'm still doing well and I'm not dead [yet]."

(*Dad's disclaimer: I've mailed Brett 49 letters and at least one e-mail in the last year, so it's not as bad as it may seem.)

So come on everyone, if you're reading this post, you have some interest in Brett. And I know your reading here because that hit-counter can't be all web-crawlers. Whaddaya say to sending Brett a note to let him know you're thinking of him. Columbus Day is just around the corner. You could send him a nice post card of the Niña, the Pinta or the Santa Maria! I'm sure he'd be happy just to hear from you. His address (for letters and packages) is always maintained here.