Just fine in Tywnyrodyn

Well, it’s been a fun week, where to begin? Okay, Thursday, we went e-mailing, then proceeded to climb two of the most vertical hills I have ever seen in my life!!! On my bicycle!!!! That really took it out of me. And then as if the two hills weren’t good enough we went through a path to a council estate called the Gurnos, and then up an even bigger hill to the Gulon Uchaf (pronounced gulenuhhhca). So we live in a pretty big valley and if I wasn't fit from before in my previous area things are definitely going to change! My body is already hurting from multiple fun things we have done this week!

Fun thing # 1: On the way to church we were riding our bikes with one of our projections, Brandon who is 10 years old and my tyre popped half-way there. And then the tyre came off which wouldn’t allow me to roll it any farther. So for the last 3/4 of a mile I carried my bike over my shoulders to the church on Swansea Road! Then when we got there we walked into the gym and fixed the flat. Then we went out and put the tyre back onto the bike, and started to pump it up and then all of a sudden my tyre blew out!!! It was way loud!!!! So we had to have the sister missionaries in the Beacon Heights ward help us to get home after church using their bike carrier! So we walked the rest of the day!

Then we went out yesterday and went to the bike shop to get a new tube and a funny thing happened, the bike shop gave me the wrong size tube. And since it is such a far walk we just hunted around the pile of bike parts the flat had and found a replacement tube that would work and jimmy rigged it together! So that was my bike dilemmas for the week!

By the way it had been raining the whole morning and we had been out it and were soaked through! Our church, the Merthyr Tidfil ward starts at 2pm and goes until 5pm because our chapel is also the meeting place for the Beacon Heights ward and the Heads of the Valley ward.

I also have good news! There is a member in this ward who owns a barbershop and the missionaries get free haircuts! I haven’t had a proper haircut in sooo long! I cannot wait! Unfortunately they aren’t open today so I'll go tomorrow because I desperately need one!


I'm sending you a picture of Elder Forbes in the new mission car! jk


I've also included some pictures of what it looks like from around here.




And a picture of a piece of a painting on my own changing room wall!!

Also, I have met President Ogden and I think he's going to be a good mission president!

I love you all. Have a good week! Enjoy the pictures!

Love and cheers, Elder Brooksby!

How would YOU say Twynyrodyn?

Well I haven't quite figured that one out yet either, but suffice it to say I'm in Wales! I got transferred out of Wolverhampton to a place called Merthyr Tydfil (another mouthful).

That’s that! That is where you can send the post! Into the rainy valley with the largest hills I have ever seen in my entire life! It’s like hiking a mountain to even get to our flat from the train station! But the best part about where we live is the huge Tesco Extra at the bottom of our cliff/road. It’s way cool! I've never been this close to a Tesco this huge before! You should Google Earth it!

My new companion is Elder Forbes. He has two transfers left and he is the DL. He is from a place called Syracuse, Utah! I think he and I will get on really good!

Well I live in a forest now! It’s quite nice. If I had a picture for you I'd send you one, but I haven’t been here that long yet! It took about 5 hours by coach to make it to Cardiff Central train station, then it was another hour and a half by train into Merthyr Tydfil. And then the hike up the cliff to the flat, the road really is about a 40-degree grade! No joke! I haven't tried it on my bike yet, but I'm sure it will be way fun going down and then it will destroy my legs going back up! (I may have to get off and walk!) Anyway, so I didn’t get to go grocery shopping until last night at 8 o'clock, and now I'm just e-mailing you this morning!

SO Herbert's back! Ohhh man! That’s way cool. Well tell him hello for me and ask him to drop me a line so I can get back in touch with him and his life and his mission and things!

Well I had my first Polish baptism! It was great he loved every minute of it and he was just beaming afterwards! Now I'm in an area with two more scheduled baptisms so I'm excited to work on that!

Well I'm glad to see that Glenville Ward is still baptizing even though they are kids. Those kids will grow up in the gospel and will bring up their families in the church and will help the church to grow in the New York region!

Well I love you and I'm thankful for your sacrifices! Next week I'll send some pictures (I've been trying to carry my camera with me more in my back pack so I'll get more pictures)! I'll tell you how much weight I've dropped already, and I'll have some more to tell you about the area! I love you, have a nice day!

No letter from Brett this week

We didn't get an e-mail from Brett Tuesday morning, so we waited until this morning hoping one would still come. But it didn't happen. That probably means that either he or his companion were involved in transfers. I guess we'll just have to be patient and wait to hear what is up.

We’ve Had Two Weeks of Sun Already!

We got a long e-mail from Brett. It was good to hear from him. He said that they've had two weeks of sun and that he's not only burning, but dying. He said that it makes him sweat a lot more when it’s humid and he's peddling his bike! He also said that the food isn't as rich there in the summer and that he's a lot more active in the summer time. He also said that he thinks all the vitamin D he's getting helps him be happier and healthier.

Brett also said that he and his companion get up at 6:00 a.m. to go and play football (soccer) with four other missionaries. He said that they usually play a good game to wake them up. He mentioned that he's loosing weight because he's getting so much exercise. We thought that was great. He said that being on a bike since the beginning of his mission has really helped him get more fit. He said that he'd like to continue riding a bike when he gets home. We'll see how he feels about that in the winter!

We asked Brett how he'd feel if we were able to come pick him up from his mission. He said that he thought that would be great because all the other missionaries that are leaving at the same time as him have a direct flight from Paris to SLC. He on the other hand would be the only missionary flying from Paris to JFK. It's kind of sad - he left by himself and he flies home by himself. We'll have to see how his new mission president feels about us coming to pick him up. Then if it's OK with him, we'll have to see if we can do it financially. Who knows what will happen - but it's fun to think about going over.

It's always great to hear how Brett's doing. I can see the growth in him and am so glad he's having this opportunity.

How's it going?

Brett sent some pictures in his e-mail this week. This is a picture of Brett's former companion - Elder Hart.

Elder Hart just finished his mission and left to go home. Brett said that sending him home was one of the hardest things he's done. Not because Elder Hart was trunky but because they'd been together for so long. Elder Hart was Brett's District Leader for 4-1/2 months when he was in Wolverhampton and then they were companions for 4-1/2 months in Wednesfield B. Brett said that he was "gutted" when Elder Hart left and went home.

Here's a picture of mission football (soccer). Brett's the one in the wild hoodie - the second from the right. Elder Hart is also in the front row. He's the second one from the left.

A close-up of Brett and Elder Hart apparently trying to look cool.

Meanwhile Brett's still in Wednesfield B with a new companion, Elder Anderson from Oklahoma. Even if Brett were to be transferred on the next transfer he will have been in Wednesfield for six months. That's a quarter of his mission.

Brett said that his mission president, President Moffat goes home on the 30th of June. He's looking forward to his new mission president, President Ogden's arrival.

Brett ends by saying: "My mission is everything to me! And the English people are the most lovely people I have ever met! I almost prefer them to Americans! (sorry mom and dad)." So you see, he's obviously learning to love the people where he's serving - an important step for any missionary.

Short letter from Brett

We got a letter from Brett today saying that the investigator they had been teaching was baptized on Saturday.

In the continuing saga of the bike Brett said that he "found a place that does discounted bike repairs. He's an old timer, but he really knows his stuff and a lot of things he'll do for free! He also understands we don't have a lot of money, and so he gives us a 10% discount!"

He also said that his companion leaves this next week. He said that he'll have to wait a day with another district member whose companion is also going home until transfers actually happen!

So in our e-mail next week we should learn if Brett is getting transferred, or just getting a new companion and staying in the same area!

What would England be without another day of bicycle vandlism?

Yep, that's right kiddies! The Chavs have had at our bikes again. This time they couldn't get our bike frames off of the pole so they decided to kick in our rims and let down our tires by slashing them! This was the second week we had started to put them on poles after my last bike robbing and look at what happens! I'm so sick of having to buy or fix my bike!

On another note - Elder Hart has two weeks left! It's kind of strange for him, but he's doing well. He's not even that trunky yet! I hope he holds on well!

We have another baptism this weekend. He is an 18 year-old former gang member. He is having all the problems of the world with his girlfriend and his family. I've never seen Satan work on someone sooooo hard as he has with him. As a result he has also been working on Elder Hart and I - getting our bikes wrecked so we can't go see him. I don't know, it's just a pain in the neck!

I'm making sure I'm taking more pictures lately so that I can have a good documentation of my mission. I usually just leave my camera at home but now I'm bringing it with me!

Well I'll leave you with that, and now I'm going home to fix my bike!

I love you and I'm glad you're all well! Please pray that my bike and I stay in tact!

Love Elder Brooksby

P.S. I wonder if they make titanium tires or Kevlar or something like that?