November 2, 2015

Dear Mom,

I got transfer news.... And.....

I AM GOING BACK TO M********** AND C********* WARDS IN THE CH STAKE !! :D :D :D
I am so stoked!!!!

It was exactly ONE YEAR AGO that I first got transferred into M****! (At the time we were also serving in the H***** ward but then we got C**** and lost the H ward in January).

So that means I will be spending Thanksgiving/(almost) Christmas with the same families that I did last year! What a sweet tender mercy from the Lord! (Although, it also would have been wonderful to spend here in M, L, and HV) but I am just really excited to go back!! I will get to spend a few more weeks with N, F, and D! My 3 recent converts from this area!!

Sister M*** is also leaving which means Sister H*** is taking over the area! What a champ! Oh and Sister M*** got asked to be a Sister Training Leader, so we will still get to see each other at the
meetings :)

My new comp is going to be Sister B**** from the Philippines!! I really don't know that much about her but I am excited to be with her :) She gets to "kill" me! (Ha, send me home).

Hey, so a few weeks ago I sent you a list of all the things I want to do when I am home and I changed my mind on all of them. I really just want to do whatever you guys want to do and I just want to help you with everything you are doing. (But I would totally go to zoo lights if a boy asked me out on a date hahahahahaha hint hint wink wink) bahaahahah okay I promise my heart is still locked!!! I'm just TRYING TO FOLLOW GODS PLAN FOR ME AND EVERYONE KEEPS TELLING ME THAT MEANS DATING, OKAY!!?!!? [I think she might not be thrilled if I keep this part in here . . . but she is hinting, right?]

Actually, what I really need for Christmas is a temple dress... but I kind of want to pick it out myself (since I'm going to be wearing it forever more). Can we arrange a trip with Santa to the distribution
center? That's really all I need/want for Christmas. I saw a temple dress at the temple on Halloween night that has a lace top with lace on the whole top of the dress and then a long skirt of a different
material. It was beautiful.

So my week:

Monday (last week):
We went golfing with our zone! So fun! I can't believe I am going back to my old zone now :0 And we had our first recent convert lesson with B***!!!

Tuesday:
We had a lesson with C**** and he told us the most amazing story. He said:

"You know, on the night you guys knocked on my door, I had just been saying to my dad that I felt spiritually lost. And then 20 minutes later you guys knocked on my door. You guys were an answer to my prayer!"

Wow. He was seriously a GOLDEN investigator!! I am so grateful that we followed the prompting to knock on his door. We were an answer to his prayer! It makes me cry just thinking about it!!

Wednesday:
We took C*** to the temple and the spirit was so strong!! He just kept saying how excited he is to go inside the temple. I hope that I will be able to make it back for his endowment!! Who knows where I
will be a year from now!!!?!? We also had all 3 of our ward Halloween parties on Wednesday. I went
as Elsa and my companions went as Anna and Olaf! Hahaha but really I just out my hair in a braid and wore a blue dress and Sister M**** wore a white shirt and an orange necklace and Sister H*** wore pink and navy blue and wore a white bow in her hair hahaha :)

Thursday:
We had dinner with a very entertaining five year old name Lauren...

Lauren: Will you come watch me do something in the living room?

Me: I have to stay with my companions.

Lauren (to sister M***): Will you come watch me do something in the
living room?

Sis. M: I have to stay with my companions...

Lauren: .... So... What are you saying?

Also

Lauren (to me): You have a little sister!!?? Is your sister a boy or a girl?

And

Lauren (to me): You have a boy!

Me: .... No..... I promise I do not have a boy.... (I don't know if
she was saying I have a child or if I have a boyfriend hahaha BUT I
DON'T HAVE EITHER ONE, LAUREN!!!)

Hahaha okay so that was Lauren the entertainer.

Friday:
We had another 6:30am practice. And we did service. And we watched the 20 minute restoration video with C**** and talked a lot about prayer.

Saturday:
C***** GOT BAPTIZED!!!!! YAYYYYYY!!! He is amazing and the baptism was wonderful and I pretty much cried through the whole thing... And we went to the temple on Saturday night for an endowment session (not baptisms :)) and the spirit was wonderful!

Sunday: I said goodbye to many friends from the wards I serve in :(

Monday:
This morning I went on a hike with the 12 missionaries that I go home with... In April... It was lots and lots of fun!!

Response Letter: (I like the way you format your letters!!)

I will totally give you a massage when I get home!!! In April. Oh and can Emma please give me a massage when I get home. For my Christmas present :) :) My April Christmas present.....

I didn't know Israel goes by Champ now!!! I promise I won't get mad if you call me Erica ;) that is what you have called me for the last 20 years!!

Oh bummer, I can't be in the Hawaii musical :p I NEED TO DO SOME KIND OF THEATER AFTER I GET HOME!!!! AND QUICKLY!!!!

Mom!!! You HAVE to do a Christmas letter!!! You are so good at them!! If you won't do one please have Dad do one!! He is really funny too!! Please do a letter, they are the highlight of my year!!!

I am not very funny... I don't think a letter from me would be very great, but I would be HAPPY to help out you guys by writing one!!

So... Did Emma have a costume for Halloween?

I love that quote! I love Bednar! I love the apostles and our living prophet!!

I LOVE YOU!!!

Have a great week Mom :)

Love,
Sister Brady

[Note from Shelly - if you are not on a mission and on Facebook - I loaded a ton more pictures this time! ON FACEBOOK. I actually downloaded them all here and put all the cute captions from Erica's letter and then accidentally deleted the post after working on it for 45 minutes! I am tired - so here are just a few pictures from this week :/]