August 11, 2014

Dear mom and dad,

Mom, your letters are fantastic. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise.
Seriously. I loved reading about your walk to Butler Creek Park and back!

I think it's rained maybe 3 times here in Mesa. And the first 2 times were
sprinkles that lasted about a minute. The third time had lightning and
thunder and it lasted a whole five minutes :)

Is uncle Keith's wife a member of the church?

I got Emily's letter about EFY!! She shared a beautiful testimony at
the end :) haha I sang Travlin' Soldier when I went to EFY too :)
also, she made no mention of a "cow". What's up with that Emma?? And
how did you like "Wicked"!?!? Tell me your favorite part Emily!!!

I really don't need anything in a package except any CDs that you can
send. But if you can't send it right away it's seriously okay. Oh and if it's one of those
boxes where it doesn't matter how much it costs it would be cool if
you sent some sheet music of songs I've sung or can play on the piano
(like arrangements of hymns, or women at the well, or anything else
that would bring people closer to Christ).

I was just telling sister T****** that story about Elder Hales the
other day!!!! Wasn't he also the one who "borrowed" dad's scriptures
during stake conference and then blew on them and a ton of dust went
flying off? Or was that one of the general authorities? And who was
the one who made the joke about raising the dating age to 17, but then
followed up with "the good news is I saved 15 percent or more on car
insurance by switching to geico..." Hahaha! 
**Note from Shelly – NO that was not Elder Hales!

And who did Emily throw grass at at Philmont? Haha, sorry Emma, but
you were the main topic of conversation this week :)
Speaking of Philmont, all the teachers and priests in our ward got to
go in a 2 week hike at the Philmont camp!!! So cool!!! I seriously
want to go there again! I loved Philmont!

I remember painting the deck on Nancy drive. Ugh that was the worst
and it took forever. Also I was like 10. But it was fun cause I
remember we all listened to the Beatles and sang along, and then our
neighbors were out on their deck and they saw us and said "a family
that paints together, stays together, right? Haha!" And then it
totally could have segued into one of those old Mormon commercials
"family, isn't it about..... Time?" (PS those old commercials are all on
the gospel library app and I watched all of them one lunch hour)...

I love the zoo! And it would be super cool if you worked at Lynch Wood mom!

How is grandpa doing? (I got the update! Thanks!) Did grandma and
grandpa get the letter I sent them a few weeks ago? If they're okay
with it, I would love if you could make a copy of my letter that I
sent to them. I'm glad you are all spending as much time with him as
you can! I will try to send them more letters :) and I'm always
praying for my family. But I understand that death is also a part of
the plan of salvation. I have such a deep testimony of the plan of
salvation. I have no doubt that our families can be together forever. 
I have absolute faith that because of God's plan for happiness, and 
because of Christ's triumph over death, we can live again, return to 
our Heavenly Father, and be with our families for eternity.

I love you all and I hope you have a wonderful week!!!!!

Love,
Sister Brady

P.s. I was asked to sing in the other ward I serve in this week!