no entiendo que esta pasando en el mundo hoy dia‏

Well hello everybody!

So yeah it was good to talk to everybody (except for Channing) (not that it wasn't nice to talk to you, its that I didn't) and see that you're all doing well and look rich. I noticed that when I was talking to you guys but forgot. We are doin pretty well compared to some people here. Count your many blessings!

CAMBRIA TEACH ME AN INSTRUMENT WHEN I GET HOME OR I WILL BURN MY UNDERPANTS!!!!

Oye, Channing, que mas mi hermana? No entendi algunas de sus palabras! Creo que hablan en differente formas alla en Panama. (oquey, sola una) Pero voy buscarla en mi diccinario a la casa. Pero, siga adelante!! Testifico de las palabras de mi hermana. Siga aprendiendo, siguendo el espiritu, y amando la gente. Como un discurso de conferencia general (la liahona llego' algunos dias atras) debemos disfrutar estes pequeños momentos que tenemos mientras estamos esforzandonos a ser mejores. Blake apesta como un gato muerto y Cambria le gusta comer comida de cuy. Pero te quiero, eres un gran ejemplo para mi. no tienes mucho tiempo en la misio'n pues, entonces tienes que esforzarse a ser lo mejor que puedas ser. Estas en mi oraciones!

Learned I kinda enjoy being a missionary. It's a good life. It's fun, challenging, and hey ya learn lots. Yeah boy!

Yep that's about it.

But hope everybody will be doing great for the new year, living it up (drink that sparkling grape stuff!! woooohooohooo that's some good stuff), make some goals, avoid fallin in holes, don't squash your toes, what am I saying (who knows?).

Aight have a good week, love ya all, its off to work I go!

Merry Christmas....And A Happy New Year‏

Well hello hello. Whew!!! That is what we like to call a machete. Esta macheteandome. And yes I know I`ll be more careful from now on. But yeah I`ll be safe and look both ways before crossing next time. Indeed!

Okay well about Skype and calling. If I use Skype, it would be Christmas Eve before 4 in the afternoon. Because we have to pay in this cyber cafe and I can`t go breaking the Sabbath to call my family. So it would be before 4 Christmas Eve. But if that doesn`t work, I could buy a call card and just call Christmas Day if that`s better. We don´t have phones, sola cabinas. But de todos modos I`ll be calling 3:30 Friday, to set everything up in the last minute. But I only have an hour of church on Sunday 9 to 10. So it would be after that I believe. So that`s what`s up! I`ll call para ver what we can do. Channing, you call first. Because it depends if you can use Skype or not. Or when. But that`s what is goin down. Oh what is this? Looks like I have to buy credit or something to call on Skype? Daft. Oh wait I think that`s if I want to call your phones. Neva mind!

And I just tested my new account with my compañero and it works. Excellent! So yeah Skype is now an option. I have you guys as contacts. Exito.

So I`ll be callin to find out everything yeah?

And don`t worry Mom, the packages will get here sooner or later. And it`s aight. I´m the child who got an ugly man and thought it was the best Christmas ever. Just a call will be fine.

Well good to hear that the surgery went good, good to hear that Blake is done with school, I was thinking about what his career will be the other day on the bus to Riobamba. Whatever it is, make room for your brother! I don`t have a clue what the heck I`m gonna do so I`ll just jump on your back to success. It`s what little bros do.

And I had a flash back the other day of me and Cambria, her with panties on her head and me with my boxers. Captain Boxers was my name. We went through the house trying not to be seen was our mission. Ooooohhh yeah. Style.

Ah good to hear that Papa and Rhonda are still goin good. And the party is alive! But I really need a list of birthdays or I`m never going to remember. I don`t remember my own mother`s birthday (I apologize). (September 9th?? I think?)

Oh crap!!! I took so much time setting up this Skype crap I only have 10 minutes to write. WELLL!!!!

So this week was good (and wet) and we have some new investigators and families that don`t come to church. Probably cuz we weren`t teaching about church good or teaching with members. But we´re working on that in companion study and we have a schedule with the members so that`s good. And a meeting with the presidents of the ramas. So it`s all good!

Had a cool experience finding a family. So this town of Santa Fe that I mentioned earlier, well I wanna find some more investigators over there because 1. there`s some less actives that need more support over there 2. they`re all Catholics and I can`t stand to see la gran apostasía in control over the whole town. So we were working over there with a Zone Leader, and we decided to help this couple with the bags they had. And we went up on this hill (which is already on this mountain. It`s high up. It`s green and beautiful. Gotta take pics someday) where they live and then taught them a short lesson on families and the Gospel. Then we set everything up and then their son, Edgar get`s this panicked look on his face and grabs his mom`s hands. Says he`s gonna die. Then he falls of his stool and goes into these spasms. His dad his holding him and his mom too. They explain that he has a heart problem. His eyes are bulging and his breath is ragged and drooling. They´re all calm and I´m standing there thinking that he´s gonna die. So we tell them that we have to power to give blessings and they said we could give him a blessing. So Elder Lamprecth (or somethin, I can´t remember the Zone Leader´s name) gives the blessing with us participating. And during the blessing Edgar´s spasms lessen, his breathing returns to normal, and by the end he´s pretty peaceful. I´m like wooooow. Maybe it was just coincidence, maybe he was gonna be fine at that time anyway, but I felt like I was seeing the power of God in the works. And so really, my prayers to help somebody and to have the faith to do healings was answered in my eyes. So I walked away just... well kinda like I said. wooooooow.

And it doesn´t feel like Christmas here. But I like singing Mister Grinch anyway. And Another Brick in The Wall by Pink Floyd. That´s what I think of here in Christmas time.

But hey, my time is up, I must go, I must do, the things the Lord commands, so l´ll be callin ya guys Friday yeah? Love ya all, hope you´re doin better than a tickle me Elmo at Wal Mart, and Iiiiiiiii´llllll beee hoooome for Chriiisstmaaaas, if only by Skyyyyyyyppeee.

THE DEVIL LIVES IN URANUS

(Editors note - Brett did write this week but it only went to Blake. Maybe because Brett knew that he was in for a major ALL CAPS lecture about getting into cars with strangers.)

WELL.....
uh
gah.
So the impressions I have of your letters are as following

1. Mom I don't know what the crap is happenin to your body but I'm sorry. Sounds like a pile of crap wrapped in a bun.
2. The Panama Mailing system is better than Ecuador's. Haven't gotten anything yet.
3. Channing sounds like you're are livin it up my sista! Get em! Bunch of freaks and sheeks. I wish I had a pee bag. I could go all day chugging water! And way to break into houses. Ask Ty and Tara about breaking into houses. They would know. BUH!
4. I'm hungry

But sounds like the life is rocking on. HEY!

Cambria Happy Birthday. You're what? 7? Next year you can be baptized! WOOO!!! (I'm saying that to avoid the thought of you liking boys or anything. If one of them touches you I'm sending small pox in the form of a dead cat to his doorstep.)

Sounds like babies are being born. That's good. Keeps the birth rate healthy I guess.... idk what I'm supposed to say there.

Um, que mas? Somebody tell Smokey I said what's up babe.

Aight so the week started out explosive. In a bowels sorta way. We must have a family connection or somethin cuz a family that sticks together, gets the runs together. The first two days of the week were terrible. I did more contacting the bathroom than the streets. It's a good thing I brought my own toilet paper. The terminal, the market, the house, Plaza Roja. Whew everywhere. I was bad. My new compañero probably thought I was a freak. But I'm good now! I can eat my yogurt and cereal again. We don't have gas to cook so that's all I've been eating this week. Oh and bread. Some with cheese and some with jam. Because I don't have peanut butter. But it´s the good life!

My companion is different than Elder Andrade. He has the same time as me, 5 months tomorrow! So he just has a month more than me in the mission field since I was in the CCM. So he doesn´t always know the heck is goin on either. So it´s good! Cuz he´s not bossing me around and I can actually make the decisions. Kinda like Channing with her divisions. It´s a good growing experience.

But he´s different as in that he likes to do things his own time. Latino time. A little slow for me (who would have ever thought that Brett Jackson would say that? THAT´S RIGHT BROTHER! NOT SLOW OR STUPID!!!) but it´s aight. We're learning how to do things and get it done. He does have the advantage of Spanish of course but I´m still working on it. It´s harder with only 30 minutes to study Spanish. But I still have my little notebook that I write all the Spanish words and scriptures I can find. Just need it to stick. Which it does with time. So yeah! We keep on goin.

Interesting story this week. We had divisions with me and Elder Bloxham and we went to a little town up in the mountains called Santa Fe. The one next to the giant statue of Christ carrying his cross. And they have a giant blue cross themselves in the middle of the town. Made some contacts there, a lot of rejections (Do you believe in the Virgin? We believe she's a great person. I'm Catholic bye.), set up some citas, and headed back down the mountain. The bus only comes by every 40 minutes so we were walking down. A man with a machete contacted me. So we'll go visit him. But as we were walking, a car pulled up and asked where we were going. Guaranda, so he said come on in. We asked how much will it cost. Nothin. Aight let's go!

So we got in and started talking with these two gentlemen. They wanted to know why we were here and yeah yeah yeah. But then we went of the main road. We went bumping down this dirt road through the woods higher in the back part of the mountains. Hmmm interesting route I thought. Then a night club comes into view. Big yellow woman infested night club. My stomach dropped. He looked at me in the mirror and I looked at him. I think he saw somethin in my eyes cuz he then told us, It´s a night club! I looked at Elder Bloxham and he looked like he was trying to swallow a cucumber. I thought We´ve been shamboozeled!!! But then there was another road I didn´t see and we kept goin. Whew. But further into the mountains. By that time my mind was all kinds of paranoid. We just got in this car and we don´t know these fools. They´re gonna kill us cuz they think we´re rich Gringos. Daft. They´re taking us to the back country to kill us! I gotta get out of here!! (Needless to say our contacting dramatically came to a halt). And then we passed a tourist place with a giant beer bottle, and he liked pointing that out to us. yeeeaaaah. Then ANOTHER stinkin night club. What is this man?! He pointed it out to us too. But then we finally got to town, oh it was a back road. We thanked him, wrote down their numbers, and got out. Elder Bloxham and I just looked at each other and kinda did a stupid chuckle laugh thingy. Huh...huh huh huh....... wow. huh huh huh. Crazy huh? Yeah.

But all was fine and dandy. These people are nice here. But I´m not gonna do it again in Quito!

Um we had District Conference, they divided our branch into two branches now. So I have church at 12:30. Walter Segura, one of our converts, received the Melchizedek Priesthood so that was cool to see. And my focus this week on scripture study has been on how I can have greater faith to do the things that the earlier church people did. Because where did the power go?? There were people doing healings and seeing angels and hearing voices from heaven back in the day of Joseph Smith. What happened to our church? I think people just don't have the same faith now a days and we just don't treat the church with the same amount of faith and sacrifice. That's my idea anyway. I dunno but I'm gonna try for it. GET SOME..... FAITH!!!

So that's all folks, I love you all, we'll talk later about calls, and hasta luego!

December 12th

We didn't hear from Brett this week, so this picture from the mission website will have to do.

The Other Side of Heaven‏

Well I loved those two pictures. Ty is a happy little school boy and Taylor is a mad viking woman on a rampage. But it´s about dang time she put on some knee pads. Her knees were nasty last year. I say that with respect of course.

Aight so we had changes today. I have a new companion from Lima, Peru and he has about the same time as me. But I´m still junior companion but that´s okay with me. We still got some growin to do kids! So I don´t have much time to write because he arrived at 5 and we got all situated at the new house. So we´re good.

Anyway, I have been transferred all the way too....... the sector next door. I´m in Guaranda Sur now. Elder Andrade and Elder Bloxham have the north and me and my new compañero have the south. So it´s all good! I just have to figure out what the heck we´re gonna do down here. I think visit the contacts we had these last few days, seeing it was me and Elder Bloxham. So that´s what we´ll do! So the gangs all here and I´m just in the south part. We´ll see how things change or how this companionship is different. It´ll be interesting.

So I got one package! The one for my compañero. And awesome letters from Cody and Taylor. And that´s it at this point. So we shall see. Sitting hoping waiting wishing.

Ah man he has a different accent. That´ll take some getting used to. Talks fast too. Well lets hope the Spanish keeps on coming no?

Well the Valley sounds quite miserable. I always did hate wind. Don´t miss it here. Maybe a bit of snow would be nice, but for the most part it´s pretty good! Just rains like a sad cow farts.

So I´ve been a bit abused these last couple days. One time I was getting out of the back of the camioneta and Elder Bloxham just happened to be swinging his arm up, and popped me right in the side of the head by the eye. A little bit tender. Then after that I was listening to Elder Andrade tell a story and wasn´t paying attention to where I was walking then, GAH! Above the sidewalk they had stinkin barbewire. And of course it doesn´t bother them, but us tall gringos get diced. So I had blood in my hair when we went to eat at the member´s house. They let me run my head under the shower. The problem with being tall in the States is that you can´t find pants long enough, in Ecuador you have to avoid being decapitated. Then today I hit my head on the doorway a couple of times. Wheeew my head is feelin goooood.

Um I realized that my patriarchal blessing tells me what gifts I have. And they rock. I could be a good missionary if I could actually have them. So that´s what I´m working on right now. Developing the gifts of the Spirit. Cuz I need it!!!

Um, I don´t I have time for more so I´ll just have to get to skiddly skadatin.

Rock on my family and friends. Tell dad to watch his step, tell smokey I said "sup, babe", tell Cambria if she wants to be sick she can think of my hiney doing the tango. CHANNING WHERE ARE YOU?!?!? And that´s all I have to say about that. Time to go exploring with my new frraaaaaaiiiiinnnnddd. Yippee ki yay.

Oh and love you and all that jazz. Rock on!