August 12, 2010 Email

So I'm still in the same area with a different companion now. His name is Elder Casey. We're gonna baptize the heck out of Rose Park. I'm excited for it. Our apartment is in a complex that is really run down and a lot of refugees live there, but our apartment is newly renovated and is nice, but no air conditioning. Not exactly the best thing in the middle of the summer, but at least it's starting to cool down at night. We don't have any furniture either, just our beds and our study tables. WE DON'T EVEN HAVE A SHOWER CURTAIN. haha That was fun this morning. I'll be back on a little later today around the normal time. I love you tons.

*He didn’t come back on so this is it for this week! His birthday is on the 22nd, so if any of you want to send me a message/make a comment, I’ll be happy to pass it on to him. A picture with a birthday wish would be fun too, or anything else you can think of. Thanks!

August 4, 2010 Email

Hello Puppet! (Pirates of the Caribbean).
Dad got a Facebook! Man, never saw that one coming. I never thought he could be that popular. haha just kidding!
"Called to Serve" SLC Mission style just has some extra fun parts in it. It's on the Winn's blog. I'll have to get it to you so you can follow it.
The balance board would be good, but I changed my mind about it because there's no way I'd be able to do it in the mornings and that's the only time I'd be able to do it without wasting the Lord's time, so we'll see about when I get home.
I did get the picture dad sent of us doing the model pose for family pics. We look pretty good up above the mantel for August for our birthdays. I really don't even know what I want for my birthday. I'm set as far as food goes and I really don't feel like I need anything else. Maybe one more short sleeved shirt since it's summer, but nothing in particular that I can think of. I think dad will love an iPod for his birthday. I love listening to talks especially because I'm not a quick reader and do better at remembering when I hear things anyway. It's really fun to listen to conference over and over too, and catch so many things I missed and/or forgot. The most enlightening talk I think I've listened to so far is Bruce R. McConkie- The Seven Deadly Heresies. It puts a lot of things really straight forward.
I can't believe I'm almost 20 either. I'm not old enough or mature enough…maybe.
I was able to go to the dentist and get a filling for quite a large cavity, almost good enough to be root canal status. Thank goodness I got it done, but I'm not out of the woods yet. I have to pray that my tooth takes to the filling and that the root doesn't die on me, but so far it's going great… no pain at all. On the way to the dentist we drove right by Moki's and In-n-Out and didn't stop at either of them to eat because they were in the UT South Mission. Oh well. In-n-Out is coming to West Valley in August, and I guess I can wait another fourteen months for Moki’s. The numbing was fun though. We went and taught a lesson afterward and half of my tongue and face were numb--and it was my good side--so it made it that much funnier.
Good luck on your fun tooth adventures L! I know you'll do better than I did with my wisdom teeth!
I'm glad Brittany got married to a great guy! I love her, too! She's pretty awesome. Weird that everyone's getting married in general, but fun times! I'm going to stay focused on my mission so I can find the people I'm supposed to. I know they're here, but we aren't finding them for whatever reason.
It's pretty insane that conference is only 2 months away from now. It is going by sooooooooo fast it's ridiculous! I'm excited for conference to be here again though.
Things are going good! And fast. Only one more week till transfers. I get a hunch that I'll be staying in the area, but most times I get a hunch they're totally wrong anyway.
I bet Kayla is very excited to come home after being away for so long, and I bet L is going to miss being the only child when Kayla gets home. haha
That's exciting for Rebecca Crowe, and for you to be invited to go through the temple with her. I'm excited to get to know their family more when I get home.
No worries about remembering everyone who asks about me. I'm sure there are a lot; at least I hope there are a lot! :)
I'm looking forward to reading the boys last week’s letters. Thanks for sending them and thanks to Sis. Udall for putting them together.
We got to go to the Temple and Bro. Mansell was one of the people doing the session. (He's from my last area and we taught Megan Franz in his home). It was cool to see him and we talked a little afterward! We ate at Blue Lemon across the street and as we were leaving he was going in!
That would be sweet if Kayla dropped a box off when she’s in town!
Anywho, love you tons!
Elder B

Days of '47 Parade

IT'S BEEN FOUND!!! (Thanks, Rachel!) I recorded it with a camera off the computer screen, so it's not the best picture, but we still think it's great! You'll first see them walking behind the white police car with their white shirts and dark pants, then to the left of the lady newscaster as she's talking about the parade, and it only gets better from there! He's the TALL one on the right!

July 28, 2010 Email

HI mom!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (and everyone else!)
Ya, I'm not the biggest fan of the stim shocking therapy experience, so we'll see what I want to do when I get home to see how my nerves are doing. I thought about possibly getting a balance board to do in the mornings along with the face exercises. What do you think?
That was nice of Denise to let you go early. I'm glad to hear you were safe! The parade sounded great like always! Too bad it was only Provo Mission missionaries in the Spanish Fork parade though. That's funny they got the most applause, because I'm pretty sure we did too, (besides Pres. Uchtdorf). So during the parade we were assigned to a specific block to actually proselyte and do missionary work and there were missionaries stretching the whole length of the parade route. So we were at the very beginning where everything first comes out and where the TV crew is and everything. When the parade ended I said, "let's go be in the parade." So Elder Jackson, Elder Thomas and I went behind the marines driving at the end of the parade, and with just the three of us we got probably the most applause out of anything/anyone. I felt sooooooooo cool! plus we got on TV! So you should see if anyone taped it or saved it on teevo (however you spell it). And you'll see just 3 of us at the end of the parade after the Liahona Polynesian band. But gets better; as we go farther down the parade we pass by other missionary's areas that they're assigned to and they jump in. So it went from just 3 of us starting it to about 125 or so missionaries by the end. And about 4-5 times we sang "Called to Serve" SLC Mission style! It was sweet. I got a couple videos. So I'm glad you weren't there to go and run out and walk with us! haha That would have been awkward.
I bet the family party was good like always. hahaha That's funny what Uncle Howie said about his new golf clubs not working and taking them back! What kind did he get. Elder Hunt says that Calaway clubs are the best, and Taylor Made comes in a close second. And Elder Hunt is LEGIT! It's funny because when we got home from the parade at 1:00 I was thinking about how you were probably at the family party.
I was home by 9:00pm on the 24th, so no fireworks for me; still way too bright outside. I bet it's cool to see Gma and Gpa's. I think it's pretty sweet that Brad's going to live there. I miss playing cards with the fam! Pretty fun stuff. Glad to hear you got back safe.
I can see how Kayla would be a little excited to come home after dealing with all that she has while in Fiji. It's still a sweet experience. Thankfully my living conditions aren't that bad! haha Good to hear L is doing good, too. Wisdom teeth, huh? fun fun stuff. Sorry I won't be home to laugh at the things she says while on pain meds…I mean help her feel better. :) I just hope she doesn't react to pain medication like I did and start hallucinating. Summer's just flown right by! It's pretty crazy. But then again so did the school year! All this time is just flying by!
I got the envelope of letters. Thanks. I do think it's interesting how similar Holden's experiences and mine are. I read Eric's Farewell talk; Awesome!
We just added 2 people on Monday and are going to be teaching them on Friday. They're both way awesome! Especially one of the Ladies named Rochelle. She has a hilarious little 4 yr. old boy that just loves missionaries. Rochelle has been coming to church since May, but just recently has been coming to our ward. We spoke in that ward on Sunday and when we contacted Rochelle the next day she just cracked the door open and started talking to us and after a few seconds recognized us as the Elders that spoke at church the day before! She flung the door wide open and got the biggest smile on her face. I'm excited to teach her. Plus she gave us some greens to take home that she'd just made, because E. Jackson told her how much he liked them.
Rose Park isn't Ghetto or very rough at all. Granted it's one of the "Roughest" areas in Salt Lake, but it's really not bad, especially for a missionary. I'm not worried at all no matter where I end up, because as long as I'm not doing stupid stuff it's a slim to none chance of anyone even messing with me. We don't get to cover a Polynesian ward here. But we do still have some Polynesian people that attend the English wards we cover. Dinner appointments are good. We get fed almost every day!
I miss the monsoon, but we had a decent thunder/lightning storm last night. There was one really good clump of large purple lightning bolts that flashed at the same time, but still nothing like I'm used to during the monsoon.
Disneyworld sounded "fun," especially Harry Potter's wand shop. I'd ask, but you told me not to so I won't. haha Glad I didn't miss too much, but glad you had fun still. I agree that Cali is way better to go to for Disneyland.
DAD'S GETTING FACEBOOK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!WOW! What a shocker!
LOVE YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! TONS!
Elder B

***If ANYONE taped the SLC Days of 47 Parade with the missionaries on it, PLEASE let me know!!!! Cynthia

July 21, 2010 Email

Hi!
My favorite thing that you sent in the package, as of now, would have to be the fruit snacks. L did a great job picking those out. They taste and look great. Thanks L. Pretty much the only time we have to go to the store is on p-day. And I'm afraid if I have any money just sitting around extra I'd end up spending it on something that I don't need. It would be better if you guys just use that extra money you'd send to me or save me some for when I get home, cause college in Hawaii isn't exactly going to be cheap!
I don’t know when the off-balance all started, but I'm not too worried about it. I'll definitely stay aware of what my body says. Is there any way they can see how much my nerves have grown between then and now. I could see how me being in walking areas would make me more off balance because I'm more tired and I did really start noticing it after I left Rose Park the first time. But now that I think of it, I wasn't really walking a lot before to be able to really tell that I was off balance, so I don’t know. I'll be careful.
I did go to the temple today. After 2 weeks of summer cleaning I got to go back. It was pretty crazy. We were running way behind. We got off TRAX by the temple at 7:50 and we were trying to make the 8:00 session. You'll never guess who we ran into by the reflection pool on the way...Elder Perry in his t-shirt, jeans, and ball cap! It was a pretty good swap for being late. Plus we made it to the session anyways. Ya, we got to talk with him for literally about a minute. He wanted to make sure we were going to be teaching 20 lessons this week and if not to make sure the ward mission leader gets us more to teach. haha I love his personality. We aren't teaching that much right now for a couple of reasons. 1: we're getting rid of ALL fluff numbers that deceive how we're really doing. 2: The area is in recovery status from being murdered! (Oh, that's when an area is usually good and the missionaries don't live up to the potential/ success that the area could do.)
Everyone we're teaching is doing well! We are getting more people every week to teach. Now hopefully we'll be able to start losing a couple investigators (by means of baptism) so we can keep adding more!
Sounds like Nick is going to be awesome! Especially because I can see him just being totally real with people! It will be cool if he runs into Rhett and Mandy!
That's cool to hear about Ms. Slocum and Mekeli knowing each other!
I'm really proud of Eric! I bet I would have loved his farewell! That is pretty awesome about what he said about you and the other friends’ parents! MAN!!!!!!!!!!!! You really did make my day by saying the girls said that they miss me!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I'm pretty sure that both sides of my face smiled when I read that. (not really but...haha).
That is tough that you couldn't go to Eric's setting apart, but that's SO HARD that you had to go to a DBacks game. haha It's still crazy for me to think whenever you talk about L not being able to drive because of her medical stuff, cause when I left she still couldn't drive, so I'm thinking, "Well of course she can't drive, let alone down town in Phoenix." haha I bet now she's better at driving than me. Granted I see two of everything and haven't driven in almost 2 years legally. haha
"Oh, I also reminded Eric that there was a chance you'd be married by the time he got home, he said that was fine as long as you named your child after him. I assume he meant a son... :P" HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! You and E are the funniest!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! You made me laugh out loud! and that doesn't happen while reading emails!
I love the Carlisle's! They're amazing.
I’ve got to go! Sorry, I'm getting kicked off!
Love B.

July 14, 2010 Email

Dear Family and Everyone Else,
I love the packages soooooooo much! Thanks a ton for them! It felt so good to have some more socks and extremely good to have more food! It's funny because after I got off the computer last week I thought, “oh, I should have asked for fruit snacks,” and then you sent them. My parents love me.
That’s sweet that Rebecca’s going to Atlanta. It should be pretty awesome. Almost as cool as Salt Lake. :)
Thanks for the good news! No more MRI’s for 2 years!!!
That's just cool that you're in Orlando. Thanks for giving me the advice to read at least an hour a day, Dad. It's a good thing that I already do that every day so I can be an expert in pretty much any subject, only I think the scriptures outweigh anything else that could be read. That coupled with Preach My Gospel for while I’m on the mish.
Guess what? I spoke in 3 wards this last Sunday on 3 different topics, and they all went really well thanks to the help of the Spirit and the gifts that Heavenly Father has blessed me with.
So yesterday we added a guy named Fred Preston. Fred is displaced from hurricane Katrina and has been in SLC since then. Anywho, Fred is funny. He said how he really liked our church. He'd been going to the Baptist Church for a while and he got tired of hearing about that fire and brimstone over and over. We gave him a Book of Mormon and he was really excited, so we committed him to read Mormon Chapter 9. Then we committed him for baptism and he said, "Well, I'll have to really think about that, I'm gonna talk to my friend who's Mormon and all, but I'm gonna seriously think about that!” It's funny because it's hard for me to understand him because he has such a thick southern accent.
We're also teaching a guy named Garret Nicholson. Garret is a former investigator and he used to play football for the Y, but now he is going to go to the U. We met with him a couple days ago and explained to him that we're not just going to teach him so that he can know things, because any church and religion out there can make a bad man good and a good man better, but we're going to teach him how he can return to live with God again. We talked about our purpose here on earth and it was pretty spiritual.
Last year Elder Jackson was over in this area and he worked around this guy Kyle because he was teaching George's wife and what not. Anywho, we saw Kyle on Saturday and it was pretty sweet. So Kyle has had a rougher past and is 25 and just got shot at the other week at the Samoan BBQ on Memorial Day. So we're teaching Kyle now because we really want to help him and in our lesson with him the other day we read with him in Alma Chapter 36 and the Spirit was so strong while we were reading through it with him. I learned so much that I'd never even thought about before. That's one way you can tell that the Spirit's there. Plus just the way you feel. Anyway Kyle was so bright and beaming when we left that day it was so cool! He's like, "So when are you gonna be back...What time...ALRIGHT!"
I know the trials I’ve been through have made me strong and I plan on staying strong, relying on the Lord to continue to overcome my challenges and progressing in all that I do! Love you tons! Thanks bunches for the packages. They really made my day/week.

Love,
Elder Partridge

July 7, 2010 Email

Hey Y’all!
Yesterday was Megan Franz's baptism and Elder Hunt and I did our musical number which was really scary with my nose all runny and clogged, but it went pretty well! It was a great service, just really hot! There were a TON of people crammed into that little room! She had a lot of people there to give her great support! I got to lead the music, too!
I still have my cold! It's been a week now and it's getting old! I was well enough to enjoy the weekend a little though. We celebrated on the 5th b/c that's when the state of Utah declared they were celebrating, but everyone else in UT must have missed that b/c they did everything on the 3rd and 4th, but we were already inside by the time people started lighting off fireworks!
The MRI went good. As far as the results go, I hope it went well! Elder Clem and I got to see the end of the Uruguay vs. Ghana World Cup game b/c it was on in the waiting room!
That would be pretty sweet if you were in Pres. and Sis. Sonne’s Ward for their welcome home! I'd be jealous!
I bet you'll love being in Florida no matter what the weather's like! Is L still going? I bet she's excited!
My area's pretty dead! But not for long! I just hope we'll spend our time more productively than we have been. It's hard. But the honeymoon period (the first week and a half) is over and things are starting to get harder! None of our appointments went through and it was pretty frustrating on Sunday when I did a lot of digging through forms and found a list of a lot of appointments for the first week we were in the area with our investigators that we didn't know we had and didn't have any info about them!
I do remember Dizzy! That's too bad he died! He was funny!
Thanks for the update on everyone! I'm praying for you every day!
Unfortunately I don't see us getting a new apt. any time soon! But I enjoyed Pres. Winn coming and visiting with us!
It's good to hear all the guys are doing so well! I’ll look forward to getting their updates!
It doesn't seem like it's been anywhere near 9 months! I was talking to someone the other day and they asked how long I'd been out and when I told them they said, "So you're almost done." and I said “not really,” but they said, "yep b/c the next year is going to just fly by!"
Definitely tell the Elliot's hi for me and keep me posted on Rebecca's call!
Love ya!
B