Second Letter Home

September 11, 2012 Tuesday

Dear Family,

There has been so much that has been going on here, I don't think I can fill in all the gaps. Sister Williams pretty much keeps you up to date on what we are doing which is kind of nice that I don't have to. I'm sending photos of the church history travel and tour. When we went to the station to find people in Manchester, the first people I met were very nice and cool to talk with. Even though they don't accept our message I still feel that maybe i've made a link for them in the future, planting the seeds. The only thing I don't like about the city is that it stinks so bad. Cigarette smoke everywhere, its disgusting... but hey what can I do.

 I'm getting a haircut here in a few minutes so i'm not terribly excited for that. The MTC is just so darn busy. They always have me doing something and there is absolutely no free time. Kinda a pain. There are just times were I want to take a breather but they just keep us going and going. I love the people I have met though, and its been great getting to know them and to care for them. The time I have spent here has changed me alot, you probably wouldn't know it was me anymore, but I'm sure its a change for the better. 

I hope Mark is reading these so that he can know what to expect. The MTC is HARD. There is no question. But if we didn't do hard things then we wouldn't learn and progress. I'm glad i've made this decision to serve the Lord. I'm glad to hear about all the things going on at home, and it sounds like a madhouse even though i've lived there all my life. I can't express how much I love you guys. I want to speak to Shannon and Whitney and Daniel. I know you guys won't see me much more around the house after my mission, but I want to let you guys know that I love and care for you. I want to apologize for any time I may have made you feel bad or sad because I acted insentivily. The things I am now doing are changing me and helping me to become a better person and hopefully a better father someday.

 I want you to know that I have a powerful testimony of the Work I am doing, that my time here is well spent. I am having a party almost just getting to know these people. Take care of my stuff I left with you I know you guys love to play with it. Back to Mom, I'm going to ASDA/walmart today and i'm gonna have a look at the ihomes here or the clocks... so we'll see what they have. I won't buy anything that is expensive or obscenely expensive. Everything here is darn expensive to i'm trying my best to find cheaper stuff. Its good to hear you found my debit card, I was kinda worried about that. Is my card going to my mission president then? because I'm only here for the next week because I head out to the field next wednesday and I'm excited about that. 

I'll send what pictures I can through these emails. I love you all very much and i'll share my experiences in as much detail as possible. I'm just lucky I can type. My companion Elder R. types with two fingers so I don't know how he can type emails in the allotted time :) I'll write to you soon, possibly the day before I leave here. I'm lucky to have such a caring family.

Love Brother and Son

Elder Bradley Smith



PS Some of these are throughout Preston and Chorley. The river is the River Ribble where Heber C. Kimball baptised hundreds. The catholic church is in a small village of Charburn built in the 1300's !! And the last one is for Shannon, just so she can know that there are some cute sister missionaries out here.