Hi Mom! 

Wow.. Crazy week!

Yeah the mission office will either forward the pkg to me or they will just wait to give it to me in zone conference this Friday. I wish the mission office was in my zone but unfortunately it is just outside of it in the Yakima Zone. (Selah zone covers north Yakima)

I am continuing my weekly sessions of My Plan. Last week I was asked to consider my patriarchal blessing and to think about where I want to be in 1 year. This week I will be watching videos and making plans for "continuing discipleship" Should be good! Better than week 5 anyway! (Week 5 is marriage and dating prep...)

We had Zone Training Meeting on Saturday and it was pretty neat. I was able to reunite with Elders Rosenkrantz, Jeffs, Cicon and a few others. I was shocked that I would have to give a departing testimony though... And I was up first! (3 others gave theirs as well, Decker, Rosenkrantz and Wilkey). It wasn't easy to do. We normally give those at Zone conference which is this week, but I guess because Elder Daniel L. Johnson is coming we won't have time. I'm glad I'm able to see so many other missionaries before I go home. At transfers I was able to see Elders Olson and Poloncic and Sister Skousen before they all went up north: never for me to seen again! (As a missionary!) However, I will be able to see a bunch at Zone conference (Elders Bawden and Burbank to name just a couple)

Yes, I still love this area and my new companion! Elder Powell is great and we have a lot of people to teach here. We're finding new ones pretty much daily too! I can't even believe how awesome the work is here! The work is always awesome but the Elders before me have definitely been working hard! I've taken over many areas that I've had to jump-start, but this one is up and running! I love it! There is a Sister "F" and her husband in the Moxee ward that we had dinner with. She grew up in southern Arizona and went to NAU for college later on. She's younger than you though. She couldn't remember any names of anyone and I didn't get her maiden name. That's the only connection to home I've gotten so far. There's a lot of people that know people I've known in previous Yakima areas though!

This week the most exciting thing has been joining the chain gang! (no, I didn't do something stupid and get sent to the big house). We've been doing service for a nonmember man named "W". He wasn't the most open to religious talk or the missionaries before. (His fiance is a member). Their home teacher offered to help them dig a trench for a canal pipe that will be buried underground. He had done most of it himself with a backhoe but he needed to go a couple inches lower past a layer of natural cemented rock. You can't get past it without picking and sledging it (Pick-ax and sledgehammer). Their home teacher offered to take us there and help out and we went over 3 mornings this week. When the nonmember saw us he wasn't impressed with our body sizes and didn't think we could help him much. However we proved him wrong by breaking through that natural cemented layer of rock and getting the trench to the level that he needed. He was so appreciative. He's in his 50's and it's hard for him to do a lot of physical labor. It was a lot of hard, back-breaking labor but it was super fun! Nothing better than breaking and cracking rocks! He began opening up to instigating spiritual talk and asking us about our faith. It was great! Some walls have definitely come down! Service works wonders! Hoping to teach them soon!

Well, I love you and hope that all goes well! Stay safe!  Love, Elder Brinkerhoff