Korean Doritos in Slovakia

Nazdar Všetci (Hi Everyone)!

Here we are, I'm using a Slovak computer again and can't figure out for the life of me how to change the keyboard into English, so please forgive any typos! Another good week in Žilina has come and gone, and I got a haircut!! That's seriously the biggest news of the week, nothing has really changed in the past week except for we are steadily growing how many new investigators  and lessons we are getting weekly, which has entirely to do with attitude. We have good attitudes, and it shows in our work!

Monday: P day, Elder S. and I went boot shopping because it has been dumping snow, and my shoes are quite literally falling apart, I need some more super-glue... But, I found a great deal on some nice brown boots that were on super sale, I am now praying that they last so that I can take them home because they are SOOO not American, haha. We also met with Alessandro again, who I am somewhat worried about. He doesn't really seem to understand English all that well, despite being an English teacher here. If one of you needs a job and doesn't mind moving, you would get accepted in 1 second if you applied as an English teacher here.

Tuesday: I don't really remember a whole lot about Tuesday unfortunately, but we went to District lunch and we went to a pizza place, where I saw the first 4-meat pizza Ive seen anywhere in more than a year...I had to get it. I was sitting there, staring into the jealousy on the 3 other elders' faces, anticipating how amazing my pizza full of meat was going to be when it came...and it had 4 types of meat on it...but they were all separate. We had a huge laugh about it because the pizza was divided into fourths with one type of meat on each fourth. Great, right? we had a great time after that district finding, where I simply must describe what happened as we were getting ready to sing the last song in our singing display.

Us: Hey, that's that one guy we've talked to twice already!

Guy: Hello missionaries.

Us: Can we meet and talk about our church? You always have great questions about what we believe!

Guy: Let's leave it up to fate. If I run into you guys again, then we'll meet.

Us: That's what you said last time.

Guy: Lolwut?

Us: This is the THIRD time you've run into us.

Guy: Oh...huh...ok, well I guess we need to meet then, come on, well go for a beer right now.

Us: Oh boy.

And then we went with him and had a great meeting! It think it's so funny, Slovaks always say that, and then they avoid us when we meet them again so that they don't have to, but it worked and we have a great new investigator! Good thing too, he's actually interested.

Wednesday: I went on an exchange to Žilina North with Elder F.. He's pretty awesome, but just a tad bit trunky. We had a lot of fun talking to people, especially because he's probably the best speaker in the mission, he's 2 transfers ahead of me, and thats my goal of what to hit when I get there. It was amazing how much easier it has seemed this transfer, when Elder B., who is getting trained, is the only person in the District with any trouble speaking the language, we really are getting work done.

Thursday: Again, I don't remember much other than teaching M. (our awesome Baptismal Date in Germany), and English. I wish that the people coming to English would have more interest in the gospel, I'm going to work on being more excited about the gospel this week, I hope people like overly-excited American boys.

Friday: WE WENT TO PUCHOV!! haha, there's nothing really special about it other than I rode a train. Its been a long while because you pretty much just take busses in Nitra, and I like trains more. Also I have a Junior Pass to give me a discount for trains. But it was so great, we taught M. K., who is the only member in her city and gosh is she strong. Its like right between Trenčín and Žilina, so she shows up at church when she can come in both areas. We also had a referral there from Banská Bystrica, so we had a full trip, and it was a blast.

Saturday: Found an amazing store here, it sells American stuff. Its a Korean Store. I had forgotten that Doritoes existed, and now I have a huge temptation to go spend 10 Euros to get a bag...Pray for me.

Sunday: Awesomeest Tracting Session ever. I really just love tracting, you know that? We went out of our city to a little village, and we just went tracting all day after church in the cold dark snow, and just loved literally every second of it. This little village is the same place where last week we accidentally lost somebody's dog because it was retarded and bolted out the gate as soon as we opened it to go knock on their door (I really like talking to people, not little intercom stuff, and Im not all that scared of big dogs). Good news! The dog came back or somebody found him at some point during the week. My poor companion felt so guilty that we couldn't catch the dog after chasing him around for like 30 minutes with no success, but he did poop under some random neighbor's tree. I really would have loved to see that reaction.

Neighbor: Walks out of house to observe the land beyond his 9-foot tall gate

...Stops

...sniffs

remembers...

Neighbor: CURSES!!! I'M A FOOL! WHY DID I EVER LEAVE MY OVERSIZED AND UNDERPOWERED GATE OPEN ON SUNDAY NIGHT?!?

On second thought I think my imagination is better. Our concluding thought for the day has to do again with this little village. We found during tracting that the local Catholic priest gave his Sunday morning sermon all about how if someone had recieved one of the tracting letters that we put out, that it was a betrayal to their faith for them to talk to us. We are now searching and have very strong feelings that the first person who says: I want to know why he said that, is going to be baptized. Can't wait to find them.

Lots of love, I hope you're doing amazing!

Elder Brousseau

New Years Resolutions from Slovakia

Nazdar!

I'd like to apologize first off for not being able to email last week, there was some problems because the library where we normally email closed early for the holidays, so I only had like 15 minutes, and that's not enough to put everything across! So! Here we go, into the highlights of not one, but 2 weeks in a missionary's life.

Christmas Eve: Well nut dog elder, we had success during this day. We were able to get in contact with an inactive Philippino member who teaches English here in Zilina, and we shared the "He is the Gift" video with many more people than I had expected (I know, I need to raise my vision and faith). It was SO cool for some of them as well, for example, there was one family where the one guy who IS a member wouldn't even look at us, let alone talk to us while we were there, but his wife and family were extremely kind and happy with us. They loved the video and had all sorts of questions about the church, it was so fun to get that wholly unexpected teaching moment with yet another R. family (I swear, they are the most prepared people I've ever met). We ended the day with the S. family, where I got to experience a real live Slovak Christmas, it was EXACTLY as magical as had been expected. We had cabbage soup, and some (I think it really was carp, but I forgot to ask) fish, and some potatoe salad, just like tradition dictates. We had some of those sweet wafers with honey, again, straight out of tradition, and Sister S. even cut an apple in half to see how this next year will be, and we got a star, so great. The kids all opened the presents that they got for each other, and Jezisko (Santa) will bring them all gifts during the night, I'm totally stealing most of these traditions for my family in the future, it was the absolute best Christmas Eve I've ever had.

Christmas Day: Opened presents (sort of opened some of them before-hand if I'm honest, but a lot of them stayed until the day of), and I have some thanks to give. THANK YOU FOR THE TIES, THEY'RE AWESOME!!! Also, goodness, Grandma and Grandpa Brousseau have done it again, they got some Grade-A maple syrup all the way to Slovakia, so now I'm planning on how to use the good real stuff. Thank you Uncle David and Aunt Michelle and family, I really loved the card and the Christmas Orange! That story is so classic, thank you for taking the time and thought to send the pictures as well, that means a lot to me. Thank you Uncle Ricky and Aunt Karin and family, I love the ties, especially the blue one, and oh my goodness, that stocking is AWESOME! I may just use it for the rest of my life and give gifts to the missionaries wherever I am. Thank you Uncle Mark and Aunt Alisa and family, you don't know how much I've been missing Kool-Aid, I've already used it at 2 missionary District lunches, and it's a hit! Thank you to the rest of the family as well, I can sincerely feel your prayers, and I am so happy to be a part of your lives! I had maybe the best meal of my whole mission for lunch with the District at the other Elder's apartment, it was chicken that had been marinaded in Cinnamon Kofola with some grill spices in it, SO good, along with Brynzdove Pirohy, and some mashed potatoes, with some kid's champagne that we got at Billa. Mine had Winnie the Pooh on it, made my day. The highlight of the day of course was getting to Skype with my family at the building, thank you so much for being happy and willing to take time out of Disneyland for me, I am so glad I got to see you, it was really awesome. 

Boxing Day: Well, we pretty much continued with the Christmas Eve visits, with again, monumental success, we got invited to 2 meal appointments in one day, which is a record in this area! Lunch with the S. family again (you'd think they'd be sick of the missionaries by now, but they keep inviting us over), and then dinner with A., that Phillippino member. It turns out, that he liked our surprise Christmas Eve visit so much, that he wanted to spend some more time with us and made a huge dinner, He's such a nice guy. My favorite visit though was to this super old former investigator lady. Slovak's most of the time have the opinion that once a person is like 55, they're just supposed to sit at home and slowly get more and more melancholy until they die, and she was TOTALLY in this state of mind, and it was really nice to actually spread some Christmas joy into her lonely life.

Saturday: We got invited to ANOTHER member's house for lunch, this time Brat Ď., who has been a member for about 6 years, and just turned 71, and he wanted the missionaries at his birthday. He is such a cute man, he's JUST like Grandpa Joe, if they spoke the same language, they would be as thick as thieves, and still probably could be WITH the language barrier. He's pretty cool too, his grandkids all came and he had them sit down and have a spiritual thought with the missionaries so that they could, "Get the spirit amidst their tomfoolery," and his daughter (who has served a mission) talked with us while his son gave us some great Bryndzove Halusky. Loved it, and this is seriously the most members houses I've visited in such a short time in the last year.

Sunday: I gave a talk about New Year's Resolutions, and it wasn't the best talk I've ever given, but goodness are the members here so happy to have missionaries speak. We had a "Branch Council Meeting" before church, to decide on our branch vision for the year. It was so cool, these members have such faith despite the difficulties we have in a war-torn socialist nation, it's amazing.

I'm just going to give some highlights until we get to the good stuff. First, we're working with a Recently Activated member named P. M., he's such a sweet guy, I love him to death, and we have been helping him to have the confidence and happiness to repent, and he told us something really cool on Monday, which was that that Christmas was the very best he has had in the last 14 years, it was so great to see some success in brightening someone's life that fully, I love it. 

New Year's Eve: Well, we had burritos for District lunch because Elder F. had a recipe for some good stuff to put in it from Eastern Europe, and Elder S. splurged and spent 6 Euros to get us 8 tortillas. So worth it, probably better than Cafe Rio...maybe not, but still great. We did some good work until 5:30, when we went to our building and ate the brilliant pumpkin pie Elder S. and I made while we watched the Saratov Approach. I want to get kidnapped so bad, that movie was the bomb! Haha, I understand now why Maddie emailed me all scared though after watching it, that looked and sounded pretty much exactly like where I'm serving! It was even pretty cool to be able to understand some of the Russian, I really want to work on my Russian and get it as good as my Slovak. Elder S. and I then went home and watched the first installment of Work and the Glory, I forgot how good those movies are, but now we have a problem because I just want to see 2 and 3, but I have to wait a while. We stayed up to watch the fireworks, which I now wish I had done last year, I didn't last year because I was in a bad mood that the week wasn't going the way I had expected, so I went to bed early, but this year I got to see something astounding. The people here at midnight, nearly everyone that we could see out our windows set off fireworks from their windows and balconies, it. Was. Spectacular. We saw some of those paper lanterns go off as well, the wishes for the New Year. I wish I had taken some pictures, but the memories are probably going to satisfy my needs, it's an experience that you can't have in America or anywhere else for more reasons than just the legality of fireworks. This place truly is magical, and I love it.

New Year's Day: We got to take a P~Day today because No one was outside, so we went and hiked up the snowiest of mountains (I think the Lord heard my complaints about not having the whitest of Christmases) up to see a ruined castle with Brat S.. I feel like it wouldn't be tasteful to repeat exactly how much I love Slovakia, but gosh, while we were there it felt like I was living a real version of Skyrim, they really did put good graphics in that game, and I wouldn't be surprised if they used Slovakia as the basis for the country in which it's set. For those of you who know how much I like Skyrim, that's a huge compliment. Anyway, I need to go, it's a pleasure to know that everyone who I'm emailing supports the work I'm doing, and most of all is my friend and family. I love you all loads.

S laskou (Love)

,

Starsi Brousseau

Letter from December 15, 2014

Nazdar Vsetci,

Hey, I'm going to keep it pretty short and sweet today, I have been extremely humbled. It's not the bad kind of humbled either, I have just seen SO much kindness around me in the past week that it's pretty hard to keep all of my emotions together. I absolutely adore Christmas. Atheist, Catholic, Mormon, Muslim, everyone is nicer during Christmas. But that's not the point. The point is, this holiday has an innate holiness about it, which pleases me greatly. If I could have followed one person around on that night more than 2,000 years ago, and talked to them about it, it would be the angel Gabriel. His perspective would be truly unique. I have a feeling that he had some trouble containing his excitement when he brought those good tidings to the shepherds.

Snap, where's my enthusiasm going?!? K, here's a really quick run-down of the awesome happenings of Zilina, Slovakia.

First of all, gosh, these members are SWEET! Haha, I'm finally serving around Sister Seidlova, who's daughter helped me with my Slovak in the MTC, and with whom I actually got to Skype before I came here. SO COOL, she's a true rock in Israel (not THE big one though, that's Jesus. But probably she's one of the little rocks who's pretty close to THE rock of Israel.), and it really shows whenever she's around, she refuses to speak with missionaries in English, despite the fact that her English is nearly perfect, just because she wants the missionaries to practice and truly be great at Slovak.

Second, Chrismas carolling in Slovakia=Success! Haha, we learned something very very important when we went, which I feel like if we apply to our missions hard-core, will improve our effectiveness monumentally. I noticed that at every door where we asked the people there whether we could sing for them, they said no, and it was super awkward, but then every door where we just started singing bez suhlasu (without asking), they loved us and it was an awesome experience for everyone. I feel like some missionaries are really just too scared of bothering people that they don't save anyone, and unfortunately, I can see myself in that group a lot of the time as well. AWESOME CHANCE TO IMPROVE!

Anyways, I'm so stocked, the Christmas markets truly are unbelievable, I can't wait to send pics, we got to go and see the Markets in Brno as well at the training, SO cool.

I love you all, and if you have any questions or comments, please forward them to my parents, who will promptly bring them up with me during our Skype session on Christmas.

<3<3<3

Elder Brousseau

Chlap ó chlap... (Czech for "Man Oh Man")

Nazdar, and man am I enthusiastic.

Sorry, none of you are going to understand that reference, but someday I'm going to read this after I've forgotten that I wrote it and just bust up laughing, haha. Hey future self...You sure look enthusiastic. ;)

On a less selfish/prideful/conceited/distasteful note, here I am, in the last week of the transfer! This one has been a wild ride. My goodness, my companion has been Elder R. He is from the Philippines, and his family moved to London when he was around 10, so he's spent about half of his life in both places. We have had the biggest blast doing missionary work together, and I would say that our experiences together have made us closer than I've been with any other companion. Love Elder R. to death.

Highlights of the week!!!

#1 Had pizza because we went on exchange. SO GOOD!

#2 We're such nerds in this district, when we get together the things we talk about would put nerd wannabees to shame. Love me some Star Wars.

#3 The Christmas Market here is so COOL! We got literally commanded to experience a Slovak Christmas, so we get to go see everything!

#4 Our English class is so great, I LOOOOVE teaching it! The best part is, they seem to love us teaching it too, S., another Hungarian girl who is about to become an investigator brought us all a really thoughtful gift on Wednesday to say thank you for teaching, it was so sweet.

#5 Elder R. (the other one in the district) and I were on exchange in the Chrenova area of Nitra on Thursday and we were very very worried. Elder K. is still a little nervous to speak Slovak because he's brand new, and Elder R. (my companion) is still learning English, and so learning Slovak from English is pretty difficult for him. We prayed so hard for them to get the gift of tongues, and guess what? They did! They went and taught K. and Sister Z., and didn't need to ask for any help the entire time. SO cool!

#6 Friday. Just, the whole day. Amazing. I took some videos that are too long to send. It was so great. We went to the home of the M. family, and we're getting to actually have a good relationship with Brat M's son, A., he's a man after my own heart. We were also able to have a crazy district dinner with a zaujemkina named A., who is just the sweetest of things, she's like a 23 year old Slovenka version of my sister Maddie. It was her mom's birthday and she asked us if we would sing happy birthday to her mom, it was great!

#7 Service tracting again, it wasn't as effective as last time, but boy is that so fun. Go out and just see people's faces when you ask if they need any sort of help around the house, they're always thinking something like, "THIEVES! Well guess what, you're not getting in my house toDAY, dobrovolnici (volunteers) my boot, I don't even think you're really from America!" I love it to death.

#8 Cleaning the building, we ended up having an awesome samurai battle with brooms. I felt like I was 6 again.

#9 Church on Sunday, Brat H. convinced his mom to come somehow. So cool, she really just loved it, and we may be going on a vylet (trip) with them sometime this week.

Anyway, its great to be a missionary, We're still enjoying every second of it (even the hard parts), because really, there's no place we'd rather be. I love serving the people of Slovakia, and I know this church is true.

Starší Brúso

A Nitra Thanksgiving

NaaaaAAAzdar!

Haha, can you tell I'm in a good mood yet? This week has been nuts, I agree totally with Elder Brooks; the blessings come after the storm. So to start off, I love you all so much for your Thanksgiving wishes, and other holiday tomfoolery; it makes me proud to know you. Also, thank you thank you Taylor and Daniel for visiting my family! Congratulations Daniel on an Honorable Full-Time mission, that's what we were going for. I realized as well that I've been a bad brother and forgot one of my siblings in my Thanksgiving letter. So SARAH, here you go! Thank you for being so outstanding. You are an amazing dancer, who is nerdy just like her older siblings, you won't find that combination anywhere else. I love you so much for your attitude of gratitude, you're always telling me thank you for things, so I'm glad I get a little turn. Thank you also for asking me questions every time you email me, it always makes it easy to write back. I love you!

OK, now on to the week.

Monday: P~Day, nothing seemed to go right, except we DID get to play some games in the building as a district. Always a fun activity, but no miracles were noticed by me during the day.

Tuesday: For some strange reason, every single time we have apartment checks, our day just kind of seems to drag, and not go the way we want it too. The day was really good, don't get me wrong, we continued to help J. build his garage, and we had a crazy good game night where S. brought his friend and we had a blast. But it just wasn't what was expected. Miracle of the day was the busses. Despite our lack of sticking to our plan because the apartment checks went like 2 hours over, the busses all came exactly when we needed them. Good stuff.

Wednesday: YEHEHEHEEES! Taught P. again, and he's amazing as ever, LOVED the Plan of Salvation, and is happy to continue meeting with us, I think what would be best is to establish some daily contact with him, if that needs to be by phone, so be it. Also, English went really quite well, S. is getting less shy with us, which makes it nicer.

Thursday: Vdakyvzdanie!!! (Thanksgiving!!!) So fun, we had 2 chickens because turkeys cost like 30 Euros for a little one, and just had a blast. During the day we had a miracle and taught like 5 lessons, which doesn't usually happen on holidays and then we got to go to the other Elder's apartment (we claim to have the best District Unity in the mission), and Elder K (the baker's son) and I (the sick samurai) cooked 1 chicken marinaded in Vanilla Kofola, and another one that he did a lemon garlic onion rub to, and made some glorious mashed potatoes and gravy, and finished it all with bread pudding while Elders R & R played games. Before my mission I would have been a little urazeny (upset) that they just let us do all the cooking, but I really just loved joking around with Elder K and hearing them play. It was just so great, even if the end result wasn't as good as grandma's.

Friday: MIRACLE!!! Ok, this isn't going to make a whole lot of sense if you aren't in a missionary position here, but we went to teach sister P., and she was a little offended that we didn't have more than an hour for her, so when we called Brat M. to tell him we were ready to go, she yelled into the phone inviting them to come to her house. Sister P. is not a super strong member, and she has never met the Majtanovci, nor most of the members in the group. But get this: They CAME, and they MET, and they BORE TESTIMONY! It was so cool to teach Sister M. with 2 strong members who backed up everything we taught with testimony and personal experience, and she didn't feel ganged up on either just because she felt so loved by everyone in the room. I really hope we can get her on date this week because the experience was even cooler when we realized that if they hadn't come to Levice, we wouldn't have had enough cash to get home that night. Ridiculous blessings all over the wazoo!

The weekend was just as good as that day, we're on kind of a spiritual high, a Senior couple came from Brno to visit us on Saturday and took us out to dinner at Golden Hoffer, this wonderful expensive place, and then on Sunday Elder R. and I translated for them as they gave wonderful talks on Sunday during church. They were so sweet, they left us all with Milka and Kinder treats, and chapstick of course. Later last night we had another miracle: when we went to visit N., he lost the key to his gate, and that complicated our situation a little bit, but somehow it worked out and ended up with me giving a half hour long concert on the piano to a congregation of I think Born-Again Christians. Cool stuff, and impossible to tell where it was going from the start. We're really getting a good relationship with J., and I hope we'll be able to make a stir in his Ward, where he's an Elder of his church. Wish us luck, I'm praying for you, and I can feel your prayers for me!

Love you, happy holidays!

Elder Brousseau

"Jéééj!" (Yaaay!)

(Lol, that's the least happy "yay" (Jeeej) I've ever seen, and guess where I saw it? Tesco! Haha, that's right. Christmas season is here.)

Nazdar!

So here's a good place to say thank heavens I did my thanksgiving letter last week. Thank you all for all you do, I know I wasn't able to get to everyone, but no worries, I'll eventually get around to it, haha. This week has been pretty weird, just with training and new things, but not bad, even a little bit, even though honestly I kind of expected it to be. It has been really cool to have these great experiences with prayer that are so potrebne (necessary) for missionaries and really for anyone lacking some sort of peace. We've been following a commitment from a leader to the mission and praying at every given opportunity, and boy has it been great.

So on to some highlights, I don't really have many highlights from the work other than this: The Lord answered my prayer, and we've been able to go at least contacting every single day this week!!! Haha, it's been so great. It's a little bit difficult right now, because we're trying to set the expectation right off the bat that we want to meet THROUGH the Christmas season, and that's kind of a put-off to a lot of people, but goodness, it feels good to be rejected again. Haha, that sounds sort of depressing, but seriously it's my #1 highlight from this week.

Another! I am sick and tired of hearing from different people that I'm prideful. Humility is not something you can just "reach," and I don't appreciate people telling me that I'm not completely there yet. However, working on it again is never a bad thing. Something happened this week, where, during personal study, something stuck out on a page in Preach My Gospel. It was 2nd Timothy 3:1-4. I went to the scripture with the attitude of, "ok, I'm going to be honest with myself and try to recognize which of these traits I can work on." Then came the big one, where I read through it and saw in myself not one, not two, but every single bad trait there was. I just sort of broke down, I was so struck. The awesome news is why it's a highlight of my week, I'm taking like two things at a time and working on them until somebody says, "wow, Elder Brousseau you are (example) very obedient to your parents!" It might take the rest of my life, but why not? In fact, I'm sure it will take the rest of my life, so I'm glad I started now.

Best news ever!!! R's back in the game! For those of you who don't remember, R is the most prepared man I've ever met, and he actually found us and approached us on the street a little while ago to say that he wants to meet, that the things that his wife said weren't true. I am so so so very excited to be able to continue this man's journey in the gospel. We'll see where it goes.

Anyway, that's pretty much everything I can think of, we had training this week, where Elder C introduced me to a wonderful game called Boss Monster, I strongly recommend it. Also, training was great. We talked about improving the little things in work. We found out that the church is now asking all missions to do exactly what we did last year to spread the success that we saw everywhere. That is, find people who are willing to meet during the Christmas season, and give the missionaries something with which they can do Christmas Eve unannounced visits. It's going to be cool, President told us that last year we taught more lessons on Christmas Eve than any other single day throughout the year, which is normally unheard of. We're going to do it again, this time with the "Because of Him" thing the church is releasing for Christmas. We don't get any special previews though unfortunately... Anyway, things are going very well for us in Nitra Klokocina. I love you all to bits, and hope that somehow this email helps you out.

Have the best of weeks,

Elder Bruso

Giving Thanks

Nazdar!

Hey all, I hope that this letter finds you safe and sound like always. I'm in Nitra at the moment, but there's a chance that could be changing real soon, so I'll keep you posted. This week I don't really want to talk about my end of the spectrum, but more I wanted to have a little thank you session and try to get every person I'm emailing, so look out for yourself!

Taylor: Thank you so much for your support, even though it must be difficult for you. You are the best guy I know, so thank you for your example. Thank you as well for being constantly willing to help me out with whatever I need. I'm planning on cashing in on some more of that when I get to see your beautiful face in person again. Try and make sure your life is always pretty ok, but if it's not, that's rough, buddy, and I'll be here for you. Thanks for coming with me on all those random and sometimes really stupid adventures, like all those times to Lagoon and the zoo and wherever else we went. Thanks for letting me be right all those times, too. Heaven knows I needed it.

Dad: Thank you for everything. I don't know how to say it better. I am so grateful for you being a father figure for me. I was noticing the other day, it seems like throughout my life, whenever you haven't had a job, it was because you were needed to take care of me. If you hadn't been there my senior year, I would not be on my mission right now. I feel like as well, if you weren't sending me prayers and encouragement, I wouldn't be staying out here. Missions are hard, but I know, because of you, that they're worth it.

Maddie: Hey, girlie, thank you so much for your kindness to me over the years. When I get back I'm going to need a movie night with you. Thank you for never being ashamed to be my sister and for never looking down on me, even though I make all sorts of mistakes. Thank you for laughing with me so much on that lunch date I took you on before I left. I love you to pieces and then put you all back together again.

Alexis: Thank you for being such a dear. You don't know how much it means to me to have someone like you. My surrogate little sis, haha. Thanks for being Hermione, and for letting Taylor and me be weird. Thanks for always being willing for a party. Thank you for paying attention--I was talking to my companion last night about how grateful I am for that time you asked me to the dance using Legend of Zelda (was it Sadie's?). You mean tons to me, and thank you for it.

Lars: Thank you for pushing yourself all the time. One of the things that has been so amazing for me is reading your emails every week and seeing your example of perseverance. Thank you for being supportive as well, missions are hard and it's easier if you've got other missionaries to look up to. Thank you for being so intense as well. It's uplifting. I remember driving with you everywhere just rocking out to your music. It's great to be able to just feel free like that.

Chels: Thanks so much for being so willing and humble! I haven't really known you for too long, but your emails have meant a lot to me, especially to hear how every week you seem closer to the Lord. Thank you for being a light in Mexico. I wish I could be there to see it. Also, thanks for finding the good in every situation, like all the problems with your house there. You don't seem like someone who wants to complain, and I'm grateful for that.

Daniel: Oh goodness, where do I start? Thank you for being patient with me. We've known each other for more than 12 years, and I know from my family that I'm not exactly the easiest person to deal with. Thank you for serving in Peru. I always looked forward to your emails just because they were so YOU. Thank you for always being ready to laugh, even when it was ridiculous and sort of stupid. Thanks for being a good sport, too. I remember when you came up to the cabin with me, how I KNEW you didn't want to play Halo because you weren't winning, but you did it anyway so that it would be fun for everyone. Thank you for being accepting. You never seem to judge people, no matter how far into the dark side of the nerd realm they drift. Thanks.

Paul: Hey, man, thank you for being such a bang-up good person. It really seems like you love people. Thank you as well for helping me through the MTC. I wouldn't be here now if you hadn't been there back then. Thank you for keeping me in mind. It's cool to know I've got a real friend in you. Remember you've always got a room in my house, whenever you're in the mood.

Elizabeth!!! Thank you for being my life at family gatherings! Haha, you're always so good at making me be happy even when I don't want to be. Thank you for teasing me. That April Fool's joke is legendary. Thank you for your wonderful humility even though you're a freaking prodigy at everything you try. Thank you for always supporting me as well. I can feel your trust every time we talk, and it makes me trust you implicitly. Thanks for your wonderful smile. It brightens everyone's day. Keep calm and carry on, haha.

Favorite Uncle: Thank you for everything. I stand by my statement at my Eagle Court of Honor 100% that you have been an amazing example to me of always treating me like an equal. Thank you for playing chess with me, even though I called you Satan once or twice. Thank you for being ready to have fun all the time. I love your attitude. Thank you as well for being excited for me whenever I've been excited about something. It means the world.

Ryan: Thank you so much for being the most sincere guy I know. That's not saying other people aren't sincere, but I feel like no one is ever going to be able to convince you not to be you. Thanks for being such a stud. Whether it's guarding, the MTC, Halo, Left 4 Dead, or a mission, you always do it great. I love having your example to look up to, so keep it up. Steadfastness in all things.

Mark and Alisa Brousseau Family: Thank you so much for being the first to do things. I've been getting a very strong testimony of being the first to say yes, but more importantly, being the first to do. It always seems like when someone needs help in our family or when there's a gathering to be done, you're the first to volunteer service or help for it. Thank you for being so into sports as well. That's always helped me to push myself in everything I do, just remembering the attitude of, "It doesn't hurt that bad! Walk it off! Rub some dirt on it!" Haha. Most of all, thank you for being accepting of me. I have always felt very welcome with each member of your family, without regard to the situation.

Britta: I don't know where to start. Thanks for being such a help all the time. It seems like you are always building others up. Thank you for being supportive and loving, even when I haven't been doing strictly the smartest things, and sometimes, even when they were plain dumb. Thank you for being such a good example of loving your family. It has helped motivate me to strengthen my own family relationships, especially with my parents. Thank you for always asking permission as well. You're really not a person to force yourself into things, and it helps me remember that I shouldn't force my way into everything. Thanks for everything.

Steve: Oh boy. Thanks for your ridiculous smile, you can always tell when Steve is happy. Thanks for laughing at my stupid jokes. You make my day. Thanks for telling me all about Canyon View and video games and movies. Thank you for forgiving me so many times. You are the perfect little brother for me, and I wouldn't ever want it to change. Thank you.

Ricky and Karin Burton Family: Thank you for being so happy towards me all the time. Thank you, Uncle Ricky, for laughing at me whenever I deserved it, even if I didn't want it. Thanks for being so kind to my parents. It's amazing to me. Thank you as well for telling me all about the boys. I always get the perfect picture in my head for what's going on there, and it makes me proud to know you.

Poop, I'm running out of time, I'm gonna try and go quicker.

Gavin: Thanks for being the best Scout leader ever, your advice has helped me so much out in the field. Thank you for being supportive and humble, and for helping me to see the potential of the priesthood. I love you to death.

Grandma and Grandpa Burton: Thank you for being so happy! Thank you, grandma, for always being loving and for being so careful. I am confident that I am still alive because of my grandma's prayers. Thank you for hanging out with me and helping me to always remember my family and where I come from. Thanks for giving me a great family I can brag about to everyone I meet.

Kennen: Wow, buddy, thank you for being my bro. Thank you for being excited to be friends all the time. I am super grateful we're so close. Thank you for being the type of guy you can just chill with. I remember going to school with you for a day and having it be super fun and just the best de-stress. Thanks for being so freaking talented. It helps me push myself to be better. Thanks for your example on your mission. Make sure you find those Brousseaus and baptize them! Thanks most of all for helping me all those many years ago to feel accepted. You and Alan Phillips in Mrs. Siebach's class helped me so much. Love you.

Katie! Thank you for being so much like another mom! You have got to be just the best companion ever. You just take care of everyone. Thanks for being so impressed with me. It never ceases to amaze me how good you can make someone feel. Thank you for coming with me to do baptisms. That was something I'll never forget. Thank you for helping me with all those girls that I dated, too. You are just a miracle worker, and your excitement is contagious. Thanks for including me. You're the best. Never forget it.

Cesar: Thank you for everything, man. You're always the guy I think of if I want to know how to be happy in a random situation. Thanks for being kind to me, even if I wasn't being kind back. Thank you for always saying hi when we saw each other places. You really help people know they're your friends. Thanks for beating me at chess. I've always needed a little help being humble. Thanks for playing scum on the scout trips, and for tanning out in the sun at Lake Powell, and for teasing me about dating people. Those memories are amazing for me, and I hope they are for you too.

Drake: Thank you for being persistent. Thank you for always making an effort to be my friend. I remember back when you were in 7th grade, walking over to your house a half hour before the bus came, just so we could talk and mess around. Thanks for seeing something fun in every little thing, even plasma cars and trash cans. Thanks for being so sincere, too. I'm really looking forward to seeing how that blesses you on your mission.

Ok, well, I think that's everyone. Time to go!

Love,

Elder Brousseau

(Editor's note: this last paragraph was a full page below the rest of the email, and we only stumbled upon it accidentally. Chris has always loved to tease his mother and this is no exception...)

P.S. Thank you, MOM!!!!! Haha, I bet you thought I forgot you, huh?!? Well, NOT TODAY! Thank you for being so brilliant. You are the reason that I want to be better at things, because I see your thirst for knowledge. Thank you for always being excited for me, and proud of me, and supportive of my craziness, and happy for me. Thank you for being there, all the time. I've been giving a lot of thought to the day, when, I called you during the middle of school and you checked me out and took me to Apollo Burger just so we could sit and talk about how I was scared to go on a mission. That helped me so much. Thank you for pushing me to be better. Thank you for being so good at English. I could always ask you anything, and now it's paying off when others need help. Thank you for never freaking out at me when I told you something I did, like when I broke my window, or when I broke my leg, or when I got hit by that car, or when I wanted to go have a sleep-over at the cabin. I love you to death, and I wish I could remember everything I want to tell you thank you for. You're the best. Also Happy Birthday again.