Elder Uncle Brad

Hi!!

I cant believe I am going to be an uncle!!  Jenni is having a baby I am on a mission-when did we all grow up?!?!  I am so excited for them though and I cant wait to see pictures and to meet it!  I did get a lot of packages this week haha I loved it!!  I got yours first though so I kinda had  to assume Jenni was having a baby from your note haha but I was still excited!  (I sent mine 3 days after Jenn did!!  Not sure how that happened!!)  I am glad Ryans surgery went well!  I hope he can recover quick and get back to tennis!

I am soooooooo jealous of the missionaries. They are probably moving in as I type this.  Tell them they have it made down there compared to the rest of us hahaha.  I want to live in our basement. Are they not gonna have a sink or microwave or anything down there though?  And do they have to go through the back.  I am jealous they have Ryan there too.  He is like perfect he is 16 and can drive so he can go teaching with them and they can have like a ton of LMP's.  So tell Ryan to go with them a lot to practice teaching and help their numbers haha.

This week has been a lot better.  We have had to drop a couple more people that wont keep committments but the investigators we have all have pretty solid baptism dates and are progressing.  The less active focus families have been going pretty well too.  We are getting a few to come back to church so that is good!  I wish we had more member involvement.  Member work is sooooo important.  There are people that wont give us the time of day if we knock on their door but if one of their member friends talks to them about the church and invites them to take the discussions there is a MUCH higher chance of them accepting.  So invite your friends!! hahahaha

On wednesday Elder Johnson had to go to Cleveland for leadership training since he is a district leader so Elder (Blank)  came to Tallmadge for the day.  He got in an accident and cant drive and refused to ride bikes so I planned as good of a day as I could walking.  I thought it would be good because he is on his second to last transfer so I figured we could contact a lot and find some people to teach but I was way wrong.  For a guy that has been out almost 23 months I wasnt impressed.  He was lazy and didnt want to go anywhere and when I made him he would not talk to anyone.  He just stood there while I did everything.  It was pathetic so I got really frusterated with him. haha so I dont think he likes me very much but he needs to not be so lazy and go out and talk to people!  But it was good for me to plan out a whole day and take the lead.  But I was really happy to be back with Elder Johnson that night.

I dont know if I have told you about our insane neighbor but I had my first run in with him on that exchange.  The cops have been called on him multiple times because he accuses us of playing basketball on his wall and he like pounds on the wall and comes out and pounds on the window and the door but that was before I got here.  So as we were leaving and i was locking the door he walked by and I said hi hows it goin and he like came right up to me and got in my face and said good hows banging on my wall going and i just said ya know I have only been here 3 weeks but since I have lived here we havent even touched your wall and he said some other stuff but I seriously thought he was gonna like try to punch me or something right there hahah it was pretty funny.  If we have to call the cops on him again president said he would move us.

On saturday night we went on exchanges with the zone leaders so I spent the night and sunday in Canton.  It was pretty good and it was nice to see what things were like in a different area.  But I am VERY blessed to have the companion I do haha I am scared for when one of us gets transferred but I will survive! haha  Not much else exciting has happened this week.  Mission conference is tomorrow and Elder Nash is coming to speak so I am excited for that.  It is in our building and we have heard Sister Sorensen and Sister Nash are coming to inspect our apartment so we have to clean a lot today haha  its not messy but still it needs to be cleaner haha.

There are no greatclips in my area the one that was here closed down like 2 months ago so next time Ryan or dad get a haircut will you get some gel and send it to me?   Thanks!!   Also tell Ali to e mail me I never hear from her haha

I cant wait to get your letters this week and to keep hearing about the baby!  I love and miss you all!

Love

Elder Skalla

Here is Brad's letter to Jenn.

CONGRATS JENNI!!!  I am so excited for this!!  I cant wait to see pictures and hear all about it!  I cant believe it will be like over a year old when I see it!! But I am way excited for you and greg.  I got your package haha except I got moms package the day before yours and she said love grandma Julie in it so I kinda just guessed that you were having a kid haha Thats good you guys got a calling and that you should be able to keep your job!  I cant believe you are  having a kid and I am on a mission!  When did we grow up?!?!  Anyway I am doing great and I am so excited for you!! 

 

Love

 

Elder Skalla

Week 3-Akron

Hi!! 

 

What is with all of them health problems?!  Thats crazy Jenni & Ryan were in the hospital! (Mom note:  nothing serious, Jenn had inflammation in her rib/lung area and it hurt to breath hard & Ryan is having surgery to remove a hernia tomorrow)  I will keep them both in my prayers!  You don't need to send me a new camera!!  It still works I just have to tape the bottom closed so it is fine.  I like getting a letter in the mail from you because it gives me time to write down everything I need to tell you and say back so I don't have to think about it at the library.   Also, I haven't gotten another shirt yet but I will keep looking and Ill find something to do with the one with no pocket. 

 

 

This week was rough numbers wise  a lot of flamed appointments and investigators we had to drop because they haven't done anything we have asked them to and have been through all the lessons.  Also Alex changed his baptism date so we didn't have it this week.  He said he wanted it the 18th or something because that was a bad day for him and he wanted something good to happen on that day or something I don't know but it is his journey so I guess he gets to choose the day haha. 

 

Last night we took Alex up to Kirtland for a fireside.  It was way good and he really enjoyed it.  A recent convert about his age (20)  got up and shared her testimony and stuff and he thought she was so good he started clapping after her talk haha it was funny but I guess he really liked it. I cant believe I have been to Kirtland twice now and never really had a full tour of everything.  The first time we just went to the temple and the Whitney store. 

 

Not too much exciting has happened with people we are teaching though.  It has been rough because we got kicked off Akron universities campus the other day because I guess we cant teach lessons there and that was where we did our best work.  It was weird seeing all the kids moving in to dorms and getting ready to go to college haha I may have been a little jealous.  But we worked something out with the university where we can set a table up there and talk to people but I don't know how well that will work out yet.  

 

On Tuesday we went to Canton for our zone meeting which was way good.  I saw Elder Kay there and that same night his bag got stolen him and his companion were saying their prayer before bed asking for help finding his stuff and during their prayer the phone rang and it was the Cleveland police and they found his backpack in a house from a random drug bust they had that night.  Everything was there except $60 and his quad and preach my gospel haha.   On the way back we drove right past the NFL hall of fame.  I wanted to go SO bad haha it looked so cool. 

 

Going to Canton and Cleveland all in one month has killed our miles so we have been riding our bikes a lot.  Elder Johnson got another flat this week and shredded his whole tire.  But now that I have ridden my bike more I can really tell a difference between dads with full suspension and mine.  But its still a nice bike so its all good.  There are some beautiful places to ride here you guys would love.  Just tons of huge trees and everything is so green.  Its pretty fun. 

 

We have 2 kids we have been teaching that are supposed to get baptized this Sunday but I am not sure if that will happen because they have to go to church one more time so my first baptism may not be till next month.

 

Elder Johnson are still getting along great and have become pretty good friends.  I am really glad I have him as a companion.  I don't think there is anything I need unless you have another box of donuts with a roll of quarters in them haha those go by fast in the laundry machines.  I love and miss you all and you are all in my prayers!! 

 

 

Love

 

Elder Skalla

Brad's first missionary apartment!

This is Brad's first apartment in the Akron Zone.  He is serving in the Tallmadge Ward.  He is loving his companion and his mission so far!

 I love that you can see their bikes in the kitchen!  

Arriving in Ohio!

At the Salt Lake Airport bright and early in the morning on August 2, 2011

on the airplane…

 On the first day in Kirtland they met with President Sorenson, had dinner at the mission home and stayed there for 2 nights.  On the first full day they visited the Kirtland Temple and the other historical sites.  His letters said it was an amazing experience.  This is the group of 10 Elders and 1 Sister that arrived in Ohio with Brad.  What an amazing opportunity to serve in an area so rich in Church History!

Brad's companion, Elder Johnson is the one on Brad's right.

More Pictures from the MTC

 He said they die of heat in the MTC everyday!  Funny, in the winter my nephew said they froze!  We need to up the missionary fund to get that place some heat, air and water!

 This is Brad's district.

Success and Struggles-Week 2

Hi!!

 

Tell everyone I am sorry if I don't write them I only get an hour and don't have time to write everyone back!  P day is our busiest day!  But I will try hard to get back to everyone. 

 

So with the laundry Elder Johnson left his pen in a pocket and it exploded so that is what happened there.  Thank you for getting me new shirts so quicly but there was a problem with one.  It didn't have a pocket... haha the packages were identical but I put it on and went to put my name tag on and there was no pocket so I am not really sure what I should do with it if it was defective or meant to be that way haha but I need a pocket on it.  Also Thank you for the package!!  It was perfect.  But the dounuts got completly smashed and that day elder Johnson was eating them with a fork and there was a role of quarters in the middle of the pile of smashed dounuts but  the box was factory sealed when he opened it so we are very concerned how the quarters got buried in the doughnuts haha but we did appreciate the surprise quarters! haha

 

 This week had a lot of ups and downs.  Tuesday we had training meeting with all the new missionaries in Cleveland which was awesome.  After training meeting we went on exchanges and went contacting downtown Cleveland.  I was with Elder Kay (one from snowflake) and 2 others and we got to take the brand new car that had like 80 miles on it.  We met a lot of crazy people but I guess its true what they say about east Cleveland because when we got back to the car the windows were smashed in and Elder Kays backpack and the gps that was in there was gone.  Luckily I didnt leave anything in the car.  But elder Kay for some dumb reason had $300 cash in his backpack and a brand new camera he had just bought the day before and his wallet with all his credit cards in it.  I have no idea why he left all that but I felt way bad that only 2 weeks into his mission all his stuff was gone.  We called president and the cops and the cops took over an hour to get there so it threw off our whole night because Elder Johnson was at the mission office and I was there dealing with that so we had to cancel our appointments that night so it was kinda a bummer. 

 

 But not all that happens here is bad a promise!! haha we are getting a lot of work done!  We have a baptism this sunday for a 21 year old kid Alex.  He is awesome and we have been teaching him a lot and cant wait to mark him as my first baptism!  We dont actually get to baptize him though because president really wants members to baptize people so they have a connection to someone in the ward so I may not actually baptize a single person while I am here haha but oh well he is still awesome and making an amazing choice.  Our other investigators arent as solid as him but we are working on it. 

 

I have been having trouble with the phone calling people because the area code here is 330 and I am so used to dialing 303 that I have accidently called like 4 random people in Colorado haha I just type in 303 without even thinking haha.  Well, not much too exciting has happened things are starting to get more normal, although I have kind of been struggling this week.  We have a lot of less actives in our ward and some of our investigators are pretty intense so I have been struggling with that.  People tell me things that they should not be telling me and for some reason just because we are missionaries they think we are qualified to handle all of their problems.  It's really hard because you care about a lot of these people and I try my best to help them but sometimes we just dont know what to say.  I have been struggling with that and praying to be able to say the right thing.  Every night I fall asleep praying for and thinking of these people and how we could help them and I have been frusterated because I havent felt like I got an answer untill last night.  We were at a members house that has been struggling and been excommunicated and was telling us things we were not qualified to deal with.  After that this reoccurring problem was bothering more than ever because I didnt know how to help them.  We were at an active members home watching some mormon message things and  I really wasn't paying any attention because I was so troubled over how I could help with some peoples problems.  We were watching peices of an Elder Andersens talk in a mormon message and he kept saying over and over again you dont know everything but you know enough.  The last time he said it I finally heard it and felt like that was part of my answer.  I made us watch it again so I could pay more attention and that was exactly what I needed.  I realized I dont know everything and dont know how I can help these people but I know enough.  I know the gospel and how it has blessed my life and know it is true and how to share my knowledge with others.  I felt peace and realized that Hevanly father doesnt expect me to solve all these problems he expects me to share what I know and I know that he loves each and every one of us and provides a way through any problem if we trust in him.  I hope I can always remember that when I find myself in those situations.  

 

 I hope everyone is doing great and I am excited for the missionaries to move in!  I am jealous of them!  Also thank you for all the stories and things you send me I love to read them!!  Elder Johnson and I are still getting along great and we work hard and have a lot of fun together.  I am having the time of my life sharing the gospel! 

 

 Love,

 

Elder Skalla

Elder Skalla and Pres. & Sister Sorensen

A few hours after we got the email, we got a letter and a picture from Brad's mission President.

I also got the following quick email that made us laugh.  I called Mr. Mac and had the shirts shipped….one week and he already needs new shirts!  LOL  Could be a long 2 years!!

Hey!!

 

So when we went back to get our laundry there was a little accident with the dryer and a pen exploded on our white clothes.  Im way sorry but can you send me 2 more short sleeve shirts and 1 long sleeve.  I hate that arrow one we bought at khols so maybe spence could get me more of the kind we bought there.   They are enroe size 16 and on the long sleeve they are size 16 34-35.      Thank you!

 

Love,

 

Elder Skalla