Our trip down under and up above

Hi Everyone-
That's exciting that Elder Britch is in Korea! Aub and I are leaving Tokyo this morning to head home for Thanksgiving. We've had a wonderful trip and have especially enjoyed staying with cousin Jane in Tokyo and getting to know her family. Here are some pictures of our visit to LA (to get Aub's passport renewed and eat a few Sprinkle's cupcakes), Brisbane, the Great Barrier Reef, and Tokyo. Happy Thanksgiving!!

Australia_and_Tokyo_Nov08

Elder Britsch is on his way to Korea!

We talked to McKay this morning on the phone when he was at the Salt Lake airport. It was great to hear his voice. He was very excited to be leaving for Korea.

Elder Britsch's Letter Nov. 18th, 2008

Dear All,
Well, I m very excited to go to Korea on Monday. The flight is 16 hrs but will be a great time to study up on the gospel and Korean. We have had some great speakers lately. Elder and Sister Bushe, they are German, (ameritus 70) spoke about overcoming trials. He shared his experience of nearly dying of HEP B in a german hospital back in the 40's. He did not have religion at the time but called upon God as he waited to die. He then heard God tell him that if he prayed he would recover. And to the shock of the medical staff, he did. At this time he committed himself to be a disciple of God. He then ran into our missionaries and joined our church and served faithfully in it there after. In Acts 3:20-21 and Ephesians 1:10, it speaks of a restitution. This restitution is the resoration of the gospel. It has occured as was prophecied by the apostles Jesus Christ called himself. Joseph Smith brought about that restitution/restoration. The puzzle pieces of Christ's church that have been pulled apart and used many churches, are now back together and the puzzle is once again complete. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints has the complete puzzle. The Lord has restored the fulness to the earth so we can be happy and return to him again. I am out of time.
I love you all.
Elder Britsch

Elder Britsch Letter - Nov. 11th, 2008

Dear All,
Thanks again for your letters. They mean more to me than you know. They are very inspiring. My M.T.C. experience is coming to a close. I leave in 2 wks. I get my flight plans on Friday. This week we are only speaking korean. Its a challenge but we're discovering that we know more than we think. On Sat. we taught the 2nd lesson in korean again. To our joy, our teacher said it was near perfect. We taught from the scriptures and made it very discussion oriented. We taught an R.M. and a korean in her 20's. We are very excited to teach again. Then on sat. night, we went to the referral center. Many of the calls were with people expressing anger at our church for the prosposition 8 recent events. Fortunately, I did not get any angry calls or chats. Actually, I spent the night chatting with a guy who goes to Dayton university and was writing a report on mormons. It was very positive. He has a friend on the byu lacrosse team and his neighbor is a freshman at byu. He asked me about what we obstain from, our church services, and ther beliefs. I told him he should go to church and get a first hand experience to write his report. he said he thought it was closed to the public and was secretive. I explained that we welcome visitors. God welcomes all people into his gospel and kingdom. He told me he was catholic but had some concerns about his faith. I asked him if he had ever asked god which church was true. he said that all churches are true and there are tons of catholics so it must be doing something right. I told him that the catholic church is doing lots of good things but that there are also millions of hindus, and buddhists, and protestants. So which one is right? If god set up his church while he was on the earth, than doesn't it seem that there would be one true church? one church that is his? He said, he had always just followed his parents beliefs. I asked him if god answers our prayers. He said he does. So i asked him if he thought he should ask god which church is god's church. He said he would. Then i introduced the Joseph Smith story. joseph went through the same process. I then bore my testimony of how i discovered the lds church to be god's church through prayer. I told him about the book of mormon and how it promises that if we read it and then pray about it that we will know it is true. He asked me for a copy of it. I got his address and one is being sent to him with a missionary visit. He also aked if i had been raised mormon. I said yes, but I had gained my own knowledge of the ture church through prayer. He said, "so are you saying your parents had nothing to do with it?" I always felt truth and goodness from what i learned at church and what they believed but i needed to know for myself. He said that was cool.
There are so many people in this world who are searching for god's ture gospel. so many churches have pieces of the puzzle. Many even have big pieces. But the church of jesus christ of latter day saints has the whole puzzle, and its put together. I love this gospel because all of the pieces are here. It is not a church by men, but by god. This is my witness.
I love you all. -Elder Britsch

Elder Britsch Letter - Nov. 4th, 2008

Hey All,
Thanks for all the letters. I am very blessed to have such good friends and family. The past week was supposed to be the hardest of my time at the M.T.C. We learned a lot of new Korean inorder to practice teaching God's plan of salvation on Sat. Despite an overwelming amount of new words, we taught our best lesson yet.
On Tuesday, Elder Perry gave the devotional and gave a great doctrinal talk on the Book of Mormon. Then on Sunday, one of the district presidents, named Pres Thomas, gave a lesson on how the Book of Mormon's truth can be seen in the bedoin (sp?) poetry found throughout it. It is obvious that Jospeh Smith at such a young age, and in the 1800's, did not have a knowledge of chiasmus or beduin poetry. It is a form of poetry westerners have only been aware of somewhat recently. He showed us many points in which this is evident in the text. It is clear that Joseph Smith did not make up the Book of Mormon. It increased my knowledge that it is a book from ancient prophets and translated by Joseph Smith with God's help. However, these tangible evidences are nto why I know it is true, that it is from God. I know its true because I ahve prayed about it. And that has made all the difference in my life.
Last Sunday, our mtc mission pres., pres. Boone, spoke about the plan of salvation. He expounded upon the plan by showing how one of the plain and precious truths lost in the bible through its many translations is the god's plan for his people. it is interesting how the book of mormon explains these truths. Theatonement is also much better explained in the book of mormon, the word only appeas once in the bible. The bible is the word of god and testifies of christ but it has been changed and influenced by man. Just look at the 1000's of versions you can find of it. I will send my notes from the meetings home and have them posted.I love the Book of Mormon because it so fully and simply explains the turths of the bible. Both testify of each others truths. They are meant to go hand in hand.
I leave in 3 weeks for korea and I'm very excited. I am growing immensely at this time. The lord has grealty guided and comforted me. I am amazed at the speed I am learning korean, I know god is helping me because he wants me to be able to serve his children in korea.
I hope you all had a happy halloween. I was in class till 9:30pm as usual and then went home and counseled with one of my district members. He wants to become more focused and become a better missionary because he is gaining a greater realization of the glory of God and God's will to help and have a hand in the lives of his children. It was not a typical halloween but it is one I will remember. I love you all and pray for you. I am so glad to be a missionary. I feel so blessed. It is amazing to see god's hand in our lives. When we live god's commandments he blesses us. Its that simple. Wish i could write more, but im out of time.
Keep in touch.
Elder Britsch

Bats, Birds, and Bugs: Our Jamaican Adventure

Elder Britsch's letter Oct. 28th, 2008

Dear Fam, Oct. 28th, 2008
Thank you for your letters. The last week was the hardest yet, but this week is suppose to be the hardest in the MTC. We are teaching the second lesson in Korean on Sat. It can be overwhelming at times but we are patient. Elder Mask and Sis. Mask gave our Tues. devot. on "going and doing the Lord's will". He shared a cool story about how his grandpa had taught the king of Mexico on his mission. I've been trying to memorize key chapters of the Book of Mormon in my personal time. Our S.Y.L. is getting better. The Korean is a constant battle but it’s coming. I am discovering that each weak I am pushed into making a weakness a strength. I am really being refined. The Book of Mormon is an extrememly powerful book. I watched a film of Pres. Uchtdorfs devotional address of 06 in which he talked about his wife's conversion. I would recommend looking up the story. I am learning greatly about myself and the gospel. Our district has made a new commitment for greater charity. We are a group of talented individuals but we are still becoming a talented group. I’m excited for Korea. The new elders arrived this week and 3 are Korean but are going to L.A. and Toronto.
Please keep me updated. This would be a great week to get letters.
Thank you for all your prayers and letters.
Love, Elder Britsch

Elder Britsch Letter Oct. 21st, 2008

Dear All, Oct. 21st, 2008
Another enriching week. Last Tuesday, Elder Scott gave an excellent devotional address. He related very well to us and offered to shake everyone's hand after the meeting. As he shook mine, he looked into my eyes and I felt like he saw into my soul. I felt a tremendous love from him and the savior. He truly is an apostle of Jesus Christ and definetly has Christ in his countenance. It was a very spiritual experience. We have been talking for days about it. Then on Sunday, Sister Sheri Dew gave a very good talk on focusing our lives on the savior as our fireside address. She listed four steps for focusing more on the savior:
1. Be clear who we are
2. Be obedient - even more than we need to be
3. Seek purity - god wants us home clean
4. Listen to the Lord not the world a) immerse in scripturesb)seek how to get revelationc) listen to living prophets - she showed how Pres. Hinkley's talk "To Boys and Men" in '98 spoke of getting our homes in order. Then she showed the news headlines of the economic crash of the past few weeks. Prophets words should be listened too. I then read Pres. Monson's recent talk again.I testify that the scriptures are powerful. They are a key to revelation. They pull families together and bless them greatly.
On Sat. night, we used mormon.org at the referral center to chat with a 17yr. old girl. She is asked if believed Christ was the son of God, if we were christians, and if god loved her. She no longer wanted to follow the religion of her mother and wanted to seek out her own truth. She already had a Book of Mormon so I shared some verses with her about Christ and about god's love for his children. She said she could see that we were Christians and that God loved her even though she felt unworthy of love from anyone. She was so greatful to talk to someone about her life questions. She said I was the only person she had ever talked to about deep questions of her soul. I commited her to read passages of the Book of Mormon including Moroni 10:3-5 and pray. I also told her how to have the missionaries come over and we set up a follow up appointment. She loved everything we said and said she'd keep in contact. It was a great experience. There are people waiting for us to answer their questions. People waiting for an invitation to join God's kingdom. People who desparately need to know that someone loves them, that God loves them. If we show the Lord we are willing and desire to share his gospel with our brothers and sisters, we will be guided to those who are ready.
To answer your question about the language. The language is not easy. It tests my patience and my memory. Language has never been my strong point, but its good.
I love you all so much.
The Lord loves you.
Thank you for your letters.
Elder Britsch