Self shots of Elder Mitchell

July 28,14 - week 44

Dear Mom, 

Well it had been a good week. Transfer weeks are always very weird, and normally pretty long weeks. I made it through though to another Monday!!

On Tuesday we left Secunda pretty early to get to transfers on time. We made it there just fine, even though our car was packed full of stuff!! A change that has been made with president Dunn is we now have transfer meetings. We have to go in and sit down and have a meeting. They then show us our companions up on the projector. Before they would just put up a list and we would find our companion. I liked this meeting, it was just a bit different. 

My new companion is Elder Johnson. He seems like a pretty cool kid so far. It had been a weird week just adjusting to him. Like you said we are both trying to adjust. I hope that I am not making it too hard for him to adjust. He is from Kaysville, Utah. His dad is an Endodontist, so it asked dad if he knows him. He has been on mission for about 18 months. He had been on mission the longest out of all my past companions. He has been a bit quiet this week, but I hope that is just because he is adjusting. I hope we can start to have fun together. 

Elder Willombe is still here, but he has a new companion. His companion now is Elder Bryner. He is from Murry, Utah. He is a pretty cool kid. I miss elder Barton already though. I was pretty good friends with him. I didn't get a district picture this week, but I will this next week. 

Lesson wise it has been a decent week. Because of transfers we didn't teach at all on Tuesday, but we still got about 12 lessons. This is pretty good. I am still enjoying teaching a lot. 

In Evander still our most promising investigator is Lorraine. We saw her twice this week, and she is coming a long quick. She is supposed to be baptized the end of August, but she hadn't been coming to church. She didn't make it this last week either. Our investigators have to come to church at least 5 times to be baptized. She might not be baptized before I leave. 

We don't have very many other people in Evander. We are meeting with a couple others, but none too promising right now. 

On the Emba side we don't have many promising investigators. We are meeting with a lot of people, but the thing with township is most of the people are jokers. We have been meeting with most of our recent converts. Like Frans and the Mnisi family. Also I guess one good investigator we have is the husband of our recent convert Leohba. His name is Steve. He actually came to church yesterday, so that was sweet!! We actually got an investigator to come to church. 

I guess one of the bad things this week is I was sick on Saturday. We got fed by the Soko's in Friday, and I think something they gave us made me sick. I had diarrhea all day, and that really sucked. I still went out to the area and walked around. We came back to the flat early and I just slept. I felt better on Sunday though, so I am doing good now. 

Well it sounds like you have had a very eventful week! I am glad that your float went well. It sounds like everything turned out well. It sounds like you had a great time up the mountain with the brown family. It is cool that now the whole brown family lives in cedar. 

I hope that your quick trip to the lake goes well. I hope that you are all safe. I miss the family at times like this when you are doing fun things, but I know what I am doing is right. I hope that Carson will have a good time on his camp out and not miss the family too much. 

That is weird too hear that Kayla was married. I emailed her a couple weeks ago, and she mentioned she had a boyfriend, but nothing about getting married. I hope that she is happy and doing well. You will have to go to the open house for me. I hope that there family is doing well. 

I am glad to hear that Carson's birthday card made it safely. I am always worried when I send stuff that it won't make it. I am still receiving your letters. This last week on Tuesday I saw the zone leaders at transfers. I got your letter that was dated May 23rd, so it took a long time to come!! I hope the rest aren't taking that long, but I will keep letting you know. I sent you a letter a couple weeks ago, and I hope you got it. Also with letters will you let Grandma Diane know I have been getting her letters. I just got one from her this last week, and she didn't know if I had been getting them. 

I hope that I have given you enough info in this email. If not I am sorry. I hope that you have a good week, and especially a good time at the lake. Be safe, and I hope all the traveling goes well. I love you, and I hope you don't miss me too much this week. Know I am doing well and I am comfortable. 

Love

Your son

Elder Brown 

Elder Burtons Birthday Party

Tracking with Elder Dye

July 21, 14 - Week 44

Dear Mom,

It has been a pretty good week for me. I guess in anticipation of leaving I have been saying goodbye to people. But I am not leaving- I will be staying in Secunda.  I have taught some pretty good lessons as well. We have one new investigator. 

It sounds like it had been a good week for you even though it had been strange. It sounds like you and Carson had a fun week alone. It seems like you have more cello students now?? That is fun that you can just go up and camp at the trailer. I'm proud that you did it without dad. You are a party animal!! That is funny Lucy chases the deer and sheep. I didn't know that Russen was in the ranger when Blake rolled it. Poor dog, that is too bad he is now scared of the truck.

That is fun you got to go to some plays with the girls. (Susie Knight and Julie Lambert) They are fun ladies. I am glad you are able to do things with them. I think you mentioned you were going on a trip, but I forgot where you said. That sounds like it will be a way fun trip!! It seems like dad and you always enjoy trips with them. 

Dad told me quiet a bit about their trip to Dominic Republic.  He sent me all the pictures that he sent you also. It sounds like they had fun, but they were busy. I hope dad wasn't disappointed with how things were done. I am sure it was a bit frustrating to see all the people lined up and the dental students doing slow work. I am glad they are back safe. I hope it was a good experience for Blake, and fun that he got to do some dental work. 

That is pretty cool that Uncle Evans house is coming a long. I am glad that Aunt Carol is able to travel a little bit. I hope that her health will continue to improve. That is fun to hear about Uncle Roberts family. I hope that they can find a rental home or get things started on a home. That is kind if cool that Britney is in China. That is a bit scary though. I hope she had fun teaching English. Let me know if you hear more. 

Hopefully the 24th will be fun. I hope that most of the Brown family will be able to come for a barbecue. That is weird to think the whole brown family is now in cedar. 

I hope your fiddle group works out in the parade.  We are having a braai with some of our members today, so that will be our 24th celebration.  A braai is what they call a barbecue. 

It sounds like Calvin's camp was not too fun. It sounds like they were very strict on a lot of stuff! He couldn't even take candy, or talk to his friends. I guess the mountain biking sounds like it was pretty fun. 

We got transfer news on Saturday nights giving us a bit of a heads up. If you are getting any leadership you get a call from mission president( like training, district leader, and zone leader. ) we don't get told where we are going, or who are companion is until we get to transfers on Tuesday. 

 So elder Dye has been in Secunda for 2 transfers, and I have been here for three. I will be staying here, and Elder dye will be leaving. I will be getting a new companion here in Secunda. I will probably only stay for one more transfer, but maybe I could be surprised again. The reason elder dye is leaving is because he is becoming a zone leader. He will have to move to a zone leader area. I am pretty happy to stay here, but mostly happy to get a new companion.

My suitcases have held up very well. I have only used then like 2 times now. I have only lived in 2 different flats. I have acquired more stuff though. I use crates to transport all my books and other stuff. 

They don't let us email early on transfer weeks ever. It is just on Mondays. So we are transferred on Tuesday, and we still have to wait until the next Monday. 

Elder Barton was in the MTC with me. He is leaving here also, so I am sad that I won't be around him. I have met Brother and Sister Windwards, and they didn't know who I was talking about when I said Kate my cousin. I didn't remember her married name. If I see them again I will ask about Logan. 

 I guess are days are always very similar that is why I don't tell much. It seems like I do the same thing every single day. We study in the mornings. Relax while the other guys are finishing study, because they study for one more hour( because training). We head to the area. If we have appointments it is awesome and the day goes fast. If we don't have appointments the day goes slow and we wander around looking for things to do. We might knock some houses, or bang some gates. We might chill at Fortunes house if we are in Emba. We get fed maybe 2 times a week if we are lucky. Then when it gets dark a lot of times we are done, or the other guys are done, so we end the day because we can't wonder around in the dark. That happens pretty much everyday. 

A big event this week was elder Barton's birthday!! On Friday after district meeting we went and ate at happy hong a Chinese place. I ate some really good chicken and sushi( I spent money from home card). Then that night elder dye and I surprised him with a cake. It was pretty fun I guess. 

Most of our investigators are still about the same. We are still seeing Lorraine, but she has not yet come to church. We had a guy named Thabo come to church yesterday, and that was really exciting. He had been out of town so we haven't been teaching him. We also have only taught him once, so it was really cool he came to church. Other than that it was a pretty boring normal week. 

Well thank you for you email it is always fun to read about your week, and everyone else's activities. Well I love you, and I'm always so grateful for everything you do for me, and especially all you have taught me. I see everyday I am using things you taught me, so thank you. Have a good week, tell Carson Happy Birthday and I will let you know next week who my new companion is. Love you!!

Love

Elder Brown

July in Secunda

People all stuffed in taxi and back of trucks.  In the taxi they take out the seats and put in benches.  The people walk or take taxi, they do not own their own cars  

July 14, 14 - week 43

Dear Mom

I am so glad you got to see pictures. That is cool that sister Dunn has a blog. You are just bloggin it up! That would be interesting to read their  blog just to see what they have said. It was a lot of fun meeting President and Sister Dunn.   I got an email from President Dunn where he said the following. “So happy to hear your mom enjoyed the farewell. Steven is a personal friend who I got to know when I produced his program for PBS. I'm looking forward to working with you and getting to know you better. Have a great week!” (Steven Sharp Neilson – Cellist in the Piano Guys played at the Dunn’s Farewell)

You asked about Elder Barton who I am standing by in the pictures, He and I get a long very well because both of our companions are kind of lame.  He and I can relate to each other, also elder Dye was his old companion. I am doing all right with Elder Dye. We get a long well, but there is still tension sometimes. I am ready for a new companion. Transfers are one week from Tuesday. I am pretty sure I will be leaving. It will be an interesting car ride if Elder Barton and I both leave Secunda.  Elder Barton and I both have a lot of stuff, so I don't know how we will fit it all. That is neat you knew some of the other Elders from MTC in Sister Dunns pictures,  Where you able to recognize many people? 

We see the other Secunda missionaries everyday driving to one of our areas. We hang out at there flat some nights. We are with them all day on Monday as well. They are super fun to hang with. They are the only other missionaries we see normally. This past Monday though we got to see our whole zone. We had our zone activity, so we drove into Springs. We had a pretty fun activity at the mall. The zone leaders put together a scavenger hunt. We had to find things and take a picture with them. There were a lot with people, so it was fun asking random people for pictures. We got I trouble a few times by security. That was pretty fun. My group didn't win which made me pretty mad because we had the coolest pictures. Oh well - it was fun. 

You asked about car assignment.  Elder Dye and I work in Emba and Evander. Elder Barton and Willombe work in Secunda and Kinross. We have the car on our Emba days, Tuesday Thursday and Friday. They have the car the other days. With the car we only have 450 kilometers a week. It takes most of them to drive to and from the areas, so we have to walk almost everywhere in the area. President Omer before he left limited out kilometers. We used to have like 700 a week.  I guess the whole reason we are supposed to walk around is to come in contact with more people. I haven't noticed much of a difference, but we do talk to a lot more people. 

You asked about what zone I am in and about zone leader.   I am in the Benoni Zone. My zone leaders are Elder Koyle and Ndikhumana. We see them about every three weeks. They are the ones who get our mail from the office. 

It sounds like you had a really fun weekend in Provo. It sounds like that would have been a great swim camp. I wish I would have gone to something like that. I hope that they learned something good. Hopefully Carson and Gavin had a good time just hanging around. 

I hope Dad and Blake doing ok in DR.  I am sure it is super hot.  That is where Remington was serving and came home sick.  Don’t catch any bugs like he did.  Dad mentioned they had armed gaurds. I hope that you don't have to use the armed guards. I see armed guards here a lot, and they seem like they don't know how to handle the gun they are holding. It is a bit scary sometimes. I hope that your guard are trained well. 

It sounds like a grand adventure. I hope that they are having fun. That is too bad that Blake was sick before they left. It sounds like neither of them expected what they are doing. That is to bad that dad is babysitting dental students, and having to fix their mistakes. Blake is used to working with dad as a good dentist, so I am sure he is frustrated working with inexperienced dentists. Hopefully they will have fun and have time to do some sight seeing.

It sounds like Marshall is doing well according to his email he sent me. I am still emailing him every week. His mom sent me an email this week also, and it sounds like she is still doing great with rehab and things. That would be cool if Marshall could see Mr sharp the principle. That would be weird to see him not in his office getting in trouble Haha

Knocking gates isn't too bad, we make it fun. The best part is I get to pound on the gates really hard with my brass knuckles! Haha. That is the only way people will hear us. I think on Saturday we knocked 19 houses, or gates. If gates are unlocked we normally walk in. We just hit the gate way hard tell someone comes out. The white people are pretty rude though when we knock. I much rather prefer teaching black people. 

 

We are still teaching and talking to quite a few people. We taught I think 12 lessons this week. We try to find new people everyday.

I hope with time Levi will be able to tolerate his companion. Every missionary I have talked to though didn't like their trainer. Your next companions are always better. Hopefully Levi can compromise some. Sorry to hear Levi was sick, and that does not help to know it might have been food poisoning.  He is kind of obsessed with cleanliness, sorry that happened.  I know here in SA I can not get to worry about the cleanliness of food. I would never eat. It is pretty scary sometimes what people feed us. Like food they cooked who knows when they dish up from containers that were just sitting there in their shack. I guess I am kind of a clean freak, but it doesn't bother me much. I haven't got sick from food yet luckily. 

We have only one investigator on date for baptism right now, and the rest are just jokers. It is a bit frustrating at sometimes.

Thank you for the support you always give me. I am always grateful to get your emails and hear from home. I keep praying for you, and I'm thinking of you. Love ya

Love

Your son

Elder Brown

President Dunn has a blog spot where you can read about Mitchell's mission

dunnsinjoburg.blogspot.com

President and sister Omer headed home and Sister and President Dunn take over the
South Africa Johannesburg mission on June 28 

Missionaries at the mission home get to meet the new president.  It is fun to see Mitchell in a few pictures.  

Mitchell's zone on the lawn of mission home with the new president
Michael and Linda Dunn

July 7 2014 - Week 42

Dear mom, 

It sounds like it has been an adventure of a week.  I am glad you got rain, and speaking of rain we got a very small shower one day, and surprisingly it still smelled good. I guess it is fire season again, sorry it is so dry.

It sounds like you did a lot of fun stuff this weekend. It has been a while since I was at Foote ranch. That is good that Blake had fun on the horses. I want to do stuff like that more when I get back. It sounds like panguitch  cabin was fun. I am excited to see pictures of panguitch cabin and improvements you have made.

That is cool you got to talk to Ryan Foote about this mission. I think I knew he was here, but I kind of forgot. Yeah Secunda is a pretty hard area. Especially the other guys working here, Eldrer Barton and Willimbe. They only had 4 lessons this past week. They are in the harder area. But my area is still pretty hard. President Omer was pretty strict about some stuff.  He basically made our while mission a walking mission. We have to park the cars and walk everywhere in our areas. I really liked president Omer though, but excited to have President Dunn.

I forgot that dad and Blake were going to Dominic Republic.  That will be a fun adventure I am sure. I hope all goes well for them in travel and doing dental work. 

The meeting with the Dunn's was awesome! They knew exactly who I was. They were so impressed with you and how you traveled all the way from cedar to hear them speak at their farewell.  They were so touched that you came all that way. I am grateful you went and met them. I think he will be a great president. He seems like he will be very relaxed, and not so strict. 

That is cool that you were able to talk to Downs and Mike McNett about South Africa. I have been thinking and I probably will just stay and start school spring semester. I also think it would be very cool for you to come pick me up and go around and do some fun things. 

The weather had been pretty mild this week. During the day it is very nice. I just wear short sleeves. When it gets dark it normally starts to cool off. I normally carry a sweater with me to put on when it gets dark. We normally don't stay out much after dark though. I haven't had to use my long jacket at all. I normally only use that in rain, and it is dry season right now. Speaking of that I am sure all the Down family saw when they visited, was dry grass. It isn't green at all right now. It is just ugly and dry. 

I have watched a few World Cup games just at people's homes. I have been following it pretty close, and we ask everyone about it. I was really sad that the US lost in overtime. It is weird to think that the World Cup was happening here 4 years ago. 

I haven't heard anything about iPads being used here at all. I think it would be too dangerous. They would probably get stolen. 

The teaching had gone ok. Still do not have any solid investigators. We are still finding people,  which is no fun. I wish the work here happened like it was supposed to, and members would give more referrals. We have some good lessons in Evander this week. Our most promising investigator is named Lorraine. We put her on date for baptism this week. We also found out she has a daughter. She is an 18 year old girl in her 12th grade year. Also in Evander we found a cool young family. Marsha and Aldrige Van Roii. They are colored, but mostly white Afrikaans people. They seem pretty solid. They have 2 little boys that are probably younger than 5. We have been knocking a lot of gates also! This isn't too much fun. 

I am glad Calvin and Carson look up to me. I am not the best example, but I am trying. I asked dad about that grill for the car one time, so I'm glad Calvin talked him into it! Ha Ha.  Look forward to a picture of the Cadillac. 

Are transfers are 2 weeks from tomorrow.  I will most likely be leaving here, at least I really hope so! I am getting sick of Secunda, and I need a new start. 

I hope that everything is going well. It is always good to hear from you, and just have a piece of reality. I hope you are doing well, and not missing me too bad. I hope you are having a fun summer. I love you. 

Love 

Elder Brown