Christmas Day - Christmas Picnic on the Lawn, Playing Sports and Santa came to Deliver gifts

Playing Sports after Christmas Breakfast and Movie

Sitting on the Lawn eating dinner and opening gifts
Mitchell in upper right corner - RED SOCKS (CRAZY KID)

CHRISTMAS TRAILER AND TRUCK - Gifts from the members 

Week 66 - December 29, 14

Dear Mom,

It has been a great Christmas time here. It really still doesn't seem

like Christmas at all!! it was great to talk to you on Christmas day!

Don’t worry -  I felt great after talking to you on Christmas. I think it is

because I know that I don't have anymore Christmas’s here, and that I

will see you in about 7 months. I don't think it was much of a let

down having the holidays over here. I think it is a great relief

because the work will start again. Also Christmas's are great here

because really as a missionary I get to focus on the true meaning of

Christmas, and I don't see any of the traditions and things from home.

I think to be honest I will miss these simple Christmas's with a focus

on the Savior.

 That is awesome that you finally got snow. Sound like fun to go snow boarding. That is awesome that they now have all the lifts open with

getting that much snow.

Well the baking went great.  I made cookies and I did make frosting for my cookies, and they were really good!! I also made some brownies. I didn't make the fudge or anything else. I wanted to make chocolate chip cookies, but I couldn't find shortening here??

It sounds like you had a great Christmas eve with Evan and his family!!

Well it sounds like Christmas was really fun and busy. I am sure

Tyler's family had a good time visiting Jason. I hope it wasn't too

hard on him.I hope that Jason is not struggling too much.

 That is fun all the cousins were there for the party. That

is cool that Roberts family is there now to join.

Well that is awesome you got to talk to Marshall. I talked to him for

like 15 minutes on Christmas Eve.

I am glad that he is still doing great!!  I saw that his mom got a little people nativity set, and she specially ordered missionaries for it of me and Marshall!!

I think if you want you can start sending letters, but I

think they will still take a long time to get here. I don't think you

should try and send a package yet. I have received some of your letters from September.

 I am also happy to do some summer activities with you when i get

home. like trying out the new trailer up the mountain, and maybe going to the lake or California.  Water somewhere because I need water!!

I don't feel too bad about not seeing Grandma. I am sure she was busy

getting the breakfast ready when we were talking. I am glad she got to see Levi.  But that is really weird that Jessica is thinking about mission.    I thought she was like 16 still! But that is cool she is thinking about serving.

Well I hope that Marcus's wedding goes well. I am sure they are

excited to have the twins home this week!! Weird to think they

are done with there missions!!

Our Christmas party was really fun. It started at 9, and they

served us breakfast outside and it was really warm and nice out. It

was a great breakfast. While we were eating they drove up a truck and

trailer all decorated and they handed out gifts to us that were all

wrapped. In this gift there was a tie, socks, flashlight, pen,

chap stick, a journal, and a copy of President's CD, so now I have two

of them!! (you sent one in the package I got from September)

After that we were all filled inside the chapel. We were going to

watch a weird cartoon Christmas movie, and part way in they switched

it to Meet the Mormons. President Dunn really surprised us with it. He

was telling us before that there was no way he could get it. But he

knows some guys from the church communication, so he pulled some

strings. After the movie they gave us another gift full of like candy

and things. Then we changed into our sports clothes, and just hung out

and played some sports. That was the Christmas party. It was a lot

better than last year for sure!!!

Well this week we haven't done much teaching. Probably only like

10 lessons. I guess we were busy, but mostly people were just really

busy!! We hope that later this week we will be able to contact most of

our investigators again and set up appointment with them. We have been trying to teach more less actives, and find where they live through

members, but members haven't helped much.

My sore is improving a lot. It looks a lot better now. I will send

you a picture of it maybe later today. The red infection has gone

down, and the scab has now come out and it is healing well. I am

finished with my antibiotic now. I think it will probably be healed in

a few days from now.

I miss you a lot as well. It would have been nice just to keep

chatting for a few hours. I am also happy to be here, and I am glad

that I have learned so much. I hope that I can continue to be a good

example. I do know what I am doing is right!! I really do love

missionary work even though I do complain a lot I feel like. I am a

great peace, and I am very happy. I am very comfortable in the work,

and sharing my testimony with those I meet. I do also have a great

testimony of the things I am teaching. I have gained such a great

testimony as I have been here. I know the testimony that I have gained

here will be a foundation for the rest of my life. I am so glad again

that I got to see you on Christmas. I love you and hope you have a

good week.

Love

Your son

Elder Brown

Christmas Pictures

Merry Christmas from Elder Mitchell 

December 22, 14

Dear Mom,

Well it has been a really good week. We have had a lot of activities going on this week, and we have kept busy with teaching as well.

On Wednesday my zone went to a disabled home and sang Christmas hymns to them. There were about 16 of us there, and it was really fun!! The people loved it, and the staff as well was very appreciative of it. I  don’t think they get things like that a lot.

On Friday we had interviews with President. Sister Dunn is a lot of fun!! As others are getting interviewed she has activities for us to do. Like each of us wrote our testimony on a quote that we hung on their Christmas tree. She has also been helping us to be healthy. So we learned how to make some good food, and to bake some things. My interview went great with President, and I really love him. President Dunn is an amazing man, and he helps so much. When he looked at my release date it was already in August. The missionary department had already put it in August because of my Visa expiring. Also on Friday we had Zone meeting that took up the rest of the day.

On Saturday the stake put on a lunch Braai(barbeque) for us. It was a lot of fun, and the food was great. We were basically there all day as well.

Well it sounds like it has been a good week for you. I am sure you are relived to have your musical number over. I will try to listen to it on dropbox. That is cool as well that Calvin is now an official driver!! I am sure he is happy about that.

Well the swim team still continues to do well, and to win all of their meets. I am still wondering how they will do against park city! I hope Calvin will work hard during this Christmas break, because this is the time that really counts to drop time when he starts tapering.

We are having a Christmas party with the Stake on Thursday Morning.

We might get a package at our Christmas party on Thursday! We have a Christmas party from 9-1 that day, then we will go hang out with some members, and then get ready to skype.  That is neat that the ward members are planning packages for us. 

 I have not used the recipes yet, but I am going to try in the next 2 days. I am probably going to make stuff for Christmas day and share with some members. I will let you know how it goes. I found brown sugar that might work, so think i will try the toffee.

Thank you for your testimony. I really miss the Christmas spirit from home, and all the activities that really help us focus on the savior like the Messiah that you play in. Really here there is nothing to make people focus on Christ and his Birth. The Christmas spirit is just so different here as well, and it just doesn't seem like Christmas. I do love spending the time here though, and it is a really cool experience to just see how other people do things. I look forward to seeing you on Christmas day, and I am excited to talk with you. Have a good Week!! Tell everyone MERRY CHRISTMAS

Love,

Your Son

Elder Brown

Interviews with the Mission President - Pictures of Mitchell December 19, 14

Interviews at the Mission Presidents House.  Found these pictures on Sister Dunn's blog page.  The missionaries are performing a musical number.  Mitchell on the far left in light blue tie.  

Meeting at the Presidents House - Elders filling out a survey.  Mitchell in the light blue tie 

Silly Pictures with companion - Elder Maraetetea

Zone Conference - Check out who is next to Sister and President Dunn on the front row with RED socks.
Who's boy is that ????? 

December 15, 14 - Week 64

Dear Mom, 

It has been a good week. I am very glad I got your package. The mice had not eaten the Chex mix yet. It was actually still really good, and I have been eating it!! You asked what was in the package (mailed in August )  there was the chex mix, President Dunn's CD, ties, deodorant, candy, and stuff to celebrate one year!! I loved your decoration of the inside of the box!! I think that everything was in there. All the stuff you had written on the outside was in there. 

I will have to get on and see the pictures from the zone conference. I am glad you saw my new suit. I am also glad you liked my red socks haha!! I have bought a few pairs of colorful socks because I am bored of just black!

Our Zone Conference with Elder Cook went really well!! It was really uplifting and inspiring. We had a lot of cool topics, and things we talked about. It was a long meeting though, like 7 hours!! We didn't have interviews with him though. I do have interviews with President Dunn this upcoming Friday though. 

It was really nice to see other missionaries, and just talk and stuff with them. I had a really fun time with Elder Saunders who was in the MTC with me. I am pretty sure I will do a lot with him when I come home. He is not in my zone, but there were 2 other zones there. My zone I  think is the smallest, or one of the smallest. 

The postal strike must be slowing ending.  Other missionaries have also been getting packages. I don't think any of them are Christmas packages though. I think they are packages that were send back in August, September, and October mostly. I have not gotten any other letter yet. Yeah don't worry about a package. I don't care if other missionaries get packages and I don't. Like we have talked about it can just buy stuff. Things are really cheap here.  You can send my Christmas  package in a couple months when the strike is fully over. 

You asked about what we will do on Christmas.  On Christmas it will be similar to last year. We will be going to Roodeport to meet with like all the other missionaries and have devotional. We will have breakfast in the morning at 9, then watch some Christmas movie, and then finish with playing sports. We will finish that around 1 to 2, then head back to our flat, and then to the church to skype. We also have a Christmas lunch that the stake is putting on for the missionaries that will be on Saturday. 

This last Satruday we had our ward Christmas party. It was ok, but kind of boring. They had like jumping castles for the little kids, and an ice cream machine. But then there wasn't really anything for the adults to do the whole time. It was nice thought to go and eat and just relax. 

The week has been pretty good. The zone conference was pretty good. I guess the work has not slowed down much more, but it is still slow. We have been staying busy with members and Recent converts, and less actives. We didn't teach like any investigators this last week. I think we taught like 10 investigator lessons. Then like 10 member, RC, and LA's. We are still trying to find new people. We have found a few new people this last week. We just need to keep finding those that are prepared. It think this week we will try to just walk down the street and share the Christmas story. 

I guess the big news of this week is I am now in a threesome. I have 2 companions right now. Elder Puis from Kenya has now joined us. He was in Vosloorus 1. His companion was waiting for a visa to Mozambique. He got his visa Saturday night, and flew out this morning. So the three of us now are covering both Vosloorus area's, so that will be stressful. I don't think Elder Puis really likes us(me and Elder Maraetefau) much either. We have gotten along well the past night as we have been together.  We will most likely finish out the transfer in the threesome. We have three weeks left in this transfer.

I think I have become more mature as a missionary from last year, and I think I am doing better than last December when I was in Hospital View with Elder Robins.  Our teaching got really slow and because we were not busy I was missing home and Christmas activities.    

Well I am glad to hear everything is going well there. It sounds like it is a busy holiday season, and you are running back and forth a lot! I pray that you are not too overwhelmed with things you are doing. I miss the holiday seasons. It really is different here. It doesn't seem like Christmas at all because it isn't the same as back home. I guess the Christmas spirit comes with traditions and fun things with family. I guess it is nice I don't really have the Christmas spirit because it would make me homesick. 

You will have to tell Calvin Happy Birthday for me. That is weird to think he will be getting his license!! I hope he enjoys his birthday and doesn't feel like he is forgotten with all the Christmas buzz. 

Well I love you and I look forward to hearing from you when skyping next week. I did get Ashley’s email, and I think everything is set with skyp accouts.  WE will just finalize next monday. I love you and have a good week. 

Love

Your son

Elder Mitchell Brown

December 8, 14 - Week 63

Dear Mom and Dad

Well this week has been a good one. We have been busy this week, and taught more lessons. We have still been struggling a lot with teaching investigators, but we met a lot of recent converts this last week. We have continued our finding efforts, and we have not had a ton of success. We go out for about an hour a day and just walk around the streets and talk to people. This is the most effective way in our area. I really don't like knocking on doors because it just isn't very effective. I have in my past area's, but not really her in Voosloros.  

A bit of a disappointment yesterday at church. We only had 2 investigators come to church. In the past we have had about 10 every week. Our investigators aren't really leaving for the holidays, they are just not serious anymore, and we need to drop them. They have been cancelling appointments, and not coming to church. It has been a bit frustrating, but we are working through it. 

At the moment our most promising investigator is Zanle. She has been coming to church for about 5 weeks. She is so interested in the gospel, and has so many questions for us. We saw her 2 times this last week. I will keep you up to speed on a baptism date. 

During the Holiday people go "home", like were there family is from. Most people head to Limpopo. Also people just get very busy with the holidays, so they don't have time for us as missionaries, especially our investigators because they don't really have us at the top of their priorities. The members and recent converts will still let us come and teach them. The children get out of school most of December. Most of them end this week. It is there summer break. So they start into a new school year in January. They only get like one month for summer. 

 I am able to see dropbox pictures.  I really enjoy getting your pictures. It is fun to see family and events that are taking place at home. I will keep trying to take more pictures of my area and send them to you. 

I will put some pictures on later of me getting my package!!! Yes - I finally got the package you sent back in August. It has been all cut open, and then taped back together. I think everything was inside, except maybe some candy. I really enjoyed your fun decorations of the box!! That was a cool creative idea- fun to celebrate my One Year Mark 3 months late. So I guess some mail coming through – did not get any letters. 

It is weird to think Christmas is here. It doesn't' seem like it at all here. I still think it is because it is not cold and there is no snow. That is how I have always known Christmas. I guess either way it is coming. I am sure you are happy to get your decorations up, and the lights on. I miss seeing all the decorations, because really no one here puts them up, and to me that is part of the Christmas spirit. I always appreciated how pretty all your   decorations are. 

It sounds like life is busy, with planning for Christmas parties, and putting them together. I am sure you had the ward amazed at the Christmas party with your nativity. We will be having our Christmas party this Saturday the 13th. I miss the Christmas music – good luck with Messiah this next week.

I can't believe that Calvin will be getting his license possibly next week. He doesn't seem that old yet!! I am sure it will be nice for you so he can help run Carson around and do stuff for you. I am sure he is super excited.  Tell him Happy Birthday and I am sorry I can not mail anything to him. 

The swim team continues to do well it sounds like. I love hearing about there success and that they are still winning there meets. That is too bad they won't swim against Park city until state. I am sure they can beat them if they keep working hard!! 

 It has been pretty hot this last week. We haven't got much rain this week. Some rain comes later in the evenings. Normally it is really really hot from like 10-5, then it will rain. It is still nice in our apartment. We have fans that keep it pretty cool in there, and it still cools off at night. We can open the windows to cool off, but then we get mosquitoes. 

 I am doing ok with my companion. His English is coming a long well. He is still not very good at teaching, so it seems like I am teaching like all the time. I a lot of times just sit there and I have to make him talk. He is getting better at teaching, but he is just not really confident enough yet.

You asked where I took those pictures last week.   The shopping mall we go to is closer to Jo-burg. We email in downtown Germiston at an internet café, then we drive to Befordview to Eastgate mall. It is a really new mall,  really big and nice!! 

Well Vosloorus is like any other township. The standard of living is just like town really. It is all black people that live there. there really are no shacks in township. Everyone has a home, the homes are just small. The blacks really have just as many opportunities as the whites, so their standard of living is the same. The blacks though really don't priorities the use of their money. They buy super nice cars like BMW, Mercedes, Audi’s. They do this while still living in township and living is a small home. The only difference between township and town is no white people, and it is a bit dirtier. I will try to take more pictures. 

I have seen that really without the gospel in our lives there is something missing. I have gained such a strong testimony as I have been here. I really don't think I could ever turn away from the church or it's teachings. Everything just makes so much sense, and I have felt the spirit too many times. I am grateful for the wonderful experiences I have everyday. Thank you for the constant love and support. i am truly grateful for everything. I know the work I am doing is true, even though it gets very tiring sometimes. I am grateful for the gospel in my life. I am especially grateful for you and mom, and the way you raised me. I have known from little what was wrong and right, and how to follow the gospel.

 I do still have my tree, and I will hang it up!! I can print things off, but it gets expensive. I am at an internet cafe to email. If I was at the church it would be free. I would love peoples emails but I will not have time to respond, and if they send messages to print I could print some but not a lot.

That sounds like a good plan for skyping. I think that will work just fine from 7-9. We can plan on that for now, and keep talking about it as we get closer. We will have a Christmas party in the morning and then go to church after  1 which is 5am for you.  I am grateful for your love and encouragement. I hope you have a good week. keep smiling!! You are in my prayers

Love

Your son

Pictures - November 25

At the Mall - Christmas decorations up

Shopping at the Mall in Johannesburg - Christmas when it is 90degrees outside seems strange.

saying "Goodbye" to Elder Zebe who returns home to Las Vegas on November 27,14

December 1, 14 - Week 62

Dear Mom and Dad

The internet here today is really slow, so i hope my email will make it through. I am glad you enjoyed my birthday email. I looked at my planner right after we left emailing on Monday, and remembered it was your birthday. It sounds like you spent some good time with the family. I am glad that Randall and Katrina were able to spend time with you on your birthday. It sounds like Toni is still doing awesome parties and things!! That is really cool that they threw you a surprise party. I am sure that it was really fun. That is funny that Lyn got you Zorro to watch over and over haha!! I actually saw that on at a members the other day, and it reminded me of Grandma. I will try to send a birthday card once I can.

It sounds like the Cedar team keeps doing well. I think it has been since I was a freshman that we could beat all the St George teams. You will have to let me know how they do at the CV invitational. It will be interesting to see how they do up against some bigger teams. That would be really exciting to see them do well at state, or even win.

Yeah dad told me that you probably had like 70 people at the pie party. That is really cool. It has probably been a while since you have seen a lot of those people. Like some of Lyn's kids I haven't seen them for years. You probably had a good time catching up with them again. That is really cool that Sterling and Stanton will be coming home on the same flight. I am sure that will be a great excitement to have them home for Marcus’s wedding.

I'm sure you are nice and full after your two thanksgiving dinners. I hope you had some good family time over the holiday. It sounds like you did some great stuff like hiking and shooting and bowling.

I think you can just stop worrying about the Christmas package. I will be fine without a package. I really would rather just buy things. I don't think anyone else is getting packages.  I have not heard from anyone else that they are getting packages. I think the best thing to do is wait for the strike to end, and you can just send me a small care package even if it is next year sometime. For Christmas I really can just buy things. I would love to hear from people if they want to email, I just may not have time to email back.   I didn't get any further mail this week. I probably wont for a few more weeks, but I will keep you updated. No one else has been getting mail that I know of.

The week has been great for the most part. Transfers on Tuesday was really fun. I got to see a lot of missionaries that I have not seen for a long time. It is really fun to just catch up and laugh and have a good time. I also got to see Elder Robins. I have not seen him since he was my companion. He is now at a year on mission which is just insane. We went out to lunch and stuff, so that was really fun to celebrate his year mark. It is crazy to think a missionary I trained is now at one year. Time really does fly. I said goodbye to Elder Zebe as well which was pretty sad. I will miss him a lot. I think he will be someone I do a lot of things with when I get home. We didn't do anything fun for thanksgiving. We got fed by a member which was nice because that doesn't happen very often.

The rest of the week was just normal in the area. We did teach a decent amount, but it just seemed like a really slow week. We had a lot of cancellations still, but that is normal. We are really struggling to find new investigators. I am not excited for December, and the work getting really slow. We already have investigators leaving for the holidays. I guess we just need to be creative and find people with creative ways.

Our investigators just all seem to be jokers. They aren't too serious. Like Kgaogelo and Manthole. I have been teaching them since I got here in September, and they still aren't going to make it to be baptized this month. I guess we just need to drop them for a while and let them see the importance of the gospel. Also Mandla and Voyage, one of our Father led families, we found out that they aren't all the way married. He hasn't finished paying lobola. That means they are breaking the law of chastity, and can't be baptized until they are fully married. Other than that we do have some good investigators. I just hope they won't all leave the next few weeks. Everyone as you remember from last Christmas leave to go be with family for the whole month of December.  Remember it is summer break here.   I am doing fine with my companion. We really do get a long, and he is a lot of fun. I would rather have him as a companion that a lot of other missionaries. I am really helping him to become better I hope. I will be with him the rest of this month, and his English is better.  

 Our interviews with the president will be later this month. Like in 3 weeks. I think I will talk to him about coming home in August so we can get things planned for that. I guess Marshall has planned to come home early for school as well. If you can find out when SUU starts and let me know what you think.

Because I will be staying in this area we can start discussing Christmas phone call plans now. I will be able to skype I think at the chapel. Really I will be free like all day. Just whenever the best time is with your schedule will work fine with me. Not sure if you have plans for Christmas already, like a Christmas brunch. Just let me know your plans.

Well I am glad once again to hear from you. Just off to the mall and the chapel to play sports. WE do about the same thing every Monday. I might look at buying a suit this week or next week because we have a meeting with the area president, so I will wear it to that, then wrap it up for my Christmas.  I have a big meeting with the area president, so I need to look sharp. I'm so grateful for all you do, and I am constantly thinking about you and missing you. Well I hope you have a good week getting back into the routine after the holiday. I love you and I am constantly grateful for the many great things you taught me. I use the skills you taught me everyday.

Love

Your Son

Elder Brown