Walking the streets of Emba

cutting hair with companion - Elder Dye

June 30, 14 - Week 41

Dear Mom, 

It has mostly been a good week for me also! I am sorry that June is over, and your days are getting shorter! I know this was always a hard time for you. It is nice to have the days getting longer. It had been nice this week neither hot nor cold. I hope it will cool off, or at least rain for you in Cedar.   It sounds like it is very dry with you having no snow. I hope you won't blow away!

It sounds like you had a really fun time at the lake. I am glad you got to go there because I know how much you love the lake. It sounds like it was an adventure with the coach and then the mice. That is funny Calvin was sleeping with the mouse.  I am proud of you getting the boat on the trailer and everything!! I am glad you had a fun time, and hopefully you get to go for another short turn.  You asked about our night sky.  I have noticed the stars a bit, but it is normally pretty bright. I have noticed the southern cross, and it is pretty cool. I miss seeing all the stars at lake Powell. 

That is fun that Ashley got to come down.  Glad you got to do some fun things together.   The weather has been very mild here this week. It has been nice. Normally warm during the day, then it gets dark and cold. It has been nice not wearing a sweater every day. It is very dry here right now.  My shoes get very dirty in township because the dirt roads.  I do polish my shoes every other week. I wipe them down every morning also, just a few minutes waking in the dirt destroys them though! Ha Ha

I am over my cold and I am glad to be healthy now, it makes things much easier. I got over it very quick with vitamins, and I have been trying to take them every day. 

I have started to enjoy walking around a lot now. I think it is helping me stay in shape when I don't work out much. It is hard some days, but normally not. It is quit easy to talk to people on the streets now. We don't always just talk about the gospel. We joke and have fun with a lot of people we see, especially the little kids! 

It is very true that Satan is the one that makes us fear. I have seen really that I have no fear when the spirit is with me. 

 It is a lot easier to stay positive. There are some days that are very hard, but as long as I remember why I am here it makes it much easier. I have been able to stay pretty positive lately. 

Tell Calvin thanks. That is awesome he detailed my car!! I am glad to hear someone is taking care of it!! 

It does seem like just yesterday I was preparing to leave. The time really had gone quick. As missionaries the days feel like weeks, and the weeks like days. The only time that time drags on is individual days. 

Teaching went pretty well this week. Emba is really picking up with investigators, and Evander is slowing down a lot. We taught 11 lessons this week, so not a ton, but not too bad. I have told you about Kalvin and Lindo that were supposed to be baptized. They are both not really going anywhere right now. That is pretty frustrating. We have started teaching a lot of new investigators. We are still kind of weeding them out to see if any will be promising. That is a big part of missionary work. One of our most promising investigators is Lorraine. She lives in Evander. We have taught her a lot, and she is reading the Book of Mormon. The only problem is church attendance. She still hasn't come to church once. I will let you know next week what promising investigators I have. 

Frans did make it this Sunday, and he was given the Holy Ghost. He is suck an awesome guy. He had already been coming out teaching with us, which is awesome because it is very rare to have member present lessons. 

I am also very excited to meet the Dunn's tomorrow.(new President)  I will share with them how much you enjoyed the performance by Steven sharp nelson. I will ask them how they got him to come. Im sure they will remember you mom.

Dad did send me the video, so tell him thank you. I am very grateful for the pictures. I have even been printing some off to put on my wall. I enjoy pictures, and they don't make me miss home too much. I am sure you worry about me a lot. I am very grateful for this in a way because it shows how much you love me. I am so grateful I have you to worry about me if anything. I hope that with more time you will not miss me to much. I miss and worry about you quit often. I hope all continues to go well it sounds like everyone is doing great!! Tell the family hello, and I love them. Love you

Love

Elder Mitchell Brown

Eating a Caterpillar - Cooked up by Elder Willombe(native South Africa)

Week 40 (9 months) - June 23, 2014

Dear Mom

My week has been good! I had a cold at the first of the week, so that made things hard. I just wanted to sleep instead of work. I just slept most mornings during study, but I recovered quickly! I dosed up on Vitamin C and I am healthy now.  We had a bit of a slow week with teaching. Also yesterday we didn't confirm Frans because he had to go to Jo-Burg. His confirmation will happen next week. 

Mission really is all about change. Whether it is change around you, or change in yourself. We have quit a big chance coming up with a new mission president coming in. I am excited, yet nervous for the change that will come. There are a lot if ups and down every single day. I also notice a lot of ups and downs in my attitude as well. Some days I am loving being here and the work, and other days everything just sucks. It is hard some days to battle with my own attitude. 

I am very excited to have the Dunn's come. I hope that there won't be too many changes. I will meet them on July 1st. We will drive to the mission home and have time to talk with the President and Sister Dunn and meet them. We are split up into groups and times because there are a lot of missionaries. There are about 200 missionaries in the mission right now. 

Glad you get to go to houseboat and that mom planned a trip out of delivering the couch. That sounds like mom. I am grateful she always wanted to have fun, because it was very fun for me.

I also emailed Ashley today. She seems like she is doing great. That is really cool she is doing a 5K!  It is crazy to think another birthday has gone by since I have been gone. I am sure you will be able to celebrate and have fun this next week. Ashley said she had some fun this weekend with birthday activities like climbing with some friends.

Time is very odd. I can look at it both ways! It is crazy to think I have been gone 9 months and the time has flown by, but in the other hand it is going very slow. I have noticed the longer I have been on mission it had gone faster, and I guess it will just do this the rest of my life. I was thinking of you mom the other day during the winter solstice, and how you were having the longest day of the year! I am sure this made you happy. I am glad the days here will start getting longer because the sun had been setting around about 5. 

I am glad that Randall and Katrina are doing well. So it sounds like Randall's truck wasn't totaled. That is good that he now has it back. 

That us fun that Calvin is driving now. He doesn't seem like he should be at that point yet. Hopefully he isn't too crazy! 

I am glad you enjoyed the pictures. I am going to try and make a goal of taking 2 pictures a day. That will give me quit a few to send home each week. 

I hope things will move quickly with the group starting in Emba, but if it happens after I leave I am still excited for it to happen.  By forming a new group(small branch) the investigators will have a place to attend church and I think conversions and baptisms will explode. 

The Mnisi's are a recent convert family. They are the one that gave me the coat.  I will try and get a picture with them. 3 of the kids were baptized right before I came here, the parents have not yet been baptized. I have mentioned Fourune a few times, he is one of the Mnisi's. They are a great family, and right now we are trying to teach the parents. 

I have been grateful for the coat, but the weather hasn't been too bad. I haven't been as cold as a few weeks ago, but it is still pretty cold. At around about 4to 5a.m.  every night it starts to cool off quick, so I have to put on a sweater or jacket. It is normally still warm during the day like 50-60 degrees. 

You asked about me being homesick.  Some days are very hard. I have to try and put thoughts away. It had gotten much easier as time has passed though. I hope that it will keep getting easier for you. I am sorry that you are missing me. . Know I still love you, and am grateful for you. 

That is great to hear Evan and Carol came through. I am also glad that Carol is doing well enough to travel. I am sure Josh appreciated them traveling up also. Hopefully there home continues to move quick. I bet it was fun for them to see progress on their home. Hopefully Calvin and Carson had a fun time at youth conference.  I don't think I have ever been to Veyo. I miss youth activities though. 

It sounds like you are making a sweet camp site by your "cabin" haha!! I will have to check out the pictures. I guess you are getting too old for that!! Haha. Hope your back ok mom. Levi hasn't told me much about his companion I guess if his first companion isn’t the best, it can only get better from there.

You asked about the picture where I was eating something black.  It is a caterpillar.  I really did eat the caterpillar. I took a video also, so I will send that! 

You had asked me about bikes.  We used to use bikes some in evander instead of walking, but now our car doesn't have a bike rack to transport the bikes, so I don't ride them anymore. They  other missionaries just keep them in their flat, and sometimes use them in Secunda. 

We are still teaching a good amount of people, but not seeing many progress. We don't have any on date for baptism right now, which is no fun. We have been finding a lot of new people though. It is fun to find new people and see there reaction to the restoration! I have seen a few testimonies start to form, and it is a wonderful experience. 

Well I love you, and I miss you a bunch. I hope that you have a good week, and are able to enjoy the lake! Just know I am doing great, and you don't have to worry much about me. 

Love

Mitchell

Receiving my Easter package

Good old USA!!!!

Good American Food!

Mitchell eating something??? Sucunda South Africa Area

Apartment in Secunda

Baptism June 14, 14

Week 39 - June 15, 14

Dear MomWell another week has gone by, and once again it is good to hear from you. It is good to read your email and hear you are doing well.  That is so cool that you were able to go up to the Dunn's farewell, in Salt Lake.   That is weird to think they will be here in a couple weeks. I am pretty excited to have them come. Elder Barton said his mom also went to the farewell. That is even cooler that you got to see Steven Sharp Neilson play right in front of you. I am sure out of all the people there you appreciated him playing the most. I am sure it was a very special experience for you. I will tell the Dunns about you when I meet them. I am going to the mission home on July 1st to meet them. I have seen obedience is very important especially for the work, and the companionship of the spirit. I feel like am fairly obedient, but there are still things I can work on. I have been emailing Levi almost every week. It is very fun to talk with him. He has asked me a few questions about things.  I am doing pretty well with Elder Dye. We get a long pretty well, and we are working well together. I know I am learning a lot of patience. But for the most part we are doing pretty well together. We will be together until the end of this transfer, and then I will probably leave Sucunda.  We are walking a lot.   I am doing very well with walking actually. I enjoy it for the most part. We walk everyday now because they are cutting down on kilometers for our cars. We are only supposed to drive to our area, so even on our car days we are walking for the most part. We probably walk around 8 miles a day, just around our areas. In Emba we are walking in a lot of dirt, and so my shoes get very dusty everyday, so I clean them quite often. My shoes have been holding up very well. We normally have an appointment every hour, so we are walking between every appointment. I haven't been getting cold really walking, or in the area. I have been wearing sweaters, and a jacket the Mnisi's borrowed me. The only place I get cold is really in the flat when I am just sitting.  It is kind of strange to have the seasons in reverse, and the schools in opposite. The kids are still in school right now. There school year is backwards from ours. They are in school from January to November. Right now they are taking like middle of year testing, so like big exams. In a few weeks they get a winter holiday that is about 2 weeks long. Right now with teaching we are teaching a lot more people in Evander. It is weird because the area's have totally swapped. We are teaching a lot of white families in Evander which is weird. There is this one guy we found while tracking, his name is Mark. He had read the whole Book of Mormon, and he knew it well. He started asking us about the 3 Nephites. He is really crazy though. We have been meeting with his family, and all he wants to talk about the whole time is conspiracy things. They might progress, but it will take time. His wife promised she would feed us later this week, which would be sweet because we never get fed. They are a colored family, so half white and black. We are also teaching another Father and Family in Evander. There names are Yanni and Heidi. They are a white Africans family. They are kind of progressing. She is reading the Book of Mormon a lot, and she is like to 2 nephi, which is really far for an investigator. They are very nice, and we meet with them about once a week. On the Emba side we have been tracking a lot. We have been finding new people to teach, and hopefully some of them will be promising. If there where a group to begin there the work would explode.  A group is like a branch. We meet so many people and teach them in Emba, but we have to stop teaching them because the don't come to church. I think it will take about 3 months to get things going with the group or new branch in this area. Another great investigator is the guy who was baptized this past Sunday. His name is Frans. He was taught by both of the sets up missionaries here in Secunda because he just moved here and was temporally in their area, then he moved to our area. He was taught before, and he was so prepared to be baptized. He lives in Emba now, and we have been meeting with him. I sent some pictures of his baptism.  My apartment is super nice. I will send pictures today. We have been surviving the cold. I bought a cheep blanket last week, and that has helped when I am just sitting around. I might have to buy a jacket if it gets any colder. I have been staying healthy I think. We are eating very well actually. The past 2 weeks there has been a fruit special going on at one of the stores, so we have bought a lot of fruit. Pineapple, kiwi, apples, oranges,  and papaya.  Today though I have felt like I am getting a sore throat. I have been dosing up on the vitamins. You asked about the weather. We don't get really any rain this time of year. The winter is there dry season which is weird. The rain all comes during the summer. It is just normally cold and dry. There isn't really any humidity, just dry. That is fun to hear you are still enjoying gardening, and the flowers. There were a lot of wild flowers here in about March, I am sorry I forgot to send those pictures. I will try to find them and send them to you.   I am still getting your letters every 3 weeks about when we see our zone leaders. I am glad you are still writing letters because I love getting mail. Sometimes when we see the zone leaders I don't get mail, but normally I get your letters. I need to look through because it seems as if I haven't been getting all your letters. I will try to write you more.  I am so grateful for your emails. I know that they give me a lot of strength and support. I miss home a lot more around this time of year now that it is summer there. I am also glad that I was your play mate, and that we were able to do a lot of fun things. I have so many fun memories, and i grateful for that. My testimony has grown for sure. I know that this gospel is true without a doubt. If I didn't have a strong testimony it would be very hard to give up all that I am to be here. I am finding a lot of joy in the work, and I have fun everyday. Sometimes I am sad that the time is going so fast, and I see that my mission will fly by. I really enjoy being here, and want it to last. But on the other hand I do want the time to go by fast. I have gained a very strong testimony of the plan of salvation. Yesterday we had a very spiritual experience as we were teaching Yanni and Heidi of the Plan of Salvation. We were talking about our purpose, and Yanni pointed out that the purpose of this life is to improve and go through the same things that our heavenly father did so we can become like him. I told him this is exactly what we believe. I am so grateful that we have the knowledge of the gospel, and know that we are here to improve and become more like our heavenly father. I also know that the only way this is possible is through the atonement of Jesus Christ. I know that the Atonement is so important to all of us, and it covers a lot more than we all know. I am grateful for everything I have learned as a missionary, and I know I will learn much more as time keeps passing. I love you, and hope you have a good week.  Love,Your Son Elder Brown

June 8 , 2014 - Mitchell and Companion Elder Dye

P-day- Can you tell ElderBrown doesn't dress down on P-day 

Elder Brown at Randall wedding with his siblings

June 9, 2014 - Week 38

Dear Mom, 

Transfer week - So I was thinking that I would leave Secunda. The transfer news came on Saturday, and I am staying here in Secunda with Elder Dye. I am actually pretty happy about this. I wanted to stay because we have people here that are really progressing, and some possible baptisms coming up. We won't even be going to transfers, where we travel into the mission home,  because no one is leaving here from Secunda. 

I appreciate your telling me all about the wedding, and  I did look at all the pictures in Dropbox last week!! It was really fun to see everything that happened! I really enjoyed looking through all the pictures.

You said you where having a big ward party and asked if we did ward activities. My branch hasn't had any activities since I have been here. It don't think they have the budget for it. Yesterday we had our branch conference, so the stake was all here. It was nice because we as the missionaries didn't have to do everything! It reminded me a lot of dad, as the brethren travel to different wards and branches.

I am excited for you and think it is fun that you finally got "your cabin" up kannarra  mountain. Dad told me a bit about this also, and it sounds like you got it up there pretty well. That is great that there is water up the mountain! It seems like with your winter there wouldn't have been much water. I think it is doing things like this that I miss most, but it doesn't really make me homesick. I guess I just look forward to doing it again. 

Sorry it is getting hot in Cedar.   It has cooled off a lot here. We have had a lot of nights getting below zero. I would have never thought it would get this cold in Africa! One day it was like in the 40's all day, and it was way cold! It is way cold in our flat because the buildings are not built with insulation. They don't have like furnaces either. We hear it up with two little space heaters. I think I am a baby to the cold now. I have acclimated to the warm now. 

Sorry I have not sent pictures.  I will try to get more. Our apartment is very nice!! The only bad thing is it is all tile. Like no carpet at all, so it gets very cold. I will send one today of Elder Dye and I. we seem to be getting along a lot better. We enjoy each others company I think. The only thing I don't like is the music he plays. He really likes sound tracks from movies. 

Glad calvin and Carson headed to youth conference. There aren't any youth activities here. It is so weird. I have only seen like one youth activity since I have been here, and that was in Hospital View. We only have a few youth here in the Secunda Branch. 

Yesterday we only had one investigator come to church. His name is Frans. He moved from Jo-Burg, and he was being taught by missionaries there. He is a really cool guy! He will be baptized this upcoming Sunday. Our other investigators have not been able to make it in a while. It sucks because to be baptized our mission president has the rule that they have to come to church 5 times in 7 Sundays. 

With our branch conference we took the stake presidency out to Emba and showed them the school we want to form a group at. They are going to get the ball rolling on that, so probably within 3 months there will be a group in Emba, and that will help with church attendance. 

That is fun that Calvin has been driving!! Hopefully he doesn't reck!! Haha. I am sure he is excited for a car, will he drive my car?

We do still trade off with the car. They have been cracking down on cars lately. We are only supposed to use our car to drive to our area, and walk in the area. This really sucks. The other missionaries live in an apartment complex about 3 k's from us. I don't know why they don't live in the same flat. 

I am so glad that the reception went well. It sounds like you had a good turn out of people.  That is really nice that so many people asked about me. That makes me feel like I have a lot of people supporting me. 

I am glad Calvin and Carson swimming in summer games.   I really miss it , and I wish I could swim. You will have to tell Calvin and Carson good luck for me. I hope shadowing officiating isn't too boring!! That is cool though that you are getting your USA officiating done. 

 I am still very lazy with working out. I have a bench with quite a bit if weight that I use like 3-4 times a week, and that is all the exercise I am getting. 

I am happy to hear about other missionaries.  Excited for Colton. I have not heard from Levi this week, and hope he is adjusting to mission field ok. 

I am so grateful for all your support. I hope that all continues to go well on that side of the world! I know this work is true. I love you, and hope you have a good week. 

Love

Elder Mitchell Brown

June 2, 2014 - Week 37

Dear Whoever,

This is just a general email for more info on what I'm up to! Well this week has gone well. I am now beginning the last week of this transfer. It is crazy to think how fast time goes by. I have been out now about 8 1/2 months!! 

My companion, Elder Dye was pretty difficult to get a long with at first, but things are going much better now. I think I can handle another transfer here with him. 

The past few days have been pretty challenging. We have had no power at our apartment since Thursday morning at 11. So it has now been about 96 hours without power!! This has been pretty dang though. We had to take our food to the other missionaries so it didn't go bad. We have a gas stove, so we have still been able to cook. The reason for the power being out is our little power meter is broken. So power is prepaid here. You have to buy it and load it onto your meter box. We have power to load on, but it won't let us. The maintenance guy can't come until today. Hopefully we can get it all figured out, because cold showers suck!! 

We did get our power back on this morning, so that is great news!

My area is going well. I serve in 2 different places. Evander is a town, which just means it is nicer, and more white people there. The other place I work is Emba, and this is a township. Townships have a lot of shacks, but also a lot if homes. This is where the blacks were forced to live during the apartheid, so it is still only black people. It is really fun to walk through township and see all the weird looks we get as 2 white guys. I really enjoy working in township. It is really fun, and really crazy. There is always a lot going on there, it is just really crazy all the time. Mostly it is fun to mess with the little black kids. There are like funny little things they can't do with there fingers, or hands. It is fun to tell them we are American, because they love to hear that!! I have served in township now all of my mission. 

I am really enjoying the work, and  teaching some sweet people. One really big problem though is church attendance. One of the standards in my mission is someone has to come to church 5 out of 7 weeks to be baptized. It is really hard for people to come this much if they aren't really committed. There are 2 really cool investigators that I am teaching. They are both living in Emba. 

Kalvin is a 14 year old boy. He is a nephew of a recent convert named Fortune. Fortune is only 15. Kalvin has been progressing quick. He was scheduled to be baptized the 15th of June, but he has missed the last 2 Sundays. He is going to have to be rescheduled which is disappointing. 

The other promising investigator is named Lindo. She is 18 and living with her grandparents. They are less active members, so hopefully she will have support. She is in 10th grade right now. She was also scheduled to be baptized the 15th of June, but again church attendance is a problem. She will probably be rescheduled for the first of July. 

It is still so weird to think I am in Africa. Most things seem very similar. There are still definitely those things I see everyday that remind me I am still in Africa. I have really come to love this place, but it has made me so grateful for where I come from!! I have been so humbled serving here. 

Well being a general email I hope whoever is reading this is doing well. I know the gospel is true. My testimony has grown so much. Sometimes it is so frustrating when people don't listen to us as missionaries because I know we have the truth. I guess all I can do is keep trying. 

With my Love, 

Elder Mitchell Brown 

June 1, 2014 Pictures of Mitchell

Elder Brown with Elder Dye

Mitchell absent for Randall and Katrina wedding - Mitch was there in spirit