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