Baking a Cake - October 22, 14

Mitchell made a cake for a members birthday party.  It was Grandma Diane recipe and he did a great job making a cake from scratch.  He said they loved it and wanted to share it with friends and family.  GOOD JOB MITCH

Week 58 - Oct. 27, 14

Dear Mom and Dad,

Well it has been a good week for me. Just the same old going on here. I always feel bad that my emails are boring and I have nothing new to tell you. It just seems as if I am doing the same thing every day. The teaching is still going super well.

I really enjoyed conference this past weekend. I finally got to watch it. There were some amazing talks, and some great tips. I really liked the talks on Joseph Smith as well. I always look forward to watching conference. I guess it was a long day. WE watched 3 sessions straight.

I guess with transfer I am doing well, and have adjusted well to my new companion. He is really funny, and I like him a lot. Elder Zebe that got transferred is doing well. He is around 2 other missionaries that will be going home the same time as him, and so he is enjoying that. He also has an alright companion.

I guess the big thing that happened this week was I baked the cake!! I found all the ingredients successfully, and it turned out great. It took me a couple hours to do, but it was all good. The member that I took it to loved it. We had a mini birthday party at their house on Wednesday Night. They said it was the best cake they had every had, and they even took it to like there friends and family, so thanks. I got some good pictures that I will send later. I cooked two rectangle pieces in two casserole dishes, and it worked good

The area is doing well. I guess the constant battle with missionary work is trying to find new people to teach. We really need new people to teach, so that is our goal this week. We have some good investigators as well that are progressing towards baptism. Our best investigator right now is named Mbali. She is a great women. She is so excited to be baptized, and she is especially excited to receive the Holy Ghost. She was a referral from one of the members. Referrals are always the best people to teach.

There are 6 other people we have scheduled to be baptized through November and December. I'm not sure if some of them will make it or not. The two friends we teach together Kgaugelo and Manthole I'm a bit worried about. I am not really sure they have testimonies yet, so they might be pushed back to December. Manthole also told me that some of his old friends came over, and they drank, so that is also another set back. The word of wisdom and the law of chastity are things people struggle a lot with here. But it is mostly because they are raised thinking these things are right.

Well thinking of Christmas stuff when Elder Zebe leaves the end of November i am going to buy some of his stuff. Like a blender and speakers.  I think this can count as my Christmas, and then I will buy a suit in like February. I really don't think you need to send a package, and if  you do just send a little one.

Well I am still really enjoying mission. It is a really fun time of my life, and I always try to be positive. There are definitely days when I just want to be home, but then I am comforted. I know I am growing and becoming better, and overcoming my weaknesses.

Love

Your Son

Elder Brown

Elder Zebe 

New Companion - Elder Maraetefau - from Tahiti

Week 57 - October 20,14

Dear Mom,

Thank you for the cake recipe. I hope that I can find a lot of that stuff here.  I am worried about the heavy cream, and chocolate chips. If I can't make it I will just have to buy a box cake, but I will try to find the stuff.  I am make a cake for a member on Tuesday. 

It sounds like your week has been wonderful.  We are in a bit of a hurry today so sorry if short letter.  

I guess the big news is Elder Zebe got  Transferred. .We were both upset and sad because transfer day was his birthday. I was looking forward to spending his last six weeks with him. So I now have a new companion, and his name is Elder Maraetefau. He is from French Polynesia, or Tahiti. He is a super fun kid, and he laughs a lot. We have a lot of fun together, so that is good. I just still don't have the connection I had with Elder Zebe. My new comp has been out for 5 months, and his English is still pretty bad. Back home he mostly spoke French. He didn't speak any English when he came, so He is doing great. The language barrier is a bit rough. I will try to get you some pictures of him. 

The reason we are in a hurry today is because I am going to meet up with Elder Zebe  for our p-day and say goodbye and still to go get him an African gown. I might get one too, so we will see. 

You will have to tell Blake congrats on the deer. That is awesome that he got one so fast. I am also excited to see the picture of Brent’s moose. That is an awesome hunt. I am sure they were super happy to draw out for that. 

I am sure holidays and family outing are super hard for you. But I know when I do anything that is like home that is what makes me miss home the most, so I am sure it is really hard for you always doing the same things that we did as I was there. I hope that it keeps getting easier for you. 

 I have also heard rumors that the postal strike is over. I have not yet gotten any letters or package, but I will let you know next week if anything shows up. I am sure I will get most of it. I am not sure if you should send the Christmas package yet. But I will start looking at things I can just buy for my Christmas. 

You asked if I will be assigned as a trainer.  I am not sure if I will be assigned to be a trainer again. I also could be assigned to be a District leader some time, but I am not really wanting to do either of these things. I just want to stay as a normal missionary. It is better not having that extra stress, but if it comes I will accept it. We lost a few other cool elders in our district.  In Vosloorus 1 Elder Thompson got Transferred with Elder Zebe. He is cousins with the David Terry family.  But now the zone seems pretty boring. Not really any missionaries I know really well.   

Good to hear about Levi. I haven't hear from him in a long time. I hope he is enjoying his mission more now than at the first. It gets a lot easier as the time goes on. I still find that as I enter a new transfer, that every time it gets easier to adjust to new area and companion.

This week was a bit hectic with the transfers.  We did teach some good lessons the rest of the week though. We are still helping Kgaugelo and Manthole prepare for baptism. We see them like 2-3 times a week. At least Kgaugelo will be baptized on the 9th of November. Manthole might be pushed back. We also have Mbali that will be baptized on the 9th. She was a referral from one of our good members that we call Mama Dekobe. She is super prepared, and she excited to be baptized. She is probably our best investigator. She was taught here, then moved to Cape Town and continued with lessons there, and now she is back and we are teaching here. I am still trying to learn the area , so I hope I can learn the area quick with a new companion. 

I hope that you have a fun time at Bryce, and have a good time riding the dunes. Elder Zebe and I have been making salsa. You will have to send me your recipe. We haven't been using fresh ingredients though, we have been using caned tomatoes. 

Well I have been doing well, and it is always good to hear everything is going well back home. I am so glad you keep me informed, and I am grateful for all the support. I love you and I hope you can continue to find comfort. Have a good week. 

My testimony has definitely been growing. It grows every day as I have to testify what I believe. Re-reading the Book of Mormon is really awesome. It is helping me to just remember the simple things. 

Love

Your Son

Brother Herbert - Baptism October 11, 14

Baptism with Brother Herbert - October 11. . Elder Zebe baptized him, and I was in the water to help.  We had 2 of us in the water, so I was in the water just to assist. I took a joking picture wearing my goggles. 

Brother Herbert is awesome.

October 13, 14 - Week 56

Dear Mom, 

The week has gone well. We have taught a lot of lesson, but again we didn't meet our goals. We need to start finding more people to teach to fill our days. This area has a lot of potential, so we are busy finding people to teach. Another good week has goon by here in South Africa. I am still doing very well, and enjoying the work. Time has really flown by since I have been here in Vosloorus. I have been here one transfer (6 weeks). It seems like I have been with Elder Zebe for only 2 weeks or so now. The next transfer starts tomorrow, so I am super excited that I will stay with Elder Zebe for another transfer, and I know this next six weeks will fly by. This will be my 10th transfer beginning tomorrow.  Elder Zebe will return home the end of these 6 weeks.

As you said you were thinking about me, and how much I remember the family. I still feel like I know you pretty well, and I remember things about home. Like there are little things I guess I have forgotten, and that I will have to readjust to, but it will be pretty easy. I guess sometimes it feels like i don't have a family back home, but then I remember and those thoughts don't last very long. I know in the back of my mind that you are constantly there are supporting me. I hope that you can continue to be comforted and know that I am doing well. I know the next 11 months will fly by, so I am not too worried

That is cool that you went to Meet the Mormons. I hope that somehow we will be able to see it here. I hope that President Dunn figures out a way to let us see it. Marshall told me that he saw it, so maybe there is a way I can see it. It sounds like it was pretty well done from what I have heard. 

That is good you are still able to get up the mountain and enjoy the fresh air. I miss having fresh air. Really the only time we get nice fresh air here is when it rains, and it is only for like a day we have nice air. I don't think I have sent pictures of this small apartment yet, sorry I will get some this week and send them.

The weather is still about the same. It is still kind of hot. It is heating up a bit. I haven't been super hot I guess. When we are walking in the heat at about noon or one o'clock it is pretty dang hot. We had a pretty good rain storm on Friday evening, and it was nice because I was driving that day, so I didn't get soaked. The flat doesn't get super hot. We are actually at ground level, so that is nice. WE have 2 fans in the flat that we put on us at night to sleep, but it still isn't super hot. The hottest month is December, so we are still in spring I guess. 

I am feeling very good about working out and eating healthy. I am over my cold now I think, so that is good, I just have a bit of a cough that I get at night. 

Vosloorus it is just a normal township I guess. They speak mostly speak Shoto, and not really zulu in the area we are in. So I am trying to learn more of shoto now. There are 9 official languages in South Africa, but Zulu and Shoto are the most used African languages. But are days are pretty full teaching people. WE do talk to people on the streets sometimes. The streets normally have a lot of people. Township is normally very busy on the streets, unlike a town where everyone stays behind their gates. 

Well our best investigator the old man Brother Herbert got baptized yesterday. Our other good investigators are Kgaugelo and Manthole, Mpho, Mbali, and Rambo(Theboho). Good luck saying those names haha!! We normally see each of them 2 times a week, so that fills our days pretty good. We have also been finding some new people that aren't really worth telling you about yet because we will most likely drop them. Our work is a lot about seeing if people will actually be serious and progress, and if not we drop them. There are a lot of jokers in township that will never move anywhere. But Kgaugelo and Manthole and Mbali will all be  baptized the 9th of November.

Speaking of the baptism with Herbert it went well. I will sent you the pictures so you can see. Elder Zebe baptized him, and I was in the water to help. We had 6 people baptized yesterday. Only one of them was from my side of the area, and the other 5 were from the other missionaries side. The baptism program went great. We got the old man Herbert baptized without drowning him. We had 2 of us in the water, so I was in the water just to assist. I took a joking picture wearing my goggles. Brother Herbert is awesome.

Well this ward is very strong. We don't have to help do anything. We don't even teach gospel principles every Sunday, and I have been doing that my whole mission. The ward does still need some help. I guess here in Africa they get a lot of stuff mixed up with like policy and things. As missionaries we have to straighten stuff out a lot. Like home teaching and visiting teaching never gets done. We went to the PEC meeting and only 8 families had been home taught in the ward for the month of September. We had a good amount of investigators at church, but not all the ones we wanted there.

Other than that everything is going great. It is weird I am already at 13 months this week. I hope time will keep flying. I am ready to be done with the stress of mission life. I am pretty comfortable right now though. I know life will be stressful as well when I get home, but jut different kinds of stress. 

I am so grateful for my testimony though. Without my testimony I would have been home a long time ago. I started reading the Book of Mormon again like 4 weeks ago. I am now almost done with Mosiah, and it is great. The Book of Mormon is so true, and so powerful. That is how we know our investigators are truly converted if they read the Book of Mormon, and gain a testimony of it. The gospel brings such comfort into peoples lives, and it gives us a way to structure our lives. I am so glad I can share the gospel with people and see it change there lives everyday. It really does bring a lot of joy to me. 

 I am so glad that Elder Zebe and I are like best friends. It is his birthday this week on Wednesday. I hope that I am treating the young missionaries nice. There is a kid a missionary here from St George. He has been here now one transfer. I try to talk to him a lot, and just be nice to him when I see him. His name is Elder Broadhead, and he went to Desert Hills, so it is fun to relate with him. 

I have heard nothing on the postal strike. The mission has never told us anything. They didn't even tell us that there was a strike. We just have to basically find everything out on our own. I am sure because it is a big strike they might let us know when it is over, but I have heard nothing yet. I will keep you updated though. 

If you are able to send a package all I need really is chapstick( burts bees) and more gum. I can find everything else here. 

That is cool you will be playing an Africa song by Steven Sharp Neilson. I am sure that will be super fun. But it is cool to think we still see the same moon, but different stars. I do get to see the moon and stars every night, but I haven't noticed much of a difference in the stars. I have seen the Southern Cross though which is pretty cool. I miss seeing the big dipper though. I guess one day I will see it. 

Well there isn't much else interesting going on. I am sure I will have something good to tell you next week. Have a good UEA weekend, and try to enjoy yourself. I will continue on my quest to take more pictures. I love you and hope all continues to go well. 

Love 

Elder Brown

October 4, 14 - Week 55

Dear Mom,
Well it has been a great week. Time is such a weird thing to me as well. Time is going fast in some ways and in other ways it is moving very slow.  It is weird to think that September is over. I guess we all just keep getting older though. I still feel like I am 17, and that I should still be in school, but I'm not. I guess we just keep moving forward. There is a cool scripture about time in Alma 40:8. “Now whether there is more than one time appointed for men to rise it mattereth not; for all do not die at once, and this mattereth not; all is as one day with God, and time only is measured unto men.”
That is fun you watched some of conference up at the cabin, I hope that was a fun time for the family.  We didn't get to see any conference this weekend. We will not beviewing it until the 25th and 26th. I am looking forward to seeing it. They did watch it in some of the wards but our chapel did not have it.   We will watch it on a disc. It is crazy to think this is my 3rd conference on mission.
I will have to watch for Joseph in the priesthood session MTC choir, when I get to watch conference. I am sure all those missionaries in the MTC are just scared out of there mind. I am so glad I am way past that and comfortable with what I am doing now. I am sorry watching theMissionaries sing made you sad and think of me. Just know I am doing very well, and like I said I am not like those MTC missionaries anymore.
 I have not heard anything about this movie. “Meet the Mormons”  Is it put out by the church?? I wonder if we will get to see it sometime. I am sure it is not coming out in theaters here haha. That is pretty cool though. Youwill have to tell me more about it.
As a missionary it is really easy to live the gospel because I don't really have a choice. I do it 24/7. but normal life it is hard. I hope that my brothers can see how much they need the spirit in their life. Like the scriptures say the spirit can bring all things to your remembrance, so it would help so much with school and making daily choices.
This week has flown by. I am just starting the last week of thetransfer. It is weird to think I have already been here in Vosloorusfor 5 weeks. I am really enjoying it here. The area is really great.We are teaching some great investigators. The ward is also great. Themembers are very nice and hospitable to us. We are really trying toget the ward more missionary minded. The youth here are really aproblem. They come to church, but outside of church they are just likeevery other kid. They go out and party and just do bad stuff. And thebad thing is the parents don't parent there kids. They are expectingthe leaders to do it for them. So that is a big problem we are tryingto help sort out.That is weird to think it is already freezing, but I guess it is now October.  Sorry about your garden getting froze.  You asked what fruit and vegetables I can get at the store.
Well I can get basically get everything. Each week we buy fruits and vegetables to make our green shake. What we put in that is spinach, celery, apples, bananas, and lemon juice. then I also buy grapefruit. The mango's will be back in season soon as well. The only fruit they don't really have is strawberries. They have them, but they are really small and expensive. Other than that I can find everything for fairly cheap. We shop at a place called fruit and veg for that, and it is really inexpensive. Like I got a ton of stuff for 70 rand, so 7 dollars.
You asked about our new apartment and if we had washer and dryer.   All through my mission every apartments has a washing machine in it. We do not have a dryer.  We just hand dry our clothes. So there are like dryingracks in all the flats. I really miss having a dryer. But it is all good. The area is great. We are teaching some good people that are on date to be baptized. This next Sunday we will be baptizing Herbert, the old man that stays in the rest home. It will be an interesting baptismbecause he had a stroke a while back and half his body doesn't work. We will have two people in the water. I might have to use my goggles and get under the water!! hahaTwo other investigators we see like 3 times a week are Kgaugalo and Manthole. They are both like 25, and cool guys. We just hang out with them after we teach them. Their friend has a car wash in his frontyard, so that is where we teach them. It is like the hang out spot fora bunch of people. I took a picture with Kgaugalo and I will send that. On Wednesdays we drive out to a farther area called Dawn Park. We mostly just see a lot of members out there. It is a nicer area. We only go there on Wednesdays because it is farther away, and we have the car on Wednesdays.
 We don't do much on P-days. We do see the other missionaries in our zone. We normally go to the chapel and play like soccer or rugby. We also go to the grocery store, and mall and just walk around and stuff. That is about anormal P-day.
I think like you said I can find a lot of stuff here to just buy. I have been actually looking at a dark blue suit and might buy that for my Christmas. That would be a lot cheaper than you sending a big package. I will keep you updated on the strike though. It has been 6 weeks since mail has come.  I will keep looking for letters and package from you.  It is pretty ridiculous though. I have been waiting to send letters. I am glad as well that we can email and don't have to rely only on letters.
It is great to hear what you are doing. It doesn't make me sad really at all. It is just nice to know that life still is the same back home. I am also very happy to think this time next year I will be doing the same things with you. Speaking of the hunt you might have to put in for me in the spring, but I will remind you when that comes.
 I am very healthy and happy. I am really enjoying everything that is going on. I did start to get a cold yesterday, but I think I will get over it quick. I am still working out really hard with Elder Zebe, and we are on a strict diet, so I am feeling very healthy and well with that. There have been no threats of Ebola here.
Elder Zebe is great. He is probably my favorite companion. We have so much fun together. We are working really well with each other as well. He is giving his talk the 30th of November. His ward name is Canyon Gate Ward in Las Vegas.  That would be cool if you went to his homecoming. That is his family you saw on face book.  His sisters are adopted from China.
Well I hope you always know I am doing well. I am loving the work, and I know I am being watched over. I love hearing from you about what isgoing on back home. I hope you will keep updating me because it is fun to hear about the family and the new things going on back home. I hope that this week goes well, and tell everyone hello for me, and I love them. Marshall is doing great. I still email him every week.
LoveYour Son
Elder Brown