Pictures - February 15 to 22

Thankful for ward members that are feeding Mitchell and his companion and taking pictures and sending to us.  This picture was taken by a member and emailed to us.  Mitchell having fun with their son.

Mitchell and his companion have a dear member friend that takes them places on their P-day.  They went to a bird show this last week.

Mitchell is missing swimming and thinking of his brother Calvin who just finished State Championship swim meet.  He said he bought a cap and goggles and that is as close as he can get to swimming for now.

We were so excited to have Mitchell tell us in his email that he had meet up with Stephen Allen who is from Cedar, at the ward in Johannesburg.  Mitchell put together a small package and Mr. Allan brought it back to our family.  It was cool to have Mitchell send items for each member of our family, and very kind of Mr. Allan to deliver.  Mr. Allan works for SUU and was in South Africa working on foreign student recruiting - he is Scotts patient and on the Iron County school board. 

Sacrament meeting -  Mr Stephen Allan from Cedar City. 

Mom wearing neckless and a bracelet sent from Mitchell

Week 75 - February 23, 2015

Dear Mom, 

Well another great week here. I am so glad to hear that you received my little package! I looked at the pictures in drop box, and I am glad that you enjoyed them. I was pretty excited to get a package together to send to you, and it was so nice to have him delivering it so quick. 

I had the scripture case and hymn book, but I went on a quick little shopping trip on Tuesday to an African Market. I hope that you liked the stuff, I didn't have to much time to shop around other places. I thought you would like the necklace, but sorry they aren't too African! Thank you for distributing everything. I saw Mr. Allan on Sunday, and he offered to take something back, and so I got stuff together and took it to him on Tuesday night. He was so kind to bring it, and I am glad that he brought it by on Thursday. 

I am glad you enjoyed the cap and goggles picture. That is about as close to swimming as I can get! That is cool that Calvin got through Senior state! It sounds like a lot of swimming, and driving back and forth to St George. That is still weird to think that Calvin can just drive himself there! It sounds like a lot of the SUSA swimmers did pretty well, at least for senior state. There are so many good swimmers there! 

Well It sounds like your presidents holiday was like a spring holiday! That is so crazy that you could drive all the way up the mountain without hitting any snow! That means you guys are pretty desperate for storms. That is great though that you got a small snow storm this past week! That is good that Calvin is hanging out with Tyler and having fun with him. He seems like a good kid! 

 I am staying pretty healthy overall! I got another spider biter though like the one I got back in December! This one was about as bad, but I have already been on an antibiotic all week, and it has gotten a lot better! It has basically healed already, so don't worry about it ha! Other than that I am doing great with health. I have not gotten a cold or anything in a long time! I am sorry to hear you have, or had a cold. I hope you can get over it, and stop breathing through a straw! 

The members have been pretty good to take and send pictures to you. I am glad that they are doing that. The temperature have cooled down a bit this last week, but it is still hot on a lot of days! We have gotten rain like once this last week.

 We do stay pretty cool in our flat, but it gets pretty hot sometimes. With the fans and opening the windows it helps a lot though! We are able to have the windows open at night without mosquitoes. I don't know why we were so worried about bugs and stuff when I left, because I have had no problem with them, except my little spider friends! 

The week has been pretty good. We just have the same schedule everyday. We wake up and go running every other morning. Get back to the flat and shower and study. At about 11 we leave the flat to go see people. On Tuesday we normally see Willamina and Ester, and a few other people. On Wednesdays we normally go do service with Jackie at her little truck shop/concession stand. This is like the lunch room at the school. We just get stuff for the kids, and then we bag extra food that they get to send home with the kids. We actually didn't do that on Wednesday because she cancelled, but we did it later on Friday. On Wednesday we also go sing at the old folks home Abby Cross. no Wednesday Night we went and ate with Sister Masters, and a missionary that served here back in 2013. He was back here for someone’s wedding in the ward, and we ate with him and his wife. He is a South African, Afrikaans(white) guy, and his wife is from Louisiana. That was a really fun dinner. we just joked around and laughed a lot. We taught Jackie twice this week! On Friday night after doing service for her, and on Sunday afternoon. She is so nice to feed us every time we see her. It makes me feel bad sometimes. She is so cool though. Our lessons with her are so spiritual. I love how I can just look at her though and see how she would be changed as a member. I think this is just seeing part of heavenly fathers love and vision for her. I love to look at investigators and see them how they would be with the gospel in there lives. 

I guess we did have a cool experience with Thoko. She has been really stressed, and not sure what has been going on. She messaged us and said she didn't want us to come any more. We went to place to meet with another girl, and we finished some service we were doing for her. We had been putting together a dresser for her, so we finished it. She then sent us a message that said you guys are awesome, and I want to see you next week. That really was a miracle! It was just a really cool experience. It just shows how important serving people is. 

We are also teaching this lady named Nurse. She lives with a member, but it is funny the member really doesn't know the gospel either, so we are basically teaching them both ha!! She came to church for the first time yesterday and loved it. She was used to the "happy clappy churches." I guess where they just clap and sing and have drums and guitars. She really loved church, and the spirit that was there. I guess we are just going slow with here because she doesn't have the best understanding. 

We are hoping to have a few baptisms next month! Jackie should have quite smoking, and then Willamina and Ester. We still need to find new people here. We only have like 5 good investigators. The members have been good with referrals, and that has helped. In this area tracting, like knocking doors, or ringing bells at gates isn't effective! We have really just been trying to work with members! That is our best way of going about the work here. 

It is just so nice to share the gospel with people. I love seeing how it changes them. I really feel that I can feel heavenly fathers love for the people I am teaching! That is one of the coolest feelings ever. I guess even if i am not teaching a lot, the teaching I am doing is growing my testimony so much! I am so glad for the experiences I have everyday.

Well I wish  you a good week. I hope dad doesn't die trying to teach all those annoying scouts! Good luck preparing for Festival, and Know I am rooting for you! I love you

Love

Elder Brown

Week 74 - February 16, 2015

Dear Mom, 

Thank you for all the DL(down low) on State Swimming. It is really cool to hear everything, I am just sad that I missed it. It sounds like Calvin did pretty well!! I guess that is a bit disappointing about the 100 free, but he still has 2 more years so... That is crazy that he dropped 2 seconds on his 100 breast! That is a lot of time to drop! That is sweet that he medaled in that event. It sounds like the relays did great, especially the 400 free. That is great they beat CV. I know that they have some good swimmers in that relay. That is great that Colby did so good as well! He has been such a hard worker, and he deserves to win. I am sure that is exciting for his Senior year. That is also cool to see Abby on there for swimming in the 200 and 500! That is cool that their sweetheart dates drove up to watch them! I hope they had fun at the dance. Shea told me that they came over to her house after the dance. 

 Well it has been a pretty good week here in Randburg. As you said I have not been here for six weeks. Our transfers are tomorrow, and we are not having any changes here. I will be staying here with elder Peterson. I am pretty happy about that! It is a great area, and me and elder Peterson actually work pretty well together. I guess that is the big news of this week. 

We have still been doing great with teaching. We are still teaching our great investigators. 

Jackie is doing great! She is still struggling with smoking, but we are working with that. She is just such a great lady, and very ready. She just loves the gospel. Here and Nathan are so fun to be with. We just joke around. I love being sarcastic with people!!

Willamina and Ester are doing well still. We met them 2 times this last week. They are still learning and progressing, but it goes slow with them because they have a lot of questions. They are still great though, and they are coming to church! 

We are also still teaching Thoko. She is going well, but she has been getting distracted lately. She hasn't come to church for 2 weeks either.

We met this new girl that lives with Thoko and a member. Her name is Muntu. She is a sweet investigator. She read the whole pamphlet, which never happens. She also really understood and comprehended the restoration! It was a sweet lesson we had with her. We then met her again, and introduced the Book of Mormon. She was really ready to read it as well. The only thing - she said I don't think I can join another church yet. But that is no worry, we can change that pretty easy!! 

I guess that is most of our cool investigators. WE have other random people like Nurse, a guy named Marshall(he's black), and Precilla. We are really blessed to get a lot of referrals from our ward members! It is awesome to get referrals! It makes missionary work so much easier. 

I met a guy in church yesterday that is from Cedar. His name is Steve Allen, and he is a patient of dad's. I don't know why he is here, but It was cool to meet him. He is coming back to Cedar on Wednesday. 

I also had dinner with the Crankshaws last night. They have a daughter that just got home from her mission from New Zealand. It was cool to talk to him about his brother in Cedar, and when he visited Cedar. The world is so small in Mormon ville. It is fun to find people that know about Cedar and Utah! 

On Valentines day elder Peterson and I tried to find somewhere nice to eat, and then even tried to go to the Hagen Daz Ice Cream place, but neither worked. All the restaurants around Mandela Square were packed, and booked out for the night. It was a bit disappointing, so we found a little Chinese place and I got sushi! 

On Wednesday Elder Peterson made me a nice breakfast, I guess I helped a bit. We had blueberry pancakes, American bacon, and eggs. It was pretty nice! I normally just have a protein shake for breakfast, so it was a nice mix up! 

I guess today we are going with Sister Masters to Monte Casino to play the slots!!!! haha just kidding we are going to a bird show there! I guess it is some really cool birth show. Sister masters is a lot of fun! She is just a super sarcastic old lady, and so her and I just are cheeky to each other, and we are so sarcastic! I guess that has been the week! 

 I am feeling pretty good! I have been pretty healthy, and I think that is from eating healthy, and exercising! I am feeling at peace with the things I am doing. I am really enjoying mission, and the work I am doing. Like I said I love seeing the gospel change people, and the effect it has on there lives. I get to see that everyday. I guess I have also seen the importance of agency. We really can't force anyone to follow. The savior always says come, so all we can do is invite. sometimes it is sad when people won't follow, and you want to force them because you know the happiness the gospel will bring. We are staying pretty busy for the most part. We do have a few slow days a week, but that is super normal, and I am used to it. 

Thank you for the pictures, they were fun to see. I have made a goal to take a picture a day. The Crankshaws told me how much the pictures mean to get, so I am going to try and do better with it. I hope you have an amazing week. I love you. 

Love

Your son

Lunch with our Zone - Singing at Retirement Home and Paintball with our Zone

Visiting with Elders in our Zone - Mitchell and Companion 

Lunch with President Dunn - Elder Mitchell by Back of Car

Singing at a retirement home - picture after with President Dunn

Sister Dunn joins in to sing with us - all the residents have Hymn book and join in if they can.  

Paint Ball on p-day

Companion Elder Peterson - Eating Lunch/ Picnic and Fountain Show at Members

Week 73 - February 9,15

Dear Mom and Dad, 

Well another week down. It has been a really good week in terms of teaching. It has been our best week so far this transfer. It is crazy to think I have been here in Randburg for 5 weeks already! But we taught a lot of people this week and stayed busy for the most part. That always helps the time to go faster. It is crazy every transfer seems to go faster and faster. This has been the quickest transfer so far. 

Well that is fun for Linday. She will be a great missionary/nurse. That is fun that Ashley got to come down to see her give her farewell. I do remember her. Well I hope Ashley can make a decision. That must be hard to try and decide about her work. 

 We had our ward conference yesterday, and I couldn't help but think of you,  Dad . I know these conferences are hard work. It was a great conference, and the topic was "Love one another." We really did hear some great talks on loving our neighbors, and just loving each other as the Savior loved us. We also had a lunch after at the church, and that was nice as well. 

Yeah Grandma told me about her trip, and I hope she has fun. 

I was at the area office this last week, and I talked to Doctor Barton who is the area doctor. I told him my Great Uncle was John Holbrook, and he said he knows him well. He is his first contact, and he talks to him often. He said he would tell him hello for me.  

Thank you for getting me a deer tag! I was going to ask you about that, but I forgot. That is super exciting to think I will be home by that time next year. Also exciting to think about school stuff. I am glad they are sending you stuff about getting registered at SUU.  I will also check my other email to see if they have been sending me anything about school, and I will forward it to you. 

Well that is exciting to start to hear a bit about the Cedar Temple. I hope that they will have broken ground at least before I come home in the next six months. It sounds like they might be preparing for spring to start if they have blueprints and a contractor there. Just keep me updated on that as well. 

 We go sing at that rest home every Wednesday, and President and Sister Dunn came and joined us. It was fun to have them there. I am glad Sister Dunn is putting on some pictures that you can see. I will have to look at the pictures to see what they look like. I am not sure what car she got us by. The car I drive is a Chevy Aveo. it isn't too nice, but for a missionary car it is alright. The fountain you saw were at a members.  Actually we went there with sister Masters and had a little picnic and watched the fountains. 

We can go out to eat whenever. We have an hour each day for lunch, so we can do whatever with that time. We actually do go to our apartment for lunch most of the time. This is actually the only area that I have lived in my area, and we do not drive into our area -so it is actually quite easy to go back to the flat to eat. 

Well I am enjoying my zone and I am doing great with elder Peterson. My zone is also really fun. I do have a lot of missionaries that I have been around. Like Elder Cazier, Barton, and even Elder Robins. It is fun to be around them on Fridays and Mondays. The family that emailed you and sent picture  was a our former bishop. The Taim's. We went over to their house to eat, and they like to send pictures to the families of the missionaries. 

WE are still eating with members quite often. some weeks we have a dinner appointment every night, and other weeks it is just like 4 a week. It is really nice because I don't have to try and make food for myself.  I just have fun with them, and we are never pushy about referral. I don't like openly asking for people to teach. It is better to let them bring the people after you have build trust in them. Our ward is really good though about giving us referrals to teach. 

Our investigators are doing well. Our best investigator is Jackie. She has really improved her smoking this last week. It is cool to see her progress, especially as she turns to the scriptures. If she doesn't read her scriptures then she falls back into smoking more a day. It is cool to see the spirit in her life. Nathan is so great to keep pushing her. He is like "come on mom!!" we always joke with them, and sometimes we just have to be forceful with her to read. We just finished teaching her the Plan of Salvation or Lesson 2. She really loved the concept of Agency, and how she had to make the choice to stop smoking, and how it was a gift to choose. I have never thought about agency that way. 

Our other investigators are good. Like we have Thoko, and Willamina and Ester. We are still seeing them. We are teaching Thoko about the Plan of Salvation as well. She is great, and has good understanding. We have been reading the Book of Mormon with Willamina and Ester, just to help there understanding. With Willamina especially the language of the Book of Mormon is confusing, so we read with them. 

Other than that we are still trying to find new people. We taught two new people this week. One names Nurse, and the other Precilla. It is nice to be finding new people. 

Well that is exciting about State swimming. I hope that Calvin is happy with his decision on events, and I am sure he will do great. Just tell him to be confident in himself. I am excited to hear more about how they do. I hope that the team can all drop time and give Park City a run for there money. I guess we will just see. Make sure Calvin sleeps a lot this week, and Carb loads. Well tell him good luck!!

Most days are pretty hot still. The summer heat is still here, and i think it will be for about another month. WE don't get too much rain now either. I guess we did have a really cool thunder storm this last week. The lightning and thunder here is super crazy. That is weird that it warm weather there, and no snow. that will not be good for this next summer. I hope you can get some snow/rain soon. 

I guess something fun this last week. We went paint-balling last Monday. It was our zone vs. another zone. There were like 40 of us there. It was super fun, and I shot a lot of dumb missionaries. Ha Ha!! It was cool to just have some fun actually. I am pretty sure our zone won, but it was fun. 

 I have seen a bit of mail. I did get the Christmas card actually! But other than that I am still getting mail from October. There is mail coming through though. I still don't know about packages. 

but we just come to an internet cafe to email. I still have the same amount of time, I have just gotten more efficient at emailing I guess haha.

Well I am working hard, and it is nice. It is just great the feeling you get as you work hard. I really am learning so many great things. I also know that I will keep learning new things as I continue on. It is amazing all the things I have learned, and just how I have learned more about myself. I have also learned how important the gospel is to life. Well I love you and I am so grateful for your support. I hope you have a good week. I Love You

Love

Your son 

Week 71 - Feb. 1, 2015

Dear Mom

Well another week down, and only 26 to go haha!! It has been a pretty good week here! I guess it has been a bit of a slower week in terms of teaching investigators. We have still been teaching a lot of members and less actives. It was a great Sunday Yesterday. I always enjoy just going to church and feeling of the spirit. Next week is our Ward Conference, so I am looking forward to that! I am doing great, and really enjoy my work. this is a great area, and we do have great investigators, even though we only have like 4 good investigators. We really need to find more people to teach. But we should have a couple baptisms next month!  

 It sounds like it was a spiritually uplifting weekend with all the great talks given at stake conference! Dad did send his talk, so I will have to read through that! by the way he described it, it sounds like a great talk and topic!

I'm glad you liked the pictures of Sandton, and Joburg! I also sent some of us at the temple. We took pictures in joburg by the Vodocom or point tower apartments when we were there teaching.  Just like you said - gangs moved into the building and it is very unsafe.  It is know as the crime center where it use to be the high end neighborhood of Hillbrow.  We were standing at a place called prayer hill. People go up there and pray outloud and even baptize each other and just crazy stuff!! But yeah it is a very scary area! We are not allowed  to teach there, and that is why the missionaries were taken out of that area. Hilbrow is a really scary area that is just very ghetto! 

Well it sounds like the region swimming went great!! That is cool to hear that the boys and the girls won region. That hasn't happened since Blake was a senior. I hope that the swimmers were pleased with there times and things. That is good to hear Calvin improved his times! It sounds like he has a hard decision on his hands though with the events that he will swim. I hope that he can make a decision and be happy with it. That is a bit sad that other swimmers were dropping a lot of time and moving him up in placement. I hope that he isn't discouraged about that. 

We are still working hard, and striving for the goals that we have set.

 Willamina is doing great. She lives in a little room thing at the side of the house she works at. Her daughter Ester lives with her. We are teaching both of them, and they both have come to church the last 2 Sundays. She also has a son, but not sure where he is. 

Jackie is probably our best investigator. So i will tell you the story with Nathan. He started going to church with a friend when he was 5. He went faithfully until he was ten. He wanted to be baptized when he was 10. He was taught with his mom (Jackie), and Nathan was baptized. She has had problems with the Word of wisdom for a while, so that is why she wasn't baptized with him. She has been a great support of him though. He has had a great family that still takes him to church every week, the Pieenar family. That Pieenar boy is the one that just left on his mission to the Salt Lake West mission. But we now have Jackie on date to be baptized on March 15th. We are really working with her smoking, and she has improved a lot! 

It sounds like everyone is great. I am glad to hear that Blake is popping in. I hope that he is doing good with school! That is fun to hear about Katrina, and hope that she can keep doing well with her school. 

 I am glad that Ashley is doing well. I hope that she had fun dressing up in all her costumes! She always has such fun costumes! I will have to check out the pictures!

 I am doing great with Elder Peterson. Like you said it is great to be open and talk and help one another. I think Elder Peterson and I have really done that. We have been really open about our feelings and what we want, and it has really helped us to work good together.  He is the 3 in his family. He has an older brother, and older sister, and then a younger brother. he went to school for a semester at Utah state and studied biology. He wants to maybe do like lab science of some sort. He just turned 20, and he is now just over a year on his mission. He is a great guy! 

Well with obedience that is something I have really wanted to get better at the last 6 months. I know obedience brings great peace and safety.   this month is the  Month of Miracles. President Dunn has challenged us all to be exactly obedient this month, and we will see miracles happen in our mission. It is a great way for me to kick of my last 6 months! I really want to be obedient to the Lord commandments. I have found that the Lord really gives us commandments to bless us, and help us reach our full potential of happiness. I hope to keep seeing this in my life. 

I hope that you have a great week. I love you!

Your son

Elder Brown