Elder Brown’s Missionary Site

Date: Monday, March 15, 2010 8:16 AM
Subject: P-B-Day

Hola Familia!
Well its going good here. Just had changes like i said the other day. My comp is awesome and we havin a blast. Its a bit difficult because we gotta startin separating people that arent really progressing and thats been hard and weve had the opportunity to search alot haha. Its been great though. So Elder Fry is the new Secretary and so i did get my package on time cuz he loves me and got it to me at stake conference which ill explain later but i guess there are perks for having comps in the offices haha. Elder Smith is in his old zone of Pando but not in Pando but hes not my ZL. That woulda been cool though. He’ll be great at that.

So its been a good week but like i said we been killin off a lot of investigators. Its been Tough but we been finding some really cool people. We got to talk to Rogelio again yesterday which went great. We lost contact with him this last week cuz he doesnt have a set schedule but yesterday he said he wants to make sure he has this in his life and not lose contact again. He is truely searching and so sincere with it. He lives a tough life alone and lives off “changas” which are just like little jobs here and there. We trying to help him with getting a set job.

Well Mauricio is having a tough time. He didnt go to Conference yesterday which was hard to see and his family is givin him a hard time. His girlfriend just got home from Maldonado and is trying to be supportive but its really up to him. We dont wanna push him just goin for her but his school, work and family are getting to him. So thats been kinda rough.

My comp is way cool and we having a great time teaching and talking to people. We talk to a ton and not many want to hear much but its going good.

The Ward is really amazing here. We had stake conference yesterday and its HUGE this stake. The church was completely filled with all the chairs from the whole church used and still people standing. Was hard to stand for 2 hours haha but worth every bit of it. The spirit was so strong and Beatriz and Elsa(beatriz mom) went! Thats awesome cuz they are just doing amazing. They were inactive and it was basically like teaching a new person with them but they are soooo cool and so happy now with the gospel once again in their lives. We working alot with the less actives to find new people and get this ward rolling. The ward is pretty small for here and its more like a branch but its gonna grow and we just seeing miracles here. The members are really cool too and very like familyish haha.

On the bus to go home from conference one of the hermanas got up and i dont know how she new but started everyone singing happy birthday to me and then they tried to do it in English and that was just funny to watch. I just love the Ward here and they taking good care of me

Well i loved the Birthday package and me and my comp had a fun morning. I guess we doing an activity a little later on as a zone so im excited for that. Gonna play volleyball and yah im just way excited to play. Its the best place i could be here on my birthday and wouldnt wanna be anywhere else and even better that i can write to you guys on my birthday! even though i can hardly remember you all hope its all going good. Thanks for everything and I LOVE YOU!!!
Con Amor
Elder Brown.

Date: Tue, 9 Mar 2010 11:03:38 +0100
Subject: CHANGES!

Hola Familia!
So it seems a bit has gone on there. I actually thought Dads part of the email was Moms until i got to the end…. but thanks for the email. It was an awesome change here in Lomas de Solymar with Elder Fry. We had a good week and it was just crazy. Sunday Pollito, in Ines´ picture (little guy), came to church again. Ines was really sick but Pollito still wanted to come and he loves it. He cant read but he trys to follow along with the songs and is actually really good. Mauricio is doing awesome. He stopped going to church for a couple weeks and we been very nervous. He didnt show up at church… until litterally the sacrament in sacrament meeting. Hes having troubles with his family and it all started when we put the Baptismal date… so theres always opposition i guess. Hes so cool though.

Well im gonna miss Elder Fry a ton. He took off to be the Secretary actually and left Sunday right after church. It was so hard for him because the only gave him church really to say goodbye but hes gonna do awesome in the offices. We had such a good change and hes a really good kid. It caused a ton of problems cuz i had to get a Corto Plazo for 2 days to be with me and only had 1 night to find one. That was fun but i found one in the area next to ours and he was such a stud. Paul was his name and he was so funny. We had some really good times and he will be an awesome missionary when hes old enough. We actually did a contact with a guy on bikes. He was riding his bike and we just rode next to him and it turned out to be a really good contact and the guy was really interested. It was pretty cool.

So now my new comp is Elder Griffiths. He actually started in Leone in Melo also! He was Elder Frys MTC comp and im stoked to be with him. I just met him and he seems really cool, so maybe it wont be as hard as i thought leaving Elder Fry cuz im gonna miss him a ton.

Well I still havent received the package for the birthday but Thanks a ton. I really dont need anything but i can always use peanut butter. I hope you guys get my little package of the CD. I dont know whats on it but its just everything that random people have takin of pictures and stuff and well good luck with it haha.

But yah thats about all thats going on out here. Just Loving the Mish. LOVE YOU ALL A TON!
Con Amor.
Elder Brown

Subject: LAST WEEK TILL CHANGES….
Date: Monday, March 1, 2010 7:12:25 AM

HOLA FAMILIA!!
All is going Really good here. Its been a crazy week really busy and i mean just like a flying week. The biggest news was definately Ines` baptism! ah i was so excited for her. It was a long road to get here and was my comps first baptism and he got to baptise her. He did really well even though he tried to baptise her first with his left hand and then forgot to say amen.. but besides that It went awesome! We sang “come thou fount” in spanish and i played the guitar and that was way fun and the spirit was just so strong. It turned out really good…. i was so nervous though. Ines was soo happy though and she brought a friend, Pollito (means little chicken….), to the baptism and he is really interested too. He was very concerned though when an hermana was talking about baptism by fire that would happen on Sunday… haha. Something cool too is that Ines was able to have an interview with Presidente DaSilva also. It was great for her to meet him and it just happened that her interview was the same day we had conference and interviews with Pres.

It went really good and i just love it when Presidente DaSilva talks to us. He had us study 1 Nephi 3,4,17, and 18 and thats what we did. Well he ended not even talking about them but i just happened in my studies to find from 1 Nephi 4 a cool thing in 1 Samuel 15 and i loved it when i studied it! i had never seen it before…. well then of course Pres talked about that chapter. Was cool cuz i had just studied it and its a really cool chapter about Obeying and not changing stuff to fit ourselves or to be convenient. Kinda dropped cane on us but it was good. I recommend reading it cuz i really loved it alot.

Pres also talked alot about committing people to baptism at anytime. It really hit me and Elder Fry that part and had a really good experience with it. The next day…. Saturday… we found a guy, Rogelio in the morning and well it was just an amazing charla. Its amazing how strong the spirit is in the first charla and i think its always the strongest… i dont know if thats a good thing or bad thing but really the first vision just gets to me and you can see it get to other people. Rogelio just was amazing and to end it off we committed him to baptism…. he said hell have to know first for sure if its true but excepted. That happens a bit with people just saying yes… but it was different with him. It was his first time even praying or anything and he just felt different and wants to be baptized.

It really opened my eyes. sometimes things are just routine but these last days after the conference its just been amazing the spirit leading us to certain people and just really doing the work. I dont know what it really was but weve been very blessed these last 2 or 3 days.

Well its been an intense weekend like i said and its really strengthened me alot spiritually. We also did like 6 hours of straight cutting grass on thursday and now im burnt and man was it tiring cuz all we used is a weed wacker to cut huge lawns of like 2 feet of grass…. was fun and really was a good feeling after.

Friday night with one of the people we cut the lawn for, we had a noche de hogar and really just played a little with her kids that are rascals but all like 8-13 yrs old and all have had a hard time with their dad leavin them and stuff. So we had a noche de hogar and it was just playin then we had a time to just say what we were thankful for. It was seriously so amazing that night… the kids were really just having a good time and well are very difficult well just say but had a good time. they all said what they were thankful for and then something really got to me. Andres, the oldest boy thats like 10 yrs old, got really quiet when it got to him and just said he was so thankful for the night we had… for being happy like a family once again. It really got to me and wow just hit me of how blessed i was to be in our family and just wanna say thanks mom and dad for giving us such a great family. i can now see how hard it is after bein with these kids and im sure i was probly 10x worse but thanks!

So mom yes i did get the shirt and its funny you ask that cuz im wearing it right now it just happens i dont have it on in photos. i did get Vics testimony, thanks for that it was really cool. Yes i got my camara still and as you can see i hope its still working and taking photos…. ummm and about trevor writing i cant really recieve letters from him on email but he can always send normal letters or to that gmail thing to the offices. my letters still take forever for him. I think i got everything.

Well i didnt forget… alright i did a little but Feliz Cumpleaños KT! and have a good fun day of pregnancy…. this photo is for you with Randomness and my comp grabbed that folder and says Jesus is saying Feliz Cumpleaños to you too… its true… he probly is…. but love ya and LOVE ALL OF YOU!
Con Amor
Elder Brown

ps forgot the other email so hope you get this one…

Subject: LOOK ITS LOMAS DE SOLYMAR!
Date: Monday, February 22, 2010 9:36:19 AM

HOLA FAMILIA!!!
How you all doin? Its still going great here. I am loving it really like always. Just a ton going on and we trying to get stuff running here in this area. So good news…. we got a baptism this Saturday. Its Ines and she is just amazing! Im so stoked for her. Its been about a year since this area has seen a baptism so the members are stoked and its just going great. Ines is just flying. She was extremely sick last week so we were worried when she didnt go to church. Well she got really sick cuz she stopped smoking and we gave her a blessing and the next time we saw her she was all good and man im just so excited for her. It will be my comps first baptism and hes getting the honors to baptize her so hes really happy but i can tell hes way nervous. Hes a really cool kid. Oh and that service pic was done with Ines and those are some members, Luis and Jano, that helped us with the service. And then there is Juanita the Asado im going to eat one day that Ines wont let me kill….

Well we also found this Inactive guy, Juan, who is really cool. When we found him he was depressed and didnt want to live anymore and smoked and all but now hes doing great. He stopping the smoking and WANTS TO LIVE! Its amazing the purpose the gospel brings into our lives and he made me realize alot. He went to church on Sunday and already was participating and searching scriptures and stuff. Hes just a way good guy.

So we had a way fun Family home Evening and had a HUGE ASADO! Which is a BBQ uruguayan. It was amazing the food and the guy in the pic i think you should receive lost his leg and was telling us the bloody details the whole time while we ate. It was pretty sick but the meat was amazing. Hes a funny guy and shes a member so we had a blast.

Well I love you all and hope these pics all work out this time Anyways say hi to Trey for me. And Alexa i miss your drawings but love you the same. Everyone loves the pillowcase you made me. Im trying to send something back for all you once i can find something to send and a place haha. Also let trevor know im getting his letters and im trying to send him through snail mail hahaha.
CON AMOR!
Elder Brown

Subject: sorry its short
Date: Monday, February 15, 2010 9:11:37 AM

well HOLA FAM!
well i really have nooooo time today cuz i wasted it all trying to send photos that didnt work ill see if one ends up sending but know that all is good here and i love it. Imma send a disc of pics soon! sorry! LOVE YOU SORRY !

Con Amor
Elder Brown

Subject: LOVE FROM SOLYMAR!
Date: Monday, February 8, 2010 11:12:38 AM

HOLA FAMILIA!
Sounds like its going great there. So happy to hear of Trevor and i need his address so i can send him a letter. Well sounds like the wards doing good. I just got some Christmas letters from the Rays and the Giles so thank them for me. And wish them a Feliz Navidad tooooo.

ummm Well all is going awesome here. Today we actually had a pretty fun P’day. We have 2 other elders livin in our 2 elder house now so thats fun. They got kicked out of their house for the Bishops grandma but we havin a good time. This mornin we went to the beach at 6 in the morning and studied and watched the sun set…. so romantic with 4 guys… actually it was way fun and i was gonna send photos but my camera just died and for some reason if its plugged in the computer it doesnt charge!! haha. but next week you can get them they are pretty cool. We also just got done playin capture the flag as a zone which was way fun but now im beat.

So we having a bit of success here. Its been goin good. Ines did go to church on Sunday and is stopping smoking. We had to push it back though for the 20th her baptism but she is so cool. She actually was helping our members in Principles of the gospel class find the scriptures… it was so cute haha. i was so proud of her. We did a service of filling holes in her wall with cement with 2 other members on saturday and that went really well. It rained and we still did it which is a miracle! I even got to kiss a sheep… which is a long story but i dont suggest it.

Washington is still a cool guy and loves how he feels with us but he just wont except that Jesus was more than just a man so we had to just leave him with a book of mormon and our testimonies for now and gonna go back in a while.

Mauricio is awesome! he got his answer. He hadnt got his answer ever and last time I just talked to him straight about how it was true or not and we gotta see if its whats good for us. Well he prayed and then realized the peace he had had in his life this past week. He is just amazing and he was all worried cuz he couldnt explain it but awww it was just sooo cool to see it in him. He couldnt go on Sunday because he went to Maldonado to see his Aunt but we still have a date for him on the 6 of March.

Joselyne and Diahna are also doin good but they went out of town for a few weeks so that stinks but we have a baptismal date with them at the end of the month which im hoping goes through. They left to montevideo for a little but we praying for them. Its truely just going awesome and just really loving it here.

My comp is so goofy which i think i say every week but hes just a happy goofy kid so we get along great.

Well thats me for now ill answer questions next week cuz im terrible at that if you have any questions or i forgot any lemme know cuz im bad at them. Oh but i dont know if i got that package… i dont remember gel but i think i got an envelope or maybe not. AHH IM CONFUSED. Sorry. I really dont remember but now i think that i didnt. i just remember the package.

LOVE YOU ALL! SEND LOVES TO EVERYONE.
CON AMOR
Elder Brown.

Subject: SOLYMAR!
Date: Mon, 01 Feb 2010

Hola familia! How you all doing!?! So trev is heading out! Wow I’m stoked for him tell him grats for me before he leaves and not to forgot ME He’s gonna do awesome; although I’ll miss his letters haha. But tell him good luck. Also say hi to Gabriel for me. That’s awesome that he’s taking the lessons. Keep goin lil buddy!

Wow I can’t believe I’ve been here for a week almost. Its just flown by. It was awesome and I just love the area. Turns out there’s only been 1 baptism here in over a year and he doesn’t go, so should be interesting. As far as I can see, I love it and my comp is good. Wish I had my camera here with me to send a photo but I don’t have it here with me sorry.

We had a really cool week with interesting people. My first day we found a guy, Washington, who’s a Tibet monk or something like that and he’s so cool. He like put on Chinese soothing music while we taught and it was just so chill and he’s just got that like slow respective voice. He is way interested and loves what we’re teaching him. We’re also teaching this guy Mauricio whose the boyfriend of a member and we couldn’t tell if he was taking the lessons for her or really wanted to know… so we prayed and on Sunday found out the girl is moving to Montevideo for a month so that will give us time to find out his intentions. He’s a really sweet kid though. Me and him got along really well and he likes a lot of stuff I like, so it was cool. Then we got a lady named Ines who will get baptized soon, but she’s gots to stop smoking, but shes amazing. We have lessons with her and the spirit is just so strong and it’s like she already knows what we’re gonna teach before we talk and already wants to do it. She wasn’t sure she was ready for baptism so I told her to just pray bout it. The next time she had had a really spiritual experience and said she prayed and it was literally like someone was whispering to her that she needs to do it. Now she’s willing to do whatever it takes and she’ll easily stop smoking cuz she wants to. Just a way sweet lady.

So it was way cool on Sunday Pres. DaSilva just showed up at church. I was so confused, but yah he came and I was shocked when I saw him show up! I was like uhhh what’d I do. But he came and got to know Mauricio and gave a talk so that was way cool to hear from him. I was stoked. Like when church started we were asking some people if they could help us with some charlas, but everyone was busy. After he talked on the importance of members and how much they help the work, everyone we talked to was able to help and our lunch schedule filled up…. Its amazing how that works. I wish he could talk every month….

Well Alexa… Turning the Big 5! That’s cool. FELIZ CUMPLEAÑOS! TE DESEO LO
MEJOR Y QUE RECIBAS TODO DE TUS SUEÑOS…. yah you gonna have to translate that some time. BUT LOVE YA! BESOS Y ABRAZOS!

Well, I gotta go, but I love you all a ton and its all good here…….

CON AMOR.
ELDER BROWN