Date: Tuesday, June 1, 2010 11:26 AM
Subject: CHANGES!

Hola Familia!

Well its been an awesome week and an awesome time in Lomas de Solymar but like you figured im getting transferred. Imma miss a ton Elder Griffiths. Hes a stud and goin to be señor comp now. Im off… well already in Buseo in Este Centro which is in Montevideo… its the same stake i was in before in Lomas haha. I just moved down the coast a bit. It was so hard to leave Lomas but everyone was like ohhh well just visit you down there… It seems like an awesome place here. My comp is Elder Cuevas from Chile. Hes just got a few months and im his second comp but he seems awesome. Im stoked. We live in a really nice appartment with security guards and heated floors… yah its awesome and we live with the assistants which is cool cuz i came out with both of them haha.

Well the week went really well. Really hard to say goodbyes but we had an amazing week. Alfredo was of course at church walking again because the van didnt passby cuz it was raining so he walked all the way in the rain…. it was amazing because members that live across the street dont come to church if its raining in Uruguay. He is just flying and is so ready for his baptism this Saturday. It was a day talking of the missionary work on Sunday and he was saying how much the members needed to go out and share the gospel and get friends and less actives going to church…. hes an investigator and was dropping cane on the members. It was funny. That area is just going to explode with baptisms. We were teaching so many amazing people. Mabel and Agustina are also doing awesome. They were gonna go to church but couldnt with the rain and Mabels leg. They felt soooo bad but are reading a ton and Mabel is in Jacob and just read Jacob 5 and loved it. Such a good and confusing chapter. She read it twice to understand it.

So today at changes Freddy and Estela came to Tres Cruzes for changes. I got to see them and it just went great. Freddy is doing good. Had to come with a face mask and had to use alcohol gel to wash hands before touching him because if he gets sick he basically dies but he wanted to come see us so bad that he risked it. Hes amazing. Estella was just so greatful for everything and is doing great. They are probly gonna be taking me around the last day of mission if Freddy is feeling up to it and they are actually living close to me now. They are in the ward right next to where i am and are gonna come to the ward here one Sunday. Well Estella at least not sure if Freddy can but they are just great.

Well everything is just going great. I dont know what to really say about the BYU stuff cuz i dont know when it starts if i go when i first go back but i think i wont get back in time and i´ll have to go in Winter. Really i dont know what im going to do exactly still but im thinking of it. Been thinking of it since Pres. Tew told me at the year mark to be planning the future…. but im still not positive.

Well Thanks for everything and the emails and pics. I love you all a ton! Tell Gabriel FELICITACIONES! Its the best thing he could do right now and is such a smart little guy. Hes a great example for his whole family and for me. Just gotta keep working at it and hes just AWESOME! Im really happy to hear hes getting baptized. He will be a great missionary but just has to keep moving forward no matter what. It will probly be hard for a while but the blessings always come. Its just like in DyC 131:20 i believe i need to get better at memorizing scriptures but where it says every blessing we receive is for obeying a commandment. Its a LAW written in HEAVEN…. now thats cool. Well like i said love you all and CHAU!

Con Amor

Elder Brown.

Date: Monday, May 24, 2010 12:05 PM
Subject: WHAT A WEEK!

HOLA FAM!
Well its been a great week and very busy as your week has been too. Its just been crazy with everything and well alot with this new guy Alfredo that we found last Saturday. So we went back on Tuesday and well… He had read all of Moroni, 1st and 2nd Nephi and 8 chapters in the principles of the gospel book. Just a chosen man to teach. He loves to read and said that normally when he reads he can feel his brain like working and can feel it in his head…. well with the Book of Mormon he felt that except it moved from his head to his heart and he just knew it must be important. So we put a Baptismal date with him for June 5. Well we went back to him on Thursday and well hes just flying. We left him with a pamphlet of the second lesson to read and he did…. then saw that it had a study thing at the back so he started doing the study stuff and was reading in Alma 40 where he saw in a verse that it had a little a so he went to the bottom and saw that same a which said too go to the GEE of the scriptures which in spanish means to go to the back index thing so he wanted to know where that was so he just flipped through the Book of Mormon and found the “El Guia de Estudio de las Escrituras” and just figured that was GEE and he was right. So he started reading back there and just read and got to a point that he was reading in physical death and he had a weird feeling that was like it was litterally trying to stop him from reading and he had to like fight with it when he came upon the scripture of Alma 36:18 randomly and its when Alma is having his like struggle with his sins and he just started doing what Alma did and just asked for help and he got it…. was weird he said but he just knew that something was trying to keep him from this important thing in his life. He then said something that i really will never forget that Ive heard before but when he said it it just stuck he said “this is a book like non other and it must be important”. Its so true the Book of Mormon is so important in our lives and sometimes i think we dont really realize it. But yah we went on Saturday again with the Familia Barrios and well Alfredo basically taught them. It was interesting and we went over the faith, repentance, baptism, holy ghost, and endure to the end and it was going good and we got to baptism and i asked him what he thought baptism was and well he started about how what he had read was that in 3 Nephi 11 we need someone with authority and that they need to say the baptismal prayer and then he recited it perfectly in his own words and was like thats how i need to be baptized…. So we were like uhhh… yah and so he wanted to get baptized the next day but we decided we were gonna stick with his baptismal date of the 5 of June and hes just so prepared. Then Sunday came around and the van that passes out by his house cuz he lives far away got here and they all got out…. and Alfredo wasnt there… oh man my heart just dropped. I couldnt believe it cuz we had just had this amazing lesson the day before and then this…. he didnt come to church…. so we decide to go call him after about 30 mins and as we go to call we see a guy walking up with a camping backpack (he lives in a really crazy neighborhood in like a fort so he takes all his important stuff with him) and a torn up suit and of course its good old Alfredo. He missed the van so he grabbed his backpack and started the like 45 min walk to the church and got there a little late but was happy as ever. He is just awesome.

We also have this family of Mabel and Agustina who are doing great but Mabel is still recooperating from her surgery so they havent been able to go to church yet but in like a week she should be good. Agustina is reading and praying a ton and is just awesome. Then the other family of Lilian and her grandkids whos mom passed away a few months ago… well we got in contact with them again. Its been hard to talk to Lilian cuz she is always running with the kids but we are teaching english classes and the two little ones go. Well we went and picked them up on Friday and they miss their mom a ton and its been tough and they just need the gospel so much and we got back after the english classes with them and Lilian was just so grateful for all the church does for them and we asked to come by the next day for sure and she said she needed it and so we went back again with our bishops wife Karla who teaches the English classes… shes awesome… but she went and it was just an awesome lesson with them. It went really well and she was able to talk to Lilian about the family and just was AWESOME…. A good week.

Oh and Ines is doing good. She went to church yesterday and loves it but its hard for her with her kids not being members and always pulling her to different things. She has a testimony but its hard for her…. but we never told her it would be easy… but she knows its right.

Just an awesome week. Today we went to “El Aguila”. We were gonna go with a few other comps but it rained so noone went and we decided we were gonna go anyways so we went and had a blast. It was way fun and we just kinda chilled out there. Its a pretty cool looking thing. Thats what these pictures are at with the big eagle head.

Well that was this week. And yes mom i got the card and ties and loved it all. Thanks a ton! Im still trying to find something to do with the beanies.

LOVE YOU ALL A TON!!
Con amor.
Elder Brown

From: Thomas Michael Brown Date: Monday, May 17, 2010 6:39 AM
Subject: Interviews and zone conference

Hola Fam!
Well its just been an awesome week. Truely just loved it and even more with Zone Conference and Interviews. President talked about the importance of the Book of Mormon in our lives. Last conference he gave us a challenge to do and I suggest it for everyone. He gave us a Book of Mormon and we were to highlight everytime Christ was mentioned in any form and when he specifically talked. We had to do it in 6 weeks and some did others didnt but it was truely amazing what you can learn from this. I learned a ton from it and am truely grateful for the challenge he gave to us because it really strengthened my testimony of the Book of Mormon and was just an incredibly experience.

But to go on with the conference so we talked alot about that and the importance of the Book of Mormon. Its truely the evidence of the true church and anyone who prays about it will gain a testimony of it. It doesn’t matter who it is a truth is a truth and God will respond the same for everyone in different ways but they will know it is true. I loved the talk by Elder Holland a few conferences ago about anyone to leave the church would have to do it by climbing over, under, or around the Book of Mormon… so anyone to enter i would say would have to do the same and enter by the Book of Mormon. As much as i thought i knew the Book of Mormon was true…. I wasnt positive before and now its firm so i suggest it to all to try this out

Well aside from conference alot has happened this week that Id like to tell you about. First of all Saturday we found this guy who a few weeks back yelled and yelled and yelled at us for coming to his poor house on a rainy day and he had no time to think of God when the rain in this moment was destroying his house and he had no job and this and that and so on…. well we offered to help him and suggested a few things to think about before himself and gave him a pamphlet of the Restauration. Well Saturday morning we were in his neighborhood and passed by his house to see how he was. My comp actually said it that we should go by and I took it seriously to go and hes like wait it was a joke but we were already there so we gave it a shot… Well he let us in… We had an amazing lesson and he had read the entire pamphlet and had questions and it was great. His house was the poorest ive ever seen in my life. The guy sleeps in a lawn chair and his house is just slabs of rotten wood with sheet metal on top. He used to work at night to stay alive but one day, in his ghetto neighborhood, Kids broke into his house and stole everything from him so he couldnt work at night anymore and is barely living with nothing. He has decided to put his trust in the Lord though and knows it will be ok. We left his house and went to lunch and then went back to his house with the Hermano who we had lunch with. He invited him to church and well yesterday he went and loved it! His names Alfredo… i just think of fettuccini alfredo with him…. but hes an awesome guy and to think it all just started with offering him a hand and being nice to him when he was not umm….. so nice. It was a big lesson for me.

We also had another experience that Saturday but at night. We went to visit Inès with a member. Inès is still having troubles and isnt going to church. So we went by with This Hermana to visit Inès and it went great. As we were walking home with the Hermana though we were about 5 mins before we needed to be home for curfew and we had it planned to be running back as we dropped her off at her house…. well we got to her house and her grandchild had just fallen off his bunkbed and broken his arm so well they asked us to give him a blessing. It was a great experience because the kids mom is completely inactive and the dad isnt a member but they came to us to ask for a blessing. They knew he needed it and it was a good experience. They stayed to watch it and it just felt really good. We didnt get home on time which i felt bad about but i think it was meant to be.

So last thing was something that has happened over the week. Im sure you remember of Freddy and Estella back in 33 who were kinda like my parents in Uruguay. Well Sunday morning last week before talking to you all I got the call that Freddy had had his heart surgery on Saturday and that his brain rejected it and they had to put him in a coma. Well me and Elder Smith and Elder Jacobsen and a few other missionaries decided to do a fast for him on Sunday and he was supposed to come out of the coma on Monday last week. Well i hadnt heard anything about him and had been really worried about him but just knew it was alright. It was more just anxious to know what happened but i just knew all would be fine. Well last night i got a call from Elder Smith and he told me that Freddy woke up and wanted to talk to me and to call him. So i called him and it was just amazing. HES ALIVE! with a brand new heart. Hes doing great now and apparently he was in the coma for alot more than he should have and they were gonna pull the plug but that morning he woke up and was fine! Was truely a miracle from prayers and just was incredible. Estella was so grateful and was just like without words when i called and was just so good to be able to talk to her and then to Freddy. So yah i didnt tell you last week cuz i didnt want yall to worry but hes doing great now

But thats been my excitement filled week.

Love you all soooooo much and Alexa your my favorite sobrina and just keep on being good. I like the firetruck pic. thats pretty cool.
Con Amor
Elder Brown.

ps LOVED THE PACKAGE! it was great and just everything i really liked. The ties are way cool. I actually have a double of that Brown one now haha from another missionary in Vegas so thats way cool tell him thanks and hope he knows training is the best. Also imma see what i can do with the beanies.

Subject: HOLA!

HOLA FAM!
well i loved being able to talk to you all yesterday and with grandma and with Zach. That was way cool. Just wanna say again FELIZ DIA DE MADRE and FELIZ CUMPLEAÑOS to dad!! thought i forgot didnt ya…. well i kinda did until right after i hung up the phone. But it has been a good week.

I have a chapter that i liked alot this week that me and my comp actually studied a bit more this morning and its a cane dropper but good to look at. Its in Helaman 12. Hope you enjoy it and apply it cuz it changed my mission and well the life in general.

Sorry i dont got much more to write but just know i love you all and am loving it here in good ole Guay.

Con amor.
Elder Brown.

I Often Go Walking (By Elder Brown)

Subject: Another Week!

Hola Familia

Its been good here in Lomas. Sounds like everything is going great up there at home. The time for the call sounds good and yah im excited about the package. So first of all its kinda funny cuz this week they changed the address to the offices but its alright cuz it will still get here but i forwarded you the email.

So…. What a great week it has been. We had alot of good stuff happen. And well its best described by the photos so i will just explain them…..

1. ASADO- we had a really cool Noche de Hogar with Beatriz and Elsa and invited the Familia Barrios to come with us. It was a ton of fun and had a HUGE uruguayan BBQ called an asado. It was a blast and then we watched the New Testament movie that you guys sent me that i gave to them because i already had bought one. It was really amazing the night and just felt so good. I LOVE THEM!

2. NOCHE DE TALENTOS- Thats me playing guitar at an activity that we set up. It was a talent show and soooo fun on Friday. It was a huge success and a ton of people went and we had a really good time. I played the guitar…. actually i played baskstreet boys…. it was fun and that has to do with the next picture….

3. VERGÛENZA- Thats our bishop and i told him i was gonna play backstreet boys and thats his face when he saw me actually do it. Its the perfect picture for him haha. It went well though even though i got pretty embarresed when they all started clapping and waving their arms…. it made it really difficult to sing and play.

4. JUMPROPE- This is a movie of an elder here Elder Smeltzer jumproping. Its just kinda a random thing but yah it was way cool and i invited him to come do it and he did. It was funny cuz i was directing the night and when i said he was gonna jumprope everyone just kinda staired and were like…. REALLY? and then they loved it! it was way cool so i hope it works for you guys to see and this is just a quick thing he put together without practicing so you can imagine when he really tries. this didnt work but it was still cool too bad it wouldnt send…

Well thats a big part of the week this week with the fun stuff we did. But we also had some very spiritual things happen this week. We had a lesson with Mabel and Agustina and put a fecha with Agustina for the 22 of May and she is really excited for it and Mabel was really happy that we put it and it was just incredible the spirit when we did it cuz she just was ready for it. But then Sunday comes around and well…. they dont show up. I got really bummed and decided to give them a call at the church. Borrowed the phone and well gave them a little call. Turns out Mabel found out Saturday that she was gonna be operated on on Today and was going in to get prepped Yesterday. So we went over to give her a blessing which she has never had before and shes a member just hasnt gone in over 12 years…. So we went with an hermano Jorge who is our Ward mission leader and gave her a blessing. Turns out she has to get the same thing that killed her nephew a few months back that i told you guys about. She was pretty nervous and it just brought back bad memories for her but then we had the blessing and Agustina and Mabels husband, Luis, were able to see a blessing and feel the spirit and it was just amazing. Afterward she felt very confident in going in and I`m just really stoked for her and Agustina. They doing great. Love that family. But yah so that was just a really good experience for me and really made me realize that we really have to be ready to give a blessing at any time and be worthy of it. Its not hard in the mission to do that but like if Jorge hadnt been ready to give a blessing i really dont think it would have been the same cuz he had a good experience from giving the blessing and she felt a connection with Jorge now and has that friendship with the members and not just with the missionaries so its just soooooo important to always be worthy of our callings and responsibilities.

But yah that was this week and im just waiting to talk to yall in this next week. Its weird cuz here in Uruguay they postponed Mothers day and changed it to the 16th but we still calling for Mothers day in the states… but it was weird that they could postpone mothers day…..But i love you all soooo much.

Con Amor

Elder Brown

Subject: HOLA!

Hola Fam!
Well its been a great week. Just flew by and dont know what to do to slow time down! I am just loving it and i cant believe already gonna talk to you guys again! It feels like it was just a few days ago…. i could wait a little longer Im way excited to hear yall though and well the number here is xxxxxxx and i think its 02 to start cuz its close to montevideo. whats the hour difference cuz i dont remember but…. i think like 3:30 or 4:00 whatever is good for you guys. Oh.. and i didnt get my release date yet… you guys i think get it before me so you let me know haha.

But back to the week… went well. We had a noche de hogar last night and played some princess UNO which was fun with some Hooligan kids… oh man they are so dificult and their mom is an inactive lady but we trying to work with them. Its like they have the worst relationship all of them but yet all love each other in a horrible way. They just kinda all hit each other and the mom last night had a wooden plank like a litteral 2×4 and if they laughed during a prayer or talked back she would hit them with it in the face! But… by the end we got her to put the plank down and they obeyed us because found out its really not by force to get people to behave here. Once i said they couldnt play UNO they all behaved perfectly haha. It went great by the end though.

So we are teaching Agustina and she is doing great. They didnt go to church which was a surprise but we have a lesson tomorrow with them. Got to meet Mabel`s husband(Agustinas grandpa) and hes a way cool guy. He too isnt a member but works alot as a taxi driver. Just an all around cool family and they just always want us to come by.

So It was hilarious in sacrament yesterday… we had this less active lady and she actually had the closing prayer in sacrament. Well she came with her granddaughter and as she was praying the little girl came running into the sacrament room (she was playing in the primary room) yelling and yells GRANDMA I GOTTA PEE I GOTTA PEE! It was sooooo funny and well she ended the prayer and took her to the bathroom and the whole sacrament just laughed. It was pretty funny. I hope she didnt get embarrassed though or offended because it was hard to get her there but i dont think she did.

Well not much new here besides that. Just going great and we just working hard. So these are a few pics of a few services we did and the house that shoulda been brown but its more pink and Jano painting a Huevo for easter (huevo is egg in spanish but its also what the kids in the streets call the missionaries).

By the way i dont need shoes i will be fine and i got all my winter stuff still so ill be fine. Thanks for sending a package. By the way the mp3 broke. dont know what happened but it dont play music anymore but turns on fine… i give up on mp3’s here haha. its just not meant to be i guess……

Well Tell all i love them and love you all too. Alexa thank you for not forgetting me and keep praying for them missionaries there. They always need it. Its great to know people are prayin for ya and im sure they are greatful for it. LOVE YA ALEXA.

oh and thanks for the pic of Trey… its kinda freaky looking but thats cool haha.

CON AMOR.
Elder Brown.

Subject: CHanges

Well not so much changes cuz we stayin together but HOLA FAM!
Yah so we stayin together and im stoked for being here again with Elder Griffiths. We got some good stuff goin now that the ward is all set up.

Glad to hear from Gabriel and how good he doin. YOU MY HERO GAB and FELIZ CUMPLEAÑOS! Well Hope all went well with the shot mom, dont worry i at least got the email so thats all good at least haha. So if you sending the card i dont know how big of a package you sending but whatever you send will be great. Im getting fat here but candy is always great and crunchy peanut butter But i have enough of everything i think. Im more trying to get rid of stuff but i do always like ties by the way tell all the missionaries thanks for all the ties they have sent me i really like them but dont think ive ever said thanks. If i had money id send them some ties back but maybe theyll be there when i get back…

So this week was really great. We had a great Music class but Camilla didnt go to church on Sunday so we not sure what happened with that but we did talk to this lady Lilian that comes with Camila, not her grandma Lilian if that makes sense, and shes way amazing and we going to visit her this week. So we found an inactive lady this last week, Mabel, knocking doors in the rain and she let us in. We had no clue who she was but she was just like come in come in and we went in and found out she was a member whos nephew just passed away… i actually knew the kid kinda cuz hes a member in a ward in our zone… and she hasnt gone to church in years but after this it was very hard and she started thinking a little of going back to church and when she saw us she just prayed that wed come by… well it was raining and we wanted a house so somehow we were directed to her and as soon as we clapped the door she wanted us to come in and knew it was right. She is amazing and wanted us to teach her granddaughter whos 12. Well we went back on Saturday and taught her grandaughter Agustina and she is a way sincere girl who acts like shes like 18 and was just a great lesson and yesterday we watched the restauration with them and asked about how their prayers went. Agustina had a really good experience and really loved it when she prayed. Went really well and we are really excited for them. We been needing new people so it was great.

So last night we had a Noche de Hogar with our ward mission leader and it was awesome. His son, Mauricio whos like 27, has been going to our Music classes and loves the guitar so we get along well cuz i teach it there. So last class he couldnt come so me and the other teacher went and had a Noche de Hogar with them and had a great time singing and playing Mana (Mexican Band thats way popular should look them up) and so we played around with a bit of music they had. But the best part is when we started we of course started with a spiritual part and talked about faith and how to grow our faith. He felt really good and then brought out a book of Mormon to show us. He said he had been reading it (without telling his parents who are like way strong members) just to read it and read it like a book and see what it was. We explained how to read scriptures and it just went really well. Just a great day and week.

Before i finish this Sunday we had a funny experience…. So as sacrament goes to start… 2 drunk guys came in… and of course one of the hermanos invited them in without explaining anything. The bishop went wide eyed and well we ended up going to sit by them except they split up and so my comp went next to the one that was normal and i went to this guy that was out of it and completely wasted and all scar faced but interesting fellow….. well we start off fine singing and then we pray and he just starts saying haleluah and stuff. Then the hermano gets up to say the announcements and the guy raises his hand and says i got a question! and just started yelling out like “HOW MUCH DID CHRIST SUFFER FOR ME!” and im just kinda like whoaa… what i do and trying to get him to stop or go outside and he just keeps yellin and well it was fun and then finally he and the other get up and run out…. was kinda funny and threw me off… but yah potential baptisms they already went to church….

well that was the week… LOVE YOU ALL A TON!
CON AMOR
elder brown.

Date: Monday, April 12, 2010 12:31 PM
Subject: HOLA!

HOLA FAM!
It was good gettin the package. I loved the Calvin and Hobbs pics… except they in english but imma fix them somehow. Thanks a ton i loved it all! Was also good to get the email from the elder from Uruguay there. Hope hell be there when i get back cuz that would be cool to meet him. Sounds like all is going good there and man do i miss the farm. I just love that place too mom.

So its been a good week with like all Service haha. We painted our house! The people we rent from (the old bishop here whose way coooool) wanted to paint so we took a morning to paint which ended up lasting till about 7:00 at night and we still didnt finish. It was fun though but man i hate painting…. We also painted this part member families house which was alot easier and quicker like 2 days later and that was fun too and turned out great except that she wanted Brown (like me ) and it turned out pink hahaa.

So experience yesterday. First of all Camilla came to church and loved it. It was way good for her. But yah so after church was a slow day…contact after contact and rejection after rejection and we decide to go to this way far area on bikes and what you know… same thing…. except that my butt really hurt from the ride…. It was kinda depressing. We went to a few contacts we were gonna repass by and at one as we got rejected…. A bee stings me. So by this time i just kinda wanna go home and hurt but we decide of course to keep going and the next house after that dang bee we talk to a lady and my hand starts swelling up and so as we talk to her i just ask if i could get some ice cuz a bee just stung me so she ran in and gave me some ice and we asked if we could share the message we had and well…. she had us come on in. It was way cool and we ended up giving her a Book of Mormon right there. Shes a way cool lady this Irene.

Another thing that happened was we did go past Rogelio again and Firday he got out of the hospital. Hes still way cool except his right arm dont work… it looks like a rubber arm its kinda weird. We were teaching him and we heard a noise outside so he ran to go see what it was and as he ran out he nailed his arm soooo hard on the door and it didnt phase him at all. It was soooo funny. But yah so hes doing a bit better. He cant drink anymore or it might kill him with his medications so the word of wisdom shouldnt be too hard when we get there… We also visited this lady Patricia the other day. We kinda had killed her off cuz she wasnt progressing but a lesson fell through so we felt we would just run by… as we get there shes not home so we were kinda sad cuz we swore there was a reason to be there…. and then she pulls up on her little moto and has us come in. We asked how she was doin and she sad not the best so well we decided to share something with her and shared about Peter losing his faith as he walked on water and then Christ reaching for him and she just started bawling. It was such a spiritual but tough lesson and she just kept crying and by the end well just say she felt alot better and was just happy. Still dont know what was wrong but im pretty sure shell read this time. Shes a really cool lady that just always said she couldnt keep with the commitments but i dont know what happened but i think it really effected her. Well see but it was still an amazing experience that we all had and just happy she felt better and one day Im sure if not now she will be a member.

So random thing… found out Alba from 33 got baptized. We worked with her for forever but she was living with a man and i guess he finally left and she got baptized. I was stoked to hear bout that and that Elder Jacobsen is doing well out there still. But yah thats bout all from here… and dad yah we still trying to help our Mission Leader figure it out too. Hes also kinda new but biggest thing is WARD MISSION PLAN and USE IT! Thats what I`d suggest you to do as the Mission Leader…. but yah. LOVE YA ALL!

CON AMOR,
ELDER BROWN

Date: Monday, April 5, 2010 7:21 AM
Subject: CONFERENCE WEEK!

HOLA FAMILIA!
Well this weekend was awesome and i LOVED conference. Ive really started to pay attention to them on the mission and realized how much i missed before the mission. A thing that helps me alot is drawing pictures of something i liked in the talks for each one. Its weird how much thats helped me haha. But yah i seriously loved it and we saw some miracles at it which was really nice in this little place.

First of all i just wanna thank you mom and dad.. dont think i say it enough for always being a good example for me when i wasnt exactly on the best course and never giving up on me! Im so glad im out here… like you tell everyone… and really its because your examples and just wanna say thanks and love yall. (Editor’s note: We liked this part.)

So this week has been amazing like i said. So first miracle was MAURICIO! yah havent talked about him in awhile cuz well he kinda broke my heart.. in a non gay way. He took a job on Sundays and well doesnt feel worthy to be baptized and we lost contact with him for 2 weeks and not even been able to communicate with him. Well we asked a member to send a text to him or invite him to conference and well he did. That little text touched him and he came yesterday and well he only came for like 30 mins… but it was Pres. Monson`s talk at the end of the morning session yesterday. Im so happy that the little he did see just happened to be the Prophet and he talked on like EVERYTHING! It was seriously a miracle that just this little text from a member touched him to come all the way out to the Conference that isnt in our chapel. You never know what a little invitation to someone will do as members.

Well i talked a little about Camila and Lillian and their family last week.. well they doing awesome! We went with the wife of our Ward mission Leader, Lylian, to their house to invite them to conference and she just happens to be the Young Womens leader too…. and she invited Camila to the Young Womens session of conference and She went and loved it and met all the young women. It was soooo awesome. Then yesterday we tried planning a way for Lillian to come but we couldnt find anyone to pick her up and we felt really bad after the first session that we couldnt get anyone and i knew id have to call her to tell her that and didnt want to…. but as the first session yesterday ended i saw an hermana who is the sister of our bishop who just got home from vacations and i dont really know her but she came and found me and we started talking and it was seriously a miracle she offered to go pick Lillian up and even call her to confirm it. Such a cool member and really sweet. Well long story short… she went and got Lillian and just happened to bring another neighbor of Lillian also named Lillian with her… IT WAS AMAZING! So alot of Lillians this week but was just amazing the conferences and the week.

So we found out one of our investigators, Rogelio, who was really amazing had a heartattache the night we had a lesson with him the other week. We thought it was weird he was never home and the night we talked with him he was having troubles and it was odd. Well turns out he had a heartattache that night a cause of much drinking and such. He rents from a lady we are working with… Beatriz, and she went to visit him and told us. Apparently hes glad we had been there the night before and well he has to stop drinking or it will kill him. I probly wont be here when he gets out of the Hospital but hes a seed ready and happy and we trying to find someone to visit him in the Hospital. Hes a great guy.

And with this Beatriz i was talking bout we had a Noche De Hogar with her and Malena, her daughter, the other night and she made some amazing pizza and we just talked about conference and had a really good night. Funny thing that happened and i dont know how it came up but we talked of how i was really white and Malena came in on how she didnt like how dark she was… and that we should just do like an exchange and both would be happy. So i ask how that would work and she just goes… i dunno… the same way Michael Jackson did…. it was so funny. She just kinda talks and talks and talks and is only 10 but is not ashamed of anything. Such a cool family.

Well that was my week. Good week and ZLs said i got a package or something at their house but not sure what it is yet cuz we goin over there later for an activity but i received something you sent i think…. THANKS IN ADVANCE Love you all a ton and Hi to Gabriel and Alexa also haha.

CON AMOR.
Elder Brown

Date: Monday, March 29, 2010 7:48 AM
Subject: ME again
Size: 11 KB

Hola Familia

Well its been an awesome week this week. We had Zone Conference and I just love when President talks with us. He really emphasized the importance of the Book of Mormon. Its funny cuz me and my comp had been talking alot about why the missionaries here dont use the Book of Mormon that much and we been using it in the first lesson and even in contacts and its been going GREAT! something that people really love and its because we love it. President talked on that and how we should be using the Book of Mormon always and sharing it with people. It was really cool. We gonna “Flood” Uruguay with the Book of Mormon. It was a really good conference though and really helped a ton.

We had a good week here in Lomas. Ines went to church and has gotten better. We been praying alot for her and she got a calling as achievement day leader! haha she was so excited.

Pollito is doing good too. Found out for sure that he cant read but the members love him and he is just so curious about everything but its still like teaching a child. I like it cuz we have to learn to simplify everything which helps for other lessons with other people. They always say to teach like your teaching a child and i didnt think id ever have to take that litterally… but hes an awesome guy and way firm. Every Sunday at church with his suit on and tells everyone hes got a baptismal date! We got alot to work with though with him.

We recently found this family of a lady, Lilian, and her grandchildren, Camilla (15), Rodrigo (8), and Maxi (9). The Mom of the grandkids passed away a couple months ago and its been really hard on them all and Lilian was so relieved and loved the plan of salvation. We invited them to a ward FHE in the church at 7:00 the next day and Camilla and Rodrigo went. Camilla and Rodrigo went and it ended up…. it started at 8:00 and that was too late for them so we just played soccer and talked a little bit. Rodrigo is hilarious and Camilla is way cool. We invited them to come to our Easter Activity on Saturday and they all went and Rodrigo and Maxi stayed cuz it was for the primary. They loved it. The activity we actually had full of Investigators which was cool and the Ward was really happy to see so many kids. It was seriously a miracle and such a cool experience and we all just had a Blast painting eggs and playing soccer.

Then later on we have been teaching classes of music and i teach the guitar and a hermano is teaching piano and singing.

Camilla went which was cool! They went to like all the church activities and loved them which was way cool to see. Turns out Camilla has had a rough life and just dropped out of school after her mom died and hasnt had the best friends. Lilian is really happy how shes been acting though just these past days and how happy she has been. Its been a really cool experience and just an awesome family!

So about this class of music… first song they made me teach… “Somewhere over the Rainbow” by IZ and its like the hardest song to sing haha and in English and i play the guitar for it. Its soooo funny to listen to them all sing and try to understand it. I dont know why the Hermano decided to start with this song but its fun haha. Imma try to record it to send to you in awhile. Its been a really good week though and just seen so many MIRACLES!

Well im glad you guys received the CD. I dont know what all is on it but some random stuff and maybe you can put some stuff together just from my emails but yah ill explain them one day… Hope you enjoy the Farm! i miss it at times expecially looking at the Zion postcards. LOVE YOU ALL A TON AND THANKS FOR ALL THE LETTERS AND LOVE AND EVERYTHING ELSE!
CON AMOR.
Elder Brown.