Hi!
I was suprised when I got a package because you said that it was going to get sent to the mission office. I have opened the instant oatmeal, the socks, the luggage tag, and one of the cds. I'm really excited for the rest of the gifts.
Jan and Dan who we are teaching said that they didn't want to be taught anymore. It's really sad when you get told that. But there are always more people.
This Wednesday we are having a Mission wide Christmas party. WE also get to watch "Ephraim's Rescue" on Christmas! I'm really excited. Christmas is in nine days which means nine days until I get to talk with you!!!! I'm even more excited for that.
Love,
Elder Brown
Monday, December 16, 2013
Monday, December 9, 2013
I'm doing good!
HI!
I'm doing good. We had our ward Christmas Party last Friday. There was a nativity performance, dinner, Santa, and Elder T. and I ran a "Missionary Booth." We had candy, pass along cards, and mormon.org cards that kids could put together in a little box and wrap it up and give it to a friend as a missionary gift. We also had some random DVD's in our car and popcorn from home that people could put together as a gift and give it to someone. It was a lot of fun.
I can't wait for another package! Mail is one of a missionaries best friends.
We got a new investigator a couple weeks ago. Her name is B. She has been living with her daughter since mid-November and will be for the next nine months. She wants to listen to the missionaries because she wants to learn more about the church and she likes the change that it has made in her daughters life We taught her the first lesson last Wednesday. We extended the invitation to be baptized and she said yes!! She has a date for some time for the end of this month to the beginning of January.
I love and miss you a lot.
Love
Elder Brown
I'm doing good. We had our ward Christmas Party last Friday. There was a nativity performance, dinner, Santa, and Elder T. and I ran a "Missionary Booth." We had candy, pass along cards, and mormon.org cards that kids could put together in a little box and wrap it up and give it to a friend as a missionary gift. We also had some random DVD's in our car and popcorn from home that people could put together as a gift and give it to someone. It was a lot of fun.
I can't wait for another package! Mail is one of a missionaries best friends.
We got a new investigator a couple weeks ago. Her name is B. She has been living with her daughter since mid-November and will be for the next nine months. She wants to listen to the missionaries because she wants to learn more about the church and she likes the change that it has made in her daughters life We taught her the first lesson last Wednesday. We extended the invitation to be baptized and she said yes!! She has a date for some time for the end of this month to the beginning of January.
I love and miss you a lot.
Love
Elder Brown
Monday, November 4, 2013
Hi again.
Sorry I haven't written/emailed. I'm doing great. We are teaching Ilona, Jan, Kristen, and Dan. Ilona is set for baptism on November 23rd! We have taught Jan the first two lessons. She doesn't believe in Hell or a Satan. And she prays to Bruno. Bruno is some healer/prophet. We are going to try to work those out. Kristen is set for baptism on the 9th of December! Dan, we have taught the first lesson. Meeting Dan is very similar to how we met Jan. A couple in our ward met Dan at Barnes and Noble. He was looking at some books on Mormon's. Brother R. saw him and went over and talked to him. He then asked Dan if he would like to talk to some missionaries. He said that he would like to. So Bro. R called us that same day telling us that he had someone for us to teach! So we went over the the R's house later that day and taught the first lesson to Dan. The reason that Dan was looking at books about Mormon's is that he wanted to be less ignorant about other religions. We are much busier tan we used to be, as you can tell.
I gave a talk in Sacrament meeting on October 27th. It was on Missionary Work. It went really well considering that I wrote the whole thing that morning. I had some ideas before Sunday so it was okay. I didn't completely procrastinate to the end. It went for a good 8-10 minutes. I felt really good about it. You know how much I hate giving talks. I was actually excited about giving this one. It was fast and testimony meeting on my first Sunday in the field, and I bore my testimony. Then two weeks later, because we had conference the next week, I was asked to give the opening prayer in Sacrament meeting. I was more nervous to give the prayer than the talk. Then just this Sunday we had to teach Gospel Principles. Our Ward Mission Leader is the teacher and he texted us Sunday morning telling us that he was sick and asked if we could teach the lesson. Our cell phone didn't switch times till around 9:00, so we got to church and hour early. That really stunk. But on the bright side we were given time to prepare for our lesson! hahaha.
Right now, I am reading in 2 Nephi, so I am reading Isaiah. I would like to tell you what I am learning but it's too hard to understand. I am nearing the end so I have endured it this far, I think that I can endure the rest.
We had our Trunk-Or Treat on Wednesday. There are two other wards that go to the same building as us, and we all combined to have a Trunk-or-Treat. It was really big. We did the whole thinkg outside. We just passed out candy at our WML's car. I wanted to dress up as a BYU or BYU-I student. I have my BYU shirt and some jeans and tennis shoes. Perfect!! But my companion wouldn't let me take off my proselyting clothes. : (
Yesterday at Walmart a member payed for all of our stuff. It cost like $42!! Then today we wen to In N' Out for lunch. We went through the drive through and I guess the car in front of us saw us in their mirror. But they payed for us!! It was so cool. I really love Las Vegas. There are a lot of members and they are all very kind. Especially to the missionaries. hahaha.
Love,
Elder Brown
I gave a talk in Sacrament meeting on October 27th. It was on Missionary Work. It went really well considering that I wrote the whole thing that morning. I had some ideas before Sunday so it was okay. I didn't completely procrastinate to the end. It went for a good 8-10 minutes. I felt really good about it. You know how much I hate giving talks. I was actually excited about giving this one. It was fast and testimony meeting on my first Sunday in the field, and I bore my testimony. Then two weeks later, because we had conference the next week, I was asked to give the opening prayer in Sacrament meeting. I was more nervous to give the prayer than the talk. Then just this Sunday we had to teach Gospel Principles. Our Ward Mission Leader is the teacher and he texted us Sunday morning telling us that he was sick and asked if we could teach the lesson. Our cell phone didn't switch times till around 9:00, so we got to church and hour early. That really stunk. But on the bright side we were given time to prepare for our lesson! hahaha.
Right now, I am reading in 2 Nephi, so I am reading Isaiah. I would like to tell you what I am learning but it's too hard to understand. I am nearing the end so I have endured it this far, I think that I can endure the rest.
We had our Trunk-Or Treat on Wednesday. There are two other wards that go to the same building as us, and we all combined to have a Trunk-or-Treat. It was really big. We did the whole thinkg outside. We just passed out candy at our WML's car. I wanted to dress up as a BYU or BYU-I student. I have my BYU shirt and some jeans and tennis shoes. Perfect!! But my companion wouldn't let me take off my proselyting clothes. : (
Yesterday at Walmart a member payed for all of our stuff. It cost like $42!! Then today we wen to In N' Out for lunch. We went through the drive through and I guess the car in front of us saw us in their mirror. But they payed for us!! It was so cool. I really love Las Vegas. There are a lot of members and they are all very kind. Especially to the missionaries. hahaha.
Love,
Elder Brown
Tuesday, October 15, 2013
Another week gone by...
Hi!
Last week was pretty good. Just like you, it's just the same ole thing. Visiting less actives. It's good to go and visit them.
We have Stake conference next week. I gave the opening prayer in Sacrament Meeting yesterday. I also helped with the Sacrament.
We are teaching Kristin at 7:00 tonight. Her baptismal date will probably be November 9th.
All of my tapes from my surgery that were on my stomach have fallen of finally. I haven't had any pain at all.
The weather here can be nice but it is starting to get cold. It hasn't poured but it has sprinkled a little bit. When I was at the MTC I could see snow on the mountains for my last couple of days.
We have been doing a lot of service. We have been helping a guy named lance. He is doing some renovating of his house. We have taught him and his room mate the first lesson. We are going to do some more service with him this Saturday and teach the second lesson. His son is also going to be there. So with Lance, his room mate and Lance's son, that will make two new investigators.
We helped a man named Rocky. He has net with the missionaries before. We did some yard work with him. He is also one of our new investigators.
We had a goal to be more obedient last week. We did things like wake up on time, go to bed on time, no wasting time, listen to only hymns, just stuff like that. Because of that our Ward Mission Leader texted us telling us that he had a couple of people that we could teach. He aslo told us that someone that he new told him that she wanted to be baptized Mormon. That was pretty cool. Being obedient with exactness really does bring blessings.
Love,
Elder Michael Brown
Last week was pretty good. Just like you, it's just the same ole thing. Visiting less actives. It's good to go and visit them.
We have Stake conference next week. I gave the opening prayer in Sacrament Meeting yesterday. I also helped with the Sacrament.
We are teaching Kristin at 7:00 tonight. Her baptismal date will probably be November 9th.
All of my tapes from my surgery that were on my stomach have fallen of finally. I haven't had any pain at all.
The weather here can be nice but it is starting to get cold. It hasn't poured but it has sprinkled a little bit. When I was at the MTC I could see snow on the mountains for my last couple of days.
We have been doing a lot of service. We have been helping a guy named lance. He is doing some renovating of his house. We have taught him and his room mate the first lesson. We are going to do some more service with him this Saturday and teach the second lesson. His son is also going to be there. So with Lance, his room mate and Lance's son, that will make two new investigators.
We helped a man named Rocky. He has net with the missionaries before. We did some yard work with him. He is also one of our new investigators.
We had a goal to be more obedient last week. We did things like wake up on time, go to bed on time, no wasting time, listen to only hymns, just stuff like that. Because of that our Ward Mission Leader texted us telling us that he had a couple of people that we could teach. He aslo told us that someone that he new told him that she wanted to be baptized Mormon. That was pretty cool. Being obedient with exactness really does bring blessings.
Love,
Elder Michael Brown
Friday, October 11, 2013
Conference Weekend
Hey!
My first week went pretty good. We don't really have very many investigators so we mostly see LARC's. (Less actives and recent converts.) I am in a car (area( which is fun. Besides the time that we ate at In N Out, we have always had a dinner appointment. We watched conference at the Dyer's house. that's who we live with. But we watched the Priesthood session at the Stake Building. We actually did watch it on BYU TV. I felt that some of the talks were "just for me."
It's a big blessing that we live with members. I eat cold cereal for breakfast. And a bowl or two at lunch. I usually eat something else for lunch too. I don't know of any other missionaries that live with members. It's really nice. The family has two cats and my companion that is waiting for a Visa is allergic to cats.
Because we don't really have many investigators, we go and visit LARC's. Mostly less actives though. We visited Kristin yesterday. She is an investigator. Just a background of her; She is 17 and is a Senior in high school. She was introduced to the church by a friend who lives in our ward. Kristin is a really good investigator. When we visited with her last week and asked her if she had been reading the Book of Mormon she said, "Heck yea!" My companions and I were surprised. You don't get very many investigators who love to read the Book of Mormon. She also watched all of General Conference. When we asked her about baptism last week she said that she would pray about it and when a good date would be. Yesterday she told us probably some time in November! It was awesome.
I am feeling pretty much 100% better. Two of my three pieces of tape have come off. It is really weird to see marks on me. I thought it was funny when Elder Holland mentioned appendicitis in his talk.
Here there are palm trees so the leaves don't relly change color. Hahaha. Miss you!
Love,
Elder Michael Brown
My first week went pretty good. We don't really have very many investigators so we mostly see LARC's. (Less actives and recent converts.) I am in a car (area( which is fun. Besides the time that we ate at In N Out, we have always had a dinner appointment. We watched conference at the Dyer's house. that's who we live with. But we watched the Priesthood session at the Stake Building. We actually did watch it on BYU TV. I felt that some of the talks were "just for me."
It's a big blessing that we live with members. I eat cold cereal for breakfast. And a bowl or two at lunch. I usually eat something else for lunch too. I don't know of any other missionaries that live with members. It's really nice. The family has two cats and my companion that is waiting for a Visa is allergic to cats.
Because we don't really have many investigators, we go and visit LARC's. Mostly less actives though. We visited Kristin yesterday. She is an investigator. Just a background of her; She is 17 and is a Senior in high school. She was introduced to the church by a friend who lives in our ward. Kristin is a really good investigator. When we visited with her last week and asked her if she had been reading the Book of Mormon she said, "Heck yea!" My companions and I were surprised. You don't get very many investigators who love to read the Book of Mormon. She also watched all of General Conference. When we asked her about baptism last week she said that she would pray about it and when a good date would be. Yesterday she told us probably some time in November! It was awesome.
I am feeling pretty much 100% better. Two of my three pieces of tape have come off. It is really weird to see marks on me. I thought it was funny when Elder Holland mentioned appendicitis in his talk.
Here there are palm trees so the leaves don't relly change color. Hahaha. Miss you!
Love,
Elder Michael Brown
Wednesday, October 2, 2013
First P-Day in NV
Hi!
My address is 8625 Bright Angel Way, Las Vegas NV 89149. I am actually living in a members home which is kind of cool. My first few days have been pretty fun. Because I didn't get here with everyone else, I didn't have an orientation. But I will soon though.
I have two companions. Elder T., my trainer and Elder P. There are three because Elder P. is waiting for a visa to go to Brazil. He has been here for six months and Elder T. has been out for 8 and a half. Elder T. is from Texas and Elder P. is from Utah. I really like them. We get along really well. I sleep on a mattress on the floor. My companions are on a bunk bed. It can be crowded sometimes.
I am in the city of Las Vegas. I am in the Tenth Ward in the Meadows Stake. It's a lot smaller than Lawrenceville. Here we only use the first over flow. And not a lot of people sit there even. I am in a car. We just got the car. The weather is dry. Not too bad though.
We had dinner at a members house friday and Sunday and at at In-N-Out on Saturday. There were, I think, three or four member families that came and said hi to us. One offered to buy us dinner which was awesome.
I am glad to be here. And, it feels A LOT less like prison. It's a lot of fun.
Love,
Michael
My address is 8625 Bright Angel Way, Las Vegas NV 89149. I am actually living in a members home which is kind of cool. My first few days have been pretty fun. Because I didn't get here with everyone else, I didn't have an orientation. But I will soon though.
I have two companions. Elder T., my trainer and Elder P. There are three because Elder P. is waiting for a visa to go to Brazil. He has been here for six months and Elder T. has been out for 8 and a half. Elder T. is from Texas and Elder P. is from Utah. I really like them. We get along really well. I sleep on a mattress on the floor. My companions are on a bunk bed. It can be crowded sometimes.
I am in the city of Las Vegas. I am in the Tenth Ward in the Meadows Stake. It's a lot smaller than Lawrenceville. Here we only use the first over flow. And not a lot of people sit there even. I am in a car. We just got the car. The weather is dry. Not too bad though.
We had dinner at a members house friday and Sunday and at at In-N-Out on Saturday. There were, I think, three or four member families that came and said hi to us. One offered to buy us dinner which was awesome.
I am glad to be here. And, it feels A LOT less like prison. It's a lot of fun.
Love,
Michael
Thursday, September 26, 2013
Week #2--post surgery
Hi,
I'm doing great. Six hours of class Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday is hard. It's school all over again. The work is hard. My new companion is good. I am in the same zone, just in the district that came the week after me. I moved in with them Sunday evening. One reason that I like this district is because there are sisters. Because I moved with a district I made it an odd number of elders. That means that I am in a trio companionship. It's different than having one companion. The people going to my mission left Monday morning. But everyone else left this morning. It is hard to see them go. It was hard to see them go because they were great people, but also it was hard because I was supposed to leave with them.
Now the big news that you have been wanting to hear. I go back to the hospital tomorrow to see the doctor. He will tell me then when I can be released from the MTC. I don't really know who will be flying out with me. I might take a bus because of the elevation change. I don't know really. But I hope I don't have to take a bus. I'm feeling a lot better. It just mainly hurts when I use my stomach muscles. It's fun to tell people that I got stabbed three times. I'm tired of explaining the story to people. But when I do tell people, I'm quite popular. One sister at gym told me that I was a hero. That made me feel good.
When I got back to the MTC on Thursday, I stayed in the clinic until they close. Then I went back to the clinic Friday and stayed the whole time they were open. All I did was sleep. They had a sick bay for me. The medicine that they gave me for pain helped me sleep. We sometimes referred to my pain medication as drugs. When we left the residence, sometimes the elders in my zone, that entered the same day that I did, asked me if I had my drugs. I then made the comment that I was a drug dealer. It was really funny.
I went to the temple today. It was really great because I didn't get to go last week because we moved on my p-day. The chapel was so big, I counted 15 rows of seats. After I saw how big it was, I then felt stupid because if you think about it, big temple equals big rooms. and lots of rooms. And if you think about it further, I should realize that I'm in Utah.
Sunday in Provo is so weird. There are no cars, nobody on a bike or long board. No one is even walking. You don't have to push the button or look down the road to cross the street. It was crazy.
I have more to say, but it's time for me to go.
Love you lots!!
I'm doing great. Six hours of class Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday is hard. It's school all over again. The work is hard. My new companion is good. I am in the same zone, just in the district that came the week after me. I moved in with them Sunday evening. One reason that I like this district is because there are sisters. Because I moved with a district I made it an odd number of elders. That means that I am in a trio companionship. It's different than having one companion. The people going to my mission left Monday morning. But everyone else left this morning. It is hard to see them go. It was hard to see them go because they were great people, but also it was hard because I was supposed to leave with them.
Now the big news that you have been wanting to hear. I go back to the hospital tomorrow to see the doctor. He will tell me then when I can be released from the MTC. I don't really know who will be flying out with me. I might take a bus because of the elevation change. I don't know really. But I hope I don't have to take a bus. I'm feeling a lot better. It just mainly hurts when I use my stomach muscles. It's fun to tell people that I got stabbed three times. I'm tired of explaining the story to people. But when I do tell people, I'm quite popular. One sister at gym told me that I was a hero. That made me feel good.
When I got back to the MTC on Thursday, I stayed in the clinic until they close. Then I went back to the clinic Friday and stayed the whole time they were open. All I did was sleep. They had a sick bay for me. The medicine that they gave me for pain helped me sleep. We sometimes referred to my pain medication as drugs. When we left the residence, sometimes the elders in my zone, that entered the same day that I did, asked me if I had my drugs. I then made the comment that I was a drug dealer. It was really funny.
I went to the temple today. It was really great because I didn't get to go last week because we moved on my p-day. The chapel was so big, I counted 15 rows of seats. After I saw how big it was, I then felt stupid because if you think about it, big temple equals big rooms. and lots of rooms. And if you think about it further, I should realize that I'm in Utah.
Sunday in Provo is so weird. There are no cars, nobody on a bike or long board. No one is even walking. You don't have to push the button or look down the road to cross the street. It was crazy.
I have more to say, but it's time for me to go.
Love you lots!!
Michael gets his appendix out
On Sept. 18th we received a phone call from the MTC saying that Michael wasn't feeling well. He was headed to the hospital to have a CT scan for his appendix. Well, about two hours later we received a call that he was indeed going to have surgery. The surgery went very well. No complications at all but that appendix really did need to come out. It had not ruptured so there was no lingering infections. As long as Michael was at the hospital he was allowed to have visitors and phone calls. It was a blessing that his Aunt lives so close, she was able to be there when he woke up post surgery. And we have good friends who live nearby who were also able to go visit him. That lifted his spirits so much! (And he wasn't really upset about the whole thing anyway.) We spoke with him several times on Thursday. He sounded so good, happy, and already "grown up." He commented on how nice the people were there and that the hospital was more fun than the MTC. (hospitals aren't all that bad if you are not super sick.)
He was back at the MTC by noon on Thursday.
Friday, he was able to spend at the sick bay at the MTC. Just sleeping off the leftover anesthetic and pain. He was able to call us that night just to let us know that he was feeling better.
While this was an interesting thing to have happen to him, we know that Heavenly Father's timing is perfect and there was a great purpose in Michael having to go through this right now.
But, it also meant that his departure date was to be delayed. He was supposed to head to NV on Sept. 23rd, but due to recovery, he was not able to leave that day with the rest of his travel group.
He was back at the MTC by noon on Thursday.
Friday, he was able to spend at the sick bay at the MTC. Just sleeping off the leftover anesthetic and pain. He was able to call us that night just to let us know that he was feeling better.
While this was an interesting thing to have happen to him, we know that Heavenly Father's timing is perfect and there was a great purpose in Michael having to go through this right now.
But, it also meant that his departure date was to be delayed. He was supposed to head to NV on Sept. 23rd, but due to recovery, he was not able to leave that day with the rest of his travel group.
First week in the MTC--Sept. 17th
Hi,
The MTC is good. I like being around a lot of missionaries. I've fallen asleep in class every day. Not a deep sleep. Just a doze. But it happens a lot. Six hours of class a day is really hard. It's like trying to drink out of a fire hose. It's a really small world at the MTC. I have seen a few people that know people from home. We moved to the West campus today. The apartments are a lot better than the residence hall. Because the food is good, but could be better, I have eaten at least one bowl of Life cereal. Two times I had Captain Crunch. I have written in my journal every night. That is one thing that I am trying to do. This will shock you, but I have written in my journal so much that I have used up all the room possible (on a daily page) almost every time!! Probably because there is so much going on. There is so much study time. On Sunday there were about 6-8 hours of study time. But I liked Sunday the best because it was just really laid back. No six hour classes. When people say that having the skill of playing the piano will pay off on your mission, they weren't kidding. I am the only one in my zone that knows how to play the piano. I have played in sacrament and zone teaching. They say that if you make it to Sunday things will get better and time will go faster. They were right. The first few days were really tough. Every day will still be tough and stressful, but just not as much.
Love you lots.
Love,
Elder Brown
The MTC is good. I like being around a lot of missionaries. I've fallen asleep in class every day. Not a deep sleep. Just a doze. But it happens a lot. Six hours of class a day is really hard. It's like trying to drink out of a fire hose. It's a really small world at the MTC. I have seen a few people that know people from home. We moved to the West campus today. The apartments are a lot better than the residence hall. Because the food is good, but could be better, I have eaten at least one bowl of Life cereal. Two times I had Captain Crunch. I have written in my journal every night. That is one thing that I am trying to do. This will shock you, but I have written in my journal so much that I have used up all the room possible (on a daily page) almost every time!! Probably because there is so much going on. There is so much study time. On Sunday there were about 6-8 hours of study time. But I liked Sunday the best because it was just really laid back. No six hour classes. When people say that having the skill of playing the piano will pay off on your mission, they weren't kidding. I am the only one in my zone that knows how to play the piano. I have played in sacrament and zone teaching. They say that if you make it to Sunday things will get better and time will go faster. They were right. The first few days were really tough. Every day will still be tough and stressful, but just not as much.
Love you lots.
Love,
Elder Brown
Starting Michael's Blog of Missionary Moments
On May 27th 2013, Elder Michael Brown was called to serve a mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. He was called to labor in the Nevada Las Vegas West mission. Michael reported to the MTC on Sept 11th 2013.
We were worried about how much we would hear from him. Writing is not his favorite thing. He is not a "story teller." Just honest and heartfelt.
We were worried about how much we would hear from him. Writing is not his favorite thing. He is not a "story teller." Just honest and heartfelt.
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