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!!

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.


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

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.