Elder Brown update

Well, another week has gone by and I am still here. We are planning on a baptism for Donald this Saturday, but it will most likely not happen as Donald is not ready. I don't think he will ever be ready. Charles received the Aaronic Priesthood yesterday and is planning on going to the Temple to do Baptisms for the Dead. He is doing awesome!  Anyways, we found 2 new families to teach. One families name is Glen & Andreanna. Don't know their last name. Their are awesome. Hopefully they will progress. They know members and have met with missionaries in the past and have decided to take the lessons again. The other one is Scott & Andreanna Boydsten. They know members, and have never taken the lessons, but have agreed to take them. They are going to be awesome to teach.  Well, I hope that y'all are having a good summer and that you enjoy girls camp. That should be fun, I hope there isn't snow still. That won't be fun. I hope you do have fun though.  I'm not sure that is how many baptisms I have been a part of. People in Texas don't like it when you serve them, especially people not of our faith. It is very hard to find service opportunities in Texas. People just want to do it themselves, which I don't blame them.  Tell everyone I said "Hi"  That is all I have for this week, not too much other than just happy to e-mail you and hear from you. Thanks for everything!

-Elder Brown

P.S. Thanks for the pictures. Also, I got to eat at In-N-Out this past week. We convinced a member to get it for us in Frisco and he did. It was VERY GOOD FOOD!

Patriotic Service @ BYU Marriot Center

We went to the Partriotic Service tonight with the McGriff's.  It was an hour and a half long.  There was powerful musical performances, along with incredible stories of freedom, that defined the evening. Several talented artists will be singing, like Daniel Beck, Kerilyn Johnson, Elica Moore, Benjamin Hale, Kendra Lowe, The 23^rd Army Band of the Utah National Guard and The American Heritage Lyceum Philharmonic Orchestra.  We enjoyed the evening, except for Riley, he was bored and couldn't sit still.  It must be more for the adults than 14 year olds. 

Riley to Dallas, Texas with TSA

Riley flew to Dallas Texas today to compete in the National TSA Competion.  He went with Dixon Middle School class, with his Teacher, Mr. Wardle and 5 other students.  Riley competed in Bridge Building and Flight.  The bridge is built with balsa wood and super glue, and then they put weight on it, to see how much it can take before it breaks.  The flight is he makes a airplane out of balsa wood and then they fly it to see how far it can go and not break on landing.  He stayed at the Gaylord Texas Resort and Convention Center.  It is a really nice 5 star hotel.  The hotel had a water park next to it, so they spent alot of time at it.  He was also able to spend a day with Carson and Ethan at their house and swim with them.  Crazy to think that he was 30 minutes away from Cameron in Denton, but we are not allowed to visit him, and Riley really didn't have a way to get there either.  He thought that they might get to go to Six Flags over Texas, but it cost to much to get to it, and then they tried to get to the Texas Rangers Baseball game, but it was soldout.  They spent most of the time at the hotel.  It had many shops and eating places right in the hotel.  He did not get any awards or place in the top ten, but he was okay was that.  He was just glad to go and be with the TSA group.  He was gone from Tuesday morning to Saturday evening.  While he was gone, Erika and I cleaned his room and filled up one whole trash can full of trash.  We rearranged his bed, computer and dresser and it looks so much better.  Now the trick is to keep it clean.

Erika with Jenny Oaks Baker

Erika went to a free concert tonight in American Fork with her friend, Caitie, where Jenny Oaks Baker was playing with the orchestra.  They finally were able to get her autograph and picture with her.  Both Erika and Caitie love Jenny Oaks Baker and she has been an inspiration to them as well as their idol violinist.

Elder Brown update

Well, the Baptism did happen! Charles is now a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints and he is so excited to receive the priesthood. He has his interview with the Bishop either tomorrow or Wednesday night. He is so excited and happy. Also, the same day, there was a guy who got baptized named Travis in the Denton 3rd Ward. He sang "Come Thou Fount" in front of the congregation. He is a top dog singer and he was only a member for 3 hours when he sang for us. He is so cool. Travis has sung with lots of top hits of today. He is so awesome as well as Charles.  I am attaching pictures of the baptism. I also attached a picture of a trucker that completely tore down a stop light. It was scary, but thought it would be good to take a picture. LOL, hope you enjoy!  Other than Charles baptism, Donald is falling apart. He keeps cancelling appointment after appointment. We are seriously thinking about dropping him. He won't meet with us and he won't quit smoking. Well, that is all I can do for him, do what I can, and hopefully the Lord will do the rest. We have found a new investigator this past week, Andrea Paul, I don't know if I told you yet, but she knows lots of members everyone in SLC, and Denton area. She wants to take the missionary lessons soon. We also received a referral from some members for some new people to teach as well as we received a referral from SLC for a lady that logged onto mormon.org. So hopefully we will have a few new people to try to teach.  To answer some of your questions: I haven't seen Elder Downs in forever. I heard though that he is down in Arlington, but that of course is a rumor. I don't actually know where he is, we don't get to keep in contact. There have been a few missionaries from my group that have gone home early, so I think we are down to 17 or 16 now. That's okay, that is still a big group. Michaelynn is taking the temple classes still. Haven't heard of anything new yet.  Well, I had better end this novel as well. Thank you, and yes I did receive the package you sent. Thank you so much! I always love goodies.  Thanks for everything, and Happy Father's Day again! I do really like the tie!
Love
-Elder Brown

Father's Day

I found these golf ties for Brian and his dad for father's day.  I was so excited, because they had golf bags and clubs all over it.  To my dismay, these ties were meant for the younger men, because when Brian went to put his on, it was too short (as you can tell by the picture).  He decided to wear it anyway to church, but made the tail really short in the back.  It was about 6" long, tucked in his shirt.  We all had a great laugh, that we couldn't wait to give the other one to Grandpa Doug.  He tried to put it on as well, and it was too short, but he just bent his knees to make it look long.  At least they were able to laugh about it and make them work for the day.  HAPPY FATHER'S DAY!!!!

Riley's new creation

The wind was blowing really hard this afternoon, so Riley decided to make a kite.  Well, not a normal kite, one made out of duct tape and plastic bags.  When we his mind gets the imagine in his head, there is no stopping him.  And the best part, is that is actually worked and flew in the wind.  What is next?

New Pictures of Elder Brown

 This pictures is with Elder Young during Nov 2009 to Mar 2010

Not sure exactly when this was, but Elder Hatch and Elder Call are in the picture when Elder Brown was in White Settlement Mar 2010 to Sept 2010.

Elder Brown update

Hello, well things around here are going okay. I thank you for all your e-mails and your Trek report. I am so happy for Riley and his accomplishments as well as Erika too. I am so happy for all of you. It is just amazing at how much has changed in the past 20 months since I first left on my mission. I cannot believe that Erika is going to College and Riley is in High School and it is just scary and weird, but I guess everyone has to grow up at some point, right?  Thanks for getting my CD player and when you asked about if I needed anything else, well...I don't think I do. I am doing okay for now. I am just really trying to stay cool. Our mission president has been deciding over the past few months on whether or not we will start wearing our suits all day every day. I don't like the idea at all. It just doesn't make sense. Why would we wear suits all day? It will just be so hot and miserable and people will wonder what the crap we are doing with suits on in 100+ degree weather which by the way, it has been close to 100 the past 2 weeks and it is supposed to be close to 100 for the next 7 days. The lows are only in the low 70's. It just will never cool down. I really don't like the idea, but I definitely will try to be obedient if he says we need to do it.
Well, an update on missionary work. Charles Lamb (not Lambert, found out on Saturday) will be getting baptized this Saturday. He had his interview and the missionary doing it said he was good to go. So, we will have a baptism this Saturday. I am so excited for it. Donald Hammond isn't going anywhere anymore. He works on Sunday's now and still has a Word of Wisdom issue that he won't give up. We challenged him to get 2 Sunday's off every month to come to church. He said he would. Until then, we will not consider him a Progressing Investigator. We found a new investigator named Andrea Paul this past week. So a little story about her. We were out with a member named Bro. Marchant and we asked him if it would be okay if we went by Andrea. He said he didn't feel comfortable about it, so we didn't. Then the next time we went out on exchanges with him, he asked us if we wanted to go and see her. Of course we said yes. We stopped and knocked on her door and she came out and she was so happy to see us. She said "I have been waiting for y'all to show up." She knows 5 families in the Ward and has been through the Oquirrah Mountain Temple open house and knows lots of members in SLC. The Marchants set up an appointment to meet over at their house to teach her. We will be going over tomorrow. She is so cool and she is totally ready to be baptized. Isn't that cool or what?  Well, I probably should end my novel too, but thank you so much for all that you do for me.  Just one last thing, I am almost 100% sure Transfer calls will be Tuesday night now, so our next transfer day is July 20th. Transfer calls will be the 19th. Unless I say otherwise, that is probably what will happen. Don't worry though, it will only be for 2 transfers that you won't know for an entire week.  Well, I do believe that is all. Thank you so much for all you do for me.

-Elder Brown

Riley's Sacrament Meeting Talk

My name is Riley Brown and I was able to go on Trek this year.  I had a great time and it will be an experience that I will remember and cherish.  I was in the Cook family and we represented the Oakiey pioneer family that where in the Martin Handcart Company.  The main focus for our family was family prayer because the Oakiey family always had family prayer before they walked, ate and slept.

            We tried to have family prayer in our family while on trek too.  We prayed before we walked, ate and slept too.  I enjoyed getting to know the other youth in my family and learned to work together to push and pull.  One of the days our Ma was tired of walking, so we were able to pull her in the handcart while she rode in the handcart to rest for a while.  I was so happy to be able to do this for her.

Each family was given a baby doll and blanket to carry with their families before we started.  Our family named the baby Thomas, after the Oakiey’s baby.  We all took turns holding the baby.  The baby had to be carried and held by one of the family members.  He couldn’t ride in the handcart and he had to sleep with someone at night. I took this job very seriously and took care of the baby for the second half of the first day. Then the next day just before lunch they stopped all of us and told our family that our baby died and we had to bury him. I was very sad, because I held and carried him most of the time.  We had a funeral for our baby and my ma and pa let me keep Thomas’s blanket. It made me think of the pioneers and the trials they went through on the trail, as they had to bury loved ones in shallow graves.

I am grateful that the gospel teaches us we will see our loved ones again. I feel it probably gave the Pioneer saints strength to know this as well.

On Friday evening, we did square dancing.  We got in groups of 8 people and then a couple in our stake, told us the different patterns to do.  We did 3 different kinds of square dancing.  I noticed that all of the youth were having a great time laughing, clapping and dancing together. It was fun.

I enjoyed being on trek and I learned so much, I felt the Spirit. I’m grateful that I may have the opportunity to go again in four years and I can’t wait until then.

Girls Camp Kickoff

We had our Girls Camp kickoff this Friday and Saturday at Sister Hill's cabin in Park City.  We took 11 girls and 8 leaders.  We were able to go earlier in the day, so it gave us time to settle in and get to know each other, as well as play some games together.  We also had a GPS activity that Brian and Bro. Jensen put together.  We had great food for dinner and breakfast.  The girls went to bed at midnight and then got up at 5 am the next morning to see the sunrise.  They were not very quiet, so I told them that at girls camp I was going to get them up  at 5 am one of the mornings when they were the most exhausted and tired, to pay them back.  We had a great time together in prepartion for Girls Camp coming up in July.

Elder Brown update

Well...it is WAY TOO HOT!!!!!!! We reached 100+ today. AHHHHHH...I'm going to die! I hope I can make it. It is way too hot for me.
Anyways, well...some news to you. I received my transfer call this morning. Just a little explanation. President is SLOWLY moving it to Tuesday night and he will probably do Monday night at the end of next transfer. Well, I am staying here in Denton with Elder Anthony for a 3rd transfer together. Crazy huh? 3 transfers! This is the first time I will have been with the same companion for more than 2 transfers. I am excited and willing to go forward, even though there is some major heat outside. SO I AM STAYING HERE IN DENTON.
Charles Lambert will be getting baptized on June 18th for sure. We are so excited for this baptism and he is so ready to be baptized! Donald however has fallen off the face of the whole earth! He cancelled our appointment for this past week and he is most definitely struggling with the Word of Wisdom. We are going to seriously consider him as an investigator. Other than that, we really haven't seen anything new happening here in Denton 2nd Ward. We are tracting, which is only 1% effective, especially here in Texas.
I am still a District Leader here in Denton and covering the Spanish Elders and Spanish Sisters including Sister Valdez and the Justin Elders. It will be exciting.
Anyways, I do have 1 nature picture that I took that y'all might enjoy so I will send it to you.
That's all I have to say for this week. I enjoy e-mailing every week and tomorrow I have been out 20 months. Crazy huh? I cannot believe it!
Well, I hope y'all have a wonderful week. Thank you for everything you do for me. I really do appreciate it.

-Elder Brown

Riley Choir Pictures

These pictures where taken at the UVU Choir Festival.  We just received them in the mail, so how could we not share them.  You will notice that Riley looks the same in both the regular picture and the funny picture.  I guess he doesn't know how to pull a funny face.

Stake Pioneer 3 day trek

Riley, Erika and Brian and I were able to go on our Stake Pioneer Trek today.  We had to be at the stake center at 6 am and then we rode busses out to the southwest side of Utah Lake to Mosida Lodge Handcart Trek.  We walked the f irst day for 9 miles.  It was nice weather, sunny and cool wind.  We did get some sun on our faces and hands.  The nights were cold and the bathrooms were not the best, but it was better than the bushes.  The food was awesome.  We had firesides, afternoon sides and morning sides with our families and the whole stake.  The second day we walked another 9 miles.  They had square dancing in the evening and gave out letters to all our youth.  Riley accidently threw his letters from us in the fire and then burned his thumb to try and get them out.  He was upset, but received a personal letter from us in our tent.  The 3rd day, we had a testimony meeting in the morning and then walked 2 miles back to the lodge where we started.  All the parents were there to pick up their kids and were cheering all of us on.  We did the river crossing and all of us got wet up to our waist.  It was muddy and I lost my flip flops first thing, so I did the rest in my bare feet.  Brian and I were a Ma and Pa and we had 9 youth from other wards.  There were 14 total families.  We all had two handcarts, so we all were able to take a turn pushing and pulling.  The neighbors took us home and we got home at 2 pm.  We all showered and crash for 3 hours.  We had a great time with all the stake, but especially our own kids in our family.  Thanks to Whitney, Larissa, Julie, Byran, Austin, Trevor, Michael, Aarron, and Halen  They were all amazing kids and we will have friendships with them forever.  Erika and Riley were in different families  Riley with the Cook's and Erika with the Cox's.  Erika and Riley were always checking on us to make sure we were doing okay.  I did great and Brian only received a great big blister on the bottom on his foot.  If we had the chance to do it again, we would in a heart beat.  IT WAS AN AWESOME EXPERIENCE FOR ALL OF US!!!