Erika YW Recognition #2

Erika received the 2nd YW Recognition today.  She finished it the 1st time a year ago and then they changed the Personal Progress Program.  She did the extra reading and the value Virtue and received her 2nd.  Great Job Erika!!!

Riley to On-Target Campout

Riley went with his scout troop to the On-Target Campout today and tomorrow.  He climbed up halfway to campout overnight and the rest of saturday, they climbed to the top of Maple Mountain Peak.  They used mirrors to signal other troops on different peaks from 11 am to 2 pm as well as 4 different stations in the city and on the lake.  We went to signal him at 1 pm, but were to late, they had already left the peak for the climb down.  He got home at around 4:30 pm saturday and had some much dirt in his shoes and socks. His comment was "That was the most brutal campout ever. I don't want to go again."  He loves to go with the scouts and campout, but I guess this one was the hardest and the most hiking and packing he had ever done.  The picture is of him and his friend Garrett, looking on to see how much farther they had to go.  It was a 2 mile hike up and back and on a hot day too.

Erika Senior Pictures

Elder Brown update

Hello from Elder Brown in Texas. Well, I am so happy that I can e-mail you again this week. It's so nice to hear what's going on back home. Well, nothing new has happened other than Elder Proctor got his itinerary for flying home on August the 19th. He is way excited. He can't wait. I'm sure that y'all can't wait until that day comes for me too.
Well, other than that, nothing new has happened in missionary work. Although I do want to tell you a story. We got a referral from SLC for this guy named David. So, we called him hoping to get in and teach him. Well, when we got to his house, he invited us in and we sat down and he said that he and his daughter had been at the Manti Pageant. We knew exactly at that point why he invited us over. He then proceeded to try to Bible Bash with us and tried to tell us that we were wrong. Elder Proctor handled the situation perfectly and basically told him that until he reads the Book of Mormon and prays about it, we will not be back to talk to him about the true restored gospel of Jesus Christ. We left his home with those last words and haven't been back since. I am so happy that Elder Proctor was there to handle it. I have learned a lot about what you are supposed to do when someone tries to bash with you. You just bear your testimony, tell the person to read and pray about the Book of Mormon, and then we will talk. He is a awesome companion.
Well, that is my story for the week. I got a letter from Grandma Holly today. She told me all about Pattie and all the fun she is. I can't believe how big she has gotten since I've been gone. I don't know how she will feel when I get home and she sees me for the first time. She might get shy. Oh well...  Thanks for all you do for me.

-Elder Brown

Evans Family Pictures

The Evans Family had the yearly family pictures taken tonight.  Our friend, Debbie from Inkleys, took them for us.  These pictures are from my camera, not the professional ones that we will get back on the weekend.  We had everyone in brown shirts and jeans.  It looked really nice and we had then taken at Murray Park.  We took a cardboard lifesize stand up of Elder Brown to have in the pictures too.

Park City

Since Milan & Family are in town from Texas, we planned to have dinner with them in Park City, since they have their time share there this week.  My sister told me to go and get a gift certificate for $10 online and then they give you $10 free.  So I did it and received them in the mail the next day.  We meet at the Main Street Pizza and Noodle Restaurant.  We order for the 4 of us and then I asked Brian if the $20 helped with the price.  He said "Yes, because it was $83!"  I was shocked, but I should have known, since we are in Park City.  We really didn't order very much, but everything on the menu was over $15.  What a rip off!!!  Anyway, after we ate, then we went to Milan and Sarah's hotel room and had ice cream and cake for all the July and August birthdays.  Milan's little girl, Payton, was so happy to be able to run, jump and move around freely.  She was the entertainment of the night.  We all had a good laugh and so did she.  We ended up getting home at 11 pm, but it was worth it.  Good times with family.

Elder Brown update

Well, transfer day came and went. I am still here in Chapel Creek with Elder Proctor. Elder Proctor is going home at the end of this transfer, so that most likely means that I will be here for another 12 weeks. I am so excited to be serving with him in this area for a second transfer. Yes that means that I did not get transferred. YAY! No packing up and moving around. I don't like to pack up and move, it's so hard, but I go where the lord wants me to be.

Well, it sounds like the past week has been fun. I am so happy the weather is finally warming up. Guess what?? I have been in the 90's for the past 2 months. HA HA, just kidding, I don't like it. I would rather it be 70 than 90. Oh well...I can't change it. It is supposed to rain for the next couple of days, so it might make it a tad cooler.
Well, missionary work is going good. We are finally able to visit some people because everyone was out of town for the 4rth of July. So now that everyone is back home, we can go and visit them and teach them. It's very hard to do missionary work when people aren't home, but it's all good. Nothing new is happening, other than transfers happened yesterday. We have a few new missionaries in the zone and they are ready to serve. I remember when I got here fresh out of the MTC, now I am starting to be considered an older missionary, even though I have only been out 9 months.
Well, my family and friends...that is all for this week. Oh by the way. Thanks to everyone else for all the support that you give to me. Until next week!

-Elder Brown

To Deer Valley with McGriff's

Today we went withe the McGriff's up to Deer Valley where Nancy's sister works.  We planned to leave at 10 am, but trying to get lunches together it ended up being 11 am before we headed up the canyon.  We drove together in McGriff's car and talked about our favorite PBS shows on the way up.  Riley and Sara watch a movie in the back.  We arrived at Deer Valley around noon and then headed up the first lift to main lifts.  It was so nice and sunny and a little bit of a breeze.  It was a beautiful day.  We meet Nancy's sister at the bottom of the lift and then left our coolers and headed up to the next lift.  Riley and Sara rode together and Erika and Heather rode together and Nancy and I rode together.  It was so peaceful and the smells of the mountain and pine were amazing.  We arrived at the top and then noticed that there was a rain cloud just behind us.  We didn't worry to much about it, so we went to the top of the mountain to look over the top.  Nancy's sister called and told to find shelter, because it was hailing down at the bottom.  We rush down the mountain to the small cabin where 20 other people were surrounding.  It then rained and hailed for about 30 mintues.  They closed the lift and we were stuck up on top of the mountain.  They brought up trucks to take people down 3 or 4 at a time, but we were in no hurry, so we waited for it to stop raining and then started hiking around the other part of the mountain.  The kids decided to try and find Deer Valley Diamonds, which are quartz rocks that have been in the sun and looked like clear glass.  Erika found quite a few of them.  Riley found the little bit of snow that was on top of the mountain and made a snow ball, but it didn't last.  We were up there for about an hour, before they decided to start running the lift again.  We rode it down and found our coolers and had a nice relaxing lunch, which ended up being about 3 pm.  We were so hungry.  We then decided it was time to head home, so we rode the last lift to our car and arrived at home at 4:30 pm. This was an all day field trip.  We had alot of fun and hope to do it again soon.  The last time we went with them it was about 6 or 7 years ago.  Hopefully, we won't wait that long to go again.  Thanks to the McGriff's for inviting us to come along.

Stadium of Fire Get Together

Our yearly tradition is to go up to BYU and watch the stadium of fire fireworks.  We go up around 6 pm and bring our dinner and sit out on the lawn across from the Marriott center and eat, talk and play games with the Autrey's and McGriff's.  We always have alot of fun and get to enjoy the fireworks withouth paying the price of a ticket.  Erika really wanted to go inside, because of Jenny Oaks Baker playing, but not this year.  We had great food, which we always share with each other and the kids played volleyball and went and walked around campus until it got dark.  We always have glow sticks for all the kids and they love it, even though they are not little kids anymore.  Brian was able to see the F16 jets fly over as tradition for stadium of fire and we could also hear the music from it too.   The sunset was amazing, so I had to take pictures and of course of some of the fireworks.  We got home around 11:00 pm and then had to be up early for church at 9 am.  We will be doing somemore fireworks with the neighbors on Monday, when the 4th is observed.  Thanks again for the fun this year.

Riley back from Baltimore

Riley came home tonight from Baltimore.  He has been there since last Saturday and competed in the National TSA.  He was in the bridge building and flight competions, but didn't qualify. His bridge was too short and his plane didn't fly very far.  They also did some sight seeing during their down time.  On Monday, they took the train to Washington DC and went to the monuments and the Air and Space Museum.  Believe it or not, we did send a camera with him, but did he bring any back for proof and a memory of it?  Nope, not a single one.  I have obviously not trained him that well.  They also went to a Baltimore Orioles Baseball game.  All the TSA students sat together in the stands with orange shirts.  He was glad he went and is excited to go next year to Dallas Texas.  It was a good experience for him and he is learning what to expect at the competitions.

Pirate Island with Family

Sarah and her family are in Utah to visit all the family.  We decided to meet them at the new Pirate Island Restaurant in Orem.  All the cousins came, except for Jenn & her family and Riley was on a plane.  We had a great visit with each other and the kids played arcade games and won some prizes.  All the kids received a balloon sculture of some kind, and since Brian's birthday is coming up, they did one for him too.  It is a fish on a fishing pole.  We tried to get him to make a golf club of some kind, but not this time.  We spent about 3 hours there.  We will be seeing all the family again when my brother gets to town on Saturday the 10th of July.  More fun to come.

To the Living Planet Aquarium

Erika came to me and said she was tired of being in the house and wanted to do something.  We called her dad to find out if he was staying late at work and he said yes, so we headed up to Sandy at 5:00 pm to visit the Living Planet Aquarium.  They closed at 7 pm, but that was okay, because we really didn't want to spend more than a hour there.  It was really nice, because there were not alot of people there.  We didn't have to fight the crowds or little kids.  We just walked at our leisure and laughed and took pictures.  We really enjoyed the new penguin exhibit.  We stood there and watched them for at least a half an hour.  It was so cool to watch.  Erika even did the touching pools with the stingrays in it.  She is such a animal lover.  She loves dolphins and the ocean life.  Too bad we don't live closer to the ocean for her to experience more of it.  She will have to get an internship or something to go to San Diego or Florida to be able to do it.  Later, we visited with some family and then picked up something to eat and headed home around 9 pm.  We were eating Panda Express and she had picked up some toothpicks for us.  She asked me if I wanted mine, so I took it.  When I put it in my mouth, I told her it tasted like cinnamon.  She immediately opened hers to taste it.  She was surprised to find out that hers was just a toothpick and realized that I had tricked her.  We had a good laugh about it.  Thanks Erika for making me get up and out of the house.  We both needed the entertainment.

Elder Brown update

Well, here I am again writing to you and I always love it. It is the best day of the week when I can write to you. Well, I got to meet our new mission president yesterday. Yesterday was what we call Meet the President Day. President Sagers is way cool. His son J.W. came with him as well as Emma. J.W. was not too happy that he had to leave home and his friends to come here, but I'm sure he will get to liking it soon. President Sagers is very, very knowledgeable about the Scriptures. He told us that one zone conference he will teach us some things in Isiah and Revelations. I am way excited for those trainings. The Sagers are not too big on singing, but that's okay. They got here Tuesday at 2 p.m. It was interesting to think during those 2 hours that I had 2 mission presidents. Then I met the new one yesterday. WOW. Well that is my interesting fact for the week.

Well, Elder Proctor and I are planning on having a lot of fun on the 4rth of July. We are going to watch some fireworks at our Ward Mission Leaders house, and possibly watch some elsewhere. It is going to be a awesome day. I wish y'all the best on the 4rth. Oh, and by the way, if you are looking forward to the jets flying over, count me out! I have heard enough jets flying over that I am sick of them. It is starting to get annoying hearing them ALL THE TIME! I'm sure dad would say otherwise. He he...
Well, missionary work is going well. No new prospects coming up. Just working with the current ones. Transfer calls are this Saturday evening. I will find out that night whether I am staying or leaving, so don't send anything to me that will not get to me by the 6th of July. I will let you know where I am if I did get transferred next P-Day.
Well, that is all for this week. Talk to you next week, and I love all of you and thank you for your support in my missionary work. Talk to you next week.

-Elder Brown