June 3 Update - Final Week, Muchos Milagros!

Hello Everyone!

This is the final email of my mission, it has gone so fast!  We had a great week of miracles this week, culminating in having 5 people at church!  One of them was literally named Milagro!  (That means miracle in Spanish)  She also has an adorable young daughter named Cielo Azul (blue sky)!  We found them this week, and they had a bunch of super good questions of the soul!  We also put our Honduran family on date this week, and they were just super ready for it!  We love them, and I'm sad I can't be here to see them the rest of the way.  We also found a couple other new people, and it was overall a great week!  The mission has been amazing, and I know the work is true!  I know that the Church of Jesus Christ truly has been restored to the earth in the Latter Days.  I also know that the gospel brings true happiness, and it's not just a possibility, it's a guarantee!

For all of you who may want to keep in touch with me, my home email is j4r3nbr0wn@gmail.com

Have a great week!

Elder Brown

Family History Tabling with the Hermanas!

Post-Exit Interview Excitement: Elder Hall is a real missionary, and Racism!

Hi Everyone!

This has been a very interesting week!  We found a few new people to teach.We had some people come to church, and had some very interesting experiences!

I had my Exit Interview with President Smith on Tuesday, and that was really good.  I was super nervous and had butterflies going in, kind of psyching myself out, but it was surprisingly normal.  Of course I felt right at home with President Smith, and really the only difference was the subject matter.  He gave me some excellent counsel.

We found one of our new people just before the interviews, and he was super cool!  He readily agreed with the message of the restoration and sincerely committed to read and pray!  We are coming back this Tuesday.  

We contacted a less active we are working with on Monday, and he was outside drinking with some amigos, but that's ok!  They were all super nice (and I think they felt bad they were drinking in front of the missionaries), and we met with him again on Wednesday, and he had some good questions!  He was really honest with us and said he wants to resolve his doubts and improve his gospel learning!  He's so cool, and he showed us his Book of Mormon he got when he was baptized, and we gave him a Ven, Sigueme manual!

We found our second new person that same night by following a prompting!  As we planned that morning, we planned to go to an area which is usually pretty promising.  I kinda felt uneasy about it, but we went ahead and planned it anyway.  Then I felt it again as we were leaving from the Less Active, so I voiced it and we decided to go to another area we hadn't been in a while, and we tried someone we had tried several times without success.  Tonight he happened to be home!  He was super cool as well, and knows his Bible pretty well.  It was a miracle that we found him, and it was all because we followed a prompting!

We talked, with another less active that lives with the Martinez family, for a long time after dinner with them on Thursday night, and it was really good!  He told us his story of how he found the church and his activity level throughout the years.  We have broken the ice a little with him, and the Branch is also focusing on him right now, so hopefully we can start to make a little progress with him soon.

Friday night was really good for us!  We contacted some new people, and spent the evening in the promised land (trailer park)!  We taught the family from Honduras and then made some other really promising contacts, and I got to pet some cats!  They are all over in that trailer park.

We did Family History tabling on Saturday with the Hermanas and Hermano Florentino, who brought some great lemonade!  The weirdest part about the whole thing was that there were already people handing out pamphlets at the first tienda we planned on, and then some other people from another church showed up at the backup Tienda!  We got a sweet lanyard from them.

We found our final person on Sunday, which was a crazy day!  Elder Hall got bit by a dog, the family from Honduras came to church, I got to hear from my trainer because he called brother Bowler while we were at dinner with him, and then we found a cool guy from Guatemala, and get this!  In the middle of the contact, this african american guy approaches us, and holds us up for the rest of the night (about an hour) explaining his beliefs, which can be summed up as racist.  God and Jesus Christ are black, white people cannot be saved, and are meant to be slaves and serve the black people.  It was pretty wild.  But we split up conversations though, so we were able to save the contact!  Elder Hall finished with the Guatemalan while I headed off the servant of the devil.  Pretty wild night.

Anyway, this email may be way too long for some of you, but it was a wild week!  The mission is slipping through my fingers way faster than I am comfortable with, and I already know I am going to miss it like crazy when I get home!  I guess I need to "get my fringes on" (a quote from the black crazy guy) and buckle in for an interesting adjustment in about a week and a half!

Tune in next week for my final email.

Elder Brown

Me and the cats!

A funny Hispanic bumper sticker we found

My sweet lanyard from Iglesia La Familia De Dios

A very reflective storm door!

All-district council picture

May 20 Update - Family History Miracles and La Tierra Prometida!

Hi Everyone!

This week has been great, and though it was a little warmer, I have been absolutely loving the work here!  I really enjoy speaking Spanish with people and learning more of the language while learning more about them!

We had an exchange with the Zone Leaders here, and so I got to visit a recent convert who got baptized when I first entered Rappahannock, and unfortunately she has gone pretty inactive, but we were able to start things back up with her, so that was good.  I was with Elder Meyerhoffer for this exchange.  

We also had a sweet lesson with someone who was super prepared!  He was so spiritually in tune and the spirit was thick as molasses!  We put him on date right there, and we were also able to make some good contacts downtown.  There was a crazy homeless YSA that talked to us a couple times and tried to blow our minds with weird ideas.  Elder Meyerhoffer knows just about everything though, so we weren't too impressed with him.  It was a good exchange.  

In other news, we made some good contacts and have some solid lessons set up this week.  I'm telling you, the parque de trailers is the promised land!  We found another family in there this week!  This family is from Honduras, and unfortunately, they have already been caught by immigration, and so they have to jump through a few hoops to stay here, but they are excited for the gospel, and will probably come to church this week!  

Speaking of church, the man who we met doing family history and came to church last week, came again this week. We discovered he lives in our area so we will start teaching him this week!  We met another man this week tabling and he called us that night about church!  He didn't come this week, but we will be meeting with him as well this week, and he will probably come to church next Sunday!

We had an interesting experience at English class this week.  A woman came to class, and she was the only one, so she went out to invite her husband to come in as well, and then I guess they left, because she never came back in!  We were really confused.

We were also able to help out with a service project on Saturday and clean some headstones in the Fredericksburg National Cemetery!  I quite enjoyed it, and we also had two dinners on Saturday!  The Martinez' bought us pupusas at the pupuseria we were tabling at. and then we also had dinner with Magda.  We are teaching her sister and brother-in-law and Magda's family is actually about to move pretty close to them!

We even got to visit a member in the hospital yesterday, so it was a very varied and busy week, just how I like it!

Hope you all have a great week!

Elder Brown

May 13 Update - I'm not dead, and I'm not home....yet

Hey Everyone!

Sorry I haven't written a weekly in so long.  Many of you may have thought I had gone home, or maybe I was dead!  Luckily, neither is the case.  I simply have slacked off the last few weeks, for which I apologize.  

It's been really good here!  My Spanish is excellent considering how long I have been speaking it, and have actually gotten a few compliments from Hispanics on how well I speak (for a white guy)!  We have found several people to teach, and have started working with some less actives.  Ironically enough, most of the people we are working with are from Guatemala! 

I have been able to try many authentic Hispanic foods, the most recent of which is chicharrón preparado.  It is an appetizer from Veracruz Mexico, and is pretty good!  I have absolutely loved working with these people, and have found that Hispanics are generally a humble, kind, polite people who are also very industrious, and family and God are fairly central in their culture.  

We have had great success tabling at the Tiendas the last few weekends!  (Setting up a table with a poster and talking to people).  The topic has been family history.  We have seen a lot of interest in it, as well as English classes, and saw some miracles this week!  This has been a very enjoyable last transfer, and unfortunately the end is drawing near far too quickly.  I have my departing testimony at my final zone conference, and will have my exit interview with President Smith next week.  All is well though, this has been the happiest 2 years of my life, and has been a miraculous transfer.

Have a great week everyone!

Elder Brown

Branch Party Me and my new companion

District Photo

literally an entire fish (fried) (which was interesting)

Cool license plate we found

chicharrón preparado

Actualización del 15 de Abril - Mucho servicio y una persona nueva!

Hi Everyone! 

This week was pretty good.  We did quite a bit of service this week!  We finished helping the owner of the Christian Store move out, and actually managed to get most of her stuff!  She was super grateful and definitely is interested in learning more now!  

We have been visiting English members in our area to ask for Spanish referrals, and have had a couple other opportunities for service.  There was one that actually gave us a ton of referrals!  They know their neighborhood very well.  We also started teaching a girl from Albania who speaks 4 languages!  Pretty sweet.  

Anyway, it was a good week. 

Hasta luego!

Elder Brown

Pictures from All district Council

Benny's 28" pizza at a service project

Just got Hair cuts

Changing a tire for a member,

District Councel

Actualización de 1 de Abril - Recibiendo información cerca de regresado a casa y dejamos de enseñar muchas personas!

Hello everyone!

My Spanish continues to improve, and I hit a landmark this week!  I have been initiating all the contacts and one of the guys didn't look at Elder Muñoz!  (Hispanics immediately spot a gringo, and unless you have a decent accent and seem to have a good grasp of the language, they will usually look at your Hispanic companion to finish the approach).  So that felt good. I still am not understanding as much as I would like to when people speak to me though.  

We had exchanges with the Zone Leaders on Tuesday, and it was good to be back on campus!  We had a lesson with a super prepared guy and set him on date!  We also had 2 lessons in our area that night, and unfortunately one of the families dropped us, and the other is not progressing very well.  

We met with Kasey again this week, and we found a new person to teach as well.  Even better, she will have the rest of her family there for our next appointment!  We did tons of service on Saturday and Elder Muñoz baptised a woman that the Massaponax Sisters are teaching! 

We have also done a good amount of work preparing for this big dance activity on April 26th and coordinated with the YSA for that on Sunday.  That was great, as I was able to see all the awesome members there!  Here's to another great week!

Elder Brown

Elder Muñoz baptised a woman that the Massaponax Sisters are teaching!  

Companion Selfie me and Elder Muñoz

I found a familiar license plate!

An accident that happened shortly before we arrived.

District council

Cool Clouds

Mar 25 Update - Encontrando, Fiestas de Rama, y Mucho Mas!

Hi Everyone!

This was another great week in Fall Hill (Fredericksburg)!  My Spanish is improving significantly, and I am beginning to teach more in our lessons!  Elder Muñoz and I have been reading from Predicad Mi Evangelio Ch 3 and role-playing me teaching the points of the lessons in Spanish in my own words.  I have enjoyed the increased outpouring of the gift of tongues, and have become very aware that it is a GIFT.  It is not consistent and really only kicks in when I need it.  So it is interesting and keeps me humble about it.  It is good. 

We found 2 new people who are really cool this week!  One of them, whom I will call Fido, is from Argentina!  He is cool.  We have continued to progress with the family we are working with whom I will call Hermana Marta y Su familia.  They are progressing ok, and we also have a mother and son, whom I will call Amor y Alejandro.  They are coming along nicely, and Alejandro will probably get baptized this coming month! 

The youth group in the branch held a fundraiser for their camps, and held a dinner thing, and they did very well!  There were a lot of English members there, and a good amount of nonmembers as well!  They supported a lot, and we really enjoyed the dinner!  We are also actively planning another activity that should also be very successful.  

We had zone conference as well this week, and I got my Spanish tags!  It was kind of strange not to be in charge of Zone conference anymore.  It was a good zone conference, where we focused a lot on Easter.  

Putting on my Spanish tags brought along with it the weight of expectations, the expectation of being able to speak the language.  Taking off The English tags was hard too, because that means my English mission is over.  I wonder if taking the tag off when I get home will bring similar feelings, or if it will be way worse. 

The members here are very supportive of us, and we get fed often.  I am adjusting to Spanish food, and much of it is muy rico (very good)!  Especially pupusas.  Anyway, it was another great week here, and I expect to continue to progress a lot in the language this week.  Now vemos!

Elder Brown (Or Hermano Cafe, as Alejandro calls me)

Actualizon de 18 de Marzo - Translated to Spanish!!!

Hi Everyone!  This was a crazy week!  Elder McCallson and I both packed up a bunch on Monday and had our final lessons on Tuesday.  

We said goodbye to everyone Wednesday morning, and then I headed back up to Fredericksburg with Elder Muñoz after transfer meeting!  To the Fall Hill Spanish Branch!  My Spanish tags are on the way, and it has been a wild ride!  I dusted off my High school Spanish and became conversational within a few days, and I have been expanding my vocab and have been understanding more since then.  I have been praying for and felt like I have received at times the gift of Tongues, and have also had some cool experiences with the gift of interpretation of Tongues.  It has been pretty cool.  Let me just say right now that those are both super real! 

Since I have been here, we have had dinner with the branch president and some other key members.  Church was good, it was sort of half in English so I understood most of it.  Also, Elder Muñoz and I are like the same person, except he is Mexican.  We clicked pretty quick and are already good friends.  The language learning is hard but going well, and I am enjoying the work here!  Talk to y'all later!

Elder Brown

Mar 11 Update - Its that time again! Crazy transfer call!

Hello Everyone!  It's been a great transfer here and a great week here as well!  This is the week where a man in his 70s attended a Young Single Adult ward!  That's right!  One of the people we are working with whom we will call John wanted to attend a church service, but due to other Sunday Meetings, the only service time that worked for him was the YSA ward!  So that was interesting.  We also had another guy come!  He had missed the branch time (also because of a Sunday meeting) but we called him up and he was able to come to the YSA!  So that was pretty neat. 

We got an early peek at transfer news this week on Tuesday when we had interviews with President Smith.  Let's just say a bit of a crazy storm is brewing up on the Transfer Board!  We got the confirmation on Saturday night over transfer calls, with a few changes.  I will disclose the full information of my transfer results next week, however, know that they are shotgunning our area, which means Elder McCallson and I are both leaving!  I am also being stepped down from zone leader for a special assignment for the last 3 months of my mission.  

Because we got early transfer news, we spent a good amount of time this week prepping the area for the new elders and writing up some thorough shotgun notes.  Get ready for a wild ride!  I have loved my time here, and have been super proud of the progress of the zone this transfer.  The mission is in a great spot, and I am humbled by the trust President Smith has in me.  Talk to y'all next week!

Elder Brown

Meeting with the Stake President: President Mullins

Exchanges with Elder Weaver (former companion)

Exchanges with Elder Carr

Coordination Valentine's dinner

UMPA game from More Fit For The Kingdom

Feb 25 Update - Crazy Busy in Downtown Richmond!

Hello Everyone!

I can barely even keep up anymore with sending organized emails, so I'm just gonna go for it in this one.  We can now call our parents, which is real good.  It was kind of a crazy change, and we have now received additional direction that it is for parents only (though they allow other family members living at home to talk as well). 

Our zone won More Fit For The Kingdom (a mission health challenge) so we will be playing UMPA next week!  We had a crazy busy last couple weeks, and we tried super hard this week to get people to church.  We got 5 solid commitments and a few other possibilities, but only 2 showed up.  Still though, 2 is really good!  Jay and Regina both really enjoyed it, and it was super good for them.  We may put Jay on date for baptism this week.  

The good thing is that now we have identified several people who might come to church that we can continue to invite until they show up.

Our zone goal this transfer is to have double digit sacrament attendance every week, which is a pretty good stretch from what they were achieving before, and President Mullins (the stake president, with whom we meet every week) set a challenge for us to get an average of 12 three weeks in a row (a total of 36 over 3 weeks) with a reward of having lunch with him for the whole zone.  We got 35.  So close!  So we will see what we can do in terms of bartering this week.  Even without the lunch though, we are super proud of the zone!  We got 14 this week, which was super good. 

We have also had tons of exchanges.  I went to Waffle House with Elder Loftus, and some random nonmember saw we were soaked from the rain, and paid our bill, telling the waitress not to let us leave until we were rolling out the door.  I ate like 3 giant waffles with a ton of hash browns, it was wonderful.  Also, I tried Hibachi Box for the first time with Elder Weaver, and had it again with Elder Van Leuven, and Hibachi Box is sooooooo good!  We have a lot of good food places here (next to Virginia Commonwealth University).

We have just had a lot of really neat things happening for us, and I love being a missionary!  Also, I totally just scored a really nice suit from a member.  It was the suit he returned home in, and he no longer fits it.  Elder McCallson got his wedding suit!

Have a good week!

Elder Brown

Elder McCallson and I in our new suits

Exchange pictures with My companion Elder McCallson, Elder Loftus, & Elder Van Leuven

Richmond has lots of street art

More street art

Even more street art

Monuments

Funny Church sign

Beautiful Architecture

Spring is here!

Feb 11 Update - Biking in Downtown Richmond!exchange pic with Elder Messerly

Hello everyone!

Sorry I didn't send an email last week, it's been crazy busy down here!  I have transferred from Fredericksburg to Richmond now!  I am here in the Richmond branch with my new companion  Elder McCallson, which is right downtown!  It has been a blast.  We have a car, but it is mostly for meetings, so we bike everywhere, and it's been sweet!  I used to be glad I didn't have a bike area my whole mission, but now that I'm here, I wish I had more!  It carries a certain pleasure and sense of fulfillment.  You really feel like a missionary when you are biking around. 

The branch here is great, and very unique and diverse!  I haven't had this much soul since Petersburg!  There are also 3 sets of elders here, plus a senior couple, and this is the last 4-elder apartment in the mission!  I'm living with Elder Weaver again! (We were companions in Stafford YSA, where we lived not only with 4 elders, but in a house!  We even got to mow the lawn)  Our days here are filled with biking around past loads of YSA (I miss YSA work) and talking to lots of people from very varied backgrounds, black and white, rich and poor, and we run into quite a few ministers.  There is quite literally a church on every street corner here, especially in Church Hill.  I have found that as long as they don't want to contend with us, I can jive pretty well with ministers, or anyone who loves the lord in such a soulful way for that matter.  I forgot how much I enjoy talking to African American southern baptists. 

Our teaching pool is relatively small here, and not a lot of people are willing to commit to things, but despite that, the branch is bringing in a bucket of Recent Converts.  We are working with a lot of them right now, and it seems that the members help out a good bit with referrals.  This is also one of the few areas I have seen where it is normal for people to just walk in off the street. 

The people we are teaching are pretty cool though.  We are teaching one guy named Reese who has faith, but refuses to admit it, and he has been fun to work with so far.  He has a good amount of potential.  I also had my 21st birthday this week, and was treated very well.

Have a good week y'all!

Elder Brown

Exchange picture with Elder Messerly

Baptism in C-Ville

21st birthday 

Tabling on exchanges in Downtown with Elder Newbold

Saying goodbye to the branch with watercolors!