February 24, 2014

Hey everybody!

Good that Youth Conference went well...

My new companion's name really is Elder Rock haha... T.J. Rock. And we were pretty good friends at BYU. He was good friends with David's cousin Richard, and we were all a big group of friends. There's actually a picture on my Instagram of us holding up the German flag in his apartment back in the day, if you want to see a picture of us together. Then you can imagine us actually being in Germany. 

The member’s son’s baptism will hopefully happen on next Saturday, the 8th. We're gonna try pretty hard to make it happen so we'll see.

That's sweet that BYU beat Gonzaga... hopefully they can keep it going. It's just good pride points to get into the tourney. 

But things here are going really well. Elder Rock and I are already having a lot of fun, and things are looking good here. We've got a big ward party for Karneval (Carnival, like in Rio, they do it big here in Germany) on Friday so that'll be fun. We're gonna head to Bochum today and play some soccer. It's a beautiful day today. I'm pretty sure winter's come and gone here. Which is cool. 

But I love you all, have a great week!

Elder Brown

February 17, 2014

Hey everybody!!

Glad to hear that it got a little warmer for you guys this week. It was actually kind of warm (relatively) here today, and I don't think it's going to go down much before it starts moving up again. I'll probably eat those words... but just a guess haha. German winter definitely didn't live up to its reputation this year, and I'd be lying if I said I wasn't a little disappointed. I kinda like the snow... but not one flake. Whatevs.

So... we had transfers last week like I said, and there is some news. Elder Langford is shipping out, down to the mothership haha. He's gonna be on the Uni campus in Frankfurt, so that's kinda cool. President told him he'd be moved down there, but he didn't know in what capacity. He's pretty excited though I think... And that brings us to my new companion. So, my friend T.J. and I always joked that we'd be comps out here, but never thought it would actually happen.... he is my new comp haha. So I'm kinda excited. "Elder Rock" would be his proper name I guess. So transfer news were pretty good, despite seeing Elder Langford leave.

Elder Blackhurst is satisfied that you loved his letter haha. Him and Elder Smith are staying together, which I'm excited about. We've got a good setup here right now.

Speaking of that, we pulled off our Taco Night on Saturday with great success. It was way fun. TONS of work, but way fun. The members loved it, and we got lots of compliments on our taco making skills. As well as our pinata making skills haha. It was a good time. Bruder Garz, the first counselor in the Bishopric, called us up to the stand yesterday and thanked us, and said the ward should listen to our ideas more often haha. We kinda laughed at that. It was a good experience though. Oh... and I thought Dad would like to know that I kind of love onions now.... but yeah.... mushrooms still suck.

And to Dad's question... P-days here are pretty chill. We kinda just wander around CentrO (huge mall here - by Europe standards) most days. Today we got a steak lunch and went bowling. So that was fun. I continued my reign of dominance in bowling on my mission. I'm unbeatable. At least by subpar bowlers haha.

I'm glad BYU beat St. Mary's on Mouthgaurd's big day. That guy seems like such a Pflaume.

Haha but that's about it. Things are going well. I hope you all have a great week! love you all!

Elder Brown

February 10, 2014

Hey!

Good week this week, had things go back somewhat to normal so that was nice. The companionship change was a temporary thing... So I went back with Elder Langford late Tuesday night... and then we split with our District Leader on Wednesday morning, so we were right back away from each other haha. But by Thursday we were back and things have been somewhat normal since then.

On Friday we had a big Fireside with Elder Leimar, our Area Seventy, in Essen for all new members and basically anyone that wanted to come... it was way cool. President was there and everything so it was dope. Saw a lot of the missionaries, which is always fun. Then on Saturday we had interviews with President which was great.

Pappadeaux... I could use some crawfish right about now. I bet that was good though. And I haven't heard really anything about the Olympics, but its whatevs.

Good to hear some good news about BYU sports. That's always a pleasant surprise.

I did get the package from the ward.. it was awesome!! Say thank you to all who were involved in that.

But things are going really well here. I'm having a great time. Transfers are this week, and that's always crazy, so we'll see what happens. Oh... I don't know if you guys still watch Project Runway, but Heidi Klum apparently also hosts "Germany's Next Top Model"... and a new season apparently starts soon. "Apparently" because there are ads for it EVERYWHERE and Heidi Klum is totally not distracting at all in them. Europe man... But it reminded me of you guys haha.

Anyways, have a great week everybody!!!

Tschüß!

Elder Brown

February 3, 2014

Hey everybody! 

Things are going well here in Oberhausen and I'm doing great. It's a pretty nice day outside and we're having a good P-day so far. But Sundays here are pretty nice usually. We don't have as many eating appointments on Sunday here as I had in past areas, but I think that's just kind of a difference in the ward. We have stuff to do often though. Yesterday we had our Ward Mission Correlation meeting after Church and then we ate lunch with the Single Adults in the building. Someone made some chicken curry and rice that was way good. But the single adults in the ward are pretty cool, and a couple from other wards come too so it was fun. 

The FHE is a couple in the ward with a little tiny daughter, so they just invite us and some other members and we have it together. She is from North Carolina, and he lived and studied at UNC for like 7 years, so we speak English with them and they're way cool. He's a chemist and may take a job with Exxon in Houston this summer. I told them to look at the Woodlands, and they did and said it looked pretty nice, so maybe we'll have some more friends there haha. 

But I definitely approve of the gifts for Amanda's baby... creamy jalapeno oh my word.... haha. That's so crazy that that's almost here. That'll be weird. 

I'm glad that your lesson went alright Dad. That's weird with the Super Bowl - unfortunate for the Broncos. I would have liked to see Peyton win another one. But good that BYU is doing alright. Hopefully they can pull it off.

Things are good here though. We should have a baptism happening in a couple weeks, so I'll be sure to keep you posted on that. And oh... I totally forgot something kinda big. I am now in a dritt (tripanionship) with Elder Smith and Elder Blackhurst, the other two elders here. Elder Langford still lives next door with a new companion. My two companions are both way cool and we're having a ton of fun. But yeah.. just so you know haha.

I'm doing good. Have a great week!! Tschüß!!

Elder Brown

January 27, 2014

Hey everybody!

Chariots of Fire is a great song haha... I've listened to it many times out here…. That's sweet that Brother Wawro was called as the Stake YM Pres, and that Brother Barnett is the ward Pres now. The YM are in good hands for sure.

This past week was pretty good, it went by super fast, which is usually a good sign. But we had a great lesson with our American investigator on Wednesday, and we have FHE with a family tonight that lives not far from him, so hopefully we'll see him there. And then we helped with a move on Saturday, which was nice. I actually really enjoy helping people move... it's kinda weird. I don't know if I ever told you, but one time when I was helping someone move in in Langen, I was carrying some big piece of a bed or something downstairs into the cellar, and just slipped and ate it so hard on my butt. That hurt really bad... and was a little embarrassing. But I survived. Anyways, just remembered that.

That's sweet that you guys got a brand new missionary, and that he reminds you guys of me... because if your judgment isn't impaired, Denton 2nd Ward is in great hands. Haha but I hope he had a good experience at the house, because if he felt at all similar as I felt my first day in the mission field, it was the weirdest day of his life. But I'm sure you guys were great at remedying that.

That's unfortunate that BYU doesn't look like they'll be joining the field this year... can't believe that's coming up so fast. Maybe they'll go on a run through the tourney. Who knows.

But that's about all that's going on in my life right now. Hope you all have a great week!

Tschüß!

Elder Brown

January 20, 2014

Hey everyone!

My day has been good so far... despite not being able to find the internet cafe for a little bit haha. We changed because the last one was terrible... and there was always a bunch of foreign dudes trying to buy cars... very loudly. But this one's way nice, we just didn't remember where it was at first. So there's a little look into our lives haha.

Some weeks definitely feel longer than others, but they have been going by pretty fast since I've gotten to Oberhausen. We have a lot of fun so even long weeks aren't too bad. But even with the long ones, time goes by incredibly fast. 10 months today... way crazy.

Sounds like ward conferences went well, and that there's some good stuff happening in the Denton Stake as far as missionary work is concerned. That's good to hear.

But as far as your question about the German hymnbook, it is very different than the English one. It has a lot of the same ones, a lot of different ones, and all the numbers are different. There are some pretty sweet German hymns haha. But don't worry, I've got my own little one so you'll see it one day. It's got my name on it and everything.

The weather has still been pretty nice... I don't know if we're gonna be getting any snow any time soon. It's kinda weird because I only heard how awful winter was over the summer and fall... and it hasn't been bad at all. We haven't seen the end of it though.

This week was way good though. We had a great lesson with our American investigator, as well as the member's son we are teaching. He should be baptized next month, so hopefully all goes well with that.

That's great that everything went well with Grandma. She sent an email to Keegan and me today and she sounds like she's doing well.

But all is going well here, I hope you guys have a great week! I'm gonna go get my bowl on!!

Tschüß

Elder Brown

January 13, 2014

Hey everyone!

I had a good week this week. Glad to hear I had the most exciting New Year's of anyone... that's kinda sad haha. But I'm sure you guys had fun in your own way.

But yeah the new transfer has started off well. Elder Langford and I are the same as ever... and Elder Smith's new companion is really cool, so we've been having fun for the past few days since he's been here. We're gonna try and have a Taco Night with the ward in a month or so...

Glad to hear that the week went well, even if it was kinda quiet. Quiet weeks are kinda nice sometimes. This week was pretty sweet here. We've got some good stuff happening here. We're starting to teach a 13-year old who's the son of a member and comes to church every Sunday, just isn't baptized. Coolest kid ever though. And then an American investigator came to church for the first time yesterday, and we've got an appointment with him, so things are going good. This week looks like it'll pretty good.

The white shirts would actually be kinda nice. I haven't worn an American white shirt in a really long time (there is a rather large difference) but I do need some more, so you can send em this way.

Things are going well here though. Thanks for everything you do, and I hope you guys have a great week!!

Elder Brown