Elder Brown's Missionary Site

Well, Elder Brown didn’t write an email this week. He just left and came home. We picked him up at the airport around 10:30 am Thursday, October 7th. He spoke on October 17th. His talk can be heard at the ‘Homecoming’ tab.

Well Done Elder Brown. Welcome home.

From: Thomas Michael Brown
Date: Tuesday, September 28, 2010 12:27 PM
Subject: WHOA… LAST ONE

HOLA FAMILIA!

Well Im glad you got to hear from Freddy and Estella. They are amazing people. Well really glad all is going good back at home and thats a bummer Kt has to leave but change is always good. I feel so missionary but it makes me think of changes on the mission. I always hate when they come but after i end up just loving the new area…. I imagine it will be the same. As a matter of fact with Julio he went to the temple with his wife. Was awesome news to hear. He went a tuesday even when i was at the church right next to the temple for district meeting but i didnt know so missed it but its alright. Was good to hear.

Well it is true we had a baptism on Saturday. Was AMAZING! I got to baptize Gabriel and that was intense because he is HUGE! Youll see the pics in a week but its the guy from the pics from the Asado. The truth is right now as a zone we doing an asado with Gabriel but its been stressful because the wood wont work so we got out for a sec to email. But back to the baptism… the first time i baptized him he went all stiff and it was just like a rock hitting the water and splashed EVERYWHERE… was interesting… his foot came up so i had to do it again but i asked him before if he understood how it worked now and he nodded yes so the second time it went smoothly and perfect. It was really special. He then was able to share his testimony and it was soooo strong the spirit. He started saying how all day he had been thinking of stuff to say in this moment to prepare something and had come up with stuff to say but it was completely different. What he felt he couldnt explain and how he was so used to feeling a euforic (i think thats the word) happiness but this happiness he felt was different. It was inside and was spiritual and deeper. It just was soooo strong the spirit it was amazing. Then he went on to give about a 10 min talk on the principles of the gospel and his plans for the future. Was an amazing testimony and he is just so stoked to keep progressing. It felt good. My last baptism and the only baptism of a priesthood holder ive been able to be at on the mission. All the rest got baptised within like a week after id leave but i got to baptise the last.

Well I love you all a ton and guess well be seeing each other soon. oh and yah i do get to go to the temple our last days here. Im stoked for that. Had the temple recomend interview today as a matter of fact. I love having interviews with Pres. Hes the best!

Con Amor.
Elder Brown

From: Thomas Michael Brown
Date: Wednesday, September 22, 2010 6:56 AM
Subject: SPRINTIN!

HOLA FAMILIA!

Well i love hearing about all at home. Sorry i didnt write which Andersons but its Rick and Carrie. Thanks for giving it to them. Well good to hear that all is going good at home. Hope you all feel better cuz being sick is the worst. Ive gotten better and its been amazing. I never realized how much it changes to have good health and man am i gonna keep good health all my life…. or do all i can to.

So its been an amazing week. Sorry dad about that story with the lady the truth is her appartment is always locked up so we havent been able to get back in haha. Shoulda gotten her telephone number but the Lord will provide and one of these days shell be found again. She has what she needs to start the process and Im positive that she will find the missionaries in the future because all that are prepared are never forgotten. So Ana y Juan we havent been able to visit. Its sad but its for a reason. It was a big trial with what happened with my comp. He doesnt get along with alot of people but if they can pass this they can pass anything. The truth is the word of God touches people no matter who it comes from and they are still going to church they just dont want my comp to visit them.

But thats all the depressing news haha. Best news is GABRIEL!! Man he is just an amazing man and has a lot of good things waiting for him. Hes getting baptized this Saturday and we just came from a lesson with him and its just incredible his testimony. You have to know him to understand all that hes overcome to reach this day. Ive never seen such a change. It reminds me alot of what happened with Alfredo in Lomas de Solymar. Gabriel will probly be my last baptism which is sad to think on the mission. I just love it though here and Im gonna miss it a ton.

We also found Mabel again this week! dont know if you remember her but she was gonna get baptized along time ago but her sister passed away and we lost contact with all that was going on. It was so hard for me when we lost contact but this week she called and it was like 10:30 at night so i was thinking it was another missionary so i answer in english acting like me and i realize its her…. we talked on the phone and she was just sooo sad. Wasnt the same Mabel that i had known. So gave her a scripture to read and she asked us to come by and we went back the other day and she had a new tone her it voice and was happy. She has kept reading and praying all this time even though we lost contact. She has been really sad with what happened to her sister but after we talked she was just like “wow i feel so peaceful which i havent felt for awhile.” She felt the spirit and she really needed it. Was interesting cuz without knowing it we actually fell on her doorstep that day which was her birthday and she said it was her best present. Felt so good to see her again and made me happy to see her better. She will be getting baptized soon once these pains heal with her sister but real soon she will be ready. She still has the goal to be baptized and hasnt lost sight of it… just gotten a little postponed.

Well that has been our week. Its been good with health and work. Just loving the work and like you said… trying to “Sprint” to the finish cuz if not…. its just a boring race haha. Love you all a ton.

Con Amor.
Elder Brown

From: Thomas Michael Brown
Date: Tuesday, September 14, 2010 2:34 PM
Subject: HOLA!!

Hola Familia!

Well sounds like you are all doin good. Im sorry mom but im nowhere near those spots that you want photos from so youll have to live with the ones i got I think well be able to figure out how to do the asado dad. Its not too hard. The thing about Uruguay is they dont really condiment their food. Thats the specialty of it! It will be good though its the place you do it in though and Ill show you how haha.

Well it was a TOUGH week. Rained all week…. i got sick but we kept going out and that didnt go well because i just got sicker. Learned that its smart to rest when you get sick. Its so hard though. Its like a prison in the house when youre out here. Its weird cuz it seems like it would be nice… like a day off at school but it just kinda eats at you all day while in bed. I did get to teach my comp how to do a rubix cube though haha. That took alot of patience…..

Well we had a rough time getting to visit people. Apparently my comps first week he offended like… everyone so it was a week of trying to repair things. I was bummed cuz he offended Ana y Juan really bad to the point that they didnt want us to come back. I called Ana to set up a day and she just opened up about what had happened and that Juan didnt want my comp to enter into their house again… I was just like oh no. So I had to talk to my comp which i didnt want to do cuz i knew that thats just how he is. He doesnt mean to but he is….. Well we talked and i was kinda upset after the phonecall and went to talk to him and man was i humbled. My comp just accepted it. He didnt get upset at all he just took it and asked me how he could improve. We talked but I learned a big lesson that day. More than i taught him i believe in not letting things get to me. We all have our faults and we have to find how to overcome them. It came to my mind Ether 12 27… God gives man weakness to humble them and if we notice them they will be made strong unto us…. or something like that…. It was a good learning experience for me. But yah so we didnt have alot of people to teach this week cuz that happened with more than just Ana y Juan but we kept working all day in the rain just knocking doors and talking to people… which noone wants nothing! Montevideo is rough haha.

Well we were early for our meeting with our Ward Mission Leader so we decided to contact a few people. It just happened we were in the right place at the right time (thats been happening alot lately) and found this guy Freddy and his son Fredericko. They are great and we had a great lesson with them. The week of searching for people in the rain was worth it just to find them 2 that day.

Well Sunday Ana y Juan went to church and we been praying for them and they seemed great. They were very nice to my comp and Im sure well be visiting them this week. Gabriel also went to church but he went in San Jose de Carrasco which is outside of Montevideo. He is doing great and is progressing a ton.

Today for Pday he took us to the beach even though it was a very UGLY day today it was winds that would litterally carry me away and we took some pics down there and then he took us out to lunch. We were gonna have an asado but it was too windy and raining so we went to a restaurant and he bought us lunch. I didnt expect that at all cuz hes a very humble guy with little money but he just wanted to thank us so much and took us to a nice restraunt for some good meat. Was really good and he is really excited for his baptism.

So yesterday there was a conference for the future leaders of the mission…. something new… and we did divisions with the missionaries after in our area. I went with Elder Thurgood who was Elder Smiths oro when i trained and was so weird. Made me feel so old thinking that he was a future leader and i still see him as this kid that cant speak any spanish hhaha. We had a really good night though and a really good experience. I let my comp with his companion go to our setup charlas so we went out just searching. Well we knocked a door and it was raining and we were just like hey its raining… can we come in and walked inside without much thought haha. Well he was fine with it and we started talking. Turns out he is the Brother in law of some members in our ward and was just like so prepared to listen to us. We shared the Book of Mormon with him right there and invited him to be baptized on the 2 of October. He accepted and it was just like all perfect the lesson. It went great and we finished with a prayer kneeling. Was so weird to work with Elder Thurgood but we worked really well together and hes a great missionary.

Well thats about all for now but love you all a ton!

Con Amor.
Elder Brown

From: Thomas Michael Brown
Date: Tuesday, September 7, 2010 6:50 AM
Subject: UP!

HOLA FAMILIA!

Well how is everything back at good old home? To answer your questions whatever you have planned for me is fine with me. I have no idea what i wanna do my first days so whatever is fine if you set it up haha. Just know that i miss you all a ton. oh and the song is “I want it that way”

Well it was a good week. The area is goin UP! The mission goal is to go UP! in the areas and its what we did this week. Ana y Juan went to church. They had an interesting experience though because in our gospel principles class there was like everyone getting mad at everyone and saying everyone was wrong…. it was bad…. noone understands that everyone is here trying to learn together and so when someone says something wrong they yell it out and everyone gets offended and confused. We had to do alot of clean up these last 2 days with people in the class that got offended which was fun but it helped them learn something about pride and taught me alot of pride and how people feel when i do stuff like that without even noticing it. We havent had a lesson with Ana y Juan yet but they didnt look to happy after the class but after sacrament they looked great. That is just the spirit of the sacrament and really showed me the peace and love we feel during that part of church… the most important part of church…. the sacrament.

So we had a really good exchange this week. Me and Elder Wagner (my comp from the MTC) had some really good experiences. We taught Gabriel (the lazy guy) with an hermano that never helps the missionaries cuz hes got a bummed leg but just a strong testimony but cant walk much. He came to the church and we had a really good lesson in the church with Gabriel. He is having trouble….. with his thoughts. So many are so worried about the WoW or Tithing… but that doesnt faze him… he feels he needs to clean up his thoughts if he wants to be worthy for baptism. He wants to be truely prepared for this special day and we talked of how we have to occupy our thoughts so bad things cant come in. Diego (the Hermano) gave a really strong testimony about the importance of having clean thoughts and was just so simple that when he saw pretty girls pass by him he would just think… oh what a pretty… day. Was simple but made me think. Gabriel wanted a complicated sure way to overcome his problem… but its easy… just dont think of bad stuff… SO SIMPLE! But yah we put a baptismal date with Gabriel too. The spirit was so strong and he never has accepted a date before but he has it for the 25th of september and he always had trouble wanting to read the scriptures and this morning i called him and he was reading and was really happy. We have a lesson with him later today. Im really excited for him cuz he is just a really special guy.

We had another cool experience that all happened with a failed lesson we had. We were let down but we just started contacting people where we were at and started talking to this guy in the street. A really nice guy and we walked with him for about 4 blocks and he went on his way. Well we ended up after the walk with him in front of a HUGE appartment building and decided to go contact it. Well we didnt wanna just buzz doors at the bottom so we decided to go into whichever building was open to knock doors. We went in the first open door and went to the very top to knock a door. First door we knocked we found a really amazing lady that was just waiting for the gospel. She told us after that she didnt understand how we found her because it happens that she works every day all day and the only time she is at home are Fridays (it was Friday) at the time we passed by. It was no coincidence that we were there that day at that time and we were just litterally brought there. Was incredible for me to see after what had happened and the Lord really does lead us to those that are prepared. Oh side note…. yesterday we walked into an appartment building like that but in our rich area and almost got thrown in jail. Was interesting but im not in jail and all is good

Well i love you all a ton and hope all is going good. I did get the gmail from Brother Scholer and thank him for the Poem. Was a good spirit lifter i liked it alot. Oh and as you asked it dont matter to me who is there when i get there… Id love to see everyone who goes but i dont know why they want to come. Im pretty boring especially after plane rides. Tell Alexa thanks for waiting for me. hope she isnt too big to recognize me.

Con Amor
Elder Brown

From: Thomas Michael Brown
Date: Tuesday, August 31, 2010 3:37 PM
Subject: HOLA!

HOLA FAMILIA!!!
haha I love you all soo much thanks for the email and thanks for the gmails and stuff. I get them fast cuz they can print them off on tuesday and give me them the same day haha. Well I dont have a lot of time because it rained all day and Uruguay doesnt work on rainy days so we just finally found an open cyber to do email and we have a lesson in 10 mins and my comp still has to write. Really Im just learning a ton right now about patience with the people here. We have been getting alot of rejection this week and its been interesting but we are working a ton and hard.

I do love it a ton here and I loved the envelope. The vegas shirt i loved! Im glad you were able to see Elder Snowden…. well i guess not elder anymore thats weird. Ill see if i can get a peñarol jersey for him. Tell Mikey and Cari Beal thanks for the letters and Hi for me.
Well I LOVE YOU ALL A TON.
CON AMOR
Elder Brown

From: Thomas Michael Brown
Date: Tuesday, August 31, 2010 3:54 PM
Subject: Forgot

Sorry forgot something that went really well this week. We had a talent show on Saturday that was awesome. A lot of people came and we had like 3 investigators there that are incomplete families. One was Ismael with his family that are members and we are working a ton with them. We have a lesson with them right now haha…. but Ismael and his wife, Adela, did a rock dance and they are like 40 but it was soooo funny and good. They did like swing to old rock but yah was awesome. Reminded me alot of you mom and dad. They remind me alot of you guys. I was asked to play backstreet boys by request which was fun. Its embarrassing but always a good time and everyone knew the song and all asked me to do another after yelling to do another but…. i dont know any others haha so couldnt. There were a ton of talents and a good time. youll see the photos if i can send them next week. Dont have them with me today but someday youll see them haha. well just wanted to let you know of something good this week. Was a really good activity and the investigators loved it and the ward supported it alot.
once again love you all
COn AMOR
Elder brown.

From: Thomas Michael Brown Add to Addresses Block Sender
Date: Tuesday, August 24, 2010 7:59 AM
Subject: Changes!

Hola FAMILIA!!!

Well its been going great. Another week just flew by which scares me a ton. It was another interesting week with alot of rejection but thats alright. Everything is teaching me a ton here with… patience haha. I love it though. We had changes and I’m staying in Buceo which makes me really happy but my comp is going off to 33 but not to my old area but im excited for him. I loved 33. My new comp will be Elder Sosa from Paraguay. Its cool cuz all my comps have been from different places. Im stoked for something new.

So I had to give a talk on Sunday in church which still makes me so nervous to do haha. It was a good experience though and was on Charity and how it helps in preaching the gospel. I learned a ton on the love of our savior for us and the Pure love of Christ. There is a scripture that really sums it all up in sharing with others the gospel with love. Its in 1 Corinthians 13:1-2. I loved it. It was so weird i was soooo nervous up there… even though we talk with people all day and in conferences and stuff it still scares me gettin up in front of people to talk… but as i was up there talking i could just feel the love for this ward and for the people ive met in the mission preaching the gospel. It was the best feeling ever and just swept over me.

So we had this Huge activity with a famous childs song writer here in Uruguay as a stake primary activity and we had to go because it was in our building. WAS AWESOME! the best part is all the wards came and Lomas de Solymar was there. I walked in and got this like HUGE hug from Rodrigo the grandkid of Lilian that we were teaching there and taking to english classes and all. It was good to see him and everyone from Lomas there after such a hard week. Then on Sunday there was a conference with Elder Arnold for the stake for all investigators and Recent converts and i got to see all the people from Lomas again and this time Lilian was there and she came up to me just cryin and we talked about baptism and she is gonna get baptized now haha. She is an amazing woman i hope she gets baptized while im here still in Uruguay. Then i saw Adolfo too who got baptized the week i left. He is doing awesome. Its soo good to see people that youve taught and baptized doing good and firm in the gospel.

Im sending some photos of the activity with the famous “Roy Berocay” and an asado with Gabriel our investigator and Esteven a kid goin on a mission soon… if we can help him haha. And also with the Jovenes from Lomas that i saw at the activity. Just a few random pics haha.
Well we are trying to find alot of people. Its been rough with a few people we been teaching this week but it will all work out alright. I just love it here.

Well sorry if i didnt mention anything last week i thought i did. I loved the emails from everyone and thanks for all the support and stories and love. I miss you all alot and cant wait to play a little soccer with Alexa and go to the farm with everyone and play in the river with Gabriel haha. I Love it here though and its hard to think that ill have to leave here soon… but i still got alot of time

CON AMOR.
Elder Brown.

From: Thomas Michael Brown
Date: Tuesday, August 17, 2010 11:01 AM
Subject: HOOOLLLLAA

Hey FAMILIA!
Well its going good here. Was kinda a rough week with stuff goin on with some investigators but the work is always good. I am just learning a ton which is amazing about the gospel is that there is ALWAYS something more to learn. We got permission to read “The Infinite Attonement” and Elder Walbeck who lives with us is letting me borrow his. It is truely amazing the book. The attonement is just something so special for all of us and the reason for being here.

So we had interviews this last week which went really good. They were really fast in that we just went and had interviews and then left instead of being capacitated and all but its always awesome to talk with President DaSilva. He is just an amazing guy. This week we have a Conference with Elder Arnold the President of the Area Seventy here. He just got called so it will be cool to hear his first conference with us.

So the area is going alright. Gabriel is going to church and just changing and changing. Every time I´m more and more surprised in what hes doing. He just feels it and wants to have this change in him. He had an interview with the Bishop which helped a ton. He was doing alright but not progressing much but the Bishop really hit him hard. He told him something that i LOVE… “Time lost you cant recuperate.” Really makes you think in time that we waste. Made me think of stuff i was wasting time on and that time i dont get back….. I can only change now to make my time be of use. EVERY moment of our lives is valuable. Thanks to you guys for always being there for me even when i was a bugger and not doing the greatest stuff. Its the reason Im here and even though i wont get that time back Imma try to be better. Well thats all off subject but it made Gabriel think alot and he has been going to church even on the ugly days which is a miracle with him haha. He is a really good guy but sooo strange.

Well Ana y Juan we actually didnt get to see them this last week but i did call them and they have been having difficulties in work and stuff but still are so greatful and happy to talk to us. Juan is just a great guy and they didnt go to church which was a bummer but i called them again last night and they are doing alright. Its gonna be hard to visit them again this week cuz they have alot of stuff going on and we have the Arnold Conference but they are gonna have a FHE with the Rizzo and Martinez Family who are both return missionaries and have awesome families.

So here are some photos of a service we did with a guy, Fernando. He got baptized in Argentina but went inactive and started smoking and drinking and then got divorced and everything just fell apart for him so he came back to Uruguay where he is from. Just goes to show that the commandments are meant to be kept and if we dont keep them… well we dont receive the promised blessings and happiness. Thanks to the attonement though he can change and come back. Hes a cool guy and we helped him out with his boat. Was fun even though he was half drunk and didnt use the most sofisticated stuff to build the boat but it was good. Also a photo of the District we have here… which is us and the office elders. Then some random ones just down by the beach with the guayan flag and a cannon from the naval museum here. Was pretty cool there.

Well there is alot that is just being formed now in the area but hard times always pass and its the Lords work so everything will come out well. Im just happy to be out and able to work I did get the pics of baby Trey. Thanks. Hes a cute little guy. Also CONGRATS TO ELDER CARLSON! haha…
LOVE YOU ALL SOOOO MUCH!

CON AMOR.
Elder Brown

From: Thomas Michael Brown Add to Addresses Block Sender
Date: Tuesday, August 10, 2010 6:52 AM
Subject: ANOTHER WEEK!

HOLA FAMILIA!
Well its going great here Sadly weve had to push back a few baptismal dates but they are doing good we just need to prepare them a little more. Mabel and Jorge are still doing good. So Sunday Ana y Juan went with their kids to church and loved it. We had a really good lesson with Juan on Wednesday. We did a division and i went with the 2nd counselor in the bishopric. Juan talked really open with us which was great and he says Ana is having troubles but he wants to help her. He loves how he has a role in the family as Patriarch and he is ready to help his family live the gospel.

Well sorry i didnt get much time to write today cuz i had to arrange some pics but i will do better next week love you all a ton!
CON AMOR.
Elder Brown.

From: Thomas Michael Brown
Date: Tuesday, August 3, 2010 11:05 AM
Subject: WONDERFUL BUCEO!

Well HOLA FAMILIA!

Its going great here in Buceo. Its been crazy with people getting sick and hurt in our district and weve had to kinda fill in for different companionships but its been an experience this week and not to mention the miracles we saw in our own area. So to start Jorge ended up stepping on a nail and couldnt get his foot wet so we had to postpone his baptism but there is a reason… dont know what yet but he has quit smoking completely. He is doing Awesome but we havent seen him for a while because he left to Melo on Thursday and has been there since. We going to visit him today.

Well we had a huge experience with Ana y Juan this week. We were gonna have that FHE like i said on Friday and Friday as we were planning we were trying to figure out what we could do for them and if we should put a baptismal date with them at the FHE. We couldnt figure out how to do it cuz we were gonna have our WML (ward mission leader) with us, Hno Rizzo, and all his family to watch a movie about the church and we couldnt figure out how to do the invitation so we decided to pray about it. We prayed about it and felt we should put the date with them and teach the 3rd lesson with them so we still werent sure how that was gonna work with the movie but we thought that well we would just watch the movie and then share the 3rd lesson. Well we left with that and went out to work and it started raining and raining and raining….. was fun haha. We got to their house which was the last lesson of the day and when we got in they told us that the Rizzo Family called and couldnt come because their son got sick in the rain. Something you gotta know of Hno Rizzo is that he doesnt fail us…. ever…. he is always where we need him. Well when we heard they werent coming we knew it was for a reason. We ended up not having the FHE and watching the movie and were able to focus on the 3rd lesson as we planned and set the date. It was truely a blessing. They were also able to open up to alot of stuff without the Rizzo Family there which was cool. When we finished singing and after the opening prayer Juan just started expressing all his feelings for the gospel and how he knew that it was the true path. It was amazing. He talked of the peace he had had this last week and that it was a huge difference in him. He also expressed that it has to be something from God because every time he knows we are coming he gets excited. We had planned for this lesson and he said that all day he was just so excited waiting for us. Ana has been having a little bit harder time. She really tries to analyze everything which is what she does for work and she says that its her problem. She feels its true but she just wants to be sure its the only truth. She then started expressing the changes in Juan and how he comes to her to have studies and prayers together every night. To think he had never read the bible before nor gave attention to God at all before. He now studies alone and with Ana and they are just so great. They are gonna be just a great help in the ward. They are awesome.

Well thats about all thats going on here. We gonna go make some terryaki bowls (i cant spell) now in our appartment us 4 so that should be fun. We just got done with District Meeting and they asked me and my comp to help out the other mission and take pictures to be their logo haha. So we went to do it and well my suit jacket is missing a button so they took another missionary while we were there. Woulda been cool haha but i guess i need to keep up with my sewing About Freddy and Estella…. yah write them and tell them HOLA! for me. If you wanna send my emails to them its cool with me. I miss them alot But I love you all a ton and miss you a ton and yah…… CHAU!

Con Amor
Elder Brown