Elder Brown 30 January 2017

Malo e lelei!

My comp finishes later this week. I love him to death and it's been a very fun few months, we had two baptisms and laughed with/at each other 24 hours a day. It's too bad to see it come to an end, but I'm excited for next week. I could stay here or I could leave, I'm just really anxious to find out who my comp will be.

We were involved in a minor accident Tuesday, nobody's hurt, and the car didn't suffer any damage beyond the bumper and front plastic cover. It wasn't classified as a 'serious' accident either, so whether or not I lose my driving privileges seems unclear.

We were at an intersection and I brake'd too late and didn't quite come to a complete stop. I looked right into oncoming traffic (we drive on the left side of the road) and saw a big truck . I tried to slam on the brakes, but was wearing slippers and for one reason or another that didn't work, and by the time I thought to reach for the parking brake it was too late, disaster had stuck

I ended up hitting their back left tire, which took the bumper and plastic cover off. there is no damage to anything important, but the bumper is trashed and will need to be replaced. I doubt I was going any faster than 5, and the truck suffered no damage and wasn't at fault so we let them go. The ap's said it's already been fixed, and we should get a different car next week. We (in consultation with the mission office) didn't feel the need to call the police so my record should be clean. At any rate I learned my lesson, and I will be driving carefully from now on; we hit a very big truck and if we hadn't slowed down we'd have been toast.

I read King Benjamin's speech a couple times this week. It has become one of my favorite parts of the Book of Mormon and I'd love to read it with those I teach. I love how the Book of Mormon answers our questions and broadens our perspective on things; things which seem like big problems don't seem so big anymore when we take time to think about what's important. It's reawakened my love for the scriptures.This should come in handy, because I think we'll be spending a little more study time than usual over the next week or so.

My comp and I will be headed out soon, I will email everyone later on, so feel ree to message me so I can read it when I get back!!

I love you all! Keep up the good fight!

Elder Brown

Elder Brown 23 January 2016

Feel free to check out Elder Brown's blog: http://elderpeterbrown.blogspot.com/

Malo e lelei!

Unfortunately, I have less than 30 minutes. I'll write as much as I can but I likely won't be able to get an email off to the parents and the siblings, I'm sorry!

Next week is my companion's last p-day so I'll get the emailing done early. I'll email everybody!

The work's slow here; we haven't been able to find anyone promising this week. We're getting much friendlier with the investigators who we've been talking to for a while, and we may be able to get them to come to church, which would be a major step. Things still seem very slow here.

The missionaries are beginning to get along. This has historically been one of the highest baptizing zones in the mission, and now that the squabbling is beginning to subside I know things will get back to where they could be.

This week my comp and I felt totally out of energy almost every day, not just because this is hard, but because sometimes it doesn't feel like anything's happening, and that's discouraging. But I've learned here that it feels really good to keep going anyway, even if at times the only reason I can think of is just because I'm supposed to. It's a great source of comfort and definitely wasn't a habit of mine before the mission. That was the breakthrough this week, I realized I've started to understand that work is rewarding, even if things don't go our ways.

I love the prophet Nephi, and every time I read about him I want to be like him. I've spent a lot of time reading about him and his brothers and I learn so much every time. Read the book of Mormon!!

Transfers are in a couple weeks!! I will miss Elder Lasalosi and I'm exited to see who my next comp will be!

'Ofa lahi atu!

Elder Brown

9 January 2017

         Malo e lelei!

The work seems to have slowed down, but well try our best.

Im all but out of time we had like 10 late christmas packages to drop off and some quarreling missionaries that really needed some talking to. I wil write more next week.

Our zone has the highest number of new missionaries and its been very interesting/eye opening to see who transitions well and who doesnt. Out of all the 6 new guys (those in their first 12 weeks) the ones who have struggled are the ones who fail to love and forgive their companions.

Many of the missionaries whom I've talked to (who were struggling) started the conversation by sharing a long, seemingly memorized list of their comps shortcomings. When their companion would ask forgiveness they seemed reluctant to give it. One elder has a trainer who has gone his whole mission without doing formal companion study. They talked about it and have been doing it consistently for about a week and a half. Rather than moving on and being happy for his companion, the new elder is (quite vocally) approaching the situation with a "we'll see how long this ends up lasting" attitude. He has no intention of helping his companion, he almost seems to be waiting eagerly for his comp to fail so he can let someone else know about it.

 The parable of the debtors in matt 18 comes to mind. I reconize a lot of things every day that I need to change. To expect forgiveness from the Lord yet withhold it from others makes no sense and is condemned by the Lord in the scriptures. And although we may not be delivered unto the tormentors, we will not be happy if all we focus on is what is wrong with others. Our goal should be to help them, not be better than them.

I hope i dont seem frustrated; im not in a nonsense mood right now and the stuff thats been happening should not be happening. I cant judje (i sat here for 5 minutes trying to remember how to type that word and gmail isnt giving me any help you know the word i meant ) because I have found myself on the wrong end of that equation many a time over the past year (20 for that matter).

 I have to go prepare a lesson for zone conference tomorrow which has to be 10 minutes and understandable to white greenies and a bunch of tongans. Length will be a concern (ladt time i taught it went pretty long) so preparation is key! We only just found out about this today; president keeps us on our feet for sure. The topic is love and humility; given the recent problems within the zone we have our work cut out for us.

Im out of time and due to network problems i wasnt able to get this off on time; its about 6:50 Tonga time now. I'll do my best to get this off on time next week and email mother and the siblings. I read every email! Thanks for all that you do!!!!

'Ofa atu

Elder Brown

2 January 2017

          Malo e lelei!

In Tongan, there isn't really a good way to say 'happy new year,' so they just say it in

English​.​ Happy new year!

​We Had a baptism on Saturday and the confirmation on Sunday! So 2016 went out with a bang and 2017 began with a bang! The one baptized is a 16 year old boy named Timote. We worked hard with him at the beginning, and he demonstrated, as many have demonstrated before, sincerity and a willingness to know. He prayed and got an answer! He wanted to be baptized, and did so. He has a great mind, asked good questions and remembered everything as explained to him. He wasn't great on reading the pamphlets, but when he understood the restoration he knew he needed an answer. He got one!!!!

We get a car in the area I work, and because of transfers and people needing rides we ended up 300 km over the odometer limit for the month. President knows and he isn't mad.

We get to go to the temple tomorrow for MLC and we do the meeting on wednesday. We will start our fast at 5 today and break it just after we get out of the temple. I have loads of questions and have quite a few favors to ask. There's so many details to worry about, and I'm struggling to know how to go about it. I love the temple, and I'm confident I'll find the answers I'm listening to.

Once again, duty calls and the ap's just dropped off a stack of papers that we get to take to everyone. Sorry about the length, I did the best I could and took a while. I love you all very much!!!

'Ofa atu!

Elder Brown

26 December 2016

       Malo e lelei!

Christmas was yesterday, which was a very happy thing. We got to go to church, take the sacrament, and call home!

I got to see the effects of Christmas on a bunch of  missionaries. For most of us, it seems, it was a fun, spiritual, uplifting and motivating time. On the other end of the spectrum, some were really missing the presents, the snow, the songs, the lights and the family. Some were simply having a hard time with the work, others were crying, and one elder ended up going home this week because he missed his family so much.

I love my parents and all they do, and I'm very glad how encouraging they are. I see a lot of parents who write "I miss you so much" every time they write a letter or an email or send a package, and that seems to take a toll on the missionaries. My parents are the best; I know they want me out here.

Transfers was today, I'm staying with my comp. I would have liked to move but he's my favorite comp (or at least tied for first) and many changes have happened in the zone, some of which seem interesting and challenging. This should be a busy transfer, and we'll get the work back up and running and avoid getting sucked into the busy-ness.

We drove everyone everywhere and ended up going like 150km today, so our miles are all but out. I'm low on time, but I should have time next week to email the parents and the siblings. I love you all!

'Ofa atu!

Elder Brown

Jennifer Brown

copan@att.net

To learn more about me, click here!

19 December 2016

      Malo e lelei!

I can't find my camera, so I won't be able to send pictures for now, I'm sorry. I don't think it's been stolen, but I can't seem to find it. We'll be cleaning our house today, so I'll look for it then.

We cover two villages, Longoteme and Folaha. Most of the work seems gets done in Folaha, but the highlight of this week happened in Longoteme. My companion, Elder Lasalosi, worked in Longoteme a year ago so it's interesting seeing him go back; he already knows the houses to go to and where to get food and who will give us rides, etc. He worked there for several months and had one baptism. We get to go with her to the temple on Tuesday! We got to teacher her with her husband (a non member) and it was a great lesson. Elder Lasalosi, who taught him before, says he seems much more receptive this time around, so we have good hopes for him! The fact that the temple in part of the equation makes it cooler and I think they really want to go together. We should have a baptism coming up!!!

I am very excited to call the family next week! I seem to be running low on steam so I look forward to the phone call as a way to re steamify myself!!

I love it here very much! It definitely feels like Christmas; we talk about Christ everywhere we go and that's a happy thing. We don't have any presents, they don't play christmas music here, and it's coming up on the warmest part of the year, so it doesn't feel like any other christmas I've every had. People here aren't much about the American Christmas festivities; I think if they were it'd be a lot easier to be homesick. They are, however, very enthusiastic about Jesus, and I'll never forget it! This will be my only Christmas in Tonga, which is a special thing.

I love you all!

'Ofa lahi atu!

Elder Brown

12 December 2016

         Malo e lelei!

I had to leave early last week so I'm sorry to the family members I didn't get to email. 

We stayed very busy this week, and ended up spending very little time in our area. There was lots of bidness to be done and in ended up taking almost all of our time. 

There are people to teach here, but many of them are experiencing roadblocks of one kind or another that are keeping them from progressing, being baptized, returning to church, etc. Although we haven't stopped visiting any of them, our focus has shifted to finding more people who want to be baptized. The work was very fast a couple of weeks ago, but it's gradually died down. This has been a struggle, because I don't want to go back to knocking on doors! I felt really good while teaching and baptizing, and have become comfortable with all that goes into it, I guess this means I need to learn how to find people again! I did a lot of that in my last area and remember it being very rewarding and very hard work! I'm relying on my father mother and siblings to get me in the door knocking mood!!! let the motivational statements fly!!!!

I love it very much and here and love the people here very much!!

I love this time of year! I think many of the missionaries end up thinking a lot about home this time of year, and their girlfriends, and their parents. The others think about Jesus. I've been thinking abot what He's done for me a lot and I love him very much. Out of everything we teach as missionaries, from prophets to the word of wisdom, my favorite is just talking to people about the Savior. I find we can take it anywhere from there, depending on what they need. I know that he lives!!

I love you family and friends! Everyone always talks in church about the 25 methods in 25 days thing that the church has put out. Unfortunately, no one has bothered to print out the thing so we don't have any idea what we're supposed to do. But yous have the internet so I hope you all are taking advantage! I just looked it up and think it's way cool.

I love you all!! 'Ofa atu!

Elder Brown