Picture Update!

Last week of the first transfer!

Alright guys it was another awesome week.

After I emailed you guys last week Elder Perez (from Mexico) and I prepared tacos for our zone and then went and played volleyball for the afternoon. It was a fun day and that night my companion had to go to Huanta to conduct baptism interviews so Elder Domingez stayed with me in Las Americas. That meant I got to lead in our area and it was really exciting. I finally know where I am now, it took a while.

Tuesday we met with Yosser, the investigator who has a baptism appointment for Saturday, and he asked if we could move his date back a little so he could feel more prepared. It is fine because I know he understands just how important baptism is and how important it is to understand and be prepared beforehand. The responsibility of baptism is huge in this church but the blessings are unparalelled.

Wednesday we extended a baptismal date to Margoth and she happily accepted. Also another spanish tip, Huevos and Huesos sound very similar but if you are explaining to a investigator that God has a body of flesh and bones like us they might be confused if you say that God has a body of flesh and eggs....... yeah she was a little confused ;)

Thursday we met with Yosser again and he is really excited to be baptized. He was also super interested in missionary work and told us that he wants to serve. I couldnt believe it! This amazing son of God has yet to be baptized and experience the associated blessings of being a member of the church but even without that the blessings this gospel has brought him are so great that he already wants to share the gospel with others.

Friday Elder Hurtado baptized one of the investigators of some of the sisters in our district. It was very cool to watch that and see the smile on her face as she came up out of the water. Also on friday we were walking and ran into this guy that called to me and yelled hey Gringo! He continued to harass us for about five minutes as we waited for the bus using some very foul words that he had learned in English. 

Guys I gotta go, there was more I wanted to say but I dont have any more time.

Just know I love you and will write more next week.

Ps next week I will have a new companion

Until later Elder Brown

Hola Gringos

Ok guys I dont have too much time for a group email this week but I will include the important stuff.

Monday we visited quinua as a district (I will include pics) which is a giant spike about another 40 minutes into the mountains.

Tuesday I had another interchange with Mariscol and was with Elder Davis (from Saratoga Springs). He is a awesome kid and almost done here in the mission. He had some crazy stories and we stayed up a little too late talking but it is good to learn.

Wednesday we met a new investigator, Margot. She is amazing and in this last week we have met with her twice and today she called us and almost demanded us that we baptize her, it was kinda funny. She really wants to learn more and is a very good investigator.

Thursday we met with Yosser, I dont know if I have meantioned him before but he is a investigator and has a baptismal date for this upcoming saturday. He is one of my favorites because he really has a testimony and really wants to join the church.

Friday our mission President, President McGinn flew out with his wife to have a zone conference with ayacucho. Normally it would be a multizone meeting but because ayacucho is so isolated we get to have him all to ourselves. Also later that day elder Davis was sick and asked me to give him a blessing. It was my first opportunity to give a priesthood blessing and I was a little nervous at first but the spirit spoke through me. The next day elder Davis called and his fever and other problems were gone.

Saturday President McGinn came to our house during weekly planning. If you think it isnt hard enought to lead a planning session as a four week old missionary try to do it with your mission president in the room listening. It was actually very good and he gave Elder Hurtado and I some very good advice. I have had some pretty unique opportunitues that most missionaries dont get and I am so grateful because I have learned so much. Also on Saturday I had another opportunity to give a priesthood blessing but this one was in spanish. We met with a recent convert, Nancy, who is dying of cancer. I truly realized I have nothing to complain about in my life as I looked at her situation. She is dying which will leave her husband and four year old daughter alone. She has every reason to complain yet she is happy because she has found the joy of this gospel. The pain and sorrow I felt for this lady I had just met is indescribable but I know she has found true happiness, the happiness that we can have not only in this life but also in the life to come.

Sunday we had Stake Conference which is awesome. It was very awesome and almost all our progressing investigators were there.

Guys another cool thing from this week is the villagaray family. They are members and are so faithful. They want to be involved with the missionary work and there oldest son max is preparing to go on a mission. Max usually comes with us to lessons and the mom of the villagaray family is amazing. She invites us over and brings family friends with her to lessons. This week alone theyhelped us find 3 new investigators. You might be wondering why I am sharing this. Most of you on this email list are members. HOW GREAT ARE THE BLESSINGS IN YOUR LIFE BECAUSE OF THIS. Therefore my challenge to you is to share and be missionaries however you can. I know now how hard it is for the missionaries to find people and how crucial members are. We all have friends that we can help, we all have loved ones that we would love to share the blessings of the gospel with so why dont we. Even just giving the missionaries one referall or going with them to one lesson can make all the difference in their lives but more importantly the lives of those they teach.

I love you guys, every one of you, and miss you and pray for you. I know that I have a special calling of being a full time missionary in this time but we all have the responsibility to share however we can.

Until next week

Love Elder Brown

Mi amigos y familia comó estan

Okay guys spanish tip for y´all- Mamasita and mamita are two totally different things. DONT MIX THEM UP. Pretty much I embaressed myself in front of our pension when I was telling a story because I meant to describe someone as a old lady and pretty much said they were a sexy woman..... oops

Okay guys it has been another awesome and crazy week. Monday we helped move the hermanas into a new house because they kept getting robbed. Later, elder Hurtado and I hiked to the top of a mountain where you can see all of ayacucho. I laughed when he showed me our area because it is over twice the size of all the others. Next transfer we should get a lot more missionaries so who knows maybe our area will be made into two areas again.

Tuesday was super weird because all the zone and district leaders went to lima for a meeting but not the companions. This left me with elder weeks, the companion of the other district leader. It was a super interesting experience because elder weeks and I went to the MTC together. We are both newbies and both still learning spanish but we were left without our trainers to teach on our own. We actually had amazing lessons and made a lot of new contacts. We found people that asked us to come teach them later in the week and it was a really good day. We were both very nervous because of how new we are but the Lord really helped us in ways I cant even explain.

Wednesday we had a interchange with Huanta. I really like elder domingez and had a really fun time in Huanta. It is about another hour from ayacucho and is really pretty there.

Thursday I finally got back to my area which was a relief because we had 3 interchanges within seven days. I spent more time away from our area than in it so it was nice to stop living out of my backpack.

Friday we had a lesson with Aldair. He is an investigator that has a baptism date in 12 days. The lesson was super cool because Aldair bore a strong testimony about how he knew this gospel is true and about how he wants to be baptized to follow christ. I felt the spirit as he bore his testimony and am so happy for the joy he has found in his life through this gospel.

Saturday was a tough day, we had a ton of lessons and back up plans but literally everyone canceled or wasnt home except one family. However, that one lesson was amazing. This is my favorite family we have found. It is Brother John, his wife marlene, and their 3 year old son. John is less active but hasnt been to church in over 25 years and Marlene knew next to nothing about the church. However, they are so willing to live the gospel and follow christ. Every lesson we have had with them (this was our 3rd) they have been so willing to live the principles we teach. Marlene wants to be baptized she just doesnt know when because she wants to know more first. We invited her to be baptized October 8 and she said she would pray to know if God wanted that, and if so then she would be baptized in that day.

Sunday was very good because a lot of our investigators and other people we teach made it to church. I have really built strong relationships with many of the people here and I was sad as I realized I will eventually have to leave them. Another miracle from this week is that we were contacting people in the street sunday night. We have a goal to contact 15 people every day but it was really hard sunday because there was a big party going on and everyone was drunk. It was hard for someone to even give us thirty seconds of their time. At 13 people it was starting to get late so we thought of maybe just going home because based off the day nothing was gonna happen anyway. However, we decided to keep going and the 15th person listened to us and now we have an appointment to teach him.

I know that this church is true. This is by far the hardest thing I have every done but also the most rewarding. I have never been happier in my life than I am now. I love this opportunity I have to share the gospel and I love the people here. Until next week

Elder Brown

AMIGOS Y FAMILIA

Hey everyone!

I am starting to adjust to life here in peru, it is so different than living in the US but I love it. Also I want to share a miracle that happened this week, I figured out how to take an almost hot shower (after electricuting myself).

A little that happened this week. Sunday we saw the peruvian version of running with the bulls although I didn't get to see that much because there were a lot of drunk people and they don't like gringos.

Today we moved the sisters in our zone to a new apartment because they got robbed twice last week.

And then of course I figured out how to use the shower, kind of.

This week was hard for me because I got pretty sick. However, the lord still provided me with the strength to preach his gospel. We had some very good lessons this week and in particular our lessons with Brother Guillermo were exspecially well. I don't think I mentioned it but pretty much everyone here just lives together, very few people ever get married because there is a lot of work that has to be done to get the documents and what not. So whenever we teach law of chastity to couples that are living together (we have had 3 lessons like this) and ask them to obey it they either say that they can't or they say they will but they wont get married. However, with Brother Guillermo and his wife Lizbeth (she is less active) when we taught law of chastity he said ¨I now see why this is important, I want these blessings in my life and now I will get married¨ (of course he said that in spanish though).

It is nice to see investigators progress like Guillermo. We have a lot of progressing investigators but a lot of them progress so slowly and if we dont meet with them every couple days they wont pray, read their scriptures, or go to church. However, not everyone is like this.

Guys I dont have much time because we dont get much time to email but I want you to know that I know this gospel is true. I love sharing the joy this gospel brings me with others and I love when I see how it blesses them in their lives. Until next week!

Elder Brown

¡Ayacucho!

Alright guys week one in the field is done. There is a lot I want to say but not enough time to say it so I will try my best to just include the important stuff.

In our lessons we teach a lot of less active members (I think I might have said that last week) and they are kind of hard because they dont really see the importance of going to church or reading the scriptures so we kind of have to always be checking up on them. We do have some new investigators that we teach and one of them we contacted in the street on thursday, his name is Joel. Our first lesson with Joel went amazing. He is catholic and had questions for us like "arent God, the spirit, and Christ one person?" but when we answered and shared the churches view about his questions he was very receptive. When we asked him to read and pray about the book of mormon he wasnt just willing he was eager. The spirit was strong in that lesson and I cant wait to get back and teach him again. We have a lot of other people we are teaching and for the most part they are doing well too but our lesson with Joel was just that much better.

Ok now I want to share a little about what it is like to live here. The mornings are awesome, nothing gets you up and going like a shower at 40 degrees (seriously it is freezing). We eat a lot of bread here for breakfast and dinner and it is different because here dinner isnt the biggest meal of the day, it is lunch. We eat lunch with a lady in the ward because food preparation is a pretty sketchy thing here so it is fun to converse and talk with their family. The language is hard but it is coming pretty fast. The hard part is here in ayacucho not only do they speak spanish, they also speak quechua so I have to learn both. My companion is of course fluent in spanish and he is very good at english which is good. This week we were helping a older lady move some heavy grocery bags and she only spoke quechua. Elder Hurtado turned to me and said "I have no idea what she is saying" so I turned to him and said "You realize, this is my life". Also everyone wants me to teach them english and I say that I will if they help me to learn spanish.

I dont have any more time but I want you guys to know that I love it here. It is truly humbling and I cant wait to get to know the people better. Guys, we truly are blessed. I have taught lessons where the persons house included a small outdoor area and a small cement room with a dirt floor and a pile of stray for a bed. It is an amazing opportunity to serve here.

Until next week, Love Elder Brown

Hello From PERU!

Alright everyone today I get to email and after this my P days will always be on mondays. Monday was a long day of riding in bus´s and planes. We got to the Lima Peru airport at about midnight, drove an hour to a hotel, got three hours of sleep, then drove to the mission office at four am on tuesday. Once we arrived at the office at about 9 we had about 7 hours of prep classes and training. At about four in the afternoon we met our companions and were assigned our areas. My companion is Elder Hurtado. Elder Hurtado is this short little dude from bogata Columbia but he fits in perfectly here because I havent seen anyone over about five foot eight inches. Speaking of the people, I feel like a freaking giant here, which means my MTC companion Elder Evans will really feel like that because he is six inches taller than me.

Elder Hurtado and I are assigned to labor in the ayacucho area which is up in the mountains. For the rest of tuesday we went contacting and then we had our first lesson that night. We spent the night at the house of the missionaries working in the office and after sleeping for another four hours we had to wake up and get back on a taxi to get to the mission office again because all the American missionaries needed to go into interpol and take care of the visas and stuff. After spending all morning getting our teeth counted and fingerprinted we left interpol and went back to the mission office. At this point many of the missionaries headed out to their areas but me, Elder Hurtado, and four others stayed because we would take the night bus to ayucucho. So for that afternoon the six of us went to do an endowment session in the lima temple. The temple is awesome but it is super small. We did an endowment session, placed a bunch of pass along cards, ate dinner, and then went to the bus station. The bus left at 9 and it is a 11 hour drive through winding dirt roads to get clear into the mountains where our area is. Luckily it was kinda bigger like a tour bus so we were able to sleep on the drive. We got to ayacucho this morning and had a zone meeting and now we have P day.

 It is awesome and I am glad to be here. I knew we were blessed living in the states but you have no idea how blessed until you get to a place like this. The lima peru south mission is the poorest of the Lima missions and ayucucho is the poorest area in our mission. I would have never thought that I feel like I have too much stuff when my entire life is contained in just two suitcases. I will try to tell you a little bit about life here in peru from the last three days. Food is scary because a lot of it is contaminated but the safe stuff tastes really good. Everything is small and I have to duck at every doorway. The buses are ridiculous, they are barely bigger than a twelve passenger van in the states but there will be 30 people on the bus. My companion only weighs about 115 pounds and everyone else here is just as small. They can spot me as a gringo from a mile away and it exspecially shows when I try to speak because my spanish still isnt that good. However, I would not trade this for anything, I am so grateful I get to be in this humbling place. I am so grateful for my companion, the people, and for this gospel. I love you and will write next monday.

Until then, love Elder Brown

P.S.  Austin made it safely to Ayacucho Peru! A city in the Peruvian Central Highlands (9,000 feet elevation). Located in the Andes roughly 1/2 way between Lima and Cusco. Ayacucho has a very humble population....72% of the people in this region live below the poverty line. He will be amazing and we know the Peruvian people are so blessed to have him serving as a missionary in the region.