January 30, 2012

Ayeeeekoooooo. Life is moving on in Sunyani. Elder Speechly's last week... pretty crazy to send a guy home like this. It’s been awesome, but it just makes me think about my mission a lot and how I want to end and everything. He's really happy with how everything has gone. I am just glad he could put up with me and have a good time his last few months. We have a got a pretty packed week planned, so it should be a pretty amazing last few days for him. That’s all I will really be focused on this week, making sure he has the best time he possibly can - and for the right reasons! He told President in our interviews last week that he is going as happy as he could be, and President thanked me for helping him with that. Well, the sweetest day of the week was Thursday, I will just focus on it for the email. So it started off with interviews with President Shulz. The interview was great, encouraging as always. While the interviews were going, the assistants and Sis Shulz talked to us for a little while. The assistants instructed about Charity. They used my scripture - Moroni 7:45 - so at least I taught Elder Adams one thing :) Of course, charity is my favorite Christ-like attribute, so it was a powerful instruction. After that, Sis Shulz talked about our new mission "theme" or "motto" or whatever you want to call it - "Forever Strong". It’s pretty sweet, we watched that movie at our Christmas Devotional, and everybody really liked it a lot, so President and Sis Shulz thought it would be a great motto for our mission. It'll be a great thing for everybody to remember. So we got a kente bookmark that says Forever Strong on it. I love this mission.... it’s hard... so flipping hard! But I absolutely love it, Ghana Cape Coast Mission..... Oh and that’s so tight Keegan is going to Mozambique! I honestly knew he was going to Africa! Seriously.... I can already see it, Christmas time, H opening his calling ....."Ghana … Mission". Honestly I would cry. We are an African people, I am telling you! So Congrats Keegan!!! AYEEKOO!!!!!!! Alright so after interviews, I got to go on splits with Elder Adams. That was awesome. It was like we were never not companions. Just walking out in Odumase with him, just like old times... it was kinda surreal. It’s weird that we are at the points of our mission that we are at. Him going home... me seeing the end coming.... it was sweet. We taught Atta together, it was a great lesson - like I said, it was like we just picking up where we left off, except this time with him as an assistant and me as a zone leader. We've really grown up huh?! So then we met back up with Elder Speechly who was with the other AP - Elder Hair. They were at a basketball court at the Roman Catholic church in Odumase, playing BBall with a few people (one of whom was an Australian atheist who we had a good chat with). So of course... we had a quick game of 2-on-2. Elder Adams and Elder Speechly vs. me and Hair. Everybody was watching, we were just playing in our missionary clothes, and it was just sweet! The pic I attached is of the four of us (Hair - Speechly - me - Adams) right after we played. And then we jetted off to teach Ivy, the powerful new investigator we have. Since we had the APs truck, we decided that Adams and Speechly would stay and teach Ivy and her family while me and Hair ran back to Nkwabeng to teach Effah there. So we left and taught Effah about Our Purpose in life - another great lesson - and then headed back to Odumase to pick them up from Ivy's house. We got to the house and found them having just finished the lesson, and all of them were coming out with teary eyes and the biggest smiles on their faces. The first thing Elder Speechly said when I saw him was "bro... that was the most powerful lesson of my mission…." They taught her about the Restoration, and when they asked her about how she felt about it, they said that she just paused and sat in silence for like 2 minutes, and finally, all she could say was "I'm touched....". So then both Adams and Speech starting bearing their testimonies, telling her how they were going to finish their missions and go home next week, and they both started crying!!!!! She promised that she would come to church on Sunday, and bring the whole family, and have Adams teach her husband who was in Cape Coast on business. She did come to church, brought the whole family, and things are looking amazing. It’s so sweet that they had that experience together. The Lord really loves us out here.... he knows how hard missions are, and it was amazing to see how much he blessed Adams and Speechly to have that experience together their second to last week in the field. It was just awesome. So, life is great. These last few months have been some of the greatest times of my mission, and I owe a lot of that to Elder Speechly. I love that guy! I know the Lord loves us, and that when we put our trust in him, even if it takes two years, He will bless us more than we can imagine. I know Elder Speechly and Elder Adams felt that on Thursday, and I know that if I keep going strong, I am going to have that too. Love you guys so much. Congrats to J and Marnie!! Congrats to Keegan!!!!! AYEEEEEKOOOOO!!!!!!!!!! Another BROWN in AFRICA!!!!!!! WAYADEAEH!!!!!!!!! Love, Elder Brown

January 23, 2012

Well the week was sweet as usual. Elder Speechly wanted to have the opportunity to go on splits with everybody before he leaves, so we went on splits three times this week. First was on Tuesday, I went with Elder Brown to Penkwase. It was sweet, we taught a great family. She is ready for baptism, but he still has doubts, so we had a cool discussion, talked about a lot of stuff. He doesn't really know what to do to keep his family strong, so I read Helaman 5:12 - on the sure foundation you cannot fall!!! He liked it a lot, haven't heard if he came to church this week though. Wednesday I went with Elder Robert to Nkwabeng. We had a good day, taught some good lessons. Best one was to Effah at night. Don't know if I have talked about Effah, but he is a sweet dude. He started to come to church when Auntie Mary - one of the most powerful members here - invited him. He came like 3 times before we could sit down to teach him last week. He asked about the Book of Mormon first, so we talked about that, and now we are slowly going through the Restoration so he can understand it perfectly. He has a baptismal date for 4 Feb. Thursday we went to Fiapre to help them with their weekly planning sessions. I sat in on Elder Obasi and Elder Mensah's. They are two very committed missionaries who are going to be a great blessing to Fiapre. Elder Obasi has a stronger testimony of the Restoration than just about anyone I know (he is from Abuja, Nigeria). He knows the scriptures like no one I know and knows how to teach so well - and he is only like 8 months on mission. Then Elder Mensah is a Ghanaian who has been under the wings of powerful church pioneers in Accra his whole life. His brother works at the MTC. So with those two, serious things can happen there in Fiapre. We talked about their investigators and how we can help them out. One man is a pretty powerful guy, believes the Restoration, the Book of Mormon, and comes to church early every week... but he just honestly believes the baptism he had in his old church is ok. So hopefully the spirit can touch him in just the right way!!! Then they also have two other powerful guys who could end up being the Melchezidek Priesthood holders they need. I was able to give them a few tips with their planning sesh as well, so it was all around success!!! Friday, Elder Speechly got sick... so that kind of sucked. But we were still able to get out and do some good work by the end of the day. And then went on splits again on Saturday!!! Haha. I went with Elder Mathemba in Nkwabeng. Elder Mathemba is powerful!!! We got a powerful new investigator Saturday morning. Her name is Ivy and she stays out in Odumase. Her and her husband have four kids and they are just a really sweet family. She had met missionaries in town where she works - she is a banker - and wanted us to come teach her family. So we went and had a great lesson. Went back again yesterday and taught about Christ's church and the Great Apostasy, to set up well for the Restoration this week! Hopefully all goes well. Their family would be a powerful pioneer family for Sunyani. Sundays are stressful for me... and they just make me soooooooo tired. But it’s ok. We had a few investigators come to church. President Owusu's wife came. Had a crazy lesson with a dude named Martin. He was a little confrontational at first, asking us why we are called elders, and trying to prove us wrong with the Bible, but by the end we were able to see eye to eye and he realized that he just needs to read The Book of Mormon and figure out if Joseph Smith was a true prophet or not. He said that he has been searching for the truth for a while now, and we promised him that this really really is the true Gospel of Jesus Christ, and nothing but the truth!!!! If he reads and prays, he's gonna see it too!!!!! Well, that’s it from the week really! Me and Elder Speechly are going strong just keeping our eyes on the mark!!! Life is great, missionary work is awesome, and I come to know more and more every day that this really is it! Thanks for all your help and support! I love you guys!!! -Elder Brown

January 16, 2012

Wazzup?! This might be a shorter email because I emailed some other peeps before, so my time is short. We found a little go kart thing at an investigators house and asked if we could ride it. I snapped a pic of Elder Speechly and it’s a total classic! Always just having fun, staying happy, dancing a lot, and everybody we talk to just laughs at - sorry, with - us. It’s been sweet, and people are loving the church because of it. I can't lie, we have been tearing it up the past couple of months, and it’s mostly because people just immediately want to join the church after they come to church once or sit down with us once. We have had like a dozen baptisms up to this point, and have an epic one planned for Elder Speechly's last weekend. We taught a guy yesterday for the first time who had been invited to church by a member, and we set a baptismal date because he was already calling himself a member of the church... it’s a sweet way to do missionary work haha. Elder Speechly put it well after we got done playing with the go kart he said that (and I quote) "I soften their hearts, and Elder Brown pierces them". Haha... forget shake and bake or thunder and lightning, SOFTEN AND PIERCE WOHO!!!!! Haha.. it’s so tight. A ton of sweet stuff happened this week - powerful new investigators, progressing investigators who are making big strides, recent converts continuing to progress. Maybe one taste of each category: sweet new investigator - Albert. He met the missionaries in Greece like 2 years ago, even went to church once, and we ran into him at an investigator’s house. He was totally stoked to meet us, and after the first lesson, wouldn't ya know it, wants to be baptized. So we are working with him, will teach him tonight. Progressing investigator: Gabriel. He is a bus driver who is super busy but absolutely loves the church - we pass him almost every night on the road when he is coming home from work (like around 9 pm) and he always flashes his lights and pulls the bus over so we can talk for a few minutes. He came to church on Sunday, and we will teach him again tomorrow. Recent convert progressing : Voca, watched the Joseph Smith movie with her and I made fufu for her family after. It was sweet, and must say, I did pretty well driving the fufu!!!!!! So anyway, life is good, mission is awesome, and my time is done today. I love you guys!!! Sorry the email is so short, but don't worry, next week will be totally dedicated to a nice long email :) Love you guys!!!!! -Elder Brown

January 9, 2012

Great to be able to read your guys' email again! I just got pick-pocketed in the Sunyani market... so lame! Elder Speechly was buying some cabbage, and I pulled something out of my pocket, and five cedis came out kind of half way, in a split second, I felt something brush my side, and it was gone! And the thing is, I totally saw the guy do it... but when i started to call him out, I just couldn't do it.... just wanted to avoid any contention... But oh well, it was only five cedis, hopefully he used it to feed his kids or something.... I'll just tell myself that’s what he did :) Haha, so anyway, the week was good. Zone Leader Council is always a cool thing, although it takes two whole days out for us. Woke up early Tuesday, and we were in Cape Coast by 3, we got there crazy fast. So, we just got to chill at the mission home with the Kumasi zone leaders for a while and had baked potatoes and chicken for dinner. Wow.... can't even describe how good it was. We had sour cream. Sour cream!!!! Haha, it’s funny all the little things we don't have here. But Sis. Shulz found it in Accra somewhere, so it was pretty sweet just to have that. The stuff we talked about at zl council was good, a lot of business stuff, but a lot of really important stuff too. Like I say after every one of these meetings, the mission is going in a great direction, Pres and Sis Shulz are awesome. Two of my MTs - Elder Fawole in Sekondi and Elder Bunker in Swedru - are zone leaders now too, so it was cool to see them. Elder Fawole (Nigeria) is the one who emailed me a few weeks before coming out on mission - he always says "Before I saw thee, I knew thee" when we meet up, haha. Got back to Sunyani at like 11 Wednesday night, and was back up and at ‘em at 6:30 on Thursday. We started back up pretty good, got a sweet new investigator who wants to be baptized - Atta. He is older, turns 70 this month. We met him a few weeks ago and he said he wanted to start learning from us after the new year. One of his best friends, Joseph, is a member, so he has a good connection to the church. He even came to church on Sunday. He is going to be a sweet dude!!! Friday was our recent convert day. Taught Hassan, Al-Sadat, Johnson, and Wilson, and had good discussions with all of them. I love our talks with Al-Sadat. He is SO smart. Like seriously a genius. He studies in his personal library for 9 HOURS a day!!!!! That’s crazy!!!!! He has read so much - his favorites are the writing of Plato. He bore his testimony about how much his study of the Doctrine and Covenants is helping him, so that was tight. Made a really cool contact as well later in the day. A guy named Martin, we sat and had a 30 minute chat with him about basically everything in the Gospel. He is a strong Christian, but has been confused by the great apostasy. Each time we brought in a new theme of the restored gospel he was like "hmmmm, that’s interesting...." and thought about it for a while. It was tight. Have an appointment with him tomorrow. Saturday was sweet, Alex came with us, so everything went great. Having members with you to teach makes such a difference. Taught Andrews, contacted a powerful family - Kwasi and Edna - and got a few referrals from Alex. It was a solid day. Also met with Richard for the first time since he travelled to Accra. Church on Sunday was great as well, bore my testimony in Twi small small so everybody liked that!!! And the other testimonies given were powerful. Taught Kwasi and Edna again, they seem to have serious potential - they have two little girls - they remind me a lot of Thomas and his family in Kwamo. Man... missionary work is just awesome. It’s weird saying that because it’s so hard... but it’s just so much fun. Every day I get up happy.... tired, but happy. All of the experiences I am having here are incredible, and Elder Speechly is really helping me remember the importance of having fun in everything.... I had forgotten that almost entirely. So we are getting work done, we are having fun, and life is great. Still a lot of things that make me go crazy, but it’s all gravy brah!!!! Love you guys, so so much!!!!! Dapen akyire.... -Elder Brown ps - I got the letter from my boys from BYU, always great to read those, seems like they are all doing great.

January 2, 2012

Morning morning!!!! Hope all is cool for you back in tejas! my keyboard is terrible, so i am not going to use the shift button, so sorry there is no capital letters. but oh well! anyway, another sweet week in ghana. things are crazy as usual and mission is something else, but its pretty awesome. monday night the christmas party went well. me and wilson played our songs and they were pretty sweet. it was kind of loud around so the recordings didn't come out well, but hopefully we can record them somewhere down the line so you can hear them. a few days later, wilson told me that someone’s friend had come to the party who was a ghanaian filmaker. he is having some film festival out in the jungle in western region and wanted me and wilson to come and be the music. i told wilson that’s probably not possible, but i will ask pres shulz to see if i can! that would be so tight haha... my first big music break happens in ghana. that would be something! the week continued well from there, preparing for wilson and jennifer's baptism. their baptism on saturday went off well, combined with the penkwase elders, they also baptized two people, daniel and prince. probably the funnest part about the week was that our branch mission leader, alex, came and proselyted with us all day saturday and sunday. he is soooo funny.... he is helping us out a lot and keeping us laughing along the way. went on splits with the other elder brown on friday for him to come to do our interviews, so it was funny proselyting with another elder brown. he is a way powerful missionary... he knows so much about the gospel its crazy. he is like 26 and has already graduated from university of cape coast . it was way sweet. he is ghanaian so he was able to speak twi fluently with all of the people we contacted, which they liked of course, he even taught one of our investigator's mom who doesn't speak english. so all in all it was a really good day with him. at the end of the day we went to go teach a recent convert family. the husband works as a driver for a government official so he is always gone. but he has been home for the holidays, so we took the opportunity to have a fhe with them. grandma h sent me a small book called "the story of christ'' for christmas which had taken scriptures from the bible, the book of mormon, and D&C to create a quick overview of the savior's life, so we read that with them and showed a bunch of pics from the gospel art book for the kids to stay entertained and it was a powerful lesson. they even had one of their neighbors who had just had a baby come to be a part of it. good lessons with a lot of powerful investigators this week.one is a way sweet guy. we contacted him a few weeks back, and he is progressing so fast. he came to church on sunday with his son. he was involved at church, asking and answering questions, contributing, it was sweet. he has a baptismal date for 21 january. he is up to 1 nephi 11 or so, so we had a sweet lesson with him on saturday about lehi's dream. all should go well with him! Another investigator (always wears the dwayne wade jersey) is doing well, didn't come to church, but seems to really be understanding things and is really really studying the book of mormon and thinking about it, and praying about it. wow... just remembered it is 2012. wow..... happy new year! anyway, everything else is cool. ZL council down in cape tomorrow, so another long two days of travel, but no wahala!!!! love you guys, you guys are the best and are so awesome! thanks for everything!!! -Elder Brown