Last few days!

I'm super excited to see you all again. 

 

I'm going to work really hard my last two days so don't be surprised if I come out of the plane on a stretcher.

Ok, maybe I won't work that hard. but I am going to work hard. The job ain't over till it's done, after all.

 

I'm just about done packing and I'm confident I can make the weight restrictions without leaving very much at all behind. Part of that would be because I packed up and shipped a total of three more boxen this morning. It was pretty pricey, $42, but I'll take that over a $175 overweight fee. :-)

 

So, my Friday plans are currently as follows:

8:00- temple trip, baptisms for the dead OR possibly endowment session (we'll see).

12:00 lunch

1:00- register for my classes

4:00- prepare

4:30- party time!

8:30- me time

10:30 sleep until I can't anymore

 

My testimony has grown so much since I saw you last. I know like never before that the Book of Mormon is true and that Jesus Christ is the one and only Savior of the World. This is the True Church, these are the Last Days. The Lord is hastening His work- cutting it short in righteousness- and I'm proud that I was able to be a part of it. The Name of Christ will soon leave my chest, but it will never leave my heart.

Love, Elder Brown

A week of surprises

It's been a week of surprises.

 

Tuesday morning I was surprised when I recieved my flight Itinerary. I began packing and sorting and weighing that evening.

 

President Craven called Elder Thompson and myself Tuesday evening. That was a surprise in itself, but then it got even more so. I was reassigned to Gastonia, North Carolina, to be in a threesome with the Zone leaders. I guess technically I qualify as a Zone leader now. It's been a large adjustment. The reason this came to pass was that an Elder from Brazil was transferred up to our mission. I guess he was having trouble with the language and so they brought him back stateside. President and the assistants prayed real hard and for some reason decided that Elder Thompson would be the best option for him, so I got booted out. Now I'm a Zone leader. Hoo buddy.

 

Friday, we had a hallowe'en Trunk of Treats (like a trunk or treat, but inside, and only one trunk). The ward put it together and pulled it off with style. We were mildly surprised to be sent home with a large box of bags of chips and some candy. It was a good day.

 

Another pleasant surprise came today when I sat down at the computer here in Gastonia's Family History Center and it let me compose an email! 

I donated my bike to Elder Egnew, the Elder that came up from Brazil. He was in need of one, and I wasn't, so I gave him mine.

 

Love,

Elder Brown

Arriving home

Elder Brown will be arriving home to Rexburg, Idaho Thursday, November 8th.  Those interested in attending sacrament meeting when he is speaking, please come 11/11 at 11am to the Rexburg East Stake Center.  Wahoo!!

Baptism!

Good news this week!  Trudy's getting baptized!  This Saturday, actually at 2pm.  It's a happy story.  She asked me to baptize her.  She'll be the only person I've ever performed the ordinance of baptism for.  That makes me happy.  I get to finish my mission with a hard-earned baptism.

Mission tour

We went to mission tour yesterday and a member drove us there. He's a chapter president for Mensa, and he spent the whole trip up there trying to subliminally recruit me to join. 

 

Mission tour was amazingly good. lots of profundity and we learned a bunch. Elders Carlson and Bowen of the 70 and their wives spoke to us. We learned our relationship with Abraham is like unto a Grandpa, and that pure testimony is the statement of things learned by the witness of the Holy Ghost. We also were trained on several missionary-work-related things. A very powerful meeting, all told. When it was over I thought my brain was going to shut off from overload, but it didn't. God knows our limits and never gives us more than we can absorb.

August 20th

So, Monday and Tuesday were fairly boring this week. Wednesday, my bike was making funny noises so we took it into the shop. Turns out I broke a spoke on my back wheel somehow. Easy fix, half-hour wait. While we were waiting there, we got a text message asking if Elder T. Brown was going to be at transfers soon. This was about eleven thirty, when transfers happen at Statesville. So we called them up and asked about it. The conversation went something like this:

 

"Is Elder Brown coming?"

"Was he supposed to?"

"Yes"

"We didn't hear that he was supposed to be transfered, so, no, he won't be there anytime soon."

"Oh, he's getting transferred, alright. Can he be packed by three?"

 

Elder Brown wasn't too happy about that. He told them off and said the earliest he could be ready was Thursday morning. They didn't like that, either, but that was the way it was. We spent the rest of the day going to see people, saying goodbye, and packing. Thursday morning we drove him up to Gastonia so he could meet his new companion, Elder Hughs. Now he's serving in Mountain Island, still in our zone. However, in all the hustle and bustle, we forgot to get our church keys and area map from him. Oops. It's been fun the last few days.

Release date

Elder Joshua Brown's release date will be Nov 7, 2012!