So tired today

I am so tired. I didn't know I could be this tired and still be awake for 18 hours at a time. Probably why I'm not awake that long (I've taken a liking to lunchtime naps). I'm just... tired... +yawn+

But we do have a scheduled baptism for the 6th of August. Michael (a new investigator) will be baptized then, if we can just keep him from getting washed away by the fierce attacks of the evil one, which attacks have utterly destroyed our other investigators.

This week we lost Keisha. Elder Child (on exchange from Dobson) and I went over and taught the word of wisdom, it being the appropriate time for that  (or so we thought). the lesson was beyond bad. Awful doesn't describe it. 'Apocalyptic' might be strong enough. I don't know what we did wrong, but by the end of the lesson, her parents hated us and almost didn't let us back in on our next visit. Things went so bad that we went from having a good relationship to them not wanting Keisha to be baptized. Again, I don't understand how it happened. I did use boldness, but not (at least I thought) overbearance. maybe I wasn't polite enough? I dunno. 

The good news is that Michael is still planning on baptism, and he's been quite thoroughly prepared for the gospel by his girlfriend Chelsea, a member of our ward. Doctrinal concerns are almost zero, and he's very much commited. so there is some good news.

Did I mention how tired I am? Oh how tired I am. I am tired. A lot.

Love, Elder Joshua Brown

I sang at a Baptist cookout

I'm 21 now! I'm old! I can buy beer! (yay?)

 

My birthday was rough; I missed you guys a lot that day. It ended happy, though.

 

Adventures of this week:

 

Elder Brown is now old enough to visit whatever establishment he so chooses.

 

I sang 'Mi Amigo Jesus' at a Baptist cookout to which we were invited. (I bet dad didn't know he was helping me prepare for my own mission when he played that song from his.)  Also at the cookout, we had burgers and hot dogs, and listened to some good old fashioned baptist hymns, then listened to an excellent sermon from a preacher about the brass serpent in the wilderness. (Elder Mathis is absolutely convinced that it was aimed straight at us in an attempt to get us 'saved'. I had to disagree with him on that one.)

 

Oh, here's a note from the mission office:

 

/begin message

Just a note to let you know that we are moving the North Carolina Charlotte Mission Office on 23 July 2011.  The phone number and FAX number will remain the same.

The address will be North Carolina Charlotte Mission  3020 Hilliard Drive, Charlotte NC  28205

 

Missionaries:  In order to receive your mail you will now need to have North  Carolina Charlotte Mission or NCCM on the first line on all your letters and packages.  The Missionaries name will need to be on the second line (with FULL name - we have a lot of duplicate names).

 

We can only forward United State Postal Service mail.

FED-EX and UPS  (United Parcel Service) - CANNOT be forwarded.

/end message

so the full address is:

North Carolina Charlotte Mission 

Elder Joshua Brown

3020 Hilliard Drive

Charlotte NC  28205

 

I love you guys!

Love,

Elder Brown

New mission home address

It's been a decent week. nothing too big, good or bad, except our phone's broken. We had an adventure that day and it's worked kind of off and on ever since. We don't know what's wrong with it but we've put it in rice in case the problem is humidity.

 

None of our investigators were at church, and it turns out Gene is moving to New York, so we won't be baptizing him. Bummer. Keisha is still strong. We're having dinner with her and her parents tomorrow night (Tuesday) and we hope to resolve any concerns her parents have about her upcoming baptism. We may have to move Becky back a week, because she wasn't able to come to church at all the last couple of weeks. Ronald M. is still plugging on. He's being put through a fiery furnace right now but he'll be fine and we'll keep our eye on him. He's been down on himself a lot lately, so I told him that if he keeps beating up my friend, Ronald, I'll have to come deal with him, because I don't let anybody pick on my friends. :) that at least got him to chuckle.

 

Oh, important update. The mission office is moving. Instead of the address being:

 

Elder Joshua Brown

North Carolina Charlotte Mission

6407 Idlewild Rd Ste 104

Charlotte, NC 28212

 

it should be:

North Carolina Charlotte Mission

Elder Joshua Brown

6407 Idlewild Rd Ste 104

Charlotte, NC 28212

So they can forward it until they get established at the new location.  More on that later. 

 

Love you guys!

Elder Brown

Pictures from April 2011

Front L-R Elder Redford, Elder Child, Elder Stanley, Elder Jackman
Back L-R Elder Mathis, Elder Brown (me!), Elder Wells

This is the mushroom in the bathroom.  In Dobson, we had a horrible plague of mushrooms. :) Every other week or so we had a new one.  This one's name is Stanley.

Cool story for the week!  We were at a member's house doing some service taking apart a double wide and we were taking a lunch break down by a little stream that runs through the property.  The member had it set up to where he had a PVC pipe fountain fed and pressured by the river.  Well, we're just chillin', eating, when all the sudden we hear a little "pop" and the fountain disappears.  I went to check it out and it turned out that a crawdad had gotten in the pipe upstream and been whisked away by the flow, and when he got to the end he broke it off.  Poor little guy.  So I met a crawdad this week.  I also got to use an axe while we took down the double wide.  Good times, good times. Don't worry.  I still have all my fingers.

Love you guys!
Elder Joshua Brown

4th of July

I didn't email yesterday since it was the fourth. Don't worry, we had a good time with a recent convert family; grilled burgers and watched fireworks. (We actually stayed out ten minutes past curfew o.O). But at least we had a good time. don't worry, the apartment is still in one piece. :D

This week we found four new investigators, two of whom have solid baptismal dates. Keisha M. is a young women-age girl with a strong desire to be baptized. We still have a lot to teach her but she's moving forward with faith. 

Becky, her friend, is a little less solid but is also interested in receiving the gospel. They're both set for the 30th of July. 

Gene, a young black kid, is set to be baptized on the 23rd. He's a very pentacostal sort of guy, and the reverence in our church is a little hard for him. His concerns are more doctrinal than commitment. He'll still get baptised though. I hope.

So, good things are happening in mount Airy. 

We have a Leadership Training Meeting this week on Thursday.  

Brandon M. recieved his endowments this last Saturday. He's coming with us to the LTM on Thursday, and then reports to the MTC on the 13th.

Well, I love you guys! Don't forget!

Love from Elder Brown