cuy cuy cuy cuy!!

buenas dias todos!!!

as you can tell by the caption, we had cuy (guineau pig) this past week. it was weird. it tasted like chicken but it kinda freaked me out that i was eating the leg of a cuy. they have six toes. you can see in the picture. six.

the most interersting food story happened this morning. so we went to our pensionista as usual where we all ate four pieces of bread, ham, and some juice. then, we went to a less active lady´s "restaurant" in a market. we started off with siete semillas. its a drink made of juiced up seven types of seeds, and a sweet potato sandwich. i was full. she then saw we´d finished so clearly that meant we want more food. she filled our glasses with another drink called kinwa, which is another seed type drink. not bad. then comes the soup. she brought us all huge bowls of what i officially named sopa de dientes y testiculos. teeth and... dog-version-of-rockymontain-oyster soup.. it was interesting. i was already full and nauscious (that was spelled way wrong). the soup actually was some type of broth, weird looking corn that sersiouly looked like teeth, and chunks of mystery meat. with the dogs walking around, we could only guess. i´ll go with elder croziers guess of "foot of some kind of animal". it was awful haha i was just gaggging and slurping. we walked out with sore stomachs and hopped on to a very bumpy bus ride. I LOVE PERU haha

last week for p day we went to the zoo in Lima. i saw a bear- ahhh yeah. it was like dead there. there was like fiftry other people in the whole zoo and the animals were all depressed. oh and i got to see an actual peruvian llama. only took going to the zoo to see emperor cusco. what a day.

on saturday we got to watch the recording of the 100th stake celebration that happened a few weeks ago when elder christopherson came to set up the new stake. his spanish is awesome! it was really cool.

last week one of my good friends went home, so we adopted his companion Elder China, one of the elders from my group that came to the mission back in may. he is half bolivian and half japanese, and his last name is China. what a combo haha but luckily its only till changes on august 13 because we have to work our area as well as his now and his area literally is on the other side of a mountain.

so as for an overall update, my spanish has been picking up alot lately. its super hard to learn because my companion speaks english and i can barely understand his spanish. but im gettin there! no se preocupe. and, ive noticed im beginning to lose weight. its either from walking all day every day and only eating natural home made food (75% of which is rice, which literally is like filling my stomach with packing peanuts, just to be full for a few minutes), or its because i got a tape worm. if so, im taking elder mcallisters advice and naming it. any suggestions. haha nah mom dont worry, im healthy! the only problem is im not growing. and if i am, i dont notice because im literally taller than everyone here, except for a few white missionaries.

So my message for the week: Love and help others. as i mentioned, one of my good friends had to head home this past week. he was excited and felt really good and we were excited for him because as missionaries and teachers of the atonement and repentance, we understand what repentance really means. we were super bummed as we talked about peoples attitudes about situations like this. "oh man,, did you hear he came home??" "did you hear what he did?? all i can even think to say to people with that attitude (without swearing) is are you kidding me?? rejoice for him! be happy for him! our friend said in his own words, "i am happy. what im doing now is literally making everything christ did for me worth it. before, it wasnt worth it." WOAH. THAT HIT ME HARD. the atonement is such a beautiful thing, and all too often, people, especially as members of the church, have a terrible attitude about it. when people are using the greatest gift anyone has ever given, be happy! because it makes christs death worth it. repentance is all too often associated with what comes before it. the sin. to this i repeat the words of the Savior, "he that is without sin, let us cast the first stone." i pray that everyone, myself included, can come together as members of the church and as children of God, in loving and helping one another, and LOVING one another. thats a huge thing im learning here. love. there are things people here do that drive me INSANE. but slowly im learning to just understand people, love them for who they are, and thats it. love em. sorry if that message didnt have meaning or even make sense but its what ive been feeling. haha i love you all and thanks for the love you´ve shown me throughout my life. i wouldnt be here without it. until next time!

Elder Brown

                                                                "Da Bears"

                                                       

                                   

                                           This is Cuy. A Guinea pig. This is their Delicacy in Lima.

 

                                                                    They have 6 toes....

wasssss ssaaaaaaaaaa (It's what his little niece Hayden always says now)

hey everyone! so yesterday i celebrated surviving two months in Peru. its soo weird to think ive been gone for over three months and in south america for two. time is flying. so this past week was absolutely freezing. on tuesday morning we could see our breath in our apartment. awesome.

Cool stuff from this week:

Magela( our pensionista) and Luis (her esposa) got married on saturday! this is a HUGE deal. now me and elder fallas need to bust our butts to get luis baptized before this next change. then we can come back in a year for their sealing! (did i spell that right?) my english grammar and spelling are slowly dying. elder crozier and elder aldana also had a couple theyve been teacjing get married. good stuff!

last week we all met with president archibald and had interviews. it was the coolest interview ive ever had. essentially he taught me how to get baptisms every week. if you want to baptize every week. you can. "why does a bird fly? becasue it thinks it can." he made it all sound soooooo easy. teach them. then baptize them. i wish i had such confidence. the gospel reaally is so simple. he explained how brigham young went to europe and baptized thousands. he also mentioned how President Young, along with all the other early missionaries had wayyyyy less gospel knowledge than we have as missionaries today. he then read to me Alma 26:22 which says basically live the gospel and you´ll bring thousands of souls to God. "is the book true?" "yeah.." "well then put up or shut up" haha this guy is awesome. this week ive felt a fire and a desire to go find people and bring them to the waters that ive never experienced.

so my message this week is simple. with God, anything is possible. this was our lesson in elders quorum yesterday and i realized that as a missionary, without the help of God, this work is literally impossible. we are imperfect people trying to do a perfect work. i love the quote "if you dont think you can do something, you cant. But with God, you can"

love you all, keep praying fopr the missionaries, especially for those learning languages!!!! its freaking hard haha but i love every day.

Elder Brown

                                                Kendall said it has been freezing

     

                                            The wedding of Migela and Luis. Hooray!

 

                                                     The wedding cake and celebration
                               

                                         This is what we all miss... Kendall is always having fun!
                                         

                                                         
                           

                                                                   Peruvian celebrations
                                               

                                                   Migela and Luis Wedding

                                      Kendall and a Peruvian boy. Not sure if this is Migela and Luis son

                       
                                         Kendall's drawing of our home. Maybe he's a little homesick

Te Bautizo Con el Martillo de Thor!

Whats uppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppp

so basically the only awesome things this week were the baptism and confirmation of Miguel Ángel Sánchez Navarro. This kid is freakin awesome! Elder fallas baptized him and i was his camera man. The service was awesome. there was a guy from the ward baptizing his daughter too so there were a ton of people. As part of the program, we wanted to have a special musical number. So... Elder Brown, you´ll do it right? ah... k. i sang "Cuando me bautice". the spanish version of i like to look for rainbows. without piano. haha ahh yeah. i had one of the guys attending take pictures so i could show you but he ended up taking a video. so i´ll let you see it in about 20 months... oh and i wore Grandpa Flittons tie. awesome day.

The next day we confirmed him at church. we were freaking out because he hadnt shown up when church started. he showed up! Miguelito is a mormoncito.

the other day we had a service thing on a farm. we pulled potatoe plants out of the ground for two hours. theres still dirt under my nails and stained on my hands. mom, i dont know why you enjoy pulling weeds so much but you would have loved it: pulling weeds and potatoe plants till your hands are raw.

so my message today is 2 Nephi 2:27. i Studied that verse this morning and wrote a whole page on it in my study journal. so basically this past week ive been struggling with staying in the moment: letting go of the past, not worrying about the future, and just being happy right now. the scripture says "All things are given [us] which are expedient unto [us]". the scripture is about choice. choosing liberty and eternal life or death and captivity. God has given us the ability to choose. All things are given us by choice. action, reaction. decision, consequence. but i had always thought that this scripture was written solely out of an eternal perspective. make good decisions now and recieve freedom and joy in the life to come. in alma it says that"by small and simple things are great things brought to pass". BUT. i took Nephi´s advice in 1 ne 19:23 and applied the scripture to my life. right here and right now. so here´s my point. as my mom always says, "happiness is a choice". so if we can choose our eternal happiness based on the actions we make right now, can we also choose happiness right now, based on nothing other than the divine gift god has given us: choice? yes. Let go of the past, stop fearing the future, and choose to live right now. Choose to let go of fear. choose to accept Jesus Christ. choose to smile. even if you cant manage real happiness even if you try, follow the quote often used in theater, "fake it till you make it". we have the power to choose happiness. it literally is a gift of god. choosing liberty, freedom, joy, etc. its up to us. all too often, myself included, we think that happiness is a result of external circumstance. NO. as president Uchtdorf says: "STOP IT". choose freedom now "through the great mediator of all men". 

Another scripture i found this morning that i lked is Doctrine and Covenants 45:3-5. cool.

one last thing. im not sure who all reads this or if anyone´s even made it to the end of this email without getting bored but if any of you have served missions and/or know someonw who has, i have a question for you: in your missions, how did you have success? i dont mean how did you get a ton of numbers, i mean what did you do to work effectively and efficiently as a missionary? we are struggling with efficiency in our area and its a killer. any advice would be great! email me as soon as possible.

The Gospel. Learn it, live it, love it. word.

Elder Brown

               Elder Brown and 10 year old Miguel. If you look close Miguel has on the Spanish CTR ring Kendall gave to him. I sent Kendall with some kids CTR rings in Spanish and he has really enjoyed giving them to the kids. 

                                         Giving Miguel a "bump" for his good choice to be baptized

   

                                            Elder Brown and Elder Fallas and Miguel

                                           

                                           Some kids They are teaching. Andy and Enrique

 

                                               Kendall always has fun in life

                                         

                                           The four missionaries together

 

                                            This is some kind of Dance Festival

                                                  Kendall and the city lights of Peru

Wudduupppp

So this week was awesome! we are teaching a few new people who are super receptive and ready for the gospel. others? not so much. people dont get the importance of going to church here..

this email isnt going to be extremely long mainly because i want to focus on the "message of the week" part.

so first, we met President Archibald and his wife and 2 of his kids (out of 10). They are from Alabama and have strong southern accents. hearing their spanish is kinda funny. He gave us some advice about praying beforehand to have angels go before you to prepare the people you teach. i did that. we now have a baptism this week.

which brings me to my next part of the week.

Miguel Sanchez. 10 year old kid. we have been teaching since ive been here and he was taught before i got here. this kid is crazy smart and im so stoked for him. So this last time we visited him and his dad (we´ve taught his parents too), i wasnt sure what we were going to teach. they were super cool and receptive to the gospel but miguel couldnt go to church because of soccer and the parents still just "need more time". i started off by asking them how their Book of mormon reading had been. the dad is still in 1 Nephi 9 and miguel hadnt even read in a week. so we were about to do the usual and read a chapter with them. i sat there, stared at my book for a little, then closed it. The spirit completely took over and i looked up at them and just started talking. i told them that we had been studying about why we have the book of mormon, why ots so important, what role it plays in our conversion, etc. Elder aldana (with whom i was on a work exchange) and i bore our testimonies about the book of mormon. i asked miguel what he thought. he said he believes its the word of god. so i kept asking him more questions about why he thinks that and how he came to that realization. there was also a moment somewhere in there of absolute silence (that i dont really remember but Elder Aldana has mentioned it multiple times) where the spirit just powered into the room. i then asked miguel what he thought about baptism. he said "quiero bautizarme".. i want to be baptized. i asked when. he asked when he can. i said how bout this saturday.  after he said yes, he stood up, got the permission slip signed be both of his parents right in front of us, then handed it to me. i couldnt believe what had just happened. We are baptising miguel this saturday at 3. ahhhhh yeahhhhhh first baptism haha. the power of testimonies is real. it works. its awesome!

so my message for the week. 

this is a poem i worked on this past week and im pretty happy with how it turned out. its so cool to see how the spirit guides these things when i write them. i used the scriptures in various parts to make it as accurate as possible. in the final line, you´ll see the word "miracles". this word was something i thought alotttttt about. i didnt know whether to keep it singular to focus on the miracle of the atonement (his death, resurrection, and our salvation) or the fact that the prints were a manifestation of all of the miracles he had performed, which, in reality, ultimately lead to him bearing these marks. you´ll see what i mean.enjoy!

His Precious Hands

When Jesus Christ. our Savior, walked this earth so long ago,

He was the perfect example, for only kindness did he show.

Loving, ever-selfless were the works done by this man,

Such marvelous things has our Lord done with the touch of His precious hands.

The Leper sought Him out, to receive from our Lord relief,

Though others had turned him away, in Christ´s hands he had belief.

Humbly the Leper came to Jesus, beseeching Him on bended knee,

The Master then stretched forth his hand, then uttered, Be thou clean.

They brought a blind man unto Jesus, seeking the gift of sight.

Christ lead this man out of the town then placed His hands upon these blind eyes.

Though after the first touch, the man could see, but still not so clear,

With the second touch of the Master´s hands, his blindness disappeared.

Such countless acts of kindness, of service, and of charity:

The deaf could hear, the lame could walk, the dumb spoke with clarity.

Christ knew his days were numbered, like an hourglass with flowing sand,

But greater works had yet to be done by the touch of His precious hands.

With disciples gathered ´round, in a quiet room up above,

His hands broke the bread and poured the wine, reminders of His body and blood.

Then with a basin full of water, the Master got down on His knees,

With His hands he served them yet again, humbly he washed His disciples´ feet.

Later He went to the Garden, three followed from behind.

His soul was exceedingly sorrowful, great anguish weighed upon His mind.

Suffering the bitterest of agonies. His hands, trembling, clenched the earth,

As he fulfilled His greatest purpose, His calling accepted before birth.

Some men came soon thereafter, their own blood stained His sleeves and hands,

Yet willingly He surrendered himself to the swords and staves of this band.

They took Jesus so carelessly, and bound His hands with cords,

They then took Him forth to Caiaphas to judge the works of the hands of the Lord.

Scourged, stricken, and spat upon, all hope seems to be lost;

Cruel nails are driven through His precious hands, and into the beam of the Cross.

He left the care of His dear mother into the hands of the disciple whom he loved,

Then willingly gave up His own spirit into the hands of His father above.

Three days thereafter He came forth from the grave. a resurrected being, so pure.

Christ had made the greatest sacrifice, so that our salvation would be sure.

The prints He bears today are reminders to all of the love of this man,

And of the miracles performed by the touch of His precious hands.

Elder Kendall Brown

We had mac n cheese. and i ate goldfish. The one of elder aldana is just after he broke the light with a soccer ball haha

(It looks like Kendall had a real 4th of July bash! A candle is about as close to a firework as it gets!)

HERE COMES THE SUNNNNNNNN DODODODOOO

Que tal todo??

So last week on wednesday i got to go to immigration with my group again so i spent the day with Elder McAllister again. i freakin love getting to see all them. i also saw a few missionaries from my zone in the MTC.

On saturday, alder D. Todd Christofferson came down to Peru to set up the 100 stake of Peru. there was a huge meeting for it but we couldnt go. Only 40 missionaries could go, mainly just the peruvians.

Last week we went back to Santa and Jesus´s house. we taught them about the Gospel of Jesus Christ (faith, repentance, baptism, receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost, and enduring to the end) and the Word of Wisdom. I was talking to Jesus about repentance and i asked him how he thought it would feel to be made clean. i expected a typical 8-year-old answer like "Happy" or "good". but instead, he looked up at me and without really putting any thought to it he just said "Libre"... Free. i laughed a little and almost started crying and just said that was the perfect answer. That was an awesome experience for me.

So basically all week it has been freaking freezing and i didnt see the sun till yesterday. here, it doesnt rain. even though they call it rain. the clouds just stay on the ground and it constantly mists/sprinkles. so the other day it was misting really bad. that sounds dumb but it happened. we were freezing and soaked. we were walking to go buy some  bread to make our day a little better and we walked by a part of the street that dipped down and thats where all the water was collecting. when we came back from getting bread, thee fun began. Water from the street was flooding a house really bad. it kept streaming down the street and down into the dipped down part of the street, which fed into a little dirt-floored house which was even lower than the street. the kids that lived there (the parents werent home) and a few neighbors were shoveling and digging to try to block the water to make it stop going into the house. Me and Elder fallas grabbed a few shovels and started digging. i was on the sidfe of the street with the flooding house and he was on the other side where the water was coming from so he could dig a trench for the water to go into. i was trying to make a wall to stop the water. literally nothing we did worked. i went back to his side of the street to help guide the water away. Some lady came out and stood in her doorway and got mad at me because water was getting in her dirt lawn.

1. her house was three feet above the ground.

2. it was made of concrete.

3. the other house looked like a freaking swimming pool.

I was so glad i cant communicate with people outside of lessons because i would have chewed her out. We were trying to stop the kids house from flooding more and she was mad that there was water in her yard. which wouldve been there without our help. Eventually the kids and neighbors dug a trench into a neighbors house so the water would go there and at that point we just called it good and walked away. haha i looooooove people.

The good news is we saw the sun finally. and even better, there was clouds so the sunset was sick. it reminded me of Arizona. except not nearly as bomb as AZ sunsets. Still cool.

Last night we were in a members house and on his tv he was playing the last testimony of Gordon B Hinckley he gave to his mission country in England. It was so cool to hear how much he loved the people that he "walked with so very long ago". President Hinckley was awesome.

Speaking of tv, seeing as there arent really laws, everyone has pirated movies. Yesterday in our pensionistas house, they were watching Monster´s University. they also have the new will smith movie. the other family where we saw president hinckley, they had Iron Man 3. awesome.

Sales Pitch to the World: go to profitexperu.com and you can get freakin sweet peruvian blankets. they´re the ones all the missionaries have and without them i would freeze to death every night. i know its 10000 degrees right now but hey, winters only like 5 months away.

My message for the week is from Alma 17:11. Its a scripture i got from Jessalyn a few months before my mission and literally was written for missionaries. It talks about the sons of mosiah. the Lord called them to leave each other once again to go preach to the Lamanites, The Lord tells them that they must have patience in their afflictions and that they would be made examples to their brethren by enduring their trials. the best part is after this, it says they took up courage to go and do the work. they knew it would be absolutely hard. But they knew how important the work was and that they´d be reuniited again soon. Solid mission scripture but i feel that it can applies to everyone. we all have trials. even when people seem like they dont, it just means they´re really good at hiding it. when we are in the middle of a trial, we dont think there´s an end. it seems impossible to endure and theres absolutely no way out. The Lord literally is the one who gives us trials. Why? to make us better. he takes away comfort and replaces it with pain because later on he is going to give something back even better. As members of this church we have a responsibilty and an obligation to lift one another and spread this work. if it were only up to the missionaries to be examples, it would be an impossible work. We all need to be the examples. We all need to recognize our weaknesses, know who their from, acknowledge by whom they can be made strong, and then go forward with what we´ve learned and take up courage to do what the Lord has asked of us. Like elder Holland said, "why should it be easy for us when it was never EVER easy for Him". i Love you all so much. this is easily the hardest thing ive ever experienced in my life. but, i know who called me and that fact alone is helping me crawl forward step by step. Trust in the Lord. He wont let you sink. 

Elder Brown




for pday last week we played futbol at this sweet turf field. afterward, elder crozier opened a package from home. here´s my emotional encounter with cheese sticks. i drew spongebob as a character from Dragon Ball Z. everyone is obsessed with the show here. and last but not least, MY SHOES.