Ha llegado el fin.

Dear Family and friends,

Well, this is it! This is Kendall's last email before returning home!! We would like to thank you for all of your prayers, love and support and for Kendall, a.k.a. Bears, these past two years. It has truly been a blessing during his service to the Lord. His email made his momma cry, as he tenderly shares his love of the Savior and his love of Peru. To read about the tender mercy of having his buddy Corbin serving down there and embarking on this journey together has been a blessing for both of them! It always lit them up when they were able to see each other. And now they will return home together on the same flight. I will send out info. to you all regarding flight schedule and Homecoming date and time.

We are thrilled and beyond excitement to wrap him in our arms again!

Love to all!

Mark and Suzie

Welp. this is it. my lastttt email.

last week was a solidddd one. on wednesday i woke up at 4:30 to go to the offices. met up with all the missionaries from my group: mcallister, hackleman, schagel, etc. and we all hopped on a bus and went to the temple. i hadnt been since the mtc and woaaaaahhhhhh. solid stuff.after the session, we went into the celestial room and i just stood there with elder mcallister and thought about where i was and how i got there. i felt the spirit burning inside of me. then we stepped inside a sealing room where president answered any questions we had. i was able to understand things ive never been able to. it was interesting to see the difference in my understanding of the gospel after two years of studying and serving the lord. as we were leaving the celestial room mcallister put his arm around me and said "im grateful we got called to the same mission". me too. its been a huge blessing and it will be good to fly home and walk off the plane together. 

after the temple we went to La Bisteca. its a niiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiice buffet style restaurant in a part of lima that looks like a nice part of california. i had ceviche for the first time. overrated. i also had a couple plates of sushi, a burger with real meat, and some other stuff. finished with a fatty piece of chocolate oreo cake. 

then we went to Presidents house in San Isidro. the elevator reached the 20th floor and it opened up to a single door. opened it and we were inside the Archibalds apartment., i asked sister archibald if she wanted us to take off our shoes. she said she didnt care. do what you want its your home. so i took off my shoes and fell immediately on the ground and laid face down on their carpet. yes. real life carpet. once we got all situated on their couches, they sat down and taught us allll about life. marriage, studies, work, callings, etc. it was awesome. oh. and they have a fridge. that dispenses ice. crushed ice. and water. i was shocked. honestly forgot what that was like. 

we then went to "el parque de las aguas". its a huuuuuuuuuuge park with fountains and light shows. i got wet. when we got there someone said my name. i looked up and saw the chicken restaurant on the corner was called "Kendall Pollos y Parrilladas". same place i drove by with elder laiche over a year ago. 

we then went back to their apartment and ate ice cream and cake and then had a testimony meeting. i didnt cry. my eyes were sweating. 

they told us they wouldnt be able to be in our weddings so they got us all ties(elders) and veils(hermanas) so they could be there. 

went back to the offices at like 1 in the morning.good day.

the rest of the week was good. i went and did a change with elder castillo, my comp from barranca.

today was my final pday. the first pday i think ever when all my health has been good enough to play real soccer. i was running towards the goal and elder feller, the assistant thought it would be a good idea to slide in from behind to "get the ball". he took out my legs while i was running and i landed flat on my back. necks a little stiff. hahaha almost got away with a normal pday. meh. oh well. im goin to the lake in a couple weeks anyways. 

so.

last week was a good opportunity to look at myself and my friends and who we were and wo we are now, and evvverrryyythingggg we´ve been through to make us who we are. its been the gnarliest ride in my life.

i started my mission honestly not expecting much from myself. i got to this country scared and confused and before my first week was up i wanted out. i hated the culture, the language wasnt coming fast enough and i didnt know how the heck i was going to do this. i hoped for survival haha. but in stead of trying to stand tall, i learned, sometimes the hard way, that in stead of standing, God needed me on my knees. so thats where i went. and through trials and challenges throughout these two years, i have come to know my Heavenly father. i know now more than ever of his reality and divinity. people thinking that you need to see god to know he is real. ive seen Obama on the tv screen. i dont know him. he doesnt know me. seeing isnt ever the answer.  know christ did what he says he did. he chose to come to the earth he created to be killed by his own brothers and sisters, the ones for whom he had shed his own blood. he suffered, died, and resurrected. i may not have been perfect in my mission, even when i tried my hardest; but the One i represented is perfect. he made up for the difference. i know Jesus Christ and i testify that he lives. i often think of my mission, as im sure ive shared with you before, as the experience peter had. he saw christ out there on the water and he wanted to go walk with him. He was called to leave the ship. as soon as he took his first steps, he became afraid. the wind and the wafes looked more frightening and powerful than the One who controls them. he began to sink. Christ was close enough to be able to simply put out his hand and catch peter. He was the one that made the call. Peter wasnt ever going to sink. i am eternally grateful for this time christ has alllowed me to come out and walk with him. and when i have deserved a gentle "oh ye of little faith". he has pulled me up and helped me keep going.  these have been the hardest, most trying, craziest, best two years of my life. i dont think its going to really hit me till i wake up the day after i get home and realize im back. 

thanks for your love and support and sacrifice over these last two years. i think some of the peace youve had in the home since ive been gone is due to the fact that im not there making noise like i always did. but aside from that i know the promise in doctrine and covenants is true. my family has been in His hands. see you next week.

elder brown

2 semanas.

wooaaahhh.

i have two weeks left of my mission. still hard to believe. even more wild officially seeing my flight plans. i get in just in time for lunch! sounds good to me.

so before i continue in this email i just thought id warn you that im using a sketchy keyboard with a "l" and "c" that decide when they want to type. so if you see word that dony make sense, just fill in one of those letters and it wiill make more sense.

so.

i got Grandpas letter this last week. THANKS. he talks about the priniple of how the way we serve our missions reflects how we will perform in life. i thought about that when he first told me that when i was about 17 and then again when he wrote it to me here at the end of my mission. ive worked veryyy hard. not anything ose to perfection. in fact if the atonement wasnt such a good eraser, id probaby walk around depressed thinking about all of my trias and faiures and weaknesses. but as i look back i feel peace. despite my weaknesses. my performance hasnt been perfect, but christ has made up for what i havent been able to do. thanks grandpa.

ahhh. on top of the messed up keys, the wire connected to the screen doesnt want to stay plugged in so i have to wiggle it ariound every time it shuts off.

so last week the end became more rea as i said goodbye to eder lewis, one of my best friends from barranca. im not a good goodbye person. i aso had to say bye to elder beckstead, one of my friends from my seminary class my senior year. 

this past week we had another mission council. president brought the hammer. it was rough but it was good. we then had a district meeting onwednesday which we taught. missed my time as a district leader. then on friday we had my final zone meeting. good stuff.

last week was probably the hardest ive worked in my mission. jeff told me that this is when i need to work the hardest. so i applied it. more obedience. more diigence. the works. and it was exhauuusting. but i feel good. its a bummer that most people get to this point and literally just give up because its "the end". or. you an take advantage of being more prepared than any other time in the mission and give satan heaven. 

this week is our despedida so i hope to be able to put in the same effort afterwards. everyone has told me that one president gives the going home talk its lights out. welp! we´l see how it goes haha.

thanks for everything. love you all. dont get trunky mom. and remember. in the airport, if you cross the security line, that dude standing at the entrance will take you down. 

chaufa.

elder brown

MARCCCCHHHHHHHH.

SUP.

march is a good month. pie day. st patricks day. kendall comes home. yep thats it.

so it was another good week. we had a baptism on saturday. Daniel Gonzalez is one of them mormons now. i got to baptize him. and i think it was my last time in the faunt here in peru. but it was a good experience. i love hearing people talk afterwards aboutt he cleansing power of the spirit as the enter and leave the water. they all describe a warm feeling rush over them (as they get immersed in cooold water) and come out feeling like a new person. 

so yeah tomorrow we have mission council. then wenesday district meeting. then zone meeting on friday. gonna be a fun week.

oh and last friday was my last time dealing with zone mission money. DONE. 

we went to one of the areas here in palmeras last week to sign a room contract with the owners. we were sitting in their living room chatting (yes, im a fuly trained businessman now) and i looked over and saw a picture frame with names engraved on it with a picture of a family with a couple dogs. one of the names was "zoe". i asked who zoe was. she told me it was her dog. Zoey lives on in Peru!!!!!

yes momma dearest. mixed emotions about finishing my mission. im still tryin to work as hard as my mind lets me. haha its slowllyy going home wthout me. this week was actually better. the week before was crazy hard to focus. but yep im still going strong. as fonzi told me, its the last ten meters of the swim race! 

sooo the gozzer family couldnt make it to church but the asistants caled me last night saying they ran into them at the city buiding by the offices, telling me how awesome the family was. oh and i dont know if i told you. elder feller, my zone leader from back in el olivar, is the new asistant with elder larsen. he finishes with m in a couple weeks.

speaking of which, my comp reminded me this week so i thought id ask ya. do you know if they already have my topic for my talk? do they still do that? here its weird. they come back, they have them go give their testimony, and everyone acts as if the  missionary had been there the whole time. meh. welp. love you all. stay healthy and safe. and for my flight info, the church doesnt buy it till like this week or the next. but every gringo goes home tuesday at like two in the morning so ill be there tuesday the 24 at like noon to afternoon ish.

peace.

elder brown

 oh and here´s my desk-top furby and my burritos from last week. get at me.

Anddd February bites the dust.

hey.

its soo hot right now.

so to answer your questions momma bear. im still in the same area, with elder apablaza. same comp. we are teaching a few families right now. they`re being a little difficult. the only reason we stick with them is because half the family is wanting to do their part, the other half of the family doesnt really care to see us. the Gozzer family made it to church yesterday. other than the oldest daughter. "im catholic." yeah well we`re in peru so is everyone else. try mormon for a change. the Venero family dad is still hard. his wife and kids are alll stoked with the church and have friends and everything. but, if the dads not there, we cant do anything with em. we have a baptism this saturday for Daniel Gonzalez, the guy we met a couple weeks back.

spiritual experiences this week.. well i dont remember what i atre for lunch yesterday so, ill get back to you on that one. ha no it was just a good week i general. many prayers answered in many different ways. i can see how everythings kinda coming together. ive had ups and downs and all arounds throughout these two years and haave seen how the lord has "cut me down" so that in time i could grow back how he wants me to. and i am seeing every day a little more how i am growing differently because of how he`s working with me. kinda reminds me of elder christoffersons talk on being willing to receive correction from the lord. look it up. talks about "elder brown".

the other day we were at the gozzer family`s house and we were talking with the dad, raul, about where i lived and he told me alll about how he had gone up to mexico and crossed the border into the states. multiple times. he said "es lo maximo!" its the  best. so i guess when illegals go across the border its just a big game for em. he was joking about boarder patrol and talking about all the people do to make it across. haha really set the mood for the lesson we had that night.

today i made one of my best purchases since living in peru. at the super market i found a can of refried beans. so i bought it. and tortillas, cheese, tomatoes, onions, and avocado. i had a boommmbbb lunch. figured id start etting my stomach prepped for filibertos.

so yeah this week was kinda a blurrrr. wicked hot outside. workin hard. tryin to keep my head in the game. doin good. this is going to be my last full week of normal work. next week we have mission council and another zone meeting, the week after that is my groups "despedida" (farewell..?) day with president. we go to a niiiiiiiice restaurant, a water park (not slides. fountains, light shows, stuff like that.), presidents house where he teaches us for houuurs on marriage, etc. then my last week ill have my final interview at some  point and yeah. im hoping that mcallister is down here from huaraz that last week so he can come stay with me. PRAY FOR IT.

welp. heres to another good week.

glad to hear everythings going well back home. have fun in texas! 

oh and happy anniversary! 

peace.

elder brown

happy president`s day. meh.

hey.

 i know you were probably freaking out this morning when i didnt write you. president changed internet time for 3:30. so by the time i get all my zone stuff done its just enough time for us to chat momma right when you get off work!

last week on monday i walked into papa johns only to find elders norton, cody, and arnett eatin pizza together. three of the mesa boys headin home. we went back to the offices and elder cody and arnetts parents arrived to pick them up. super weird to see them here. i sent home my nativity seen with sister arnett so be waitin on that. im not sure if it had a jesus in it so if not, give some playdough to hayden and tell her to get to work.

so this week was a good one! tuesday was changes! aaaand yeah im still here in Izaguirre. my area in the Palmeras stake. momma to find it on the internet just look up the intersection of Canta Callao and Carlos Izaguirre. you`ll find that its the same intersection for three wards ive been in here. literally half of my mission at this intersection. and its part of the "san martin de porres". anyways. elder beckstead, who was in my seminary class my senior year, is now elder mcallisters zone leader up in huaraz. his little brother knows maci. elder lewis, who was one of my buddies back from barranca is now a zone leader in huacho. and my old comp elder rivera is a zone leader in ventanilla with my other buddy elder hackleman.

this week i sat down at the piano at church when we were waiting for coordination meeting to start and i played "oh what do you do in the summer time",the song you would  sing to me eeevery night. dont get trunky mom.

last week we were in a lesson with the venero family and we had an experience that reminded me of one of trips to the apartments back in mesa, as there were cockaroaches EVERYWHERE. fat ones all over the walls. and some of them decided to start flying across the freakin room mid lesson. 

i doubt you`ll remember, but back when i was in puente piedra, there was an elder there named elder arimuya. he was in the 2012 100 yr anniversary for seminary video, when it interviewed students from around the world. anyways, this past week we got a reference for a "free baptism". when we got there we found  a guy named Daniel gonzalez. his wifes name is cecilia arimuya. its elder arimuya`s cousin. shes a less active lady from iquitos and her husband literally asked us when he could be baptized. 

so yes im sweating alot. this week hits the peak of summer. the good news is that it`ll start to go back down next week. slowly. but im loving it. this is the best thing to everrrrr happen to me. thaanks once again for everything! see ya in a few weeks.. four more letters to go.

elder brown

LAST CHANGE

yup.

today is the beginning of my final six weeks. its so hard to believe. this past week i requested to the assistants that when elder Norton came down here from huaraz for his final interview (hes one of my close friends here from mesa. never knew him before the mish but we are gonna be tiiight after). he came down and got to come work with us. i asked him what his last change was like and he said it was his fastest one. thats what im hearing from everyone. wish me luck!

so this week was another blur. i got to work with norton that day. that was a huge blessing. other that i cant remember too much what went down. haha.

monday we played volleyball for pday. i lost. im not a land creature. too bad we cant go swim for pday; then i wouldnt feel so awkward when i spaz out when balls get thrown at me crazy fast. i need to play some more sand volleyball with the mancave.

BAH. welp. we just got the changes. looks like im finishing my mish in the promised land of Palmeras. sweeeaty. and mcallister is going to finish in the cold rain. but i mean this change flew. time seriously is melting right now.

we are working against the heat to be able to find new people and teach. my health has been doing awesome. i was praying and still do pray that i can have the health i need to work at least one change with normal health. looks like the lord has heard my prayers. this is the longest ive gone with a solid back, no hip, stomach, or lung pain. DOIN GOOD!

so the venero family and the gozzer family werent able to make it yesterday. the gozzer family is getting baptized for sure, we just gotta give em a few more weeks. the vener family? we`ll see how they go. the mom and the two youngest kids are stoked. (they have the six kids. the youngest five live there.. son, daughter, daughter, son, daughter... sound familiar?) BUT the dad thinks working 28 hours a day is a good idea so its almost impossible to teach them. we arent allowed to teach people if the dad isnt home. so we are working patiently there.

this week we have changes tomorrow, mission council wednesday, then a multizone meeting on thursday. gonna be another busy first week. wish me luck,

thanks everyone for the love and support. i can feel the blessing from the many prayers on my behalf and i thank you for that. its working!

love you

elder brown

febrero. habla.

sawp.

so im still trying to grasp the fact that january is already gone. next week begins my last transfer as a missionary. freakin me out. haha every time a plane flies by my comp points it out for me. 

solid work week. we have a few families we are working with. the venero family, the gozzer family, luis lara, and now the ramirez family. pray they can all make it to their baptism dates!

luckily this week we had a little bit of clooud cover.. could have been pollution but ill take it. didnt get fried haha. but it is crazy humid here. i think im going to dry out when i get back there. 

last week we played quidditch. it was SICK. legit the best pday ive ever had. i was the ravenclaw captain. we had an hermana be the sorting hat and shechose our teams. gryffindor was stacked. bogus. but we still put up a good fight. 

oh, before i forget, thanks to brother griffin for the letter! cant wait to have a nice sunday afternoon chat with him.

on tuesday i woke up and started a revolution. i made pancake mix then the thought came to me. YOU HAVE REESE´S FASTBREAKS ON YOUR DRESSER. BRING ONE. CUT IT UP. PUT IT IN THE PANCAKE BATTER. so thats what i did. and it was goooooooooooooooooood.

oh and this week i was in the shower. tried to adjust the shower head. the whole think broke off the wall. so now i  shower from cold water from a hole in the wall. yes.

so this week i had a solid study in ether. so ive got another homework assignment for you. 

start out in ether 2:25. actually start at the end of 24 where it says "for the winds". i decided it was a good definition or explanation from god to elder brown of "This is why you´ve been through everything you´ve been through. this is the reason for the physical and emotional breakdowns, the trials, the pain, the stress. i need you to be prepared to cross the waters. i need you to be ready for whats ahead and for what i need you to do.

then go finish that chapter and then check out mahonri´s attitude change from chapter two to chapter three. from when he asks god for light, gets that response, then comes back to the mountain later, a very humbled man, with sixteen stones in his hand, with the firm hope that god can simply touch them with his finger and they´ll give light. he comes back with an attitude of "ok. i want to cross those waters. and im ready now to submit to your will to get me there. do what you need to do to have me be ready."

welp. keep on keepin on. only six more letters after this one. WOOAAHH.

elder brown

and a few selfies.

ITS SO HOTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTT

hey, how are you, im sweaty.

haha so the heat kicked it up a few degrees this week. my companion is a pale human so he gets roasted. today we are playing Quidditch as a zone(this is what happens when kendall brown is zone leader) so we´re probably all going to be fried. RAVENCLAW.

so it was a good week. we worked harddddd lookin for new people. and of the people we contacted this week. which was a tooooooooonnnnnnnnnnn. none were there at their appointments haha. but one family that was a referral form some members is a family of seven. we set dates with them for the 7 of march. and set for another family of four for the 28 of february. familia venero and familia gozzer. YEAHHHHHHHHHH. satan sent someone to rob gozzer families truck sunday night so they coundlt come to church the next day. but we´ll get them there this week.

the other day we were walking and some kid came up to us and asked, are you mormons? yes. thats us. he took us over to his older sister across the park who was on a walk with her kids. she seemed relievfed to have found us. she said she had been searching for a long time. her husband is a less active member and they are living together. she wanted to know find the missionaries and have them come visit her family. we went and taught them about chastity, marriage, temples, etc. they are moving this week to callao so we wont be returning, but i know god allowed us to be the answer to her prayers that day in helping her family.

YES i got my package. we went to the offices to pick up some papers and just before we left the doorbell rang. it was brother and sister baldwin dropping off the packages. did she send you the picture? so yeah i am loooving the food. i had banana pancakes this morning. today il buy syrup. 

this past week i have had the great blessing of running into multiple people from 200 Millas here in my area. last tuesday we were walking and i heard ELDER!" Looked over and saw a 15 yr old kid from my old area just walkin down the street. then two days later i got out of a moto taki and saw another girl from the same ward walking with her husband, who is the son of th bishop from that ward who got home from his mission the day i left the area. then yesterday we cfontacted a family in a park. i told the grandpa of the family i recognized him from somewhere and he said he was the grandpa of a family back in 200 millas that i had taught. his daughter was less active and his son in law and grandson got baptized right after i left. the people he was with are the siblings of the mom of that family we taught. small world! good to see them before i bite the dust.

this morning i was studying in 2 nephi 26. there was a pass along card on my desk of christ leavin the tomb and i sat there and thought for a longgg time. your homework is go look up verses 24-28, 33. then meditate about who christ is, what his mission was, and what he has done for YOU. i wont tell all the details of my experience, but it was a good one.

i left my camera in the room so i dont have pics this week. SORRY. next week.

have a good week. love you!

and another birthday shout out to jessalyn

elder brown

Maicol Tambiennnnnnnnnnnn

hey.

another semana loca. 

so first off, mark i gottta tell you about a nice little breakfast i made the other day that i thought you`d enjoy. i made a sunny side up egg, then put ham and cheese on it, then a fried banana. all in a sandwich. give it a try.

so on saturday morning we had maicol`s baptism. it was solid. he gave a good testimony on how he was ready to start a new life and be a new person. baptism is some good stuff! 

on sunday i felt a very similar feeling in sacrament meeting. i felt a strong spirit i havent felt in a verryy long time. i knew my sins were forgiven and that im doing what i need to be doing. i fall short every single day but thanks to the atonement, its ok.

last week, on wednesday i think...? i borrowed some clippers from a lady in my ward. went home, locked myself in the bathroom, and buzzed my head. felt soo good. i havent buzzed it since byu with the help of corbin in the byu bathroom haha. but yeah. reminds me of newport beach summers when i was like 5. 

yesterday in sacrament meeting i realized how verry very exactly the same all teenage girls are. there was someone from the young women`s that went to efy so they had her get up and share her testimony. still had her wrist band on. she was fighting back tears as she talked about her friends from her group, her roomates, her counselors, etc. i almost started laughing. haha it was a solid testimony it was just funny to see how its literally the exact same everywhere. kinda reminds me of the week after girls camp.. "i didnt want to go but im so glad i went..." "i love my best friend soo much" "im so grateful for sister so n so, she changed my life forever!" ahh. . good stuff.

so its back to another week of workkkk. its getting dang hot now. february here is nasty. ill be coming back skinny, black, and sounding like a latino. kinda like jeff. but more peruvian.

so thats about it for this week. have a good week! ill only be sending eight more letters home. woof. were`d the time go. dont get trunky mom.

elder brown

Manuel`s a Mormon.

heheheyyy.

sooooooooooo where to begin.

Tuesday, we had our district meeting. all i remember there.

Wednesday we had changes with some elders in our zone. i stayed in the area with a bolivian named elder lazo. hes a cool kid. just started the mission a couple months ago with elder Welburn. that night we had the baptismal interviews for maicol and manuel
 Thursday, weekly planning, getting everything lined up for this week and stuff.

fridayyyyyyyyyyyyyyy what happened ... i dont remember. business as usual..Saturdayy. BAPTISM DAY. so that morning after  quick clinic visit we went to macdonalds. they still had their breakfast menu. I ATE HOTCAKES AND AN EGG SANDWICH AND IT WAS SOOO GOOOOOD. then we went to the church and had to figure out how to work the faunt. it had dirty water, green stuff, and was full of bugs. so after a while we figured out how to open the drain outside and turn on the pump to take it all out so we could clean it. then we filled it. then we finally got home. i pretty much just rested all day because my lungs werent too happy (mother, dont worry. im alive. i have inhalers. im good.) and yeah that night we had the baptism. maicol wasnt able to get baptized because there was some stuff we had to teach him stil and because of scheduling conflicts we could only meet once last week. so he`lll be in the water this week. but manuel is a boss. he rented a suit for his baptism. i got to baptize him; i havent been in the faunt since september. way too long. after we got changed again he got up to give his testimony. he said how he felt like he had been waiting for this for over forty years, that he had lived  a hard, sad life, but now he felt like a new man and could leave all that behind him.

"welcome to the jungle" is playing in this internet place right now. not my fault. but its good. 

yesterday we got to participate in manuel`s confirmation. he`s officially a member of the christ`s true church and is going to be an awesome member here.

thanks for the pictures! tate is Huge. its gonna be rough wrestling with him now. ill have gunnar be on my team, and that top golf place looks sweet.

so to answer your questions

1. favorite day of the week-  Saturday. pancakes. eternal saving ordinance.

2. favorite scripture right now. alma 7:11-12.

3. funniest thing to happen this last week....hmmm probably our call with one of the district leaders last night when we got the numbers for the week. he kept changing his voice on us from talking like a woman to a deep manly voice and it was hillarious. haha but my life in generally good though.l. ive been sick for a month and im trying to just keep on keepin on. the mission is crazy hard but im just happy. even when im stressed or tired things are just good. i thought yesterday what its gonna be like to have to go to school and work and do all that and i realized how, as rough as it is, how easy i have it. my job here is to be obedient, study the gospel, then help people live it. thats it. 

welp. love you all. thanks for everything. oh and mom i looked for nativity scenes during christmas time and they were alll over the streets. BUT. they looked like ghetto stereotypical 1970`s catholic nativity scenes. i want a classy peru style one. my last week we go to the "inca market" with president. ill look for one there. if not theres a dude that sells em on a bridge by the airport haha. 

laterrr. 

elder brown

wait change that Funniest experience. i remembered a funnier one.

yesterday we were in sacrament and i turned around and saw a lady with a carton of milk and her son holding a huge cup with  straw attatched to it. it reminded me of singles ward two when the lady poured cereal and milk for her kids in sacrament. yeah. i witnessed it in real life.

alo  buenas!

sup. so its 2015 now. still have a hard time writing that in my journal and in our records and stuff. new year. new beginning. gonna be even crazier than the rest. bring it on.

so mark literally laughed himself into bronchitis huh? sounds like brian regan has a good show. when i went with steve, mike, jeff, and holly, some drunk guy in the back quoted Brian, screaming, either while, or before, He got to say his lines. haha good times. 

so this week has been all sorts of nuts.

after the clinic today, i went to mcdonalds. 

tuesday. CHANGES. so i am now with Elder Apablaza. he is from antofogasta chile, where brandon skinner served and where ryan couch is currently serving. he is aconvert of two years and has 9 months in the mission. hes the wwhite guy at the desk in the pictures. has a slightly different style of things, which has been rough to get used to, but he`s an aweasome missionary. he has grown up fast in the gospel. 

wednesday we had mission council. another solid day with president. we went over just about every aspect of missionary work and how we can improve and what problems we are seeing. we learned a ton and the best part was that sister archibald made fetuccini alfredo and cinammon rolls. 

then on thursday we had a multizone conference. a couple of my old zones were there so i got to see some old friends. elder welburn, elder schagel, elder arnett, elder cody. 

friday we had to make sure all the zone got there moneyand fill out all hte financial garbage. not a fan of that stuff. dont think finance would be a good career for me. i think imma just call drew next time to take care of it for me. 

friday night we finally got to start working in the area again. that was fun.

saturday we did our weekly planning for a few hours. trying to make up for all the lost time- being sick, meetings, holidays (no one exists on christmas or new years), etc. 

so this saturday we have two baptisms. maicol and manuel. solid dudes. manuel is ever-excited to pay tithing and fast offerings. he got rid of all of his tea and has made a complete change in what he consumes to take better care of his body. i think he`s in like mosiah by now. solid guy. ill send some pics on monday.

sad news.. so remember up in barranca we baptized a mom and her daugher, amalia and katia. amalia had a son, jon. he was the first to listen to us and the first to want to get baptized. in fact, we couldve baptized him sooner, but to keep his mom and sister on board, we waited to get them all together. then came the baptism day, amalia and katia almost didnt make it because they got scared last minute but made it into the water anyways and had a great experience. jon never made it to the service because he was working till late and if we pushed it back another week, we wouldve lost katia and amalia. so he left town after that to work and i only saw him a few times before i left barranca. my last morning there i had a lesson with him, reviewed alma 34:34 and reset a date for baptism. he came by to say goodbye that night before i left. never ended up getting baptized. i just got an email from my old comp, elder rodriguez, saying that he passed away recently from falling off a cliff, im guessing while working up in the mountains. pray for him, amalia, and katia please! thanks.

welp. its another week. hope to have a good report on monday. im working as hard as i can, the best way i know how. not sure how good it really is but its what i can do. thanks for the love and prayers. this is the best thing of my life. im grateful for every trial and hardship because its made me who i am today. 

elder brown.

jueves ya estamos 2015

sawp.

quite eventful week. everything from clinic trips, to skype talks. fun stuff!

right now im ridin solo. my comp is with the rest from his group who are goin home today. so im here with elder portillo. he  was the comp of elder ali, my old comp from 200 millas. hes finishing his mish too so portillo is with me till tomorrow at changes where ill get my new comp.

so yeah this week we didnt do much because my body wasnt working too well for me but its getting better so no worries!

yesterday we were leaving the offices and i heard "elder brown!" i looked over to see a van driving by. it was brother and sister quesñay. the parents of the kid that was my comp for a week in 200 millas when elder laiche went to mexico. they got out and we got to talk for a little bit. they were droping off an elder from that ward at the offices to get his final interview with president and then they took me and elder ortiz back to our area. 

ah, so my address. i live at manzana J lote 5, Brisas de Santa Rosa, San Martin de Porres. the main roads are Canta Callao and Carlos Izaguirre. its literally on the other side of the intersection from 200 millas and Libertadores. ill have spent half of my mission connected to this intersecttion. my hood. 

welp, sorry for a boring email this week, next week i´ll have alot more to tell with my new comp, mission council, all that. 

love you thanks for everything! happy new yearrrrr

elder brown

FELIZ NAVIDAD, PROSPERO AÑO Y FELICIDAD!

Holaaaaaa

Christmas is this weeeeeek. still doesnt feel like it. but im stoked to see you all on Thursday. can you have steve stop by?? i gotta see that kid even its for a few seconds. so yeah 1 is good. we got the members lined up to use their computer. 

so this week was yet another blurrr. on wednesday we had our multi zone for christmas. we did a skit of "offices of the west pole" (we are the office zone.... lima west mission... no? ok..). we also did a gingerbread house contest. my district made the mesa temple. we got second place i think. oh for the skit i was Papa Noel (presidente archibald). i had borrowed one of his alabama footbal t shirts and spoke with his american-alabama-argentina accent. then we had a talk from president and missionaries were asked to get up in between songs and share christmas traditions. one kid, elder china, said that in bolivia his family gets a pig, hits it on the head with a hammer, watch it run around, then they eat it. no sure where he was goin with that one. 

the other day we were waiting outside a store for the guy to bring us what we bought. then some guy comes walking by, pointing at me and talking to my comp and the kid we were with "wheres that foreigner from??! looks chilean!" (they hate chile here). i said nope! further north. then he asked "north american?" yup "then pointed at me again and yelled "then youre from the CIA!!" then dipped into an alley. second time ive been accused of being a cia agent. little did he know i had eight snipers in the surrounding buildings watching his every move. 

last night we participated in a stake christmas music performance thing. each ward performed two songs and at the end the missionaries of the stake got up and performed four songs. first time i felt something close to "christmas" this year. once i light my christmas candles on wednesday then it´ll be real life.

so right now we are still working with maicol and manuel. they have dates for the 3 and 10 of january. we found a couple other families that well be working with this week. if they´re actually there.. everything kinda dies the week of christmas so its gonna be fun! 

last night i talked to a swedish guy that lives here in our stake. hes from southern sweden, close to copenhagen denmark. we were talking in spanish, english, and danish (thanks for teaching me how to say butter and whats up mark).

soooooooooooooo yup thats about it for this week. anything else ill get back to you on thursday. cool.

elder brown

Another week. k

heyyyyyy.

so this week... trying to remember whats happened. so on monday we went to the stake and played soccer and ate completos (chilean hot dogs). the best part of the day: we went to buy our food for the week. we walked into the store and BOOM christmas tree for S/. 19.90. came with lights and ornaments. yes i bought it. its next to my bed. its only a few feet tall so i set it up on a table. dont worry im still an expert in setting up christmas. 

i got my package this week as well. THANKS. im eating mike and ikes as i write and i brought everything else (except for my reeses fast breaks (those are sacred)) to share with the district today. 

on tuesday we took over in the district meeting. havent taught one for a couple months so that was fun. 

on thursday we had a craazy cool experience with the spirit telling us where not to go. ill tell ya about it on march 24. set a reminder on your phone for that day so i can tell you about it. mmmmmm cool.

last night we got to go to the christmas devotional at the stake. it was cool, but still not a fan of watching conferences in spanish. so i enjoyed the motab choir while i sweated for an hour and a half. haha sweated the whole time. these buildings down here dont have AC. i remember in the states the buildings being freezingg. 

so to answer your questions..

so yeah my schedule is a little nuts now. we get calls from the offices or the different missionaries at random times and we have to go help them when they need us. and starting this are up, its been nuts. but we are finally starting to get things rolling. we have a guy, Maicol, with a date fro the 3 of january. we hope to get alotttttt more coming in. in our Area of the church, we are doing the "Hastening the Work of Salvation" thing. i thinkive gone over it before. but we have ward council everyy week and are working with extra teaching and progress records to measure the progress. well i get the pleasure of punching in alll the dates each week of all the converts in the stake for things accomplished on their progress sheets. 

my back is holdin up. im alive and can walk. we are good. my feet? also good. yes those were the soles you sent me a few months back but they were from the pack of the ones that were cloth. the other ones are still going strong. no worries. back brace? no. too hot. sometimes i put it on to play sports. but yes i do, when i have time, still give myself ice massages. i just freeze a cup of water in our mini fridge and massage my back with it before i shower. its cold. 

ill try sending more pictures. we are in a different internet place this week so hopefully it will work out this time. 

love you, thanks for everything. loved all your letters in the package! dont worry im saving that sealed one for christmas eve. the rest? couldnt wait. whoops. 

prospero año y felicidad,

elder brown

ya vino diciembre y ya fue el año.

heyhowsitgoinwhatsuppppp.

so its been a dang busy week. as i told you last tuesday, we had meetings those first two days of the week. then a district meeting on thursday. then we had to go get money on friday (which we asre in charge of),  then correlation in the afternoon. then saturday we did weekly planning and spent the afternoon in another companionship´s area, talking witht he owner about their room, prices, damages done, contracts, all the happy stuff. then we had to go check out the new room they were going to go to, which got rented out while we were in the process of the other room stuff.  then english class at night (haha which nobody even came to), then sunday which is the most relaxed day of a missionaries week (sike). we had ward council, then the block of meetings, then in the afternoon we had a meeting with the stake president. and here we are again writing emails. yeaahhhh. haha fun stuff.

so on thursday i did what i could for thanksgiving. i sent some pictures (hopefully they work, this computer is older than i am). the previous elders had some mcormick brown gravy mix and a bag of potatoes. so i tried making that. haha the little hot plate we have wouldnt boil the water, so after waiting an hour, i dumped out the water and just smashed them as hard as i could with a ladle and a fork. i also bought a slice of apple pie from a bakery. it was a joke. but on the upside my selfie game was on fire. 

Glad to hear jeff and kalie could come down. jeff´s locks are gettin gnarly. im a fan. keep it up sir. 

welp. thats about it for this week. limas starting to get hotter. im crazy busy. still dont really know whats goin on. already in the third week of this change. nuts. hopefully this week gets more exciting! and mom, keep the selfies coming. they are solid. maci might be winning though.

gracias por todo! 

elder brown

ey, i hope that nativity scene got set up verryy carefully. ill be there to take over next year 

Its still hot.

Hey.

Its still hot. but we actually have had some nicer tempertures these past few days. KEEP PRAYING FOR IT. i know im from arizona but i haaate being hot if i dont have AC or a pool. on the upside ill have like a few weeks of almost nice weather before summer hits again for me in a few months. one year of summer. this is gonna be fun.

so i got to see elder mcallister this morning. he is in a town like 8 hrs north from here. his zone leaders told him that he was going to the temple with his comp for being the companionship of the month. well, after an eight hour drive, he got here and the assistants told him he wasnt going to the temple. woops. but im lucky to be in the office´s zone so i could talk to him for a little bit. 

stevies getting home already?? dang. time flies. i expect some nice selfies this coming week.

this week has been another busy one. we have been having choir practices. our zone is participating in the stake christmas program this sunday night. missionary choir. singing isnt exactly a strong suit of latin americans. its fun haha. but time consuming. next week we will be singing outside the city council building because there is a huge park in front and a ton of people pass by. well be going around contacting people with the "he is the gift" (el es la dádiva) cards. 

we have two people with baptism dates right now. one, this twenty something yr old kid maicol, and an older guy named manuel. hes getting baptized on the tenth of january and maicol on the third. we are fighting to find new people right now. theres a mentality here in the zone that we cant baptize. not exactly filled with humble people in shacks like back in Zapallal, but you just gotta know how and where to find them. the hardest part for me is just opening my mouth. once its open i can talk it up like its nothing but the initial "hola buenas que tal" getting them to stop is hard for me. dont like getting in peoples way i guess but i mean exaltation is a good cause..

korihor eh? i know what you mean. alot of people think they have figured it out and have finally "outsmarted religion" or something by thinking they need signs or "proof" to show that god exists. or more than that, that he is more than some superior being who doesnt intervene in our lives. BUT that he does in fact govern EVERYTHING. want proof? here´s proof. humble yourself, get on your knees and ask god if he´s there and if he loves you. wait a few seconds. he´ll tell you, and thats the end of it. it was cool this past week as we taught a guy who in previous years didnt believe in god. but little by little he realized how absurd it is to think that everything just "happened". something exploded now everything in the entire universe has an order and place. show me proof that he DOESNT exist. 

So one o'clock works for me! i just hope skyppe works this year. if not, eh. twelve weeks after christmas. haha no worries momma. itll work. and remember i only get thirty minutes, so make it count! president has made a stronggg emphasis that these calls are for the ones that gave us life, fed us, changed our diapers, and all that. Moms. but in situations with parents in different homes we can give a quick call to dads too, but its gotta be quick. so ill try to get ten minutes or so in with dad. i have his info on my skype i believe so ( i think he gets this email to right?) dad. be ready around 1 30 ish. 

alright welp. thanks for everything. love you all. 

elder brown.

                                         Kendall is in the Liahona Church Magazine for December 2014

Changed.

Heheheyyyy mi amada familia.

first off. mom i hope you could sleep well last night. no im not dead. yesterday we had mission council. ill explain that later.

sooo yup. we went to the stake center last monday so they could tell the zone about the changes. i went to the bathroom. as i was washing my hands i hear elder welburn screaming WHAT??? NOO!! NO NO NO AHHHHH! he came running intot he bathroom. what??? you´re gone dude! huh?? you are getting changed! oh. haha ill send some pics of his face. it was funny. but yeah i got moved over a whole distance of crossing the street. im now one a zone leader in the Las Palmeras stake where the offices are. my buddy elder larsen, who was my zone leader back in barranca, is here as the assistant, so we are back in action! my comp is elder Ortiz from guatemala. he too was up in barranca with me a while back. he finishes up this change so looks like whoever i get on december 30 will be my last comp. this ward touches Libertadores on one side and 200 Millas on the other side. so looks like a year of my mission will have been spent within a verrryyy short distance

its ok. corbin spent 15 months in the same zone. coolest part of the area is that one of the urbanizations is called "Arizona". we actually found a huge family there. they were baptized and sealed along time ago but have been inaactive for a long time. they just moved here. the youngest is now in his twenties and there are six kids, now adults. had a lesson with them last night. "im from arizona." "so am i"..ahh never gets old.

so. as i said. yesterday we had mission council. its where the zone leaders from all the mission comes here to lima where we have a fatty long meeting with president. started at 9 finished at almost 5. learned a tooooooooooonnnnnnnnn. my buddy elder hackleman is a zl too in ventanilla so we got to see each other yesterday. elder arnett is the zl in los olivos so i gtt o hang out with him too. mesa crew. and elder norton, who went to desert ridge (pr desert vista..?) he hung out with michelle larsen from the ward before his mish. we got a 480 pic ill send. 

speaking of which, something cool hit me yesterday. i was thinking about all the kids from my high school in this mission (elders mcallister, cody, arnett, beckstead. and sister brown.) and remembered how president taugth us that each mission is a group of missionaries that actually worked together in the premortal life. when president archibald was called, it wasnt to a mission, but toa  group of missionaries. which makes me think about the missionaries i knew beforehand. met sister mrown in music theater when i was nine. i did karate with elder cody when i was 6. good friends with mcallister since he moved to arizona. sat next to elder arnett in a class in high school and im pretty sure we did some sport together when we were younger. beckstead, from my seminary class. if only we knew then, in high school, or even whe we were younger, what we´d all be doing together in a couple years, and what that would mean. i can only imagine how stoked theose on the other side of the veil were when we all met for the first time, them knowing who we were and are and going to be. 

so another kid thats in my zone is elder huish. he hung out with matt brinson. went to westwood.we know a ton of the same people. we had a mesa reminiscing sesh at out district meeting the other day. ill sendd a pic of him wearing my back brace like a heavy weight title belt.

so in other news, hermana fuentes, one of the sisters from my branch in barranca, showed me yesterday that i am famous in the South america north west are in the church. nah, not really. theres a picture and a little article of us up in barranca when we baptized the Tenorio Family. dont know how you can look that one up but eh. 

this morning we had an awesome meeting. Elder Bruce C Hafen came here to pick up his granddaughter from the mission so he came and spoke to us this morning. guys a stud! he spoke about why we got ot he temple before the mission and how the promised blessings f covenants come as we obey our part. he also spoke aboutt he atonement and the redeeming, strengthening, and perfecting blessings of the atonement. he taught us about the true nature of man and how the atonement really works. ill share a cool story his wife shared when talking about the strengthing blessins. so theres the story of the little girl who jumped over the rattlesnakes on the path while trekking to utah. the one thats on 17 miracles. so a few weeks later, that same girl, now freezing and starving was still on going across the plains. one of the resucue wagons had got there. the next day as they set out, the kids were set on walking and sticking with the carts. llittle by little other kids slowly fell behind. this little girl was walking until she could barely take another step. then a man in a cart with horses asked her if she would like a ride. she said yes. so he took her hand. instead of pulling her up intot he wagon, he looked to his horses and made a clicking noise. in horse language, that means speed up. the little girl, who was already almost too exhausted to walk, was now forced to run, her hand grasping to the man in the wagon. then, once she was running, she thought she couldnt take another step, he pulled her up, wrapped her in a blanket, then set her in the wagon. this served a great purpose. it got her circulation running and heated up her body. even though she was exhausted. looking back, she sad how that man, by making her run, saved her life. the atonement works like that. we are saved by grace AFTER EVERYTHING WE CAN DO. god expects us to give it everything. then even thhen he wont come in and sweep us off our feet and carry us through. he´ll provide the strength we need to keep going. working with us. holding on to our hand as we run. 

welp. i believe thats it for this week.

hope everythings fun up there with thanksgiving! ill be knocknin down pavo next year.

paz y bendiciones,

elder brown

oh, and last week, my last night in libertadores, we are pancakes with bishop and his family. his wife was our pension there