Happy New Year!

I loved talking to you this past week. It was weird hearing all your voices but it is all good I really enjoyed it. We really didn't have heaps to talk about because I have only been out about two months. I loved it though and glad to hear all is well. I love you all so much!

This week has been so slow! Nothing has happened. We visited both Brenden and Judy but nothing much has happened. Everyone is busy this time of year so there has been a lot of tracting and a lot of I am busy. But what can you expect it is Christmas. I would do the same if Jehovah Witnesses came to my door the week of Christmas.

So this week we had to deep clean our flat! So Christmas Eve was designated as a non prosyeliting day so we deep cleaned our flat. Man did it need it! IT WAS DISGUSTING! But we are good now I could literally feel the spirit be come stronger as things were organized and cleaned. It was a good feeling.

Christmas (or Chrissy as they say here) was way nice! We actually were able to sleep in! But of course we had breakfat at a member's and it started at eight but we had a whole hour to sleep in. It was nice! The rest of the day we just hung out. I wrote heaps of letters so to those who wrote me within the past month expect something coming your way. I will also start letting you know when I have recieved your letters. But Christmas day was the closest to a day off we have, and it was nice I won't lie.

The day after Christmas, Boxing day here and it is funny because no Aussies know the reason why they celebrate Boxing day, beats me, was also a cleaning day so guess what, we cleaned. So our flat is beautiful! i also called home this day it was nice to talk to my family. Man I love them!

So nothing really else is going on just waiting for the Holidays to be over!

I had one interesting experience, The other day I was sitting on a Moari's porch and we were talking about how some Moaris want to start a Moari Ward, He said it was stupid because it is not about the culture, it is about the gospel. That hit me for some reason and I thought about it a little. It is not about Culture it is about the Gospel. When I wake up each morning I don't look outside and see an Aboriginal playing a digerido or go to my window and have a kangaroo stick its head in and I pet it. No, when I wake up each morning I think how am I going to help Bob stop smoking or how am I going to help Lucy recognize the Holy Ghost. It doesn't matter where you are called because wherever it is the people are lost! They need the gospel and your job is to be a rescuer! That was just something that was on on my mind.

Aaron, Dallin, Nathan Zuniga! I love you guys! I am excited for you that you get to start your incredible adventure. If you don't mind I would like to give you and all those who are about to go some things that I wish I knew before I came out:

1. Know Preach My Gospel! Don't worry about what it will be like. You will only be able to understand what a mission will be like by experiencing it. So don't worry about that stuff, study Preach My Gospel. Not just the lessons but the whole thing.

2.Be diligent! Never stop working. When you are tired and you don't really want to do it anymore... keep doing it. Diligence means so much more to me then it did before I came out.

3. Be the Elder that you want to be now! You will mess up sometimes, live with it. There have been so many times when I have messed up a door approach or made a fool of myself, but I learned valuable lessons from each door, each person that I talk to. Pretty much talk to everyone and don't worry about making a fool of yourself! You won't just magically become an amazing missionary you have do it line upon line!

4. Be you! I have had a hard time with this. Just recently I have been able to relax and be myself and I have found that to be so much more effective. Be you, people are praying for you, not just the missionaries, you!

All of you who have your mission calls I pray for you all the time and I know you will do amazing, probably much better then I have done. We will shake hell.

I love you all Thanks for your support and prayers.
Remember Who You Are!

Elder Landon Raphael Brough

Merry Christmas, Everyone!

I loved your E-mail this week and I am so excited to talk to you on your Christmas, I will be calling at 10:30-12:00 my time so I hope you can figure out what time that is for you, sorry about the big window, Elder Vernon won't give me a straight answer… weird I know. I love Sister Brinkerhoff when I got that article I bawled my eyes out. I am such a dork! I just love her. Jordan, Ben Walters is the man he is in the Elders quorum Presidency and his wife is so cool! His wife just had a baby this past week. Dalton Caleb…. I love you what need I say more! Mom and Dad thanks for giving birth to me! I am so thankful for this opportunity to be here at this exact moment! Oh man the church is true! I am so jealous that you played Frisbee man I wish I could play a game. Surprisingly I am exercising pretty regularly. Elder Vernon and I go jogging a few times a week and I am working on my pex and abs… I have a long way to go and the meat pies don’t help. For real I am stoked to talk to you in a few days!

Now to the questions:
1. Alma 26:16. It is the same way I feel. (we asked him what scripture he wanted on his missionary plaque at the church)
2. Yep Watkins road is the one it is on. That was the first street I tracted. (we got on Meetinghouse Locater to find his church building, then googled it on satellite and checked it out)
3. One Ward. Winston Hills
4. I will be calling you so no worries we have one of those minute calling card things
5. Pavlova is delicious we had it at the zone conference.
6. The toilets are in their own room and in our case in the laundry room. And you can't really tell that the water spins the other way.

My Questions:
Were you able to watch the videos on the cd there were quite a few?

And I need Grandpa Brough's dad's name. There is a senior couple who has the last name Brough and they work in the family history center and they want to figure out how we are related.

Man! I love you guys!

It was a good week a very very very good week!

Building the Kingdom:
Te Atawhai and Te Raumiria entered the waters of baptism this past Saturday and it was so sweet! When we first got there the chapel was dirty the programs had heaps of spelling errors and we didn’t start on time so at first I was stressed about making it good and run smoothly. It all worked out the spirit was so strong and to see how excited they were to do it was incredible! After the service they had refreshments and their dad ( A less active member) stood up and thanked everyone in Maori of course and in the culture after you thank someone you then sing a song which was way cool because all the Maoris that were there joined in. It was an incredible day!

Judy Chang: We visited her with Brother Egan, the ward mission leader, and explained to her that she doesn’t need to understand everything to have a testimony. And Brother Egan being a convert himself really emphasised that. So hopefully she will continue praying and reading and attending church.

Brenden Burke: He is a manager at Pizza Hut ( pizza here has nothing on America's) He is way cool and attended church this week. We taught him this week and emphasised prayer and how important it is to receive a witness for yourself. We don’t want him to be baptized just because his girlfriend wants him to.

My Week:
We had Christmas Zone Conference this past week, it was so much fun. We started off with a Temple Session which was amazing and it was so cool to see a room full of missionaries. The temple president had a question and answer thing and that was way cool. After that we met at a near by chapel and had a feed and a talent show which consisted of the sisters singing songs. Then the winner of the Biggest Loser Australia, Bob Herdsman came and spoke to us. He is a member from Perth and he weighed 347 and he lost 52 percent of his body weight. He taught us to have courage to change. It was way cool. We then watched Forever Strong, which was kind of embarrassing because here we have all these Australian and New Zealanders who all play Footy (Rugby) and they watch a movie about Americans playing Rugby. They all had a good laugh about it. After the movie president asked the Maoris to do the Haka. It was sweet as! It is so much cooler when you have real islanders do it then a bunch of white football players who really don’t know the meaning of it. Man it was so cool! They then had a Christmas devotional and then we received our Christmas packages. ( Mom I received both). It was a good day.

Oh, I spoke this week that was kind of intimidating. I spoke on the birth of Christ. I felt it went real good and made them laugh a few time and the spirit was there. So what more can you ask for.

So this weekend they had Carols by Candlelight at the temple. They put lights on the temple grounds and have a concert. First off the Sydney Temple is beautiful, there is no doubt there but it has got nothing on the Temple lights in AZ. Man I love the Mesa Temple. It was way cool to see so many members show up and bring friends and what not. But of course I got stuck directing traffic. Lucky me! But I could hear it in the distance!

Interesting about Australia:
• 21 is the big birthday and when you turn 21 you get a big key… beats me I don’t understand it but everyone does. I guess it is the key that opens the door to adulthood?
• Sweet “AS”. When you want to say something is the best of the best you say as. Sweet as, funny as, cool as. One missionary said something was big as the other day. I had to double take.

Sorry this one is shorter I am crunched on time. I love you all so much and thank you who wrote me. I just want to let you all know I only have three hours for preparation day during December so I barely have time to buy groceries and write home so once December is over expect a letter. I love you and feel your prayers everyday. The church is true and I see it bless so many people from so many different backgrounds. Jesus is everyones' savior.

Elder Brough

I Love You

I love you so much and I hope everything is going well. I hope Caleb's face gets better! (Referring to a basketball injury)

Now to the Questions:
1. The temple was way cool, it is a really small one. But in the Celestial Room there was this older Polynesian lady who shook every missionaries hand and was crying and it really touched my heart.
2. That 100 dollars was for some things for my bikes like lights and a little carrier thing for my bag.
3. Christams call as far as I know will be for 60-80 minutes. And we will be calling you on your Christmas day.
4. I do not know if Elder Perry is here yet.
5. I don’t know my actual address. Sorry mom.

So I really do love you and I am looking forward to my Christmas call! I have some questions for you. What is up with Kyle and is Mitch in Mexico?

Thanks for your support! I can really feel your prayers for me while I am here! I love my mission and I know Jesus is the Christ. While I have been out here I have truly realized how real the gospel is I just love it!

It was a very very good week, of course we had challenges and opposition but overall it was an incredible week! Man I love being on a mission!

Building the Kingdom of God:
Te Atawhai and Teraumiria Lake: They will be entering the waters of baptism December 19, 2009! This past week we set the date and we are on our way! This was the highlight of the week for sure and I am excited to see my first baptism.

Judy Chang: I love Judy she is so sweet and feeds us every time we go over. This past week we taught her about the Atonement. She is having a hard time understanding why it had to happen and how it works. So we did our best to help her understand, but she was not getting it so we just promised her if she would pray that she would be able to understand. She was very excited to hear that. After the lesson she had us edit her essay for uni ( She is learning English right now). I laughed at the fact that she wanted me to edit it. Only if she knew how well I did in English.

Brendan: He is a new investigator. He is a member referral and his girlfriend is in the ward. So we started teaching him this week. We taught the Restoration and did a chapel tour. It went really well, not because of us but because of his girlfriend. We as missionaries would bear testimony and he would be like cool that sounds good but then we would ask his girlfriend to bear her testimony and she would start crying and he would get misty eyed and after he would do anything we would challenge him to do. Member referrals are amazing!

As of right now these are the most promising investigators, Elder Vernon and I are working hard we tract heaps and talk to everyone. And it is not like we see tons of success from it but Elder Vernon said Tracting is Miracle insurance, I thought that was funny.

My Week:
So this past week both Elder Vernon and I have been under the weather. I have had a cold and he has had Asthma problems, Elder Vernon actually developed asthma while he was out here. So it has been tough to keep working but we have been doing the best we can. The other day we were going to do service for a single lady in the ward so I wanted to take some cough medicine before we left so I did. It ended up being night cough medicine so started getting real tired, which was not good because I was using a wippa snippa (weed wacker). That is not a good combo, a tired sick man using a dangerous piece of machinery! I am such a dork, but the Lord was watching over us and nothing bad happened.

So I had another exchange this week. It was with Elder Cai, he is from Northern China, somewhere near Russia, he doesn’t speak the best English so I was worried how the exchange would go but everything went great and I had a blast. I learned heaps of phrases in Mandarin like hello how are you, I belive in Christ, My name is Elder Brough and my favourite, Can I have Orange Chicken and Chow Mein. I needed that one so when I get back to the states and go to Panda again I can impress all the workers and maybe get a discount. You never know. Also with Elder Cai we tracted tons. We knocked on this crazy man's door. So we did our approach and he said I believe in Christ and we were like great that’s good we love teaching about him. He then said yeah Satan’s angels used to come to me at night and they would tie me down and beat me and sometimes even Satan would beat me. It was horrible and then I would wake up bleeding. Elder Cai and I looked at each other and then in a think Chinese accent Elder Cai said would you like a restoration pamphlet. He declined but it was way weird. I love how you run into so many interesting people! I love being on a mission.

So while I have been out here I have learned so much about myself. I love it and hope to learn more, but this week something really stuck out to me. I was sitting there just about to go to bed when a thought came to me, Why is this so hard! Will I ever become the missionary I thought I would be. Right then it hit me,I am becoming that missionary. One of things that I have wanted to do on my mission was develop my relationship with Christ, and I have! While on your mission at times you won't know who to turn too or where to go for help. And over the past two months I have realized to a whole new level that God is always there and I have found my relationship with him has strengthened so much! It is truly incredible! I love my mission and I know I need to be here, slowly but surly I am becoming that missionary that I have always wanted to be, it will take time but it is coming!

I love Sister Brinkerhoff! The other day I received a letter and inside was an article written by Sister Brinkerhoff on Mormonwomen.org you should check it out! So if you are reading this I love you Sister Brinkerhoff! Thanks for everything you have done!

Thanks to those who wrote me this week, I love your letters and are so grateful for them. They are like little shots of morale booster and they get me way excited to be here and it is awesome to know people out there are thinking about me!. I have not had tons of time to write back but I promise you, if you wrote me or will write me you will receive a letter and a picture!. I just love hearing from you guys!

Random Thoughts:
Those who will be serving missions soon please give your mission office address to my parents because I would love to stay in contact with you.

So I was thinking about it, everyone thinks I am going to come back with an Australian accent but to be honest if I stay here much longer I will have an Indian accent!


Interesting things about Australia:
1. So most bathrooms here don’t have toilets in them, which is weird. So if you have to use the bathroom you have to ask where the toilet is. I find it weird and a little bit disgusting.
2. All Australians think that America is full of people who have guns and just shoot each other. It is quite funny. Only if they knew where I came from, it is not like I am from Compton or the Bronx!

Well I love you all and I hope you enjoyed my weekly update.

Elder landon Brough

Tiger Woods Is On the Naughty List

I love you all so much and miss you heaps! But I only have 22 more months so no worries! I am so proud of Seth! Seth, I love you so much man! You have been in my thoughts and prayers ever since I knew your papers were in. I received your letter the other day and it has made my mission. I read it frequently because it lifts my spirits. Missions are so tough. I am not going to lie, so tough. But when you receive a letter from a dear friend it means the world. Thank you so much Seth!
South Carolina man! That is sick! You are going to rock it there. I got misty eyed when I read your email. You will be starting an amazing adventure and I can not wait to hear all about it. You are going to do so well my friend and a letter will be coming soon.

So to answer questions:
1. No worries, Dad my family is top priority when it comes to emails
2. There are not heaps of differences when it comes to Christmas. I guess there is a song about how Santa's reindeer get tired when they get to Australia and kangaroos pull his sleigh but I have not heard it.
3. Yeah he didn’t find a Book of Mormon in a trash can. He made fun of some of his friends for going to seminary, then one day they invited him and the rest is history
4. Suits are fine
5. The Preparation days are shorter because we have a lot of time off this month so we only have preparation hours.
6. Temple was great I will explain in the email. And it was just my zone.
7. Big W is like Wal Mart and I bought pictures
8. Ben Walters is in my ward, good guy
9. Elder Bybee shares my same desire and wants to work hard and I met him at a district meeting
10. Brother Davis’ email was great and very encouraging!

That’s about it with questions. Man I would give anything to hug you guys! Seriously anything, Elder Vernon really is not the hugging type so I could use a good hug. Jordan, Zach and Dalton thanks for the emails! I loved them.


What a good but tough week! I want to thank those who wrote me! It means the world! It is nice to know yoy are being thought of when everyone rejects you! Haha but thanks and keep them coming, oh and I would love to have pictures of you guys!

Building the Kingdom:
Te Atawhai and Teraumiria Lake: They are from a part member less active family and they are Moari. They are so close to baptism! We are looking at the 12th or 19th of December. We were waiting on permission from their mom and Bishop made a visit with us and we got it so we will probably be seeing them baptized in the coming weeks!

Judy: Judy is a Taiwanesse lady who was dropped last year and we don’t know why. But she is great, she has a huge desire to learn and just loves it. She has a hard time understanding though. She has such a sweet spirit about her and she came to church and loved it!

Victoria Eberhard: We picked her up this week, she is 14 and comes from a less active family. She has been going to mutual for years and is going to EFY (They are holding a special EFY in Canberra, all the youth are super excited for it) So she wants to learn and hopefully we can baptize her soon.

These are the cream of the crop as of right now and we are still searching but it is tough finding people who have the time around Christmas but we are working hard.

Some people I want to tell you about:
Bishop Degaris: Super nice guy! About 30 and has been bishop for about 5 years. He focuses on missionary work so it is way helpful. He loves basketball and had a scholarship to Indiana State but turned it down to go on a mission. Oh what faith!

Brother Egan: He is the ward mission leader and he is incredible! He is Indian and a convert of about 12 years. He has been bishop and just loves the gospel. I would give anything to find someone like him. He is money and he totally magnifies his calling.

We had interviews this week so it was way nice to talk to President and receive counsel. Missions are so so so so hard! Like I honestly can't explain, but I am already reaping rewards and feel the Savior's love so much, I am so excited for the next 22 months! I can really feel how the Lord is pointing out weaknesses and building me into the man the Lord needs me to be. It is so humbling but I just love it! I love President Scruggs and he is amazing! He told me the lord has to grind before he can polish, lets just say the lord has to grind a lot!

So I drove the other day…. Crazy! I was on an exchange with a zone leader, Elder Cooper he is from New Zealand, a way cool guy but he is a “cool” missionary. For those who served mission you will know what I mean. But I have to drive with a zone leader before I can be authorized to drive and man was it intense! When I sat down I tried to grab my seatbelt with my right hand but now it is over my right shoulder and the windshield wipers and signals are on the opposite side so when I wanted to signal and I hit the windshield wipers. It was confusing! I felt like an idiot and Elder Cooper had a good laugh!

The ward had a Christmas party. Wow they decked out the gym! They had heaps of decorations. They also had tons of entertainment. There is a Samoan family who has a band. So pretty much the Samoan Brady Bunch. They were way good. They also had the Jackson Five Perform and they have super good hip hop dancers who invited bishop to freestyle and he ended up doing the worm. Way funny.

Cool stuff about Australia:
• Some people have the door knobs in the center of the door. Beats me I see no benefit to it.
• The letter h is pronounced hach which is confusing and z is pronounced zed. So Zachs name sounds funny when you spell it.

I love you all I hope you have a wonderful December and you are in my prayers. Please keep in contact I miss you all!

Love Elder Landon Brough