Forgive Me For I Know Not What I Do

I love you all so much! Things have been so busy because the Christmas Conferences are tomorrow and it is hectic! But I love you heaps. So I sent some pictures of the road trip Elder Hanson and I went on. We basically did the northern part of the mission. It was so cool! We went to each flat and made sure everything was working and then helped the missionaries clean stuff out of the flat. I must say Australia is one flipping beautiful country! I just love this place! I have heaps of pictures and will have even more come next Monday so I am excited to share them with you. I love you so much and I am so excited to talk to you in a few days! Merry Christmas!

Elder Brough

On The Road Again...

So this morning I am in Cessnock... I know crazy. So my companion and I were driving through Cessnock and I felt bad that we had not emailed so we decided to pull up to the local library and email so I know better late than never. So this past week has been very very very very very very very very hectic, especially with transfers coming up and it being Christmas, but I love it.

Elder Tou and I had to put together travel details for everyone who was coming to transfers. So we sat down for a good few hours and figured out how everyone would get to transfers and how they would get to their new areas. It was not fun and extremely boring but we got it done and President and the assistants were very very pleased so that was good. Speaking of transfers I got a new companion. Elder Tou went to an area that he had served in before and he is very happy to get out into the field again. My new companion is Elder Hansen. I don't know if you remember a few weeks back when Elder Tou and I were in a three way with him because he was sick but he is my new companion and I am way excited to serve with him. He is originally from San Diego but left for his mission from Cedar City, Utah, so this is my first companion who has lived in Utah. Man, I had a good run. He is the man and I love him and we get along so well! Which is good because the reason why we are in Cessnock is because we are traveling to every flat in the mission this next transfer so we will be doing a lot of driving so I am glad we get on well. Yesterday we took heaps of extra junk that was just sitting in all the flats and we did Newcastle Zone and then we spent some time in Cessnock. I dropped off some ornaments to some of the members and then had dinner with Bishop and his family and Robert, Ali and Ryan came as well. It was so good to see them! I am a little sad because Ali got her tongue pierced!!!! But hopefully things work out! Robert is still the man and loves the gospel. He goes back to school in February and he is excited about that. It was good to see them alive and happy I will tell you that!

As for me I am good. Christmas is next week!!! What!!!! It came so fast and I am so excited for that because Elder Hansen and I get to go to both Christmas Conferences and see all the missionaries. Way cool! I just love it here. It is getting way hot! But I am alive and loving it the same. I love you all so much! I miss you heaps and the church is true! I have a five hour road trip to two flats out in the Australian bush so I best be going. Merry Christmas!

Elder Brough

Lumsdens Get Baptized!

Ugh! I am exhausted! This is the first time in the past week where I have been able to breath. Yeah, I know I failed to email last week but it was not the fact that I didn't want to but that I couldn't physically sit down long enough. Family, I am sorry for not writing! A lot has happened this week. We have missionaries who became homeless from gettting kicked out of their flat, another flat flooded and another was broken into and we had to prepare for a baptism. So it was the most hectic week of my life but I wont lie. I love it!

So let me begin with two weeks ago. So two weeks ago was Thanksgiving and even though I am a few thousand miles away I still was blessed to partake in the Thanksgiving spoils! There is a senior couple who are in the city right now who put on a Thanksgiving dinner for all the City missionaries and they invited us. It was neat, I really enjoyed it because you had quite a few missionaries who had never experienced an American Thanksgiving. Whether you were from Canada, Tonga or America it was enjoyed by all. And Thanksgiving would not be Thanksgiving without some sport so we played a bit of touch, basically two hand touch but for rugby. It was way fun and I really can't wait to play that with you guys.

We also had dinner at the beautiful home of Elder Vinson with the Lumsdens and we had a great lesson and they made it to church.

Those are the highlights that happened two weeks ago.

This past week was way good!

So first off we had a little trouble with a flat. Elder Tou and I have been working on closing a flat down in Liverpool. So the day of the move came and Elder Tou and I had everything figured out. All President had to do was meet the members who were going to rent a flat to the church and sign the lease. Well Elder Tou and the two elders we were moving were all ready to go over and unpack when President calls and said the members didn't show up. So Elder Tou and I scrambled around trying to figure out where we could put these two homeless missionaries and it was stressful! So now we are on the hunt for another flat to rent. Stressful stuff but I love being in the office.

We had a recent convert fireside this past week that was just incredible. I love being able to hear the testimonies of new converts and hear their life changing stories. I just love the gospel.

We had a neat fireside where Elder Tad R. Callister came with Elder Jensen who is a church historian and Brother Turley who is the assistant church historian along with Elder Vinson. So before I talk about the fireside Peter and Nikki wanted to buy their own white clothes, not just borrow them so they went to the distribution center and they happened to run into Elder Vinson and Elder Callister and they got to meet. So during the meeting Elder Jensen actually mentioned how they met a lovely family at the distribution center who was getting baptized this weekend. Elder Jensen turns to Elder Vinson, who has been helping us teach them and Elder Jensen asked who were the missionaries who taught them and Elder Vinson says Elder Tou and Elder Brough so Elder Jensen starts to look for us so I raise my hand and then he asked where is your companion, then to my horror I realize that Elder Tou sat on the opposite side of the room because there was not a chair where I sat down. So then Elder Jensen makes a few jokes on always staying with your companion. It was quite embarrassing but besides that it was a very good fireside.

So on to the baptism! Well to put it plainly it was incredible! We had a little bump at the baptismal interview but it was all a misunderstanding and it was all good. The ward showed their support and the spirit was there. It was such an incredible experience! They were so excited and I don't get why the Lord blesses me so much when I honestly feel like I have done so little. I can't wait to get to know the Lumsdens more. They are so excited about this and are so excited to be sealed in a years time, they talk about it everytime we come over. I am so thankful for my circumstances that I have had to face here in Australia. If not for them I would not have ended here where I was able to experience a wonderful miracle!

I love you all so much. Sorry it took me so long to write. I will do better next week. The Church is true and I love you all!

Elder Landon Brough
Thanksgiving Day RugbyWith Elder Vinson, Peter, Nikki, Sister Vinson, Elder Tou, Jackson and WilliamElder Vinson, Peter and Nikki

Another Week Finished

Wow! It has been a really hectic week and I don't have much to report on considering I wrote just a few days ago. Everything is really good down under. Things are still really busy and I am loving it. Not much has happened in the past few days so I don't have much to report on except life is good and I love it here. My living arrangements have changed a bit. Elder Roessler sadly is going to the city to finish up. He only has two more weeks but he really wants to finish in the city, so that means we needed to get a new assistant. His name is Elder Gee from Sandy, Utah. He has only been out for 11 months and is a stud. He will do really good and I am looking forward to getting to know him better.

But besides that nothing else has changed. The Lumsdens came to church and seemed to enjoy it. We were not really able to talk to them much about what they thought because they left right after but they seemed to enjoy it and we will be going to have dinner with them at Elder Vinson's house this week. That should be good. They asked Elder Vinson to baptise them so that was neat. I can't wait for the fourth of December. I love you all so much. Next week's letter will be better.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Love Elder Brough

Haunted Toilets and December Fourth!

Oh, boy! Oh, boy! Sorry it has taken me so long to actually sit down and email you! I love you so much, please don't forget that but this week has been hectic as! So at the moment Australia is so beautiful. You have my favorite tree at the moment blossoming. They are called jacarandas. It has a purple flower. It is really pretty to look at all the green trees and then every so often seeing a big puff of purple. I love this place. Also, birds are all over the place again. There are some really cool looking birds here. There is this one red bird that hangs out in our backyard every morning. I just love it as well. Personal study is frequently interrupted by the cackling of a kookaburra. Australia is a crazy place!

So to the first part of the subject of my letter. Haunted Toilets. So first off the flat I live in at the moment is, for a lack of a better word, a hole. It is super old and ugly and now we are pretty sure it is haunted. The assistants, Elder Tou and I were relaxing in the lounge when all of a sudden we hear a loud clatter coming from the laundry room/toilet room. So being the curious people we are we went to investigate and to our horror, the only toilet in our flat had fallen over. Now we have no idea how this happened and there are many that do not believe my story but OUR TOILET JUST FELL OVER!!!! I know it does not make sense but it is a true story and was a big inconvenience! We had to make a few runs up to the office through out the week but as of late we have a toilet again but it was not a fun experience.

So last week we were busy cleaning and closing a flat. The first one we had to clean up was for a senior couple that was coming in. So Elder Tou and I were busy cleaning the flat up and throwing out a lot of the clutter missionaries aquire. I made my first trip to the tip! Tip is Australian for dump and surprisingly dumps still smell in the southern hemisphere. Beats me. But all last week we were getting that flat ready for Elder and Sister Lambarth from St. George. We also had to paint the flat with Elder Taylor. Elder Taylor is a service missionary. And he does not like fleet. Elder Taylor was part of the North Mission doing what fleet does and he doesn't like to have 20 year old kids intrude on his work. I am just going to leave it at that. I just love the office.

So I went finding in the city for the first time! Man was it intense! So like I said we have a teaching center in our mission and apparently there are only three teaching centers in the world and Sydney has one of them. Basically the church owns two floors of a high rise. One floor is a chapel and the other is a family history center and a bunch of rooms where they teach people. The atmosphere there is incredible and the missionaries there are always teaching and baptising there. I just love it, it is in down town Sydney right across from Hyde Park which I would say is the equivalent of Central Park in New York and there are just hundreds and hundreds of people passing you by. I have always been intimidated by this and the other day Elder Tou decided we would man up and give it a shot. So we talked to the missionaries there about what the best thing to do was and they said just walk down the street and hand out these flyers. They handed us a little flyer that said "Free English Class". So we hit the streets and anyone who was not white we talked to. It was fun because it was very fast pace. I actually ended up losing Elder Tou for a good 45 minutes but luckily we found each other and it is all good now. I love the city and I really hope I get to serve there at some point.

So enough rambling. Missionary work is going very very well! Since the last time I emailed you we have taught Peter and Nikki Lumsden twice and both times it has gone very very well. We were able to set a baptismal date with them for December fourth and they are both excited about it! I believe they are referred to as the elect in the scriptures. It has been a truly humbling experience and I am so happy I have had a chance to teach them and to be at the right place at the right time to be a part of their conversion! They are such a wonderful family! We taught them the "make or break" commandments the other night and everything went really well! I am excited to continue to work with them!

Peter and Nikki own a health product company called Lumsden Health Products. They just recently came out with a weight loss product called The Latin Seed and basically it is a seed that you drink with warm water and it helps you lose weight. Don't worry it is all organic. So Nikki and Peter hooked us up with a free sample. Basically it is a cleansing thing and it is suppose to just clean your body out. And I can testify that only being on it for two days, it CLEARS you out! But I am down to lose some weight. So we will see how that goes!

Anywho, I love you all so much. Congrats Jordan on the engagement. I am excited to be able to get to know another sister in law! I love you all heaps!

Elder Landon Brough

The "haunted" toiletWith Elder Taylor, a service missionary, and Elder Tou at the Chatswood flat With my zone, the Greenwich Zone

Tender Mercies Part 2

So another terrific week! One of the best weeks in the office. I just love being here. So this past week we had transfers so it was so hectic moving people around and helping them all get settled and what not. So I am glad that is all over. Through it all, however, we ended up getting another companion temporarily. His name is Elder Hansen from Cedar City, Utah/ San Diego, depending on who you are talking to and he is so cool. He was way sick for a day or two with something that nobody really knows but he is good and we are just waiting on the new arrivals to come in so we can throw him out into the field. He is a really good guy and I am so happy I have got to serve around him this past week.

So the referral we received from Elder Vinson was so incredible. We were told to meet at the Dural McDonalds parking lot at a quarter to six. Elder Tou and I were very very very nervous because he is a General Authority. We rocked up to Mackers a few minutes late and we saw him standing next to his car. We approached him and he ended up being a very very funny guy and very relaxed. What can you expect he is an Aussie. So we show up at the referral's house a little after seven with a family from a neighboring ward that works with him. Their names were Peter and Nikki. Peter is from Australia and Nikki is from Chile. They are married and have two kids who are three and five. And they are searching and they talked about baptism. It was an incredible lesson. We taught the restoration and Peter knelt in prayer at the end of the lesson. It was such a wonderful experience and I look forward to teaching them the Plan of Salvation tomorrow.

So I had a wonderful experience yesterday on Sunday. Every fast Sunday we have a recent convert fireside where recent converts speak and investigators come. It is always a spirit filled fireside and a lot of baptismal dates have been set at them including Brendan Burke's. So on Thursday Elder Roessler, who is one of the assistants, called me and asked me to invite someone to speak at the fireside so instantly Robert Murphy's name popped in my head so I called the Cessnock missionaries, got Robert's mobile and called him up and he gladly accepted the invitation to speak. So he and the Cessnock missionaries drove down for the fireside. They showed up an hour early so I showed Robert around the temple, mission office and mission home and we even sat in the living room of the mission home and talked with President and then at the fireside Robert did an immaculate job and I felt the spirit so strong. I just love being a missionary and the things I get to see and be a part of and I am looking forward to the rest that the Lord has in store for me here in this sun burnt country!

Love Elder Brough

With Robert and Elder Hill in front of the templeWith Robert and Elder ChanWith Robert and Elders Hill and Chan

Tender Mercies

So this past week has been crazy! So many things are going on. We have been so swamped with silly office things and zone conferences. We had the last two this week. So it was nice to finally get those all done. I must say I love missionaries but I really love the Great Australia Sydney Missionaries. They are so incredible and I am so thankful for this opportunity to serve with all two hundred of them! I seriously just love it! But with the end of one crazy hectic week comes another crazy hectic week. So we got all the zone conferences done and then right on to transfers and there was so much to be done! It is crazy and oh man it was just crazy yesterday and I am glad it is over! But it is the good kind of busy.

So I have been thinking that I have not really told you the set up of the Sydney Mission. So let me explain. In the Australia Sydney Mission we have 12 zones. The old North mission consisted of Coffs Harbour Zone, New Castle Zone, Greenwich Zone, Penrith Zone, Parramatta Zone and Hebersham Zone. All of them are stakes except Coffs Harbour which is a district and half of the Penrith Zone is a District called the Orange District. The former South mission consisted of Mortdale Zone, Hyde Park Zone, Liverpool Zone, Campbelltown Zone (Which is Macarthur Stake), Canberra Zone and South Coast Zone. All of these are stakes as well except South Coast. Wollongong is part of the Macarthur Stake and the rest is the Nowra District. The church is really well established here. I think it is funny I could tell you the name of every ward and branch in the whole of New South Wales. I am such a nerd!

So in the midst of the chaotic pace of the office the Lord still sees fit to find ways to let us know He is there. So Elder Tou and I, as well as Elder Cummings, were pulling into the car park of the Normanhurst Chapel for church and I see a strangely familiar souped up Subaru. I just stare at it thinking where have I seen that before? I was stumped and it was bugging me. So I hopped out of the mini van I get to drive around, opened the sliding door, grabbed my suit coat and throw it on and started to walk to the chapel. When I turned around it all clicks to where I had seen that Subaru before! It is then I see Melissa Hale and Brendan Burke walking into the chapel. So I double take and say, "Wow, I baptized that guy!" So I ran in to see what's up and they came to see me. It was so cool!!!! It was so good to see them, especially Brendan. I remember when he first started coming to church he always wore a black shirt and a red tie. It was good, I personally didn't mind. I was just glad to see him at church. But there he was with a white shirt and a suit. It made me so happy. I was gutted because I didn't have my camera but it was so good to see them! I was talking to them and dropping hints left and right to see if they are getting engaged anytime soon and they are not but they are going to some resort up in Queensland soon so I am hoping it is then. I will keep my fingers crossed! It will be so cool to see them sealed! Also, Brendan told me he gave his first talk and I thought that was way cool. He even gave me a copy of it. It is flipping hilarious and way good. I love how the Lord shows his love to his children!

So that is what is going on with little old Elder Brough down under. We recieved a member referral from Elder Vinson of the area seventy. Talk about presure. It is a family who has some friends who are members so it should be intense. Elder Tou and I joke about hopefully if we end up doing a horrible job we won't end up being mentioned in General Conference. We will see what goes on. Love you heaps and hope to hear from you soon.

Love Elder Brough

With Elder Tematafaarere from Tahiti whose heart is proportionate to his size!With Elder Puentes from Chile, who has a really good sense of humor.With Elder Jest from England. All I can say is that I love this kid!With Elder Ding from Mainland China. He is the one who did not even know about Joseph Smith until he came on his mission.With my former companion, Elder Chan from Hong Kong and Elder Gee who is from Utah (aka "The Factory").

Music!

This is a post from Nancy. I finally figured out how to put this music playlist on Landon's blog. At first I was just going to put on some of his favorite hymns but since he is not allowed to look at his blog (and claims that he has never looked at it) I thought I would take the liberty to also include some Australian standards as well as music by Australian artists. I was hoping that I could just get my songs from my iTunes account but unfortunately Apple doesn't have a playlist feature for blogs. With playlist.com it is all free and therefore the selections are not near as numerous and I can't totally customize the playlist as I would like to. If you want to turn down the volume, listen to a different song or turn the player off altogether just scroll down to the bottom and click on the appropriate button.

Zone Conferences and Coconuts

So I have been having a good time down under. I love this place! We have been really busy with zone conferences and that is why I failed to shoot you an email. So I pray you can find it in your heart to forgive poor old Elder Brough!

So this week we just cleaned and cleaned and cleaned out missionaries garages and got ready for the zone conferences in the coming weeks so it was a lot of pretty lame stuff. I made a funny video for the zone conference where I took clips from General Conference and made them say "Clean your apartments!" in clever ways. I will have to show it to you some time... let's say a year from now! Crazy, eh? I hit my year mark. FETCH???? It is seriously so crazy! It makes me sad that it is half over but I know I am going to be loving the next year!

So, there is not much to report on. I can now crack a coconut with my fists. Aren't you proud of me, Mum!? I saw Elder Tou's videos of some missionaries doing it so I thought I would try my hand at it. Actually, I thought I would try my fist at it and I destroyed them! I have some videos I will show you some time. Zone conferences were really good! I don't get to listen because I am too busy doing fleet things for the missionaries like checking their cars and stuff like that but we have a testimony meeting at the end of the conference and I have been able to see the past two testimony meetings and they were incredible! I am really looking forward to the next two this coming week. I just love it! Also a missionary finished his mission yesterday and being in the office we were invited to the departure dinner so that was a cool but weird experience. Elder Kim is going home. There are three elder Kims in our mission and they are all Korean and all happen to be in the same zone so they have nicknames according to where they are from. So we have Elder Cali Kim from Los Angeles, Elder Fiji Kim from Fiji and Elder Philly Kim from Philadelphia. So, back to my story, Elder Fiji Kim was the one going home and it was neat to see the procedure and weird because I still have a year. I told President, "How about same time next year?" He thought it was funny.

So the computer is being dumb and my comp wants to go play rugby so I am being rushed. I honestly can't express the way I feel about you and how much I love you. I will email you in a weeks time. I love you heaps.

Elder Landon Brough

THEN (At the MTC with his companion, Elder Perry, on October 21, 2009)...
...and NOW (at a zone conference exactly one year later on their "hump day", October 21, 2010)

At a zone conference with Elder Stapleton, the brother of one of Zach's mission companions

At a zone conference with Elder Jamie Fagg. He is from the same stake(Ipswich Stake) in England as Landon's cousin, Rachel

With Elder "Fiji" Kim at his departure dinner

Smashing coconuts with his hands

With Elder Tou taking their lunch break at Cronulla Beach


(Note from Nancy: I am trying to figure out why all the pictures that he has been emailing are so small...if anyone can let me know if there is something I can do on my end to get them bigger I'd appreciate it. I've asked him to have someone there see if there is anything he can do from his end. I love technology, WHEN I can figure it out!)

Happy Hump Day!

(Note from Nancy: after only receiving the previous post instead of a letter we wrote him the following on his "hump day" (October 21, 2010):

Happy Hump Day! We really need to hear from you!

The next day we got this:

So I won't be able to write you a full letter this week but I will fill you in on everything on Monday. I love you all so much and I am alive and well. I will be sending pics on monday as well!

Elder Landon Brough

WE were NOT happy, hump day or not!

Love you heaps!

Hey I am busy with office stuff today so I will shoot you a line when I have the time. Love you heaps.

Finally!!! Conference

So I only wrote a few days ago so I don't have much to report on. So, since Thursday I have just been out and about de junking the mission. Whatever, I still love being in the office.

So Friday was pretty fun. I went on splits with the assistants so they could go to two different district meetings. I went with Elder Modlik, whom I love. We went to the Openrith district meeting and then he and I got to go down to the assistants' area in the city. So in the city or the Hyde Park area they have about ten missionaries serving there and it is one of my favorite places to visit because Sydney is such a beautiful city. I can't wait for you to come here Mom and Dad!!!! Anyway, we went to the teaching center in the city. So to clarify that, the church rents or owns a floor of a high rise where they have a chapel for the Ashfield Ward which is a Chinese ward and the Hyde Park Branch which is a YSA branch. Anyway, along with that they have a teaching center. At the teaching center they teach English along with the restored gospel. I love going down there. Since Sydney is a very diverse place so are the missionaries. They are from all over! There were two I really loved, Elder Ding who is from China who didn't even know about Joseph Smith until he came on his mission, and Elder Puentes who is from Chile who I just love. Now, I don't know why I just spent the last five minutes writing this but I just love being here!!! This is my second favorite place on Earth!!!

So I finally was able to watch conference. I sadly have not been able to see all the sessions yet. I have missed the Saturday sessions which broke my heart a bit because I really wanted to go but due to poor planning on another elders part Elder Tou and I had to move one of their investigators while they played rugby... but I am not going to go into details there. Anyway, wasn't conference just incredible? I don't think I have ever been so spiritually edified before and never felt so rebuked before but I love it anyway! The church is so true. President Uchtdorf is the man and I loved Patrick Kearon's talk. I am so excited to see the rest of the talks in the coming weeks. So it was just a really great conference and I can't wait till April!!! Also it was fun because I am in the Greenwich Stake which is the same stake Winston Hills is in. We watch conference at the stake center so I was able to see many members from the Winston Hills ward. Oh my gooseness!*** I love that ward! I was surprised they remembered my name but it was so awesome to see them all again. I am going to try and see if I can end my mission there. But we will see. I still have a while!

The highlight of the week though was Sunday night. President invited Elder Tou, Elder Roessler, Elder Modlik and I to dinner and it was a really good evening. President made a pasta he had a lot on his mission in Rome. We had a wonderful evening. I love President Simmons with all my heart. After dinner we had a really good spiritual thought which basically turned into a huge thank you to President and Sister Simmons. It was just so good!

I just love this work and I am loving life and I love you. I am just full of love!

Love Elder Landon Raphael Brough

***Note from Nancy - that wasn't a typo. Once, years ago, when we went to Rocky Point we were trying to get someone to lower their price on something we wanted to buy and when we said what we wanted to pay, the vender said in his broken English, "Oh, my gooseness, no way!" So, from then on in our family instead of saying, "Oh, my goodness!" we sometimes say, "Oh, my gooseness."

The Magic Missionary

Hello! So, I am not going to lie. Being in the office is great but I am looking back on this week and not much has happened. This email will probably not be too exciting. But if I could tell you in person it would be different because like Nephi says in 2 Nephi 33:1 ..."I, Nephi, cannot write all the things which were taught among my people; neither am I mighty in writing, like unto speaking;..." but I will give it my best effort.

Thank you for writing me. I received mail recently from Morgan, Haley, Stephanie, Elder Wilcock and Alix. Thank you so much! My flow of letters has slowly ran dry but the few that trickle in really boost my spirits.

So nothing has happened on the missionary front I am sad to say. We have had to do heaps of different jobs so we have not had a lot of time to proselyte. We hope to do more this coming week.

We have just been cleaning flats, taking a washing machine here and getting a microwave over there so it doesn't sound like too much fun but I am enjoying it. We had to pick up a missionary at the airport who was coming from the Tahiti mission because he messed up his knee, so that he could get home to Brisbane the next day so we had another companion for a few hours. That was neat. But honestly, besides that I am not an exciting person. I just look at a computer screen all day making sure everyone stays within their kilometer allotments.

The Office Staff - FRONT: Elders Brough, Modlick, Cummings and Wight BACK: Elders Tou and Roesseler

With Elder Tou doing office things

With Elder Cummings, a service missionary

I did have one fun experience. So a few weeks back I made the mistake of showing the assistants and Elder Tou my magic tricks. Well, the other morning I was trying to juggle some oranges and for some reason President Simmons asks, "Are you doing a magic trick?" So the assistants tell president about my magic tricks and president asks to see them so I had to be obedient so I did and the result was I made a special appearence at the Zone Leader council, a meeting where all the zone leaders get training from President and the assistants. So after dinner I did a little magic show for them and they loved it! It was quite fun and I got another booking for the Senior Couple conference coming up so that should be fun. I do have one request. I once saw Book of Mormon playing cards and I would love to have them. I think they are called The Book of Mormon Card Game. The Tillys had them so if you could get two-three decks that would be amazing. I won't go into detail but some missionaries didn't like the fact I was using face cards. But it is all good.

I love you all and hope to hear from you soon.

Elder Landon Brough

I Am Learning To Back Up With a Trailer and Haven't Hit Anything...Yet!

So on the office front. We have not done anything too exciting. Right now we are in the process of "De-Junking" the mission to use President's words. So Elder Tou and I have been running around to different flats picking up different pieces of furniture and chucking it. So I won't lie, my forearms are looking good, mates! But that is really all we have been doing this past week and this coming week looks very similar. It is a fun and different form of missionary work but we see blessings come from it.

So I have learned even more about grace this past week. We are so busy doing things that in the eternal perspective mean nothing! Whether or not someones flat is clean will not stop them from entering the Celestial Kingdom. But someone has to do it and it was the lot I was cast and I am excited and willing to do this. Now here is where grace comes in. We have so much to do we don't get heaps of time to do what most would call normal missionary work. But we got out and the Lord blessed us with a new investigator this week. His name is John. He is the son of a media referral we received last week and he has been humbled and I feel he has been prepared. He has a lot of stuff he will need to sort out. But you can feel that he is searching for something and I know we have it. We will see him tomorrow and I am excited to see what happens.

Besides that, that was my week. I love my mission and I am so grateful to be here and I am so grateful for the people he has put around me at this moment. It is truly a tender mercy!

Heaps of love,
Elder Brough

The Fleet Commander

Hello! I hope all is going well for you guys. Life down under is going really good! I have been so busy this past week I just love it! So last preparation day was so much fun and painful in a weird way. I went and played golf for the first time in my life and had a really fun time. I went with my old zone leaders in Hebersham. I miss them heaps. I also went with the assistants to a place called Killaburger. They have this challenge where you have to eat a hamburger the size of a small pizza. So me being the person that I am who doesn't always think things all they way through tried it and I failed miserably! And, yeah, that was the painful part of the week. The rest was way good. We did a lot of paper work which I absolutely adore! NOT! But we were able to go on a few adventures in our mini van. We drove down to Canberra which is a good three hour drive. We went down there to fix a toilet and a hole in the wall. It is some pretty country down there and I hear the more south you go the more beautiful it gets so I am hoping to make it down there in the next few months. But I love being in the office. Yeah, paper work stinks and my hand went into a toilet this past week where not too many people like to stick their hand but I'll get blessed for it.

I took a missionary who was going home to the airport... that was a weird experience.

Surprisingly this last month we have been so blessed with missionary work. Last week I was talking about how we don't get to do a lot of prosylyting which is a huge bummer but it went real well this week. We went to a family in the ward who is from Russia. I can't spell their name but I remember it by saying "stretch-a-cough". That is how you phonetically say it. But when we went to dinner we were sitting there and three Chinese girls walk in and we start to have dinner and we learn they are living with the "stretch-a-coughs" while they go to uni. And the end result was three new investigators which rocked and was a boost to much needed motivation! I love how when you try your best the Lord makes up the rest!

The highlight of the week was the opportunity that I had to be a part of Robert Murphy's ordination. It was a miracle that I was able to make it. President said I was able to go but that I needed to find things to fix or do things for the missionaries. There really was not much that needed to be done up there so I was kind of bummed till I got the call that said a fridge died up in Charlestown and they needed one asap. Ironically it is the area that is right next to Cessnock. It was a huge blessing so I strapped a fridge down in the trailer and me and Elder Nube went up to Cessnock. It was an incredible experience and I felt the spirit so stong! It was also so neat to see the ward again! I love this work so much.

I love you all so much
Elder Brough

The Office

So this was a very interesting week to say the least. I got transferred! Tuesday morning I talked with President Simmons and he told me he needs me in the office as a fleet elder. I was kind of confused and I honestly didn’t know what really to expect but I will tell you this much, I am so glad to be here and that President can receive revelation! I just love it. So let me break down my responsibilities for you. I am in charge of flats, bikes and cars so basically anything that goes wrong with one of those three I have to take care of it. So we will go to all the Zone conferences and check the cars to make sure they are clean as well as we go to the flats and inspect them. So, yes, we get some funny calls that make you think, "What did you put in the microwave?" But, it is something that I think I will really enjoy. I will have the opportunity to see the whole mission. For instance, on Saturday I am going down to Canberra to fix up some flats, so that is something I will really really enjoy as well with that I get to meet all the missionaries, since being a social butterfly, I will really enjoy plus I get a personal phone with texting so I really can’t complain. President pulled me into his office and told me why he brought me into the office. He said I have good organizational skills and the office elders need some help. So I will try to help. It should be a fun experience.

So my new companions are way cool. I am now in a three-way - Elder Nube and Elder Tou. Elder Nube has been out for about a little over a year and is from Mt. Gambia near Adelaide he is a pretty quiet stern man but we get along great. Elder Tou is my favourite. He is a big man. He was raised in New Zealand but about 6 years ago he moved to Brisbane or what they call it Bris Vegas... beats me. But he is seriously the man! He has a killer voice and after we plan at night we all just sit around and he plays the gat (Guitar) and he sings and man is it beautiful. President has said Elder Tou has the best voice in the mission, and when we are not doing that we try to freestyle rap battle with one another it is fun had by all. We also live with the assistants and I love it. I don’t know if I am allowed to say it or not but they are the best assistants I have seen. I really feel their love and desire for this work! Elder Daji is from New Zealand. He is a very cool calm and collected elder and he has a heart of gold! Elder Roessler, pronounced wrestler, is hilarious. He is a kind of awkward guy but I love him and look up to him so much. He is the perfect combo of having fun and working hard so I am looking forward to working with and around all these elders. As well with working around President. It is cool seeing him on a regular basis. Our flat is pretty cool as well; I guess I should not call it a flat but a house. It has really funny wall paper and a pretty big backyard so it is a party living there except that there are five of us living there and one shower so we have to rotate who gets the last shower because the hot water goes fast!

On the missionary front...not much happens in our area. I am in the Greenwich Stake again in the Dural Ward and this is a very rich area... so basically people here are not as humble as other areas. But from what I saw yesterday at church the ward is awesome and I look forward to working with them and hopefully we can get some member referrals. Being in the office we don’t have a lot of time to proselyte. We try to get out of the office by five but from what I see that rarely happens. Elder Tou was in fleet (that is what we are referred to as the fleet elders) during the merge and he said before the merge we were swamped and now we have doubled the work. So we will have to help build the kingdom in other ways. We try to do as much as possible though.

This past week I heard Robert Murphy got sustained for the Melchizedek Priesthood so that really made me happy and I might be able to go up there next Sunday for the ordination, cross my fingers.

So I am loving the mission so much right now, there have been some serious trials I have faced through the past months but looking back on them now it blows my mind to see how orchestrated everything was and I know I need to be here. I love you all so much!

Elder Landon Brough

One Slow Week

So on the missionary front we were able to pick up three new investigators this past week. Iris(China), Einpeey(Sudan) and Daniel( Korea). So, hopefully we will see some progress with them this coming week.


Besides that nothing much happened. I went on an exchange with Elder McNamee. He is in my district. He is from Queensland and he is the man. I love my district so much! We walked all day and were able to teach a few people. It was a great exchange.


Sorry! One lame email but some weeks are better than others.


Love Elder Brough

I Am 20???

First off, I am still a little boy! This is weird that I am not a teenager so I guess now is when I have to go from childish to childlike but it is all good!

We had a special training this week since the church has come out with a curriculum that the mission presidents follow. So they have been training all the missionaries on that. So we had a training on that stuff and the material they have is so incredible. First off, it makes role plays so much better and the spirit when you teach is tangible. I love how we have modern inspiration! The church is true, straight up!

I was able to spend some quality time with the mission president's wife. My companion and I had to make a trip to the mission office for some stuff and Sister Simmons was there and she said well instead of you taking the train there let me take you so she did and took us to our area. On the way she said are you hungry and we said that we were. So in the Winston Hill area we stopped at a resturant called Pancakes on the Rocks. Basically an IHOP. And as we were walking up to the doors the Winston Hill elders walked by so Sister Simmons being the woman she is invited them as well. It was fun spending time with her. She is a very funny and sweet lady. And I love her to death.

The ward had a fun activity this past week. Karaoke! It was good because a lot of them knew how to sing so it was quite entertaining. And no, I did not participate.

On the missionary front it has been pretty good! We have been walking, tracting and biking everywhere. It is pretty tiring but I love it. We have had heaps of bike trouble so we are trying to figure them out. Flat tyre after flat tyre after flat tyre, no fun but we are making due. We received a member referral from the Chetty family. I actually knew them pretty well when I served in Winston Hills but Zoe Chetty referred her friend who told her she was aspiring to be a Mormon. It was a really good lesson and she really understands it.

Raj and Jeba were really good. They fed us real Indian food which was super spicy and I can't stand that sort of stuff so I was having a real hard time with it and they got a good laugh about it. We taught them about prayer and Raj gave a kneeling prayer. They said they are a bit busy with work for the next few weeks. They are both teachers but in a few weeks they want us to come around again.

It was a good week and I just love this church so much!

Elder Landon Brough - 20 years old

Aussie, Aussie, Aussie! Oi, Oi, Oi!!!

Good day all! Life is fantastic down here in the sunburnt country! It has been one fun as week and a lot of miracles, I guess, have been happening! I just love being here building the kingdom! So let me break it down!

Monday we had a zone activity for Preparation day. We met at the Quakers Hill chapel and just hung out, shot some hoops, threw a footy around and all that jazz. There are heaps of sisters in the zone! I was thinking about it and it makes sense. They are here to clean up the mess the elders made. I guess a few months ago some checky stuff went down with some elders so they brought in sisters but let me tell you sisters know how to do missionary work! Good on those Shelas! But at the activity the zone leaders had a big surprise. So, after we had fish and chips, which is huge here, we went into this room and there was a TV so naturally we were thinking, "Sweet as! A movie! And we were right! We got a movie alright! It was the new district movie. Basically a movie where cameras follow missionaries around and they use it to teach us how to be missionaries! And let me tell you that was exactly how I wanted to spend my preparation day! The reason why I told this story was because right before we watched the movie Elder Modlik (Zone Leader) threw me a uke and said first we will have a musical number by Elder Brough. I played Stars for him when we had the exchange with the Zone Leaders and I guess he liked it so I was put on the spot and I ended up playing it and it was a hit! Elder Shearer has a uke and I will hear him playing it from time to time. I think it is funny.

This week I also had the opportunity of going on exchanges with my district. I went with Elder Henare to the Quakers Hill area. He is the man and he is like the Moari version of me when it comes to missionary work. It was funny because I told him I have a hard time talking with islanders and he said he had a hard time talking to white people so we complimented each other heaps! He has only been out for about 2 months so he had a lot of questions and I was able to help him which helped me realize how much I have learned. It was a good exchange. About three minutes into the exchange we had an interesting experience. We saw a guy sitting on a bench so we went and talked to him. He had a six pack of beer and a pack of smokes (That is an extremely common sight here in Australia!) But we sat down and talked with him and he opened up to us and talked about family problems and how much he has messed up. He started crying and I got teary eyed because I sat there thinking how lost people are. So Elder Henare and I testified about the Atonement and right before we left he thanked us and told us we helped him a lot because he was thinking about going over to the train station and ending it but what we told him helped change his mind. It was a humbling experiences and we learned we need to talk to everyone!

This past week my zone was lucky enough to attend a fireside where Elder Vincent (Seventy) and Elder Callister (President of the Pacific Area) addressed some zones from our mission. It was incredible and it blows my mind how in tune with the spirit some people are! I learned so much! Elder Callister talked aout the apostasy and gave a lot of good information! Elder Vincent talked to us about going to the edge. He quoted a poem Elder Holland used once...

Come to the edge he said
Come to the edge he said
No I will fall

Come to the edge he said
Come to the edge he said
No I will fall

Come to the edge he said
Come to the edge he said
So I came to the edge and he pushed me
And I flew!

Everytime I write that out I get goose bumps! I loved it. It hit me so hard. I learned I need to push myself in this work. Like Nephi in the book of Helaman chapter 10 he was blessed for his unwearyingness in the work! I love inspired council!

Church was very very very good! I learned so much and I am starting to remember peoples names. I am having a hard time remembering all the islander names but I love the diversity! Someone actually blessed the water in Tongan so that was neat! The Lord, for some reason, has seen it fit to bless Elder Shearer and me. We received two member referrals and it looks really good with them. We also found a family. So after church Elder Shearer and I were kind of down on our luck. What do you expect we share the ward with a companionship of sisters and it is tough when they have heaps to report at coordination meeting and all you have to report is that your not very solid baptismal canidate can't be contacted and the last thing you heard about him was that he slipped on a bannana peel and broke his arm. So needless to say we were blue. So we decided to go look up some referrals who were never contacted. The first one wasn't that good so we walked to the next one and knocked on the door. No answer but then a guy comes around the house and says in an Indian accent, "No one is inside. We are in the back. Talk to us in the back." So we follow and we see all these platters in the back that they are cleaning so Elder Shearer and I at the same time exclaim, "Can we help?" And of course he agrees so for an hour we talk to Raj and Jema while we clean the platters they used for their son's 21st birthday. We learned they are from India and that they are Christian and they also lived in Spokane, Washington for a while. We asked them if they go to church and they said yes we go to many different Christian churches every Sunday and Raj even made a comment about how things are changed over time and he even used the analogy of if he told Elder Shearer something and Elder Shearer told me that things would be changed and we said YES!!!! So they invited us over for dinner next Sunday and I am so stoked!

I don't know why I was blessed with that experience and so many more I could write about. To be honest I didn't think I deserve something like that but that is why our message is so important! That as long as we try our best, we still fall short and that our savior, Jesus Christ will make up the rest. I love this Gospel and I am so happy to share it with our brothers and sisters from all over the world in Australia! I love you heaps as! The church is true!

Elder Landon Brough

We Walked and Walked and Walked and Walked and Walked!

This week was hectic as, Mates! I have never been so busy on my mission till now! Oh, man! Oh, man! So much happened this week!

Let me break down Elder Shearer for you. So, he is twenty and has been out for almost three months but he is the man! He is the most manly man I know. He is from Boston and kind of has an accent but it is not too strong. Get this, his bishop is Danny Ainge! Yeah, like the basketball star. I am thinking about stealing his temple recommend so I have his autograph... just kidding! But I think that is pretty intense. He is the smartest person I think I know. He is rivaling T and P to be honest. He is so fun to be around and if I was to be jumped or mugged he would be the companion I would want to be with. He is just the man!

So we had our first district meeting and I love my district. We have no missionaries from Utah. My district comes from Guam, New Zealand, America and Nepal. All the elders except me have been out 6 months or less so we have a very young district but we are shaking the very foundations of hell in the Blacktown District. It is so fun to be around them and we are having a zone activity where we are going to play touch (Rugby) So I am stoked! I look forward to working with them.

So I went on an exchange with one of the zone leaders, Elder Hill. He is from Pocatello, Idaho and has been zone leader for about 2 months and has only been out for about 6 so basically he is a huge stud! And if that doesn't win you over he has a full ride to Stanford to be quarterback. Crazy, eh? So, stud as. I learned a lot from him and we had a good exchange. We did have to cut it short because the other zone leader, Elder Modlik (NZ) and Elder shearer locked themselves out. So we spent most of the day trying to get into the flat. We succeded. That day I had my first baptismal interview to conduct and I was nervous as! Her name was Rosemary ,18 years old and she is from Texas. It went really well and I look forward to more of them. On our way back to our flat the zone leaders were driving us and we look over and we see this lady and she looks islander. She signals that she wants us to roll our window down so we do and we talk to her while we are driving. We talk to her for a bit and then she asks if we are hungry and we say no . We end up getting ahead of her and literally two seconds later her car explodes! No, just kidding. Two seconds later, though, we see another islander guy and we wave and he throws us the hang loose sign and yells, "You hungry? KFC is around the corner." You have to love the love that the islanders have for the missionaries. I thought it was hilarious!

Let me tell you a story. So Elder Shearer and I walk out of the flat and I have decided that I am going to flipping shake hell today. So I am talking to everyone I see. I see these two guys on a bridge and I see Elder Shearer walking towards them so I follow. When these two guys see Elder Shearer they get all excited and say, "Boys! How you doing?" Elder Shearer then says, "Hey, Scotty!" and they start talking. I am standing there thinking these people are so nice... then it hits me. That is the same guy who was drunk as who wanted to kill Elder Vernon and who gave me a hug. It makes sense because that inccident only happened half a k from where we were. Small world!

So, the ward here is great! I have heard so much about the Doonside Ward. There are many many many islanders in it so hopefully I don't get too fat! Good thing we just take the trains and walk everywhere. I feel like the pioneer children in that primary song because we walked and walked and walked and walked and walked. I am looking forward to getting to know this ward!

As missionary work goes... it is good we have a lot in the teaching pool but not too many kingdom builders so we are working hard to find them and to help them all progress towards baptism. We have a baptismal date with a guy named Leslie but he didn't come to church so we are going to see how he is doing. The other most progressing investigator is named Paride David ( we call him David). He is from Sudan and we are really close to setting a date with him. So we will see how it all goes down. I love this work!

So I have had a lot of mixed emotions coming to this area. I left an area and companion I loved and came to an area where I honestly didn't want to go to. Funny how things work like that. But this past week as I have been standing on the train I just stop. And just think and ponder and look around at all the people on the train and just look at them. I am amazed to see how diverse this place is and how all of them need the message I share. While pondering I have just got this overwhelming feeling that this is the place! As much as said I didn't want to be here I know I do and I am ready to rock this area and find those who want this gospel! I love you all and look forward to hearing from you soon!

Love Elder Landon Brough

Toto, I Don't Think We Are In Cessnock Anymore!

Hola! Como estas, mi familia! (I did that because everyone else starts out their email in a different language). So, I guess a lot has happened this past week. Sadly, nothing with investigators. Well, we did get a new one but it is in Elder Hill's and Elder Huff's (the missionaries now in Cessnock) hands now.

So, missionaries now have a new meeting called Leadership Training Meeting and it is over a two day period and Elder Hill was invited down to it so I worked in Cessnock with Elder Roberts. He is from Canada and we worked while his companion and my companion were down in Sydney at the meeting and not much happened. We tracted a lot and the highlight of our exchange was an ice cream cone from Mackers (that's McDonalds in Aussie) For mutual that week they had some guy teach self defense so we decided to go since we live next to the government housing refered to as Sin City. It was a fun activity and I am able to take out anyone now.

Once Elder Hill came back we just did the norm of work, work, work with the highlights of going to bed! Saturday night was Brother Brian Hill's birthday and he invited us to his birthday dinner because he found out that both Elder Hill's and my birthdays are in August so we went to a nice resturant called SSS which is a wanna be Texas Roadhouse but it was nice because I got ribs out of it! What more could you ask for! But I really was not in the mood to eat because it was transfer calls that night so you could guess what I was thinking about and the call came and..... they told me to pack.... and that was it! I had no idea where I was going, which, you could guess, was eating me alive. But I packed and got ready to leave Cessnock, a ward I love so much! So the following Sunday they asked me to bear my testimony and yes, you guessed it, I bawled my eyes out! It was in those few moments that I actually realized what my service in Cessnock did for me and how much I have grown! I am so sad to go but my work is done in Cessnock. So, Sunday I said goodbye to everyone and got some pictures with them. It was cool because Ryan and Robert blessed the sacrament. That was my favorite part of Church. Robert, Aly and Ryan gave me a card and a picture of them and us at their baptism. It is my most prized possesion from Cessnock!

So, the following Monday Elder Hill and I traveled down to Sydney. We had a meeting where the Assistants read where everyone is going and I have been moved to an area called Pendle Hill, in the Doonside Ward in the Hebersham Stake/Zone. To all of you that might not seem like anything special but it happens to be the area right next to Winston Hills where I was trained, like at this instance I can look out the window and say, "Oh, I knocked on that door!" I think it is funny and actually hope I might run into people I know and of course by still being obedient, don't worry, Mom! I am also the district leader of the Blacktown District. There are three other companionships in our district and one of them is a companionship of sisters...I know! I was disappointed, too! No, I am just kidding! Calm down, Mom, I am not a sister hater! I am actually excited to work with them because it seems they know what they are doing a lot more than most of the elders and we share Doonside Ward with them so I will work real close with them... but not too close. My companion is Elder Shearer from Boston. He has just finished being trained by Elder Brooksby from Glendale, AZ. I don't know if you remember me talking about him before I left. Elder Shearer is a straight arrow kid and he knows what he is doing and I am way excited to work with him and to shake Hell in Pendle Hill.

Basically that is it from me. I am still getting settled into my new flat. Mom I have not seen a map of the Sydney Mission. But if you look in the booklet I got with my call letter it is basically in there. They just merged the North and South Missions exactly how they were. I am happy you made it to President and Sister Scruggs homecoming. And, yes, I know I have told you that they brought their children out with them.

Well, I love you heaps as I just straight up love you!

Elder Landon Brough

With Elder Hill on his way out of Cessnock to new area

With new companion in Pendle Hill, Elder Shearer from Boston

A Slow Week (and a very short email)

I am sitting here at the computer thinking, "What do I have to report on?" And I am sad to say I have nothing! Yeah, I know, disappointing but sometimes you have an off week. We have tracted and tracted and tracted and tracted and not much has surfaced. We did pick up a few potentials but we will see what happens next week.

So, Robert, Ali and Ryan are doing really good. Sadly, they missed baptisms for the dead but they came to church and I am feeling they are really enjoying it. Ryan also got the Aaronic Priesthood and will be blessing the sacrament next Sunday so I guess that was the highlight of the week.

Sorry this is so short.

Elder Brough

First Zone Conference of the Australia Sydney Mission

Good day, everyone! I am loving life down under! It has been a slow week but I still feel the spirit and am learning so much about the restored gospel! It is seriously being such an incredible experience!

So with investigators... the week was going pretty good nothing out of the ordinary. We had an appointment with the Southams on Sunday evening and as we were driving out to Branxton we get a call saying they can't do it tonight and they are probably going to have to wait a while because they are moving down the New England Highway to a town called Windella. It was kind of heartbreaking! 1) We really want to teach them because they will love the church and 2) Windella is in Maitland Ward boundaries. So it was a big bummer but I know that it is in the Lord's hands! On a brighter note, Bishop Faustini went and visited a less active family, the Emertons, and he told us that they want their children, there are three over the age of accountability, to be taught by us so that is exciting and we are working on setting up an appointment to do that so that is pretty exciting!

I read a cool scripture... Doctrine and Covenants 123:17. It is a great scripture and I feel it basically sums up what missionaries need to do.

We had our first Zone Conference as the Australia Sydney Mission! It was so good! I love President Simmons so much! He and I get along great. He always puts me in a headlock but I love it! I love how there are are so many inspired men in this world and how lucky we are to have one leading our mission! He announced the new mission curriculum, basically interviews and Zone Conferences are now quarterly. Pretty crazy. eh? I don't have another Zone conference till October. It is a little bummer but it will make Zone Conferences that much more incredible!

Last Preparation Day Elder Hill and I went to Grant Hamilton's home and finished up our didgeridoos! They are so cool and I can't wait to show you guys.

That is basically it for me. Life is good and I love this work I wouldn't want to be anywhere else! I just love being a missionary. I look forward to hearing from you next week!

Cheers!

Elder Landon Brough

(Note from Nancy: He did clarify the "taking out a tree" comment and they actually did dig up a tree, NOT hit one with their car! Whew! I was nervous, especially after the "hitting the roo" incident.)

I Really Don't Know What to Put for the Title

Oh, man! Oh, man! I love being a missionary! Even though we only have two investigators and they had to a cancel our lesson and were not able to attend church and basically all we do is talk to people on the street and tract all day and no one wants to talk to us because they all went to a Catholic school when they were younger and they were turned off by religion... but besides that it was a really good week!

Like I said, Shelly and Derren Southam cancelled their lesson with us on Sunday because they had the opportunity to take their 4 year old son down to Sydney to go to the aquarium so they did that instead. She did say she read and that she has questions so that always makes a missionary happy. We set up another appointment with them next Sunday so we will see what goes down next Sunday.

Robert, Ryan and Ali are doing really good. Yesterday Robert recieved the calling as the YSA rep for the Cessnock ward. Elder Hill and I were able to participate in the setting apart of Ali as the Young Womens secretary and Ryan finally got interviewed for the Aaronic priesthood. So they are all still progressing in the Gospel which makes a missionary who has to tract a lot more then teach really, really, really happy! They are also going to do baptisms for the dead later this month and Robert is working on getting the Melchezidek Priesthood in September. So, yeah I am a happy elder.

I was able to have my first interview with President Simmons. He is so incredible! I can't believe how inspired mission presidents can be! It is so incredible! He is so relaxed, even more then President Scruggs. I didn't think mission presidents could get anymore relaxed. But President Simmons has a special talent of connecting with the missionaries! We can go up to our ankles into the ocean! I know! Crazy, eh? Anyway, President Simmons is the man. His wife is awesome, too. As you are getting interviewed by President your companion visits with Sister Simmons. She is a very sweet lady and she makes amazing fudge brownies. She and I will get along great!


Elder Hill and I took out a tree the other day, isn't that cool? (Note from Nancy: What? We have no idea what this means and didn't get a chance to chat and ask for more clarification! Hopefully, it means they dug up a tree for someone for a service project and not that they hit one in their car! We'll find out next week.)

This past Saturday we went up to Lake Glen Bawn for an Elders Quorum activity. We fished and had a bbq. Just for everyones' information, no, they don't throw shrimps on the barbie (They call them prawns anyway). It was very fun. Robert brought some friends and they all seemed to have a good time! No one caught any fish which was sad but it was a good time had by all! They also played baseball... I know, weird! For some reason somebody brought a bat and we played. It was funny to watch some of these people swing a bat exactly how you swing a cricket bat, but we throw rugby balls like a football so it is all good. I love this ward so much, especially the Elders Quorum!

That is all that is going on down in Cessnock. I love you heaps and can't wait to see what lies ahead!

Love Elder Brough

Blankets, Didgeridoos and Leaches

So this past week we finally got new investigators! Shelly and Derren Southam! They fed us and we taught them last night and it was so incredible! First off she made a decent Mexican dish with the very weak ingredients Australia has and that was impressive itself. But it was just an incredible lesson! They asked the best questions and she talked about how much she enjoyed the elders in Texas! Also before we began the lesson, which was on the restoration, Shelly said it always made sense that there should be a prophet today because they have had them all throughout history. You should have seen the smiles Elder Hill and I exchanged. After the lesson Shelly made another comment about how out of all the churches she looked into the Mormons seemed the most true. I just love being a missionary! So we set up another appointment for next Sunday, and we committed them to read, pray and to go to church! So we will see how all that plays out!

So that was the best way to end the week. As far as missionary work went the rest of the week it was really slow! But we are trying and doing our best! We had our first district meeting as the Australia Sydney Mission, actually it was a zone meeting but it was cool to see all the Southern Missionaries. Elder Hill and I thought it would be funny if all the missionaries were from Louisiana and Mississippi and stuff but surprisingly they are just like us! we also found that we were the only pure bloods, two northern missionaries, we refer to ourselves as the Union. Just kidding. At the meeting we learned that at the begining of next year zone conferences and interviews are only going to be held quarterly each year but go over four days! Crazy, eh? So that is something to look forward to.

So Elder Hill and I went with the Young Men on a hike. They camped but we went up Friday got a ride back to our flat at night and then got a ride back to where they were to finish the hike. I am not going to lie. This country is so beautiful! We were in the Watagan National Park doing the great north walk and it was seriously so awesome!( All still in our area). It is totally different terrain then AZ. Like there were running creeks and super dense trees and vines and all that jazz. It seriously felt like we were in the jungle. IT WAS CRAZY. It was even more crazy as you were walking to hear something in the bushes just to see a wallaby hop out. I seriously love this sunburnt country! I also got attacked by a leach! That was a neat experience. I seriously loved the hike and was able to spend time with the young men!

That is all that is going down in Cessnock! The Young Mens President, Grant Hamilton, he and I are tight like unto a dish. He is teaching Elder Hill and I how to make didgeridoos. So yeah pretty sick, eh?

I love you all so much I know I am doing the Lord's work and I am so happy to be here!

Elder Landon Brough

(Note from Nancy: We were able to "chat" while Landon was online typing our letter and here is a little "conversation" between Don and Landon about the didgeridoos they are making on P-day):

Don: What's the story on the didgeridoo? It looks like you are making your own.(referring to a photo) How did you learn how to do this?

Landon: There is a member who knows how to make them so he is teaching us and he just happened to have two that needed to be made.

Don: So, you are making them for him or is this one you will get to keep?

Landon: I will be able to keep the didgeridoo. I know! Sick, eh? Another member offered to tan some kangaroo scrotums for us (to make seamless coin purses) but that requires us to cut them off dead roos on the side of the road. Elder Hill and I are still considering that and discussing it.

(Another note from Nancy: The blanket he is referring to in the title is one that Sister Tisdale, a member of the Cessnock Ward, made for him. Thank you, Sister Tisdale! It is beautiful!)

Happy Birthday, America!

It was pretty funny yesterday at church when the whole congregation tried to sing America the Beautiful. It was basically a duet of me and Elder Hill but it was all good!

So investigator wise... we have no one! Our pool is dry as! A little discouraging but Elder Hill and I are working hard and doing a lot of tracting! I actually really enjoy tracting. The only progress towards a new investigator is with Derren and Shelly Southan. That is the American lady who we tracted into. We set up a dinner appointment for this coming Sunday so hopefully everything goes well!

Ryan, Aly and Robert are doing so good! Robert is the man. He is way into science and this past week he talked to us about how much science and religion goes together. It was so cool to hear. Ryan sadly didn't go to church this week. He competed in a Call of Duty tournament for all of Australia and he got 2nd. But that still is no excuse for missing church!

But besides that nothing much happened this week. We drove up to Scone and visited some American families and lit some sparklers but that was about it.

So I have been thinking a lot lately about my mission and I have concluded that I don't understand how people can say their mission was the best two years of their lives. THIS IS HARD. But the thing I have realized is that this will be the most important two years of my life. I am learning so much!

I love you all so much! The church is true and I am happy to be able to strengthen it in Australia!

Love Elder Brough

The Australia Sydney Mission

So it is official! We are now the Australia Sydney Misson! I am still in Cessnock with Elder Hill so we are excited about that! Elder Hill and I are the only "pure blood"(both called to the north mission) companionship in the district so I am excited to meet the other missionaries and move this work along as the ASM!

So this week we had President Scruggs' last Zone Conference. It was incredible! I loved it and will miss him so much! He really didn't do anything different he didn't act different and it just seemed like a normal Zone Conference but just like any other zone conference it was led by the spirit and we all learned! It was a great experience but I am looking forward to working with President Simmons!

So looking back on the week things have really, really slowed down. No investigators, which is tough. We dropped Richard because he just was not progressing and was not willing to commit. So we are back to square one which is no fun but we are working hard!

We did have a really funny experience Sunday evening. So we were walking down Vincent Street in Downtown Cessnock when we look down this street and we see this lady laying on the ground leaning against a light pole and she is holding her chest so we go over to see if she is ok. She says she is having chest pain and she said she called an ambulance so we said we would stay with her until it came so we kept talking to her and we ended up getting her name (Julie) and address so we can drop off a Book of Mormon which was kind of funny. But a few moments later the ambulance shows up and the paramedic gets out and says...

Paramedic: Hey Julie

Julie: I have chest pains!

Paramedic: No you don't, get in

and he slides the door open and Julie gets in and they drive away.

I don't know about you but I thought it was hilarious. You got to love being a missionary!

I love you heaps and miss you heaps. Can't wait till next week!

Elder Landon Brough

Go, Roaches!

That is awesome to hear about Nathan and Dallas! I am anxious to hear where Ryan is going too! I love to hear friends get calls!

Well, it was a really really good week! I love this work. So let me break it down for you.

Wednesday night we were given permission to watch T.V. Yes, you heard right... to watch T.V! Half way through the footy season they have a thing called State of Origin and they take professional players who started their junior footy league career in either Queensland or New South Wales and they play against each other in a best of three series. The teams are called the Queensland Cane Toads and the New South Wales Roaches (they are also called the Blues). It was so weird/cool to watch it, though. It is one crazy sport! But I love it! We went to the ward mission leader's home to watch. Sadly, New South Wales got thrashed! Queensland has won the past 5 years and they seriously destroyed us! It was sad but it was fun to watch! Just like in America, beer commercials here are hilarious! You should look one up on YouTube. Look up "Tooheys New Leak". Hopefully, you all won't think less of me but if you really love me you won't judge me!

Well finding went really well this week! We found a new investigator! Yeah, I know it doesn't sound like much but we here in Cessnock think it is cool. We found Simon tracting and he is way into science and will be a tough egg to crack but he said he would read and pray and he said the closing prayer. We set up an appointment for next Sunday so hopefully all goes well! A little bit down the same street we ran into Shelly. We talked to her and she did not sound Aussie! So we asked where she was from and she told us Texas. She was super nice! She was telling us how she was just about to Facebook her cousin to tell her that she found the Mormon missionaries! We later found out that her cousins are members and she knew a lot about the church, too. She took all the lessons and said she learned so much and that she didn't join because she just converted to Catholicism. she gave us her phone number and told us to keep in touch and she would set us up with a feed and that she would love for her husband to take the lessons. It was a neat experience and then as we walked away a bunch of kids started to chuck dirt clods at us but besides that it was an awesome experience!

Ryan, Ali and Robert are doing great! I love them and can't wait for you(Mum and Dad) to meet them. Robert brought his dad to church and said to move slowly with him and if you do that he should be alright. Robert is the man and is such a good missionary. He keeps talking about his mission It is neat! Richard was not able to attend church but we had an awesome lesson with him about the Plan of Salvation. He came out with his concern, faith, so good thing the next lesson is The Gospel of Jesus Christ!

That is what is going down in Cessnock! The last zone conference is this week so "it is a bitter sweet feeling that will never go away but you are not the one dealing the cards you can't play". Name that song? I am excited for it, though, and I know it will be a powerful one. Transfers will then be the week after and then we will go back to the six week deal. President said not much will happen this transfer so most likly I will be here until mid August but there are no guarantees!

I love you all so much and pray all is well with you all. Keep in touch and I can't wait till next week!

Cheers,
Elder Landon Brough