What We Are Doing is Jesusness!

I love you and miss you. It is tough right now being the missionary because I don’t really know what is going on so sometimes my thoughts turn back to home and I wonder what is going on there but this letter was amazing. Nathan is going to Brazil!!! I will be honest that is the last place I expected him to go same with Kevin I didn’t see California coming but that is awesome and I am excited for both of them and I would give anything to go through the temple with them! So dad prison sounds intense how often will you go there? (He is referring to a prison ministry program that Don participated in with some members of our stake, just in case you thought Don might have served some jail time!) Mom I love you so much and I miss your cooking I am tired of Rasin Bran for breakfast and Peanut butter and jam sandwiches for lunch. But my clothes are not fitting, the good way they are not as snug as they used to be. Jordan and Zach thanks for the emails I will try to write you back but I doubt I will get to it. Dalton and Caleb I love you and read your scriptures!!!!

(The following is him answering the questions we asked):

* I am about a half hour from Sydney. Some times while riding our bikes and we are on a hill I can see downtown Sydney on the horizon it is way cool.
* We have a car but we only can use 1000 kilometres a month
* I am riding my bike which is used but I have not paid for it because I still have to work all the details out with President.
* The ward is great! There is about 150 members and all the other Elders say this is the best missionary ward.
* The medicine was beautiful! (Referring to the Dramamine we sent him for the plane ride)
* The flat is way nice. I took a video tour of it the other day. Zach is going to think we are spoiled. Three bedrooms 2.5 baths, microwave, toaster tea kettle, rice cooker. We have a nice set up. It is just me and Elder Vernon
* The trailer was not tagged anymore. (Referring to a mission trailer they use to transport the missionaries luggage.)
* I can email family and other missionaries
* No sisters in my district but who needs sisters, just kidding I am not a sister hater.
* Don’t remember where E. Brocksby went. (an elder from Phoenix that went into the MTC the same day as Landon)

I love you and please always write your questions like you did in this email.(We have found that the best way to get him to answer all our questions is to list them and bold them.)

So this week was tough, lots of rejection, I really hope my mission is not preparing me for finding a wife and it is preparing me for rejection. We had to drop a ton of investigators, and right now we don’t have a ton but yesterday we prayed like there was no tomorrow and we have a few potential so please pray for us. We visited Telly again, it is funny we saw his face on a real estate sign, he is a realtor and when I saw it it gave me a good laugh! When we saw him he seemed interested but he wants his wife there so we are going to call him this week and see what's up. We also stopped by Chloe’s, we gave her a Book of Mormon Stories and she has read a quarter of it. She also has permission to learn and her mom might be interested. While we were talking to her she said her mom was wondering if we knew if her husband would live again. We both were yeah we do. But we will have to see what happens our next visit because we have not talked to her mom in person yet so pray that the spirit will touch her heart. There are also two girls from a part member family who are about to set a baptismal date. They are Maori, Te Atawhie, pronounced te atafie and Teramedia they will hopefully be baptized by the end of the year.

So we had an intense experience. We were about to start tracting when this guy who we talked to the other day rolls up on a bike. He starts talking to us but we cant understand him because he is mumbling, he then starts getting really mad especially Elder Vernon he is using a very colourful vocabulary and he pushes Elder Vernon a little he then trys to take his badge and Elder Vernon jumps in the car so here I am with a super mad shirtless man he then turns to me and points his finger in my face and says but I like you and he gives me a hug. At this point I realize he is drunk as! So here I am hugging a drunk, shirtless man in the middle of Australia! So to get out of the situation I start agreeing with him and saying Elder Vernon was being stupid and he wasn’t thinking and all this stuff after that he gives me another hug and rolls off on his bike. I thought it was hilarious. Elder Vernon said it will not be my last run in with a drunk because Australia is built on beer.

Also another cool experience I think at least. I street contacted a guy and he was not interested but he really liked what we were doing and used the word Jesusness. I laughed at it at first but it is true in a way what missionaries do is very Jesusness because if Jesus was here he would be doing what we are doing. Because the sick need a physician not the healthy, right? I don’t know, I thought it was cool.

Thank you to those who wrote I received Morgan’s, Meredith’s and Ariel’s letters. You have no Idea what a letter is like for a missionary like a cat and cat nip! It takes a little over a week to get here just so you know. But thanks a million. I will try to write back as soon as I can but the preperation days in December end at one so it will be tough to find time, but don't give up hope I have not forgotten your letter!

Congrats to Nathan Askins and Kevin Jones on your calls! I love you both and I have been thinking about you two this past week. I know you will do well and shake hell.

So some random cool things about Australia.
• There are a million kinds of birds you have pigeons and sparrows but also Kacatos, and parrots and a heap more. They are super noisy and everywhere! I proposed that we play bird bingo while tracting, Elder Vernon just laughed. But thought it was a great idea.
• At 8:00 bats fill the sky, hundreds of them, but it is only for a few minutes. I am talking BATS! Like take a cat and throw wings on it and there you go they are huge!!!
• It is so hot here and humid. But what is weird is that it will be hot and humid one day and then cold the next. It is crazy, almost like a girl and her moods! What a lame joke!

I can also email other missionaries and I am looking for elder Joshua Smith's and Elder Mitch Janda's email addresses so if you have them could you get them to my parents. Thanks a ton.

Well I love you all amiss you a ton. Please send me a line I would love to hear how you are doing!

Elder Landon Brough

Photos:
A funny sign (This is for you, Rake!)
In flat
Attempt to take photo of bats (you can kind of see them)
In flat with Elder Vernon
On bike on Bevan Street (Aly, we'll get you a copy of this)
Walking stick