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