A Post from Nancy

Dear Family and Friends,

I'm sure that by now most of you know that Landon returned home from his mission on March 8,2011 for medical reasons. He has suffered with anxiety and depression basically his whole mission and it was time for him to get back home and get the further medical attention he needs to manage this. We are happy to have him back and through much prayer and fasting we know that this is the right thing. We are eternally grateful for a mission president and his wife who we know were hand picked to be in Landon's life as this issue in his life came to light. We will be sharing a series of emails (as posts) between Landon's "mission mom" and myself after it was decided that he would be returning home. Thank you all for your love and support for Landon. Please continue to keep him in your prayers as we try to get this all figured out.

Love,
Nancy

Joyful Reunion

Pictures coming as soon as I can figure out how to get them over here!

Good and Faithful

"Good and Faithful" was the the subject title of this email sent to us by Sister Diane Simmons, the wife of Landon's mission president, President Jeff Simmons. We received it on March 4, 2011, the morning after it was decided that he would be returning home after serving 17 months. She sent some pictures that I will hopefully be able to post as well but if I can't they are just some pictures of his totally trashed shoes.

Dear Broughs,

I took this picture of Elder Broughs shoes while he was on the phone to you tonight. I saw these and teared up. This says it all. This picture represents a boy who gave every last ounce that he had to give. He gave it all. He was in so much pain- but walked through it anyway.

I feel like I took a picture of something sacred.

What relief came over him when he got the special confirmation that only the Lord could give him---that his sacrifice was accepted. I wish that you could have heard the exchange between Elder Brough and Dr. Richard Ferre....and the power of the spirit to confirm the TRUTH. He needed that witness...before he came home. You can't tell me that God does not know His child.

Elder Brough is a mighty and great soul. I honor his sacrifice, his courage, his wonderful tender heart. I don't even have the words that go wide enough or deep enough to tell you just how much I honor and love this great young man and what he has done. Maybe someday he can see and feel how much he was loved by every single person that crossed his path. I hope so. I hope that joy will come very soon. I miss him so much already. I love, love love, my Elder Brough. There just are never enough words to express what is in my heart.

President and I are so blessed to have been able to walk just a little of life's journey with your beautiful son.

Love,
Sister Diane Simmons

This is my response to Sister Simmons:

Dear Sister Simmons,

Thank you so much for your beautiful words of love for Elder Brough. We can never thank you enough for all that you and President have done for our son and us. We KNOW that you two were handpicked to be Landon's mission president and wife. Your compassion, understanding, patience and inspiration through all of this is remarkable and something that we are eternally grateful for.

After we talked to Landon last Sunday and then to President I just had a pit in my stomach and neither of us slept a wink on Sunday night. On Monday I just wanted to curl up in a ball and not do anything. I just kept thinking that Landon's pain each day was probably ten times worse than what I was feeling and couldn't bear the thought of him having to feel like that for 7 more months. I really felt like he had given his all up to this point and that we just needed to get our boy back and take care of him and his issues. I prayed that if this anquish and turmoil that he has endured could not be lifted that he could somehow be at peace with coming home and getting additional medical help. I prayed that he could know that he had persevered and never given up. My friend and I spend Tuesdays in the temple - an endowment session in the morning and then a five hour shift in the baptistry. I was worried that I was going to be a wreck that day, but after a decent nights sleep and pleading with Heavenly Father for Landon, I woke up very rested and calm and was able to go through my day at the temple. When I got home Don told me about his conversation with you and the upcoming visit with Dr. Ferre. I knew that this was an answer to our prayers and that even though I didn't know what the outcome would be that the right decision for Landon would be made. We know that this is the right thing for him. We pray that we can continue to be guided as we search for help for Landon.

May the Lord bless you and President Simmons as you lead the missionaries of the Australia Sydney Mission. Our prayers continue to go to you all as you share the blessings of the restored gospel with our brothers and sisters in Australia. We love you and President Simmons!

Love,
Nancy

P.S. Thank you for the sweet pictures of his shoes!

Then we received the following back from Sister Simmons:

Dear Don and Nancy,

This was an answer to prayer- for all of us. The spirit told me to call Dr. Ferre. I did.

Through the spirit, Dr. Ferre delivered a message straight from God. It was powerful.
The Lord saw Elder Broughs sacrifice as VICTORY- not defeat. Elder Brough had to hear and get that message into his spiritual DNA, BEFORE he left the mission. The only way a message like that is absorbed into the DNA and every fiber of your being- is through the spirit.
That is what took place.

It was a beautiful thing to witness.

One of the things that spoke to Elder Brough was the story of Abraham and Issac.
Abraham answered the call that the Lord gave him, to sacrifice his only son.
But God didn't intend Abraham to kill Issac to complete the sacrifice, as Abraham understood it. God provided a ram in the thicket. But Abraham, BEING WILLING, to answer God's call--was enough. That is what God was looking for. Abraham passed with flying colors.

Elder Brough passed with flying colors. He was willing in the end of his mission, to completely sacrifice HIMSELF--God did not want that. That was never the plan.
He wants Elder Brough to go home now and heal, and know that his sacrifice was more than enough. I am convinced that the God accepted Landon's sacrifice with tears in his eyes. It was MORE than enough!

Elder Brough knows that way down deep in his soul right now.

I love the way the spirit works. God used Dr. Richard Ferre, one of HIS BEST angels here on Earth, to help Elder Landon Brough know THE TRUTH. The message was delivered by the Holy Spirit. The message was recieved by the Holy Spirit. All of our prayers were answered the way God Himself intended. And that, is the way God works.

....."and then, may we stand still, with the utmost assurance, to see the salvation of God, and for His arm to be revealed."

His arm has been revealed....and it is a beautiful thing to witness, isn't it?
God is the best Father, isn't He? I thank Him for letting me watch His hand unfold in Elder Brough's mission life. I have seen miracle after miracle, and besides my own personal ones, this one has been the sweetest.

I love you all. Especially "MY Elder Brough."

Love,
Sister Diane Simmons

These sweet messages from Sister Simmons truly sustained us as we prepared for Landon's return. Stay tuned for pictures of our joyful reunion with Landon.

One Good Week

Sorry, Family! This is going to be really quick but hopefully really good. The district is going to Taranga Zoo. So miracles happened this week. First off Zheng Haw from China. We GQ'd him last week and I called him and when I talked to him he was yeah I will meet you in a half an hour so we got ready and I was saying to myself we are going to be late but as we walked out of our building the zone leaders were there with their car so they gave us a ride. At this point I realized we forgot the Chinese Book of Mormon but we go and teach a powerful lesson with him and we set a soft baptismal date with him and then it just so happened that the fellowshipper we brought had a Chinese Book of Mormon in her bag so the whole experience was a miracle and we look forward to working with him. Next Yasmin from Vitoria Brazil. We GQ'd her on a bus and she said we could teach her right then so we got off the bus and taught her at the bus stop. She said an incredible prayer and she came to church. When she showed up to church the YSA swarmed her and now she is going to the YSA dance this week. Yasmin has a lot of potential and we are excited to work with her. Lastly the Tuma family. They are Australian and so cool, kind of hippies, too. We knocked on the door and the first thing he said to me is you are American and referring to my gut he said, "You are polluting yourself and the world." and I was like, "What?" then he laughed and said just kidding then he invited us to have an organic dinner with and we made them new investigators. It was a way good week. I felt the love of God every day. I love you all so much and pray all is well! Elder Brough

Elder Neilson of the Seventy

Wow, I am exhausted! I don't even know how to explain it. This past week has been so trying spiritually, physically, emotionally and mentally but things worked out in the end! So nothing happened from Monday to Friday, everything we planned fell through and it was very discouraging for both me and Elder Lasalosi. Like nothing worked out during the week like I can't even exagerate something that happened to make it sound cool. The first part of the week was just lame and really discouraging. I am sad to report it but it is the truth! I went on an exchange with one of the Zone Leaders, Elder Branco from Salvador, Brazil. He was born in Brazil and when he was younger he moved to Philedelphia where his family found the church then a few years ago he moved to Brisbane and now he is my zone leader and we had a long hot day of knocking doors talking to people in the street with no success. Even the members were kind of lame like it was the first time in my mission where I showed up to a Tongans house and was not invited in and given a feast of KFC. So it was a good exchange and I learned a lot but it was just a difficult day. The past few days were pretty intense I must say. So Saturday morning I learn that Elder Lasalosi and Elder Monson are getting emergency transfered. Elder Lasalosi to a place called Ourimbah in the Central Coast and Elder Monson to Summer Hill in the city. So that lead to me and Elder Stoddard becoming companions. Elder Stoddard is the man and I am stoked out of my fetching mind to work with him. He is hilarious and is a fetching good missionary. He has only been out seven months. He has spent five months here in the Harbord ward and two in the Colorado Springs mission while he waited for his visa. To describe him he is a firecracker, so full of energy and ready to do anything. It is difficult for me to keep up with him but it keeps me so more motivated and focused. He is from Murray, Utah. Both his parents past away in a car crash when he was 15 so he lived with his older brother till he came on his mission. But you just know he has a testimony of this gospel and we are going to do work here. At the moment we cover two wards - Manly and Harbord Wards so we have our hands full but I am excited for it! I am still figuring out the investigators but we have quite a pool of investigators and it is just going to be awesome! Sydney's stakes got changed yesterday. I am no longer in the Greenwich Stake. I am now in the newly formed Harbour Stake. Basically the City of Sydney and the Northern Beaches. Basically everything cool about Sydney in one stake. So the zones are all going to be changed so we will be waiting to see what happens. Well that's about it. Everything is good for now and I love you heaps! Till next week. Elder Landon Brough

(Note from Nancy: He never explained the subject title of this email in the email but we are thinking that this Elder Neilson of the Seventy must have been who came to reorganize the Sydney Stakes?)

Summer is Here And I Can Feel It!!

Holy moly! It is fetching hot! I honestly don't think I have stopped sweating since I have gotten to Manly! I like it though. It makes me feel like I am working really really hard! Don't think that I am not. I am working fetching hard! I have never felt more like a missionary than in the past week! This past week nothing has really stuck out to me but it was one of the best week weeks ever! I felt every night I deserved my pillow.

From Monday to Saturday afternoon I was in a three-way with Elder Stoddard and Elder Monson while Elder Lasalosi recuperated. It was so much fun and we did so much work and we were able to see miracles in both of our areas. The highlight I would say is when we made Robert Rush a new investigator. First off let me take you back to last Sunday. Me, Elder Stoddard and Elder Monson were walking through a park and we were smashing it. Anyone that came into sight we were talking to. I see this old man about 70 or 80 sitting on a bench so I walk over to him and sit down and begin talking to him. I find out his name is Robert and he is from Lithuania but once he finds out that I am teaching about God he is not interested. So I give him a card and walk away. A few moments later I turn around and see him waving at me to come over. So I do and he asks to have the address to the church so we give it to him. He then starts talking about being alone and he said a very short powerful statement of truth which I will honestly never forget. He said loneliness is not being alone it is not being wanted.... it struck me deep! So we talked a little bit and he ended up giving me his address and told us that we could come around sometime. Ok so fast forward to Tuesday of this week. We have a lesson set up with two Brazilians so we get two YSA in the ward to come help fellowship and we go to the lesson and it falls through so I look at the YSA and say do you want to go try some potentials with me and they say yeah. So we walk down the street a little to a potential investigators flat and he was not there, either. I realize though that it is the same complex that Robert lives in so I say let's stop by but once I look at the address my heart sinks because I realize I must have written the address down wrong because the complex doesn't even have that many units so I walk away bummed. Elder Stoddard says, "Why don't you flip the numbers?" I think that might work and it won't hurt anything so instead of going to unit 5 in complex 1 we go to unit 1 of complex 5 and sure enough it is Robert's and he was more than happy to see us. It was so good. We sat down with him and talked a bit and this man has seen a lot. He fought in World War II and he says it is hard for him to believe in God. But you can feel God's love for Robert. I know Robert is not alone! I love how God works and how things always seem to work out. That was definitely the highlight of the week when it comes to missionary work.
Ross is doing really good as well. He came to church in a full suit and seemed to really enjoy it. So that was good.

I realized how much I miss my mother! Mom, I love you! The day I got Elder Lasalosi back I woke up in the middle of the night with stomach cramps and all I wanted to do was yell out, "Mom"! And after a few minutes Mom would walk in and rub my belly a little bit and say something real sweet and it would all be over... well it didn't happen and I didn't really want Elder Lasalosi to rub my belly. So I slept it off and woke up and felt terrible. So I called Sister Simmons and she said, "You're going to the doctor." But the only doctor we could get to was in the hospital so Sunday morning I went to the hospital with Sister Simmons and found out I had a bug and that time will heal it. So I went back to the flat and rested. Don't worry, Mom! All is well now! It was a funny little experience! Well, I love you all. The Church is true and I pray everything is going well on the home front! Love, Elder Brough

Note from Nancy: We "chatted" with Landon for a little while and I asked him how Elder Lasalosi was doing and this is what he said:

He is good. His feet are bruised but he is doing good! I love him to death. I asked him to give me a blessing last night and he was in normal clothes and within a few minutes he was in a white shirt and tie and the more dressier skirt thing (note from Nancy: I think they are called t'avalas or something like that, they are the Tongan version of the Hawaiian lava lavas) and he gave me the blessing in Tongan and I don't know what he said but the spirit was there and I have not had a problem since.

No!!! Don't Jump!

Well, another week has come and gone and here we are again! My first week has been interesting but way good! So Manly is pretty bomb I will not lie. It is so beautiful! I love hearing the ocean and being able to see it. It is cool. We are not allowed to work on the beach for right now because it is summer and nobody here wears clothes but we can get pretty close to it. We don't have much going on when it comes to missionary work, sadly, so basically all day we ride our bikes around looking for people to teach. And fetching dingos mate it is hot! I don't think I have stopped sweating since I have gotten here so that really stinks, both figuratively and literally! But I am really loving it! I just love having the focus of finding, teaching and baptizing people and not having to focus on getting this missionary's water heater fixed and all that other stuff. It is good to be back in the field! So this past week was Australia Day! God Bless Australia... that really doesn't have the same ring to it but anyway, it is basically the equivalent to the Fourth of July here. So it is just another excuse for everyone to get drunk! I love Australia! The ward had an activity the morning of so Elder Lasalosi and I went to it. It was a little weird because I didn't know anyone but it didn't take long to get warmed up to them. I love this ward! 80% Tongan so you can feel the love! We played cricket and touch and it was way fun! Somebody kicked a rugby ball into a palm tree and it was really fun because all the Tongans got around it looking at the tree saying stuff in Tongan and before I knew it they were climbing up this palm tree! Good on them, they did all grow up in Tonga so I am sure they all learned how at some point. It was a really good activity and I am so looking forward to getting to know this ward. We moved flats this week so for about two days Elder Lasalosi, me, Elder McConkie, Elder Branco (Zone Leaders) and Elder Hansen and Elder Willoughby (He replaced me) helped us move the flat and get it all cleaned up. The new flat is sweet! I am glad I got to move into it. Anyway, there is a very very funny story about us moving. As we were moving furniture up to our flat I see Elder Lasalosi standing on the balcony looking down and I said jokingly, "Don't you jump, Elder Lasalosi!" and before I could finish saying that he had already hurled himself over the rail! So we ran down to see if he was ok. To make a long story short he bruised his feet really really bad so he can't walk. So as of right now he is with the office missionaries and I am working with the elders in Harbord Ward. The ward that we share a building with. Anyway, so we were later talking to him and we asked him why he jumped, because we were flabergasted on why he did it. He said embarrassed and in a broken tongan accent, "I wanted to show off." Boy did his plan back fire. It was funny though. He should be back in the next couple of days. So now I am working with Elder Stoddard (Murray, Utah) and Elder Monson(Rhode Island) and no he is no relation. We just work the two areas on bike so it is pretty sick. We have seen heaps of miracles, too. I love it. Church was long because I had to go to both wards and I didn't even know anyone but it was still good and you can really feel the love! As for missionary work, we have one investigator named Ross. He has a huge desire to learn and he keeps saying he has a strong feeling tolook deeper and deeper into the church. So hopefully we can help fuel the fire and get him baptized. He has had a very interesting life but he needs the gospel I can tell you that.! Well that was the week. Things are good and I love you all so! Elder Brough

Sun, Surf and Sand ( and I am in a tie, shirt and slacks on a bike...I love my job!)‏

Free at last! Free at last! God almighty, I am free at last! Those words have been running through my mind quite a bit in the past 48 hours! It feels so good to be out of the office and back on the front line again. I won't lie. I am sad to have to leave because I have learned so much there and became close to a lot of people but I seriously needed to get out of there because I was going stir crazy. I am thankful for my time and the opportunity I had to serve in the office but I am thankful as well to be in Manly.

First off I need to repent and just say thank you to everyone who has sent me a little bit of holiday cheer. I really do appreciate it whether it be from family or friends. Knowing you are not forgotten at home means the world to an overweight, sun burnt, tired elder. I love you all so much and I honestly can't express my gratitude for every ones support! Now that I will actually get Preparation Days I will be able to reply and show my gratitude a little bit more personally. Thank you all again!

The mission had a killer week last week. We had 22 baptisms last week. Now I know all of you who have served in South America would say that is a really bad week but it was a miracle! That is about how many we get in a month! So the mission is on fire right now. Our goal is 111 by April 1st and we are already at 46. Crazy! I just love how inspired goals plus diligent work equals heavens help!

So here I am in Manly! Name suits me, eh? :) Manly is an area coveted by many and I am lucky enough to be here. We live about a 15 minute bike ride from Manly beach. I think that is way cool. We were riding the bikes yesterday and I looked down a street right to the ocean. I won't lie. It is pretty legit! The ward is about 80% Tongan and I have heard a lot about it. Elder Colton Dana served here and he actually trained Elder Hill here, my companion in Cessnock. So I have heard the good and the bad but I am seriously so excited to be here! They baptised the only investigator for the ward last Saturday so we are back to square one but I am excited to be here anyway!

I am also the district leader in the Northern Beaches District. There are four companionships. The Zone Leaders, Elder McConkie -yes, he is his grandson, and Elder Branco from Brazil. They are in Harbord Ward and they share the ward with Elder Stoddard from Utah and Elder Monson-no he is not related and he is from Rhode Island. He is also called Spanish speaking. They are all way cool and I am excited I get to serve with them. There is also a senior couple in my district, the Lambarths. They are from St. George, Utah and they are in the Greenwich Ward. We don't do much with them but I guess they are cool, too. But that is the district and I look forward to working and learning from them.

Now to my new companion, Elder Lasalosi, from the Kingdom of Tonga! He is a riot. He is a big man! So if I am to be mugged or jumped on my mission I hope it is now because I think he and I could put up a good fight. He has been in Manly for 3 transfers and has been on his mission for 7 months. He is excited to be here which always makes me happy and he is on cloud nine because he had his first baptism last week so I think that is pretty cool! I love him already and I am looking forward to this transfer with him.

My experience in Manly has been pretty awesome. Yesterday I arrived here and I honestly was a little nervous because I didn't know what to do. So we fixed the flat tyre on the bike and for four hours we did my favorite kind of finding - Bike GQing. I love it because you just ride up and down the street and if you see someone you talk to them and plus your bike is your loyal steed so you just look legit riding around. Well since Manly has no investigators we started searching and we set a goal to find 5 potential investigators or basically get five numbers or addresses. So for the first hour we got nothing and I was getting discouraged but I knew they were out there and they were. We found one from India two from England and one from France and we were really feeling good, but it was getting late and we still needed one more to reach our goal and at this point, I am embarrassed to say I lost my companion so for about 10 minutes I frantically searched for Elder Lasalosi and I found him talking to a man on a moped. Elder Lasalosi told me he handed a lady a card and she looked at it and threw it on the ground. So he went to go pick it up off the ground when he heard a guy yelling, "Hey, young man! Come here". He saw this guy on a moped and he went and talked to him and the guy on the moped, which we now know is named Ross, said he has heard we teach about how Christ appeared in the Americas and how just recently that was making sense to him and then he saw the Mormon missionaries. It was way cool and I love how God will show us that He lives as long as we do what He asks of us. I love this church and I love being here!

I love you all and I hope all is well in the USA. Till next week.

Elder Landon Brough

Floods + Queensland = Elder Neil L. Andersen

Holy Moly Mates! It has been a good week! A fetching good week! So good you probably won't even believe me! First off I want to say I love you all oh so much and miss you heaps! Especially since this past week Jordan was sealed in a temple of God by priesthood authority for time and all eternity to a fetching beautiful woman! Good on you Jordan and congrats! I totally wish I could have been there but I was too busy driving around New South Wales but it is all good! I just love mission life. I will just make sure all my brothers will be home for my wedding. So that gives me a month or two to find, court, win over and marry someone before Dalton leaves for his mission. Consider it done! Anywho, let's get to the week.

So Monday Elder Hansen and I began the last leg of our mission tour. We were doing the south half of the mission which consists of the Canberra and South Coast Zones and man does this country have some beautiful scenery! The first day it took us about three hours to get down to Canberra where we checked out the flats and saw what Canberra had to offer. Canberra is no D.C. but it is still way cool and probably one of the only cities in Australia that was actually planned so it is not a headache to drive around but anyway, we saw the Parliament Building, Telstra Tower and the War Memorial Building. It was pretty legit! We did make the mistake of parking in the parking garage and on our return to the car we found that the garage had been closed and locked up so we frantically ran around the place until we found a security guard who helped us out. It gave us a scare but it all worked out. The next day we took a three hour drive down to a small coastal town called Merimbula. Holy cow this place is beautiful. I loved it and due to scheduling conflicts with some of the other missionaries we got to spend the night down there so it was fun to spend some time down there. The next day we just drove and drove and drove. Since we were one day behind we tried to make it as far north as possible so we hit up Narooma, Ulladulla, Nowra and we made it to Dapto where we ended up staying the night. The next day we finished up the South Coast and made it home. That was when we found out the big surprise...

How was that cliff hanger?

Elder Neil L. Andersen was scheduled to visit the Melbourne and Brisbane missions but due to the flooding that is going on he had to make a change in plans so with a little more than two days notice we found out an apostle was coming to our mission. So within 48 hours we had 176 missionaries gathered to hear the council of an apostle, that is 22 shy of getting the whole mission together. It was such a wonderful meeting and it had a great spirit. I know he was called of God. It was a quick yet powerful meeting and I am so thankful to have been able to listen to him! Elder Andersen, Elder Callister, Elder Vinson and Bishop Edgeley were there and it was so cool! I really loved it.

That was basically my week. Transfers are this week and I am 100.1% sure that I am out of here! I am going to a place called Manly, one of the most touristy places in Sydney so I guess that is cool but I am stoked I get to go back out to the field. I am sad to leave the office. I can't lie about that. It has many perks. I get to go anywhere in the mission, know all the missionaries, get to hang out with President and Sister Simmon. I get a personal phone with texting. I have a fetching office and I drive a diesel van. But there is nothing like getting on a bike and riding up and down your area hunting for those elect. I am so excited to chase people down look them in the eye with sweat pouring down my face panting and say you are a child of God and he has a plan for you and everything that is unfair about life can be made right! Just to have them shut me down and then I go and do it all over again. Goody! I am excited!

I love you all so much! It is true Australia is hot but a great place to be right now! Till next week.

Elder Landon Brough- Grunt Missionary!

Give Them Heaven 111, Dream Big!

Oh, my dear beloved family, oh, how I miss you all so much and am just so excited for the fact that my brother will be getting sealed for time and all eternity this week. Good on you, Jo Jo! I am so proud of you! So this email will be coming a bit early, but I am still expecting a letter tomorrow!!! A good one as well! The reason why this is coming early is because Elder Hansen and I are embarking on another road trip but this time we are going down south. We will be going to Canberra, Merimbula(which is the farthest south) and then up the south coast to Narooma, Nowra, Ulladulla and Wollongong. So I am pretty excited for it. It is way fun to be able to see the mission but I will be honest it is way exhausting! Luckily this is the last road trip we will take for a long while!

So this week has been pretty exciting but nothing too exciting but another week is over and done with and I will be honest it is going too fast but I am loving every moment of it! Elder Hansen and I have been spending a lot of time in the office and driving around the city which is really not that exciting. We are still working on de junking the mission so we are getting all the rubbish in the flats and on that note I am going to boast. I have gotten really good at backing up a trailer, like really good. If you could have only seen how horrible I was four months ago when I started in the office. I have a testimony of practice and mistakes makes perfect. Sorry about that tangent but that is what we have been doing. Also heaps of silly office things like kilometer reports and figuring out how many kilometers each area gets and doing car accidents reports and things like that so yeah you will all agree that I had just such an exciting week!

So since I was having such an exciting week as you can tell, I was just yearning to do missionary work. So I was talking to my very good friend Elder Modlik how I just miss doing missionary work because the rest of what I was doing was driving around dropping mattresses off to missionaries all over Sydney. Right then Elder Modlik says lets go on an exchange so I went with Elder Modlik and Elder Hansen went with Elder Gee. Elder Modlik and I went down to Blacktown which is my old area and the assistants new area. Elder Modlik was talking about how they have nothing going on in their area so we are going to find 16 potential investigators today so we grabbed the bikes, said a prayer and just started riding around talking to everyone we see. Five hours later all sweaty, dehydrated and probably a bit stinky Elder Modlik and I received the 21st phone number and address. And I won't lie it felt good! Now I don't know if a baptism will come from those 21 potential investigators but maybe some will but I will tell you it just feels so good to talk to complete strangers about the restored gospel and realizing once again how much the world needs this message! I just loved it and I will always remember the lesson I learned from Elder Modlik when it comes to goals. He always talks about how Inspired Goals plus Diligence equals Heavens Help and I realized how real that is this past week! I just love it!

So the reason why the subject is give them Heaven 111, Dream Big is that this is a slogan for our goal for baptisms by April 1st. Our last goal was "Strive for 105" and that was from October to December but we missed our goal by 3 so we got 102 but we have 50 dates for January which is way good for us. We also have a goal for every companionship to baptize in March so it will be an exciting few months!

So I changed a car battery this past week. So yeah, I felt like the man! Just kidding! It scared me to fetching death! It sparked a few times but I can say that the car is still running and those missionaries are still alive.

We received a tender mercy this week. God lives! So the past few weeks have been very busy with things and we really have not been able to do anything in our area so Sunday comes around and we have 0 all across the board. We didn't even have a feed for that night so things were looking bleak. Then Sister Webster approaches me and asks are you coming to dinner tonight and I immediatly jump at the offer! So we show up at Websters and after dinner the Websters less active daughter and her nonmember husband walk in. I have seen them a few times so we are all pretty good. So I am thinking here we go. Here is our chance so we teach a lesson on the restoration and then ask him, Chad, "Do you want to learn more?" and he says, "Yeah, what are you doing next week?" Boom baby!!!! I just love how when you are doing your best and you basically just show up to the things you need to do the Lord blesses you. I love this church and all the things that come along with this gospel. The church is true. There is not a doubt in my mind!

I love you all so much I am so excited for you to type a letter and email it to me by 2 your time so I can print it off and read it on the way down to Canberra. Have a great week. I pray the wedding goes well and is a wonderful spiritual experience. Love you heaps!

Cheers,
Elder Landon Brough

Fetching Dingos Mate, it is 2011!!!!!!!!‏

Two years ago I remember sitting in the Janda home greeting 2009 with open arms and saying to myself, "This is going to be an awesome year because I go on my mission!" WOW!!!! Time just flies and I can't believe it is already 2011. Blows my mind! I have loved the past year though there has been so many ups and downs but I have learned so much and have loved every minute of it!

So I have looked back on the past few weeks emails and I have come to the conclusion that they have been very very weak. So I am going to try to catch you up on the past few weeks. So three weeks ago Elder Hansen and I began to dejunk the mission by going to each flat and just taking all the rubbish that was in the flat and taking it to the tip (dump). We began with the Northern half of the mission with Newcastle Zone and Coffs Harbour Zones. So we began our road trip and did most of Newcastle and finished up in Cessnock where we were able to have a dinner with Bishop Faustini and his family as well as Robert, Aly and Ryan which was so good. I love them all so much and I am so happy I have gotten to know them! It does kill me a bit to see Ryan and Ali not going to church but they do have their free agency and it is ultimately up to them. We then spent the night in Cessnock which was was fun! We then began our journey to Tamworth which was a good three hours away where we saw the largest guitar statue in Australia, what a claim to fame! we then made the hour trip to Armidale where we spent the night. Armidale was where Elder Hansen saw kangaroos in the wild for the first time so that was pretty cool. The next day was probably the best of the road trip. We traveled from Armidale to Coffs Harbour and it is the most beautiful scenery I have ever seen in my life. They called the region New England and I understand why. Picture miles and miles of green, rolling hills with rows of trees which distinguish the different fields. Holy moly! I had never seen anything like it! Along the way they had a few waterfalls a few k's off the highway so since we were ahead of schedule we decided to check them out and they were just beautiful! I loved it. As we were leaving one of them I saw a couple kind of eye balling us so I said hey and they said hello Elders . They ended up being members from Tasmania heading up to Brisbane and they decided to stop and check out the waterfalls as well. We had a nice chat with them and they told us that the last thing they were expecting to see out in the bush were two missionaries, but what ever we were doing business. After the rolling hills and waterfalls the scenery completely changed and we were then driving down a narrow road on a steep mountainside with lush forest all around us, it was truly incredible and it was quite a drive from Armidale to Coffs Harbour. We finally made it to Coffs Harbour where we met up with a recently married couple who just moved from Dural ward to Coffs Harbour Branch and we had lunch with them. Their names are Josh and Tayce Davison, seriously the coolest couple I know! I am sad they moved from Dural but it was cool to see them outside of the ward. We then went to the Big Banana, the biggest tourist attraction in Coffs. Basically a small theme park based off bananas... beats me but while we were there we were getting a picture in front of it when I notice this guy looking at me and briskly walking towards us. He makes it to us and asks if he can take a picture for us. I hesitantly asked how much will it cost, he threw me a grin and said nothing and then explained that he was recently baptized 8 months ago. So he took a few pictures and then treated us to a free frozen banana dipped in ice cream. Fair Dinkum it was so good! He is the manager of the big banana so he can do what he wants. His name was Drew and missionaries knocked on his door and he and his two kids were baptized, they are still working on his wife. I don't know if you remember Elder Bybee but he was the one who taught him. It was a way cool experience. We then spent the night in Port Macquarie... I didn't like it there. It just felt weird. We then went to Taree and then made it back to Sydney. It was quite an exhausting trip but it was very fun and we got a lot done!

The next week was Christmas as well as the Missions Christmas Conferences and they were way stressful and there was just a million things to get done but they were so fun. We split the mission in half so we had two conferences with about one hundred missionaries each. They were pretty big but so much fun! We had the spiritual things first, we had missionaries speak on hymns and their meaning and then we sang the hymn. It was way good!!! I really loved it. We then got down to business. We had lunch which consisted of ham, potatoes and a salad. Nothing too incredible but it was food. We then had a talent show. There were heaps of songs, a few cultural dances and my personal favorite, Hakka's!!! They were so cool! If the spirit gives you goosebumps then I felt the spirit during the Hakka... as well as when Yoda fights in Star wars episode 3 but that is a bit off topic! After the talent show we watched a mission Christmas DVD that the assistants put together of pictures missionaries sent in. It is way good and I can't wait to show you in 9 months! After that DVD we watched the Blind Side... Oh, Man!!!! It was one good movie! Christmas Conference this year trumped last year's. I just love Christmas but I won't lie. Family is what makes Christmas Christmas. My favorite part of Christmas was Christmas Eve. Peter and Nicki invited me, Elder Hansen, Elder Gee and Elder Modlik over for dinner. We were only there for a little over an hour, the food was not incredible so what I am saying is that just looking at the evening with what it held would not be anything too special, what I loved is the fact that I met Peter and Nicki three and a half months ago and they are two of the most cherished people I have in my life and I had the wonderful opportunity to sit with them on the eve of the Savior's birth and celebrate with them. I just loved it and it is a Christmas I will NEVER forget. I love being on my mission and to be able to have these experiences!

As a side note Peter and Nicki are moving to America this next year! God bless the USA!!! They are doing it for business reasons and they are either going to move to San Diego or Utah so I am excited to see what happens. Maybe they will end up in good old AZ!!! We will just have to see.

So this gets us to this week. Now this week has not held much. We did have a fun road trip out to the farthest inland area called Dubbo. It is about five hours from Sydney and I will tell you there is not much out there. Anyway here goes my story. Monday night elder Hansen and I are getting things ready for our little trip, we are just going to be going to each flat out in what we call the Orange district which consists of three areas, Bathurst, Orange and Dubbo. So as we drove out to Dubbo we were going to stop by each flat and check up on it and remove anything that just didn't belong there and take it to the dump. So as we were getting things ready for it President calls us and tells us that we are doing a mini transfer with some of the sisters, there are sisters in both Bathurst and Orange, and he asks if we can take one sister out there and bring another back. We said yes of course but it was the beginning of a very very awkward drive! Me, Elder Hansen and Sister Zhoya from Mozambique. Sister Zhoya is a lovely sister but when you are in a car with a sister for about four hours you run out of things to talk about really really quick! So yeah, I think I have said enough about that. It was just one long ride but once we got to Orange we dropped sister Zhoya off and got to Dubbo and it was a big disappointment. Dubbo is a very large area, the largest in the mission, actually the size of Utah! and there really is not much out there, but hey I can say I have been to Dubbo! Besides that things are really good. We are still driving heaps just cleaning out flats and getting stuff ready for the Mission Tour in February. The other day Elder Modlik and I just said, "Enough with the office!" and we got two bikes and we went down to Blacktown and just talked to people for about 4 hours and it felt so good to work and get all sweaty and try and teach people the restored gospel, I just love my job!

I love you all so much. I got Jordan's wedding announcement and holy cow, Jordan!!!! She is fetching cute! I hope all goes well during the wedding and just know I would love to be there but I have other things I got to do. Till next week!

Heaps of Love,
Elder Landon Brough