Catching up with some PHOTOS!

Today is pday AGAIN!  Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, and Easter Monday are National Holidays in Germany.  So my missionary has to prepare for the week on Thursday! 

 

President Kosak allows the missionaries to upload photos in their emails.  So I just got a whole bunch of photos via email.  And the emailing restrictions have been lifted.  Now anyone who is interested in emailing Sister Brown may do so (previously only family was to email).  Her email address is listed on the right side of the blog.

 

She also mentioned that her apartment is currently close to the mission home and they can pick up mail/packages easily. Hint hint....

 

Enjoy the photos.

 

~Kim Brown

 

Packing at the MTC

 And making the 50lb weight limit!!

 

 Saying goodbye at the MTC

MTC district and teachers

 Sister Brown and Sister Hansen saying goodbye to their teachers. Thumbs up only- no hugs :)

 MTC district with the branch president and his wife

 Sister Brown and Sister Vanderhoef (New Hampshire Manchester Mission)

 Sister Hansen, Sister Brown and Elder Smith (Germany Frankfurt Mission)

 CALLING HOME from the airport!

Stuffing that phone with quarters!

 This was when she first landed in Berlin.  "I look tired and scared out of my mind...I was!!"

 Sister Brown and Sister Hansen in Berlin

 The MTC district just before they were assigned their new companions/trainers

Meine Familie!!!

So the last email contained a little bit of a lie.

I am emailing you again but it is from the MTC laundry room and not from Germany. They gave us unexpected email time!

So here is officially the last email from the MTC.

The next one will come from GERMANY.   I promise...

Morgan fliegen wir nach Deutschland!!!

Tomorrow Germany gets 90+ new missionaries. 31 of those are going to Berlin with me!

It is such an exciting time. Our travel group is almost split half and half Elders and Sisters. How cool is that?!? Berlin is getting lots of Sisters!!!!

My whole district is headed to my mission too and I am looking forward to the opportunity to continue to serve with them. We are the first German wave of 18-year-old Elders and 19-year-old Sisters. We are also the first group from the 6 week track in the MTC.

So Germany here we come!

This week has been full of lasts. We had our last devotional, last service Freitag, last lesson with investigators, last laundry time, last ice cream Sunday, and last sacrament meetings. Today is full of goodbyes. Ich hasse goodbyes.

I read a scripture this week that I really liked.

I was in Jacob 5 and it was talking about the servants laboring in the vineyard. In verse 72 it says that the servants went out to labor and the Lord went with them. I loved that! I am positive that the Lord is coming with us to Germany. He will help us find and teach the people who have been prepared.

So cool right?!?

Ich liebe das Buch Mormon!

Have a great week! I pray for you all every day.
Love you tons!!!

-Sister Brown

PS I am so excited to call tomorrow. I can't get to the Houston airport fast enough!!

**We were asked not to send pictures in this last email because they wanted it to be more goodbye and buisnessy than social. I will send the goodbye pictures from Berlin!
Love you tons!!**

TRAVEL PLANS

Meine Familie!!

This week was full of more adventures.

I sprayed an Elder in the face with window cleaner, walked into the wrong classroom in the middle of their lesson, and had a serious wardrobe malfunction in the TRC.

 ALL were accidents.

The days here are never boring, but sometimes I wish they were a little less adventurous!

This week we got our FLIGHT PLANS.

Yes!! That is crazy.

I can't believe this is my last P day.

This time next week I will be on a plane headed to Germany. That makes me a little bit nervous... Ok a lot bit nervous.

I have gotten comfortable with everything here at the MTC and I really love it. There will be lots that I will really miss. However I wasn't called to serve 18 months in the MTC so Berlin here I come!

So I guess this means I will need to pack soon. We'll see how that 50 lbs weight limit goes...

I can't believe it is already time to go.

Time is a funny thing here in the MTC. On my first day here we had a meeting where someone told us, "Here you will have the longest days and shortest weeks, the longest weeks and shortest months, the longest months and the shortest mission."

At the time I thought it was crazy and it didn't make any sense.

It is SO true though.

The days can seem really long because they are so packed with things to learn and lessons to plan and teach. But then they just start flying by. Sometimes it feels like I have lived 3 lifetimes in here and other times it seems like it was this morning my family dropped me off.

As I reread this, I realize it doesn't make any sense and I have joined the group of those who use cryptic riddles to describe missions. So there's that.

Teaching is still going well. We had two investigators accept baptismal commitments this week! Both were really great experiences. It was so amazing to see their desire to follow the Savior. I loved hearing them bear their testimonies to us. It was a neat thing to be able to teach someone and then see them really take the doctrines to heart and develop a testimony  and then want to act on their knowledge. The Spirit was so strong during those appointments. Even when I totally slaughtered one of the commitments. I'm thankful for that!

The German is coming too. It is easy to get overwhelmed by all I don't know. I just try to remember how far I have come. A month ago all I could say was Guten Tag. I can now do more than that. So progress is being made. Baby steps with the German language!

I know the Lord loves me and helps me every day. Even if I can't speak German :)

This gospel is true and I am so excited and thankful for the opportunity to share it with others.

That is pretty much all for this email. I hope everyone has a great week!
Next time I write I will be in Germany!

Ich Liebe Dich!!
-Sister Brown

P.S. So guess what job I got on Service Freitag??? Yeah, totally got bit with the Karma bug. This week I swept the rocks and leaves into a dust pan with a smile on my face :)

Ich Liebe mein Distrikt!

My daily reminder

Ich Kann Deutsch!

 

Deutsch Tag

I am learning how to whistle!!

Meine Familie!!

Hallo!!!!

I love writing these emails.

Ah I can't believe it will be a month tomorrow!

So this week we had Deutsch Tag. Originally it was going to be called Deutsch Day but we decided if we were dedicating an entire day to speaking German the title of the day should also be in German.

We were so excited!

We really did speak almost all German all day long. I was surprised at how much I knew.

Then our teachers got there and informed us that after 3 weeks the expectation is that you only speak German. So I guess our goal wasn't so impressive after all. But we didn't let that stop the Deutsch Tag celebrations!

Now Jeden Tag ist Deutsch Tag!!

So we have service Freitag every week.

As missionaries, we all have to give 90 minutes of service every week. We have been assigned to clean classrooms. No complaints from me because there aren't any showers in the classroom buildings. The sisters' showers are D to the Gusting!

Anyways, we all have to serve but there are so many missionaries here that sometimes they have to stretch to find jobs for us to do. This week I was sweeping the leaves and rocks on the sidewalk into a dustpan. It didn't really make sense why I couldn't just sweep it all into the dirt beside the sidewalk but I was told to put it in a dustpan and then into a trash can. I am almost positive that was just to make it take longer. So that is how I spent the wee hours of Friday morning. Good thing I love the Lord more than I hate doing pointless time consuming jobs. On the plus side, I have never seen the sidewalks outside of 10M so clean!!

Speaking of 10M we just got moved there. They were doing serious cleaning and maintenance on 7M so we got to move rooms. Our new room has much bigger desks and shelves for all our books. Plus now we have rolly chairs! Think of how much German can be learned in rolly chairs! The results will be amazing. We all act like we don't have legs now though. Whenever we go write something on the board or need to throw something away we just wheel ourselves over there. The other day I wheeled myself out into the hallway to get a drink from the drinking fountain. It was then that I realized what the wheely chairs had done to me! I should probably work on walking so my legs remember what that is like...

Check out the new space!!

The teaching appointments are still going well. We had a cool experience with one of our "investigators" Thorsten, the other day. The whole appointment was started off great when he opened the door and was excited to see us. Then he invited us in!! This was an enormous progress. We usually have super awkward doorstep conversations as we try to convince him that he wants to talk to us. So we were thrilled that he wanted us there. We had a great lesson on the Book of Mormon. He told us he had prayed about it but then just felt normal. So we invited him to pray right then and there. So we all knelt down and prayed. The Spirit came into the room so strong. After he said he felt good so we shared Moroni 7:16 and talked about good feelings coming from God. We testified of the Holy Ghost and then he committed to come to church with us! Progress!!! We were so excited. I can't wait until these are real investigators.

There was a funny in that lesson too, though. Don't worry, Sister Brown never disappoints.

My poor companion is so patient as I continue to slaughter the German language and mess up in our lessons. Thank goodness for the Spirit! Anyways, I was asking if we could begin with a prayer. I looked up to ask and saw the board behind him. Some one had drawn on the chalkboard a sketch of THOR. It was enormous and he had flowing luscious locks and huge bulging muscles and was complete with cape and hammer. I just about died. I was laughing SO hard. It was made worse by the fact that it was totally inappropriate to be laughing. I was supposed to be praying and inviting the Spirit...

Anyways the MTC adventures continue.

I locked my keys in the room the other night and had a run in with nuts on fast Sunday. Alles Gut and I am still alive. Just keeping things interesting!

Thanks for all the letters. You have no idea how exciting mail time is around here. The Elders have created a mail song with harmonized parts and all. It is almost a ceremony.

It is so fun to hear what everyone is up to. So thanks for sending it!

Have a great week!!
Ich liebe dich

-Sister Brown

German scriptures engraved!!

Take 2 of the map picture. Yes, I am going to Berlin!

 

Elder Gerhartz has a look alike

And a shout out to Lisa S.

 

and the Browns for awesome packages!!!

 

Thanks SO much!

Tender Mercies

Family!!

I want to start by sharing a Scripture.

I was reading in first Nephi 1 and in the last verse of the chapter Nephi says, "The tender mercies of the Lord are over all those whom he has chosen."

This week has been a testimony builder of that.

I have been noticing all the little mini miracles that happen all around me every day. Here are some that made my list this week:

* I had multiple warm showers with adequate water pressure. This does not always happen. Sometimes a nice warm shower solves all your problems!

* The chicken salad sandwiches here don't have nuts in them! Hooray because they are absolutely delicious.

* Come Thou Fount is in the German hymn book! Who knew!?! We discovered it the other day. # 74. We sing it quite often because it is such a good one.

* One of our progressing investigators accepted our invitation to come to church. (This made the list not only because it was a great experience but also because I forgot the investigator's name while extending the commitment... I get so so nervous when I invite people to do things like be baptized or come to church. It is the most nerve racking thing ever! Luckily he was kind enough to disregard the fact that I forgot his name. So that was kind of a 2 in 1.)

* We also had wonderful experiences teaching in the TRC. We were nervous to teach people who we didn't know but it was such a fun activity. We were able to have the Spirit with us and find the necessary German words to communicate.

* They brought cranberries back to the salad bar! What is a salad without craisins!?!

* I also was able to memorize the First Vision auf deutsch this week. That amazing feat is the result of a good 100 laps on that indoor track :)

* We went to a wonderful devotional on Sunday night. The night before I had a bunch of questions. I kid you not, every one of my concerns and questions were brought up and answered in that fireside. It was amazing. I know that the Lord hears my prayers!

Ok, so there are those. Some sound silly but all of them are just evidence that my Heavenly Father loves me!

The church has a language learning program that is similar to Rosetta Stone. We get to spend an hour a day on it learning German. A few days ago the Elders were using it to learn how to make a phone call. The fictitious person they were trying to get a hold of was named Sister Brown. So when our teachers showed up later in the day and asked what they had learned they all said, "We learned how to call Sister Brown and find out if she is available." So there's that. Great things you learn in the MTC.

We've had some other great discoveries this week.
 
1. German is the language of the Celestial Kingdom. That discovery comes from a talk we watched from President Uchtdorf. I'm fairly sure he was kidding, but still...

2. The name tags that elders use on their suit coats can be played like kazoos. They have two sides because they clip in their pockets. If you put your lips in between the clips and blow it buzzes. We have been working on arranging hymns. I will keep you posted.

3. The prayer works! This discovery came from a lot of sources but this is one of those primary talk prayer stories. We came back from gym to find the other sister's locked out of our room. They had forgot the room key. This shouldn't have been a problem because I showed up with a key. The problem was that before Sister Hansen and I got there, another sister had tired to help by sticking a bobby pin in the lock. The top of the bobby pin broke and was now stuck in the lock. So my key wouldn't work. We all tried it and then decided to pray. So we did and the very next time we put the key in, the door unlocked. So prayer really works!

Love you all!

Thanks for everything.

Have an amazing week!!!

Love,
Sister Brown

PS I also got to watch the Joseph Smith movie in German. It was pretty cool even if the German voice overs didn't match up with the actors' lips :)

 

Who loves flashcards? Sister Brown and Sister Hansen love flashcards!

 

 

These pictures are right into the sun and a field of super white snow so that explains the looks of pain on our faces.

Plus a million different cameras were going so we are all looking different ways. Sorry. We fail at picture taking.

 

 

 

There has got to be a better method to finding batteries lost in a suitcase...

Hooray for MTC Laundry-Room Computer Photo Upload!

 

 

 

Family!!!

So it is time for me to share my favorite part of the MTC!

It is how often we pray.

I say probably 50 prayers a day and at least 15 out loud. Alles Auf Deutsch!

It is such a good habit to have.

I know that Heavenly Father answers my prayers, especially the little ones. Sometimes I just need help conjugating a verb or remembering a word for a lesson. The help I need is just a prayer a way.

A close second though is gym time.

I have started running again. Jeden Tag. It has been SO long since I have run regularly. It is so fun to have that part of my life back. I love it. It is fun to have some semi-alone time to think. It has been a great time to memorize the missionary purpose and the first vision. Plus with the 10 lap to a mile track the mental distraction is wonderful!

I am starting to love German. I think it is so beautiful. Call me crazy... I can't wait until I can speak better, but every day I am learning more and more.

However, there's still a long way to go.

There have been some funny moments in this German learning adventure. Once we were praying with an investigator and I prayed for us to have a "Gut Gemacht" (good job) instead of a "Guten Nacht" (good night). Then in a lesson with a different investigator I asked what he likes to do. He told me he likes to get drunk and party with his friends and I told him "Oh me too! That is so cool." Yeah no way to recover from that one...

I know so much more than I did a week ago though so progress is being made. I love my teachers. They are so patient and never tire of me asking for them to repeat what they say. It has been hard to be in a companionship where neither of us speak German. The other companionships have someone who took a few years. However, it is forcing us to both learn and be active in the lessons. It isn't an option for us to just rely on the other person's language skills. We just study flash cards, say some prayers, and then go teach!

Speaking of investigator adventures... We were teaching this one man in the same room every night. Then one night he wasn't there. We went on a search through the whole building to find him. We searched through three floors. Thank goodness for peepholes! Who loses their investigator!?! When we finally found him we were so excited we skipped down the hall.
 
Side note- They have asked the sisters to be lady like so skipping is not ok. Neither is dancing. I totally understand needing to keep the Spirit with us but it is a hard habit to break. Whenever I get excited or conjugate something correctly or say something that actually makes sense I just have a dance party. Ok well dance party might be a bit generous. It is mostly just me flailing my limbs around. Then the teachers remind me "Wir tanzen nicht Sister Brown!"

Well Valentine's Day was great! It was such a funny day in the MTC. We were eating Dove chocolates and the message on my wrapper was "Be your own Valentine." We hung it up because it made us all laugh so hard. Kind of a depressing message but perfect for missionaries!

Shout out to my doughnut sending friend too!

The sisters I was with were freaking out about the beautiful pink package with a bow and then when we discovered the doughnuts, people almost died!  Best. Package. Ever!

This week has been kind of overwhelming.

I just feel so inadequate.

I often feel like I can't do all of this.

However, I do have a testimony that my call came from the Lord. This is where my Heavenly Father wants me right now. He is over all. If He wanted a perfect German speaker, He could have that. If He wanted someone who knew Preach My Gospel in and out, He could have that too. But he doesn't. He wants me. Even if I never know what is going on. Even if I always get lost and slaughter my German phrases. He has called me to serve in Berlin Germany and will help me. I just need to have faith and keep trying.

So there's that!

Thanks for all the mail. I seriously love getting letters. It is my favorite part of the day.

The Elders who get the mail for us have harmonized a mail song because we all get so excited for that time! I love to see pictures and read how everyone is doing.

Thanks for the packages too.

However, know that treats are not required. After the Valentine's rush we have a treat pile to last weeks!!

Well, have a good week!

The Lord loves us!!
-Sister Brown

PHOTO FEST

 

MTC Day #1: tag with dork dot

Sister Brown and Hansen

 

I realize I am pointing to like West Virginia in this picture. Whatever...

 

 

I love my district. The Elders are so great.  They always take our trays at meals and hold the door for us. Awesome! District unity!!

 

 

Roomies

 

 

 

Email Eins: MTC report

So the MTC...

It has been going great. I love it all!

Saying goodbye was hard but right after I walked away from the car the adventure started and it hasn't slowed down yet.

My favorite part was getting my name tag. It sounds kind of dumb, but that plastic thing means so much. I love being able to wake up each morning and see my name next to the Savior's.

It is hard to get used to being Sister Brown, though. That will definitely take some more time.

My companion is Sister Hansen. We get along so well. I love how supportive and helpful she is of me. My favorite thing about her is how we can just laugh. We have been doing a whole lot of that lately!

I also love my district. I am so blessed to be around such great people all day long. One of my favorite things we do is sing together in German. Thanks for the little hymn book, Dad!

The German is hard but I am amazed at how fast it is coming. I can say prayers and bear my testimony in German. I am learning so much so fast and I know it is because the Spirit is helping.

 

We have already started teaching our first "investigator". His name is Cho and he is from China. I was so excited to tell him about my trip to China and the adoptions. I hadn't even prepared for that but the words came to me and we were able to have a good conversation about families and the plan of salvation. Sister Hansen and I later taught him how to pray. It was such a great experience. We were both crying. It is a powerful thing to be able to teach someone about their Father in Heaven and then hear their first prayer to Him.

Here's my little spiritual note:

Look up D&C 31:3.

It has been my scripture this week.

Anyways, the dang clock on this computer is flashing red at me. I can't believe how fast the time went.

Have a great week!

Thanks for all the love and prayers.

-Sister Brown

Q & A from the MTC

Lee emailed a slew of questions we have all been asking. Here's the list and Sister Brown's replies:

What do you eat?

How is the food?
 

I eat salads and wraps for lunch. They are delicious. I have had to stay away from the desserts becuase they are all nut filled or made on the nut filled equiptment. I have really liked the food though and been able to find somethign every meal that I like. THere are even fresh fruits and veggies... Sunday is mostly cold cereal and sandwiches to help cut down on the staff needed to work on the Sabbath.

Do you know the Noorda twins from Las Vegas? One is going to Berlin and one to Frankfurt. I guess mom has read things from their mother in her little missionary mom's email group.

I do know the Noorda twins from Las Vegas. Elder Kevin Noorda is in my district/class. He is super cool and so helpful with my German. Elder Lowry was also in my district/class but he got fast tracked. That kid passed the German AP test! He knows what's up. He was always so helpful too. We miss him tons and now have a trio.

 

Have you seen Tyler Webb or Skyler Johnson, our temple buddies?

 

I have seen Elder Johnson, Elder Webb, Elder Brown, Elder Bates, Elder Dortch, Elder Bastian, and Elder Buratto. Westlake Partay!

 

 

What are the names of your roommates?

I am companions with Sister Hansen from Sandy, UT. We get along really well and have had such a great time. We share a room with Sister RIcks and Sister Krisser, who are also in our district. Then there's another Sister Hansen and Sister Wallen who are the only sisters in their district. So just the six of us. We have had some good times!

 

My district is all headed to Berlin. There's me and Sister Hansen, Sister Krisser and Sister Ricks, Elder Noorda and Elder Matthews and Elder Gerhartz (trio), and Elder Bingham and Elder Smith. I love them all so much and we are having so much fun together.

 

Which dorm do you live in?

Our building is 17 M and our room is 277.

 

How do you like your German classes?

German classes are fun and I love our teachers. They are so great and patient. However, they are also so hard. There may or may not be tears shed in that closet of a room.... Everyone in my district is great at helping each other out though. I am learning a ton and making flashcards like crazy!

Does it feel like Sunday every day?

The clothes make it feel like Sunday every day but the classes and the roommates and dorms and cafeteria make it feel like college again.

 

 

Do the fast track missionaries have their travel plans? I leave that same day for Chicago. My flight leaves at 11:18 that morning so I will be there. I was told by mom they are leaving that day as well. Just curious to see if they will be there at the same time.

 

I'm not sure about flight plans for the fast trackers. There's just a few. The old German speakers left this morning. The ones going to Frankfurt left through DC and the Alpine ones left through Atlanta and Amsterdam. I'm not sure about the Berliners.

My current departure date is the March 19. No travel plans yet though.

 

~Sister Brown