My New FAVORITE picture!!

Woot! Woot! So happy to see him happy and dressed in white.  Here is some of what his email said.  

i got to perform 2 of the baptisms in Spanish. I baptized Maria, the mom and Jose, the Dad. It was awesome. i also gave the talk on baptism before the baptismal service standing in my white's without any shoes before most of the ward. (we did it right after the block so people could be there easier) i also did it half in spanish (using Spanish PMG) and half in english for the rest of the ward. it was interesting.

An amazing woman.

The last post I made was posted the day that a good friend passed away. Sharon Hendrickson was my bishops wife, my former bishops mother, and one of the best women I've ever known. I was called to replace her in teaching seminary. When she gave me the keys to the closets and the library she said, "Here's the keys to the kingdom!" When I was going through a difficulty and struggling with the concept of faith I called her. I figured with all of her experience in dealing with the possibility of death of her youngest child always right there she probably knew a thing or two about faith. I am grateful she shared it with me. Now I share it with others any chance I get. She told me that you couldn't just say the word faith. You had to say the whole sentence. The whole sentence? What was she talking about? She said it was the whole sentence and this is it. Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. I have since heard Elder David A. Bednar say that very thing. He then clarifies that when he says faith, he means the whole sentence. Cool. I understood more and am grateful for her help. She left behind an incredible legacy of family, fun and faith. That's how one of her sons put it and I agree. She will be missed most by her family but also by those of us who looked up to her as a great example of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Those of us who got to share in her life in little snippets here and there. When our husbands served together on high council she would sometimes ride to the temple with Rich and I so she could ride home with her husband who worked by the temple. These trips were fun and I learned more about her and we discussed temple stuff and all sorts of things. Her fingerprints are all over the seminary closet. The atomic clock, baskets, cube, gold journals etc. I can't open the closet without being reminded of her. I had a problem in seminary shortly after her passing and I wondered how she would handle it. She would handle it like the Savior would but with a Sharon flair. Kindness and love wrapped up with all of the ribbon and tulle she thought would put a smile on your face. I did this and was not disappointed. I had been looking forward to the day when she would be healthy again for almost a year now. I missed her smile, bright eyes and the spice she added to our ward family. Anyway, she was awesome and I miss her. 

I LOVE this bike!

I saw a picture of this bike on Friday at a place called Don's Bicycles in Rialto. I love it! It is an Electra Bike with an Alexander Girard design on it. It is soooooooo cute! I think I'll ask Santa for it!

Look!

This is just a really funny movie I found on the computer; I think you'll all like it!

Love, Emily :)

1 letter + 1 email = Happy Mother :)

Since I last posted Collin's email we received 1 letter and 1 email. Here are some excerpts.

This last week was pretty good, but we are starting to run out of appointments. we need more help from the ward.
general conference was really good. we went and watched it in the church building. there were a lot of really good talks. it seemed like the general message of the conference was to press forward with faith in the face of adversity. there were a lot of talks directed towards that end. In the first session, there were a couple of good ones pertaining to missionary work. they were really good too. and another thing i thought something was cool. for the priesthood session of General Conference, they had a choir from the Provo MTC. I saw a guy i knew named Matt Stevenson who was in my family home evening group at BYU and in the choir. It looked like he was going to some asian country or place because of how his name tag looked. You should look him up on one of my facebook groups and find out where he is going. I think it is BYU 50th ward missionary addresses.
Finally I would just like to say thanks to Mom. For all that she did and still does. Hiving the perseverance to bug us enough to do our chores and read our scriptures and do the duty to god award. oh, and cooking too. that helped a lot as well I don't express my feelings much, but I am really grateful and I do love you. I don't know if dad told you, but the whole priesthood session of conference was pretty much about women and how we should be more thankful and more respectful. I thought it was really neat.
I love you all very much and I hope you liked conference. I know for you younger kids, like Spencer and Melissa, it can seem extremely boring. Thats ok for now I guess. You will come to love it as you get older and grow to understand the things of the gospel more. Be good everybody. Love you all.
Love,
Elder Collin Brown

Emily Sings the National Anthem!

Last night Emily sang the National Anthem at her High School Homecoming football game. She sang beautifully and you can watch it! We're proud of her. YEAH!

This weeks letter.

We received an email from Collin on Monday. Not a lot of news but some. My comments are italicized.

i got the package and the brownies are really good. They are! Thanks a lot. i cant remember or not if i signed up to vote absentee, so its good you are sending a form. none of the bike racks look like the one i have, but its not so bad so far. i would just like it because then i could put my backpack on it and my back wouldn't get sweaty. i will take a picture and send a cd in a little bit. the main problem with this is that the only walmart is 8 miles away and we dont have near enough miles to go there on pday. About that VOR, i have seen it. A VOR is a giant, bowling pin looking antenna for airplanes. when i did see it, i couldnt remember what it was called though. so thanks. we have been there a couple of times because members live up at a lake by there.
I told him in the last letter that Rich had purchased glasses.
Dad should be wearing glasses. Maybe he can get lasik or something, or maybe just reading glasses. squinting all the time just isnt fun. i got a postcard today. We send random postcards made from old family photos. I had to give a talk yesterday on how the gospel blesses families and Elder Conte didnt get to talk because there wasnt enough time. Apparently i took up 15 minutes. he said 20, but i disagree on the time i started. So that was good. I would have LOVED to have heard this!! have fun at Grandma and Grandpa's homecoming. they have some pictures. Got them a long time ago sunshine! tell me how jordan is holding up.
I love you all.
Love,
Elder Collin Brown

All the rest of us.

Lately I've only been posting news from Collin because we're all so excited when we receive a letter or email. But the rest of us have lives and you may be wondering what we are doing. Here goes. Rich has been busy with the office, being a father and 2nd counselor in the bishopric. Something really fun that he started doing this year is early morning tennis. When Emily, Madelyn and I leave for seminary he wakes up and gets Spencer and Melissa up and ready and off they go to play tennis until about 7. This has really helped in getting Spencer to go to bed earlier. I, Dana, am in my 6th(holy cow!) year of teaching early morning seminary. This year is a good group and so far it's been good and I really have no great regrets. It's still hard to get up and I still want to barf in the morning. The city of Rancho Mirage (Boo! Hiss!) put up a bunch of big fences at the different trail heads to fend off would be hikers. This trail is VERY popular here in the Coachella valley. I think the city would be more successful at holding back the tide than stopping the hikers. I've been doing this hike for about 7 years or so and many have been doing it longer. So what do you think the hikers did? They hike right around these fences. One barbed wire section went up and was clipped down before I ever even saw it.  We already knew the City of Rancho Mirage was pretty lame and this just confirms it. The unofficial city motto is "Welcome to Rancho Mirage, now get the he** out!" On with the next person. Emily is having a wonderful year so far and you can read her blog to find out more. She auditioned and was selected to perform the National Anthem at the homecoming game on Oct. 3rd. She is excited about that. I'll most likely post it here for viewing later. She has had a poem accepted to be published at something called Blazevox. I don't know if I even spelled that right. She loves all her classes. In her Spanish class she was given permission to perform her oral presentations set to music she writes. Her teacher LOVED her performance and looks forward to her next presentation. These songs tend to be funny as Emily is quite humorous. Madelyn is VERY busy. This is her life. Seminary, school, volleyball, homework, sleep. She throws an apple or something in there somewhere and manages to keep going. I hope she doesn't wear herself out and become real sick. Spencer is busy doing boy stuff. Tennis in the morning, homework, legos and scouts. He is learning that earning a merit badge on your own is a lot harder than doing it at scout camp. But you actually learn! Melissa spends about 1/3 of her life upside down. She is constantly doing handstands. If you've been around this lately you may have accidentally received a foot in the shoulder or face depending on how tall you are. It is habitual for her. Maybe I'll post a video of how many times she does it at home just when she's walking around. On the plus side, she's very good. Straight up, pointed toes, perfect most of the time. All is well with all of us and we hope it is with you.

News from Quitman.

Collin is in a small (2000 people) town in Texas named Quitman. Here is some of what's happening from his most recent emails.


We got permission from the mission president to use a member's computer to email
home because the library here in Quitman is closed on Monday. Kind of weird, but
thats how it is here in Quitman.
I dont know how much you heard about hurricane Ike. On Friday night we got
a call that the area authority had ordered all the missionaries to stay in their
apartments all day saturday. So we did. We barely survived. A tree fell on the roof
of our Apartment and the roof blew away in the 80 mph winds. it was crazy. we are
not sure what we are going to do now.

This had me freaked a little then I read on...


Just kidding. it was pretty boring. we still did have to stay in our apartment,
but nothing really happened here. not even any thunder or lightning. I doubt the
winds ever got over 30, probably less than that. and only 2 inches of rain. We didnt
even lose power. The only thing that i thought was cool was that halfway through
the day the wind and rain and clouds switched direction. everything was going west,
then it turned and went east. obviously because its a hurricane. still it was cool.
i just basically read Jesus the Christ all day. the storm was supposed to last longer,
and we were told to stay in on sunday as well. They changed that Sunday morning,
and we went out though we didnt really have any plans. Church was cancelled because
refugees could have stayed in the building though none did. We went to another nondenominational
service just to check it out. it was interesting.
So the weather wasnt bad. it was a lot worse in Houston and Galveston.
it was even worse in the mid west. and last i heard it was up by chicago. I dont
know. All i know is that i havent had a real storm yet.
So everything is going well. i got the screws you sent today. and i finally
got all the letters i had coming on saturday morning.
Oh, and i met with Grandpa and Grandma Shill on Wednesday. That was fun.
Did you know some people in the ward here used to live in Lehi. they are the Frazee's.
He is in the Bishopric. They got their temple recommends when they first went to
the temple from Otto Shill. that was cool to find out.
So right now we are teaching a spanish family. only their son speaks good
english, so we get by. it makes me wish i knew better spanish though. We are teaching
2 new guys tonight that we gave BoMs to. We are also teaching an old guy from Chicago
that was impressed with the church at Nauvoo back in the 60's. He seems really
interested, the only problem is that he just had an operation on his eyes and cant
read right now. So we have to wait a bit on that one. I am meeting a lot of people
and getting used to the humidity a little bit. it is cooling down, especially with
the storm.

So all is well but that first bit had me fooled for a bit though.

More News from Elder Brown!

Here is another letter from Collin! Yeah!

First, my companion is named
Elder Greg Barkley. He is
from Florence Oregon. he is
a pretty good guy. he works
hard. and as for the
pictures i am taking pictures,
so dont worry. Next, here are
the names from my district.
10 are going to Dallas and 2
are going to Tuscon. Elder
Alley and Elder Marble
are going to Tuscon and they
are in the room with us.
Elder Alley is from Logan, Utah and Elder Marble is from South Jordan. Elder Thurgood is the funny one. He is from Richfield, Ut. His companion is Elder Krammer and is from Greeley, Co.
Elder Lewis and Elder Walker are both from Pocatello, ID. But they didnt know each other. Elder Lewis actually lived in Wyview last year, not far away from where i lived. Elder Peay is from Las Vegas and Elder Hatch is from Gilbert, AZ. He says he loves Pete's Fish and Chips. Elder Hatfield is from Payson, and he is the oldest at 22. His companion is Elder Stevens from Hyde Park, UT. He likes to dirtbike like me. Thats everyone in the district.

Just to reanswer some other questions, i am leaving September 1st. Thanks for the package. i needed the soap box thing. We heard about the dork dots thing too. 1 guys in our group saved his and went messing around. Thats good that spencer got to go to Legoland with nick and Aunt Mercedes, cause he didnt get to go with me and i know he really wanted to.

i will be out in the field on monday. its only in 5 days. its nuts. We have to be at the travel center by 5:00 in the morning, so my call might be kind of early. As for my ankle. it is doing pretty good. i got an ankle brace and i got to ride around outside the MTC, cause i went to the health center to get Xrays. just in case. Then we had to pick up someone from the UTah regional medical center, so we got to ride down there and got to see the outside world for a bit. Still havent found my retainer, still checking the lost and found. it was the same day i was getting sick and the same day i rolled my ankle, so there was a lot on my mind. we got to go to the Temple today, and that was really cool. We had this huge discussion one day about the fall and whether or not a transgression and a sin were the same thing. we eventually figured it out. We talk about this stuff when we are in the RC and are waiting for people to call in from the numbers off the calling cards. Its pretty fun when you do get them. i actually got one from Texas that i sent the missionaries too. I am pretty excited to get out there, but there is a lot more i need to learn. oh, and i met a sister here that is going to Finland and i told here about Alec and how it is in Finland. she knew where Espoo was, so that was pretty cool. And i met someone from Kari's hometown that knew her and i have met so many people from my BYU ward. I met 2 people in the bookstore that were working there. that was pretty cool.
Well, i love you guys all very much, and i hope that all of you do well in school.
Love you all.
Elder Collin Brown