Elder Conner Brown

Mission Home and First Area Assignment!

Again, these photos were shared by Sister McClure .... giving us a peek into his first days in Japan.  After being picked up from the airport the new missionaries stay at the mission home in Sapporo for 1-2 nights.

Breakfast

In President McClure's office.  He gives the missionaries an introduction to the mission, including stats.
Very interesting!

The seasoned missionaries who have been selected as Trainers sit on one side of the room ....

While the new missionaries sit on the other.

The president announces the companionships and the areas where they will serve.

Ebetsu!  .... with Elder Dawdy

Ebetsu appears to be a suburb of Sapporo -- still part of the metro area with 115,000 people.  A river runs through the town with the majority of the city infrastructure directly in the middle, connecting to nearby Sapporo.  As you can see in this Google Map, Ebetsu & the surrounding area is agriculturally dense.  Hokkaido (the northern island of Japan) as a whole makes up a quarter of Japan's usable farming land.  Hokkaido is also the nation's largest producer of milk and beef.

More food

They have a tradition in the mission to subject the new missionaries to a dish called Natto (fermented soybeans).  Pictures and video are taken while the missionaries sample this distinctive new flavor.

With his new companion he is off!

Typically the missionaries get to attend the temple when they arrive at the mission home, as they are both on the same property.  But sadly, the temple just closed on Monday, September 9th for its regular cleaning/maintenance.  Just missed it!  But I'm sure there will be other opportunities.  What a blessing to have a temple right in his mission!

Arriving in Japan

No letter from Conner . . . just two photos (one from him and one from his mission president) to confirm that he made it to Japan safe and sound.

It was a 26 hour travel day that began with reporting to the MTC Travel office at 2:30am on Monday morning.  He flew from Salt Lake City to LAX --- 3 hour layover --- then to Tokyo (an 11.5 hour flight) --- followed by a 4 hour layover --- then finally landed in Sapporo at 7:30pm on Tuesday.  A very long day!

The travel group -- all serving in Sapporo.  The 5 missionaries in the middle were members of his district at the MTC.  The missionaries on either ends (one Elder, one Sister) are native Japanese missionaries who only had to spend 3 weeks at the MTC before returning to Japan for their mission.

Brown Choro with President & Sister McClure.  We love them already!

Finals Days at the MTC

TRC Volunteer Sean

Conner's district and their teacher Cox Kyodai in the middle

Kyodai Cox - Conner loves his teachers

Huber Kyodai

District - 5 going to Sapporo, 1 going to Tokyo

Brown Choro and Embley Choro

The famous MTC Map

When a set of missionaries leave it is tradition to pile all of their leftover food (and apparently shampoo) in the living area of their dorm for others to claim in the morning.

Packing

MTC Week 8

Well, it's about time. The teachers are telling us over and over again to be diligent until the end because that will set the tone for the rest of our mission. The struggle hasn't been working, though .... it's been finding stuff to work on. I can't imagine being here for twelve weeks.

Thursday: the *Japanese missionaries didn't have a teacher at the end of the day, so we got to combine with them. It was cool to hang out with them and talk about the struggles of Japanese, and I'm sure it's fun for them to hear us stutter. Also, went to the top floor of the teaching building to see if we could see the score for the game in the distance. We learned the outcome the next day. It's fine by me if BYU is better than Utah in pretty much every way except football.

 

*He refers to the missionaries who come to the MTC from Japan.  Members of the church in Japan often receive mission calls to serve in their own country.  But first they fly to the United States for 3 weeks of training at the Provo Missionary Training Center.  And then fly back to Japan for their mission, serving in an area away from home.

 

Friday: combined classes with the other district leaving Monday. Lunch was hamburgers as usual. First one was made of charcoal, but the second was pretty good. Also got all our flight plans today. When we leave the MTC, it will be 26 hours about until we get to our mission in Sapporo. Good study time and talking with passengers time I guess.

 

His flight plan is Salt Lake City to LAX to Tokyo to Sapporo.  He leaves Monday morning and arrives in Sapporo on Tuesday evening.  There are about 20 missionaries that will travel together to Tokyo.  Then 7 of those are going to Sapporo -- 5 Elders from his district (1 lone Elder from his district is staying in Tokyo), and 2 native Japanese missionaries (one Elder, one Sister).

 

Saturday: not much really happened, but wasn't as bad as other Saturdays. 

 

Sunday: fast Sunday again. Wasn't too bad. Used pretty much the same strategy as last time. Sang Joseph Smith's first prayer in choir. The speaker for the devotional was the lady who wrote "Adjusting to Missionary Life." Lol early on in our MTC experience, one of our teachers said he took the booklet and crossed out the word missionary, so it just said "Adjusting to Life."

 

(Video of a choir of Missionaries from the Provo MTC singing "Joseph's First Prayer" in General Conference.
Not Conner.)

 

Monday: more confirmation while talking about the atonement that we have literally the best teachers. Huber kyõdai (kyõdai means brother and after eight weeks it feels weird to call them brother) is just so full of energy for this work, and Cox kyõdai is always so spiritual in our discussions. It's a shame we are their last district, but I'm just glad we didn't miss them.

 

Tuesday: can't remember the name of the speaker, but he gave a great talk about not complaining. Laman and Lemuel did everything Nephi did (and kudos to them for doing it), but they always murmured and complained, so it was never worth it for them. Also, the speaker shared a cool insight about Doctrine & Covenants 4:4.

 

4 For behold the field is white already to harvest; and lo, he that thrusteth in his sickle with his might, the same layeth up in store that he perisheth not, but bringeth salvation to his soul;

 

We aren't just reaping the souls of men, but also experiences and habits that will help us stay faithful for the rest of our lives.

 

Wednesday: just got back from the temple. Doing laundry. Super hungry. The gist. Last p-day before we leave. 

 

When we get to Japan, it's gonna be pretty depressing, because Pratt chõrõ isn't going to Sapporo with us. (chõrõ means "Elder"). Here's how it's gonna go: Williams chõrõ (Pratt chõrõ's companion) is gonna start crying. Then Pratt chõrõ is gonna start crying. Then the rest of the district will start crying. And I...will stand there wishing I could cry. We'll do a group hug and I will have no clue what to do with my face like every goodbye I've ever had. At least it isn't my job to tell everybody we need to get to customs.

 

Conner is not sentimental when it comes to good-byes.  At the end of each school year the Madrigals would have what they call, "Mads Circle" where everyone would gather in a circle and share their feelings about the school year, the group, how much they are going to miss everyone, and there would be lots of tears and hugs.  Conner always participated but never got caught up in the sentimentality, always feeling a little awkward because he was the only one not emotional.  His typical quote, in jest, "What are these feelings you speak of?"

 

I (mom) was relieved that Conner's name was NOT listed as travel leader. I'm sure he is too.

 

(photo for Payton - "This is what awaits you in two years" -- Payton looooves his condiments especially BBQ sauce and hot sauce)

MTC Week 7

 

Flight plans this Friday! Man, I love the mtc, but I've been here for seven weeks. It's time to get out of here.

Wednesday: That night, a little before class, we got to our room early and found a note on the board that we had an online TRC at 6:15 (ten minutes from then about). We hurried over and made it on time, though we didn't really have anything prepared, so I had a mini panic attack when the person we were teaching asked what the lesson was on today. We ended up talking about the book of Mormon. On a funnier note, we asked her how her day was, and she replied that it was still morning. Lol, love the time zone change.

 

Thursday: Had our second Japanese person TRC (man it feels like forever ago). This one was much better than the first. Also, some new missionaries came into the zone the day prior, and with them some Japanese missionaries. It was fun talking to one of them about games and stuff. Overall, the new missionaries seem pretty cool.

 

Friday: Had two TRCs today because one of them couldn't come on Saturday and switched the appointment to today. Both felt pretty good. I also started reading the BoM in Japanese, and it makes much more sense than it used to. I'm skipping second Nephi when I come to it, though. Reading Isaiah in Japanese would be a waste of time.

 

Saturday: Tiring. I'm glad you sent me the Zion's Youth music. (I sent him the Lamb of God by Rob Gardner) It was great to listen to and tune out the Saturday evening irreverence. I was a little sad to not have a TRC that day. Can't wait until my life is one big TRC.

 

Sunday: Spoke in Sacrament meeting. In hindsight, I probably should have written it in english characters instead of hiragana. That probably would have been easier to read aloud. Elder Embley and Elder Williams performed "Savior Redeemer of My Soul," which was awesome. Today in choir, we practiced "Hope of Israel," which was also awesome. Brother Eggit, the conductor, told us about the tribes of Israel and our duty to bring them together. He's a great storyteller. Then, the devotional speaker spoke on the same subject, just not near as entertaining. Boy, it would be awesome if Brother Eggit talked at a devotional. The excitement would be pretty much the equivalent of an apostle being here.

 

Monday: Another good TRC. Another pretty basic day.

 

Tuesday: Sang "Hope of Israel" for the devotional. The speaker was the Presiding Bishop for the church (Elder Causse I think?) and he gave a great talk about being bold, yet humble. I mentioned in devotional review something along the lines of "We're missionaries, so if you are prideful, then humble yourself quickly, or you will be humbled." Also, we set up the gym today for devotional, which was quite an experience. Our Zone leader organized the districts to specific areas to set chairs in. And there were new missionaries. So, I got to direct about ten missionaries who had no idea what they were doing in an area that I barely understood myself. It all worked out, though. Just a little slower than usual. I'm kinda surprised we got to dinner.

MTC Week 6

Two thirds of the way through! Everybody says this is where the days start flying by, until the last week, which they say is unbearably slow. We'll see what happens.

Thursday: Had a great TRC today. My companion and I are still working a bit on understanding people, but our communicating is getting much better. Also got your Chip cookies! Still have some I haven't eaten yet. Thanks for the moral support!

Friday: trying to find a balance between study and social, because as important as the language is, I need to learn how to get to know people to connect the gospel to them. There's a fresh batch of missionaries coming Wednesday I can welcome.

Saturday: another normal Saturday, with weird study time in the afternoon. Bad idea to give MTC missionaries free time in the afternoon. You could tell some of the older missionaries getting ready to go next week were really restless. One moment when I'm studying, I hear a bunch of commotion coming from across the building. I look real quick to see what's up, and about fifteen people are surrounding a beat-boxing competition. Just about a minute after the group finally separates, Brother Dahle (one of the zone counselors) comes to visit and see how we were all doing. ("We were this close to greatness")

Sunday: played "Praise to the Man" today for sacrament meeting. It was alright, but I probably should have done more of my practicing on the keyboard so I would be used to the keys. In other news, the older missionaries, or daisenpai, had their last day with us today, because they leave at 2 the next morning. A couple sisters cried, elders exchanged hugs, I hung out with the daisenpai not doing those things, though I did get some good pictures with some of the departing missionaries. The next morning, all their food was piled up in the foyer for whoever wanted it. My companion and I got some nice spoils. 

New missionaries assigned to Japanese speaking missions enter the MTC in batches every 3 weeks.  They have terms for the 3 groups that are in the MTC at any given time.  Conner is excited because he just graduated to dainsenpai.

• • daisenpai - missionaries who have been in the MTC 6 weeks or more
  • senpai - missionaries who have been in the MTC 3 weeks
  • kouhai - brand new missionaries

Some of the daisenpai missionaries who left for Japan this week.  They don't have classes together, but they live on the same floor and eat meals together.

Monday: Had our first native TRC today. It was pretty terrible. Spent the first fifteen minutes trying to figure out what she needed, and the last ten minutes blundering what we wanted to say. It was a mess. 

Native TRC (Training Resource Center) is when the missionaries get connected with a Japanese speaking member of the church (probably from Japan) via Skype.  She pretends to be learning about the church and the missionaries teach her. This helps to test their ability to teach in the language & communicate with a native speaker.

Going forward, he will have native TRC's 4 times a week.

Tuesday: For the devotional tonight, we sang with the choir an arrangement of "Testimony" (I Know That My Redeemer Lives). Then Elder Bednar and his wife got up and spoke. He gave an epic talk. He told us to not be monotonous with the lessons we are repeating, and if we are, we should "stop it". He told us the spirit works the same way, no matter who we are. He told us like eight times to just be good girls and good boys, and you will succeed. Most important, he told us to keep walking even if we don't know what to do. Listen for the spirit, but don't park on the side of the straight and narrow path, waiting for the spirit to tell us exactly how to proceed. He shared the following scripture:

Doctrine & Covenants 80:3 -- "Wherefore, go ye and preach my gospel, whether to the north or to the south, to the east or to the west, it mattereth not, for ye cannot go amiss."

The Lord has planned everything out and as long as we are doing what we should be doing, we will not fail.

Wednesday: went to the temple to do an endowment, then did laundry, then got a haircut. I'll send a picture after I call so you have the great unveiling effect. New kouhai coming today. Got to welcome the new troops.

aishiteimasu!
Elder Brown 

Laundry

Daily gym time

Cafeteria -- where the Japanese-speaking missionaries congregate

Classroom pic with his companion Elder Embley

Week 5

Over halfway through the MTC and the Temple is finally open! So glad we were able to go this morning, so glad my district got up at the butt-crack of dawn, and so happy that the laundry room is practically empty! Here's my report:

Thursday: another TRC today. Was able to understand the two people pretty well, and one of them went to Sapporo, so we were able to have a great conversation about it. Also, tried out a new method to learn Japanese. I've been writing a lot to practice the sentence structure. And while I'm writing, any new words I want to learn I put in quizlet for later.

Friday: Had a super fun time playing beach volleyball today. One girl got hit hard in the face and another elder kept hitting the ball back over the net with his head. Also had an awesome time practicing lesson teaching. My companion and I were able to connect to the person so well! It felt so awesome!

Saturday: wonky schedule as usual, but i was still able to be pretty productive. Not too much happened this day.

Sunday: today was kind of an aftershock from Saturday. The whole district was dog tired. My companion and I taught a pretty good lesson in district council today, though. Also, I volunteered to play piano next Sunday, and my companion is doing a musical number with another district member the Sunday after. The devotional was cool, mostly about ordinances since the temple opened up.

Monday: Pretty basic day of learning. Practiced piano during personal study. Ate 4 corndogs for lunch. Pretty basic. Language still coming along, though I'm gonna try and learn a few more words per day and start learning more grammar principles. The teachers can give us the minimum at least, but it's up to us how much we really get done.

Tuesday: taught another awesome lesson with my companion. We had only a little more than ten minutes to teach, but we still helped the person progress and invited him to church. The devotional speaker, Elder Nielson, gave a nice talk about the spirit. He compared it to water and we were fish, always breathing it but never noticing it. Later in devotional review, I made the comment that we should always keep the spirit even though it's hard to notice it, because the people we teach will notice it.

Wednesday: temple was open, so like I said, our district got up early and got there at the perfect time. You could tell it had been a while since I had been to the temple. The temple workers themselves were kind of rusty as well. Schedule today was kind of crammed because of it, but checked the mail, and Randy and Kate sent me literally three long boxes of Crumbl, about twelve cookies! Hope I can eat them all before I have to go. The clock is ticking.

Mom note: Conner will be swimming in cookies & everyone's best friend . . . a Chip cookie delivery from me should be arriving today or tomorrow as well!  :) No new pictures from Conner this week, so I'm including this screenshot I took during our conversation today.

Week 4

Hey guys! Almost halfway to getting into the field, so pressure's on to master this language. Here's the weekly report:

Thursday: Had another set of member TRCs. I thought they went way better than last week's. The language is definitely getting a little smoother. I just need to give myself more practice making sentences. Also had a Japanese quiz of sorts. It wasn't too bad. Mostly just answering questions in Japanese.

Friday: Had two epic lessons today! Our teachers pretending to be nonmembers is really helping us learn how to teach effectively with the Japanese we know and learn how to invite the spirit. Meals were legendary as well, though I don't know what happened to my iron stomach. Since when does two hamburgers and two sets of fries beat me? 

Saturday: Saturdays are weird. Class is in the morning and study time is in the afternoon, which is a problem. In the morning, we usually study and get focused before class, so I had a hard time focusing. And when study time is in the afternoon, everybody messes around. I tried to study a bit, but was not very productive. Overall, the day felt kind of wasted.

We talked to Conner today . . . . His typical daily schedule is:

• • 4 hrs Study Time comprised of 40 min Book of Mormon, 15 min Preach my Gospel, 5 min Missionary Handbook, followed by 1 hour language study, 1 hour companionship study (whatever they choose to study together), 1 hour Book of Mormon study
  • Lunch
  • Class
  • Dinner
  • Class

On Saturdays it is switched up:  Class - Lunch - Class - Dinner - Study time.

Sunday: First Fast Sunday in the MTC! It's kind of brutal if you aren't prepared, but I was prepared. First, I ate a little extra something before bed last night, when I started my fast. Second, thanks to you, I had plenty of extra gum. (Badum-crash) Third, I urged my district to go with me to choir fifteen minutes early. We got close to the best seats in the house, then went straight to dinner afterwards. Fourth, piled my plate high, because I knew I wasn't coming back. Sure enough, the line was longer than it ever had been after we got our food. 

Choir was awesome too. We sang the Mac Wilberg arrangement of Praise to the Man. The choir director shared some really cool stories about Joseph Smith. He's a great and funny guy.

Monday: Kind of a basic day. All except for the fact that uncle Denver and aunt Bree hooked me up with gummy bears, starbursts,  and smarties. Here in the residences, you quickly learn that the true authority and power here is represented by your food storage (lol). Whenever the oldest missionaries leave, they give all their stash to whoever they like the most. I'm pretty sure this stash has been growing and growing over time like the treasure trove in National Treasure.

Tuesday: sang Praise to the Man at the devotional. The speaker shared some really cool stories about the Book of Mormon converting people. Here's an example:

A companionship stopped at a small house on a hill, overlooking the sea. They met an old man and introduced the Book of Mormon to him. He said that tomorrow he would go fishing and read while he fished, then later they could talk about it. Somehow, they lost contact. Months later, when one of those missionaries was a zone leader, he remembered the old man and went to go check on him. The old man saw them and said, "You're back. Your book is true. Come in and let's talk about it."

I just love how matter-of-fact his response was. 

Proud of his General Conference talk viewing set-up -- Tablet + luggage straps

Week 3

Here's the weekly report:

Thursday: Had my first member TRC. A TRC is where my companion and I talk with a volunteer in Japanese, in this case a returned missionary, and talked about what they were going through and how the gospel can help them. It was a pretty cool experience. We have another one this Thursday and in future weeks we'll be conversing with actually Japanese people via the internet.

Friday: Man, I love Friday meals. Burgers for lunch and papa John's pizza for dinner. Also, we learned a very crucial difference between two phrases:

Onakaga suita - My stomach is empty.

Onakaga tsuita - My stomach has arrived.

I just about died with laughter when I learned the difference. Pretty sure I'm gonna use the second one, though.

Saturday: Had three lessons to prepare today. One for Japanese teaching practice, one for a Sunday meeting, and a talk just in case I get called on on sunday (which I didn't, but better safe than sorry. Someone in my district did get called).

Sunday: been trying to better focus my mind, lately. The devotional speaker shared a parable from Jesus where a man kicked a devil out of his house, but the devil returned later with seven others because the man's house was still empty. I guess I need to try and fill my head with more missionary thoughts to keep the not bad, but distracting thoughts out of my head.

Monday: learned another crucial Japanese difference:

Kaishuu: religious conversion

Kaishu: abducting

Probably need to be careful with that one. 

Tuesday: We sang "more holiness give me" in choir. The devotional speaker was from the young women General presidency and gave a great talk about trusting the Lord and prompting of the spirit. Her husband gave a great analogy that the Lord is the vine and we are the branches. We can do nothing without the Lord.

Today: slightly less busy prep day than last week, which is nice. Most of the district members have planned naps into their schedule. TBD whether I'll do the same.

(The CHORK --- Chopsticks / Fork)

Side notes:

The food here in general is really good, but they need to die down the Mexican a little. ("You guys have anything other than Mexican food?")

Mom's note: Can you guess that movie reference?  Here's your answer.

Also tried spicy buffalo wings for the first time. Glad they aren't a thing in Sapporo. Other than those, it's really great. They even have an app so you can see what's being served ahead of schedule.

The language is coming pretty well. I'm impressed how fast my district members started reading hiragana. Just trying to build my vocabulary and make sentences faster.

Week 2

Hey guys,

I'm back with my report for week 2! Let's see...

Last Thursday: Had an epic experience teaching in Japanese. My teacher was pretending to be one of his investigators from when he was on a mission. He was just pretending, but I could still feel the spirit so strongly. I can't wait to get into the field!

His MTC District -- all 6 missionaries are learning Japanese.  5 are going to Sapporo and 1 is going to Tokyo.

Friday: My companion and I started on the Book of Mormon in Japanese. We don't understand too much, but it'll help us read and understand characters better. Other than that, it was a pretty normal day. I think that day we went to the weight room in the morning. I mostly used the treadmill. 

SYL stands for Speak Your Language.  They are encouraged to speak the Japanese language in all of their interactions with each other.

Saturday: Kept working on my Japanese. We had zone games later on in the day, where all the Japanese people in the zone played signs. I used my signature Darth Vader force choke. Surprisingly, absolutely nobody dabbed. 

Sunday: Had a great devotional about loving everybody, your companion, your leader, the people, etc... For choir, we started learning "Huzzah for Israel". The choir teacher we had was very funny and engaging. He had some great church history stories.

Monday: We finished basic core this day for Japanese. Do I know it fully...no, but I'm trying my best and trying to find the way the Lord wants me to learn this language. On a different note, during exercise time, my district found the game of all games...four-square. It is so much fun playing with them!

Tuesday: Pretty basic. Took a little spill in gym, but no problems. Just laughed it off like I always do. That was the most exciting thing that happened.

Today: My district got called to help clean the temple! I was assigned to clean the carpets in some of the endowment rooms. They even let us see the celestial room. It was a pretty fun time.

Elder Brown

Mom note: The Provo temple is currently closed for its annual deep cleaning & renovations so we were surprised to hear he got to go inside to help with some of that.  We also chatted with Conner for a little bit this afternoon.  The MTC is treating him well!