New week, new transfer, new season 2-10-14

Hello Family!  -Happy advanced Valentine's Day!

Well it's a new week!  It's a new transfer (tomorrow).  And it's a new season!  This passed week was awesome.  I learned so much.  I love leaning.  And this week marks the start of a new transfer.  We transfer planned all week and got everything ready.  We're most excited for our new calendar.  We're really going to try and keep ourselves as busy as possible.  By the way.. it's still Elder Madsen and I together as a companionship.  And of course, we're transitioning into a new season of things.  And I mean that quite literally - It's no longer wet season!  The constant rain has finally stopped.  After just a few days of heat though, I already miss that.  It's not bad in the air con (A/C) office, but it's pretty brutal trying to sleep.  The choice to be able to fall asleep at night are either shower or go find a second electric fan, otherwise you're not going to sleep for a while.

...One of the distinguishing things of a missionary's last week in the field is the "Career Workshop" which basically prepares people for becoming self-reliant as they make the adjustment back into normal life and society.  We don't usually attend this, but we had to drop some things off there and wait a little so we got to see the first and last half hour of it... Sure makes you think about your mission as you sit with these missionaries getting prepared to have it end.  It's always fun though being with the couple missionaries and the departing (going home) missionaries.  We went to their last little dinner at the mission home and had to take people home to their areas since there's no transportation even at just 8:30pm.  ...didn't get home until midnight (late for a missionary) but fortunately we survived.  There was a bunch of road construction at one part.  Rather than put up lights or reflective signs, they just laid torches all the way down the road for a kilometer or so.  This, coupled with the awesome view of the nighttime jungle, made us feel like we were about to enter Jurassic Park or something.  Good thing the dinosaurs don't live here anymore!

So this coming week, we take the departing missionaries to the airport and pick up the new ones.  Should be fun!  Love you!

Love, Elder Shane Brown

Pictures

1.  Celebrating President's birthday

2.  The Nelsons (couple missionaries) brought us REAL milk from an area in the Naga Mission!  Chocolate milk and mango milk - super good.  (real milk doesn't really exist here)