Well, it's the last day of September.

Do you know what that means? That means I have less than a year until I come home.

Yikes.

So there is a man in our ward that wanted to work on his home teaching list. He tried a couple of years ago, and all 4 families were inactive, and didn't want visits. But, said that they would be willing to accept a message in the mail. So, that's what he did. Well, our ward is doing a big focus on filling the empty chairs, and finding the one. So, this brother talked to us, and gave us the names of these individuals. one of which I had visited once, and knew that she had come to church a couple times, and wanted to become active! He was so surprised and excited! So we scheduled an appointment with her, and brought him with. It was perfect. When he introduced himself, the first thing she said was, "no way! It’s a pleasure to meet you! Thank you for those messages every month!" it was awesome :)

Quote from that night:

Sister Chatwin: So Corhior is what they call an anti-Christ

Woman: that's what I call Wal-Mart!

It was so funny! I love old ladies :)

This week has been really wonderful, as I hope yours has been. We did a lot of running around to help sisters. I actually finished weekly planning in one day, for the first time in probably, 2 months or so. Since I became an STL... that has been nearly an impossible feat. We are working on putting together a couple of white boards to keep our apartment and area more organized. It’s taken a lot of time, but i'm excited :)

On Wednesday I left the area to go on exchanges, and that was a blast :) we spent the morning at the beehive house- an old folk home. And it was so much fun! Wechatted with the cook, then sang and gave a short lesson to the 4 bodies there, only 2 of which could hear and respond. One of those two just wanted to sing us the song about black birds being bake din a pie. It was a blast :)

All the investigators are doing great. Again..... We are planning on seeing Emilio and his family tonight, and Cullen and his family tomorrow night. Fingers crossed. We really want to help them progress! This week kind of slowed down as far as people progressing... but I think this week we are going to try and step it up a notch. Or something..... We just have all of these people that are planning on getting baptized, but aren't progressing fully, because they are not reading, or didn't make it to church, or something. So, we're going to fix that this week I hope :)

Another adventure: Thursday night we were supposed to have dinner with a lady in our ward. Another old lady. (That always means adventure!) haha anyways, we heard stories from sister that had been there before, that this dinner was not generally a super positive experience. (House is just generally gross because of animals and things like that), and so eating the food wasn't the greatest experience because of the atmosphere. Admittedly it didn't smell that great. BUT, expecting the worst, we went. And we were surprised to have a lovely meal! Spaghetti, salad, breadsticks, pie... and all was edible and delicious actually. AND, she makes jewelry, and let us bring home a piece :) I was so excited! I ended up picking a beautiful little ring, that has a small green stone, and a small reddish stone (I think it's a garnet?). Anyways, I picked it because it's my NM chili ring. red or green? ;)

Friday after District Meeting, we always go to lunch. Well, we picked Panda Express. When we got there, there happened to be a member of the church there (I’m still not sure if any of the missionaries knew him) but he waited, and bought lunch for all of us. The total came to about $80. I can't tell you how amazed and grateful we all were for him to do that for us. It was great :)

Saturday we planned all day. And I rested. It was lovely :) then we went to the Relief Society Broadcast. There was a dinner before, and then the broadcast was wonderful. We had a new investigator there, and it was so cool to see her make friends, and ask questions, and really feel the spirit.  Then after the broadcast, we had to run over to another building for another missionary fireside. And that was super wonderful :) we got to hear from elder Richards, who helped put together PMG. And I got to see a lot of my old missionary friends. That was the greatest! The friends you make on your mission seriously become some of the closest people in your life.

And this Saturday, we get to help clean the temple. And Next Monday we get to finally go to the temple, AND it's conference weekend!

I’m so excited.

One day in my studies this week, I was reading in Alma 5:60-

"And now I say unto you that the good shepherd doth call after you; and if you will hearken unto his voice he will bring you into his fold, and ye are his sheep; and he commandeth you that ye suffer no ravenous wolf to enter among you, that ye may not be destroyed."

Anyways, I just thought it was interesting that he used the word suffer. Like, it's a choice that we let in that wolf or not. We need to watch our flock (yourself, your family, church, etc.) and never let a weak point come so that the ravenous wolf (Satan, or sin) can come in. He is ready and waiting, circling relentlessly. We can never let down our guard, and suffer for the wolves to enter in. We must grasp and hold tightly to the iron rod; not just walk next to it. And then remember that we always have a shepherd to turn to. Our Savior is always there to comfort and guide us. Don't be afraid to turn to your shepherd for help. Live so you will know his voice, and always follow Him.

Well, I hope y'all have an excellent week!! Work hard, and find reasons to smile! Love you!

Love,

Sister Brown

Holy Moly

Hey all!

So, short on time again.  The kids are going to come in and take over the computers here in a sec...so we'll see how much I can fit in.

This week was excellent overall.  Everyone is doing really great.  :)  Well, everyone that we taught, that is.  We still haven't really been able to get a hold of Emilio and his family, or Cullen and his family.  Work and such, I guess.

But Max and Sandra met with Bishop last week, and are still planning on getting baptized with their little girl on October 26th, and getting married on the 12th!  So that's super exciting.  :)  Hopefully all of that will follow through like we want!  We are going to have an FHE  with them tonight at a member's, so I'm excited for that.

Amber and Phil made it to church yesterday with their family.  We had a lot of fun at a lesson last night...the secret is out of the bag.  Well, two secrets.  That I'm super jumpy and Halloween is Not my favorite holiday..  And they know my first name now.  Which...makes us feel closer somehow?  haha anyways, things are pretty good there.

Christina has been kind of difficult to get a hold of the lst couple of days too.  she still wasn't able to make it to church but we are teaching her tonight as well.  And we have a member that has been fellow shipping her and that is absolutely awesome.  : )

We had Zone Conference on Thursday!  I always love meetings like that.  We had a clothing swap, where the sisters can all bring and take whatever clothing they want.  I didn't grab anything this time, but we got to the meeting around 6:45 am to help set up, and do car inspections.  Then we were at the meeting until...like 4:15 or so.  It was great, and I learned all sorts of fun things!

Friday was planning all day.  And helping sisters and such.  We did a couple of exchanges this week.  Those are a little hard to just not be with your comp, or in your area so frequently, but overall it's way fun.  ; )  Again, learned lots of good things.  I went on a Spanish exchange.  I didn't know what was being said or going on at all most of the day.  But I learned some Spanish, so that's pretty fun!  I also got a hug from an old man.  it's always a little strange when that happens.  lol.

There was one night where I just wasn't sure what I was going to do with myself.  Things had been kind of hard...just emotionally and everything.  Anyways, I needed some kind of break and release.  So we ended up just buying some treats at the gas station across the street, and relaxing for about 4 mins.  I think I went a little overboard with the caffeine and treats, but I emotionally needed a break so I could actually focus.  It was good to just be weird for a night lol.

It rained a lot again.  We had a couple good storms...last night it just came out of no where, and hailed and it was awesome.  : )  I'm SO glad that it cooled down so much.

Anyways, that's about it for this week.  Love y'all bunches!  Keep working hard, and remember to always be happy!

Love,
Sister Brown

It's raining again

Well, this week was fabulous! It rained. A lot. Apparently it's because the state fair is here, and it always rains when the fair comes. Or at least that's the word on the street.

Amber and Phil and family- we didn't get to meet with them this week. Amber is working crazy hours still... so it's tough to ever get over there. And they were sick this weekend so they weren't at church... BUT other than that they are well, and we're still preparing for baptism this November :)

Emilio and Nichole... work is also busy, so we haven't seen them in like 2 weeks. Bummer deal.

Max and Sandra came to church again this week! (This time without their dog). They stayed for all 3 hours and seemed to like it a lot. They also had an interview with bishop about what to do to get ready for marriage and baptism in a few weeks :) so things are progressing.

Christina... SUPER AWESOME!! We went and taught the restoration, and things went super well. When I say her kids are crazy, I mean, literally climbing walls and hanging from ceilings, and running and screaming. Out. Of. Control. But we taught the restoration using a cup object lesson. They got to help, and it went pretty well. But the little one was still screaming the whole time. Well, when we got to telling the story of the first vision, suddenly the room was silent. For the entire story the room was quiet. The spirit filled the room, and it was incredible. At the end of the lesson, we all talked about how we loved being there, and how they loved having us there. They’re going to get baptized on Oct. 13 :)

Dolly is doing great! Again, progressing slowly. Some things just go way over her head and what she is used to. So she's not on date yet, but I know she will get baptized one day :) I love teaching her. She is so genuine and just way cool.

  

We didn't teach really very many lessons this week. A lot of people were sick/busy. But I think this next week will be great!!

I had a few adventures this week though!

1. So this was actually last week and I forgot. But we had a member out with us, and we were going to go visit a family, but they cancelled last minute. So we still went out with the member, and asked if she had anyone she wanted/needed to visit. We went to a lady's house that had been on her mind. When Wanda opened the door, she practically fell into sister Dodd’s arms. We walked her back to the couch, and after 30 mins or so of trying to find a pulse and keep her conscious, we called 911. Then after they got there and evaluated things, they were bringing her out to the gurney and her face was drooping. I had just watched someone have a stroke!! It was a miracle that we were even there to help. It was amazing

(ps- she's okay now)

2. A couple nights ago, it had been storming, and we were stressed, and so it took us a while to fall asleep anyways. We were both kind of restless. Then, at about 4:10 in the morning, we could hear alarms going off. Sure enough, the fire alarm for our building was going off!! We didn't smell smoke, so we grabbed shoes and sweatshirts, and I grabbed the phone and my BOM, and we walked outside. What was most alarming... was that no one else was leaving the building. But either way, we stayed outside. We walked off a little ways, and sat in the Laundromat for a bit... soon the fire department showed up. They inspected things, and then eventually came over to us and asked if we had a phone. I called the office emergency line and left a message saying that there wasn't a fire, but the firemen were there and the alarms wouldn't stop. So we got clearance from the firemen (that were much too happy for 4am) to go back to bed and try to sleep, and sorry that they couldn't turn off the alarm. We were so tired on Sunday let me tell you.

But I think my favorite parts of the week were the little things. Visiting all the sisters. Watching max and Sandra try not to fall asleep during the opening hymn. Coloring on white boards. Lots of rain.

Oh and last night we were the speakers for a single adult fireside 30+. (I never knew how much I LOVE public speaking! ...what?) Anyways, we taught about the joy in service and missionary work. It went really well :)

And I had SO many insights in my studies this week! I think my favorite was when I was studying Jacob this morning. In chapter 4:14, it's talking about how the people look over the simpleness of the word they have already been given, and desire more. Well, God tells them, "That’s not a very good idea". But they think they know best and ask for things that are more complicated. I think we do this a lot. We think we know best for our situation, and ask God for specific things, not just for what's best. And eventually God will say, "Fine. Let's see how you think things should be done." And usually, we fall on our faces, and then have to go back and say, "God, you were right." that's if we learned our lesson that is. Sometimes it becomes a vicious cycle.

Doesn't God have some awesome parenting skills? No wonder he is our Heavenly Father.

Have a fantastic week!!! Love y'all so much!!!

Love,

Sister Brown

PS- if you have a favorite conference talk, I am in need of talks to study! Just give the link or the name. Thanks!

******* If you post your favorite conference talk in the comments I will get that to her. ********

Stress is...good?

So, this week has been pretty good.  A lot of really good things have happened, and a lot of moments where I want to pull all my hair out.  But I'm learning that that's normal.  : )

Amber and Phil are doing great.  They have both met with the Bishop, and are making a plan to progress towards baptism.  We were able to set a date for the whole family for baptism!  Because they need to get married and a few other things, the date is November 16th.  Lessons have been going so great, and we are SO excited to help them.  The boys are going to scouts this week, so we're excited for that too.  : )  And another fun thing?  They all walked into sacrament meeting yesterday, a little late, and all the girls had new dresses and the boys were in white shirts.  I had told them that the shirts didn't have to be white, so they've been wearing really nice light blue ones...but they wanted to fit in a little more and be more respectful, so they got white ones.  It made me smile.  : )


Max and Sandra...I don't rember if I've told y'all about them.  funny little couple.  They have been taking lessons for like, 2 years.  They just moved into our ward so we're teaching them now.  They are a little older, but have an 8 year old daughter.  They will be getting married at the beginning of next month, and hopefully baptized on Oct 26th!  Also funny...when they walked into church yesterday, a little late, Sandra was holding their little dog.  Not sure that I have ever seen a dog in the chapel before!  : )

Cullen...we're still working with.  We're really hoping that we can set a date for baptism here soon.  We just found out that Theresa (his fiance) is pregnant!  Which is super exciting, but may cause some complications as far as them  progressing towards marriage and things...like I said.  Mostly I can just tell you that it's really complicated, but with the Lord, it will work out.  : )

Emilio and Nichole and Candace are on date as well.!  (Cain didn't quite want to commit because he doesn't like water...we'll figure that one out soon.)  But they will be getting baptized on October 26th as well!  Emilio really wants to be able to be sealed to Nichole.  It's really sweet, so we're excited to help that along.

Basically, we should be having a lot of wedding and baptisms soon!  :D

Dolly is doing really well too.  She is progressing, slowly.  Like, we can tell she really wants this, but we have to teach her really simply because she doesn't really retain everything immediately.  But she is so sweet.  : )

We met with a lady named Christina...super cool.  She is a member referral and we are going back next week to teach the plan of salvation.  Can't wait. : )  But, her kids are super crazy.  So, sister Chatwin entertains while me and the member teach.  It's great.  haha!

So one of my goals this transfer is to finish the BOM in the transfer.  (remember how I had 6 weeks to read it before my mission and failed?  Well, I'm going to try again to redeem myself.)  I finished it once already, and it was SO good.  So, I'm reading it a little faster now, and it's just as good.  I'm learning so many new things every time.  I was thinking a lot about the story when Nephi and his brothers are going back to get the brass plates.  Nephi knows that they are being asked of the Lord, but he also learns that that doesn't mean that ti's going to happen on the first try.  The Lord's hand is leading but Nephi has to come up with several solutions on hi own and fails twice before anything actually works.  The Lord asked him to complete a task, but didn't give him all the answers right away.  How else is he supposed to learn and grow right?  So, same thing with us in this life.  We may be asked to do something.  And even if we are obedient, and go right away, doesn't mean that we are going to succeed the first time.  Sometimes we have to try different ways, and try different solutions before we know what we are to learn, and then go forward.

I hope that y'all are finding happy things in every day and loving life.  God is good, and I am so grateful to be able to see His hand in my daily life.

Love ya'll so much!!

Love,
Sister Brown

And all that jazz

SO, today's is going to have to be UBER short cause I’m out of time. I’ll just give you the quick low down of everything, and I’m really sorry that I didn't allow myself enough time today.....

Anyways. Transfers. I’m staying in Canyon Heights, and my new companion is Sister Chatwin! We were actually in the same MTC district, so I was beyond excited when I found out that we were going to be companions!! She is super smart and is basically a nurse in training... which is great because we have a lot of sisters that call us sick, and now someone can actually help them! ( I generally play tough love.... rest for a bit and go to work!)

Also, thank you all for the birthday wishes!! They were so great, and my day was wonderful!! It was supposed to mostly be planning... but of course it never goes that way. I woke up and sister Leonhardt had decorated the apartment with sweet notes and pictures and things, and we blew up some balloons. We spent the morning making calls to the sisters. We also usually expect a call from our ZL's to check up on us. Cool thing... they called and when I answered, they just started singing to me! I have the coolest ZL's ever :) then, because we didn't have enough planners for the next transfer, and the ZL's didn't have enough miles, we went to the mission office to pick up mail and supplies. That’s always an adventure :) Sister Dennis (an office lady) sang to me in her cute southern accent. And everyone wished me happy birthday :) we also went to lunch at waffle house, and it was delicious, and just like home haha. The new peach waffle? go buy it. Way good. AND, even though a couple of men said some... interesting things about the church. the cashier gave me 10% off for my birthday even though they usually don't. Score! :) Then that night Phil and I have the same birthday, so we went over there for a party. He made kind of a southern dinner with BBQ ribs and pulled pork and stuff like that. SO good. And then we had cake, and a lesson. It was fabulous :)

Over all everyone is still doing really well. We had a lot of people cancel on us this week, so actually not that many lessons.

Amber and Phil and family are doing great :) they are all coming to church and really loving it. Things are really looking good there..I mean, there are a few bumps in the road, but I think things will smooth out here soon.

Ashley and Tony.... dropped us this week. But just because they said that they want to get a firmer grasp on what they already do believe, and they will call us again when they want to meet.

Golda moved to Wyoming... :(

And we weren't able to meet with Emilio and Nichole and fam yet. Apparently it was a crazy week for everyone.

Also, check out the mission FB: NMAM lds

Sorry this week is brief. Love y'all!!

Love,

Sister Brown