Last week of the transfer.

Holy moly this transfer has been one of THE longest of my LIFE! It has been such a good one. Full of a lot of laughs and good times. But I guess you can't always have the good without the bad right? One of those that I really loved, and I’m really glad is finally over. 

Transfer News: I'm staying another one! Sister Johnson is staying with me and we will be getting another third companion, and Sister Chatwin is headed out. That is kind of sad... but now I will still be able to say that I have had as many companions as I have had transfers. 7 for 7!

This week was long and good. We found two new people to teach! German- his family has been investigating for a while. Well, rather they investigated some while he was a kid. His dad is lds, and his brother got baptized last weekend. His boss referred us to him, and he is SO prepared. We shared the first vision with him, and when Sister J finished reciting it, he smiled super big through the whole thing, and kind of laughed. Then at the end, he just smiled and said, "how can you sit so still while you say that?!" you could watch him fill with the spirit, and be so excited about the gospel. He's 22, and has the best Mexican accent. Seriously can't wait to keep teaching him!

Then Dennis was our other find. He was another referral. He's an older Gentleman, super cool guy. It's been way cold and windy and snowy here, so when we knocked on his door, he let us right in! He knew who we were, and we taught a first lesson right there! Left him with a BOM, and he said he would get baptized when he knew that things were true :)

The Begay boys are going to get baptized on December 14th! :) PLUS, the whole family showed up to church yesterday. That is a huge step, and we are so super excited :) That family is going through a lot right now, but they are troopers! We dropped in a couple days ago, to say hi. (Like I said, people take pity on sisters in the cold snow and wind). So we talked for a little bit, and then she made us the best hot chocolate, and we helped her kids make cake. Sister J broke a plate into one of the cakes when we were helping with dishes. Good thing sister Begay likes us right? ;)

We had a PPI on Thursday too! It’s supposed to stand for Personal Priesthood Interview. But, while some people did have interview for RS, we had Pizza Pie and Ice cream, and our neighbors came that we invited! It was a blast :)

Amber and Phil, doing awesome! Phil got a job! So we're working around his hours as well now. Hopefully he or amber won't have to work Sundays very often, but we are SO happy that they have work. They really are seeing more blessings from tithing and coming to church. It’s so cool :) We had a really fun dinner with them a few days ago. 

Then also dinner last night? Oh my heavens it was THE best thing of my life. There are these brothers in our ward, Jimmy and Terry. They are probably in their 50's, but slightly handicapped. They go to members in the ward and invite themselves over for dinner, and then they LOVE to sing. BUT, they don't know all the words. So last night we had dinner with the Dodds (one of my favorite families!), and the brothers came over for dinner too. Oh man, we sang hymn after hymn. They love the 'spirit of god'. The lyrics end up going, "the spirit of God, the church is true! The church is true, do what the prophet says....... the spirit of God!" or something along those lines. Oh my heavens I love them. We have it all set up for April 9th to sing the whole book with them in the park. We’re going to take pictures for them to scrapbook. (And, they informed me that April 9th is a Wednesday... they're genius too!) I have not laughed so much at a dinner in my whole existence. Seriously, it was SO much fun. We just teased each other all night :) 

So, not too many lessons this week. We are really enjoying the snow... well, I am at least. Having a lot of fun otherwise. Nervous for transfers tomorrow, but all will be well :) hope y'all are doing great! Keep going strong, and stay warm! Love y'all!

Love,

Sister Brown :)

Sick and sick

Well, quite honestly, not much to report this week.  My comps have not been feeling quite 100%, so we've spent a lot of time indoors.  But in a way, it's almost a blessing.  That gives me a lot of time to get some phone calls and texts completed, clean, and to catch up on my Book of Mormon reading.  :)  This week I read Alma 43 through 3 Nephi 10.  All the war chapters.  And you know?   Through all the fighting, there is a lot to learn!  The main thing that I got from those chapters, is to remember to turn to you Heavenly Father.  Seriously.  Those who turn to God, win the war.  They may lose a few battles, but He will always give us the answers we need to ultimately succeed.  Always.  I also learned about the matchless power of God.  He cares so much about us, but there is nothing we can do that will amount to Him.  He wants to bless us, and he can do all, but he expects us to do our part.  To turn to Him, to follow His commandments, and to serve.

We had to push a lot of our dates.  Dante and his brother are now moved to December 14th because they are gong to be out of town and such.  Cameron still doesn't have permission from parents to take lessons.  Amber and Phil are working so hard to be ready.  no new date yet, but they are progressing and doing really well.  :)  Then there are a handful of other people that we are teaching, but it's kind of hit and miss whether or not we teach them weekly.

I need to brag on our ward for just half a sec.  We have THE coolest ward on the planet!!  Every Wednesday we have 2-4 women that volunteer to go out with us.  So while one sister babysits all the kids, the other 3 go out with us on splits.  So we divide and conquer.  three times the work done in the same 2 hours.  it is seriously the bomb.  (These same ladies are the ones that leave church early to help a sister that is sick, even when Satan is attacking other pieces of their lives.  I hope to be as selfless and courageous as these women one day.)  Well, last week we did this split, and Sis. C and I were able to go and visit teach a woman that is really struggling.  We stayed for three hours to keep her company and help her clean her apartment and get shelves and things set up.  Her complex was actually supposed to be gated as well and we made it in without a code.  It was a super big blessing, because then while I stayed there, my companions were able to go and visit a lot of other people, and then teach Dante and his family.  Member missionary work really is where it's at!

Well, that's about it for this week.  Keep working hard!  I love ya'll so much!  Remember who ya are, and remember to be grateful.  We were challenged this week in church to write a list of 100 things that we are grateful for.  I'm going to work on min this week.  :)

Love,
Sister Brown : )

Stolen bike racks, mystery dinners, exchanges, and missing tags

Basically it's been a crazy week :)

Tuesday- exchanges. I stayed in the area, and we had an awesome day :) We taught a lesson to Jennifer. It went really well and I came up with a super awesome analogy for the restoration. But she was kind of falling asleep through it. Good times :)

Wednesday was planning day. We went on splits... so just me and a sister from the ward went out. That was kind of an adventure. Feels almost a tiny bit rebellious to go out without your companions haha.

Thursday was MLC all day, and Friday morning was meetings. Friday afternoon I left my comps to tend the area while I went on an exchange. That was a serious adventure. I was in a biking area for the day, and so not prepared for such. I borrowed a bike from another sister, and just about DIED. The area was flat, and on our bike ride to the first house, I didn't think I was going to make it. And I was super confused, because I had been in a bike area a couple weeks previous with a lot of hills, and didn't have this much of a problem. Well, in coming back from the first house, I asked if we could walk our bikes and just talk for a little bit. Well, a man came out and said hi. We started talking, and turns out he own his own bike shop in his house! Thank heavens for tender mercies from the lord! We stopped and chatted, and he noticed that my front wheel was practically falling off of my bike! So he tightened that up, and then also realigned my tires and filled them with air. Then adjust all of our seats. It was SUCH a blessing. The bike ride home was easy peasy :) BUT, on said bike ride home, we were running late for dinner, and it was getting dark. My purse was across my shoulder, and knocked off my name tag. It was a little embarrassing to show up to dinner with no identity. But then dinner was with this super cute grandparent couple. We got there, and she said we were having mystery dinner. (Made my tummy squirm a little. I was nervous). But, there were 5 of us missionaries. 2 Elders and 3 Sisters. We were assigned numbers, and then the couple dressed up as western ranchers. We had to order what we wanted for each of our 4 courses for dinner, but we didn't know what it was we were ordering. We could order things like 'fence posts' or a 'tumbling tumble weed', or an 'okie-dokie dress'. But we didn't know what anything was! It was a total gamble if you were even going to get silverware! we laughed so much, and had a TON of fun :) I got silverware the first course, and was lucky enough to get my dressing and salad in the same course, but I got dessert half way through, and didn't get a drink till the last course. It was a blast :)

Then Saturday I was gone all day again on an exchange. Lots of little miracles in that area. It's pretty neat when the spirit brings to your mind a personal study you had 4 months previous, and the man you're teaching prays for the first time with the missionaries. Good things happening :)

Sunday.... lots of meetings. Sister Chatwin and I sang a musical number in church. A different rendition of the 13th article of faith. It was really pretty. But half way through, sister S sneezed! We just kept going like nothing happened, but it took all my will power to not laugh!!

Then that night we took the sisters to their DL to get a blessing, and then we were going to go to the ZL's to drop off the bike rack we had been borrowing. When we got out from the blessing, the bike rack that had been attached to the trunk of our car was hanging off, only half way attached! We were not in the safest place of town, so we were kind of freaking. Sister S told me to quickly get in the car and start it while she put the bike rack away and we could leave. As I’m starting the car, she yells... "You! Behind the car! Go away!" and screams! Terrified, thinking my comps are getting kidnapped, I jump out of the car and run to the rescue, only to see our ZL's laughing and coming out from behind a different car!! I was almost mad, but I was laughing to hard. It was so funny, and we needed a good release :) *missionaries behind the scenes*

They switched our schedule too. So instead of pdays on Monday, and planning on Thursday. We planned on Monday, and have pdays on Tuesday. It’s really weird right now, but I think it will help throughout the end of the week. 

We are teaching a few more families now :) it's fantastic! If all goes well... we have a couple people that should be getting baptized the Saturday before thanksgiving. And then transfers are that Tuesday, the 25th! Crazy how time flies!

Keep working hard y'all! Love you so much, and pray for you always. Keep looking for tender mercies and the hand of the Lord in your lives daily. 

Love,

Sister Brown

Hump Month

Well, I hit 8 months in a few days.  The mission has gone by SUPER fast until about this last month, and now it's dragging.  but, we concluded that it's because I'm almost half way.  So I just gotta make it to month 9, and then it's all downhill from there right?

Besides things being slow, the work is going well, lots of blessings this week.

Last Sunday, we had a couple of YW bring a friend to us, Cameron, and say he wanted to take the missionary discussions!  We taught him for the first time on Saturday, and it went super well!  With him, we have 2 people on date for November 23.  Right before the next transfer.  It's going to be the bomb!

This work really is so cool, and so much fun.  :)  I am SO grateful to be out here, working on baptizing the world :)  The work really is hastening.

Funny story, we were sitting in a park at a table having a meeting with a couple of zone leaders.  Anyways, we were just talking.  Pretty soon, from behind us, this guy yells, "Y'all look really weird sitting there just so ya know..."  It was SO funny.  Then Sister J goes, "Weirder than some tough guy walking two chihuahua's."  It was SO funny!!  I loved it!  Reminded me how much we really do stand out.  And for some reason, people don't mind telling missionaries how it is  I might actually miss that when I come home.  haha

Halloween was good.  We were told that we didn't need to come in early or anything.  BUT, we had planning to do, and we live in a sketch part of town.  So we went to dinner and had a mini party, and then came back to plan.  It was fun. : )

Something that I'm working on, is likening the scriptures unto me.  This weeks supplication, was Alma 38.  When you read, just plug in your name, the places you are or will go.  It's so cool to watch the scriptures come more to life when you really apply them.

Hope all is well back home!  Keep workin hard.  Love y'all SO much!!

Love,
Sister Brown