Happy Endings and New Beginnings

Well everyone, Sister Jenkins is officially a return missionary, on her way home to her family! I said goodbye to her this morning and it was hard, but I am very excited for this next piece of my missionary journey!

President McDonough called us on Saturday and said "Sister Brown, you are going to be a trainer!!!"

So I am getting a brand new missionary from the MTC and I will be training her on the missionary ways and how to teach and preach, and how to love as the Savior!

This is a big responsibility and I hope I am a good trainer! I am humbled for the opportunity.

The other night before bed, Sister Jenkins and I made a music video for a song that we listen to from a primary CD I have. It's called peanut butter and jelly. I will see if there is some way that I can upload it!

Well i don't have a lot of time today, but here are some other pictures from the week.

Of course I got my weekly dose of puppy therapy.... little Sophie is getting big!!!

All of the Stonewall families in our ward here were sad to see Sister Jenkins go. Here are some of our friends! I love the sweet spirits of the little girls, and I hope one day some of them will go on missions!!!!

Here are some of our favorite investigators - Dyann and Lee! We love them so much!

Well it was hard to say goodbye to some of my best friends that are leaving here, but I know it's not the end!

I will miss my other half, Sister Jenkins so very much!

I learned so much from her and I know that my mission has been forever changed, and I have made a life-long friend. What a blessing missions are!

I will give you a great big update next week and I'm sorry I didn't have time today, but I have to go pick up my new companion! Talk to you next week!

Love, Sister Brown

One Nation, Under God

God Bless America! My home Sweet Home!

I hope you all had a patriotic 4th of July. The older I get and more I learn about the world and the history of our country, the more this is becoming my favorite holiday!

The really cool part about american history that I got to study this year was all about...

The Book of Mormon - Another Testament of Jesus Christ.

The Book of Mormon is written by prophets that were here in america, during the time that the Bible was being written.

They had faith in God, they received revelation on the people of america and they had to fight with the non believers in memory of their "God, their religion, and their freedom."

There is an amazing story in the book about one of the war captains, who ripped his coat and made what he called "The Title of Liberty" declaring their stance on their freedom throughout the land!

-Alma 46:12

if you would like to read about this story, click here.

https://www.lds.org/scriptures/bofm/alma/46.12?lang=eng#11

When Columbus got here, there were already people here. Columbus was "led by the spirit of God to this country!!!!!" (for more info click below)

https://www.lds.org/ensign/1992/10/columbus-and-the-hand-of-god?lang=eng

These are the people that the Book of Mormon talks about. The ancestors of the ancient American Indians. They had to fight for their freedom in the land too!

Well Sister Jenkins and I had a great 4th of July. One of the families here fed us a very festive lunch, it looks like it could be a pinterest legend.

The rest of the day was pretty normal besides knocking on people's doors. We got to talk to two lonely women that day and sing them songs and visit with them and talk about the freedom of our country.

*There was a very awkward moment when we decided to knock on peoples doors and sing them the national anthem, kind of like Christmas caroling.

Well one door... a British lady answered. But we didn't know. We started to sing, and she interrupted us and told us that she wasn't american..... oh man...*

We got to watch the fireworks with the Glass family, and thought of what our families would be doing at that time. Sister Jenkins will be home to her family soon!

Oh, I almost forgot to mention that Sister Jenkins adopted a dog. We aren't allowed to have pets, but she is sending home the dog to her family because little miss Katy needed a home and a family since hers dumped her in the animal shelter.

It happened to work out that one of the families here is going to visit Logan, Utah, where Sister Jenkins is from, and they are going to take the dog with them and give it to her family!!! haha!

Well unfortunately I don't have too much to update this week, and i don't have a lot of time! We are working with lots of people and hopefully will be able to get a lot of work done this week before Sister Jenkins goes home.

I am so grateful for the time I have to be here on a mission. I have learned so much about the freedom that God gives us when we keep his commandments.

I love the freedom that our country was founded on and I know that the people here have been inspired by god, whether it be Christopher Columbus, The people of the Book of Mormon, our Founding Fathers.

I know that this land was prepared by God to be the Promised land, in which the fullness of the gospel of Jesus Christ could be restored and spread to the Gentiles and Jews, to be spread to the world.

I know that through the revolutionary war, and the Bill of Rights, and our constitution, this land was prepared and held in the hands of God, until it was time and there was an opportunity for another prophet to be called in this land in the Latter-Days.

I know that prophet was Joseph Smith, and that he saw what he saw, and heard what he says that he heard. I know that he was able to translate the Book of Mormon into the English language - only by the Power of God, and I am grateful we have this beautiful and sacred record of the people who lived in this country long ago.

I invite you all to read the Book of Mormon, and read the history of our country it contains. It will bless you so much in your lives, and give you a greater sense of direction and purpose.

I love our Savior, Jesus Christ, and I know that he ministered to the people here in America as well as the people in Jerusalem.

This is the message I get to share every day with the world, and I love it so much.

There is much hope to be found in our country! I pray that we excercise faith and keep ourselves personally prepared for the Savior to come again, because he will!

He Lives!!!!

Let Freedom Ring,

Sister Brown

DO NOT IGNORE GOD.‏

Sister Jenkins is such an amazing companion. 

A couple mornings ago, she made me a giant banana pancake for breakfast.

We had a hard day this week. When we got home from working that night, we stuck out feet in the bath tub and scrubbed them with hot water! They were tired from all the walking, so it was nice to relax and sit down for a few minutes.

We also listened to an excellent John Bytheway talk that I love! It's called "No-Brainers" Five hard decisions that the Gospel makes easy. Here is a little excerpt about what the CD is about! I recommend it to anyone - especially youth :)

The world has a hard time saying "no" to certain temptations. But the gospel turns many tough choices into "no-brainers." Satan seeks to hide consequences or to convince people that there are no consequences at all for choices.

The gospel blows away the "DUM" clouds ("DUM" means "Dark Underlying Mists") and makes consequences clear.

John Bytheway examines the consequences of choices facing young people today. With stories, scriptures, and statements from Church leaders, he shows that living the gospel is the smartest thing anyone can do! The gospel teaches us to say "yes" to good friends, "no" to drugs and alcohol, "no" to pornography, "no" to immorality, "yes" to repenting, coming to Christ, and enjoying a life of peace and happiness. It really is a "no-brainer"!

And you know what. It's so true.

The Gospel of Jesus Christ makes bad men good and good men better.

What a blessing in MY life... to grow up in the gospel. To learn to say no to things that REALLY DO NOT MAKE ME HAPPY.

Why do we think it is okay to ignore God?

We see this over and over again throughout the scriptures. People seek for worldy and temporary happiness.... but it never works out, does it?

Why do we ignore HIM and think it is okay for us to do things by ourselves, and that "a little bit won't hurt" and I'm just going to leave my standards for 5 minutes, I'll be right back.

It never works.

What peace it brings to leave it all at the saviors feet, and give your life to him! He knows us perfectly... and what a blessing it is that we can always repent. We can be ETERNALLY HAPPY!

Well I got some more puppy therapy this week, here's a picture capturing the moments!

Sophie - the white one - got adopted by a member in our ward here! She is SO cute.

I have to share an experience that I had yesterday.

This is more about NOT IGNORING GOD.

Well Sister Jenkins and I went tracting yesterday - walking and knocking on doors.

Sometimes tracting is intimidating because you are talking to complete strangers and asking if they will let you in their house to share a message about Jesus Christ's restored gospel with them.

Well here we are.... walking down the street.

I see out of the corner of my eye... a couple sitting outside smoking, and think that maybe we should go talk to them. Because we should talk with everyone we meet about Jesus Christ!

But I ignored God... and decided not to go talk to them. I wasn't in the "mood" to. Oh man sometimes I am so selfish!

Well we keep walking and I start feeling a little guilty. And in my mind I promised Heavenly Father that if the couple were still there when we were walking back, I would talk with them.

SO we keep going. Door after door closes in our face.... dogs chase us... we drop our purses for a minute and play some basketball with about 15 black kids.... Great image right? 2 white girls in dresses dropping our bags to run and ball it up for 10 minutes. After we were done, we wiped the sweat off our brows, and passed out pictures of Jesus to all the kids.

Someday those kids will remember the girls who played ball with them, and maybe let the missionaries they meet teach them about the gospel!

I really believe that NO effort is wasted.

Okay. SO we didn't really meet anyone super interested in our message. A nice lady let me borrow some bug spray because she saw my legs... they are pitiful from all the bugs!

Well it got dark, and we decided to walk back to our bikes.

I look across the street... and the couple is still there.

Okay okay.... I will go talk to them.

So across the street we went.

We introduce ourselves, and all the sudden a SMILE lit up on their faces! We told them the message we are sharing about Christ's restored gospel - restored to the earth through a living prophet! Oh they were so excited!

We told them about the Book of Mormon... what it is and where it came from.

After sharing all this in a few minutes with them, the lady turned to us and said

"I believe every word you say!"

I told her how we were going to pass them by, because I ignored my prompting from God, and she looked at me with tears in her eyes and told us that they had gone inside after we walked past them the first time, but they had just came back out about ten minutes ago.

She said God must have known we would come back and he wanted her to listen to our message!

Tears filled my eyes as I realized how receptive and happy these good people were to hear our message. And I almost passed them by! Thank goodness that the Lord is good and had them go back outside so that I could keep my promise I made God!

The guy said he has had mormon friends over the years and it was so good to hear what our message is, and that it all makes PERFECT sense to him. He wanted to know who the Prophet for the world is today and where he lives... They were asking wonderful questions!!!

They were so excited and asked for a copy of the Book of Mormon. We gladly lent it to them.

And although we had to ride our bikes back home in the complete darkness, I knew God would keep us safe and that he wanted me to be able to strengthen my testimony that night.

It sure was. I know that God hears our prayers. I know that we should not ignore Him! He truly does know what he is doing! I have such a love for the scriptures, the History they contain and the wonderful ability to freely worship God in our country!

I am so thankful to be on a mission! My life is changed every day as I witness first hand miracles before my eyes!

I love you!

Love, Sister Brown