The Miracle of Daylight Savings Time

Family!

   Have I ever told you how incredible daylight savings time is? Well. Let me clue you in:

   For those of you tuning in who may not have been on a mission or know much about them, you follow a very strict schedule! We go to bed at 10 30pm on the dot, and we wake up at 6 30am on the dot. 8 hours. No more, no less. Now, be assured, I understand that is a lot more sleep than most of us get on any given day, but there is something interesting about missionary work. The constant interaction and spiritual aspect of the work causes a lot of physical tiredness at the end of the day. Also, when you are sick, you still don't alter your schedule or change your plans so you can sleep in. Such became my problem this last week.

   On Halloween morning (by the way, I got the package... I think I gained another 20 pounds:)) I woke up with a sore throat, the sure sign of an oncoming cold and fever. I'm used to just busting through colds by napping at certain points throughout the day, but that's not really an option out here, so 8 hours would have to do for now.

   But here's where the miracle comes in. Saturday night, it hit me hard, and the last 3 hours of work was much harder than usual with a pounding headache and a stuffy nose, not to mention aches and pains all over, and I was unsure if I was going to be able to get over this cold if I didn't have more sleep. I truly wanted to work hard all day, and I did, but the cold had pretty much laid me out. I wondered if I really COULD work the whole next day. Could I call in sick... to God? I just started to pray my guts out for a miracle healing or an ability to push through the next day and be able to rise from bed.

   Was I miraculously healed?! No.

   Did I experience incredible, Herculean strength the next day? Not at all.

   Did the Lord provide an extra hour of sleep in the form of Daylight Savings Time? Thankfully, YES. He literally stopped time for an hour just so Elder Brown could get the sleep he desperately needed!:)

   D&C 123: 17- "Therefore, dearly beloved brethren, let us cheerfully do all things that lie in our power; and then may we stand still, with the utmost assurance, to see the salvation of God, and for his arm to be revealed."

   I think all too often we expect a bolt of lightening from the sky to fix all of our problems when all we do is throw up feeble, half formed prayers. This is not the way that our Heavenly Father works. He expects us to "Pray like it all depends on God, then work like it all depends on YOU." When we work for our sustenance, we show God our faith that He is going to fill in the gaps that we, as His frail children, will undoubtedly make. He simply expects our faith first, and the miracles will always follow. Believe it!

   I love to see the pictures of Halloween with Brooklyn, Gwen, and Caleb. If those kids were any cuter, they wouldn't be related to me, that's for certain!:)

   Our Halloween was pretty relaxed. We just ate a ton of candy and stayed inside in the evening time(we weren't allowed to be out after 6pm.)

  

I love you all! Keep the faith. I pray for you always!

Elder Brown

PS: It was really rainy this week, and as a result, My pants got a little wet while we were walking around to our different appointments... Luckily, I have an umbrella! Those things are miracles!

Also, check out those fall colors!

I'm Running Low on Creative Titles

Family,

   I know that I usually have a really good title to my emails, but I'm sorry. We have hit the bottom of the tank. We have scraped the sides of the peanut butter jar. Only juice is left in the pickle container. In other words, I'm fresh out of creative things to say!

   I guess I'll just get down to the nitty gritty... THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR ALL OF THE EMAILS AND LETTERS I HAVE RECEIVED! I love getting them so much! I was telling Elder Lindhardt this week that I love nothing more than my family. That really is the truth. I love you guys so much. How in the world we were blessed with each other I don't know, but I sure am grateful.

   In connection to my comment to Elder Lindhardt, we then drove by the US Post Office here in Fort Madison. I pointed at it and said, "I sure love my family, and that building there is my best friend." That place is a miracle for a missionary who lives in the middle of nowhere...

   I love to hear about the missionary work that each one of you are doing. Dad, WAY TO GO! You are, in missionary vernacular, "a gospel sharing fool":). I love you and you are an example to me of a powerful missionary. Tell Dr. M*zj that I love him and I am so grateful for the wonderful care that he gave to Mom. Please communicate that I am sure that Heavenly Father gave him to us as a gift for his incredible talents. I will always be grateful for him.

   Happy Halloween! I am curious, what will Brooklyn, Caleb, and Gwen be for Halloween? And is there any such fun activity going on with the family?

   Ok, as for the experience of the week, this one happened just last night. It was a very interesting prompting:

   About a month ago, we met a lady named D*ebra. We walked up to her as she was in her car and she stopped us and said, "No thanks guys! I'm saved." As we talked with her, she told us that she has an aunt who is a member and after some gentle cajoling and the Spirit's guidance (not to mention some fancy talking by Elder Lindhardt), she agreed to let us come back. We had such an incredible first lesson with her, where she identified the Spirit and agreed to read and pray! Sadly though, we lost contact with her just days later and she stopped answering our phone calls and everything.

   Last night we went to dinner with a member who is out on the edge of our area, very much in the direction that D*ebra lives. These members had such a strong spirit in their home that as we left, I felt so uplifted and inspired. Now, I hadn't even thought of this lady for probably two weeks, so as we came up on the entrance to the trailer park where she lived, I was surprised to feel a distinct pressure and urge to turn and go talk to her. It was later in the evening, but we followed the impression. My heart was pounding and and I felt a very urgent need to talk to her.

   When she opened the door, nothing special or miraculous happened, but as we visited, we shared how much we loved her and had missed her, and she set up another appointment to meet with her. As we drove away, I wondered why I was so impressed to go there, but I think the Lord was picking up the slack. He wasn't done with her yet, and we had lost focus.

   I know that this is the work of the Lord! He is the way, the truth, and the life. Never forget it! Read the scriptures, especially the Book of Mormon, every day. It will keep you "continually in the right way!"

   I love you all and hope you have a great Halloween!

Love,

Elder Brown

Our area has been compromised!

Family,

   This week, something terrible happened! Our area got SPLIT! I don't think anything could have been more sad for me, due to the fact that my very favorite recently reactivated sister lives on the other side of the area. It has been such a miracle to see her journey back into activity, and I miss her already, but I know that she is in the hands of the two new good and faithful missionaries of the now "Fort Madison South Area."

   Other than that, we are still doing missionary work. This mission is growing exponentially. This last transfer, 37 new missionaries entered the field and only 10 went home! It has been incredible. Every area in our district has been split, so now instead of 4 areas in the district, we have 6!(One was split last transfer) That brings the total missionaries in our district up to a grand total of 13. I was getting stage fright just standing up at district meeting and giving a training... it's nuts! It's funny too, because half of the district is way older than me, and I'm supposed to be their leader! It's probably one of the most stressful things, especially with all of the areas opening up, because I want to be such a good missionary, but sometimes sheer inexperience trips me up. I have already changed so much in the way that I think and work and pray and study, but I still have so far to go!

    So it's miracle time! This is my favorite part of the week:) This week, we have been caught up in a lot of logistical things getting the other missionaries locked into place with their living situation and things, so it's been hard to find time to see and keep in contact with our investigators. This caused a lot of worry for me because a young man named C*** that we have been working with really struggles with depression and anxiety, so we feel a real need to keep in contact with him on a daily basis. He has a baptismal date, but it has been getting more and more shaky since we set it. This week when we went to teach him, my fears were all realized. He was acting super unnatural, wanting to smoke in front of us, asking us weird questions, and acting a little bit like he was drunk. We asked a lot of questions, but he just wouldn't open up to us and the member that we brought. Eventually, we had the Spirit tell us to show him Elder Holland's talk from this last conference about mental issues, and so we asked if he had a computer. As we watched the talk, C*** didn't change one bit. At the end of the lesson, the member bore a strong testimony about the love that exists in the church, and how Christ can help everyone, no matter their situation, but still, his expression was unchanged. We exited the lesson a bit downhearted.

    The next morning during our study hour, C*** called us. "Hello, this is Elder Brown!" I said nervously, not sure if he was calling to drop us.

    "Hey Elder Brown," Said C***,  "I just was calling..." He paused, and I clenched my teeth, bracing for the blow, "I just was calling to apologize for last night. I wasn't myself. I... I want to be baptized and learn about the...Jesus Christ." My jaw dropped.

    "Hey, C***!  Don't worry about it man," I said, my grimace turning into a shocked expression, "We totally understand. Last night was rough for you. But... What changed?"

    "Well, after you left, I got back on youtube, and I listened to more talks from that guy. I really felt good. Then I watched a video about missionaries helping this one lady who was a party animal. I thought, 'if she can change, I definitely can'."

     AH! I think I gave my companion a hug, and ran around the house screaming after that. It was a good morning:)

     I know that D&C 123:17 is true. "Let us cheerfully do all things which lie in our power; and then may we stand still, with the utmost assurance, to see the salvation of God, and for his arm to be revealed." This gospel is true! I love to share it. Do your best to become the faithful proclaimers of the Gospel that the Lord needs His children to be! I love each one of you! I'm excited to hear your missionary experiences! I loved the letters I have received, and thank you so much for the package! Also, Dad, you made Elder Lindhardt's week. That's the first letter he's gotten. He said, "Man, your dad is AWESOME!" I said, "Oh, believe me, I know." :)

I love you guys!

Elder Brown

PS This is me and my favorite Assistant to the President. He just went home this week. I got to know him really well because he served with Elder Adamson. It was almost like I was sending home my trainer all over again!:(

It's a miracle that I'm still alive!

Family,

I want to let you know, only about 30 minutes ago, I nearly DIED! It's my companion's turn to be "senior companion" for a week, and as a result of that, he's driving. On our way to the library to write home, he swerved into the other lane without looking and got like 2 feet away from this massive truck which had to slam on his brakes! Tires squealed and everything.... At first I was a little bit mad, but I have definitely made those mistakes many a time when Dad or Mom has been in the car, and I tried to act like they would have. I started to think after this experience, and a thought hit me very hard: Being a parent must be terrifying! So, Dad, thank you for being patient and risking your life daily when I drove:)

Dad! You are amazing! How did the triathlon and everything go? You and Mike P and Mike F are awesome, and I'm pretty sure that Mike P has lost some serious weight since I have been on the mission. That is awesome! Did you enjoy the opportunity?

To answer your questions, I have not been able to sing in church. I don't know if I am supposed to! My companion definitely wouldn't want to do it with me, so I'd have to go solo... plus, I'm not sure when I would have time to practice or anything of the sort. Have I told you that I have been able to play the guitar 2 times since I've been out? It was a saving grace. Both times were in the middle of the most stressful weeks of the entire mission, and I know the Lord provided an oasis where I could de-stress and play a song or two for the less active members and investigators that allowed me to play. It was an incredible opportunity.

I am so excited to get the letters you will send! I cannot tell you how giddy I get every time that I get mail! It is amazing. 

I wanted to share a couple miracles just quickly though! So this week, 19 years after being separated from Church, Chr*s was re-baptized. I can still remember meeting him the very first day I came into Fort Madison. At the time he was bitter and completely opposed to our advances with ANYTHING having to do with the church, but he would always come and help out with any service project that we needed from him.

To see him soften over the past 4 months has been nothing short of miraculous. This man who once was calloused and offended is now tender and testifying to everyone he comes in contact with about the truthfulness of our Savior's divine message. His baptism was powerful, and the Spirit was undeniable. As he stood to bear his testimony, shortly after his confirmation and ordination to the office of a priest in the Aaronic Priesthood, his eyes were wet and he admonished how sorry he was that he didn't allow himself the blessings of the gospel sooner. My own body coursed with joy and electricity as I witnessed him go underneath the water and come back up. He actually was cleaner. I don't know how else to explain it! Elder Adamson, a recent convert friend who recently received his endowments, and the aunt and uncle that Chr*s has been living with have been invaluable assets to Chrs's return to his covenants! He now calls me "Lebrown" as a joke (like Lebron James... Though I'm still bad at basketball). I now call him "brother".

One last miracle for the road. We taught a lesson in Spanish yesterday! We met a man named Ju*n, and he speaks very little English, but we came back to teach him. Essentially all I could say in Spanish was that I know the gospel is true and can help Ju*n! I read him out of the Spanish pamphlet Joseph Smith's experience, and testified again and again. So many times as we were talking, I desperately prayed, "Heavenly Father, I don't know Spanish at all! What is this word?" And suddenly, miraculously, into my mind would pop the exact word I needed to say! Ju*n is so prepared, and so we were sent for one reason or another.

I love the Gospel! I know it is true.

Please, everyone who reads this, go back and read Elder Gerald Causse's talk in conference. Follow his advice! He is correct! I know what he said is true and vital for member missionary work.

I love you all!:) Keep smiling big!

Elder Brown

3 Blind Mice

Family!

I love you all so much! I received a lot of emails this week and I can't help but be soooooo grateful for all of those! Just communicating with you all brings me so much joy!

Dad, you are a buff man. I am convinced that you are in ten times better shape than I am. I can run 3 miles just barely! I feel like such a fatty lately, but you inspire me to be better.

News in the mission, our area is splitting! We will likely start biking soon, so I might need another check from my bank account to try and purchase a cheap one out here. The area will split in about 2 weeks or so. That'll be good for the little bit of chub that I've accumulated out here on the mission:)

We have had such a cool week out here! The highlight of each week in the past month has been teaching Chr*s. Chr*s is a 40 year old man who left 19 years ago, and recently, through the example and friendship of a recent convert as well as a ton of work and humility on his part is preparing for baptism on October 4th! The mission president has given us permission to teach him the gospel once more and to help him prepare for baptism. He is amazing, and he has inspired me to be a better missionary! He has been out to teach lessons with us about 4 or 5 times now. That gets really funky on our key indicators. There is no box to mark for "investigator present" lessons!

I don't have much new in the way of things to tell you other than that we have now caught 3 separate mice. They have been scampering around our kitchen, and no countertop is safe around here! They have already desecrated my bananas and defiled my corn chips. It's all out war now. I've included a picture of the one we call "Harry the Bandit". He is number three caught in this little glue trap. Don't be taken by his cuteness. He is pure evil. Or was... We had to get rid of him... Elder Lindhardt is the exterminator. I don't have the heart to kill the little guys, even if they have eaten my stuff.

We have taught the plan of salvation a lot this past week as well, so I'm including a picture of our visual aids that we use to help explain the spiritual body and the physical body. That is super fun:)

A scripture that has really taken me lately is Alma 42. It has really helped me to understand WHY we need Jesus Christ so badly in our life. I've read quite a bit this last week, and it has strengthened my testimony a lot. Justice and Mercy. That's where the plan of salvation lies!

I love you all! I know the gospel is true. I know that there are people being prepared in every town and city across the world! Acts 16:14

Love, Elder Brown

No rain, but a whole lotta water!:)

Family!

My 13 year old buddy in the branch whose last name is also Brown. I let him wear one of my name tags...

We had another baptism! L*vi got baptized on Saturday, and that was sooooo neat. We found L*vi about 2 months ago when we knocked on the door of a less active man and his family, and Levi came out and said, "hey guys, I want to be baptized!"

So what did we say?!

"No way! Find another church!"

Just kidding!:)  After a moment of stunned silence where our mouths hanging open, We said, "Well you asked the right people!"

Baptismal font in Nauvoo 

Now two months later, Levi is a member of the Lord's church on the earth. We had such an amazing baptism for this 9 year old boy, where he bore his testimony and talked about how he wanted to "be closer to God and live a longer life." At first when we started to teach him, I was pretty nervous that he would get baptized and then fall away just like his dad, but as he was up there talking, I felt the Spirit testifying that one day, L*vi would be leading a ward or branch and helping others to come to Christ. He might have a tough road ahead of him, but he will make it. He's on the Lord's side now.

L*vi and us and his grandpa!

Dad, I love the picture of mom's grave. We knocked on the door of a lady whose name was Cindy the other day, and I couldn't help but tell her how wonderful mom was and is. She wasn't interested, but I really loved that minute connection that I had with her. How are you doing with everything?

Seeing Mom's grave makes it a little bit more real. It's still hard to imagine she isn't around anymore, but I know that she sure isn't GONE! We have been giving people tours of the church building, where we take them through different rooms and share the Plan of Salvation with them. Each time we enter Spirit Paradise, I feel strongly that Mom is doing the same work. She's telling them about Faith, Repentance, Baptism, Receiving the Gift of the Holy Ghost, and Enduring! Those things are eternal. Those things matter.

So Shaun gets home this week huh? How weird... tell him I love him a lot and he is super great. I really look up to Shaun a lot. He is one of the reasons I know that this mission is possible and this mission can be a blast! Shaun knows how to have fun, and I know that he made the mission one of the most fun things for each one of his companions.

That's something that I struggle with a bit. What do you suggest for having fun? I feel like with training I should try to be serious and help my companion to focus a little bit more, but at the same time, I get tunnel vision and I hate every minute if I do that! I really want to be able to have fun!!!! I need to learn to do the Lord's work in a way that allows me to be really happy, and also be really effective. I think a few laughs along the way will increase my effectiveness.

Tell me more about the waterski trip!

What is Brooklyn learning about in Kindergarten?

I love the letters I get from each one of you guys! They are pretty funny, especially the one from Brooklyn and Chase about how aliens took over our pool...:)

The gospel is true! Study it each day. I love you all!

Elder Brown

PS Pictures are of me and  Also a picture of the Baptismal font in Nauvoo and one of Levi and us and his grandpa!

Growing a third arm makes running much harder!

Hiowa! (Pronounced Hi-O-Wa... Say it out loud. I made it up, cause I'm in Iowa...:))

Here I am again, one week further into the mission! Just to explain the title of my email, I need to spin you a little story first.

So Elder Lindhardt was a cross country runner in high school, and he was pretty good too. We go running every other morning, just like Elder Adamson and I would. Now, I don't want to give anyone any crazy ideas, so let me explain. When I say run, I mean that Elder Lindhardt runs and I frequently ask him to slow down so I don't keel over and die. If we make it two miles, it's been a good day. But! I need to stay in shape, so we keep running!

Our regular course that we run is down by the Mississippi in a park right along the banks. For those of you who have never been to the Mississippi or have any illusions about it's cleanliness, it's probably the grossest river I've ever seen. It has these MASSIVE lily pads growing in huge patches all over the place. I'm 90% sure that it's toxic, and I have a hard time imagining why people would take a boat out on it, but they do!

So, naturally, today as we ran by the river, my companion said, "man, I really want to go and touch that water." I responded as my old companion would have, "If you do, you'll probably grow a third arm." "Wait, from where? Like my stomach?" Elder Lindhardt says with a puzzled look on his face, then suddenly he grins, "Sweet. I'm gonna go touch it!"

I wish it HAD made him grow a third arm. Maybe it would have slowed him down and helped me out a bit with the crazy pace! But alas, he still only has 2 arms!

Anyway, I have some serious questions! Dad, you told me when Melanie leaves on her mission, but you definitely left out where she is going! That's really important! Also, I can't believe Shaun is home. That is amazing! It seems like he has been gone for forever, but at the same time, he was at college for a long time before he left as well. It sounds like he really did some good work down there in Brazil. That's why I love that guy! Tell him I say hello and welcome home!

Also, Brooke and Lyle sound like they are doing so good! I loved hearing about them canning and making dried fruit with Aunt Becky. I love them both a lot!

Dad, about what you mentioned with the grief for mom, that is actually very interesting. This last week was probably the hardest week of my life for the exact same reason, but here is the story.

We had Elder Robert C. Gay of the Seventy come to our mission this last week and give us a zone conference, and out of the 8 zones (about 190 missionaries) he interviewed 4 missionaries. One of the missionaries that he interviewed was me! I knew my time would be short, so the second I got in there, I started to just spill my guts to him. You see, when Mom passed, President Jergensen had been my mission president and he had helped me a lot. Not only that, but Elder Adamson knew the intricate details of the whole situation, and HE helped me a lot. Well, President Jergensen left shortly after I arrived, and then Elder Adamson just left last month. That made me feel more alone than I think I ever have before, and the feelings of stress and grief came rushing back. After I had told all of this to Elder Gay, he asked me to stay for another few minutes while he interviewed the other missionaries, and right after, he wanted to give me a blessing with President Jensen.

That blessing said that I would have the power to discern Mom's hand in the work that I was doing, along with the blessing that I would be able to turn to my mission president at any time that I needed. It also gave other blessings and told me to "get lost in the lives of the investigators."

The next morning, while pondering this spiritual experience, I began to pray harder than I have ever prayed in my life that I would have discernment right then. I began to ask my Heavenly Father if He would please just have Mom appear to me. Others have seen their loved ones, so why couldn't I? I prayed and prayed and prayed, but nothing happened. I went back to my studies feeling defeated, but with a prompting. "Read John 14" This is the scripture I read.

18 "I will not leave you comfortless (the greek footnote is "orphaned"); I will come to you."

19 "Yet a little while and the world seeth me no more; But ye shall see me: Because I live, ye shall live also." I learned that right now she is in a place where physically, I won't see her for a long time, but His promise still stands: "ye shall see [her]: Because [she] lives"

27 "Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid."

I wanted flashy and immediate, but that is how the world gives. he does things a bit differently. he gives quietly, patiently, powerfully, and CONSTANTLY. He gives individually.

I know the gospel is true. I feel the prayers that you send my way every day. I wouldn't have made it this far without help from each of my family members. I'm sorry this is so long, but I've had a lot on my mind this week! Sorry sorry sorry. Thank you for taking the time to read this!

I love you Dad. I love you family! Thank you for everything you do. Hold on to His hand. He won't let you down!

Love,

Elder Brown