Grandma Brown

Family!

So, we live with our Bishop here in Quincy. It's him and his wife and their family of 7 kids. Their names are the Loves. They are so so so great! Really often after nightly planning and things are done, we'll go up and visit for a short while before 10 30 rolls around. Last night, we got to participate in family prayer and family scripture study. It was so much fun to be able to feel the Spirit in a family. I haven't felt the Spirit that way in a long time. 

Now don't get me wrong. The Spirit has taught me loads of things in Sacrament meeting, and it has been present in a lot of the lessons that we are able to teach, but it's a whole different thing seeing a mom or dad explain the scriptures to a ten year-old. There is a different type of Spirit. When you are in a home with a family who all is trying their very best to keep the commandments and love one another, that's heaven. I don't know why I didn't figure this out way earlier in life, but that's it! Heavenly Father's Plan of Salvation was all about living in love in a family setting for time and all eternity.

Super cool. I love being able to live in a home like this. It's a whole different atmosphere than normal. 

Anyway! As for our week, we had a great one! There is this lady that I'll refer to as Grandma Brown, because she has the same last name as us, and she is wonderful. She has been in a wheelchair since a very very young age due to contracting polio. We met her as she was riding down the street about a month ago.

We have been trying to help her come to church this whole time we've been teaching her, but the past weeks have been a let down as we have tried everything, but something would always come up last minute and shake the plans. This week, however, we had a lesson where we read the Book of Mormon with her and one of her friends and a member from the congregation, and she was explaining all SORTS of things to her friend about the apostasy as we read 1 Nephi 13. It is amazing! I don't think I've ever heard someone understand so thoroughly the Restoration of the Gospel after just 1 month. Sister Love (Grandma to our host family) said to her, "My goodness! If you understand this much already, just wait til you come to church! You'll be dangerous!"

And then she came to church! I think it was a little bit overwhelming, but we're teaching her today, so more news to come!

I love you all! Sorry my email is scattered!

Elder Brown

dropped, dropped, dropped

Family,

 

This is one of those weeks that I haven't wanted to tell anyone about. We got dropped by like everyone! And it all happened on Tuesday! Everyone!

 

You may be thinking, "Everyone? Can he really mean that?" Well, no. It's an exaggeration, but we got dropped/postponed by 4 of our most solid investigators. It was rough. Not fun in the slightest. It did teach me a lot about patience though. In Kirksville, I studied patience on at least a weekly basis because of how frustrating the work was there. We worked so diligently and hardly saw success. I started to realize that, just like an engine needs oil to stay cool and not explode, we need patience in order to avoid the same type of blow out. There is something cooling and relaxing about noticing that the work of the Lord cannot be frustrated. I guess that means that the workers of the Lord can't be either... eh? What do you think?:)

 

So! We march forward! Elder Kay and I will continue to push and help these people to come to the waters of baptism, and I promise I will stop being stressed and frustrated!

 

We had a great opportunity to have interviews with President and Sister Jensen this week though! That was really fun. Because Elder Kay and I had to stick around for all of the interviews, President and Sister Jensen took us out to dinner too. It was so fun to be able to talk to them and get to know them on a less formal basis. Turns out that President Jensen is really famous in scientist circles. He's like the best, smartest guy in the whole universe. He is a geospatial engineer, and he's written like a bunch of textbooks, published 150 science journal articles, and worked for NASA.

 

We asked what their favorite vacation spot was, and they said that they went on Safari in Africa once. President said, "It's really unique. It's like a huge, diverse, incredible zoo! The only difference is that everyone is eating each other!"

 

Anyway, it was a week being a missionary. We had really hard parts and really joyful parts. It's just a rollercoaster!:)

 

I love you all! Have a fantastic week!

 

Elder Brown

 

PS Sorry I didn't email yesterday. Library was closed for Labor day.

Attachments area

Preview attachment IMG_6020.JPG

IMG_6020.JPG

Inundated

Family!

I think that the post office had to shut down production because of you guys this past week! You are all so wonderful! Let me tell you, even though I couldn't be there for the wedding and reunion, I have never felt so included or had so many different people talk to me! I loved all of the letters that you sent my way to help me feel present with the wedding. I can't believe how big everyone has gotten. I definitely thought the picture of Bexley and Jonas was a picture of Maddie and Noah. Maddie and Noah must be giants by now if Bex is that big, and Jonas is a baby no longer!

I had a veritable flood of letters thanks to you, and I needed a couple minutes to read them all, and so I had my companion drive today. It was so cool to be able to read them! I felt such a strong spirit as I thought about how we will all be together forever. I'm really excited for that:)

So! Some great news! Betty came to church this week! She is a 78 year old lady that we met when we knocked on her door. She is a marvelous seeker of truth. She told us so much about how good she feels as she reads the Book of Mormon and ponders about it. She has already read all of 1 Nephi in the first week she has had the book! I feel like I'm teaching my own Grandma because I feel so much love for her. I got to sit next to her in church and sing with her. Turns out she can sight read music, so she didn't even need me. But, somehow, opening up our hymn books turned into a race! She beat me two times and got to the hymn faster than I did, but no worries, I soundly defeated her the other two hymns. She didn't stand a chance. We settled for a tie, and were 2 for 2 by the end of Sacrament meeting.

No worries. We paid attention to the talks as well! We introduced her to our Bishop shortly after the meeting, and without prompting, she said, "I feel good here!" to which he replied, "Well, you are welcome anytime!"

She now has a baptism date for October 11th.

Something I learned this week though, quite unexpectedly... Satan is so powerful these days. He will do ANYTHING to destroy a family or a soul. We've had so many disappointing let downs this week with a wonderful family that dropped us and a recent convert relapsing into alcoholism to one of my favorite recent converts in Davenport distancing himself from the church slowly.

Know this, if we don't actively fight his influence and "become a new creature", Satan's power is too much for us. I am only so grateful for the Atonement of Jesus Christ which makes us strong enough to fight back. So, moral of the story, don't you EVER think you know enough to keep you safe. Rely on the Lord. He'll support you and guide you!

I love you!

Elder Brown

Picture: A mouse in our house! 

Transferred

Family,

Here we are! The home stretch! Dad gets married this Friday! I hope that someone can give him and Holly a hug for me since I won't be there to do it myself. Congratulations!

In news from the mission, I got transferred this week! I could not be more pleased with where I got called to serve. I have only served on the East side of the mission the entire time, and the whole time I've been in the East, I've been in one of three zones: Nauvoo(Fort Madison), Quincy(Kirksville), and Davenport. I wanted so badly to be able to serve in either Nauvoo zone or Quincy zone, and Nauvoo wasn't opening up, so I was crossing my fingers all throughout transfer meeting. They kept rattling off all of the areas that were opening up and missionaries would run to each other and hoot and holler and then go to their new seat. 

The minutes ticked by. Fort Dodge zone filled up, then Ames, then Ankeny, Cedar Rapids, Cedar Falls, Des Moines and on and on. I was starting to get anxious. It could actually happen! Quincy zone would be the last one called. Davenport rolled around, and that was the last opening. I got replaced. Suddenly, there was only one more zone leader area. Elder Kay, the remaining zone leader in Quincy turned around and made binoculars with his hands, making eye contact with me. It just had to be announced and I was in Quincy!

President Jensen announced, "In the Quincy zone--" I stood up and started to scoot down the aisle in the chapel toward Elder Kay, and I saw him stand up and start moving my way as well, pretending to be sneaky, "--Elder Kay will remain and be a zone leader, and he will get a new companion--" by this point we were already standing side by side in the middle of the aisle, just waiting for it to be announced, "Elder Brett Brown!"

I whooped and gave my new companion a big old hug. I'm back in Quincy zone! I got to revisit Kirksville on Saturday and go to their district meeting. I was so incredibly excited. The Lord placed me back here so I could be grateful for everything He did for us there. While I was there, I got incredibly discouraged at times, and through the work, I sometimes wondered if we were just spinning our wheels, but since that time, there has been an explosion of baptisms into that ward, and the work has become so much that the Lord has sent two more sets of missionaries back into the district. He did it! I felt such joy as we drove through the town. I was reminded very clearly of the pain that was associated with Kirksville, but I was also filled with joy as I thought of all of the blessings that were poured out there.

Just writing this almost makes me want to cry because I'm so happy. My companion has to be the most powerful and wonderful missionary in the entire world. He is so funny and great! He is 6'4 and he's from Mona, UT. I love this guy!

I love you so much and hope you have a great week!

Elder Brown

From Saturation to Satisfaction...and I'm getting Transferred

Family!

It's that time again! President Jensen called this morning and said that I'm getting transferred... I'll be going somewhere new to be a zone leader there. It has been such a wonderful experience to be in Davenport. I have changed and grown so much as a missionary since I arrived here, and I hope I can continue to grow in my next area.

This is what I sent to President in my email today. I don't know how else to say it, so I just copied and pasted.

"I am so grateful for the time that I have been able to serve here in Davenport. Thank you so much for giving me the companions Elder Roybal and Elder Weilenmann. I have learned more than I thought I could in this short time. I can honestly say that this area was what taught me about the phrase "men are that they might have joy." Up until this point in the mission, I thought it was just about working hard all day, every day, and then getting off of the plane at the end of the two years with really beat up shoes and a bag full of stories, but this area has done something to me. It's made me realize that the happiness comes AS you work, not AFTER you work.

I'm going to be sad to leave Paul and Dorrinda and Dave and the other wonderful members here. I have grown to have an eternal love for them, and they make me want to be a better lifelong member of the church.

We love you and pray for you always!

Elder Brown"

It's difficult to describe exactly WHAT has changed, or HOW it has changed. There is a phrase in the First Presidency Message of Preach My Gospel that says this.

"Dear Fellow Missionary:
We compliment you on the great opportunity you have to be a missionary. There is no more compelling work than this, nor any which brings greater satisfaction....
The Lord will reward and richly bless you as you humbly and prayerfully serve Him. More happiness awaits you than you have ever experienced as you labor among His children."
I think that's the word for it. Satisfaction. That's how I feel with this area. That's how I feel with my mission. I think at the beginning I was working just to FILL my days so I COULD come home with messed up shoes and a bag full of stories. Kind of like... Saturation. I was just "saturating" my days with activities.

I like this a lot more though. "From saturation to satisfaction." Kinda catchy huh? Don't steal it. It's trademarked!:) haha just kidding.

Anyway, more to come. I love you all so much, and I'm grateful for your wonderful examples to me. Have a great week!

Love, 

Elder Brown

Today's Photo

Success and Failure

Hey Family!

It is the strangest experience. The mission has ever surprised me with it's ability to stress me out and bring me joy. Don't get me wrong, it has always been worthwhile and impressive, but the range of emotions within a single hour could not BE wider.

Let me tell you a little about it. There has been quite a bit of struggle to keep the zone working effectively. There are so many different personalities and perspectives to work with and so many differences in upbringing. We have converts, lifelong members, the previously less active, etc etc.

This last week, we saw the biggest drop in number of lessons taught in the entire time I've been here. It was painful to hear. Immediately my mind jumped to all the things we could have done better, what we could have improved on, how we could have increased this or fixed up that, but at the end of the night, I was so frazzled that I could hardly think straight!

But here is the weird part. There is so much joy in me when I look at the people that we have worked with. Dorrinda got baptized this weekend, and it was so powerful. She stood up to bear her testimony and talked about how her entire life she had searched and searched for the word of God. She knew that there was much of it contained in the Bible, but that there were also lost books of the Bible that she needed to find. One day, while over at her boyfriend Brian's house, she had stumbled across his Bible, but she noticed that it was much, much bigger than her own. She wondered what was so different about Brian's Bible, because she knew Brian was a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and she had always wondered if they read the Bible.

She perused through a few chapters in Acts, noticing that some of her favorite memorized scriptures were identical. She checked out a bit of John, and noticed that was the same too, but suddenly she came across more books that she had never heard of. Nephi, Helaman, Alma, Ether, and on and on.

She called out to Brian to ask him all about it. Brian hadn't been to church in a few years, but he started by going onto LDS.org and showing her the Restoration video. She was interested.

"Well," said Brian, "The Elders are coming over tonight to teach me. Do you want to learn more?"

When we showed up that night, almost 2 months ago, she was so prepared. She is reading the Book of Mormon and understanding it so well. She has quit smoking. Brian has come back to church. They have offered to go teach with us! They are so amazing!

So, we move forward. I think I'll always worry. Even if everything was perfect, I would still find something to worry about. What can I say? It's a gift. ;)

I love you all so much!

Elder Brown

PS We went to the Nauvoo Pageant again and guess who I saw there? RHONDA CARTER!!!!!!! :D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D She is the greatest! I saw a bunch of people from Fort Madison too. Rhonda is going to get her endowments here soon! I'm so excited!