"I dunno. It shouldn't be below -15 out there."

Family!

District picture after P day

Hello from a very cold Californian! Out here in good ol' Kirksville, I have witnessed a new natural phenomenon unseen previously by my mortal eyes. You see, the other night, it got so windy and snowy, that snow was flying everywhere and creating these crazy piles all over the place, with ridges along the top. Elder Ontiveros looked out the window on Sunday morning and said, "Hm. That's weird. It looks like there is a white shark fin sticking up out of the ground." I went over to see what he was talking about...I thought this only happened in the desert, but not so! I've now officially witnessed a SNOW DUNE!:) Just like the sand dunes in the sandy deserts, we have snow dunes in Missouri. This place is something else.

The temp gauge in the car this morning(not counting windchill.)

It got so cold last night and this morning that the Assistants sent out a text telling us that we should not go outside for more than 2 minutes total today. If we must attend an appointment, we are not allowed to walk, and we have to get a ride. Estimates were as bad as -40 degrees with windchill, but I didn't believe it. Elder Ontiveros and I were talking this morning, and he asked, "How cold do you think it really is?" With my incredible amount of knowledge about inclimate weather, I said words I thought I would never say. "I dunno. It shouldn't be below -15 out there."

Ridiculous. -15. Ridiculous. 

Never fear! I have cold weather gear. Between your financial help and Wal Mart, I'm warm enough in layers. Thanks for your concern though!

But! A cool story. I have this special love for the Chinese investigators and the Chinese people we have been blessed to teach. There is a young Chinese Truman Student we have started teaching who goes by the name of J*mes (When I asked him why, he said, "It's for J*mes Bond. He's so cool!"). We have been teaching him with another member and he came to church this Sunday, despite the ridiculous weather. I love these Chinese people! We knocked on his door, had a ten minute conversation with him and told him that he could know about if God is real if he prayed. We then asked, "Will you pray for us now?" And he said, "Now? Well, if God will answer me, sure I will pray!" He invited us in and knelt with us to pray. He is so cool! I don't know what it is. They develop faith so quickly. They are so willing to WORK for their faith. They grasp the concept that faith without works is dead, and we never even explain it! I love this guy already.

Elder Ontiveros and I are getting busier by the day. It's been ridiculous to see how blessed we have been to find all of these wonderful new brothers and sisters of ours here in Kirksville. I love these people! We are definitely still whitewashing, but we have been immensely blessed!

By the way, I keep realizing just how amazing Dad is day by day. I was studying how fathers have influenced their sons in the scriptures. I cross referenced 1 Nephi 1:1 and 2:16, Enos 1:1,3-4, and Alma 36:17-18. That is how I feel about Dad! I know that his influence is one that I will cherish forever. Dad, you are my hero. Brothers and sisters and family, follow his example. He's doing a fantastic job.

I love you all!

Elder Brown

  

P.S. I didn't have any pictures super missionary work related. I need to ask my investigators if we can take pictures with them more often... but here they are!

The elders in their cold gear

One of those weeks where I can't think of what to title my email.

Hiowa!

Family, it was so great to hear from you this week! I love Christmas, but I missed you people quite a bit. Luckily, we saw a million and a half Christmas miracles this week, so it was made up for! I'll spin you a wonderful story of post Christmas cheer.

Elder Brown opening Christmas presents

The sisters in our district have a part member family that they have been working with for quite some time now. The mother was a member, but the father has been taking missionary discussions for the better part of a year. After 7 and a half months of consistent teaching by the sisters, Br**n was finally baptized on Saturday. Elder Ontiveros and I attended the baptism and it was a wonderful service, BUT! That is not even the crazy miracle.

His district as seen through Elder Brown's eyes
(He's the tiny one on Elder O's Shoulder)

The very same night, we were walking back to our apartment for the end of our night, and we received a text from the sisters saying, "Elder Brown, we need a baptismal interview tomorrow." Nothing else! No who, no when, no why, and then they wouldn't even tell us anything more until like ten o clock that night when they finally told us that another part member family they had been working with (the daughter was the non member and had been actively attending church for 18 months) had decided finally that it was time for her to get baptized. They set her baptismal date for the following day, and she was baptized yesterday, only 17 hours after she decided to get baptized! Not only that, but you have to understand how cool this is. Our Zone leaders live an hour and a half from Kirksville, and they couldn't have done the baptismal interview in time. Elder Ontiveros and I serve in the same ward as the sisters, and I try to meet everyone that stands in my path at church. We have tracted into two different member families and contacted three on the street. WE HAVE MET LIKE EVERYONE! Now, if I had had any sort of communication with the girl to have caused me to be biased toward her getting baptized, someone else would have had to interview her, but I HAD NEVER TALKED TO HER! I was able to do the interview. It was awesome.

Now, Elder Barton and Elder Dumais told me they have a sixteen year old in their ward who is another part member family, and he wa

nts to get baptized so badly. They are going to baptize him tomorrow if all goes well. I'm in shock. This is craziness.

I love you all! Merry Christmas and a happy new year!

By the way, Dad, It's really pretty sad not to be able to play the guitar. I feel like I won't be able to play anything when I get back. We met this one guy recently that has like 8 guitars and we are beginning to teach him, so hopefully it will be a good avenue to work through. Nobody has asked me to sing or play or anything. Not super surprising.

I love you all!

Elder Brown

PS.

Elder O and Elder B

Go, Tell it On a Mountain!

Family,

All this week, a song has been going through my head that I heard sometime before my mission. The song's main chorus is,

"Go tell it on a mountain,

Over the hills and everywhere,

Go tell it on a mountain,

That Jesus Christ is born."

Nothing made me happier than hearing that you set up an appointment with the sister missionaries to meet this young lady after the test examination. It was such a joy to me to hear that you were telling it on a mountain! Our one and only hope of eternal happiness, Jesus Christ, has come! We don't have to wait for the Atonement to occur any longer. We can simply take the message to all the world that "Jesus Christ is born"! And "How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him who bringeth good tidings..."(Mosiah 15:18). Dad, I wish I could be more like you! I hope you have received my letter.

This week was hard and good at the same time... if that is possible. The mission is jam packed with mixed emotions. We were dropped by our chinese investigator I was so excited about, as a result of his parents disapproval. They are funding his trip and college experience out from China, so he couldn't go against their will... It was likely one of the hardest nights of my mission. I was so sad.

But a miracle came out of nowhere as well! We knocked on this one lady's door (and she didn't seem too stoked, but accepting nonetheless) and after a few missed appointments, we asked if we could set up their Christmas tree with them. It worked! It was really fun and we set up an appointment to teach. The next night, we taught them the Restoration, and she cried through the whole thing practically. At the end, I asked her, "Sh*ila, what has the feeling been that has made you cry as we've been here?"

"Joy, peace, happiness. It's just a different atmosphere in the home. I haven't felt this in a long time. It's usually just chaos here."

We went back the next day and taught the plan of salvation, which she really enjoyed. After that we had a church tour, and she was going to come to church the next day, but Satan was at work, and there was a HUGE Ice storm! CHURCH WAS CANCELED! I have never before told an investigator NOT to come to church. It was a strange and hopefully one time event... haha

Well, Merry Christmas! Talk to you all in 2 days! I'm so excited to open up this massive stack of Christmas gifts! Thank you Thank you Thank you!

Love,

Elder Brown

Faith to Move Minivans!

Family!

Merry Christmas everyone! I love you all and I am so excited to talk to you in 10 days! I have so many cool miracles to report this week and not enough time to report them all. It's interesting to have only an hour to tell you about everything that has happened in a full week. That's a lot of hours to condense into one! But, I will do my best. I have narrowed it down to one huge miracles.

So it has been snowing quite a bit out here, and it's been a bit icy as of late. We had a lesson set up not to far from our apartment, and an older brother in the ward was going to bring us. He swung by and picked us up just a couple minutes early for us to be able to arrive on time at the lesson. We arrived on the street just on time, and looked around for a place to park. There was so much snow piled up all around we couldn't tell where a good place to park was! We finally decided to pull into the lady's driveway and park there for a time, but as we started to pull in, we misjudged our trajectory and went straight into a ditch which had been filled with snow... We were stuck! Elder Ontiveros used all of our manly strength to push the car from every angle we knew how, but we were stuck utterly. We had only an hour to talk with this lady and by the time all of this had occurred, it was already fifteen minutes past the time we were supposed to be there. I said a fervent prayer quickly in my mind asking God to move the van out of the ditch, and in less than a minute, 4 hillbillies pulled up in a big chevy and yelled out, "hey! Ya'll need some help?"

They quickly hooked up a chain to the back of the van and pulled it out in like 3 minutes. Right as they were getting back in the car, I asked Cl*nton (the chief hillbilly) where they were going. "Down to Wabash Street! We're taking these dogs back to grandma's place."

"Where is Wabash?" I asked.

"I think it's over that direction," He pointed west, "But I couldn't tell ya. All of the street signs are covered with snow, so we just turned down this way. I have no clue where we are."

God sent us hillbillies to move our minivan. He said he'd move mountains. I have just learned to stop asking how.

I'm out of time! I love you all!

Elder Brown.

"This snow is a lot different from the stuff in Idaho."-Elder Ontiveros

Dearest Family of Mine,

I love you! I am so grateful to have received emails from Aunt Becky, Brooke, Michael, and Dad! I really live off of the strength those emails give to me. Thank you so much for always updating me on what is going on back home. I'm sorry if I can't answer all the questions which I have received, but I love each one of you and I read every email that comes into my inbox. Each one is noted and loved.

This week has been soooooooo cold! It still hasn't dipped below zero, but the coldest temperature that I've seen on the thermometer has been 7 degrees. It snowed on Sunday morning, and while Elder Ontiveros and I were walking to wake up someone for church, he looked up at the snow and said, "This snow is a lot different from the snow in Idaho. It's a ton more fluffy out here. It just floats down to the ground." I responded, "It's a lot different than the snow we got in California too." "It snowed in California?" He asked. "Nope, just rain," I said, "That's what makes it so different." He didn't think it was a very funny joke.

Probably the highlight of the entire week is that we got to return to Nauvoo on Thursday to witness the baptism of Karen! She had completely finished the Book of Mormon and was so prepared for her baptism. She had never heard if I was coming or not, but President authorized us to go and we made it a surprise! When we showed up, it was so wonderful to see the expression on her face. Seeing Karen get baptized was probably the best experience of my mission thus far. You see, every single person that I had met up until this point on the mission that has eventually been baptized knew Elder Adamson and had been taught at least 3 or four lessons with him, so I could never tell if I was really helping the area or if I was simply riding out his success in the area. Karen was my "independence baptism"! I had never had a chance to be the senior companion and help someone come unto Christ. She wanted to so badly that I didn't have to help much, but it was still amazing!

This is Karen and her grandson Shakir. Brother Billings is the one who baptized her. 

When we were walking out of the room after the baptismal service, she told me, "I've been praying morning, noon, and night that you would show up to my baptism, and just the other day, the weather got all cold. The weather always gets all cold when you guys come over, so I knew you were coming today!"

Not only that, but I saw Elder Lindhardt stand up at the front of the room and share with everyone the most humble testimony. Seeing that Elder stand up there and bear witness, the Lord showed me just how much he had changed. I was nervous that when I left, I had failed as a trainer because I couldn't see much change in him, but the Spirit testified that I hadn't failed. He was being changed by the Lord the whole time. I wasn't a perfect trainer, and he wasn't a perfect trainee, but we had fulfilled the measure of our companionship, and had accomplished all God had designed for us. It was a beautiful moment. Now I just have to do the same for Elder Ontiveros!:)

I love you people so much. I am excited to call on Christmas! I still don't have any more info on when or what or how, but I'm excited nonetheless!

Love,

Elder Brown

PS: I'm all the way through Journal #1. I just bought a new journal today. It's a big milestone!

Right before I left my last area. It's Mike, and Buddy and Rhonda.

Whites in the washer

Family,

Last week I bought bleach for my laundry, and I put all of my white shirts into the washer together. I had never used bleach before, and I knew how bad it could be if I happened to use it wrong, so I made sure that I looked at the directions. The back of the bleach instructed me to "fill the washing machine with water and clothes, then add 1 cup bleach to soap and water solution. Wait five(5) minutes for solution to settle, then begin regular wash cycle." So, I waited 5 minutes, then started the regular wash cycle. Out came wonderfully white, pure white shirts.

This last week has been much more trying than I initially expected after reaching this area. We have had miracles of course! We have just also had many many frustrations. Finals week for the University is coming up and everyone is going out of town or is too busy to meet with us. It has been really crazy trying to find people that will actually connect with us and be taught something! Not to mention, this town has been ghostly for the past week with Thanksgiving break being in session.

The more and more I consider the time I spent bleaching my clothes, the more I think about what President initially asked me to do when he sent us to this area. He asked Elder Ontiveros and I to "Whitewash" this area. I had never thought about that phrase until now! I started to think about why anything would be "whitewashed". I think the reasoning would have to be because something was previously stained, tainted, or soiled. This area had some ground in distrust for the missionaries, be it member, nonmember, and less active. The Lord didn't even trust the missionaries here for a while! To align this with my allegory, the whites were put into the washer, and the Lord applied the bleach. He put his Spirit over this area, and He is softening the people here, but it does require some time and some patience. I honestly think Elder Ontiveros and I got tossed in with the wash. God doesn't waste his resources. He's bleaching his missionaries too! I feel like each day is a serious personal purification. Soon, out will come wonderfully white, pure missionaries and members.

There has been such a cool miracle here though! A majority of the people that we have contacted have been Chinese students studying here at Truman State, and they are really cool kids. Their culture is so unique and interesting. I find it truly fascinating! But one young man in particular that I have to point out is N*o (yes, just like the Matrix). We knocked on his door the other day, and as we spoke with him, we asked if he believed in God. "No." He said, a bit puzzled that we would even ask.

"Well," we replied, "God exists! He made you. He is your Father!" N*o nodded. "N*o, if God made all of us, do you know what that makes me and you?" I asked.

He shook his head again, this time a little interested, "No..."

"That means we're brothers, man!"

"Oh! Cool!" He said, a smile coming across his face.

We went back two days later and shared all about who God is and how awesome it is that we get to pray. A chinese recent convert came along with us. It was such a powerful experience to see this young man who had had no idea who God is or, for that matter, who HE is, begin to understand. He does have a long, long way to go before he can really make the baptismal promise, but he has identified the Spirit speaking to him. The next day when we were in the church building showing him around, he identified the Spirit in the chapel, saying that the room "feels good."

Don't take for granted how incredible it is that God is real, and that you know that! Also, don't take for granted that He has ASKED you to talk to Him. That is such a marvelous blessing and privilege.

I love you guys! Happy Thanksgiving and Merry Christmas!

Love,

Elder Brown

Hellooooo!

Family!

   Hello again from Iowa! News this week? We've seen another miracle! K*itlyn, our long time investigator, FINALLY got baptized. After much trial and tribulation, she finally decided to make her covenant with Heavenly Father. It was a long and crazy ride, but it was one that really helped ME understand why baptism is so vital.

   Another amazing miracle of the whole baptism is that J*sey, our Recent Convert who was the one who helped K*itlyn get committed in the first place, spoke at the baptism! For only being twelve, she did a phenomenal job.

   I'm sorry I don't have many words today. It has been a draining week... I'll tell you a couple of the specifics:

1. One of my zone leaders, and the last missionary of my original district, finally went home today. I had held onto him, my trainer, and my other district leader, and after six months, I feel a bit... left behind. It's amazing to be on a mission, but it is sad to lose those who have been your family out here.

2. I'm getting transferred. President Jensen called today and asked if I would once again train and be district leader as well as whitewash an area. I accepted, but I'm still trying to get past that all. I've been here for nearly 6 months! I just don't quite know what to do with myself now. I guess I'll just move on to companion number 3.

I don't think anything is necessarily wrong. It's just a week of goodbyes and big changes. It feels a lot like when I left college. Just like everything is changing, and it's not going the way I wanted it to go! Luckily, I have a sure knowledge that everything is going to be pretty much identical to what it has been in my last area. Still doors to knock on. Still sheep to feed. Still people to love. Still fun to be had:)

Dad, I loved to hear about your wonderful missionary experiences! You are such a phenomenal man and I love you so much. Keep up the good work. I really hope all of you can feel the love and the prayers and the joy that fills my heart when I think of the fact that we are going to be a family forever.

Keep reading the Book of Mormon! It is the GREAT RETAINER of testimony.

Love,

Elder Brown