Lake people‏

Well I thought I would be able to at least surprise y'all about where
I am but I guess that's impossible  okay SO. My new area. I am in
Winchester Tennessee and I LOVE IT HERE!!! This is by far my absolute
favorite area since I have been here. So to my surprise, at transfer
meeting, I found out I was actually whitewashing this area with my new
comp hermana capener. So that would make all three of my areas
whitewashed... I think I might whitewash my whole mission....hahaha so
a little info about Winchester, it is a small town. My area covers the
whole Franklin county, a county full of small towns. I am in a small
English branch of probably 70-90 people, and yes we do meet in a
funeral home... It's very nice. The young women meet in the coffin
room..... Hahaha it's so different from anywhere I have been before.
Winchester is like a lake town. It's surrounded by Tims Ford lake.
It's so cute. And we live right next to the lake!!! We go for a walk
every morning around the lake. We are going to go get fishing licenses
today :)
 
My new companion is Hermana CaPener. I love her. She is awesome and we
get a long SO great. Seriously such an answer to my prayers. She is
such a hard worker and an amazing missionary. We are so excited to be
working here in this area together. Today we are actually starting a
40 day fast of English. Meaning for 40 days her and I will only speak
to each other in Spanish. It's going to a little tough, but I m
excited. We have so much faith that we will be able to have the
success that we need here.  Lately I have been
thinking a lot about the law of sacrifice and why it's so important. I
had the thought that my mission wasn't as big as a sacrifice as it
should be, because I was sacrificing things that really weren't much
of a sacrifice. So that is what my goal is for this transfer, is to
really sacrifice things that will show the Lord I am ready to do his
work, and be a servant that he can count on. 
 
Okay so let me tell yall all a little more about my great first week
in Winchester.
 
So on our way home from transfer meeting we rode with an elderly
couple, the Veazey's (VZ) and they are amazing. So kind and loving.
They drove us home and took us first to the funeral home, aka the
church and gave us a tour. It was really different but also pretty
cool. The part that was probably the most creepy was the coffin
room...the chapels there are super pretty and nice so it's pretty
awesome we get to have church there. After that we went to our
apartment to drop our luggage off. Our apartment is really nice and
big. It's more like a little town house! But since we were
whitewashing elders... It was very dirty... So we cleaned it up a
little and the VZ's took us to Walmart to buy some more cleaning
supplies and some food. Well then we come back to our part,met and are
cleaning when a HUGE thunder and lightning storm starts... Then our
power goes out.... You know how I am kind of a baby when it comes to
that... Haha it was a great way to start our first day here in
Winchester 
 
The people here are awesome and they are so southern. It's so funny
and cool! I love it so much. But it's also soooo hot here too... Like
super hot. And humid. And on Thursday guess what we did? Yup that's
right, we rode our bikes. Haha it was great, but I looked like I just
took a shower or something so that was disgusting. Us Browns have some
type of gene where our body's just don't do good with humidity or
something.
 
We only have one member of the branch who actually speaks Spanish, but
he is pretty less active, so that's kind of different. To be Spanish
missionaries is a small English branch, that meets in a funeral
home.... Haha but the elders were teaching this family before they
left and they are awesome! Hugo and Laura (haha you can't help but
think of the treehouse of terror with Bart's evil twin brother Hugo,
am I right ) but they are so cute and want to know so much about the
gospel. They have two little boys who are 2 and 6 months old. :)
 
This email is kind of scattered brained right now, but I hope yall can
make sense of it. This area is awesome, and the members here are
amazing. I feel so lucky to be the first set of sisters here in the
area in over 2 years, and the first Spanish speaking sisters as well!
I am so excited to see what will come of the promised land of
Winchester Tennessee :)
 
I hope yall had a great week and an awesome Father's Day! I am so
lucky to have the best dad in the world. He seriously makes everything
better :) I love you family! Thanks for all your love and support. I
hope you have a great day and week!
 
Xoxo
Hermana Lizzy Brown

Let's get coconutyy!‏

Hello my family! Thanks for all the fun updates and cool pictures at
out of school party :) sounds like it was a fun busy week, but also a
hard one, especially with the passing of sister Murphy.. I am so sad
to hear about that and poor brother Murphy I will be sure to keep him
in my prayers!
 
Well I was going to wait till the end of my email to tell yall about
transfers but I thought that would be rude so i won't do that... Well
I am saying ¡adiós! To my cute little city of Clarksville, I am pretty
sad but I had the feeling I was going to be leaving... But want to
know what's even worse? Hermana Rudolph and I are both being
transferred out of clarskville and they are putting elders back in
here... I don't know how I feel about all this. Needless to say I was
pretty upset when I found out on Saturday... We were the first
hermanas here in the Spanish area in about 4 years. I can't help but
feel like it's because I didn't work hard  enough or I am not a good
missionary and that's why they are taking us out.... but I don't think
that's the case, well I sure hope not! I think it's just satan trying
to get me down. It's just so hard. This town has been like my baby and
we have been working so hard the last four months. It's scary to just
have to give it away and hope that the new missionaries will help all
these people here. I guess I have to have more faith in the
missionaries, my mission president, and the lord. I know the Lord is
aware of this area and all these people and I know he will do what is
best for them. But it's just SO stressful. I feel like a mom leaving
long notes and to do lists and info about all the investigators and
members here so that the elders coming in will be able to take care of
them. I won't find out where I will be going or who my new companion
is until tomorrow at transfer meeting! So yall will have to stay tuned
for next week to see where I end up! (Inside I hope I get to go to
Nashville ️)
 
Now to fill yall in on my last week in clarskville!
 
So the south is like so awesome because of FIREFLIES!!! Wahh. They are
the coolest lil buggies ever. I love them. So the other night we were
driving down the road and I took a wrong turn and we got to a dead end
that was Like an entry way into the forest or something. Well I turn
off car lights and it's like we are in a forest full of twinkle lights!
There were fireflies everywhere!! It was one of the coolest things I have
seen ever :)
 
So we have been teaching Rosa's daughter Emellyn and preparing her for
baptism. She is so adorable and I am so sad that I won't be able to be
here for her baptism. She was suppose to get baptized yesterday, but
her uncle who was going to baptize her, him and his family got in a
car accident on Saturday afternoon. Everyone was totally fine and not
injured but just a little banged up so they wouldn't make it to the
baptism on Sunday... I am glad everyone was okay but I am sad that we
will be missing her baptism next week :( I love Emellyn and Rosa and
that whole family!!! It was just so sad to have to say bye to them :(
I feel like just so connected to them. I feel so blessed to be able to
serve here with this family and share those unforgettable spiritual
moments with them. The mission is an amazing thing.
 
Okay the CRAZIEST thing happened with week. But to make all of it make
sense I must rewind to my first transfer here in Clarksville. We were
sitting in the church having district meeting when, These two people
(Hermano y Hermana Falcon) come knocking on the door. They were from
Puerto Rico and so me and Hermana LaPine were talking to them. Well
the husband is in the military so he was got stationed here, and they
didn't have any information about the church (they are members!) well,
Hermana falcon was still in the process of moving here so she would
come every four months, stay for about a month, and then go back to
Puerto Rico. So get this. It's time for her to come back and she comes
to church and she says how she wants to come out with us sometime this
week. So she comes out with us and we are driving to an appointment
and I am telling her how my cousin jake is serving in Puerto Rico on
his mission but i didn't know what area he was in. So we are just
driving still and I remember that the Brazilians (James and Vivian)
are in Puerto Rico too. So I continue to tell her that my other
cousins are there as well because he is doing dental school there. She
asked me what there names are and tell her, she thinks about it for
awhile and says "ella es de Brasil?" (She is from Brazil?) And I look
at her and say YES!! So get this. Hermana Falcon is the primary
president of her Ward in Puerto Rico, and about 4 months ago they had
this big primary activity with multiple different stakes in the area
and that is where she met and talked with Vivian at! HOW CRAZY IS
THAT?! Oh my gosh. I was like speechless the rest of the night in
shock. How crazy is that? It truly is a small world after all 
 
One more thing, we taught Liz the word of wisdom this week.... And she
is in the process of quitting smoking right now!! ️️️ I am so
happy. She let us take all her vapor pipes and nicotine and throw them
away. It was an amazing experience. Liz is so awesome. I am so sad to
be leaving her :( she has been an answer to my prayers and I feel so
grateful that I have had the chance to teach her. And to be taught by
her! She will make an amazing member of the church. But I am so
excited to come back for her baptism in just a couple of weeks :)
 
 Well that's about it for this week. Hermana Rudolph will be spending
the rest of the day packing and cleaning up the apartment. I hope yall
have an amazing week. Thanks for all your support you give me. I can
really feel your prayers! I am so blessed to be a missionary. Have a
great week and I will try not to roast in the sun ️
 
Xo
Hermana Brown ️

Thunder storms and fireflies‏

Hello my dear family :)
 
Sounds like this last week was a fun, but busy one in the Brown home!
I hope you had a great time celebrating all the fun birthdays this
week! I am pretty sad I missed out on the Cheesecake Factory, as well
as cake roll!! Those both sound pretty delicious right about now 
 
Can you believe that we get transfer calls on Saturday? Crazy. And
next week I will be informing yall what's going to become of me and of
Clarksville. I don't want to leave clarskville but I am kind of
feeling like my time is about up here :( but who knows! I will be
super happy if I get to stay another transfer, but I also know that if
I do get transferred that is where I need to be. We will see what will
happen!
 
So this week was good, but also one of the weirdest weeks on my
mission. Last week was an awesome week, and we had so many things set
up for this week, and soooo many of our lessons just fell through. And
kept falling through. It was insane. People would set up lessons, we
would call them, they would say we could come over, and then when we
would get there, they wouldn't be there... Talk about a let down. I
could really feel the Lord testing Hermana Rudolph and I this week,
but it was good! We pushed through and we were able to see a ton of
miracles and do a lot of service as well :)
 
This first miracle, was that... WE FINALLY GOT TRANSLATION
EQUIPMENT!!!! Bishop Young called us on Wednesday night informing us
that we got translation equipment, and when he told us i starting
screaming, I was pretty close to tears as well... But it's just so
exciting. After 8 months, since the Spanish branch was first
dissolved, we have translation equipment. We are now able to invite
our investigators to sacrament meeting, and tell our less active
members that sacrament meeting will now be translated into Spanish.
Seriously definitely one of the highlights of the week :)
 
We also did a lot of service this week. So that was fun. One of the
sisters who was in the Spanish branch is very very sick right now and
can hardly get out of bed. We went over and decided to help clean her
house. It's so sad because she can't do much and her family does NOT
help clean anything. We ended up spending about 2 hours cleaning a
room probably the size of my bedroom.. And by the time we finished, it
wasn't even all that clean. It was such a humbling experience to have.
I am also grateful that were able to help serve Hermana Gil.
 
Did I ever tell yall about Luis? Well a couple of weeks ago we were
walking down the street, actually right in front of the church, and we
passed this guy and started talking to him, his name is Luis. He is
from Puerto Rico and is like the nicest old grandpa guy EVER. He is
just so cute. We went and taught him about the Book of Mormon this
week and he was so excited to read it. He also told us that his
neighbor in Puerto Rico is actually a member of the church and he use
to talk to him about the gospel all the time! And he use to see the
missionary over there always walking down the streets and such. Talk
about prepared! I am so excited to see where he goes in the gospel :)
 
Last night we had a stake fireside about the Book of Mormon. The stake
president asked if I would share my personal experiences and testimony
of the Book of Mormon. It was a great meeting. I always thought that
when I was a missionary I wouldn't be as nervous talking in front of a
lot of people, but that's not true. I was still pretty nervous. But I
think overall it went well :) I love love love the Book of Mormon and
I know that it truly is the word of God. How lucky are we that we get
to read and have the Book of Mormon today? It has blessed my life so
much, and the knowledge i receive when i am reading the Book of Mormon
is never ending.
 
Well I think I will close for now! I hope yall have a great week :) as
I was actually writing this email the power went out because of a huge
thunder and lightening storm which is taking place right now. I hope
that it comes back on soon so I can send this and we can chat! I love
yall so so so much!!
 
Xo
Hermana Brown

She ate her peas one at a time....‏

Happy June!
 
Wow I can't believe that it's June already. That's just crazy. I am
jealous of your trip to the cabin that sounds nice! Well except for
the whole cleaning part of it... I still remember when we went up
there that one year with aunt Cindy and uncle Steve and there were so
many dead birds and disgusting things... Gross haha But I can imagine
that it looks super nice now and super clean I know everyone will
appreciate it :) sounded like the weather was nice too. I hope e
didn't have tooooo much fun being home alone for the weekend  but I
think after my mission I wouldn't mind taking a weekend being alone
either haha
 
Well this week was great! I have many stories to tell you. I will try
my best not to make this email toooooo long, but again, no promises!
 
The weather has been good but also crazy this week. Some days it
poured rain, and the others it was blue skies. Some days it was pretty
humid, I remember standing at s door way and my glasses started to fog
up. It was so weird. somedays it's like so humid and other days it's
not humid at all. Either way I am usually always warm and gross and
sweaty so I guess if you really ask me it doesn't matter too much if
it is that humid or not.
 
Tuesday was a really cool day. It was sister Browns birthday (sister
missionary in the clarskville 1st Ward. We also came in to the mission
field the same day) and so we went out to lunch with the sisters to
noodles and company. It was delicious. I hadn't had eaten at noodles
and company my whole mission and it made me remember how delicious it
is! It was a fun time. I am grateful that there are the cv1 sisters
here, they are like my saving grace somedays! Tuesday night was pretty
interesting. We go over to Liz's to have a lesson with her and then
right before we start the lesson there is a knock on the door. It was
the Elders and some members coming to have a lesson with Liz's son
Nathan. She totally spaced she had told the elders and Us that we
could come over that night. We told the elders we could go and do some
finding in the neighborhood if they would just call us after their
lesson with Nathan. So we start walking down the road when we see
these Hispanics putting these huge plastic bags full of stuff into a
bed of a truck. We start talking to them and it looks like they are be
moving or something. But their hands were completely black and there
was some caution tape around the entrance of the door. We asked them
if they needed any help with anything. So turns out that about 2 weeks
ago their kitchen caught on fire and they had smoke damage throughout
the rest of the apartment. It was crazy. The whole kitchen was just
black ashes and burns everywhere. Everything was completely covered
with ash and smoke residue. It was seriously so heartbreaking.
Although we were not in any type of service clothes we offered to
help. It was such an amazing feeling to be able to help this family
salvage their things from this small 2 bedroom apartment. As we were
talking we came to find out that the elders had been teaching this
family about a year ago. How awesome is that? Then an even bigger
miracle, is in our area book there is a family the elders had been
teaching, and we have tried to contact them but never have been able
to because they moved and we didn't have their phone number, but guess
what? It's turns out that the family was the same family we had been trying to
contact, is this family that we were helping out! It was such s 
sweet moment helping this family out. The whole time I couldn't help
but thank Heavenly Father. I am so grateful that Hermana Rudolph and I
were able to be in the right place at the right time to help this
family and to find this family again. It just makes my testimony even
stronger that Heavenly Father truly knows everyone of his children and
he knows all our needs and everything we go through, and he truly does
send people to help us and answer prayers. Although I was covered in
ash residue I think this experience has been one of my favorites on my
entire mission. I have never felt so much love, joy, and gratitude. I
love being a missionary!
 
Quickly I wanted to tell yall about Liz. Oh my goodness she is SO
amazing. I love her. Every time we have a lesson with her she just
bares testimony of the truthfulness of the gospel. It's such an
amazing thing to watch someone who has been looking for the gospel
their whole life finally find it. She mentioned that her whole life
she has been trying to find some way to connect everything in her life
and now with the gospel she feels like everything just connects. I am
so grateful and blessed to be able to watch her grow in the gospel :)
 
Can you believe there is only 2 weeks left of the transfer? Time has
really gone by so fast. I have almost been here in clarskville for 4
months! I am getting nervous because the work here has really started
to sky rocket... Which only means one thing, I have to leave right
when things start picking... Who knows. I don't want to stress too
much about being transferred yet! I love this area and the members of
the church here. They are amazing! I feel so blessed to be able to be
a missionary at this time. :)
 
I will end here for now. Thanks for all the love and support you send
me. And always keeping me updated on things back at home. And thanks
for always sending me pictures. They always make me happy :) well i
love yall so much! Have a great week!!
 
Xo
Hermana Brown

With the bishops daughters. They are the cutest girls ever

Once again.

I have entered the mission field. 

Haha found this in sign when you exit the Nazarene church that's down the street.

 Hermana Rudolph was embarrassed to take a photo 

but I made her take one of me. Lol