Mapache en la basura‏

Helllllllllo !
 
Happy Monday ! I hope y'all had a great week and doing good ! And the
good news is that thankfully January is almost over because I am so
done with January, ya know how you can just get the January blues, so
that is good 
 
This week was pretty good for me.... It was long and hard and I truly
felt like Mosiah 23:21 Was the theme of the week....  "Nevertheless
the Lord seeth fit to chasten his people; yea, he trieth their
patience and their faith" literally the story of our life this last
week. Like seriously !! We had so many set lessons this week with
members ready and willing to come with us and then they would cancel
as we were standing on their porch or like 5 minutes before the
lesson... It was a little hard not to complain, but I feel like I have
learned a lot on my mission about having the faith and trusting in the
promises of the lord that all will work out AND because God is
merciful our week ended like in the following verse, Mosiah 23:22
"Nevertheless whosoever putteth his trust in him the same shall be
lifted up at the last day." So I am pretty grateful, overall it was a
hard week, but a good one and I know as we keep putting our faith in
the lord we will continue to see tons of miracles this next week too.
 
Something cool this week : we had a worldwide missionary broadcast
which all the missionaries in the world watched and it was AWESOME !
It was titled "Teach Repentance and Baptize Converts" it was so sweet.
We watched awesome trainings from Elder Neil L Andersen, Elder David A
Bednar, Elder W. Christopher Liddel, Sister Bonnie L Oscarson, Elder L
Whitney Clayton, Elder Brent H Neilson, and Elder Dallin H Oaks. It
was literally what you would call incredible. Ans I am so grateful I
am able to be a full time missionary right now. Seriously. The spirit
touched my heart so strongly as these leaders of the church bore their
testimonies of missionaries work, I know this is where I need to be,
right now in my life. And I am so grateful I am here :) and it was
just what I needed so I can end this last month running !
 
We also went on exchanges this week which was really and very much
needed because TRAINING IS HARD. Seriously it's some tough stuff...
But I am loving it and I am learning a lot, so that is good. I think
training is mostly hard because all my comps I have had before have
always been older than me in the mission and we both knew what we were
doing... So I am not use to teaching someone all the rules, and to be
hard, that is a little hard for me to do. But it's okay, things are
getting better and Hna Reynolds is adjusting little by little. Anyway,
we went on exchanges and Sister Woods came her with me. It was strange
not being the STL on the exchange but also kind of nice. We had an
awesome day together ! We also found a new investigator, Pilar !! She
is so cool and so cute ! She was asking all about the church and how
it would benefit her family. I am so excited to see what the lord has
in store for not only us, but Pilar and her family :)
 
Friday we got up and to our surprise it was snowing... Buckets !! Like
so much snow. And everything was just white white white !! And so
instead of switching back from our exchange we ended up being on
exchanges all Friday as well and we had to stay inside... It was
seriously soooooo tiring . Friday we also had to do our weekly
planning, so that is always fun, doing weekly planning without your
actual companion... Haha but sister woods is awesome so it was fun to
stay on exchanges and she just left from serving in Clarksville so we
were catching up on all the people there too so that was nice :)
 
And since there was still snow on the ground yesterday , we even had
church canceled.... Southern people and snow just don't get along too
well... Haha but it's okay because we were able to have a GREAT DAY
yesterday and it totally made up for all the hard and crappy other
days we had this week, so I am very content and happy :)
 
Oh little update Lupe is doing great. We taught him about the
priesthood yesterday and he is preparing to get it in two weeks, so
that should we sweet ! Presidente Burgos, his sone Heber, and Lupe are
all going to salt lake this next week so that should be pretty sweet !
They are going to go to temple square and everything so I am pretty
excited for Lupe to get to see the temple and all that jazz, so that
should be sweet. I am going to give them our address if they have time
to stop by and say hello :) I don't know because they have a wedding
and then are going to be coming back, it's just a short little trip,
but maybe they will stop by 
 
Well I think that's really all about it for this week. This next week
will be a great week and I am hoping for no more snow too... I am on
limited time and I don't want to be stuck inside anymore.. I love
y'all so much. Thanks for the support you have given me throughout my
mission. I know the lord is hearing your prayers and I feel so
blessed. I am praying for you all as well :) have a great week!!
 
XO
Hna Brown
 
Ps... SWAG

Old pic, but back when we had MLC with Elder Zwick

Frozen fountain outside our apartment complexes my head is kind of
in the way...

Literally why people in Tennessee should not drive their cars in the snow

Let's get coconutty‏

Hello family !!
 
Happy Monday ! For the first time in a long time I am just soooo
thankful that it is Monday haha usually the weeks go by so fast that I
can't believe it's Monday again. This week was a little bit of the
opposite. It seemed to be a little bit on the longer side. But that's
okay, because it was still a great week :)
 
So to start off Hna Dansie went home, that was pretty sad. I will miss
her! She has become one of my best friends, kind of inevitable after
being with each other for more than 6 months 24/7. It's kind of weird
because the first couple of days it felt like we were just on an
exchange, but then we never exchanged back haha but it's okay because
my new comp is Hna Reynolds ! She is super cute, from Alpine Ut and
fresh out of high school. And she is so ready to do the work! And even
better, her Spanish is really good!! So that has been a blessing in my
part ! I really like training but it is stressful, especially in how
big our area is, kind of hard taking it over on my part, but it's
still fun and I am happy :) I think Hna Reynolds is a little sad when
she realized how many hours of study you have to do in the morning as
well as an extra hour of training, but I think she is getting used to
it :) also I like training this last transfer because like wow !! I
have realized and seen HOW much I have truly grown since I came out on
my mission. It's so awesome. I am so grateful for the Lord! And for
his willingness to mold me into the person he needs me to be. I am
just very grateful 
 
Well in for this week, after one week, Lupe is still active ! That's a
blessing ! And he is progressing and he just says how happy he is in
his life, and you can truly see it too! He totally has a different
light about him :) We had a cool stake conference that was broadcasted
from Salt Lake to the North America Southeast area yesterday and it
was really cool. Elder L Whitney Clayton, Sister Linda R Reeves, Elder
Robert A Rasband, and Elder Robert D Hales all spoke to us, and it was
awesome :) we had a couple less actives and recent converts and
investigators come and it was so sweet ! They all loved it. My
favorites were from Elder Rasband and Elder Hales. They both talked
about holy places. Elder rasband talked about the temple and elder
hales about how to make our homes a holy place . Thank you mom and dad
for making our home a holy place :)
 
MIRACLE this week.
So it was 8:30 and we decided to go and try to visit a few other
potential investigators. And the thought to go visit Glenda came to
mind. I'm not sure if I have really talked to much about Glenda or not
but she has kind of a crazy story. About 20 years ago she met the
missionaries in Honduras and really loved the gospel but never got
baptized. She moved here and she came in contact with the missionaries
here ! She loved the gospel and the Book of Mormon so much she named
her son she was pregnant with at the time Nefi. But then.....
Something happened and she didn't end up getting baptized and stopped
meeting with the missionaries completely. WELL so the missionaries
found her awhile back when knocking doors but she was very very closed
off and reserved. We had occasionally tried to go visit her every now
and then but she would rarely ever let us in or anything. So we went
and saw her. WELL. She like let's us right in, tells us to sit down,
gives us these big hugs and is just chatting with us like we are long
time best friends. What ??? I was sooo confused but at the same time
soooo happy ! We asked if we could share a message with her and she
said of course. So we talked about the Book of Mormon and she loved
it. The spirit was seriously so strong ! We invited her to read and
pray about the Book of Mormon and she said would. It was soooo
awesome. What you would truly call a spirit inspired lesson. :)
 
We are focusing a lot on a less active family in our branch, really
trying to get them to come back and be active again in the church. The
Lopez family. I love this family. They are so awesome ! Hno Lopez is
such a good guy too and has such a strong testimony. I know that they
will soon be back active at church, but keep them in your prayers
please :)
 
Overall this week was good, we did a lot of finding and teaching so I
am pleased! It's freezing today, 15 outside, but it feels like 1....
Vale la pena ! I am glad that all is going well back at home! I hope
y'all have a fantastic week ! Thanks for all yours prayers and the
support you give me, I am so thankful ! I love y'all soooo much !
 
Xo
Hna Brown

 Last pic with Hna Dansie and Aida at transfer meeting :)

SO HAPPY. This is Angie. She is one of the investigators Hna Torres
and I taught in my first area in Columbia and in October she got
baptized ! I saw her at transfers and I was almost in tears. I love
this woman 

My daughter, Hna Reynolds :) she is literally a mix of I think all
my comps, I love it !

Stress case - the last 6 weeks‏

Hello family !
 
Sorry I am writing so early today, it's gonna be a crazy busy day. We
got up extra early so we could get our studies done earlier so we
could have more time to get all that we have to do, done. This week
was a crazy week and I am excited to tell y'all about it :)
 
First off, I am very happy to hear that everything went great with mom
and her surgery! That makes me very happy :) I am grateful for the
power of the priesthood and fasting and prayer. I hope my cute mom
keeps feeling better! I know you are being taken care of by a great
husband  and Ward and family and friends :)
 
So as for this week it was nuts. But to hit all the good news first.
Lupe got baptized on Saturday !!!! Yahoooooooooo ! It was awesome :)
let me just tell you, opposition in all things is a real thing. For
the investigator and the missionaries haha. Lupe was hit pretty hard
with some opposition the DAY BEFORE HIS BAPTISM. I don't think I have
ever prayed or fasted so much in my whole life as I did this last
week. We had our last lesson with him on Friday and when he got there
he was just acting so strange. Anyway after talking for a while we
finally got him to open up about what was happening. He said he had
talked to his mom about his baptism and how she was just so sad
because she felt like she failed at raising her son. He said he just
feels like his parents are so disappointed in him. But he said he knew
this was what he needed to do, and it's the right thing. What a champ
!!! I know that the lord is so pleased with the faith Lupe has! I know
he has great things and blessings in store for him 
 
Although it was stressful up unto the point of the baptism, everything
worked out great :) I am so excited for him. And yesterday he was
confirmed and received the Holy Ghost, and that was awesome. The
spirit was so strong, and he even surprised everyone by making a grand
entrance by coming to a church in a suit ! We told him to be a little
early , because he always is making it a little late to church, anyway
so it's like 12:58 and we are freaking out because he isn't there yet.
So we are not trying to panic or anything and then he just like walks
in, in this like nice suit, everyone was like "woah" haha he has never
even wore a white shirt or slacks to church before, so that was cool.
Anyway, it was good and I honestly can see a different light in him !
That was the best part of this whole week 
 
Now onto the transfer information.... For my last transfer of my
mission I will be staying here in Buena Vista !!!!!!!!!!! And I am
training a new missionary ! What. I was so shocked. But I am so
excited ! We had interviews on Wednesday with president and the first
thing he said was that he wanted to talk to me about transfers. He
asked me to train a new missionary and then he told me I would be
staying in Buena vista !!! I started screaming I was so happy I
thought I was going to cry ! That was awesome. I am kind of freaked
out to train a new missionary, because I never have, but it will fun I
think :) and it will be an awesome way to end my last transfer ! God
is good 
 
It's pretty crazy that Hna Dansie is leaving, tomorrow! It's been
awesome serving with her and we have been able to see so many miracles
and have some awesome experiences together. She is awesome. I will
tell her to come visit y'all and everything so y'all can go to her
homecoming too. It will be strange having a new comp after being with
the same one for the last 6 months, but I am excited for this next
transfer!
 
I am grateful for this opportunity I have to be a full time missionary
! There is nothing better to compare it to. I am excited to see how
these next 6 weeks go and I am excited to work as hard as I can to
finish strong and to fight the good fight.
 
I love y'all and I hope y'all have a grrrrrrrrrreeeeeeeat week ! I am
grateful for your prayers and I can feel them, especially on those
extra hard days. Be safe and I hope y'all don't freeze ! ️ Love you
sooooo much !
 
XO
Hna Brown

Dia de los 3 reyes ! Rosca de reyes, soooo good!

There are 3 little toy baby Jesus's baked into it, and who ever gets
it has to make tamales for everyone on February 2 haha Hna Dansie got
it.

Lupe's baptism ! Kind of a blurry pic but that's okay.

Prefecture my papusa making skills 

I want you to want me...... the song I sing to all our investigators‏

Hello family !

Seems like we just talked 🙃 

HAPPY NEW YEAR ! It sounded like y'all had a good new year and I am so happy :) I had a great one as well. we had to come in early at 6 but we watched the best two years, had a bottle of Martinelli , and ate cinnamon roles. My kind of new year celebration. Friday was super fun! we had an all day super pday ! It was so strange not doing any missionary work... We went to eat at a members house and after an hour I was feeling anxious like we needed to leave and then I realized we actually could stay longer... It was still weird. Also we went to the church and played basketball and soccer with some members and investigators, it was so much fun ! Also I sent mom this video, but I learned how to rope ! I will send it again so y'all can see my wicked skills

So as for this week it was good ! It was SUCH a strange week though. It's the best time of the year to teach everyone about the gospel because it's Christmas and then everyone is setting goals to improve for the next year but at the same time it's sooooo hard to find people who want listen. But it will be good this next week to get back into the normal mission life too :) 

I went on an exchange this week and I went to Murfreesboro and was with a cute sister, Sister Orchard and we had A HUGE MIRACLE !!! So we had a lesson at 7:30 and our lesson at 6:30 fell through so we decided since we were going to meet at the church for the lesson at 7:30 we should just try potentials that live close to the church. So we decided to go see this guy Jeff. We pull up to the house, pray, and knock on the door. Then we just hear loud loud barking inside and I'm tell you guys, my fear of dogs has skyrocketed while being on my mission because EVERYONE has huge dogs and none of them are ever tied up or anything. Then the door opens and like the biggest pit bull ever is right there and in my head I am like oh no.... It's gonna attack and go right for my neck and I am gonna die.... I turned as stiff as a board haha turns out that was a nice pit bull... Who knew those existed, am I right ? Anyway the lady says "hey come in come in" and we are like okay, why not. So then that's when we met Amanda and she is soooo nice ! And she was saying how she use to meet with the missionaries and how she had gone to church a couple times and she really liked it and everything. So we are thinking like hey they must have really been teaching this Jeff guy and his family, sweet ! So then she is talking about her husband and we were like , not wanting to be creeps and already knowing her husbands name, asked what his name was and she is like , his name is Matt. WHAT ? Who are these people?! So come to find out, they had been living in another part of town and had been meeting with the missionaries there and really loved it, but then they put elders in and it was just hard for her because she felt a little uncomfortable.. Then about 4 months ago they moved into the house they are in now , and no one had had record of them or where they moved to. But since God is a God of miracles and is full of mercy he lead us exactly to them ! It was awesome one of those moments when you truly know that was the spirit guiding you exactly where you needed to be. 

Now onto Lupe ! So last week we invited him to be baptized for the 9th. It was kind of a semi solid semi soft date, not 100% sure thing. Through out the week we tried to call and talk with him and follow up and stuff but we weren't able to meet with him last week... THANK YOU MOM FOR PRAYING FOR HIM, because this is what happened next:.....

Saturday we had a baptism for a little boy named Jazer. I love this kid. His mom and him were just coming back to church when I got here and his mom asked us since they had been less active for so much of jazzers life (since he was like 2-7) if we would teach him since he would be turning 8 in December. So every week we would teach the smartest, sweetest, cutest 7 year old and I just have felt so blessed to watch him grow anyway so he got baptized on Saturday !! And it was awesome and Lupe came as well! We were freaking out because it was starting and he still wasn't there ..... Hna Dansie gave the talk on baptism and I just told her to keep talking until he got there haha thankfully he walked in right before she ended. That's the first miracle. Then Jazer got baptized and it was awesome the room was just filled with peace and happiness. Since it wasn't a convert baptism he was able to receive the Holy Ghost right after. Through out my mission I have had many times where I am felt the spirit super super strong, but I think this was the strongest. When the words were said, receive the Holy Ghost, the spirit filled the Room. It was incredible. It wasn't just something you could feel in your heart, your could feel it in your whole body. I'm not really sure how else to explain it. 

After the baptism we had a lesson with Lupe in the chapel, the best place to have lessons, and we asked him how he felt about the baptism.  He said he really liked it but he really liked the part when Jazer got the Holy Ghost, he said "I could just feel something, a type of energy just running through my body" we said told him that was the Holy Ghost telling him that these things are true and correct and right. We asked about how he felt about being baptized he seemed a little un sure and he said he still had some doubts. We talked a little more about the spirit and then talked about prophets. We showed him a video clip of some of the apostles and president monson testifying of Jesus Christ. The spirit was so strong. After the video he looked at us and said with the most confidence ever , "I am getting baptized on Saturday" ....... !!!!!!!!!!! It's those moments when you know that the work you are doing isn't your work, you aren't the teacher, but it's the Lord's work and the spirit is the true teacher. 

I don't know how else to express myself. I am SO happy !!!!! And so excited !!! My heart is filled with gratitude for the chance that I have been able to have to have so many of these amazing, life changing experiences. The gospel is true!! And this work is true :) 

I am sorry i always have such long emails, but you guys know me, I gotta tell you everything I am thinking Saturday are transfer calls.... And my companion goes home in a week from tomorrow.... It will be strange getting a new comp after 6 months... And Starting my last transfer... But it will be an adventure and I am excited to keep working hard and doing the Lord's work :)  

I hope you all have a good week, good luck mommy on your surgery, I know you will do great !! I will keep fasting and praying for you and as for the rest of you, take care of my mommy!! 

I love y'all so much. Thank you so much for your prayers, as you can see, they are really helping ! Have a great week :) 

️XO

Hermana Brown

On exchanges 

Jazer's baptism

Last week at the grand ole Opry hanging out with Brad and
dolly and Martina

16 months‏

Familia ! 

Wow how great was it skyping on Friday ? It was awesome !! :) seriously it was the best thing ever. I had an amazing Christmas and I am so grateful I was able to have two Christmases on my mission :) mission Christmases are seriously the best. I hope y'all have a good rest of your week. We had a great rest of the week as well. It's been like 75 degrees so you know I'm not complaining at all

As for this week, it was busy but also super slow I don't know how to explain it. It went by so super fast but also slow... If that makes sense haha Monday and Wednesday we had the night to go caroling to all our investigators with members and I was sooooo excited ! But then it was pouring rain Monday night and Wednesday night we had to go in because there were tornado warnings and all the sirens and such were going off.... If you could just imagine how I was ..... My companion says "Hna are you okay ? You seemed stress" I just replied "I just really hate storms...." Hahaha still working on that, but to defend myself the storms here are soooo much crazier than those back at home  

Tuesday was a good day, we actually went and sang to this lady for her 100th birthday !!! It was so funny. She couldn't hear us and we were like screaming and still nothing.... Haha but it was so sweet :) she lives with her daughter and when I say it reminded me just like that spongebob espisode where the old lady still lives with her mom, it was literally like that but in real life form. I loved it ️ then we did a lot of finding. Which was good because lately I have felt like we have been so busy that I haven't been able to get a good amount of finding in, which I love so it was great :) we were at this one apartment complex and I just wasn't feeling it so we decided to leave and go to another one down the street, it felt like we should be there. Then NO ONE talked to us... We tried to contact one old investigator there but when we went he wasn't home and one of his roommates was just leaving and didn't seem like he had much time to talk. We gave him a card and were on our way. I was a little sad that no one would talk to us.. I just couldn't understand why because we really felt like that's where we needed to be... But I have been trying to trust more in the lord and his timing and try not to lean to my own understandings... 

But then the coolest thing happened Wednesday night !! So we had to go in at 7 and so we started planning and such and then we got this text message from a number in Mexico saying "hi this is jose's friend and I wanted to know what is Mormon?" WHAT ?? We were freaking out but like we had no idea who it was, so we are jus trying to figure out what Jose and then we came to find out it was the room mate from the other day when we were finding. Miracles ! So we told him about the Book of Mormon and he was super interested. So, pray for Manual ! He is a miracle ! 

Now the last miracle of all is with Lupe !!!!! So on Saturday we were planning and the feeling to text Lupe just kept coming but we are like we don't know what to say..... But we felt like we really needed to meet with him but it's hard because we didn't know where or anything because he lives far away and yeah we just didn't know what to do. Then the idea came to call Byron and ask him if we can meet with Lupe at his house, so we called Byron and he said yes! So then we called Lupe and he said he could meet with us at that time too ! It was a miracle. The only thing was, we didn't know what exactly we needed to teach him about, because we usually always end up talking about baptism but we don't want to smother him with baptism but we felt like we needed to.... We had such a strong desire to invite him to be baptized the 9th of January... So our game plan was this, somehow invite him for the 9th but to not make him feel overwhelmed or pushed. THE SPIRIT IS SOOOOO AWESOME !!!!! So we go in there and we just start talking and we read the conversion story of Hna Dansie's abuelo because it's like the same as Lupe's haha and then Hna Dansie just goes "Lupe I go home in 2 weeks and I think mine and Hna Browns biggest desire is to see you baptized while we are both together and here." It was awesome Lupe just started opening up and saying how this whole week he has just been thinking about baptism and everything and how we wants to but he is really afraid his family in Mexico is going to like reject him and stuff..... But it's sweet to see how to spirit works because by the end of the lesson Lupe looked at a calendar (we didn't say anything about a specific date) and he says "I am really thinking about the 9th of January , that is just caught my attention" The spirit is real !!! Follow the impressions you receive and you will truly see the hand of the lord. I love this work and this gospel !!!! I AM SO EXCITED FOR LUPE !

Also HAPPY 2016!! I am so happy and blessed that I got to serve the whole year of 2015 as a missionary. It's been the best year of my life. I reflected on the goals I set this last year and I am proud to admit I was able to complete them, including NO COKE FOR A YEAR !!! Miracles are real. I never thought I would make it but really haha I am excited for what 2016 will bring. 

I think that's about it. Today we are goin to Opryland in Nashville so that should be pretty fun, I am excited :) I love y'all so much. Thanks for all the support and prayers and love you have given me. Have a great week !!! I love y'all !!! 

XO 

Hermana Brown

HAPPY 100TH GRACE

Christmas with the sisters in the district

Christmas morning presents as you can tell I still love mornings...