9 MONTHS

Hola hola hola!
 
Can you believe that I hit 9 months on Wednesday. THIS IS CRAZY. I
don't really know how I feel. I feel like I have been gone for a long
time but I also feel like there is still so much to learn. I am
definitely at the top and about to go down the slope... So crazy. But
I am excited for what will come in the next 3 months but then it's
gonna be super weird once I hit a year and only have 6 months left,
but I can't even think about that right now! Haha also a quick
anniversary shout out to Brandon and Haley! That was such a fun trip
down to Arizona.
 
As for this week it was a good week. We went on exchanges with the
STL's and that was really nice. I went with Sister Aiono. She is so
cute.  I love going on
exchanges there are always such great learning experiences and always
so fun. We had a crazy weird experience when we were knocking doors.
This guy like answered the door wide enough that we could see like
only half his face (weird right) so we are talking to him and asking
him about religion and stuff and he is just like super weird and then
we hear this girl from inside yell "yeah well I am Buddhist and I am
naked" and the guys face just goes red and we just are like "here is a
picture of Jesus bye" it was so weird but soooo funny. I had to share
it with yall 
 
Friday was like a miracle day! :) here in clarskville we do a ton of
Spanish and English work, and I have really been praying so that we
can do more Spanish work. Well Friday was a great day because we ONLY
DID SPANISH WORK. seriously every person we taught and talked to were
Spanish speakers. It was awesome. For awhile I had been having the
feeling to go to this trailer park I saw on the map but I was nervous
because the area it is close to has some really sketchy trailer parks
too, but on Friday I was just like "Hermana we need to go to this
trailer park. We will drive there and drive a round and if it's scary
we will leave." So we get there and it's like SUPER NICE! What?! And
there are tons of Spanish people there! We didn't have time to knock
every door but the ones we did we were able to set return appointments
for this week! We are about to see BIG things here in the clarskville
Spanish area! :)
 
As for the food goes I tried two new things this week. 1. I had deep
fried catfish and 2. Corned beef. The senior missionary couple took us
out to dinner on Saturday to a place called the catfish house. It's so
cool and so cute and southern. It's like hidden behind all these
trees. It reminded me kind of like market street grill, but with some
southern twang. I ordered a hamburger, but Elder Bolos insisted that I
eat some of his catfish. Well I tried it, and it was super good!! Like
really really good. They also served us some slaw with our dinner, and
it was good too  the corned beef.... It was good but not my
favorite. When I first saw it I thought it wasn't cooked so that kind
of freaked me out, but it was still pretty good. Hermana Rudolph said
that canned corned beef is pretty good too, but I told her I would
have to pass on the canned meats.
 
Oh I also wanted to tell you about the Alamaraz family. It's this
adorable family we have been teaching and they are just so amazing.
Maria, the mom, she really loves the Book of Mormon  she doesn't have
a super strong religious background, but what she does know is that
she finds peace when she reads in the Book of Mormon. And that is
something that is so true. The Book of Mormon is a book of hope, love,
truth, and happiness. It's a book about Jesus Christ! And that is why
the Book of Mormon can change lives. It draws us close to Jesus Christ
and helps us change our ways and gives us the guidance we need. I love
this family, they make me happier every time I see and visit them. I
am so blessed to be able to serve them :)
 
One more thing, yesterday we get to church and about 5 minutes before
sacrament meeting starts the first counselor in the bishopric said
that they were in need of one more speaker for the meeting and asked
if I would give a talk and testimony on service and missionary work. I
accepted and then the meeting started. Then it was time for the
sacrament and i then I remembered that I had to give a talk after the
sacrament. I hurried and pulled out my scriptures and looked for a
couple I could share. And then I prayed soooo hard. After the
sacrament was over the first speaker spoke then it was my turn. I
think it was pretty well! I felt like I was rambling for a little but
then I just felt so peaceful and confident. It was a good experience
to have but I also hope maybe next time I will maybe have a little bit
more preparation time 
 
Anyway I hope that yall have a great Memorial Day and have fun at the
graves of the great and glorious dead. And at the BBQ at grandmas :)
tell everyone I say hello. Thanks for all updates, support, and love
you always send me :) I love you all so much!
 
Xo
Hermana Brown :)

Save Ferris‏

Hello Family :)
 
Wow so this week was really good! It was a lot of fun as always, HOT.
Seriously guys everyone says it just keeps getting worse and I am like
it's already worse!!!! And you know us Browns, we are sweaters... And
I just am so sweaty all the time. Ugh. It literally is gonna be a long
hot summer.
 
So for some good news, Liz (our totally cool investigator) has a
baptismal date!! Yahoo. So this is what happened. So the Elders here
are teaching her son Nathan (9 years old) because he likes "the men
better". So on Friday night the elders went to go and teach Nathan and
were hoping to set a baptismal date with him. So we come in at 9 and
start planning and we finish planning and we get a call from Liz. In
my head I am like "crap the elders did something to tick Liz off..."
But then she starts talking about the lesson with the elders. At the
same time we are getting a call from the elders on the other line. So
Liz goes on to say how the lesson was amazing and that Nathan picked a
baptismal date for June 20th!!! We were so exciting. So she says

the lesson ends and that they are saying bye when one of the elders is
like "you know Liz you should really pray about a specific date for
your own baptism" and then Liz said that she could hear elder Powell
talking to her, but when he was talking with her the date July 11th
came to her mind. It's a Saturday!! And now Liz's baptismal date!!!
Wahhhhh hermana Rudolph and I were just like screaming!! I am so
excited for Liz! She is so incredible and I know I was meant to meet
her here in clarskville.
 
This week we also had zone conference. It was really awesome. And
guess what we had for lunch. CAFE RIO SALADS / BURRITOS !!! ️😀
okay so not the like legit kind but like super close. It was so
delicious.  I was the happiest ever. Haha but zone conference was
really good. We talked a lot about working with members. And that has
been something I have been trying to work in better, working with
members. Because I know that when we have a good relationship with the
the members the work starts to pick up. We also talked a lot about the
atonement. We talked about how through Christ we are converted and
then changed. One of the AP's gave the example of Lot's wife. If we
look back at the past or want to go back to who we use to be, we might
not actually turn into a pillar of salt like Lot's wife did, but we
allow that salty taste into our lives. Would we rather have the salty
taste of our past, or the sweet taste of partaking of the fruit of the
tree of life, or in other words, allowing the atonement to work in our
lives, so we can partake of fruit which is most desirable of all? I am
so grateful for the atonement. I have really seen it help shape me and
change me while being on my mission. I know that through Christ we are
made whole, and clean, and we can receive forgiveness. And because of
the atonement the laws of justice and mercy are satisfied.
 
As for the rest of this week we walked a ton! Like so much. I have
blisters on the bottoms of my feet. Ouch  but it's okay! On Friday
night we didn't have our car and we had to go to one appointment to
another and the lived the opposite ways we needed to go. It was hot
and humid and I was tired but we did it. We calculated where we walked
and we walked about 5 miles within 45 mins. Like what? How crazy.
 
It was a great week and I am
loving this area and the people more and more every day. I love being
a missionary!!!
 
Thanks for all the updates going on back at home. I hope dad can get
his pots done soon :) thank you for all your love and support you send
me! I can really feel your prayers helping and supporting me :) I hope
yall have a great week. I love yall so so so much!!!
 
Xoxo
Hermana Brown :)
 
Ps I also got fed SPAM this week and I thought I was going to die or
throw up or both. But I made it out alive

heat and humidity do not mix well with me....‏

Hello! Wow it seems like we talked less than 24 hrs ago.... Oh wait... 
I am so grateful that we were able to skype yesterday. Seriously the
best. And can you believe no tears?! Me too. That's kind of strange...
I am worried they will come in the next couple days and that could be
kind of scary.. Hopefully I don't scare my companion... no promises!
 
Well this week was a really good, long, hot week!! This email probably
wont be terribly long, considering we talked yesterday, but who knows
it could be.. I am pretty long winded.
 
Tuesday we walked, and walked and walked and knocked doors, and walked
some more. FOR 5 HOURS! I was so tired and so hot, but i just said to
my comp, having all the faith i could, "Hermana I know that if we are
showing Heavenly Father that we are willing to work hard we will be
blessed" so we continued walking, and knocking, and walking... well we
get over by the church and there were a couple trailers down the
street i have always wanted to try knocking. So, we head over there
and that is where we meet Alejandro! he had just come home from work
and was sitting outside drinking a beer (classic hispanic) and we
start talking to him and his brother about the church. Hermana Rudolph
and i have been trying better to teach people things that they want to
learn more about instead of what we think they need to learn about. So
hermana asks alejandro if he has ever had any questions about religion
that he felt like he has never gotten a good answer to. (she is a
boss) and he asks why there are so many different religions and
churches in general if there is just one God? HOLLER. so we start
teaching him about the great apostasy. He was so interested! He said
he has to work a lot and he doesnt know his exact work schedule, its
not regular, but that we are welcome back anytime! it was seriously a
tender mercy and miracle from heavenly father! As we are leaving i say
to hermana "i knew it! heavenly father will bless us as we put our
faith into this work" then our phone goes off. we got a text from one
of our investigators who has been dodging us the last 2 weeks or so.
she texts us and says she misses us and wants to have us over for
dinner this week!! WHAT even more blessings! although i did get a mad
farmers tan and a tiny bit of heat stroke, I am grateful i was able to
see those tender mercies and miracles that heavenly father sent us :)
 
Thursday was kind of a different day. We woke up and hurry and got
ready and went over to a less actives home. she needed us to go and
translate for her at the hospital. So we go there and had to wait
forever. It reminded me how much i hate waiting at the doctors office.
the worst!! so we go and translate for her and it was fun, i realized
i know a lot more than i thought i did, that was until we had to try
and translate the medical terms... thankfully i brought my dictionary
;) we got home about noon! it was SO LONG! we hurry and ate lunch and
had a little time of studies and then our member came and picked us up
to go to a lesson with us. after the lesson she took us to another
side of town and did some finding. our dinner was suppose to come and
get us at 5:30 but didnt end up coming until about 7.. so basically we
were walking and talking and tracting, and knocking on doors from
about 2:30-7.. again another 5 hours!! and man it was so hot... i dont
know how i am going to survive the "summer" because i am already dead
and everyone keeps saying that this weather is nice compared to what
it gets like.. oh boy.... so then we went and had dinner and then they
took us home.... it was a strange day... but looking back at it, we
talked to so many people about the gospel and taught a ton of people!
miracles!
 
And then it was my birthday! it was a great day! thank you for all my
presents and all the birthday wishes! it was a little bit different
not to be home for my birthday but it was really fun! i cant believe
that i am actually twenty! it seems so strange. Overall it was a great
week and a great birthday :) and it was a great mothers day! i am
grateful for my mommy. she is the best! i feel bad for everyone who
doesnt have her as a mom, because she is awesome :)
 
Well, this email turned out a lot longer than i thought it would be!
anyway i hope yall have a great day! and a great week! love you all :)
 
xoxo
hermana lizzy brown :)
 
 

 

You're gonna die clown‏ (May 4, 2015)

Hola mi familia bonita!
 
Sounds like things are going quite well out on there on the west side.
I'm about to get scorched to death this next week. ️ but on the
plus side it's my birthday!!!! Yahoo! This is kind of crazy. Im gonna
be 20!!! But the best part is that 2 days later we get to skype. This
is gonna be the best week ever!!!
 
Okay to start off, TRANSFERS. So it looks like I am staying here in
Clarksville for another transfer, and Hermana Rudolph is going to be
staying here with me. I'm pretty excited. As tough as this area is, I
love it. And I am grateful I get to stay here another transfer :)
 
This week was horribly awesome as well. It's so strange. Here in
Clarksville you can have like the worst week, but also the best week
at the same time. It's actually pretty cool how when Satan tries to
intervene with the work, the Lord will continue to bless us. So we had
two of our investigators drop us this week. Two days in a row.
Absolutely awful. I just have been praying that one day they will have
the opportunity to have the gospel and they will open the door. It's
just sad. But we found a new investigator! Her name is Blanca and she
is so cute! We were talking with her and her family on Friday night
and she invited us over for Tuesday. She is so sweet and I really
think that her and her family will join the church! If not now,
sometime soon :)
 
This week was a week of "first times"
 
I learned how to stain a fence this week! I mean it was pretty cool
besides all the bug bites I got on my legs from sitting in the grass
for 2 hours. But it was good. A member in our ward is moving and she
asked us to help her stain her fence before they put their house up
for sale. It was really fun but like I said too many bug bites.  I
also this week over came my dislike for seafood. Well sorta. I
think....
 
On Friday we were weekly planning when our dinner that night called
and canceled. About an hour later, a less active member, Irlanda,
called and asked if we wanted to come to dinner that night. Miracle.
We go over to her house and we are having sopa de mariscos... My heart
kind of dropped.... I was so excited because the whole time we were
walking over there I kept saying in my head "man I am so excited for
dinner because Irlanda makes the best food" then it was all sea food.
I don't think I have ever prayed so hard that food would taste good
and that I would be able to eat it. But it was really good!!! We had
lobster, crab, scallops, shrimp, and tilapia. And I ate all of it. And
it was delicious! Aren't yall so proud? I was pretty proud of myself
as well 
 
last something funny that happened for the first time too was on
Saturday. Hermana Rudolph and I were doing our language study when we
heard a knock on the door. We were expecting it to be the sisters
dropping the car keys off. I open it and it is two middles aged
Hispanic women. They started saying how they were looking for Spanish
people, so I started talking to them in Spanish. They were Jehovah
Witness missionaries. They seemed pretty shocked. Then she noticed my
tag and asked what church we were with. We said the church of Jesus
Christ of Latter Day Saints. They looked like they has seen a ghost.
Haha they asked if they could give us a pamphlet. We nicely accepted
and asked if they would like one of ours, they declined it and then
left. It was so interesting and I M so grateful I got that opportunity
to like be on the other side of the door. I learned a lot and learned
how I liked being door contacted. Although I was pretty sad they
didn't take one of our pamphlets I am glad I got to have this
experience.
 
Anyway on our investigators that are so cool. First there is Liz. She
is so awesome!! She has been coming to church and meeting with us a
ton this last week. She is so cool because we will go over and teach
her a lesson and by the time we get there she has already studied
everything about it And taken like awesome notes too. The best part is
when she says "the best part I love about our church..." Or "I like
that our church does this..." And when her neighbors come by she is
always like "these are missionaries from my church.." She is totally
awesome. We are planning on setting a specific baptism date for her
this week so that's pretty exciting :)
 
Now I wanna tell yall a little about Maria. She is so cute. I love
this woman so much. She makes my heart happy every time we get to see
her. On Tuesday last week we went and saw her and taught her about the
Book of Mormon. As Hermana Rudolph and I testified about the Book of
Mormon the spirit it was so strong. You could see the desire she had
to read it. Something I love so much about Maria is her humility. She
is so humble but yet would give everything she has to help someone,
even if it was all she had. She is such an example of Jesus Christ.
 
Well I better rap it up for this week since we get to talk on
SUNDAY!!! :) yay happy Mother's Day! Also a big congrats to josh for
graduating college on the best day of the year too! That's so
exciting. I hope E starts doing better and that her knee can heal fast
so she can get to feeling better :) thanks for being the best family
ever. I love yall so much!! I will see you on Sunday :)
 
Xoxo
Hermana Brown :)

What is this? A school for ants?!

Hello family!!
 
Well first off I am glad that E's surgery went well. That makes me
happy :) you guys know how I sometimes stress about stuff... Haha but
I am glad it's all good!
 
Well this week was better than last week! Things are starting to get
better. Can you believe that transfer calls are on Saturday?! So crazy
that this is the last week of the transfer. I am a little nervous what
is going to happen. I feel like I might stay here but I just don't
know.... I feel like I will stay because Hermana Rudolph doesn't
really know anything about the area and it makes me stressed if I had
to leave it in her hands.... So we will see what will happen!
Stresssssssful!
 
The weather has been good lately! Saturday night it rained. SO HARD.
like the hardest I have ever seen. It was absolutely crazy but so cool
at the same time. I was running out to the car and I felt like in the
movie "Where the Heart Is" you know with Americas? and they have that
tornado and it's just crazy? That's how I felt minus the tornado and
such. Besides that the weather has been good. Someday cloudy, others
sunny. The heat hasn't been anything too crazy so that's good too!
 
So we have a new investigator Jesus Quijas. He is so cool!! We met him
last week and we had our first lesson with him last week. We taught
about the Book of Mormon and he seemed to really love it! He really
likes it because it's something he has never heard before. He said he
was going to come to church on Sunday and he never showed... I was so
sad.... He texts us and all of his messages come up blank and we can't
download them because of our ghetto dinosaur phone and so we call him
and he never answers... But I'm not too worried about it, but it is
kind of stressful because I feel like he is someone who would really
help out the Spanish members here!
 
I have gained like the strongest testimony of members helping the
missionaries. Seriously. All of our progressing investigators right
now are referrals that were given to us by members or they are the
members friends! It truly helps so much. About 2 months ago We had
challenged one of the families in the ward to share the gospel with
their neighbors and friends. The wife said she has been wanting to
take a Book of Mormon to her neighbor but was kind of scared. We then
practiced how she could give her the Book of Mormon. Well 2 months
later the neighbor has read almost half the Book of Mormon, stopped
drinking coffee, trying to stop smoking and now SHE wants to meet with
the missionaries. That is the coolest part. When members start doing
missionary work, nonmembers really want to learn more!
 
We have really been trying hard to find new people and contact all the
members who were in the Spanish branch. It has been a lot of hard work
but we have been seeing success paso a paso :)
 
One scripture that I felt like I can relate to a lot this transfer is
Mosiah 23:21 it says
"Nevertheless the Lord seeth fit to chasten his people; yea, he trieth
their patience and their faith."
 
I think sometimes we hate our trials so much and they are so hard but
when we come to understand the difficult times we have or the trials
we are faced with can be more appreciative of them and know that the
lord is trying to help us become who he knows we can be. I love the
being a missionary. Even though it so hard and i just want to cry
sometimes, I have never been happier. I love the Book of Mormon. It's
so amazing and I always receive the answers to my questions when
reading. Our stake here has been doing a Book of Mormon challenge and
we are reading the Book of Mormon together as a stake in 2 months.
It's so awesome and it's amazing to see how many times Christ is
mentioned in the Book of Mormon. It's the best.
 
Well I better close. But this week was better! I will definitely keep
Elsie and the Cramer family in my prayers. Thanks for being so
awesome. I love you family and I am grateful for all your support you
give me. Have a grrrrreeeeeat grrrrrrant week :) WE GET TO SKYPE IN
TWO WEEKS!!!! 🏻️
 
Xoxo
Hermana Brown :)
 

Talk about a hole in one (happy Gilmore subway commercial)‏

Hello!! Wow so this week was crazy. It was like the most awesomely
horrible week ever. Haha like how does that happen? I will tell you :)
 
Well it rained. And rained and rained some more allllll week long. We
went on exchanges with the stl's on Monday night. I stayed here in my
area. It was fun! I was pretty excited. I thought I would be nervous
but not at all. Monday night was fun but all our appointments canceled
and we were without car... And then it started pouring. Like POURING
rain. Like it was good because sister mellor and I had umbrellas but
like they didn't even help. Our clothes were drenched same with
everything. Haha it was a good experience :)
 
Tuesday was a great day! We had a lesson with this sweet lady named
Maria. Hermana Samaniego came with us. She is so sweet!!! I always
call her my abuelita de Panamá. ️  seriously she is so sweet. She
bore the sweetest testimony of her conversion and how to came to find
the church was true. Her testimony of the atonement really touched my
heart. Maria is awesome and she really wants to learn more. She
doesn't have much of a religious background besides being catholic and
going to church on Easter and Christmas and she really wants to learn
more. I am so excited to watch her journey in the gospel. I know she
will be so blessed. One thing that I love most about being a Spanish
missionary is that chance is which I get to work with these amazing
Hispanic and Latin people. Their testimonies are so pure and sweet and
will touch anyone's heart.
 
I am grateful for the gift of tongues. Okay it is SO real. As we were
on exchanges and I was a little nervous to have to try and teach
lessons by myself, but it was okay! I was just like talking and words
were flowing out of my mouth. What?! And I could understand everything
soooo clearly. It was so crazy. I am so thankful! :) speaking of
tongues.... I also had my very first taco de lengua.. In other words.
I had a cow tongue taco... It was actually really good!! I sometimes
would get a little freaked out because I could see like the tastebuds
and stuff and so that was weird but besides that I mean it was rather
tasty 
 
It rained a ton this week and we walked a ton. My hair is like getting
curlier by the minute I swear. The Cunningham river, which flows
through the western part of Tennessee and down to like Nashville and
stuff has started to flood a tiny bit! It was cool we went and took
some pictures. Everything here is so GREEN!!! It's beautiful. I will
send some pics :)
 
I had been feeling kind of down this week a little and so I was just
praying that I could just know that I was doing okay and actually
making a difference. Well on Wednesday we had heard one Of our older
Spanish sisters had been in the hospital, so we took like a 40 minute
bus ride down to the hospital and she wasn't there.... Don't worry
nothing bad happen she just got released and she was at home. So
that's good! But I was kind of bugged because we went all the way
there and had no luck. But we met this way awesome guy his name was
Grandpa Wayne. He was like the black version of grandpa Wayne!! Haha
but he was so nice and just told us  how thankful he is for young
people like us doing something good and that we are making a
difference! It was just what I needed to hear. And then like 3 other
people said that to us too during that day. It was a little tender
mercy from the lord.
 
I can't believe that it snowed like six inches last week!!!! That is
absolutely nuts. Also kind of scary about the wind and the mud storm!
That sounds terrible. I am glad dads yard is looking good. I need some
pics because I am bragging to everyone out here about how amazing my
yard always looks :) haha can you believe we only have 2 weeks left of
the transfer. Crazy!! Looks like josh and Brit are having fun in DC as
well :) thanks for all you do for me. I love you all :) have a good
week!!!!
 
Xoxo
Lizzy :)

TACOS DE LENGUA

Us with grandpa Wayne

So floody but so pretty

This week I felt like that porky's guy at the airport‏

Wow it sounds like Arizona was a fun trip! But I am also confused
because mom said it will be weird not going back there as much.. Are
Brandon and Haley moving and no one told me?? Messed up guys....
Messed up.... Haha but it does look fun! That pool looks awesome with
the lazy river and water slides! And all those fun places at dinner.
That big bowl of posole sounds DELICIOUS. My love for Posole has just
grown so much more since being on my mission. Did you guys do sessions
at both the Mesa and Phoenix temple? Thanks for all the pictures :) it
sounded like a great time!
 
This week was really good but oh my goodness I don't know how I am
going to survive a summer hear because I am already DYING. the
humidity and heat. Oh man. I'm just so sweaty and it's only April...
And this humidity has got my hair just crazy and gross.. This is the
struggle. I don't know how I am suppose to deal with the summer here.
Haha pray for me that I won't be so disgusting that no one will
talk to us. But this week it actually wasn't too crazy of weather.
Just super humid and super hot! This week it's suppose to get super
stormy so let's see how that goes 
 
I feel like we did so much this week but I can't remember it.. Like it
went by super fast. But the good news is that we found a ton of new
people to teach! So that's a plus. And we have contacted quite a few
less active members too. We also got bus passes and so this last week
my first time like bussing on an actual city bus. It was pretty fun!
But also a little different. Hahaha it's pretty nice because we live
relatively close to a couple bus stops so that is just a blessing!
 
Also I got to go to the temple again this week! We went and did
baptisms with Brooke!!! I had a great time and it was really just what
I needed. I just cried and cried. I was just so happy I got to be in
the temple. I love the temple so much. Brooke I think liked the temple
but just like anything you do for the first time is different and
unfamiliar. I was happy I got to go with her. She also came to a
lesson with us this week and she is a rockstar! Like she was just
telling our investigator that the only way to know the truth is to
read the Book of Mormon. It made me so happy! She is awesome and has
such a strong testimony of the Book of Mormon. It also was really
awesome to hear her teach and teach our investigators some of the same
things that we had taught Brooke. She is so amazing!!
 
I am sorry that is email is kind of short and lame, but really things
are going good! I am starting to love this area more and more, but I
think I need to still love it more and more. I have had a weird time
adjusting because I loved Columbia so dang much. I hope you all have a
happy fun week :) thanks for all your love and support! you guys are
the best :) annnnnnnd we get to Skype in 28 days!!!! Not that I am
counting  get ready for a tear fest :) hahaha I love yall!
 
Xoxo
lizzy :)