You Are Special!

This was a crazy week, and another crazy week is coming! Last Monday, we got our hair trimmed- my hair feels great! We then had a lesson at Bishop Thawley's house with Chris and Kim. He wasn't sure about baptism yet, so we set another appointment for Friday, and prayed extra hard for him.

On Tuesday, I realized I have been on my mission for 11 months! Ahhh!  It's so exciting! At the institute building, they've started doing lunches on Tuesdays since school is back in. We saw two special people later that day. First we saw Tammira, who is a sweet old lady who's excited to go to the temple. And then we saw Marilyn, who has two bears - I mean wolves - I mean really big dogs that are part wolves. We were able to read 1 Nephi 4. It's one of my favorite chapters because it makes me think of when I was little and watching the cartoon when Nephi's brothers went to run away, and then Nephi calling out to them, and then Zoram trying to run away, and then Nephi football-tackling him.... he basically is saying -  

"WAIT!!! EVERYBODY CALM DOWN!!!"  ....it's a funny chapter.  

That evening, we met some part member families who basically told us to come back another time and teach their spouses. It was pretty awesome. Wednesday was hard. We didn't have any set appointments, so we did a lot of finding. We have been finding a lot of people who are interested in our message. All of which were YSA age. It's been an awesome week for finding! Thursday was pretty slow too. We did our weekly planning and worked on contacting and service. At the end of the day, we got to go to institute dinner, which is always nice. 

On Friday, we had service and contacting again, and then went to the Thawley's to teach Chris again. Kim shared 2 Nephi 31. And then Bishop Thawley talked about some of the commandments and then the Word of Wisdom. He asked Chris if he would follow the Word of Wisdom and Chris said yes without hesitation or objections! We asked again if he would be baptized and he and Kim looked at their work schedule so he could come to church. He said yes to baptism!!! He's getting baptized on September 18!!! We are so happy and excited for him. 

And to add to our excitement, some Temple Square sisters are coming into our mission, and one will be staying with us for the rest of this transfer. (We're not 100% sure what's going to happen after that.) We are so excited to meet our new Sister! We're going to be in a trio! So much excitement! Sometimes, I wonder how I'm going to make it through the busy weeks, but I keep reminding myself, all I have to do right now is...! -  And that helps me focus on the thing I'm supposed to be focused on.

We had an amazing lesson on Sunday about not putting ourselves down. When we have negative thoughts, we put ourselves in a negative mood. We become stressed. Nothing goes our way, or so it seems. We just have to trust in the Lord, and remember that He loves us and doesn't want us to put ourselves down. Sara finished her lesson by reading You Are Special - one of my favorite childhood stories. A lot of us cried as she read the story. The message behind it is so sweet! God will always love us no matter what, because we are His. 

My favorite scripture this week:

2 Nephi 31:20 - Wherefore, ye must press forward with a steadfastness in Christ, having a perfect brightness of hope, and a love of God and of all men. Wherefore, if ye shall press forward, feasting upon the word of Christ, and endure to the end, behold, thus saith the Father: Ye shall have eternal life.

-Always, Sister Brown