Things are looking up this week! I am thankful for the time I have to talk to my family and friends! I'm thankful that Heavenly Father has given me such kind family and friends to turn to. I want to thank you all for helping me. Last Monday we went on a much needed hike with Sister Mella, and their dog Jake (dogs can be missionaries too). His calling is to comfort and de-stress missionaries :) he's also very spoiled rotten. On Tuesday, we did service at one of my favorite parks, Guadalupe River Park. Hermana Posadas and I braided the grass. I wish I could've taken a picture! I learned something very important about service that day. Service can rid us of our stress and it can heal us. How does that work? It's because we are turning outward instead of inward. It's because we forget about ourselves and think about others. The more we act like Christ, the more our souls are healed.
We've been meeting with an old man named Joe. He is very sick and he just barely started walking again. He was bitten by a mosquito and was paralyzed for a while, and is also very tired. He's been to many doctors. He really wants to get baptized. It's hard because he has to come to church a few times before he can get baptized. Sister Hosea and I worry about him and keep him in our prayers. We met a cute lady named Lorena. She is so sweet. She loves missionaries but she doesn't understand why she needs to be baptized yet. While we were talking with her, her neighbor ran in, kind of panicking because her cat was having kittens. It was kind of funny. Later we met a woman from Fiji. Her daughter is LDS but doesn't come to church very often. We noticed while contacting, we've run into this lady twice and we've even given her a pass along card. This time she looked very emotional and asked us to pray for her daughter. Sister Hosea and I have a feeling that if we run into her a third time, she's going to want to take the lessons. We helped Sister Schar with her front yard. We mowed and pulled out weeds. I told her about my Mom's conversion story, and then she told me hers. I was amazed of how similar they were. We got to see May Lynn! I haven't seen her in a while. She and her mother love us! I was really glad to see her again. I also began to notice something. Since I had a stressful week last week, Heavenly Father blessed me this week with seeing some of those people that I love so much. I had decided to just put my trust in the Lord and he has been taking care of me :)
Wednesday was busy, we met with a great couple. They are raising two boys. Bernice is already a member. She and the boys are baptized. When the older one, Mayonnaise (that's his nickname) was baptized, the younger one was very upset. He wanted to get baptized too but he wasn't old enough. Eddie wants to get baptized, but he wants to marry Bernice first. :) There's a few YSA that want to go in their missions. One of them is named Sophie. She has a non-member boyfriend who is also interested in the church. He says he just wants to learn about it. He's not sure if he actually wants to change. But he listens, understands, asks questions. I have a feeling he's going to want to change because that's how it goes. We first develop Faith in Jesus Christ, which leads us to want to Repent and Change, which then leads to Baptism. So he thinks he doesn't want to change, but I have hopes for him :) hahaha I feel sneaky! ^_^ Keyza is taking the lessons. She's also a convert to the church. She wants to be better at prayer and reading scriptures. She set an alarm to remind to read at a certain time of day. And to top off the day, the Walkers came by our apartment to drop off chocolate!!! ^_^
Thursday was awesome! At first though, I woke up feeling unmotivated, and it bothered me. Sister Hosea gets excited and determined about things. However, I wasn't feeling the excitement. I shared my unmotivated feelings with my very motivated companion, hoping she would calm down. But she told me I was feeling normal and that sometimes we have days when we're in a slump. It happens to all of us. We can't expect to be on a spiritual high all the time. That night, Sister Hosea and I went on splits with some members. I got to teach the Restoration to a single mother and her two daughters. At first they didn't seem interested, but as the lesson began, they became more and more engaged. Morgan asked questions, even though some were kind of random. But that tells me she's listening. Sister Hosea got to teach a couple from another country. They seemed really interested in the lesson as well. It was awesome! I realized I was feeling soooooooo much better. My mouth doesn't hurt anymore, and my stomach is feeling better. This "putting your trust in the Lord" is pretty awesome medicine!
On Friday, we went to Guadalupe again and after we finished some service we watched a snake eat a mouse. It was awesome! Sorry I'm so weird... We had lunch with Sabrina and she told us she wanted to come on splits with us. We were very surprised by this, but we got excited and we're planning on a night we can go and visit people. We went to Eddie and Bernice's again. They like to do scripture study with the two boys. They have them take notes and interpret what the scripture means to them.
On Sunday, we taught a wonderful couple. They are interested in the church and want to learn more about it. It is going to be great to be able to teach them. I am so grateful to live in a country where we can worship our Heavenly Father, and also let others worship as they wish. It makes me thankful that we have that freedom, otherwise it would've been extra hard for Joseph to restore the gospel in these latter days.
This definitely has been a better week. I couldn't have done it without you guys, my family and my friends, and I certainly couldn't have done it without the Lord. Thank you and I love you all!
- Always, Sister Brown
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