Arguments - A Lesson Learned

September 26, 2016 - 

Not much to report this week - but I learned a valuable lesson.  And I hope by sharing it, I can help others learn this lesson as well.

When you’re in the middle of an argument and you can’t speak your mind, I believe that’s the spirit telling you that this argument is not good and neither of you will be enriched by it.  It will bring down both participants and drive the spirit away.  Sometimes during an argument you will be given “a stupor of thought” and that confirms that the Lord does not want either participant to behave in this manner.  So the fact that when you feel like you don’t know what to say during an argument, or that you have nothing TO say, is actually a protection to not say something you'll regret.  So now when I’m in the middle of an argument (which isn't very often really), and that same thing happens, I just smile at my opponent and say, “I really have nothing to say at this moment that is going to make us both feel better, so I just want to say - let it go and let's move past this.”

“Before you speak.  THINK!”

T  is it True?

H  is it Helpful?

I   is it Inspiring?

N  is it Necessary?

K  is it Kind?

- Always, Sister Brown

September 30 - One Whole Year!

I can't believe it's been a year since I entered the MTC. That was so fast - and yet sometimes it doesn't seem fast at all.  But now I'm on the downside - only six months left!!!  I love my mission and I hope I can really make these last six months count. I have met so many amazing people, and I feel like I've grown so much and learned so much more. Woohoo - bring it on!

A Positive Perspective

So I'm a little bit behind in reporting my mission events... I'll try and catch up.

September 12 - A crazy and busy week!!! We went on a Zone Hike on the Los Gatos trail last Monday. It was nice. I LOVE this Zone! Elder Summerhays chased two deer. He has so much energy! 

On Tuesday, we picked up our new Sister, and now we're in a trio! She had been serving at Temple Square for 13 months. She's from Gunma, Japan, nearby Tokyo. She is so sweet and fun! Sister Hughes and I loved her at first sight! She has a lot of experience, she's confident when she teaches, and she speaks great English. 

On Wednesday, we got a lot of work done and taught a lot of lessons. We have someone who is getting close to baptism. His date is still set for the 18th, but it's still a little up in the air. Some people jump into baptism without testing the water, and others take "longer to cook", as my mother would say. He just may need some time to stop and think about his relationship with God. After all, that is what's most important. 

Friday was crazy! (Did I mention my whole week was crazy?) But we accomplished a lot. We did service at Montalvo, which is an amazing place for student artists! We help cook and clean. It's fun! We had a BLITZ with the District. The Elders in our district came into our area to contact and make visits for us while we were making visits. It seemed very successful and they found some potentials for us. We were able to get things done too. 

On Saturday, we got to go on a Temple Trip! We had fun with some friends of ours. While we were there, we had the opportunity to teach them more about temples, family history, baptisms for the dead, and eternal marriage. This was a really happy week. I'm thankful that I strive to always have a positive perspective. 

I can recall how the temple has blessed me in my life, and I was able to share that. 

I remember when I was six, and I was walking home from school with my brother and my friend. We were met by my sister on the way, and she told us that our cousin, Aaron had passed away. He was only 14 and was not a member of the church. To my dismay, my sister took us home....the plan was to play at a friend's house. But Andrew, my brother, definitely wasn't up to playing when he found out. I was too little to really know my family in Canada, but Andrew was old enough to remember Aaron and how much he loved him. This devastated him. But years later, when Andrew and I were old enough, our family went to the temple. My other brother, Bryant had the opportunity to perform the baptisms. I remember his face as he looked up at the screen and realized who he was baptizing proxy for. 

As I type this story, I can feel the Spirit. In fact, it was a little overwhelming (in a good way), but I felt so warm and so at peace. How can anyone deny The Spirit? 

I know this gospel is true. I know that Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ live. I love this gospel. I love going to the temple and the work that is performed there, I love my family, and I love my best friend, Jesus Christ. 

Psalm 27:1

The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The Lord is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid? 

Isaiah 12:2

Behold, God is my salvation; I will trust, and not be afraid: for the Lord JEHOVAH is my strength and my song; he also is become my salvation. 

September 19

Not much to report this week. We did the usual chores on Monday. We went to the Mitsuwa Japanese market. It was so fun! I bought dried squid. I haven't eaten it since I was fifteen and I remember liking it. It's really tasty! 

This week was a little rough though. We've been contacting all week and meeting new people and getting numbers. But we also faced a lot of rejection and met a few atheists. Some just said they didn't believe in God, others would try to argue with us. One man told us he didn't believe that Jesus Christ doesn't exist only because "they didn't have last names back then." 

Another lady told us she was Christian. As we introduced her to the Book of Mormon, she told us to put it away and read the bible. 

At first I was feeling discouraged about this week. But last night, I remembered that discouragement is one of Satan's most powerful tools. I'm glad I remembered it and recognized who was making me feel this way. So I started counting my blessings. I have two awesome companions who want to help me, more people know who we are, even if they didn't listen to us, and our potentials list is growing because someone did listen to us. We didn't have many lessons this week, but we worked a lot and did our best. 

Another positive note: we got to sing in sacrament yesterday. We sang "Savior Redeemer of My Soul."  Our new companion played the piano and it was beautiful! And then we got to sing at the Why I Believe Fireside.  It was very beautiful and spiritual. 

Again, not much to report on this week. It's a new week, so it will be better.

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

"Delighteth" - Such an Awesome Word!

This week was great! We taught Chris on Tuesday at our Bishop's house. Kim (Chris' girlfriend) who is a member, was there too. It was so awesome! Bishop Thawley and Kim helped us teach him. Bishop Thawley even shared some of his experiences of when he joined the church. We could tell Chris had felt something when we taught him about the Prophet Joseph, and when he saw God and Jesus Christ. It was the best lesson ever!

On Wednesday, we had Zone Conference. I took a lot of notes and felt so spiritually uplifted. I learned that I focus a lot better when I take notes. My life is full of writing!  I love writing!! One night, we went to the institute for the YSA BBQ. Classes are starting again this week! I love being in a YSA Ward and I saw some old friends too. Cameron and Keyza were at the BBQ, and so was Jordan. It was so good to see them.  I also met a girl named Sherry from China. I told her that I was interested in Asian countries, and she told me that she was interested in the Western countries, like America! Funny how that works, haha.

Saturday was amazing! We had the opportunity to hear from Bishop Causse and his wife. They are from France and they are awesome. Their talks were so amazing. Bishop Causse gave us some tips for planning and finding. Later that day, we went out to do some service, but turns out they didn't need us, so instead, we went contacting around the area. Turns out...again...there were a lot of people around. A lot of YSA people were interested in our message. We taught seven people that day, and tried talking to many more. However, one man bluntly told us he was an atheist. I was so sad to hear that - that someone didn't believe in our Heavenly Father and in our Savior, Jesus Christ. But then we visited a member who gave us two referrals. The next day after church and after "Linger Longer", we went to their houses to try and visit with them. The old man rejected us, and the old lady said she was fine with her own religion. She was however, impressed by how young we are. Then we ran into this guy who is feeling very lost and trying to find his purpose in life. We referred him to the Elders, and it was amazing!  This week seems like it was so long, and yet it went by so fast! That doesn't make sense - what is time??  Haha!

Scripture of the Week:

2 Nephi 4:15 - "And upon these plates I write the things of my soul, and many of the scriptures which are engraven upon the plates of brass.  For my soul delighteth in the scriptures, and my heart pondereth them, and writeth them for the learning and the profit of my children."

I love you all and I hope and pray you are all doing well.

-Always, Sister Brown!

The Sacrament

This week was kind of slow as far as the work goes. But, it was much better than last week as far as mail goes! I got a lot of support from my family and my friends. I LOVE yous!!!

Every morning this week, I have woken up to overcast skies, and I can smell the ocean.  It makes me homesick for Nova Scotia. Haha! Of all places to be homesick for, that's one of the best. But that small island up north will always have a special place in my heart. I feel like the overcast skies are a tender mercy from the Lord. I am reminded that my Grandparents are proud of me and that they love me.

A lot of YSA are working hard to help us with missionary work. Parker is handing out Spanish Books of Mormon to people he knows for the Spanish Ward, groups of friends are working together to find people for us to teach, and the Bishop has a goal to get 100 people to Sacrament on September 11. We went on exchanges with the Tongan Sisters again. I was with Sister Unga. She's the best Tongan ever! I LOVE her! She is so funny!

I learned that faith really does require action. On Friday, as I woke, I felt my allergies kicking in. But I got up and got ready anyways. I had faith that if I worked and as the day went on, I would feel better- and I did! Faith without works is dead.  Like I said, it was a slow week for teaching, but we did a lot of finding and walking, and finding and walking. Did I mention finding?

And then there was Sunday - I don't even want to mention Sunday and how busy it was, and the fact that our lesson had to cancel. But hey, we got through this week! It makes me feel strong and powerful. The nice thing about Sunday was the lesson we had in relief society.  It was about the Sacrament and what it's meaning is really all about. We put on blindfolds and held out our hands. We got to feel a leaf, a whip (ropes), a nail, and hands. We listened to a whip and someone hammering the nails. Then a song played about Christ's resurrection. We felt hands grasp ours. The feeling of the nail and the hands lingered. I felt the Spirit so strongly. It felt as though Christ was in the room. It was so wonderful! The Sacrament means so much more now. Christ sacrificed His life for us, so that we could repent, find happiness in this life, and not suffer as He did. I am so thankful for my Best Friend. 

- Always, Sister Brown

Charity - The Pure Love of Christ

This was an interesting week. Sister Hughes and I are pretty exhausted from all the work this week. We've been doing a lot of walking, trying to find people to teach. 

On Thursday, we went to institute for dinner and the lesson after was about Charity. It really spoke to Sister Hughes and I. We know that charity is the pure love of Christ. And it can help others come unto Him. 

On Friday, we went to a YSA Conference with a member named Kim and her boyfriend Chris.  He's a non-member, and he seemed to enjoy his time with us and at the conference.  On Sunday, we taught him about praying to our Heavenly Father.  He said he was interested in learning more about the gospel! 

Another YSA we keep running into seems interested in our message as well.  He's very spiritual and kind.  Actually, we've been finding a lot of YSA people to teach. 

This week went by a little slow but it was fast at the same time. I don't know how to explain it. 

Not much happened this week either except we're finding new people to teach and the other usual missionary work. So sorry this is a short update.

But I'd like to end with my testimony.  Miracles do happen, even in the midst of trials.  As long as we put our trust in Heavenly Father and ask for His help in faith, we can conquer and achieve anything. 

-Always, Sister Brown