It makes me Sooo happy when Less actives come to church!

Ya' ta' hey!

This week was a little bit of a struggle but we saw a lot of really great things happen!

Tuesday we saw one of my favorite less actives named Jerry and the lesson went really great! He came to church this week for the first time in ages and it made me soooooo happy! He stayed all 3 hours too!

We also saw Doris (our investigator with Alzymers) and the notebook idea seems to help with her progression. Sister Garner and I both felt prompted to invite her to be baptized and yet again we ignored that prompting! Wow, I can't even believe us right now! We saw her again on Saturday though and we invited her then. It didn't feel right to give her a set date but we did ask her if she would be baptized when she came to know for herself that these things are true and she said yes! The hard part now is to help her to remember that she said yes, and also to help her get that confirmation when she can't remember. 

 

That night some members took us out to dinner at a sushi place called stone fish and there were some really good tempura fried rolls! It was kinda weird because it brought back  A LOT of memories of working at Wasabi! 

Wednesday we saw a less active named Shannon and she is a wonderful lady! She hardly even knows us, but she made us cute little Easter bags with some goodies! 

We helped the stake Relief Society president make decorations for the stake Relief Society activity that weekend. 

That night we were trying less active Young Single Adults....oh yea....did I ever mention that 4th ward also covers the Young Single Adults!!! Its very, very, very small currently, but we are trying to get it built up. There isn't a branch or anything but they still have institute and Family Home Evening and separate Young Single Adults classes on Sunday! ...anyway back to the story....This Young Single Adult lives in 1st ward boundaries and so we went to go try him, but he wasn't home.  On our way back to the truck we met a kid named Sawyer who has tons of Mormon friends. He said "I love my Mormon friends!!!" He's a Sophomore in high school and in band with a youth in our ward and when we offered him a Book of Mormon  he said he's always wanted to read it!!! WHAT!!!! It's not every day that you meet someone who says they want to read the Book of Mormon!!! After talking with him for a while we could just tell that he is so prepared to hear the gospel right now!!! The only sad part about this story (which isn't even sad, because we're all on the same team!) is that we don't get to teach him because he lives in 1st ward boundaries. 

Thursday we did some more family history! We also saw Ken that night (he's a less active) and we talked to him about temples and their importance. Its a goal he's shooting for!

Friday Sister Garner wasn't feeling very good and so we were stuck inside all day. We did our weekly planning as usual (a part of which I had to do on my own because she was feeling so sick...poor girl! ) I was able to catch up on my journal writing though!!!

Saturday we saw Doris (which I already talked about earlier). We also had Dinner with the Chavez family and I LOVE them! They are from Guatemala and it was really fun to see just how much of their Spanish I could actually understand....un pocito (a little), but at least it was some!

Sunday as I mentioned earlier Jerry came to church and so did the Bell family! (they haven't been in over 2 years apparently!) Rhonda and KaCee (some other Less Active's we work with) also came!!!

We had a lesson with Jerry after Church as well and his non-member wife decided to sit in!!! She isn't interested in really learning more/converting but I thought it was pretty incredible that she sat in!!!

I hope y'all have a wonderful week! I love you all!

Hagonee!

love,

Sister Brown

Some pictures from a few weeks ago.

Me, Sister Thompson, Sister Nielson, Sister Ford, Mike
My last lesson in the Young Single Adults in Farmington with Mike.
This was Sister Nielson's, and Fords Last lesson in the Mission field.

Me and Sister Garner on Easter Sunday.
We put scriptures, questions and commentary
in the Easter eggs for the Dinner Message.

Last Day in the mission field for Sister Nielson and Sister Ford.
They bought me and sister Thompson huge breakfast burritos. 

A Quite Humbling week!

Ya' ta' hey!

I love the families here that are so involved with us as missionaries. I feel so at home with a lot of them and it is seriously such a tender mercy!

This week has been quite humbling! Our poor district is falling apart! Sister Garner's Grandma passed away and one of the elders in our district is in the hospital! We went to see him yesterday in the hospital and he looked like he was in so much pain! I couldn't help but cry! I wished I could just take the pain away from him! I hate standing there helpless, not being able to do anything! Both of these trials within our district has made me appreciate and love the gospel so much more! I am so glad that we know that we can be a family forever regardless of what happens and that even when we experience physical and/or emotional pain we have hope that it won't last forever because of Jesus Christ! 

Other than  all of that craziness! this week has been good! We've kept really busy! We had a lesson with Joel and Austin. They both claim to be agnostic, but are willing to listen and learn! Austin seems to be a lot more open to it and so we are excited see where it goes!

We also saw Shay and Sienna (some recent converts...I think Shay is 11 and Sienna is 9) They are both soooooo solid and stinkin adorable too!

Katy and Mark were some of our new investigators this week! They just moved from Texas and are making a lot of good changes in their lives and said they are looking for a church! We had a great first lesson with them this week and Mark asked tons of questions!

Doris still forgets everything but we got her a notebook to write down her feelings and thoughts and things that she learned so hopefully that will help.

We had dinner with a less-active family with the last name of Bell and I love them to death! They are sooooo funny! We have no idea why they are not active! They have some pretty solid testimonies as far as we can tell and they are a great family. The ward would really benefit from their family being re-activated!

We did some service for the Lambsons, doing yard work and such (making burn piles and pulling weeds).

Yesterday we had Easter Dinner with the Honakers (Not sure of the spelling) and they seem to be a very kind family!

I love you all and hope you have a fantastic week!

Hagoonee!

Sister Brown

Me and Sister Garner doing service.
Making burn piles and pulling weeds.

Helping at the Home and Garden Show!

Ya' ta' hey!

This week has been a lot better than last week was! I'm a lot more adjusted and feel so much love for and from the ward here!

We started off the week with exchanges. I got to go back to Farmington for the day on Tuesday with Sister Wanberg! She is a really great missionary and I had a lot of fun with her. 

Wednesday we were able to sing at the community connections (an old folks home for those with mental and physical disabilities) we get to sing fun songs like the Hokey-Poky and Popcorn Popping on the Apricot Tree! 

We met with Jerry (a less active). He is the sweetest man and I have confidence that he'll get active again! We were also able to get a new investigator named Austin! He is agnostic, but is open to learning so we are excited to keep meeting with him!

Thursday after district meeting we were able to do some family history and I have really grown to love it on my mission. Its hard to just be able to do it for an hour!

We had dinner with a wonderful family named the Barnhursts and on our way back to the truck we had the opportunity to talk to this young lady named Katy. Her and her husband and 2 kids just moved from Texas and are actually looking for a church to go to!!! We didn't have the opportunity to share much of a message with them because they didn't have much time, but we left them with a Book of Mormon, A plan of salvation pamphlet and a pass-along card with our phone number on it. We feel that they have a lot of potential and are excited to try them again this week! #talktoeveryone!

Friday, we found out that one of our fellow sister missionaries had to go to the hospital! She had a cyst the size of a grapefruit....She went into surgery immediately! The doctors say that if she hadn't gone in that day that she would have been dead the next! Talk about a miracle! Unfortunately she's going to have to go home to recover for about 3 weeks! But she'll be back! 

There was a big event here in Cortez called The Home and Garden Show. There were people with booths selling things. It is kinda like a flea market. All the missionaries in Cortez took turns serving at it. Basically we walked around and asked anyone if they needed help. We met some guys who were selling these electronic message simulators and were giving people free trial runs of them. These men were pretty flirty, but we gave them a Book of Mormon and invited them to church. Apparently one of them asked the other sisters for a Book of Mormon after we left, because he didn't get one and wanted one!

Saturday we visited the sister in the hospital as a district! Sister Garner and I bought her a really cute shirt at one of the booths at the home and Garden show, just to show our love for her! That night we had a lesson with a recent convert named Tanner! I love him already! He's just soooo good! 

Sunday I was able to officially meet the ward (since last week was General Conference). I love the ward already!

Also Nichelle (an investigator), her kids and her boyfriend Brandyn made it to church yesterday!

I love you all and hope you have a wonderful week!

Hagoonee!

Love,

Sister Brown

I Met some incredible families!

Ya' ta' hey!

This week has been a pretty big adjustment to be honest! It is so different from being in the Young Single Adults and it's been a little hard to leave everyone that I love. I have met some pretty incredible families here that I already absolutely love! The Jorgenson's are one and I just feel at home when we're with them. We watched two of the sessions of General conference with them. We watched another session with the Cook's who are the ones that threw me a little party for my Birthday my first day here in Cortez. 

Monday Night and most of Tuesday (when I was still in Farmington) I got to work with Sister Ford again! She went home on Wednesday! It was great to see her again and to catch up on everything! Tuesday I had the honors of being able to teach Cassie as well as Mike one last time! I can't remember if I told you or not, but Cassie is Engaged! The wedding is on July 15th! Mike is doing so much better and I continue to pray for him every night!

Tuesday night I got my new Companion Sister Garner and she is wonderful! I love her already!

Wednesday Was basically my first day here in Cortez and as you know from the video and picture the Cooks bought me and Ice-cream cake and fed us dinner! 

We are teaching this lady named Dorris who has Alzheimer's, so the lessons are pretty interesting with her. She always starts out by saying she's never going to join, but then by the end of the lesson her heart has been softened and she says she might be ready for baptism. It's like the movie 50 first dates....except its 50 first lessons. We're thinking we'll get her a notebook that she can write her thoughts and feelings in after the lessons and as she studies the Book of Mormon. We hope that it will help. She's the sweetest lady and its almost more of a service visit, it wouldn't feel right to drop her, so we keep coming over. 

We got a family of 3 new investigators yesterday by using the Easter initiative #PrinceofPeace....Which if you haven't seen yet, you need to watch it! It's sooooooo good!!! 

General Conference was INCREDIBLE!!!! Every talk was soooooooo good! I learned so much and I certainly have a lot to work on until the next general conference! I loved Elder Holland's talk and Elder Rasbands was a really good one for me to hear...haha a little bit of a rebuke but, very much needed!

Colorado is a lot more like Montana then any other part of the mission. It has Mountains and green grass!

I love you all and hope you have a wonderful week!

Love,

Sister Brown

My 21st birthday at the home of the Cook's in Colorado.

Me and Sister Garner my new companion