Week Two of Tornados

Since President's day was yesterday, the library was closed. So emailing is today :) Sorry I forgot to warn you all.

Round 2 of tornado warnings...we don't think there 

were any real tornadoes..but the high speed wind sure 

did some damage. That's someone's car under a tree. 

Poor neighbors :( it provided for lots of service 

opportunities though! You can just imagine what it 

looked like when the real tornado hit last week.

This week was a slower one, but still full of some amazing work and visits. We've started working with a wonderful part member family. They're so sweet and they're really trying to come back to church. Their 2 kids want to be baptized, so we've been going over there to teach lessons. After our lesson on Tuesday, their daughter showed us this jelly bean game that's apparently a popular thing. You flip a spinner and it lands on a color. You don't know if it's going to be a good flavor or a nasty flavor. It was hilarious!! We needed that laugh :)

On Thursday Sister Lewis and I gave a training in Zone training meeting on Faith, hope, and repentance. It went pretty well. I learned so much through that study. I hope something clicked for the other missionaries we were with. On the way back from Pooler we met with this wonderful lady! We're so excited to study with her. She has met with the missionaries before and was so excited to see us. She was very rough at first but warmed up as soon as she realized who we were. I just love to see the gospel change lives! Every day I feel that the one it is changing the most is mine. 

Went to Savannah! We had to drive out for an
errand on p-day so we went a few extra miles to
Savannah. It's such a beautiful city!

We've done a couple service projects as well...cleaning carpets and cleaning yards. We got a call last night from Sister Cottle at about 2:30 in the morning...we actually weren't awake enough to answer it...but found out the next morning of more tornado warnings. Apparently Sister Cottle's window was shattered by flying tree branches. Poor Sister Cottle, she was so stressed and nervous. There were some pretty high speed winds. Today that's what we've been doing. Cleaning up yards. It's great to get out in the community. :)

One study I have loved recently is what it means to be a consecrated missionary. I truly want to give my all to this mission. Every moment of our lives is precious. There's so much to do, we might as well spend this valuable time doing things that are truly of great worth. What will that be for you this week? 

Love you all! Be safe and be the light for someone this week! 

Sister Brown

Surprises :)

This week...wow. If I could use one word to describe it, I would choose: SURPRISE. We had all sorts of fun surprises. The incredible thing though was how miraculous those surprises were. 

To start off, I was in my first tornado. That was a new one. Wait no..I'm getting ahead of myself. Ok, we'll organize it like this:

Miracle 1.

On Tuesday we went to see this investigator that we've been working with a little bit in the past. EVERY time we go to knock on her door though, her neighbor one door to the right answers. It's funny the first two times...the third time it's just embarrassing. Background info--every time we went to this apartment complex, I naturally started walking to the left to knock on a different door that I could see in my mind. Every time, Sister Lewis would ask where I was going and patiently inform me I was walking the wrong way to get to Kendra's (the investigator we're teaching). I would laugh, shake my head, and turn around. This is also funny the first two times it happens...but just downright embarrassing and frustrating when it comes to the third time. Eventually Sister Lewis says "Apparently the spirit is trying to get us to knock on that door." Well, Kendra wasn't there, so we went to the door I had been drawn to..and no response. The next day we go to see Kendra. Her neighbor answers instead, again....but it's her son. We start talking to him until she comes to the door. We all awkwardly laugh and then she asks, "Don't I know you from somewhere?" (pointing at Sister Lewis). We told her probably not but continued talking to try and figure it out. Long story short...we had met her when we went to her mother's house to drop off a bible. We had an amazing first discussion with her and her mother, but then they moved and we lost all contact with them. They had told us to visit them in the new place they were moving to, but we were new to the area and couldn't figure out where the apartments were when we later tried. So BOOM! We miraculously were led to her daughter. BUT wait..there's more. She told us to visit her mother...Turns out her mother lives in that apartment I kept being pulled to!!! WHAT?! It was honestly a miracle. We are now teaching them. I'll let you know how it goes :) 

Eugene (the father of a lady we are teaching) always
wants to wash our car. So we finally let him
one day while we were in a lesson. Pretty funny...
but he did a great job and our car totally needed it!

Miracle 2.

So Wednesday was the Tornado. There are some crazy stories with that which I don't really have time to share right now. I'll see if I can send some pictures next week. Basically it tore up Fort Stewart but no one was killed or seriously injured. Some people lost their homes and cars. There's a lot of construction happening on base right now...but we're all safe and happy. So for the miracle... That evening we had an appointment set up in Midway with a gentleman in the ward and his wife. They were planning on having their neighbor over to hear the discussions. He's had a rough life...has a very serious addiction to alcohol right now, but agreed to talk with the missionaries. We were excited to meet him and hoped to share with him the light of the gospel which we know can change his life. Well..the tornado happened and our plans were all thrown out of wack. Traffic getting on and off base was ridiculous (as you can imagine). By the time we were able to get off base (and the tornado warning had been officially called off), we would be an hour late to the appointment. We tried to explain this to the member who was a 30 minute drive away, but he didn't seem to understand the situation and was very insistent that we still keep the appointment. Our ride who was originally going to go with us canceled because of the weather. So we were left to our own and had to decide how to handle the situation. We prayed and didn't feel great about it..but me and my persistence..we started the drive anyways. I know that sounds really dumb, but the most that was happening with the weather were some thunderstorms and it was all moving away from the direction we were going. I know, still not smart...but bear with me. So we were driving and about 25 minutes into the drive I was still not feeling good about it at all. I asked sister Lewis how she was feeling about going through with the lesson and to sum it up...she wasn't feeling good about it at all. We pulled over to pray and both felt very strongly we needed to turn around. Not knowing how we would break the news to the member, but feeling strongly the Lord would help us, I flipped a U turn and we headed back. We were so, so anxious about the outcome, but told him in the best way we knew how over the phone and just let him know we were following the spirit. His response was SO out of character it shocked us both into tears. He was more than understanding. He was very supportive. Heavenly Father worked things out just as they needed to be. We probably won't know why things had to happen the way they did..but I know that the Lord will lead us if we let him.

Kyler's birthday was this week. His mom is a recent
convert who we visit and teach new member lessons to.

Miracle 3.

We had a less active family we've been trying to work with tell us that their 2 children ages 10 and 8 are interested in being baptized and they want to have us teach them. They're all trying to come back to church. How incredible! When we got this news we were so, so happy for their family!! They are making changes together that will bring the only lasting happiness we can find on this earth. 

Miracle 4.

Heavenly Father led us to a woman who recently had her son-in-law pass away. We are now teaching them (her and her daughter) both. They are more than prepared for the gospel. You can just see the pleading look of someone in need of answers. Something to heal a wound that has touched their soul. While we were sitting with her I wished I could take everything I know and just give it to her. Little by little the Holy Ghost will teach her and fill that need she has.

I'm so grateful to be a part of this work. Share it with a friend this week!!! 

Much love,

Sister Brown

January is over??

Well this week FLEW by. It seems like last week I had no idea what to write about..and this week there just isn't enough space to fit it all in.

Monday we went to Savannah. Not River street (which is what I'm really looking forward to) but we did go to the mall and played sports with the sisters and Elders from all over both Savannah East and West Zone. Volleyball was a blast. The dodge-ball game they made up...not so much fun. When you had the ball, everyone was staring at you watching you try to get someone out. I'm definitely not big into that. Regardless, we had a wonderful time.  

Shopping in Savannah!

That evening we saw a few little miracles before FHE. We got back into Hinesville and started looking for service opportunities. We're trying to build/start the Just serve program here in Hinesville. I'm not sure if anyone has heard of it...but it's probably pretty established in the Utah missions already. Look it up :D Anyways.. we were sitting at the hospital waiting to speak to someone, and there was this cute family on my side. I chatted with them for a good 20 minutes and ended up leaving them with a pamphlet and our number. At the same time, there was a lady who sat down next to sister Lewis who was clearly having a rough day. She was teary eyed and just sort of down. Sister Lewis mostly talked to her..at one point during the conversation she said "you're christian people aren't you" Sister Lewis said yes, showed her her name tag and explained who we were.  She said, "Sweetie, I didn't need to see a name tag, I could see it in your faces." , We left her with a card and our number and gave her a hug. As we were leaving the hospital, this sweet woman turned to her neighbor and started telling her about us and how we were good people. That made my whole day. 

But it doesn't stop there. Guess who we got a call from the next day? HER! She called to tell us her blood sugar had gone down dramatically and thanked us for our prayers. What a wonderful lady and an incredible miracle.

Another amazing experience from this week was our lesson we had with Jaquanne. She ordered a bible around Christmas time. We dropped it off to her with a card for "A Savior is Born." We tried so diligently after that to continue seeing her as we said we would...but she was never home, or her kids would answer the door and we couldn't talk with her. It was just crazy...it never really worked out until she kept the appointment one day, and she was actually there with her mother who was visiting for the week. We had a good first discussion, they both seemed interested..but a bit distracted. We left her with a copy of the Book of Mormon and asked her to read and pray about the introduction. We set a return appointment for that Friday when we were planning to explain the Book of Mormon and introduce the story line, etc. Well...we show up and she invites us to sit down. We visit for a while, open with a prayer, and ask her about her reading. She tells us it was great and that she did read. WOW! Someone actually kept their commitment the first time around. We were so happy. So we ask her what she thought of the introduction. She said it was great and that she was actually on the 4th chapter of Nephi right now. What?! We're super excited. She read all the testimonies, intros, and 4 chapters. Talk about exciting. So we decided to continue introducing the story and timeline of the Book of Mormon to her because it would still be best to set up a good base for her future reading. Ya....she pretty much finished our sentence on every explanation of the pictures in the front of the book. It was awesome. Her family all came to church this week. (besides her husband who is military and away from home right now...he gets back this or next week) and said they really enjoyed it. They had to leave early because of a family emergency. We're not sure what's going on there...but we're keeping them in our prayers and they said they were excited to get to stay for the whole thing next Sunday :) How amazing! It's so neat to see how much light has already come into their lives!! 

Elder Peterson is leaving... the joke was always that
I LOVE the white handbook. He's a huge jokester
so I'd often quote the white hand book when
he would talk about doing something crazy/against
mission rules. He was never serious, it was just funny.

Sad news, Amberli moved this week. It will be good because she has good friends who will be a positive influence and probably the exact thing she needs...but it's sad to see her go already. She has made so many changes in her life slowly but surely. This last week she actually told us that she has had less and less desire to drink coffee and she's not sure why. Then she said...well, I know why. It's clearly God telling me I don't really need it. Then she shook her fist and yelled, "That darn Book of Mormon!" haha that describes her perfectly! We love and miss her so much! I'm grateful for all the eternal friends I've made while I've been here. One day I pray we will see her and her family in the temple. 

Quick news on transfers...Sister Lewis and I are both safe. Elder Peterson on the other hand...he's a goner. So we'll be getting a new zone leader and member of the Hinesville family this week! That's seriously what it feels like here since we all work so closely together and we have the Cottles. 

Exciting stuff! Be safe. Find JOY in the gospel! aaaaand share that joy :)

Love,

Sister Brown

Last week of the Transfer

I don't have much time this Monday, so this will be my only email today. If you usually get one from me, I'm sorry. :/ 

This is the last week of our 7 week transfer. Lots happened even thought I just emailed last Tuesday :) This week was one of the more normal weeks so far this transfer. We had a wonderful world wide missionary training on Wednesday! We went to Pooler to see it. The missionary council had asked us to study a few specific topics these last few weeks while we were preparing for what they would say to us on Wednesday. It was amazing!! When we put in the preparation, it really makes a world of difference. Some of my favorite things that really sunk in that day was just how critical it is to have the Holy Ghost with us while we teach. That way we can bring the Holy Ghost and it's converting power unto the hearts of those we teach. Only they, however, can bring it INTO their hearts. 

When we are listening to others, that is when we can understand what Heavenly Father would really have us say to them. I know that as you truly listen to your friends in need, you will be given what you can say to help them. 

Thursday we had a fun relief society activity that was all about having a 'Healthy new you' this year. It was a great activity where we not only had some physical exercise..but we had a few brain teasers and learned how to strengthen ourselves spiritually. I promise the scriptures are here to be our spiritual weights! Use them :D 

It has finally gotten cold here in Georgia! Shocker right? It was about 40 degrees. I know that doesn't seem like it's very cold, but it totally bites to your bones. 

Recently, we have really been working on strengthening the ward by visiting those who haven't been to church in a while. It has been amazing to see the friendships we have already created with them. While we're on base, we'll go to a neighborhood that we have been to MANY many times before, yet we meet two new families that we never knew lived there. It showed me how important it is to get to know those people around us, because your neighbors are probably the ones who need your love the most. 

Lastly, this week we helped a new family move into the ward. It was wonderful to see how many people came out to help them move in. This gospel is truly meant for us to become one big family. That's what we are. A big, eternal family! 

So with that being said.. Love you family!!

Love,

Sister Brown

Pioneer Children Sang as They Walked

"But verily I say unto you, that it is not needful for this whole company of mine elders to be moving swiftly upon the waters, whilst the inhabitants on either side are perishing in unbelief."

Lindsay went to the beach this week.

Not having a car this week pushed Sister Lewis and I to be better missionaries than we other wise would have been. Because we did not have a car, we were able to do a whole lot of walking (and searching for new people to teach..which is greatly needed right now) and utilizing the members in the areas. I hate asking for things from people...so this was particularly difficult. There were a couple of times when, late at night, we all of a sudden did not have a ride...or plans would change...and we were pretty much stranded. The sweet members of our ward and the Cottles (senior couple) were very willing to come and help us with whatever we needed. It made me want to always be selfless just as these people were to me. I want others to feel comfortable with asking me for any favor at any time. 

Driving to the beach with Wesson.

Because we were walking when we normally wouldn't have been, we met a sweet single mother and her two daughters. She told us she was looking for a church and that we were welcome to come by her apartment to talk any time. She then asked for a ride to church that week. How amazing it was to see that she was taking the initiative to go to church. She did come this week and we are going over again tonight to teach them. We're praying she's truly interested to increase her faith in Jesus Christ which will naturally lead to repentance and the desire to make covenants with Heavenly Father. 

This Tuesday and Wednesday we had exchanges. Wow, I think the theme of exchanges this transfer was for me to see in how many ways I need to improve! I've got really far to go, but I won't let that discourage me...only encourage me to continue progressing and learning from my mistakes. 

Sister Lewis and I have decided to try a few more finding activities. One of these is using Family History and Familysearch.org! So many people really are interested in learning about their ancestors, so we're going to put up posters in every store in Hinesville! At least those that will let us. 

Eating seaweed I bought from a Korean marketplace
(good thing about living close to a military base).

The funny story for this week comes from the fact that we were car-less. We wanted to get a giant map of the city so we can map out where everyone is...well, we decided to go to the courthouse and see if they could lead us in the right direction. Long story short...the courthouse led us to a few real-estate agencies which led us to the city hall which led us to one last place...I forgot what it was called. Basically we were walking all afternoon, no one had a map, but they told us everywhere else would have a map. As we got to the last place, Sister Lewis said, "If they tell us to go back to city hall, I'm going to rage." The words out of the receptionist's mouth were..."We don't have one right now, but you could probably find one at city hall." I am eternally grateful Sister Lewis waited to "rage" until after we left the building. Ha. Her craziness is good for me :) 
We just smiled and lots of people saw us out and about...so hopefully someone will stop us in the future because they saw those two crazy girls walking, walking, walking. 

Lindsay and Sister Lewis. Made it to the beach
and a cute wooden walk way!

I realized I never really explain much about my companion. So here's a little sum-up. Sister Lewis is an absolute sweetheart! She's also crazy and just loves to have fun. She puts it perfectly when she says, "I just love to laugh." If our missionary work isn't fun, then we must be doing it wrong. What a wise lady!! She's training me, just as sister Demann also was. Really, I learn so much more than they do I think. I've been blessed with wonderful companions. She's super sporty. She's trying to teach me sports teams and people...but it all goes over my head. 

For P-day we went to Tybee beach. Talk about amazing! Going to the Beach in January sure is a new one. But really, it was such a nice relief. I needed to get rid of some stress, and the beach was perfect. I'll send a couple pictures. 

Have an amazing week! Share the light that is within you! No matter how bright it is, it will be bright enough for those who have been in darkness to see a difference. 

Love,

Sister Brown

Handstands on the beach. I had to take this one for Abby!

Tybee Beach

Road Trip and Heart Attacks

This week proved to be quite the week! It was full of all sorts of out of the ordinary events. 

Wednesday evening we decided there were a few people who needed some extra love. So Sister Lewis and I (Sister Lewis actually did the cutting and craftiness while we were driving from appointments in the car) cut out a bunch of hearts and wrote cute little messages to the people we were going to "Heart attack." This is why I love being a sister missionary. We can do all sorts of cute things! Sadly, all three of the individuals guessed it was us...but it put smiles on their faces and that's what we were going for. 

Thursday we had Zone training meeting. I Loved Elder Peterson's training on Repentance! Hopefully I'll have time to write more about it later. Repentance is truly a sign of love and comes before we make any true change that brings us closer to our Father. When we are truly repentant, we won't question the need for change and trusting God's plan over ours. 

In all honesty, Macon is my favorite city I've been in.
I pray so fervently that sisters will one day serve here
because I want to serve there so badly! It's beautiful
and yet in desperate need of the gospel. It's a big city,
yet without the sounds and smells of the city.
This is a picture of one of the first baptist churches
there. Beautiful! 

Friday we got to take a road trip! We went up to Macon for the 3 week trainer and trainee meeting. It's kind of like a "check-up" appointment. Guess how long it took to drive to Macon? 3 hours! and then guess how long it took to drive back? yes 3 hours. 3 hours up, 4 hours of meeting there, and 3 hours driving back. Whew. It was a wonderful, yet long day. Sister Lewis and I get along really well, so it was an absolute blast. In fact, while we were in Macon, we decided to take a dinner hour and grab some Chipoltle. That's the type of restaurant sister Lewis would have gone to back at home, so it was fun to see how happy it made her. :) I learned so many great things at the meeting. Mostly my perspective on how you can love any companion as long as you decide to love them and pray to the Lord for help was strengthened. With that being said, I've always been blessed with wonderful companions.

Saturday was our ward missionary fireside. We focused on how to set spiritual goals for 2016. Sister Lewis and I taught the 'breakout' session titled "How to respond to questions and accusations." It reminded me just how crucial it is to have the Holy Ghost leading everything. If we rely on God, He will put what we need to say in our mouths. This makes me even more eager to study because then I will have something for Him to work with. Scripture study is so important!

Sister Mims! We teach her granddaughter. Sister Mims
is so, so cute. She tells us all sorts of stories. She loves
her western shows, marshal arts, she was a police
woman, and she absolutely loves the Lord.
She's an amazing woman! :D

Sunday we had so many people at church! Many of the younger military families came back from leave. That room was packed tighter than I've ever seen! Yes, our building is quite small, but it was wonderful to see so many people at church :)  It makes me happy to know we're all meeting together because we love God and truly want to repent and come closer to Him. Repentance is so important and such a blessing!!

This upcoming week we will be doing a LOT of finding. We need to search for those who are truly ready for the message of this gospel. Since we won't have a car...we will face many challenges which will push us to be better missionaries. I am excited (and a little stressed) for this opportunity! I know Heavenly Father is preparing those people we need to meet right now. I'm excited to meet more of my eternal family!!

Love you all! 

-Sister Brown

A NEW YEAR :)

Wasn't 2015 Amazing? I seriously hope y'all were able to look over the year and notice all the amazing experiences and blessings God has provided you with. I know He has helped me out in every aspect of my life. Now we get to make 2016 even better! It's such a blessing to know each day is the start of a new year. 

This week was full to the brim of many learning experiences. We've been working quite a bit with a young couple this week. The husband is a less active member and the wife is investigating the church right now. While working with them, it has shown me how important it is to base your family on the gospel. There is a lot of sadness in their marriage (although they're super awesome and don't often admit the struggles) because they haven't been following the commandments. I love to consider the words of King Benjamin when he explains why the commandments keep us happy:

41) And moreover, I would desire that ye should consider on the blessed and happy state of those that keep the commandments of God. For behold, they are blessed in all things, both temporal and spiritual; and if they hold out faithful to the end they are received into heaven, that thereby they may dwell with God in a state of never-ending happiness. O remember, remember that these things are true; for the Lord God hath spoken it. 

How amazing is that?! I love the commandments. They truly keep us so, so blessed and protected. I know a home that is centered around following ALL the commandments of God will be a happy home. 

Something I have noticed about how the missionary work has been different here than in the past is my relationship with our investigators. We have tried our best to just sincerely be friends with everyone we are teaching first. It's such a neat and yet different setting. Often, I feel like our lessons turn into a more of a 'heart to heart late night conversation' you would have with your best friend than an actual lesson..but the same principles are still taught. I have a far way to go before I find a good balance of both teaching and being a friend, but I have loved the shift in the work.

This week we ran into a testimony building experience. Well, all of life is a testimony building experience...but you'll understand what I mean. We went back to visit this lady whose daughter we had talked to once before. The Elders before us had left them with  a restoration pamphlet which they read over. The daughter told us to come back after the break because her mom had some questions about it. Well, we went back to the house, and as we were driving up..I had this feeling that they just weren't ready for the gospel yet. I thought 'ok, we'll answer a few of their questions and leave it as a seed of faith to be nurtured until a later date.' Looking back on the experience, I wonder if the Holy Ghost was trying to tell me not to go..I'm clearly still learning :) Regardless, we did the best we could. We started out by chatting with the mom, showing her how much we loved her, and then asking her about the questions her daughter had mentioned. Well, long story short it was not a very good experience..they were not questions but accusations. Normally that would be fine, except for that her heart was not sincere and so there was no chance we could help her find the answers her spirit really needed. We bore testimony as best we could, even though we could not get a full sentence in without being talked over, and left. I was so sad for this woman. I pray that her heart may be softened one day. She is my sister, and I look forward to the day when I will see her again. I know that if she is willing, God will try everything to allow her to accept the fullness of the gospel.

That is the amazing truth, God is full of second chances. 

A little bit on our new years celebration, Sister Lewis and I did weekly planning during lock down and then had some sparkling apple juice and cake before we went to bed. It was fun to get a night to just enjoy each other's company and look forward to the amazing year ahead of us. We were then lulled to sleep by the overly loud music of our neighbors. ;)  Good thing missionaries are super tired every night! 

Love you all lots! Be safe and enjoy the new year! :)

Oh, and fun news we got this morning...our car is going to be in the shop next Monday for 8 days! Boy howdie. We're going to be FIT. We're considering just running from appointment to appointment. But seriously, we're going to have some awesome stories for you in a couple weeks!

Love,

Sister Brown