"Too hot to change sign. Sin-bad. Jesus-Good. Details inside"

All I have for that sign is --> Perfect.

 We found a lady couple weeks ago. Her name is Etissa. She recently had a stroke and cannot communicate very easily. The right side of her body doesn't function well, and she can't seem to get the thoughts she has to form words and come out right. When we went up to her, she was so excited to see us. We came back for another visit a few days later. She showed us her bible, and expressed how much she loved the Lord and that she knew He would heal her in time. She loves to listen to what we have to tell her and she keeps her reading commitments. Well, we aren't sure how much she understands..so we aren't sure exactly what to do. We decided to help her continue coming to church because she really wanted to, but we aren't going to invite her to baptism yet.

Wishing those signs were switched.

We had a really amazing experience with her while we were teaching the restoration to her this Sunday. We explained the priesthood, prophets, the ministry of Jesus Christ, etc. We got the part about Joseph Smith's experience when he had the first vision. She kept smiling and nodding saying, "yes, yes." We turned the page, and she pointed to the picture of Joseph Smith receiving the Priesthood. She said, "Who's that?" We then explained that Peter, James, and John ordained Joseph Smith and gave him the priesthood authority. All of a sudden, she went, "Oh." And then a little more emphatically and energetically, "Oh, oh." She started patting her head, then her shoulders and heart. She had a huge smile on her face and kept saying, "I feel it, I feel it." The spirit entered the room so strongly. What a wonderful lesson. When our language fails, the spirit never does.

Sister Hale and I after exchanges.

Thursday we had the opportunity to go on exchanges with our sister training leaders in Hazlehurst. It was a wonderful experience. I'm not sure what it was, but being there and seeing the energy with which the work was being done gave me extra motivation. Ever since that day, I have had more excitement and "fire" in this work. A bit of a funny story from that night:It got to be 8:00 and a huge rainstorm hit. HUGE. All of our appointments fell through, so we were walking, driving, and slipping on incredibly sandy roads for an hour without any luck. At one point the lightning got really bad. The sky would light up to be brighter than the middle of the day and the air cracked with energy. Sister Hale (the sister I was in Hazlehurst with) and I kept laughing over how crazy of a circumstance we were in... not to mention we were a little nervous about our safety. The good news is, we were just fine and soaked through to the bone. Umbrellas don't do much good here in Georgia. :D I love the storms!

While on topic of the rain--Our ward was notified that we might be asked to go help the flood victims in Louisiana because of all the damage done recently. What a wonderful call. We have the opportunity to serve in various capacities within the church and our life. Let's make the most of them!

Got to ride a horse!

Sunday proved to be an absolute miracle! The part member family we have been working with for the last three transfers all came to church, AND they had their baby blessed. They will be back next week as well. Not only that, but we had 3 other investigators come to church who we just found this week while tracting (we had ward members give them all rides). Lastly, another part member couple came to church without us even knowing they were planning on it. We had 7 investigators at church. I almost passed out. It's incredibly hard to get people to follow through with commitments sometimes, but oh the joy we saw in their faces when they were sitting in sacrament meeting! There is a special spirit of peace you can't help but feel while sitting in the chapel. I thank Heavenly Father so, so much for putting it in their hearts to come this week. Miracles DO happen!!

Sorry for the scattered email. Most importantly, I would like to let y'all know that I know Jesus Christ is the Savior of the world. I will be ever grateful for His, and our Heavenly parent's, sacrifice which allows us to return where our spirit yearns to be. We are sons and daughters of the divine. In a world that changes all around us, what is within us will stay the same. We are children of a loving and merciful God. He knows us personally. The purpose of this life is to become as HE and His Son are.

Share your testimony. It's too precious to keep hidden.

Love,

Sister Brown

"At first sin fascinates, then it assassinates"

Stake conference was this week. We drove down to Tifton both Saturday night and Sunday morning. We were edified and uplifted. Elder Sitati has quite the personality. He had a question and answer session Saturday night. He would spend 10 minutes on ONE question when he felt it necessary. How amazing! He wanted to do his best to uplift and encourage us in any way possible. It was wonderful to feel his love and the love from the 12 and the Presidency. The theme of Stake conference was "Accepting the Call." Are we ready to receive the call from the Lord? When we prepare, act upon spiritual promptings, and obediently endure to the end...we will see the miracle of the Lord qualifying whom He has called. 

This week we saw a miracle with a lady named Barbara. We had been trying to teach her daughter for quite some time but without too much success. This week, we were able to discuss with her mother the restoration. When we got to the part about Joseph Smith and the first vision, we asked her how she felt. She said, "I'm warm all over and tingly. It's like it just goes from my head to my feet." She then told us, "Yes, I  know it is true." She accepted the 'soft' baptismal commitment we then extended. We are so excited for her and keep her in our prayers.

Tender mercies and funny moments:

1-We were trying to contact this man. He was going inside with his dog. His dog (who must have been feeling the spirit ;) ) Got loose and came running towards us. Don't worry...the dog was nice. That way the man HAD to talk to us. Miracle! :D 

2-We had dinner with the Hills. An amazing couple! I love them and would adopt them in a heartbeat. 

3-We drove significantly farther than expected to try contacting a less active member. When we saw the "Welcome to Erwin County" sign we knew we had gone much too far seeing as how we were then out of our area. oops :/ We promptly turned around :D

4-One of our less active member's son was able to receive a blessing of healing after a heart surgery. The experience was a tender one in which their faith was strengthened and we were able to teach her grandchildren the importance of the priesthood power and how it has been restored on the earth TODAY!

5-After a really hard visit with a less active lady (she's going through a lot and we're not sure how to help her), her spirits were lifted and we ended on an uplifting note. As we were leaving, we (as is often here) got on the topic of how scary the world is and how dangerous it is here. She then said, "you know what, I can get you some Mace!" Apparently she knows people. It was such a funny outburst, it made us laugh. We told her that was sweet of her...who knows, maybe we'll actually end up with some :D

6-While having a lesson and reading 2 Nephi 31 with an investigator, an outrageous thunderstorm showed up and knocked all the lights and ac out (8:45 at night). We continued trying to read, but then our investigator (she can go from topic a to z in a matter of 2 seconds) started talking about her belief in paranormals. Ha. So we were basically listening to ghost stories in the dark by candle light sitting in a trailer out in the country/boonies. We quickly shifted the topic to Joshua 1:9 "Be of good courage, be not afraid...for the Lord thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest." Scripture power!

Lastly---> We just had our second interview with President Grayson. Such a wonderful couple. Here is a picture of us with Sister Grayson. Love you all!!

Be safe and spread the gospel!

-Sister Brown  

Good luck with your Pokemon hunting-Be safe

Subject line: We've been hearing a lot about this Pokemon game. It sounds a like a less than valuable way to spend time...but I won't judge anyone who plays it. :D It was funny, however, to see it made such an impact as to be on a marquee sign. I believe this one was outside the Red Cross house rather than a church...but it was too funny to pass up.

I'll switch things up and start off with a funny story this week.

Last Monday during our grocery shopping at Walmart, a Georgia storm hit. When it gets to full on storming here, it's quite the experience. You walk outside for literally 3 seconds and you will be soaked from head to foot. So, while we were shopping, ginormous cracks of thunder made the building vibrate and drowned out the music. People were waiting all around the front of the store for the rain to hopefully clear up enough so their groceries wouldn't go bad. All of a sudden, a huge strike of lightning lit up the already bright entry way, followed by a crack of thunder, and the entire super-center lost power. One of the cashiers started yelling at all the other cashiers to go to doors seeing as how their entire security system was now down. It was a little frantic at first, but then from right behind us we heard this lady (a Walmart worker). She was doing a little dance clapping her hands (we weren't sure if she was frightened or just amazed), and then said, "Oh snap, there is a God! There is a God!" It made us smile. A few people continued to try to check out with their lights on their phones. We were stuck in there for a little while until they finally started letting people leave if you had a receipt. I'm not sure how long it stayed dark, but it was quite the experience.

Baby Abner (from the Davis family)!! She will
be officially 3 weeks old tomorrow.

One of my favorite lessons this week would have to be our lesson with the Davis family on keeping the Sabbath day holy. We brought ice cream, good toppings, and gross (pickles, salad dressing, etc) toppings. The good toppings were wholesome things we could do on the Sabbath and the "gross" things were those activities which were good...but not good to do on the Sabbath. While we were making the first 'Sunday' for the youngest boy, we were asking him if he liked all these things. When we got to "Sporting events, shopping, video games, etc" he said yes, he liked them...so onto the ice cream they went. The boys were so grossed out. It was hilarious! It truly drove the point home that the Sabbath is a special day. It is a day we give to God, thereby showing our true commitment and love for Him. They all got good Sundays at the end. :) 

Friday we were able to attend a funeral for a man in the 2nd ward (we serve in the 1st). Lots of his family, however, is in our ward. It was amazing to see the whole family in the chapel together. I was praying the whole time that they would feel the peace and power flowing through that meeting. Simply being in the chapel can remind us of our covenants and the purpose we go to church. I hope they will make their way back to activity in the church. Many of them I haven't seen come once in the 3 months I have been here. Seeing them all together was absolutely amazing. If there is someone you have missed seeing at church recently, show them you love them by inviting them to come sit with you. Being in the chapel together fills your soul with the incomparable feelings of the Holy spirit.

Saturday we had a wonderful service opportunity for an elderly couple. Saturdays aren't very productive for us (which is backwards from most places), so it was wonderful to feel that we were doing good, quality work. We cleaned up their yard (which was quite large) and relocated some lilies that had started growing wild in their grass. Sister Anderson and I both had to take our lunch hour to re-shower because this Georgia heat will really get to you :D It was amazing to know that the sweet wife could now look out her front window and have something beautiful to see rather than 3 foot tall weeds. It's the simple things in life we often take for granted.

Love y'all!

S. Brown

"Fear activates satan like faith activates God"

The mission in general is full of many "Highs" and "Lows." This week we experienced a few of those large differences within a matter of days. I don't typically talk about the "lows," but I will mention one this week because it provides a valuable lesson I felt like would be good to share. There must be opposition in all things, otherwise we wouldn't know joy from sorrow.

When It's so hot you use your skirt as oven mitts...
I mean driving mitts.

To get the less desirable experience out of the way...I'll start with that. To be brief, we called one of our less active members to check up on her. She told us her sister (whom we had visited twice in the hospital) had passed away the day before. We helped her with a few of the funeral arrangements (getting the bishop of her sister's ward notified to talk), and offered love and support. During the funeral, there was another member of the church speaking. While his intentions were good, the delivery of certain points of his talk were not given with love and deeply offended some of the immediately family members. Sitting through this part of the funeral was difficult for Sister Anderson and I because we dearly loved this family regardless of their struggles. To draw others to the church, all we do and say must be with love. When we put ourselves in their shoes, we will speak and act a touch differently. I love the speaker and was grateful for his efforts which were well intended. As missionaries, it made our job a little bit more difficult, seeing that some of the family members are now turned away from the church. The lesson derived is to put ourselves in the shoes of others and serve with love. :) I know I will try harder each day to do so.

No worries, Sister Anderson and I are still loving Douglas! Wednesday proved to hold a miracle lesson this week. We met a young woman named Erin. She was SO prepared for the gospel. When we talked to her about Joseph Smith's experience, she said, "Well, I don't understand..why would anyone be upset that he received revelation straight from God and Jesus Christ. Now we can see what They would teach us about the scriptures." Sister Anderson and I both replied, "Right? I don't know! :D " She had heard negative things about the church from others, but when the Holy Ghost touched her heart, she knew it was true. The Lord is in this work! He is preparing His children. I feel absolutely blessed to be a part of His mission.

This week we were praying from some service opportunities because we've not done much in the past. Well, we ended up with almost too many opportunities..if that's possible. We marked labels at the food bank (met a man who's friends with a family in the ward), decorated a school with the other teachers for the open house later that afternoon, helped make 1300 pork chop plates for our youth's fundraiser, and we are moving a family this afternoon! Whew.

An amazing quilt one of our
investigators made a while back.

Something neat from our PEC meeting this Sunday: We were talking about a young part member family [Jay and Mallory] we were working with (the father of the young husband [Jay] was in the room and we were discussing how to get them involved and help their [Jay and Mallory] progression). The father mentioned how it was really great that we were meeting with them because a number of years ago, the wife [Mallory] had gotten offended by the missionaries and lost all interest. Around this time, another one of the members of the council yelled, "OH! There was something I needed to tell you sisters. Jennifer ____. Don't stop seeing her!" We had previously gone over and met with this woman whose husband is a less active member. She has met with many missionaries in the past but never really progressed or showed interest. Well, we had a touching experience with her when she actually told us she knew she needed to be baptized and started crying. Since then, however, we hadn't been able to successfully set up a time for a lesson. We had gotten discouraged and given her a bit of a rest. This council member told us about his conversations with her and he said that she had felt something different that she never has when talking with missionaries before. He said, "Don't stop seeing her. Make sure to visit her." The Lord has been working on her for years, and this sweet friend could see that she was finally prepared to let this message into her life. We will definitely do all we can to be there for her to provide guidance.

I know this work is miraculous. I know the Lord leads His army. I know we are children of a LOVING Heavenly Father. I know there is nothing, even the bad days :), that will stop this work from moving forward. The restoration is here. It is here, and it is here now. Take part in it!

Love y'all! Thank you for being incredible examples to me.

-Sister Brown

Be an Organ Donor - Give Your Heart to Jesus

News on Transfers--Sister Anderson and I will both be staying together in Douglas!! We were both overjoyed and are SO excited for the people here. We can feel the success coming. Only 20% of our mission was moved for President Grayson's first transfer. In the past, transfers typically consisted of about 60-70% moving. Missionaries may be staying in areas much longer now, or at least while President Grayson gets to know us better. 

This week I'll organize by people/families.

Carl and Larissa Family:

We visited a Less Active member (who wasn't home...)
But ended up visiting their pigs instead! These little
guys came waddling out of nowhere.

This is the family I often talk about. (The one with the bleach story last week). Tuesday evening we were tracting around part of Douglas and ran into a young couple named Kylee and Adam. Upon visiting with her, she asked if we knew a Larissa. We lit up and exclaimed, "Yes! We do." She then explained that she was Larissa's best friend and that Larissa had her baby that afternoon!! We were so excited. We knew the baby was coming soon..but we didn't know exactly when it would be happening. Well, we left some reading material with them both and plan to come back another time. As soon as we walked back to our car, we called Larissa (poor woman...she was still in the hospital and here are the sister missionaries calling to yell about how excited we are for her. ha) and talked with her for a little. She ended up getting home Wednesday afternoon and we went to visit them all Thursday Evening. The baby is so precious! She's absolutely adorable and has such a wonderful family! Oh, it was the most amazing thing in the world. Anyways...we got to the end of our visit, had a short spiritual thought, and invited the boys to church with their grandparents (we assumed the parents would be staying home with the baby). Carl pipes up and says, "Well, we'll be at church." I about fell out of my seat. We were absolutely ecstatic. In the end, we mentioned how the baby may need to wait a little before going out in public, but their whole family is truly ready to make changes. They should be at church either this week or next. 

I don't typically ask people to pray for our investigators, but I know many of you do anyways. Well, I wanted to let you know, we can feel those prayers. So thank you :)

Payne Family:

We had met with this family once before a couple months ago. They didn't show any interest at all, so we didn't bother going back. Well, we continued feeling like our visits would be really good if only for the sake of the children. They are so sweet and don't have much religion in their life right now. Well, we drove through the mud to get to their home and upon arrival, pulled in right as the husband was pulling out. We were able to engage in a short but much needed conversation. He doesn't really come out to talk to the missionaries, as far as we knew. So it was wonderful to meet him at all. As we knocked on the door, we were expecting the wife to talk with us for a short while but then kindly tell us to come back another time. Turns out, she invited us right in. Her daughter (who is about 7 and loves us) came running up and gave us giant hugs. Long story short, she accepted our offer to help around the house, and we went right to work. At the end, her husband came home and they invited us to stay for dinner. How amazing! We were able to engage in a wonderful discussion on the repentance, the sacrament, and invited them to church. We learned what is holding them back, and made real progress with the family. This complete change of heart was amazing. 

*Funny side note--upon our cleaning crusade through the house, we couldn't help but notice a screen showing footage from three video surveillance cameras monitoring different areas on their property that. For such an old house in the middle of nowhere, that was a bit of a surprise. Now we know to not do anything goofy when on the porch XD

It was so hot that our hand sanitizer bottle melted. Oops

Jessica and Carrie:

Saturday was HOT and proved to be a test of our endurance. All of our afternoon plans fell through, and we ended up doing a good deal of tracting. We decided to walk around a certain circle, and met a few really neat people, but mostly closed doors. Just as the heat was getting almost unbearable, we knocked into a sweet mother and her daughter. We asked how she was. As we did so, the heat wave from outside hit her. She answered, "Hot. Do you want to come inside?" Those are the sweetest words you will ever hear as a missionary. Especially in Georgia summers. Our discussion started out pretty typical, and she seemed a little bit skeptical at first. We soon realized, however, that she was sincere regarding her questions. In fact, she started asking us all sorts of questions about service and said she wanted to come! What a miracle! We are meeting with her this week and are praying for her every day. Carrie is her super cute daughter.

**love y'all so much. Sorry if this week seemed really informational and formal. 

Love y'all!!

Sister Brown 

Get out of Facebook and into My book--God

This week was Exodous for my family back at home. My Mom commented on how amazing it was to see the youth coming together spiritually, receiving amazing, converting experiences from God, and getting away from the constant pull from the media. So...I felt this subject line was fitting. 

DOUGLAS!

This week we have been given extra strength. We have been blessed to see tender mercies as we push on even when our energy runs low. It only gets hotter here.. and it's not even August. I don't mind the heat, but it has a tendency to make us more tired than usual. I've heard, however, that it seems many of you back home are also going through a bit of a heat wave. So my advice for you is to drink water!! And be diligent so the Lord can bless you :D 

After one particularly hot afternoon, we had to change our plans around a bit and decided to look up some potential investigators who had been contacted by other missionaries in the past. Well, as we were driving to one of the houses, another house in the corner of my eye caught my attention. I had shrugged off a similar thought earlier that day, but realized after that it could have most definitely been a whisper from the Holy Ghost. I was so disappointed with myself for letting that house slip by that I was not letting this one go! I quickly (safely) turned into the side street we were about to pass. What followed was not a crazy miracle, but it was, without doubt, a tender mercy. We had an edifying conversation with a man who was a lifelong alcoholic but has been alcohol free for a year. We aren't sure if he will show particular interest in the church, but we visited with him about the restoration among other things, and he invited us to come back later. 

Yet another tender mercy--Wednesday we were trying to visit with this family that we've been having a really rough time getting to teach all together. We have been able to meet with the mom a few times, but we've really been wanting to teach her and her sons. Well, we went over to their trailer and talked to her boyfriend and sons. He said she was not home but would be on her way soon. He told us to come back in about an hour or so. We were quite disappointed because our schedule wouldn't allow us to go back through that area that day. Well, we were walking away when all of a sudden her boys and her boyfriend frantically run out of the trailer. "Wait!" They yelled "She's at the mailboxes, she'll be here in just a few minutes." First of all, it was the sweetest thing in the world just how excited they were to tell us we could actually come back. Secondly, her boys stayed to listen to the whole lesson that afternoon!! Amazing :D We were so happy we could tell them about the plan of salvation which holds a great deal of importance for them seeing they would be attending a funeral of a friend just a few days later. 

Love these storms

Saturday/Sunday's miracle-- We had one of our less active members we have been working with come to church. She surprised us by texting us the day before asking what time church was. We let her know it was at 11 and that we would love to sit with her. She happily responded that, yes, she will be there. WOW! We were so excited. Getting people to church has been a real difficulty for us as of late. We were overjoyed to have her come, participate in taking the sacrament, and enjoy the renewing strength only the atonement of Jesus Christ can provide for us. Not only that, but she was going to leave right after the first hour. Her little girl made immediate friends with another 3 year old in the ward and actually was really excited to go to primary. Because someone reached out to her daughter (only 3) she, herself, was able to receive additional strength from the last 2 hours. 

Funny moment from the week: We had an object lesson with one of our favorite families (I do try to not pick favorites). But we had a lesson on repentance and the sacrament...well we used water, food coloring, and bleach. At the end of the cleansing from the bleach (representing the savior's atonement) one of the boys says, "Can I drink it?" Sister Anderson and I both quickly and urgently said, "NO!" He may have been a bit shocked...ha but we had a good laugh after. 

LOVE YALL!
Sister Brown

"Give to God what is right, not what is Left"

To start off, we met the new mission President this week! He is so very different than President Cottle, but we love him so much already! President Grayson is very quiet and soft spoken. Sister Grayson is very similar to the Cottles. In fact, she was also an institute and seminary teacher. I am so grateful for their determination to serve the Lord with all their heart, might, mind and strength. We will have interviews with them next week.

I chopped my hair off!! We accidentally
took off a bit much...about 7 inches.
But on the bright side, my hair is
significantly more healthy now. (This was
also taken while we were driving to
meet our new mission president!)

After a long Saturday of almost every single appointment falling through, Sister Anderson and I were ready for some awesome appointments that evening. We drove to this couple's home who we've talked to a few times on the doorstep, but we hadn't made it into their home yet. They are VERY different than the typical southern family. She's a 'tough' girl, and they're pretty into worldly things. We, however, really felt like they had potential and, of course, the gospel could really help them out. While we were praying before we got out of the car, we prayed to know if we should continue trying to teach them or to move on. The first thing he says when the husband opened the door is, "Come on in." We were then able to have a wonderful discussion where we got to know them a bit better and we related the restoration to their personal lives. They opened up to us a lot, and they ended up committing to read the Restoration pamphlet as well as the introduction to the Book of Mormon. We are so excited for them and how this gospel will make a world of difference in their lives. It was truly a miracle. 

A few funny moments from the evening: 1- When we asked them if they had read the pamphlet, they both got the most guilty look on their faces. It was absolutely priceless. We loved the fact that they took it so seriously! Usually people treat that commitment like it's nothing.."Oh, I didn't have time." But you could see they felt truly bad for not doing what they said they would. 2-The husband (after a few really good questions related to the lesson) says, "Ok, so I have had a question that has caused some real conflict between my mother-in-law and me." Here it comes we thought. "So, where do Dinosaurs come in? I mean...they just don't quite fit with the 7 day creation, but I know they existed." Ha we had to try really hard to not bust up laughing.

I gave a talk this week on the sacrament. Here's a little taster:

Alma 5 : 21 I say unto you, ye will know at that day that ye cannot be saved; for there can no man be saved except his garments are washed white; yea, his garments must be purified until they are cleansed from all stain, through the blood of him of whom it has been spoken by our fathers, who should come to redeem his people from their sins.

 22 And now I ask of you, my brethren, how will any of you feel, if ye shall stand before the bar of God, having your garments stained with blood and all manner of filthiness? Behold, what will these things testify against you?

How are stains created? Well, it's by a mess which remains unattended to. Just as you would quickly remove a shirt from small child who has spilled on him or herself in order to get the shirt in water as soon as possible to work the mess out of the material, our spiritual "messes" must be cleaned the same way. In order to not have stains upon our spirit, we MUST partake of the sacrament each week. When we remember the body of Christ represented by the bread, we remember the gift of our own bodily resurrection and the reality that this death is not the last. The water, however, reminds us of the blood of Jesus Christ and the healing, strengthening power of the atonement. As we allow ourselves to be cleansed through His blood, we quickly rid our clothes of the mistakes we make each day. I know the sacrament is absolutely crucial to our spiritual development. Please prepare carefully each week through repentance before taking the sacrament in order to have a more personal experience with the Savior's atonement.

A couple funny banana things from the week:

We found Rapunzel's tower in Tifton.

1- We learned one of our less actives makes banana wine every once in a while. We promptly taught the Word of Wisdom that afternoon.

2-We also learned banana mayo sandwiches are a southern thing...gross.

Love Y'all!!

~S. Brown