I know that my Redeemer lives

This week has been a magical one.

So Sister's Conference was this week. And that is a magical meeting. President Porter and Sister Porter taught us about the doctrine of being a woman and being a daughter of God. We also had a lot of fun and feel so blessed that that was able to happen this transfer.

Plus I got to see Sister Kenison and Sister Peatross and Sister Jones and all of my friends there and that just made it all the better. Plus Sister Keim plays the violin too and so we played "Redeemer" by Paul Cardall. Sister Huber played the cello and Sister Tucker played the piano. It brought the spirit in SO strong and God definitely helped out with pulling that one together since we had the night before to make it happen.

The Spauldings are a family from Muncie that I love (: and Sister Spaulding's brother lives in Kettering and so they came down for Sunday dinner yesterday and that was really fun. It was also really special since I spent so much time with the Spauldings and they were actually my first meal in Muncie. And so my first and my last on my mission! (Heavenly Father worked that one out since he knows how cliche I am!)

I know that my Redeemer lives. I know now more than ever before that He is my Best Friend. That He comes and comforts me. That the Atonement is personal and that it applies to me, Sister Brown, individually. And because of that He will always help me to take another step closer to my Heavenly Father and becoming like Him. I know that because of the trials that I have faced here and been able to overcome. They have been unique to me and the way He has helped me through them has been unique to me. I am stronger because of my faith in Jesus Christ. But I know that the process that I went through is not unique to me. That He will carry each one of us. That there is hope for tomorrow because we can all fall on our knees and ask for His help. He is always there.

Thanks for all the support that all of you have given to me on my mission! I love you all!

Sister Brown II

Satan thou son of the morning

I received revelation this week on why it can be so hard to get out of be in the morning.  2 Nephi 24:12. There you have it folks. That is why!

So this week has been crazy!  We had exchanges with both the areas of sisters are are over BACK TO BACK.  It was nuts.  Just putting all of your thoughts into how you can help the sisters in a 24 hour period is kind of nuts! But it was really great.  The sisters that we are over are the best and I learned a lot about myself and also the skills I have gained on my mission. 

Siste Keim has this thing.  It's called "I love to put fabric over my head". I literally had to ask her how much of her life has been spent with her head under a blanket or scarf or hoodie.... Haha but  now we have "Thinking Turbans". When you really need to connect with God, just slip your scarf onto your head.  #problemsolved

This week we have lots of exciting things.  We will have another exchange and then the SISTERS CONFERENCE will be on Thursday.  I am SO excited about that! Last year was SO much fun. So I am excited that we  get to do it again!

Well I'm gonna go party with my zone at the park this week.  

Happy Wednesday

Holy cow! There is so much to say and not enough time! This week FLEW by! So we had leadership council on Tuesday of last week and that was really fun to be there and it was also a really spiritual experience! I learned a LOT about the Sabbath day and why I personally go to church. And then we had zone meetings this past week also! Dayton and Middletown and they were also super spiritual experiences! 

So we have conference calls at night sometimes to say "family prayer" before bed and to have a role call and make sure everyone is on the call we ask a question. And the question the other night was "What is your love language?" And that was super funny because Elders can't take anything seriously after 9pm and so their answers were a bit ridiculous.

We also are having a 40 day fast as a zone to help us give up something so that we can see miracles in our work more. And so I realized that my addiction to Mountain Dew Baja blast was probably not the greatest thing in my life. So that is what I chose to give up! (:

Then Labor Day was probably the funnest day of my whole mission! We had a finding challenge and we did a zone activity. And since we are over both zones we were able to be with lots of missionaries and find a lot of new friends to teach! Plus there were members out with us taking pictures to post onto Social Media and they also helped us to teach and were powerful influences on the people that we were meeting!

Then yesterday we had interviews with President and Sister Porter but also every missionary had to roleplay the church lesson and as STLs we were helping with that and that was really fun! The assistants in the mission are the best and they just made the day so much fun! Plus it was Elder Seegmiller's birthday so we filled their truck with balloons!

One thing that I have really learned and been able to think about this week in my work is the importance of people. That when I get really stressed as a missionary it is when I am focused on the numbers and not the people. And then I need to take a step back and see that I am changing lives and that I am making a difference. So that was a good self-evaluation this week.

Also I have been thinking a lot about "DOING right, rather than BEING right." And how important that is. You are only 50% of any relationship. But you can give 100% of your 50% to make things work. And that being humble is listening to God's voice and acting on what he tells you to do. It isn't always easy and a lot of the time we will  be doing things that we don't want to do. But that HE helps us. HE provides. HE carries us through it and before we know it we are making it through another day.

I know that we can change. That the person we were yesterday does not have to be the person that we are today. And that as we continually change we will become the person that God sent us to become and we will be like Him.

I love you all and thanks for the support that you give to me! 

Burns Bites and Broken Teeth

So this week Elder Horne told me that when you come to Dayton... it tries to kill you. Amen to that statement! As of right now I have a HUGE bruise on my knee. Bug bites everywhere. The oven door ate my arm and burnt it. I have had this death cough since I have been here and live off of cough drops and cough syrup. Sister Keim is my nurse. And then Sister Keim broke her tooth yesterday! She chipped it Hillary Style as she was biting a pen! 

We are still chugging along though! The work here is amazing! We are finding so many new friends to teach ALL the time! 

Plus this week we did a back to back exchange with the sisters that we are over and it was intense! Both sets of sisters are training and so that was really good to have them come on exchanges I was with the trainer both times and got to talk to them. It brought back a LOT of memories of being in Muncie and training Sister Kenison.

Ohio is so different. This ward is so big and being over two zones is a lot of craziness all the time. But we just keep going! And I received a solid revelation from Heavenly Father this week that He wants me to read the Book of Mormon before this transfer is over! I don't know that I have ever read the Book of Mormon this fast. I usually like to take my time with it but who knows! God told me to and so we will see how it goes! I love the Book of Mormon and I'm excited for it!

The zone leaders are the BEST and the Dayton ZLs left a Brownie Mix for us and the Middletown ZLs left a 12 pack of Baja Blast Mtn Dew (for me) and a pineapple (for Sister Keim). They are the best ever! 

Love you all and have a great week!

Bye Bye Anderson

So we got the calls today and Sister Jones and I are BOTH leaving Anderson. Elder Wells is going home and so Elder McDade will be the only one staying here. That is kind of exciting but kind of nerve racking at the same time. This will be my last transfer and so I am excited to see where Heavenly Father wants me to be!

So here are some exciting things that have happened this week in Anderson!

So we went to "The Bank" for dinner one day. It was an old bank in Pendleton that has been renovated into a restaurant and everyone here raves about their "breaded tenderloin". Sister Jones and I enjoyed it but didn't rave about it and ultimately decided that it was just a glorified chicken sandwich.

We also helped to hold our first zone meeting as Sister Training Leaders and it went really well! Elder McDade and I trained on Bishop's Reports and it went smoothly. So that was great. Obviously Sister Jones and I were still learning but everyone said that our training was their favorite! So that was nice to hear.

Sister Jones and I have literally been jamming out to music (lds.org music...) every day in our Jeep. Yes we drive a Jeep and yes I probably already talked about it but I just love our Jeep. We drove a Jeep in the office too and so it's the best.

Church was literally the weirdest thing of my whole life. This little 4 year old Emma and her teenager sister sat by us and to help her sister out so that she could pay attention we played with Emma. And she had stickers and she proceeded to put stickers all over Sister Jones and my arms. So we had tats for the day. And then we started drawing and she would tell me what to draw.

So we drew a princess. And then a castle. And then a dragon breathing fire with three legs and a flag coming out of its head. She was very specific. Love her.

Love you all! Have a great week and I'll let you know where I am at next week!

Sister Brown

Temple Trip

So the open house ended on Saturday and pretty much I feel like my life is over.

I would end my email there but then Uncle Scott would tell me that my letters are getting short (: haha

Seriously though. Saturday was so sad! The Indy missionaries have their transfer meeting tomorrow and so that was the talk of the day for them and we were just sad we wouldn't be coming back! It has been so great to be on the temple grounds and to see hearts change!

Just this morning we were at Walgreens printing out photos and there was a lady there getting her photos printed from the temple and she knew some members around! Literally it is the best thing ever and so many people are wanting to talk about it!

Miracles come from the temple and everyone should go this week!

LOVE YOU!

This week has been so much fun! And sorry for the super late in the day emails... we were at the temple this morning with a part member family and it was so great! And then our district went bowling and Sister Jones creamed everyone! It was so much fun and sometimes I forget how competitive I get. And then we went and got delicious snow cones afterwards. I have not had a snow cone in forever! Last Monday Sister Jones and I went down to Richmond to play soccer with the Elders and their youth and it was really fun.

There have been so many miracles with the Indy Temple Open house though! We took our friends the Reber family from the ward and Jacob Reber brought his girlfriend who is not a member but she LOVED the tour and wants to learn more! She is the best! And lots of the people that have been coming through have been so prepared by Heavenly Father to feel the Spirit in His house.

We also had a special meeting with Elder SinClair of the Seventy this week who is over the Indy Temple Open House and we talked about how with a Marvelous Work comes a Mischievous Work.... and that there are protesters and some of them are not even allowed on the church property anymore because of some crazy things. They are helping us to be prepared though and they make sure that we have help in case they come and take a tour and get in our faces or anything. We all just felt super calm about it all though because... news flash!!! God wins!! Heavenly Father wins. We know that! In the end He is the winner and those that fight against Him will have to deal with Him and we all just felt a lot of peace knowing that we are doing His work.

Okay and BIRTHDAY SHOUTOUT to DALLIN TODAY! Sorry for the oodles of people that I have slacked on this month... Like all of the Cobabes... 

We also had zone conference this week and it was amazing all the revelation that we received! President Porter is so inspired. And it is just fun to be with missionaries for a whole day (: And it was super fun to get to drive through Muncie again and to be at the Muncie building (:

We had a 24th of July PROGRAM. Not a ward activity. A PROGRAM. There was an outline and at first there were ancestor stories shared. And then the kids went on a huge trek out west. They crossed a kiddie pool to be a river. They played a "buffalo chip" toss game (and the pieces they used to play with looked as nasty as buffalo chips are!). They played stick pull and I was really upset to be in a skirt otherwise I would have challenged Sister Jones. And then the whole ward square danced. It was awesome. Plus there was dinner before and ice cream after. It was awesome! 

And as we were thinking about our pioneer ancestors this week we heard about the website realitivefinder.org and it seriously is the coolest! You can go on there and see how you are related to famous people and also link to other people's accounts and see how you are related to them! It was fun to do with the missionaries.

Welp! I hope that everyone has a great week! And find some time to spend in the temple! It is well worth the sacrifice of your time and even just being on the grounds will change hearts!

Sure love ya and thanks for all of the support that you give to me! LOVE YOU!

Sister Brown

Temple Transfer

Seriously all this transfer consists of is the TEMPLE! It is awesome! This week alone we were at the temple all the time! We were there on Sunday for a missionary tour and then we got to go last Monday for a special tour with Elder Richards of the Seventy just for the sister missionaries that were going to be working the open house. That was the coolest tour of a temple I have ever been on! He talked about so many amazing things!

And then on Friday I was able to go to the Columbus Ohio temple because Sister Bonnie Krupa was ENDOWED! It was so special to be there and to see her make those covenants. She was so happy! And we got to sit in while the temple matron talked to her and that was really special too.

And then on Saturday we got to serve at the Indy temple open house and it was so amazing! We saw so many miracles from it and it was a lot of fun too! Seeing so many people and I saw people from Ohio that I knew and I also saw Elder Diaz from high school so it was just a lot of happy reunions and meeting all of their friends that they brought! We also met people who traveled from West Virginia, Florida, Virginia and Chicago to come and to see the temple! It was amazing!

So Elder McDade who is serving in the same ward as us is a piano master. And our ward mission leader asked us to play at the fireside that we had on Sunday and so I found a violin and we played "Did You Think To Pray?" and it was awesome! And Elder McDade is awesome and accompanying even though he hadn't done it for violin before. (Hillary and Bex you know how that is...) But Sister Jones recorded it for me and so yall can watch that in Utah sometime.

This week has just been so amazing! We are serving again in the temple and we also have our investigators going with us earlier in the week and we have zone conference this Wednesday and so it is just going to be a super busy spirit filled week!

Oh and don't even worry that I am just super nasty looking in some of the photos. The humidity has spiked and standing there in it for hours makes your makeup run off your face (:

Love you all and thanks for the support!

Sister Brown

#elderly

That was the theme of our zone miracles that we text out this week. And I was transferred into the Anderson Indiana ward with Sister Jones and we had so many old people adventures this week! It was awesome! So Sister Jones and I are both new here in Anderson (this is my 3rd time being doubled in) and we are BOTH new Sister Training Leaders. Basically that means that we have no idea what we are doing 100% of the time. Sister Jones is AMAZING though and helps me out so that I am not overwhelmed and that things go great!

We are serving with Elder McDade and Elder Wells as Zone Leaders and also in our ward and they are awesome! Elder Wells has been a Spanish Elder his whole mission. It's pretty awesome and they are great Elders to work with! So things are going great here in Anderson and the ward is awesome and we were not left much of a teaching pool so we are just going out and talking to everyone!

We also saw this kid who was riding his bike and drinking Kool-aid and then as we waved while we drove by he spit out his Kool-aid and almost crashed his bike. It was super comical. So many weird things have been happening and we meet so many interesting people. One of our recent converts called us after he got bit by a dog... and then went to the ER. And our apartment had a Pooh Bear shower curtain, rug, TOILET SEAT COVER, and trash can. Sister Jones and I couldn't handle it so we are remodeling our bathroom. It has just been quite the adventure this week! Oh and we got to make candy leis with a member for the girls that are at girls camp this week! It reminded me of graduation week mom!

BUT HERE IS THE BEST NEWS EVER! WE GET TO HELP WITH THE INDY TEMPLE OPEN HOUSE! We got to take a preliminary tour yesterday as missionaries and it is my favorite temple! I love it so much! It is so beautiful and unique and we are just going to get everyone there to see it! Plus since we are sisters living close to the temple we get to help with the tours and everything! We are so excited and only 6 sets of sisters in our WHOLE mission get to help with it!

Also I have been studying Doctrine and Covenants section 109 where it is the dedicatory prayer on the Kirtland temple and in verse 13 it talks about how anyone who enters onto the threshold of the temple will be able to feel the spirit and know that it is the house of the Lord. HEARTS ARE GOING TO CHANGE! People and families will not be the same because of this event and I know that I am one of them. Even just going through that one time changed and helped to lift my spirits. I love the temple so much and I am so excited to help people to see how it can change their lives!

Sister Jones and I seriously feel SO blessed to be in this area. It is so supportive and of all the sister missionaries in the mission Heavenly Father kept us in the Muncie Stake so that we can be involved the most with this temple!