Week 33 - Papillion & The Trail Center!

Hello beautiful friends and family!!!

This week was crazy here...every week is crazy here. There are a gazillion particles of pollen in the air now at any given time, and I sneeze my guts out every day. It's a good time.

Wednesday we had a lesson with this guy named John that we found, and we set him for baptism!!!! He is so cool. that's pretty much all we did on Wednesday.

Thursday we had district council, but we totally forgot hahahahaha so we did all of our morning studies, then got a text from our district leader who said: "are you coming?" And we just ran to the car and showed up almost 45 min late hahaha. The rest of the day we didn't do much, we had dinner and a lesson with Chloe and the elders. She made us Japanese ramen and sweet mango sticky rice. (Chloe's food is always incredible) then we taught her the 10 commandments and talked about the prophet, she is SO cool. We really just had a discussion about doctrine because she already knows and lives it all. We also told her about keeping the Sabbath day holy, and she said she has been closing her restaurant on Sundays ever since she found out that was a commandment...like 6 months ago...so golden. 

Friday we had a lesson with Amanda!!! We didn't have to drop her after all!! We went to Chic-Fil-A and talked about the Book of Mormon and how it can bless us. She is really searching, and it's really cool to see. 

Saturday we had a mission-wide meeting with Elder Renlund!!!! The whole mission showed up at 7 AM and organized for a picture, and it was amazing. The reverence was UNREAL. Instead of idle chatter throughout the missionaries, every one sung hymns together as a mission while we waited for Elder Renlund to get there. When he came in we all recited The Living Christ. Then we all got to shake his hand as we walked into the chapel for the meeting. He is a spiritual giant, it was amazing to hear from him. I could've sat there all day and listened. 

Sunday we had Stake Conference with Elder Cook of the 70. He talked a lot about President Nelson and how he is the busiest man, but also has time for everyone. It made me really think about myself. My ultimate goal as a missionary, and in life, is to help everyone feel like they are important and heard, I need to be like President Nelson.

Later we had dinner with Sister Ramos and her Fiance Chris, who is getting baptized on the 22nd of June!!! We taught him the Word of Wisdom and read with him about Jesus Christ in the garden of Gethsemane and talked about the bitter cup he drank for us. He was really apprehensive about giving up coffee and beer, so I am giving up soda in support for him. (Its gonna be a long road hahahaha) 

I'm not getting transferred...but I will be getting a new companion....and I will be in the Trail Center one day a week!!!!!

I am so excited to serve in the visitors center finally! It's going to be such a cool experience. 

I love you all!!!!!!!! Remember that you are all sons and daughters of God with divine worth. He knows and loves each one of you. 

-Sister Brown

Mural in Little Mexico

A picture I put together of the Provo Temple

Chris, Sister Ramos fiance, is getting baptized on the 22nd!!!

My best friend Hermana Jorgensen

The WHOLE MISSION + Elder Renlund

We have fun :)

My Daughter

My District!
Left to right: Elder Campbell, Elder Mathews, Elder Collins, Elder Andrews, Sister Nelson, Me

My Mom

Transfer day

Hermana Jorgensen

Sister Torsak feat. Elder Collins

Me being like...what is this

Hermana Hansen

Having fun

Sister Ramos and Chris

A little thing I made with my pressed flowers

Cool Clouds

Hermana Kinard

Week 31 & 32 - Papillion

Winter Quarters Temple

A nice message carved into the sidewalk

Hermana Esplin

I got bug-spray on my nametag :( I had to get a new one

Hanging out at the Trail Center with Sister Johnson

Found a Frog!

Raking...

Me on a lawnmower

Booth we did to find people to teach

Winter Quarters Temple

A horse named Applejack 

Some Nebraska Scenery

Me and Sister Nelson

Me in Nebraska :)

Planting corn

Planted sweet corn, we tilled and raked and planted the whole patch of corn

Watercolor

Week 30 - Papillion

Highlights from this week: (From Mom)

*Chole set a baptism date!!! She prayed about it and had her own conformation and has decided to be baptized. 

*An apostle will be visiting their mission and speaking to them in a few weeks and they are very excited!

*They had a very successful thrift shopping excursion on P-Day. It is getting hot and humid and Madi found a cute summer dress and a few other cool things. 

*The Stake President gave her a rock, (a polished gemstone). As many of you know, Madi loves rocks and has since before she could walk. Somehow she has acquired a collection of pretty rocks and crystals from people and places on her mission. People find out she loves them and give them to her.

Picking up packages and large print Books of Mormon at the mission office

Cool mural

In the mission office, in the new dress

Me with a lil dead snake

Thrift findings, $4 dress!!

He's cute, huh

I just like this picture

P-day adventures in La Calle Arriba de Mexico with the Hermana's

Week 29 - Papillion

Highlights this week (from Mom)

*Chloe arranged for Madi and Sister Nelson to be given a LOT of fully stamped cards for her restaurant, which allows them to come in anytime for a free sandwich for EACH card! 

*They found out Chic-Fil-A gives them (and all missionaries) the military discount :) (I don't think they will go hungry)

*On Mothers Day, Madi had a huge surprise. Her 1st cousin once removed (Mom's cousin) was in town and showed up in her ward. She said she "literally almost fell over and then started crying!" They sat together during church and got permission from President Ence to go to breakfast together the next morning. Madi says she is invested in her work and the people in her area, that she has learned how to recognize the spirit and how to be a good missionary. She is very positive and upbeat about life and missionary work. 

The only picture I got from exchanges with Sister Welch

Free Banh Mi!!!!

Breakfast with Stephanie

Stephanie's visit

Week 28 - Papillion - Actual Tornados

Hello everyone. I jinxed it in my last email. There were real tornados in Lincoln this week. Scary stuff.

We had transfers and I stayed in Cottonwood, my new companion is Sister Nelson (no relation to President Nelson, bummer) shes from Arizona and she's so fun to be with! She had been serving in the YSA ward for 8 months before coming here, this is her first family ward she is serving in and she said its wayyyy different. I've learned a lot from her already and I'm stoked for this transfer. 

We had transfer day and another lesson with Chloe, she made us beef & broccoli and Asian sweet soup for dessert, which is basically a really thin sweet almond syrup, almond-flavored gelatin cubes and crushed almonds sprinkled on top. It's soooooo different but soooooo good

We walked around a LOT this week. The weather was really nice, so we just went out and walked everywhere. We had so many cool miracles and talked to a lot of amazing people (most of them spoke Spanish. My Spanish is getting better though and I was able to communicate with them pretty well. We do free English classes for anyone who wants to come, so I gave out a lot of cards for that, hopefully, people show up hahaha.

I love being a missionary! 

One of my studies this week that I really enjoyed was from Ether 2-6. The story of the Brother of Jared building the barges to go to the promised land. I had always focused on the first part of that story, him praying and working to receive answers to his prayers (because we must work to receive answers) but this time I focused more on chapter 6 and their actual journey to the promised land. It's such an amazing. and overlooked the miracle that the wind always blew toward the promised land though they had no control over any of it. Sometimes that's how we feel, like we have no control over anything. Like the whole world is against us and weighing on our shoulders, but there are always those small things that we do have control over. We have control over our own actions and our own conversion. We have control over our own thoughts and prayers and the way we treat others. These people on these barges didn't sit and complain that the journey was long, or that the boat smelled, or that they were sick of each other. They didn't just give up and ask God "why me??? why do I have to do this??" Instead, they chose to be positive. They chose to sing and praise and uplift each other even with all that seemed against them, and the wind never ceased to blow towards the promised land. 

The promised land for us is the celestial kingdom, right? Eternity with our families and loved ones and with our Heavenly Father. A lot of our journey is going to be filled with pain, and suffering, and trial. How we choose to act and what we choose to do in those times of trial will determine where the wind will blow and where we will end up. The only way for us to get to our promised land is for us to give up the things we can't control to God, and focus on what we can control in our own lives, striving for good continually and enduring to the end with faith. As long as we are doing that, the "wind" will never cease to blow us toward the promised land.

Ulysses! We met him outside his apartment while walking and taught him the whole restoration!

Florence, NE

This weird smoker we saw while walking

Pretty blossoms

Dinner with Elders and Chloe

We live in the apartment above the Spanish Hermanas now so we hang out at night and work out together in the morning. They are so fun. Hermana Hansen and Hermana Jorgensen

Me and a tiny puppy

New companion Sister Nelson!

One of the Spanish Elders recent converts, Rafael

Another one of the weird smoker