Week 16 & 17 - Nebraska City - Two Sister Missionaries Walk Into a Bar

Hello from the Midwest! Nothing is new, I'm still freezing. 

These past weeks have been wild, we had transfers on the 6th and I'm training a new missionary! Fresh out of the MTC, her name is Sister Church from Kanab UT. She gets roughly 5-10 jokes about her name every day. She's hilarious though, and we get along super well. 

We spend a lot of our time finding lately, we knock on lots of doors, we're starting to have preferences for doors we knock on. Soft green doors are the best. People here are generally nice, every once in a while you get someone who's a little nasty to you but we just wish them the best and move on. 

We are teaching this kid named Ayden right now, he's 12 and has a lot of misconceptions about the church, but definitely feels the spirit and wants to get baptized. As long as all goes well he should get baptized on March 2nd! We are stoked for him, he's my best friend right now.

There's also a part member family in the Nebraska City ward who owns a bar on the edge of town and we go there to teach them and have meals with them sometimes. They're the best, and they told us we can come to sing some hymns on karaoke next Monday before the open, we told them we would have to think about it. 

I love you all. Email me if you feel like you want to. I always like to hear from you. 

madeline.brown@missionary.org

Pretty Sky

Me and Sister Church

Walking Around on Sister Church's Second Day

With Sister Jawnie Grow

Got to Video Chat with Family Today!!!

Happy Valentines Day

Harley's Dog!

Transfer Day

Valentines Day

Sister Coleman Going Home :(

Public Library in Nehawka

Sister Terriipaia, Sister Sipple, Sister Tuala and Sister Thomas the Nurse

With Drew Livingston in Omaha

Week 15 - Nebraska City - Polar Vortex?

Hi Everyone!

Everyone has been emailing me about some polar vortex that went through the midwest? It was only -15° with -40° windchill so I don't know what everyone is talking about? Pretty warm here.

This week was pretty slow honestly, Tuesday we had Zone Conference so we drove all the way out to Grand Island about 3 hours away to do that with the Lincoln sisters which was fun. I never realized how much you can learn from the songs "If the Savior Stood Beside Me" and "I Belong to the Church of Jesus Christ". It really is something to think about, if the Savior stood beside you, would you do the things you do? Say the things you say? What we don't realize enough, is that the Savior is ALREADY always beside us. 

Wednesday we were grounded due to the extreme weather, so we called a bunch of people from home and that was about all we could do. 

Thursday we went up to Syracuse (which consists of about 20 streets total) and started teaching the Mayor hahaha. He's a cool guy. His name is KC and he's got a great family. We also had dinner there and watched tour videos of the Rome Italy temple, (which looks like a dream, I recommend you go check those out if you haven't) no doubt that is the house of the Lord.

Friday we went to Auburn and this other tiny tiny town called Nemaha (consists of probably 5 streets total) and visited Jawnie Grow, my best friend. She's 94 and still young, as she says. We sang hymns to her and the spirit is always so strong when we do that. 

Saturday we had a funeral for Brother Blair, The man from the ward who passed away last Sunday. It was very sweet and touching. All of his kids sang Come Come Ye Saints and I might've shed a couple tears. A lot of tears. That's my favorite hymn ever, listen to it this week when you have the time. (The Lower Lights has a good version) 

Sunday I got a call from President Ence telling me that I'm training next transfer! Crazy news since I am just finishing being trained this transfer. I'll meet my trainee on Wednesday and I'm so excited! 

Love you all, as always, and I hope you are well! Email me and let me know how you are doing, the good the bad and the ugly. 

This week, serve someone. Anyone! Just go outside and look around because there is always something to be done and it never goes unnoticed. Service is one of the most important and easiest things you can do to become like our Savior, Jesus Christ and to grow spiritually. 

"As we serve, we draw closer to God. We come to know Him in ways that we otherwise might not. Our faith in Him increases. Our problems are put into perspective. Life becomes more satisfying. Our love for others increases, as well as our desire to serve. Through this blessed process, we become more like God, and we are better prepared to return to Him."

-Elder Carl B Cook, October 2016 General Conference 

You all are amazing children of our Heavenly Father and he wants you to be the best you can be. Serving can help us to realize and develop the gifts and strengths that we all have, and will bless you as well as the people you serve. 

Till next Monday :)
-Sister Brown

Dinner at a crazy nice restaurant

Sister Tuala's Last Dinner with the Martins

Today

Sister T and I at El Portal (the only Mexican restaurant besides Taco Bell)

Week 14 - Nebraska City - Whirlwind!

Hello! I've been out for 3 months this week!! Crazy how time flies. 

This week was probably the craziest week of my mission so far. 

Tuesday we had a blizzard and got 10 more inches of snow on top of the 13 that was already on the ground, and we weren't allowed to go outside that day so we played lots of cards and painted a ton. 

Wednesday we went knocking in Auburn and we weren't having any luck, then we came to this building in the neighborhood we were in and we couldn't tell if it was a house or a church, (this happens a lot in the midwest) so we just knocked anyway and immediately there was a man screaming at us from inside asking who was there and we just replied "the Sister Missionaries" and he continued to scream so we were about to just leave, then he opened up the door and that's how we met Jordan. He told us that it wasn't a house, it was an abandoned church, I asked if he was restoring it (because the inside was torn apart and cluttered with pipes and tools and wires) and he replied, "Nah, I live here. I'm a bum." This is when we realized he was also on drugs. We told him why we knocked and he started crying and said he was so happy to see us but told us he wasn't really interested in our message, but would love to talk, so he told us about how he thinks Jesus was a monk in Asia and how the Rasta movement and "free love" was the best thing that happened to the world, then gave us some of his rock collection and sent us on our way. 

Thursday we went to Lincoln and had our last district council for the transfer, which was really sad.

Friday JOEI WAS BAPTIZED!!! we all went to Lincoln together and her whole family came! (Which is a miracle) the spirit was so strong and you could see she was just glowing. We love her so much and she has been working so hard towards this step in her life, it was a really amazing service. She chose Mosiah 18:21 for her baptism scripture and it was perfect. I'd recommend reading and pondering that scripture sometimes.

Sunday we had a beloved ward member pass away. This small ward is such a tight-knit family so it took a toll on all the members. It was a sad day, we went and just shared scriptures and prayers and comforted the family and friends. He will be missed, but there is hope in the Plan of Salvation, and I know he is having a happy reunion with his parents and his brothers and sisters that have also passed on. 

I love you all so much, and I love hearing from you all even though sometimes I don't have a lot of time to reply to all of you. 

I know this Gospel that I have the opportunity to share is true, and that patience brings blessings. hahaha. The Lord's timing is perfect. 

Cold!

Last District Picture :(

The Whole Family at Joei's Baptism

Pizza with the District! 

Me and Sister T., Joei and Brother Martin :)

This was really cold! 

Week 13 - Nebraska City

At the Temple with Michael and Brother Jenkins!

Week 12 - Nebraska City - Snow in the Boonies

Hi! 

This last week was interesting. Monday I was wearing no coat no tights and basically sweating in 50° sunny weather, and by Friday night the temperature dropped to about 20 and it dumped snow for about 24 hours straight. We got a little over a foot and weren't allowed to drive on Saturday at all because of road conditions, so we studied a lot and played monopoly inside for a day. Sister Tuala and Sister Martin and I shoveled all the snow out of the driveway ourselves and then later that night we went and shoveled some other members driveways. I'm now aware of muscles I didn't know existed on my body. 

Yesterday we went to dinner at 5, about 30 min or so out of town in the middle of nowhere, and after dinner driving out got our car stuck in some snow on the dirt road. We had the members come to try to help us get out and just pushing the car was making it slide into a ditch with even more snow and not helping, so they brought out their truck to pull it out and their truck also got stuck hahaha. Long story short, we were there for about 3 hours and nothing budged so we ended up staying the night there and in the morning they called all the neighbors who all came with their trucks and we basically had the whole town helping us pull our car out of the snow hahaha. We felt so bad, but it shows how great the community here is.

Harley came to church and had a great time! We are trying to work with her dad to get her baptized but he lives in the middle of nowhere Missouri, 50min away from the nearest missionaries. Hopefully, they will find a way to meet with him and he will be willing and open to let her be baptized soon. 

Joei is still doing much better than before and is so excited to get baptized on the 25th. We love her and she has worked so hard to get here so we are praying the weather will be okay to drive to Lincoln and all will go well with that. 

Nebraska is super weird, but it's a great place and I'm so happy to be here nonetheless. I'm so thankful for the Gospel and for the happiness and peace that it brings to our lives. I know Jesus Christ is my savior and through his Atonement, we can overcome any trial or weakness that we might have, so long as we are faithful and obedient and remember that we have him to lean on.

I love & miss you all!

13 Inches of Snow

Genna!!

Hahaha

Sister T. and Sister Martin

George's bird, Sally

Bigfoot Sighting...

Finished Product

My Doodles

It's Cold!

Self Portrait 

Getting to Work

Week 11 - Nebraska City

Madi didn't have much time to write this week so she sent me a bunch of pictures and asked me to share those instead.

--Jessica 

Touring the Windmill Factory!

Mural in Lincoln

There is a part member family in the ward who owns a bar, and we teach them sometimes, but the only way to teach them is to go to the bar.

Joei and her family at Church!

On exchanges in Lincoln with Sister Munoz, we found this weird car and met the guy who owns it. Sister Munoz invited him to church and he said he would go if I was there and asked me for my number hahahaha! So we left. 

A kid at Mutual in the Lincoln ward and his sweet shirt...

My best friends in the ward, Aubrey and little Hannah

Train we got stuck behind for 50 minutes

I love these cactus gardens