MY FAVORITE WEEK SO FAR!!

November 18, 2013

Happy Monday loved ones!

Well this week has probably been my favorite one yet! We´ve witnessed so many miracles and seen so many people be touched by the spirit. It´s really a feeling that I can´t describe, and something that I hope EVERYONE can feel!

Well... I had my first baptism this week!! Oh man, you don´t know how great it was to write that. Not because ´´whooo... I got a baptism´´ but because the Lord was able to work through me, to bring someone unto Him. The feeling I felt as ‘N’ went into the water was indescribable - I felt so happy, and I know she did too! (she came up laughing out of the water) 

So Monday.. nothing really special happened this day! But Tuesday we had district meeting and then had KEBOB after!! (: I was so happy!!! Then we played this zombie board game, where you build the board as you go.. it was pretty fun! Hermana ‘J’ won! Later that night, we went to Valverde with some sisters from the ward. We began our lesson the normal way, and asked how reading and praying was going! ‘N’ said, ´´I had an experience with my prayers´´. After she was finished praying, she said she felt a feeling in her chest of peace. Oh it was so amazing, the spirit was so strong there and she knew it was true. We asked if she was going to be baptized this Saturday, and she said yes! Then we talked to ‘G’ about how he was. He said he has doubts.. about Jesus Christ. He doesn´t believe that someone could be resurrected – I felt bad for him, because I think he was a little overwhelmed.  But he was very good about it, and I´m glad that both of them were so honest. Better to hear doubts now than the day of the baptism, or after. We taught them the word of wisdom, and both the kids said they would follow. ‘N’ is SO PREPARED. She has such an amazing testimony of the church and is stronger than a lot of people in the ward!!

On our way home from the lesson, the women were so funny!! ‘P’ cracks me up!! (she is the mother of two ADORABLE kids).

Wednesday we bought things for ‘N’s baptism. We got her a little picture album and we´re going to have people write things and put pictures in it too. We went to visit ‘N’ and ‘C’ before going out to Valverde and the lesson was interupted by POURING RAIN!! ‘N’ was a little distracted... after the lesson, Hna ‘J’ and I just played in it before getting on the bus! We were holding an umbrella, but not over our heads! People thought we were so crazy.. they said ´´Use your umbrella´´ and ´´you´re getting wet´´ it was fun! They were probably right though, because after that... we were FREEZING!!! 

The lesson with the M´s went well though.. We went through the baptismal questions with ‘N’. We asked her the first one ´´do you believe God is our Eternal Father´´ her response ´´Yo, creo que sí - porque...... (goes on to tell us the plan of salvation and in detail)´´ this girl is seriously amazing! She has a strong, strong testimony of the gospel. We went through the questions and then we get to one and Hna ‘J’ says.. ´´You probably don´t have a problem with this one, but have you ever committed a serious crime?´´ and ‘N’ says, ´´one time yeah´´  ´´when I was 6... I stole some gum´´ She is so funny!! I love her so much! (; Thursday we ate with ‘RM’ and ‘A’! They are such good people!! I hope they move to Utah!!!! They really, really want to! After our lesson with ‘M’, we went back to ‘RM´s and made the baptism program and our rice bags - then we had dinner with ‘MA’. It was hamburgers and they were AWESOME!! She´s so great (:  Friday we basically just got things ready for the baptism! Saturday was the big day!!!! We had breakfast with ‘C’ and ‘M’. We made them an American breakfast in return for picking us up from Valverde! We made pancakes, and we wanted to make puffed-ups but they didn´t have an oven ): Then we practiced our musical number. We sang Nearer my God to Thee, with ‘RM’. She sang soprano, I sang alto and Hna J sang tenor. It was good! ‘N’ looked beautiful today!! (: She is so amazing, I just can´t even tell you enough!

At the end of the baptism, her mom bore her testimony and it was BEAUTIFUL. She cried and the spirit was SO strong. Saturday was so so so amazing!

Sunday was also full of miracles! We were waiting by the door and a few primary kids came in, that don´t usually come! We took them up to primary and coming up the stairs was the ENTIRE ‘M’ family!! That means the husband joined them! (: It was so cool to see them together in the church! (: Also, ‘G’ brought one of his friends, ‘E’ (from Czech Republic) and we took her with us to Relief Society. She´s really cute! Probably the biggest miracle was seeing ‘C’ walk in to Relief Society with a big smile on her face. I teared up because I was so so so happy. She told us she was going to try to come, but I didn´t know if she actually would. She wants to change, and I think she´s going to!

This week was amazing, and the feelings I had, I can´t even put into words. 

Missionary work is so cool!! I am so grateful that I have this opportunity!

I love the gospel. I love the simplicity. I love the power of the Holy Ghost. I love my Savior.

I love you all so much!!

Love,

Hermana Sara Brown

ANOTHER GREAT MISSIONARY WEEK

November 11, 2013

¡Hola mi familia maravillosa!

¿Comó estáis?

I love you all so much!!

We did have a baptism planned for this Sunday, but N wanted to wait until her dad could be there. (Which is great) so we´ve pushed it for the 16th!! This Saturday! Please PLEASE continue to pray for them by name!! We´re hoping these next two lessons go well and they will be prepared! That´s really cool that Katie has her call because I just sent her a letter last week!! (: Haha funny!

Last week we were going to go see replicas of Christopher Columbus´ boats, but the guy that was going to drive us, couldn´t last week. Maybe next week! I bought two dresses from a chino for 8 euros, they are super cute! They go with everything too!!! Monday we taught C and her son N - it was so different from the other times we´ve been there.  We taught the restoration and N really liked it. He´s such a good boy - he´s 7 and so so sweet. Even though C was cleaning, I think she was still listening - that will be good for her. We also had a FHE with G and A. She made us SO MUCH FOOD!! It was so yummy! I loved it - the best part of the night, is that we didn´t have to spend money on the bus, because members saw us as they were driving and picked us up!

Tuesday, we went to Valverde. We taught tithing with candies - and G loved it! Wednesday I had a doctor´s appointment (yeah, I thought I would stop getting injured when I came on a mission too) but yeah everyone thought it would be best if I got my knee checked out before it got any worse. We got in to see a doctor and he examined it, then said we should get a MRI scan. We taught S´s family again Wednesday too - - they are just so great! She told me my Spanish was improving a LOT. She also told me I looked like someone from Little House on the Prairie. Oh and earlier that day, Hermana Johnson told me I looked like Princess Buttercup from The Princess Bride.  When we got back to Huelva, we started to get off the bus and we saw a woman who we wanted to talk to yesterday... but she was on the phone. She was quite a ways a head of us, so we creepily ran for her and started a conversation. Her name is C and I really hope that something good with happen!! Thursday we had the MRI and it was pretty funny. I don´t know much Spanish, and the doc didn´t know much English - it was interesting, but we finally were able to understand each other. The scan took about 25 minutes - so I took a nap! We had a lesson with M (her mother is less-active and she´s about 9 years old) We taught her the restoration and she participated a lot! She knew a lot about the prophets in the Bible.. she´s a cute little girl! We also visited N and C again and taught him the rest of the restoration. We told him he needed to pray every night and morning - he said ´´Hold on for a moment´´ He got his notebook and a pen and wrote (in cursive) “Orar por la noche”

            “Orar por la mañana” and then grabbed a clothespin and put it INSIDE the notebook to mark the place - Hermana J grabbed the clothespin and put it on the page to mark the right place. He is such a great boy!! Friday we went to Sevilla again for a Zone Meeting. It was really good! Elder O, who is just such a great missionary, gave the first talk. I think it sparked something in me to try harder, because this weekend I´ve had some serious change in my confidence for the language!

Saturday, N was supposed to come to sports, but his mom couldn´t bring him. A came (she is an investigator of the elders) but we helped her with her English. We started a fast for N and G. S and the kids were going to fast with us, but N got sick. The Relief Society had a sewing class and we didn´t have any citas so I couldn´t walk and proselyte. A came up to me and told me I was so cute, like a cupcake!  We played with the kids and had such a great time! We played ´´luz roja, luz verde´´ They loved it!! I just want to bring all of them home!!

Sunday was FANTASTIC!! Even though S´s kids didn´t come to church because N is sick - N (son of a less LESS active) and M (daughter of a less-active) came to church. G is the primary president and she was on cloud-nine when we brought in 3 kids for her primary!! Also - the elders had some investigators come too!! I had to teach the lesson in the investigator class! It was on prayer - and it was exactly what I NEEDED! A (a woman from ecuador) brought her friend (also from Ecuador) and I guess throughout the whole lesson, they both kept saying ´´this is exactly what I needed´´ and after the class the friend said ´´I´ve known about the church for so long, but now I´m going to follow these teachings´´ very cool!! The youth went to the temple this weekend, and they had a little fireside Sunday night. Hermana J and I were asked to come up with a musical number. We sang ´´Joseph Smith´s first Prayer´´ to the tune of ´´Come thou Fount´´ The members loved it! I hope they could feel the spirit! M A told us we were angels, and pure. She is so sweet. We also talked with Y tonight. She is doing alright, super lonely!

Well that´s it for this week!! I love you all so much. Here´s those answers to those questions!!

Are churros the same as they are here, or are they something different? The churros are a little different. Pretty much just fried batter - then you dip them in chocolate!!

Did you send your sd card this week?  We didn't get a letter yet and wondered if you sent it. I sent it last monday - I hope you get it!! I sent a letter in with it!

Have you had your primary program yet?  If so, how did it go? No not yet - it´s the first week in December I think.

I love you!! I´m so blessed to have the most amazing family in the world!!

Love,

Hermana Sara Brown

I´ll send a few pictures this week!!

We tried to get one of Elder M sleeping... but apparently, he woke up!

Long Boring Bus Rides Make for Silly Missionaries!

November 4, 2013

Thank you so much for the pictures Mom!! Looks like it was such a fun time (: I love EVERYONE´S costumes! They are the best!! Looks like the party was a success!!

This week has been pretty great, Thursday was a little hard... I think because I knew everyone was together, but I got over it quickly. I´m going to send my S.D. card home today so I don´t have any pictures to send, but you´ll get all of them soon. I also am going to send a little description of all of them!

Monday we met a lady with Parkinson´s. She came to the door, and then told us to come in. She had a hard time walking, and almost fell every step she took. She has the SWEETEST heart, and just wants to serve everyone. Her name is E - we´re going to try to have someone bring her to church, hopefully we´ll find someone! We also saw a less-active named C... I don´t know if I´ve talked about her before, but it´s been a while since we´ve visited her! She is not doing very well... but she does want her son to grow up in the church, so we´re going to start teaching him and get him to church.

Tuesday we had to go to Sevilla... AGAIN!

 We had zone training, and it was really useful! I learned a lot, and let me just say - President Deere is AWESOME!! When we got back to Huelva it was SO COLD. We had to go back to our piso and bundle up before going back out to tract.

On Wednesday we went to have a lesson with F, (he was the one I was telling you about, who was the ´golden investigator´ with 11 siblings. Well we knocked his door and he came out and grabbed the Libro de Mormón. We figured he was ready to have the lesson, but he ended up giving it back and saying he doesn´t have time and doesn´t want anything. We were shocked, and as we left - we both teared up a tiny bit. We both figured, that he had talked to this man who is in-active and was talking badly about the church. It was so sad, he seemed so interested before. I honestly think he was... later this week, we bumped into him and asked him what changed. He didn´t really give us an answer straight up, but he seemed sadder than before. We got paella today for the first time!! I loved it! (: We also went to Valverde tonight to teach the kids. G said he had an experience as he was praying. He prayed that he would not feel sick anymore, and in the middle of his prayer, he felt better. It helped his faith increase SO MUCH! We were so happy (:

Thursday was Halloween! In the morning we dressed up as Elders. (White shirts and black skirts) and in the afternoon, we decided to dress up as each other. You´ll see those pictures when you get the sd card. We bought roasted chesnuts (castañas) they were SO GOOD!! Friday was like a HUGE festivo in Spain - something to do with saints. BUt the ward had a party where we ate Migas... it´s where you cook bread and shrimp and other things in a big pan. It was really good. We played with the kids, and watched the women do Flamenco dancing!! It was really fun!

Saturday Morning, RM invited us to eat churros and chocolate! ahhh it was fantastic! (: Sunday, S and her kids came to church - and N is for sure being baptized next Sunday! We are SO EXCITED!!! She is such a good girl, and that is exactly what the ward needs!!

I know this church is true. I know with all my heart that Jesus Christ is my Savior, and He lives. I know He loves me and has suffered for all the pains and sins of the world. We watched a movie called - ¨To This End Was I Born´´ and it really helped me understand the sacrifice of the Savior, and even though the thing He had to go through was awful, it was necessary. I love my Savior and I am so happy to be a missionary.

I love you so much!

Love,

Hermana Brown

P.S. - I would love some candy corn! (; 

Hello beautiful and best family in the entire world!!!

October 28, 2013

This week has gone by quite slow I think. It´s really crazy how the time seems to pass here... like I´ve said before, the weeks seem like days - and the days seem like weeks. I was thinking back on this week and it seemed like it happened 3 or 4 weeks ago! But it´s been a pretty good week.

Last Monday was a pretty chill p-day. I actually took a nap because I was WORN out! (: Sorry to all of you that I needed to write letters to... I´ll get on that (;

Tuesday we had district meeting and afterwards we had to rush for Hermana J to catch a bus to Sevilla. We were doing inter-cambios (exchanges) and I was left by myself for a good 7 minutes (and yes.. I was freaking out) I was so surprised I would be that scared, but it was the first time I had been alone in 3 months - so it was pretty different! After what seemed like forever, a member from the ward came and got me. It was POURING rain, so it was so sweet of her to walk through that to pick me up. Her name is Y, she´s probably my new best friend! She´s from Dominican Republic, a single mother with 2 cute boys, and she knows quite a bit of English. I was hoping I would get some good Spanish practice in, but she spoke in English the whole time. I had such a good time with her.  She and I talked about our lives - and then she brought me out some tea (don´t worry, it was a kind that is okay) Then we sat by the window and watched the rain. She said, ´´This is romantic isn´t it´´ haha she is the funniest!! The whole time I was with her she wouldn´t stop thanking me for being there with her. She said that she gets lonely a lot. I was so happy I could be there with her. Later that evening I went to the bus station to pick up Hermana K... oh she is the cutest! She´s from Idaho and has super cute curly hair! I love her (: We went right to work when she got here, it was still pouring rain! None of our lessons worked out ): but we got one with our investigator, S. He accepted baptism, so we´ll see how that goes, he´s Muslim so yeah... We´ll see!

On Wednesday I had to stay with Y again! She made me lunch that time. She made this really nice HUGE fish. I can´t remember the name, I´ll have to ask again. It was really yummy though. We had another fun time, and this time I shared a little scripture with her. Then I helped her with English and she helped me with Spanish! When Hermana J came back we went to Valverde - G accepted the baptism date!! I hope both G and N will be able to do it together.

Thursday we taught a lesson to 2 less-active men. They are really nice, they just don´t come to church much. As I was saying the opening prayer, their bird was whistling a song - it´s like an army one or something. I don´t know what it´s called, but it was pretty funny. Later that night we had dinner with M A and she made us rice with mushrooms in it... I LOVED IT. I was surprised that I would like it, but it was yummy! We also stopped and talked to a man named F. We weren´t going to talk to him, but we thought we needed to. He is so ready I feel. 

Friday wasn´t very successful numbers-wise, but we are working super hard. AND S and her family came to the ward family home evening!! When I say family, I mean EVERYONE! Her husband came too (: From what we´ve heard about him, S said he wasn´t really interested in learning much, but when he introduced himself at fhe, he said that he likes what the kids are learning and maybe one day he will be baptized!! (: It´s amazing the miracles that are happening. It rained SO SO SO MUCH on Friday! I loved it.. It was finally cold! (: We went to visit F today, but we had the wrong address. We thought maybe he had given us a false address, but I was praying he would come outside or something, and I looked over and he was there. It was a little miscommunication. He said we could come by tomorrow!

Saturday we practiced a song we want to sing at N’s baptism. Savior, Redeemer of my Soul. We have it translated.. I like it better in English, but yeah it is really pretty. We got to teach F  today. You won´t believe how many siblings he has... 12!!!!! In SPAIN!?? Crazy.. He lives with his mom and sister and they both seem interested! It´s really fun (: His 11 other siblings live in Huelva - we might have a lot more investigators in the next few weeks! (: As we were on the streets today, no one was out. The big game between Madrid and Barcelona was going on. Everyone was in a bar or home - we got a few lessons in though, so that was good. On Sunday, we were waiting for S and her family to come, but she was really sick ): We were sitting in the missionary class ( where new converts, missionaries, and investigators attend) and a woman named G came in. A few weeks ago, she passed by the chapel and said, I want to come to church here. (We weren´t there, but NO ONE got her information) ): we were so happy she came. She is really interested, but during sacrament she didn´t appreciate the irreverence during the meeting ): She left in the middle of it. Oh man, I was so sad. It´s hard enough to get investigators to church, much less keep them coming. I hope she wants to give it a second chance.

I love the people of Huelva. I´m so attached to this place, I never want to leave! In my Book of Mormon study this week, I loved Mosiah 4:15. Here King Benjamin is giving his address

 - In vs. 15, I love how it teaches us to raise our children. I am so grateful for the amazing parents I have and the way I´ve been raised. I hope I can be as a parent as you are! I love you both so much. Have a great week everyone! I love you all!!

Love,  Hermana Sara Brown