This is what it´s all about. Working hard and having fun and doing the will of the Lord.

WHAT A WEEK!!

July 14, 2014 

What a week!! It´s been crazy, and it seems like it took forever too! But it´s been great! 

Monday we played basketball and soccer with the elders. It was a fun time. I already talked about it in my last letter. That afternoon, we went to see a future and decided to knock the doors. We knocked the first one and the man let us in. As we got in and said we were missionaries, he didn´t really want anything to do with us. We asked him and his wife if we could say a prayer with them and then we asked if there was anyone that was passing through bad times and that we could include in our prayer and the woman started crying. Her sister had passed away recently and so after that, we got a return appointment and it was a super cool experience. The rest of the day was filled with finding a lot of people. It was good start to the week!! 

Tuesday we had intercambios with Hna. Samuelson and Hna. Morris. It was good.  Hna. Samuelson came with Hna. Grant and me and Hna. Guerrero left and was with Hna. Morris. It was a good intercambio. We went to see a future, a Muslim teenager.  When we got there her mom was super happy to see us young girls preaching the gospel. She was so cute and she fed us. (even though they were fasting) It was super yummy meat. I was really happy!  

Wednesday was a great day. We taught 10 lessons. We had intercambios in the morning, and then in the afternoon, we did splits in our area. WE got a lot done. Then that night, a bunch of the Hermanas came to our house and we had 7 of us there.

It was super fun. I got to talk to Hna. Roan. I just love her so much.  

Thursday was the multizone conference. It was fun. It was super great.

The ´´theme´´ was ´2 times in White´ It´s talking about being in white in baptism and the temple. It was a really amazing conference. We learned a lot of stuff. Then I went on a 5 hour bus ride to Almeria. It stopped in every pueblo and took forever. I got super sick too. We didn´t even get there in time to proselyte, but it was good. Hna. Becerra is awesome, just super quiet.  

Friday was a long morning. All of the citas in Almeria failed, then I rode another long bus ride back. Luckily, Hna. Becerra is awesome and made yummy lunch!!

When I got back to Málaga, we taught Gilbert and Jhannet and played basketball. It was fun. We won. 

Saturday was Hna. Guerrero´s birthday and we had a piñata and saw a few members. It was a good day. 

Sunday we went to Elenir´s and ate yummy food again. She cooks so well! I love it so much, best salad in the world and yummy Brazilian meat!!  I love it.  

It was a good week, lots of things happened, quite a bit of drama, but it all worked out okay!!! 

Love you!!   

Love, Sara

Hot Days in Malaga!

What a week!!! Happy Fourth of July!!

This week has been super super long! It´s been good, just long!

My first TRIO and I love it!  We decided we are a 'SHEO'.

Monday all the SHEs and Zone Leaders came into Málaga and we tried to go bowling, but apparently the alley went out of business. It was sad, but we all just hung out at the train station/mall thing. It was fun! Hna. Johnson was there and Hna. Read too!! We talked for awhile and ate there. Then we all got on the train and went to Fuengirola. Concilio was different this week. We went to the chapel in Fuengirola and had our meeting there. We had good food. We had bbq sandwiches. Then we had the meeting, and another different thing about this time was that other missionaries talked and taught.

There were three companionships that had to give talks and we were one of them. We had to talk about nightly planning. It went pretty well. It was a good concilio. After, we had dessert and were able to go back to President´s house.

We had such a fun time with all of the hermanas. I did the haka and taught them the game ´pukana´ they loved it! Then we all danced some hula and flamenco! It was a blast. Then we sang to Hna. Johnson because it was her birthday on Tuesday.

Tuesday morning we ran in where all the hnas were sleeping and woke hna. Johnson up and sang to her. Then I gave her the letter I wrote to her, and she LOVED the pictures. Thank you so much for doing that!! (: She wouldn´t stop looking at them! I went upstairs with her and we talked as she ironed her shirt. I really am so lucky I´ve been with her for most of my mission! (: She is my best friend and I think she is a big reason why I don´t get home sick (or more like mom-sick) because she´s like my mom out here and she´s always around.

It´s nice, I just don´t know what I´m gonna do when she goes home! After reminiscing about our good times in Huelva, we got ready for the day and had concilio. We all gave our numbers and we were the last hermanas to give them. We were able to say that we had 2 baptisms and got standards 5 out of 5 times. It was pretty cool. After concilio, we went to the train station and ate and then Hna. Johnson left. We had a few lessons. We taught Elias and it was super cute. He is 8 and we were teaching the 10 commandments and he remembered all of them. Then we taught Milagros and Mari and Milagros is so excited to go to the temple! I just love them!

Wednesday was a good day, we had a lot of lessons, and none of them really failed us. That night, we went and visited Alicia and her family. Her son is a little monster. We broke the ice a little with him and played ninja. He loved it. Cheated a little, but loved it. 

Thursday we had intercambios and Hna. Guerrero went to Granada because her mom is there. Hna. Clark came here with us.

It worked out pretty well because it was the fourth and we were all Americans.

We celebrated in every way we could! We sang every song we could think of and took lots of pictures, and we planned a party for all the missionaries during medio dia! It was fun! You saw the pictures. A lot of our plans failed with Hna. Clark, but it was still okay.

Friday was the Fourth of July and on Thursday night I had a dream and I saw all of you at the parade. I woke up really sad, but it was all okay! It was a really fun day!

I´m glad I wasn´t homesick, and I think we made it fun so no one else was either. 

Our American Food-pancakes!

What's more American than hamburgers!!

Saturday was such a great day!!! (: Elenir called us and said that we needed to come eat at her house. We had to catch the train, so before that we were about to knock a door and a bomb of bird poop hit Hna. Grant and Guerrero. It was disgusting. It was EVERYWHERE on them. I felt bad, I tried to help them clean it up, but I started dry heaving. Then we had to go home and hurry and clean up. It was disgusting, poor girls. Then we went to Elenir´s and ate super yummy bbq. The bishop´s family was there again. The bishop and his wife like me a lot because I´m a good eater. Haha the bishop´s wife acts like she doesn't like the others, but she just comes up to me and kisses and hugs me. Haha and says that she loves me because I´m a good eater!! (: I like her. 

Sunday was a rough day. We didn´t have three in the church ): but after church the American family finally invited us to eat. It was SO fun. I have not had that my entire mission. It was crazy being with Americans. I loved it so much. We had yummy taco salads. They are actually from Mexico but have lived in US all their lives.

Monday we played sports with the elders. We played basketball and soccer. It was a lot of fun! I love playing with Hna. Guerrero because she likes sports! It´s fun!

Rocking my fanny pack!!  I can't use my shoulder bag because
it's been hurting my shoulders!!

It´s been a great week! Long, but great! I love the mission. Best decision I´ve ever made. I´m super happy. Very, very happy. I´m going to keep working until the very end, no matter how tired I am or no matter what happens! It´s my goal and I¨m going to do it!!

I love you so much!!!

Love,

Sara

Another Awesome Week! (June 30, 2014)

What an awesome week!!! (: We got a new companion and it´s been fantastic!!

Monday was a lot of fun!! I already talked about our trip to Ronda!! It was awesome! I loved it! We´re probably going to go again with Elder Gonzales and Shieble in a few weeks. After p-day, we went and visited Milagros. There was a little miscommunication and she said she wasn´t home. We went to our noche de hogar with Lucy, Magali, Alan and Milagros and her husband. They are all less active members from Paraguay and it was probably the best noche de hogar I´ve ever had. Everyone participated and had so much fun together. We played some games, ate empanadas, and had a super cool lesson. It was great. We´re working with all of them and they should be rescued soon!! Then we went back and saw Milagros. We taught a bunch of things to her, especially because we had to prepare her for her baptism. It went well, she pretty much accepts everything super fast!

Tuesday we had our last district meeting and signed journals and stuff. That afternoon, we saw Jenni and Alberta. Alberta is an 10 year old daughter of a less-active. She wants to be baptized, so we are going to work with her. It will be fun! We also taught Milagros that night too. 

Wednesday was a crazy day. Everyone was leaving and coming through Málaga! It was fun, we got to see so many people pass through. All my favorite missionaries are in my zone now!!! Hna. Rawle is here in Málaga, Hna. Read is here!!!! (: Hna. Hubbard is also in Málaga. Then there is Hna. Roan in Almería, and Hna. Folsom in Fuengirola! They are so awesome and I´m super excited to work with them!! It was so fun to see Hna. Read! While we were waiting for everyone to get here, we went and played games like Ninja, and Psychiatrist in the park. It was super fun and then we ate at dominoes. We had to baby-sit some girls so we just hung out around the station.

WE are special!! 

Hna. Guerrero came and we just gave her the biggest hug. It was fun!! Then we went and dropped her stuff off and then headed to the church. We taught Blanca and she is really sad. She is always working, and really wants to come to church, but can´t. We also taught Sergio. He is a less-active that knows what he should be doing, but isn´t doing it. He also read my palms. It was weird. Before he read them, he told me - you´re nervous aren´t you? You´re worried about something going on at home, or you´re worried about what is going to happen when you get home. I don´t think I am nervous at all. Then he said, do you have someone writing you? I said, yes. Then he said, ´´he doesn´t love you.´´ I tried not to laugh, and I explained that actually I´m the one who doesn´t really have any interest. It was awkward. Then he read my palm and told me how many kids I was going to have... you want to know what he told me???  3... only 3. That is not going to happen, I told him if that ends up happening, I´m going to adopt. He thinks I should finish my education and get a job before I even start thinking of getting married. It was just a weird conversation. Anyway.. .then we saw Angelica and she is just the cutest. I wish she didn´t have to work on Sundays so that she could come to church.

Thursday we had weekly planning. It was SOOOOO long. But oh well.. at least it´s only once a week. Our eating appointment failed us, so hna Grant cut my hair. Just trimmed the ends, it feels and looks so much healthier now. Then we taught Jenni and found a new investigator Joy. She is super cute. She is nigerian and wants to come to church. Then we saw Jacki and she pretty much dropped us. ): it was sad. Then we taught Milagros about tithing. She didn´t really understand the object lesson we did. But it all worked out. 

Friday morning we saw Mari and finished up the lessons. She is ready for her baptism. We ate with our Dueña and she fed us Paella. It was FILLED with seafood. It was pretty good, there were octopus and it had a super weird texture, but still good. Then we saw a less active named Milagros. She is doing great, all she needs is a calling. Then we went to the church for the interviews of Milagros and Mari. Everything went fine. Then we taught someone named Mamaru. He is muslim, kind of like everyone we find outside of our house because there is a big mass thing where they all go to pray. It´s super beautiful though.
Saturday morning was a struggle. We did teach a few lessons, but it was a long morning of walking. But saturday night was great... except a few bad things that happened. First as we were walking out of the piso, we forgot paper. We ran back up the stairs and grabbed it. Then... when we got all the way to the church, and forgot the clothes back at the house. We ran back and then got back to the church. We finished the program and went to check on the font (which should have been about filled) It wasn´t. We didn´t know how to plug it. We figured it out, and Milagros and Mari were super nervous. A lot of people showed up. During the talks, Mari turns to us and asks if she can leave because she was super nervous. She went into the hall and Milagros was baptized first. Mari, the daughter, was freaking out. She finally asked if we could ask everyone to leave the room. We did it, the important thing is, is that she is baptized. The members all left and she was baptized. They all came back in and we passed papers around and had them write testimonies and advice on them. It was good. The best part is is that they are baptized. What a struggle though. And some of the members were SUPER mad. I felt bad, but what can ya do.

Milagros and Mari's baptism.  They are awesome.

Sunday was a great day. Milagros and Mari were confirmed and no one had to leave the room! It was great!! We also met a really cool less active guy. He wants to come back to church. Hopefully we can help him!

Today is going to be super fun! All of the zone leaders and SHEs are coming in for concilio so we are all going bowling! It is going to be a blast! I´m super excited to see Hna. Johnson. I miss her so much. I think when I get sad here, I miss you - but I also really miss hna. johnson. She is pretty much my mom here and has been with me or at least close for almost all of my mission. I can´t believe she goes home so soon!!! It´s crazy!

I love you so much!! I hope everything is going great there! I got the cutest email from Rachel today! It was even longer than yours. I cannot believe how big she is. She went to youth conference?!? no way! She speaks so grown up too! Wow.. it´s crazy! 

I´m doing great! to an answer to your letter.. i´m not homesick at all! I love my mission, and I never want it to end. I´m trying my hardest every day to do the best I can do!

TE QUIERO!!

Love,

Sara

I LOVE THIS WORK! June 23, 2014

Our Trip to Ronda-It's beautiful!

This week has been amazing and the Lord is blessing us so much. Sometimes I feel like I don´t deserve it, but He just keeps blessing us with more and more people to teach and bring to Him.

Last Monday, we proselited all day - and we taught a homeless man named Antonio. We see him all the time, he looks like the actor on the tv show, ´´Once Upon a Time´´ and everytime I see him, I want to take a picture with him to show you. Maybe I will. He took the Book of Mormon, we´ll see if he reads it. Then we saw Milagros. We were super worried about this lesson that we were going to have with her. It was about the word of wisdom and we thought we both smelled smoke on her - when we went to teach her we asked her if she would struggle with any of the five things. She told us sometimes she drinks coffee, but now that she knows she isn´t supposed to, she said she will quit drinking it. What a cool experience. We fasted for help to know how to teach this lesson and how we could help her quit her ´bad habits´ but Heavenly Father blessed us and blessed Milagros too - to be able to want to quit that fast. Such a great thing, fasting. We also saw a less active named Milagros. She is super great, the only reason she isn´t rescued is because they don´t have her church records here. They are working on it though, then she is going to the temple! (: We also saw a less active named Magali. She is 21 and was pretty inactive for a while. She said she was with the wrong type of people, but she has been coming back to church and reading and praying every night. What a cool thing to see!

Tuesday we had district meeting with the other district. It was fun, then we ate with Milagros before intercambios. We had chicken pot pie, kind of. She said she wanted to make something for us to remind us of home!! Then we went on intercambios. I stayed in the area with Hna. Robayo! It was super fun. She only speaks spanish, but it was super fun! We taught Jenni then we taught Houssain. He was really sad, and he asked to talk to just me. but we said we couldn´t do that. He was worried about his family. Then we taught Milagros about a lot of stuff, and she just accepted everything. Then we taught Gilbert about the gospel of Jesus Christ. It went well, I hope!! 

Wednesday we found a few new investigators so that was nice! After the intercambio, we had to run to the bus station and take a bus to Almería (which is 3 1-2 hours away) we went to help the hermanas out for a few hours. We did splits with them. It was fun. I got to be with Hna. Becerra. I love her too!!!! She is Ecuadorian and I just love her. She said she wants to be my companion one day! That would be fun. I think she´s a sweetheart. We went and taught Robert. I think I told you about him. He´s the one that said he felt something really strong when I taught him. I went back and he just did the same thing. Then he said he was praying so I would get called to serve in Almería. Haha he is a dork. I just want him to be baptized. That night, Hna. Grant and I slept out in the living room: i slept on a couch and she slept on a matress. It was great. Then we got on the bus the next morning and came back to Málaga. Robert texted the hnas to see if he could say goodbye to me at the bus station. Awkward. He didn´t come. That evening, we found a new investigator Raquel. It was a good lesson, we were a little late to our next lesson but it was good. A member Sara accompanied us all evening. It was good. A few people failed, but it was a good day. 

Friday morning President Deere suprised us with a call. I was so scared when I saw his name on my phone. He asked us what we would think if he gave us another companion. We didn´t really know what to think. He didn´t tell us who it would be, but he said it´s a thought that he has. After, I took a bus to Fuengirola for intercambios. I was with Hna. Herrera. I had a lot of Spanish practice this week. I was with 3 natives, but I just love every one of them. It was a rough day, we walked a lot and didn´t have much work. Hna. Herrera was getting a little bit down, but it was alright. That happens. That night, before I got on the train, Pres. Deere called and said that Hna. Guerrero was going to be our new companion. I was really excited. She is amazing! 

Saturday we played volleyball with the zone. Man, it has been so long since I´ve played sports. It was such a fun day. Our team dominated! such a fun time! That night, we saw Alicia and found out the needs of their family. It was a good lesson.

Sunday was amazing. What miracles. We were waiting for Milagros and Mari to come to church, because if not - they couldn´t be baptized next saturday. We waited and they came into view and I just got so happy. As we were sitting in sacrament, we still needed one more person before we made standards, but I wasn´t worried. The Holy Ghost just helped me feel super calm and happy. Milagros baptism was announced during church and she jsut got so excited. She and Mari are really excited for their baptisms next saturday. It is going to be super special and exciting. After sacrament, the elders came up to us and told us that we had a new investigator there. We made our standards again, for the 4th week in a row. We have been very very blessed and I am so grateful for the miracles that we are seeing. I know I´m not doing anything, it´s the Lord working through me. I´m putting all I have into this work - and I want to continue to do that for the rest of my mission. As we were walking home, we started talking to everyone, and we ended up finding 2 new investigators. Just what we needed!! I was super happy. 

Well.. It´s been an incredible transfer. I don´t think I´ve ever worked this hard in my life. It´s a lot of fun to see the miracles happen. I love this work. It´s incredible what can happen when you put your trust and every bit of faith into doing what the Lord wants.

Love,

Hna. Sara Brown

June 16, 2014-What a crazy week!!

What a crazy week!! Like every other one, but this week especially went by pretty fast. So last week I told you about a woman named Milagros. She is amazing. I love her so much already. We gave her the Book of Mormon on Sunday when we met her, and we asked her to start reading it, we went back Monday evening and she had everything marked and had read all the introduction and first chapter of Nephi. She marked all of the pictures in the front and what was happening in each of them. It was super cute. She said she is understanding it ´´poco a poco´´. She is adorable, and really is interested in the church. 

Tuesday we had district meeting and then Hna. Grant left to Granada and Hna. Ashby came and was here with me. It was my first time staying in my area alone, but it went great. Hna. Ashby is in Hna. Read´s group and she is doing a great job. We saw Jenni and it was a super awkward lesson. She is our 11 year old investigator that really wants to be baptized, but her less-active parents won´t let her. But she doesn´t really talk alot, so the lessons are super weird and short. Then we saw Maria Luisa and taught her about the Holy Ghost. We started reading in the Book of Mormon and she started to fall asleep super fast. The rest of the night people kept failing us, so we contacted a lot. We ended up getting 13 futures - which was pretty good. The next morning, we had correlation and then Hna. Ashby left and I went with the other Málaga hnas until Hna. Grant got back. I guess when Hna. Ashby went back to Granada they asked how it went and she said, ´´we got a lot of futures, but that´s just because Málaga is just a golden place.´´ Haha... well I guess you could say that? When Hna. Grant got back, we taught Antonio and Milagros. We taught Milagros a little bit of the Plan of Salvation. When we got to the atonement, we invited her to be baptized. She said yes and she has a baptismal date for the 28th of June. She also told us that she wants her daughter to be baptized too!! After that, her daughter walked with us to english class. She is 15 and the prettiest girl ever. She is super tall, and wants to be a model. We also had to teach a GIANT noche de hogar that night at the church. A ton of members were there because an old missionary was visiting. It went really well. We taught about enduring to the end, and people really seemed to enjoy it. Then we went over to Angelica´s after. She is a less-active from Paraguay. She pulled out her phone and started giving us phone numbers for everyone she knows. It was great, and we actually had to stop her because it was getting late.

Thursday was Hna. Grant´s year mark. While she was gone on intercambios, I decorated the piso and had the other hnas make cookies, (since we don´t have an oven) Haha she liked it. It went well. Then we had our interview with President. It was interesting. I went in and it was going great. I brought up the question about being able to extend my mission - I was just seeing if it were an option. He pulled out a scripture to Alma 29 where it talks about. ´´Oh that I were an angel... ´´ then in vs. 3 it says, more or less, ´´but I am a man, and I should be content with the things the Lord hath allotted me´´ Then we left it at that. I was really troubled with the way it ended, so that next day, I went and read the rest of that chapter and something was there that I really needed to read. vs. 9 says something about being an instrument in His hands to bring SOME soul unto repentance. This helped me remember why I am here on a mission. After the interview, we went and saw Houssain. He has been wanting to come to church forever.. but he could never find it. We offered to walk with him. We did and showed him the church. Then, we went to see Gilbert and Jhannet. During the lesson, Gilbert says, ´´we are going to be so sad when you guys leave, we are going to miss you so much´´ we told him not to worry. We will stay here for awhile. They are so cute. We left in time to get home. But the bus didn´t come. Gilbert ran out, got in his car and yelled for us to get in. We had to hurry and explain that we couldn´t get in with just him. It was awkward. Then the bus came. They are the sweetest family ever.

Loli, this woman is my hero!!

Friday we met with a few of our muslim friends. They said the same argument about 20 times. It was getting a little annoying. At medio dia, we switched with Hna. Morris and Samuelson. Hna. Morris came with me. It went fine! I thought it was going to be worse after the first lesson we had when she whispered to me, ´´we´re leaving´´. I thought I´d be in for a long day. But it turned out fine. We taught Houssain and the spirit was really strong. We extended a fecha with him. He accepted. Also, we taught Milagros´ daughter, Mari. She accepted a fecha too!! They will be baptized on the 28th. It was a good day!

Saturday we went and saw Gilbert and Jhannet and talked about the sabbath day. It was good. They just kept asking about Hna. grant and where she was. Then we met back together and Hna. Grant and I worked that night. We had a lesson with Hakim. He needs to quit coffee. We´re going to call him every night this week and he said he´ll get baptized this Sunday. I hope so! 

Sunday, Milagros and Mari came to church. Also Houssain came, but he couldn´t find where to enter. Poor guy. These last three weeks have been incredible. It´s been so awesome to get standards 3 weeks in a row. We´ve been working a lot.

I´m exhausted, but I love it!!! 

It´s so fun being a missionary. 

I love you.

Love,

Hermana Brown