WEEK 33: You are doing gweat!

Woohoo! Such a great week! And I'm currently writing this email while getting a pedicure! It's at this place and all the workers are Asian so it's pretty funny. Sooooo yeah!

So last Monday, the Vasquez family that I told you about last week fed us dinner! We usually don't have dinner with members on P-days and they wanted to feed us so, now they want to feed us every Monday. Unfortunately that cuts our P-day time, but they feel like family to us. So this week we taught them about the restoration and it went sooo well! We ask them questions and stuff, but also they make amazing comments throughout the lesson and its really good! We also extended a soft baptismal invitation and they said yes! So I'm sure we will set them on date this week! We also had a lesson reading the BofM with Andres, the dad and he knows so much. He was also asking us a lot about repentance and baptism so we showed him the video of Jesus getting baptized (shout out to you mom!) and it went really well! Definitely our focus family right now.

On Tuesday we had a 24 hour exchange with Sister Judy!!! So I went to Sister Judy's area for the exchange and Sister Morris stayed in Valencia. It was really fun and interesting being back with Sister Judy again because it was like old times and I'm a lot more confident in my teaching now, so we had a lot of fun. A lot of interesting things happened. We went to go visit someone they were thinking about dropping and we read the introduction in the Book of Mormon with her. Unfortunately after she read it she had a few questions but she just told us everything confused her and it all seemed like a lie. She felt really sorry after but she is definitely dropped now. We then went to go see some people that recently moved from Mexico and they are really receiving the message well. We were teaching the gospel of Jesus Christ and it went really well! We got to the point where we talk about baptism and we asked the member to share her testimony about baptism and Jesus Christ and it ended up being perfect because she shared how we need to be married first and they had not yet discovered that about them, so there is going to be two weddings and they told me I'm invited! So that was really exciting! Then we also had a really crazy lesson. We were teaching this guy named Brandon outside because we couldn't go inside without another female. So we begin by reading in the first chapter in the Book of Mormon and it was going really well! And then all of a sudden their dog comes out our of nowhere and just comes up to us and starts licking us. We were trying to keep the Spirit there so we just kind of ignored him and kept reading and discussing. But then it started to eat Sister Judy's hair and then it started completely chewing at my shoe! And we couldn't stop laughing! We finally got it together and ended the lesson, but it was really funny. So that was the best exchange I've ever been on!

So then on Thursday we had our last meeting with president Jenkins! It was kind of a zone conference, but just shorter and less trainings. But it was absolutely amazing! Sister Jenkins spoke first and left us with her testimony and  then recited the whole Living Christ from memory without hesitation, and the spirit was soooo strong. Then President Jenkins talked to us and gave us a lot of advice and left us with his blessing, and gave us part of his study journal on repentance. It was such a wonderful conference and at the end we all got hugs from president and Sister Jenkins! It's definitely going to be hard to see them go!

So then one more funny but kind of miracle story from the week. We were going to visit someone in these apartment complex but they are completely in the back so we made a goal to talk to everyone in our way. As we went we ran into a group of people who are drunk and this one lady comes up to us and says, " how did you know?!" Then she later explained that her son died exactly a year ago on that day and he called the missionaries the day before he died. So she thought we were angels and that her son Michael sent her. She was really drunk and crying throughout the whole thing, but she asked us to sing for her so we sang I am a Child of God and she took a video of us. So then at the end we were finally headed out and we asked if she had a BofM to read and then she said, "No! Let me go get my bible!" And she ran back into her apartment. We were standing outside for a little but and we really needed to get going because we had an appointment. So we were like, well should we run and pretend like were angels? And we thought about for a minute, and then we just ran! So hopefully she is all well now and I know we were supposed to talk to her.

So I am really sorry if I can't respond to you all this week because we are cutting close on time, but I really do appreciate you all and the time you take to write me! Also happy Father's Day to the best dad in the world! I love you so much daddy! I hope you have a great week!

Love you!

Hermana Brown

Judy and Brown reunited!

Finally got a picture from Flat Iron!

WEEK 32: Valencia ward!

Hola! We had such a great week and the Valencia ward is SO GREAT! All of the members are super loving and always come out teaching with us, they all welcomed me into the ward knowing I was new. It was hard to leave Liahona 4th, but I definitely feel very loved in this ward so it wasn't too bad! Also my companion Hermana Morris is super great and super fun, and she's from West Jordan, Utah! So we are a classic Utah companionship. But there are a lot of great people in this area that we are teaching as well! I'll tell you about a few of them.

First of all there is an online investigator we are teaching named Trevor and he is really interested in the church and has a ton of questions. Sister Morris has been teaching him for a while now, and now that I'm her companion I cover to help teach and get to know him! He used to read a lot of anti stuff and use that against them, but now he is just reading the standard works and stuff from lds.org. So we taught him the restoration this week and it answered a lot of the questions he had. And so hopefully he will be able to have a more open heart to accept the message. We also asked him if he would be baptized once he know the church is true and he said yes! So not sure when it will happen but he definitely has a lot of potential.

We are also teaching the Vasquez family and they are sooooooooo great! So the English missionaries were teaching Selene the mom, but then they found out the husband, Andres was interested as well and had been reading a lot in the Book of Mormon but he only knows Spanish so they handed him over to us. We just recently taught them the restoration and they had a lot of really good questions and comments about it. They LOVE to talk so sometimes the lessons get a little bit distracted, but it always finds its way back to the point of the lesson. They weren't able to come to church this Sunday because one of their sisters got in an accident but they are going to come next week! It's amazing to see that God really does prepare people who are in need of the gospel. I know this family is one of those that God has prepared to receive this message!

Then we are teaching someone named Sandra. Her son Richie just recently got baptized and she is starting to see the blessing so the gospel. She comes to church every Sunday but is still seeking and searching for her answer. We read 3 nephi 11 with her this week and it went really well. She told us how she feels like the people in the story and she is still waiting to receive an answer. What it seemed like is that she already knows the church is true but she's just waiting for an extra confirmation of the truth. So we are going to work on setting a baptism date with her and also the Vasquez family because they are all so ready.

The other thing that makes this ward so great to work in is that the bishop is very very supportive of the missionaries and helps the ward work together. He used to be a mission president in Argentina so he is very inspired. He likes to meet with the missionaries after church every Sunday and talk about the people in our area and gives us very inspired counsel.

So it was a very eventful week and I'm very excited for the work that needs to be done in this area! It's amazing to see how the work continues to move on no matter what area you are working in, there are always people who are ready to receive the gospel. President Jenkins is going to leave at the end of the month and we will get a new president. There will be a lot of changes made but the work will be the same and continue to move on. So you all can make the work go in as well! That's the challenge for the week! Love you all!

Hermana Brown

So the familia Gastelum used to live in Liahona 4 when I was there for my first transfer, but now they live in Valencia! They have this rattlesnake that people always take pictures with and I didn't have my picture yet, sooooo there's this....

We bought paletas but they turned out to be minis so sister Morris wanted the regular sized one but I thought it was a good size!

Us with Hermana Soto who came out with us! I forgot to tell you about her husband who recently got baptized. He used to be a Jehovah's witness and talked with missionaries for 7 years because he finally received his answer. He gave them all a pretty hard time, but now he has this amazing testimony!

WEEK 31 (can't think of a title)

Wow! What a great week! Soooo you know how last week I was just saying that the heat hasn't been too bad... Well this week it was SO HOT. It got to 115 this Saturday and it just feels like an oven every time you step out of the house or get out of the car. Soooooo yeah, but I'm getting used to it and drinking lots of water. But other than the heat it has been quite the week!

We have been meeting a lot with the Ortega family lately and they are doing so well. We read the scriptures with them a lot and they understand it really well! So they have two sons that got baptized but the parents are not members so we are really working with them, and they are sooo nice. It's just been hard to get them to commit. But they are such a fun family and have a lot of potential.

So then we had a few really great lessons with Reymundo this week. We taught him the Plan of Salvation and it was a little bit rough, so we went back to re teach it by reading in the Book of Mormon. We read in Alma 11 about when Zeezrom is taught by Amulek about the resurrection. And we had our member Jonathan with us who is a recent return missionary and the spirit was so strong. Reymundo still struggles with understanding the priesthood and our purpose and that's why he hasn't been able to fully accept baptism yet. And he hasn't come to church yet still! So we need to really state our purpose and help resolve his concerns. But he is doing really great and still praying to receive his answer.

On Sunday we had a really great miracle, really seeing the hand of God in our area. So our investigator Abraham, he has been taught for about six months now but hasn't been able to come to church because of work. But just this past Sunday he promised us he was going to come. Unfortunately that didn't happen. So we went to go visit him that night and ask him if this is what he really wants. He told us that he likes visiting with us but sometimes other things come up and he can't meet with us, read in the Book of Mormon, or go to church. So he is not really going to commit to anything so we had to drop him. It was really hard and we didn't really want to do it, but we knew it was right. So then as the night went on we were going to an apartment complex in our area where we had a lesson and as we were walking in we saw two guys unloading their car because they were moving in! So we asked if they needed help but they said they were fine. But then we got into talking about who we are (missionaries) and what we do and they were really interested! So they showed us where their apartment was and we gave them a Book of Mormon and they were really excited to read it! It was such a miracle and it really comes to show that Heavenly Father blesses us when we do things according to his will and his time.

Sooooooo it was transfers today (this past one flewwwww by) and I'm getting moved from Liahona 4th 😭😪 I've been there for 6 months now so I guess it's my time to leave. But now I am in the Valencia ward and my new companion is sister Morris! Super exciting! So yeah. Thanks for all of your love and support! Love you all!

Hermana Brown

District pictures

Sister Gutierrez found out she is being STL

We had lunch with the English sisters in our zone!

A member had a turtle and I fell in love with it. :)

WEEK 30: 30 weeks ago ya did!

What a great week! Things are really starting to pick up in the area and we found ten new investigators this week! So to start off I have sad news! Socorro moved to Texas on Friday ✈️:( her sister was having problems with her husband so they decided they need to get away for a little bit. Also the familia Pozos left as well, they moved to Washington yesterday which is really sad because they were some of the best members in our ward! It's kind of sad because the ward is really going downhill right now. A lot of members are going less active because they keep getting offended by people in the ward, so that's our biggest concern and work as of right now. So I think it will be
best that Socorro is in a new ward now.

Main highlights of the week, first, on Monday we had exchanges and I stayed in our area and sister Gonzalez came here, and sister Gutierrez left to the other area with sister Hernandez. I was really nervous because I'm still a little bit new to the area and don't know all the places to go or people to visit when lessons fall through. So it happened to be that on this exchange, every lesson but one fell through but the Lord definitely blessed me that night. After every lesson that canceled I was just continually praying for opportunities to talk with people and to know where to go, and he definitely answered my prayer! Although we knocked on lots of doors 🚪that night and couldn't find people at home, the Lord put people in our path that needed to hear something about the gospel.

On Wednesday we had a super great lesson with Reymundo the one I told you about last week. We had gotten out of dinner late so we were late to our appointment with him and we were already busy that day, so we were a little rushed but we taught the first half of the restoration. As it got time for us to go Reymundo started to open up to us, and my companion and I both felt like we just needed to listen, and he had such an amazing story to tell about his family, and he told us he's never been able to tell missionaries that before. Then we met with him again on Friday with the familia Juarez and it went so well! We taught the rest of the restoration and it was just beautiful. We invited him to pray and read about the Book of Mormon and to know if this is the true church. Then we extended the baptismal invitation when he receives his answer and he said yes! Then, He told us that he is really scared of God and being baptism send again because he's already been baptized 3 times in other religions, but he has been thinking a lot about baptism and wants to make sure his is valid. I think he's just a little scared to accept that this is what he needs to do. But I think he knows and he will definitely be baptized soon!

Then on Saturday we had a lesson with Brian, a recent convert and he moved wards so we had a hand off lesson with the Liahona first elders. It was really good but sad that he has to leave, but again it's probably for the better.

A lot of people have been asking me about the weather and it hasn't been too bad! It is hot but I'm pretty used to it. The highest it's been getting is the high 90s but it's only gone above 100 one day this month, which is not usual. So I might luck out and get cooler summer! Fingers crossed! But yeah it's been good! Transfers are this week so p
day will be on Tuesday next week! Love you all! Hasta luego!

Hermana Brown❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

Emojis at the request of my sister Gracie 😃

We tried to be cool in our ponchos that we all have 😂

Bahama Bucks again! Hermana Hershey and Elder Hoffmann hit 500 days on the mission :)

We got a watermelon and didn't want to cut the other half so we ate it with spoons 

Cooking lunch in the kitchen! 🌯🌯🌯

Sister Escobar has these dresses from Guatemala that are super cute and super light weight so they're great for Arizona! We all decided to match today.