Hermana Brown -- Arizona Mesa Mission: WEEK 41: God is Good

Super amazing week this Week! So full of miracles and everything good. I've been learning a lot too. We are teaching this person online who asks us a lot of questions that usually we don't get asked so I'm learning a lot about church history and everything and it's super interesting. And right now in specific I recently read an article in the Ensign about the Dead Sea scrolls, it's super interesting and very cool. I am also reading the Book of Mormon again! I'm also learning a lot from it this time around. Something that really has been helping me a lot in my studies is having a specific question in mind. Right now mine is focused on repentance and faith, so there's a study tip if you want! One of my favorite scriptures at the moment is 1 Nephi 10:19.

We got to go to the temple this week and like always it's really really peaceful and beautiful to go. It always helps me feel relieved and renewed to continue to do the Lord's work. It's amazing the things we can feel in the house of the lord when we come with an open heart. The temple is always the right place to go.

So this week we met with the Aguirre family, who are a less active family that don't really want to do anything. We've been meeting with them for the past few weeks I've been in this ward and they just haven't changed at all. But we went to go visit them with our bishop this time and it was super powerful. We shared a few things and really just told them how it is. It was kind of bold what we did but it definitely made an impact on them. A few days after our visit the mom texted us and said, Hi how are you? I hope you have an excellent day... And stuff like that and this was all in Spanish of course, but she had never texted us before! And it was a really nice text as well. So then Sunday rolls around and we send her a text inviting them to church. They were planning on it but unfortunately didn't make it because her dad just got out of the hospital from surgery and they needed to visit him (valid excuse). So that night we decided to visit them and their home just felt different in a good way. They were really nice and we laughed a lot. And they committed to coming to church next Sunday! We convinced them by telling them we would come make pancakes with Nutella before church but they're still going to come! It's amazing to see the change they've made just in the four weeks that I've been here! I just love how the gospel changes lives and blesses families!

So I would just like to say that I am so so so grateful for my family and that they took the decision to accept the gospel and live it as well. It really is one of the biggest blessings that I think I took for granted a lot before the mission. I've just met and come to know a lot of people lately that come from hard situations and have it hard because they either don't have the gospel in their lives or they don't live it. So thank you so much for making that decision and allowing me to be here so I can help others find that same happiness I have in my own family. I love you all so much and am so grateful for every single one of you! Thanks for all you do!

Hermana Brown