First Baptism!

This week was awesome!  We had dinner with Brother Tatem on Monday, he took us to golden corral (a buffet place) so we certainly got plenty to eat.  We also had two exchanges this week.  So we had a lot of planning and did a lot of work in our area.  Lots of finding, contacting and lessons.  We also had interviews with President Smith this week, which always goes great.  He gives the best advice.  

The best part of the week though was the baptism, by far.  Sister Mountford got baptized  on Saturday, and it was a great service.  We had a really good turnout, with members and nonmembers alike.  Everything went awesome, and we got Chicken Fiesta to celebrate!  Yum.  After the baptism, everything just felt good.  It is such a good feeling to see others accepting Christ into their lives and making the decision to follow his example by being baptized by someone holding the Priesthood authority of God.  It is such a blessing to hold that same priesthood and be able to give blessings and participate in sacred ordinances. 

Elder Larson, Gloria Mountford, Elder Brown

Chicken fiesta

We also gave a blessing to a little girl yesterday for her toothache.  Her mom (a less active member) has made great progress lately.  She has been coming back to church very consistently, and has been reading the book of Mormon every day and loving it!  She is really starting to see how everything fits in the gospel, and getting her life back in gear.  All building on her foundation and faith in Christ. 

I love missionary work.  I find more joy in the work of the Lord than anything the world can offer.  And though the natural man in me wants many worldly things, I know that this is the best thing I can ever do in this life.  Have a wonderful week, and try your best to share the good news of Jesus Christ at every opportunity!

Elder Brown

District meeting!

Exchange

Taken a week or so ago.

Eclipse and Ticks!

This week was excellent yet again.  We had a lot of teaching appointments and member dinners.  We also had exchanges with Lawrenceville this week.  The exchange was.....interesting.  It wasn't a particularly good exchange for me, although I still learned a lot.  I suppose it was just different.  We didn't do a whole lot of proselyting because of some things that came up and appointments and such.

We have a baptism coming up Saturday.  Gloria has made her decision, and I am so excited for her!   We have had a bit of success finding, and some good lessons.  I love seeing people progress, and start to make positive changes in their life.  Especially when they start to recognize the spirit and apply the atonement in their lives.  

Today is the day of the big Eclipse, which should be cool.  Also, I found my first tick today!  Fun fun.  Not.  We have some cool monuments in our area, so I have attached a couple pics of those.  Anyway, I am still loving the work of the Lord, and dreading the day when my trainer goes home.  I'm sure my next companion will be great too, but we have become good friends, and I will certainly miss him.  The days keep counting down as the work progresses.

Classic view of the water towers

A really nice house in one of the rich neighborhoods in our area

A monument in our area

The reflexion on my chin of the eclipse

The Eclipse

Another monument in our area

Zone P-Day, Exchanges and Zone Conference

    This week was good, as always.  We had a bit of a scare with Gloria, an investigator.  She has been on date to baptised, and she called us this week to say she didn't feel ready.  Oh no!  It gave us quite a scare, because she is so prepared, and we haven't previously seen any problems with her.  Fortunately, Sister Baer is a miracle worker.  She sat down with her on Sunday and got Gloria to open up to her. Thank goodness for Sister Baer, she was able to resolve the problem!  We certainly would not have been able to resolve the problem that came up.  So Gloria is back on date, and more solid than ever.  
    We had a lesson with the Cathey family this week, and the two kids want to be baptized!  We are so excited. They still have not yet picked a date, but I'm sure it will be fairly soon.  Also, Vince has started to progress!  This is a huge breakthrough, because he has been so messed up for such a long time.  He wants to be better, and started reading the book of Mormon every day.  It has helped him immensely!  
    We were able to find a new investigator Saturday night in the first door we knocked!  What a miracle.  We couldn't find the street we had planned to tract, so we just ended up there.  I'm sure the spirit led us there.  I felt the spirit so strongly as we were talking, and I was able to testify boldly.  She has been looking for truth, and gladly accepted a book of Mormon and set up a return appointment.  We were also able to get in touch with a new investigator for the first time since we got in the area.  He was very accepting and gladly set a return appointment.  We have seen a lot of success lately.
   We had exchanges Thursday, and zone conference Friday!  Zone Conference was awesome!

Elder Brown

Aligning my will with God's!

Hi All,

Hope you are doing well.  This week was full of learning, working hard, and finding my rate of improvement.  Not taking too big of steps, but also not stopping in my progression.  I am finding my stride, and enjoying the joy that comes from aligning my will with God's and helping others to do the same.  We have continued to teach a lot and are continuing to find more people who are willing to accept Christ into their lives and follow his gospel.  I have become increasingly amazed at the power of the book of Mormon.  It puts forth the message of the gospel so clearly and simply.  As I continue to dive into the book of Mormon with others and help them to apply the atonement in their lives, I can feel the spirit so powerfully. 

Another of our investigators picked a baptismal date, and we are still expanding our teaching pool.  We did some more finding this week, and went into an apartment complex that had a lot of potential.  The first building we knocked had several callbacks and we found a man named Ty who seemed very interested and ready to make a change in his life.  I have also had some experiences this week that helped me to deepen my testimony.  Between yoga, 12-week and my personal studies, I have grown and learned a lot, and I don't plan to stop anytime soon.  Keep progressing, and find joy in whatever you do!

 Tobacco and Corn everywhere,

 

Collage Rocks