Member missionary work, getting smartphones tomorrow!

Hi everyone!

This week was a bit different than usual, we found a lot of success, although our numbers were down, and we definitely had our ups and downs.  We had another lesson with our newest investigator, but we were interrupted by the lady he is living with. Holy cow there is a lot of tension there!  The spirit left super quick, and we were not far behind!  We basically established our purpose with them and arranged to teach them separately.  We were not able to meet with him again this week, but I'm not too worried.  He loves daily contact and is always super grateful to see us! 

We went to Staunton on exchanges after district meeting on Tuesday, and had a successful exchange!  Elder Burdette and I found a really cool new investigator for them just before the exchange ended! 

Questions of the Soul are bomb!  Some of them are found in chapter 5 of Preach My Gospel, and they work so well for finding!  Everyone has some kind of deep soul-searching question that they haven't found answers to yet, and the book of Mormon answers many, if not all of them!  We were also able to use that in our efforts in our own area, and tracting never feels better than when you are well prepared, have the spirit, and are optimistic! 

We have also been working with the members more, starting family mission plans, offering our help with anything they need, and helping them see the endless possibilities and the great blessings that come from doing missionary work!  

We went out to Nelson County (the boons) on Saturday with a member after helping unload the bishop's storehouse order, and got in contact with a recent convert and some other members who we are not usually able to visit.  I have attached pictures of that as well. 

 All the bad news happened on Sunday of all days.  Neither of the investigators that we were really counting on to come to church came!  We also received news that our investigator who is closest to baptism will be moving out of the mission!  That was tough to hear, but we will just try to help the transition from us to his new missionaries go smoothly.  

To end on a good note though, we have zone conference tomorrow, where we will receive smart phones with a data plan!  We will also have the Zone Leaders blitzing our area afterwards!  Best of luck this week!

Elder Brown 

The Stanton elders had an air fryer, so we made homemade fries!

                             Helping with the bishops storehouse order!

Overlooking the valley from the top of the mountain

Son of a deer killer & Bible study guides

Hi Everyone,

This week was a good one.  Unfortunately, all pictures this week are pending.  Transfer's were this week, and we are staying together! 

We did some service by ripping up a member's bathroom, helping him remodel, which was a lot of fun. We also helped someone move and got to ride in a sweet hardtop convertible BMW.  

We had some success finding this week.  We knocked out an older and mostly retired community this week, and found a few new investigators.  We also had a wonderful conversation with a very nice older gentleman who gave us study guides for Deuteronomy and 1 John.  It was pretty neat.  We had some meaningful meetings with those we are currently working with and now have an investigator on date to be baptized on the 5th of May. We also had meaningful lessons with several others. 

I love helping people overcome very difficult challenges by faith, some of which I can relate to a lot!  We had a baptism this Saturday, although it was the Martin's (senior couple) baptism, not ours.  It was still great though.  

Yesterday we met the Hartvigsens, which is Norwegian and means son of a deer killer.  Pretty sweet! We also had a miracle yesterday!  We nearly had a meeting with a former investigator, but she bailed at the last second.  We were pretty sad about it, but we decided to stop by unannounced this evening, and we found a wonderfully prepared new investigator!  The former was not there, but Rick was so excited to see us!  He wants daily contact, consistent visits, and to come to church every week!  He also firmly believes, as do we, that we were sent by God that night.  How much more golden can you get!  Just think, if that former's, lesson had gone according to plan, we never would have met him.  God works in mysterious ways!

Anyway, hope you all have a wonderful week.  I love being a missionary!

Elder Brown

Interviews, member work, and transfer calls!

Hi Everyone,

We kicked this week off with interviews with President.  I always come away from interviews with something to work on, and this one was not different.  I got rebuked (lovingly) on a few things, and my eyes were definitely opened to my many imperfections and the things I need to work on.  I think it really got me back on track to pursuing perfection!  I think recently I have become content with my progress, and let my foot off the gas a bit.  It's safe to say interviews put a brick on the gas pedal.  This week I have been repenting and striving to work more diligently and start seeing all the miracles that come from obedience and diligent hard work.  

We visited a lot more of our members this week, and they are awesome!  Many of them have identified individuals in their lives to invite to learn more about the restored gospel, and we can not be more excited!  Also, the title is a bit misleading. 

I said we got transfer calls, and while they did happen, we did not get a call, which means we are staying together!  I am very happy about that.  We also had an exchange this week, which was wonderful!  We saw a lot of small miracles, and it was a breath of fresh air to see all the wonderful things that can happen on an exchange!  Anyway, I hope you all have a wonderful week!

Elder Brown

A training I gave in district meeting about successful missionaries (greenie fire)

Ordering a family pack at Arby's for 2! (That's exchanges for ya)

Four Elders in a Chapel and the Betrayal of Taco Bell!

Hi Everyone!  As you can tell by the title, this was a crazy week!  It doesn't even say it all!  (Also it sounds like a murder mystery bestseller) This week we had an interesting exchange, a blitz, several miracles, and a historic general conference that was the most hype thing on the planet!  To start off, we had an exchange with the Staunton Elders on Tuesday, starting after district meeting, and we decided to grab some taco bell for lunch.  Bad idea!  Elder Berger and Elder Noorda got food poisoning from it, and we're feeling crappy (literally) the whole exchange.  Also, we had a member dinner that night and we had Mexican again!  (It was really good though)  Anyway, elder Burdette and I did service at the food bank and played Tetris with bread!  Yup, we had to stack a bunch of bread products in a giant crate.  It was a lot of fun, and we had to use a bunch of shrink wrap and a few industrial rubber bands to keep it in.  It was great!   We also had some sweet miracles, and our investigators are starting to progress!  We got some really solid people we are working with now, and one of them is now on date for baptism on April 21st!   We had a blitz with the Zone Leaders on Friday, which was a lot of fun, and also have two other progressing investigators who are close to a baptismal date!  One of them is a really cool referral from the hermana's. Then comes the best part of the week!  General Conference!!!  I was so hyped throughout the whole thing, and there were tons of inspired and exciting changes!  It was overall very historic and very spiritual, and I loved the opportunity to sustain our leaders during the solemn assembly.  I can say with certainty that I received a definite spiritual witness from God that President Nelson is His chosen prophet.  When they announced the new temple in Richmond, there were just us and the Staunton elders in the chapel, and we all jumped up and cheered!  I was so excited!   Also, we had a hilarious and fun zone prep. day today.  Elder Berger cut my hair this morning, and we did a weird kind of Pokemon go game as a zone.  It was hilarious, and pretty fun!   Love ya, Elder Brown

Happy Easter!

How we felt after General Conference!

Zone Prep Day!

Zone Prep Day

A most interesting exchange picture! (Food Poisoning)