Sorry, I didn't send a weekly last week, it was a crazy day, so this week's will be a bit long to make up. We got a lot done these past two weeks! We have met with 2 of the Bishops in the Stafford stake so far to discuss YSA opportunities. Bishop Anderson of the Rock Hill ward was super cooperative, and a really cool guy! He really helped us a lot, and he is very grateful for the information we are now reporting back to him. It is a very mutually beneficial relationship, I love it! We also met with Bishop Turley of the Hartwood Ward, and he was also very helpful! We were expecting that some bishops would not want to give up their YSA's, but these bishops totally understand! They have given us a lot to work with.
We had zone conference last Thursday, and it was super good! We talked about putting on the whole armor of God, and pretty thoroughly identified the natural man. Satan has no chance now! We are all working together to make sure we all continue on the paths of righteousness and help others to put on the whole armor of God as well, it feels great! We got armor of god coins as a physical reminder to carry around with us. We also discussed the new standards of excellence in the mission!
We saw some sweet finding miracles these past two weeks as well! Talking to everyone is critical here. Everyone we don't talk to is a missed opportunity, so I always feel pretty bad when I don't open my mouth, because someday, I will see them at the judgment bar, and they might ask me "why didn't you share this with me?" And that will be a very sad day. So I am getting very Bold here, and we are working to become fearless! We are getting creative, and have gone contacting in the parking lot of some shopping centers here. We had a sweet miracle the first time we went, and talked to 2 skater kids outside target! Missionary work can be hard, but it is so rewarding! Near the end of the conversation, one of them admitted he had seen a lot of missionaries before, but never wanted to talk to them because he thought they just wanted to convert him to their church. Now he understands that we just want to help him come closer to Christ. He is now reading the book of Mormon and pretty interested in coming to activities! We answered a lot of their questions, and taught them unto astonishment (Alma 10:12, 11:46)!
We had another neat miracle from talking to everyone last Friday! We were visiting someone in the area book and saw a YSA on the way who was trying to unlock his car with a coat hangar (he had locked his keys in the car
so we had a captive audience) and talked to him. His name is Edmond and he is from Ghana! His sister Emma has actually been to girls camp and some sacrament meetings with a friend! We taught him again this Friday, and he only had about 10 minutes, so the spirit helped us teach the restoration in the most complete and concise way I have ever taught it! He was really responsive, and understood well and agreed with the whole thing! It was sweet!
We had one more cool miracle from following a prompting. We were walking around in an apartment complex and had the feeling to visit someone we had already visited, that we knew had moved, but we decided to do it anyway. Her mom opened the door and welcomed us in (much different from last time) and let us teach a young woman named Autumn who moved in with her just a few days ago! She has had a lot of trials and is seeking peace! We had some other cool experiences with finding, but this is getting long, so I will save those for later!
We had a chapel tour open house come and see event thing on Friday, which was really good, but I think our time could have been better spent elsewhere. There were too many missionaries there for the amount of people coming in. It was definitely a success, don't get me wrong. We just didn't have any YSA's there. We also have gotten to know some of the members pretty well, and that has been very rewarding! Though it is still weird sometimes to realize I am having dinner and going to church with people my age. The only thing that separates us is the name tag. This week's elders quorum discussion was especially weird as a missionary, discussing the responsibility they have to seek out an eternal companion!
Elder Barkume installed our tiwi on Saturday, and we were his guinea pigs for using mounting tape instead of the glue kits they usually use, so that was cool.
We have had some good lessons with Todd and Kori, but brought in the word of wisdom too early. They were in full rejection mode about coffee and tea, so we had to set that aside and clearly guide them to focusing on the book of Mormon first. I really hope that was for the best, and think it will be. The spirit helped us out with my blunder there a lot. Also, we live in a house here with the Rock Hill Elders! It's been pretty interesting, and I mowed the lawn for the first time in over a year this morning! Anyway, I hope this was more inspiring than annoying.
Be Bold, be fearless, and go bring peace and light to those who are desperately searching! They are all around us, and the spirit will be our guide. Just open your mouth! The gospel is true, Jesus Christ is the Savior, and his church has been restored by the prophet Joseph Smith in these latter days.
Talk to ya next week!
Elder Brown
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| Living in a House in Stafford |
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| Elder Brown and companion Elder Weaver |
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| My new area Stafford |
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| Armor of God Coins |
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| We are guinea pigs for using mounting tape instead of glue kits when installing Tiwi. A device installed in the car to monitor how and where we drive. |
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| Big Spiders in Virginia |
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