WEEK 21 & 22 Holy Crap I Love it Here!!

My prayers have been answered! Wow what a start to our new area. I was Transferred to Parker area. Opening it back up.   Elder Cluff my new companion is only 3 months out and is already a stud missionary. His testimony is so strong and he is the nicest elder ever. I can be myself around this stud and we work super well together and get along real well.

Lets talk about our first day! Me and Elder Cluff got to our apartment at like 11:30 in the morning. The apartment hasn't had anyone living in it for the last 4 months. The elders before left it completely trashed. The trash wasn't taken out,  the shower wasn't clean! It smelled nasty and there was a pile of dirty dishes in the sink piled up to the cupboards above grosss! I was pretty ticked off but I got over it and once I cleaned everything, I  was fine. By the way, Elder Cluff was new to the area also,  so we swept in both of us to the area not knowing anything. We got to the apartment and said well lets build this place up. For about 4 hours we went  and started studying the area book and the people the missionaries have taught and the tons of work that the missionaries before weren't doing. After that we took another hour and started calling investigators, less actives, and recent converts. We set up appointments with tons of people so there is a lot of work to be done. That night we went to our Ward mission leaders house and let me tell you how awesome he is. He typed up this sheet of the most progressing and lessons taught to them and members from the ward who have fellow shipped them and there was a list of about 30 people that haven't been contacted in a while. We started working with him and said if we needed anything just let him know. He then took us to the store bought us our groceries showed us around the area and the day after he came to two lessons we had as the member present. He is in his 60's never served a mission but is a great teacher. That day which was two days ago we already had 4 lessons, 2 with new investigators who really want to learn more. The next day we had an amazing lesson, committed a less active couple who hasn't come to church in forever to come to church and they said they will. We really connected. That evening we were able to get another member to come along with another investigator we had. The member that came with us was a convert and related super well with the investigator. The investigator is half way through the book of Mormon and really wants to learn more, I was feeling the spirit so strong in the lesson and we put her on baptismal date for the 28th of January and she is coming to church this week! WOW what a week already and a hot start! 

 

The members are awesome we get fed every night and brother Night said there are 5 ward missionaries in the ward and all the members are engaged in missionary work. Even the bishop is super engaged in missionary work. Honestly this is a blessing from the Lord. Although all these good things are happening it has been pushing us to work harder than we have ever worked before. I have no time to dilly dally and it is very time consuming. Truthfully, I am starting to feel like a real missionary and the spirit is working with me more than it ever has before. I know the Lord has called me to this area and even though biking stinks in the freezing cold it is worth it! I want to stay here for a while and with Elder Cluff! I know this is where I need to be

Last week was interesting, I was very emotionless, because face timing you didn't feel real at all. Although it was really good to see your face in person it didn't feel real. I was honestly in shock the whole time. Sorry if I was acting weird. but I bet you were as happy to see me as happy I was to see you. It was still really good to see your faces.

 A gift I bought myself with some of the Christmas money!

Tell Everyone Thank you!

 I love to play Chess!Thanks Grandma!

Remember the savior and what he did this Christmas season and you will find more joy.

Happy New Year!!!!!

Elder Brown 

Week 20- This Christmas started out as a challenge!

 OOPS!

 I am greatly Blessed!Thank you for the tree!

It's cold and snowy!

Hey Mom and Dad!

Holy guacamole it was a cold one this week. I was outside tracting for 2 hours in -12 degrees.   I had so many layers on hahaha! We taught and found 3 new investigators that day and mainly because people saw how cold we were. But we taught this couple and I felt at that time that I was supposed to be there teaching them! Sometimes I have had those moments on my mission. I got everything you sent except the letter.  I should get that today. I got the Christmas gifts from you and Aunt Karen. I got the hand prints from the brown family and the Anderson's. Hey I am emailing this Saturday because Monday the library is close so p-day is on Saturday. We are calling Sis Bracy to get every detail and I will relay that info to you on Saturday because we are face timing Sunday. Facetime will be okay!  

I'm glad you liked the video I sent. I recorded myself like 3 times. Twice in the bathroom and the one time on the chair that I was leaning back and forth on. The two I thought were way to long and I couldn't send one longer than 2 minutes and After I was done recording the first two I looked at the length and it was like 6 minutes. So I gave up on condensing so I decided to make it short and sweet and funny. Glad that everyone thought it was funny!

 6 more dayzzz......whew!!! I'm excited and am prepared for you too cry. To be honest I don't feel homesick this Christmas at all and here is why.... 

This Christmas started out as a challenge. Being away from home in the freezing cold getting doors slammed in your face isn't what I have ever pictured Christmas to be like haha! But my ward family and all of my extended family sent me little hand prints with little encouraging messages on them which  I taped each individually to my paper Christmas tree dangling from the wall (WHICH FELL 5 TIMES so I finally used duck tape and its been fine) I read every note which was about over a hundred and by the end I was sobbing and just filled with the spirit. You're right, I have a lot of support from my friends and family back home and that made me feel Christs warmth despite the freezing cold hahaha.  I didn't even care for the gifts or packages that were sent because the best gift that was given was Christ's radiant love that he has for Me. And I felt that sitting on the floor balling my eyes out. I haven't felt the spirit that strong in a while.  That gave me a lot of peace and comfort and the motivation to keep barreling out in the snow in -14 degree weather.

I know it is going to be hard for you not to cry and that is okay but let it be a happy time. I don't think I have truly known what the true meaning of Christmas was  till I have been out here during this time. As I sat driving in the car and listening to the lyrics of Josh Groban's song "Believe" I really thought about the lyrics and it is much deeper than believing in Santa Claus.....  " When we feel that we have lost our way...we find ourselves again on Christmas day." I love that verse. We know that we can look to the savior and not just remember his birth but what he has done for us even when we feel that we have lost our way. Christmas isn't a one day celebration it is a gift that is given to us 365 days a year....his Atonement. Thank goodness for Easter because there would be no Christmas. If there was no Atonement than the baby Jesus would be another baby born that day alongside the hundreds of other baby births in the Inn's where there was no room. There is no place I would rather be than here on my mission during these two years and more specifically during this time of year! 

We had zone conference this last week and wow that was amazing. Each zone which were about 6 put on a little Christmas skit. We were assigned to do a skit based on Silent night. We first started off by singing the hymn....but it gets better. Our zone leaders assigned me and Elder Chun to talk about silent night. We decided to make it funny and add some humor in it which was expected when the zone leaders chose me and and elder chun the two goofballs of the zone. Elder Chun is literally another version of Nic Padilla and funnier haha so we had fun with it. We pretended we were two angels that day looking down on the nativity scene. We told the audience to close their eyes and imagine this scene of the baby Jesus. I first started out by saying into the mic.....Elder Chun, do you remember that day....Yes Elder Brown I do...and you guys(the audience) were all there too. Then I said.... we were all cheerleaders chanting something like this. Then me and Elder Chun did this cheerleader chant as girly as could be hahha people laughed at that. Then we explained the nativity scene and Elder Chun asked....Hey Elder Brown, do you hear that....I said what?....Elder Chun said I hear a donkey I said... oh my gosh I hear it too,  then I said....wait a minute that's just President Mendenhall and everybody started dying of laughter.  We went on adding all these funny remarks and then concluded with our testimonies. That's probably the most I have ever made people laugh. Im starting to get comfortable with speaking in front of large audiences. Anyway that was fun, then we went into the chapel. I got to direct the choir and hold a choir practice way before people got there in the very beginning. I also was the accompanist for Elder Olsen who sang O Holy Night. MOM, HIS VOICE IS INCREDIBLE! and It sounded so good and made a lot of people cry. Then we had a special guest speaker and President and Sister M gave remarks. This lasted from 7-4:30 but an awesome day!  

That was this week.  Today is zone pday so we get together with the sisters at the stake center and are doing a white elephant gift exchange. My gifts are funny. The zone leaders used to call me eraser head when I first came into the zone area..Because my head was shaved completely on the sides and then I had hair up top like the shape of an eraser. That stopped when I got my new hair cut before zone conference which they think my hair is awesome because it is slicked back like David Beckam the hot Soccer player! So now they call me David Beckam. Anyway I bought two eraser heads and I wrapped it up and hopefully they get the gift hahaha! 

Anyway Thats all that i got! I love you so much I will email you the face time details saturday on pday....remember....not monday.....saturday! I love you Mom and Dad!         

Week 18!! 19 more days till I get to talk to you via Skype!

Hey mom!

Very successful week with investigators.  We had 26 lessons which is my record. Its not all about the numbers because they are souls,  but it was pretty cool to teach that many people. We tracked into this lady last week named Patricia who is a 40 year old catholic mom who is very devout and wasn't that interested.   I was very persistent in explaining that the bible is a record of people in Jerusalem and the Book of Mormon is an ancient account of the peoples dealings with God in America. I had her read the tiny gold letters under the BOM title which says, "another testament of Jesus Christ" She was very shocked and said that she would read.  To our surprise we set a return appointment with her. Although we set the appointment we didn't really know how interested she was but we gave her 3rd Nephi chpt. 11 to read. This week comes around and we showed up to her house for the appointment and she opens the door and says come on in. We were really shocked to find out that she had read chpt 10,11,12 and the restoration pamphlet and plan of salvation pamphlet and did even more research on it. She is thirsty for more knowledge and has a great gospel understanding. I love it when we have investigators that keep commitments. She is awesome!

We are also sharing light the world with people we meet and that is awesome also! We are finding tons of success with sharing the cards with people. I love sharing the video at dinner messages! Speaking of dinners we hardly get any but a lot coming up this week. Last night's devotional was really good. I felt a lot of peace and comfort from every ones messages. I thought about you guys while watching the devotional but I was comforted by the spirit.

 

Hey I got a huge package of food.  Thanks I needed that haha. Oh and I did get the package of music thank you!  I didn't open it,  the zone leaders still have it but I'm excited for it!  The best way to send me a package is to the mission office so I know I will get it on p-day because this week I have been checking for my package since Thursday and it just came last night so I was pretty nervous that I gave you the wrong address oh well its here. 

 

A tree a member gave us!!

 

The boots! Just get me a cheap pair that will keep my feet from getting soaked. I dont need it anytime soon. Only flurries for the next two weeks. They say the heavy snow doesn't come till Jan. Feb. and March. For Christmas I'm thinking Skype because Facetime can drop really quick. 19 more days I'm excited!!​

 

 I love you mom so much!! Have a good Christmas season and look to spread the gospel the best way you can do that is just acting as Christ would everyday. I promise when we do that our lights will shine so bright they will reach the darkest places! love you mom!

 

Elder Brown

Week 17

Hey mom how are you?  I hope you had a good Thanksgiving! Mine did not feel the same but it was still a good day. We were fed two dinners that day so I ate more than enough!! We weren't aloud to play football because this mission believes that everything we do should have a missionary purpose behind it which I definitely agree with, it was just a hard pill to swallow. The ward just got split so there are about 60 members strong in our ward so nobody feeds us. We have been fed only three time in the last two weeks so I'm spending a lot of money on food. But it is not a super big deal I'm fine with it. I love this area.  There are a ton of Hispanics that only speak Spanish so we have to kinda just say have a good day and leave. I speak a little bit,  but Spanish 3 in high school does not serve me well when its time to have a full out conversation. Wish I spoke Burrito...haha inside joke. We do a lot of work here and I have had some instances where I feel I know I am supposed to be serving in Brighton. We have someone on Baptism date for the 21st and will put another investigator on date this Thursday. We have two others coming to church this Sunday so the work here is great really excited to be serving in Brighton. I'm starting to get to know a ton of the elders in this mission and becoming great friends with all of them! P-days are fun we play dodge ball and other fun games so I always look forward to P-days. There are 12 elders that hang out together on P-day so that's even better.

Wait!  You went on a cruise!!!!  I'm so mad I'm coming home from my mission.  JK   No its not that big of a deal.  Dont feel sorry! Working for the Lord is better than your selfish need.  hahahaha

Anyway, I do need a pair of boots and I don't need thinner gloves its fine. Can you also download "in the water" by David Archuleta and "treasure" by Kenneth Cope  and "let the music play" by Chris August. Send a beats pill with an aux cord along with it or just a little speaker that has an aux cord attachment. Make sure you send the charger with an outlet cord. Thanks mom,  I'm dying to listen to music haha! Hey can you send me  piano sheet music with lyrics "Treasure" by Kenneth Cope I want to sing and play that. Hey maybe you could send me a chess set for Christmas.  They are fun to play at the end of the night when we have nothing else to do before bed. Other than that I dont know what else I have room for in my suit case so I'm good.   How about fuzzy warm socks they'd be nice. I kinda want my basketball shoes too because I am ruining these sneakers they still work but I am wearing out the treads and my toe is starting to rip through. That's all that I need pretty much. Hey can you send a bunch of knorr tv dinners.   I dont have  any food and can't go grocery shopping because I ran out of money and I'm not dipping into my  personal funds. More subway gift cards actually and other gift cards too so when we go out to eat I don't have to spend my MSF and instead save money for food. 

 I miss a lot of people hahaha. Oh well. Hey sorry everything I talk about just jumps around.  I'm not good at organizing my thoughts but let me tell you how much the Lord has blessed me with the ability to teach. I have got a ton better at speaking to people on the streets or at there door. Remember how I couldn't put my thoughts into words. Well now I can and I know it is the Lord working through me. I couldn't teach without the spirit. But even my ADD has got a ton better.  I don't zone out hardly at all anymore. I think its because I'm more focused in something so my brain doesn't drift off to day dream. If I had that focus in school then maybe I would do a ton better. 

Anyway I think that's all I got this week.  I can't wait to talk to you soon!!! Christmas Day can't come soon enough. 
 Love ya and I miss you!       

Week 16

So this week has been crazy. To kick things off we were homeless with no where to live for two days. So we slept in the car the first two nights haha nah that's a joke. We slept on the floor at the zone leaders apartment (Elder Merkely and Elder Grey's.) Elder Grey reminds me of Christian Hassen which is really funny they have almost the same personalities. We finally got moved into our apartment Friday and the zone leaders helped get the furniture and beds out of the truck and walk them up three flights of stairs. We took about thirty trips. Anyway, we finally get moved in and realized that our toilet was not currently operating so for two days we went to the bathroom at the zone leaders house a couple of apartments down. That was fun! So we are good now housing wise.

We also didn't have book of Mormons so we took some from the zone leaders apartment and gave them all out so now we are in trouble. Hey do you know that this mission is the highest baptism mission in the North American central region! I hope you like the pics I sent and the song! you need to look up the lady and her husband Mike and Nancy Ellis. She is just like you and you two could be best friends. She is so awesome, she took care of us while we were in Arvada. She fed us whenever nobody else from the ward would. Other than that this week has been kinda mellow.

We went to a baptism in our ward the this Saturday. Elder Merkley and Grey and other priesthood holder got in the font, all five of them, so they could baptize this guy paralyzed from the  waist down It was a really spiritual baptism. I hope that I can take someone into the waters of baptism. Elder Sant is a great guy super strong and he looks mean but is the nicest guy ever. He is from Georgia. we played I declare war last night  1 hour at lunch and an hour at dinner because it went back and forth. he had me down to like 4 cards and I came back and won haha. Anyway mom hope you have a good week. I have really nothing else I need. Don't worry about the packages I think I'm doing just fine. We are playing dodge ball for p-day. Hey can you send me some TV dinners by KNOR in the mail. I need those. Love you mom!!

WEEK 15- I'm moving

Hey Mom how are you doing! okay this week was the craziest week on my mission so far so I am going to tell you everything. So it started Tuesday. After dinner Monday night I wasn't feeling well at all.  We got home at 8:30 and I just laid in my bed! I couldn't go to sleep because I was so sick.  I honestly believe I had an bowel/intestinal disease but I prayed and prayed and it finally went away. Thursday rolls around and the zone leaders show up to our door! They say pack your stuff you are moving into our apartment,  because Elder Wood got called to be an AP(assistant to the pres).  So since Elder Wood was leaving and going to be picked up by the AP's his companion has to join us in a trio until Wednesday when he leaves to go back home. His mom is picking him up.  She has special permission. It's crazy I just came out and he is going home ugh! He kinda gave up Thursday until now because he is so trunky but its expected! He is such a good elder. But anyway we have been living with him at his apartment for the last 4 days. Then Saturday rolls around and my neck stops turning. for the whole day I couldn't move my neck and I tried stretching and massaging it but nothing was working and it got to the point where I was going to call the medical lady at the mission office. I woke up Sunday and it was the same, but I didn't do anything and again did a lot of prayer and it went away thank goodness!

This Sunday  Elder Barker and I performed in church. Afterwards everybody started coming up to us and said that was the best musical number they have ever heard in the ward.  It brought people to tears. They said the never had someone sing at the piano with a mic. They had no stand so I had to rest it on the piano. We were complemented all day long. I love playing music so much! Every time I play I can feel the spirit so strong it really is my biggest testimony and I have been implementing my music more into my everyday missionary life. An 18 year old kid came up to us after and said he wants us to professionally record the song today because he has professional equipment and said it was so good that he really wanted to record us singing it. Since the song was a solo and we made it a duet he wants to publish it as a duet and will work on doing that after he records it. Lately I have been writing two songs for the piano that involve singing and have been working on the lyrics for that. I have been thinking about possibly writing songs for the church because it is something that not only I love but that the spirit can be with me and tell me the words and lyrics I need to write. I mean I'm not saying that that's what I am going to do but I am keeping it in mind for sure. Anyway that was went down this week. Its been pretty busy since we have been covering three wards for the last 4 days but fun.

Guess what, I'm going to Brighton!!! Fort Lupton Ward.  My new companion is Elder Sant! he is a really cool guy and really big haha! We have thrown football in the parking lot on transfer day last month. I heard there is a ton of work to do in Brighton so we will be busy that's for sure. My trainer Elder Merkley is serving in Brighton as a zone leader and we are in the same district so we will be able to see each other each week especially for P-day. I'm excited for that. I heard there is a member with like a full out weight room so I'm going to lift every morning!

We are  recording  the song today! Anyway Mom that's all that happened this week! 

Week 14 My Biggest Miricle Yet!

Hey Mom & Dad

 I emailed Jake. Tried to tell him about prayer and bore my testimony to him. We reminisced on all the fun memories we had. We are having a lesson with Lauren on this upcoming Friday! I'm so excited to teach him. This week I have been praying a ton about Lauren and I have received some very powerful revelation concerning how we are going to teach it and I know the Lord is going to help us. We have yet to meet with the punk rock dude he has been trying to spend time with his son because he has been going to court cases with his son and trying to fight over custody with his wife. We tell him to remain faithful and keep reading the scriptures. I know the Lord will make it all work out. We went to the temple this week and I got this awesome tie clip with the temple on it. I took an awesome pic of the temple. I saw my daddy down there( my first trainer) had a good chat and saw some elders that left last transfer. I found out an elder from my MTC group went home early because his parents divorced and he had to go to counseling because it was so hard for him. I feel so bad for him.  He was a good missionary. 

1.) Yes the coat is awesome and very warm I tried it on! thank you mom I know it costs a lot of money and I feel bad about that sometimes.

2.) I need a beanie if that's okay. One without writing on it. preferably navy blue.

3.) Halloween was fun we carved pumpkins and made toilet paper dresses for the zone leaders.      

4.) we are singing this week in sacrament meeting  for sure now! I'm excited!

5.) Transfers are next Wednesday and President told me in interviews that I'm leaving haha. I might train an elder next transfer too oh boy!! 

I got a cool story today. This week as a district we made it a goal to hand out 5 book of Mormons. The last two weeks have been so hard because we have done a ton of finding/knocking doors and we have had no success. In the last two weeks we have put together 40 hours of finding! I have been very frustrated and I know it has been a test for me. I started doubting the Lord which I don't know why because he has been doing so much in this area. Every night getting home we have been so worn out and frustrated from walking door to door all day and in the last week only handing out one book of Mormon all week. Yesterday was the last day to get 5 book of Mormons handed out and I said there is no way that's happening because we only have 1 hour of tracting/finding today and the rest of our day is planned for. But my companion said to me we will go out with 100% faith and we will talk to everyone we see. By the end of the night we handed out 4 Book of Mormons which was a record for me and had 5 lessons in that day.  It was honestly the biggest miracle I have had on my mission. I couldn't believe it especially since we handed out the last BOM in the last 30 minutes before we had to go back to our house. 

I love you so much Mom I miss you! Remember the story in the bible called David and Goliath. no body wanted to fight him because of how powerful he was as well as the rest of the army. But he decided to face him and with the Lords help he was able to defeat him. Mom the challenge  this week is to help someone facing a Goliath in their life and help them see the Lords hand in their life! I love you and dad so much!!    --
Connor Brown

3 Month Mark! Week 13

1.) Got a package and haven't opened it yet so I'm guessing it is the coat

2.) We have to be inside at 7:00 for p-day tonight,  so I might hand out some candy and attach some pass along cards with it. 

3.) today we are having a Halloween party.  The zone leaders and I are eating at fuzzy's tacos and doing the nacho challenge. The sisters are doing my makeup today and putting fake blood on my face. They are also dressing the zone leaders up to look like girls so I'm taking tons of pictures of that which I will send next week. We are then carving pumpkins and watching a church movie, probably like 17 miracles or something so today should be fun!

4.) I have eaten literally half the bag of candy.  I will be sharing the rest haha

5.) I sent my absentee ballot.  Yes I #votedforhillary and all the democrats......................jkjk #TheGreatTrumpShallSound 

D&C 102: And another trump shall sound.   ....Donald Trump?I don't know

6.) We have been practicing the song  and we might be able to do it the last Sunday of the tranfer in sacrament meeting. A sister from the ward printed me out Clair de lune to play on the piano so I'm learning that. 

7.) The man and his son who we ran into who was super interested in learning more about the church is doing awesome.  He and his son are reading the Book of Mormon. Though in the last week he Hasn't been able to come to church nor meet with us because of his taxi driving job and his orchestra band and his punk rock band that he is in. So that is frustrating but we are being patient with him. 

8.) The baptism is off and Dad will tell you about it because I told him the story in an email to him today

9.)  Anyway I'm not that homesick.  it may have sounded like that in my last letter but I'm doing fine. It's just sometimes I think about home and miss it a little but it doesn't make me sick. It's just feelings that every missionary gets. some more extreme then others.

I forgot we got to usher at the Fort Collins Temple Dedication.  President Uchtdorff was really funny.  We stayed for two sessions.  Some day's I have time to sit and think and most of the time I daydream about home and how much I miss it.  I love it here.  I think missionary work is so much fun.  Personally I love joking around with people.  We were tracting one day and I read a sign that said, "Reserved parking for the Worlds best Grandpa."  I knocked on the door and said, I'm very privileged to have finally met the world's best grandpa.  I was wondering where he lived.  He said through the screen door, "Go Away!I looked at Elder Barker and said, "Well, I don't think he is the worlds best grandpa anymore."I got a kick out of that.  "

A lady one time answered the door and looked at the ceiling and let out a big sigh, "UGHHHHH!"  I said in a very gay voice, "UGHHHH, it's the Mormons, they are going to try to hand me a free Mormon Bible."  She started bursting out laughing and we actually got to share a message with her.  The more you have fun with it the better attitude you have and the more successful you'll be!

Hey I'm glad you got my letter in the mail.  Maybe I will start doing more of those but I dont have paper to write you letters on other than the expensive stuff from Sister Shahan and my journal paper. It has broke records out here in Colorado for how warm it has been. They said it was the first time since 1960 that it has been 80 degrees on the 24th crazy!! Aaron Hubbard came home and I think Cody Hackman gets home soon too. Send me Nics email!! Izzy looks like a grown adult what is up with that! I didn't even recognize Avery in her costume what the heck is up with that hahahahaha! jk jk jk! Funny costumes for the girls. I love it wish I could be there but my Halloween costume is the best one yet. I get to dress up as a Mormon missionary haha! Hope grandpa's surgery goes well! tell him I miss him!! He needs to email me!!

Mom I love you so much I will tell you that every week! Don't miss me too much no crying! I'm doing great out here and it is an experience for both of us :) I will talk to you next week hold up I will send you pictures right now and some Halloween ones next week.

 Dad I'm so blessed to have you and mom as my parents.  I love you both so much. I want to grow up and be the man you are. You tried your best to be the best father you could ever be and you didn't even have a father to look up too. I look around at the fathers I have met whether it be my friends or family and I have never met a more patient humble priesthood leader.  I want to be just like you

Love ya

-con          

Week 12-Baptism

Hey Mom how are you doing!! I miss you!! I have big news!  I'm getting a baptism on November 5th!! Me or my companion or whoever else is baptizing him and he will let us know when the time comes! He is a 14 year old kid. His mom was baptized a couple of months ago but has been in jail for 3 months and now is out of jail! She got a DUI again for the 3rd time. Next one is life in prison ugh. So we are meeting with her and going to get on her a little bit but I think she will be okay.  We talked to her and she now has to send in her intake on all foods and drinks everyday so they will know if alcohol is put in her body. Anyway he is this African American kid and was raised in a pretty bad home life with his mom and her boyfriend. The boyfriend was abusive and he saw his mom beaten as a kid! He lives with the Bishop and his wife because they are foster parents( they have a little baby who honestly is the cutest kid I have ever seen- his name is Antwan) We met with him at church because bishop takes him and asked if we could stop by and basically teach him. He said he's been to church enough with bishop that he wants to take the discussions. We were trying to get him to read but he said he hates reading. This week he said he read the whole chapter and said he is starting to notice and feel things in his life and we asked him for a baptismal date for the 12th. He said no!! I want to be baptized as soon as possible! It was really exciting. He said he has felt the spirit in church and is ready to be baptized so we thought November 5th was the best date!  That's in 11 days!! I'm so pumped but even more excited that he has felt the spirit and a change in his life! The gospel of Jesus Christ truly is amazing!!

Anyway that's pretty good news. The story of the week I suppose! I sent the letter in the mail today so you should get it soon. I wrote whatever was on my mind I didn't know exactly what you wanted me to write but I tried! I sent you music I want in the letter so don't feel rushed to download it all. Take your time and maybe if you think of anything else you can put that on there. Like the primary songs in 2005 that have the beat boxer on there. That's an awesome cd! The vocal point album is called "Lead Thou Me On" 

Anyway I'm doing great. My comp is doing great. We are hastening the lords work. I have a funny story to share next week but don't have time to share it. We ran into the same druggy guy the other day and he said that someone stole his truck.  I don't think he owns one!  I said I will keep my eye out for it hahaha.  He is so funny.  All the missionaries in the area know about him. 

Love you Mom so much!!

Elder Brown

This is all I get!  Silly Selfie

Week 11- Blessings that make me want to work harder!

I'm being patient with my Companion. He has a strong opinion on people but really respects me and how patient I am with him on the bike! Oh and I don't need to go grocery shopping for the rest of the month.  I'm so stocked up on food that I am set!  I had to purchase bike crap and all this other stuff so that I can actually do work out here. I don't spend that much on food.  I'm buying bagels and milk this week because I'm set. I found these 25 cent dinners at Walmart so I'm going to stock up on those! (25cent dinners Oh my Gross)

                 

Oh I just thought of this.   I played a musical number for zone meeting! Elder Barker and I are going to do a piano solo and singing solo for church coming up but I need you to buy me a song.  Look for a song called "All I need to know 2014 efy" Can you buy it and print it off and send it to me. Elder barker and I are going to play and sing it for sacrament meeting. I heard that Nic is home and gave a talk! That's awesome, and Lauren came which is even better! 

Anyway I got a super cool story for you. And yes this is a blessing! We were on are way to a dinner appointment.  We planned to drop our bikes off and kinda tract the development before we ate. We were riding directly toward the house and a guy walk up to us and said,  "you boys on your missions?" and we said yeah and looked at each other like he was about to chew us out.  He starts talking how he had a bunch of Mormon friends and they all went on missions. He started talking to us asking about what we do kinda an overview of missionary work and he said he doesn't pass up opportunities with the Jehovah's Witness or in this case the first time he ran into Mormon missionaries. Anyway he didn't seem that interested because he already goes to church with the Jehovah's and he said well I'll let you guys get to it.  I know you're  busy.  My companion was about to leave and I jumped in and said well do you think we can come back.  We would love to talk to you more. He said yes that would be really nice. He then started asking us how we go about studying and I told him how much the BOM helped me in my life and on my mission.  He starts talking about his situation with his messed up life and how he is fighting over the custody of his son because it is the only thing that is giving him drive. He is a punk rocker and a really good one! He did some heavy things.  His wife didn't love him he realized and he filed for a  divorce. His son walks outside to shoot hoops with us while we were talking to him, the boy is 7, and this man is the best father to his son. It honestly made me so happy the relationship he has with his son and the man asked his son to "listen to the missionaries." He said he has been reading the Book of Mormon and bible to his son every night before they go to bed. He is writing a song about his son and it is the sweetest thing ever. Anyway, he told us we are exactly what he needs, he wants his son to be baptized and he and his son are reading the book of Mormon together.  He said he hasn't had a lot of hope lately with all the court cases with his son and a lot of depression but he said he totally feels the spirit and he has a new hope something to hold on too. We said a prayer for him and he was in tears and said this is what I want in my life. He even said he wants his son to serve a mission haha! I think we can baptize this man I really do! Its just touching how the Lord puts these people in your life because they are ready to hear the gospel of Jesus Christ. When his boy told us I want to be baptized the spirit came over me so hard and I knew then that the Lord is going to help us bring this little broken family unto his gospel. It will change their lives completely and for the better. I love this work I do. Experiences like that just make me want to work even harder.

I cant believe they are doing Highschool musical that's awesome.....who would have guessed! 

And Mom I do need a winter coat eventually. I realized the coat that guy gave me isn't really a winter coat it is more of a rain/ thermal jacket which I already have! So maybe in like the end of the month send it because it got really cold the other day.  It was 34 degrees.  It started hailing on us which it hurt a lot because the hail here is a lot bigger then back east. They were like gobstopper size so we ran for cover. we saw glass windows cracking from them! It only hailed for like 30 seconds though. 

I'm going to send you a list of music I would like but this is all I have for this week. I will start writing you a letter about everything it may take me a while but I promise I will send one.

love you!

Elder Brown  

                     

Week 10- New Companion

First let me start out by saying Isabelle looks like a grown woman in those homecoming pictures and It was so weird hahaha.  She is beautiful!!!

1.) My companion is pretty cool he can sing really well and plays a tad bit of piano, but beat boxes super well. So he has a spot lined up for him for vocal point, BYU's Capella group! But we may or may not sing together because the only chance I have to do a musical number would be at zone conference next transfer which we probably wont be together.   

Elder Barker is from Orange County, CA and is not awkward he is super smart and a good missionary! He just doesn't talk a ton but when he does he is not awkward. He is  deathly afraid of bees. A wasp flew into our member home and he wouldn't leave the bedroom! he locked the door and put blankets in the cracks under the door so it wouldn't fly through. I finally told him if he comes out of the room and tilt the lamp down which was holding the yellow jacket wasp, then I will kill it. He kept saying I can't I can't oh my gosh oh my gosh elder no! I was trying not to laugh because he kinda has a high voice hahaha! We killed the bee and we were able to complete our studies. 

 

He also never learned how to ride a bike so he has been learning on his mission. He always slips or says freak a lot when riding the bike and has to get off and walk it up hills so I'm being very patient with him. I have realized that there is never a reason to get mad even when you can't stand that a 19 year old man can't ride a bike to save his freaking life haha!  It's not a big deal though, other than that we get along pretty well for the most part.  He has been out only 6 weeks a head of me so honestly I'm planning for our day.  I'm basically showing him things about being a district leader,  so I have had a lot of stress trying to balance a ton more than last transfer!  But it is a good stress because its teaching me how to multi task and to think a ton more! I'm growing more than I think! I have been getting way better at remembering things too!

 

2.) last transfer with Merkley was awesome just because we have bishops trust and we dug the area out of the grounds. but one thing I noticed was that  we didn't have a ton of progressing investigators. So now Elder Barker and I are not going to focus on the quantity of lessons but we are going to focus on helping our investigators progress so really praying about what we can teach these people and things to say that will help them progress.

 

3.) I fasted yesterday for an investigator and I think I have figured out what I want to say

 

4.) I heard Nic got home.  I miss him a ton!! Lauren told me you watched the video of Nic coming home for like 10 minutes! Dang you have a long time to wait to have our video. hahaha love you!!  If you see him at church please tell him I miss him a ton!!

 

5.) Kate Rohrer won homecoming queen. I did study groups with her and Josie Weaver in anat and phys

 

6.) Can you start working on music for me? vocal point album, penatonix christmas album, i will send you a list of music next week , I wrote down songs. You don't have to buy them you just copy and paste and download it mp3 style. That's what all missionaries brothers or mom's do. 

 

7.) I played the piano and I'm writing a ton of arrangements and my piano skills are still there.   I have been playing out of my books and by memory 

That's all I got this week 

I Love You!

Uh oh I forgot I moved houses!

 

 

PS:

You can send me  More gift cards? Chipotle, red robin

or just power bars so when I'm on the go I can snack on something. 

Oh yeah can you send me zone perfect bars strawberry  bars

 

 

 

Week 9 -Spiritually Edified

Hey Mom! Guess what?  I'm staying this transfer in Arvada 3rd! Elder Merkley has been so good he has been called as a zone leader. He is a good missionary and pushed me really hard. He would leave me out to dry when I stumbled but it was good it taught me to be a better missionary. I'm glad I'm staying and I hope I will continue to do good work.   I just need a tire tread for my bike because it has a giant hole through it. I may spend a lot this transfer because I need a gps, I need a tire tread and now we don't have a car hahaha! My new trainer is Elder Barker. He has only been out for two transfers and I heard he is really awkward  and can't fix anything! great! oh well I'm excited too see what new will come!

Conference was awesome. I was so excited for conference and I actually was able to focus and watch every single session. I feel super spiritually edified! I saw Chase Hendrickson and saw elders on screen in the choir that have been at the MTC for like 10 weeks. They are going to Thailand! Yeah seeing chase singing was so funny!  I'm getting a lot bigger in muscle mass. probably the biggest and ripped I have ever been. I have been lifting every morning for like 6 weeks! When I come back I'm going to be so big! I have grown another inch almost which is weird. I'm like 6' 2 and 1/4! hopefully I can fit in my suits haha! I got Aunt Karen's gift cards! 

oh I do have a funny little story. So there is this crazy guy we met on the street three weeks ago, he had 5 cigarettes between each of his fingers a bottle of booze and he was packing a lip all at the same time walking around talking to himself back and forth outside these apartments. I said to Elder Merkley should we go talk to him and he said yes heck yes! so we go over to him and he just starts going off about how hot it was outside and he said its hot about 50 times in our conversations he started talking at a mile a minute and how he was a "firm believer in Christ and don't forget Santa Clause because you better be on that nice list or you are going to hell." But he was talking about the most random things I was trying not laugh and when we left we started dying. We didn't know where he lived but this week I was on exchanges with Elder Tanner my zone leader and we knocked on this door and what do you know the crazy guy was there and the apartment smelled like leaking battery acid. It was crystal meth, cocaine,  cigs, weed everywhere on his table and everything and he started talking at a mile a minute again and I just busted out laughing and turned the other way so he couldn't see me laughing. After we left he came outside and asked if we wanted our bible back? We said nope keep it. oh my gosh it was the best thing ever hahaha! 

I got the package from the MTC! Wish they found my hat though! I haven't had very much opportunity to sing and play the piano but somebody told me that Elder Barker my new comp sings really well and plays the piano so that should be fun! 

We are going on a hike in the mountains today so I will take pictures there!

Okay I love you mom!! I gotta go talk to you next week❤❤❤❤❤💋

 I need a haircut!!!

Week 8- Fall is Coming and so Is Conference.

 My T-shirt finally came

My jimmied belt.

Transfers are coming up in a week and a half! How crazy is that!! We met with the  Bishop Saturday night because he invited us to come over to discuss our progress reports which Elder Merkley says never happens. We go over there and basically the Bishop tells us the work we are doing is fantastic. We got three people on baptism date this week! The one guy named Zach we saw one day working on his car...tattoos, dirty,  whatever you want to use to describe  someone who doesn't look interested at all,  actually started talking to us. We got him to go from believing in nothing which he referred to God and JC as a bunch of BS hahaha! To believing in them and realizing there is more to life than just fixing cars and getting into trouble. It's crazy how the spirit can work with people and ways that you couldn't imagine by just looking at people. This guys life has now totally changed and he is on the road to a better outcome. Hopefully he continues to read the BOM and pray to know if it is true. Anyway the Bishop told us he prayed in ward council that Elder M and I could stay in the ward because they are afraid the work is going to go down like it has been for the last two years again. It humbles me to know that people recognize the good things you do and it makes me strive to be better. Yes I know I am not a perfect missionary and I never will be, but that doesn't stop me from striving to be one. I know if I can have the success I have had from working hard in my first area I wonder what the Lord has in store for the areas to come.

But with all the positives there comes negatives. We got a Car this last week which was a total surprise since its the last two weeks. Yes we can get to places and appointments a lot faster and yes it saves us from the long bike rides but we don't have the opportunity to contact people on the way so our finding hours decrease. So after using the cars and realizing how lazy it made us we decided to take our bikes out and only use our car for dinner appointments and far away appointments. We take our bikes out and we park them to tract in this neighborhood. We come back after an hour of tracting and my new slime tire is totally flat laying down on the road. It had a 3 cm hole in the bike and it looked like somebody jammed a stick into it so the green slime totally leaked everywhere because the hole was so big. Its the third time in the transfer my tire popped and I was so angry I felt like loosing my temper and throwing my bike and yelling at the Lord.  Then I thought of the blessings he gives me and how can I blame him for this.  We were miles from home and I couldn't walk my bike back to the house because we had an appointment. We called the zone leaders and they picked us up and took us home. The next day we woke up and our car wouldn't start and I was like you got to be kidding me. The battery was totally dead and jump starting it did nothing! I  just laughed and looked at my companion saying you got to be kidding me. So we walked everywhere we went that day and took it into firestone and got it fixed. Anyway, I guess the Lord really wanted us to walk or something because he took away every single source of transportation. So now we use the car but we get out of it and walk a lot so it is teaching us to be disciplined.

Anyway those are the highlights of my week.   My comp plays baseball we talk a lot about that.  He is super funny and athletic and he is 1/4 Mexican so he makes a lot of Mexican jokes and can sound like a Mexican.

I got all the packages from Amy and Grandma, Tracy the Lapps and you.  Tell them all thank you!

I'm watching conference at the Ellis's the lady who feeds us dinner all the time that had three sons serve missions. I will get you here contact info because you would get along really well.  She is kind of like Aunt Karen. 

fall is coming it got cold Sunday 49 degrees.

I have all warm gear but I need winter boots that's all and gloves.

I have trouble getting up in the morning so my companion turns all the lights on and talks like a Mexican dude and jumps on me in my bed to get me up!  I'm so tired in the morning.

 

 I did get taller and I have been lifting every morning. I'm starting to get bigger muscle wise, but I broke my belt the other day while I sat down in the car.  It snapped right after dinner because my companion said I eat to much and I'm going to get fat.  And then when it snapped we started dying and he kept saying see you are getting fat. 

 

Love you Mom!

Week 7- I'm on the Lords Errand

Hey Mom how are ya! 

Tuesday I did an exchange with Elder Wood! He is so cool and an elder that I look up to it was so weird because his personality reminds me of dad weird. He taught me how to be more personal and teach the restoration in a minute because sometimes that's all the time you have with street contacts. Everywhere I go I swear me and and whatever Elder I'm with break records in certain areas. The bishop this Sunday told us we are doing such a fantastic job he says this areas poppin more than it has ever popped before. He said its finally time we get elders that want to work and who can fill up a whole progress report. He said keep working hard and try to get more members present to scheduled appointments. Kelly moved to California because of her home situation and needs to be with her kids. She said thanks for all the help and to give her the elders number in California, so we are working on that. I knew it was all good to be true. She was progressing and then moved all of a sudden. I thought for sure we could get a baptism. Elder Merkley hasn't had one on his mission yet and he has been out here for 7 months. Anyway we are doing great work and my skills are getting a ton better as a missionary. I still have a ton of room to grow. 

The Broncos played this week and nobody answered that's typical but what are you going to do haha. I got a new bike an elder gave it to me for free and the reason i spend 48 dollars is because I spent 12 dollars on a new slime tube so that even when it pokes a hole through the tires the slime fills in the holes and it patches it up right then and there. It was a quite wise investment I shall say hahahahaha. I'm good on food and thanks for the snacks gum and muscle milk. I have gained 5 pounds in muscle I'm not getting that fat because I burn off everything I eat when biking. we bike more than a marathon each day its crazy my legs are already getting so much bigger. And I'm  more ripped because the only way I stay awake in the morning for personal study is if I lift weights and do insanity or p90x with my comp. Me and my companion drove down to a trainers meeting with all the new missionaries and their trainers. I'm like best friends with the AP's(assistants to the president) my comp told me that if you get really close with the Ap's and they see good in you they will appoint you a leadership position. haha! Me and my comp got the car, from the zone leaders so we got the truck to drive down. its was an hour and a half drive. His dad is a professional racer so he can drive really well. We jammed out to music and ate at L&L an Hawaiian BBQ. It was amazing. Anyway I got all your packages.  I'm in good spirits I love it here I don't want to leave.  Hopefully I stay put this transfer and stay another one because its fun.  I Love it here and I know I am on the Lords errand.  Tell everyone I miss them!

Driving to Denver with my Driver!

Week 6- Humility keeps the spirit!

Hey Mom crazy week! This week was busy.  I will try to answer your billion questions again haha!  I love you but you still stress me out sometimes hahaha. Okay here I go...

1.) Zone conference was long! 9 Hours of sitting in a prolonged meeting, Holyyyyy crappers! But I got a lot of things out of Zone conference and probably my most humbling and spiritual experience of the whole week so I will spend a little bit of time on this. A lot of the theme was My brothers keeper and what the true meaning of Love is which is crucial to have in our lives because it is what allows the spirit to be present. What does it mean to be "my brothers keeper?" Well think about your family mom. Not just our family but your brothers and sisters. I'm laughing because your family may not be the best example hahaha just kidding that was a joke Dad might get a kick out of that. anyway, think about your family. Dusty Rob Amy Kory. What would happen if one of them was murdered and killed. I know that sounds harsh but think about it how would that make you feel. awful right! that would be terrible. And think about if you could go back in time and have the chance to do something that enables you to save their life. I know if you had that chance you would. But we need to ask ourselves,  would we lay down our lives so that our brothers or sister could live? Because that is what love truly is. "I will be my brothers keeper, I will protect him and I wont let anything happen to him because I love him." Now there came a time when the savior was on the earth and he was among his apostles including Simon-Peter. The Lord asked Simon-Peter do you love me. his answer was yes. he asked again, Do you love me. he thought about it again this time a little longer and said yes Lord. he then asked again, do you love me. Simon- Peter thought about this like it was a trick question and after a lot of time he said Yes Lord I love you. But without saying it when the savior asked do you Truly love me what do you think that means. Well now think about the Savior. He loved us so much that he laid down his life not only for me but for everyone. He is the keeper of his sheep. Now think about that the savior loved us so much that he laid down his life for us he suffered terribly not only physically on the cross but he suffered in the garden for all of our sins pains agonies and everything that is not of the spirit. Let that resonate deep in you and think about it. stop reading and think about that please. Now how does that make you feel. Lets go back to Peter and let peter represent us. Will we lay down our lives for the savior!  Will we follow him to the ends of the earth. Will we serve him. will we love our neighbor, Will we be the peace keeper in our families, will we look at others needs instead of our own selfish needs. I hope and pray we do. because he suffered in that garden and on that cross and we need to pay him back by serving him with all of our heart might mind and strength. I love my savior and no matter how much I am accused,  made fun of like the Eminem line "chewed up and spit out and boot off stage," I will be my brothers keeper. I will follow him to the end of the earth because I love him and he loves me. I will follow him to the ends of the earth because he is my Savior and my King. I can't say that I truly love him because nobody is perfect and  I haven't followed him at times because of my sins and decisions I have made. But I strive to everyday.  Just because I'm on a mission doesn't mean I am safe. But we need to work toward truly loving the Savior and not just loving him. Simon-Peter, was asked to lead the apostles and he knew that he had to leave his fishing behind and follow the Lord whole-hardheartedly. We need to do the same thing in our lives. We need to be truly converted and work towards that. As we do that the Lord will direct our paths and show us the way. That's all he asks us to do. Anyway that is my testimony of that sorry that was long.

2.) I'm fine, I am eating, maybe just send me money instead of gift cards because there are some places that we eat that I don't have a gift card to ha ha. Mitchel is at the MTC no way! On Thursday every time the Broncos scored, I literally could hear the whole neighborhood cheer at the same time.   It was crazy. People are more friendly when the Broncos play. They invite us in to watch but we say no ha ha. Its like when the Broncos play it is their Sabbath day. So Friday we find out the score and that's how we teach people lessons. Bring up the Broncos and their hearts are softened:)  So yesterday I beat to teach this kid playing basketball.  He was 16 and pretty good at hoops but I beat him so he had to listen to what we had to say.  He seemed really poor but super nice. He had a little bit of an African accent. We taught him the restoration and he retains information well so hopefully we can follow up with him. Oh somebody gave me their bike so I will try to live off of that but I am going to buy a tube because I popped a tire and the patch kit wont fix it.  Amanda and Brad had a Baby.  I'm happy for them! I live in a basement yes it is small but its good. I workout with my companion every morning we do insanity and p90x. Send me some protein powder so I can have some for breakfast instead of spending a bunch of money on food. My companion will stay probably for another transfer but I will leave most likely. Who knows.

Well Mom I've got to go! I love you so much and I miss you! Tell everybody I miss them. 

Dad thanks for the email I hoped I answered your questions as well. I'm trying to humble myself everyday! Humility keeps the spirit.  I miss you so much!!

Love always,

Elder Brown              

Week 5- This has been one of the greatest experiences of my life

Hey Mom and Dad,

Mom you and your million questions will never change I guess. I'm laughing really hard right now in the library hahahahaha! I will do my best to answer them all.

1.) I ate, yes, if I didn't eat that would be a problem

2.) I had dinner appointments everyday except two days.  Sis Ellis who is the bomb fed us three times this week and chastised the relief society saying its time for me to share the wealth and time for you sisters to step it up and feed these elders hahaha. I love her!  She has three sons who served missions and said if there is ever a time you don't have food just come over and I will feed you.

3.) I got all of your packages.  Thank you for the food and I'm figuring out what I need to get at the grocery store. I spent about thirty this week for food.  So I am getting better.

4.) Elder Tanner my zone leader gave me his bike because they have a car but the other bike I have is done so if he is nice he will let me keep it until I'm transferred but he hasn't asked for it back so until then I do not need a bike. I'm looking around for people leaving but there aren't many missionaries with bikes so it will be a rare occasion if I get one.

5.) My companion has helped me enough.  He obeys the rules exactly.  He often has to wake me up because I sleep through my alarm. We have tripled the amount of Book of Mormons handed out this week from 4 to 13 how crazy is that and then to put the icing on the cake we doubled our lessons from 10 to 21 this week. And We have 4 new investigators. 

6.) We did the same thing for P-day. We played speed and basketball with Elder Wood who is really good and plays at SVU.   I helped a missionary clean out his car for zone conference coming up this Thursday. We didn't get to the gym until 1:30 and only had two hours to play. But it was fun. I ate at subway with everyone and used my companions gift card because his mom sent him a bunch. If you send me gift cards or if other people send me gift cards, send me Wendy's, Dairy Queen, Subway, Red robin and maybe like 20 bucks in cash so if we decide to go to a local restaurant then I will have cash.

7.)That is awesome that Madisons friend is coming to this mission. 

8.) No it hasn't rained for like a week but the weather is starting to go up and down but nothing extreme. I dont need winter stuff quite yet give it another month.

9.) So our investigator Kelli is no longer progressing as an investigator. She is still struggling with her addictions.  Like Dad said in his email it might be a long process especially since she has completely changed her life around. She has gone from 2 packs a day to two cigs a day which is a big change but we challenged her to 0.  We told her the blessing that will come and that heavenly father will help her. We told her to pray often because she is not doing that enough. Hopefully she will keep commitments and follow through but we are slowly helping her and it may take a while. Other than that we had a really good week as far as new investigators go and the ward told us that they haven't had a good set of elders for a long time since the old Elder Brown who also was from Pennsylvania was here.   They said there is something about Elder Browns hahaha! 

10.) So it was fast sunday. I started my fast and we brought two investigators to church with us Nate and Steffen. I felt prompted to bare my testimony. I shared two blessings that happened during the week about the rain storm and the lightning storm. I think I already told you about the rainstorm one. Where I prayed the rain would stop and a lady came by and gave us this free umbrella. but this week it was 8:40 near the end of the day and a huge lightning storm hit Arvada.  We could see dark clouds coming from all sides of us but we continued to tract.  I was freaking out because Colorado has the highest rate of people getting struck in the US. But my companion kept saying we would be fine. I told him we need to go home now this lighting is too much and there were streaks flashing in the sky right by us every 5 seconds. We street contacted this dude who was smoking a cig on the side of the street he wanted to walk and talk with us and he was probably high,  because the lighting didn't seem to bother him at all. So as we are walking I'm flinching every time lighting strikes.   But within a minute I looked up into the air while my companion was talking and this cloud of blue sky was right over us and the miracle was it continued over our heads as we were walking. We weren't walking in a straight line either. We were walking left and right,  up and down the blocks while we talked to this guy who took our book of Mormon copy and said he will read it because he has interests in religions. It bore testimony that night that the Lord is watching over his missionaries as they are doing his work and I know as the eye of the storm was following us it was god protecting us as we continued to do his work. I shared those two stories in my testimony and concluded by bearing my testimony about the gospel of Jesus Christ. It was so cool and I was calm and looked out into the audience extremely confident. 

I Love you so much and I wish you were here to see me. This has been one of the greatest experiences of my life and guess what,  I'm only two weeks in!! But I know there will be plenty more to come possible leadership positions and training opportunities along side with trials. Please stay safe.  I pray nothing will happen to our family while I'm gone. Please bare testimony of the power of the spirit and how it directs the path of peoples choices. I was riding my bike in the night and I thought I heard somebody yell Yo from this house. I ignored it because my companion didn't hear anything and we kept riding into the night. About half a mile later the spirit whispered to me go back now! I stopped my companion and I told him we need to go back and its already 9:00 at night. We head back and This guy named Steffan  said come please I want to talk. This man is in an assisted living home and got into an accident a long time ago but can hold conversations and can remember things if we repeat it to him more than once. He came to church the next day and after texted us that night that his  life has completely changed.  He said he knows this is what he wants and needed. Now he needs to keep exploring. He thanked me for my testimony and said when is the next time we can meet.  If I didn't listen to the spirit then his life along with his friend Nate's wouldn't have changed and we would have missed a golden opportunity.

I love you Mom and Dad thanks for the advice it helps me so much! I love you so much I miss you Tell the girls hi for me and tell me more about BYU!   Tanner M I thought was going to start.  Thats cool. I love you so much bye!!

I ran into some of my friends from the MTC at a meeting.

Me so tired!

Week 4- Arvada Colorado

I have so many favors to ask and so many stories to tell I only get an hour to email at the library. which stinks but oh well. This week has been so crazy. When I first got to the mission field we got to the airport met our mission president, and headed to the mission office. We were introduced to our new companions mine is Elder Merkley from Seattle Washington. He is a really chill elder and a good trainer. We are living in a members home The Barlows and they are so nice...we live in a basement. and when we left the mission office the zone leaders picked us up,  took me shopping but my trainer didnt tell me what I should get. He said you kinda have to figure out things for yourself in certain areas. So he is teaching me to be more independent. I didnt know what I was getting so I got a loaf of bread, sandwhich meat milk yogurt and blueberries. So I need to get more food. Please send me food packages maybe like a giant pack of granola bars or clif bars.

After shopping they took me and my companion to the members house where wegot settled in got unpacked and then planned for the next day. The next day we got down to business I slept through personal study because I was so tired I didn't get any sleep. This is a struggle. I am in a bike mission and we bike 14 miles everyday and probably more. But after 5 days my bike that somebody left for me got a flat tire. So I have to get a new one. Its a crappy bike. I can survive with out one we have been walking which has its benefits but I would like an operating bike.

This week has been awesome. My companion says he has been trying so hard and hasn't been doing well with potential investigators or investigators in general or less actives. But ever since I got here our stats have doubled and we got an atheist woman to come to church and she asked if she could come again. We committed her to baptism and she has chosen to live the word of wisdom but its going to be hard for her because she  is basically broke and taking care of her ex boyfriends mother only so she can have money from him and have a home to live in because again she is broke. But she wants her life to change and she said she didn't really pray but she had a feeling that somebody was going to knock at her door at this time to help her get on the path she needs to be on. She said she feels so peaceful when she talks to us. My love for this woman has increased so much I don't even know her or her background in her life but I can tell how much Christ loves this woman. she is so sweet and wants the best for her and her broken family and she got her kids taken away from her so her life isn't easy. But because of the atonement we are going to help this woman get through these difficult times. I'm excited because the bishop said they haven't had an investigator come to church in over 12 weeks and haven't had a baptism in a long long time. I know I'm supposed to be here at this time.  The gospel is true I haven't been the most exactly obedient but I know I can change that but I have noticed the blessing of having faith.

We have been poured on by rain three times while tracking and for an hour we walked in the rain knocking on door to door. I was sick of it and said I couldn't take it anymore. My companion was used to it but I decided so say a prayer that the rain will stop so we could keep tracking. I knew from previous experiences with prayer that there isn't any thing the lord can't do. I prayed for the rain to stop. So we kept going after the next house we knocked on,  a lady with tattoos and a bunch of kids in the car drove up to us and said Elders, you guys are wet here is an umbrella. Immediately I was overwhelmed by the spirit and at that moment I knew that the Lord answered my prayer and for choosing to stay and tract in the rain we were doing the right thing and he sent help. Because of that somebody invited us back at the next house and we had another potential investigator. There is no doubt in my mind that the lord is there. He is! He lives and because he lives we can be forgiven of our evil doings. Kelly did some pretty bad things in her life(our investigator not mom) but the lord looks past all of that. He looks past everyone's sins including mine. as long as we continue in faith with works we can be saved. But faith without works is dead. That is hard concept for investigators to understand because usually they are christian "by grace we are saved" believers but we need to show works on our part and the Lord will help us with the rest.  Love you!  I miss you!  At the MTC I got to play the opening hymn for a crowd of 900 leaving on Wednesday so that was cool. And I played for people in the piano rooms in 1M. The MTC hasn't changed since dad was there at all. but I'm glad I am in the field now. Almost at a month. which is crazy but this week was slow. but I am going to keep trucking along. love you so much!!! bye!!

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Connor Brown