Week 99 My Joy is Full.

Hey family! I cant believe this is my last email! I truely can say I completed my mission! I have made it 23 months!! My joy is full! I can't express in words how I feel!

Today I had my departing interview with President! He looked me in the eyes and told me I completed my mission! The Lord accepts it and is proud of what I have done! That's comforting to me especially when satan tries to plant seeds of doubt in my head!! He gave me a lot of council and advice to propel me into my future life and I feel nothing but confidence and equipped with what I need!!

This week is going to be fun!  We are recording tomorrow for 4 hours not sure we will finish,  but we will see. Then we have "meet the elders" wed thurs fri.

Fri is the temple trip to Fort Collins and then sprinting down to Parker!! Sunday I go to church and then spend the day at the mission home then monday I'mhome!! 

Sat we have a baptism as well! Donna Gallegoa  is getting baptized! A lady that just popped up in our teaching pool! So great end to my mission.  

Cant wait to see you. I will end with my testimony that,  God is our heavenly father and he sent his son Jesus Christ to redeem the world! His church has been restored to the earth through the prophet Joseph Smith! The evidence of that is the Book of Mormon which is another testement of Jesus Christ! Because of that knowledge I pledge to serve the Lord the rest of my life and concecrate myself so I can be a worthy vessel of the Lord and recieve revelation for me and family and others in my stewardship! I cannot be more excited to come home and share what I did these last two years! For I do not boast of myself but I boast in my God for  in his strength I can do all things!! 

Cant wait to see you next monday! (Today) I Love you guys! Thanks for letting me share my light with the world!

The last time,

Elder Brown

Week 98 Life is Good! https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=c-xncrfD1hM

Watch this!!!!  My week highlights!
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=c-xncrfD1hM

 Dear Family!
 2 more weeks is right.  I'm just enduring to the end at this point and finishing the race!! It's been a long hard 2 years but has been worth every ounce of sweat, stress and pressure to meet the needs of my brothers and sisters here in Denver.   I'm honestly just happy. I'm not scared I'm not nervous to come home but simply optimistic to what the future holds. I Cant wait to come home and share the gospel with all my friends. I know there are people being prepared. I might be able to teach Naheem.  The sisters got back in contact with him so I'm super stoked! I'm just on fire to share the gospel of Jesus Christ honestly!

This week was awesome especially the highlight Sat night! We got to perform at the  16th street mall in downtown Denver! Honestly I wish we did more stuff like that because it's way more effective to do stuff like that then most of the finding activities we do as missionaries. Hopefully we can score a Denver public advertisement when we go back down to the mall this week and then we can maybe score some action on the church news lol!

Thanks grandma's for your emails and encouragement during the mission.   I wouldn't have been able to survive without those gift cards. I may have set a record for the most subway visits out of any missionary ever haha! 

My flight itinerary comes in tomorrow and you should be receiving it next Monday!

Anyway I shared with mom pics of our photo shoot you will like them a lot!!

Love you guys and cant wait to see you! 3 performances this week and 2 next week for Meet the Elders. And looks like we will be having over 500 at each!!

Love you all,

Elder Brown
 

Week 96

Alright weekly email!!

This week has been fun!! Spent three days consecutive practicing in Brighton for our performance during MLC! Exhausting 9am-10pm one day out of the three whew!!! But it turned out great! It felt natrual to perform and bare my testimony maybe a little flash on what I will be doing later in life! I mean it was a legitimate show!! We had equiptment rented from guitar center! We had mics and speakers a mixer(soundboard)  We are getting a recording of it soon!

We are performing this Wed in Brighton. 

Also exciting news we potentially will be speaking on the local radio station as well as performing at 16 street mall!!! Because the BOM play is in town the church is scheduling shows! So exciting!! We have 4 scheduled stakes so far so its going to be fun.

As far as the work goes not a ton of time and our investigators have been flakey. So much work but the ward is not ready to fellowship in. The ward struggles!   But thats pretty much it.  I will keep you updated though I love ya, Dad super cool experiences btw I love to hear those. We need to go do a session at the temple when I get home

Week 97 Amazing Week

Amazing week! I don't know where to begin! So much has happened concerning the firesides and they are really starting to take off! So last week we performed Wednesday in Brighton and they loved it! I got to see some families from the Fort Lupton Ward and people I know from Brighton. So let me tell you what came out of Brighton. An investigator came with a set of sisters from Westminster because she heard about our performance and wanted to see it. They went but we didn't get to see them because we were talking to all the youth and the others who were in attendance. Anyway the day after the performance was over the sisters Missionaries went to her house for a lesson. The lady said I know the Book of Mormon is true and that we have a Prophet on the earth today because of the fireside. They put her on date for this Saturday and Elder Hasse and I got permission to go and we sang Peace in Christ for her baptism. Beautiful ceremony and the spirit was very strong,  I almost cried.   A very memorable experience for me!

Wait there's more. So after Wednesday in Brighton,  President was able to schedule a gig in Westminster for the youth conference that was going on there. The Stake President was hesitant at first but said he'd give it a shot.  Sister Savage said that was our best performance yet. And here were the results. The youth want an album,  they said the songs were so awesome! Ton of them said they felt their testimonies grow and caused a lot of them to act. And two non member Laurels were invited that we got to talk to after. They said, "honestly, I have seen you guys around my neighborhood so many times and I was always scared of you and I always heard weird things about Mormons. But tonight I loved it so much and realized that you guys are just normal people." They then agreed that they felt good inside and it sure was the spirit testifying to what we said was true. They then decided they wanted to go to church the next day. The two non members friend got up in fast and testimony meeting and bore her witness that she gained a witness at the fireside that the Book of Mormon is true and that Joseph smith was a prophet and that the Church is God's church on the earth. After testimony meeting was over the two non member girls said that they believe the church is true and that they quote, "already feel like members and would agree to getting baptized" how freaking cool is that!!! 

Also, after the fireside we shared with all the parents the post I posted on facebook of the flyer. they said we are sharing it with with everyone they know in the mission and they are going to invite their adult friends to the next one in Arvada! Apparently the news is spreading and starting to be heard around the mission. We are performing for both zone conferences so the missionaries can see it and so they can get hyped to invite investigators. Because,  if these instigators go they will most likely have spiritual experience if not better than the one Savory Pond's sisters investigator had!! So stoked!!! Now there are two posters in every Stake in the mission. 

But every time I do these firesides I get such a strong feeling and thought from the spirit that this is what I'm needed to do for the rest of my life. I don't know how it's going to be done, I dont know the logistics but I know I can do it and the ability to bless others life's will be well worth more than a big home and a lot of material things. But I know if I trust the Lord and sacrifice my talents for others he will provide for me. Parable of the talents explains it well!

We are still taking a lot of time a way from our areas. Investigators aren't acting so they are kinda slipping through the cracks a little. But the Lord is still blessing our ward with new investigators and members coming back into reactivity. We might have a baptism Saturday or next depending on if this lady is ready or not. She has been coming to church for years and knows everything is true. Bishop is a little skeptical she may or may not have health problems so we are playing it by ear. We have this new investigator named Dani who is super solid only problem is he is on probation. But the girl he is dating is a less active LDS lady so they are definitely of the house of Israel but it will be a process before he is baptized. That is okay though because that is the people I  have been lead to my whole mission because that is where God knows I can best be used for. 

Anyway super excited to come home! But super sad at the same time mixed emotions! But I'm ready!! And yes I'm packing a box and giving it to Sister Simmons.   Tell her I will bring it to her Friday the 29th at the Parker event!!

 I gotta go!

Love ya!

Elder Brown

Week 92 Give Me This Mountain!

Hey its Elder Brown Your favorite!!

We worked so hard this week I'm beat hahaha! But it feels good because we found 6 new investigators that we have an opportunity to help! We also found 2 solid potentials that will be new investigators next week and they know the Book of Mormon is true already. Their names are Rolando and Dora. We had 2 investigators come to church this week their names are Desiree and Jr. They are homeless now because Desirees father kicked them out. But they gave up living in a motel so they could be closer to the church and come Sunday,  and they did!!!!! So hyped! Also we taught the restoration to the Gonzalez family. They are super interested and the Mom gets emotional every time because she feel like its speaking to her. Her name is Alma!!! Fancy that! Her kids are Luis and Sonya. They are 13 and 17! They weren't able to come to church because the kids have soccer tournaments on the weekends so I'm not sure how we are going to get them there. We found 3 families last night as well that want to meet. So there is so much work going on I could send you a list of people we have been teaching too. I have taught over 60 people here its crazy so much work going on just people are very flakey. Hopefully next we can get them the gift of the holy ghost. 

So crazy you are probably wondering why there is so much going on. Well lets say president fired us up and helped us expand our vision. And because of that people have been flooding in. We had a meeting with him Saturday morning. And because the leadership has been bagging on our zone for such high numbers and unrealisticgoals president decided to create a group called the Ensign Elders. He gave us the key to baptizing 6 people a month and promised us the Lord will pour our blessings for our work and diligence. He taught us how to be directed! He said that tracting aimlessly wont help you baptize 6 a month but relying heavily on the Lord asking for forgiveness and praying often will do it. I can do all things in Christ who strengthens me, that scripture just came to my mind just now because sometimes in life We limit ourselves because we forget that we often rely on our own flesh and the flesh of others. But in the strength of the lord David defeated Goliath, Caleb conquered the promise land. Nephi built a boat, the brother of Jared found light for his vessels and Samson slayed 1000 philistines with a jawbone of an ass! My testimony of the Lord and his strength has grown exceedingly. He can do anything through his tools. We just have to make sure they are sharpened. So give me this mountain!!! 

We can email on mothers day at 4 my time 6 your time. I'm sending you a funny card today mom, you will like it! 

I will send you a separate email answering your questions and dads cause I always forget them.

 

 Love you 

Elder brown

Week 90-April 23 I'm Turning 20!

Not only am I turning 20 but but we found 20 new investigators!!!!!!!  I'm kidding,  that would have been an awesome email though. But we did have quite the week full of 4/20 blazing festivals, walking down town filming a music video, interviewing companionships about mountains they have over come and coming to discover Elder Brown has an altar ego young Busy B....he's the new rapper in me.... We were with the Ap's like 3 days this week so me and my other half Elder Blackham didn't get to write much music but we did get to arrange a primary song...Armies of Helaman and a Wise Man Built his House Upon a Rock! 

 Since we had to be with the AP's the majority of this week we weren't able to get in as much proselyting and finding time as we would have like to. But we found a good bit of investigators! We had two promising miracles happen this week. We were led to a potential Lady's house. We went up to her house and she got out of her car but she told us to come back in 20 minutes because she was on the phone with her boyfriend. We decided to go tracking somewhere and the first door we knocked on we picked up as a super solid potential investigator.  She prayed that morning to find peace in her life and we came and knocked on her door right as things were crumbling down for her. After that we went back to that Lady's house and we started talking with her and picked her up as a new investigator. We had return appointments with both of them and they are both solid and both want to continue our lessons. Other than that we picked up a bunch of other potential investigators and will be trying to contact with them throughout the week.

 It's nice to have smart phones and be up to date with the 21st century as for Facebook you can comment I just can't comment back and so try not to be so diso. 

Thanks  for all the birthday wishes I really appreciate it. I love you guys so much!!!!!!  

Elder Brown

Week 89 April 16 Awesome Week

Awesome week this week!

My new companion is Elder Blackham.  We serve in the Sloan Lake Ward. With two other Elders.   

He is from Mount Pleasant Utah and is 8 months out on his mission. Back home he played in a band called the Melting Rain look it up on Spotify. He is a super talented singer songwriter, guitar player and drummer. He plays a little piano too.

This ward is definitely interesting. It's really ghetto in most of the area but has some wealthier parts as well. I didn't go to the ward this Sunday since it was stake conference. Pres and sis Savage spoke.  We haven't had much receptivity from finding through our own efforts which has been really hard because we work like crazy. But we had a weekly planning session yesterday and had 4 potential investigators reach out to us. We set really high goals to show the lord our faith and in return he has blessed us with prompting people to reach out to us. We have a lot of  teaching appointments this week. Haven't taught anyone but I had an amazing experience. 

So at stake conference yesterday,  I was sitting in the back on the metal chairs (so comfy....) and I looked to my left and there sitting with her step mom is April Tavenner the one me and Elder Beck were teaching in Arvada. I looked on my phone and in the contacts was her number. I told her during conference to look my way over text and she came running over and gave me a hug and started breaking down crying. She has ignored the missionaries in Arvada because she  has been dealing with a lot with her family. Her mom wants to put a restraining order on her so she can't see her daughter. Such a hard thing to overcome. But she told me to call her so we could set up a time to meet. I had a strong witness that I know I was called to this area for her....unbelievable I would have never guessed....coincidence?? 

As far as the music goes it has been so much fun! So we are permitted 3 hours of practice time a day to write music and prepare for our firesides we are performing in the next month. So we talked to president he is not sure when but he said that we will be traveling from stake to stake performing firesides and sharing our testimonies. We have written one song already and 3 are in  the works. The first one is a funny one and that's what the Savages want. It's about a missionaries schedule with some commentary in between. It will make you laugh. It's so fun to jam out too when we come home at night. We just have a blast. 

Oh yes I went to the funeral.  I forgot to tell you I spoke and it was hard to speak but people told me that what I said was needed. They turned the chapel into South Sudan and a minister from the African community came and spoke. The church was packed. Sam still wants to get baptized  Elder Braegger said!   What a great experience for me speaking. I saw everybody from the old ward too. 

I performed at a convert fireside. Wish you could have been  there. Such powerful music. I was in 4/5 of the musical numbers crazy. We get our smart phones this week...so pumped!

Love you!!

Week 86 An Emotional Roller Coaster of a Week. HE LIVES!

I don't know where to start....

1.) This week one of our investigators Patros Mabany was shot and killed in Aurora at his night job. He and his brother are both investigating the church. Their mom is a member,  her name is Mary Majok! I'll tell you this story of how everything happened. 

We came into Patros life at a crucial time.   He expressed to us how he has had a desire to change his life and to come closer to God and that's what we decided to do. We taught him the Restoration of the Gospel and promised him that by being baptized that you can start a new chapter and make a promise with God to follow him more fully in his life. He agreed to be baptized on March 31st. One day he called us and told us he was struggling getting along with his family. We had no idea what was going on so we drove over and helped calm him down. He expressed that his family is against him and how he feels under attack! We talked about families and their purpose and then drove off. Next thing we know we are prompted to return and once again Potros is storming out of the house. We go in and talk to his mom and find out he has an older brother Sam. Sam is 24.   Patros is 21.  We go on a walk with Sam and talk to him about how Patros was getting into bad stuff and in the wrong crowd and we figured that Patros felt that his brother was just humiliating him in front of his mom when he only wanted to help his brother in the long run. We talked to Sam and how he wanted to come closer to God and be an example to his younger siblings and Patros by being baptized. So we moved his date to the 14th of April. After talking and walking with Sam we went back to the house and Partros was inside playing video games with his younger brothers and sisters. We got him to come outside and Sam the eldest( now keep in mind these guys are both 6'8 265 pounds) apologized to Patros and they hugged it out and we then testified to them how important brothers in the gospel are and how they need to be tight. We set a return appointment with them and planned to meet on Tuesday of last week. 

So Tuesday rolls around and we head over to the House. As we pull up about 10:45, Sam comes running out of the house screaming bloody murder that his younger brother was shot and killed and that its all over the news and face book. We just sat there in shock as we saw him run down the street. He ran about a block and then came running back screaming to us to help him. We stood with him and hugged him and tried to calm him down for about 2 hours trying to figure out if Patros was dead or if it was just a rumor. In the bitter hours of this tragic news we watched this man fall apart. He kept quoting that whoever killed his brother had just brought out the monster in him and that he planned on seeking revenge! We were just as broken as he was. He kept saying why now  of all times. And as we sat there, family started coming over and members of the ward to calm him down because he was just a wrecking shop. Punching glass and punching the ground and screaming and then sobbing uncontrollably it was a mess. We had no idea what to do but after hours of calling cops and helping him calm down,  we left and handed the situation off to his family. I was in shock for the rest of the day at what had just taken place. 

After three days,  the house was packed with family and friends. Grieving with them and their loss. We went by and hugged their mother as she kept saying he is gone he is gone. We asked where Sam was but she said he hadn't said a word  in the last 2 days. He had calmed down but had been talking to himself and a little in shock.  Just as the mother had said that,  Sam entered the room and everyone went quiet. He walked over to us and just hugged me. He said that he wanted to still come closer to God and exclaimed that he needed to be strong for Patros. WE told him that we would be here for him and help him work to be baptized. He said he needed time of course but that its still something that he plans on doing. He asked us to pray for him and remember there were about 100 people in this house. And I was asked to say the prayer. I stood there not caring about what to say but to just open my mouth. I uttered out Dear God and everyone just went quiet,  I swear you could here a pin drop. I then began to pour out my heart to God and immediately spirits and angels and just power from God just flooded the room. I couldn't tell you how much I was filled with a force outside of me or anything I could deliver. I finished praying and everyone said Amen. Regardless of being south Sudanese and having different religions, beliefs and cultures. Elder Braegger and me hugged each of the family members one more time and left. My comp said that the prayer was one of the most powerful experiences in his whole mission. I don't know how to describe to you the feeling but I know it was from God and his influence filled that room letting us know that everything was in his hands. 

I have never been in a situation where someone that close to me besides great grandma and grandpa passes on to the next life. It wasn't real to me. but I can say that family is the most important unit of God's plan. We watched this week how his family came into their life at such a crucial time and provided a foundation and support for them during their grieving hours. Such loss can be so hard and in the moment feel like there is no hope but their family and ward family has provided that for them. More importantly their savior our savior has provided a way for them and their brother Portros to live again and live together for eternity. My testimony of the plan of salvation has grown since this past Tuesday. Although its a sad time,  it's a time of hope and continual growth and happiness. Patros is not dead his spirit lives today. 

This week I have been so tired I feel like there will never be an end to it all but I have 14 more weeks to finish strong. We have had so much work going on everyday that it has been exhausting. Let me tell you about more things on the happier side.

We met with Justin L this week. He is progressing well. He is a seminary student at Denver and is a burning christian that wants to learn more about our faith. He has been super open to the BOM and always ends up quoting stuff from the bible that go hand in hand with the bom. He invited us to play volleyball and spike ball in city park which is like Central Park in NY and we had a blast. Played with about 11 other friends and talked to them all about our beliefs. They are super open to it as well. They all go to church together at their local christian church. It's funny how many looks we were getting.   2 guys with white shirts and ties playing sports on a hot day in the park. I'd be weird-ed out too. Only if they knew what we did. They would understand and then we wouldn't have to wear white shirts and ties lol. 

We taught Mading at his mom and sister Pratt's house. One day I will have to tell you their story about coming and escaping from south Sudan. Karak, Madings mom is a leader in Africa that escaped here to help bring financial aid to her people in Africa. It's is such a bad place where they are living. Teaching Mahding is fun. He is a funny boy and we love him so much. He is getting baptized this upcoming April 7th after conference. we are so excited for him! 

We are also teaching Melissa. She is your age mom and has been through a lot. She reminds me of you just because you are similar in age and she kinda looks like you. Such a nice sweet lady. She wants to wash away her past and start to have hope again. She really loves us and she is excited to be baptized.

We are also working with Abrea, kirkland, Ahmed, Dominique and a couple others that we have lessons with. I have never done so much teaching in my life!!!

This is a long email and my hands are cramping. But that has been our week! Love being comps with Elder Braegger such a stud! We will take more pics because we haven't been doing that. oh and you don't have to send in a phone. I get a loaner phone because I'm going home so soon. So don't worry there. Can't wait for our beach trip this upcoming July! I need some sun really bad!

I want to end with my testimony!

I am thankful for the Easter season and the times and seasons set apart to commemorate and remember important times in our lives. Christmas Thanksgiving Easter all these wonderful days. I'm especially grateful for the times and seasons we get to remember our savior and what he has done for each of us. I love this years theme "Because of him. " And because of him there are a lot of blessing we have access to in our lives. His grace and Mercy is infinite and there is nothing that the Savior can't do because he has already done it all. From the Garden of Gethsemane to the cross of Calvary he has walked every mile in our shoes. I'm grateful that no matter where I'm at in my life I can always rely on my Heavenly father through his son Jesus Christ who has suffered all. I have hope when I exercise my faith because I know he wants to bless me. I have strength because in his strength I can do all things. As Ammon said to his brothers,  I do not boast in myself but I boast in my God. I love them and I'm grateful for everything they have helped me through in my life. As I remember him I remember all the experiences I  have ever had in my life and I count my blessing because there are many. This  is my testimony in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

Love you all so much 

14 more weeks!!!!

Elder Brown

Week 85 Abundant Blessings

I performed a piece for A fireside.  It was called Peace In Christ.  I performed it in two firesides.   I wrote the violin part and the cello part and added a 3rd vocal.  The original song doesn't have instruments other than the piano but I thought it would sound better if it had the violin and cello in it. It came together really nice. You should send me the recording that President posted. 

 Hey Dad I heard you gave an awesome talk Sunday.  Grandma said she felt like she was at a BYU seminary institute class. There are so many references to the topic of covenants. My favorite is Sampson the Nazerite. I heard L-s lost a nail biter by 1 point! Makes me sad but they had a great season! Makes me miss playing high school sports. I have been thinking a lot about sports and whether I want to try to play in school but I'm not sure if I should. I really want to try but I think there are things that the Lord has in mind for me to pursue but I'm still going to work out and try to get yoked. I want to be decently ripped. I haven't worked out as much because I tweaked my back doing it and had to see the chiropractor again. But I'm always careful. It's just that  I have a delicate naturally fragile ;) frame unfortunately so I have to watch what I do.

I have no clue whats going on in the March Madness tournament.  I wish that I did!

I have got to tell you awesome things about the work! This week has been the most insane week as far as work goes on the mission.....the Lord is just dumping miracles in our area!!! We had 11 return appointments last week. 6 of them are new investigators. We have 11 return app this week. Sam Mabany,  Patros Mabany and Mahding Miakol. Sam is 24 and is 6 foot 9 265 pounds and jacked. Patros is 6 foot 8 and 215 pounds. They are both college football players. They were referrals this week and we picked them up as new investigators.  Sam and Mahding came to church. In the last week we have had 7 referrals and 4 of them are now investigating. The other one named Dominique we have a return appointment this Thursday.
She wants to find a new church. right now we have 11 people in our teaching pool. 

Ahmed, Christine, Melissa, Patros, SAM, Mahding, Justin, Kirkland, Andre, Dominique and a ton of other potential investigators that we either have to stop by and set a time to meet or just contact for the first time. Tons of work and its been amazing to see what the lord can do. While we are speaking we got another referral. its been amazing!!!! I wish you guys could be here and witness it all. Glad I have been called to this ward with this companion. After all trial the lord pours out blessing for our patience and diligence what a blessing!!!!

Great week excited to see what comes.  Pray for us and that the Lord will continue to pour out his abundant blessings! Love you guys

Elder Connor Brown

Week 84 Amazing Week

Amazing week full of missionary work,  stretching from practicing musical numbers, finding new investigators, delivering mail and doing all those things missionaries do!

Incredible workweek, we had 5 non members at church this week,  8 return appointments for this week and super solid investigators to go along with it. It's nice we have been able to teach a lot recently and its awesome how far my teaching abilities have come. We have had really spirit packed lessons this last week. One with this guy Named Lupanda who is from the Congo, Justin Langly who is a college student at DU and Kirkland who happens to be Jewish so Jesus Christ is a difficult one for him to understand but we have been explaining it really well to him and he has been coming around. We are going to start teaching Mahdeen....he is the refugee from South Sudan and loved the church out there and wants to learn more about Christ. We will be teaching him twice a week.  We got back in contact with the Navajo family Tina and her kids. Right now the grandma is super interested. She came to church and wants to be baptized. We gave her a BOM and will be meeting with her this Saturday! I'm really excited to see how that goes!!We will be teaching a ton others this week and I will keep you posted on how those lessons go.

We had the Why I Believe fireside again which was super awesome!!! I composed a song called Peace in Christ. First song I have ever arranged but composed. I wrote out parts for the violin and cello and added another vocal part by adding a harmony on the Chorus. It came together really nice I wish you could have heard it. I'm happy with where my voice is at. I have definitely been improving over the last 2 years its been awesome. 

Our zone has had some crazy things happen. A new elder that has only been out a transfer has had such awful health problems president has decided to send him home to get better. They called us and asked to give the Elder  a blessing. I had the opportunity to give him a blessing and the words just came to me. I didn't think of them prehand but just had confidence the Lord would give me the words to say and it did. People share stories about giving blessings and how the spirit completely takes over and I felt that happen as I started to open my mouth. It was definitely one to remember. I even felt in the blessing for some reason that he was going to go home early and he got a call a day later not even expecting it to happen. We are getting a super awesome missionary in our zone and I'm excited because he plays and sing the guitar super well so we should be playing some music together!!

MLC this week was good. we recieved training for our  smart phones and I will be getting a loaner phone for now.  It's incredible the things we can do.


It  looks like and sounds like Izzy did super well!! 

Elder Braegger is a stud dad,  we work super well together. It's so nice to have a companion that wants to work hard. We both make each other better its great!

Well, great weather this week it should be 57 today and 70 wed so it will be great weather to find some people! Love you guys I'll talk to ya laters

Elder Brown

Week 83 Same Area. New Companion

About school, I don't know who to live with I might just live with Al if he is still down for that. If not then I'll consider rooming with Elder Bird. Elder Chun isn't going to school right away so it would be a while until we would ever live together so that's not an option anymore. Ask Alex what he thinks and let me know. 

Izzy's driving that is so wild. I can only imagine you in the car with her.   I know every reaction and everything you probably say. I can see you holding on to the handle bar on the ceiling and sitting up in your chair oh man!!! Well I bet that has been fun. I like Izzy's little British outfit.  How has her dancing been this year? I hear she is pretty good and has improved a lot. Good for her! I'm good on food clothes and everything else so we are chillin.

Ok for the exciting news my new comp is Elder Braegger. He is from Corinne, Utah way out on a cattle ranch. He is an amazing missionary. President told Elder Bird that me and him are the most solid companionship in the mission.  Everyone thought He would be the next AP or Me.  But the decided to put Two AP's together.   We are going to baptize a lot out of this ward and we are excited. I prayed that I would have a companion that I could just work with and help me finish my mission strong and President and the Lord sent a stellar guy my way. 

So me and Elder Braegger are now the only set of missionaries in the ward now. So we took over the other elders teaching pool. So now we have a lot of potential. At this point now we probably have 12 people that honestly could be baptized in the next 4 months. We could baptize a 9 year old kid who is a refugee from Sudan. He is so cute and told us at church that now he has people that LOVE him. He is such a cute kid! Excited to be teaching him this week. We got in contact with the Navajo fam but they didn't show up to church :( next time though!! I could type you all the names of the potential we have, but that would take a while. Pray that we can start teaching these people and getting the ball rolling. We taught Andre and August a lot this week. they didn't make it out to church. 

Elder Christianson is the new AP he came out with me, he is a good missionary he will do well. Elder Bird told me that while they were figuring out transfers my name was on the board for the assistant along with 7 other guys so its a testimony that it is about who the Lord needs to fill capacities so and I'm okay with not being an assistant I always have. Plus now I can work hard and be in the work! 

Anyway good things a head not worried at all, very thrilled to finish out my mission with Elder Braegger. Couldn't ask for a better ward and better teaching pool! a lot of people to help. in April we will be getting smart phones and I'm stoked, super excited for that! then i can send you tons of pics for sure.

Love ya mom,  have a great week! send me questions and I will answer them​

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Week 79-Proud of My Decisions!

I had a really good this week.   I have been proud of the decisions I have been making recently. My thoughts are becoming really clean.  The Christ Like attribute I chose to really improve on a couple of transfers ago is virtue and I have been really doing well with that and all that it entails. I'm happy! Sometimes I wish that there was more work to do in the Colorado Denver North Mission but we are trying to get it going. We have been listening to obedient music,  we have been really trying to pick our game up and work even harder and I had a really great Sacrament experience this week. When you take the sacrament with a truly penitent heart you feel the healing power from the savior and its pretty special. We sang I know That my redeemer Lives during sac meeting and I cried a little.  The spirit was really strong during that song.

As for school. I've been praying about it every night this week and the Lord told me to make a decision and he told me that I will let you know through the fruits whether you need to switch or stop what your doing and course correct or stay and continue my education where I'm at. I still feel that I should go to Utah Valley. I'm going to ask Sister Savage for some advice because I know this is a really big decision for me...and probably one of the biggest I make. But the way the Lord speaks to me is through making a decision. He has given me that ability to choose and I'm going for it. I'll continue to pray and decide if Utah Valley is where I want to go and if the Lord says other wise I'll change. But that is what has happened thus far. 

 I want Izzy  to listen to a talk called I love my friends by Hank Smith. Probably one of the best talks a youth could hear about friends ever. He is such a great speaker. Promise me you will find that video for her and show it to her.

I'm not in charge of the musical fireside.  Those Sisters and sister savage are which I wish I was in charge.  The spirit is always strong and that's what matters. 

EAGLESSSSSS!!!!! I was so happy they won. I wish I could of seen the game. An investigator showed us the highlights. I'm glad they beat the Patriots too! It's about time the Eagles win a super bowl.  First one in the books!!!!!! 

I gotta a lot of pics for you. today we are going to the zoo and we get in free haha! it should be fun! 

Love You SOOOO MUch!

Elder Connor Brown

Week 78- Why My Mission has Changed My Life Forever

I LOve being a zone leader! a lot of administrative stuff that takes away from proselyting,  but we still have been able to teach and find!

We had 2 investigators at church! Andre and his girlfriend! Andre has lived a very rough life,but he appreciates how much we love him and how we don't judge him for the things he does and the language he uses! He knows what he needs to do and he is motivated!  I gave him one of my ties and Elder Tonga gave him a shirt and he looked good at church! He hardly has any money, he works at jimmy johns and doesn't even pay full rent at his place! His buddy helps him out! but pray for him he really can change! It would be a huge lifestyle twist but he can do it! That's what the gospel is for! 

We have a ton of other people who have been a little flaky this week but we haven't been able to teach them at all. We had a great lesson with a guy named Justin! They are a really poor family. Justin is the boyfriend of Jennifer and she has 3 kids but he is the father figure for them. In the past he has been mean toward missionaries but we stopped by and he saw us pull up in our truck and he ran down the stairs and thanked us for showing up. He is going through a difficult time trying to make money, give up bad habits and be the man he knows he needs to be. He was praying for help from God and guess who showed up,  us! We went inside and taught him.  We laid out some expectations and blessing from meeting with us and how it will bring his family together!  He was super thrilled but he was crying so much.he felt the spirit and it was strong. He invited us back that night to teach his family but he said he had to put the kids to bed when we showed up which he was sorry. They were being naughty so he had to discipline them. He gave us his number and we are trying to set up a lesson this week.  Pray for them as well!

My companions name is Tomasi Tonga. He is half Tongan. He is playing college football at snow and hopefully get his grades up so he can play at Utah. He is a really good player. Played for USA

rugby as well! He is a great loving man and his life used to be way different. His family isn't very active in church but his mom keeps the family together and his brother is putting in his papers. 

Okay so I will share why the mission has changed my life forever......come see my homecoming talk for all who would like to know hahaha jk.   I will share something

" I love hearing stories about how coming close to God has quote on quote "changed my life" but I feel coming closer to God doesn't mean some force has necessarily made you flip around a complete 180 degrees. Coming closer to God hasn't changed my life but has changed my perspective, my outlook, the way I view people, the way I view my life. A life with God isn't being baptized going to church and banking that your spot has been secured in the very presence of God. It is way way more than that! The thing that most people don't recognize is that you are the dictator of your own salvation. Christ has left it up to us to follow his example and use his infinite grace and mercy that is available everyday 24 hours a day. He doesn't change our lives.....we change our lives Through him. The way we change our lives through him is submitting our will to his. Giving up our carnal desires which I still struggle to do and taking up his cross and following him. Peter and his disciples in the New Testament were fishing one evening when Jesus approaches them and says Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men. It then explains in the following verse that peter James and John "straightway left their nets" Scholars share that the symbolism behind that is giving up our desires and following God. I might add that by giving up their nets(fishing) they were giving up their will to God. They were giving up their desires to fish and make a living and feed their families. But by doing so they didn't know the transformation that would come into their lives when they follow Christ. I think the same case has shown for me.There are a lot of things that I would like to do that I'm not supposed to do like party and blow my money and give into everything the world has to offer. But my mission has changed my perspective in that I'm the most happiest when I'm serving him and giving him my will. Our lifetime is a constant battle of giving up what we want and letting as the famous Carrie Underwood stated "Jesus take the wheel" Jesus is the pilot. He is at the helm and as I let him direct me my life is blessed! I love being a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of latter Day Saints. I love what is taught.  The principles I learn to help me become a better person. My wish is for people to see the blessing of being a part of my church. Literally just come see how happy living the things I live will make you. read the Book of Mormon, see the teaching that are similarly taught in the bible in the gospels and see how everything just makes sense. God has called a prophet in our day. He leads us and gives us the counsel we need to find safety and peace from the storms of life. Thank you to those who have impacted my life and has shown me and exemplified a Christ like life,  for I am forever indebted to you! I will pay it forward!  In dreams I can help someone find out who they truly are. I find out and am reassured who I am each and everyday as I serve him here in Colorado. I remember who I was before this life. I know what I can become. I hope you all truly know how much I love each and everyone of you. And how much God loves you! He is there, he will help you but it takes giving up some things. But it is all worth it in the end! This is my testimony that he lives! I love him! In his name I say these things, amen

I love you mom thanks for letting me share my testimony!

 

 

Week 77 - Tonga

Hey Mom! 

Check out my new comp! My Polynesian  haha..He is such a bro.  It will be a fun couple of transfers! He is a good missionary! He changed a lot and got made a zone leader.  I got transferred from Arvada and I'm a Zone Leader in the city of Denver,  which will be a blast! I'm serving in the University HIlls Ward right on University of Denver campus. Oddly enough I'm not in the YSA Ward but me and Tonga should be haha!  My companion  uses his Hawaiian accent and then every girl will talk to us and then we can share the Book of Mormon with them or give them a card but we just end up passing them off to the ysa ward haha! There are a lot of people in our ward not a lot of members but tons of investigators. We share an apartment with another set of missionaries, which kinda stinks since they are messy but they are pretty fun to be around. I'm in a car and driving which is fun! I'm whipping in a Nissan Frontier,  a TRUCKKKKKKK! We just got hit with a bad snowstorm so its been fun drifting in parking lots and yanking the E-brake ....somethings will just never change. I won't tell you what I'd do in my little accord back home hahaha! We have a couple investigators as of now but I haven't met a lot of them. I'm sure we will be able to teach a lot of people here we have a lot in our teaching pool , but definitely a lot to look forward too! 

So don't worry about me medically. My sinus/allergy whatever that was is gone now. My toe is back to normal, I'm healthy and strong. Now I just need to check out my teeth.  Sorry I didn't take a lot of pictures this week! Transfers were awful. I didn't get to say good bye to anyone. Poor President was up for basically 32 hours the last two days before transfers so I didn't find out until 9:30 that I would be leaving it was awful! But hopefully I can see them all again! Other than that, I'm  just excited that my dream came true! Serving in Denver City! Super pumped!

Love Elder Brown!

 I spy!

 Tonga!

 

Week 76- Dabbing

Dabbing with our housemates!

The week was great! We found another super solid investigator! She has been in members path through the scout program and really wants to be apart of the Gospel of Jesus Christ! She is coming to President Ballard's  address in our Stake Center! Super excited to start teaching her! Her name is Heidi Herman. Also we have an investigator we picked up from a referral her name is Rechelle! Hopefully we can get the ball rolling with her!  We picked up another investigator as well his name so happens to be Shawn, and he is coming to the special stake conference! April will be there as well as Tom Nash! So we got a lot of people learning! Arvada 3rd ward is awesome! I think I may stay! Apparently Thursday is transfers and we won't find out until Wednesday night. if we are staying or leaving. 

 Pday was yesterday for 5 hours how dumb is that! But we had an epic Nerf war with the youth of 2nd ward and it was so fun!

 Interview with President was awesome! He builds me up every time I"m with him! He Told me that I was one of his strongest missionaries and the greatest leaders in the mission. He told me because of my versatility he'd put me in any spot and the work would boom! He says I can count on you in any position but we will see what the Lord says! He said he could easily assign me as one of the AP's but he will council with the Lord on that one! I don't let it get to my head though because sometimes I feel I'm never worthy to be titled a leader.   I have so many imperfections I can't count them on my fingers. But I guess that is how the prophets of old felt! Not sure I can part a red sea or anything but you can call me a modern day Moses just way less faithful and way more room to grow haha!

 

 Have I told you I love you tooo! Less than 6 months!!!  July 4 is my set date. 

but it could be the 5th 6th 7th 8th 9th or 10th because we have one more 7 week transfer but then we will have one odd shorter one so it will make up for it,  but president has it set for July 4th. 

NO IDEA!

Week 75 Thanks Dad

I love you Mom so much you don't even know! Transfers I believe are on the 18th...This week I have interviews with president.  Pday we have the truck and I'm going to go play basketball all day because that's what I normally do haha. Nobody plays so its pretty boring haha!

Glad you got to see all my friends.   I miss them! Ryleigh is so cute I miss her! I miss Jake and Ty so much though. Only 6 more months!!! Counting down at all?...I know you are😈😊

The Prophet died.  I was so sad I cried a little bit and said a prayer for his family right after. I thanked Heavenly Father for his service and all he did, what a great man! I wish I Listened to him more. He has amazing talks and always great council.   I love him.

I always pretend your riding my case that's how I remember to brush my teeth and turn off the lights and not fall asleep on the couch when I'm studying the Book of Mormon. See....maybe you had to ride my butt all those years! I guess it was all apart of the plan in heaven right hehehehe! I love you and Miss you and can't wait to see you and kiss your face. 

Elder Brown

Thanks for the support Dad! I am glad I have you around to push me.  It gives me a lot of confidence and hope.

Hey, seeing Brother McBride was awesome! It was a total surprise but when he called us I figured it was him. He tried to approach me posing as a referral, which I was actually excited that we might have more teaching to do, hahaha! It was awesome though!  We talked about Dean, scout camp when you both saw Elder Abney who was there when you received the Aaronic Priesthood and my cousins on the Navajo Reservation. I talked about how he knows them better than I know them haha! Well, I'm glad he had such great things to say about me. Weird he could tell that there was growth because we didn't talk much about gospel related things, but must have been my countenance. It's 62 degrees today hahaha so warm! let me tell you about my week!

This week was awesome!  Full of spiritually packed finding experiences. Revelation I believe comes not when you plan in the morning where you should go but when you leave the apartment and you start working. Since it was warm all week we could talk to people out on the streets which is my specialty. It was at night and me and elder beck were about to go in a half hour early but I looked at him and said we need to be obedient.  So we left and walked up the street. A guy passed by and asked us if we had a cigarette. I told him I didn't and that I was sorry and we departed ways.  I kept walking a little further and got some distance when I was like, "that guy was totally put in our path". Elder beck says, "lets go back!" So we literally ran after this guy and awkwardly approached him by asking his name. We then asked if we could walk with him because our house was on the way and we talked about smoking and quitting and talked about the church and the ARP (addiction recovery program) and attending services. He said he was curious so we got his phone number and we will try to set up a church tour with him. Also we were out the very next day and I had a distinct prompting to go talk to this person that we tracted into back during the "Light the World " campaign. We got there, knocked on her door and she was home.  We asked her if she watched the video. She said no but she said she wants her boys to do youth group.  I told her how great our youth group is and it turns out she is super interested in coming to church!  Her boss is LDS and she knows we are good people. So we might have another potential family to work with! it would be amazing! Her name is Anne. God is in charge and he gives us promptings all the time and when you strive to be obedient, you can hear them. Laman and Lemuel were "past feeling" because they wouldn't hearken! Hearken means to listen then obey! As we obey we receive God's help more abundantly. We can have God's help but unless we are striving to be obedient we won't hear him. That is a true principle. Those were some experiences I had this week!

Glad you had a great week at the temple. We will have to go when I get back.   6 more months crazy!!!!!!!!!! I can do it! Pray for my area.  I pray for you guys but some times I don't know what to pray for because I never know whats going on haha!

Izzy had some awesome dance videos she sent me! she is so good!

I love you guys thanks for everything you have given me! I'm eternally grateful! Have a great week!

Week 74 NEW YEAR

New Years was awesome.   I got to see everyone who is leaving. Elder Merkley My trainer is going home, Elder Wood is going home as well and I'm so sad!

I sang in church on Sunday it was good the volume was turned down to much so they couldn't hear me as well but it was still good. I'll figure out how to record it for you. 

As far as investigators go it was not an eventful week except at the beginning. We taught Tom Nash the restoration and the Plan of salvation and he was very receptive. He said, " it just makes sense any normal human would agree would these things if they would just give us the chance. So many points of the plan of salvation and restoration make so much sense. I wish people would listen to our message sometime. Anyway we are trying to set up more lessons with him but work is so busy for him running his own buisness that its hard to schedule appointments. April is meeting with us this wed. and we are trying to set up a church tour with her this week! Other than that, that's pretty much the highlight of the work week! Hopefully we can continue to find people to teach!  I emailed dad a good chunk but hopefully this will be satisfying enough, sorry I'm just super exhausted.  Know I love you so much and can't wait to see you in 6 months! Love you❤💋
The member we lived with had some of the games on so during lunch I was getting a little action hahaha.   I miss watching college football! I can't believe Georgia won crazy!! Did you guys get 5 feet of snow? Maybe not... That's what somebody said! ! Dad I am so committed to playing basketball at UVU..  My shot is more accurate. I can't remember if I told you but when
 I was in Parker Jarrod Beckstead took me to lifetime fitness on a p-day. When I got there he told me that a bunch of college kids from Colorado State and CU Boulder come and play ball there. I steped in and played  5 on 5 with those guys just to see what I could do. Besides the fact that I was a little out of shape, I did well.   They asked me what school I'm playing at?  I told them that I'm on a mission for my church and that I don't play at school, They told me if I really work hard over the summer that I have a good shot at playing college ball. I need to get a little bulkier and fine tune some of my skills but even Elder Wood who plays for Southern Virginia University tells me that I would start at SVU right now. Woah! Obviously its just talk and what they have seen when playing them on P-day but I think I will learn a lot of life lessons by playing ball and proving to myself that when I work hard at something I can reach my goals. I have good feelings about it and good impressions so I have started doing jump work outs again and now I have a bench and 400 pounds of wait at the members house we live with and so I have been working out every morning and night. I want to be able to jump high. When I come home I want to start a vertimax or bounce kit workouts so I can jump higher. I'm very committed and very driven but I feel I have the work ethic this time to acheive it! I really want to do this.  Anyway, thought I'd let you know haha!

Elder beck and I are doing really well! This might be our last transfer together but we will see! oh yeah and my musical number was awesome. I didn't think it was appropriate to video in sac meeting so maybe I can record it another time. I need a pianist now is the problem. Oh my camera broke BTW. The screen is totally white it still works and takes pics I just cant see them lol.

Well I miss you a ton I can't wait to come home but I love being here on the Lord's mission and serving him full time! Never will I be able to do this again but my missionary work will never stop. I love you dad! Thanks for you example to me. Means more than you know.
Elder Brown

Week 73 Christmas

Hey Dad it was nice to face time you and mom and the girls yesterday!  It was the highlight of my day! I miss you guys! Elder Beck and I watched Tron and classic Tron with young Jeff Bridges! Look how much times have changed! Thank you for modern technology! 

Yesterday was fun.   We hung out with the Forbes and their 3 kids along with the YSA sister missionaries, Bishop Smith and his wife and kid and Carma Smith Sister Forbes mother! Carma Smith is the funniest  lady! She is so sweet and she loves basketball and so she gets excited when the Nuggets do well! Love you dad!   We still going to be able to play basketball when I get home or are you too old! You are an old man now! Keep exercising don't get fat haha!

 Love you dad,

Elder Brown