Week 11

FAMILY!!!

Oh how i loved all those pictures!! Merrick thanks for eating all those mashed potatoes for me!! Thank you so much for your love and support everyone! i just love you all so so so much!! And yes i did feel that prayer of Thanksgiving and i'll tell you why...So it would have been thankgiving time there in Idaho time but here it was friday...and we found....4 NEW INVESTIGATORS!!! Thank you so much for your prayers. I feel them everyday, truly. JILLIAN!!!! GAAAAA YOU MADE FIDDLER!! (is anyone surprised? Not me cause my sister is AMAZING!!) Keep me posted on how things go!! And that jerky story HILAROUS! I've got a little bit of a cold so when i read that story i just about had a couging attack from the laughing! Love you Yackm :) Mal Pal, oh how you insipire me. COMPETITION!!! GAAA!!! Keep me posted on that as well!

I'm glad you all had a wonderful thanksgiving! My thanksgiving consisted of...drum roll please....indian food. (I don't know what it is about the english but they love a good curry ha) I could truly feel the love and prayers all the way over here in Durham! I love you so much fam!

This week was SO GREAT! On Tusday and Wednesday we had Sister Specialized Training at the mission home in Leeds. It was wonderful!!! The focus was on doing the little things for people that matter the most. We watched that Lighthouse video (the older Seminary one...about the guy who gave random things in his will to random people who had done and act of kindness to him that changed his life...you know the one i'm talking about?? I'm pretty sure we watched it for FHE once upon a time) it was soooo good! You truly never know how a little act of kindness can make the difference in somones life. We also focused on love, how love changes everything. There is a sister here named Sister White (oh man i want to be like her ha) She said that one of the most important thing she learned was loving people, and seeing them how God sees them. She said that each morning she prayed, "Please bless i can show maybe just one, just one person how much you love them today. That in some way they can feel through me your love." That hit me so hard. When we knock on doors we only have just seconds to tell them our message, but i never thought about leaving behind love. Oh how that made all the difference this week. Focusing on "How much does God love this person...How can i show them how much God loves them...how much he yerns for them to come back home". That is what his work is all about. Love. i LOVED Sister Speicalized Training! We (all of us sisters in the whole mission...which is only like 20 of us ha) were able to spend some quality time with each other (which doesn't happen ha cause we're all spread out pretty far from each other) and to learn and grow. Also to spend some time with President and Sister Lindley. They are SOOOOO WONDERFUL!!!!!

Can you beleive it's December on Thursday?! Time is just FLYING!!! Less then 4 weeks i'll be talking with the people i love the most!! How wonderful will that be :) I love you all so so much and I hope this week is a happy one! I love to the moon and back! Cheers!

Love, Sister Brown

 Ok i'm sure your wondering "what's with the hats...the wierd hats..." So during the Royal Wedding England went crazy over hats. A lot of people wore weirdo hats at and for the wedding (ha google it ;) ) so Sister Lindley was able to get some of them at the charity shops around here ha so we had an old fashioned Tea Party :) It was SOOO FUN!

Ha i took this while the wind was literally 100 MPH...no joke and it was raining :) Oh how i love this work!! :D

Week 10

Hey ya Family!

How is everyone doing this week?! I hope just wonderfuly! So is anyone else weirded out that Thanksgiving is this week...i know i am! Time is just flying! In a few days it will be December and then in a few short weeks i'll be TALKIN TO THE BEST FAMILY EVER!!! Has it crossed anyone elses minds that this will be the 3rd year in a row for our family to talk to one of our missionaries :D This time it will be me on the other end.

QUOTE OF THE WEEK: Old lady in Sunday School commenting on obedience "Well me personally, i like to sin at least once a day. Because then at the end of the day when i talk to God i can ask for forgiveness and feel how much he loves me!" BAHAHA (I almost lost it in church...absolutely lost it when church was over though...so funny. LOVE that lady (Sister Shearer))

This week went by SO FAST! I can't believe i'm at the computer screen again :) Since it's Turkey Day this week and we don't celebrate it here I wanted to go through all the things i'm thankful for...which is a lot but i'll just name a few :)

I'm grateful missionary work and this oppertunity i have to be a disciple of Christ.

These months have been some of the hardest but most rewarding days of my life. The people i have met, the things i've learned, the time i've had to study the scriptures, have been priceless. And i've still got 16 more months of this! (Anyone who thinks (boys or girls) they want to serve a mission or even that it's not for them...THINK AGAIN! Missions are the best thing you could do for yourself! JUST DO IT!)

I'm grateful for my investigators

Especially Malcom. So sadly...earth shattering sadly. We felt guided and prompted by the Holy Ghost that the best thing we could do for him this week was to drop him. He wasn't progressing at all. The last 4 times we saw him we was completely wasted and not in place where he could give up alcohol. Thats one of the downfalls of agency..is that we all have it and we choose to use it. He chose alcohol. So we told him we loved him and that we had done all we could-gave him all the tools he needs to be better. But that we couldn't see him anymore. I cried like a little baby haha I just love him so much. He has changed my life forever and i hope that someday he figures out that he needs to stop drinking. Cause he knows the book of mormon is true and that Joseph Smith is a prophet, he knows the church is true. He just needs to live it.

I'm grateful for President Lindley.

I don't care what you RM's say my mission president trumps your any day!! :) ;) He called us this week about Brian. Brian is still just so hard hearted and we can't seem to get through to him. He just wants to do his life his way-doesn't care what God wants him to do. So president Lindley called us this week and got Brians number from us so that he could call him and encourage him to be baptized this year (back story: So president was the one who interviewed Brian for baptism back in October because of Brians criminal past) President knows Brian and loves him just as much as we do. I so appreciate him and all that he does for us and is willing to do to bring Gods children back into the fold :) He's SO wonderful!

I'm grateful for the amazing members in the Stanley Ward

OH they are wonderful! i wish i could go into detail about everyone of them. They are wonderful, they take such good care of us and are so involved in the work that we do here! Fam be involved in the missionary work in your ward!! Do all you can for the missionaries! Give them refferals, go out teaching with them, invite them over for dinner. We can't do our work without the support of the members, the bishopric, our ward mission leader, and the ward council.

I'm so grateful for my family.

I don't know if you know them ;) but my family is the best! You have always been so supportive of me, loving, caring, and especially patient (oh the patience you've had with me over the years...) Thank you. I don't think i could ever say it enough. I wouldn't be out here if you hadn't encouraged me to go, i wouldn't have been able to stay here if it wasn't for your love, encouragement, examples, and prayers. I love you all so so so much!!!

I hope you have such an amazing week this week! Read your scriptures, pray-really talk with God! He's always there. I know this church is true. I know God lives and that the biggest act of love that he has given us is our Savior Jesus Christ. The attonement is and will be the biggest, greatest, most eternal act of love that man kind will ever know. I am so grateful to my Savior. "I stand all amazed at the love Jesus offers me, confused at the grace that so fully to proffers me, i tremble to know that for ME (all of us) he was crucified, that for me a SINNER he SUFFERED he bled and died. Oh it is wonderful that he should care for me ENOUGH TO DIE FOR ME!! Oh it is wonderful, wonderful to me!"

i love you all so much! To the moon and back! :) Cheers til next week! Turrah!

Love, Sister Brown :)

Week 9

HELLO FAMILY!!!!!

How are you?! The play is over :( But i'm so glad that you EXTENDED!!!!! GAAA!! I'm sure it was magical!!! And now on to competition season...time is FLYING! Today is my 2 month mark! Can you believe it's been 2 months! AND can you believe in 6 weeks it will be CHRISTMAS?!?!?!? soooo crazy! Mckay...is filling out...his mission papers....WHOA!!!!!!! YOU CAN PUT IN YOUR PAPERS DECEMBER 3RD?!?!?!?!?! THAT'S IN LIKE....3 WEEKS!!!!!! YAKCM!!!!!!! THAT'S AMAZING!!!! You HAVE TO let me know how everything goes!! I hope everyone is doing so so so good!!

Well let me explain why it is that you didn't get an email yesterday. So it was transfer week this week (week 6) What ends up happening is on the 6th week we have District Meeting on Monday (we usually have it on Wednesday) and we get transfer calls that night. Then our PDay is the next day (Tuesday). So that is how it will work next time too....but i believe it will be Christmas so it will work just a little differently...but normally that is how it works. So every 6th Monday you won't get a letter til the next day :) Sorry if there was any confusion, i know that if we didn't get a letter from Joey on the day it was supposed to come haha it got manic :)

Thank you Grandma Brown for the letter and copies you sent! You're wonderful!

And thank you everyone for your letters! (You know who you are ;) ) I so appreciate all of your love and support!

This week was pretty crazy!! We had Zone Confrence on Tuesday (11/8) THEN we went on EXCHANGES :) Sister Freeman stayed in Stanley with Sister Smith and I went to Redcar (yes this place is literally called Redcar) with Sister Stout!

Zone Conference was amazing!!! President started out by saying, "Ok everyone...what if i told you that i had 3 buses outside and that you need to grab your recommends..we're going to the temple?" Of course we all freaked out (because we dont' have a temple in our mission so we can't go while we're here...sad day) haha so he then said "Well I'm sorry to say that i don't have any buses...but i have tried my very hardest to bring the temple to you" Then he talked a lot about the temple and all the meanings and things. OH IT WAS WONDERFUL!! You know how much this Sister LOVES the temple, i learned sooo much!

So mom remeber how you said that you met Sister Taylor's mom haha ya i totally met her at Zone Conference! She is WONDERFUL, i sat by her through the whole thing!! We talked about home and the play and how bumbed we were that we couldn't see it but knew it was going to be fabulous!! (which i'm still sure it was!) It was so wonderful to meet some more of the sisters and elders there and to partake of the wonderful spirit that was there!

After Zone Conference (like i said) we went on exchange!! Which was SO MUCH FUN!! Me and Sister Stout just bonded instantly! We had a great time together and with their investigators! We were able to schedule some to be baptized this month! Her name is Julie and she is WONDERUL!! Her spirit was just so lovely, she was an absolute joy to meet and to be around.

So funny story of the month! HA So me and Sister Stout are both Greenies so we don't really have any idea of what we're doing for the most part. So to get back to stanley we were planning on taking the train that would take us to Durham where S. Freeman and Smith would be to pick us up. Well we went on the train from Redcar to....somewhere that starts with a D...i can't remember. BUT we got there to switch trains and then head to Stanley. We get there...and our train doesn't come....we wait...and our train STILL hasn't come. Then on the monitor it says that it's been delayed. Ok we think "No big deal we'll just wait". 30 minutes pass and we're wondering what is going on ha Then over the loud speaker we hear "All NewCastle/Durham trains have been canceled. Due to a murder/suicide of someone jumping out in front of one of the trains you will have to find other means for transportation...." We look at each other and just say, "What in the world?!" haha So we ended up being STRANDED at the train station for 2.5 hours waiting for the Zone Leaders to come get us because we had no other way of getting back home.

So many times so far on my mission i think "If only my mother could see me now" haha But don't worry i got back safe and sound to dear Stanley safe and sound.

This week was wonderful! Full of knowledge, growing, faith, the Holy Ghost, love, the ups and downs of this work. I truly love it!

Transfers calls were yesterday and things are stayin the same here in Stanley. Me and Sister Freeman are stayin together. (They usually keep Greenies with their trainers for at least 2 transfers) I can't believe it's already been a transfer and i'm heading into my 2nd! Time is just flying by!

I hope all is so well for each and everyone of you!! I hope you're reading your scriptures and praying EVERY NIGHT!! And McKay start getting familiar with Preach my Gospel! I SOOO wish i had done more studying (not just passive reading ha) of it before i came! You are going to be an epic missionary! i just know it!!!

I love you all to the moon and back! Til Next week! Cheers!

-Love, Sister Brown

 

Week 8

FAMILY!

Oh how i love each of you so so so much!

1st. ok Jill and Ray...I mean Mario..Luigi (Kong out of Jungle?! Banana! hahahaha!!!) I loved your costumes!!! They were truly AMAZING!! And Danny look at you and your wonderful missionary self!!! One day you're going to be an amazing missionary!!!

2nd You ran into sister taylors MOM?! I haven't met her, but Sister Freeman knows her pretty well. apparently she gets home in December...crazy

3rd LES MISERABLES!!!!!!!! GAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!! I'm not gonna lie....oh how i wish i was there!!!! but alas, i am here saving souls ha. From what i've heard its been amazing!!!!!! Mal i am just so proud of you! Keep letting your light shine!! You're wonderful!!!

4th MOM 2:30 in the MORNING?!?! You've gotta get to bed my beautiful mum!! :)

5th (because i COMPLETELY forgot to say anything in my email last week and felt absolutely HORRIBLE for not saying a word) MERRICK!!!! GGGGAAAAAAA YOU'RE GOING TO NEW ZEALAND!!!!!!!!!! :D :D :D!!!!!!! So there was an Elder in my MTC district that was from Zew Zealand and he was THE BOMB!!! You will absolutely love it there and the people are going to ABSOLUTELY LOVE YOU!!!!!!

Quote of the Week:

Random Chick: "I don't believe in God...i believe in science (no joke, she said it...but not with the mexican accent like in Nacho Libre...but with that wonderful british accent i hear ALL DAY) but i do believe in Jesus Christ

Me inside my head: "How can you believe in Jesus Christ but now believe in God...he's the SON of GOD"

Random Chick says to Random Drunk Friend: Ya Jesus Christ was like the coolest ginger ever!

(So that is what they call people with redish hair here...ginger. So malory (and dad in his younger years ;) ) in case you didn't already know...you're a ginger :)

This week was...interesting to say the least ha! Halloween we weren't allowed to go out knocking (for obvious reasons) so we had to make sure we had appointments set up or if they flogged (british word for TOTALLY bailing on us, not showing up, telling us they would be there but we knock and no one is home) we would have to set up "effective member visits" (...member visits are RARELY effective ha) We had to do this same thing on Saturday (Jill and Rays BDay haha i bet you didn't know that your birthday is a holiday here in dear Ol England) It was Bonefire Night aka Guy Fox night. (Guy Fox was that guy WAY back in the day who tried to blow up parlament ha) So it is truly one of the craziest holidays here. Its like the 4th of the July on steroids! They have TONS of loud HUGE firworks and GYNORMOUS bonefires in their yards. Imagine a huge thing of wood about the size of the shed...then lit on fire so its about as big as the house...now imagine it IN OUR FRONT YARD!!!!! ya these people are quite the pyros to say the least. So that night to we weren't allowed to go knocking...but we didn't know this until the night before...so we had a lot of "effective member visits" cause we didn't have any appoinments :(

But earlier on this week was a bit of a hard one.

A. My little sister is in the middle of her Senior year crowinging moment playing Eponine...in Les Mis...which is something that is very dear to my family.

B. It was my sisters Bday this week...oh how i love and miss her

C. I AM DRIVING!!!!! THEY ARE HAVING ME DRIVE IN ENGLAND....ON THE WRONG SIDE OF THE ROAD.....IN A MANUAL CAR!!!!!! I AM DRIVING STICK ON THE WRONG SIDE OF THE ROAD!!!!!!!!! GAAAAAAA!!!!

D. which was the cherry on the cake of downer-dome. Malcom relapsed atomically this week. We found him quite wasted (to say the least) earlier this week. I have never seen someone so broken, so sad, so devistated, so hurt, so ashamed...just broken in my whole life. Me, Sister Freeman, and the member that was with us just cried with him...we all just cried. But even in the tears of sorrow, worry, regret, the spirit was so strong there. After that lesson we were a mess, we just sat in the car and cried for him. So I asked if we could say a prayer, find some direction, find the way to help him.

AND THIS IS WHY THE CHURCH IS TRUE....

God (aka the spirit) spoke to me. (ok I didn't hear a voice he didn't really "speak" to me....but there have been few times in my life where it has been SO CLEAR what i should do and what my purpose is...this was one of those times...)

I knew exactly what my purpose was. In the prayer i asked for a miracle...we needed a miracle. We can't be with malcom every minute of the day making sure he's being protected from his HORRIBLE FRIENDS. He has no one, his family has completely disowned him because of his drinking. We needed a miracle...

And plainer then i can even describe the spirit told me "Taylor, you are Malcom's miracle. You have been sent here by me to save him, to be his miracle. Without you he will fall (possibly die). Don't give up. You are his support, you are his gaurdian angle...you...are...his...miracle."

And then the peace flooded. ABSOLUTELY FLOODED!!! I knew exactly what i needed to do, what we needed to do. I know that Malcom is one of those souls in heaven that i promised i would help and i WILL help him. I know I can, because with God on my side anything is possible. I know it.

Never doubt the things that we are capable of-God has given us the gospel for a purpose. We have been born into this knowledge to save souls...and not just souls-specific people. There are people for each of us that we promised we would bring them the gospel so that they could come back home. It is our responsibility to find them, share with them, smile at them, love them, be examples too. THEY ARE EVERYWHERE!!

I love this work, i love this gospel, i love my family :)

Fasting this week was EPIC! As a mission our goal for the year is 425 baptisms (not as many as a certain someone in el salvedor baptised in his years in S. America...but thats a lot here in the UK) and we're about 100 short. We have 2 months to baptize 100 souls. So our fast this month was to have the faith to find them. Believe that they are out there and that we can get them into the kingdom of God. I know anything is possible because of this fast. Last night I had so much faith, so much motiviation to find them and i know i couldn't have done it without God. Without my Savior...because this week was tough. But last night i was so happy, so pumped, SO motivated, i had so much faith at each door. I know that this was only possible because of the faith, prayers, fasting, of our mission and because of the paryers and fasting at home. THANK YOU FOR YOUR PRAYERS!!! I truly couldn't do this without the support and love of each of you!! Thank you so much for you love, your letters, your prayers especially.

I know this church is true and I LOVE BEING A MISSIONARY!!!

I hope this week is absolutely wonderful!! My heart is there on stage with ya Mal and my heart is in the audience cheering you on...the loudest one there (cause i usually am inappropiately loud...which then makes me thing of my beautiful mum shhhushhhing me...which then makes me thing of my wonderful sibs who would be just as loud as i was being. Then Dad giving us the thumbs up :) )

I love you all so much!!! To the moon and back!! Turrah til next week! Cheers!

Love, Sister Brown :)

Week 7

HELLO EVERYONE!!! HAPPY HALLOWEEN...but more importantly....

HAPPIEST OF BIRTHDAYS TO MY WONDERFUL SISTER JILLIAN KAE DURHAM AND HER FABULOUS HUSBAND RAYMOND ON SATURDAY!!!!!!!!! ( i was planning on doing a video for you both...but time did not allow it :( ) (maybe next week....maybe) I hope you both have such a fun birthday!!!

So funny quote of the week: Yesterday October 30, 2011

Me: Knock! Knock! Knock! (on the door)

Random child yells through the letter box on the door: COME BACK TOMORROW!!!

Me: "ummm....well...we're not trick-or-treat'ers....."

Haha this same thing happened a lot last night as we went knocking....yes we're too old to be out trick-or-treating...thats why we're not...we're bringing you ETERNAL SALVATION :D

This week we truly saw the hand of God guiding us to those he has prepared, but we also saw the ugly face of the devil who just wants to bring us all down to the depths of despair where he himself lives.

One of the miracles this week is Jim Hall :)

We were knocking in an area that we felt inspired to go to...and of course by the end of our time there we said "ok lets just knock one more door" and of course that is where Jim lived (it's always the last door :) ) He opened the door and said "Oh come on in! I have friends who are Mormons!" His friends just so happen to be a couple who live in OUR WARD, it's Bro and Sister Smith. So we get chatting with him and he lost his wife a few years ago to cancer (tragic story :( ) and was now looking for a new belief in God. Wondering if he'll ever see his wife again etc. And of course we are just the right people to be talking to for those kind of questions :) So we gave him the first lesson and mixed in a little of the Plan of Salvation. We're planning on seeing him next week and Bro and Sister Smith said they'd pick him up for church. Well we were so excited about finding Jim that we called the Smiths to tell them. I talked to Brother Smith first and he just couldn't believe it ha he handed the phone over to Sister Smith and i told her what happened and she just started to cry. She had been life long friends with Jim's wife. They grew up together and as they got married they stayed really really close. After the death of her dear friend she started getting promptings to have the missionaries sent to Jim but she kinda brushed it off. BUT i guess as of lately she had a dream that Jim's wife came to her and told her to get her work done in the temple and to send the missionaries to Jim. I just started to cry!!! What a miracle. The Holy Ghost truly is amazing!! How he sends us to those who are prepared to hear the gospel. We still have a long ways to go with Jim but I know we can get him ready for baptism so he can be someday sealed to his sweet sweet wife.

I also learned at how good Satan is at his job....ok he's THE WORST!!!!!!

So it was HOURS before Brian and Danielles baptism...ok wait i might need to back up the story....

The day before the baptism (Thursday) we had a powerful lesson with them about the Holy Ghost and the preisthood. about how someday Brian could receive the preisthood and then they could someday be sealed in the temple (so powerful!! ahhh the spirit was there so strong) and Brian we SO excited about his baptism! he was inviting everyone "come to my baptism! Come to my baptism!" and sweet sweet danielle. oh she's wonderful! She just couldn't stop smiling! She was just so excited to have the holy ghost always

So HOURS before the baptism we get a call from Brian. Now we were on our way to Durham so Sis. Freeman was driving so i had to answer the phone. I then hear this, Brain: Hey, I’m not getting baptized...i just wrecked half my house and I’ve been smoking nonstop all day...I’ve been through about 20 cigarettes...." Sadness, devastation, frustration, anger, all these emotions just flood!!!! The background to this story is that before Brian and Danielle met the missionaries they had their 2 kids taken away from them. So they've been really trying to turn their lives around so they can get their kids back. That Friday morning they got a call that they had lost the appeal and they were not getting their kids back. They have one more last visit with them this week. Unless they can come up with £14,000 (basically $15,000.00) to fight another appeal they won’t' ever get their kids back. Well Brian has quite the temper...and apparently he went crazy and completely (to say the least) broke everything in their house and started smoking...big time. So he didn't get baptized on Friday....BUT sweet, wonderful Danielle did. And that was the biggest lesson there. Danielle from the beginning has been converted! She loves God and wants to do his will, she wants to be better...Brian is still very selfish and wants to do and be the person he is. He only wants to change when it's convenient for him. So he is not yet converted. Which is in a way a blessing. It's better than we see the true testimony that he has then have him be baptized and make those covenants if he was never going to keep them. So we hope to get him back in line and on track. Right now he really has no desire to change cause he feels like he has no hope. his hope was his children...and now he feels he has nothing left. BUT that is the amazing thing about this gospel and the attonment of our LOVING Savior Jesus Christ. He can heal everyone and anyone!

That's what we keep telling Malcom. Oh how i love this drunken man haha! I wish you could meet him! Imagine a 5'8 bald man and he's about the most "free spirit, free love, hippiest man" I've ever met. BUT he is SOOO sincere. He truly wants to change, he wants to be better, he wants to find direction and God more than i've ever seen anyone. He has been looking for God his whole life and I KNOW he will enter the waters of baptisem. We just need to get him off the alcohol so his mind can except it (ha i don't know if you've seen any drunk people...but their minds are A LOT clouded) We'll get him there! I know we will because the attonment helps and heals EVERYONE!

I love you all so so sooooo so much! I hope you have such a great week!!! GOOD LUCK MAL PAL!!! YOU'RE GOING TO BE AMAZING!!!! GIVE YOURSELF A BIG HUG FROM ME!!!! I love you all to the moon and back!!! :D

Love, Sister Brown