Good News and Bad News

So it started raining on March 31st, and it has rained every single
day since. No one really knows when it´ll stop. Everyone says
something different. Some people say it´ll keep going all year, some
say it´ll stop Wednesday, other´s say Thursday. We´ll see I guess. All
I know is that it´s really hard to clean and dry clothes.

Some of the good news. we´ve had a pretty great week. From what I´ve
seen, the most miracles in a companionship happen the last week their
together. This last week was the last week in the transfer, and
miracles were pouring down. When they called on Friday night to say
who was going and who was staying, I was positive they were about to
say that one of us was out. But, we´re both staying another transfer
in Empalme. I´m pretty excited. I like Empalme.

The bad news. Rewind to 8 weeks ago. Juan José is GOLDEN. Reads the
Book of Mormon for 4 hours a day. Invites friends to read with him.
Invites friends to go to church. Totally golden. Fast forward to three
or four weeks ago. Juan José gets accepted into school. Gets super
prideful and totally blows us off and throws away his Book of Mormon.
Later gets kicked out and super sick. Fast forward to two Saturday´s
ago. We talk with him and he basically blames all his problems on me
and the fact that I came to Empalme and that Elder Ostler´s old comp
left. So, we decide to fast for him that God will humble him and he
will be more receptive to us and listen to us more. Monday night, we
stopped by, and he was super sad and depressed looking. He told us
that his best friend died. Best friend for literally the last 27
years. Wow, fasting is really powerful. So we, naturally as
missionaries would do, got excited. Outward, we mourned with one that
mourned, and had a solid lesson with him that night. He recieved
everything perfectly and completely. We stopped by twice more that
week, and each time he seemed better and better. We stopped by last
night, and told us he is done with "Everything Mormon". So, we talked
him out of that, and got him to agree to read 3 Nephi 11. Then some
Jehova´s Witnesses showed up, and he kicked us out so he could talk
with them. That man worries me.

In much, much better news, a less active guy yesterday told us he
wants to get active again. Yesterday morning, we decided to stop by a
less active guy´s house to see when we could come help him build his
new house again. He told us, "Just today I talked to Bishop and told
him that I want to become active again. I want to return to the
Gospel. Not the church, but to Jesus through the Gospel and the
Church." I was so, so excited to hear that. It was awesome.

Other great news, we finally got somebody to come to church!! Liliana
and Domingo have been so clutch. Liliana is Domingo´s nurse. Domingo
is a less active old man that got baptized when he was young, and then
went inactive when he moved. This guy has gone through a lot in his
life, and it has taken a toll on his mind. However, he is still a
capo. We showed up late to church because we went to grab some people
before heading over to the busstop. Nobody felt like getting up and
going with us, and the bus system here is really terrible. So we
showed up a few minutes late, and, lo and behold, there was Domingo.
Sitting there next to a member in priesthood. It was awesome. That day
in church, D&C 18:10,15-16 got a whole new meaning for me. It is true.
The worth of a soul is great in the sight of God, and, if we should
labor all our days (or, in my case, 8 weeks) and bring save it be one
sould unto God (or sacrament meeting), great shall be your joy with
him in the kingdom of our father (or in the chapel). It was an amazing
spirit. That really made me appreciate a whole lot more what I took
for granted in Casilda, that is, investigators in church at least once
or twice a month. I am super grateful that we couldn´t get anyone to
come for 7 sundays, but, that the eighth, some one did. I felt full of
joy.

Sorry no pictures, this computer keeps spazzing out when I put in my
flashdrive. Had some other cool experiences, but, I don´t have much
time to write about them. Hope you all have a great week!

Elder Brown

Alma 26:27