Happy Mother´s day!

Yesterday was Mother´s day here. Visited some people and I think I started to realize for the first time truly how much mother´s love their children. Made me super grateful for my sweet mother. Wish I would have realized that at home.

I love Argentina. The people here are sweet.

We started teaching a huge family this week, the Vera fam. They have 7 kids, and another on the way. The oldest kid is 15, so, their hands are pretty full. The mom didn´t finish 2nd grade, so, it´s hard for her to understand when we teach, or when we talk in general. So we have to teach the same part like 3 times for her to understand. But, once it clicks, it´s locked in. They´re pretty awesome.

Found a couple last night. We were clapping doors looking for a certain Potencial Investigator named Noelia, and we clapped at one house, Elder Cook started talking, and the guy had no idea what Elder Cook was saying. I figured it was just because Elder Cook was talking wrong or something, so I started talking, and the words just didn´t flow. The poor guy had no idea what to say. He started to say he couldn´t talk to us or whatever, when his girlfriend told him to let us in. She is an English student and heard our accents and wanted to talk to us. We went in, and the gift of tongues kicked back on. I think it turned off for a bit when we first started talking so his girlfriend would let us in. Guess who his girlfriend is? Noelia! We hit it off real well with them. They have plans to get married and told us that they would invite us when everything is ready. That was sweet. Their names are Noelia and Martín. Hopefully we can help them get baptized!

Love you all!

Elder Brown

Check out this video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MWcJZ210AaM

Sorry I didn´t send any pics this week, this computer won´t let me.

Time flies.

I apologize for not writing yeasterday, here in Venado Tuerto, everything closes down on holiday´s.

This last week was sweet and packed full of stuff. It was awesome. I really wish I had time to write about all of the stuff that happened. Here´s a few cool experiences though:

We had an investigator in chuch!!! First time since I got transferred here! It was soooo sick. Her name is Belén, and is 10. We are gonna have to work a ton to help her out, since the only family members she has that are members are her aunt and cousins. The main problem is that her grandparents and other aunts and uncles hate the church. The good news is that she, her mom, and her little brother moved (they used to live with her grandparents) right next door to a member!! This member is pretty old, but, it´ll still be a good source for member present lessons. And, Belén told us she wants to get baptized! So, we´ll see what we can do to help her out.

On Saturday morning, we had nothing set in stone to do, and we were walking around trying to get in contact with some less active members, and found a 60 or 70 year old lady in her front yard digging, so, we went over and helped out. She was trying to take out an old post that was in the ground. It was in there deep, about 2 meters (idk how many feet... 6 1/2?). So, it was tough. Attatched are some pics of our attempts to get it out. We finally solved the problem by just cutting off the top. Unfortunately, she, nor her daughter, wanted anything to do with the church.

Last night (Monday), we were walking at 8:40, and we had nothing to do, and we were about 10 minutes from the pensh, and we said a prayer asking to find someone to teach, and guess who we ran into 5 min later? That 70 year old lady and  her daughter walking in the street with their puppy  taking some paper to a classmate. We talked for a minute, then went our seperate ways, and, to our surprise, their puppy was following us. So, we decided to take it back to them. We grabbed the dog and headed after them. We met the husband of the classmate of the 70 year old lady´s daughter. He seemed really nice and receptive. We´re gonna pass by in another moment. Hopefully he really is receptive.

Love you all!

Elder Brown

2 Nephi 2:11-12

 11 For it must needs be, that there is an opposition in all things. If not so, my firstborn in the wilderness, righteousness could not be brought to pass, neither wickedness, neither holiness nor misery, neither good nor bad. Wherefore, all things must needs be a compound in one; wherefore, if it should be one body it must needs remain as dead, having no life neither death, nor corruption nor incorruption, happiness nor misery, neither sense nor insensibility.

 12 Wherefore, it must needs have been created for a thing of naught; wherefore there would have been no purpose in the end of its creation. Wherefore, this thing must needs destroy the wisdom of God and his eternal purposes, and also the power, and the mercy, and the justice of God.

La búsqueda

So, Elder Cook and I were both pretty under the weather this last week. We took advantage of our time in the pensh though and I organized the area book (took 3 hours, no one had organized since January 10th), and he made the map. This was Monday, when we weren´t super dead.

Tuesday, we were gonzo. In bed all day. Watched a lot of movies (all with the seal of the church), and slept.

Wednesday, felt better, but, had to stay in anyways to follow the doctors orders.

Thursday, same as Tuesday.

Friday, we felt better.

We dropped a bunch of investigators this last week, and will drop more today. So, we are looking for new investigators for now. I still have seen the Lord´s hand in the work, even though most of our investigators have not wanted to go to church and we have had to drop them.

We got a new branch president. He reminds me a lot of my uncle Chris. He´s super loud and funny. He´s also got a really clear vision of how a ward should be, and wants to take our branch from being a branch, to being a ward. He´s got a ton of good ideas and I am super excited to work with him.

¡Los quiero!

Elder Brown

The worth of a soul is great

My perception got changed drastically as far as that phrase goes. On Saturday morning, we had a sweet lesson with a recent convert, María Rosa Ramírez. She is a single mother of 5 children. She has almost no work. Lives in a... brick hut basically, and almost all of her possesions where given to her by the church. And, her family HATES the LDS Church.

She told us that the night before (Friday night), she got into a super big fight with her family about the whole deal, in the which, in her words "We almost got to blows." She said she has made a ton of changes in her life (because of the gospel), and now has less things and more problems. However, she is happier, and would trade anything for that. She also told us that she feels like she is slipping back to her old self, and doesn´t like that. So, I told her of some stories of some of my pioneer ancestors that got kicked out of their houses, were imprisoned, and persecuted for being Mormon. I explained how grateful her descendents would be to her if she keeps going, and I realized how grateful I am for my great great great great great grandparents that got baptized in Europe and then moved to the States to follow the counsel of the prophets.

Then we started explaining temples and family history work, and my mind thought of Doctrine and Covenants 18:15-16, and I realized just how much that scripture applies to family history work. If we do all we can to do temple work for as many of our deceased family members as we can, our joy will be immensely great with them in the kingdom of heaven.

Elder Brown

Moses 1:39
 39 For behold, this is my work and my glory—to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man.

It's Official

I have now officially been emergency transferred. It´s not as exciting as I´ve always thought it would be. At least I got to end my time in Centro 2C with a baptism. I am now officially in Centro 2B. Elder Cook is my new comp.

Sebastian Medina got baptized! Normally, we don´t go to baptism´s of people from other areas, but, he asked that Elder Sousa and I attend, so, we went. He bore his testimony at the end, and it was powerful. It was an awesome baptism.

Another lady Elder Sousa and I contacted is now taking the discussions. We were walking in the street, on our way to visit an investigator, when we saw a lady who´s car had broken down, and we started to push it, in hopes to help her jumpstart it. We pushed (at running speed) for about 500 or 600 meters when she said to stop and she would just tow it. She was really appreciative though, and the missionaries that visit her said she is really receptive. They said her husband is too, so half the battle is already won.

Satan has been attacking super hard, on all fronts. On front, is Tomás. Tomás goes to a super expensive agrotechnical school. One where nothing every happens. On Thursday, one of his friends killed himself one school campus. Tomás already has some psychological issues, and this really messed him up. So, we decided to get together with the branch pres and his wife and eat with them and Tomás. Long story short, the Lord is much more powerful than Satan, and Tomás now is super pumped to push forwardl

I´m somehow out of time. Don´t know how it flies so fast. Love you all!

Elder Brown

Alma 39:9

 9 Now my son, I would that ye should repent and forsake your sins, and go no more after the lusts of your eyes, but cross yourself in all these things; for except ye do this ye can in nowise inherit the kingdom of God. Oh, remember, and take it upon you, and cross yourself in these things.

Emergency transfers......?

I think I might have gotten transferred, not too sure though. For the week or so, I have been with Elder Cook. Elder Cook might be my new comp. He was just an Elder in my district last transfer. At the beginning of this transfer, he started to train an Elder from Brazil, who got really, really homesick. So, the new Elder and I switched. He is now with my Brazilian comp, and I am with his trainor and may have gotten transferred to another area within the same branch, Centro 2.

Elder Cook´s from California, and started the mission one transfer after I did, and, he started in Casilda. I met him on his first day in the mission field. He hit his year mark on Friday. We didn´t have any investigators that gave us asado, so, we called and ordered some food. Customer service is terrible here in Argentina. I would explain, but, my time is limited. Yes, Mom, even worse than that time when we went to the drive-thru in Krispy Kreme in Orem, Utah when it was 1 degree outside the last winter when I was home.

This was an awesome week. SO many miracles.

Little children truly do have words given to them that confound the wise and the learned, and that soften hardened hearts.

We had 3 AMAZING lessons this week, all three were AMAZING and not just sweet or amazing because of something a little kid said.

Martina

Belén, Agostina, Francesco, and Martina caption

In one, we were teaching a lady named Belén, her sister Agostina (that looks just like Whitney... Hansen? I think is her new last name), and her nephew named Francesco. We taught them the Plan of Salvation. They had a TON of deep doctrine questions about the kingdoms of glory and resurrection that were hard to answer in a simple and direct way. After about 10 or 15 minutes of unsuccessful attempts to answer their questions, Belén´s 4 year-old whispered something to her. Belén told us all to be quiet, and told her daughter, Martina, to repeat what she said, just louder. She said "I want to go to heaven."... That moment was SUPER powerful. We all felt the spirit really strongly and we told them that what Martina said was the most important thing and is what they should focus on: wanting to go to heaven.

In two distinct lessons with distinct members of the same less- active family, little girls (who are active) said things that left all of us in tears.

Something purely miraculous happened yesterday that left me with a testimony of that if we do everything, and go a little further, God will pour out blessings upon us.

Sebastian and his fam

Saturday July 30th was tough day. Elder Sousa and I taught probably the two best lessons I have ever taught in my entire mission. SUPER strong spirit in both lessons, and yet, both people straight up rejected the message of the Restoration. The rest of the day was spent contacting, with ZERO success. We got the worst rejections that day than any other day of my mission. At 8:50, we were about 10 minutes from the pensh, and started heading home. At 8:55 more or less, we saw a family in the street, and I thought "What the heck? I´ll give it a shot." I gave it a shot, and the dad, named Sebastian, said he would go to church the next day. He showed up with half an hour left in the last hour of church. We found out that he lived in another area, and sent his address to our Zone Leader to send it to the corresponding Zone Leader or area or wherever it had to go, and I forgot about Sebastian.

We had a District Conference (there is no Stake in Venado Tuerto) this weekend, and, on Saturday I met a ton of members from other Branches in the District. On Sunday morning, a short man came up to me and asked me if I remembered him. I recognized him, but, did not remember him, and figured it was a member a I had met on Saturday. He told me he had gone to that church building about a month and a half before, but currently goes to another branch. I then remembered this man and where I had met him. I had met him about a month and a half before, after a long and very dissappointing Saturday in July, and I had not seen him since he showed up late to the church services on Sunday July 31st. I was talking to Sebastian. He informed me that he had been talking to the missionaries for the last several weeks, gone to church a few times, and on Saturday, he will be getting baptized. I was speechless. I felt soooooooooooooo happy and joyful and glad and grateful and excited. He thanked me for talking to him that day and told me he had had some doubts that week about his church and my talking to him led him to the church that has all the answers. He kept thanking me and saying "Thanks to you, this all started. Thank you so much." I am so grateful to have been a part of this man´s conversion process. I am so excited he will be getting baptized Saturday, and now my attitude towards street contacts has totally change. I used to just think of them almost as a chore, now, I view them as a priviledge to help out my bro´s and sisters. I testify that if we give it ALL we got, and then, a little more, that God will bless us with miracles. In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

¡Los quiero a todos!

Elder Brown

2 Nephi 27:23

 For behold, I am God; and I am a God of ^amiracles; and I will show unto the ^bworld that I am the same yesterday, today, and forever; and I ^cwork not among the children of men save it be ^daccording to their faith.

Ocupadísimo

More and more things are happening, and I am having less and less time to write. I don´t know how those two things relate so closely.

We helped the sister from the branch that makes me cakes move. I was both glad for the opportunity to serve and sad that I wouldn´t be getting cakes anymore. She moved to Buenos Aires to be a temple worker. She will be missed.

On Friday we had a "Show de talentos." I was enthralled. I have never been entertained by dancing before, but, I was blown away. It was amazing. Of course, Elder Sousa and I did something. We were planning on doing a mini-play with a member of the branch, but, a sister from the district dropped the cane on my comp about using slang (not bad words, just slang), and his character used lots of slang. So, he felt bad and dropped out. So, we put on the song "Hello" (originally by Adele but remixed by some RM´s), and did an improve of missionary life. Complete with a robbery, failed street/ door contacts, and a lesson. It was fun and the crowd was rolling with laughter. My favorite part of the night though, was when 5 or 6 little girls started dancing to "Libre Soy" (Let it Go). I´ll try to send a clip of it. Not sure if it´ll 

work though.

My favorite part though, was Tomas´s baptism. This guy progressed so fast. He basically memorized the pamphlets and 1 Nephi in two weeks and knew gospel principles that we didn´t even teach. He´s such a capo. I think the awesomest part about his conversion, however, was shown on Saturday. We made some sick invitations for him to give out to his family and friends, and he gave them out. On Saturday morning, he invited his grandma. She is "Catholic" (was baptized when she was a baby but hasn´t gone a day since), and flipped out on him. She told him "From this moment on, you won´t be my grandson." This lady basically raised him. pretty much his second mom. He told us that really got him down, but, he knew the church was true and wanted to recieve a forgiveness of his sins, keep the commandments, and serve a mission and help other people to come to know what he had come to know, and none would possible if he didn´t get baptized. He is a stud.

I feel like we worked less this week than any other week, but, we saw the biggest miracles that we have ever seen. We´ll try to work more, and get even MORE miracles.

Con amor,

Elder Brown

D&C 61: 36-37

 36 And now, verily I say unto you, and what I say unto one I say unto all, be of good cheer, little children; for I am in your midst, and I have not forsaken you;

Tomas, Elder Sousa and Elder Brown

 37 And inasmuch as you have humbled yourselves before me, the blessings of the kingdom are yours.

Talent Show Clips and Pictures