Humbling Experience

Family and Friends,

Well this week has been incredible! We were able to get a lot of missionary work done! We have a new investigator named David! He is Budhist and has a girlfriend that is a member of the church. He just got out of the Millitary and is going to school at Cal State Fullerton. He is a stud! We were able to teach him the first lesson, about the Restoration and invited him to be baptized! He is scheduled to be baptized October 8!!!! He also came to church yesterday so we are very excited! We have to start from scratch because he does not know the basic principles of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. So we are going to definitely help him with that!
This last Wednesday we were able to teach 5 lessons! I was so pumped! I am feeling the blessings of the Lord each and every day. We were able to give out a lot of referrals to the singles ward Elders. It felt good teaching and testifying all day and getting to know people. People here in Fullerton are really humble and are good people, most of them anyways.
This last week we were able to have a Zone Conference with Elder Bowen of the Seventy. It is President Bowen's cousin and they both Rock! Elder Bowen talked about the Abrahamic Covenant, Baptismal Covenant, the Oath and Covenant of the Priesthood, and the Gathering of Israel. It is absolutly amazing! I am so grateful and proud to be a part of this Work! The Lord's work. How much responsibility I have as his Servant and the blessings that not only I will recieve and all others that I come in contact with. Right after gaining a greater knowledge of this, a couple days later I had a pretty crazy experience. There is a little lake that is in our area and it is called Laguna Lake. There are always people there fishing and feeding the ducks. Well, we were walking up to it when we see this young lady just sittng on a picnic table. We were trying to contact this person and trying to give him a pass along card and he denied us. He was not being very cool and asked if he could give us a Devil card. We kind of laughed it off and walked away and that young lady was yelling, " Ya man the Devil" and was just yelling at us. As we were walking away the spirit told us to go back and talk to her. I was ready for this girl to put up a fight and say not very nice words to us. . As we approached her, her whole attitude changes. She told us how she use to be a Mormon and was baptized 9 years ago. She told us her name was Timothy and she was very ancy and seemed stressed out and we could smell alcohol on her breath. We asked her questions and then she starts opening up to us. She had 3-D Glasses on and took them off and she got beaten the crap out of her as her eye was black and blue swollen cuts eye barely open. Man, I felt so much compassion for this daughter of God. It was Crazy. I would not say she is of the norm but she was in distress. She was in the wrong place at the wrong time she said. Her friend say that they had to go. But Timothy wanted us to pray for her because she remembered that her family would always pray. Right as we were going to give the prayer she said wait..... "Can you give me a blessing?". In my head I am thinking, we are in a park with a ton of people around. This girl is going crazy and she is drunk. Elder Brown and I are looking at each other seeing if this setting was appropriate to give a Priesthood Blessing. She then said that her Grandpa use to give her blessings and was frantically begging us. (So just picture the scene in your head right now) So I ask her "Do you have the Faith that this Blessing will make you better?" She said, "Yes". Then I said, " we will give you a blessing". I felt like a true desciple of Jesus Christ being led by the Spirit and Blessing Heavenly fathers Children. Elder Brown and I gave a blessing of Comfort, people watching us! the spirit was so strong! As the blessing was given you could feel that Timothy was regaining her composure and she felt at peace. When it was done she was crying. We told her that drinking is not the way to solve her problems and we took it from her. She gave us a hug and left to her AA Class. I have never felt so much compassion and love for this stranger and I am so grateful that I had the Priesthood Authority to perform blessings to help others! Really humbling experience for me.
It was Elder Browns Birthday on September 11, 2011. We had a lot of fun serving the Lord. The Zone Leaders made us dinner and made Elder Brown sweet Birthday Brownies. ha ha. It was fun! The Work is going!!! I can't beleive that there is only one more week left of the transfer. Elder Brown are tearing it up and hopefully we stay together!

Elder J. Brown