I am very blessed!

Family and Friends, This week was tough! For some reason, once again I got sick with a bad head cold. Elder Herron got sick last week and now he got me sick. So battling through my cold was the biggest test for me this week. We spent the whole week finding and knocking. It was a grind. We were not finding anyone to teach and the people we were following up with were not home or too busy for us to share. Well, Saturday night we got out of a dinner appointment and started following up with potential investigators. We did this all the way up until 8:15pm and decided to go see Marta. We scheduled an appointment with her once and she stood us up. We had visited her a couple times but she was not home. Well, we finally get a hold of her and she brought us right in. I was like YESSSSS! Obviously at this point my nose was stuffy, sore throat, massive headache the works from the labors of the day. Well right as we said a prayer to open up a lesson, my symptoms went away. Either they were still there and I didn't notice them or it just went away I was able to give my undivided attention to Marta. Elder Herron and I were able to teach with such great unity. Asking inspired questions and listening to the spirit. That is my favorite part of being a missionary, how you are able to feel the spirit work through you. When you recognize it, your joy is full. We were able to answer the questions she had. Which questions were of the soul. She was so sincere. She is Catholic and her family is strong in that faith. She expressed how she doesn't know a lot of things about Jesus Christ. How her son who is 16 asks her questions about him. She doesn't know what to say. She is so grateful that we came to the door to share this message with her. When we recited the First Vision to her about Joseph Smith, her reaction was awesome. She said "Wow that is amazing". She told us all she wants to know is the truth and she happily accepted the invitation to read, ponder and pray about the Book of Mormon. Experiences like that makes missions worth while. I am willing to knock doors all week to have a experience like that. I am very grateful that the Lord blessed me with that opportunity. Just like in the scriptures "A women when she is in travail hath sorrow, because her hour is come: but as soon as she is delivered of the child, she remebereth no more the anguish, for joy that a man is born into the world." John 16:21. The work is going good I feel the spirit doing all I can to help those recieve the gospel. I know this work is true and that lives are being changed through the saints around the world. We were able to give a missionary invite to a family in the ward. We promised them that if they would pray for missionary oppurtunities that they would receive them. We challenged them in the next two weeks that they will find someone that the missionaries can teach. Two days prior to the day we were going to follow up they called us. They told us that they found someone for the San Jose missionaries and that their friend is willing to hear the discussions. Everything is going good in the South Coast Ward. Thanks friends and family for everything. Have a great summer because I know I am working in the sun of SO CAL!!!! Elder Brown