Favorite Scripture: 3 Nephi 5:13

Behold, I am a disciple of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. I have been called of him to declare his word among his people, that they might have everlasting life.

"Priceless" Christmas

Wednesday, December 28, 2011

Family and Friends,

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!! This week was fun even though there was nothing to do. We were actually able to find and teach a new investigator named Josh. (Ya he has a pretty sweet name) We knocked into him and shared the Book of Mormon story of the prophecy of the star appearing with a day and night and a day and how it stayed bright like noon day. Yep, that is a tongue twister! He really enjoyed hearing the signs of Jesus Christ coming to the earth. How there are other people in the world that knew about his glorious birth. We came back a couple days later and we watched Joy to the World. We then placed the Book of Mormon in his heart and it was awesome! He said that he was going to read it and when he came to know that it is true that he was going to get baptized. Really excited for that new investigator. We are scheduled to meet with him on Tuesday!

We had a zone conference for Christmas and it was so fun! We practice how to have a good righteous routine! We then had the best homemade hamburgers! All you can eat and it was way better then In N out. We called it Out N In if you know what I am talking about. We did a cool tie exchange. I got an old school tie with a bunch of stains on it. Ha ha. Then President Bowen surprised us with a movie. We watched Christmas Carol while eating popcorn. That is what I am talking about! We had some good laughs. It was a really fun Zone Conference and It was memorable that is for sure!

Christmas Eve we were able to walk Gus and Ricky that was so fun. We get to play and play with them all day. Well more like an hour. We got a frame with three pictures of us with the Reed family and gave it to them for Christmas. The first picture was the baptism with Me, Elder Anderson, Jake, and Haley. The Second picture was with the whole family at the baptism. The last picture was with me, Elder Anderson, Gus and Ricky. We thought it was a pretty well thought out gift. We had fun getting it all prepared for them. With the help of the Solesbees of course. haha. We then went to dinner with the Vargha family. They also have a missionary in Taiwan. So it was fun hanging out with the family. We played ping pong and had a blast. Then we had Fettuccine Alfredo with shrimp. FANTASTICO! We acted out the Nativity and it was fun!

Christmas morning Elder Anderson woke up at 6:30 put all our Christmas presents in the car and drove as fast as we could to the Anaheim 6th Ward Elders apartment. We took some pictures from the Christmas tree and just having a blast. I open my presents. Heather got both Elder Anderson and I a present. It is funny because they are big Laker fans and we of course are Jazz fans so there is a fun rivalry going on. Well she got both of us Lamar Odom Laker shirts for Christmas. We thought it was really funny since now he is on the Mavericks. So it was a good gift. I Loved it. I also got my sweet calender with my whole family on it! Everyone is looking so big. Best Christmas present a Missionary can get. Then I got a ton of cool little gifts and my favorite BEEF JERKY. That is what I am talking about. So that was fun. We went to Sacrament and had a wonderful Christmas program. The spirit was strong. After I was able to skype my wonderful family and enjoyed seeing and talking with them. That was the best part of my Christmas. We had a zone lunch with Prime Rib from Papa Love. Ya ya. So good melt in my mouth. Then two hours later we had Italian food that was all made from scratch and it was the best. I also had for desert some big old Canolis baby. Satisfied my sweet tooth alright. So tell you how my Christmas was in a nutshell, it is like when Ralphy got his red rider BB gun from Santa! Priceless!!!

Elder Brown

My man Elder Anderson!

Monday, December 19, 2011

My Sweet District!

Ahhh... the best P-day ever!

After Jake & Haley's Confirmation!

Haley & Jake's Baptism!

Wishing you all a Merry Christmas!

Family and Friends,

This week was really slow with all the Holiday commotion. Good new is we taught Jeff and officially invited him to hear the discussions. I didn't know if what he was going to say. It could have gone either way but he said yes. He has already been taught all the lessons when he was sitting in with his kids but now we are going to help him keep commitments and act in faith. We are really excited for that.
I received the news from Elder T. Brown that Gina who I taught like 15 times in Fullerton got baptized on Saturday! It was cool because when I was there I said a prayer after a lesson to help her find out a perfect date for her to get baptized. Right when I finished, Gina said that she saw Christmas time was the right time for her. Well, a week before Christmas she was baptized and It is a miracle with all the opposition that came her way. I am so grateful I was able to be a part of that. She is going to be an amazing member!
Speaking of miracles. A couple weeks ago Elder Anderson decided to go knock on the huge mansions on the hills to see if we could find anyone that was interested. Nobody answered besides like one Filipino lady who is catholic. So we thought that was a waste. Well a couple days ago a lady called us and asked if we could help her and her husband put up a tree. She explained she isn't a active member but she would love to feed us dinner. We get there and this lady was a character. She was going burzurk, so excited to see us. We walk in and the house and it is huge! I repeat huge! It was so nice inside. House was so beautiful! She right then and there opened up to us that she has been suffering with depression for the past two years because of events that transpired. She explained to us that she hadn't gotten out of bed for 6 months. Not showering for that amount of time either. I was like whoa! You were depressed. She told us how she is a convert to the church and how her husband who is a orthopedic surgeon does not believe in God. She said that she prayed to Heavenly Father to deliver her out of this state of mind. Well not soon after, we knocked on her door. She saw our name tags but she was too embarrased to open the door because how big of a mess she was. Well, she is out of bed now and has snapped out of her depression. She is going to start coming to church and wants us to try to teach her husband. She wants to spoil us this Christmas but we are already spoiled to be part of this miracle of being an answer to her prayer. Tender mercies of the lord are every where.
This Sunday I was suprised to get a new Bishopric in the ward. Also to see the Shelly family from my home ward at my sacrament meeting. It was cool to see them and to hear that they have been at Disneyland. I am so close but yet so far away! It was really cool to get a little peice of home. I am very grateful they took the time to suprise me. Thank you Brother and Sister Shelly!
I am so excited for Christmas and to talk to my family! I Love them and miss them very much. I wish you all a Merry Christmas!

Elder Brown