Happy Halloween

Alright guys I dont have too much time for my group email this week but I will make up for it with photos.

First off I want to talk to you guys about Satan. Here in our mission, President McGinn is constantly telling us "off to the battle." Here in the mission it is awesome to be serving the Lord but as such you need to be prepared that the devil will send his forces to counter your work. Every investigator will experience this battle between good and evil, God and the Devil, if they are to be converted. Conversion is not an easy process, the more we strive to follow Christ the harder the devil is going to try to tear down our faith.

Why am I sharing this? Because this week in the war against the Devil Elder Giménez and I have lost a battle. Franko called us on tuesday and said that he doesnt want us visiting him anymore. My heart broke as he said this. When we passed by to visit him he said that he has been praying and praying to know if our message is true and he just hasnt recieved and answer, he said because of this he thinks its best if he just continues as before with reading the bible. Elder Giménez and I bore him our testimonies and told him that he can always count on us to be there as his friends if he doesnt want us to teach him. I have been pooring out my heart in prayer for him all week that he might regain the faith in our message that I saw he had but it is a painful reminder that Even though Christ will triumph over Satan, not every war will be won. If there is anything new with this situation in the future I will of course write about it.

Ok now a little happier news. This week Elder Giménez and I rescued two less active members and they are now once again fully active, latter day saints. One of these rescues, Ruben, baptized his eight year old daughter this last Friday and we had to opportunity to go to the baptism. It was awesome not only to see the joy on this young girls face but also the joy in her father as he had the opportunity to bring her into this church in which he has now regained his faith.

We also have three investigators who are going to be baptized in the following weeks, two on the 12th of November and one on the 25th. Nellie, Epifalto, and Betsabe are all amazing and I am so glad for the opportunity to teach them.

Also I want to share with you guys one of our new investigators we found this week. His name is Fritz and he is about 24 years old. Fritz has astounding faith in God but he doesnt believe in the churches because of an experience he had. He shared with us that once as he was pondering and thinking about god he had a dream and from what he described it was an out of body experience where his soul left his body and he was looking down from above. He said in this experience he learned that there is a god and also that this life is not the end. When he shared this experience with a catholic priest the priest said he was posessed and that is was of the Devil. Fritz told us this is why he doesnt go to a church but as we testified to him that unlike other churches we believe God still gives us personal revelation in these days I saw our message touch his heart. Crazy!

Ok more next week but this is all I have time for now.

Much love, Elder Brown

The Chosen Ones

Should I even bother to tell you all that this has been another amazing week. As impossible as it seems every week just gets better and better. Yeah there are hard times but the miracles I have seen have changed my life forever.

To start, remember last week how I told y´all that there was an investigator in church who asked us to baptize him after just one day in church, well I have a lot to share about him. His name is Epifaldo and at this point he is engaged to a member who lives in a different ward. He has strong desires to obtain the blessings of an eternal marriage and to be united with the church. We had set up a plan to meet him on Monday and because he couldn't´t remember his address we only had his cell phone number. When we were preparing to call him monday to comfirm the appointment we realized that as we wrote down his cell phone number we forgot to write one diget. In this point I realized that in order to figure out not only what is the missing number but also where it is, we would either have to try nearly 100 different combinations, or rely on God. I prayed for the spirit to guide me and at the end of my prayer I had the impression that maybe I didnt include one of the numbers because it was two of the same number in a row and maybe, just maybe, I thought he was just repeating himself. I decided to try a few numbers and I can't tell you that my prayer was answered on my first attempt. No my prayer was answered, this is true, but it was answered in the manner that Moroni declared in Ether 12:6 - after the trial of my faith. I tried all 8 of the 9 possible combiniations that could work according to the prompting I felt after my prayer. After 8 failed attempts I started to have thoughts such as - this is impossible, I am wasting my time, maybe that wasnt the spirit. However, truly after my faith was starting to fail, on the last possible number, Epifaldo picked up the phone.

I know that this story might be hard to understand, but if that made even the slightest bit of sense I want you to know that this experience, and many others over the last few months, have created a deep, firm testimony in my heart for the power of prayer. So often we feel are prayers go unanwered, we expect to hear a voice shouting out an answer in our heads the second we conclude in the sacred name of our saviour. It is true that God is a God of Miracles. And he works miracles, in times of old, today, and forever. However, more often then not our anwers are recieved in ways that may take time, patience, and most inportantly faith. Cry unto God in your prayers having the faith that you will recieve anwers in Gods own time and I promise, as well as many prophets today and in olden times, that God is bound to give you an answer.

Ok continuing with Epifaldo, he is amazing, he is chosen to recieve this gospel. We have met with him three times this week and the only reason it wasnt more is because he had to go to Lima. The plan for him is to be baptized on 5 of November and I know he will continue to prepare for this day.

Another of the CHOSEN ONES that we found this week is Betsabe, she is a reference from the central office and I am astounded by her faith, there is more I want to say about her but it will have to wait for next week. Just know she is awesome and she will be baptized on 12 of November.

Alright Guys, YOSSER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Yosser Piñeda Quispe, a man I have grown to love over these last few weeks was baptized and confirmed a member of the church of Jesus Christ of latter day saints this last week. Seeing the joy as he was baptized and hearing his testimony brought more joy into my heart that words can describe. I love this man and am so grateful that God has given me the opportunity to be a part in his conversion. Pictures to follow!

Guys I dont have more time which is a bit frustrating because there is so much I want to say but for now all I have time for is to tell you I love you all and cant wait to write you and hear from you this next week.

With love, Elder Brown

Trials and Miracles

Alright Guys this has been a pretty interesting week so try to keep up.

First off, this has been one of the hardest weeks in my time here in Peru. Monday through Wednesday we had a total of 3 lessons, TOTAL! It felt like no matter how hard we tried and no matter how many back up plans we made nobody would recieve us. On wednesday I was determined to change the luck of our last two days and I had three appointments every hour, and I called almost everyone to confirm when we would pass by. Even then, I guess the Lord had other plans because we still only had one lesson the whole day.

It was truly difficult and to make matters worse we recieved a call from the Dad of Margoth (Margoth is a investigator and she had a date to be baptized on the 15th). Her Dad called us and said he doesnt want us to teach his daughter anymore or to baptize her. Margoth is older than 18 so the decision is ultimately hers but she will have to decide between this religion and her family. I have been praying for her and guys this is where I NEED YOU. Please, please, please, pray for Margoth and that her fathers heart will be softened.

Now for the better news, the Miracles.

We have found two new families this week and they are doing great. One of them is Ectar and his wife. Like I mentioned above we had a total of three lessons in the first couple days. However, what we lacked in quantity was made up for in quality. We found Ectar and he is so accepting and desires to learn more, he accepted a baptismal date for the 12th of November and I am so excited to return to teach him.

Starting on thursday things started to turn around and we were able to have more lessons. On Friday we found our second new family, the family of Nellie Pelis. She came with some members to church the sunday before and we set up a time to meet with her. When we did have a lesson with her and her two daughters we discovered just how prepared she is to recieve the gospel. Her husband has passed on which has changed her outlook on religion, she is eager to be baptized and prepare to enter the temple in order to preform the ordinances for her husband and for her family to experience the blessings of being sealed for eternity. I truly believed preach my gospel when it says the Lord has prepared people to recieve you but it is very hard to realize just how true this is until you have an experience where the investigator is not only asking to be baptized but when he or she is asking when is the earliest they can enjoy the blessings of being a member of the church. Nellie has been prepared by the Lord and there is no doubt in my mind that she will be baptized and after, faithfully continue to seek for the blessings of the Lord found in this church and specifically in the temple. She has accepted a date to be baptized on the 5th of November.

Saturday my testimony for the power of prayer grew to a whole new level. We had a lesson set up with a family, Anna the mom and her two daughters Diana and Alysandra. They are less active members and usually the boyfriend of Alysandra is over at their house but Earnie (boyfriend) said he couldnt be their for this lesson so we needed a member. We called just about everyone we new but nobody could help us so we were about to go and change the lesson to another day but I felt the impression to have a prayer. Elder Giménez and I offered a prayer, asking that the Lord would provide a way for us to teach this family. Literally no sooner had I finished the prayer when I heard the beautiful sound of a motorcycle (a sound which nearly brought tears to my eyes). The motorcycle pulled over next to us and it turned out to be earnie. He told us that plans changed and so now he would be their for our lesson, TRULY THIS WAS A MIRACLE.

Sunday our meetings in church were crazy. Elder Gimenez and I both had to give talks in sacrament meeting. My Spanish is definitely a lot better and I  think they understood my talk but they didnt really catch on with my jokes.... crap. After we figured out last minute that we needed to teach the principles of the gospel class. However the real craziness happened after. A man and his wife decided to attend church this sunday, they aren't members, they didnt come with members, and as far as I know this is their only experience with the church. This Man and his wife approached me at the end of the meeting and asked me to baptize him. I know he felt the spirit and we have plans to teach him today and invite him to be baptized.

Thats about it I gotta Go now,

With Love, Elder Brown

les amo

Guys it has been another awesome week!

After sending out my email last tuesday Elder Giménez and I got ready to get on a bus for Lima. At the end of the first and second transfers the new missionaries have a special interview with the president and since ayacucho is 11 hours away we have to take a bus through the night.

Wednesday we had our meetings which were awesome. Sometimes I dont realize it but during the meetings I realized just how much I have grown and learned in these last six weeks. I know I still have a lot to learn and I am excited to keep progressing. We couldnt go to the temple on Wednesday because it is closed for cleaning but we did get the opportunity to go out and teach, and honestly I like that more. We got back on the bus Wednesday night to return to ayacucho.

Thursday, first thing in the morning after the bus, we had zone meetings. I was tired and wanted to shower but it  was a good opportunity to meet the new missionaries in the zone.

The rest of this week has been pretty good, I am honestly having a hard time remembering what happened when but I will share the highlights.

Because I only have one transfer here and Elder Giménez and I are working two areas I have a lot of stress leading the area and finding people. Also the way they create their addresses here makes no sense so finding people is next to impossible without a landmark or someone to show you. However I have really been realying on the Lord to guide us and with his help this week we found 6 new investigators and one new family. We also have plans to visit two more new families in this upcoming week.

On the 22 of october we will be having 2 baptisms, Yosser and Margoth. They have both been progressing so well and I am so excited for them to obtain the blessings of this Gospel.

A relatively new investigator I want to talk about is Franko. We found him a little over a week ago and have only had 3 lessons with him but he has really been prepared by the Lord. He always comes with questions and always wants to learn more, he has commited to be baptized on the 5th of November and there is almost no doubt in my mind that he will be ready by that day.

Thats about it for this week. I love you all and miss you.

With Love, Elder Brown

Conference

Hey Gringos,

This has been a good week. There was a lot going on with Elder Hurtado finishing his mission and the transfers and conference so for a couple days there was confusion on who would be with who and how we could get places and a bunch of things like that. However, as it always does when we trust in the Lord, everthing worked out. Also I got to be zone leader for like 2 days and although I didnt really do much it does give me bragging rights so beat that.

I want to share some thoughts from this conference that I had. It was a truly amazing opportunity to be able to listen to the Lords chosen representatives of his true and  growing church. I know without any doubt that those men are called and chosen by God to bless us and guide us in these days which seem to become increasingly difficult as time goes on. However, I know that no matter how many trials, problems, or burdens that we have, the Lord has paid the price so that we can pull through and feel the joy of his gospel. I went into this conference with a couple of questions that I wanted answers for and it just felt like every speaker was speaking to me specifically. We truly have a blessing of learning so much with these latter day prophets and I know that as we ponder, reread, and pray about their words we will recieve blessings that are impossible to even comprehend.

Like I said there was a lot of confusion and running around getting ready for transfers but we still had some great lessons this week. We have an investigator, Franko, who we have taught the lesson of the restoration. He is doing very well and I am so excited. There is no greater feeling than when you return for a second lesson with someone and ask them if they had questions from reading the book of mormon and then having them open up there book to see so many markings and writing in the margins that you can barely recognize that it was once just a normal white page with black typing on it. This is why I love Franko, he is so interested to learn and although he knows next to nothing of our church this does not keep him from asking questions and seeking to learn more. I realize when we teach these investigators just how lucky we are as members to have always had the opportunity to read the book of mormon. It also makes me realize just how much we disregard this sacred blessing because I know that at least in my life I have never taken the opportunity to "feast on the words of christ" as much as some of these people.

 Remember how blessed you are and never forget that everday we have the opportunity to feast on the words of christ, whether through reading the book of mormon and bible or listening to actual living prophets like we have had the opportunity to this last week.

That will be about it for this week. Just a bit about my new companion Elder Giménez. I am the first missionary he will train so he is about nervous. Elder Giménez if from Uruguay and is a great missionary. He only has 2 more transfers than me here in the mission so he is pretty new. I know we are going to do great here and I cant wait to get to work with him. I am also pretty excited because I will be leading the area.

Until next week

Love, Elder Brown