Happy 2015

Mother and Father!!
 

Hey it was so good talking with you the past couple of days!
So fun!!
Let's Skype every week haha
Just joking.
 

Well happy 2015!! Can you believe it. I surely can't believe it at all.
But I know the year 2015 will bring much joy and happiness for all of us.
This Christmas season was great. I love the feeling of it. Even though
I live I Japan and hardly anyone celebrates Christmas I still felt the
Christmas spirit. Such a blessing.
 

Sorry this letter is so short!! But we just talked and not to much has
happened here.
 

Dad that's cool about the temple! Yeah like that would be awesome but
talk about a lot of pressure haha here are so many other people who
speak such better Japanese the i do. But if the lords wants me to do
it. Then I will :)
 

Sonpon came to a baptism that the elders had on Saturday night. It was
such a great experience for her, I think. She really enjoyed the
baptism. She said it was shorter than she expected. But it was good.
She really felt the spirit while she was there. It was cool because on
Thursday this past week we talked about baptism with her. We started
going through the gospel pathway. When she first looked at the little
picture of it, she was like well I already have faith in Jesus Christ
so let's move to the next step. Repentance, she told us that she is
working on her repentance process. she also told us that she hasn't
really studied baptism. Which in my mind was a good thing because at
meant now she is curious and will start researching it. And sure
enough she did, she came on Saturday and talked about the things she
learned.
 
The work is moving a long here and miracles are happening all over
the world. Thanks for all of your love and support I love you so
much!!
 
XOXO
sister brown

Almost Christmas

Mom and Dad
Hey!! Well I am pumped to talk with YA!! Yeahhhhhh
Anyways I will send another email with those details in it for you later.
 
So now it's just Sister Combs and I, here in Urawa. At first it was
kind of weird like being in the apartment and such but now it's good
and fun. But we have seriously been so busy this past week!! We have
all of the sisters investigators plus ours now. And the sad thing is,
transfers and everything happened so fast this week we hardly had time
to figure things out with the sisters and get the down low on their
investigators. So that kind of was dumb. This week we hit almost every
single one of our weekly goals and the mission standards of
excellence. So that rocked! I know they if sister combs and I continue
to to stay focused and diligent and obedient we will be able to see
many more miracles unfold this week.
 
I can't believe that it is Christmas week. I love being a missionary
at this time of the year. Like I have said before though. It's hard to
realize that christmas is on Thursday just because christmas is hardly
celebrated here in Japan.. But it's all good. I love being here. I
love being with my family at Christmas but this year Christmas is
different. Last year my first mission Christmas was great, but I know
for a fact that this year is going and is already better.
 
On Saturday night we had our ward Christmas party and it was a huge
hit. So many of our investigators and friends came. It was so lucky!!
But I just have to talk about her again. Sonpon. Mom I wish you could
meet her. She is truly so amazing. She told me that this year
Christmas is the best Christmas she has ever had. She told me she is
so lucky because god is blessing her with so many blessings and Santa
has given her lots of presents. Sonpon literally has changed my life.
She told me, "I use to be shy and nervous when you and sister combs
would tell me that you love me, but now I am not, because I can feel
your love and I love you two." I can't truly explain how grateful I am
for her in my life. Words won't do it justice. I know that the reason
I am here right now is so I can help her!
 
I am glad to hear that the utes are doing great! That's fun that they
won their football game. What a way to end the season. And who would
have thought utah basketball would be doing so good this year. That
makes me happy! Haha
 
 
Sorry this is so short and sweet!
I love ya lots and I am super excited to talk with you on Thursday!
Love ya lots!!
XOXO
sister brown

Can you believe it that christmas is next week?!‏

Can you believe it that christmas is next week?!
I can't believe it at all. I am excited. Well actually I don't know.
All I know is that there is going to be so much more going on here. I
am a little nervous haha
 

So sister combs and I will both be staying here in Urawa for the
Christmas season!! Yes. I am way excited. But here is the catch. We
are now both sister training leaders. So that will be fun. But one
more thing. There is now only two sisters here in Urawa. Me and Sister
Combs. So we are going to be taking over all the sisters
investigators. Kind of scary. So many people now. We are going to be
so busy all the time. It should be lots of fun. But way nervous. I
think I am most nervous about my lack of Japanese. Like we are really
going to have to step it up with the Japanese now which is way
stressful. I hope we don't ruin any of their prep greasing
investigators. So scarrryyy!!!
 
This week was such a busy week for us. We were able to find three new
investigators so that is awesome!! This coming week and the weeks to
come should be really exciting.
 
I am glad to hear things at home are doing well and everyone is
staying busy! Gotta love the holidays! I am a little sad to be missing
all those things but let's be honest I rather be here in Japan so no
complaint from me!
 
I am happy to hear that murray basketball is doing good. As well as
the utes. It's about time they start killing it. Number 13th in the
USA  we haven't had that for a long time. Hopefully march madness will
be good :) haha I hope they utes will always be able to win football.
What are your plans for Christmas? Are you going to do things with J
and B? What about Brandon and Haley? Are you excited to skype with me
and Liz?! Ha speaking of liz, she needed a full time car... Haha to
classic. She doesn't even know. Haha just joking, she is one of the
lucky few. She has an iPad and a car. Living the missionary dream
lifestyle.

My investigators rock right now. Sonpon is killing it. Like I know her
and her husband are going to get baptized this trasnfer. Please pray
for the Matsuhashi family. I am going to start saving as soon as I get
home from my mission so I can go to their temple sealing in a year. So
if you want to come, you better start saving as well. Haha
 
This week we went a visited this lady. She took us back into her back
room and said one second. So we just sat down and were just talking
and then all of a sudden we heard this door like slum shut. Haha then
like 5 or so minutes the lady still wasn't back. We were way confused.
Haha then we heard the door slam again and then we hear someone like
running down the hallway. This darling lady had ran all the way to the
store just to hurry and buy us some ice cream and some milk she could
warm up for us to drink. It was soooo kind!! Like I can't even
explain. Melted  my heart that's for sure!!
Anyways I am so grateful for the people here in Japan they are so kind
and hey mean the world to me.
 
Thanks mom and dad for everything you do for me. I love ya!!
XOXO
Sister Brown 

December 7, 2014

Mom and Dad
 
This past week was such a good week! I had so much fun and saw so many
miracles and yeah, it was just perfect.
 

Next week is transfer calls and I am getting a little stressed. I
literally can't leave Urawa. I can't leave Sonpon and her husband. I
love the Matsuhashi family so much! They mean the world to me. I am
going to be so sad when I have to leave them. I want to see their
baptism. Ha I just want to spend the rest of my mission teaching them
the gospel and learning the gospel together. But next week we will
find out. I also hope I don't transfer due to the fact that like its
Christmas. Talk about sad.. Transferring to a new area right at
Christmas.
 

Sounds like you have been busy lately. How was the progressive
dinner?! What did you eat? Is there going to be the Santa Clause Party
this year? What about Christmas Eve and grandmas? Ha it's so weird
being a missionary in Japan at Christmas time. Even though everyday I
am trying to talk with people about Christmas, I still forget that it
is Christmas time. I can't believe it has been so warm for you! Brrrr
it is getting cold here! It's way sunny so when you look out the
window you think oh it's going to be such a nice day, but as soon as
your step outside that cold wind starts blowing in you wow. Haha
riding in a car will be a treat when I get home, or I will just hate it
and ride a bike everywhere. I haven't decided yet.
 

This week we had lots of fun lesson and went and did lots of fun things.
We had a lesson with this lady and her brother. They were so cute and
so amazing. We found out that they use to go to Sunday school when
they were growing up. The sister, "Kei" she is so cute. She loved
learning about Jesus Christ while growing up. And when we started
talking about Jesus Christ, the look in her eyes like like a this is
what I have been missing look. This week they weren't able to come to
church because they had something already planned on Sunday but I
think that next week they will be at church. This week we were also
lucky enough to have several really good lessons with Sonpon and her
family. I love the a Matsuhashi family so much. And I know that they
are the reason why I am here in Urawa. I can't wait until I get to be
there standing at their baptism and being able to share that memorable
event with them. Sonpon doesn't have a baptismal date yet, but she is
ever so close to have a specific date. She has told us that baptism is
something  That she wants and she is going to pray and study so that
she can know whether or not it is right for her. Every time we teach
her I am blown away by her diligence and her love for these things.
Sonpon is the most amazing investigator I have ever had. She is so
serious and wants to know the truth so badly. It truly is amazing.
This week we had an amazing experience with her, at least I thought it
was good. In Japan I have noticed that then you are teaching someone
that isn't Japanese and you go out in public with them and you see
some of their friends they sometimes beat around the bush that you are
missionaries from a Christian church. But Sonpon didn't, she was
straight up honest with them and everything. I was actually kind of
surprised. It made me so happy and I really showed me how much Sonpon
truly does love us and how much this church and Jesus Christ thing
truly does mean to here.
 
I love being a missionary. Sister combs is the Bomb. She cut my hair
today so that was kind of her. My hair needs to be cut so bad but it
will Just have to wait tell I get home in America, where I can speak
English to the hair cutter people. Ha
We ate dinner at the bishops house the other night and it was way fun!
 

Anyways I hope that things are going great! I miss YA but have a great day!!
XOXO
Sister Brown

gratitude

Mom and Dad
 
Sounds like thanksgiving was great for all of you!
I am also glad that you all went and did the 5k. It was good for
you. I am a little surprised that you two were the only ones that
walked it... Like does Brandon even know how to Run!? Haha
Boooom Roasted. Just joking brandon, love YA!
 
Anyways thanksgiving here was great. We went to this place called
yakiniku. It's was so good. It's basically all you can eat meat. Haha
you like just get plates of raw meat and you just grill it on the
little grill at the table haha. It's a blast, but you could never have
a place like this in America. So lunch was amazing. For dinner we went
to Sonpon's house. We cooked for her. She wanted american
food and the most easiest, cheapest american food we could think of
was breakfast for dinner. We made some way good scrambled eggs and
potatoes and French Toast. She was kind of nervous about eating our
food so she made a big pot of curry just in case... I think she was
mostly worried that her husband wouldn't like it and he would get home
from work and have nothing to eat. Haha but the good news is, she
loved it!
 
This week was full of great things, except for one thing.. I was
robbed haha. All my money got stolen out of my bag. Talk about a let
down. We went to get on the train Wednesday morning to go to zone
conference and I needed to put money on my train card so I open my
wallet and nothing was there. All it was gone. Sad news. I have
narrowed it down and I think it happened while we were at the church
because my bag was in another room behind closed doors so I figured it
was fine, it has always been that way in the past, but not this time.
But it's all good. This week was full of miracles so I can't complain.
 
On Sunday it was the Primary Program. Sonpon and her family came to
church. It was so great. Hinako participated in the primary program.
Sonpon loves coming to church because she says that everyone is just
full of so much love. Her husband even had such an amazing time at
church. After church Sonpon invited us over to lunch at her house. And
that is where seriously all the magic took place. We were able to hear
lots from her husband and what not. And he seems way into this stuff.
Like super interested in the gospel. Sonpon told me that having
eternal families is すてき and that she wants that too. I am so proud of
how diligent she is in her studying and her praying right now. She was
telling us all of the things she has been studying and it's truly
amazing. Her husband was also very surprised as well. His face and his
reaction to all this was like, "hey you have been doing all this with
out me." I think he actually felt a little left out. The best is when
she asked her husband, "what do you think the meaning of Christmas
is?" Then she told him all the things that we had taught her and
testified about it. It was amazing. Leaving their house today I knew
that this is gods plan. I know that I am meant to be here in Urawa
with Sister Combs teaching and helping Sonpon and her family. I love
them more than anything, and I can't wait for the day that they get
baptized.
 
I can't describe my feelings of gratitude as a missionary. I never
have been so grateful in my life. My life is truly so blessed and I
feel terrible that it took so long for me to realize the amazing
blessings that I have in my life. I am so humbled and so grateful for
coming on a mission. I am so grateful for every single person I have
met, every single person I have helped come closer to Christ through
this gospel. I am so grateful for this gospel and for a loving savior.
Thank you mom and dad and everyone of you for everything thing you do
for me!
 
XOXO
Sister Brown

Amazing week 11/22/2014

Mom and Dad
How are you doing?!
This week has been so amazing.
I have seen so many miracles happen this week.
This week was a week full of hard work and fun. Sister Combs and I
were blessed with many amazing lessons.
For starters things are going kind of hard with Ma. We talked with her
the other day and she mentioned how she became very busy and probably
won't be able to meet until December, which doesn't seem far but when
you are trying for baptism it is such a long time away. But despite
that happening this week hasn't slowed down at all. Sonpon, my
favorite person ever has been amazing. We see her about 4 times a
week. She has the cutest daughter, hinako. I love them with my whole
heart. This week Sonpon really changed, and I am so excited for her.
We had some really special lessons with her this past week. She is
seriously being prepared right In front of our eyes. She loves feeling
the spirit. She knows that church is great and she knows that it is
important. She has being think about a lot of things lately and has
been so curious as to why Jesus Christ is so important and she is
finally realizing why. It is so amazing seeing the change that is
happening to her. I have so much faith in her. I know that she is
going to receive that witness that God is real and God loves her and
Jesus Christ is here to save all of us. This Christmas season is
bringing in so many miracles. It's actually mind blowing.
Happy thanksgiving by the way!!
 
I can't believe that thanksgiving is here. I wish I could go Black
Friday shopping.
But I am a missionary and I live in Japan. Today we are having a zone
activity. Everyone is coming and we are all making food and having
thanksgiving feast. So hopefully it will be good! It should be fun. But
let be honest it won't touch real American home cooked thanksgiving.
Sister combs and I are planning on going to a steak house for
thanksgiving haha.
 
So sister combs is from Washington. We are the same age and she goes
to BYU Idaho. She is the bomb. I love being her companion. We are the
same age mission wise. But she is going to go home a transfer early
because of school. So in Tokyo you see tons of American people. But
there are more that I see here. When we went to sky tree the other day
we ran into this guy. He came up and asked me what mission I was in.
He said that his niece is in the Sendai mission. So yeah it happens.
Either the people we see don't like Mormons or they are like on
vacation or something. But I don't even care. I like seeing other
white people haha. I have never seen military people. Yeah I don't
know if I will ever see them. I love serving in Japan. Tokyo area is
like such a huge melting pot and there are just people from all over
the world here!!
 
It sounds like there are lots and lots of things happening there at
home. I am happy for you. I am sorry the utes lost. That is dumb. But
oh well.. Haha such a missionary comment..
I am sorry to hear about Megan coordey and Gayles brother. That is way
hard. I am so grateful for this gospel. It means the world to me!
 
Lately I have been so blessed with amazing weather. The sun has been
shinning and so beautiful and the leaves are looking amazing but today
it is really cold... So I think the bad weather is coming.. But I mean
it is practically December so no complaining!!
 
I miss ya all! I hope you have good thanks giving! Love ya lots!!
XOXO
Sister Brown

happy throw up?

Mom and Dad!! 

What's up?! 

How are things going?! I hope all is well.

Things here so so great!! 

I love sister combs so much.

She is so great! 

You have to meet her.

We are like the same person so it is so fun!! 

We are seeing so many miracles together. 

 

Last week we found 3 new Investigators and we taught 16 lessons! How rad is that! Those are some awesome stats. I am pretty happy our goal next week is to  get 20! 

 

Here is a pretty funny story from last week. Last week we were with this lady Stacy. She is great. We were at the train station and we met these two black jazz artists from New York City.  Stacy is way cute and way funny so she started talking to them. So then we all introduced ourselves to each other. She said "hi I am Stacy " then my companion said "hi I am combs" and then I said "hi I am brown" yeah.... That was really really awkward. Haha I wasn't sure what I was thinking. I wish I could have just taken those words and put them back in my mouth. Even though I am still a missionary I am still so extremely awkward. 

 

This week we had an awesome lesson with Ma. She is so great!! I know that she can get baptized soon one day! I hope before Christmas. The only problem is the language. Like if I spoke fluent Chinese she would be baptized already... But I don't so that makes things kind of hard.

Oh I am also learning Japanese sign language.  Sister combs is teaching me! She knows it and can like translate Japanese into sign language. It is way cool. 

 

Today we went and visited an investigator. She and her daughter are so cute. Her daughter had been sick so we went to take her some treats. When we rang the doorbell and they saw that it was us they started screaming and it was so cute and they ran to the door. While there we helped her clean up her house a little bit and we played some fun games with her daughter.  Then I think we made her daughter throw up on accident. She was so excited to have us over. And she started jumping up-and-down. And then she started coughing. And then she threw up. It was actually kind of funny. I thought Sister Combs was going to die or just maybe throw up. 

 But the mom wasn't mad. She just laughed and thought it was funny. The little girl felt fine though it was cute then the mother made us some really delicious food I love Sonpon and Hinako. (That is their names) 

 

I really do love Urawa this place rocks!! I can't believe that it is almost thanksgiving. So crazy to think that. Like soon it's going to be Christmas! I forget that because here is japan Christmas just isn't a huge deal. We bought some candy canes and are going to figure out a fun way to do missionary work with them. 

I am sorry this email is lame. We did lots his week but it was lots and lots of teaching, which rocked!!! I love YA so much! 

I can't wait to here from you next week!! Keep it real

Go Utes!! 

XOXO

Sister Brown

 

 

Sky tree

Mom and Dad

Well today has been a great day! 

We did a lot of fun things!! 

We went to sky tree and then on the way back we accidentally went to this really big shrine here, it was way cool and a lot of fun!! 

Anyways Sister Combs is the bomb!! I love her so much. We get a long so well. It's fun because we are the same doki. So we have been on the mission for the same amount of time. It's fun because we both know how a mission works and what needs to be done and what not. It is also nice because we don't have to worry about someone being the senior companion or something. We are both equal and it rocks I love it! Anyways!! She is the bomb!! ISO basically everyone in the entire mission has been thinking this same question lately... "What was president Budge thinking putting Sister Brown and Sister Combs as companions?"

But I think it was a great decision. I am so blessed to have had the opportunity to train Sister Johnson. I really hope I helped her out and was able to teach her many things.

So this past week we saw to really awesome miracles!! On Thursday we met this awesome Chinese lady and we were able to set up an appointment with her for Saturday night. We went and ate dinner together. We also named her Karen. It's really interesting working with her because she has never once been to church she has never believed in God she has never prayed or just anything. Like it's just weird. But she is great. After dinner we went to the church and did a church tour it was tons of fun!! I loved it. There was actually a ward party going on and Karen was being to funny. She was talking with everyone and making jokes and it was great!! 

Then we also saw another huge miracle on Sunday! On Saturday night after planning we didn't have anyone coming to church. It was a completely bummer. We prayed really hard that someone would come tomorrow. We invited almost everyone that we know so we were hoping for a miracle. On Sunday during sacrament meeting it happened. Our Investigator Sonpon and her daughter hinako came to church. She said that they had been at the doctors and were right by the church so they decided that they would come by. Sonpon loved it too!! She really loved sacrament meeting. She listened so intently and really enjoyed it. She said that she felt such a great feeling. Then we went to primary for hinako chan. During that we talked about Jesus Christ. And Sonpon started telling us how she remembers learning about Jesus when she was in school. And she knew so much about him. It was so amazing. We talked a lot about him and we were able to show her the because of him video in Thai so she could understand it. Today we also gave her a Book of Mormon in Thai. She is way excited to start reading it. She is so interested in it. She also loved how everyone was so kind to hinako and how they taught her such great things. She was a little bummed that we only have primary once a were because she wants hinako to learn more and more. I am pretty sure that next week they will come again because of how great this week was! 

This week we weren't able to meet with Ma. She was going out of town and she couldn't come to church on Sunday. But no worries. I know Ma. And she is great and she wants to start meeting more often so that makes me way excited!! 

Thank you so much for caring so much about me and my investigators. It really means a lot to me. I know that this transfer is going to bring so many good things I am way pumped for it!! I love it. 

Sounds like Arizona was way fun! I am sorry if my email this week sounds way dumb. We just got a little behind and yeah... I don't have lots of time!! 

I love you so much and I am so thankful for everything that you have been doing for me!! Thanks for being great! 

XOXO

Sister Brown

Staying in Urawa

Wow

Transfer calls just happened.

And I am staying here in Urawa. But I am kind of nervous haha.... 

I need Johnson Shimai.

Her Japanese is so good... I hardly talked. She did all the talking sooo I mean she grew a lot and learned a lot... So she will do great in her next area. Please pray haha! 

So my new companion is sister combs. Me and her are the same trasnfer. She is so funny and way nice! I am so excited to be companions with her but I am going to miss sister Johnson. She is going to Joetsu. I am secretly way jelly. It is right next to Nagaoka. She will love it, but it will be way cold!! Ha 

Anyways things here in Urawa are great! They are so amazing. We keep seeing miracle after miracle. I know that Christmas season is seriously right Round the corner. It is such an amazing feeling being able to to be a missionary at this time! I am so happy and thankful for it. 

So we had an awesome Halloween party on Saturday night! It turned out way good! We had tons of non member people come so that was great. And my new favorite family came to. They are so cute. The mom is from Thai and her husband is Japanese. They are amazing. I can just picture them being strong members! I really hope something awesome happens with them. 

Also Ma. She didn't come to the Halloween Party on Saturday but she did come to church on Sunday. And this time we were able to have a friend translate it into Chinese for her and she enjoyed it so much more!!!! So that was a blessing. She said even though  she doesn't understand everything she still knows that it is so important because she can feel something different when she comes to the church! Please keep her in your prayers so that she can get baptized before Christmas. 

Halloween looked so lonely this year... Bahh that is so sad. Don't worry hopefully next year there will be more people over! Halloween is great on Japan because seriously you don't have to worry about getting fat from eating to much food or getting cavities from candy because there is like no candy here for Halloween. All they eat is like jello cups so that is kind of weird ha. I am excited for some really Halloween candy next year! 

I am sorry to hear about the utes. That is the worst! But I am still proud of them!! 

Lizzy sounds like she is doing great. She is awesome! I think she is perfect where she is at. It is crazy how sometimes we think the situations God puts us in are just 100 percent wrong and that we know better. I know I have felt that way before but ever since becoming a missionary I have learned other wise. We might not right away see the purpose behind things and might be confused but we have to have patiences and faith and hope and then that's when we learn and realize why God has us where we are in our lives. 

Thanks for all of your love and support! I love you all.

XOXO

Sister Brown

cooking miracles

Mom and Dad


Things here in Japan are great. First off I can't believe it is
basically Halloween. Soooooo crazy. Anyways!! Right now all of my
investigators speaks Chinese so that is pretty  cool. Beside the fact
that I can't speak Chinese to save my life. I don't know but I have
just been way blessed. I can't really explain it. Right now my mission
is working extremely hard and we are so focused on our purpose and
this Christmas season and what we want to give to Christ for Christmas
and like the miracles are just pouring in. I can't even really explain
it. I came to this area, brand new. My area book literally has tumble
weeds in it. But when you have like 300 cups if faith and about 300
cups of desire and The Lord is the chef, them you know that a miracle
will be cooked, the sweetest thing you will ever taste! I am so
grateful and truly blessed and humbled by this experience. The lessons
that I have learned are going to change my life forever.

So in japan we eat this food called omelette. It's like just egg and
it's kind of sweet and it's about an inch thick. It is really good
actually haha. Anyways!
One of the Japanese girls that I live with told me I could make like
gluten free cake so I decided I wanted to try so it consisted of 5
melted chocolate bars and then 4 eggs. And you mix it all together and
then you put it in the rice cooker. Haha I was very unsure about it.
Haha but I decided to do it. When it was cooked. It looked like
brownies. Like it looked way good. I was pumped. So I started cutting
it and I ate some haha and oh my gosh it was so weird. It literally
tasted like you were eating chocolate omelette haha like just straight
up chocolate eggs haha it was so weird!

This week has been fun and full of adventure! I love it. We have seen
so many miracles and have found several new investigators. Like the
joy I am feeling is so great. And I have such a feeling that this week
is going to be so good as well.

Ma is amazing. She came to stake conference and listened to the whole thing.
She loves Jesus so much and she is so interested in the Book of Mormon
and she believes that Joseph smith really talked with god! Like she is
so prepared. She doesn't yet have a baptismal date but she will have
one soon. We are going to try this week to help her get one. Please
keep her in your prayers. I know with faith, hard work and diligence
we can help ma take that next step into coming closer to Christ. The
best Christmas present ever!!

Sounds like you had so much fun this last week!!
I am so happy for you. The pictures looked like it was a blast. I hate
to brag but I have the coolest parents in the whole world!! I want to
go. And go utes. How cool is that!! I am proud of them. At least one
of my teams is doing good haha.

Are you going to watch the utes basketball team this year? Probably. Haha

Yeah like I don't really know what to say. Next week is transfer
calls. And I will start my 10th transfer next week.. That is really
gross and scary haha.  I only go to 12....
I love being a missionary in Japan

Thanks so much for all of your love and support!!! Lovessssss
XOXOXOXOX
Sister Brown!

Temple day

Mom and Dad
 
Wow where do I being! This week was a really good week. Things are
really moving here for me and sister Johnson. I am glad I am able to
serve here in Urawa.
 

So the train picture, that is from when I was able to meet up with
akane. When we were leaving she was on the other side of the train
platform and was able to catch the quick picture of me before the
train left. Haha don't be worried! Things are all good here.
 

Lizzy sounds cute! I am happy for her. She is already such a great
missionary! It's going to be cool being able to talk about our mission
differences haha. Because there will be lots haha!! She thinks she
walks a lot..please! I have decided I will probably just use
public transportation for the rest of my life, or just ride a bike
everywhere. I have forgotten how to drive I think especially since I
am used to the other side of the road now. I will probably just have to
hire a driver for me. Ha japan is great right now though! Lately it
has been chilly and rainy which I don't really like but it's all good.
All I have to say is... I wish that it was snowing rather than raining

The rain is a pain ha!
 

So for pday we went to the temple and it was amazing!! We watched the
new video like newest one or something. It was way good!!! Oh my gosh
I think it was my favorite by far!
 

This week Ma came to church and it was amazing. Ma is amazing. She is
truly searching for the truth. And she knows that we are holding the
answers for her. When We taught her the plan of salvation she was
literally just eating it up! And she is super excited to read the Book
of Mormon as well. She loves when she reads the bible and receives
answers from it and can feel gods love and everything so she is way
excited to have the same experiences from reading the Book of Mormon.
So basically all my investigators right now are Chinese, like no joke
haha! If only I could speak Chinese. Ha on Saturday we had a lesson
with these two Chinese girls we are teaching and they loved it. Like
by the end of the lesson they asked us if they could have their own
copy of the Book of Mormon! It was awesome. I know that once china can
officially and legally and safely have missionaries all over china,
china is going to explode. Like the Chinese people are being so
prepared it is crazy! They all want this gospel so bad! I am so pumped
for that day!!  Also yesterday we were housing and we were at the like
creepy like sketchy looking apartment and I even thought what the heck
are we doing here but it felt right and so we began and nothing
happened. We didn't get anything from anyone. No one was answering
their door until.... This guy answered. We introduced out selves and
asked of he has ever been to church and he was like yeah. And so we
told him where our church was and he was like wait I know that church
and then described that church. He continued on saying how he use to
go there when he was younger! It was way cool! He was loving it. And
he just kept talking about it, we aren't sure if he is a member or not
but whatever happens I know he will be active one day! He and his wife
are really interested in the blood drive we are having on Saturday and
also his wife like, really really loves English and she is going to
come to our english class tomorrow. I am way excited! The tender
mercies of missionary work! 
 

Dad!! That is so awesome! I am so happy that you followed that
promoting from the spirit. I will be sure to keep him in my prayers!!!
:) it's funny because you would never guess that he isn't a member.
That awesome dad! Being a missionary is the greatest feeling ever! You
and mom will have to try it out some time :)
 

I am glad to hear that murray is picking it up! That will be exciting
for them! And how about them utes!! Are you getting ready for
Halloween, the the annual scones and soup going on at the brown house
hold again? Haha Those pumpkins are huge! Hey well I gotta run! We
gotta go ride 45 minutes to visit a less active member!! Have a rad
day! Talk to you next week!!
Loves
XOXO
Sister Brown

Chinese investigators

Mom and Dad
 
How are you doing?!
I hope you had a good weekend. I am glad you were able to talk with
Lizzy. I hope she is doing good. I am so excited for her!! I think
about her all the time!
 
This week. Wow.
Such a learning week. Hahaha
I hate that I have to have weeks like this considering the fact that I
am so old in mission life. Ha it just proves that the learning never
stops. Ha
 

So here in Urawa we are seeing miracles happening. Right now all of my
investigators are Chinese haha. So that is cool. Expect for the fact
that I don't speak any Chinese. But we can communicate with little
English and little Japanese and good thing the church has so many
Chinese resources. So that is way helpful.
 

This last week I was able to meet up with akane. She is one if my
investigators from nagaoka. She was in Tokyo because she had to take
an English test and she was staying with her aunt in Saitama so we
were able to meet up!! That was amazing. It was so good to see here
again. I think she will start meeting with the missionaries again.
Hopefully at least.
Sounds like things back home are crazy. Oh the Ross family. Bless
their hearts! And alisa.... Who does she think she is. Like I thought
we were friends... Haha she is right I will forgive her but I mean I
like hearing from my friends haha.
So the weather here is getting colder.. So that is good but now that
means hopefully the mosquitoes will stop biting me. For some reason
they were addicted to my skin and nothing would keep them from biting
me.
 

I am grateful for sister Johnson. She is such a great missionary and I
so thankful for all the things she has taught me. If only she could
teach me Japanese. It is so awkward when the trainee speaks better
Japanese then the trainer when the trainee isn't even Japanese ha. I
can't believe that it is mid October. Where is time going?!
My email is really dumb I am so sorry.. Next week i promise to make it
better. Next week we are going to the temple! So I will be emailing
you on Tuesday not Monday.
 

But cool we found a new investigator this week. Her name is Ma. Please
pray for her. She is from china. We met her on Saturday. The elders
investigator brought her to the church. He couldn't stay but he said
she doesn't really do a lot so he asked her if she wanted to come to
the church and she said yes haha. She watched some general conference
with her and turns out she is being so prepared. Back in china she used
to go to church but not really because it was against the law so they
would meet in KFC and talk about church things. She was asking so many
questions. She asked how can i find out if this is the true church! So
amazing and then she asked questions about life after death because he
father has passed away and she just wants so many answers! I am so
pumped to meet with her this week. She also said she will be coming to
church on Sunday. But please pray for her and for my investigators. We
don't have any baptismal dates yet... :( blahh so sad but it's all
good!
 

So yeah that's about my week in a nut shell!!
I hope things are going good! I miss you so much but I love being here
in japan! Thanks for everything!
Have a great week!!
XOXO

Typhoon?

Mom and Dad
 
How are ya doing?
I am good...
I think
It has been raining a lot. And super windy. I think that there is a
typhoon or something. But it's all good. Sister budge gave us strict
order to are sure that there was cooked rice in the rice cooker and to
cook our meat in case the power goes out and to not leave the apartment
until the skies were blue. We survived needless to say. We cleaned the
apartment really well. We clean it really well every week but it still
smells like elders and we keep finding weird things haha. The other
day sister Johnson found some like old white shirts haha in her desk.
That was weird ha.
 

It is October already! Can you believe it.
I can't. Soon it will be Halloween. Thank you for the package by the
way. I loves it. And it came at the perfect time. My mission is hard
right now.. Like seriously I don't know why.
 

But like I said. This week we saw many miracles. We were able to find
3 new investigators this past week! How awesome is that?! Like that
never happens!! I am so pumped. Two really cute Chinese girls and one
really cute Japanese girl. And they all have so much potential. And we
have plans to meet with them this next coming week so I am way
excited!! For the Christmas season is officially underway here in the
Japan Tokyo Mission. Last Christmas we saw so many miracles it was
unbelievable. This year I know we are going to see more!! We have a
goal of seeing 100 baptisms this Christmas season and 2 baptism in
each area. On Sunday we did a mission wide fast, and at the end if my
fast yesterday while I was praying I felt the spirit so strongly. I
knew that this was something that if I put all my heart and soul into
it and tried my hardest, it would be something that we could
accomplish. I felt and I knew that this was gods will for our mission,
I know that if there is a will there is a way. But if there is gods
will there is always a way. I know the Japan Tokyo Mission is for me
and I am here for a reason! I am so blessed to have the companions
that I have had and I am so blessed to be serving here. I love being a
missionary.  So on Sunday we were able to watch the Saturday session
of conference. And I loved it so much!! Let me just say, jörg
klebingat was amazing!! Wow he killed it. Like he is the man. His talk
blew me away. It was exactly what I needed to hear!! I am so grateful
for him! Ha I could listen to him talk all day long but secretly he
was kind of intimidating haha. I think I would be way nervous to have
an interview with him. He makes president budge seem like a nice teddy
bear haha.
 
Stupid angels. But like they did it on purpose. They were like let's
just lose really quick because sister brown needs to stay focused haha
and next year when she is home we will take it all the way. But the
utes don't seem to care at all that I am missing their season. Haha
how rude lol just joking
 
 
Things are good. I am good. All is well. This is the lords work not mine.
Thanks so much for your love and support it means so much to me!
XOXO
Sister Brown

Better Week

Mom and Dad
 
Hi hello.
We missed each other again.
Booo
ごめんね
 

Things are just busy here. My companion likes to have crazy pdays.
Haha so we always go do things. But it's fun so it's all good.
I can't believe that this transfer is already over. So crazy!!
I am happy.
 

This transfer was hard at the beginning but it changed, or I should
say, I changed.

I came here to Urawa with nothing. And now there are several less
active members we are meeting with regularly that have started coming
back to church. As well as 3 progressing investigators and several
potential and new investigators.
It was hard to see all the success going on around me and my companion
because I was busy focused in what we didn't have and comparing it to
the 8 missionaries here is Urawa. But then I realized that. And after
I realized that I made a change and look, I am happy, I feel
successful, and I truly do know that The Lord is here helping me and
that he does have people here for me to teach. Urawa  was a completely
upside down flip for me. I have never been in a ward this big. I have
never been in a city this big. I have never been around so many
people. I had no idea what I was doing. But when you focus on The Lord
and his will, when you focus on the people around you, and the ward
members, and your companion, when you focus on serving others and
being that example of Christ, that's when things change. It doesn't
matter how many people you know, or how well you know the area, or how
well your Japanese is. When you put the most important things first,
then that's when you start seeing the success and the miracles. Thank
you so much for all if your prayers and your kindness and your love. I
can truly feel it over here!
 

On Sunday we were able to watch the live broadcast of the general
woman's meeting and it was so good!! I loved all the talks! But I
missed watching it with you mom. Remember when I sang in the choir?
Yeah that was way neat. Next conference. I laugh at how last general
conference I was in nagaoka and I remember how it was just a blizzard
the days we watched  conference ha. Gotta love it. Sister Marriott is so 

dang cute and funny! I loved her talk! I just loved how it was so focused

on the temple. And once again President Uchtdorf did an amazing job.

And yesterday my investigator got baptized!! (From nagaoka)
Me and sister Clark found her.
Watanabe San
One day we decided that we needed to bike like 90 minutes to this town
so we did. We  had no idea where to go but then we knocked on a door
and next thing we know we are teaching this amazing woman. She is the
most amazing. I love her so much! I am so thankful and blessed to have
found her and been able to teach her. And last week my other Investigator got
baptized. Hosokura San. Me and sister asada found him and taught him a
little before we passed him over.
 
The volcano didn't get us... Luckily. Nah it was pretty far away.
Things are good here in Urawa. But I do have to say I miss ya fools!!!
 
I love this gospel so much and I am so grateful to have a testimony of
our lord and savior.
 
Have a great week!! I love you!
XOXO
Sister Brown

Frustrating week

Mom and Dad
 
Sounds like you guys had a great week. Dad happy birthday! I hope that
you had a good day! Go Mom that sounds like the best birthday present
ever! You two will have lots of fun! Sounds like you guys are going to
start doing really cool things now that it is just you two chilling at
home :) 
 
So the temple was great. Right now they only have one of the new
movies playing. I guess I should say the oldest new one haha. It's
fun! I love going to the temple so much! But I really want to see the
other new one way bad! I am so blessed to have the temple so close to
me at home. I will have to make sure that I am diligent at going when
I get home!
 
So this transfer is like over. Next week is transfer calls I can't
believe it!! Time has literally flown right away. This transfer went
by so fast. I think my and sister Johnson will be companions again. I
will probably finish her training next transfer and then who knows
what will happen to me. Next transfer is only 5 weeks long so I think
it is going to fly by!! I am kind of nervous.  Sister Johnson I have
really grown to love her. At first I wasn't sure if I did or not. But
I do love her. She is having a hard time but I hope that I am helping
her and not making things harder for her. She is awesome. She just
needs her confidence I think she still feels really awkward about
missionary work. Ha and it probably doesn't help that I am the most
awkward person alive sooooooo that's cool haha we make a great team
though so that makes me happy. I am blessed for her to be my companion
I love her so much!!
 
Has the iPhone 6 come out for you guys yet? It is our here. Let's see.
Things are good here... I think I am not sure though! Ha i think on
Thursday and this weekend a storm is going to be coming in like a
typhoon of something I am not sure. I can't watch the news... Haha
 
 
This past week was a hard one for me... I am just frustrated.
Missionary work is crazy. Last week I found this amazing investigators
and I was so pumped for our lesson I was studying so hard and getting
so much revelation it was amazing and we got to the lesson. This girl
I had so much faith in her. She had met the missionaries before and
then we were able to meet again. I truly believed that god placed her
in my pathway for a reason. I don't know I can't explain how I felt.
Saturday came and we had our lesson. We met at the eki and it was her
and her mom and I was so excited!! The more the merrier. Haha But then
it quickly turned into a whole other ball park. Here is Japan there is
a religion called kenshokai. It is a crazy religion... And
she ended up trying to dendo me the entire time. I was devastated in
my last area I had to deal with them all the time I didn't think I
would have to deal with it her. She was sooooo nice and soo ready and
like she was such a huge miracle to me, she was my first actually
person I was able to exchange numbers with and set up an next
appointment with in the past 5 weeks. Take about a low blow. Like I
don't know it was so painful. It hurts me more than anything when I am
testifying to some one about the savior and how much it means to me
and they won't listen to me or the make fun or something that I said
or just all that. It hurts so bad. Something that you just truly
believe in with all your heart and having some on tell you no that's
not real. Ouchhhhh I couldn't say anything. I just sat there blank I
didn't want to be that person to her because I hate when that person
does it to me. I just wanted to cry. Like I loved her so much and I
had been praying so hard for her and just everything. Oh man it was
like going against the family or something like that.  I just couldn't
believe it was happening. I mean I have met people from her church
before and they were some of the meanest most pushiest people in the
world. She was so kind and just so prepared. Such a downer. It was
hard to recover from that.
 

But I did. We still don't have any investigators and we are only
teaching about 5 lessons week... Buts it's all good! I have the faith.
And I know that miracles won't happen unless I put work and effort
into them. I know that the lord is in my side and I know that he will
be there every step of the way with me! I am so grateful for this work
and it means so much to me!!
 
Thanks for sending me a package I can't wait tell i get it. I love you
so much and I am so grateful for you love and support and example and
faith!!!
 
Have a great week! Tell everyone hello
 
XOXO
ブラウン姉妹

Temple week

Mom and Dad
 
Dad, I am so happy that you got your letter. I wasn't sure how much it
was going to cost and I was feeling extra lazy, so I just stuck a
several postage stamps on it because I didn't want to ride my bike to
the post office. Forgive me! Haha
Anyways!
Oh yeah happy anniversary! You old love birds.
 

Another great week here In Urawa. I mean every week here is great.
Not too many things have changed though... We still don't have any
investigators let alone progressing investigators but it's all good!
But I can see the progress coming and I have the faith that sooner or
later things will start happening.

Last night I talked with sister Clark on the phone and she told me
that this man that I found in nagaoka and taught him for a little a
while before we referred him to the elders is getting baptized on
Sunday! Ah such a great feeling. Also she told me that two other
people we found (sister Clark and I) and started teaching, now both have
baptismal dates for the 28th, I am beyond excited. Such a testimony
builder that the work I am doing here really is seeing results. They
might not be exactly when I want them to be, but is know that they
will comes so that is very comforting to me and makes me really happy
being able to know that. I am happy.
 

So the temple was amazing. I am so lucky to go there. While waiting
for the session to being I was just sitting there and I truly could
feel so much love from god while sitting in there. I love the temple.
Every time I go inside I feel all these burdens lifted off my back and
I feel like I am finally free and truly be at peace. I love it.
 
Anyways, we worked way hard last week and this week is also looking
promising. We saw lots of progress with less active members last week
and I think we are going to see more progress haha. So I was thinking
and I had an experience last week that made me think haha. Here I
teach people basically straight from the Book of Mormon I don't really
use the bible. Which is kind of a good thing because I don't have a
knowledge or the bible to save my life. Most people dread when people
bring up the bible because it can cause problems and things haha. My
most dread question is when people say, I don't really understand
Jacob 5 at all. Please explain it to me. Haha that happened this week.
Oh my I wanted to die. I had no idea what to say. I just looked at my
companion and cried a little on the inside. Haha i mean come on I
barely just started truly understanding that chapter a couple months
ago. It took me 21 years and becoming a missionary to understand it in
English. Not Japanese Haha so that was a terribly awkward situation.
But I handled it and needless to say this week we are going to try
explain it... Hahaha good luck...
 
Lizzy is cute. She sounds good! I love her. Send me her weekly emails please!!
Also I can't believe Hayden is all grown up. What happened. All of a
sudden he is a man and on a mission haha. Oh yeah, my apartment has
crock roaches big black ones. It's so gross. I hate it. I want to die.
I am so afraid they are going to like get all over me when I am
sleeping haha. Ewwwww
 
Everyone sounds so good! I love you so much and I miss you so much.
Thank you for all of your love and support.
 
I hope the utes win this week. Same with Murray. And go angels. They
better be this good next year!! Ahh have a great week. I think I am
good... Haha maybe. Pray for me please ha. I need it....
 

Anyways!!
 

Loves
XOXO, 

Sister Brown

Shibuya

a lovely fountain show in a park that we dendo by!!

me and my companion

Friends

Mom and Dad
 
Wow
 

This week went by so fast..
I don't know, this week was good.... But it was so hard at the same time..
But it was good, on Tuesday we had 4 zone conference and I got to see
all my friends.
Sister Ivory, so that was great and then sister snow and sister
seasons and sister taketomi. All the people that I love and so many
other people.
Sister Taketomi goes home not this transfer but then next and then
after her is Sister Snow. I can't believe it. I don't want all my
friends to leave... Haha
But I needed to see them so that was great, it really helped out a ton.
I learned that the first and most important thing is to love. No
matter what love must always come first.
 
This week we had several lessons, they were all with less active
members... But hey, they were lessons at least, so no complaining.
Next week is temple pday! So I will be emailing you on Tuesday!!
 
Things will be good. I have faith that we will see some miracles start
to happen around here. Just gotta keep my chin up and keep smiling and
working hard. But it's been frustrating. I can't seems to charm
everyone here like I have everywhere else I have served. I need to
figure something out quick or else we won't have any support from the
ward, so if you have any ideas please tell me haha.
 
 
This week we are going to be working very hard. We made some plans we
are going to make the ward like us whether they want to or not.. I
know that someone out there is waiting for me and I am going to find
them. I think I need them more than they need me haha!!
 
 
This week we were able to talk to a lot of people but they didn't have
too much interest. I think I am just going to be straight up with
people and just ask them if they believe in god or if they want to
learn about Jesus Christ or the purpose of life or how to have an
eternal family and if they say no, say okay here is my number for when
you do and move on to the next person. Haha I don't know. That is a
little extreme!
 
I love the Book of Mormon, I have such a testimony of it. Lately I
have been studying family history and it is so awesome! So please if
you have any cool stories or anything please let me know!!
 
I love you guys so much and I am so thankful for you!!
XOXO
Sister Brown

Time flys‏

Mom and Dad
 
Okay so I never thought that I would ever say this in a million years
but here it goes.
I miss eating gluten free food so much.  I miss eating grilled cheese
on that weird bread. I miss eating the cookies that have a weird
texture. I miss he crackers and the pretzels and the everything.  I
miss it all. I never would have thought I would have ever said that
but here I am saying it. I miss it all so much. My heart will rejoice
in the day of being able to eat gluten free food again. Anyways...
 
This week was hard.
First off can you believe that it is already September. Today I wrote
the date and I can't believe that it is already the 9th month. What
the heck. My head hurts thinking about it. Time is going by so fast. I
hope they when I get home from my mission time slows down because next
thing I know I will be sitting in a rocking chair at a rest home
drinking a glass of warm milk because my fingers hurt from doing so
much sewing... Ha
 
So we didn't really find any new investigators this week at all. But
we did do a lot of work. I just am struggling. I don't know what I am
doing here and I feel terrible because I can't help sister Johnson
learn to teach or anything. It has almost been two weeks and we
haven't even taught a single lesson..... Bahhhh it's killing me.
But gotta keep the faith up. This week we have a couple planned with
some less active members so I am praying that we have them and that
they go over great. Sister Johnson is great. She is already such a
great missionary. I feel bad, I think I am probably holding her back
from being a great missionary, so that scares me a little bit... But
oh well. We are both working together really hard to see the miracles
happen here. I know that we will be able to find an investigator one
of these days..
We are trying a lot of different things to find new investigators.
 
For example. We have been going to these classes where they teach free
Japanese for people who don't speak Japanese. And those have been
pretty good even though by the end of the day I think my brain is
about to ooze out of my ears, we have talked with and met several people
that have a ton of potential. So that makes me happy :)
 
The ward here is really awesome. It is so big so that is crazy. We are
assigned to different blocks in the ward for a missionary area work
spots. So that's cool which helps things out a little bit. It's not
such a huge question where you want you can go area which really gets rid of
the stress...
 
Right now we are the closest area that is to Tokyo that isn't in
Tokyo, if that makes sense. It's about a 40 minutes train ride to
ikebukuro eki. (Which is a really big main station in Tokyo)
 
I am rally excited that you two get to experience having two
missionaries out on a mission at one time. Lizzy will do an amazing
job. I am sorry that it is kind of lonely at the home but in 6 months
I will be home :) so keep your chin up. Can you believe it. So like it
was fun being the 3rd wheel on all of your dates... But I don't miss
it at all... Sorry haha
I much rather be on a mission. The things I have done here and the
lessons I have learned and just everything completely beats all of
that.
 
I am pumped for the angels and for the Utes!! I miss sports... Haha
 
Thanks so much for all of your love and support it truly means the world to me!
 

XOXO
Sister Brown

Urawa

Mom and Dad!
 
Hellooooo
Wow let's just say this week has been one to always remember....
I don't know, I just loved nagaoka so much, it broke my heart to have
to leave it.
 

Urawa is amazing though, the ward here is huge! There are so many
members and so many little kids. It's great hearing noise again during
sacrament meeting. Lizzy you would die...
 

But it's hard here.
We live with two other sisters. They are way cute! But it's hard
because it's like we basically know nothing at all. We have no lessons
planned, we have no investigators, we have no potential investigators.
Everything is just big fat zeros. And to top it off I have no idea
where anything is. And just asking the other sisters questions is just
painful because its like I am trying to take one of their
investigators when I ask how do you get to the grocery store. So cool
beans. The Lord has blessed me though. He has really helped my eps
become so much stronger. I can remember roads and directions so much
better and so fast now. Thank you Heavenly Father. But it's a
struggle, I feel terrible because we have nothing and my poor new
companion all we do is ride our bikes and find people and go housing.
We haven't even taught a single lesson yet... Great.... But I am so
thankful for my companion. She already speaks better Japanese then me
haha which is kind if embarrassing but whatever. She went to high
school here on an exchange and has been studying it basically for her
entire life. So yeah she is way good. She is nice. She is from
Washington D.C. Her name is sister Johnson. She is 19. I am such
an oldy in the mission right now. Haha I am even older than all of the
elders and I am I only 21.... Haha I pray that this week can and will be
better. I am trying to be the best companion but I am not doing so
good. I feel terrible because I just feel like an idiot because we
have basically nothing. But all is well. Gotta keep the faith up! The
Lord will consecrate my efforts and will provide us with miracles! I
am really excited for this transfer.
 

It's hard though. At times I wish I could just cry and scream and tell
those sister what's on my mind and tell them they need to help us and
blah blah blah. But I am seniors companion so I need to be strong for
my trainee.. It's hard. But I am grateful for this experience. She is
a great missionary so all I have to do is set a great example and show
her the ropes!
 

Can you believe it. I have been on my mission for 1 year. I am like
going to throw up I can't believe it. So much has happened and time
has gone by so fast!! And now Lizzy is going on a mission. It will be
great. Mom and dad you can be sad. I will be home is like 6 months so
you better start planning some fun things we can all do together
haha!! (Like go on vacation or something fun)
 
I am so happy to be a missionary. It's hard going from place to place,
but missionary work is missionary work and it is the same everywhere and
there will always be people waiting to hear the gospel from me! Please
pray for me.... Haha I need the prayers right now....
 
And Jazmin was baptized. Even though I was in Urawa and she was in
Nagaoka, I am beyond thrilled for her! She means the world to me. I am
so thankful for the opportunity I have been given to teach her and get
to know her!
 
Looks likes everyone had fun at the beach! I can't wait until next year
when we get to go! I am so excited for Lizzy! Bahhh!! I just miss you
fools so much
It's been so hard these past days! So I am so happy that I was able to
email with you today! I miss ya!
 
Loves!!
XOXO
Sister Brown

Baptism and Transfer 8/17/2014

*this blog is a bit late due to the editor's vacation 

Mom and Dad
 
Okay I don't even know where to begin
This week was so amazing
We spent so much time with Jazmin
She is amazing. I can't wait tell she gets baptized. It will probably
be the best day of my life.
This week was her birthday. We went to lunch on Thursday (it was her
birthday) we went to this place called yakiniku. It is a buffet. The
best part about it is, it's basically a meat buffet. There is all this
raw meat. And you can choose which kind you want and then you take it
back to your table and there is like a grill in the middle of the
table and you just cook it right I front of you. Oh my gosh it is so
good.
 

Anyways
During lunch Jazmin says, "so I have been praying a lot lately and I
have been asking god when should I get baptized and asking him if this
is the right thing for me." And guess what she got her answer. She
then told us.. "I got my answer and I want to get baptized as soon as I
possibly can. I know that this is the right thing for me to do" oh my
gosh I couldn't believe what I was hearing. I wish I had it recorded
so I could just listen to her say that over and over and over again. I
was So happy!!! Like no one has ever said that to me. That's like the
best you want to hear as a missionary but it just happens so few
times. After she did that there was just like a silent pause. I look
at Clark Shimai and then a Jazmin and them all I could say was
"baptism rocks" haha I had like word vomit it was terrible. I just
blurted out the first thing in my mind. It wasn't like I know this is
what god wants you to do or anything testifying like that. It was just
baptism rocks haha.
 

This week we have been working so hard and so close with Jazmin we
have seen her every single day of the week haha. She came to church
on Sunday in the pouring rain. I know how much this means to her. She
is amazing. Next week well the 24th after church she is getting
baptized. I am beyond thrilled for her. She has been the biggest
example to me. Even though I am the missionary she is teaching me so
much and setting such a great example for me! I can't wait tell next
week! I can't wait for her to taste a bit of heaven!
The miracles are happening all around me. I am so thankful for that.
 
Well the news you are waiting for....
So this week I am transferring. I am moving to Urawa it is in Saitama
ken. Haha eve though you don't know where that is... I am so stressed
and heart broken. I have to train a brand new missionary. What a huge
responsibility... I am so nervous it really scares me. I am so
nervous. I hope that my new companion is nihongin. So on Wednesday I
have to move back to Tokyo and them Thursday I will be finding out who
my new companion is. This is all so crazy. I am so devastated that I
am going to miss jazmins baptism. But I know god has the biggest
picture and this is his will!!!
 
Have fun at Cali! Can't wait for next year!! Love you all so much!!
 
XOXO
Sister Brown

Time is Flying By

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Mom and Dad
 
This week flew by!! Like crazy!! It went by so fast. And I can't
believe Lizzy had her farewell. How are you feeling?? I am so excited
for her!! Sounds like the farewell and everything was a hit!! That
makes me happy to know that :)
 
This week was a good week. We did so much biking! But no complaint
from me. I love biking! The beach was cool but like it's hard to enjoy
it when you are a missionary. But we went to this huge fish market so
that was way cool. So much fish everywhere!! Japan is great!!
 
This week we have been working a ton with the new investigator we
found this past week. She is great! I love her so much. Yesterday we
had a lessons with her and her husband and little boy participated
too!! It was so amazing and such a blessing. Things here are great. I
love the people and I love the area.
 
We were going to have a baptism next week, but our investigator didn't
come to church yesterday... :( so that this a little sad. But no
worries I know that she will be getting baptized with out a doubt. She
has so much faith and so much desire. She has really been a great
example to me.
 
Lately it has been soooo hot. Haha but it feels great. Like I feel
like I just played a soccer game all the time! But I rather be
extremely hot than extremely cold!
 
I am so stressed though.... I can't transfer... I don't want to
transfer. I love this place so much!! I think the hardest thing for me
is thinking I have to tell the people I am serving good bye because I
might never see the again in my life. That's why I don't like
transferring.
 
I am so sorry to hear about aunt Ruth and the family :( oh that is so
fast and so sad and so crazy!! So scary.. Septic. That's the worst.
And poor cdiff.. That's one thing I haven't missed since being on my
mission. I always feel bad for people who have that. I am so sorry for
grandma! Aunt Ruth wrote me a Christmas card and everything this year,
:( oh my heart breaks! Poor Bert and their children. But it's
comforting to know how much Heavenly Father truly loves each one of us
and that he has a flawless plan and because of that plan no matter
what happens it will,be alright. And we will be able to be happy and
see loved ones and everything again!!
 
I am so grateful for this gospel and for the blessing it is in my
life. At times we may feel like we have nothing but in reality we have
everything, because our faith and our testimony in the savior and
redeemer Jesus Christ, nothing can knock us down! I know that this
gospel is 100% true!!
 
Thanks so much for all of your love and support!!
Love
 
XOXO
Sister Brown