Opposition Brings Miracles

Dear Family,

I don't even know where to start.  This week has been probably one of the most faith testing weeks on my mission.  I have never been faced with some of the things I have been faced with in this area before. This week Satan has been working hard.  But we have been working harder.  

At the beginning of the week we went out with bright faith filled eyes every morning and came back exhausted.  It just seemed like the harder we worked, the harder satan worked too. Mid week my companion looked at me and said, "Sister Brown, I cannot do this anymore.  Get me out of here." Needless to say..we were pretty discouraged.  But I just felt like something was about to happen.  I told her that something good had to come out of all of this opposition we were facing.  Satan always works his hardest right before something good is about to  happen.  He will try his best to prevent it. We have to work harder and remember that we have a lot more power than him. Papa God will always win Satan every time.  Because we are literal children of him, a portion of His power is within us giving us the
ability to win Satan.  He is the power. 

This week we worked hard with one of our investigators Thomas.  Thomas is great, he has a sincere desire to understand and apply the gospel. He has been addicted to kava and smoke for many, many, years.  Last week we sat down with him and made goals about how he could kick this habit. And guess what? He achieved every single one of them this week! We have been praying and fasting for him, and he has progressed in leaps and bounds! He has been reading the Book of Mormon and he told us yesterday, "This book is just true." We about died! He also accepted the invitation to be baptized! Sometimes in life Papa God tests us to see how bad we want it. Prayer works. 

Saturday we went and helped our branch cut bamboo for a new church
house.  We spent a few hours in the bush and then went to a few appointments.  Every appointment fell through.  No one was at the house because it was a Saturday (garden day) We were walking up and down the villages trying to find at least someone to talk to when we had a distinct prompting that we should go to try contact a referral we had received.  The only problem was that the referral was another 45 minute walk away and the chances of him being home were very slim.  We were determined that something made us both think to go and see him and that we probably shouldnt ignore it.  And man were we blessed. We went and contacted brata brian.  We approached his village and he was just sitting there
waiting for something.  We shook hands and asked him what he was waiting for. He looked at us and he said, "My family and I have been waiting for you to come. We knew you would come today." We sat down and got to know him and shared a little bit about the restoration.  He shared his thoughts with us about how he saw that there was something different about the Church. He shared with us about how he wanted the gospel to help his family.  He now wants his entire family to learn more about the gospel.  

When he said family my heart just started pounding.  Mom, I have been fasting and praying that Papa God would lead us to a family to teach, and look what He provided for us.  It is only after the toughest opposition that we will receive the most tender miracles.  This one experience made every hard time that we faced this week seem so small and insignificant.

Papa God hears our prayers.  He has people prepared to hear His gospel.  Missionaries are just the tools in His hands.  He does the work through the spirit.  Experiences like this make every hard work worth it.  I love my mission!!!! I love all of you!!!!! I hope you have a great week!!