By Small Things, Great Things Come To Pass

Sorry Sorry Sorry Ol Family!!!

Mom I am glad that all the kids spoiled you on your birthday! I hope that you got time to rest! The trip looked like a blast. I am not the least bit surprised, mom always knows how to have a party! Wow...it is amazing how life can change in just one week! Meg and Quinn moved out?? That is great! I am happy for them! But Sorry that now you wont see Mase as much anymore!! Man, what are you going to do with yourself now? No YW, no tending...no kids at
home...It sounds like you will finally be able to retire? hahaha.  I guess you can never really retire from being a mom. 

It sounds like all the farewells have been great! I am excited for all the experiences that they are going to have out here in the field!! Ben sounds like a sports fanatic, sheesh does that kid ever rest? You need to take the boat out!!! You always told me.." I'm the man!" So I know
that taking the boat out will not be a problem for you!! Just please don't drop the keys in the water! :) Sorry that I have not been great at emailing lately, I hope you will forgive me! Don't worry, I have not forgotten all of you, things have just been pretty crazy! But that is not an excuse!  I will be better!

These past couple of weeks have been pretty challenging.  And by pretty challenging I mean..really hard.  This week President and Sister Brewer came to our island for some meetings and Zone Conference.  Papa God definietly answered a lot of my prayers through
their wise counsel.  In one of our meetings with President and Sister Brewer they showed a viedo about all the attributes of Jisas Kraes. If you have not watched it..you should! It shows His life and all of the attributes that he had.  Jisas Kraes was completely perfect, he never made one mistake, but yet he was still an outcast to His people. He served His entire life, but yet people hated him and rejected Him. The path He walked through life was a lonely one.  

These past few weeks we have faced a lot of opposition.  Sometimes as missionaries we feel as if we walk alone.  But I have learned that we are never alone. No matter how many people reject this great message, no matter how many different trials we face, Papa God will never allow us to walk alone because Jisas Kraes him already walked the lonely path. If we want to be a disciple of Kraes we must be willing to walk a small portion of that lonely path that he walked.  If we endure, in the last day we can rest with him.
In that same meeting President counseled us "Don't be afraid to do hard things." This is something I have defnietly learned these past few weeks.  Hard times are the times that we grow the most.  Hard times give us a choice-we can choose to become bitter and harden our
hearts or we can humble ourselves, soften our hearts, and determine to do better.

Another thing I have learned these past few weeks is when we feel like we are facing a hard time we must take time to look for the small and simple blessings that occur every single day.  Five months ago when I came into this area I met a less active papa Alfred.  Alfred had been baptized several years earlier but had since "left the church." Just by looking at him you could see that Satan had indeed done his work on him.  Ever since I have come into this area I have made a special effort to be sure to visit him as much as possible.  He is the only member in his family and needs all the help he can get.  When we would visit him, many different people would make comments and tell us we were wasting our time.  We could continue to invite him to make changes in his life, but he would continue to stay the same.  To be honest, I felt as though we were making no difference in his life.  But yesterday when church started, I looked back and saw papa sitting in the back row in his white shirt.  He had his new scriptures with him and he was just shining.  Like literally, I could not stop smiling.  Something was just so different about him. After the meeting we went to go visit him and he was so happy! We started the lesson and he looked at us and said..I did it.  I
have quit kava and smoke and I have seen blessings.  I will never go back.  Thank you for not giving up on me.  I have just tried it for this one week and I have seen blessings already in my home.  I have seen my wife's (not a member) heart come softer, we have money for
food, the blessings just keep coming. My companion and I were so happy. The scripture in 1 Nifae 16:29 is true.  By small things (small visits) great things come to pass.  He is the power. The power of the atonement can heal even the most broken of people. We have been facing full up hard things, but now we have one more worthy Melkezidik prishud holder in our branch! (There are only 3) Papa God he has his own purpose for each of us!

Even though I have been through some hard times as a missionary lately, I am happy.  I love missionary work.  Time is going by too fast!!! I am grateful for all the support and love that you all give me! It means the world to me!! I love all of you!!! :)
Have a good week!!! :) :)

Happy Birthday Mama

Dear Mama,

Happy Birthday!!!!! I wish I was there to spoil you rotten, but next year! I hope that everyone lets you put your feet up and rest, you definitely deserve it! You are seriously the best mom anyone could ask for.  Thank you too much for all the the sacrifices that you have made for us kids and that you continually make every single day.  You have taught me so much through your Christlike example.  You have never once given up on me.  Just like the stripling warriors said in Alma 56- I have never doubted the gospel because you have taught me. Your faith through all the trials that you have faced has strengthened me and given me power to continue even at times when I didn't think I could.  I am grateful that you have stood up strong in the gospel so that I could have the great blessing of the gospel in my life.  I know
that it was not always easy, but I know that it was worth it.  You have taught me so much and every time I am faced with something hard out here I think of all the things that you taught me.  I am beyond grateful.  I will never forget the lessons you taught me. They give me
strength and it encourages me to work my hardest to bring blessings back to you and the family.  Even though sometimes I didn't listen, I look back now and see that truly "Mother knows best." I am glad too much that we have so many memories together and I cannot wait to make more when I get back!! :)   Thank you too much for always putting us
first.  I hope that I can be half the mother you are someday! I love you mom!!!
Have a great birthday!!
LOVE YOU!

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!!

Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day!!!!!

I know I just barely talked to you all this morning (best wake up call ever), but I decided that I would give you the best Mother's Day present ever..another email. Haha. You can never say that I don't love you! It was great to hear from all of you! You all sound great! I am grateful too much that you are my mom.  You are seriously the world's greatest mom.  I have never met anyone that has sacrificed so much for their family and remained so positive.  I love you so
much!! I hope that I can be half the mom that you are some day!! I hope that all the kids have spoiled you rotten all day and that you have not lifted a finger!! Please don't forget some flowers for Sister P's grave! I cannot stop thinking about that for some reason! Tell Meg Happy Mother's Day from me too!!

Well things this week were a little different! A whole lot of training and meetings...so missionary work, but in a different way. I am not complaining, I really love receiving training..there is always something to be improved and changed.  When you go into meetings and training with an open heart and humility there really is never a boring meeting.  Every single meeting I go into I learn something that I can apply to my area, branch, and my life.  It is amazing how the Lord works through all of His leaders.  I know that every single
leader in this church is called by Papa God.  Not only are they called by Him, but they are also qualified by Him. He uses these great leaders to help us become better.  To correct us when we need correcting, and to uplift us when we feel we can't go on.  Remember the
cousel of Job: "Happy is the man whom God correcteth, therefore despise not thou the chastening of the Almighty"  I am beyond grateful for all of the correction, counsel, and help I have received by leaders here on my mission.  They have truly helped me to grow so much as a missionary and as a person.

On the side of our area: This week we will be able to begin to really focus on our area and the investigators that we are teaching.  There are only a few, but every single soul is important to Papa.  Our area has been an area that has struggled for a long time.  I am extremely excited to be able to work in this challenging area.  I know that this transfer I am going to have to rely a lot less on my strength and a lot more on Papa's strength.  We have been fasting and praying about what goals we can set to help our branch improve.  It is amazing how much guidance and direction Papa God will give us when we humble
ourselves. I know that He is going to work a miracle here. It is going to take work, but I know He has something "up His sleeve" ready for us to work for. One lesson that I have learned on my mission is that He is the power.  Not me, but He.  The Lord is the power behind this
great work, that is why it will never be frustrated.  It will continue, no matter the area, the people, the place.  Nothing can stop this work because it is His.  I am so glad to be a part of this great work. It will be hard, and Papa will ask each of us to work, but nothing is impossible to Him.  There is so much joy in missionary work it is amazing.  I love each of you! Stand up strong in all the small things.  Study the scriptures, they will give you strength when you think that you have none.  Thank you too much for all of your
support! Have a great week!

I LOVE YOU!!!!!

Watch Out Where You Sit

Hello Family!!!

First of all sorry too much about last week...the internet has been no
good here lately. Thanks for all of the fotos!!! You all look great! Man everyone is
getting so old!! Mason is HUGE!!!! I don't even recognize him! haha.  It looks like Easter was a huge success another great Easter Egg hunt with Grandpa Brown!

This week was a great week! I really could not have asked for a better week. Last Monday we had an Easter Monday activity at both our branch in Litz Litz and our unit in Tautu.  We spent the morning cooking with all the mamas and then played all afternoon and closed
with a devotional in the evening.  It was a huge success! One of our investigators Mama Klaris came with her whole family. She has been investigating the church for years, but her husband was  blocking her from joining.  When we first started coming to visit her her husband would literally run every time he saw us coming.  We started praying
and praying every day that Papa God would soften his heart somehow.  A month later we started to see changes. I knew we were making progress when for the first time last month he came and shook hands with us.  I was like.."Uh huh...there ya go...slow slow.." haha.  A few weeks later he came and sat on the edge of the bench while we taught Mama. The next week we came Mama told us that Papa had quit kava and smoke and that she caught him reading the Buk of momon 3 times that week. Since then, every time we come to see Mama, Papa will come and participate in the lesson.  We invited him to come to church last week, but he didn't come.  I was like.. "Oh no..Papa God has worked way too hard on you for you to slip away..I am not giving up on this one."  

Monday we were on our way to the activity and we decided to go and try to invite him to come.  And guess what? He came! Him, mama, and all the kids came to the activity
and stayed the whole time. Papa was all smiles the whole time and now he calls us to make sure we are coming every day.  It is amazing how Papa God can work to soften even the hearts that seem like they are too hard.  I am glad too much because we have been fasting and praying to find a family to bring into the gospel and there ya go. The
joys of missionary work.

Okay so I have to tell these two funny stories because I was dying. Okay so we have had bad luck with sitting this week. First one, we were teaching a recent convert Glendon.  His house was chaotic so we went down to a little shelter down by the beach.  There were us
three, him and a member and so we could not all sit on the bench. Seeing that there was not enough sitting space I grabbed a small cut tree stump and put it down for me to sit on.  Everyone had sat down to start the lesson, and I went to sit down.  Next minute I was falling
backwards with my legs failing in the air.  I guess I didn't plant the tree stump as firm as I thought. When I got my skirt pulled back down, I looked at everyone else and they busted out laughing.  hahaha I was so embarrassed and so I tried to act like nothing happened. I was
like.."Well, now the spirit is here, let's start" haha how embarrassing.

The next story wasn't me thank goodness! But it was a similar situation.  We were teaching two new investigators and a Papa had come with us to help us.  Sista Vieho, papa,Sista Tenge and me were sitting on a bench teaching when all of the sudden we heard this big crack and I looked over and sister vieho and papa were on the ground and the
bench was snapped in half..hahahaha we were ded laughing....lesson to
be learned...watch out where you sit...hahahaha.

I love my mission.  I love watching Papa God work with people's hearts.  I love watching people change their lives.  I know that every single one of you has the ability and responsibility to do missionary work.  There are people all around us that need our help.  President Monson said, "Along your pathway of life you will observe you are not the only traveler.  There are others who need your help.  There are feet to steady, hands to grasp, minds to encourage, hearts to inspire, and souls to save."  As we go about our daily activities let us look around with the eyes of Christ.  Be aware, and Papa God will help you help one of His children.  You could be the answer to someone's prayer today.  Don't delay a prompting to help someone that you meet on your way.  You never know the effect you can be on someone else's life.  I know that when life gets hard the best way to look is outward. Instead of focusing on yourself and what is not good, turn outward just as Christ did.  I hope you all have a great week!! :) I love
you!!! :)

The Dream

Hello Family,

Wow! It is awesome to hear all of the mission calls in our ward. They are about to have the absolute time of their lives. I am glad too much for them. I feel so old. I remember all of them when they were little little kids. Man time flies. I bet Amy and Eden had a great experience
in Ghana. That is one experience in my life that has helped me heaps and heaps on my mission. I will never forget the times I had there with World Joy. 

That picture of Mase was so cute. You always are the best at packing snacks. I am sure his mom is so glad that Granny is so nutritious. I am jealousy that you all hiked to Ensign Peak. That is one something I want to do when I get home.

We haven't had the janis to watch Conference yet, but I am hoping the
disc and the portable dvd player come on the next ship!! Keep your fingers crossed.
What a small world.  The couple Brother Anderson talked to in the Conference Center is from my mission. Wow, it shows how the gospel binds everyone together all around the world. Crazy, crazy!

This week was a little slow. I have had a lot of sick sisters to take care of. More playing doctor than being a missionary, but sometimes that happens. We have seen a lot a lot
of blessings this week from the power of the Priesthood. I am happy to say that all the
sisters in Malekula are back on their feet now.  Now we will be able to go back out to work
this week.

This week we had a great experience with one of our investigators Ann Rose.  We had been having a hard time with her.  She told us that she wanted to be baptized, but then the next time we bin come she told us that she did not feel like she was ready yet.  We were a little confused because she knows so much about the gospel.  This week I had been thinking a lot about her and I got the impression that we needed to ask her about her experience with the Book of Mormon.  We went out on Saturday and talked with her about the Book of Mormon again.  She said that she had read, but she had not prayed about it. We explained that she was holding evidence of the truthfulness of everything we have taught her.  The Book of Mormon is the key to developing a strong testimony inside the church.  We committed her to read and pray and came to see her on Sunday. 

 On Sunday we asked her about her experience and she shared one of the sweetest experiences with us. She explained that in a dream that night she was on a railroad track.  She looked ahead and the rail line split.  She had to choose which way to go but she had no idea where to go.  All of the sudden she looked back and a train was coming, she started to cry because she didn't know which way to go.  The train was approaching really fast and then she saw a man run to approach her.  She cried and asked him to help her know where to go.  The man took her by the hand and said, follow me and I will show you the way.  He led her to the right path.  When the train had passed she looked at the man and said, "Who are you and why did you save me?" He smiled and said, "My name is Thomas S. Monson. If
you follow me you will never be lost." She then went on to bear her testimony about how she knew Papa God had answered her prayer and how she knew the church was true.  She will be baptized in two weeks time!

Papa God hears and answers each one of our prayers in His own way and in His own time.  How blessed are we that we have a loving, powerful Father who pleads with us to ask Him for help.  I know that if we will ask Him with faith, believing that He will help us, he will never let us down.  He will always answer.  I love this gospel and I love being a missionary!
Have a great week!

Zone Conference

Dear Family,

This week we had the first Zone Conference on Malekula island.  The spirit was strong too much as we made history in the Vanuatu Port Vila Mission.  Malekula was never a zone and so this is the first time ever we have had Zone Conference. We met in a small bush chapel that one of the members made with his own hands.  It was absolutely amazing. President and Sister Brewer gave amazing training to us missionaries. I have such a high amount of respect and gratitude for Mission Presidents.  President and Sister Brewer have such strong sweet spirits and their wisdom will absolutely blow your mind.

I feel so blessed to be serving where I am at this time.  I can see how Papa God really is hastening his work for the second coming of the Savior. Nothing in this world can stop His work from moving forward.  I am so blessed to be able to be a part of this.  The church is growing at a rapid rapid pace and it will continue to do so until that day when He comes again.  I know that the Gospel of Jisas Kraes is the only thing that will bring happiness to people in this day and age. There is noother way to find peace and joy besides through the gospel.  As we set our foundation on the Savior and His teachings no winds or trials in life can tear us down.  We can never fall.  

I know that life is not easy.  A mission is far from easy, and life is hard and sometimes we
feel like it is too much.  But one thing we always have control over is our attitude.  Like President Monson said, " We can choose to have a positive attitude.  We can't direct the wind, but we can adjust the sails.  In other words, we can choose to be happy and positive,
regardless of what comes our way." What wise words to live by.  I love the Savior. I love my mission.  And I love all of you!!!! Have an amazing week!