The Lord Answers Prayers

Elder Brown and Elder V at Baptism of Sister S

First off, I´m sitting here a little confused and more than a little surprised sending the picture of S***, our baptism this past week. She had been taking the lessons for more than four months. She is literally broke and her kids don´t send her anything. Fortunately she owns her home. She was one of the head honchos of an evangelical christian movement in her time. The man for whom she worked was famous for healing people and working miracles.

Anyway, she has received a lot of help from the ward and more help from the missionaries, from meals (she can´t afford them) to everyday tasks. We had thought previously that she was using us, and she may have been. We had been trying to leave her and stop visiting her, but she kept saying she wanted to get baptized and then changing her mind the last minute. She seemed to have three personalities, and I wasn´t sure if she was completely sane or not. She seemed to be really kind sometimes. Other times she was really confused and seemed to talk in circles. Yet other times, she was downright grumpy. I actually didn´t think it would be good to baptize her, as I wasn´t sure if she had heard or understood anything from the missionary lessons.

Despite my concerns, we went ahead with the ordinance, and first off, I was surprised that when the day came, she did too. She had left us hanging many times. Second, she came happily and excitedly. it was actually kind of cute. Anyway, when we effected the ordinance, the Spirit came and testified of the ordinance, and of its validity, just like it has with my other baptisms. I learned that we can never really see or know anyone´s real intent, only the Lord knows each person's heart. People can be genuinely good and we may not see it. We may be genuinely good and miss it in ourselves as well. Heavenly Father sees us, knows us, and loves us. He wants us to improve and wants us to be happy.

Prayer really i


s a powerful tool. This past week I was looking for my missionary tag and I couldn´t find it. I prayed for help, and as soon as the prayer ended, my foot started to itch, really, really badly. I sat down at my dexk to scratch it, and when I looked up, I found it, right in front of my nose. Then my foot didn´t itch. :) Today, I was looking for the money I would use to buy my food for the week, and it wasn´t where I thought it would be. I decided to pray, and when I looked up from my prayer, there it was. :)

Your prayers and your care for me have also been felt. I´ve been getting better and the work here is progressing.

--Elder Brown

P.S. We had pie for Pi day! It wasn't the same as pie back home, but it was still good.

Cheese Pie for Pi day!

Brother T* and his awesome oldies car.