Last Temple Trip as a Missionary

Good week this week! tell yall bout it when I get back!

nah, just kidding. well, we were kinda MIA all week this week.

Monday, we were out of the area, with other elders helpin' em out w/ companionship things.

Tuesday, we worked from 5-8 for the heat.

Wednesday, i got lost because Elder Z*, who knew the area, was out on divisions w/ another area.

Thursday, I went to Tijuana to be able to go to the temple early on Friday.

Friday, I went to the temple for the last time as a missionary. It was super special (alliteration). The temple truly is the house of the Lord. The peace there is undescribable. :) Just its presence testifies of the veracity of this Work.

Saturday, We found a family of 5 who's had some strong trials in their life. their name is the M* family. The two daughters r autistic. the older daughter's got heart problems that shouldve killed her in the first 24 hrs; now she's 27. The other daughter's got a pregnancy that is either gonna take her n leave the baby, or take the baby n leave her. Their neice of 4 years is undergoing cancer treatment n the doctors say she's only got months left to live. We taught em the plan of Salvation n they really got excited. Theyre all really interested. An eternal perspective is EXACTLY what they need to be able to get through these trials. Heavenly Father is ALWAYS preparing His beloved children to hear the restored gospel. It's up to us to not let him down!

Love you all.

See you in 8!!!!

Schools of Fish

I saw this cool thing about sardines. They all swim in this huge ball to confuse their predators. When their predators go for 'em, the water around the predators actually push the sardines out of their path, and the fish are all safer in the group. I realized this was very similar to the church. Sometimes we may feel attacked from all sides by drugs, violence, or economic problems, but if we stick with the church, we'll be safe. it's only when we cease to follow the prophet that we are left alone and vulnerable.

good week this week. :) every week just keeps gettin better! :) Love yall! bye!

Celestial Moments and Times of Trial

Good week this week! Unfortunately, I forgot my journal again. I dont really remember much, but what I do remember, I'll write:

M* was baptized in January, n I was with Elder W* when I saw er get baptized in another ward. Her whole family got baptized that day, and she said it was the happiest day of her life, because she thought her family would be together forever. She thought it was the beginning of a better life. Little did she know the ugly turns her life would take in the coming months: her husband fell into drugs again, he left her, and then hooked up with another woman. he is currently living with the other one. he doesn't send ém money anymore. She's currently broke;, in heart, home, and in budget, but still attends church.

As fate would have it, I came back to see her and the changes she'd gone through. It's soo hard to see how once excited and motivated members and converts can just seem to break and fall apart during hard trials. It's bound to happen to all of us. All of us will look back to the happiest days in our lives and think, "what did I do? What did I do to deserve this?" or "what did I do wrong for all this to fall apart?" from there we may think that things just don't work out by nature. We may think that All is destined to end. We may begin to blame God or others for what happened. We may just grow apathetic.

How can we see this then? I think Jeffrey R Holland answers these questions very well in "Tomorrow the lord will do wonders among you". On top of his comments, I believe that these "celestial moments" that our Father in Heaven gives us are to be treasured and remembered as a promise, an eternal promise, of an eternal joy ahead. then He sends us the trials, the pushups, and lets us struggle to the last possible extremity of our capacity. Right when we can't do it anymore, He sends us another taste, a teaser, of the eternal film we'll be living with Him.

I know Heavenly Father loves us. I know He wants us to be happy. He does give us trials, but they're for our eternal welfare. Only through the Atonement of Christ can we be made perfect, and can we be grateful and JOYFUL in our darkest moments, when the sun rises on everyone else, but leaves us in the dark.

A Giant of a Heart

1. I wrote in my journal kneeling down on monday. Mostly because I didn't feel like getting out of my kneeling position. :) Then my knees started hurting and I got tired of the novelty. theres a reason man invented a chair and desk. :)

2. taught A* and L* last week. they came to J*'s baptism all by themselves, n seemed to enjoy it. :) after that, they accepted the invitation to hear the discussions again. turns out, they've been havin quite a few problems n it's gonna take a while fer em to get baptized, but they seem to be progressing.

3. The cutest little 11 year old girl is named A*. yes, it's a US name. we've been teaching 'er n she's been studyin' n progressin pretty well. :) turns out, my comp's bike got robbed yesterday, n she n 'er mom found out. the sister that was gonna eat with us canceled out too. in the end, A* n her mom, a*, invited us to eat w/ em. we ate w/em n the most adorable 11 yr old girl ever (A*) gave us ALL of her candy. ALL OF IT! then she promised us she was going to sell her toys to buy a bike for Elder Z*!!! Heart-breaker. :,) Anyway, she's gonna get baptized the 26th of august. :)

Last Transfer: Back to Mexicali

Transfers were today. After arriving in my new area, we were seated in a car, and we see a woman open up the driver's door to her truck and look like she's going to get in. We're in the car and the sister taking us to our house is very kind, and VERY chatty. :) I realize the woman doesn't get in, but seems to be hitting something in the drivers' seat. I see an ambulance come by and the woman try to flag it down. I excuse myself and go over to see if I can help. Turns out 'er husband 'ad passed out from the heat and was not responding well. As the ambulance was just arriving, we cleared the scene. #MEXICALI!!!!!! WOOOOOO!!!!! SOOO EXCITED!!

I'm with Elder Z*, from Guatemala. NO, I don't have a picture yet; we just barely got here. Anyway, Super excited to be in Mexicali again. :)

Elder Brown and his companion after cleaning their apartment

Friday was quite the day. I was still in Tijuana Insurgentes area. After doing something of relatively forgettable importance in the morning, in other words, I don't remember, we were called and asked to give a blessing to someone in the hospital. He had been found with a wrecked motorbike helmet talking incoherently. He'd been interned two days when We got there and things were looking pretty bad; he was in a coma and things seemed to be getting worse as time went on. It was so sad seeing the pain of his aunt, who had come to take care of him. We gave him a blessing and our hearts ached for their anguish.

After leaving that scene, we went to a sealing!!!!! The S* family from Ensenada, whose baptismal fotos were never sent, got sealed on Firday. THAT was a special experience. On top of that, A*, the 20-yr-old son, is leaving on a mission the 23rd of july!!! I taught a misisonary!! It was super special seeing them promise each other their eternities. :) Their pain in an event as heartwrenching as the above will forever be lessened, with the promise of being together forever.

Seeing Beyond the Mortal Limits of Time and Space

Meeting the mission president: honestly, I don't have any profound words on the subject, but I do have a personal confirmation that he has been called of God to direct His work in this area. He has His inspiration and His power.

I was reading in Mosiah 24, 15-16 the other day, and I realized that the people of Mosiah submitted cheerfully and patiently to all their afflictions. How crazy is that?! they submitted CHEERFULLY to SLAVERY! how did they manage that? I'm not completely sure, but they must have understood and truly believed that their trials would be a blessing for them. They had to have had their eye set on a grander picture. Even though they miraculously had the strength to support their labors, they were still slaves, and for more than just a couple of weeks. probably about a year. What becomes even more surprising is that in Mosiah 25 10, the scriptures say that Mosiahs kindgom was surprised at the IMMEDIATE goodness of God in delivering them. a year in slavery doesn't seem that immediate to me, but in the eternal perspective, its very quick. On top of that, God immediately answered their prayers with extra strength. That's a very special type of gratitude. :)

The Last Five Pushups

Guess what?! I know it probably doesn't look like it, or maybe I just don't send pictures, but I'm doing exercise, and serious exercise! I've learned something really special from the exercise: the last five pushups are the ones that count. If I do ten pushups, the last five ones are those that build strength, endurance, and bur calories. If I do 50, then pushup 46, 47, 48, 49, and 50 are the ones that made the difference. All the others were simply preparatory pushups. They prepared me for the growth I'd receive in the last five, the hardest five.

What does that mean? that gives whole new meaning to my pushups; before, I did pushups until I was tired. Now I understand that the only real pushups I do are when I'm tired, when everything burns. We may be able to go days, or weeks, without certain errors, and that is wonderful, but the only time we truly perform is when things start to burn. The harder the decision, the greater the growth that comes from it; the greater the blessing it truly is. That is the very moment that the Christ works His miracles through the atonement.

Being on the mission, it's the same. The last few months are where the character is developed. In the beginning, many skills are developed, many things change, but the character is changed in the last five pushups, the last months, weeks, and days. Seeing investigators, it's the same; K* and J* have seen changes, but in the very moment where it burns, they back down, they wait.

I'm gonna meet the mission president on Wednesday. :) I'll probably have a picture too. :)