Best Week Ever!

This week was incredible. Hands down, best yet.

If that's all I said, would you believe me? If not, no worries. I've got some explaining to do.

1. Our people. We've changed things up a bit. Transfer day was last week! So we've got a new Zone Leader living in our house, and it turns out his favorite hobby is cleaning! I am a lucky man. Elder Harris and I are doing really well as a companionship. We've hit numbers that are just out of control for our area, and have decided to shift our focus this week from the rush of appointment-to-appointment, to figuring out how to get each of our BGD's (baptismal goal date) to see the importance of coming to church. Most of them get the importance of the Atonement, Baptism, etc, but they just can't seem to walk to church. Our goal is to make sure every single investigator has a friend. A strong member who knows that their duty is to bring the investigator to church. Of course, if we find out that the person doesn't actually want to go to church, we can quickly resolve conflicts missionary style: pray and continue, or drop.

2. Their people. I just love them so much. I really do. Updates: The baby we blessed has made a miraculous recovery! And I am not afraid to use the word 'miraculous', because that is exactly what it was. A miracle, one that I was blessed enough to be a part of. Many of our investigators came to church today, and another is prepared for baptism on Saturday. His name is Kenny.. I think I wrote about him a few weeks ago, but basically he's a super cool guy who's friends with an inactive member. But they're coming to church together now, which is just awesome. I got to baptize JoMar on Saturday! So cool. Uncle Brandon wrote that nothing will be like my first baptism on my quilt, and so far, he was right. It was so incredible to walk him down in clothes that were obviously made for American-sized kids, explain what was going to happen, and perform the baptism in Tagalog. That is why I'm here, people, to bring my brethren to Christ through faith, repentance, baptism, receiving the Holy Ghost, and enduring to the end. Another cool one was we were walking away from an area and heard someone call out, "Elders!" We turned and chatted it up with the guy. Tatay Garcia is what we call him. He had heard the missionary discussions earlier, and wanted to get baptized, but must have been dropped because he couldn't get to church in our area. Apparently he had a job in Manilla and his family was living here. But just last week, he got stabbed two times in the right lung, and one through his forearm. Doctors say he was dead (dow, or something like dead) for 2 hours, and that him being alive is a miracle. The bigger miracle is that he is home for a few months while his lung heals and he is able to return to work, and he wants to be baptized with his family. Incredible. I love this work!

3. You. I can not thank you enough for all the support. Keep it up. But more importantly, I want to impress upon you the importance of missionary work, especially as a member. You are the one who will ultimately help the most in the conversion process of your best friends. And if they are your best friends, what more can you possibly offer than the joy that you have in your life right now? I'm not out here because this is some big adventure or because it's easy. I'm here because I truly, honestly, with all my heart, believe that this Church is true, that Christ is our Savior, and that we can return to our Father in Heaven. If you do too, it's time to step it up. Like I said, our goal right now is to make sure all our investigators have friends. Contact your Ward Mission Leader. See what you can do. Be friends with your friends, invite them to hear about the gospel. Don't force anything, we are here to INVITE. That's all. But be good friends, and your friends will notice the Light of Christ shinning brilliantly through you.

I love this work. I love the Gospel. I'm loving life. Keep up the good work.

Much love,

Elder Brown