Oh My Gosh!!! 23 March 2011

Hello!

First off, i cannot believe you found my camera!!! That is honestly so
crazy! How did we not see it before! I remember when I lost it
searching the house over and over and over again, and I don't know how
many times i searched your closet!!!! Seriously! how was it hidden? I
remember thinking maybe joe broke it into pieces and threw it away? i
was just so mad and frustrated that my camera disappeared!. Honestly,
that is crazy! I cannot believe that I did not find it there before.
Man, now im kinda frustrated. We wasted money on a new camera for me
when my old one was just hiding in your closet all this time! crazy
crazy!

Lets see. What about this week? The weather has been a lot nicer and
the sun has been out. We have enjoyed it. The last couple days has
been this holiday called Наурыз. It is a kazak and muslim new year. It
is supposed to symbolize the new year after winter and that spring is
coming. So there have been a lot of people outside and crazy bike
riding gangs because not many of the kids are in school. Its pretty
fun. Missionary work is going as usual. I am having a really great
time serving with Sister Gorkavenko. It is lots of fun. (ps dman, we
are in the internet club right now. and halo is playing, by beyonce.
and it is some awesome strange remix, but cool. I am totally thinking
of you right now!) ok. but yea, We are having a great time serving
together. So for the longest time I have known that president wants me
to train next transfer, but yesterday he called us and actually told
us who we will be training and a little bit about them. And it all
became super real to me and now I am super scared!!!! She is an
american from LA, California, and I am very excited and everything,
but at the same time super nervous. The first impression she has of
missionary work is from me, and I have to teach her how to live and
speak in a country and language that also isn't even my own. So, right
now I feel quite inadequate. But, i know that things will be ok. I
will still be here in almaty, but sister G with her new companion will
be in the apt. we have now, and i will move with my companion to a new
one. So that will take a little adjusting too. Just a new place and
all. And I don't like packing up and moving my things, but it will be
good and fun!!!

Last saturday there were two baptisms of the elders. It was great. And
yes, now finally all the elders that are serving in Astana have been
sent there and have started proselyting and things. We haven't heard
much, but I think things are going pretty well up there. It is pretty
exciting that the new city opened. I am trying to think if there is
any other news to tell you, but I can't really think. I think there is
something, but the music here is blasting, distracting, and I can't
think super well. So, I guess that is a sign that it is about time to
sign off.

Well, i love you all! Thank you for the emails and have a great week!
Until next week!

All my love,
Sister Brown

PS i just sent president an email for the week, and I decided that I
would copy and paste it for you to read. just super simple. enjoy!

Hello President!

This week has been a good one. We had a good lesson with our
investigator Ipara. I love her. She is super sweet and is really
looking for peace in her life. I pray that she can recognize that
peace in the gospel.

We also met with an old investigator that knew Sister Zhumazonova. It
was a good meeting and we are going to get her to come to church with
us this Sunday. She prayed on our lesson and said she had never prayed
out loud before in front of other people. So i was very excited and
happy for her!

Alla, Dima's wife, is doing very well. She looks very happy, and we
are also very happy for her.

Farida is amazing. She just got baptized and is already doing so much
missionary work. She is giving our address and invitations to people,
and just the other day, a woman called us and said that she met Farida
in a taxi and that Farida told her about us and that she needs to meet
with us ASAP! So she called us the next day and we set up a meeting.
It was great!!!

Well, I think that is about it for the week! Thank you for everything!

Love,
Sister Brown

Hi 16 March 2011

Dear Family and Friends,

It is good to hear from everyone. Ange said you got the letter from me. Im glad, i am surprised it got there so fast, I just sent it with one of the elder's to moscow to put in the pouch mail last week. Well, im glad you got it. I am glad that the little kids are having fun reading books and learning. Man do I miss them! And to answer your question, I will be training someone next transfer (in 3 weeks) here in Almaty. and sister Gorkavenko will also be training here. And then my visa ends, so i think i will have 2 more transfers somewhere in Russia or Belarus.

So our argentinian restaurant was good. It was fun and the Moore's are always so good to us. Friday we had a good lesson again with our investigator Ipara. The one that speaks in english. she had a lot of wonderful questions, like how can I grow closer to God? and How can I raise my teenage children better? I was excited that she was interested and looking for answers. I am excited to meet with her again. Saturday we had 2 meetings with two new people. It was great. And then we had sports day and played a little frisbee out in the snow. Then was Farida's baptism. It was wonderful. The spirit was amazing, and everyone there wanted to bear their testimony of the church and the importance of baptism. It was great. Her daughter came to her baptism and that was awesome! And then the next day, Sunday, her daughter came again to church! We really pray that she has the desire and can find time to meet with us between work. Farida is wonderful though. She is a great example and is already sharing the gospel with everyone that she meets. The little wedding party did not happen last week, it will be this saturday after a baptism of the elder's.

Monday we spent a very busy day with the Moore's driving around in their car trying to help a member that needs some help. We do some things as missionaries that I never really expected that we would do. I also got a haircut this week, it was growing out pretty long ; )

I can't think of any more news for you from the mission field. Oh, dad, no, i have not been to any stake conferences here. From what I know there is not a stake in our entire mission. We need to get more strong wards and branches with priesthood holders before they can make a stake somewhere. And, we were just not supposed to talk about home for 2 weeks because it was a little goal that president wanted us to do. He just wanted to see if it helped us to stay more focused on the work and if it helped us to teach and contact better, and things of that sort. I have to be honest though, it is hard for me not to say something about home if I think about it, i just want to say something about it. But I'm trying hard. I feel like if I don't say anything about home that I will completely forget everything!!

So, the boots were in the closet for one day, and now they are already out and being used again. We had probably the biggest snowfall of the whole winter yesterday. It is pretty, but very slippery. I think i fell 3 times yesterday, and then this morning I took a huge fall when we were running. I just flew completely in the air and landed right on my butt and tailbone. It is pretty painful right now to sit and to walk. But it should get better soon. It was pretty funny. I don't know how long the snow and cold will last, but I am ready to get the regular shoes out again. My winter boots are cheap and have already been pretty much worn out. So, i hope the warmth comes soon. I don't want to walk in uncomfortable boots anymore.

Well i love you all so very much! And I hope you never forget it! Keep doing well and doing what's right. Get some good sleep and exercise and eat well and stay healthy and strong! I am trying to do that too. have a wonderful week and a fun st. patricks day. Tell sister finch i said thank you thank you for the fun little activity books she sent me in the mail! Whelp, i don't know what else to say. I wish i could go on and on, but i got to sign off eventually. Send me pictures. I forgot what you all look like ; ) I love you! be good! follow the commandments! and remember to have personal and family scripture study and prayer and family home evening. Until next week!!

Loves,

Sister Brown

i've got sunshine!! 9 March 2011

Hello my loves!!

How is everyone this week? It sounds like things are going good and pretty fun there at home. I am glad to hear from you all. Mom, thanks for sending me those 2 poems that dad wrote. But i got tears in my eyes as I read them, darn. I hope all the kids are being nice and helpful to you and dad. Thank you, Lois, for sending me that email. It was exciting to hear how your family is doing, it is very weird though, your kids are growing up super super fast!

Lets see. What news do we have for this week. Yes, Farida's, baptism is this Saturday and we are very excited! After the baptism there is a ward activity too, a couple in the ward got married and there will be a little ward celebration for them after the baptism also. Oh, i don't know if I told you, but the girl who got married, just got baptized not long ago, and we had the opportunity to teach her the lessons. So she asked me to put some flowers and centerpieces together for the tables and the reception. So i was able to put 8 little centerpieces and it was pretty fun. The budget was not super big, but I did my magic and I think they turned out pretty cute. I hope she enjoyed them. We of course didn't go to the wedding, so we didn't get to see the finished product, but I told Sister Moore how to set up the stuff and she did it for me. So yea, it was pretty fun. We also have a few new contacts right now that we are very excited about. During our super hard working week, we received a lot of contacts, and a few have turned into a some investigators : )

Friday was zone conference, and it was good. It is always spiritual and a great experience and good to learn from president and from the AP's. Sunday was a good day, and we had our first meeting with a really sweet lady. She speaks really good english and came for an english and gospel lesson. During the lesson I spoke in english and sis. gorkavenko spoke in russian. I felt the spirit super super strong, even though I was not speaking in my mission language. It was crazy how I was totally able to express myself and my testimony to her in english. It was kinda nice. I want to speak like that in Russian! Lets see, oh, Tuesday was a big holiday here and in Russia. It was Women's day. It is kinda like mother's day and valentines day combined, and it is for all women and girls of all ages. It was fun. At the branch there was a little activity that the priesthood in the branch put on for the women, and it was funny. We had 5 of our investigators come to the activity, and they all really really enjoyed it. So we were very excited about that.

Yesterday was the most beautiful day ever!! The sun is coming out, the snow is melting away, and it is just amazing! I heard there is still a lot of snow and that it is super cold in Russia, but here it is wonderful! I hope it stays this way and just starts to get warmer and warmer. It is amazing what some sun does for your mood. I am actually wearing just normal shoes today! not boots! it might be a little too cold for this, but its awesome. My legs have not felt fresh air in months!!!! oh, so did i ever tell you that once a month we have apt. checks, and the moores come over and check for cleanliness, and if we pass, they take all of us missionaries out to a restaurant. it is always super awesome and super good. Today, they are taking us to an Argentinian Grill!! Pretty sweet right? We are excited!

Well, i can't think of much else right now. I love you all! And never ever forget it! keep up the good work. Until next week!

Your lovely,

Sister Brown

some pics! Enjoy!!!! 2 March 2011

Me and Sister Gorkavenko wearing the clothing wraps that our new members masha and nastia bought in India.

Us being crazy when we found awesome hair bows at the branch!

Having fun cleaning the branch building : )

hello my lovely!! 2 March 2011

Hello everyone!

I am glad that the week went well and thank you for the birthday wishes. It was fun to get those birthday wishes off my facebook page too. And weird. I forgot what facebook was!! Thanks for copying them and sending them to me. But my birthday was a good day!

This week we have actually had a "super hardworking week" in our mission. President wants us to get out and really contact contact contact and find some good new investigators. It has been pretty fun and very exhausting, but good. First off, we are not allowed to talk about home or anything of the sort at all, he wants us to stay very focused. We cut down our study time and get out in the morning to contact. We only have lunch, and it is only for 30 min. So, we run home super quick, scrounge up something to eat, and then run back out the door to contact. It is kinda weird too, because on our contacting crazy week all our lessons kept falling through. And so we just spend hours and hours in the cold outside just contacting and contacting. But it has been a good experience. We have had some good conversations, and hopefully our contacts turn into investigators. So yes, my birthday was the first day of the super hardworking week, and it was fun. I actually forgot kinda that it was my birthday. I opened your package, which was wonderful. And I love the necklace! Do you remember how I used to have that necklace? Cool! And the elders were super sweet and baked me a cake and it was fun. So me and sister G have been eating chocolate cake for breakfast the past couple days : ) It was a cool and wonderful experience to spend most of my birthday not thinking about myself, but thinking of others. My birthday in the mtc was good, but this one was just wonderful. It is a once in a life time experience to spend a birthday in kazakhstan with the amazing people here. I can't believe that I am 22 though. I feel so old and all the elders are like wow, that is old!

Lets see, about this week. Monday we had a lesson with our investigator that will be baptized. She is great. Her name is Farida and she is a sweetheart. We had a member with us on the lesson (which is often rare) and so that was great and they really got to be friends so we are excited about that.

Other than our lesson with her, we have not had many. I know, DEPRESSING!! So like i said we have had a lot of time to contact and tract outside, and it has been pretty fun. We have had some super funny experiences talking to people outside, it makes me happy. Ill just tell you a quick one. Not super funny, but if you were there you would have laughed too. I stopped outside to talk to a young girl, and I was telling her about our english club. When i was talking to her she noticed my accent and i told her I was from america. And then this old man that i didn't even see came up behind us and started hitting my backpack with his cane. And he started yelling, "hey girl, give me money, give me money!" And then the girl i was talking to yelled to him that "she doesn't understand russian!" And so he said in english "money money money". it was funny. And the girl said "even if she gave you money it is not the right currency, she is not from here." and he was like "well, I could exchange it!" And then we just said "um...thank you goodbye." I don't know I just thought it was super funny and I loved his little "money money money" in english with a really strong russian accent. It was great! There are other funny stories I just don't have time to write them and remember them all. Im really working on finding the time to write them in my journal though. By the time we get home at night and finish planning, we are just so tired I just can't think straight. It is kinda an awesome feeling, knowing that you are tired because you worked really really hard that day.

So we are going to have zone conference tomorrow with the president. I am excited! He and his wife will be here, and now the AP's are here too. And so me and sister G are once again way outnumbered, with 10 elders to 2 sisters. We are all praying that everything works out soon and that the Astana elders can get there and start the work there as soon as possible. The paperwork for them all is just a pain and takes a long time. It is getting harder to get our accreditation to proselyte here.

Well, i don't know what else to say. This week has been good and we are enjoying the work. We also prays it picks up too and that we can do all the the Lord has sent us here to do. I love you all and it was great to hear from you all! Thank you again for the birthday wishes and for the package. It was absolutely perfect! Happy birthday Kori!!!! I am glad that you all had a great week and are keeping busy. Keep doin whats right and remember that I love you all!! Until next week!!

Lots of love!

Sister Brown

ps...dad, i loved that story about the basketball you bought joe. It made be smile and I had a little tear in my eye when you said he even hugged you. That is so sweet! i love that boy! i remember he did not like to hug very much. Well, ill tell you that ill really change that when i get home!!! Ill squeeze the stuffing out of that boy everyday!!