Hello everyone!!!
First off, I loved those pictures!!!!! It was so great to see everyone in them. that is so fun! Im glad you all enjoyed yourselves and stayed safe. Those cottages look huge!!!!!!!!!!!!! I am so surprised, I have not seen something that big and amazing in years! And what is up with rhen and terence's facial hair? And those lovely camouflage pants of rhen's?! man, they look like some nice rednecks that grew up in south carolina. but that's fun. It gave me a good laugh. It really sounds like everyone is keeping busy. Don't go crazy though. Angela, don't try to get tan like I was that summer before I left on my mission. I was stupid and will probably have sun cancer sometime soon. but anyways, I am so white now you won't even believe it! but I am proud of it. just so you know, we are taking a girls day when i get home and getting pedicures. I neeed one terribly terribly bad! And my companion reminds me of it everyday. but we have decided that my horrible feet are the glory that I have received from all my work. So, we both decided I need to go home and show off all my glory feet before I fix them. ok, that was a gross story, but whatev, its my life.
Welp, this past tuesday was a sad sad day. My lovely Sister Gorkavenko left me...its was super sad and weird. She left at like 4 am, and so all the sisters slept together at their apt. And then when it was 4 I had to say goodbye. It was super weird. We were both so tired and she was running out the door because her ride was waiting, So it was a super quick goodbye. I didn't cry when she was there. But immediately when she left and I went back to bed I cried. And then when I woke up in the morning, I realized, wow, she is really really gone. Crazy. So, i have really been missing her these past days. I am trying super hard to stay focused, but sometimes it is hard. A huge group of missionaries left with sis G, and they are all amazing. And Elder Cecil (who goes home with me) is getting super trunky. So with Sister G leaving, and so many others, and an Elder to help me get trunky, sometimes it is hard to focus and difficult to not think about all those things. But I am trying really hard. I know, I told sister G so many times that we would love love for her to come visit. She kept saying she doesn't know. I think for one it is very expensive, and she might be a little stubborn about visiting the "amazing and perfect America" that everyone talks about around here. But we will see. If she doesn't make it out to America, then sometime down the road I would love to save up enough money to go back to Russia and see her family. But yes, I would really really really want her to come see all of my lovely family. She would think that you are all super funny and crazy, because you are!!
Welp, you have probably learned that this mission here and our president loves to throw curve balls. So, we had zone conference last friday, and president was here, and had interviews with us. And, he threw me another curve ball. So, I supposedly will not be serving in Kazakhstan until the end. He wants to send me to Nizhney Novgorod again, for the last transfer, to be with sister taggart again (girl from my freshman ward at BYU). So, i guess i will be going there. but there have been a few problems with my visa, so by the time I get there i will probably have like 4 weeks there or so. so we will see. Next time I write I am hoping that I will already be in Nizhney, but we will have to see. President just said he wanted me to have an opportunity to serve in more than just 2 areas on my mission. I am excited but sad of course. In my head i really expected to be here till the end and had been telling all the members and investigators that. So, this was just a surprise. But, those things just come with the mission. I don't know if I will be here for Ipara's baptism. But, I know that Sister Cianflone will take very good care of her and all our investigators. She is a great missionary and powerful testifier.
So, let me tell you the super cool and spiritual news of this week. So do you remember me telling you about our investigator who is american? She is from arizona I believe, and she is here in Kazakhstan because she is working with the peace corps for two years. she has been placed in a super small city super far away, so we have lessons with her over the phone. She knows a lot about the church because her boyfriend is a member, and they have talked about it. And she went to church a few times in the states. But she has never investigated with the missionaries. So, we are her first missionaries, and it is pretty cool. We invited her to be baptized, and she had concerns about what her family would think, and she wanted to do this for herself and not just for her boyfriend. She is amazing though, always reading and praying. She already follows like all the commandments, and knows a ton. She really has been searching and wanting to know for herself. And so we invited her to be baptized, but she wasn't sure and asked us to ask her again on our next lesson. And so we called back and she started telling us about how she had been thinking about baptism of course, and all the answers she has received from the Lord, and she realized that she already had received all the answers she needed. She called up her boyfriend in america and asked him to come to almaty, Kazakhstan and bring her mother with him, because she wanted to be baptized. So, she will be baptized in November of this year, when she will come to almaty for a work conference. We are so so so excited for her! And the whole time we were talking to her I just thought wow. It is so true that the Lord is really in all the details of our lives. Who knew that she needed to come to Kazakhstan to find out the truth for herself. Who knew that President woolley would put two american sisters together in Almaty so that we could teach this sister in english (he doesn't put american sisters together very often in almaty). Who knew?! It is pretty amazing that I can be involved in this work. I feel honored to teach her, and to help her grow closer to our Savior. I know the Lord knows all. And as we listen to the still small spirit, we will be where we need to be when we need to be and with whom we need to be. And this helps us to become all that the Lord would have us to be. I am so happy the Lord prepared me throughout my life to be ready for this mission, even though I personally never planned on it or thought about it. And when the time came, I was ready, and I could get my papers ready quickly and just take off. If I didn't leave on my mission when I did, I may have never met the amazing people I know here, and may have never known the amazing sisters I have had the opportunity to serve with. And I may have never had the opportunity to teach Ipara or this wonderful amazing spiritual and sweet girl from america. I am so grateful to my Heavenly Father and Savior. I know they watch out for us, always.
So this week president told us that we get to go to girls camp here with the young women. so we are super excited and it should be way fun. We are having some investigators come too. It is only for one night, but it should be great! We are really excited. Our mission president is super cool.
Well. I think that is about it for the week. I am glad to hear from you all. Remember I love you. Remember who you are, and that the gospel is true!!! Have a great week! Until next week!
All my love, hugs and kisses!!!!!!
XoXoOOXxxOOoxoxoOXoXO
Sister Brown
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