The loss of a companion and prayer!

Mi familia maravillosa!!

Wow, it sounds like y'all just had a fun filled week! It's sad that I wasn't able to be there at the Brown Family Reunion! Those are always the best time ever! There really isn't a better family than the one we have. Sorry to all the families in the world, but the Browns are the bomb!

This week was one of those weeks where just all the lessons fell through and nothing seemed to go right. But, as we all know, during those weeks is when you grow and learn the most about yourself, and how true was that for me this week! It was also pretty sad because we sent off Elder Edward Galo (son of the Galos of course) off on his mission yesterday. He is headed off to the Salt Lake City west mission, and how lucky is he?!?! He gets a whole two years left to his mission! I wish I had that.... We were talking about it and he was like "2 years is a long time!" I think I thought that before I left as well... 2 years? I'm going to be a grandpa when I get home... Everything is going to be so different. But man, the past year has literally been the fastest, best, most rewarding and incredible year of my life. It was sad to see him go though. It was like sending off one of our best friends. He was always coming out to lessons with us and sharing such strong testimony with everyone. The companionship goes from 3 to 2.

Imagine this.... We get down to kneel for companionship prayer like we do every night right before we go to bed and we begin saying this prayer. Well, the whole day before we had been thinking about what we could do to help Caesar. He had been struggling with some doubts and his mom was also struggling with some doubts that she had so we just didn't know what to do. Well, during this simple prayer Elder Molina and I were offering the Spirit just fell upon that humble little missionary apartment more than I had ever felt the Spirit in my life. And it told us, not in a verbal voice, but in a feeling in both of our hearts that we needed to try and help Caesar enter into the waters of baptism THIS Sunday! (Meaning this coming Sunday). Haha, well that was SUPER surprising due to the fact that he isn't the most ready person for baptism yet, but we decided that we were going to follow the prompting and do our best to make it happen. We talked to him yesterday about it and he is super stoked. Today he will be asking his mom for permission and the zone is participating in a zone prayer, which basically just means that they will be keeping him and his situation in all of their prayers. It's going to take a lot of work... We are going to have to meet with him every day for the rest of the week, but we know it is possible! Miracles are real! Please pray that this Sunday it will be able to happen! I love this kid! It’s been so amazing to see him grow. He is already acting like a missionary. He invited 3 of his friends to church last week and they came!! He begs his mom like every week to come with him and he already wants to go out on splits with us. He is SO cool!

I think that was the biggest thing I learned this week.... That when we are in need we HAVE to pray. That should literally be the first thing we do in every situation that we have is ask of the Lord. I think it says it perfectly in 1 Nephi 15:8 “And I said unto them: Have ye inquired of the Lord?" How simple but powerful is that? Have I done that in every situation on my mission? No, but I sure have seen the difference when I have. We aren't alone so why act like we are? I know the church is true. I know the Savior lives. Love you all and have a great week!

Elder Brown

Caiden and the new Elder Galos

Member friend Jared

The fruits of their labors (berry picking last week)

The loss of a companion and prayer!

Mi familia maravillosa!!

Wow, it sounds like y'all just had a fun filled week! It's sad that I wasn't able to be there at the Brown Family Reunion! Those are always the best time ever! There really isn't a better family than the one we have. Sorry to all the families in the world, but the Browns are the bomb!

This week was one of those weeks where just all the lessons fell through and nothing seemed to go right. But, as we all know, during those weeks is when you grow and learn the most about yourself, and how true was that for me this week! It was also pretty sad because we sent off Elder Edward Galo (son of the Galos of course) off on his mission yesterday. He is headed off to the Salt Lake City west mission, and how lucky is he?!?! He gets a whole two years left to his mission! I wish I had that.... We were talking about it and he was like "2 years is a long time!" I think I thought that before I left as well... 2 years? I'm going to be a grandpa when I get home... Everything is going to be so different. But man, the past year has literally been the fastest, best, most rewarding and incredible year of my life. It was sad to see him go though. It was like sending off one of our best friends. He was always coming out to lessons with us and sharing such strong testimony with everyone. The companionship goes from 3 to 2.

Imagine this.... We get down to kneel for companionship prayer like we do every night right before we go to bed and we begin saying this prayer. Well, the whole day before we had been thinking about what we could do to help Caesar. He had been struggling with some doubts and his mom was also struggling with some doubts that she had so we just didn't know what to do. Well, during this simple prayer Elder Molina and I were offering the Spirit just fell upon that humble little missionary apartment more than I had ever felt the Spirit in my life. And it told us, not in a verbal voice, but in a feeling in both of our hearts that we needed to try and help Caesar enter into the waters of baptism THIS Sunday! (Meaning this coming Sunday). Haha, well that was SUPER surprising due to the fact that he isn't the most ready person for baptism yet, but we decided that we were going to follow the prompting and do our best to make it happen. We talked to him yesterday about it and he is super stoked. Today he will be asking his mom for permission and the zone is participating in a zone prayer, which basically just means that they will be keeping him and his situation in all of their prayers. It's going to take a lot of work... We are going to have to meet with him every day for the rest of the week, but we know it is possible! Miracles are real! Please pray that this Sunday it will be able to happen! I love this kid! It’s been so amazing to see him grow. He is already acting like a missionary. He invited 3 of his friends to church last week and they came!! He begs his mom like every week to come with him and he already wants to go out on splits with us. He is SO cool!

I think that was the biggest thing I learned this week.... That when we are in need we HAVE to pray. That should literally be the first thing we do in every situation that we have is ask of the Lord. I think it says it perfectly in 1 Nephi 15:8 “And I said unto them: Have ye inquired of the Lord?" How simple but powerful is that? Have I done that in every situation on my mission? No, but I sure have seen the difference when I have. We aren't alone so why act like we are? I know the church is true. I know the Savior lives. Love you all and have a great week!

Elder Brown

Caiden and the new Elder Galos

Member friend Jared

The fruits of their labors (berry picking last week)

And their hearts shall be opened!‏

Hey family and friends!

As always it's so great to hear from you guys! Today I procrastinated writing this letter due to some berry picking we were doing up in the mountains! Haha, that's the type of fun stuff we do up here in upstate New York! Berry pickin!! Well, anyways, I don't have much time this week but I will try my best to get something written!

Something that I love about the New York New York north mission is that we focus on quality not quantity. Now I am not just talking about people getting baptized. Yes, that's part, we don't just want less actives after less actives, but it also has to do with everything else we do. We don't just knock doors to fill the time. We do it with Spirit so that we knock the doors of the prepared people or we don't just teach lessons to see how many lessons we can teach in a week, but we teach lessons to help build the faith of the people we are teaching. Quality not quantity. I've been thinking about this a lot this week. Sometimes I think we get caught up in doing our daily scripture study and daily prayers that we forget the purpose behind why we do these things. Study the scriptures instead of just reading them every day, talk with your Heavenly Father instead of just saying the same prayer over and over again. I know I'm just preaching to the choir but I've seen the difference in my life and in my mission when I've focused on doing that!

We had one of the best lessons ever this past week with Ceasar and his brother Fernando! It's been so fun being able to help those guys out! They're like my little brothers. Maybe this story will shed some light on our relationship with the brothers.. So Sunday morning we had planned to go over and pick them up for church with hermano Galo. Well, we get there and they are all dead asleep. So we go in there and blast some Mormon tabernacle choir to get them awake... (Being teenagers I guess 8:30 is like super early in the summer, who would have guessed that ;)) so we basically had to get them dressed, do their hair for them and everything! And then we finally got out the door for church. I'm going to miss those guys so much when I leave the area! And guess what? We finally got permission from their mom for them to be baptized! Their baptism is planned for the Saturday before the transfer ends. It's been seriously incredible to see the spirit work on these young men but it's been even cooler to see the spirit work on their mom so that she would soften her heart! Keep praying for them and that the baptism will happen!

We have a friend that we always see outside working on his garden. Well, the other day he challenged us to pepper eating contest. Since I have been on my mission I feel like I have built up a pretty good tolerance for spicy so we were more than willing to take up his challenge! The first pepper... Not too bad, a little spicy but tolerable. Second pepper... My mouth was burning up pretty bad and the third pepper I thought that I was going to die, pass out or have my head blow off. Haha so he happily let us in to get a drink to cool down the heat and we were able to share the restoration with him and he loved it! It was cool to see a guy that we try and share the gospel with every day finally letting the gospel into his home and into his heart.

I love you guys! Sorry for the lame letter this week! It was super rushed! Thanks for all you do! Thanks for your prayers!
Love Elder Brown

The pepper guy... Roberto

Ceasar (on my right) and his friend.

Awesome People!!!‏

Hey family!

It was so great to hear from you all this week! I'm grateful you are all doing well! As always, I am doing better than always! My testimony has strengthened times 2 this week, and so I guess you could say it has been a good week! ;)

This past week I have spent a lot of time reflecting on my mission - looking back on the past year and asking myself if I have given everything I have to the work. Well, to give y'all some background information on me, I think I have some serious memory loss issues! Haha, I can't remember what life was like before my mission nor can I even remembered what happened this past week. And so it's been pretty hard to reflect and to think back on all the cool experiences and miracles I have seen. The biggest thing that comes back to my mind time and time again is the wonderful people I have been able to meet and to teach in the past year. I've thought a lot about good old Rigoberto, and so many of the people that have changed my life in a way that I can't even describe! I met another one of those people this week! His name is Gulpertino and his wife's name his Luz. Gulpertino is a drunk man. He drinks 20 cans of beer per day and sits out on a curb next to his one room apartment basically all day long. And he has been like that for almost 4 years. 4 years ago his life was good, I would even say great! He had 3 kids, a wife, a great job and a nice home. Things were going pretty well for him. And then his wife had an aneurysm. To be honest, I didn't, and still don't have any idea what an aneurysm is, but basically she was paralyzed, couldn't move, talk or do anything, and since that day she has been in the same hospital bed with nothing to do. After this incident, Gulpertino kind of took a fall. Not having a wife to be at his side, he fell in with the wrong crowd and began to drink a lot. Due to his new drinking problem he lost his job, his home and even his kids, who didn't want to see him or their mother. Things just took a turn for the bad. So, it's been like that for the past 4 years with little change. Well, the other day we found Gulpertino sitting on his curb wasted as could be. Not thinking too much of it, we began to talk with him. Given that most people on the streets of Newburgh are normally drunk, we just thought we would see if there was anything we could do for him. We gave him a Plan of Salvation pamphlet with our number on the back saying, "When you need help call." And that was it. Obviously, we didn't think much of it because that happens a thousand times a day here. 2 weeks pass by without seeing him or hearing from him and then he gives us a call telling us to come to his house to meet with him and that he really needed our help. So we show up and the address didn't exist. The next day we see him on the street and he is on the phone with somebody, immediately he stands up and hands us the phone. We begin speaking to this lady who turns out to be his wife. She explains how she really wants him to overcome his addictions and that she knows we can help. She also explained to us that in her 4 years in the hospital the only person that has ever visited her has been her husband and that was only on special occasions. Immediately after the phone call we took Gulpertino and walked to the hospital to visit his wife. Now Luz is just the sweetest old lady!! She went from not being able to do anything to being able to speak perfectly fine and being able to shake our hands. We then have one of the most tender lessons I have ever had in my whole entire life. The Spirit that testified to us of eternal families and of the ability to change was unreal. The next day we go to pick Gulpertino up to go see his wife, and he was completely sober and was equipped with a great attitude. Now I know I said the Spirit was strong in that first lesson, but man, when he said that last prayer and asked God to take his addictions away and that he was willing to do whatever to stop, the Spirit just hit me like a brick and I thought to myself... “This is why I am on my mission” - to see people find hope in our Savior Jesus Christ. It is seriously so incredible and cool how much hope and joy that this Gospel and the message of the Plan of Salvation brings. Now who knows if Gulpertino will ever get baptized, or if he will even continue to have the desire to meet with us more, but he has already changed me and my mission. No matter what kind of hole we are in, no matter how far gone we are there is always a way back! And it's through our Savior.

That was kind of a long story and I didn't even scratch the surface on the details, but I hope you felt the gratitude that I have for the amazing people I have met on my mission. From super prepared people like Justino, to a little bit lost like Gulpertino. The New York New York mission is the best one there is!

Thanks for all you do! I love you all so much! You mean the world to me! I'll talk to you next week!

Elder Brown

This is one of those 3 generation missionary photos, Caiden is training Elder Molina on the right, and Caiden was trained by Elder Hinckley in the middle.

DON'T GIVE UP NOW!‏

Hey fam!

Well, another week gone by too fast! It's crazy to think I have already been with Elder Molina for almost a transfer. Feels like just yesterday he came in the mission and now we are almost done with our first cycle together! Transfers will be in 6 days. It's basically a given that Elder Molina and I will be staying together here in Newburgh and I am super excited about it!!! We are on the verge of something LEGENDARY!! We had interviews with President yesterday, and basically what goes down in interviews is we are supposed to bring a question and we will talk about that question for like 5 minutes and then we are done. And, if you don't bring a question...Then you don't really have an interview, haha, but the question that I brought this
time was a question of confusion. I was confused because we felt like we were being the best missionaries we have ever been, being the most obedient as we could be, teaching better than we ever have before,
working like horses and the success just kind of stopped. People weren't coming to church, nobody had the burning desire to be baptized and, you know, the people were just kind of grumpy! So what was going on in my head was like, “WHAT IS GOING ON!!? THIS DOESNT REALLY ADD UP!” Well, President Smith and all his wise knowledge just looked at me and laughed! He said "Elder, THATS GREAT!! That means you all are getting close to something amazing! God is testing you to see if you will keep being faithful and if you will the success will come. Keep it up! And be grateful for times of no success, it's where you grow the most!" I love that! And I think it applies to our lives as well! We are on this earth to be tested. I don't know about y'all, but I've never taken a test that was just flat out easy. Maybe that's because I'm not the most intelligent guy in the world, but normally, and I say normally because there are some people like Brittany who are just born to take tests and are just nerds, haha ;) (Just kidding Britt) but normally we have to study, practice, fail and try again to really be equipped and ready for the test. Life won't be easy but if we endure it well and we prepare ourselves as we should there will be blessings waiting for us. We are soooo close to something legendary! So don't give up now!

Independence Day in Newburg

I hope y'all had an awesome Fourth of July! It sounds like it was just full of great and fun activities. Newburgh was a party - People walking around everywhere! There really is no better place to spend a holiday than on the streets of New York. You really do see some insane things! Haha, well everyone here is doing great! The Garcia family keeps being super awesome! I guess Hermana Garcia talked to her mom and dad from Mexico, who are members, every day this past week about the church and I guess they bore super strong testimony of how the gospel has changed their lives and how they want her to have this joy. She is hesitant and a little frightened of change, but I know they will come around! I love that family soooo much! Please keep praying for them! Caesar’s mom is still being stubborn as can be about him being baptized. But hardened hearts can be softened! I know that is true! I have seen it countless times while on my mission and I know it can happen for her!

This past Sunday as Hermano Galo, (I don't know if I have ever mentioned the Galo family but they are like the coolest members in the whole entire world! He drives a huge van so he can pick up all the investigators for church - such a stud!) Anyways, he was driving us around to pick everyone up and nobody was home! We had committed like 15 people to come and nobody was pulling through! It was kind of sad! So we got to church and only a few of the people we had invited had showed up. We decided to say a pray before the meeting started just asking that if it be God’s will that one of our families would show up. And of course…Halfway through sacrament meeting a less active lady with her sister’s family who we have been teaching comes strolling in! This was the first time this family had been to church and to be honest they were pretty confused...Haha, we explained things and it was cool to see the Spirit work on this family throughout the meetings. I'm grateful for the ultimate teacher, the Spirit, to make up for our mistakes as missionaries! Haha, such a blessing!

I'm running out of time like I do every week! But I love you guys! Thanks for all you do! I know the gospel is true and I know that good things are to come! HOPE BABY! HOPE!!!!

Love Elder Brown

That's a big fishing pole! I have no idea what he is doing with that, he gave no explanation.