Happy December!!

Mom Speaking!! Our Bishop, Bishop O'Brien, surprised all the families of missionaries in our ward at home with Christmas emails from their missionaries.  He read each and every one of them over the pulpit as part of our Sacrament Program on Christmas Eve.  Here is Shannon's:

OK. Sorry.  I'm here. Been pretty crazy with Christmas stuff sorry I didn't have time for spell check

Mi Mensaje:

Buenas Dias de Tarija, Bolivia, Hermanas Y Hermanos de Barrio Los Alisos!!!

Bishop O'Brien has asked me to write a special Christmas message to you all today, I don't have much time but I can't pass up the opportunity to share some Christmas missionary spirit with all of you.

First of all, I hope all of you have been taking advantage of the wonderful Light the World program that is up on mormon.org. It's an amazing way to remind people of the reason we have Christmas and the to remind them what the "good tidings" actually are about. It's about the the birth of Christ!! Can you all just imagine for a second, the thousands of years that prophets like Noah, Enoch, Moses, Isaiah and more spent prophesying that one day, the Savior of the world, even the son of God himself would some to earth to redeem mankind? Can you imagine how long people waited, and watched for that new star to appear in the sky? Can you imagine what is must have been like for those faithful watchers to see the sun set and rise  with out any sign of the darkness of night? No wonder the world rejoices over this glorious day! A day so important that the world literally restarted counting the years.

Of course, if we don't have a very good understanding of the Atonement that Christ performed for us, this rejoicing loses some of its significance.

I invite you all to study and learn and listen so you can tuley understand the atonement of Jesus Christ and you may truly rejoice this Christmas.

But id like to leave you all with my own testimony that I've gained though my 13 months as a missionary.

I know that Christ lived. I know that He was the Son of God and his life was perfect. I know he showed us a perfect example and taught us the path that we must follow to return to our home in heaven. I know that he healed the sick, raised the dead, and was completely obedient to His Father. I know that because of his divinity he could not have been killed by any man unless he permitted it. And he did permit it. I know that Jesus Christ loved us, God's Children, so much that he CHOSE to suffer in the garden of Gethsemane for all of our sins, for ALL of our pain and afflictions and loneliness and doubt. I know that he suffered for every one of us individually. I promise that he knows you, he understands you, and he loves you. 

I know that he completed his atonement for all mankind, by dying on the cross and gloriously overcoming death itself by resurrecting the third day. I testify that He Lives. 

I know that above all else, Christ taught us that we must Love God with all our heart, might, mind, and strength. and the secondly that we must love our neighbor with all our heart, might , mind, and strength also.

I  testify of this because I know that only through serving others can we truly change the world. and I also know that service is the easiest thing we can ever do. 

Smile at people more often, make generous donations, give thanks, tell an uplifting joke, cry with those who mourn. Comfort those in need of comfort. Lift the hands of those who hang down in discouragement. Be like Jesus Christ.

Light the World with His Light.

I'd like you all to enjoy this beautiful Christmas eve, in beautiful southern California by remembering that you are sons and daughters of God. The plan of salvation is real and god has given each of you a special talent to share. Have faith in God and have faith on Yourself. You can do it! 

And I'll end my testimony with an enormous "Gracias". Thank you for everything Los Alisos ward. thank you to each and everyone of you. To my friends I've grown up with, to my church leaders who have helped me have the testimony I have today, and a very special thank you to my family. Brown Family, thank you for staying strong, and thank you for supporting me. Mom and dad: thank you for your faith and love. 

I love you all and I testify of all these things in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

Feliz Navidad!!!

<3 Hermana Brown.

Misión, Santa Cruz (de los milagros), Bolivia.

Feliz Navidad!!

Hey everyone!! Here's some pictures from my Christmas happenings this week! We made gingerbread houses and we had a Christmas multi zone conference with a talent show and a dinner and we had a kind party thing for Christmas eve to watch the fireworks with all the hermanas. I'll try and write a special Christmas message in another email to follow! feliz navidad!​

Hey guys! Hope y'all had a great Thanksgiving! 

Here's a video that y'all should watch about the #Lighttheworld initiative! Its such a great idea!!! 

https://youtu.be/g6KYDthr1iU

I challenge you guys to donate something this week to someone in need!

This week has been really good for me. I've been trying to think more positively and to turn outward towards others instead of turning inwards toward myself. Its really helping me a lot with every aspect of life. 

We also have an amazing investigator on date for the 16 of December. her name is Jasmin.

Also big I gave a talk in sacrament meeting on Sunday.

Also biggest news:

 

I just finished reading the whole book of Mormon in SPANISH!!!

Woo! It is an amazing thing because its literally a miracle of how much I've learned of the language. 

I started out reading 4 months ago about with my scriptures in one hand and my dictionary in the other. and I finished reading Moroni 10 with the same level of understanding thatIi would have had reading it in English. If that's not a miracle and the gift of tongues I don't know what is.

I know that The Book of Mormon is true. I know that Jesus is the Christ and that he lives. I know that Joseph Smith was his called Prophet and through him the priesthood and the true church have been restored again on the earth. 

I know the church is true and Christ leads it today though his prophet Thomas S. Monson.

I invite all of you to read the Book of Mormon. cover to cover. every day. Read it and ask God if its true. Take the promise of Moroni 10: 3-5 to heart and follow it.

L

ove you guys, have great week. and don't forget to get started on the #light the world calender this week!

Tarija ]Bolivia

Hermana Brown

This Has Been A Good Week!

Buenas Dias!!!

This has been a good week!

P Day

So we hike mountains every day all day in our area right? So guess what our district decides is a great p day activity?? HIKE MORE MOUNTAINS. So we hiked to the top of a mountain peak that has "CRISTO" written on it so all of Tarija can see. It wasn't that hard but it was still pretty cool to reach the top finally. So I'll be sending an email with pictures of the view of Tarija, a close up of the rocks (painted white) that spell out the Cristo and also of the elders making some mountain top sacrifices. 

A Great 1 Year in the Field

So this Wednesday hna Gardner and I did a few things to celebrate our ! YEAR MARK! My companion made delicious chocolate pancakes and a cute card and I gave her a Heart Attack. There are pictures and a video attached. 

Then in the evening after we had 

gotten home (and into our pjs) we heard a knock on our door and Bishop and his family surprised us with a sign, a whole chocolate cake and champagne glasses with soda :) it was so sweet and all I have to say renting an apartment from your bishop is awesome.

Service

So we've been super blessed to have been able to lend a lot of service this week for people. We also found some new investigators by helping people carry groceries, cut stems off of chili peppers and just being there in times of need and giving words of encouragement and comfort.

These are things that everyone can do, not just full time missionaries.

Happy Thanksgiving <3

So with that thought of service in mind, I have another challenge for you all in this thanksgiving week. The challenge is this: GET OUT AND SERVE. The best way to be thankful for what you have, is to give to others. It sounds weird but its true. You can serve people in many ways, from smiling to the people you pass on the street, to giving a nice meal to those who have nowhere or no one to go to this holiday week. Service has no limits on creativity. So just get out there and serve!!!

I'm grateful to be serving everyday as a missionary. Sharing the gospel is also the best way to serve too. Don't forget to help out the missionaries in your ward!!

I love you all and I'm super grateful for all the prayers and cards, thank you :)

Happy Thanksgiving <3

Also heres a video link that you should all watch and share this week and in the following season:
 https://www.lds.org/media-library/video/2017-01-009-a-good-samaritan?lang=eng&_r=1&cid=HP_FR_17-11-2017_dPFD_fMLIB_xLIDyL2-4_

Tarija, Bolivia

Hermana Brown​

¡¡¡ONE YEAR!!! ¿¿WHAT??

 

GUESS WHO COMPLETES 1 YEAR IN HER MISSION THIS WEDNESDAYYYYYYYY?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!? 

OMIGOSH I CANT EVEN BELIEVE IT WHAT EVEN HAPPENED TO 2016?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!

AND NOW I SPEAK SPANISH?!?!?!??! WHHHAAAATTTTT????????????

Who even am I? hahahaha anyways A cant believe a year as a missionary has already passed. I feel like I just got here but at the same time I've also kind of forgotten what the States are even like. What is life??

Me and hna Gardner a pretty tripped out about it. THERES LIKE NO TIME LEFT ONLY 6 MONTHS OMIGHOSSH

"THATS NOT ENOUGH TIME!" (that reference is for you Connor) 

But ya that's pretty crazy, anyways.

So this last Monday was cool cuz we had a zone activity and we watched Big Hero Six on a GIANT HD TV in a members house with SURROUND SOUND it was LEGIT. We also had ENORMOUS pizzas for dinner too. It was really fun we have a great zone :) there's a pic right before we blessed the food. 

We also had a multi-zona conference again. Me and hna Gardner and some other companionship's were asked to give another music number. It went well. 

 There some pics with the hermanas in Tarija below.

We also had a super awesome activity a "mini-CCM" !  Which was like kinda a "day as a missionary" type thing for the members to come participate. We had the morning as a training segment and we had both breakfast and lunch provided by our ward mission leader (who apparently is a chef??) and in the afternoon we all went out to proselyte :D I went on divisions with my comp and it was so cool to work with the members  and watch em share the gospel and also it was cool to see how much I've actually learned and changed as a missionary. 

Afterward we had a great testimony meeting and everyone really liked it. We took a picture with everyone and their "future missionary" name tags on. Now we have 53 REFERENCES TO CONTACT OMIGOSH. It was a big success!!

Well that's all for now sorry I don't have a lot of time,

as a challenge this week I challenge you guys to give a reference to the missionaries in your ward (name phone number and address of a friend or family member who's less active or not a member) I know y'all can do it! It is the best way for the missionaries to share the gospel : through the members!! 

Love you guys have a great week!

Tarija, Bolivia

Hermana Brown

Happy Hallooooweeeeeennnn!

Hey guys! So its been a great week this week!

also happy late halloweeeeeeennn!! apparently some people try to be cool and celebrate Halloween here but like a week early.- idk I don't get it and neither does anyone else in Bolivia but we did see a scary clown guy and three scary children. So that made a fairly good Halloween experience.

Service

We did a lot of service activities this week!

We helped our investigator clean her garden and she has a huge orange tree that she cant get the oranges from cuz they re all up really high so we used a giant stick and harvested about 9 oranges for her and she totally let us keep them!! We made some fresh orange juice. It was like taking a vitamin c shot it was so orange-y. My companion got pretty dang excited about fresh orange juice so we took pics.

We also found an old investigator again and helped her make ribbons! like the ones you put on gifts? She made these wreaths for "todos santos" which is the Bolivian say where they honor the dead by going

 to clean their tomb( cuz they don't bury people here they are all in little houses. The cemetery's are really different.) and they also make all the dead persons favorite food and leave it out on the table because they believe that the person comes and eats it. They leave it out all day and the next day they through out perishables and eat the rest. Its a Catholic tradition here. 

But that was my Halloween this week. Our area limit is right in front of one of the two cemeteries in town so one side of our area was like a ghost town with all the shops closed and the other neighborhood had about 200 cars crowded in the streets.

We were contacting that night and we met a cool lady who was sitting on her front doorstep while everyone else was walking to the cemetery for the festivities.

I walked up to her and introduced ourselves and asked one of my go to starter questions "do you believe in Jesus Christ?"  They answer is usually like "of course" but surprisingly this lady was like "not much" and so we sat down on the sidewalk and talked to her for a while. Shes really cool and totally prepared for the Gospel. 

We also have a great investigator named Sylvia who is progressing wonderfully!!! We spent like a hour last night explaining to her how to pay fast offerings and tithing but she understood the math finally and she doesn't have a problem with it! Shes awesome. Tithing is a bit more complicated when you go out to sell everyday and don't get a regular income.

Anyways its been a really good week and I can see a lot more progression in our area which I'm really happy about. When I got here we had no one to teach and now we have a whole bunch of good people! #hardwork #preachthegospel #lotsoffaith #missionofmiracles

Sorry for the hashtags. But seriously

Oh and we finally MOVED and its SO MUCH BETTER. We have such a better spirit in our house and we don't have to listen to our landlord yelling all the time

and the best part is we live in our bishops house now! and on the bottom floor lives another family of members!!!! Our whole building is members! Its pretty cool.

Also fun fact: our ward is called 4th of July right? and we have the neighborhood 4th of July in our area and also there is literally always illegal fireworks going off and we have a WHOLE STREET of basically just BBQ places and to finish it off our bishops name it Julio. Translated bishop JULY. #america #freedom #theperfectplacefor2gringastobe

Love y'all! Help out the missionaries this week! and reach out to people!!!

Love from Tarija, Bolivia

Hermana Brown

buenas tardes todos mis amigos y familiares!

So this week was really good. We're seeing a lot of progress in our area and in our investigators. 

I'd like to share my testimony with you guys bout a few things. The Light of the Gospel, The Holy Spirit, and The Book of Mormon.

First, the light the Restored Gospel brings to someones life is very much real. I have seen incredible changes in people, when the understand even the smallest part of this wonderful message we have to share with the world. Their life truly starts to change for the happier and I actually can physically see the more light a person has when they receive these things into their life. 

Darkness is only an absence of light. Its not actually a literal thing but the world often wants to make us think that darkness is there now. This is a lie. Do not ignore the light. Do not ignore its existence just because you choose to keep the curtains closed. Open the curtains, let the light flood in. Darkness will vanish away and you will be filled with light that only gets brighter and brighter until that perfect day.  Seek darkness and you will get lost in it. Seek light and it will come in abundance. 

The Holy Spirit

also called the Comforter. The power the spirit has to protect and guide you is so incredibly real. If we live our lives worthy to have the constant companionship of The Spirit, we will indeed have that. Not at every moment though will we realize that he is there but in those moments that we don't expect to come, when tragedy strikes, we can have in that exact moment the comfort of The Spirit, protecting our soul and our heart and we can know of a surety that while the waves of tragedy crash down on us, we are anchored securely and wont be washed away in the tide. This way, living a life with The Spirit and centered in Christ, we can live happiness and faith, instead of fear.

The Book of Mormon

"if you do not yet have a testimony of these thing, do that which is necessary to obtain one... if you are not reading the Book of Mormon every day, please do so."

-President Thomas S. Monson.

I know the book is true. Please read it and ask God if it is true. Ask with faith true intention and a sincere heart, and the spirit will tell you that it is.

I know these things are true.

Love you guys! from Tarija Bolivia.

please take care of yourselves this week. I forward some fotos.

lots of love

hermana brown

Thank You

Thank you for you love

Thank you for you sweet spirit

Thank you for your peaceful words and positive and joyful countenance

Thank you for bringing us together, as a family.

We have so much to thank you for,

You established a place of peace, and support and love whenever we were together.

You have been a ministering angel to so many children of God that have been in need.

You follow and believe in Christ and you loved everyone.

I don't  know how you could have been so patient, so caring, so gracious, so inspirational, so full of charity and Christ like love.

You are whom I hope to learn how to be. 

The Plan of Salvation explains that there are three kingdoms of glory-- each being represented to have varying degrees of light. 

 The celestial kingdom, compared to the light of the sun. which is incomprehensible, bright and marvelous.

The terrestial kingdom, with that comparison to the light of the moon. 

and the telestial, who's light is that of the stars.

How much light we possess defines who we are. I think everyone, LDS or not, can understand and see how different people in this world have different types of light in them. Good, moral and godly things bring us more light. Ungodly or dark things, dims that light which we have. In this life, we must follow Christ, and keep commandments of God, and have charity, so that in that last day, we can shine with our light that has grown to  a celestial degree.

Anyone who knows Grandma Nora, I think would agree, that she is a celestial soul. 

Thank you Grandma Nora, for shining to the world like a city on a hill top. and always sharing you light that we might shine along with you.

Thank you Grandma Nora, for always being a blessing.

I know that families are eternal and I know I will see you again.

Until then, I promise strive to become as celestial as you have shown me how to be.

Thank you for everything.

I love you Nora.

And to all of the family, trust in God. The Spirit is the Comforter and We will be together again with Nora.

 Keep seeking the Light.

with lots of love and prayer,

Hermana Brown