Week 65: Happy Halloween!!

Hey, guys!  I don't know about you, but I cannot believe October has come and gone!  It went way too fast!  But, that's alright ... I'm so excited for Christmas to come again in Germany.

So, we had transfer calls this week and sadly Sister Nielson is leaving me and going down to Kaiserslautern on Thursday.  And, my new companion will be Sister Brey ... she is from Singapore/ America, so this should be fun! 

This Sunday was so beyond insane!  I'm so glad we survived.  There was an awesome miracle with an investigator that has been meeting with the sisters for two years now, but has never come to church.  While we were headed to church, she called and asked what time it started and when we were going to be there, and she totally came!!! :D  That was so cool!

Also, while waiting for a bus the other night, I said, "Hi!" to this man, and he asked why we were here.  We explained that we were from the church and speaking about what we believed, and asked if he wanted to know more ... and guess what?  He actually said, "Yes!"  Hah ... that rarely happens, if ever!  So, we met with him three times this week and he came to church!  He doesn't know it yet, but he is totally gonna get baptized (haha)!

Also, Monia, who was baptized in August, has been in Italy for the last little while and her car broke down.  She finally made it back to Germany and was at church! This week was also crazy because they waited till now to show the final session of conference (haha) ... so I took Monia out and we watched it in Italian. That was fun.  Oh, and LASTLY they asked me to play the organ for the first time in my life in sacrament meeting (hahaha)  Totally dominated ;)  But, all in all it was a really good Sunday.

This week went by so fast, I can honestly say I can't remember what awesome adventures we had this week (haha), but I'll close out with aspiritual thought.  Our mission memorizes a scripture every month in German and this month it was Doctrine and Covenants 59:9-10 ...

"9 - And that thou mayest more fully keep thyself unspotted from the world, thou shalt go to the house of prayer and offer up thy sacraments upon my holy day;
10 - For verily this is a day appointed unto you to rest from your labors, and to pay thy devotions unto the Most High."

It is so important that we remember why we have church and why we have the sacrament.  It is not just to fill up time or to talk with friends.  It is a time to take all your mistakes, or the past week's, to God and say, "I'm sorry, I'll try to do better," and then go and do.  It is a time to remember Christ and what He did for us.  It is a time to feel peace.  I encourage all of you to prepare a little more than you did last week before you go and partake of the sacrament, and I'll do the same ;)   Even if you are someone who hasn't gone to church for a while, for whatever reason.  Even if it's not the Mormon church.  Shake the dust off your suits and dresses, and go and show God you are grateful for Him and what He has given us.  That's my commitment.  I hope you all have a fantastic week!

Take care!

Sister Jordan Brown

Good luck, Sister Nielson, in Kaiserslautern!

 Fun pictures ...

Yummy homemade banana bread!

Week 64: Let it Snow!

Man, it actually snowed this week!  Summer is officially over and fall is fading quick!  I hope you all had a fantastic week.  We had a great one here.

So, I officially don't sound American (apparently)!  A lady from Michigan talked to us and I helped her with a luggage she was struggling with.  She said that my companion she could tell was from America, but then thought I wasn't American when I spoke to her in English! (haha)  I guess I have an accent!  Haha ... yea, baby!  I don't think I do, but I will take it!  (lol)

Yesterday, Sister Nielson and I attended church in a small branch in Siegen because we have a mission couple over there basically running it, and they asked if we could give talks.  Elder Jones
(mission couple) and I did a piano, clarinet, and violin musical number with a friend, Vicky, in sacrament.  That was so much fun.  It all went pretty well until after I had given my talk in German ...  Elder Jones leaned over to me and asked me if I could bear my testimony in English (haha)  Man, the struggle is real (lol).  That was so rough for me to suddenly switch back to English (haha), but I managed to get out words that were somewhat coherent ... (lol)  I love being a missionary in Germany (haha) ... it's an adventure.

My talk I gave on Sunday wasn't too long, but I figure I'd share with you what I talked about, as well. I was reading in Moses 2 this last week and that is where God is speaking to him in the high mountains, and He tells him about the creation of the earth.  A scripture that stood out to me was Moses 2:26-27, and it says:  "26 - And I, God, said unto mine Only Begotten, which was with me from the beginning:  Let us make man in our image, after our likeness; and it was so.  And I, God, said:  Let them have dominion over the fishes of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. 27 - And I, God, created man in mine own image, in the image of mine Only Begotten created I him; male and female created I them."

I also was reading in the seminary student manual to get more insights while reading, and it asked three really great questions ...

1. What does it mean that I am created in the image of God?
2. How can this truth affect my feelings about myself and others?
3. How can it influence my daily actions?

I mainly focused on the first question:  God is our Heavenly Father.  He is truly a God.  My absolute favorite feeling to know is that I am a Princess of a God; of a King!  When we can remember where we come from and where we are supposed to go, we can remember our divine potential; and with this knowledge we can be an example to others and let our light shine for all to see.  As missionaries we have to be on our best behavior 24/7.  People watch us every day and see what we do.  We have to follow strict rules so that we are true representative of Christ and don't represent his name badly. Likewise, all of you, as well, are representatives of Christ.  We promise to take his name upon us when we are baptized.  So, I encourage you to make sure you show people that you know who you are, and who you represent. :)

Well, I hope all is well for you all!  The gospel is true!  Have an awesome week!

Liebe große

Sister Jordan Brown

 Germany is AMAZING!

Week 63: SO Busy This Week!

Hey, everyone!  I hope you all had a fantastic week this week. Sister Nielson and I were so busy this week and now I am so exhausted today so, I hope this email all makes sense ...

I really enjoyed looking back on General Conference through the week.  I even got to listen to the priesthood session.  I really enjoyed the first talk that said something I really liked:  "Your faith is either getting stronger or getting weaker ..."  It made me think about which one is mine doing right now; and if it is by chance getting weaker, how can I exercise it to make it stronger?  It so important to remember that our faith is like a muscle:  if we don't loose it, it weakens.  I can testify that my muscles have weakened since being on a mission (haha).  I tried to do some push-ups this week and had some 'issues' doing so (haha).

This week I read a cool talk in the Ensign about fueling our torches.  It said:  "In Ancient Greece, runners competed in a relay race called a lampadedromia.  In the race, runners held a torch in their hand and passed it on to the next runner until the final member of the team crossed the finish line. The prize wasn't awarded to the team that ran fastest; it was awarded to the team to reach the finish line with the torch still lit ... 'While it is important to start the race, it is even more important that we finish with our touch still lit.'"

I really liked that.  Even better, it gives a commitment for everyone and I would like to give it to you.  If you make it, I'd love to hear about it!

Okay, so for a week, try to make a goal to:
1.  Say prayers both morning and night for a full week.
2.  Wake up 15 minutes early and read your scriptures.
3.  Read past General Conference talks through the week.
4.  Post a scripture from the Book of Mormon on a social media.
5.  Listen to hymns or church music instead of your regular music.

If you do this, I promise that you can strengthen your own torch, and draw nearer to God.

So, to give you guys a funny story for the week ...  The other night our carbon monoxide detector decided that it was tired and needed new batteries.  So through the night every half hour or so it would beep/scream at me, and me being a light sleeper, woke up every time it went off.  I would have just yanked the batteries out, but after hearing sad stories of other missionaries dying from carbon monoxide poisoning, I felt that if I yanked out the batteries Heavenly Father would be mad for me breaking rules of not having a working CO2 machine and we would die (haha).  This is my late night analyzing, might I remind you (haha).  So, I left the stupid beeping on ALL NIGHT ... by the time sister Nielson's alarm went off at 6:30am, I marched out of bed grabbed that stupid thing off the wall and slammed it down on the counter to make the batteries fall out, then climbed back in my bed.  Hah!  I think I scared sister Nieslon because she is a deep sleeper and didn't wake up at all (lol).  So I'm pretty exhausted from that night now.  I may or may not have also ran into a pole today, but that is a story for another time (lol) ...  Sister Brown needs some sleep, I think!

Well anyways, we did lots of service this week.  We got to help clean up a few grave stones for a member, and we helped another clean their house.  But the coolest was that we got to help the Elders help prepare a whole family they found to be baptized on Saturday.  They are from Romania and found the Elders 'dooming' into someone else, and it was just a miracle how fast they were able to grow.  Within about a month and a half they were baptized.  It was such a cool experience!  They are
incredible.  Guys, this gospel is true!  I know it with all my heart; and miracles are happening out here!

I hope you all have a fantastic week!  Go out and serve each other, and have fun!

Mit große liebe

Sister Jordan Brown

Week 62: I Love General Conference!

Wow, I don't know about you all but man, I just absolutely loved Conference this weekend.  It was so inspiring and wonderful!  I loved it!  I think for once in my life I was grateful to be wearing a skirt and not pjs during conference, because it just helped me focus and remember where I was and who was speaking to us.  But, I did manage to find a nice comfy leather couch to relax in during conference, so that was luxury :)

 

Man, something that really stood out to me this General Conference was the talk about turning to Christ.  It was in the Saturday afternoon session I believe ...  I can't remember who spoke because I left all of my notes at home today .. my bad (haha).  But anyways, I was listening and it was talking about how Christ knows our pains and KNOWS how to succor his children.  For some reason I have heard that a lot, but this time it really sank in.  Sometimes I doubt my belief and question how Christ could know every pain ... He never lost a child, He's never been dumped, He's never failed a test, etc. BUT I KNOW that He felt the pain of it; and because He felt the pain of everything that happens to us, He knows EXACTLY how to help us and guide us back to Him.  I absolutely love that thought.  There was a quick quote that I found that I loved ...  "If you have been tempted to murmur, if you have had doubts that lead to unbelief, if trials seem more than you can bear, turn to Him.  If you are one who has turned away or rationalized your behavior, turn to Him.  Can you remember when He did 'speak peace to your mind ...?  What greater witness can you have than from God?' Ask yourself, 'Am I as close to living like Christ now as I was before?'  Please, TURN TO HIM." - Elder James B. Martino of the Seventy.

 

I feel like I could go on and on about every single talk, but then by the end I would just be quoting General Conference again (haha).  I seriously encourage every single one of you who didn't get to watch conference because of work, or you fell asleep :), or some other circumstance ... go and listen to the talks you missed, even if it is just one a day.  We have such a privilege to listen to such wise counsel to help us in our lives.

 

Well, on top of Conference, Sister Nielson and I had a fantastic week full of adventure.  One evening we were at a member's house and it took us two hours to travel out to her, and then she fed us an amazing Turkish pizza.  It was fantastic!  After we were done, we started to head out to the bus and she wanted to walk with us.  Well, the bus goes every hour and it was 7:30pm at night and we missed the bus ... (awkward, haha).  So the member headed home and we waited an hour for our next bus to come ...  It finally came and we headed to the train station.  We got there at 9:30pm after being on a bus for an hour and totally missed our train, too ... (haha).  So we had to wait at the train station till 10:27pm, and then we finally were able to get home a half hour past curfew (haha).  Oops ... but, we made it safely!  My one regret is not wearing a warmer jacket (haha).  Winter is upon us!

 

Sister Nielson opened our window the other day and there was a HUGE spider in the window seal, so I hear her scream for me to come kill it!  I came over with a vacuum and hairspray ... gotta be prepared (haha).  As I opened the window and noticed the spider, it was long past dead.  I told Sister Nielson it was dead and asked why she was freaking out?  Then she said, "No, there is another one that's alive, too!"  Uh oh ... I couldn't find it though.  Oh well, Sister Nielson probably ate it in her sleep or something (lol, jk)  That would be terrible (haha).

 

Well, there are a lot more adventures that we had this week, but my mind is a blank at the moment ... sorry.   I will sign off here, but I hope that you all have a fantastic week!  

Liebe Große

Sister Jordan Brown

"Remember, no one can reach upward for you. Only your faith and prayers will cause you to lift yourself and have the mighty change of heart. Only your resolve to be obedient can change your life."