Sestra Brown in Celje

I'm in a new country with new people, an overwhelmingly new culture, a new language, and a lot of work to do. I'm so grateful for a Father in Heaven who knows me and loves me. I'm so grateful for Jesus Christ who stands with open arms to lift me and help me. I know that God loves us and that he wants us to feel his love. Turn to Jesus Christ!

Time to Fly

I may not have a whole lot of time to email today. It's crazy that we're finally leaving. I definitely appreciate the advice about being faithful and fearless. That's definitely something I'm trying to work on. I've realized that we really have two choices with everything in life: We can face things with a fearful heart, which will keep us from being able to recognize the Lord's hand and do his work. Fear keeps us from reaching our potential. Or we can face things with hearts full of faith and trust in God. When we have hearts full of faith everything we face in life will help us to become more prepared to stand before our Father in Heaven (see Ether 6 for life parallels :) When we are full of faith then we are able to be the Lord's hands and bless the lives of those around us. I want to choose faith over fear!

 

Thanks for the updates on everyone. I'm so glad to hear that Aunt Sabrina's insurance will cover the treatment. What a blessing! How's Joelle? I've been thinking about the Schnells a lot recently. 

We'll be in Salt Lake really early in the morning - we leave the MTC at 3:50 Monday morning and fly out at 8:50. I think we leave Chicago around noon..maybe..I can't remember. And then we'll hit Frankfurt and then Zagreb at 11:30 on Tuesday the 18th! I'll go purchase a calling card soon.

I love you so much! Sorry I can't write too much. Give dad a big hug for me!

Steph

The Prince of Peace!

Dobro jutro!

It's hard to ever know what to write when I sit down here each week. So many things have happened! I ran into so many people I knew this week: President and Sister Pitcher! My friends who I worked with over the summer (Brandon, Denis, and Joseph), my AWESOME visiting teacher from last year (Stef), Ashley Stewart and Chip Harbin, Anna Sue, who else...? A bunch of people! 

Next week will be final email from the MTC which means that we should be getting our flight plans tomorrow! Things are starting to get really real. Eek!

What did you learn from General Conference last weekend?? It was so wonderful. My tush could hardly feel that it had been sitting in those terribly uncomfortable chairs for ten hours during that last session because the spirit was so strong and we were being taught such beautiful things!

What an incredible blessing that we have a living prophet today! As President Uchtdorf was speaking and sharing gratitude for and his testimony of President Monson, I just felt so much gratitude for a Father in Heaven who loves us and knows us and wants to lead us home to him. 

I set three goals after listening to conference:

1. Be grateful. My life has purpose when I am actively trying to live more like Jesus Christ and Jesus Christ has pure love for all people. I want to develop that kind of non-judgmental and non-circumstancial (is that a word?) love. I realized that if I want to have that kind of love for others then I need to be more humble and being grateful is an essential part of being humble. I want to try to be more grateful for the things I have been blessed with, but also in all the circumstances where I am placed. President Uchtdorf taught us a few years ago to "be grateful in any and every circumstance." Gratitude is a state of being. Heavenly Father is good. Life is a blessing that is worth living and loving. Jesus Christ is our Savior and has made it possible for us to live again after our time on Earth. What incredible knowledge.

2. Be confident in Jesus Christ. I loved Sister Burton's talk about 'Certain Women.' I find in my life that sometimes (often) I falter in my belief that I can make a difference for good. But I can! I can be an instrument in Heavenly Father's hands to bless the lives of those around me. I want to trust that as I turn to him, he will lead me to help others. And he will lead you too! Heavenly Father knows his children (each one of us) and he wants to help us feel his love. You can be an instrument in his hands to help another person feel his love today! Choose to reflect the light of Jesus Christ and to let it shine through you.

3. Listen for and follow the voice of the Holy Spirit. I believe that if we will listen and act, we will always be led to do good things that help others. Heavenly Father wants to provide us with opportunities to serve and he absolutely will when we show him that we will act on those opportunities. In the Book of Mormon we are taught that "all things which are good cometh of God" and that the devil, who is an enemy to God, "continually...inviteth and enticeth to sin and to do that which is evil...BUT that which is of God inviteth and enticeth to do good continually." We always have a choice between making good choices or bad choices. And sometimes the choice is between a good thing and a better thing. Choose to follow that voice which invites to do good and bless those around you. 

It is an amazing blessing that we can each listen to general conference and the Spirit can testify to our hearts individually of different things we can do to come closer to our Savior. I'm so grateful for that! 

If you don't know what General Conference is, take a look at https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2017?lang=eng! 

How can I email on April 6 and not make mention of the glorious day that it has been throughout history? In a world so full of hard and sad things, I am so grateful for Jesus Christ who came to Earth to show us how to live and how to love. He suffered in the Garden of Gethsemane long ago to make it possible for every one of us to change our hearts and become more like him. He died on the cross and was resurrected, so that we also will live again. On April 6 long ago, Jesus Christ rose from the grave and overcame death! He truly in the Prince of Peace and has brought joy and peace to my life. I am so grateful to know that I can be forgiven of my sins and mistakes, strengthened in my weakness, and live again after I leave this earth because of Jesus Christ. I invite you to watch this beautiful illustration of his life and purpose and to let him bring peace to your life. I promise you that He can and He will.

I love you!

Sestra Brown

March Madness at the MTC

Zdravo!

I'm so happy to hear the good news about Aunt Sabrina and that Joelle is doing well through her treatment! 

And I'm stoked that grandma's email is set up! Send my email on to her! And I'm thrilled that grandpa's vision is way better now! 

President and Sister Palmer spoke to us in our Tuesday devotional this week! I didn't get a chance to talk with them afterward which is a bummer, but it was so fun to have them. I guess he's actually Elder Palmer now, but I still tend to call him President. They taught about the process of being converted to Jesus Christ and it was a much-needed lesson for me. Teaching has been kind of a struggle for me this week because I feel like I'm just teaching lessons, not people. But President Palmer reminded me that it's not about me! It's about the people who I am trying to help and creating an environment where the Holy Spirit can bear testimony to them of our Heavenly Father's love and plan. So I'm working on it :) 

I had a pretty neat (and difficult) experience yesterday morning. Every week we do TRC which means that a member of the church who speaks the language we're learning comes in and meets with us and we teach them and have a discussion. Well, yesterday we had our very first Skype TRC! Meaning that we skyped a member who actually lives in Slovenia. Joi! I was so nervous, but it turned out awesome! We had a great discussion about how Heavenly Father feels about each one of us. We read about the Prodigal Son in Luke 15 and how the son didn't recognize his own divine nature and potential as a son. Once he realized that he'd made mistakes, he didn't feel worthy to be called a son any longer. He went to his father to ask if he could just be a servant in his father's household, but his father had been hopefully waiting for his son to return that entire time. And upon his son's return, the father ran to him, kissed him, and brought out his best robe, ring, and shoes to celebrate his return. I LOVE THAT. Our Heavenly Father feels that way about us. He wants to give us everything that he has and he will always welcome us with open arms when we turn to him, no matter where we've been or how long we've been away. I'm so grateful for a Father in Heaven who loves me even when I turn my back on him. We felt the spirit testify of how much Heavenly Father loves us. 

That is the truth that has made the most difference in my life - knowing that I am a daughter of God and that He loves me. Life can sometimes (often) feel like a rollercoaster ride of ups and downs, but the downs are so much brighter and the ups more thrilling when I know in my heart how my Father in Heaven feels about me. If you are struggling to know or remember who you are, ask God. He will tell you. He wants you to know how much He loves you and if you kneel in prayer and ask him with sincere desire to know, I promise that He let you feel his love. 

Have I mentioned Friday Night Lights before? Well, a few weeks ago we began a tradition of a Friday night basketball game between the sisters in our district :) It's pretty bad basketball, but we have a good time with it and we have running commentary from Sestra Blake and yours truly while we play. It may not be the greatest workout, but it's good entertainment for the Elders. 

I learned that I'm older than both Brat Brown and Sestra Duffy this week. Weird :) I definitely don't feel older than them. They're very wise and I'm so grateful for all that they and Sestra Burton have taught me.

Please pray that I can learn to trust the Holy Ghost as I teach.

Lots of love,

Sestra Brown