Maribor Miracles

Maribor is a wonderful place and we have seen miracles this week!

I'll start with the not-so-wonderful miracle. Apparently the missionaries basically do a musical number every week here because the branch president likes it....And I am not a talented singer. BUT it was a miracle yesterday because no one threw tomatoes at me or told me to sit down. I'm sure that is mostly due to Sister Jennings singing next to me - she has a lovely voice!  Yes, I was the pianist, the first speaker, and the musical number in sacrament yesterday haha. Craziness. We had seven members, two missionaries, and one investigator. 

Another miracle. When I was taking the train from Maribor to Celje two weeks ago, I met a young man who studies in Maribor, but lives near Celje. Last week, when I moved to Maribor, I ran into him again! He joined us for family home evening, a tour of the church, a chance to learn about the restoration of the gospel of Jesus Christ to the earth, and church this week. Heavenly Father will place people in our paths WHEREVER we go if we are willing to open our mouths and hearts. Trust the Lord that if you have the DESIRE to help in His work and you are willing to ACT, He will lead you to be His hands.

Another miracle. We were headed home through the park last week and we saw a man sitting on a bench in the sunlight. He invited us to sit with him and we learned that he is from a different country and his daughter and wife are here as well. They are trying to learn Slovene (which is a really tough language, in my opinion) while going to school here. He was SO SO kind. He agreed to meet with us again to talk about how we can strengthen our families.  

We were shocked and amazed to walk into the park again later that week to meet him and see that he had brought his whole family with him! My jaw literally dropped. And I think they saw...

Another miracle is knowing who we are. One of my favorite things about sharing the gospel is helping people come to understand who they are in God's eyes. You are a child of God with divine heritage and divine potential. Don't let the standards of the world and the people around you define who you are. You are a son or daughter of God and He knows you. Let Him remind you of who you are. I love you! I love Jesus Christ and I'm so grateful that He came to earth so that He can help us to change, so we can prepare to receive all that our Father in Heaven has in store for us.

Have a happy week!

Sestra Brown

Go and Do

Dear friends and family!

This has been a wonderful week which climaxed with a fantastic sabbath yesterday! On Wednesday, Sister Crosby and I found ourselves slightly lost on the streets of Maribor with a church member named Konstancija.

We were trying to find the Maribor Arhiv to research Konstancija's family. We eventually found it and also found lots of ancestors and information about them! Being a missionary is awesome because the point is to help people come to know their heavenly father and feel his love for them and take the necessary steps to return to him.

What's neat is that this work doesn't stop at death. God wants all of his children to be with him and so missionary work continues through our family history work!

While we were headed back toward the train station, we received a phone call with transfer details where I learned that this would not be my last trip to Maribor, but that I'd be returning just the next week! So here I am, coming to you live from Maribor, Slovenija :) I'm excited to be here with Sister Jennings!

What great things happened in Celje before I left? We were chatting with a woman about the Book of Mormon when Zach, 9 yr old in our Celje branch walked up to say hello. So I asked Zach how he feels about the Book of Mormon and he proceeded to share with this woman that the Book of Mormon is "awesome" and has helped him to "learn to be kind." She said she could tell that he really had learned that because he was so polite and friendly. That was a cute little miracle!

About ten minutes into the meeting yesterday (church meeting), the door opened and our friend J  randomly walked in to join us. Sister Crosby, Elder Echols, and I each spoke. After the meeting J  said, "I want to buy one of those books." We don't sell copies of the Book of Mormon. We give them away for free because we want all people to have the chance to read it and to know that it is God's word. J was so grateful to have it and I am so excited for him. I believe that the Book of Mormon is inspired of God and that we bring the power of God into our lives as we study it.

Something I've thought a lot about this week is the guidance of the Holy Ghost. Sometimes (often) inspiration from the spirit comes at times that seem very inconvenient to us. I remember once when I had just finished a 4 hour calculus exam, it was dark outside, and I was hungry, tired, and brain dead. All I wanted to do was think about myself. And it was at that point that I felt a prompting from the Holy Ghost to "go and do." Did I want to listen? No. I really wanted to go home and eat and fall asleep. I would say that most often in my life, I ignore and disregard these promptings because it's easier to give in to the natural man inside. In this instance, I listened and acted and I saw the Lord work through me to bless another life. The Lord asks us to put ourselves aside and when we choose to do that, He will work through us and allow us to be his hands and spread his love around us.

God is our loving Heavenly Father. He wants to bless you and he wants to bless those around you through you. And he will as you are willing to put yourself aside, listen, and act.

I've found myself in a new place with new people and a new companion.

My goal is to put myself aside this transfer. I'm not very good at that, so I'm asking for your prayers to help me accomplish this goal one day at a time! I love you! I pray for you and I hope that you are finding reasons to be happy and look up!

Love,

Sestra Brown

FEEL the Power of the Gospel

Hello everyone

We had a week filled with tender mercies and blessings. Yesterday we had a special meeting for all adults in the Europe area with Elder Ballard, Elder Clayton, Elder De Feo, and Elder Sabin. They were in Frankfurt, but we broadcast it to Celje and watched in Slovene. Elder Ballard reminded us about taking quiet moments to remember and FEEL the power of the gospel of Jesus Christ in our lives. I loved it and I 100% agree with him.

We are so blessed and the Lord will continue to bless us and lead us along as we turn to him. He also told us that the Lord is waiting to do miracles among the people of Europe, but miracles are dependent upon our faith which leads us to act. The greatest miracle we can experience is bringing people to know Jesus Christ, because Jesus Christ is the greatest miracle and tender mercy this world has ever been blessed with. Remember the miracle of Jesus Christ every day and happily tell other people and invite them to come and see! 

On Saturday, we were walking along the river and began speaking with a young woman sitting on a bench. She invited us to sit down with her and we told her about the love of a father in heaven which has motivated him to call prophets throughout all history to lead and guide his children and to bring them home. She then asked, "Well, who's the prophet today?" What a great question! As we shared with her about the restoration of the gospel of Jesus Christ to the earth, she simply said, "I didn't know that. I've never heard that before. You came all the way over here to tell us about this?" 

The message of the restoration is true and it is for all people! God restored his gospel, his church, and his authority to the Earth because he loves us and he wants us to return home to him. 

We are not the church of America, nor are we the church of Celje or Indonesia or Taiwan or France. We are Cerkev Jezusa Kristusa Svetih iz Poslednjih Dni. This is Jesus Christ's church and it is for all people to help them return home to their father in heaven. The message of the restoration is a beautiful message of God's love for His children! 

If you ever feel scared to open your mouth and share about the gospel, just remember that that God loves them and he wants them to come home. 

 

I love you! Hope you had a great week!

Sestra Brown

This evening we're going up to a place near Logarska Dolina, but on the other side, I think. The Monsons wanted to take us there and so we're going together with them and the Elders. Should be fun! 

I am so glad to hear about the water, aunt Sabrina, YOU, Drew, DAD, and family history! I love you! We'll be finding out about transfers on Thursday.

Faith is a Choice

This week was great and next week is going to be ever greater! I went on exchanges in Ljubljana and had some great experiences. First, I met a man named Zdravko who proceeded to tell me about how he used to throw discus for BYU. Wait what? It was the most random encounter! He was so neat and kind! If I'm ever back in Ljubljana, I'm determined to find him. He told me that maybe he would go to church on Sunday (he's not a member) wearing his BYU letterman's jacket :)

Sister Kanell and I visited a woman who hasn't been coming to church for a number of years and we had a wonderful discussion about God's love for us which motivated the restoration of the fulness of Christ's gospel and his church to the earth. As I talked with her about Joseph Smith, tears began to roll down her cheeks. And then she offered me a robček and I realized that I was crying too. I think it may have been the most powerful moment I've experienced in the last eight months. I know that our Heavenly Father loves us.

Sister Crosby and I had a neat little miracle the other day. We were walking back to our apartment in pants and t-shirts because we'd been helping in someone's garden and we passed a cafe only to see one of our former investigators sitting there! So he invited us over and we were able to have a great conversation with him. Tender mercies.

The best moment of my week happened while I was sitting at the piano Sunday morning. I was playing prelude music and I happened to look up over the piano to see a man and a woman come in and sit down. Once they sat down, I had a clear view of their faces and I realized that it was a member who hasn't come to church in a long long time as well as his girlfriend. We've been working with them for a while and hoped and prayed and prayed and hoped that they would come.

I'm learning more and more clearly that faith is a CHOICE. And the choice will be hard to make if our faith is not centered on Jesus Christ who is the source of light and hope in this crazy world. Jesus Christ is the light of our world and we will have light in our lives as we CHOOSE to turn to him, to trust him, and to follow him. 

Love you! Have a great week!

Sestra Brown

General Conference Slovenian Style

Dober dan! 

Celje is beautiful at this time of year. The river is a beautiful blus-green and the trees covering the hills are just beginning to change their colors. 

I hope that you had a wonderful and fulfilling weekend! General Conference is one of my favorite weekends of the year. My other favorite happens in April... :) But I've got to say, it made me miss my family. The gospel of Jesus Christ strengthens and brings light to our families - traditional families, ward families, community families, the family of God - and our lives. I felt so much this weekend that God loves us and he wants us to CHOOSE to return to live with him. He has shown us how we can make that choice and that is through His Son, Jesus Christ. Trust in Him and choose to turn to Him! 

Yesterday morning, Sister Crosby and I were walking through the fog in Celje center to get to the church building for conference. It was about 7:30am and we saw just one woman on the street. We stopped to talk with her and tell her that God has a prophet on the Earth today and invited her to come with us to conference. And what's amazing? She did! And she loved it! She loved it because she could feel God's love for her.

For the last 6 months, we've been having a friend attend our English Group every week on Thursday who has never been comfortable praying there before (we always pray at the beginning and the end). It was SO NEAT last week when I asked someone to give the opening prayer, this friend volunteered to give the closing prayer. And prayed from the heart and it was beautiful. I believe that God is listening when we pray to him. 

A friend who has never accepted our invitation to come to church before, came to general conference this weekend and had an opportunity to feel the Holy Ghost and to feel God's love for her. 

I love you! I hope that you can feel your Father in Heaven's love for you! And I hope that you can help someone else to feel his love for them this week! 

Keep looking up! And come listen to a prophet's voice: https://www.lds.org/general-conference?lang=eng

Love,

Sestra Brown