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