God loves all of us!

Hey mom and dad! 

Well, I cut my hair and I get to stay here in Šiška Ljubljana and train a new sister! So I'm pretty thrilled about that. Lots of changes for the sisters of Slovenija. So..Sister Jennings will go to Kranj and train a new sister. Sister Crosby will come to Ljubljana Center area and train a new sister. And sisters Squires and Baker will go together to Maribor to be a second set of missionaries in the beautiful city! Everyone is pretty thrilled! Elders Mercer and Zimmerman are staying here together. Elder Penrod is going to work with Elder Jensen in Maribor and Elder Loyens is moving to Celje to be with Elder Love. And that's all of us :) 

Good things! I think this next transfer is going to move pretty quickly because I will going to Zagreb three times throughout it. Potentially four if we have summer conference this transfer....that's a lot haha.

I love the picture of the yam! I love them! He is so cute. 

The shepherding is going well! It is just really hard to help people find desire and motivation within themselves. I love the Slovene people and the culture, don't get me wrong, but it is a slow culture. So it's a work in progress. 

We were having a lesson on the lawn of the church Saturday evening because we didn't have anyyone able to come on the lesson with us. And then President Mitja and Sestra Sara Lakner pulled up with their daughter Berry! So we all went inside and they were there to clean the church. We sat down for our lesson. And then I was like..what are we doing? That exhausted couple is cleaning the church with a 7 month old baby and we are sitting here. So we put the gospel into action and helped clean the church. And I think our friend loved it. President Mitja thanked him over the pulpit yesterday in sacrament meeting :)  

Pray that those we are teaching will receive and recognize a witness from the Holy Ghost that the Book of Mormon is true because that is what they need in order to have the faith to live the commandments.

We have one friend who is doing well.  She loves the gospel. She loves learning. She loves reading in the Book of Mormon and she loves praying. It's been really neat to be able to teach her and help her and I'm excited to continue with that! 

We were really sad when another friend texted yesterday morning telling us that they weren't going to be able to make it to church. We had planned to go knock on the door and walk together to church :( We are planning to give an invitation to be baptized this week. Pray our friend will recognize the importance of the restoration and receive greater peace in life by living along this path than anything else. Because our Father in Heaven knows better than anyone or anything how to give peace to His children.

We have a friend who tells us that there is not just one path that is correct, but that God loves all of us. Those two statements are actually kind of opposite. Because God loves all of us, He has prepared a way for ALL OF US. And He has given us each the ability to choose for ourselves. 

The elders went out for a visit yesterday to one of my favorite people. We haven't been able to go over there, but maybe this week. 

I'm glad to hear that Joelle's surgery went well this week and that she is in less pain! Tell them I love them the next time you talk with them! 

I am also happy to hear that Sabrina is feeling a little better and that she was at the track meet. How old is Maren? Is she driving?? What is she doing in track? 

Love you! More later probably :)

Steph

The Lord Prepares Us

Hello Liberty Lake

I hope that your spring will come! That it can break through the winter. Our summer is fast approaching which is sad....

I really do love the people of Slovenija. I love them. I don't know that any of them will remember me, but I hope they feel things that they will always remember and that their testimonies and faith are strengthened while I am here. 

We had a pretty neat experience Saturday morning. We went to visit a member. We were all three sitting around her table with just enough room to rest a few things on it. And she was sitting there telling us about how she just wants to do missionary work. She brought a man to church last week and I asked her how she knew him. Guess what she said?? She had met him ON THE BUS 3 years ago. She is amazing and I just felt privileged to be in her home. She waved her hand around her home and told us "it's really not much. I don't need much though. All I want is to make a little more money so that I can go on a mission in a few years." I just wanted to cry. The spirit was so strong as she talked about her strong strong desire to help someone to find the joy that she has felt from living the gospel. It has changed her life in ways she can't explain and she is filled with joy because of it. I am so grateful to know her. 

In other great news, S finally came to church! And really enjoyed it! She was only able to stay for sacrament meeting, but she had a really good experience and was able to feel the spirit very strong. 

Shout out to the stake young women's leaders from when I was in young women's and we did the temple walk from the stake center to the temple. In preparation for the walk, we had spent months memorizing The Living Christ document. Well, I was translating in sacrament meeting yesterday morning and the microphone was broken, so I was having a difficult time hearing the speaker, but I could hear enough to know that he was reading the entire document The Living Christ. So I pulled upon my memory from long ago and with the help of what I could hear, I did an OK job reciting it for the English speakers in the room haha. The Lord prepares us at  young ages to do the things He has in store for us later in life, ne? :) 

In other news, I got attacked by a spider. Sister Jennings and I took a trip down a scary dirt road covered in pot holes through a dark forest...for the second time on our missions and in a different city. Don't ask me how that happened again, because I really don't even know. We had an Easter concert Saturday evening and lots of people came, so that was neat! I sang higher notes than I have ever hit in my life only possible with the help of the spirit, I'm sure :) 

Love, Steph

Change is always good!

Change is always good!  Yes! 3 Slovene SISTERS coming to the mission in a couple weeks. There will be lots of changes up here. That means 3 of the 5 of us will be training and the other two will likely be here in Šiška. Good things! Exciting things! It will be really good to have transfers. Change is always good and helps you find another burst of energy to keep moving forward with enthusiasm. 

That sounds amazing at the baptism with the children singing! If it's possible, you should send me the video of them! I would love to hear it. I would love to go to a baptism. I actually still haven't heard the last session of conference. Well, I have heard part of it. There is nothing organized for us to watch together, so we need to do it today maybe. Unless the elders are in the church, in which case we couldn't be in here, so it would have to wait. It's hard to work out use of computers here in the church and also obey the gender rules and everything. We both just always need to be in the church haha. 

We show the Lord that we want to be used by taking action, even when we're not entirely sure the best action to take. If you continue to show the Lord that you are willing, then He will help and guide you and use you. That's what Nephi did. Even though he couldn't see any solution and his brothers were being the worst, he still showed faith and desire and he acted and the Lord was able to use him for good.  

I am glad that Drew will go to Hungary. I want to go as well. I wish y'all could visit Slovenija. It's beautiful. I actually recommend it. If you are going to be in Hungary, you may as well step your feet into the country. You could visit Ptuj or Maribor or Murska Sobota - a region of the country with a dialect SO different that most Slovenes can't even understand it. 

I really love Sister Melonakos. She has a gift for really seeing people and knowing them and loving them. She is an amazing listener and an amazing question asker. I am so so grateful for her.

In a lesson this week, I just prayed with all my soul that Heavenly Father would help me to have the spirit. I felt more guided by the spirit in that lesson than I ever have before on the mission. I think the difference was that I had laser like focus on our friend and what he was saying. The Lord just helped me to focus on him and respond to him.  We invited him to be baptized when he knows that the Book of Mormon is true and he said he would. 

I went on exchange in Kranj this week with Sisters Crosby and Baker and that was so much fun.  I have not been sleeping well recently which has made everything kind of tough and I kind of hurt my arm exercising the other day.  I really need to serve. In relief society yesterday we discussed what things truly bring us joy and I thought that for me when I can truly turn myself outward away from myself, that is when I have found the most joy.  

 

We had a pretty miraculous Sunday yesterday. We've been working with members to help them do missionary work in whatever way they want to and feel that they can. Two of the women we've been working with brought friends to church yesterday! On top of that, one of our friends stood up in fast and testimony meeting, bore her testimony of the Book of Mormon and how she reads every day and notices a difference when she doesn't read, and then announced that she wants to be baptized. So...that happened haha. It was insane. We had a chapel full of nearly 50 people yesterday. It was UNREAL. Granted, we had two american families there, but still. We had lots of members we don't see very often who came as well as 7 investigators. It was pretty amazing! 

Love you! 

Steph

The SUN and the SON

Dober dan! 

It is certainly a dober dan here in the beautiful country of Slovenija. On average in Ljubljana, we see the sun once a month (that may be stretching things just a bit..), but it is a pretty grey and cloudy place. Today however, the sun is in full shine-mode and we see beautiful blue skies! A very very dober dan. 

A funny story. 

We had a meeting set with a member, so after having a very large lunch of tasty burgers, we headed to her house. We found ourselves lost and unable to find the address we were seeking. As is typical of Slovenija, we could find the address just before and the address just after, but NOT the address of the woman we were trying to visit. 

So we call her. And we hear her voice through the phone and then it seems as if we're hearing her voice from the heavens, so we look up and she is waving off the balcony 100 feet over heads :) At the end of our nice obisk with her, we were trying to leave. I made the very poor choice of mentioning the pull up bar in the door frame and joking with her about if she worked out on it. So she then begins yelling down the hallway to her 27 year old son and asking him to come out and show us how he can lift himself. His response to her pleas was a definite no. And this exchange went back and forth probably five times. So then she tells me to try it. I obliged her, but I'm sad to say I can only manage about 3/4 of 1 pullup these days. However, she was impressed. So then she storms back to her son's room and makes him come out. But this time she doesn't ask him to do a pull up and says "watch how Sister Brown can do it!" And she makes me get back up there and struggle through the saddest looking pullup any of us have ever witnessed. Sister Jennings didn't even try to save me from this great embarrassment haha. 

An exciting thing! 

We have been teaching a very sweet woman for the past few weeks and she decided this week that she wants to be baptized in May! We are really excited for her! I believe in the power of prayer and I ask y'all that you would pray for her that she can withstand the opposition that comes her way and have the faith to continue on this joyful and peaceful path!

I love spring because I feel like the world just comes back to life. I love to see the flowers blooming and to hear the birds singing. I love to celebrate the life and resurrection of our savior Jesus Christ. And I especially love the peace that His life has given me in my life. I know that He lives! I know that He has made it possible for us to find peace amidst the storms in our lives. He wants to give us peace and joy! 

I love you and I hope you have a happy week! 

Steph

Ride the Bus to the End of the Line

Things are good here. 

Well sacrament meeting started and it was very very empty. 8 members and 4 missionaries. But then things began to fill a little more and a little more...and then our friend walked in. The spirit was so so strong. It was amazing. 

We are teaching an amazing young woman. Pray for her that she will feel the spirit confirm to her that The Book of Mormon is the word of God.

Really neat experience this week. Sister Jennings and I were outside and we didn't have a lot of time before we needed to go home, but we wren't quite sure what to do. I had a thought, "why don't we just go get on a bus?" So we did. And we rode it to the end of the line and back :) The woman I sat next to told me she was very tired, but on her way to a party instead of able to go home. Most of the time when people ask me where I am from, they get all excited and say "Oh DC! Bela hiša! Do you know our Melania?" haha, but she knew WA state right off the bat. And she even knew Spokane because...drum roll please...she had been there! Twice! She has an aunt who lives there. She was asking me about Sacred Heart hospital! What!? No kidding. We had the most amazing conversation and by the time she got off the bus she was brimming with energy and excitement. The Lord was leading us and we didn't even know it and it was amazing.

 

SO lots of good things! 

I love you! 

Steph

Love the Mormonova Knjiga

It has been a crazy week! I feel like I have said that pretty much every week since coming to Ljubljana. Maybe it has something to do with the city,,,maybe something to with the companion...maybe something to do with the long'awaited arrival of pomlad...or maybe it’s a beautiful combination of all of these things. Whatever it is, we have been very busy!  

We are going to celebrate Sister Crosby's birthday which was yesterday by going to the sea. We are going to Piran, a cute little coastal town! 

Spring has finally arrived here and it was incredible. I went out the door in my black peacoat and as we were walking down the street, my coat came off then my scarf came off and I was just like a free bird. I loved it. I LOVE spring! This has always been my favorite time of year and it is no different now. I love it. I love that everything begins to come alive again and the earth is filled with green and light and life. It brings new life and energy to the city and the people. 

We went on exchange with the sisters in Kranj this week, which means that Sister Crosby came here to spend a few days with me! It was so good to be together again! Sister Crosby has had a mission-long desire to spot a wild jez ( hedgehog), so we continued the search that we began nearly EIGHT MONTHS AGO together  :) We did not succeed, but we did knock on the doors of some kind people in the jezica area of Ljubljana!

We finished off the week by bringing the whole zone into town for zone conference, which is always a party. Our conference was centered around The Book of Mormon, so I have had a lot of time to ponder about what The Book of Mormon means to me as a young lady far from home and family trying to share the gospel with the people of Slovenija in a completely foreign tongue and culture.

Why do I love The Book of Mormon? It fills my heart and mind with light. It causes me to look heavenward. I feel closer to Jesus Christ when I study it. It is a gateway to personal revelation directly from my Heavenly Father to His daughter, Stephanie Brown. I have felt His great love for me as I read. I am filled with greater love. It brings peace to my heart when all around seems like chaos. I walk onto the street and see life with more light and color because of THe Book of Mormon.  

What people really need to see is how the gospel and The Book of Mormon have blessed and changed our lives. We need to be full of light so that people will see it and want it and we need to be full of joy. Love it. Love you! Love the Mormonova Knjiga. And if you don't love The Book of Mormon yet or don't know what it is, find out! 

Love, Steph

Bloom where you're planted - even when you are replanted - Ljubljana

Pozdravljeni! 

The Ljubljana branch has around 200 listed members. On Sunday I think we had about nineteen members on Sunday. At ten o lock, when the meeting actually started, there were about three. And in a real church it feels pretty darn empty. So that's tough. But it was really good! I spoke which was poorly done, and then we taught Sunday school and it went really really well! Then I was the pianist and translator in primary, so that was fun. 

I will take my turn translating sacrament meeting every few weeks. There are now only two sets of missionaries in Ljubljana, so my turn will come quick every time.

It is really cold these days. The wind is intense and it is freezing my brain. I have been having terrible headaches when we are outside in the wind. Awful! But that's okay! 

It's been a great week and I have learned a number of things! First, you can bloom where you're planted and you can love it. You can also bloom when you've had yourself ripped out of the soil and put into a new pot, and you can still love it! Second, the Lord will sustain us and in some of our toughest times, if we will choose to turn to Him, he will use us as instruments in his loving hands.

We have been inviting people right and left to come into our church building and go on a tour of the church with us. We've only had one so far, but it was incredible and the spirit was so strong. As we stood together in the chapel and talked about Jesus Christ and his sacrifice for us, she hugged us and said that she was "just so happy!" It was a sweet sweet thing and I feel so grateful for Jesus Christ. I am grateful for his life which was an example of pure love and selflessness. I am grateful for his suffering in the garden and on the cross because he give me healing in my own pain and suffering. I am grateful for his resurrection and ministry among the Nephites because it fills me with hope for our future. 

So yesterday....we were headed out to visit a couple women on a list given to us from the Elders Quorum president. These are women who we have never met before and for whom we did not have phone numbers. They didnt' live in our area, so we had asked President for permission to visit them. We got in the car and put the first address in our GPS. It was about a 45 minute drive. We debated if we should still go because it was so far away. We prayed about it and both felt that we should go. So we went! We found ourselves in the cutest little Slovene vas on top of these beautiful snow-covered hills on a teeny tiny "two lane" road which barely had room for our little car. We passed 17 Tepe in search for 31 Tepe. Well....after driving away from 17, we suddenly found ourselves staring at 69! Unsure about how this had happened, but unsurprised because the numbering system in this country is a disaster, we just parked our car in the street and started knocking doors for help. Up walks an adorable Slovene couple, complete with hiking sticks :) They told us that we should keep going and then we'd hit a really steep down hill, take a sharp left and we would find it. They themselves lived at 30. 31 was nowhere near their house...As we drove away, he informed us that the people who live in 31 are Mormons, "just so ya know." :) It was so funny. Well, after much searching and more door knocking, we did finally find ourselves outside 31b. And there was a growling barking dog. Seriously? Well I was not to be stopped by a dog and luckily I have a dog-LOVING companion, so she distracted him while I made my way to the door and knocked. We were so excited to meet this woman who we had been searching for quite a while and was known by the people roundabouts as "a mormon." So the door opened and I was all ready to greet her....and out pops the head of our relief society president... huh? :) Yep. haha. 

Turns our we were looking for her daughter who had actually moved out about five years ago :) So we had kosilo with Dragica and Maja and it was a wonderful little surprise and blessing! And turned out to be a pretty hilarious story.

Have a great week! Love you! 

Sestra Brown