Woooaoaaahahhhhhhhhhh May 26th

Hello.

its been a solid week here in barranca!

so last week for pday we went to a restaurant in the zone leaders area and ate tacos! they were actually pretty good. nothing compared to filibertos but eh, i work with what i got. we also made the cake and cookies and they weer danngggggg good. that frosting was bomb. we gave the rest to the lady from the branch who worked there. she was eyein it the whole time.

on wednesday we had a surprise visit from president archibald and sister archibald for a zone conference. they trained us on how to run our branch councils and it helped a tonnn. every time i hear him speak i get sooo fired up. its awesome. 

this past week we met a few new families and are still working with less actives. sadly the new people we taught didnt seem extremely interested or just didnt understand altogether. satan is going hardddd. we cant get through the restoration without dogs, cats, babies, customers, cars, motos, or any combination thereof making distractions in the lesson. but i guess this is where the sifting comes in for those who are really prepared and can really feel and follow the promptings of the spirit. 

yesterday in church was amazinggggggg.

we had a lady and her two daughters come to church. sadly the dad continues to be a difficult human and doesnt want to do anything. we´ll probably be baptizing them this or next week. andddd there was a guy who came to church who was baptized years ago. after the meetings they were looking for his records. turns out they dont exist. apparently there was a mix up when he got baptized and he was never able to be confirmed. he´ll probably be baptized next week. 

the mouse in our room made a bed in my comps droor. this things gotta go.

on saturdays we are having sports activities in the church because we have a huge court outside. we had a ton of people come, it was awesome. i took charge of naming the teams as you´ll see in the picture. Mordor, Gondor, Hogwarts, and Durmstrang. Lord of the Rings and Harry potter continue in my heart. word. haha oh. we had a surprise guest at the sports night someone brought a sheep. not sure how or why but we got some pics.

the other day, after a rough elsson, we showed up to the chapel to drop off the keys. we were in a hurry so we took a moto. we got out, handed the keys to the first counselor, and turned around and saw a family. we went over and contacted them. turns out they live like three houses from the chapel. they came to the sports nightt he next day and came to church yesterday and they fit right in. the only problem is they arent married... but we´ll work with that.

today we´re gonna fish on the beach with our branch president. gonna be solid.

i love my mission. i am learning to love the scriptures and love the lord. theres sooooooooooooo much i still need to learn out here and in my life. when i finish the day i think about how grateful i am for every moment and how much of a bummer it wouldve been if i hadnt been here that day. thanks for the pictures, love, and prayers. CHAUFA!

elder brown                                  
                                                  Happy 20th Birthday to my Bears!!!

 

                   Some of his favorites that he cant get down in Peru. Cookie Mix and Pancake Mix

                                  This is the house that the mouse made in Kendall's Comp.'s drawer..

heyyyyyyyy.

lifes good. another solid week in limoncillo. a member gave aus a big bag of avocados yesterday so im happy. just gotta buy bread and ive got breakfast for a few days. i learned alot this week as ive adapted to a different way of doin work. everythings goin great. we started hunting down less acitve people last week and theres alooooot more to go. 

last week in our district meeting, i didnt know what to train on. i went through pmg and got to the back of the very last chapter on working with members. under suggestions for district meetings it said something simple. study luke 15. it hit me hard that thats what i sould do. so i did it. i studied the parables of the lost sheep, the lost coin, and the prodigal son. i analized three major parts: why they left, how they were found or brought back, and what were the results. we discussed that in the meeting and talked about how the less active people we are working with can relate to one of these parables. and it was interesting to see throughout the week how alot of these people stood out as a lost sheep or a lost coin, or a prodigal son. some hafve left because they got caught up in doing other things that may have been innocent enough as studies, work, being sick, etc, but over time ended up in a place they didnt want to be and didnt know how to get back. others have fallen away due to neglegence and it requires a little more digging around to get to them and to get them back. and then there are those who think its a better idea to go away and indulge in riotous living, which will either result to them coming back, only after much pain and disappointment, or to their ultimate downfall and permanent inactivity and eternal consequences. we saw as well, with a few people how the lord had sent us to people who had been praying for us to come. others, who may had not been searching for us, were extremely grateful we had found them.

love my job.

so the other day we walked into a house of a very poor family who is working to gettiong married and all that, to have a lesson. i noiced they had a harp in the corner. the dad pulled it out and let me take a look. i sat down on the couch and after a little plucking, i played a basic jingle bells, nearer my god to thee, and come thou font haha. i think i found a new instrument i need to take up when i get home. 

ah, mother. i got my package last week! so no worries. i had my pensionista make some banana pancakes the other day when elder wheatley whose from provo, was with me on changes. and today for pday we are going to the restaurant of the zone leader´s branch president who is going to make us tacos and then we are going to make the cake and cookies you sent. hahaha i was pulling out my stuff at the district meeting and saw a box that said in big letters, "butt paste". i quickly covered it with other stuff and when hna leyva said "hey you have more stuff in there dont you!" i just kinda laugheed and said nope... haha thank you for the butt paste. not sure how to use it but when the time comes ill pray for inspiration haha.

cant believe maci is donzo with stapley and is going to mountain view. ill be back coaching while shes swimming as a sophomore. when the heck did she get so old? i remember when she learned how to say "t is for tabogan". craaaazy maci.

ysterday i gave a talk in sacrament meeting about conversion. it went pretty well. luckily we had all been assigned previously to study "when thou art converted" by elder bednar, so i had an idea of where to take it. yesterday as we were walking around my companion told me how as i was giving my talk, my spanish flowed out very well. i just kinda laughed and said welp. wasnt me. the same thing happens every time i give a talk in church. the spirit takes over. the lord needed me at the time to amp up my game because someone there needed to hear something special, and even if it wasnt by my own words, the words i did speak could allow the spirit to further instruct them. cool stuff eh?

hahahahha please buy that "bears" movie when it comes out. and send me a poster. solid.

welp.momma i hope you had a solid birthday! we´re both in our twenties now, cool huh. and one more thing. DRINK MORE WATER. no more hospital trips! only on christmas. thats how we roll.

elder brown

                                                                       Kendall's Zone

May 12th

wudduppp.

it was awesome seeing everyone yesterday! hayden is talking and running around, maci is making executive calls to taco bell, and grandma and grandpa riggs are still on their A game. happy mothers day again!

andddddddddddddddddd happy birthday this week mom! congrats on being birthed. we can have a double sushi week next year to celebrate. sound good? 

so yeah this week has been rough but weve learned alot. elder waddel taught alot about conversion and rescuing those who have fallen. just like arza hinckley when he went looking for the handcart companies to rescue them. · nephi 18 32 is a good one. we have alot of peple who have gone astray and dont know when theyll come back, but there is still the hope that they can and will come back. so, our focus from now on is going to be members. the lord wont allow us to baptize many people when the branch isnt ready to support them. its like throwing bricks on top of a foundation made of tooth picks and paper. it will fall. as missionaries we arent called to just baptized. the lord has made it clear that the new focus in missionary work is, on top of baptizing, retaining the ones we have, and and rescuing the ones that have gone away. so here we go!

im sorry to hear about grandma riggs. she was a very special lady. i dont think ive ever seen her without a big smile on her face, even when she was going through health problems. she was always looking to help others and always made sure everyone was taken care of, even myself as a member of her step family, she loved me and all of us the same as her literal descendents. hasta vernos con el rey.

welp. everything else was basically covered over skype, thanks for everything! the prayers, pictures, and emails. have an awesome birthday this week mom! maci. make her waffles. 

elder brown

heres some pics of me gettin on my selfy game..

#backflip

hola que tal como estan que dicen que cuenta como le va que hay. sup.

solid week. rouggghhhh week. good week.

-so last week on monday after internet we went to the beach. theres a giant Christ statue. we went and snapped some pics and then went down onto the beach. eñder paredes´s district met up with us. oh yeah i forgot to mention, hes in my zone again. haha so he rolls up and pulls a coconut out of his backpack that he had bought on the street. so, he got a rock and smashed it open. first time ive ever drank from a coconut. just kinda tasted like dirty water. then we ate coconut. not too great either haha but eh, it was cool. then, elder paredes brought up a challenge for me... do a backflip. funny thing. the last time i attempted one, i was on the beach with him. but back in puente piedra. so being almost a year, i was a little sketchy. we asked a sister if we shoud do it. she said it was a bad idea, but do it anyways. ok! he went first. never done one on the ground before haha. throws it, does like a hip hop head stand backwards and then his legs kinda gumbied over then landed in his knees. SUCCESS. he made me do it too. so i got in my stance, jumped, threw it, and almossttt made it all the way. got to my feet, but my hands hit first so today sister agle, who was a byu gymnast, is going to teach us how to perfect it.

-in other news, after talking with real live mexicans, i learned that cinco de mayo isnt even a real thing. dont know why we celebrate it and call it mexican haha apparently nothing happened on that day.

-hammock. there is a family we are teaching that has a hammock in their house. so. being me. i call dibs on it when we go. so i get the blessing of teaching the gospel in a hammock. the way things should be. 

-sooo saturday was a little rough. in my districts we had four baptisms planned. one of them from the sisters needs another interview so it will be this week with her son, the other is a little girl whose mom is a member but whose dad is kinda in idiot. he pulled a last-minute "i dont want you to be saved" thing and didnt let her get baptized. the fourth was our baptism. which, do to work and family problems, wasnt able to make it. no worries. Jose, and edith and Jonfrance will all be baptized this week on my birthdayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy! as well as a lady in the zone leaders area.

sooo we had an awesome slash awful experience with a family this week. on monday we took a couple to the church and taught the first lesson. we took them into the sacrament room (is that what its called) to have them kneel down and ask if the church is true. well they both asked. after, we all sat there and waited. i was filled with one of the most powerful manifestations of the spirit that ive ever felt. it was awesome. we sat there for a longgg time. part because i wanted to make sure they felt it, the other part because i struggled to open my mouth. i looked over and my companion was sweating and put his hands on his knees to support himself. he later told me that he almost fainted right there. when we got back home, i fell on my bed and wanted to pass out haha now i understand better how lehi felt after he had his vision. awesome. BUT. we stopped by the family last night, and learned that satan has been working for a longggggggg time there. despite their answer they received, years of marital problems and pride was destroying them. after throwin down a little elder brown beat down, we gave them an invitation to try just one week to read and pray together, nothing more. they couldnt respond without calling out the other on the fact that they couldnt keep the commitment. the mom finally just said she wouldnt be able and the dad said he was already gonig to leave the next day. satan is working extereeeeemely hard on us and those we are teaching. the work is blowing up and satan is keep up with it. its good to see that we are making him angry enough by building gods kingdom so much, but its a roughhh fight. he plays dirty and hes a lot smarter and more experienced than we are,. BUT, we are on the Lords side, and because of that i know we arent going to lose.

-oh yeah. we have a pet mouse in my house. by a pet i mean an annoying creature that keeps me up at night and sneaks in and eats our stuff. i wanna kill it but i kinda have to find it first. this thing is a ninja. wish me luck.

-so yesterday after church i went straight to an interview in barranca branch for the zone leaders. Juana. shes getting baptized on my birthday as well. they told me she was struggling a bit and that an interview wold help.so we walk in and sit down and start with a prayer. after going through the first two questions casually so they didnt sound too interview, we got to repentance. she blew up on  all these problems and this, that, and the other, and because of all that she isnt getting baptized now and wants us to give her another month. luckily i was fasting so i was more spirit than body, i listened to what she had to say, and listened to what god wanted me to say,then i went for it. i made a huge arrayed connection from Moroni 8:25 to Alma 34:32-34 to john 3:5. after a long spirit bomb of explanation of repentance and baptism and her need to follow christ through the ordinances of the gospel, i left us in silence, she looked up and asked "friday right?" YES. friday haha. we finished out the interview and she walked out of there with a different attitude. it was awesome to see how the spirit was able to work through me. kinda felt like a bishop there. cool stuff.

welp. thats the week for yeah, for any missed tdetails, refer to journal 1 in march of 2015. haha so yeah ill see yeah this sunday! if skype is dumb again, ill probably just cal you at that time on the phone. it could be a bit after as well, bot sure. we have to corordinate with the pensions family because theyll be skyping their son that day as well, but NO OS TEMÉIS. itll all work out. love you" thanks for everything, ad ill talk to ya when im twenty!

elder brown 

oh yeah, and star wars day was yesterday. may the fourth be with you.