Well, I'm beating myself up today because I forgot the cord to connect my sd card to the computer, and I took a ton of pictures this last week! Expect more photos soon.
As some of you may know already (Mom and Dad...haha), I got transferred! I'm serving in Ekaterinburg now in the 1st branch. Yes, it's the branch that President Christensen attends when he's not touring around, and I've joked that only the "problem" children get sent here, but in all reality it isn't so.
My last week in Chelyabinsk was great. Sister Blau and I had some really successful lessons with investigators (several people even cried when I said I was getting transferred!) I found out about transfers on Wednesday...or was it Thursday? Well, regardless, I had more time than I expected to pack, so that ended up being a good thing. We woke up at 4:15 am on Sunday to take a huge bus to Ekaterinburg.
I was sad to leave Chelyabinsk, but I wasn't sad to leave the mosquitoes that infest the city. I have bites all over! I was able to pick up some nifty souveniers before I left and I might try to mail them home so I don't have to carry them around for the rest of my mission.
We had a big "stake conference"-type meeting yesterday where all the missionaries and members from all the cities had the opportunity to come to Ekaterinburg and hear President Laurence (the area president) and Gerald Causse (a seventy). After the main meeting, there was a separate meeting just for the missionaries, and it was super spiritual and amazing. I got a bloody nose in the middle of it, so that was a classic "Catie Brown" moment, but my "Sister Brown"-self handled it with class.
Thoughts about what I learned from the conference:
President Laurence talked about the three things that need to change in this mission specifically to improve productivity:
1. exact obedience
2. member present lessons
3. act in faith
*Firstly, I would like to say that I'm one hundred percent, totally obedient. It's funny to hear other missionaries talk about my reputation in the mission-- but that's one of the aspects of my service that they talk about. I am 100% obedient no matter the cost. I don't care if it can be annoying because guess what? My first priority (and the person that I'm accountable to first) is the Lord. When I honestly only care about what God thinks, things always fall into the right places behind it.
*Secondly, I would like to say that I do understand the importance of member-present lessons. Sometimes it's a little bit hard to instigate it if you don't know the members. Right now that's a little bit of a problem for me (new transfer!) but I will do my best. Sister Hellewell and I had a lesson last night with a potential, and Sister Hellewell and her former companion hadn't called anyone to be on the lesson, so guess what I did? I called everyone that I could, and we were able to have a member-present lesson that turned out really well. The potential even asked to meet with us tonight, and so we have a new investigator! Member present lessons are important, and I will try not to let any excuse prevent us from having them.
In Chelyabinsk this last week, Sister Blau and I had an amazing member-present lesson with a couple that we've been meeting with. The wife is ready to be baptized but is not willing to do it without the husband. The husband's problem is that he likes to argue with us and is not willing to come to church. But-- we had an amazing lesson with them this week, and I definitely think things are on the uphill with them. We had the Elder's Quorum President on the lesson with us, and he and the husband really hit it off together. The EQP bore straight testimony of the power of the church to change and improve our lives and was able to quell any concerns that they had at all. I know that couple will be baptized.
*Acting in faith was an interesting thing for President Laurence to talk about, but I especially liked it because it's definitely something that I struggle with at times. I believe in God, and I believe in His timing, so sometimes it's hard for me to have faith that things will happen (for example, if we plan for miracles, etc.) because I believe in the agency of others (not everyone will accept a baptismal date-- it's a fact of life). But I really liked how he specified and broke that down more. He said that we can increase our faith by:
setting a goalbe absolutely believingpray about it always!commit yourself fullybe creativedon't waste timeyou're ____ years in the making, so tap into your skills!expect trials and obstaclesexpect and know that the Lord will respond (Jacob 4:6-7)
I definitely know that I can increase my faith in missionary work and in other people. It requires trusting the Lord a lot, but I think I'm up for it. I have the desire to have more faith, so I think that's just the start of things. :)
I know that everything that has happened to me in my life has prepared me for my mission and that everything in my mission so far has prepared me for my time here in Ekaterinburg. I have the skills, the desire, and the work ethic. I'm so excited to get started here, and I know that this area will grow and blossom with me and Sister Hellewell here.
Well, I hope this letter made sense to you all. I love you and I miss you. Can you believe that my year mark is coming up in just a week from Thursday? Time flies!
I love you all!!! Have an awesome, amazing week!
Loveeeeee,
Sister Brown
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