Go see "Meet the Mormons"!!!!!!!!!!!.........September 29, 2014

9-29-2014

Hi again! Sending my love from Show Low, Arizona :)

We had a great opportunity to watch "Meet the Mormons", a new movie that will be in theaters on October 10. Oh my goodness it was so good! It literally made us all laugh, and a know more than a few of us cried :) It is a documentary like film that was commissioned by the LDS church, and was made to be informative, not a movie to make people want to join our church! Check out meetthemormons.com to see if it will be playing in a theater near you- if not you can request it to be! A short video by Jeffrey R Holland played before we watched it, letting us know all this information so we can answer questions :) He talked about how important the opening weekend is in the box office. And so, dear family, you should go see the movie sometime that weekend! You purchase tickets just how you would to any other movie. Just don't forget the tissues mom! and dad!! :)

Oh, it was so good I want it in DVD, I hope that will be made available at some point! You can watch the trailer online too!

Okay, that's enough of my endorsement of this movie. But everything I said is true! I really love this movie. I can't wait until I can see it again!

Meanwhile, down in the wilds of Arizona, three sister missionaries rumble along the muddy roads in their 4 wheel drive, searching for the right house in an area that is opposed to physical addresses and roads that make sense.

But we get by!

It is really difficult to cover three different wards, especially when each is has large physical boundaries! We have a lot on our plates! 

We are teaching an older woman named Anne Marie, whose daughter is a member and her grand-daughter just got baptized! I only just met Anne Marie, but she is a character! Her baptism date is set for October 25, right before transfers- she wants the sisters to be there for it. She still has a long way to go, and it is difficult to meet with her because she is working two jobs. But she is very close to her neighbors, which is how she started meeting with the missionaries, so she has a good support system. She is beginning to make changes, and the sisters have already seen her improve a ton! 

We are also meeting with Dan in Clay Springs, who is an interesting person. I've met him once, and somehow or another he and I were just talking back and forth for most of the lesson- I asked him a lot of questions to see what he understood and where he was coming from. He has a desire to be baptized, but it is glaringly obvious he doesn't know what that means or entails. He comes to church with the ward mission leader, who visits him a lot without us- and hopefully teaches him good simple things. Dan just wants to be complex, when really the Gospel is so simple. If only we can teach him to listen, and to ponder, and to apply! We will teach prophets this week- something that the sisters say he's been taught before, multiple times, but doesn't understand it- or maybe he is just hung up on the prophet Joseph Smith. That will sure be interesting! We pray we can help him to understand!

There are also several less active families, or couples trying to get to the temple who we are helping. But I am loving the work out here!

I love you all so much! Thanks for everything you do for me, and for each other! You are the best family EVER!

Love, Sister Hailey Brown

PS- Clay Springs had a Color Run, so for "service" we signed up to help throw chalk at people. It was awesome! We had a ton of fun and Sister Carroll took about 100 pictures :)

A Rainy Week in the Mountains...... September 22, 2014

9-22-2014

Hello everyone! I'm still alive up here in the mountains!

But the best news is, on friday we drove back down to the valley so we could be there, bright and early saturday morning to have Elder Russell M. Nelson come speak to us at a mission conference! All of the Arizona Scottsdale and Mesa Missions came together for this conference, and it was so amazing! We all got to shake his hand, and it was basically the best feeling in the world. It is truly amazing to think that Elder Nelson is an apostle of the Lord, as real and with the same power of Peter, James, and John. You can tell that he speaks with the power of God and that his love for us is the same and the Savior's love for us. It was an amazing experience.

So, all of Saturday was conference, then some valley shopping for dresses and travel back up to the mountains. But we did get to see a few people up here! We met a less active family in Clay Springs, and we had a fire together and roasted pumpkin shaped orange marshmallows. The next day I kept thinking that I smelled bacon or something, but it was just the wood smoke saturated in my copy of the Book of Mormon. I think it has dissipated by now :)

A young man who was baptized the beginning of September is shipping off to the navy on Tuesday, so he went to the temple on Saturday to do baptisms for the dead, and then blessed the sacrament in church on Sunday. He is great! I am excited to see him progress, because I can imagine Brandon doing the same things over the next few weeks! I am so thankful for the chance I had to see him be baptized and confirmed before I left Mesa.

My companions are awesome! I'll have to talk more about them next time :)

I love you all! Be safe and happy :)

Love, Sister Hailey Brown

DRUMROLL PLEASE! and the new location is........... September 17, 2014

9-17-2014

Well, whatdya know, I'm transferred again! And it's not somewhere I thought I would see again on my mission....

Right now I am emailing from the public library in Show Low, AZ. I'm up in the mountains! My new companions are Sister Krutsch (say kroooch) and Sister Carroll! This is us this morning, outside my new home in Pinedale, Arizona! We will be covering the Pinedale, Linden, and Clay Springs wards.

This is the same area I went on exchanges to when I was in Show Low last October and November. It no longer contains the Cibeque branch, which in now assigned to elders who live in a trailer on the rez. It's been almost a year since I served over more than one ward! And since I've been in the mountains! I am super excited to be here, but just like when I left the mountains, I feel like I am leaving everything and everyone I know behind in the valley. But I already know my new companions, so all is well! The cooler weather will be a nice adjustment- but shocking!

Another rain storm hit yesterday during transfers, so we drove all the way up the mountain- in our truck!- in the sprinkling rain.

But before I got here.....

Last week in Mesa!

BRANDON GOT BAPTIZED!!!!!!!! AND CONFIRMED!!!!!!!!

But holy cannoli the devil tried so hard to make everything go wrong! Brandon's mom wasn't able to make it, because by doctor's orders she had to go to the Emergency Room. But both Brandon and his mom decided to go through with it! And it all worked out! YAY!!!

Oh, he was so nervous!!! His seminary teacher from his freshman year (the only year he took seminary), Brother Brooks, baptized him. It was great! We were so blessed to be able to be there for his baptism and confirmation before he got transferred! Mesa 5th ward is getting Elders now, and I think they will be good for him.

I spent about 36 hours on exchange in Mesa 25th ward with Sister Schrecengost (or Sister Shrek) who came to us from Ukraine a few months ago, and finished her mission on Monday. She taught me how to say I Love You in Russian! good times.

A lot of the week was crazy packing, plus a bedbug scare.... oh the stress. Monday I was with Sister Lopez and Sister Kaufusi on the Saltriver Reservation and we had a great time!

So much happened, and it was been really hard with a lot of emotions, but I am thankful to be here in the mountains, because, like they say, "If you're lucky enough to be in the mountains, you're lucky enough."

I love you all! Keep the faith :)

Love, Sister Hailey Brown

PS- remember that car accident? We decided to make a statement, courtesy of a billboard on the Rez and a member photographer.

We are alive because our seatbelts kept us in our seats, even when we were hanging upside down. SO BUCKLE UP!!!

Sometimes typing is boring....... September 8, 2014

9-8-2014

Hi guys.

So sometimes there is a feeling, where I don't want to type up anything. Not because my week was boring or anything, and not because I don't want to write you all. But sometimes, my attention span is just... gone.

Today is one of those days.

It has been pouring rain all morning today! Our ceiling is leaking, and our road out front looks like a river. No joke. We all love it though! Minus the leaking roof. I put Tupperware under the leaks to catch the water. I feel like I should be in a movie or something.

Almost got caught in a dust storm this week! We got text warnings from the National Weather Service during dinner on Saturday, so we booked it over to another member's home and asked for a ride over to see Brandon, on the complete opposite side of our area. We lucked out! the horizon was thick with dust in the sunset, and there was already dust in the air. Sister Tucker has been sick all week anyway and having trouble breathing, so Sister Chater saved the day! And she and her husband picked us up afterwards and brought our bikes home in their truck.

So, good times in Arizona!!

While Sister Tucker was sick this week, I was able to go on exchange with Sister Hurst and Sister Kaufusi to the Salt River Pima Maricopa Indian Community- or, the Res. I was so excited! We were only out together for a few hours, but I loved the chance to see a whole other lifestyle, the way of the natives. I wish I had remembered my camera! But it's all good. If was just good times. I just love going on exchanges!

And the best news of the entire week...... Brandon is getting baptized tomorrow!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! We are so excited! I will plan on taking lots of pictures :)

I love you all so much! I love being out here serving the Lord! There is truly NOTHING BETTER than having a great time while working to do the Lord's work! I pray we will all work to feel of the excitement of the times as we strive to hasten His work!

I love you! 

Love, Sister Hailey Brown

Fun at the hospital this week! ..........​......Sept​ember 1, 2014

9-1-2014

Before you all freak out, we were in the hospital visiting Brandon before and after his surgery. He FINALLY had his gallbladder taken out on Thursday! He is still in pain, but came to a baptism on Saturday and church yesterday, and we have his baptism set for Tuesday Sept. 9 at 7 pm, so his mom can be there :) We are so excited for him! I am so thankful for all of your prayers on his behalf.

So basically, we spent most of our time this week at the hospital or doing service cleaning for a few people. We were able to meet with Andrea and her children to teach the Restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. But boy those girls have a short attention span! We are going to review what they learned tonight. But they love having us come over! Andrea came to church yesterday, but the older girls were with their dad and couldn't come. We are excited, because Andrea actually seems excited! I think she really does want to return to the church. There are so many blessings that she needs and that she can receive, and she knows and can see that. We still need to work on her testimony, but really, who among us isn't working to strengthen their own testimony? We are all on the same path, although we may just be at different places.

We are really working on contacting as a mission, as well as teaching members how everyone can do missionary work. We have a lot of work to do! But we are working hard to do what we can to serve the Lord to the best of our abilities. I am so thankful for this chance I have to serve and to learn! I found out my release date, in order to be home in time for school, is December 31. Don't know how I feel about that. Besides stressed! But I'm not thinking about it too much, and don't ask how much longer I have or how long I've been out because I've stopped keeping track! :) I've been out a little over a year, and I go home in December. I'm not doing the math, I'll get depressed! I love being out here, knowing that I am doing exactly what my Heavenly Father wants me to. This is the hardest thing I've ever done, but without a doubt it is the most rewarding!

I am so thankful for all of you! I really wish I had pictures to send to you... so I'll work on that this week. Still need a picture of me on my bike, huh? :)

I love you all!!

Loves,

Sister Hailey Brown


This is a picture from LDS.org. We ALMOST look this happy when we bike :)