#LighttheWorld

Hello Everyone!!

Selamat malam! That means "good night"! Haha I say that because it is nighttime here. We had meetings all of P-day, so President gave us permission to email tonight instead! So that was very nice of him!

But yeah we had MLC today which is Missionary Leadership Council where all the leaders from different parts of the mission come together and council about how we can help all the missionaries become better. It's always so fun because we get to see a bunch of our wonderful friends from all of the mission. It's so great. We learned so much about how we can become better servants of our Heavenly Father. What was really cool about today is that Elder Randy Funk came and he is the President of the Asia Area of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. That means he is in charge of the whole church in the Asia Area. It was really an amazing chance to learn from him - such a kind man. He has such a great Spirit about him. He also remembered Drew from the time they met in Hong Kong so that was cool.

It was really amazing because he asked Elder Sutadi and I to counsel with him on how he could help the mission. So we met with him on Friday and then met with him again today. It was just a really cool experience. It helped me gain such an appreciation of how God calls servants and inspires them in their callings. Especially with President Rowley - recently I've gained such an appreciation of his keys as a mission president. He is truly inspired. I know that God truly lives and he calls ordinary men and women to do His work on the earth, That's a pretty amazing thing. He loves His children so much that he allows us to help in the wondrous work of bring His truth to the world.

This week was pretty great! We had Stake conference with all of West Java nad I saw many many good friends which always makes me so happy! And we learned so much from Elder Funk over the last couple of days!

We also had the opportunity to find some awesome people to teach! We have a new investigator in... Bali! He is the boyfriend of a member there and he is awesome. He is from India, so we taught him over Skype in English (because there are no missionaries in Bali.) SO that is a cool new experience. We also invited an awesome friend from the island of Nias (close to Sumatera) to be baptized and he accepted. it's just so exciting because I know that he is going to have an amazing opportunity to change his life and learn more about the Savior Jesus Christ and start a new life following Him. Being a missionary is awesome because you get to help others come to know truths that will truly bless their lives. Such a great opportunity to stop thinking about myself and to start focusing on others which is something I still need to work on. Also Brother K's Dad, should be getting baptized this Sunday, so pray for him! :)

I love you all!!

Have an amazing week and I hope you all can see the joy of the Christmas season as we go into December. Wahoooo!!! I love Christmas!! Check out the #LighttheWorld campaign. It's awesome!! :)

Love,

Elder Brown

SO MANY Don't Know

Hello Everyone

Sooo in this mission, the assistants pretty much stay in Jakarta. We had a couple pretty crazy days where we didn't really go out and work, but for the most part, we finish what President needs and we go out to save souls :) Thank goodness because sitting in the office all day is not the most enjoyable thing haha. But life here is super great. My new companion Elder Sutadi is a stud. He is a ton of fun and it was also great to see Elder Grundvig for a couple days as he helped train me.

So we have a lot of awesome investigators - 4 that very well may be baptized next week - 1 man who has given up pretty much everthying to follow the Lord and do what God wants him to do. Then one family - so awesome. And ALL of them came to church and other investigators too. So that was really great and exciting. They need to be interviewed but we feel they are ready which is really exciting.

It's very strange to be back in jakarta and it was really hard to change my style of work back to Jakarta-style and not Manado-style, but it has been really good. I really do love Jakarta!  It;s great. We have already seen many miracles and we will see many more :) 

I just want everyone to know that I know what I am doing here is the work of the Lord. I don't mean to be prideful but i know that the Lord loves His children so much and he has created a plan for all of us to come back home to Him. 

But SO MANY people don't know about this plan. It centers around Jesus Christ as our Savior, that through Him we can return. But we also need to understand, to learn and to grow and to become more like Him. But to do so we have to understand truth and the truth that has been revealed to us from Jesus Christ. Now, what I tell people everyday is that this truth in its entirety has been restored through a man named Joseph Smith. It is on the earth today in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. Because I know this, I have also come to know that I truly am a Son of God and that He loves me and has a plan for me and it has brought such happiness and peace. I know God loves each and every one of us - including the wonderful people of Jakarta. 

I would hope that everyone will put some serious pondering into their divine nature as a child of God. I love you all so much and I hope everyone is SO happy and I just know that the restored Gospel of Jesus Christ can make us even more happy than ever before.

I hope everyone has an amazing week! I hope you are all SO happy and laughing and smiling!! Semangat terus!

Elder Brown

HURRAH FOR ISRAEL

Back to Jakarta

Hello  - so sorry that I am just emailing.

Elder Brown's shoes are getting a little worn out

I moved to Jakarta today. President has asked me to be one of his assistants here in Jakarta so here I am with Elder Sutadi and Elder Grundvig. I will be companions with Elder Sutadi.

So that is exciting but I am rather sad to be leaving Manado and my bike and ice cream and all of that. haha

I've been flying or in meetings all day, so I don't have much time to write, so if you want you can send out an email apologizing for not emailing much today.

Grace is very kind - their whole family came (mother, father, 2 kids) came to church. Jefferson, Grace, Gabriel, Nia. 

 

So good to see the Schnells! Say hi!! 

Love Derek Crapo. Where is he now?

Sorry it's so late! I don't have a lot of time but if by some miracle, you are awake, please email me! (I was not awake at 2:45 am although I would have been if I knew he was emailing)

I love you so much!!

Trevor