Call up the Mormon Missionaries!

We had kind of a rough week with a lot of things that fell through - but also a lot of success when we look back at the week!  a lot of great experiences, which I'm having a hard time thinking of right now haha... We had one miracle on monday night, where we had no idea what to do and we prayed that someone would pick up their phone... and then... they did not pick up their phones haha! So we decided to go look for an old investigator with a non clear address and when we stopped at the wrong house to ask if that was the right address, they ended up letting us in and letting us share about the Book of Mormon and the Restoration. One Doddie Latuharhary, turns out is a semi famous singer from Ambon which is East Indonesia! Look him up on youtube haha! So that's kind of awesome!! 

Life is just really great!  This week our investigator came to church and he was telling everyone that he is getting baptized on the 30th of July so that was cool!! We'll be helping him get ready for it! We have a goal in our Zone to baptize 6 people in July, which is much more then ever before since I've been here. We are on track for 5 and Elder Johnson and I feel that we as the zone Leaders just need to make it happen, so we are working really hard!

But it is greeat!!! We met some great people and I certainly strengthened my own testimony of this restored gospel and the reality of God the Father and Jesus Christ.. I know they are truly real and they live and what's more they love and care about us. If you have doubts about that - call up the Mormon missionaries and we'll help you know how you can know that too and find the peace and joy and happiness that comes in consequence of that knowledge! I love you all so much!!

Elder Brown

The Path to Eternal Happiness

Man those Nephites - what are they thinking??

Sounds like a great week! I'm so proud of you for doing all ... Elder Gasio says hi... the things you do to help and bless others' lives, even if it is just visiting someone's yard sale where no one else went. i love you! You are incredible!!

Go DADDY - of course he did a great job! I'm so proud of your work at the prison!

Actually I didn't know Drew asked President haha - President was very specific during Zone Conference that family visits were not allowed!

 

Biggest news is - we have someone getting baptized! This Saturday We are very excited!!

We had a great PLD last week and we will have MLC - Mission Leadership Council - this week! that will be great!

A lot of our investigators didn't make it to church which we were bummed about, but it was probably good, becuase Jakarta 3 (the english ward) was mixed with Jakarta 2 this week,so I had to translate for the Bules - that was hard haha! But fun!

We played Futsol with one of our investigators- it was fun and I was way not good and he was WAY good haha! So fun!

So we just had a great week! And really enjoyed teaching and meeting with other missionaries. We need to work harder next week but it's so great to see miracles happening!  I am excited because I know that baptism will begin a path of life, that while not easy will be FULL of happiness and joy! It is amazing to see someone changing and coming close to God and Jesus Christ and see the change and happiness in them! I know that God our Father truly cares about us, each and every one, and He desires to help us and to lead us on the path to eternal happiness, as we return to him. I love Jesus Christ and I know that through him we are truly able to change!!

 

I love you all so much!! While I miss you , I know the work I am doing is the work of God!

Love Elder Brown

Beyond Blessed

This week was great!1 The birthday was great! Here in Indonesia, you buy other people stuff so I got all of us Martabak which is a incredibly delicious and fattening pancake/ cake thing!! It was great! Then the next say I had an awesome split with my good friend Elder Forston! He is awesome!!! We had some really cool experiences re-challenging our investigators to baptism!

Elder Subagio and I worked hard and met some cool people!!!

I just have such a testimony that the Gospel was created by a loving heavenly father to bless US. It blesses families. It strengthens families!!! 

There is nothing else in the world that will bless your lives greater than the teachings of Jesus Christ that have been restored to the Earth by His living prophets!

My family  has been beyond blessed by the gospel! I love Jesus Christ! I am serious I testify and teach so often about how the Gospel blesses families because I have seen it in ours!! I have such a testimony of how what our parents do and teach us can bless our lives for eternity.

I have challenged so many families to read the Book of Mormon and pray together as a family like the two of you taught me my whole life. Dad, you are just such an incredible example to me and you looked way good in that suit!! Happy Fathers Day!!!

And I love all of you!!

Elder Trevor Brown

The Atonement is All about Change

So this week was great!

Thank you EVERYONE for the birthday wishes - I will try to respond to them all - I love you all!!!!!!!!!!!

 

We started off well by destroying the other Elders and Sisters in Bowling! That was great!!! Got some free Es Buah (which is this delicious fruit soup stuff) for it!

We also got to take two new missionaries Elder Park and Elder Hart on splits for a couple days! I was with Elder Hart from the great state of California - it was super great! We had  a good time! He is awesome and was really brave even though his language is still new - I learned a ton from him. Haha i just about left him at the train station. I started running and he maybe didn't and I jumped on, then held the door, but got kinda shoved away from the door, so he jumped on and the door tried to close on him and I had to grab him and yank him in haha. It was pretty awesome!

We taught a lot of people this week! We had 6 people come to church which is miraculous in itself and it was relly cool - the members were great!! One member said "Elder, golden investigators." We had a really good lesson with one friend and he said "Is it really okay for me to baptized again??" so we taught him about the Restoration of the  Priesthood and authority of God and then said "So what do you think?"  I really hope the spirit testified to him in the moment. A lot of good progress with our simpatisans. I'm trying to see them and love them as God does.

This week we have an activity with the YSA in Jakarta to learn Sign language together to help support our investigator who is way cool!

I thought a lot about change this week! It's so sad that some people think they are the way they are or they are in the situation they are in and it can't be changed. But the whole reason for the Atonement is change! I just have this testimony that the Atonement of Jesus Christ makes it possible to change and become better. I love something Steph taught me "It is never the worng time to be who you want to be" I know that we can change and that is an incredible gift in and of itself! I love you all - you are incredible!

Plowing Through It!

Life is so good Mom! Sorry I don't tell you a ton because I just have so many things to write!!  It's good to here that they still remember me in Liberty Lake!

Last Pday we rode tandem bikes to Taman Mini which is this huge park with a ton of cultural stuff there. But also because of Ramadan, a lot of it was closed!

So my investigators- a lot of them don't want to make commitments, but they're all such amazing children of God, It's a privilege to work with them! I love them!

One investigator is making really great progress. We were teaching and then he just went and explained everything a bout Joseph Smith and the Restoration and we were just like "WOW. I guess he has been understanding everything." That was way cool and we gave him a baptismal date for the 9th of July! That's cool! The hardest thing is getting people to come to church because that actually takes some work and commitment! But its really good too! The ward here is awesome! We'll just move forward with greater faith!

We need to put forth more effort and rely on the Spirit more! We have such great potential in Jakarta - it's incredible!!

I was sick all week but not too bad, just "plowed through it" like President Rowley says!

We rode a lot of trains and busses and walked a lot! 

I got my birthday package!! Thank you SO much! That is all incredible - especially the Summer Sausage! Incredible!

I love you so much!! 

Love Trevor

it's really impossible not to be happy and excited

Mom

I was actually just going to ask you about Brendan!! Great you got to see him and Conner - every time you see anyone, tell them I love them! I was also wondering if you could tell me how Zoe and Kylee and Bethany and those guys are doing! Also who are the people graduating in our ward this year?

If you don’t mind, I'm just going to jump into highlights from my week! It was a good week!

It was SO great to talk to you all last week - like Heaven on Earth :)

It was super fun to be a threesome with Elders Subagio and Grundvig last week and now it's nice to be just the two of us again. We totally thought Elder Subagio was moving - but turns out not - yay!

We met a lot of realy cool people this week! Many of whom were actually referrals from Elders Bell and McKeon who are some pretty fantastic missionaries!  We now have 5 people committed to be baptized and more on the way! They are not quite ready yet, but as we work together, I am so excited to see these amazing people come closer to our Saviour Jesus Christ through faith and repentance and when they are ready baptism! Wahoo!

We met a really cool guy from Africa! He randomly showed up to Stake Conference - pretty miraculour, because he showed up to the normal building and coincidentally another brother visiting from America showed up too but no one was there! So together they figured out it was stake conference and showed up together! Then, that night, we taught the man from Africa and at the end of the lesson he said "I would like to baptized... next week". So that was really cool! His faith in Jesus Christ is INCREDIBLY strong! It was a privilege to get to teach and learn with him and I'm excited to see his progression!

Life is just so good! I love seeing the truth change people's lives! So many people are just searching and they just want to come closer to God and find truth and every day I get to share my personal testimony that Jesus Christ lives and has restored His truth to the earth. It's pretty awesome!

Some other good things:

I bought a backpack a couple weeks ago- it's super awesome!

I made biscuits MoM!! i had no shortening a, so I used oil and it actually turned out a lot like yours - they were way good!

We have a big, mission wide meeting with Elder Soares this week - that will be so fun!!! I'm stoked about that!

I've been working really hard to be kinder and happier and love more! Elder Bell taught me that faith really affects our attitude - and if we are focusing on our faith, it's really impossible not to be happy and excited to share this wonderful restored gospel with those around us!!

I just love ALL of you so much and as much as I miss you - I know I am supposed to be here serving my brothers and sisters in Indonesia!

Hurrah for Israel!

Elder Brown

LOVE hearing about it all from Regionals! Big bummer for Bryce!

ALL these people are Children of God!

YES!!! GO BRYCE!! Tell him I 'm stoked for Districts!

Mother,

I love the flags - they are great!! I need to buy myself an Indonesian flag too!

SO yeah, both wards, we only really go to the sacrament meeting for English ward and then we've been teaching our investigator between English and Indonesian Sacrament meetings! Then usually the members will give us food to eat afterwards! In this country they kind of just hang out after church haha!

 

SO IT'S PRETTY POLLUTED- in Jakarta, you don’t get tan, you kind of just stay white even though it's real hot. Because of the pollution that is. But it's not too bad!

I'm way excited for Sam and Alice! YOU GO!!!

This was a great week! We had a lot of things go well! We found lots of investigators and challenged many to be baptized! A lot accepted, though the majority of them we haven't set a date yet, but that's coming! I love it! I feel a greater love here than I did in my other cities and I think that's just in part me growing up. Also it comes from just the knowledge that ALL these people are the children of God! IT's so true and an amazing thing when you think about it!

 

We did Splits with the District Leader in Bekasi (which is like a suburb of Jakarta) and that was way good!! We've been working hard and doing new things which is fun! We're trying to work hard to work together with the ward better and help them become stronger!

I love you guys! I think about you every day. I was sitting on a bus and thinking about you Mom and then I was like "there is this man next to me and as much as I would love to think about my Mother, I have left my Mother to bless these people. So if I'm going to be here, I better be doing all I can to make it worth missing my Mom" So I talked to him! And that's just the principle of sacrifice- you sacrifice your all to the Lord and do what HE wants you do to! and as I see it more with a consecrated mindset., it has helped me so much to work harder and give it my all!!

I just love you all so much! I love it here! I'm happy healthy and excited to share the things that I love here!

Love Elder Brown