Elder Conner Brown

Hershey, PA - Week 8

 

Hello there, and Happy Thanksgiving!

 

Holiday weeks are always fun in the mission field, albeit a little interesting since door knocking isn't really an option. For Thanksgiving, President Wright set up a super cool devotional about the Pilgrims and how they focused on gratitude despite all the things they suffered. Later in the day, we went and did a little pie run for our investigators to wish them happy Thanksgiving and show our appreciation for them.

 

Also, this past Wednesday was my 21st birthday! In celebration of being old enough to drink, I went and got some root beer 😆. The real celebration was the long list of appointments we had that day. One was with a super nice family called the F., with whom we had a really nice discussion on faith and how it blesses our lives. We are super excited to continue meeting with them over time. 

 

Another lesson we were super grateful for was a super smooth pass-off lesson for a Spanish family we found. Only a couple people in the family spoke English, so we had the Spanish Elders join us for the lesson and to transition the family over to them. The family had to reschedule for 30 minutes later, but the timing worked perfectly where my companion and I had to leave just as we were getting into the Restoration part. We heard from the Spanish Elders later that night that the lesson went super well and they had a follow-up appointment! I can't wait to hear how they progress.

 

This week in the Bible I was reading in 2 Corinthians when I came across a few verses that I really love, 2 Corinthians 4:8-9, 17 

 

8 We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are perplexed, but not in despair;

9 Persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed

17 For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory;

 

How grateful I am for the hope that comes from knowing that all things will turn together for our good. Paul certainly knew what persecution looked like, and yet he carried on and was not distressed, all because of the hope he had in Christ and the glory prepared for him.

 

Have a great rest of your week!

Sincerely,

Elder Conner Brown

 

Chatting with the family on Thanksgiving

Hershey, PA - Week 7

Hello there!

 

This was a super exciting week leading up to A's baptism! It was such a wonderful experience to see him make those special covenants and take these first steps on the covenant path! That was definitely the highlight of the week.

 

We are super excited for this transfer and for all the people we have lined up to teach. 

 

For instance, we have a lesson soon with a super sweet family who we met because of a prompting to knock a specific door. We recently did a Bible study with them about the story of Naaman and why we follow prophets. We invited them to hear a message we have about modern prophets and they seemed super interested! There's a bit of a language barrier, so we'll need to pass them off to other Elders, but still so cool to find and start teaching them!

 

We also met with a friend named R. who lost contact with the missionaries as covid was starting. He is super down with meeting and hearing the lessons and learning more about the Book of Mormon. A super cool guy who really wants to keep his relationship with Christ strong.

 

B. came to church this Sunday! He loved it and we are super excited to be meeting with him again this week. I'm so thankful for all the people the Lord places into our lives!

 

Thanksgiving is coming up soon! We had a discussion recently with a member about the importance of prayer in our lives. Prayer is one of the many ways we show our gratitude to Heavenly Father. The thought and intent we put into our prayers truly reflects how much he means to us.

 

2 Nephi 32:9 - But behold, I say unto you that ye must pray always, and not faint; that ye must not perform any thing unto the Lord save in the first place ye shall pray unto the Father in the name of Christ, that he will consecrate thy performance unto thee, that thy performance may be for the welfare of thy soul.

 

Make sure to offer thanks to our Heavenly Father this week!

 

Happy Thanksgiving!

Elder Brown the elder

 

 

Hershey, PA - Week 6

Hello there!

 

Transfer news came in! Thank goodness, I'm staying in Hershey with Elder Charles. There are some great people here I would love to keep working with.

 

A., for instance, is getting baptized this Saturday! We're all super excited for him to take this next step on the covenant path. B. is also progressing tremendously and loving the lessons, as well as the Book of Mormon. He's really such a cool guy who wants to be of use to God in his life, so he has awesome stories of how he's been able to help those around him. 

 

The one change that happened this transfer for us is I am no longer the Japanese District Leader. Another capable Elder will be taking care of that from now on.

 

Another fun thing this week was getting to go on exchanges with the zone leaders and then the district leader. While I was out and about with the zone leader, we were just getting ready to head back to the apartment. Of course we decided to do one more door and we prayed beforehand that we would find somebody who needed us. We knocked the door and a young man answered named G.. Elder Ranstrom shared a quick scripture with him. He said he wasn't very religious, but that scripture related exactly to what he was going through. We left him a Book of Mormon, a few other scriptures, and a promise to return and follow up!

 

A couple quotes before I close:

"Being blessed with hope, let us, as disciples, reach out to all who, for whatever reason, have ‘moved away from the hope of the gospel’ (Col. 1:23). Let us reach to lift hands which hang hopelessly down." - Neil A. Maxwell

 

"Hope is the anchor of our souls. …Hope is trust in God’s promises, faith that if we act now, the desired blessings will be fulfilled in the future." - James E. Faust

 

From the faith that we have in Christ, we have an unfailing source of hope that all things will work together for our good. Let us take every opportunity we can to share that hope with those around us who need it. 

 

Have a wonderful rest of your week!

 

Sincerely,

Elder Conner Brown

 

Hershey, PA - Week 5

Hello there!

 

A lot of fun stuff happened this week, so I'll share some highlights. 

 

First of all, we had some awesome meetings with an investigator named B. He actually has been reading the Book of Mormon for months now and we just started teaching him. He has a solid testimony and told us he wants to be baptized! We're meeting with as much as we can to help him do just that! 

 

I dunno if I mentioned last week, but one day we received a random text out of the blue from somebody who picked up one of our pass-along cards. We called him and he said he found it on the ground, a picture of Jesus Christ. He'd been carrying it in his wallet for days now because he liked it and he just now realized there was a number on the back, lol. Anyway we had a Bible study just this past week. He's a super cool guy named J. who was interested in hearing different perspectives on the Bible. We had a wonderful study about how we shed our light as Christ wants us to. 

 

Another funny little miracle, we got a spam risk call on Wednesday, which we felt like calling back just in case. A woman from the Phillipines answered, who was trying to call someone who wasn't us. But, Elder Charles asked if she wanted to hear a message about Christ and she said sure! So we gave a quick message on the spot and we're hoping to teach her a bit more, and pass her off to the right missionaries. You have to take every finding opportunity possible!!

 

Fall is coming into town! Things are getting nice and cold and the leaves are changing. I'm sure everybody enjoyed the recent Fall Back just as much as we did.

 

I'll share a bit of what we did in our Bible study with Jack. We read this verse, and his friend who was also there asked us what it meant:

 

Matthew 5:13 "¶ Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be salted? it is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men."

 

We had a little basket of fries in front of us, so I picked up a french fry and said, "We love salt, right? It tastes good, it preserves things. Back west, we have a restaurant called In-and-Out that has terrible fries with no salt/flavor whatsoever. If the salt has lost it's flavor, there's no purpose for it except to throw it out. In the same way, if we don't do good and help others and bring light into the world, we won't be fulfilling our purpose."

 

I challenge you all to step back this week and determine what the quality of your salt is. Are you fulfilling the purpose Christ wants you to fill?

 

Until next week, let your light shine as bright as I know it can! Love you all!

 

Sincerely,

Elder Conner Brown

 

This photo is from a couple weeks ago when Elder Gene R. Cook, of the Quorum of the Twelves Apostles visited the Pittsburgh Mission.  Can you spot Conner?

 

Here's a close-up.  Can you find him now?

Hershey, PA - Week 4

Hello there!

 

This week had a few downs, but plenty of ups!

 

Elder Livingstone sadly had to go back to Canada because of his sickness last week. But, he was an absolute trooper the whole way and the Lord's got great plans for him. He's already getting better and sending us pics from back home.

 

Elder Charles and I have been holding up the fort so far in Hershey. We had a great lineup of lessons with people we recently found. For H., we taught some of the Plan of Salvation, and taught her just how much Christ can help us through his atonement.

 

We had a Bible study with a lady named V. who really wants to draw closer to Jesus Christ. We had a lesson plan set up to teach the commandments and how they draw us to him, but as the lesson drew closer, we felt prompted to scratch the plan and switch to a lesson on Prayer. As we started the meeting, we asked if she had any questions. She asked us to teach her more about prayer! I love how the spirit works and how important it is to listen to those gentle promptings, especially the first time.

 

Elder Charles and I switched nametags for Halloween. Gotta go dress up as somebody! We also prepped some candy with pass along cards for tricker-treaters, but sadly there were none of them in the area. Fun plan, though.

 

 

 

Here's a Halloween/fear themed scripture for you:

 

2 Timothy 1:7 - "For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind."

 

When the spirit of fear is haunting you, you can always pray for the Holy Ghost to bring you comfort and peace, regardless of the circumstances. 

 

Hope you have a fantastic rest of your week!

 

Sincerely,

Elder Brown the elder

Hershey, PA - Week 3

Hello there!

 

This past week, it seems like the flu just flew through Hershey. Lots of the scheduled appointments fell through because people were turning in sick. Our companionship got hit pretty bad as well.

 

One of my companions got the flu really bad. That combined with a preexisting condition left him puking all week, unable to keep any food or fluids down. That meant we spent most of the week in our apartment where he could relax. We were able to reschedule most of our appointments or do them via zoom, thankfully. And, the Lord still blessed us with 4 new people to teach! Truly the Lord has a plan for all things.

 

For instance, we had a zoom lesson with a member we hadn't ever met before, and were surprised to find she had brought a friend as well! He had been reading the Book of Mormon for months now and was super interested in learning more about the church. It was so cool to hear his already growing testimony of the Book of Mormon and how daily study of it has affected his relationship with God.

 

That's one thing I really love about the Book of Mormon. The relationship we see between God and his people and the prophets is so personal. As we study the lives of those in the Book of Mormon, we learn how to keep God in the loop for all that we do. He isn't a stranger, but somebody who knows us and who we can come to know.

 

We're still studying hard in the Japanese District, this time on the Plan of Salvation, which is the most vocabulary heavy lesson, so it'll push us a bit, hopefully.

 

Going back to my companion, his sickness got so bad, that we had to take him to the hospital on Saturday so they could rehydrate him. Sadly, he'll have to return home to Canada tomorrow where he has healthcare. We're all super sad to see him go, but the Lord's got bigger plans than we do. 

 

Side note, today we got one of those 5lb chocolate bars at Hershey World for him to take home and show off, lol.

 

Hope you all have a fantastic rest of your week!

Sincerely,

 

Elder Brown the older

 

Hershey, PA - Week 2

Hello there! 

 

Sorry this one's be a little short cause a busy preparation day, but the work has been going great here in Hershey!

 

We have been taking the area by storm knocking on doors of former investigators, many of which fell through the cracks over the course of Covid and are interested in meeting again. We've also been talking to many people to and from these visits and finding tons of potential people in the process. 

 

For instance, while walking around a neighborhood, a woman approached US and asked if we were Mormons. Apparently she worked with a member of the church and saw the musical and was super interested in learning what our religion was actually about! 

 

A definite highlight for the week was when Elder Cook came to the mission to address us! He gave such an inspiring message about about great urgency of this work. It reminds me of how the Lord rewarded Nephi the son of Nephi for working with "unwearyingness". Elder Cook also promised that our mission service would bless the lives of all those we love, and I believe it! There is no more important work than the work of Salvation, so I hope it becomes a focal point for everything we do, during or after the mission.

 

Have a wonderful rest of the week!

Sincerely, 

Elder Brown

 

P-Day District Activity - Apple picking

Elder Livingstone gives him a boost

Hershey, PA - Week 1

Hello there!

Sorry for missing last week. We got transfer news that weekend and had a lot of stuff to do to get ready for the new changes.

 

Both Elder Stubbs and I got shipped out! So we both had to work on packing, cleaning up the apartment, and letting our investigators know about the changes. The days leading up to actual transfers were a rush, and super sad saying goodbye to all the awesome people we'd been working with. I'll be excited to hear how they all progress in the future, though, and I'm sure the Sisters replacing us will do an awesome job!

 

I got sent to Hershey, Pennsylvania! It's funny, for my three areas in the mission I've been to three different corners of the mission. Maybe next I'll go north-west and finish the cycle. Anyway, Hershey is a great area with a lot of good potential people and a lot of great members. My companions, Elder Charles and Elder Livingstone, are both awesome missionaries that are ready to get to work. Elder Livingstone actually just arrived here after serving for a while in Canada, so this was his original assignment but he had to wait for the border to open up. 

 

 

 

We had a great experience this last Sunday as we were out visiting people who were formerly taught. A lot of investigators fell through the cracks when covid happened, and that was kind of the case with one couple whose house we knocked on. They invited us in and we were able to have a whole lesson on the spot! We were able to testify of the Book of Mormon and what its truthfulness really means for us, that God is our loving Heavenly Father, that he has a plan for us, and that he still reaches out to his children today.

 

Speaking of God reaching out to us, General Conference Weekend was absolutely fantastic! It was so cool how the messages were centered on our foundation in Christ and on preparing ourselves for these Latter Days. President Nelson said,

"My dear brothers and sisters, these are the latter days. If you and I are to withstand the forthcoming perils and pressures, it is imperative that we each have a firm spiritual foundation built upon the rock of our Redeemer, Jesus Christ."

 

The most important thing we can do today is work on our foundation and help others to do the same, so they aren't beaten down when the winds come and the floods rise. May we have the perfect love we need to invite others fearlessly to build on a firm foundation.

 

Have a great week!

Sincerely,

Elder Brown

 

Elder Charles' toaster trick here

Ohio - Week 12

No letter from Elder Brown this week, but he had a great General Conference weekend and is cleaning up his apartment as both he and Elder Stubbs are being transferred to different areas.  Conner is going to Hershey, PA (which has the best apartment in the mission, according to missionary chatter) and will be in a trio of elders and Elder Stubbs is going to north Pittsburgh.

Ohio - Week 11

Hello there! 

 

This week, the Lord gave us many opportunities to teach people about the Book of Mormon. It truly is the sickle God has given us for this work and it is the starting foundation of testimony for those investigating the Church. All who have accepted our invitation so far have found blessings in studying the Book.

 

For instance, a great guy named An. is finding the same peace through reading the Book of Mormon that he finds with meeting with us and praying. The Spirit truly testifies of Christ and his word. 

 

We did have a few downs this week with lots of potential investigators who either canceled lessons or didn't show up for them, but we'll keep reaching out until they have the chance to accept Christ's word and his peace.

 

General Conference is coming up, which is an awesome opportunity to invite investigators and returning members to watch living prophets and apostles speak to us. 

 

The scripture I'd like to share for this week is Proverbs 3:5-6

5 ¶ Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.

6 In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.

 

We can always trust that God's ways are higher than our ways. The things that may not make sense to us now will one day be revealed to us, and we will be able to see just how the Lord has prepared all things for our good. I testify that he has already prepared the way so that if we follow him, we will be blessed.

 

Have a great conference week!

Sincerely,

Elder Brown