Elder Conner Brown

Mansfield, PA - Week 6

The Mansfield District - lunch after District Leadership Conference

Hello there!

Man this week has been a rollercoaster. Lots of ups and downs but overall a good week.

 

We had to drop an investigator who we really liked talking with but he just wasn't progressing. Another person who we found and tried to set up a lesson with ended up not being interested. 

 

We had some great meetings with investigators and returning members, though. One was a very successful  meeting where we passed off someone to some Elders in another area. During the lesson, the investigator was very open and eager to learn more about our message, even willing to meet in person with the other Elders! It was such a relief to have that go so well.

 

We also met with some returning members who are very strong in the church and very faithful. They just needed to know that the mask mandate was gone and everything is opened up. A lot of people probably just need to know that and they'll be back to church, so we just need to reach out a lot.

 

The transfer boards came in! It's a lot of excitement in the mission over that stuff, though I don't worry too much about it until the news finally gets out. However, we really weren't expecting what happened next. Elder Taylor and Elder Rushton are staying, but I'm leaving. Lol - I got kicked out of my first area after one transfer in Japan as well. And I'm getting shipped over to that little section of Ohio that's included in the mission. We totally thought Elder Rushton was going away cause he's the longest one here, but nope.

 

 

Anyway, I'm super excited to see what the Lord has in store for me, because you learn very quickly in the field that the Lord sends you where he needs you and there's always something to learn from it. We just have to give the Lord our very best in every circumstance with best faith that we can muster.

Isaiah 55

8 ¶ For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord.

9 For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.

 

It's always so much fun to look back at things and see how the Lord's hand has influenced our lives. I know that we can trust him and give our all to him, because the more we give him, the more he can make out of us.

 

Have a great week!

 

Sincerely,

Elder Brown

 

P.S. Though, tbh I'm not sure what the Lord is thinking making me the designated driver, lol. I only recently got behind the wheel after a 2 year break.

Mansfield, PA - Week 5

Hello there!

 

This has been a pretty fantastic week, though it started off pretty hot, literally. Our two poor swamp coolers had trouble keeping up. At night, Elder Rushton convinced Elder Taylor and I to try sleeping under a damp sheet. It was better than sleeping in sweat I guess.

 

Lol moving on, we've had a long list of awesome lessons this week, so I'll share some highlights. 

 

So we knew there was this outdoor jazz concert happening in the local park and we were planning to go talk to some people there, but when we arrived it was raining. We decided to walk around a bit in the rain when somebody called out to us as we were walking. We ran over and greeted a nice Elderly couple who both knew about the church and were looking for if that jazz concert had a backup location. Long story short, we shared a message about the Gospel of Jesus Christ and got their number! The Lord is in the details.

 

We also taught an in person lesson with some really nice parents of a member who seem to like the restored gospel. We left them with a Book of Mormon with the invitation to read and pray about it. Really hoping that they do, cause "by the power of the Holy Ghost, ye may know the truth of all things." (Moroni 10:5).

 

A wonderful lady we've been teaching had her baptism just this Saturday! She has come such a long way and it has been so nice teach her these past few weeks leading up to this special day. The spirit was so strong and she was so happy after the service.

 

 

Hope you all have a great rest of your week! The work moves forward and the gathering of Israel continues!

 

Sincerely,

Elder Brown

 

A hornet's nest that was found outside the entrance to the church on the day of the baptism.

Mansfield, PA - Week 4

Hello there!

 

It's been a pretty busy week, but filled with lots of good experiences. We made a couple videos about the gospel to post to the area instagram page. We've also kept meeting with the lady who has a baptismal date. She just passed her interview a couple days ago and the baptism time is set! 

 

Zone conference happened last Thursday and it was awesome. I had forgotten during my mission break just how powerful and energizing zone conferences are. President and Sister Wright get up and speak on improving our faith and the work. Our zone leaders give specific workshops. We get to talk with and rejoice with fellow missionaries. It's a blast!

 

 

The last couple days had some good lessons. We taught a less active couple that has been coming to church a lot recently. We also had a hand off lesson with someone we met online and the Elders who live closer to where he is. The spirit was so present during that meeting and the man agreed to a baptism date to shoot for.

 

One thing President Wright encouraged us to do at zone conference was build the light within us through faith in Jesus Christ and being motivated to do every good thing. That's something I definitely want to strive for by caring more about others and working my hardest in this calling the Lord has given me. And I know that invitation applies to everybody who wants to bring a little more light to the world.

 

Hope you all have a great week!

Sincerely,

Elder Brown

 

Photos from a District Activity last P-day (June 21)

 

Mansfield, PA - Week 3

Hello there!

 

So last Monday, after emails and stuff, we took a walk down Main Street and checked out some of the stores, then a tossed a frisbee at a nearby park. Shortly after we got back to our apartment from all our stuff, we received a call that a sister in our ward had a flat tire and was just a few blocks from our house. It was pretty fun to learn how to replace a tire with a donut, even when the rain started up. Good times.

 

Tuesday, we had in person overnight exchanges with the zone leaders. Basically, my companion Elder Taylor was replaced with Elder Reed for the day. We went around doing normal studies and lessons. Elder Taylor was the designated the driver usually so Elder Rushton driving was quite an adventure. We had a lesson with a sweet older lady who has been on the fence about baptism, so we talked about it and the power the holy ghost can have in her life. At last, she accepted the invitation to be baptized! 

 

On Wednesday, we took Elder Reed and traded him back for our safer driver. We had a district meeting with President Wright and then interviews with him. He's a super cool guy and a great mission president. Later on, we met with a guy named M. and taught him the Gospel of Jesus Christ, where we gave the baptismal invitation. He said he'd be baptized as well! So many great blessings in Mansfield.

 

On Thursday, we had district council for a good part of the day, but had a great lesson later on with a guy over the phone who lives in Kentucky. He's been pretty accepting of the message since we found him online and we're looking forward to handing him off to Elders closer to where he lives. Definitely will keep following him, though.

 

Friday was weekly planning as usual. Other then that, we had a great lesson with a member about testimonies. She then took us over to introduce her nonmember parents, where we shared another message about the Plan of Salvation. It was a great member plus missionaries opportunity and they seemed to really like the message.

 

Saturday, tbh nothing noteworthy. Just normal stuff.

 

Sunday was a great day cause there were lots of faces we were excited to see at Sacrament meeting. The lady mentioned before with a baptismal date was there, as well as a couple less active members we had been meeting with. It truly is a blessing to see those we meet with attend church and see what we're all about.

 

President Wright, this past week, asked us to increase our faith in Jesus Christ through study, the first suggestion given by President Nelson at last general conference. So, I started studying scriptures about his purpose and mission, and 2 Nephi 31 struck me powerfully.

 

9 And again, it showeth unto the children of men the straitness of the path, and the narrowness of the gate, by which they should enter, he having set the example before them.

10 And he said unto the children of men: Follow thou me. Wherefore, my beloved brethren, can we follow Jesus save we shall be willing to keep the commandments of the Father?

 

Jesus came into the world for many reasons, but one of them was to be a perfect example for us, so we could know how to live and what path to follow to return to God. I love how his example is something we can always rely on and fall back to if we have questions or problems. That's why I find his invitation to be perfect like him more comforting than daunting. He is the rock on which we can all build so that we do not fall.

 

Have a great week!

Sincerely,

Elder Brown

Mansfield, PA - Week 2

Hello there!

 

It's been a pretty good week and I'm getting more settled in to the missionary groove.

 

Starting with a bit of the last p-day, we did some cleaning and vacuuming, right after we cleaned the vacuum of course. That thing had dust and hair clogged all the way up the tube. It was kind of funny. Did some shopping as well to make sure I had personal food.

 

Tuesday started out with running for our exercise. Went to a nearby track field and did some laps. We had a few lessons that fell through, but we were able to meet with some members and have a nice lesson on prayer.

 

On Wednesday, Elder Taylor and Elder Rushton gave me a crash course on weights. The most i can handle is 15lb but its much more effective than using a big bottle of soy sauce, lol. Anyway, we also had District Council today, where I gave a short training about the importance of planning. I talked about my experience in the MTC where we already had a rigid schedule, but personal planning when I'd do specific goals really helped me get more done. In the afternoon, we did some service at a food distribution center where our job was mostly loading boxes of food into cars. When all was done, they had some food left over, so they gave us a LOT of spinach. 

 

Thursday, we met a recent convert who was super sweet lady. We went over the plan of salvation with her. Afterwards, we had a lesson with a man we taught before who knows a lot about the Bible but was curious about what we believed, wanting to know firsthand from the missionaries. He's very respectful when he talks about his beliefs and discusses ours, which align in so many places. The one big difference is how we are saved, you know, grace vs grace after all we can do. We did a lot of contacting later in the evening with formers, less actives, and actives. 

 

Friday was mostly weekly planning, reviewing goals for the transfer and the week. We had a lesson with one of our investigators over the Plan of Salvation. Not too much else happened.

 

Saturday, we had a meeting with all the other missionaries and the President Wright. He gave us some great goals to build our faith in Jesus Christ like President Nelson taught last General Conference. Immediately after the meeting, I had Japanese District Council. The district leader assigned me to give the grammar principle, so i went over how to use "aida" which means when or during. It's super useful so I hope I taught it well enough. Later in the day, we taught someone lesson 3 the Gospel of Jesus Christ (think ive gotten that far only once before). We invited her to be baptized and she said she'd pray about it. The afternoon we visited formers and less actives, which we can only do so much of because our miles are limited and everything out here is so spread out. We visited another investigator who is considering being baptized and gave her a couple pamphlets, including the Restoration Proclamation. It turns out that she was on the fence because she didn't know much about the church itself, so this was a huge help and miracle for her! 

 

Sunday, the day where exercise is not required. Man my muscles enjoyed that after a week of exercise. Anyways, i played piano in sacrament meeting because our usual pianist was on vacation. I asked throughout the week what we were playing to see if i could practice a bit, but no solid answer. It went pretty well all the same, though i kinda blundered the sacrament hymn. Lol, would've felt a little better about myself if it wasn't the 2 line wonder "there is a Green Hill Far Away". The rest of the afternoon had some lessons fall through, but we got a new investigator!

 

All in all, a pretty good week. The Lord gives us what we need according to our efforts.

 

Thanks for reading!

Elder Brown

 

Photos this week ...... food

 

 

 

Mansfield, PA - Week 1

June 2, 2021 - Arrival Day

Hello there!

I am currently writing this in a hotel room after my first evening in Pittsburgh! It's been a fun time so far and lots has happened, but its ten minutes til sleep so I'll have to leave you in suspense til p-day. For now, I'll let you know that I'm happy and well and super excited to start this next part of my mission! It feels really good to be back.

 

Give Cooper some scratches in my place. Love you guys!

 

Sincerely,  Elder Brown

 

 

June 7th - P-Day

Hello there!

Well, I guess I better start from the beginning since I couldn't put much in my last email. Got onto my first flight for Chicago. Gave up the no-leg-room middle seat so that a couple could sit together. Turns out they were headed to Pennsylvania as well, though not Pittsburgh. The wife grew up there so we had a nice talk of what Pennsylvania is like. 

 

My next flight was a bit delayed, but I got to visit with Elder Penrod while we waited, who had the same flight. When we finally arrived in Pittsburgh, President Wright, his wife, and several other missionaries were waiting for us. We missionaries all piled into the mission van, Teancum. (Wanted to ask how many people that car assassinated, but I forbeared, lol) The rest of the evening and the morning of the next day, we had orientations and meetings. President Wright met with each of us one by one and talked about why we were serving a mission.

 

with President & Sister Wright

All of the new missionaries who arrived on June 2nd

 

President & Sister Wright and new companions

 

Finally, at about noon on Thursday, I met my new companions! I'm in a trio with Elder Rushton, my trainer, and Elder Taylor, my district leader. We went to BWW with some other missionaries for lunch before heading out. So funny to have that table of nine or so missionaries, each with trays of wings in front of them, then the one Elder in the middle who had to be different with his burger and fries. 🤣

 

The drive to our area took about 5 hours and we arrived at about dinner time. We had a video lesson scheduled for that night, but sadly the person didn't pick up.

 

The next morning, my body ached from the first exercise I'd done in about a year. Other than that, it was a good day. We had district council in the morning, and a lesson in the evening. The lesson was with a guy we found on Instagram who knows a lot about the bible, so we weren't too sure what to expect, but he turned out to be an awesome guy. A lot of our beliefs lined up and he's curious about learning our perspective and beliefs. It was a good lesson and he's trying out the Book of Mormon, so can't wait to see what happens.

 

On Saturday, we had Japanese district council. There are four other elders in my mission who speak Japanese, so President Wright grouped us together online. One of the Elders shared a grammar principle and then we played Jeopardy with Japanese related questions. It was a fun time. The rest of the day was finding with a bit of teaching. 

 

On Sunday, I got to meet the Mansfield branch. Met some really sweet people during church. One member asked who of us could play piano. I think I'm playing next week, lol. After church we had a couple in person lessons with some less actives and another investigator. 

 

All in all, its a great area with some great people, and I am super excited to be teaching here.

 

Love you guys!

 

Elder Brown