The week we gained 20 pounds. IN SPIRITUALITY

Hiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii!!!
Okay okay, we gained weight physically too. Listen, the ward mission leader gave us a FIVE POUND TUB OF COOKIE DOUGH. Like, what??? I'm sorry??? What are you thinking??? Granted, he said to make cookies for our investigators and other people we teach, which we did! But naturally there was collateral damage. We ate so much cookie dough. Ah. Plus the members feed us most nights (blessed) so we are eating large amounts of food along with all the cookie dough. But no more! We have committed to eating healthier this week.

It has been a GREAT week! It went by so fast! I feel SO blessed to be here in Fontana in the Oleander Ward with Sister Peterson, because we have SO many people to teach and we are so busy! We always have investigators at church too and it's amazing. And to top it off I get along SO well with Sister Peterson, we have a lot of fun and we also work and teach really well together. But now I'm afraid I'm getting my hopes up too high for the rest of my mission! Sister Peterson is like "this isn't normal." Haha. Hopefully this is setting a standard for the rest of my mission so it will only get better? Yes? That sounds good to me.

On Friday we had a Thanksgiving Dinner activity for the ward and it was SO GREAT! Seriously it was the best. Activities with food are amazing because no one can pass up free food, which means we had TONS of investigators there! Lori, Maureen, Angie, Tiffany & Davin and their 7 kids, Addy, and some of them even brought non member friends. It was awesome. I love being able to go around and talk to all the members and investigators and to have everyone in one room eating food, getting along, having a good time, AH! So great! I love activities! And I keep forgetting that thanksgiving is this week! Not to mention Black Friday. I keep forgetting that there's still holidays and people still live non mission lives! Haha.

On Thursday we had Zone Conference! My first zone conference, aww. It was amazing! This years Christmas Initiative for the church is going to be SO great so all of you better be excited about it. 25 days of service in December. It's gonna be awesome. I'm serious. Get pumped.

This week we met a 40 year old man who started telling us his life story, and how we are so young and have our whole life ahead of us, but his life is like halfway over. It really got me thinking! Time goes by SO fast, even if we don't realize it. Think of how long it's been since Christ came to the earth. Like 2000 YEARS! And that time just passed like normal! Which is why we have to make the most of EVERY moment. I know people say "make the time count" or whatever, but listen, every moment you are in is fleeting, and you will NEVER get that moment back. Right now, you are sitting here reading this, but in a few hours you'll be doing something different and this moment will be gone. And you'll never get it back. You will never get that EXACT moment back. Time passes, whether you like it or not. Do you see what I'm saying? EVERY moment counts, no matter what. The only way you're not going to look back at life with regrets is if you appreciate each moment you are in and make the most of it, no matter what. Whether you're having the best time of your life or going through really difficult challenges, appreciate it! Because soon it will be gone, and you'll be looking back at it thinking, "that happened. Did I make the most of it? Did I appreciate that moment for what it was, and not what I wanted it to be?" Every moment counts.

I feel confident that if we live life with this attitude then we we will be more grateful overall, we will feel more joy, more lasting happiness knowing we appreciated each moment we are given by God. And that joy and peace, even during trials, comes from the Savior! HE is the reason we can be happy and appreciate every moment, no matter what it may be. He suffered so that we don't have to! Ever! God doesn't want us to only be happy sometimes, he wants us to be happy ALL the time! And we can! This is not some outrageous, unattainable thing. We can have lasting joy. Every day, all the time. We just have to do His will. Joy is as lasting as the things that produce it. So allow that peace and joy into your life by accessing Christ's Atonement, repenting daily and getting back on track, and doing the things that God has shown will make us happy. There is no other way to be truly happy! The only way is His way. 2 Nephi 31:21

There's my rant about making the most of your time. I feel very passionate about it! I realized that being on a mission at this time in my life is a once in a lifetime opportunity, so I better make the most of it every single day and love it. That's the plan.

I am so grateful for all of you. Thank you for the support and love you give, and for the wonderful examples you all are to me! God is so aware and proud of all of you for the good things you do, even if they may be small. And I feel so blessed to have such amazing people in my life. Ah! You're all the best. I'm serious! Every single one of you! Especially if you read this whole email. That's way cool. You made it to the end. Nice. Hahaha.

I LOVE YOU ALL! HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

Love, Sister Brown