Date Day

HEYYYYYYYYY HELLOOOOOOO

guess what we are doing today, we are going to the International Date Festival! held right here in Coachella valley (in the same exact place where the Coachella music festival happens). Apparently people come here from all over to buy and sell dates. It is essentially a county fair with fatty fair food and rides and crazy people, so I’m excited! maybe I will send some pictures of it later. Haven’t had a date in a while so this will be fun we are going with the Griffins! 

It has been a fun week! This week we had interviews with President which is always amazing. I loooove President Dixon soooooooo so much. He told me some things that I really needed to hear and it was just very uplifting. Seriously I am just obsessed with the Dixon’s. 

Also this week we did service at the Braille Institute! It was SO fun! We basically helped blind people, one on one, with their ceramic projects. It is a great service opportunity because we could just talk to people individually and help them with whatever project they were working on. I loved it, we will be doing that probably once a week! It is just so fun to help people. 

OH YEAH we had a wonderful Valentine’s Day! That was the day we had interviews. Also yes mom I got the card, thank you soooo much.  Sister Griffin fed us dinner on Valentine’s Day and it was just wonderful. Her husband was there (non member) and her mom and Sister were also there (both non members) and they were all just so sweet. Also, Sister griffin got Sister Tomisin and I valentines presents! Seriously it was the sweetest. She gave me a cute apron and a heart shaped cast iron skillet, and a Panera gift card  I love Panera! And dinner was so good, wow we got so full. Sister Griffin is an amazing cook and always gives us like a seventeen course meal, so if you see me rolling off the plane in a couple months you can know it was Sister Griffins fault  seriously though I LOVE HER. 

Also on Saturday we had two mini missionaries from Yucaipa spend the day with us! Or was fun! Their names were Liz and Emily. They are so sweet and it was fun to have them with us. 

Also our investigator Ashley came to church yesterday! She hasn’t been to church in weeks! And her sister Pauline (recent convert) got engaged last week! So exciting! Also yesterday we had a great lesson with Marius and he told us his feelings on baptism and said he wants to be completely sure that this is what he wants before he dives in. We are being patient and praying for him all the time. If you could include him and Ashley in your prayers, that would be great! Thank you! 

This past week I have been thinking a lot about charity. Sometimes I don’t know how to respond to people as the Savior would, and the scripture that always comes to mind is Moroni 7:45. That is our guideline to act exactly how the savior would! I came across a wonderful quote by Thomas S. Monson the other day: 

“Charity is having patience with someone who has let us down. It is resisting the impulse to become offended easily. It is accepting weaknesses and shortcomings. It is accepting people as they truly are. It is looking beyond physical appearances to attributes that will not dim through time. It is resisting the impulse to categorize others.”​​

The thing is, we are all imperfect. That is the one thing that you can expect from everyone, is that we all make mistakes. But that doesn’t mean that we should condemn others for those mistakes! Yes, people are going to hurt you. Yes, people will say mean things. People will cut you off on the road. People will make decisions that you can’t understand. Once we understand that these things WILL happen, we can choose to respond in a charitable way. Charity is not something that comes quickly or easily, but if you really want it, it will come. I invite you all to pray fervently for charity this week and to think before you speak, to assume the best in other people, and to see them the way god sees them. Assume the good and doubt the bad. I know that Jesus Christ is the essence of charity and that if you follow his actions, you will become like him. 

Whoa this was kind of a long email. But just know I appreciate all of you and hope you have a GREAT week! LOVE YOU! 

Sister Carina Brown 

California Redlands Mission 

Discover.mormon.org

Sister Peterson and I wore the same apron! This is her last year at Sister Griffins house 

Crepes for breakfast on Valentine’s Day (I’ve been really into making breakfast food lately)

Quinoa and baked broccoli for dinner yum 

mini missionaries 

I HAVE THE CUTEST PARENTS EVER

Tour de Palm Springs 🌴🚲🌴

HELLLOOOOOOOOOOO EVERYONE what’s up 

It has been another wonderful week! And another busy week! So much has happened! 

OH MY GOODNESS IT IS VALENTINES DAY ON WEDNESDAY I forgot 

Remember to love each other ok 

Also I just realized that today is my 16 month mark on a mission  #scary 

Transfers were on Wednesday and I got my new companion! Her name is Sister Tomisin and she is a FIREBALL. I love her so much already, she is so outgoing and hilarious and we have already laughed a ton. She is a strong missionary and loooves being here, she has no homesickness right now and is doing well! I am really impressed with her. You would never tell that she is a new missionary. She is from Ogden, Utah! I think it’s good that she is very emotionally solid because she will probably be the one to send me home! 

On Thursday we had MLC, so I drove up to Highland with Sister Hinckley since we are the STLs. We had so much fun together that day too, I love her so much! Also it was a very revelatory meeting and just confirmed my love of being a missionary. One elder bore his testimony very sincerely and I started crying, seriously I cry a lot in big missionary meetings lately because I just know I’m going to miss this so much when it’s over. Plus when the Dixon’s are around it’s hard not to cry because I just love them so much. 

On Saturday we volunteered for the bike race Tour de Palm Springs! It was so much fun! We basically handed out water to all the bikers at the finish line in downtown Palm Springs, for almost 4 Hours. It was a BEAUTIFUL day and we talked to a lot of people so it was great! I have lots of pictures of that day. 

I came across a scripture yesterday that I loved. It is Alma 5:12 and it says, “And according to his faith there was a mighty change wrought in his heart.” Simple and so profound! Mighty changes are wrought by small amounts of faith over extended periods of time. Faith is built on REVELATION, so if you want to increase your faith then you need to invite revelation into your life. How do you invite revelation? Consistent prayer, scripture study, worshiping at church, serving others, family history research, etc etc. I invite you all to pick one of those things you can improve on this week, and set goals and make plans to be better. I know it will invite revelation into your life, which will increase your faith in Jesus Christ, which will bring a mighty change in your heart, and in turn will bring you JOY! God wants us to be happy, and he has given us the tools to do so. 

Have a lovely Valentine’s Day this week and remember that life is always good when you LOVE. Love you all!!!

Sister Carina Brown

California Redlands Mission 

Discover.mormon.org

Movie night pics

Tour de Palm Springs

Seriously she is so cute and trendy, my wardrobe needs an update in think 

We tried to take jumping pics in the bathroom idk 

15 months

Okay so unfortunately I don’t have a ton of time, today and this past week have been sooooo busy. Also we are currently at a members house doing Virtual Reality (we got permission from the Dixon’s) so I am emailing in between turns! We are also going laser tagging with the Griffins after this, so it’s a busy busy day. Also tonight we set up a “Prophet of the Restoration” movie night for our investigators and recent converts, so we will be very busy getting ready for that! 

Also I hit my 15 month mark recently and it is CRAZY oh my goodness missions are soooo shooorrrrrt. 

Concerning transfers......... drumroll please.............. I will be TRAINING a new missionary again! Crazy! Third times the charm?? Maybe I will get it right this time haha. I was surprised, I didn’t think I would train again! But I will find out who my new comp is on Wednesday, and we will most likely be together for the rest of my mission. Also I found that I will be an STL with Sister Hinckley who is coming to this Zone! yayyyyyyyyy 

Yesterday was fast and testimony meeting, and our investigator Marius calls fast Sunday “open mic Sunday”.  love it! 

Today our roomie Hermana Holton left because she is going home tomorrow! They are actually taking out the San jacinto hermanas so we will no longer have roomies. very sad, I have loved having roommates. 

So one of my favorite scriptures is John 16:33 where Christ says “be of good cheer”. And I learned recently that its not only something Christ says, but it is a commandment! He is commanding us to be of good cheer, and that may be one of the commandments we break most often. I invite you all to make an extra effort to represent the savior and be of good cheer this week! We are here on earth to have joy, so have joy! 

Love you all so much, sorry this is short, have a great week! 

Sister Carina Brown

California Redlands Mission 

Discover.mormon.org

My smoothie exploded