Poolside Planning & Last Transfer Blues

HEYYYYYYYY

ok SERIOUSLY this week went by crazy fast AGAIN are you kidding me help sos mayday mayday

Yeah so can we please not talk about how this week I start my LAST TRANSFER IN THE MISSION FIELD. I never thought I would say that and I honestly never thought I would get to this point. On Thursday morning I woke up and was getting ready to go exercise and I was like “oh my goodness it is already Thursday??” And the thought just came to me that time is going by way too fast and I don’t have a lot of time left on my mission, so I started crying. but then I pulled it together and told myself that one transfer is still a long time and I still have one whole transfer to be on a mission and to be serving the Lord full time. So it’s all good, I’m fine, I know that the best is yet to come and I’m just going to make this the best transfer yet!

We had a GREAT week! Also let me just rave about Sister Tomisin for a minute. She is just a hilarious little thing and such a hard worker and it is so enjoyable to do the work with her. Also she is a great communicator which I love! I love our relationship because we are able to communicate openly with one another and express our thoughts and feelings to each other without worrying about if the other person is going to get offended. It is soooo nice and I definitely want that kind of open communication with my future spouse! Also she is seriously so funny you guys. I JUST LOVE HER.

Funny story:

On Wednesday we had dinner with the scouts for the blue and gold banquet (?) or something, and the theme was Harry Potter. So Sister tomisin and I were talking about the HP houses and I told her that I thought she is maybe a Slytherin with some Gryffindor mixed in there. So she asked me what Slytherins are like and I turned to this 10 year old girl next to me and asked her what some qualities of a slytherin were. Her response was SO funny. With lots of sass, she said, “they are MEAN, they are UNTRUSTWORTHY, they tell LIES” etc etc and sis Tomisin was like WHAT THE Sister brown why did you say I’m a slytherin?? Hahaha it was just hilarious.

Also on Thursday and Friday we were sick! Sister T had a pretty bad migraine and I ended up getting a cold on the same day, so that day was rough. We were out for pretty much the whole day. Friday morning I was not feeling well so I slept for a while and then I felt better!

On Friday afternoon we went to Sister Griffins to weekly plan by her pool. let me tell you it was the most productive weekly planning session ever! Sister Griffin brought us snacks and it was a breezy 75 degrees outside and we have never been more focused during weekly planning. It was great! Pics to follow. I plan on swimming in Sis. G’s pool when I come back and visit the mission!

On Saturday we had this ward fundraiser carnival thing! It was so fun. Marius came! Also we did so well on not having sugar, we only had one whole funnel cake and three cotton candy’s oops. Worth it though! I MEAN HAVE YOU HAD A FUNNEL CAKE, LIKE WOW. Delicious. We were able to talk to a member there who was able to tell us about two potential investigators in our area for us to teach! And we had dinner with them yesterday!

Funny story from Saturday:

So everyone was at the carnival and the kids were on all the bounce houses and the blow up obstacle course and the mechanical bull, and then all of a sudden the sprinklers came on! So then we just see all these wet kids running away and screaming and AH it was so comical and hilarious, it reminded me of a scene from a movie. All the adults were just dying laughing.

Yesterday at church I saw my old YSA Bishop, BISHOP THOMAS and his wife and their daughter Tori! They were in town for the Tennis tournaments which is going on like five minutes from my area, so they came to church in my ward! It was soooo fun to see them, I just love them so so much.

Also forgot to mention St. Patty’s day on Saturday was sooo fun at Sister Griffins! We had dinner with her and there were four non members there! They are all so sweet and it was so fun to talk with them.

Lately in our mission and in our stake, we have been talking a lot about apathy, and how it is a plague that has taken the hearts of many church members and people in the world. There has been a lot of emphasis put on the word “awake” and awakening people out of this unhealthy apathetic state. It talks about awakening a lot in the scriptures, for example, in Alma 5:7 (have I shared this scripture before?) it says, “Behold, he changed their hearts; yea, he awakened them out of a deep sleep, and they awoke unto God. Behold, they were in the midst of darkness; nevertheless, their souls were illuminated by the light of the everlasting word.”

It is so true, that many people are “past feeling”. As I reflected on this subject, I realized that maybe I have fallen into that same trap. It is so easy to get into a routine of living the gospel that sometimes it gets to the point that we don’t care and are just going through the motions. Which is why it is so important to awake and to FEEL. Elder Ballard once said, “People change by what they feel and not so much by what they know.”

Knowing can be a one-time experience, but FEELING is a DAILY experience.

Here is a formula I created:

Daily “feeling” = daily changing >>> which leads to conversion.

Are you feeling the power of the gospel of Jesus Christ in your life every single day? When was the last time you felt the power of the Holy Ghost in your life? I mean reeeally felt it?

These are questions that I recently asked myself, and I invite you all to ponder on these questions. What do you need to do to FEEL? That is where the real power comes, and that is when real and positive change happens in our lives. It is not a one-time process, it is a daily experience. I know that as we work together to FEEL that the gospel is true, it will make an apparent difference in our lives, and we will be happier and more at peace in world that is in commotion.

I hope you all have an amazing week! God is good. SO good! Don’t forget it! Love you ALL!!!

ps WHOA this email is long, if you made it this far then way.to.GO.

Sister Carina Brown

California Redlands Mission

Discover.mormon.org