This week has been so much better than last week, and has truly been enjoyable! I have loved every moment and I am so happy to be able to be out here in Ohio serving the Lord. Ohio is now finally starting to cool down and the humidity isn't nearly as bad now. Fall is on its way! I can hardly believe how fast time is flying. I am almost done with training and in a short couple of weeks I will find out what happens to me next.
This past week Elder Steele and I had to go to a funeral of a less active member. The church is in charge of the funerals, and the missionaries often get called on to help with them due to our ability to teach and the fact that many non-members will be there. So Elder Steele and I went and were able to provide prayers and words of comfort for the family. That was rather interesting, though, because a preacher from another church was also asked to speak, so the family got hit up by lots of different religions. Elder Steele is also afraid of dead bodies, so we had to sit outside for as long as possible. I personally thought it was rather funny how afraid of them he is.
After the funeral, the rest of our week became a little more lively (pun may or may not be intended)! We were able to teach lots of lessons with less active members and to be able to help all of them. I love being able to reach out to people and to extend to them our help and our love. It is amazing to be able to see their faith grow and to be a support for them. There is one less active in particular that we have been trying to help. His name is Brother Schabel. He has been less active for over five years and has had many Word of Wisdom issues. We have been able to help him, and I was able to give him a blessing for comfort, support and strength. We then were able to follow up with him yesterday and he has quit all of his drugs, is reading the scriptures, and he got work off for church. It is so exciting to be able to see people's hearts change as they are touched and molded by the gospel.
Many members in the ward have been moving, so we have also been able to spend lots of time helping them move. We have grown so close to the members of this ward, so it is hard to see some of them go. This week we were able to have dinner with the Hayden family. They live off the shore of Lake Erie, so we were able to eat out by the lake and collect some seashells off the beach. The lake is so amazing and it is cool to know that we are at the border of the country!
My tip of the week is to learn to laugh and to smile. There are so many things to laugh at and to be able to enjoy. Look for them and you truly will be able to be happier. I have seen that in my life as I have just strived to smile and to count all the many blessings the Lord has given me. So smile and laugh and rejoice in the goodness of God.
Love,
Elder Brown
Lake Erie
Remember the importance of laughter. :)
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