Sister Brown in the Philippines: Pigeon Infestation‏

Shalee's fans...she says they chant Sister Brown, Sister Brown as they follow her around! So cute!

Well we have a pigeon infestation. There are 5 pigeons who have made our little back porch their home. And one of them may have exploded. Right over where we hang our clothes to dry. We love pigeons. And can I just say, Halloween candy tastes 1 million times better than regular candy! I got to open my 2nd giant package this week and it was full of Halloween candy which has now been consumed by the 4 Canlubang sisters. Thanks mom! And the Christmas tree is seriously the most adorable thing I have ever seen! Maraming salamat po para sa lahat ng pagkain! We love it. With all of our chubby little hearts ;)

Tender mercies and little miracles. That is what this week was. Just little things, but I just know Heavenly Father watches out for his missionaries, and all of His children really. One of them included another little boy walking up and giving me a flower and all of the little kids on the street following me out of the neighborhood every day. I just love them! And second of all, somehow we got 17 new investigators this week! The average is 7 and that's usually a struggle. One day we went tracting in Ceris 3 expecting no one to let us in because it's a really hard area, but somehow we found all the people that had been taught before by the Elders. We even found a man who had a Book of Mormon and said he used it as a reference when he attended his Catholic church! Plus we just taught a lot of really hard lessons this week. We had to drop one of our investigators that I've been teaching since the very beginning because she just wasn't progressing, we had to teach the Law of Chastity to an investigator who lives with her boyfriend but isn't married, and we had to teach about the Sabbath Day and ask one of our investigators to talk to his boss about working on Sundays. I was super nervous but one by one they accepted the lessons and no one threw anything at us so it's all good!

And you may already know, but the Tacloban missionaries are all safe and accounted for and the mission has been closed. So we now have 15 new missionaries from Tacloban! Thank you for your continued prayers for the people and the missionaries in the areas that were affected by the typhoon. They really need them.

On another note, Joel and Arianne were MIA this week. We are really worried about them because they are of course having obstacles placed in their way left and right. Their baptism is supposed to be in 2 weeks but Arianne's mom all of a sudden doesn't want them to be baptized and they live with her so they can't really go against her will unless they are willing to move. So prayers for them this week would be greatly appreciated!

And here is the optimism quote I talked about last week:

"There is so much to be happy about in this world. And when we fail to see the world around us for the wonder and joy that it has to offer and when we refuse to see the hope and the light everywhere around us, we are not seeing the world as it truly is. We are not seeing the world as Heavenly Father sees it."

How true is that? The world is a good place and if we look, there is ALWAYS something to be happy about! But we also have agency, and we can choose not to see it or not to focus on it. And I'll be honest, sometimes I do that. I have little pity parties for myself and I refuse to see the good in the world. Yes, there are trials. We all have them. And some days it's hard to see the light at the end of the tunnel. But there is a light. We just have to look for it. That's what I did this week and there's so much sunshine I need a bigger sunshine notebook! So that's my challenge to you this week. Look for your own Sunshine Moments. Look for the good in the world. And I promise you'll see God's hand in your life and the life of those around you.

Love you all and thanks for your love and support! Have a fabulous week!

XOXO, Sister Brown