"Being almost obedient, Almost brings Blessings!"

My companion Elder Senkans and I, Elder Brown

Elder Brown looking off the shores of Guernsey Island

We are teaching a guy who is seventeen, but he seems like he is in his twenties the way he looks and acts. His name is Sh__ and he has a baptismal date for the 21st of February.

This week was wonderful! It started off a bit slow, but it ended really well. I think the best part of the week was blessings and miracles of exact obedience.

On Friday we had gotten the harvester in the mail, and I read it at lunch. There was one phrase that really stuck out to me. It was "being ALMOST obedient, ALMOST brings blessings." It really hit me, and I kept thinking about it, and at the end of our weekly planning session Elder Senkans and myself set a goal to be more obedient to a few things that seem quite small and too hard to manage to really try, but we decided to do it to test the promise of the Lord in the scriptures. "I the Lord am bound when ye do what I say." On Friday night, the other Elders came in as we were discussing how we could improve, and we began talking with them. As a district we set some goals to be 100% obedient. The next day, we went on exchange as I had planned and announced at the beginning of the transfer. In that day alone, the district extended 4 baptismal dates, which were accepted. We gained 5 new investigators, and then on Sunday we had 4 of them at church, plus two other non-members who showed up, because their daughter (a member) invited them to come. 

The exchange was wonderful. Elder Heninger and I worked in his area. We had a really balanced day with finding and teaching and it was really cool to be able to plan together and then to follow the plans we made (because we started the exchange Friday evening instead of the usual) and be as obedient as we could and then watch the Lord do his work. My favorite quote from the exchange came from Elder Heninger after we left their newest baptismal date, who was excited to tell us that her surname was Moorman. As we left her home, and walked down the street, he said, "Never again will I ALMOST be blessed." Great things are happening here, the Sharpes are back, and the work is moving forward!

We only get to exchange with the other elders here, but the Zone Leader's are trying to get permission to do one exchange next transfer, they only get a certain amount per year, I think. 

We are Currently trying to get permission to go to Herm  or Sark (two small Islands by Guernsey) or both on a preparation day. The Zone Leader's haven't gotten back to me yet. The Islands are in our area technically, but we don't proselyte out there. Missionaries have asked in the past and didn't get permission.  We have little contact with Jersey Island, mainly District Leader Conference and Zone Conference. 

Nothing too interesting happened while the Sharpes were gone, just a bit of a bumpy sacrament meeting, but it worked out quite well, president Furbank from the stake came over for the weekend, so it was fine. 

The Sharpes are from Utah, they have been serving for 6 months, but just got to Guernsey a month ago and hope to stay here for the rest. I think they probably will, senior couples don't usually move at all. 
Anyway, love you all tons! Here's a few pictures.