Well MY WEEK!!!!! I have seen so many miracles. I am not even sure what to say!  
Ammon got baptized on Saturday! This is one of the most amazing things I had ever been a part of! This young man, Ammon, is only 17 and is mentally unstable. Because of his condition he did not need to get baptized, but three years ago when he was adopted into an LDS family he began coming to Church and learning about Christ. I have never seen anybody as close to the Lord as this boy. He decided to get baptized, even if he didn't need it, because he knew that it is a commandment. Whenever we meet with him he always gets excited and tells us how he is reading his Book of Mormon! After he was baptized he clapped his hands and said "yay". Later he got up and bore the sweetest testimony I have ever heard! There was not a single dry eye there that is for sure! I feel so blessed to have been able to be a part of his life, to see his progression and see happiness that has enveloped him and his family.

I ran into Grandma Gibbons the other day too! She is in town visiting. I was at the VC and turned around and BAM there she was! I didn't get to talk long because I was with a lady at the VC teaching her about Christ. It was nice to get a familiar hug and see that beautiful smile of hers. Sure love that family!! I will probably end up running into the gang some time during Christmas lights (which are FANTASTIC!!!). 

Christmas time is a big deal at the VC. We have shifts usually from 5:30pm-10pm -most days, some days we have a morning one. LOTS of people have been coming to the VC for the lights and the nativity exhibit. We have 90+nativities from around the world! I love it. I think its funny how I get to explain what a painting means or draw symbolism from work because that is what I LOVE to do at school and such! People have realized I love doing that, so they send some visitors to me to understand paintings and then I swoop in and tie it into the gospel :) I love it. Another funny thing about being in the VC is we don't always have to be next to our companion. As long as we stay inside the walls of the VC we are put into different posts and such, some newer elders or even some members always look super concerned and ask us Where is your Companion! I just smile and explain how we work differently at the VC.

I have learned soooo much this week! This letter truly does not do justice. I have realized that I have so much to learn. While I was at the MTC I learned how to have patience with my companion and others, but I must have missed that step of having it with myself. This work is hard, and I came out and wanted to know exactly what to do and how to do everything right away. That is not how it works. I was having a hard time accepting the fact that I needed to be patient with myself and such. One morning I actually wrote in my journal soemthing along the lines of "I need to learn to accept I don't know everything and I need to be have patience". Later that day I got a letter from Jordan that had exactly what I needed to learn. He shared some scriptures about patience and still has no idea how impact full they were to me. I know each and every day I am learning and coming to understand more and more.

I love this work. I love the chance I have to share what I know with others and help them come to Christ. At the VC there are lots of Members or people who might not be intersted in the CHurch at all that just come in for fun, I have loved the chance to testify to all about Christ. Even if they do not have a desire to change I know that I have done the Lords work and planted a seed in their hearts. I am so grateful to be here. I know that following Christ is the ONLY way (2Ne 31:21). I am so happy to have that in my life. I know that no matter what if I "Hold on...[and] fear not" I will be blessed "for God shall be with you forever and ever" (D+C 122:9).

I testify that this work I am doing is important. We all have the responcibility to help others come to understand Christ. I know that we are all loved by God so much. Thank you for being wonderful support to me! Continue to search for ways to serve others! That will bring you closer to Christ, trust me!
Love you all!
-Sister Brownell

Hello family from Arizona!!!
Well I made it here safe. I am loving it a bunch! Before I get into amazing miracles that have already happened here is just some stuff you need to know. I am not giving my home address out (mission rules) but what you can do is send any letters or packages to the VC because I am there every day. Here is the address

Sister Danielle Brownell
525 East Main St
Mesa AZ 85203

Now for the fun stuff.
I LOVE ARIZONA! IT is soooo  amazing. I even love all the bug bites all down my legs and everything ;) The people here are fantastic and I have a wonderful trainer. Her name is Sister Javed. She is from Pakistan and I love her! We like to match clothing some days and it is just super fun! I have already learned a lot from her and I am excited to continue in my growth. I get to help her with English. She said this cute quote the other day "If you love someone you will correct them" I realized its true! I was scared to tell her she was saying things incorrectly, but now because I love her so much I know that it is okay to correct her :) yay.
Saturday was probably my favorite day all week as far as field work goes. WE are usually half in the VC and half out (except starting thanksgiving to christmas we are there most days from 3-10 pm!!! So excited!) Anyway... Saturday. We had a baptism! First week!! Briana is a 14yr old who has an amazing testimony. Because of her now her step dad is reactivated and her mom will be getting baptized in two weeks. How exciting is that! It was an amazing service filled with the spirit! That night only got better. We have this investigator, Matt, who is living with a newly reactivated member and wants to get baptized. We talked to him about the importance of commandments and making goals and such. We showed an amazing film about John Turner (i think thats his name..) he was a non believer who changed when his leg was healed by faith in Christ. So Matt expressed how he loved that movie and how it related to him because he was too a non believer and that had changed. How amazing is that! Sooo when he said that I followed my prompting of the spirit I had and asked him to set a baptismal date! He committed to the 22nd of December! He would be ready this weekend, but has to get married first! So we have a marriage of these two people I love so much and his baptism coming up! I just love seeing the happiness in this families life now that they have found Christ. I know that living a life in accordance to Christ is so important. 
Those were the two most exciting things of the week! I have meet so many amazing members here. Its funny when I ride my bike the first day or two I was always scared when the car next to me would roll windows down or honk, but now I know it is just a member saying hello! :) I am getting much better at the whole bike thing just to let everybody know. I haven't fallen yet! Today I even mastered riding in a pencil skirt! I am planning on going to buy my own bike later today because I'll be on it a lot this mission. It is great! Its about a 30 min ride to the VC each day. The other day Sister Javed and I realized we probably bike about 2hrs minimum a day! Its fun. 
I am going to send another email with some pictures on it from the MTC and from the first week in AZ :) 
I just want to share how much it means to me to be on a mission. I am continually thanking the Lord for this amazing call to serve. I know it is going to be hard work! It already is!! and I love it. Every day I see miracles- people coming to Christ, people asking the perfect questions, me not falling on the bike... They are everywhere because the power of Christ is with us as missionaries. I know that this is the Lords work, it is not my work. Having that knowledge is so humbling. I am thankful for the chance to grow here, and I am more thankful for the chance to be an instrument in the lords hand. Much of what I do is completely faith based. The other day at VC I talked to a nonmember for about 40 mins about the importance of faith and coming unto Christ. I know faith is something that is unseen, but it is something that we can not live without. My favorite Scripture 2Cor 5:7 played a huge role- we walk by faith not by sight- in our lesson. I am thankful for this knowledge of the gospel! I am so glad you are all doing well. I love you very much. Know you are always in my prayers!
-Love, Sister Brownell
Mesa AZ 85203

Today Danielle left the Missionary Training Center for Mesa, Arizona.  I was able to talk with her this morning before her flight.  She is so excited to finally get out in the field, she is also looking forward to that Sunshine.  The past couple weeks have been a challenge on her as she wasn't really prepared to be in the cold.

Please fell free to write letters to her, I know she would love to hear what is going on with you.  She will not have a P-day until next Monday, which is when I will post her letter.

Sister Danielle Brownell
6265 N. 82nd Street
Scottsdale, AZ. 85250

Thanks to all who have given her support in her decision to serve the Lord.

Here is the most recent letter from Danielle, she usually writes on Monday's however, we were really busy with life this week.  Sorry for the delay.  Happy reading!  I love our missionary!!!

Thanks for the letter Mom and Dad. I love you both lots! I was at the temple this morning and I was thinking about how incredibly lucky I am to be on a mission and to have been raised by loving parents like you. This time in the world for missionaires is a BIG DEAL. They tell us here we will probably have 6 or 12 weeks in the mission of being a 'green' missionairy and right after that we will go right into training the other missionaires that come in! Crazy! I could be teaching another Sister things I know sooner that I even thought. There are so many things happening here that make me know that the prophets decision to change the age for missionaries is truly inspired of God.

Sister Andersen and I have some amazing investigators we are working with. (K they are just actors, but we love them just like the real thing!!!) One of my favorites, her name is Haly, is the sweetest lady in the world. During our first meet I mentioned how I loved art and how I was studing Art History before coming on the mission. The next time I saw her she had printed me out 3 beautiful pictures - 2 of different churches with beautiful ar chitecture and 1 of a fresco of the child christ with child John the Baptist and angels and their mothers and such. I was so touched that she would do something like that for me! I love these investigators SOO much already! I just can not wait to get out there and love the people of Arizona even more!

We learned soo much this week I don't even know where to start! The bigest thing I learned was  how teaching with the spirit means teaching with understanding. We do a lot of role plays here at the MTC - one of the companion pretending to be an investigator. During one role play Sister Andersen invited me to be baptized. The purpose was to say no and have the misisonairy and investigator listen to the spirit and know how to continue the talk and find out their concerns and such. . SO She assked me to be baptized and I said NO. We stopped talking for a second and both just listened to the spirit. When we finally looked up from our desks we were both balling like babies (this was my first TRUE cry of the MTC. I've been pretty emotionally stedy until then!) Continuing the lesson Sister Andersen asked why and we discussed and my problems were solved and I decided to become a member of the church. What made this sooo impactful was that the thought of teaching by the Holy Ghost finally clicked 100%. For me saying NO was so difficult because I realized that there will be those I teach that may say no, they will run away from their promptings and that broke my heart. I know that all I can do is invite them to Christ, I can not force them (which at times seems like it would be nice...) but I must do ALL I CAN to have them understand the Spirit and allow it to testify that the things that I am speaking of are true, that God loves them, and that the way to return to him is by coming unto Christ and being baptized.

This church is soo incredibly important to me! I have loved every second of the MTC. Don't get me wrong, it is hard work... I feel as if I havent slept for a year... but everytime I get into a lesson with an investigator or I learn something in my personal study I get a surge of extra energy to help me keep going! I am amazed at Matthew and his ability to be at the MTC for so long learning a whole new language and all the docterine that I have learned. Make sure Jamesie knows that it will be hard, but it will be completely worth it. James- the only person that can make this MTC stay fun or horrible is yourself! Go into the MTC with a positive outlook! Make sure you are 100% obedient or else you may go crazy! OH... and don't drink the Orange Juice ;) (there is some rumor that it does stuff to the insides and causes many bathroom breaks.... I haven't tried it. I am scared!) I know Jamesie will be an excelent missionary! He is already 10times more ready then some Elders here (no offence to them of course...)

Family. Read your scriptures every day! A true conversion to the gospel does NOT come all at once and you can always, ALWAYS, learn more. Here are some of my favorite chapters this week - 2Ne 31 talks of the Docterine of Christ. . . Alma 32- Faith!

I know that I am growing each and every day closer to Christ. I want to say thank you for all the prayers. I can feel them! I love being a missionary and I strongly urge ANY of my friends -girl or boy- to serve a mission! I have only been out 2 weeks and I am already a thousand times happier with my life than I have ever been!