50 years ago my father Elder Michael E. Brown baptized Chris Freeman who was 14 at the time and his family in London, England. Fast forward 50 years and as a High Councilman he meets my son Elder Queston Armijo after speaking in the Reading Ward sacrament meeting where my son is serving. Brother Freeman asked Elder Armijo where he was from and he answered "Arizona". Chris then told him that the man who baptized him 50 years ago was from AZ and his name was Mike Brown. Queston said "That's my GRANDPA"!!. Chris had been searching for my Father and now he had found him. Chris held a celebration on October 13, 2012 in honor of his 50 year conversion and his 40 year wedding anniversary in which he invited Elder Armijo and his companion Elder Holmes to be a part of. Below is Elder Armijo's email telling of the party and also an email from Chris to me......Elder Armijo's MUM. The pictures are of Elder Armijo with the Freeman family and a picture of my Father in 1962. Chris has reunited with my Father through email. What a blessing for all!
Hey there Mom, Dad and Grandpa and Grandma!!
This week was sweet!! As you all probably know I was invited to go to Chris Freeman's 40th anniversary/50 years since he was baptized party. It was soooo sweet to see all these people that are now in the church thanks to you Grandpa Brown! I was looking around and I was like dang, that's what being a missionary is all about! I felt my purpose defined while I was there. Chris Freeman had a big whiteboard filled with pictures of his life and at the top was a picture of you Grandpa Brown( looking fresh, wearing a skinny tie!!) it was soo sweet! Here's a picture attached to the email. It was legit. he has a wonderful family! They made me stand up and get a round of applause.....I was thinking what is this for I didn't do anything but I took the round of applause for you Gramps because you deserve it! We ate lots of food and some delicious puddings that England is so famous for it was a great night. here is a few pictures. Some of them are blurry but I'm sure Chris will send the better ones! love you all!!
Elder Armijo
Chris Freeman and family
Elder Michael E. Brown (Gramps)
EMAIL FROM CHRIS FREEMAN TO ELDER ARMIJO'S MUM!
Sherri,Thank you so much for your email. We were just delighted to have Elder Armijo and his companion there, and I’m glad they enjoyed themselves. An evening which was a little out of the ordinary for a missionary. However there were two non-members there and they both commented very favourably on the evening and especially the people, so in some ways there was some missionary work done. The attached photo shows our immediate family and I thought you might like to know who is who.On the left is our daughter Emily, who made the cake (see below), holding her daughter Millie. Behind her is her husband Sean. They live in Aberdeen in the far north of Scotland. You know the next guy. Then comes our son James who lives at home.In front of him are three grandsons. The tallest is Joseph, son of Katie and Derek, the next tallest is Finlay, and the one at the front is Archie, they are sons of Emily and Sean. Sue and I are in the middle with the two girls, Emily and Faith who is kneeling. The girls are daughters of Katie and Derek, who are next in line. They live just north of Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland. Finally we have our daughter Caroline, and her husband Mike holding their son William. They live in Leeds in Yorkshire in the north of England. Caroline writes a blog and this week wrote about the party and included a lot of photos, including Emily’s cake. If you want to read it go to http://thrussells.us/40th-celebration/ I also attach the photos of your father, what he wrote on the back of the photo, and his missionary Articles of Faith card. I assume he was intending originally to send the photo to his folks, but somehow we ended up with it. Emily and her husband Sean have spent a few days with us this week before they drive back to Aberdeen and today we went to the London Temple. It reminded me that without your dad and his companions we might never have been sealed as a family.We owe him a great deal.I assume you will pass on the photos etc to him. All our love and best wishes
. Chris and Sue.
FROM CHRIS FREEMAN'S DAUGHTERS BLOG
"One thing that made it extra special was that it was the 50th anniversary of my Dad being baptised. By a strange “coincidence” it so happened that the grandson of the Elder that baptised him happened to be here on a mission himself and was able to be with us at the party. Being together in the gospel has brought us great joy and this was the first opportunity we’ve had to say thank you to the person who made it come about. If it weren’t for him Mum & Dad wouldn’t have met, so we owe him a lot and it was lovely to be able to thank him through his grandson."
