Happy Spring

Hi family :)

 

Well we had a pretty decent week. It snowed again! Crazy that you're getting nice spring weather while I'm spending half my p-day shoveling driveways. Haha :)

How was Hunger Games by the way? I'm curious if it was good like Katherine was hoping it would be.

So those new suits I mentioned... since one of them is tan, I might be sending it home or something since I can't wear it out here. Or something. Haha I'll figure it out. That navy suit that I came out with is just about dead. Poor thing. The knees are looking worn and there are several fraying sections on both the pants and the jacket. Plus, at our zone activity last week, we ended up spit roasting a pig with some tongan members instead of what my companion and I thought we would be doing so the suit now smells... very nice. I've been debating if it's worth dry cleaning it again and just wearing it for another month or two. I've febreezed it twice; hopefully that will be enough. haha

Speaking of multi-talented Nelson... it has really been a blessing to have a little bit of skill in so many different areas. The members I live with's computer was acting up and the sound quality was messed up so I fixed both those issues. Then, their dvd player wouldn't close when you put a dvd in the tray. So, I took it apart, fixed it, and put it back together. Works great now. Another member just recently got back from the hospital, and we spent several hours at his house cleaning up both the inside and outside of his house. His cabinet doors weren't put on well or had gotten loose, so I fixed all of those for him. He had a front entry chest that had a broken door on it that I also fixed for him. So, even though people sometimes poke fun at my "son of a CPA-ness" (they're just jealous of my higher intellect and computer knowledge. haha), doing carpentry work made a few people say "great. Guess I can't make fun of you being the son of a CPA anymore." Hahaha. I suppose I'm just a bit of a jack of all trades :)

 

I had a random question. Did you have the Browning 8 birthday bash thing? (that's our celebration of the day Aubree and Ryan came to our home - March 31st 2008) I don't remember what day that was and if it was in March or April. I think we got on the subject of ice cream cake once and I thought of that. haha. Random.

 

Really the reason I think I'm gaining weight is because I'm not eating super healthy. We have dessert like twice a day. Pretty much with every dinner appointment and then again late in the evening or earlier in the day. I gotta stop eating so much ice cream. I'm just going to get fat. haha. We'll start exercising harder and running when it warms up here soon.

 

So I had a pretty freakin sweet experience this week. Every wednesday night, we have splits with an Elder and High Priest from the ward. There was only one priesthood holder scheduled, so we thought all three of us would go to an appointment we had scheduled together. Now, the family we were going to visit... some background info. Mariah and Cody are their names. They're both members and both have a young kid from a previous relationship. They're engaged to be married. However, they've been living together for a while and their wedding still isn't until June. They recognize that it's not the right thing and that they're "living in sin" as they put it, but all the talking that the Bishop and others have done about it hasn't changed the situation. So, Wadsworth and I had planned to talk about receiving revelation and the law of chastity one more time with them. However, we find out in the afternoon on Wednesday that there's a high priest planning on coming to splits too. So... Wadsworth sent me and an elder from the ward to visit the Mariah and Cody. I was pretty nervous, but steve (the member) and I said a fervent prayer together that the spirit would lead and direct the lesson. It ended up being a really good lesson. I helped Cody recognize that he had received promptings and revelation through prayer. He realized that he has ignored the "warm fuzzy" feelings he's had before and that his life has become harder when he ignored them. I also talked about their situation, making sure they understood that I love them and that the Lord loves them. I read D&C 130: 21-22 with them, telling them that if they will commit to living the law of chastity, they will be blessed with the eternal family that they both have expressed desire for. I asked them to pray and fast together about it too.

I left thinking it went at least okay, and so did Steve. However, yesterday came the cool part. Cody got up and bore his testimony. It was his first time, and it was very moving for both me and elder Wadsworth. After Sacrament meeting, we were talking with him and Mariah and he said "this Thursday, we're getting married at 6:30 at the Bishop's house." Elder Wadsworth and I were stunned. Wadsworth looked at me incredulously and after a second just threw his arms around me. haha. It makes me so happy to see them making good decisions, and being happy while doing it. What a neat experience :) they have to move on Saturday to San Diego for Cody's work, but we'll help them move and get pictures with them before they go.

So that was my extra neat experience for the week. I turned 2 months old yesterday. Haha. Finally right? Hopefully the slope starts to bend downhill from here on out :)

Thank you for all your prayers and for getting that package together so quickly! Love you guys :)

Elder Browning

Service and Breaking the 150 Barrier

Hi family,

 

This week has been interesting. Elder Wadsworth had to leave for two days to go to a big training meeting, So I spent Thursday and most of Friday with Elder Clark, one of the Phelan missionaries. We did a lot of service. We moved a bunch of dirt for a single woman, helped a family move out, and mopped the whole gym floor. I always enjoy service though, so it was good.

We had a bit of a snow storm this weekend. We got about 5 inches Saturday and only had Sacrament meeting yesterday. Our all wheel drive subaru does great in the snow. I'm super happy to have it. We helped shovel some driveways with the extra time.

So there's a woman that lives right next to the church that isn't a member. She's older and her husband has passed away, but she is very generous and kind. She's been involved with the church for many years, but isn't interested in joining. The neat thing though... she has a ton of clothes that are in great condition that she's trying to get rid of. She had several suits that her husband only wore for a short time that almost fit me perfectly. So, she gave me two whole suits! One is pretty light brown, so I probably won't wear that one on my mission but the other gray one I can. The pants are just barely too tight, so I'm going to try and get them altered to be an inch or two wider.

Another funny thing. I weighed myself last Thursday, and it said 158. I was 146 when I got to the MTC and have never broken the 150 barrier. Guess that's what happens when you eat so well all the time. We actually had two dinners last night... good stuff :) Speaking of food, you're probably curious if I've eaten anything I haven't liked. So far, everythings been good. We had a french steak once that was weird tasting, but I ate the whole thing.

Every Thursday night, we hold a Christ-centered missionary class for whoever wants to come. We started talking about Christ-like attributes, and last Thursday we talked about Charity and Love. Since Elder Wadsworth was gone, I led the class the really enjoyed getting to do so much personal testifying and expounding. It was a neat experience.

Most of the people in Wrightwood work "down the hill" - Victorville, Hesperia, Rancho Cucamonga, San Bernardino, etc. There aren't a lot of businesses within Wrightwood besides the couple stores and restaurants unless you work at/for the ski resort.

That's neat to hear about grandma and grandpa. And perfect timing! They'll be home before me. haha.

Well I'm shorter on time today. I thought of a list of things that would be nice to have whenever you send a package next :) as follows:

-I'd like any mo-tab cds that you don't care about as well as cumorah's hill. You're more than welcome to put them on the imac (cumorah's hill already is) and burn them onto a cd and send that instead. It's nice to have hymns and other uplifting music in my head to help me stay focused.

-There's a can of "odor eater" in my room by the drumset I think... That'd be nice to have to use occasionally when shoes start stinking after a while.

-Did Jeren use the cookbook much? It'd be cool to have a copy of that sometime.

-an extra 2 shirts - Maybe my green with black stripes element one and another one in either better (a nice tshirt) or worse condition for like dirty jobs or painting.

-a more junky sweatshirt. Like the gray one hanging in my closet

-Also, if it fits and isn't expensive, service shoes. Either my black vans or darker brown converse in the garage. My running shoes are getting worn out faster than I would like from all the service we do. If it's inconvenient, I'll try to pick some up out here.

Oh! Addresses too. Catrons (I can't read her return address), Nathan, Sam, And Brooks. Muchas Gracias! :) 

I hope this isn't an overwhelming list. haha. Really the clothing and cds are what I'd like the most. :)

My clock with the temperature gauge in my room you're welcome to use by the way. Might be fun to have it out of mom's desk or something.

Well. That's it for time for now.  Jeren, I'll hit ya up as soon as I can. The church is true :) Until next time.

Love ya

Elder Browning

Dear Browning Family,

 

It's been a slower week than last week. We spent one whole day working on the car this last week. A piece of the bumper had broken off and we were getting it put back on with the help of a member friend who is a tech handyman, mainly with cars. Then this last weekend has been real blah. Wadsworth and I were feeling under the weather both Friday and Saturday so we didn't get as much done as we'd like. We did get to visit a member at the VA hospital in Riverside though. Cool huh? Got to go into Jeren's misison for a few hours (with President's permission of course). Yesterday Wadsworth got really sick. We left church after sacrament meeting and he slept for most of the rest of the day. I ended up cancelling our appointments and made dinner with one of the members (the son actually) we live with. It was one long, boring Sunday. haha. We'll pick it up this week hopefully though.

 

Another funny story of connections. Do you remember "The Gathering Place" cabin in island park that has the themed rooms (moose, bear, etc) and where we filmed those videos with the Browning family? The Quinn family in the ward here owns those cabins! Haha it was way crazy when we made that connection.

 

The Godwins told that story (of getting called last minute as mission president) at one of our first meetings. Very cool. I sent a letter to Sarah Wood on like... Thursday? It might have been Friday. I can't remember haha. I also sent a letter to Emily Bigelow, Crystal, Krissa, and Aubree and Ryan. Aubree and Ryan should have a letter today I do believe :)

 

Dad, your comment about Libby made me laugh. Dumb dog (Libby ate rat poison over the weekend). Haha. Wonder if she's learned her lesson...? Don't eat the weird greenish chicken-feed.

That dumb car (back in the shop instead of sold). I should have figured it wouldn't leave quietly huh? Do whatever you have to I guess. Honestly, I think the sooner we can be totally rid of it at this point, the better.

As long as Jeren is around (generally), you should be okay with computers and everything (we now have their old Mac). haha :)

Ironic thing Dad;that scripture from James is written large on a piece of paper and is hanging up in my room next to a list of the less actives and investigators/potentials we're working with. I like it. And the Alma scripture too.

 

Just to clarify and maybe explain my living situation a little more; the family I'm living with, the Zorads, are an older couple. Their son Jeff (36) has also been living with them while I've been there. It's been interesting but cool getting to know him. He's had a really hard life and is trying to accumulate the funds to go to rehab. We've talked about music a lot and he checked out the Browning band forgotten rest and actually really liked the music. I guess he posted on our facebook page the other day.

 

I wouldn't mind getting Brooks' address. I haven't personally written him like... ever. :( He gets home in July so I'd like to write him before then... haha.

 

Well. I hope everyone is getting along alright :) it sure sounds like you all are. We are so very blessed to be part of the same family. Remember to not only count your blessings, but also to make your blessings count (Neal A Maxwell).

 

Love you guys :)

Elder Browning
Thanks for the pictures of Katherine and Megan and Dad by the way! Lookin good with the short hair Katester :)

Trains, Planes, & Automobiles

Dear Browning family,

 

You sold my car! I'm saddened because I really loved that silly car but happy that you got 2500 for it! Way to go :) and kudos to Ryan (who found the buyer)! What a fine young man he's becoming. Oh, and I should (hopefully) have something for Aubree and Ryan in the mail this week. Hopefully they're not to antsy.

 

Well it's been an exciting week. We tracted into a young married couple who were interested in learning more. We left them with a Book of Mormon and they said they would read it and that we could come back in a week. Guess sometimes you do get lucky while tracting. Haha

There is a recently no-longer-less-active couple in our ward that we were visiting on Saturday and the girl (Mariah) had her best friend Amber over, who is a non-member. She was very interested and had a lot of good questions. Like "how can you know that Joseph smith was a prophet?" and we said "by reading the Book of Mormon!" and she was like "Oh! Okay :)" she came to all 3 hours of church yesterday and we'll be meeting with her later this week.

 

Funny story. Or interesting. Anyways, we had dinner last night with the Jorgenson family. Name ring any distant bells mom? They were in grandpa and grandma Snow's ward in the late 1970s up to about 1982. It was so funny to find out about that connection! Sister Jorgenson admired Linda and served with her in Young Women's at the time. Crazy. What a small world.

 

I has paper. and envelopes. and stamps (Wadsworth just gave me like 14 more). He finished off my nutella like a week ago. I accidentally got him hooked haha.

Thanks for getting me Krissa's address :) I knew is was three-five-two...something. Haha.

 

Emily Bigelow wrote me a letter. And Sarah Wood. It took a while for me to get them because the office didn't have an address for me where I'm at. I was there Wednesday though and got it straightened out. I also just got a letter from Miranda Hathaway that I haven't opened yet. Letters are awesome :) it's like opening up facebook and having a bazillion new and applicable notifications. Or something. Haha. I just wish I had more time to write replies.

 

As far as stuff you can send me... it would be nice to have another shirt that I didn't care about and could wear for service. The same goes for shoes, but I'll try and pick up a pair out here. I was thinking of the cookbook that you made Jeren. Did he say he used it much? That might be cool to have. If you still have my call packet, I'd like to have that. I don't have a map of the mission and I remember there being one in there.

I think there was something else but I can't remember what it was... haha. Oh well. Nothing is urgent though, so no worries :)

 

I'll keep them in my prayers. And another London missionary huh (Sam Merrill)? Jarom Hyde and Dalton Barnes are both in England but only one of them is in London and I don't remember which. That's crazy though.

 

Dad, I enjoy the input you have in your emails every week. They mean a lot :)

Finding efforts have been very lucky this last week, but otherwise it is very slow. We'll continue to keep working hard either way though.

 

Megan, congrats :) you just keep getting better and better! I remember you saying you maybe weren't going to do dance next year... are your plans still the same?

 

Elder Wadsworth and I went hiking this morning up the "Mormon Rocks." Gnarly looking rocks to be sure. I have a picture of him and me at the top that I'll send in a minute and I'll try and get one of the whole big rock next time we drive past, along with one of my area.

 

I sure love you guys :) Thanks for keeping me updated on all the going-ons each week. I haven't heard back from Desi, Mom you said that she told you she got my letter though? Good. That's really what matters.

 

The gospel is true. God hears and answers our prayers.

Love,

Elder Browning

Happy Almost March

Time? flying? Where? Can you find a ticket for me with that airline? haha :)

For the first time since I've been out, this last week actually felt like... a week. Instead of like a month or something. haha. I finally hit one month old on Saturday.

This week was similar to last week. We had a lot of less actives attend church on Sunday again, which was good.

 

Wadsworth and I have been breaking into song here and there. It's fun :) we randomly started singing "Get me to the church on time" from My Fair Lady the other day. We also sing songs by the Fray, Death Cab for Cutie, and Inside Out. Fun stuff :) we sing hymns before comp study every day and have fun switching between parts. I might have said that in my last letter though... haha oh well :)

 

There is an elderly woman who is not a member any more but was interested in getting baptized back into the church. So we met with her last week but she was pretty sick. Two days later we find out she needed to go to the hospital and no one could take her and she can't afford an ambulance. So. We took her. Haha. She was severly dehydrated and had been throwing up all night. I just looove the emergency room. She's still at the hospital (they found a growth on her throat) but she's stable at least. At least we were able to provide some means of service I suppose.

 

It's snowing again today. It's not really sticking, but if it continues into tonight it will.

Hearing Megan called with the last name of Nelson made me do a double take. I was like "oh yeah. She got married." haha. That's super cool though.

Brother Fenton didn't make it huh? That's sad. I liked him and his wife a lot. Getting pneumonia on top of his stroke sounds like too much to take.

 

I'm not sure if you've heard more about Krissa or not, but she's been on my mind and in my prayers. If you or Megan can find out that address I'd appreciate it :)

 

Dad, I wish I was around and able to help you with your work! Hopefully you find a (better) replacement for me. Haha :) It's good to hear about all the missionary work going on in our ward.

 

I love you guys. Honestly :) I have an extra few minutes and will try and email a few pictures. The church is true. I know it, I know it, I know it.

 

Love,

Elder Browning