6 Months

Hey family!

 

So this past week has been pretty slow. Besides the Wednesday temple trip of course. Almost all of our appointments on Thursday, Friday and Saturday fell through. At least besides dinner. haha. So that was kind of a bummer, but we found some service to do to fill the time. The members we live with have been doing a lot of yard work. We helped clear some land, pulling out weeds and bushes and helping them cut down some cottonwood trees. We then raked and cleaned up the ground and placed topsoil all over that area; they want to plant grass there. So that ended up taking up several hours this past weekend.

We did meet with our old Jewish investigator though, and he came to our Thursday night class. We've been debating about what to do with him, because he's been an investigator for so long (5+ years) and just doesn't seem to progress very well. He likes the church and all the members, but he has a hard time believing that choosing and becoming part of a religion is important. He will often tell a story about some Jewish rabbis that got together to discuss the idea and belief of God. After a few days of discussion, they decided that they really didn't know and couldn't prove one way or the other; but, if God did exist, they should live in a way that would be pleasing to him. That is the concept that he's been stuck on for a long while. We're planning on reading alma 22 with him, which talks about King Lamoni's father's conversion, where he prays to know if there is a God. Vic (our investigator) wants to believe that there is a god but seems to struggle getting answers to prayers. Anyways. Amongst all this I was debating whether to keep focusing on him or not when he said something interesting. He said that he doesn't know if he will become a Mormon in this life; that it might take a second life to get that point. But, he asked us to keep helping him and to keep coming back. He said "out of all the missionaries I've ever become acquainted with over the years, you two are my favorite so far." haha. I really don't have a hard time loving him and continuing to slowly encourage him, and that's what we'll continue doing.

 

You can probably already tell by the subject of my email that I turn 6 months this week! Part of me feels like "wait, what? Already?" And another part of me is thinking... FINALLY! haha. I've still got a long way to go, but I feel like I'm hitting mile markers now. haha

Transfers are next week, so I'll find out whether or not I'm leaving on Saturday. I actually wouldn't mind staying one more transfer so that I'm still in the mountains for August. It's been near or over 100 down in the valley, and 90 is hot enough for me. I'm really not someone who likes it hot. I like weather in the 80s. But when it's consistently in the 90s, that's too hot for me. haha. I'm an Idaho/Seattle boy! I like mild weather I've decided. It's alright visiting hot places, but I wouldn't ever want to live here.

 

I'm sure you've heard about the massacre in Colorado. That's terrible. The flag at the post office here was at half mast today. It's just a sign that times are getting closer and closer. Have any of you seen the new batman yet?

 

I'm not going to spend a ton of time emailing right now because we'll be on later. And because I haven't heard from mom yet. haha :) We're helping a member with his computers today and hanging out with his family. My companion is certified in web design and I'm good with just general computer usage so we'll be helping him out with those things, fixing a few issues and getting a website for the scouts up and running.

I did have a question though. Is there a way for me to get daily contacts? My contacts are fine the first day I wear them but they get all funky after that and I can't stand wearing the 2 week ones very often. I just noticed that my solution is out of date, so I'll try changing that but I don't think it will make a huge difference. Either way, I'm almost out of contacts. haha.

Thanks guys, for all your love and support!

Love,
Elder Browning