A very merry un-wedding

Hi family! 

It sure sounds like you all had a blast! And it sure looks like it from the pictures too! You were missing several important people (me, tanner, sam, nathan, grandparents) but we'll get over it. haha. Did you get some good family pictures? I wouldn't mind a copy of one of those and one of Jeren and Lauren posing together. Really looks and sounds like you all had a great time! I'm glad the whole cardboard "me" thing worked out. haha. I guess all I have left to say is... congrats Jer-bear! If I had something to toast, I'd toast to you and Lauren. haha :)

Well this week was a fairly decent week; we had stuff to do every day, and I guess that's how I judge one week from another. haha. We've been talking to Shannell's husband about her and her court stuff and we might actually start teaching him. They let her out and said "come back to court on this day" and she didn't go. So. She has another warrant now. She's in a cycle and doesn't seem like she cares to break it. But. Maybe we can meet with her to lift her spirits and such before they pick her up again.

We met with the Brook fam again and sister Brook and Sammi ended up having to leave for a brief meeting at the high school so we just talked with Mark while he cooked dinner. It was a casual conversation but still good; we talked about repentance and he brought up forgiveness and some of his personal favorite scriptures in Ephesians. He didn't understand how the scriptures thing worked on his iphone so we helped him get that figured out. Now he's hopefully on his way towards reading and praying regularly. Missionaries have been trying to get him to do that for a year now. He wants to he just isn't good at remembering. Plus he has a busy schedule. His wife is going to try to remind him more regularly to read. So that should help. And guess what we had for dinner? Fish tacos and sashimi! Some people call is sushi but it's technically sashimi. It's basically raw fish with soy sauce and wasabi. And honestly, I liked that better than the fried fish that was in the fish tacos. haha. He let me try straight raw fish (he caught yellow fin tuna off the coast of mexico), and it wasn't half bad! I got a picture and I'll send it next week when I have my camera with me.

We also met with Gary and Brittany and talked about blessings that come from obedience and following God's law. We asked them if they would pray about their marriage date and about when God wants them to get married and they said they would. So hopefully they receive an answer sometime soon.

Do you remember me mentioning that we moved a piano for the Brooks about a month ago or so? Well, we moved it up the stairs to their house on Saturday. That was... fun. haha. We had at least 6 guys there but they put the 2 biggest guys in the back and me and another guy in the front. I had the fun just of lifting it up each step and dancing out of the way before I got squished. We got to the door and got it about a foot in the door and it stopped. I realized... I was the only person inside the house! No one could help lift up the end except me so... me and the big guy on the other end just heaved it up and carried it into the living room. Mark said something like "why do you always end up with one end by yourself?" I was kind of wondering that myself! Haha. Don't worry mom. I don't have a hernia. lol

Okay so the reason the subject of this email is "a very merry un-wedding" is because on Saturday, the family we were having dinner with, the Smiths, knew Jeren was getting married that day and threw me a "not your brother's wedding party." It was funny to walk in and have party hats and streamers. haha. I really wasn't expecting that and it made the day a little easier for me. Sister Smith made a cake that said "not your brother's wedding cake." haha! They're great. Brother Smith is helping me with some... stuff... today and this week and I should hopefully have it in the mail by the end of the week! I'm still debating whether to tell you what I'm doing or let it be a surprise.... Naahh, you like surprises right? :) Like I anticipated, it's going to be rather belated for your birthday mom, but you'll get it eventually. haha. Oh happy birthday again by the way! Hopefully you got my card in the mail. :)

Well that was my week. If I don't email next week, it is labor day so we'll see if president's nose is still turned up or not. haha! I'm totally kidding. Anyways. Peace!

Love,

Elder Browning

Missionary Children Sang as they Walked... And Walked...

August 20, 2012

Hola familia!

Guess what? We finally got our car back on Saturday! So we had another enjoyable water-guzzling, blister-inducing week. Haha. I love walking!  Because of that, it was another slow week. And I've lost a couple pounds from it! I'm at about 162. Elder Bagley really struggled physically so we ended up doing less than the week before. We'd get rides from members occasionally, especially home from dinner, but just going out between 10 in the morning and noon wiped Bagley out for the rest of the day. He wants to hike mount Baden Powell on the 3rd though... and it's 8 miles round trip. We'll see how that goes. haha.

Our good old Jewish friend Vic came to our Thursday night class again. It was a pretty cool experience. If he had come to church yesterday, we would have counted him as progressing. We're starting to talk about Christlike attributes and talked about faith in Christ. That's been his biggest hold up, and he said, quote, "you know, I really do hope that it's true. I hope that he is my savior and that god does exist. I really do like that concept." I grinned really big and said "Vic, do you realize what that means? The definition of faith is 'to hope for things that are not seen which are true.' Vic, you're starting to have faith!" He smiled back and said "I suppose I am!" So that was way cool. The other members that were there and have watched Vic struggle to progress talked to us about it afterwards and thought it was really cool too. I felt impressed to read the title page of the Book of Mormon with Vic, where it talks about convincing both the Jew and the Gentile that Jesus is the Christ. We bore out testimony that if he regularly reads and studies and prays about the Book of Mormon that he will gain that witness. We can answer questions and read individual passages or chapters with him, but reading straight through will help him gain his own testimony better than anything else. His desire is definitely there, just like Mark Brook's; it's just the following through that is sometimes difficult. haha.

It sounds like everyone had a good time at the coast! And it's good that Lauren seems to fit right in. Mom I have to agree with you; I think I'm still a little in denial myself! Not necessarily about the fact that Jeren is getting married, but more just the fact that I can't flippin be there! Bah. I guess I'll just have to cry a river, build a bridge and get over it. haha

Well this might just end up being a very short email. I'm staring at the screen trying to think of more to say. What a bummer! There is a missionary from here that is serving in Wyoming and I guess some of his emails lately have been ridiculously short. We regularly visit the family and they said his email 2 weeks ago simply said "what's up my peeps??" When the family replied, he never responded. So, I guess there's worse out there than me. haha

We did a good amount of service this week too. One woman had an issue with her printer not working and I fixed that. There's an older guy in the ward that's moving soon so we did some yardwork and moved some heavy stuff for him. There's another family that hosted a stake singles activity at their ranch and we spent some time helping clean up their property. We cleared some bushes and weeds, one of which was so big that we used a pully to lift it up into the truck! Two of us could barely hold it up; it had to have been at least 300 pounds. So. That was fun. haha

The next time I email, Jeren will be married. haha. Well. Congrats for sure! Eat some cake for me!

Love,

Elder Browning

Sticky August

August 13, 2012

Well, after a week of almost record breaking highs, blisters, shin splints, sticky sweaty clothes, sun burnt necks, and near dehydration, I'm still alive. haha. It really wasn't all that bad. Elder Bagley had it worse than I did because of his heart condition; he can hike and walk and stuff but he has to take it easy. We tried to keep track of our miles and added up that we walked somewhere around 25 miles last week. We didn't walk at all yesterday, getting rides to and from all our appointments. We had a cloudburst on Saturday, with lots of thunder and lightning and flash floods. We're supposed to stay inside in dangerous weather so we didn't get a lot done that day; the lightning continued the whole afternoon. All in all it wasn't all that bad of a week, but we didn't accomplish as much since it was hard to walk from place to place and we weren't able to visit some people that were 2+ miles away. We tried to see as many people as we could and spent a little more time visiting members.

I've found that it takes 3 or 4 discouraging things (if not like a dozen or more. haha) to get at least one good thing to happen. Brittney and Gary, the young part member couple that aren't married yet, are planning on waiting until next year to get married. What! That is not okay. haha. We're going to try to really encourage them to start living that commandment and talk about the blessings both from that as well as baptism. Also, Shannell had a few warrants so she's in jail now. We don't know if it will be a few months or several years before she's out. Since Bagley and I will most likely both be gone by the time any missionaries talk to her again, we'll try and leave good notes for future missionaries in Wrightwood.

I have my bike and could use it; it's more difficult going uphill than walking, but it's waayy easier when you go back down. haha. However, Bagley isn't allowed to be in a bike area so he doesn't even have one. Hence we've walked.

One good thing that happened this week was that we finally got to meet with Mark Brook for the first time in... well a while. I've mentioned them before. Diane Brook is the one that has a friend that lives in Snohomish and knows Suzanne. Anyways, Mark has been half-heartedly investigating the church for a long time but hasn't ever really progressed. Missionaries over the past year have emphasized the importance for him to read the scriptures and pray about what he reads in order for him to know for himself. He recognizes that and has always expressed a desire to do so but hasn't ever followed through. However, he just downloaded the scriptures on his iphone on Friday. He said he's pretty sure he'll now be able to read more often amidst his busy travel schedule for work. Also, Diane and her daughter Sammi have never really been all that active. They have a testimony but they just don't always come to church. However, Sammi has really changed over the last week or two. She got her patriarchal blessing and is studying her scriptures twice a day. She rights down every question she has and has asked us to help her answer them. Makes me feel like a scriptorian! haha. She even asked us to help her find a ride to church yesterday since her mom would be taking Mark to the airport. I just think it's really cool to see youth grow in their own testimony of the gospel like that. Eventually you get to a point where you either decide that you have a testimony and are going to act on it or you start to doubt and fall away. At least that seems to be what happens to most youth between 16 and 18 it seems. most of the youth in this ward struggle so it's just been really cool to see one turn around. We answered some of her questions the other day and she already has another list for us to help her with tonight.

Vacation? What? Oregon coast?? :( I don't even know what the word vacation means anymore. haha. Well that probably means that I will not be getting an email from you mom. Darnit. Unless you email at the airport.

I got the package you sent this morning just a little bit ago. Ryan is always sure to include a picture haha :) and if my eyes don't mistake me, is that a nice turquoise tie?? Awesome sauce! I haven't had to use my debit card from home yet, but thanks for sending the new one in case I ever need to. You're managing my account right? If I ever need to use it for something I'll try and let you know before hand.

We're supposed to be getting the card back on Tuesday. "That's the goal" is what they told us. I'll be the designated driver for the rest of the time Bagley and I are together, so pray that I don't mess up and lose the car for both of us! That would be bad. haha.

Well I think that's it for now. This Wrightwood missionary broadcast was made possible by the strenuous efforts of Elders Browning and Bagley. (:

Love,

Elder Browning

Oh what do you do in the summertime, when all the world is... on vacation?

Hey family!

 

Well, it sounds like your week was much more exciting than mine! At least. More exciting than I'd like mine to be probably. haha. Sounds hectic! How many people are going to be in the house at one time? Too many? haha. It's like our Browning reunions; we don't all fit in one cabin! Sounds like you'll all have a blast though. Without me... sniff... haha. But yeah. Our week was quite slow. Just about everyone it seems is gone on vacation! This week is the last week before school starts, so everyone is trying to get in those last trips before the summer break ends.

 

We finally caught Shannell at home for a minute yesterday. She's in the process of fixing her car and moving and doing a bunch of other stuff and just hasn't had time for anything else. She still hasn't been to church, so we'll have to move her baptism date a week or two back. We have an appointment to see her tomorrow though.

 

So by the end of this week Elder Bagley and I are either going to be really fit with buff calves or dead on the side of the road. haha. He clipped a large rock with the front right tire and it bent... something. Looks like the axle to me. The axle and the shock strut are rubbing on each other now, which is no bueno. So, the car got towed this morning and we'll be walking everywhere this week. I love living in a mountain area with so many hills, especially when we get to realize just how steep those hills are by hiking them every day. haha. Hopefully it's not 2 or 3 weeks until we get the car back. We walked to our bishops this morning for our appointment with him and it was 2 miles there and 2 miles back. Not super far, but the hills really do make a big difference. I'm pooped and it's not even 1 in the afternoon. haha. Most of our appointments this week are within 1 1/2 miles of home, which is lucky. So. Yeah. We're super happy about that. I'm worried about what this could mean financially for Elder Bagley if he has to pay for the repairs. And since he has a heart condition, it's hard for him to hike and stuff so we'll mostly just be taking it easy this week, visitng people closest by and getting member rides as much as possible. Should be... interesting. haha.

 

I'm glad Aubree got my card on time! I sent it 3 days in advance. haha. I saw the punch out star wars letter and knew ryan would love it and saw something similar for Aubree and thought it would be good not to leave her out. I dunno if I'll be able to find a punch out mom card, but I'll look. haha. Hopefully I'll have something better even though it won't get to you by your birthday. Especially since we're car-less this week. Not careless, car less. Or maybe both. haha

 

Last Monday I had said something about sending some pictures later... or something. Well, we went to that family's house we had planned to a week or two before last and I ended up helping the son dig trenches for a sprinkler system for 4 hours. That's my absolute favorite thing to do! Almost as much as banging my head against a wall. haha. Man I'm sarcastic today. Well, hopefully it makes you laugh. Or something. The one good thing I got to do was play basketball with the son for a little while. We played a game of one-on-one and 8 games of h-o-r-s-e/p-i-g and I beat him in all of them. Muahaha. :)

 

Well, that's the wrap. It's short, but a short chicken wrap is healthier than a big one right?

Yikes that was lame. Baha. Anyways, until next week!

Love,

Elder Browning