8 Months

September 24, 2012

Hola Familia!

Well we had a pretty good week here in sticky barstow! We had a baptism yesterday that went well. I got to take part in the confirmation. His name is Thomas. He's already signed up to go on splits with us. He's super pumped. He comes to other lessons with us sometimes as well. President and Sister Godwin showed up so that was pretty cool.

We set a baptismal date with Vera! She's awesome. She asks questions that are almost impossible to answer without going into deep doctrine. Questions relating to predestination and fore-ordination, salvation, questions about like the Joseph Smith papers and his translation of the Bible, etc. She takes notes during lessons, church, and as she reads the Book of Mormon. Whenever she asks a question (oftentimes it's over text since we don't get to meet with her every day), Elder Grill always hands the phone to me. haha. It's weird I've gone from someone to often ask questions to now being someone that other missionaries regularly come to with questions. Most of the time I have to ask the zone leaders but. Whatever. haha.

Oh! The Assistants called. They said my district led the mission in teaching member present lessons last week. Not just barely, but by a lot. Elder Maisey (who used to be my zone leader) laughed when I asked him by how much and he said "um. By at least one, I'll tell you that much." So that was pretty cool. We taught 20 member present lessons between the two companionships which is... a ton. haha. I wish I could take credit for half of them, but it's really the other two missionaries in my district. They're on fire. They have 8 investigators with baptismal dates right now, so I'm going to be conducting a lot of interviews in the upcoming weeks hopefully.

A package huh? It's almost my birthday so you could probably just wait a couple weeks (like 5 weeks I think? Wow I'm almost 20...) and send one then. There isn't really anything I need but I'm always happy with whatever you choose to send :) ties? music? Paul Cardall and jon Schmidt? :D haha. Actually, I do have a request for my birthday. I would love to have Settlers of catan. We don't do zone activities on mondays as much because our miles got cut and we have more free time. We played monopoly and I won in like 2 hours. haha

So. Elder Grill. haha. He's still weird, but we're getting along a little better. It's funny that you mention charity. I took the Christlike attributes test again (I take it about once a transfer) and I've been doing really well and improved in almost every area a point or two except for in charity. Charity actually went down... haha. My number in charity has always been fairly high but still, obviously I need to work on it more. Anyways. He's a good teacher, but he likes to talk a lot. We're getting smoother though. Oh here's something else to show you kind of what he's like. So I had just started my studies and it was like 8:05 and he walks up behind me and just stands there. I look back at him finally and huff "whaat?" And he goes "good morning." And then goes and sits at his desk. It's not like super annoying or anything just... really odd. haha. He has a strong testimony and is out for the right reasons though.

Barstow is hot! And it's starting to get dark and scary at like 7 now. Temps are still in the upper 90s, hitting 100 sometimes. We're living in our own apartment. The kitchen is small and the shower head is wayy to short I have to squat to wash my hair but other than that it's nice. We have a car since we cover all the way out to Nevada - yermo, dagget, newberry springs and baker. Don't worry I'll end up on a bike eventually. haha

Dad it sounds like you're way busy. I wish I was around to help you out a little. I didnt ever do a lot but I'm sure it made a small dent. Saved you at least an hour or two. haha. It sounds like sooner or later you're going to have to eventually let one of your businesses go :/ hopefully it becomes more obvious which is the better choice soon.

Wait. What? 4 peeps getting married? Wow. Megan you better tell nakale she owes me an announcement!

One last thing. In church yesterday, one of the speakers was telling a story about a time when he was in a crowd and got separated from his daughter. He said he gave a silent prayer and the crowd parted at the right time so he could see his daughter about 50 feet away. It reminded me of when we went to Disneyland and after that Mickey's lights show thing with the boat and stuff how we got separated from Aubree. I remember we realized that and I think I made eye contact with you mom and then bolted back into the crowd. I said a silent prayer asking for my steps to be guided to where Aubree was. I got back to where we'd been, kept going, went up a few steps, and there she was. That was a tender moment for me and I'd kind of forgotten about it until the guy in church shared his experience. It's a testimony builder to me that God is watching out for us, knows us, and listens to our prayers.

Alrighty. Well. I'm outta here! haha

Love,

Elder Browning

The Armpit

Hey family!

Well. Looks like you already know. I am indeed in great ol Barstow! The armpit of California. HA. It's pretty ghetto but there's plenty of work to do. Hot sweaty work. haha. Luckily It has cooled down about 10-15 degrees in the past few weeks so it's about 100 degrees instead of 115.

Since I've arrived the work has suddenly sky rocketed. We haven't really changed anything but it's like investigators are suddenly falling out of the sky. We went to Yermo and there was a member family who's wife wanted a blessing. Turns out that they had not been in contact with the church for a while and the younger two boys aren't members but want to be. Also, a girl showed up at church saying she wants to be a member. I guess missionaries had talked to her once before but her mom had said no but she's 18 now and super positive; she's already reading the Book of Mormon. We also got a street contact with a girl named Tressel (sp?) and when we went back to teach her she had a friend there and they both listened to our lesson and said they felt "really good chills." So we're really excited about all these people that we have to teach. It's pretty sweet.

The Yoakums ran into gma and gpa huh? That's cool :) the Yoakums are pretty hilarious.

I was thinking today that I'll never get used to hot weather. Maybe by the end of next summer but I doubt it. I'm just not a fan of being all sweaty. haha. Oh well.

So being a district leader isn't bad so far. I haven't had to conduct a district meeting yet though. Our district is very young. My companion has been out 3 months and the other missionaries have each been out 4 and a half months. They're some of the hardest working missionaries I've ever seen though and they're doing amazingly well.

My new companion's name is Elder Grill. He's... weird. Like. A lot. But he's a hard worker and he can teach so I'm happy with that for sure. He calls himself a musician a lot. Like a lot lot. He plays piano and sings.

Oh hey! I didn't tell you this week but we were helping a family move up in Wrightwood and they had a bunch of stuff that they were just getting rid of. They told us to help ourselves to anything there and I saw a keyboard stand. I wasn't expecting anything to come of it but I bluntly said "that looks like a keyboard stand." She got all excited and said "there's a keyboard too! Do you want it? Do you play piano? Take it! :)" I was just like... wha...? So. I got a keyboard! And I've held on to it. haha. Grill is pretty happy about that.

I heard something pretty cool yesterday that I wanted to share with you. We were talking about the Spirit and I heard a way sweet analogy. If you have a glass of water and you dump the water out, what's filling the glass? Many would say, "nothing," but really there is air filling that space; there is always something filling the space. And the same goes with ourselves and our hearts. If we lose the Spirit of God and have not His spirit in our heart, what is filling it? Nothing? No. If it is not fillied by the Spirit of God than it is filled by the spirit of the devil. So. Think about that :)

It's weird having been the junior companion for so long and now being looked up to by multiple other missionaries as a guide for answers, teaching, conduct, and just plain leadership. Elder Grill always goes telling people that "I'm the district leader" and I want to quickly put a stop to that. haha.

Well I'm running out of time. We've had a tight schedule today. Laundry is more time consuming since we have to go to members' houses to do it.

The church is true! The work is true! I've always said that God could just plop people to teach into our laps if He felt so inclined. Now look! I told you it was possible ;) haha

Love,

Elder Browning

Guess Who Grandma & Grandpa Browning Met?

Sept 12, 2012

This was written to us ABOUT Nelson, but not written by Nelson:

Hi everybody,

We just returned from a trip to the Clarks' Nutrition Center-- where we buy the cottage cheese and flax oil that Dad uses.  Anyway, we were shopping along, minding our business when, flash, bam, kalamazam, a couple said "Look, there's the missionaries"

 

Of course, she had to mean me..as Elder Browning was still dawdling behind checking out labels.

 

So we began talking and guess where they were from...Wrightwood.  So we had a talk about one of their all time favorite missionaries, Elder Browning.

 

I have to tell you that they said "He is a great missionary",  taught a class in Sunday School and "He is a great teacher."  Their names are Jay and Pat Yokum.  And they love Nelson.  "He's quite a guy."  Green as grass when he came, but he has seasoned well.

 

Just in case you don't know yet, he has been transferred, but they did not know where.  They were sure going to miss him.

 

It's always nice to get a report from someone who really knows these missionaries and they seem to know him well.  Said Monday he came over to get pictures and gave them a CD.  They just love him.

 

Just thought you would like a report. We'll be anxious to hear where he is.  He's been there 7 months.

Love Elder & Sister Browning

Goodbye Wrightwood!

September 10, 2012 (Nelson was not able to email over Labor Day)

Hey Family!

Boy that was sure a lot of reading! So Jeren and Lauren living at grandma and grandpa's house? It wasn't clearly stated in your email but it's definitely implied. I wasn't sure where they were going to stay. That's pretty cool; there are so many great memories at that house.

Well. So. Yup! Transfer calls came Saturday and I'm leaving Wrightwood! I won't know where I'm going until tomorrow morning. Actually, if they called tonight and told me to go to the desert transfer meeting instead of the one down the hill, I'd be either in Big Bear or Barstow. Otherwise it's anyone's guess as to where I end up. Additionally, the assistants called elder Bagley and he will be training a new missionary! He's stressed about it but he will do a good job. I was just glad they didn't ask to talk to me next! Or so I thought... They called back an hour later and asked to talk to me and called me to be a district leader! Ahh!  I dunno if I'm ready but apparently the Lord thinks I am! haha. Yikes. That means I'll be the senior companion too. Great! Hopefully I don't get too stressed. haha.

A lot of the week was spent running errands. We went to Hesperia the dentist Wednesday to pick up that bite guard thing and Bishop (doc) Wheeler didn't like how it fit so they said they would make another one and to come back Friday. So we came back Friday and that one somehow had warped a little, so we stayed in Hesperia while they made a third one and that one works well. So that pretty much killed the whole day Friday.

Wednesday evening we had dinner with Gary and Brittany. They said they've started to pray about when to get married and to me it seems like they're praying more for the courage and comfort to choose to get married right away rather than wait for all their family's convenience. We're (or at least Bagley and his greenie) going to start a fast with them in a week to help them receive an answer. They have desires to choose the right, but sometimes we all need a little extra help and encouragement since God's way often differs from the normalities and comforts of the world.

I'm glad you enjoyed the cd I sent! It's definitely not the best stuff in the world and far from professional, but I think it shows that I've improved at least a little. haha.

We visited the Smith family again last night and taught them about the importance of scripture study. Before we left they expressed how glad they were that they had gotten to know me and said some very touching words to me. I almost got emotional but. You know me. Guess I'm a little stiff. haha. We snuck over to their house last night and decorated their car with balloons and streamers. We made a huge thank you card with a bunch of pictures of insides jokes and what not and left it on the windshield. It was a fun project and we're stopping by briefly this afternoon to get pictures with them so we'll see what they thought about it. haha

Well that was pretty much my week. The Brook family want to see me before I leave so we'll go over there tonight. I'll try and send a few pictures before I run out of time.

I love you all! I'll let you know where I end up next week.

Love,

Elder Browning