Sneaky Grandparents

October 31, 2012

Hello family!

Guess who I ran into at the temple? Grandma and grandpa again! I was actually in the men's changing area when I ran into grandpa! We sat together during the session. How cool is that? He sat nearby me when I first got my endowment and it was fun to be with him again. Grandma said she was going to call you so if she hasn't already done so, expect a call from her. She gave me two hugs; one for you mom and one for her. haha. We're thinking we maybe shouldn't meet up every time I go to the temple anymore, but it has sure been a blessing to see them twice now.

 

Well it's been fairly slow recently. Most of the work we did was with recent converts; we have quite a few. Vera has a sibling and a friend that she is going to talk to about possibly taking the lessons.

 

We had a couple odd/weird/interesting things happen recently. One is... well. Backing up, Elder Grill is making an effort to work out every morning and a half-hearted effort to loose weight. Usually, he gets in the shower (we have 2) shortly after I shut my water off. On I think Wednesday it was, I didn't hear his shower turn on and when I was getting dressed I didn't hear him working out in the other room. So I walk into the other room and he's sprawled on the couch. haha. He rolled off the couch and pulled himself towards the bathroom doing kind of an army crawl walrus walk thing. I told him he's going to get a rug burn but he said he was fine. Turns out, he totally wrecked the top of his foot. Most of the skin was gone. So I've been doing my best to keep it wrapped and help it heal. It's the size of a gauze pad. It's getting a lot better but it was pretty painful for several days. It'll probably leave a permanent scar.

 

So. That's one story. haha. We were at a thrift store recently when this woman in a Snow White costume comes up to us and says "hey do you guys give prayers of healing... you know... blessings?" And I responded affirmatively and she said "I could use a blessing before you guys leave." So. Elder Grill was pretty uncomfortable because he didn't know what to do but I had us walk out to the parking lot and gave her a brief blessing there. She's apparently LDS and reads the book of Mormon and stuff but. It was way odd. I guess I mean she was way odd. Apparently she's trying to get to Hollywood. haha. You never know who or what you'll run into.

 

We spoke in Newberry Springs on Sunday. Only Elder Grill and I were speaking and he took about 15 minutes so that left me with plenty of time. I took about 25 minutes, expounding on several of the Articles of Faith and how we can all use them as a tool to call upon in missionary work. The branch members are all odd, some good some bad, but you can tell they all have a strong testimony of the gospel.

 

The maintenance guy for our apartment complex has been talking to us a little recently. He goes to his own Christian church, but he was curious about various aspects of our life as missionaries, like meals, what we do for fun, if we get paid as missionaries, etc. The conversation about payment turned into talking about how members help us out with dinners and he asked if he could bring us dinner some time. So he brought the 4 of us pizza last night, him and another guy from his church that pitched in. He was curious about how some of our beliefs differed from other Christians. He asked a question about the Godhead; I don't remember how he worded it but it was worded pretty confusingly. It was funny; all the 3 other missionaries slowly turned towards me with the same expression when he asked it. haha. He was basically asking about if other Christians believed that God the father came down as Christ. I told him yes many Christians do believe that, but then explained our belief and shared a couple scriptures where you see all 3 separate beings manifested at once. Then he had a look that was like "now I'm not sure which to believe." He said "well. Either way. I believe in Jesus as my savior and so do you guys and so do other Christians, and that's what really matters." We gave him a book of Mormon and he said he'd read it. There's possibly some potential there; you never know.

 

We're teaching a woman named Janeen. She met with the missionaries before and was pretty close to being baptized but got sick and was in and out of the hospital for a while and started smoking again. We've picked her back up and she wants to be baptized still but the same hurdle of smoking will have to be crossed.

 

About the package you sent... I got it almost a week ago. The zls brought it all the way to Barstow and were like "wait. We brought this all the way here and you're not going to open it?" So I finally gave in to peer pressure. BUT! I stopped there; the packages are all wrapped still! It's been hard waiting so long but not impossible. haha. Um. The garments you sent definitely aren't mine. The one pair I left behind had only been worn a few times. If they've disappeared, oh well I guess. :)

 

One question; should I send a card for Jeren to gma and gpa's house or just send it home? Let me know on Monday when I email again.

 

I love you guys! Thank you for all your continual support and encouragement. I need all the help I can get ...and then some. ha.

Love,

Elder Browning