2014

Hey yall!

Can you believe it's the end of another year? I don't even understand time anymore. It doesnt make any sense to me. haha. Sometimes the minutes drag and yet the years fly by. So confusing.

 

So the stolen car was found! It's pretty beat up though. Doesn't look too bad at first but both bumpers need to be replaced, the wheel is rubbing on something metal (sounds like the axle is rubbing), the brakes sound horrid, the plastic undercarriage is trashed, and they smoked weed in the car so it totally reeks. What a mess. Part of me wishes he would've wrecked the car and we could've just totaled it. I probably will be gone before it's completely fixed.

So guess what happened sunday? Another freakin car got towed! But luckily it was the apartment management's fault so it got released for free. Still it cost us our whole Sunday morning getting it out. Poor Elder Rosa is stuck in this job for one more transfer. Brother Miller, our ward mission leader's dad, is taking on the vehicle coordinator position and will start in a week or two.

 

We had a last minute mission wide conference today with Elder Richards of the 2nd quorum of the seventy. He was coming to Palm Springs to visit family and asked President on Thursday if we could meet on Monday. So we did! I find it hard to apply some of the stuff that gets talked about now since it's more long-term mission centered and I only have 3 weeks left. But there's a lot of universal things that were talked about that I really liked. His wife talked about how our future kids and family can be motivation to be obedient and choose the right. I had kind of thought about that but not really. Motivation from wanting an eternal family I've thought about but not motivation from actually thinking about my kids. So that was interesting. We had a discussion about truth as well. Elder Richards said "even though words may be true, if they are not spoken by the spirit, they are not truth." It made me think of times when we joke with others and are sarcastic in a cutting way. Like the phrase "the truth hurts." And I realized that just because it is a true statement doesn't mean it is truth. Truth, in a gospel sense, is always edifying. Just because it's factual doesn't mean it's truth. It's not viewing the situation or the individual as they really are. So I thought that was interesting.

 

As far as the 2nd Christmas goes, it's really not that necessary. My views of what it was going to be like was entirely selfish with it being a "Nelson" christmas instead of a "Browning" christmas. So just a party is fine especially if that's easier. The stuff I'll need, and not all of it right away but by the start of school, are a phone, a laptop, a car (yikes), and clothes. Video games can wait but an ipod is right on the border of that "need" list. haha. I've taken care of my dress shirts and they're whiter than any other departing missionary's I've ever seen so I wont need new ones for a little while.

And the rooms... it sounds like taking the murphy bed room would work best. I'd like to take megan's room but it's girly and by all the girls and the bathroom trek is not a plus. As long as that small extra bed isn't in the murphy bed room and I can stick a small desk by the window I think I'll be good.

I was voted the least trunky of all the departing missionaries. So don't worry about me losing focus. haha

 

Speaking of serving the missionaries in the mission, I feel like that's my job on more than one level. Or not necessarily my job but my role. Today at the mission conference during lunch I went around talking to everyone I knew and gave them a hug or put my arm around them or (with sisters) shook their hand. I've noticed the influence I have now with the missionaries so I'm trying to make it as positive and uplifting as possible for as many people as I can before I leave. One guy in my zone was sitting by himself so I spent a little more time talking and joking with him. He's a good guy and has really started to come out of his shell in the time he's been out.

Administration is not so great but ministering is super great. Haha.

 

Anywho. That's about it for now. Only 2 more full length emails left to send on my mission... guess I'd better make them good! haha.

Love,

Elder Nelson Browning

Christmas Adam

Hello hello!

Well what a fun week this is, huh? Christmas is great :) I think it has the ability to put just about everyone in good spirits.

Megan told me she got to speak! Cool :) cuz I got to speak too! We had dinner with the 1st counselor in the bishopric on Saturday and before we left he asked us to speak the next day since one of their speakers was going to be missing. I spoke for about 10 minutes without any notes about the spirit of Christmas and the spirit of Christ. I talked about the gift of the atonement and how using it, following Jesus Christ, and sharing it with others is the best way we can express our gratitude for that priceless gift.

I just read back through my "sermon" paragraph from last weeks email. I don't remember saying all that. But it sounds cool :) haha.

 

So remember how a car got stolen? That same car got stolen AGAIN on Thursday. Different sister missionary, same car. Poor girls. The police still haven't found the car so we brought the sisters another on Friday.

 

We've been super duper busy and have had like no time to visit people. There haven't been accidents with any vehicles but there have been 3 or so flat tires, 2 dead batteries, and a bunch of other repairs needed this week. We've had to switch the car we're driving 4 times now. We took our truck in to get the bumper repaired since a member backed into us when it was parked, got a headlight replaced, got an estimate on the car that was in the hit and run, took a cruze in to get the side skirt fixed, a truck with higher mileage that feels like it's misfiring, and we swapped out 2 more cars from indio on Saturday. Whew!

 

There was also an issue with one of the gas cards. Someone must have put a reader on the gas pump that these missionaries used and suddenly they had milked $800 worth of gas off that card. Luckily the cards have a limit on them so they weren't able to keep spend spend spending. haha. So I had to clear that up this week.

 

We really don't get to teach much which is a bummer. We got some more info that would help Cameron in his process towards baptism. I still haven't explained that situation to you fully. He's not really male or female. In a way he's both but at the same time neither. Anywho, it's been a long process trying to figure out what needs to be done in order for him to be baptized. Because he was born listed as a female and has a feminine disease, the 1st presidency said he could be baptized as a female, no problems. However, if he wanted to be baptized male, he would need to meet with several doctors and have some hormone treatments to more fully make that transition. He's prayed about it and feels like it would be wrong to decide to just go as a female and feels like his spirit is male. He won't be listed as transgender since he's not really either. So, he has to go through that medical process and will probably get baptized early this spring.

 

Whew again! haha. My wrist hurts with this typing. I showed someone a "flagpole" the other day (just think derek clement) and tweaked my wrist when they asked to see me do it again.

 

I kind of wish I wasn't spending the end of my mission in the office and was instead out teaching, but i guess this is where I'm needed. I really don't feel like I know much about cars. At least until recently. Most missionaries don't ever know what's going on with their car and ask me what's wrong. haha. They'll bring it to the office to have me look at it on occasion. So far I've been correct about every issue. We'll have to see if I was right about this misfiring truck. Oh! One of the managers at one of the auto body shops we go to asked if I wanted a job this morning. If it was in Rigby idaho I'd definitely take it!

 

So I might skype instead of just calling. The thought of just calling sounds much more boring. You lose a whole aspect of communication when it's just audio. Plus I think it helps get the whole family involved more with the visual aspect. And since time is limited, I thought that skyping would be better. President has budged to an hour tops so that gives a little more leeway too.

We're having our zone breakfast at 8:30 and we should be cleaned up around 10. I'm planning on skyping at 10:30 which would be 11:30 your time.

 

Love you guys :) Merry Christmas!

Elder Nelson Browning

'Tis the Week Before Christmas

Hi guys (:

So sorry if last week seemed negative. I have lots to rant about this week too! Haha but I won't. I'll try and just list some of those things that happened instead of going into details.

We had a car stolen on the morning of transfers. Yippee! We drove like 200 miles total that day. And another one got towed from some sisters' apartment 2 days later. haha. So it's definitely been interesting. Also on Saturday we needed to swap out some vehicles from the desert. So Elder Rosa and I drove separately all the way to and from Indio. I'm trying to get several vehicles prepared to sell before their license and registration expires, however, 2 have already expired and 5 more expire by january 28th. I'm a go nuts soon. haha :)

 

Most of our ward had finals this past week and are now going home for the holidays. We've really been struggling to teach just about anyone. We're always bushed when we leave the apartment. Suffice it to say I don't struggle to fall asleep at night. Haha :) We had one lesson with our ward mission leader and a friend of his on Wednesday. We read the nativity story with them and bore our testimonies.

 

You know what I miss? Home cooked meals. If we don't have a dinner appointment, we tend to eat out because it's quicker. And half the time, the members take us out to eat when they sign up. I've been working out and actually loosing a little weight but I miss healthier, normal food.

 

So we gave another blessing to the mom of a girl in our ward and she asked me to give the blessing. Afterward she asked if I had ever thought that I might become a patriarch someday. What? No I definitely haven't ever thought of that. But it was a very sincere compliment unlike any I've received before.

 

I feel like my letters are so boring now! Sorry :/ it's more mundane info than maybe what you're used to. I'll probably just call home on Christmas. Figure we can wait a few more weeks to see each other, right? :) I have not idea what time it'll be at. I might have more of an idea next week... hopefully. haha. President set a limit of 40 minutes on calls. Along with other things I disagree with. But I'm not going to rant! :) it doesn't do anyone any good anyways. How many times can you say "any" in a sentence?? Haha

 

Elder Rosa lost the hearing in one of his ears and it turned out it was just impacted with wax. He was told by the doctor that he is not allowed to use q-tips any more. haha.

 

I don't want it sounding like my life sucks or anything like that. It really doesn't! I just don't feel like I have a whole bunch of cool stuff to talk about :) unless you want me to describe all the jobs I do as the vehicle coordinator. haha. How boring would that be? Pull your hair out boring? (: I went to the ford dealer on Wednesday to pick up 2 new Ford Fusions for the mission. So that was a new experience, signing in behalf of the mission and church in general. I also got a notarized power of attorney. Look out! I have way too much responsibility. haha.

 

I was asked to say the invocation for our ward Christmas program yesterday. During the prayer I ended up talking about the Christmas season and the spirit of Christ. Since then I've kind of been thinking about it. The greater portion of the world celebrates, every year, the birth of Jesus Christ, whether they believe in Him or not. There's a reason this season is so important. It's not for the marketing, money making or presents and packaging; it's because, over 2000 years ago, the great Jehovah descended from his royal throne on high to the most humble of circumstances and humble of lives, to experience more trials and hardships than any of us ever could or would. And did he have to do it? Nope. But he did. For each and every one of us, even those who won't accept it. And that love, that great love that none of us can truly comprehend, is really what this season is all about. There is no other one thing in life from which more joy can come than from Jesus Christ; from his life, his atonement, his gospel, the plan of Happiness; that's where the true joy of the Christmas season resonates.

 

I love you guys :) I might not be much of a proselyting missionary anymore at the end of my mission, but "my assignment may be adjusted according to the needs of the mission and mission president," and I can do my best in whatever that assignment may be.

 

Love,

Elder Nelson Browning

Last Transfer

Hey fam!

 

So dad totally stole my subject line. :P so there.

 

 Well this week was fairly crazy and is going to continue to be crazy for the next couple days. The system that the church used for all the vehicle info just switched to a new system on Wednesday. So I've been having fun trying to figure it out. Yuck. It was super stressful the first day. None of the maintenance logs (of which there are about 100) got moved over to the new system. And the church knew that was going to happen but did it anyway. Doesn't make sense to me. But whatever. the new system is supposed to be easier to use. Attempts to make it simple have made it moredifficult in my opinion. I guess I'm just too smart for it. haha.

 

With that and the upcoming transfers we've been plenty busy. It's been a hectic time in all aspects. Lot's of annoying announcements/changes/additional rules. Just stupid stuff. They're moving us in with the APs which I'm not happy about. They're cool as long as they're not telling everybody what they're doing wrong, which is most of the time. Honestly I just don't want to pack up and move, unpack, and then re pack again in a few weeks to go home.

 

Anywho. Not a lot otherwise is changing with transfers. Lots of car swaps but thats about it. We're supposed to be selling cars soon and unfortunately it's falling to me to figure all that out. haha. Dunno why I signed up for this job. And yet they're saying they wish they could just give me a full time job here. That opinion I'm sure will soon change. haha

 

So Melissa also dropped us. She got anti-ed. :( dumb. Satan sucks. We found that out yesterday.

 

I think a lot of our extra time this week was spent ministering to some of the other missionaries in the zone. Some of them are struggling a lot. I gave and participated in 5 or so blessings this week. I feel like a blessing auctioneer! Never mind. Thats sacrilegious. haha.

 

Can you believe I'm only emailing 5, maybe 6 more times? Man I'm going to be home before I know it. Crazy!

 

Well that's about it for now. Since I'm in the office I won't have to wait to get a package so don't worry about it being late or anything. You could send it Friday next week and I'd still get it in time.

 

Love you guys! :)

Elder Nelson Browning

Dec 2nd

Hi Mom and dad :)

So it's still unclear whether President would rather have us email on Monday or on Saturday. I haven't been able to talk to him about it but he told elder Rosa that emailing on Monday was fine. But then he didn't say anything about Saturday. So i'm just as confused. haha. We usually have a few appointments on Saturday so we might just stick with Monday unless it's too busy in the office.

 

Anyways! One of the things I forgot to ask you about on Saturday was if you could get me all the addresses for aunts/uncles/grandparents/etc. I counted that there should be about a dozen addresses or so. That'd be great :)

I thought I had one or two other small ideas for Christmas but I can't remember what they were. Nothing important just something to go off of. We don't get fed as often in the singles ward and I'm sick of eating out haha. I guess you can't really send dinners though can ya? I just don't have time to really cook anything - it just takes too long. Pasta is like the only thing that's fast enough.

 

Dad, are you sure you want to sell your tax practice? I'm sure it's way too busy trying to do both so I guess you don't have much of a choice. Would it make a difference if I worked part time helping you out? There's not much I can do besides the kind of stuff I already was doing I suppose. If it would make a difference I'd be more than willing to help. If not then definitely do what you need to.

 

Anywho. Just wanted to say hey and bring up those several things that I'd forgotten. I love you!

Elder Nelson Browning

Thanksgiving Week

Hello family that I am oh-so-grateful for!

So this week was another week in the works I suppose. We haven't been able to teach hardly any lessons though. Everyone is busy or out of town for the holidays. Melissa did come to church though! As well as Cameron and Elaina. Elaina is the one who has been taught all the lessons and has a testimony but still has a hold up (her boyfriend). Our current game plan with her is to help her to help her boyfriend. They won't get married sooner and they won't break up so the only option is to overpower them with the spirit! Muahaha! Only by being "pricked in your heart" can some people really change.

We had Thanksgiving dinner with brother Adams (1st counselor in bishopric) and his family. It was fairly normal: turkey, mashed potatoes and gravy, stuffing, rice pilaf, green jello pudding (with pistachios! mmm), rolls, and yams that I casually passed on. haha. We also got invited over to another member's house with some other missionaries but it was later in the evening so I thought it was just to hang out and maybe eat dessert. Turns out they were actually expecting us for dinner! I was so stuffed I was barely able to eat more than some fruit, jello and another roll or two. It was fun though.

 

Coordinating the vehicles has gotten a little easier. I know what I'm doing as far as all the basic stuff. I get several calls every day, some of which are pretty funny. It's weird that missionaries call me thinking I would know exactly what's wrong with their car. I'm definitely no auto mechanic but so far I've had a good idea at least of what's going wrong. Some sisters were the victims of a hit and run on Thursday and those are the calls that are less fun to answer.

 

So the sisters in Indio that we swapped cars with had an issue last Saturday night. They called me complaining about Chevy cars and why I couldn't give them a toyota because now their car isn't working. haha. It wasn't turning on or anything and after asking a bunch of questions it sounded to me like a battery issue. I asked if they had any members that lived close by that could help them jump the car and they said they did and would call me again if they had any more issues. I thought it was going to end there but they called 10 minutes later. They said "so we got out and shook the battery and the car started up fine. We drove home and parked in front of our mailbox but when we got back in the car now it won't start again." Me: "so you parked in front of the mailboxes andturned off your engine?" Them: "Yeah and now it won't start and my companion is shaking the battery again and there are sparks flying everywhere!"  Oh dear. haha. Well I told them to stop shaking the battery and call their zone leaders to come over and tighten the terminals on their battery (since the sisters didn't have a wrench). Whew! It made me realize why the church only buys new cars and why, oftentimes, the sisters are driving the newest of the bunch. They didn't even know what a wrench was! haha... oh well. They're all squared away now.

 

Well I hope it doesn't sound like my life is boring. It definitely isn't. There are some really slow moments in the office where I would love to just listen to music. Some of the work is really a lot like what I did for Browning P.S. I've actually had a lot of laughs this transfer. So it's been fun.

Oh! We had dinner with Melissa Strong on Wednesday and she is Steven and Ben South's cousin! Crazy huh?? What a small world!

 

As far as Christmas goes, I actually have one or two small ideas. I could use a new black belt. One of the ones I came out with was already kinda old so the other one I wore like 80% of the time. They're both pretty worn out. Just make sure it's not a super wide belt because some of my belt loops on my slacks are small. I could use more garments... but I wanted to try out some slightly different kinds so I might just do that when I come home. A couple socks wouldn't be bad either since most of the ones I have are on their last leg. Or foot. haha.

Well that might not help much. haha. I already have a christmas tree so you don't need to send another if you were planning on that.

 

Anyways! We actually don't have to email on Saturday. Pres said we could just do it Monday since we're already at a computer in the office. So. Still unsure which I'm going to pick. I wish he would just pick one for me! When I told him I'd last Monday that I'd already emailed Saturday he was just like "well if you'd like to email your mom again and have time, go ahead!" So I might just go back to Mondays. I just don't want to feel like I have free reign. I'll talk to him about it again.

 

Love you guys! I'm definitely thankful for you all and for you mom and dad. I've realized what a blessing it is just to have a mom and a dad at home, especially ones who try to do everything right.

Love,

Elder Nelson Browning

2 Months

Well this is weird! Saturday is a special day its the day we get ready for... the rest of the week i suppose! Actually we've done service this morning until now and the Millcreek ward missionaries have a baptism at 2 that we'll be going to so we're still fairly busy amidst this day of trying to get things done.

So last night we got some bad news. Shortly before we left the office we received a call from the mom of a sister in our zone, sister Morgan. I was sister Morgan's district leader back in February when she arrived to the field, and now I'm her zone leader, and she's companions with her trainer who was also in my district back then. Her mom told us that she had recently found out that she had cancer and wasn't sure the best way to inform her daughter. Man. Elder Rosa told me "...this is the part I hate about working in the office." We told President Van Cott and he talked to her and gave her permission to talk to her mom. Sister Morgan called us this morning and we gave her a blessing. She's a strong girl.

Anyways! Not sure you needed to hear all that but it's definitely been on my mind since last night. But this week I've been thinking about my current assignment and decided to view it mostly as an administering job. It's not the most glorious or spiritually enriching work but it needs to be done and it assists in the efforts of some 220 other missionaries. Honestly it just feels like a job. We're working office stuff from 9 to 5, 5 days a week. Haha. It's not boring though. I enjoy it.

We go to the ward's institute on Tuesday nights and a nonmember girl showed up this week. She's been studying religion and was interested in the Mormon church. She actually showed up to one of the district meetings that morning and the missionaries there talked to her for a little bit. She really liked what she saw in the members and what she's learned so far about the church. Her name is Melissa (pronounced mayleesa though). Elder Rosa and Aaron (the ward mission leader) talked to her for a little while afterwards while Cameron taught me about the atonement. She's coming to church on Sunday! And she's going to try to come to the baptism that's today as well.

I'm really not sure what to talk about... haha. I probably make my life sound super boring. Elder Rosa and I laugh a lot though. It's fun. We'll really miss the Housers when they leave. And we'll probably feel super lost. haha.

We drove out to Indio yesterday because we had to swap some cars out there (remember where that's at Jeren? :) haha) and Elder Rosa felt like he needed to visit one of his old investigators from Desert Hot Springs. So we stopped by and she let us in and it turns out she's really been struggling. The other missionaries there haven't been able to contact her and she stopped going to church a while back. Elder Rosa was able to bear his testimony and help rekindle that spark of interest in the church for her. She felt a little weird about going back to the family ward since she'd had a falling out with a few people there so we gave her the info for the singles ward out in Yucca Valley. I felt like it was definitely inspired for Elder Rosa to stop by. I've noticed that he just has a way with some people and connects with them in ways others can't.

We had dinner last night with a girl in the single's ward that's engaged to be marriedon the 21st of December. She's the same age as Megan! I was like... what! I think it just made me more scared to get married. haha.

My face is a "gorgeous sight to behold" huh? Maybe that's because for the first time in a year, I didn't cut my own hair! haha :) there's some members that own a salon that will cut the missionaries' hair for free.

Well. I guess that's about it. I'll only email like 7 or 8 more times. Is that crazy or what? I want to start telling people I've been out "about a year and a half" when they ask. haha. I'm sick of people asking if I'm excited to go home and what my plans are. No need for me to be trunky until the 20th of January. haha

Love,

Elder Nelson Browning

November 18

Hi everyone

So I don't know what day we'll be emailing after today, probably Saturdays but we'll have to see. We're officially the vehicle coordinators and secretaries for the mission now. The veteran couple don't go home until December 2nd but they want to make sure we know what we're doing before they leave. haha. But anyways. If I miss emailing, don't freak out! I'm just really busy. haha

Well this week was a little tougher. We only have a few hours in the evenings to visit and teach people and a total of 9 of our appointments canceled this past week. So that was fun. (: haha.

Every Monday the ward has an FHE activity. This past monday they played human battleship. They set up tables on their sides in the middle of the gym and everyone laid down on one side or the other and we lobbed dodgeballs back and forth. Lots of hit and miss. It was actually kinda fun.

We spend a fair amount of time just running cars around. Which means we end of driving separate from each other sometimes. I've driven alone like 10 times this transfer now. It's kinda weird to have no one in the car haha. I have to put in a cd or it's eerie.

Did I mention Ephraim who we just started teaching? We saw him again and he seems fairly positive about everything we've taught him. He's not super gung ho but he's open enough that we're thinking we'll be able to get him to progress. He works every sunday but we'll deal with that issue later.

We had a mission-wide conference on Saturday. I thought there was going to be some huge announcement but it was mostly just a reiteration from MLC, talking about cleaning up the corners of our day and raising our expectations and faith. It was cool to see all the missionaries though. Elder Pauga and I talked for a while. He's doing super great. Really enjoys his area and the work there.

Two things I forgot to tell you last week. One: I sold my bike. In under 24 hours. haha. I told sister Houser that I wanted to sell it for just 100 bucks. The next day I was thinking that maybe that was too cheap and I should raise the price but when I got to the office she had already sold it! I know it was for a good cause though - the missionary that bought it wasn't able to afford a new bike and wasn't sure what he was going to do. He was thinking he was going to have to piece together some of the half broken ones left by previous missionaries. But I guess when sister Houser told him and his mom about my bike, they were super excited and asked to buy it right away. That new missionary is Elder Malm - he arrives next month.

Also! 2nd thing: I ran into elder Bagley! We were outside of the church building after district meeting and I heard someone yell "Browning!" I turned around and there was Austin Bagley sitting in the back seat of his parents car! Remember him from Wrightwood? He just went home in August. He was revisiting the mission with his fam and was here visiting the temple. It was cool to talk to him for a few minutes.

Just a little about my companion. Elder Rosa! He's from Florida. He's pretty cool. Very relaxed and easy going but hard working too. We get along well.

The food in the ward is decent. Honestly I LOVED the samoan food. I wasn't a fan of the way they prepared some fish dishes and their boiled green bananas but everything else was awesome. Lots of meat. I'm happy I don't feel forced to overeat every night now. Haha.

Well, Hopefully you hear from me on Saturday! Or sometime. Plan on Saturday because that's what's most likely right now.

I love you!

Elder Nelson Browning

I know, as a representative of Jesus Christ, that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints is true. We have the priesthood power restored to the earth again in this day. I know that the Book of Mormon is the word of God and that it was translated by the prophet Joseph Smith. We have a prophet on the earth today; He leads and guides us in these troubled times. The power of prayer is real. Our Father in Heaven loves us. The Atonement is real. By it and through it, we all can be changed and become His sons and His daughters. This I testify in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

10 Weeks

Hey everyone

 

It was another long week, although it went by a little less slowly than the one before. We've been able to teach more lessons and visit more people. We've only been fed like 3 times in this ward but one of the times was on the 5th I think and they found out it was my birthday so they stuck a candle in some ice cream and sang to me. haha. We had one of the ward missionaries pass the dinner calendar around during church so now it's a lot more full.

 

The work in the office is kinda more same ol' same ol' but it's not tedious or anything. We were able to meet with some less active/recent convert singles in the evenings. We had 3 less actives and 2 non members commited to come to church but none showed up. Most had a half decent excuse and should definitely be there next week.

 

We're teaching an individual named Cameron. He wants to be baptized super bad but he's waiting on approval from Salt Lake. He's read the Book of Mormon 5 times. He's had the lessons several times as well and we just switched roles - now he is teachingus the lessons. I think it's pretty cool. Hopefully we hear back form SL this week.

We're also teaching a gal named Elaina. She has had all the lessons and has a testimony but something else is holding her back. We suspect she has worthiness issues with her less active boyfriend who's currently down in San Diego but it's hard to tell for sure. We're thinking that as we get to know her better we can be more bold in helping her change and repent.

 

We had MLC on Thursday, just like the other Browning Boys. haha. I took minutes of the meeting which I've never done before so that was interesting. I'm a fast enough typer to keep up with the gist of everything going on but I'm not an extensive note taker so I missed some things. We have a mission wide conference this Saturday so I'll probably have to do it again. haha.

 

Saturday we had a day full of chaffing. I wasn't on a bike but it was still just door after door where no one was home and all 3 of our appointments canceled. We put about 150 miles on our car by the end of the day. Those are my favoritist days. ha.

 

Thank you so much for all the birthday cards! Since I was in the office I didn't have to wait for them to get forwarded and 4 different cards came all on my birthday. That's more letters than I've ever gotten in even a single week my whole mission! haha.

 

Well I gotta run - I don't have as much time today since I'm emailing from the office. Thank you once again for all the birthday stuff! I'll save the party poppers for New Years :) haha

 

Love,

Elder Nelson Browning

 

p.s. you got a letter about my upcoming release? Me too :/ I got my flight info. I fly out of Ontario at about 10:30 am on the 21st, land in Salt Lake around 1, catch my next flight at 1:45, and land in Idaho Falls an hour later.

November 4

Hello family!

Wow. What a long week! One of the longest on my mission. haha. It feels like so much has happened and yet so little at the same time. And it definitely doesn't feel like I'm 21! Goodness. I'll take the binky mom. haha.

 

So we've spent a lot of time in the office and running around trying to fix errors and mistakes from transfers. Some cars needed to be swapped around and we've picked up/dropped off bikes as well. Besides swapping out a few other old cars for new ones we're done with most of that fix-it work.

Two of the senior missionaries in the office will be leaving at the end of the month and we're going to be taking over their positions. One is in charge of vehicles and the other is the main secretary. Their real replacements come in December so we're supposed to in turn teach them what we just learned. Fun huh? So far it's actually been fairly fun. Elder Houser, the one over vehicles, mentioned that we've learned in only a few days what usually takes others a month to learn. Some of the stuff we've been doing is similar to the work I did for Dad's tax practice.

 

The ward is interesting. I haven't served in a YSA ward before so it's weird to be with so many people close to my age. We haven't been able to teach a lot of lessons yet but we should have quite a few lined up. Our ward mission leader returned from his mission only 3 months ago so he's super gung-ho about missionary work and wants to come to and set up as many lessons for us as he can. He wants to get it to the point where we always have appointments and lessons to fill the time, especially in the evenings when we're not in the office. We've been in the office most of the day from 9 to 5 but with the rate we're learning things that may taper off. Also, since the office is closed saturday but open Monday, when we start to train the new senior couple we won't have much of a pday anymore... haha. We'll probably have to email Saturday, shop and clean whenever we can, and spend an hour or two with our zone during the day on monday. I guess we'll see what happens.

 

Redlands had its 125th anniversary on Saturday and had a big lunch/dinner even thingy that a lot of the missionaries served at. We served food to a total of about 1200 people so it was good to get our faces out there to so many people, showing them that we are in fact polite and normal people. haha

 

Hmm what else... being a zone leader isn't much different. Except sometimes our phone blows up with messages. Like last night. Stressful... haha. I'm not used to being asked for permission to do things or go places. But so far it's good. There are only 4 missionaries going home this transfer and 4 going home next transfer including me. So I'm a pretty old missionary. Out of roughly 225 missionaries, I'm one of the 8 oldest. It's so weird. People keep asking me if I'm trunky! I don't like it. haha. Recently someone in the store asked how long I'd been out and I told him and he said "wow congratulations on finishing strong." I was just like what? Finish? I still have 3 months left! okay maybe 2 1/2... haha.

 

While going through the bike shed where all the extra bikes are kept, I noticed that mine wasn't there and it wasn't on the list of checked in bikes. Uh oh. We thought maybe it had stayed in Rancho and was in the other mission. However, on closer inspection of the records I noticed a red and black diamondback bike that apparently had no owner or name attached to it had been checked out to another missionary. Hmmm... so I called up that missionary and was like "hey does the bike you have have a hole in the back of the seat?" "uhh.. yep" "mkay... and does it have a broken odometer?" "yeah" "and does it have a G.I. Joe sticker on the frame?" "mmm yup" "bingo!" haha found it! Somehow my name had fallen off and they just gave it to another missionary. I got it back though! I gave that missionary another bike that for sure no longer had an owner.

 

Well I gotta skidaddle soon. There are only a few computers at this library and other missionaries need to email.

Thanks for the birthday package :) You guys are awesome. I assume the candles mean theres a cake mix in there? I'll have to bake it and take another birthday song video like last year :)

After jeren's birthday I won't miss another birthday on my mission! Wahoo! :)

Love you guys!

Elder Nelson Browning

Changes

Hello!

Well. Wow. Maybe I should have given more of an opinion to President after all. Haha.

So! Here's the news. I'm leaving the Samoan ward :( it was hard to say goodbye to so many people yesterday. The Samoan people have very big hearts and they all love the missionaries a lot. This whole weekend was hard because I found out Saturday morning. Actually, I found out everything that was going on with transfers. I realized why president had me come into the office to work on transfers. I'm going to be one of the new office elders! And on top of that, I'll be a Zone Leader too. The APs and President have too much to handle on their own so they have two office elders to assist and take some of the load off. So I'll be working closely with the Assistants. Zone conferences (I'll go to every zone), vehicles, bikes, housing, finances, transfers, arriving and departing missionaries... I'm going to have a lot on my plate. Oh and Zone leader duties too. Freak! Good thing the Samoans taught me how to eat a lot! Haha... anyways, that's whats happening to me. Didn't I say something about having as much learning as possible crammed into the end of my mission? Yeah... sticking my foot in my mouth now... haha. Going out with a bang! Hoorah!

But! I'm going to the Crafton Hills YSA ward in Redlands. Didn't Grandma and Grandpa serve there at the beginning of their mission?? President Van Cott didn't know that until someone brought it up the other day. Crazy huh?

Please pray for me. ha... I'm going to need a lot of help. President warned me that my companion is really prideful. Time to be submissive, meek, and humble. haha

 

So poor elder Judd might have it worse than me. I recommended him to train to President, and President is having him do that. But! He's also being made a zone leader. By himself! Poor guy. He's still green and has only been junior companion. Haha... He will do awesome though. He'll rise up to the calling and rely on the Lord. I'm almost positive that he will be an AP. He doesn't want leadership, but he's a great leader. The best missionary leaders don't aspire to those positions; they just try to be their best self. And that's Elder Judd.

 

This week was full of a lot of "chaffing" as Langi and I have come to term it. Especially for him since he's on bike. They're days when you try to see a lot of people but practically no one is home or available. Most of our appointments fell through too. We had splits with Brother Moleli (the new WML) and the elder quorum president on Saturday. We basically just blitzkrieged through the whole Less Active list and were able to catch a couple people at home. For the most part they werent available though. We saw a few active members as well and were able to end it on a good note. Elder Judd visited with Sabrinna and I visisted with some relatives of a sister in the ward. That visit was very powerful. I talked about the story of Nephi building a boat. The spirit was strong and all 4 of the sisters were tearful and bore their testimonies too. It was mostly in Samoan so I didn't understand everything but I got the gist of it and I could tell they were very sincere and grateful for our visit. They gave us banana bread and cocoa Samoa. Glad I got to have the Samoan cocoa one more time.

 

We saw Sai twice. The first time we read a few chapters of the Book of Mormon with him. He's starting to do better. He's been doing rehab since our visit with him over a week ago. We had family home evening and dinner with him last night too. We showed him the Mormon Channel for his phone and he was pretty stoked about that. I'm gonna miss that guy. Hopefully he comes back to church. He wants to start coming out with the missionaries for some of the visits. Turns out he knows the Uiagalaleis (a part member family we started visited a week ago) and grew up with the non member husband. Lots of good stuff is going on that will keep Elder Judd and his greenie busy.

 

Brother Moleli made a push with the ward mission plan and process and in only one week it's up and running. The ward council went over a list of all the less actives, part member families and other investigators. I love inspired callings! I'm jealous that now that the work is going so well I have to leave. Funny how that usually happens haha. Happened in Wrightwood, Barstow, and now here.

 

Anyways, I gotta leave soon to go pack and what not. I have to be at the office at 7 tomorrow morning and will be driving people around all day. Moli and Sabrinna need a goodbye visit as well as the Julanders and the Molelis.

 

Birthdays? You mean Dad's and Jeren's right? ;) haha. I didn't want food since the Samoans overfed us but now that I'm going to a YSA ward I'll probably be feeding myself a little more often. There are a lot of restaurants in Redlands. I haven't spent a lot of time there though. They have pretty much everything. The common as well as the slightly less common like Chick-fil-A, Five Guys, Ono's Hawaiian Bbq, Cafe Rio, etc. If you're getting gift cards I'll eat just about anywhere. haha. I do shopping at the cheapest places - Walmart, Food for Less and Stater Bros for the most part. I wish there was more I wanted or needed but there really isn't. Just save it for January :) haha.

 

Well hopefully I don't die this week. Haha :) just kidding.

I love you all! Thanks for all your constant support :)

Love,

Elder Nelson Browning

21 Months

Hi everyone!

 

Well we had a pretty great week! Elder Judd says this past week was the best week of his mission. haha.

 

We were able to start teaching several new people this week. We started teaching Naia, one of the young adults in San B that we met before. He's 19. He wasn't super interested, but he's cool with meeting with us again and we left him with a Book of Mormon and our testimonies. He's not big into reading but said he would read it. We're seeing him again on Thursday.

I was on exchanges on Saturday with Elder Galt (remember him from Barstow almost a year ago? haha). He was super excited about it. I guess all week he kept bringing it up to Elder Langi since they share a ward. haha. But we spent the day biking all over the place trying to find people to teach but with absolutely zero success. It was fun though. A part of me misses being on bike but my sore rear end and the gross collar of my shirt reminded me why I prefer a car. haha. But! That left Elder Judd to be in charge in our area. He was able to meet with Breanna, sister Fale's daughter, as well as Breanna's friend Valerie. I guess Breanna wasn't super excited but Valerie was super pumped! She wants to be baptized so bad! They set a date for her to be baptized on November 23rd.

 

K so here's a funny story. On Wednesday we had to take the car in to get the brakes worked on. While we were waiting, a guy walked past outside and looked in through the window for a minute. Dunno what he was looking for. He started to walk away but then stopped, backed up, and looked back in through the window. Right at me. We stared at each other for a moment and then he put up the "I love you" sign with his hand. I grinned, gave him a knowing look, and pointed at him. He pointed back at me, smiled, and then walked away. Super random! But it's moments like that that just totally make your day. haha.

 

Thursday we had interviews with President in the morning. I love President Van Cott! He's so great. I asked him what he wanted from me for the rest of my mission, and he turned the question back at me! I was like... what? He was like "what do you desire? Do you want to be a zone leader? You'd be a great leader and be able to touch many more missionaries that way. Do you want to train? Stay in the Samoan ward? Become one of the new office missionaries? Heck I'll even let you pick where you want to go!" So I was super taken aback by that. He said to think about it and to let him know what my desires are today. So I've been praying and fasting about it and I've come to the conclusion that... I really don't care. My biggest desire is to be where the Lord want me doing what He wants me to do and learning what He wants me to learn. I don't care if that's being a zl, dl, trainer, office elder, staying in the Samoan ward, heck I'll even stay with Elder Judd if that's what God wants. So I told him that. We'll see what happens next week. Could be anything! I'll be going into the office to help President and the APs with transfers I think at the end of the week.

 

We visited Sai on Thursday and gave him a blessing. He's been struggling and was going to go into rehab this past weekend. Hopefully he's doing okay. His phone is off and he hasn't been home but we'll keep trying to get ahold of him and his wife.

We helped sister Fale get ahold of some furniture on Friday. Some people are so humble. She literally had almost nothing. A few mattresses on the ground, 2 metal folding chairs, a small tv, and bare essentials in the kitchen. We got a bunk bed for her sons, a small couch, a lamp, and some dressers. She didn't let us leave without giving us lunch though. haha

 

We have a new ward mission leader! We're sad to lose Brother Matapula but he's been so busy lately he hasn't even been able to meet with us. The new WML is brother Moleli, who was just released as the 2nd counselor in the Bishopric. He's already looked up a bunch of the videos and other training online, set up to meet with us every week, set aside part of Saturday to come out with us to visit people, and he's pushing for more ward missionaries. Holy wow! He's really taking his calling by the horns. And we're finally getting the ward mission process going! Showing all the perseverance and patience we've had week after week to the Ward Council has finally helped them to open up. They want to make sure we have a list of people to always visit and teach. The Lord will hasten His work in His own time. I definitely have a testimony of that. The work is increasing, and it's obvious that those blessings have nothing to do with us and all to do with the Lord. If things keep up, it's possible that even our ward could get a 2nd set of missionaries down the road. It's an exciting time to be a missionary :)

 

Oh I haven't even talked about our conference with Elder Walker! It was so good! He's funny haha. Turns out he's coming to the next Rigby Idaho Stake Conference! He asked me to tell you to make sure to introduce yourselves to him. Meeting with him was like having another session of General Conference. Lots of good lessons that will apply to all of my life, not just to my time as a missionary. He talked about Moroni 7:45. Moroni 7:40-48 is my favorite passage of scripture. In verse 45 it says "charity... is not easily provoked." Cough. haha. He talked about that line for a while. I definitely needed it!

 

The work is true! I'm worried for the first time that I'm going to struggle leaving it when I come home. haha. I testify that the church is true. The Book of Mormon is true. Joseph Smith was a prophet of God. This is the Lord's church and His great work.

I love you guys :) This is probably my record-long email. haha. Don't get used to it! :) haha

Love,

Elder Nelson Browning

 

p.s. What do you want me to do with my bike? It's still in decent condition but it's not an expensive bike so I'm inclined to just sell it unless you want me to ship it home. Let me know! :)

Menos de Cien Dias

Hey everyone

With yesterday being columbus day, we're emailing today instead. Also, next week we have a mission tour with Elder William R Walker on Monday so we'll be emailing on Tuesday next week as well.

 

This has been a pretty weird week. I had some mini freak outs... haha. I wont go into too much detail. Suffice it to say God is trying to cram as much learning and growth through trials into the remaining few months of my mission. I've had a bad temper lately and this week was especially bad. I've gotten really good on my mission about not shouting or yelling or swearing or anything like that but the emotion is still there. Wednesday and Thursday were especially bad for some reason and I had a good talk with elder Langi on Friday. Got really humbled by the spirit. It's really something I need to overcome and leave behind completely. Can't overcome it if you're not faced with it though, right? So ever since Fridaythings have been a lot better. I fasted again on Sunday. I might end up fasting every sunday. I know stress (anger) causes a lot of my headaches or at least increases their severity and I haven't had them as bad since Friday.

Basically I think this was a learning week for me. haha.

 

Anywho, I spent friday babysitting on of the zone leaders. Hes had an internal blockage and I've never been so grateful for the ability to poop in my life. haha. But! While I was with him, Elder Judd was with the other zone leader and they had a couple cool things happen. The work has really started to explode in the ward lately. We actually had so many appointments today we thought we weren't going to be able to email. They all got rescheduled for the next couple days though.

So they visited one guy who's less active in our ward and it turns out his wife isn't a member but wants to be baptized. Uh... we can help with that! haha. He got offended from some people in the ward and was going to the other Samoan ward instead (the one that only covers Rialto). Hopefully we can get him and his wife to come though. We're meeting with them on Thursday.

Do you remember me mentioning finding a bunch of non member youth a while back? Well they ran into them again and set up an appointment to teach them. That should be tomorrow. They also invited them to Volleyball and the youth were pretty excited about that. In that same complex there are some less active/part member families that we're hoping to contact as well.

Have I talked about Sai before? I'm pretty sure I have. He started coming back to church a while ago and put on a music fireside but hasn't been back since. We caught him at home on Saturday but I could tell he was a little uncomfortable at first. His 9 year old son hasn't been baptized either but wants to be. He relaxed after a while and we set up to have dinner and family home evening with their family. Actually its kind of a funny story how that came up. He asked us if we golfed and I said "uh... I putt I guess." And he was like "it's on like donkey kong!" He pulled out a putting set and wanted to see if I was any good haha. Right before we started he said "wait... we should play for something. What should we play for?" and I was like "uh... reading a chapter of the Book of Mormon?" And he replied with "how about yall come over and have a family home evening and whoever loses has to teach the lesson?" So we agreed! Elder Judd lost so he's teaching. haha. I'll definitely help though. Sai and I both made 3 out of 5 holes the first round so we played another and made 3 out of 5 again so we played a third and he beat me by one point. And I played with a cane by holding it upside down and hitting the ball with the handle! All his adult clubs were for lefties. haha. It was pretty funny. It really helped him losen up.

We also got a referral from the missionaries in the other Samoan ward about a non member family that's been coming to their volleyball activities but lives in Fontana. So we're going to visit them this week too and hopefully teach them. Oh! And a member gave us a referral for another nonmember Samoan family, and one of them was at church on Sunday!

 

Lots of stuff to do huh? :) I haven't felt this busy in a long time. It's kinda stressful! But a good stress.

 

How did I injure my head? Uh. Playing ultimate frisbee. haha. I was sick and kinda felt like I shouldn't play but decided to anyways. I have a hard time taking it easy when playing sports and I should have that day. I was sprinting after a hail mary throw and just could not get that extra burst of speed I needed to catch it like I normally could on a healthy day and ended up tripping. I tried to roll out of it but instead wiplashed onto my back and pretty much rolled all the momentum into slamming the back of my head on the ground. Not very fun. But I think I'm alright now.

 

Well we better get going soon. Thank you so much for your love and support!

Love,

Elder Nelson Browning

 

p.s. I just realized my home debit card expired in August. I haven't had to use it on my mission but it's good to have just in case. Did you ever get a new one in the mail?

15 Weeks

Hey all,

Sorry our pdays are kinda nuts. Usually we email in the afternoon but we had to flip flop today because Pres wants to meet with the zone this afternoon.

Well wasn't conference great? I heard a lot of stuff to apply to my future marriage and family life. Tons of emphasis of member missionary work. Super great. I hope lots of people were listening closely! There was lots of emphasis on being firm amidst the changes in the world. A lot of emphasis on the important roles individual genders have. They also talked a ton about trials. Emotional, spiritual, mental, physical, whatever it may be, you can get through it and become stronger because of it. Bridle your natural man, your base passions, your worldly desires.

 

We had an alright week. Lots of sickness going around. I actually got injured last pday. Long story. Suffice it to say I injured my head and on Tuesday I almost died from the headache. It was only really bad that day though. I've been fighting sickness and so has Langi's companion. And now Judd is sick too haha. So on our worser days we arranged for the other two missionaries to still get out and work. Tuesday Elder Judd stayed with me, Wednesday I was with Langi, and on Friday Deardeuff (Langi's comp) was pretty sick so I stayed with him since Langi gets cabin fever and Judd was healthier than me.

We wrote letters to all the less active families we know of reminding them about general conference and delivered them all by Friday night. That was pretty fun. We actually got to talk to someone at most of the places we visited. I don't know if anyone chose to then watch conference, but we felt good delivering the letters. It just felt like the right thing to do.

 

Thursday we met with Moli and Sabrinna. We read 1 Nephi 16 with them where Nephi breaks his bow. They got a TON out of it. Lots of personal application. Sabrinna is a nurse/receptionist in the cariac clinic at Loma Linda Hospital and she told a story of a guy who was really sick and alive only because of a fake heart (some new device that pumps your heart for you but needs battery replacement like every 8 hours). He worked hard to become healthy enough to be eligible for a heart transplant, and then persevered until he finally found a suitable heart for transplant. He finally got the transplant and was doing well when his girlfriend finally left him. At that point, he gave up and stopped taking his anti-rejection medication so that his body would accept his heart and let himself die. Sabrinna talked about how we shouldn't give up because one more trial is thrown our way. Nephi's family went through so much and then when the bows broke they all started murmuring. We should remember the goodness of God and all the blessings He has given us instead of dwelling on the things that are wrong or hard in our life.

Moli also talked about how every time they started complaining, they later repented and were blessed again. And it's the same in our lives - when we mess up or murmur we can always repent and the blessings will flow again.

 

Did I ever tell you that I got nicknamed the "tie doctor"? It's stuck with me, at least occasionally, all the way since Barstow. Got a tie that you think is too wrinkled to ever wear again? I can fix that. Stains or spills? No problem. Stitching is unraveling? I can fix that too! haha.

 

Anyways. We have a few potentials to try and teach with part member families. Hopefully something good comes of it!

 

Love you guys!

Elder Nelson Browning

p.s. if I find a little time later this afternoon I'll hop back on since I still don't have an email from mom :/ Love you!

Obedience to Law...Is Liberty"

Malo Soifua!

 

So this past week went fairly well I think. We got our member area book finished, with entries for all the members we know. Now we can update it as we teach families and leave them commitments.

Guess who handed out a bunch more pamphlets? These guys! We got 2 more families excited about sharing the gospel with their friends and coworkers. Yay pamphlets! haha.

 

In district meeting this past week, I really got everyone fired up. I talked about obedience - its importance and associated blessings. I know the spirit was there because I said some things I hadn't planned and several missionaries wrote it down. haha. I said something like "learning to be obedient on your mission will create an armor that will last into the eternities." In preach my gospel it says that obedience brings blessings of faith, knowledge, wisdom, testimony, protection and freedom. How great is that? I helped the missionaries realize that if all obedience did was just increase your faith, it would be more than worth it. And yet it brings so many other blessings too! It was pretty cool.

 

Moli's new commitment to reading the Book of Mormon has been super cool to see. She is getting so much more out of it, both in understanding and enjoyment. She said she honestly believes what she is reading. We were all super happy. We ready Mosiah 5 with her and she wants to put the last verse in the chapter on her fridge. haha. We're thinking of waiting for her to bring up baptism instead of bringing it up ourselves.

Sabrinna got a calling to teach in primary! It's so perfect! She is super excited about it.

 

We were trying an old address for an inactive family and found a new family had moved in. The guy talked to us for over an hour. He talked mostly about really studying what you're preaching before you go preach it. He had 1 or 2 goofy ideas but for the most part his beliefs were most similar to Mormonism. He had points against most churches but didn't have anything against the Mormon church, just that he liked not belonging to any church. He had a Book of Mormon and didn't know a ton about the church so we encouraged him to study it more. Who knows what could come of it? We thought he was a member at first. "Sup brothas! I'm brotha Pratt." haha.

 

We were able to catch Sai at home. He was less active, then active for a month, and now inactive again. He's really been struggling. We going to share some scriptures about prayer and scripture study but before we did he said "man... I really need to read my scriptures. I need that spirit." I smiled really big and was just like "well. We actually wanted to talk about that." We can't ignore the importance of regular scripture study. He's working sundays now so he can't make it to sacrament meeting. He said that day was one of his worst in a while, and that he hopes, someday, we know how much that visit meant to him. He took down our number and we told him to call when he was struggling and we'd come over.

 

I got the peppermint oil. It feels super good and works for headaches in the front of my head but not the ones that feel like they're in my head. Which are usually the worse ones. I talked to the mission doctor and he said there's not much more I can do. Maybe see a neurologist when I go home. There's an asian member in Elder Langi's ward that does acupuncture and massage therapy so I might go see him sometime. He's super nice. My past head injuries probably have some influence towards the frequenting of my headaches. That doctor and I both think it's a bunch of little things. stress, diet, mission life in general, etc. Things will probably even out a little more when I get home.

 

What a long letter! haha. Hey what else or what different things do you want me to talk about in my emails? More about people and families? More about food? haha. Let me know! I feel like I sometimes scramble for stuff to talk about. We had fish head yesterday. Haha. A fish head... cooked... on the plate. It stared at me O.O "don't eat me!" haha

 

Well anywho. Until next week! Love you guys!

Peace!

Elder Nelson Browning

Our Labors unto the Californians

And it came to pass that fourscore and six weeks passed away since the beginning of our labors unto the Californians.

 

Haha.. why hello family! It sounds and looks like this fort building has been quite the project! I'm sad I didn't get to be a part of it. I honestly miss good old fashioned physical labor. Be ready to put me to work when I get home! Oh as far as school goes, I won't make winter semester if I come home the 21st. I could come home a few weeks early, at which point I might as well just be home in time for Christmas. However, I don't want to come home and immediately start school. I really don't. I would have to spend time out here figuring out classes and other things and I don't want to take time away to do that. I deferred for 2 years and that deferment ends this year. So if I do stay for the rest of my mission, which I want to, I might need you to talk to someone at the school for me. When I was at the office at BYU-I filling out my deferment (don't remember which one...), I told them I wouldn't be back in time for winter semester in 2014 and they said they'd just figure it out when it got closer. Also, I would prefer to fly home and not be picked up down here. I'd love to tour back through the area, but not while I'm still a missionary. Maybe we can take a break from the Idaho cold during President's week or something. Sound bueno? :) Sister houser in the mission office actually called me this week because she needed to know what airport I would be flying into... haha. She's been working on my flight info. Trunky!

 

Anywho. It's been pretty same ol same ol round here. I feel like there's not a lot different to talk about. We're continuing to work on all the lists - the member area book as well as the ward lists. The ward clerk has been updating the information that we've found out so that the ward lists are more up to date. We've started making origami white shirts out of paper with little origami ties and drawing a little name badge on it and then writing a little thank you note to leave at dinners. Elder Judd and I think it's pretty cool :)

 

We had another similar experience regarding the pamphlets with a different family this week. This was an idea the president van cott gave us about a month ago that I really feel was inspired. We might not see the success in having more people to teach, but the seeds being planted by all these youth and young adults with their friends is really cool to see.

 

We seemed pretty unsuccessful in all our attempts to visit people (we litterally exhausted the whole list of less actives/former investigators/recent converts) but we'll keep trying. The bishopric talked to us about not giving up on our increased efforts, which was cool because I don't feel disheartened or anything. I think I've gotten more and more used to not always seeing the fruits of my labors as a missionary. As long as you keep trying, keep working, keep staying faithful to your purpose, you'll be successful.

 

So this is now my 6th transfer as a district leader. Any thoughts on what I'm not learning that I'm supposed to? haha.

 

A bunch of crap hit the fan with the missionaries specifically in the polynesian wards, and we're some of the only ones that didn't get hit. It just shows to me, once again, that when we're obedient, we get blessed; and when we're not obedient, even to mission rules, we lose that blessing. Elder Judd's helped me to keep an even truer course than before and I'm definitely grateful for that. I've started to really see the depth and importance of goals and of making them an active part of our life.  

 

I think that's everything. If I forgot something... oops! Remind me again about it next week. haha.

 

I love you guys! I say that every week, but I mean it!

Elder Nelson Browning