Week 5

March 25, 2013

Why hello family!

I'm sure glad we didn't try to email earlier; I probably would have missed hearing from you at all! So good thing I waited :)

Well. I wish I had some amazing news for this week but I don't. We now have no investigators! How fantastic is that?? O.o We had 4, but one got baptized Saturday and the other 3 (a family) dropped us right before the baptism. Robert, the dad/husband, said he couldn't accept the Book of Mormon because he was a "Bible guy." I was afraid he would prevent the rest of the family from progressing and lo and behold, I was right. The kids were all golden and the mom was really open too. We're pretty bummed about it but we set higher goals on finding for this week; goals higher than any I've ever set, let alone achieved before. Miracles will come even if I don't see them with my own eyes.

Lisa's baptism went well and the spirit was strong but there weren't nearly as many non members as I thought. Mostly just family that isn't interested in learning more but hopefully now has a seed planted. She asked me to be a witness which surprised me with all the other friends that were there but she insisted. So that was pretty neat.

Also kind of on a more positive note, we finally found some less actives that not only still live at the address the church has for them but are also open to visit with us. So, we're following up with them this week and will hopefully get some good opportunities to invite the spirit back into their lives. The ward council has gathered some names of other struggling famlies and we should also be contacting them while with the quorum/auxiliary leaders sometime this week hopefully.
It's interesting how often the work has come to almost a dead stop in each of my areas. Well. Not the work itself, for the work never stops. But the teaching pool tends to go through droughts so to speak. haha

We got a media referral on Wednesday that we were pretty excited about. But we went all the way there only to find the address doesn't exist. He hasn't answered or returned our calls either. Haha. I wonder what the story behind it is.
The family we were having dinner with Saturday took us out to eat and I ran into Steve and Lindsey Sexton there! That was super fun. I had dinner with them when I went back to Wrightwood for that one day back in December. So that was definitely neat. 

A weird thing I realized is that I have less than 10 months remaining on my mission. Like 9.8 or something. Crazy. Also, transfers are next week. Doesn't seem like it's been quite that long yet. 

So Ryan is still finding new things in my room huh? Man. Guess I really am a pack rat. Haha. Gotta wait a couple more years before I'll let you use my cologne/body spray bud ;) haha

Anyways. We'll keep trekking. Trekking, tracting, walking, biking, slaving... haha :) hopefully we can bring a greater awareness of the savior and His life to those we contact this week.

Love,
Elder Nelson Browning

Week 4

Hey fam

So thinking over this past week it really hasn't been very good but I didn't really realize that until we were adding up numbers last night. They were terrible! Almost all our appointments canceled and the family of 3 didn't show up to church either. Neither did the less active young man we met with. We're really hoping that Robert and Veronica are willing to keep meeting with us. He said he wanted to just come to church for now but if he won't even do that, the only way he can progress is if he reads and earnestly prays about the book of Mormon. I can only hope and pray that he will and will have a change of heart because of it.

The young man that's less active, Adrian, has started to change his life around because it was just getting worse and worse. He found he had cancer on his thyroid and they had to remove it. But, when they removed it, they hit the nerve on his vocal chords and he couldn't talk or breathe. He's only recently been able to talk more. His wife also left him and he was going to have to move out. He started putting God back in his life though and things have been turning around for him and he said he thought they would keep improving as he got back to church. His wife actually came back the day we met with him and they're working things out. We'll try and see him again this week. 

I had two exchanges this past week, one with elder Taylor (served in Phelan for 2 transfers when I was in Wrightwood) and with another missionary in my district, Elder Olsen. It hasn't been super hot or anything but having to walk or bike everywhere is so much harder in the heat. Especially when, after 2 or 3 hours, no one lets you in, whether member or not, active or not. I don't like being drenched and sticky while wearing a shirt and tie. It takes longer to dry out. haha. 

I believe that no effort is wasted even if you don't see anyone progress. But it's harder to believe that when you work and work and didn't get to even talk to hardly anybody. I wonder if people have started running away when they see us walking down the street because we didn't pass nearly as many people as we had in earlier weeks. We'll just have to go out of our way more if this week is the same. 

So another disappointing thing is that pres wants to ban tote bins. Like plastic storage bins. EVERY missionary (except brand new greenies) have one for extra stuff. Apparently a lot of missionaries that have been going home recently have been leaving a lot of stuff because they can't take it with them in their suitcases because of either weight or physical space. Personally, half or more of my clothes will be thrown away among other things and I definitely don't have more than I'll be able to take home. But. It's yet another rule being created because missionaries are/were stupid. Until all the zone leaders have gotten rid of their totes, no one else has to. But, we'll have to sooner or later, so I gotta get rid of some stuff. I'll probably send home all my cd cases and I'll have to leave behind some other less important things. Stuff like board games (the game of life and monopoly), my cd player boombox thing, some extra t shirts and probably one of my service shoes. It probably still won't be enough so you might get more than that in the mail. This might be the point that I finally part with my C - grade suits. haha. And just keep the ones in better condition.

Anyways. Didn't mean to rant at ya. Life's good! We're working hard. And trying to budget so that we can afford feeding ourselves. haha. I bought a jacket to wear when I'm biking that I would also wear with normal clothes and like to take home with me but I won't need it with this warmer weather so I'll probably return it.

I love you guys! Here's some slightly more exciting news. The first presidency and missionary board has announced that all missionaries are allowed to email anyone (besides young women living in the mission) from this time forward, and are allowed as much time as they desire on Pday to email (as long as they get everything else done that they need to). So, if anyone else wants to email me, I'd love to hear from them :) I won't be able to take much more time out of the day but it's definitely a cool thing. The US postal service is getting tight pants so I wonder if they'll just stop forwarding mail soon. Might be why this announcement was made. Anyways. So I guess you could post my email address next to my mailing address on the blog or wherever else it's at.

Stay classy!

Love,

Elder Nelson Browning

Week 3 of Transfer #10

March 11, 2013

Hey family!

I don't have a lot of time to write but I'll hurry hurry! We had a fairly busy week and have seen a lot new windows opening up. We met with Roberto and he is super interested; got ahold of a book of Mormon and was already done with 1st nephi! He and his wife prefer spanish though so we transferred them over to the spanish missionaries. They were at church with the spanish ward yesterday. Also, a family that Elder Whiting started teaching a month ago finally kept an appointment with us and we had a good lesson on the restoration. Robert, the dad, has worked on Sundays all his life. But starting this week he will have sundays off. What a miracle! He, his wife Veronica, and his kids (ages 9, 8 and 6) are all going to be at church this sunday. So theres 3 investigators the are progressing steadily towards baptism, along with the 8 year old that will technically be a child of record baptism. It's fun having all 3 boys there; they ask a lot of questions!

 

In district meeting we spent longer than expected trying to set a goal for the district. Nothing really seemed to apply to everyone and give everyone an opportunity to stretch. Finally I thought of asking everyone to push just slightly more for less active visits with well-thought-out lessons for those visits and then asking for a referral from those less active members. The district was averaging 7 or 8 lessons and a total of 20 member referral requests each week. So I set a goal with the district for 10 less active lessons and referral requests from all those visits. Talking to everyone and getting their reports last night, we totalled 10 less active lessons and 30 referrals requested, which means we met our goal exactly. And, 3 of the 4 companionships got at least one potential or referral from those visits! Ours was a referral for another ward but at least it was a referral! So that was super exciting to hear.

 

We haven't been getting fed as much as I was in the other areas I served. I've probably averaged about 6 meals a week as a missionary and now we only have 3 or 4 a week. Kind of a bummer. I might actually start using that cookbook more. haha.

 

I went on an exchange with one of the missionaries serving in the Tongan ward on Thursday. Quite the interesting culture. Dinner looked a little sketch at first (weird potato/yam things, sausage things, some other meat dish, discolored ribs, etc) but all of it was really good. Often the members just drop off dinner or give the missionaries money for dinner but when they do have them over they don't eat with them; they let them eat first and then eat after they leave. Kind of an awkward but supposedly polite thing I guess. We ended up having 3 desserts that night (ugh) because all the other members we visited offered us dinner and dessert. We were able to turn down the 2nd dinners but not the additional desserts. haha. Oh well. That's why I exercise regularly.

 

My bike is in good condition and we've been using it more. It coasts better than elder Whitings; he pedals more than I do. The ward is actually about 3 miles wide and 5 miles long so biking is almost necesity to get to the southern part of the ward. Whiting said he walked once and it took an hour. It's that large because most of the bottom two-thirds is industrial. They decided to stick like 3 complexes on the southern end of our area though. haha.

 

The sisters in the district serve in the San Sevaine ward so they probably know the Braby family. I'll have to ask sister Folsom.

 

It's probably not a coincidence that you mentioned Javin. I was actually wondering about him this week and was going to ask if anyone knew how he was doing. If you run into him or Austin miller again you'll have to let them know I'm thinking about them and that Austin needs to write me BACK! haha.

 

One of the families that we have been and will be doing laundry at most weeks will let us use their computer to email so that we have a little more time. They're a young couple and he's working on his degree - bio technology or something. He was preping for a test today and will be gone next week but we'll probably start doing that the week following.

 

Anyways. I love you guys! Happy birthday again to miss Katester :)

Love,

Elder Nelson Browning

News/New's

Well helloooo family!

Can I just start off by saying... I'm so sorry I didn't get to write last week! Mom I know how hard that is for you; I could have sent a handwritten letter in hindsight but I didn't know I was going to end up as busy I as I was. But anyways. You'll understand more of that as I explain everything that's been going on.

So! Backtracking to what feels like a month ago already... I got transferred to Rancho Cucamonga! I'm in the Terra Vista ward. It's a nice area; lots of nice apartment complexes, which is unfortunate because we can't tract apartments. But! We can get plenty of contacting without having to tract because I'm on BIKE! :) or on foot since I had to fix a few things on my bike. But it's super great! I almost prefer walking because it's easy to just stop and talk to everyone that crosses our path along the way. We talk to everyone! So long as they're not hurrying along or on a bike or on the phone or what not. I love it! They're is little success in Rancho and it's always been that way (being a more wealthy area) but work is work! People are at least kind enough to listen to us when we talk to them. More than half will at least accept a card from us. It's just great! I never thought I would love not having a car. haha. Its annoying trying to get rides from other missionaries of members when we do need them but it's not a bad trade off.

My companion is elder Whiting. Ha. Whiting/Browning. White. Brown. green. turquoise.... polkadot! Anyways. He's pretty cool. He's been out just a little longer than me. Also, I'm the district leader again! And, they added additional companionships to my district. So I have EIGHT missionaries in my district. Holy cow! The other Rancho districts have 4 or 6. I found out why they did it that way instead of evening it out. The Assistants attended my first district meeting and critiqued me. Ack! It actually went really well. They basically told me they put all these missionaries in my district so that I could help them out, mostly on the attitude side of things. Some of them I'm not sure I can really motivate but already I've seen improvement from my companion as well as 2 of the other 3 companionships. Also, there are sisters in my district! That's a neat change. They are excellent missionaries.

So those are the main changes since transfers. As for last monday, we were busy trying to find a place to do laundry. The missionaries before us did laundry at another companionship's apartment but that companionship doesn't have a car anymore to come pick us up. We ended up just paying for laundry at the laundromat. But this week, we made sure to find a member's home to do it at. We asked around the ward and many of the members were more than willing to try and help us out. One wasn't going to be home but offered to have us leave it at his house and he would wash and fold it and get it back to us Tuesday. Haha. Anyways. The community center's (different from San Bernardino libraries) computer lab closes at 4:30 which messed up plans last week as well but today we planned things better. Now you don't have to call the office :) haha.

We're only teaching one woman right now; she's going to be baptized on March 23rd. She's been taking the lessons for a while and I just happened to show up in time to see her get baptized. We've been helping the ward out in seeking out the "unknown" less actives on the ward list. We tried over 20 people in the past week and have more to do this week. We also got some names of less actives that other ward members know and know are at least somewhat friendly to missionaries and such. So hopefully we'll have more success at least from some reactivation efforts. With the contacting we've been doing and the tracting we actually did do on Saturday in one of the areas with houses, we have a few potentials that we're going to follow up this week and next.

That's sad to hear about Josh. I'm going to try and write him as soon as I can; I was planning on writing and sending off a letter this week to the MTC but I guess I'll send it to his home since he will be there for another month of so. For now, (megan) let him know he's in my prayers.

I got Krissa's announcement on Saturday. She included a note and it sounds like she really feels like she is doing the right thing and that God is and has been leading her exactly where she needs to go.

I'd love to have my car back but it did and will probably continue to have many mucho problems.

Here's the specifics of what's happening to our mission(s):

The San Bernardino mission is losing San B, Rialto, and Fontana but gaining Chino and changing to the Rancho Cucamonga mission. The Riverside mission is losing redlands, Yucaipa, Palm Desert and Yucca Valley. Those areas from both missions are combining to form the Riverside mission. Wherever missionaries are serving on July 1st is the mission they will then be in. So, If I'm in San B Rialto or Fontana, I'll be in the Redlands mission and could end up overlapping with an area either Gma/gpa or Jeren served in. That'd be pretty cool, serving in both the high and the low deserts. haha.

Well hopefully this is a satisfactory update :) thanks for being patient. Especially you dear mother :) if for some strange reason this happens again in the future, I'll find at least 5 minutes Monday night or Tuesday to write a note and mail it home.

I love you guys! Oh wait! Here's a funny story. Well it sucked but it's kinda funny. So at transfers I was supposed to give elder Zacharias the gas card for the car (we were keeping it in our wallets because they were being stollen out of cars). However, I gave him my missionary fund card on accident instead. And he used it to fill up on gas before I'd found out. So, I was in a new area with virtually no food (just pancake mix and cookies from home :)), no credit card, and 3 dollars in cash. Haha! Elder Clark (he was with me in the Wrightwood district at the beginning on my mission), now my zone leader, helped me out and gave me 20 bucks to tide me over until I got my card back and got reimbursed by the church.

Anyways. Look at this letter! It's super duper awesome long! Yeah! You'd think I had written two weeks worth in one email or something.... baha.

I love you guys. As we do our best to cheerfully submit to the will and timing of the Lord, putting our trust in him even when we don't know why things happen the way we wanted them to, the Lord will keep his promises and all will work out in the end and we will grow into the individual that the Lord both want and needs us to be.

Love,

Elder Nelson S. Browning