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