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!