A White Christmas

Hello everyone! I don't have much time this week because of the holiday season! This email will be short, so I'll tell you the highlights of this week.

So Christmas Eve was good. We went to the Martin's house and I mad dinner for them. They said it was super good. They gave us both Christmas presents and we had a really fun time there. My companion skyped his family that night. 

     On Christmas day, we went to the Call's for breakfast and then afterwards, we played "Telestrations". Mike and Lynda Clark would probably be the best people to play with, haha. We then went to the Cole's and played games while we hung out listening to Christmas music. We did our secret Santa and Sis. Cole's had me and got me some candy, a liter or Mountain Dew and a Kelly Canyon t-shirt. We went to the Young's and played "scum" and I was in the scum seat the whole time. We are going there tonight for FHE and I will get my revenge. They got us BYU-I t-shirts. For the rest of the night, we were over at the Ball's house and I had the opportunity to Skype my family. I talked with my brother Logan who is serving in Brazil. It was such a blessing being able to talk with them. The Ball's and their family got my companion and I some really nice jackets from Nordstroms.

This week is super cold all the way in the negatives!

I think that's all for this week and sorry again that it was so short. I think you should all know that one of our recent converts Sy passed away last week. Please keep his family in your prayers! I love you all and will have more to share with you next week! God is Good!

                    Elder Browning

Subway, A home away from home

HELLO everyone! It seems like forever since the last time I emailed you! I am glad that it is Christmas this week! On Christmas eve from 5-9pm, p-day for us and then on Christmas day its an all day p-day! We are super excited to Skype our families and cant wait to talk to my family.

      Last Monday, we hung out with our zone leaders because they are both getting transferred. We wet to Idaho Falls for the day and did a little shopping at the mall and found a good deal on some khaki pants. We went to Iona and met up with about three zones to play "Gator Ball". It's a combination of soccer and football. It wasn't as fun as everyone made it seem but oh well! We shopped at Walmart and while we got done checking out, some guy dropped $80 in our cart and said "Merry Christmas" and walked away! IT was so nice of him! Later that night, we had a lesson with Ale and the Thanyne elders came down because of transfers. We set a date with Ale for January 16th! Please keep her in your prayers!

     Tuesday, we were with the Thayne elders so we played basketball at the stake center with Tristan Cole's and then we went to Los Alberto's for lunch. We went to the Perry ward Christmas party and we got to wear our onesies! We went to Subway after the party and they gave us all the left over cookies they had!

     Wednesday, was transfers! We woke up at 5:45am without getting any sleep the night before and drove to Rigby to play basketball. It was a waste of time because one of the elders got me sick. We went back to Ririe and then back to Rigby for a quick transfer meeting with all the new missionaries in our zone. We had lunch at Wendy's and then made our way to Subway where we chilled there until dinner. One of the girls there made me drink "jalapeno" juice just for the heck of it. I threw up in the bathroom but they all game me six bucks for it. A member bought us dinner at Subway and then he wanted us to go eat with him and his kids. It was a nice dinner. We went back to Subway for the night and we had a mini guitar session with the workers.

     Thursday, we went to the Seminary class and talked about some of the non member friends they might have. We cleaned our house until dinner. After dinner , we went to the Visitors Center with Jack and he really enjoyed the presentation they they put on. On the way home, Brother Ball got us ice cream at Baskin Robins.

     Friday morning, we went to a morning side with the seminary kids and had a guest speaker named Sal. He is in a church video but now lives in Ririe. He talked about his conversion story and how he changes his life around. One of the youth, Kaylee Brown gave us some old Ririe basketball uniforms (she wanted me to mention her in this email). Later that afternoon, we went back to the seminary class and shared with them a little message about members and missionary work. We went to the Young's wedding reception for one of their daughters. We went to Subway to visit Dally and we shared a scripture with her. At dinner I played football on the Wii with their 7 year old son. He is now my best friend and his name is Cooper. We went back to Subway to help the girls clean for the night.

    Saturday, I was still sick so we didn't do much of anything. We had dinner with our investigator, Jay and he cooked us Salmon. We had our first discussion with him. Later that night we went to the basketball game and everyone was there! It was so packed! Went to Subway so see Dally again.

     Yesterday was an awesome day! Dally came to church and she love it! We went to 2nd ward and three of our investigators came! We taught the 16-17 year old class. After our dinner, we went to the Ririe Christmas Devotional and Dally came and she even brought her best friend who is not even a member! We went to Bishop Peterson's for the night where we played just dance and charades!

     I hope that you enjoy this email and hope that you all have a very Merry Christmas! Let us all remember the reason for this holiday season! I love you all and thank you for all you do for me! Until next time! God is Good!

                                                              Elder Browning

 

 

Well thought of in the Ririe Stake

Well hello everyone! This week was busy as usual. We basically had all the wards except one have their party this past week.

     Last Monday, we were in Rexburg with the Thayne elders and we spent the whole day there. We played basketball at the Rigby stake center with the rest of the zone. We had dinner in 2nd ward with Bishop Peterson and one of our investigators. We are going to start teaching him soon once his house gets a little more settled.

     Tuesday, we had Zone Training in Rigby. Everyone gave good training's and I continue to learn something new each time we have one. We had lunch at Los Albertos with the Thayne elders and then they went home. We just cleaned our house until dinner since we had our monthly inspection the next day. We had dinner in Clark ward with the other Bishop Peterson and they made us sandwiches and they were really good because it was a traditional meal. We first went the Rudy's wards Christmas party and the theme was "Polar Express". Everything was well decorated and a lot of the less actives came, which is really good! We then went to 3rd ward's party and one of our foreign exchange students came! After their party, Fredrika invited us to the Ririe High school basketball game. It was a little awkward being there as a missionary because there was a few people that were judging us, but we had a good time with her and everyone else that was there.

     Wednesday, we had our monthly inspection. We went over to Sy's house to start his new member lessons. He's not doing so well but still has a good spirit. We had to go to the old seminary building and tell the kids there why we came on a mission during this Christmas season. We headed off to Swan valley and went to dinner with a part member family. After dinner, we drove back to Ririe to teach our fourth lesson with Jack. We are going to go with him the the Idaho Falls Visitors Center with him this coming Thursday!

     Thursday, we went to go see Sy again and taught him the second new member lesson. We stayed in the house all day. Later that night, we went to the Clark ward's Christmas party and the theme was "Hawaiian". They made my companion and I do the 'Hula Dance' in front of every one and everybody kept cheering us on!

     Friday, was another slow day for us. We had transfer call that day and my companion and I are both staying in Ririe for at least another month! We went to 2nd ward's Christmas party. We shows the new Christmas video to the ward.

     Saturday, we went to lunch at the Darrington's and then we went to the Priesthood Session of the Ririe Stake Conference. Elder David S. Baxter from the quorum of the seventy was there and we got to sit up on the stand and he kept calling on us every five minutes! Our stake president invited my companion and I to eat dinner with his councilors, Elder Baxer and his wife. We then had the adult session of conference and that was really good.

     Sunday morning, we went over to the Cole's and made pancakes, eggs and bacon for breakfast. We then went to stake conference and Jack came with the Balls. Tristan Cole's, was ordained an elder after conference and he asked my companion and I if we could stand in his circle. It was such a spiritual experience for us and his whole family. We went to the Darrington's again and this time they had two foreign exchange students form Brazil and we talked with them about the Book of Mormon with them. One of them wants to learn more. We went the Cole's for the rest of the night and we got to talk via Skype with Carly's fiance. I gave Lexi a priesthood blessing and her brother anointed the oil for his first time. It was again a very spiritual experience for us and their family.

    I hope you enjoy this email. I bought a 'Selfie Stick' last Monday so all my photos are basically from the selfie stick! Remember the reason for this holiday season! God is Good! Until next time!

                                  Elder Browning

(CLICK ON ANY IMAGE TO ENLARGE)

 

Dang it, Bobby!!!

     Good tidings everyone! This week was yet again super busy. We spent half of the week in Thane, WY and had Zone Conference, and teaching some of our progressing investigators! I hope that you enjoy this one!     
      So like I said in my last email we were in Afton, WY again and we hung out as a district. We went to Pizza Hut for lunch, played a couple games of bowling and then the Afton sisters made us dinner! We had to do some baptismal interviews for some of the investigators they had. We played basketball with one of the kids that got baptized Saturday. We went back to the house in Thane and played blackjack, scum, and coup. We basically pulled an all-niter because our mission said that we could drink caffeine now so Elder Schaerr and Elder Teokotai drank two red bulls right before bed so they got no sleep and were up all night.

     Tuesday, we went to  a place called Hubbs (hamburger place) and got lunch there. Somebody paid for our meal! #blessed. Then we played basketball at the stake center and then Elder Vogt and I, went on exchanges in Thane. We went to teach a little girl who is getting baptized this coming Saturday. We went to Tootsies for dinner which has Italian cuisine. Then again, someone payed for our meal. #blessed. The people are so good here in the lovely state of Idaho.

     Wednesday, I went on exchanges again with Elder Vogt and this time we went to Palisades and tried to see some people but, nada. We had dinner at our old ward mission leaders house, Brother Titus. We went on visits with Brother Jacobson and passed out their Christmas party invitations for Tuesday and hopefully some of them can come.

     Thursday was Zone Conference and it was super good! The mission president and his wife both gave good training and as well as our AP's. So basically what the main thing the mission president told us was that he wanted us to follow the "White Bible" (missionary handbook) and be a Preach My Gospel missionary. After lunch we had a talent show and was alright.  Some missionaries had some good and funny acts. We went home and went to the 1st Ward's Christmas Party. A lot of less actives showed up and enjoyed the program. We went to Bishop Brown's home and went over his ward directory with him.

     Friday, we found a new investigator name James K. He has had a really rough past and has been wanting to meet with the missionaries for the longest time. We helped him literally destroy his house because he got "jipped" from the people that sold it to them. After destroying everything, we went to visit Dally at Subway and they gave us both free cookies and some chocolate milk. We gave her the new pass along card of the new Christmas video and told her to check it out. We had dinner with the Gunderson's and then had our second lesson with Allie. She was really receptive this time and loves the lesson we are teaching her.

     Saturday, a member took us out to Big Judds for lunch. We went to one of less actives house and played a couple games of "21" and then two-on-two and my companion and I lost both games. We'll beat them next time. We went on Visits with Caleb Orchard to teach another new investigator but she was not home. After our dinner, we went to the Lord's house and helped them set up their Christmas decorations around the house and they made us watch the "National Finals Rodeo". Sister Lords is a barrel racer so she wanted us to watch it with her.

     Yesterday, we went to the usual wards and then went back to the Lord's to set up some decorations outside their house. We watched the Christmas devotional at the High Councilman over missionary work and then had our second lesson with one of our other investigators, Tallon! It was a busy week!

    Today we are with the Thane elders again because we have zone training on Tuesday and so they are spending the day with us. I love you all and can't thank you enough for all you do for me! I hope that you enjoyed this email and I have a lot of pics from this week so enjoy them too! God is Good! 

                                               Elder Browning

 Current Progress on the Star Valley Temple

 Go watch this video!!

 Free cookies and milk at Subway.  Dally is in the dark blue shirt

Meet the Gundersons

Hello this is James and Kim Gundersen from Ririe, Idaho. We had the pleasure of having dinner with your wonderful sons. We thought you would enjoy some pictures. Enjoy!  Merry Christmas from our family!
The Gundersen's

 (click on any image to enlarge)

 

 

Sick as a Dog

I hope that everyone had a good Thanksgiving Holiday. As for my companion and I, we had about six dinner appointments and we just ate until we were full. My companion was sick for half of the week. He had food poisoning from a bad "bambino" (its like a calzone). So that kind of put a damper on week but he is better now and we are ready for this week filled with the Lords work!

     Last Monday, we had a little brief meeting in Rigby about our Thanksgiving day. We emailed in the Family History Center there and then we went to lunch at Bambinos. It's a really good little Italian place and when we were paying for our food, a lady jumped in front of us and paid for our meal! #blessed. We spent the day with the Rigby south elders; Elder Harris and Anderson. We went to Rexburg and went to the DI to drop of the crap that Elder Franks left in the house. We went back to Rigby and played basketball for the rest of p-day. We went to dinner at the Grover's house and spent the rest of the night there. They have 3 kids who LOVE missionaries. We played games and just hung out. It was really fun. They have a little puppy who looks like little baby Butters! He was so cute!

     On Tuesday, my companion was sick so, he just slept for the most of the day. I cleaned up a little bit around the house. We went to meet with Bishop Peterson of the 2nd ward to go over the ward directory to see who's where in the ward. After that, we went to play basketball with one of our investigators but he didn't show up until we had to go home.

     Wednesday, we had district meeting up in Swan Valley. We talked about goal setting again, and I gave a training on "Simplifying". As of right now as a district, we have 5 baptism dates! After our district meeting, we went to the local diner and had lunch with the Thane Elders. Since nobody was home because of the holiday and our dinner appt and lesson cancelled, our Ward Mission leader told us to go home. We had dinner at the Grover's again and we played games, and hung out with their family.

   THANKSGIVING! Like I sad in the beginning of this email we had about 6 dinner appointments. In the morning, we went to the Young's home early and their 15 yr. old son wanted us to play games with him and his sisters. We played "Egyptian Rad Slap" for about an hour and then we feasted! It was really good. We then went to the Call's for another dinner. Sister Call made me some pumpkin rolls just for her and Bro. Call was a little mad at her because she didn't make any for him, haha. Next we went to Bishop Peterson's in the Clark Ward and they gave us some banana cream pie to take home. We went to our ward mission leader, Bro Cox and also we had some more pie. Finally, we went to Bishop Miller's of the Perry ward and gave us yet more pie. Later that night, we went to the Rigby stake center to hang out as a zone. We played a big game of capture the flag throughout the whole church and that was fun. Our team won so the others didn't want to play anymore. We finished the night by playing volleyball with some members.

     BLACK FRIDAY! Unfortunately, we did not do any Black Friday shopping. We went to Bishop Miller's house to go over his ward directory with him. He has a lot of less actives in his ward but has a good WML and good ward missionaries that are doing their best to bring them back. We shoveled a lot of driveways because we got tons of snow Thanksgiving morning. We had dinner at the Mabey's again and they made us breakfast! We had pumpkin chocolate chip pancakes. We went to the Cole's for the rest of the night and their daughter, Carly, is finally back from Ecuador. (and she came back engaged!)  It was fun catching up on things. She showed us a song on YouTube and its called "A Christmas Hallelujah". I encourage all of you to listen to it!

     Saturday, We just contacted 3 referrals and had dinner at the Darrington's. We watched "kid history" with her kids, haha. We had a lesson with Jack he asked us some really good questions. The lesson went good and have another one this coming Saturday!

     Yesterday, we went to the Clark Ward for my first time since I've been here. We went to the Perry Ward hoping that one of our investigators would be there, but she wasn't. We went to the YSA ward and they were all so happy to see us there again! We had dinner at the Wilson's and our lesson with Jakob got canceled so we went to visit some less-active people. We told them to check out the new LDS Christmas video that they just put out and you should all check it out too! Its a real tear jerker!

     Today we are up in Afton, WY again and we are hanging out as a district. We are going to Pizza Hut for lunch, bowling and then the Afton sisters are making us dinner!

    Well everyone, thanks for all you do and hope that as we celebrate this upcoming Christmas season, we will remember the real reason. I love you all and hope that you all have a good week! If you can do a favor and especially pray for my brother Logan. He is having the same issues I was dealing with, haha. Are the Browning boys that bad to train? hahha just kidding. Thanks again. You're the best!

                                               Elder Browning

 Little Baby Butters (His name is Turk)

 

 Big Papi Schaerr and Sister Clift -  straight thuggin.

 Our Sister Training Leader gave us this for a Thanksgiving gift.

 Sister Call's famous pumpkin roll

 Saturday Sunset

 Sunday Sunset

Casting out the Devil

Hello everyone! This week was probably the busiest week in the mission so far! We ended up contacting and finding about 5 referrals, finding 2 new investigators, and setting a baptismal date! My companion and I work so well together and can feel the spirit so string as we do the Lords work!

     Last Monday, my companion and I went to Idaho Falls and we did a lot of shopping! We went to the mall, target, cabelas, office max, winco, walmart and the thrift store. It was really busy day and we both bought matching comp ties and comp socks. We also bought some matching Christmas ties that we will wear on Christmas day! Ron Fisher took us out to Freddies and boy was it so good! We went to the Thancker's house for a FHE lesson and we got one new investigator. After the Thacker's, we went to the Young's and had another FHE lesson and they invited us over for Thanksgiving dinner on Thursday! We are really excited!

     On Tuesday, I was on exchanges with Elder McTavish and we were in Ririe for the day. We had 20 referrals that he wanted to contact but we ended up just seeing some less active people and taught a couple lessons here and there. That night, we went to the Perry ward and we played beach volleyball with on of our investigators, Dally and she really had a lot of fun. So as we were about to exchange back, we got a call from elder welling and told us that someone in Ririe was literally possessed by the devil, no joke. So us 4 missionaries went to the house and gave her a priesthood blessing a blessed the house. It was a crazy experience that I'll never forget, haha.

     Wednesday we had our district meeting down in swan valley. It was super fun because elder franks was not there. All of the missionaries in our district could tell that I was having a better time with my new companion. Elder Schaerr and I were on splits in Swan valley. We went to lunch and played pool, haha. We visited a couple of people and that night, we taught 2 lessons with another investigator we had. It was a good day!

     Thursday, my companion had to go to Idaho falls because of a meeting we had. So I was on exchanges again with Elder Anderson. He's a little bit on the awkward side but we got a lot of stuff done. It ended up snowing like 4 inches that day so we did a lot of shoveling for people and was my first snow storm! We had a lesson with yet another investigator name Ale. The lesson went really good and we have another lesson with her this coming Saturday. Later that night, guess what? We taught another investigator named jack! HE is super cool and at the end of the lesson, I set a date with him for December 12 at 2pm! One of the youth in the 2nd ward went with us, Eric Peterson and he is probably the funnest kid I've ever met!

   On Friday, we helped out at the senior center. My companion and I made lunch the house and it was super good. We played basketball with Tristan Cole's was a lot of fun. He is planning to turn in his papers in the early spring. For dinner, we had dinner in a pumpkin and was strange but good. It had rice, beef, carrots and peppers in it. Later that night, we helped put up drywall at someones house.

     Saturday we cleaned the house and threw a lot of Elder Franks stuff that he left behind away. We contacted 3 referrals and also received 2. We had dinner at the Gunderson's and she is like our missionary mom here in Ririe and she'll get whatever we need and she loves the missionaries! Later that night, wee helped out a non members house put in a bathroom floor. She literally made us watch the college football game that was on their t.v. because she doesn't really know the rules of us missionaries.

    Sunday was a sunny beautiful Sabbath day. We went to the 3rd Ward for the first time I've been here. We also went to the Perry ward an a elder who just got home gave in homecoming talk! His dad told me he has sister who lives in Naperville! So if anyone of you who knows a 'Marlis Moon" who lives in the Naperville area, please let me know! We had another lesson later that night with jack again and he is progression really well! 

  Well, this week was really busy for my companion and I and i hope it stays this busy! Thank you for all the support you not only give me but also my brother in Brazilian also my family. May you all have a great thanksgiving and hope that you get some good deals on black Friday! God is good! I love you all and until next time!

                                                      Elder Browning

 

Companionship Unity

Elder Wellington - Zone Leader

 

 

New and Improved Star Valley District

Cooking Up a Storm

 Swan Valley Sunset

A New Zealand Companion

   HELLO EVERYONE! I want to thank you all for the prayers this past week because Elder Franks is finally gone and I couldn't be happier and I have a new companion! His name is Elder Teokotai and he is from New Zealand. When he got off the transfer train, I knew right away that we were going to get along and have some fun! (and do the Lords work of course). This week has been really busy with transfers and new companions. Its starting to get really cold here and today the mission president called us to remind us to be safe as we drive on the roads today since we are supposed to be getting big snow storm. It's gonna be legit! Let me give you a run down of what my week was filled with.

     So last Monday we had to go to Rigby because my companion didn't want to go to Rexburg because all he wanted to to was pack. We went to Big Judd's for lunch with a couple of other missionaries. Like I said, we had to end P-day early because he wanted to go home and pack which he didn't end up doing. But, we did go to the Lords house for dinner and had to help Lynzee decorate a paper turkey for one of her classes at school. Me and brother Lords just watched the football game haha, while sister lords and my companion helped Lynzee.

     Tuesday was so nice because we dint do anything because my companion literally spent the whole day packing. So what did I do? I took advantage of that time to catch up on my sleep. It was very much needed. We had Los Albertos for lunch with Tristan Coles. My companion went to visit a couple of families before he left the next day. That night, we had our Missionary Fireside and it couldn't of been and better. About 40 youth showed up from the stake and we divided them up into companionship and had them teach investigators. Everyone had so much fun and they want to do it 3 times a year now since they loved it. At the end of fireside we showed a couple of videos on missionary work and 2 returned missionaries bore their testimonies on their missions and it was a huge success. So while I was in Rigby last Sunday we stopped to see this little Spanish family and we talked with a 13 year old girl in the family. I got a phone call from the zone leaders on Tuesday night and said that the girl that we saw kept asking where I was and and she told the zone leader that she had a crush on me! Flirt to Covert I guess. Haha!

     Wednesday was the day I have been waiting for, for a long time. It was Transfer day! Elder Franks is gone! MY new companion is super chill and is literally the best. We got all of his stuff and did a little shopping at Broulims and then headed to the Coles to hang out with them. We went to the Bowers as well to introduce them to my new companion. We went home so he could unpack. Then we drove to Palisades and ended up going to Thane because he had to do a baptismal interview. We got back to Palisades and taught one of the members in the valley who wanted the discussions again. We taught him the restoration and he enjoyed it very much.

     Thursday we did weekly planning and it was actually fun this time. We had lunch at Los Albertos with the zone leaders and then they switched cars with us because we need a 4 wheel drive when we go up to swan valley. We had dinner at Dan Fergusens again he cooked us 'pine hen' that he killed that morning. They tasted like the chicken nuggets that Lynda Clark make. The Jorgensens invited us over for cake and ice cream because it was one of their kids birthday. We went over to the Calls and played a couple games of ping pong which my companion is really good at. He beat Brother call 6 games to 1.

     Friday we just help Vanessa finally burn that giant pile of sticks in her yard. We had 2 dinners that night and I'm pretty sure that I gained about 10 pounds haha
     Saturday was Sy's baptism and it was perfect! Everything went super good and elder franks even came up which no one seemed happy to see him. We went to Los Albertos for lunch with Tristan and Sister Coles. We then went over to their house to rake leaves and burn some trash they had in their yard. We had dinner with Bishop Sutton in the 1st ward and he took us to Chick-fil-a in Idaho Falls and man it was so crowded!

     Sunday we gave talks in the Shelton ward and I gave mine on " How can we have the Holy Ghost as a constant companion". It was a good talk and everyone seemed to enjoy it. We visited the Kauers later that afternoon and gave them a quick lesson. We went over to the Thackers and watched a quick video on missionary work for their 3 boys who are planning and preparing to serve missions. We then went to the Coles for the rest of the night and talked about scriptures.

    Well, that sums about my whole week! I hope you enjoy this one and cannot express all the love and support you show for me each and every week! I love you all and we''ll talk to you next week! God is Good!

                                                         Elder Browning

 Sy's Baptism

 Me and my buddy Brady

 Another sweet sunset in Ririe

 Elder Horne and I. He was in Rigby for 6 months and is going to Blackfoot to be a zone leader.

 Cool Ririe sunset on Thurday night.

 Playing ping pong at the Calls house