Gigantic Spuds!

Hello everyone! I hope that you all had a good week and hope all is doing well! My week here in Ririe was so busy and consisted 2 times to Wyoming and another baptismal date! Let me give you a run down on whats been happening in good ole Ririe, ID!

   So you all know that we had to go to Afton, WY this past Monday and its a small little town so we just drove around looking for things to do so we spent about 3 hours in Shopko and Broliums to kill time! We had another lesson with Lynzee and the Martins fed us dinner before we taught her. She made us homemade Chinese and was so good. We taught Lynzee about the 10 commandments. Again she paid no attention to them and so her mom yelled at her because she always does this and if she wont pay attention, she cant get baptized. Her baptism is this Saturday at 9 am! We are so excited for her and her family! 

  Tuesday was a hard day for us. We didn't do much finding so we asked the seminary teacher if he had any non members in his class and he had none. We went to Los Alberto's for dinner and then went to the Stake Center and listen to a guy give a talk about addictions and how the brain responds to different addictions. He did an awesome job and I learned a lot! We went to the Cole's to visit with them and on the way out of their driveway, my companion ran over and killed one of their dogs. 

  Wednesday we had district meeting in Palisades and as a district, we came up with setting 27 baptismal dates by the next transfers which are November 11th! It may seem like a lot, but we already have 2, Afton and Thane has 3, so the lord is helping us along the way! We had lunch at the gas station and then a couple started talking with us (they were members) and we talked for a while about conference and about all that stuff. He said hes been to Naperville, IL before and ate at the big steak house there? I didn't know what he was talking about but, oh well. They paid for our ice cream and was super nice of them to do that! We went to visit the Cripes (LA) and she wanted us to start reading the Book of Mormon and Bible with her so that she can understand them more better. Her and her husband are also feeding us this Wednesday and i hope that it will all go smoothly and she will be more edified by us helping her. She also said that we influenced her to start doing this with her so idk! haha. 

   On Thursday was weekly planning. We had interview with the mission president and his wife. It went very well and I know that thy are both there to help us! Sister Hancock is just like a mother would be, she loves all the missionaries and wants to know them personally so she can help us in any way! After we got home, we helped an non member pick apples from her tree. she gave whole bag full and my companion and I have been eating them all and are almost gone! We went to visit Sy and he can get baptized! The Lord answered our prayers and he actually set a date for himself on Saturday October 24th at 5 pm! I know that the Lord found a way for him to do this, and we are super excited for him. We have 2 more  lessons to teach him that are on the next two Wednesdays.  Later that night, we gave Sister Cole's a blessing so that her hand would be able to heal fully. We went to Lynzee's house and taught her about fasting and tithing. She didn't listen again but hope that she will remember everything when she has her baptismal interview. 

     On Friday, we contacted 3 referrals and we possible have 3 new investigators! Nobody fed us that night so we went to Los Alberto's again. that place is so good! Saturday morning we went to go pick spuds by the Ririe dam and it was so cool how the potatoes came out from the ground and pit them out from a conveyor belt. We got 2 whole boxes! We are giving them away to Sy! We had to go to Afton again to do another baptismal interview. Someone from the Clark ward drove us up there with his wife. The day was beautiful and it made the drive there 10 times better. We stopped to get some more square ice cream and then headed home. We went to the Lords house for dinner and then tried teach Lynzee another lesson but they were too busy riding their horses. Then on Sunday we had to give talks in the 1st ward and I didn't do that well but everyone said they liked it. We had a meeting with all the WML at the stake center to talk about our goals as a stake.

Well, that is all for this week! I hope everyone is doing well and cant wait until next time! God is Good and thankful for all you do! 

                                                                     Much love, Elder Browning

My companion and I are in Afton WY.

Hello everyone! This week seemed to drag and I'm glad that today is Monday! My companion and I are all the way in Afton WY. They are building the new temple here and its actually super small. They just got the interior walls put up and they are working away. They are working as fast as they can because they want President Monson to dedicate it before he passes. It looks good though! 

Star Valley, Wyoming LDS Temple

      Afton is a beautiful place and for the people that know what Afton is like, can agree with me! Its surrounded by mountains and is very cold. It reminds me of the little town by Wisconsin Dells. it has a Shopko and a couple of local restaurants. 

      This past week was very busy so let me give you the run down. So on Monday we went to dinner with Ron Fisher again and he took us out to a Mongolian BBQ. It was super good and also I saw Conner Smith ( if anyone remembers him from the Joliet stake. He just got married is living with Ron Fisher. His wife is going to BYU-I and he is doing some online courses.) We taught lynzee lords later that night and she was not at all tuned into the lesson, but she is excited to get baptized! ON Tuesday we had to go to the quick care for my companion and looks like he has the shingles! They are not that bad but he says it went away, and I don't know if I should be worried or not! My mission president and his wife came to the Ririe stake center and met with our investigator, Sy. We still don't know if he can be baptized yet but if you all can keep in in your prayers that everything will work out for him that would be appreciated! We are waiting on the legal department for further instructions. But we will keep working with him and he says he will keep coming to church! 

      Later that night we helped out at the Family History Fair at the stake center. We set up a booth and were in charge of the religious aspect of family history. we did not get any non members but we did get 2 new referrals from a lady who just moved from Boise! She loves missionaries and throws parties for them and all that good stuff! Wednesday came around and we had zone training in Rigby! We set a goal to have 89 baptismal dates by the end of this year and 472 baptisms as the whole mission by the end of the year! We've already have 517 or so this far and I think this goal is achievable! We have to put our trust in the Lord and he will make this happen! Again, I would ask you all to pray for the area that we may find those people who are ready to learn about the gospel! 

      We went to Subway for lunch and a lady paid for all of our sandwiches! People are so good here! We head to Palisades and of course stopped for some square ice cream. While we were standing in line, another lady paid for my ice cream! This mission is seriously the best! 

      We went to dinner at the Nelson's and they just got back from serving a mission in Russia and they made us try on their Russian hat and that's where the pics (see previous post) are from! They are a great crazy couple and it was nice being myself there, haha! 

      We did our weekly planning on Thursday and it was very boring but it had to get done. We drove to rigby again because we had to pick up our suits from the cleaners. We tried to visit people in the Rudy and Clark area (where the referrals are from) but they were not home. 

      For dinner we went to Brother Rose's house and he cooked us antelope meatloaf! I tasted really good and was the best meatloaf I've had in a  long time! Later that night we went to Lynzee's house and helped them make salsa. We taught Lynzee about the word of wisdom and the reminding her the our body is a temple and that we nee to keep it holy. 

      On Friday we had our monthly house and car inspection and we deep cleaned our house and was spotless. They were surprised that it was that cleaned and haven't see it that cleaned before. They gave me a space heater since I'm so cold all the time. It works like a charm! Sy called us over to help him move some hay and than we talked with him for a long time wile we set up some if his Halloween decorations! He says he is growing fond of us and is very thankful that we are in his lives! We have a dinner appt. this Friday with him and is making us homemade pizza! 

      Saturday was one of the best days I've had here because we got to watch conference! It was literally history in the making and glad that we are back to a full quorum of the 12! As everyone has said, those men were truly called of God and by revelation from the prophet! Also priesthood session was also very good! I loved President Eyring's talk. After the session, my companion and I went to Los Albertos to keep the tradition going by always getting a snack after the priesthood sessions. We went to visit penny for a short time and her cancer is back again and has spread to her liver, lungs and her kidneys. We will pray and fast for her that she may be healed quickly so that she can get baptized! Sunday was very spiritual and we watched the morning session at rigby and then went back to the ririe stake center to watch the afternoon session. My favorite talk was by Elder Bednar at the end and loved how he shared the testimonies of the brethren that have past and have served with him. It was different not to have a big breakfast but I did have biscuits and gravy for dinner last night so I guess that make up for it, haha. 

          I love this gospel and loves the blessings it brings to me, my family, and everyone who is willing to listen! I love you all and am thankful for everything you do you me! Until next week!

Elder Browning

The Russian Fox Shapka

A note from Elder and Sister Nelson: 
 "We came home from serving our mission in Russia 6 months ago. We’ve had the privilege of having your son and his companion over for dinner a couple of times now. They’re delightful young elders. They had a great time trying on the Russian shapkas. Elder Browning especially liked this Siberian fox"

 "Dear Elder Browning,  Thanks for coming out to our place and sharing a story of miracles. You're adorable in the Russian fox shapka."

Livin' in Paradise

Hello everyone, this past week was very hot and it felt so good! To bad that it wont stay like this for the whole 2 years I'm here. So this morning my companion and I had another PPI. I don't know what the deal is, but we just don't seem to get along. I mean we do for the most part, but he is 27 and i;m 19 so there's a big generation gap. I hope that we can try to work things out again!

       So last Monday, we went to Rexburg again and did our shopping. When we got home, we went fishing with one of our ward mission leaders. I was the only one who caught a fish and it was about 12 inches. Unfortunately, we had to throw it back because it wasn't big enough! We taught our progressing investigator, Lindsey Lords. We taught her the plan of salvation and it went good. She was way in-tuned this time than she was last lesson.   Tuesday was kind of a boring day. We really didn't see a whole lot of people. We played basketball at lunch and that was fun. We went top got see a potential investigator Penny Pride. She has a smoking problem but she bought a vapor and she is cutting down on the cigs. She wanted to start taking the lessons again. We set an appt. for last Thursday but she wasn't feeling good she we will keep trying!   Wednesday was transfers. I am staying here for sure until November 4th and then I could stay longer, but who knows? We had a short zone meeting in Rigby so we could talk about all of our baptismal goals. We have to keep working hard so that we can get those people into the waters of baptism. After the meeting, we had a church tour with Sy! He loved it and really wants to get baptized! He has a meeting tomorrow with the Mission President and if everything goes well as planned, we will set a baptism date with him! We went to Palisades and tried to see some people but nobody was home! We had dinner with a super cool family. Their house was HUGE! It sat on top of a hill and you could see everything! It was so cool! I also got my package that I was waiting for for the longest time! If any of you want to send em packages, do not send it through FedEx!   On Thursday, we weekly planned. I marked my new scriptures that I got, so that took some time and I'm not done yet. Later that night, Bro Myler took us all the way to Thane again just for a baptismal interview. It was a long drive there but Thane is beautiful!   Friday we went to see some people in the Rudy area. We saw some less actives and taught a lesson or two. Later that night we went to the 1st wards chili cook off. We were the judges and some of the chili's and sups were very bad and I didn't taste them, haha. We went over to a members house and he is struggling with divorce so one of the counselors from the stake presidency came over and we gave him a priesthood blessing! We were at the right place in the right time. The Church is true!   Saturday night we had big juicy steaks, baked potatoes, salad and home made apple pie. I think i might have to loose a hole on on my belt. Haha. We also lost the church keys but we found them later the next day! Yesterday we we went to some ward councils and then went to the YSA ward. That's about all of this week!

I love you all and hope that everyone is doing great! Thanks for the prayers you send me my way! Until next time, God is Good!

Elder Browning

Your son is a boss.  Thanks for sending him out my way.  My name is Andrew Scholes and I just got home from my mission last week so I know the struggle and he's doing great service and he will be blessed and we'll fee them both!

#BRRRR

Hello everyone. This week was a tough one for me because of my companion, but the Lord knows that we are companions for a reason. We had a PPI (Personal Priesthood Interview) and they talked to us about the problems we are having. Hopefully everything works out fine and we can make it to November which are the next transfers!

       So last Monday, we played basketball at the Rigby stake center and then we had a lesson with a 9 year old girl who is the daughter of a recent convert that got baptized about 4 months ago. Her name is Lindsay Lords and we taught her the restoration of the gospel and it was very hard to teach her because you know how kids are, they weren't focused on the lesson. But we invited her to be baptized and we even set a date with her for October 17th! We are so excited! 

         On Tuesday we had to go to palisades for our last district meeting for our zone until after transfers. Sister Parker is leaving to go home this week, Elder Clark is going to Idaho Falls, so we are getting 2 new missionaries on the Star Valley Zone. We also did exchanges with the Thane elders and so he came back to Ririe with me. He helped me with 12 week and then we went to help a member in the 3rd ward split wood and we did it the old fashion way. All i can say is that i got blisters on my foot and was sore for about 3 days. But it was fun. After we had dinner, we went to teach a non member, Vanessa Linserman. We taught he the restoration as well and she really enjoyed it! We kinds rushed through the lesson which is a very bad thing but we had to go back to Palisades to exchange back. Brother Myler took us in his truck because we had a meeting with the youth committee at the stake center.

        Wednesday was probably the coldest day of the week. Logan reported to the MTC and I'm super proud of him deciding to serve! We had to go to Rigby and get our oil changed. I don't know when we are getting our new cars yet, but hopefully soon! After we were done in Rigby, we headed off to Swan Valley. Our appointment with Sy Versage canceled with us but we are doing a church tour with him tomorrow. We saw some less active people in the area and then went with Bro Jacobson the ward mission leader and we taught the last lesson with a recent convert, Talon Zoner and his family. We hope that they continue to come to church!
          We had transfer calls on Thursday and my companion and i are both staying here in Ririe. Ill probably be here for 6 months, but who knows? My companion will be here for 9 months when he is done training me and that's a long time in one area! On of the AP's is also going home this week so the mission president called Elder Rush! I don't know too much about him but I hope he's cool.

         On Friday we did went with a recent returned missionary and we went to go see a couple of people. We found a foreign exchange student and she accepted to read the book of Mormon. We tried to see her yesterday but she was not home. She was from Denmark and is her until June of next year. We did exchanges with zone leaders later that night and  Elder Mctavish came to Ririe with me! 

         We had exchanges all through Saturday. Elder Mctavish wanted to get 10 referrals and we ended up getting 20! We talked to everyone we saw and we even found a new investigator named Starla. We helped picked apples and that where we found her. She is the sister of Penny Pride who was in my last email. We ended up eating at Subway for dinner since nobody has us down for dinner. Its weird because everyone wants to feed the missionaries!

        We gave 2 talks yesterday in the Perry and 2nd wards. We did pretty good and everyone said that they really enjoyed it so I guess we did okay! We went on splits with Matt Jorgensen again but we didn't have any luck. He also gave a talk in the Shelton ward and this past week 5 missionaries returned home from their missions! WOW. We went to the Perry ward mission leaders house and it was alright. We went out later that night with a couple in one of the wards and gave some invitations to a chili cook off we are having this coming Friday! Today we are going fishing with the 2nd ward, ward mission leader! That is all for this week!

      Thanks for all you guys do for me and are grateful for your prayers. It does help me get through the day and it means a lot! I love you all! Until next week!

                                                                                            Elder Browning 

Just wanted to share a picture of this awesome young man you have been so kind to share with us here in Idaho. We took a break from fishing for souls and went fishing for trout. He did get one caught but not quite a keeper. He is a great young man.

Harold Rose

Ward mission leader

What a Week!

Hello everyone! This week seemed to drag and i'm so happy that today is finally Monday! Hope all is well with everyone! And hope that you find some excitement in reading this past weeks email!

    So last Monday was labor day and sorry that my email was really short. We only got to use one computer in the stake center and my companion ended us using most of the time so there's that, haha. We were going to go to Idaho falls but since my companion ended using a lot of time we just shopped at Broulmins in Rigby. We had a zone activity and we hiked the Menan buttes and when we got to the very top, we could see the great Tetons and could see all of Rexburg and the Rexburg temple. It was an awesome hike and we're going to go hiking later today too in cress creek with sister Cole's!

    On Tuesday, nothing special happened. I had steak for the first time being on my mission. We had to help a family in one of the wards with their house. I vacuumed and my companion taped plastic on the walls(they were getting ready to paint). When we got home that night, there were so many stars in the sky and my companion and I laid in our backyard and just looked into the sky. we saw so many shooting stars and we no joke We think we saw a UFO! haha We also saw the milky way and it was unbelievable. We had exchanges on Wednesday with the Thane elders and we are exchange again tomorrow and I'm staying here in Ririe with elder Clark. We are doing a lot of service tomorrow and then later that night we are teaching an investigator named Vanessa Linserman. We had our district meeting in Palisades and that where we did our exchanges. I stayed there in Palisades with Elder Shaaer and it was so fun! We mostly drove around trying to find people to teach but we did visit with a less active family and they were super nice and they said they wanted to feed us one night! We then exchanges back and then we drove home. We did weekly planning on Thursday and we also had to change our tire because it popped! We ended up going to Rigby again to take it in the shop to get it fixed. I went to the doctors because my ear was way plugged up and could barely hear anything on my left side. The doctor flushed it out and now i can finally hear again! its a miracle! We saw another one of our investigators Penny and she is not doing so well. she had cancer and then she was on remission and the the cancer came bask and it is now in her liver and is about the size of a golf ball. She doesn't know how much longer she has to live but we are praying for her! she keeps saying "gods got me, he wont let me die". Hopefully she recovers fast so we can start getting her to church and teaching her the lessons again. We went to one members house on Friday for dinner and he was drunk, hahha. It was so funny though because he knew a lot about church doctrine and kept telling us that he loved us and that he wanted us to bless his home when i said the prayer. when he talked to us, he cried then he laughed and then cried again. when he drove us home,(our house was just around the corner) we took 15 minutes just to get home! He was such a slow driver! I am still working on 12 week and just watched the district videos again and that took about half of the day. We helped shuck corn with a family and then fed some corn to the cows they had. We brought our progressing investigator Sy Versage some corn that we got from the other family and he was so grateful for us and said that we are amazing young men and is so grateful for us and all that we do! On Sunday we had no correlation meeting in the morning so we got to sleep for an extra hour! We went to church as usual and it was fun! Jacob Myler spoke (recent returned missionary) and his talk was way good! Our investigator came to church and i think he really enjoyed it! Some events in his life happened and unfortunately he cannot get baptized because he is not married. Its a long story. We will continue to teach him the lessons but very sad that he wont be baptized, bummer. For dinner the Jorgensen's feed us and we help them cut and peel potatoes for french fries and hamburgers. It was way good and then we shared a thought with them before we left. We had a lesson with a new investigator in the YSA ward. We taught him the first lesson and he agreed to read and pray about the book of mormon! I think that's all that been happening with me this past week! I'm grateful for my brother Logan and the choice he made to serve a mission! Having both of us out can be very stressful for my mom, but I know that the Lord will bless us and my family.  Sacrifice brings forth the blessings of heaven! 

I'm grateful for all you do for me! I feel all the prayers you send on my behalf! Until next time! I love you all. 

                                              Elder Browning!

 

 

A Labor Day Post

Since today is Labor Day, I wont have enough time to email, so ill just tell everybody the key highlights that happened this past week! on Monday we went to dinner with Ron Fisher and his wife. they took us out to red robin and it was so nice of them On Tuesday we had Elder Martino and his wife come to do a mission tour in Idaho falls. He is a very good speaker and had a lot of important things to say. Wednesday we had our house inspection and we passed, haha. We had another lesson with our investigator, Sy Versage. He is really coming along very well and have another lesson next Wednesday. On Thursday we rode bikes to the Coles house and helped her move a washer and drier into her box car. We read the scriptures with a recent convert and her family and we are gonna start discussions with her 9 year old! Friday we had a zone meeting in Rigby and then after that we had exchanges! I stayed in Rigby and went with one of the zone leaders elder welling and he is super awesome and he thinks that transfers come around, he will second half train me because I am struggling with my current companion. On Saturday, we contacted all the bishops in our area and asked them for their end of the year baptismal goals. Yesterday was fast Sunday, and i fasted for Logan that he might be well prepared and will be at peace as he starts his mission! It can be hard but the Lord hears and answers our prayers and will help us every step of the way! well that its for now. sorry that its a short email and i don't have my camera, so ill send a lot of pics next week!

I love you all and love all the support you give me! God is Good!

                       Elder Browning

 

Hello from the Bowen Family - We enjoyed having your son over for dinner tonight! Your son seemed happy and well adjusted to life here. He and his companion seem to work well together. They are working hard. We appreciated their message tonight. 

 

 

 

A picture from the top of R Mountain