Ammon Famalamily

Well, it's been another hot week here in Iona South. The temperatures here have gotten up the high 90's and its only the start. We are still on bikes but things are starting to pick up in the area. Elder Crosby and I started to go through the area book and go visit the people that the missionaries in the past have been working with. We contacted some of them in the wards and had a little success, but hopefully we can get things going again. We visited Robert and Desiree a couple times this week and we set a baptismal date for Desiree for August 6th. We're not sure if she'll be able to stop smoking by that time but we set it for her as a goal that she can work towards. She really wants the gospel in her life and we know that she can quit her addiction so she will be able to enjoy the blessings of the gospel.

On Saturday, we went to the Visitors' Center with one of ward missionaries and we watched three new stories from 'Meet the Mormons'. The are brand new stories that the church just came out with and can only been seen at a visitors center so I encourage all of you who are close to a visitors center and watch them. Yesterday was super long for us. We spent 12 hours at church with meetings and all and then we went back to the Visitors' Center and participated in a 'Pioneer Days' concert. The rest of the night, we correlated with one of our ward mission leaders. I hit my year mark this week, so that's crazy. That's all for this week. Thanks for everything you guys do. God is Good. Y'all have a good week.

Elder Browning

Quick update: So my trainer, Elder Franks finished his mission this past Wednesday and he emailed me this morning and he told me that he is getting married sometime on the future! His girlfriend, now his fiancee, were writing each other t he whole time while he was on the mission and now they're getting married.

New Idaho Falls, Idaho Mission.

 Ammon Fam.

 ​These guys were protesting against circumcision? Not sure why.

 ​It looked cooler in person.

 ​Missionary tooth 

 Flying high.

 Sun-chip of Idaho.

Browning means "relish" in Russian

It's been a good week here in the Iona South Stake. Fist off, we had the baptism and confirmation of Robert this past weekend. It's amazing to see the progression of him and his family as they have gone through this process of learning of the gospel. His wife Desiree, is still on track to be baptized here in the next couple months but is still struggling to overcome her smoking addiction. We gave her an "Addiction Recovery Booklet' and every time we're over at their house, she's always looking at it, so it's good that she wants this change in her life. On Wednesday we had transfers and I got another new companion and his name is Elder Crosby. He is from the Pasadena area in California and has been out just under a year. He's super cool and we work so well in unity when we are teaching. I feel like this is going to be yet another good transfer. Other than that, we did some service for on of our ward mission leaders' and then had a couple good lessons the rest of the week. That's all for this week. Sorry for another short email. Hope y'all have a good week. The church is true, God is good!

Elder Browning

 

 Giving one of ward mission leader's sons a haircut.

 

 ​Roberts Baptism

 

 ​Bonfire at Dr. Bobs'

Deep in the heart of TEXAS!!!

Well, this week was another busy one. We taught a lot of lessons to mostly less active members, but they are progressing very well. We started off the week on Tuesday by teaching 7 lessons that day. We went on a church tour with one of our investigators, Robert. He told us that he wanted to move his baptism date to something earlier and so he getting baptized this coming Saturday. His wife on the other hand is trying to overcome a smoking addiction. She will eventually get baptized in the future so she is doing her best to progress. We taught them more during the week and Robert is ready to make this next step in his life. The rest of the we just taught lessons.

 Yesterday, we went out with out teaching with our mission president and taught Robert. We also had transfer calls last night and I'm staying in Iona South and Elder Martin is going to Challis to train, My new companion is coming from the Twin Falls mission and his name is Elder Crosby. Anyways, that's all for this week! Thanks for everything y'all do! 

                       The new mission office address is:                My address is:

                        351 W. 14th Street                                         4839 Madison River Road

                        Idaho Falls, Idaho  83402                              Idaho Falls, Idaho 83401

Elder Browning

 

 Fourth of July sunsets

 ​Went up to the top of Lincoln Hill to watch the fireworks.

 L.D.'s pets

 ​Robert and the fam

 

This was our day last Tuesday

HAPPY FOURTH!

Hey everyone. Hope y'all are having a great fourth. Today for us missionaries, it's an all day p-day for us and our mission president is letting us stay out til' 10pm tonight so we should be able to see at least some fireworks. This past week was super busy as usual. We ended up teaching about 30 lessons and unfortunately haven't found any new investigators yet but we had 2 with a baptismal dates and one of them is due to change because he wants to get baptized sooner. We are taking him on a church tour tomorrow so it should be good for him and his family. We also met with our new mission president this past Friday. His name is President Brent Jay Nelson from Woodburn, Oregon. He and his wife are super excited to serve with us. 

I went on exchanges with Elder Teokotai on Tuesday and it was really fun, just like old times. We went to lunch with one of our bishops in Ririe and he was crazy happy that we went out with him. That exchange was way weird with all the things that happened, but it was a good change to be in a different area for a day, especially with Elder Teokotai. We went to this block party on Saturday and they made us sing karaoke and we sung "Jesus wants me for a Sunbeam". It was fund and even had a standing ovation. Yesterday was really good. We had the chance to bear our testimonies in three different wards so we could get to know the people in the stake. We had a lesson with one of our investigators and taught him and his family the Gospel of Jesus Christ. It was about a two hour lesson, which is good because they asked a lot of good questions. This morning we went to a breakfast with the 7th ward and we were in charge of cooking the pancakes. Today we are going to a zone activity at six, hanging out and watching Disney movies. Thanks for everything you do! God is Good. Y'all have a safe and good holiday.

 

 

 President and Sister Nelson

 

 

 Exchanges

Flipping Flapjacks

 Riding home in a golf-cart with our investigator, Robert.

 Top of Iona Hill. (On the way down, my tire blew out and had to walk down, hahah).

 It also hailed while were were biking.

We had turtles for dinner.

New way to proselyte?

Dinner with the Smith Family

 

The Scabies Virus is Back

"How's it goin'? Oh, it's going alright". We're doing super good here in the Iona South Stake. It's only been about a week since I've been in the area, but everyone here are super friendly and were quick to make me feel involved and loved. Elder Martin is a awesome companion and is a really good listener when it comes to teaching people. We are in a bike area and is not as big as my last area. We live in a member's basement and it's really nice and makes me feel at home. We both have a full sized bed, a jet bathtub and also have our own little kitchen. We get free milk from the members in the area. We also go work out at the gym every morning with other missionaries. We play basketball Monday mornings with a lot of youth. Suffice it to say that we are taken care of. We are truly blessed. Anyways, this week has just been going around and meeting the members and people we are teaching. we cover 9 wards and are actually teaching a lot of lessons which is good and keeps the week busy. I have meet two families that used to live in Rockford and the Naperville areas. It's kind of hard to get to know the people when we are covering 9 wards again but since elder martin has been in the area for 7 months now, its makes it a whole lot easier.

We had a conference with President Hancock this past Saturday. He was there to say good bye to all the north half of mission. All he wanted to to was literally hang out and just get to talk with us. He's actually coming up to Idaho Falls today and we are playing softball with us. This week had been good. I think that is all for this week. Tonight I am going on exchanges with Elder Teokotai in his area! It's going to be so much fun. Thanks for everything y'all do! God is Good! 

Elder Browning

My new address is: 4839 Madison River Road Idaho Falls, Idaho 83401

The Overockers ​

 IF Zone Leaders

 ​Bishop Peterson and his wife

 Paige and Brittany

Selfie with the baby, haha

​How much Powerade my companion drinks in a week, no joke

Free snow-cones

 ​Our backyard

  

The crib

President and Sister Hancock

Iona Bound

So to start off this email, you should probably know that I will be getting transferred to the Iona South Stake after serving a total of 5 1/2 months in the wonderful Idaho Falls Central Stake. I can't believe how fast time goes by especially as a missionary. It's been a tough couple months, but I feel like things are only getting much better. I've come to realize that serving a mission is hard, but in the end, it's all worth it. The experiences you have and the friends you make are only the sweet tender memories you will cherish for lifetime. I am super excited that I am getting transferred. It will be another fresh start and getting another companion, learning new faces and teaching more people. My new companion is Elder Martin. He has been serving in that area and on his mission for 6 months. He is from Houston, Texas and is the most polite person I have ever met. It's going to be a good transfer. Iona will be fun. It's a little farming community and everyone says its a lot like Ririe, so i'm excited to have my farming roots back. Here's what happened this past week;

We played softball on Monday with our zone and the Ammon zone. We also played with our recent covert and her friend that is starting to come back to church. It was tons of fun and our recent convert just got her temple recommend and she is planning on going to the temple sometime after September and wants me to go through with her. We helped out at the temple on Wednesday night and sanded the gates since they are getting ready to paint them. We had a couple interviews with the mission president and he told me that I will be staying in the new mission. He said today in an email that his heart is tender that he has to send half of us to the new mission. The new mission president should be really good too. He is from Oregon. We then spent the rest of the week doing a little service around the area and saying goodbye to all the amazing families in the Central Stake. I think that is all for this week! I will let you know of all the new adventures next week! Thank you for all the prayers this past week. God is Good! Oh yeah, happy fathers day to the number 1 dad! 

Love you all,

Elder Browning

P.S. I will send you my new address next week so you all can send me letters. There are more pictures of the families that I am seeing tonight so they will be on next week.

 

 Helping sand the temple gates.

 The Staley Family.

 Our recent convert, Treycin Marsden.

 The amazing java workers.

 The Hart Family.

 The Hebdons.

Stake President and his family, the Stewarts.

Last round with Melba.

 The Wahe Family.

 The Kisleys.

 The Staffords.

 

The Baby Whisperer