Happy, Happy, Happy!

Hey Y'all hope everyone is having an awesome week! Everything here in Texas is so awesome. 

This week has been so so good. We did lots of service, and we got to the museum of the southwest aka the mansions and helped at their parties. We washed dishes and helped them hand out the food to the guests. It was some high class stuff. We also helped them with a tea. We had to wear white gloves it was fun. I really love helping at the mansions. It is so festive and really gets you into the holiday season. 

I can't believe that Christmas is in a week. Where has the time gone. I love Christmas and being able to celebrate the birth of our Savior Jesus Christ. We had zone conference this past week. It was Christmas themed, and it was so fun. Sister Hales read the story of the inn keepers wife. If you haven't read that before I suggest you do. It is an amazing story and then they gave us a quote by Elder Neal A. Maxwell "Each of us is an INNKEEPER who decides if there is room for JESUS!" I really love that quote. We all have agency and we choose if we have room for our Savior. Hopefully we all choose to let Him into our lives all the time. We also talked about how to find people to teach and to always make sure we are always finding new people to teach. It was an awesome day. 

Also, we talked about our missions baptism goal. Last month our goal was 25 and we had 28 baptisms. That is the highest our mission has ever had. Then they showed all the people who had been baptized and the people who we as a mission pray for everyday. The Lord is definitely blessing the TLM. We were super pumped to find people to teach so we went mall contacting. We had some lady come up to us and ask if she could have our card. She is less active and wants to come back to church. We were so excited to be able to find her. We also contacted another less active in our ward. We had a lesson with him and he said he is really wanting to come back to church. He is so kind and I am so excited to help him start on the path of going to church again. 

I am so beyond blessed and grateful for a Heavenly Father who loves me and allows me to teach His children. May you all have a blessed week!

-Love Sister Browning 

SNOW!!!

Hey y'all! Hope everyone is doing well this Christmas season. I love Christmas and the opportunity to celebrate our Savior Jesus Christ and His birth. How blessed are we to be able to celebrate such a wonderful blessing to all of our lives. 

I love Midland Texas! It snowed this week and it made me so happy. It didn't stick and it snowed for like 5 minutes. It was a tender mercy of the Lord. He really loves me enough to send snow even for a couple of minutes. 

This past week has been slow here in Midland. It is finals week so it has been hard to meet with people. So we decided to make our friends cookies and write them a little note wishing them luck. One of our recent converts was having a rough day and when he came home to cookies he was so grateful. Never suppress generous thought my friends. We also had the opportunity to go caroling at the Museum of the Southwest with a bunch of missionaries. It was so fun to sing songs about Jesus Christ and His birth. The spirit was so strong as we all sang and I know the people there were able to feel it too. What an awesome time to be a missionary. 

This week for #LightTheWorld it is light your community. I invite you all to do something nice for someone around you whether it is telling someone they look nice or making your neighbor some cookies. We are so blessed to have the opportunity to serve others. Our Savior Jesus Christ served so much and we will never be able to amount the service He gave, but we can give back a little bit. 

Yesterday in Sacrament someone gave a talk on "Behold, We Count Them Happy Which Endure" by Robert D. Hales. This story was shared "In 1968 a marathon runner by the name of John Stephen Akhwari represented Tanzania in an international competition. “A little over an hour after [the winner] had crossed the finish line, John Stephen Akhwari … approached the stadium, the last man to complete the journey. [Though suffering from fatigue, leg cramps, dehydration, and disorientation,] a voice called from within to go on, and so he went on. Afterwards, it was written, ‘Today we have seen a young African runner who symbolizes the finest in human spirit, a performance that gives meaning to the word courage.’ For some, the only reward is a personal one. [There are no medals, only] the knowledge that they finished what they set out to do” (The Last African Runner, Olympiad Series, written, directed, and produced by Bud Greenspan, Cappy Productions, 1976, videocassette). When asked why he would complete a race he could never win, Akhwari replied, “My country did not send me 5,000 miles to start the race; my country sent me to finish the race.”He knew who he was—an athlete representing the country of Tanzania. He knew his purpose—to finish the race. He knew that he had to endure to the finish, so that he could honorably return home to Tanzania. Our mission in life is much the same. We were not sent by Father in Heaven just to be born. We were sent to endure and return to Him with honor." 

We are sent here to have faith, joy, and trials. Life is super hard but we are not here to fail or just go half way, we are here to make it until the end. We are not on our own either we have a Heavenly Father who is leading and guiding us every step of the way. So whenever life gets hard just remember to keep pushing through it will all get better. I love you all so much and hope you have an awesome week. Don't forget to go out and Light the World! 

-Love Sister Browning 

1. Snow!!! 

2. Awesome Christmas lights! 

I'm a Texan...Again!

Hey y'all! I am back to being a Texan again! I am settling into Midland just fine. I love it here already so much! The ward is so fun. It is way different being in a YSA, and being with people my own age. 

On Monday we went to the mall and Target because that is a thing here. I am so excited about that. We then had a lesson with a less active member we taught the restoration. It was so good. The spirit was strong and I love being able to testify of Joseph Smith and the first vision. It is one of my most favorite things to teach about. Then we had dinner with a couple of kids from the branch. 

On Tuesday we had district meeting and then we went on exchanges. I was with Sister Kovacks. We went and got a cookie to celebrate my 5 month mark. Then we went and did work in their area. We did service at the Nativity. People bring in their Nativities from all over the world and they put them on display. There was also Napoleons prayer book it was a cool thing to be part of. Then we went and did family history at the senior couple's house. Which is so much fun. I love learning about my family. Then we went and visited some people and did studies. 

On Wednesday we finished exchanges and I got my companion back. I love being with other sisters but it is nice to get your own back. We did a lot of trying by people and phone contacting. 

On Thursday we went and decorated a Christmas tree for the church at the museum of the southwest. The mansions is a beautiful place. We were there for a lot of the afternoon doing that. Then we got ready to go to big springs for institute. It is about an hour away. We learned about the creation, the fall, and the atonement. I loved it and Elder Andersen a senior missionary made rolls. They are the best rolls I have ever eaten. 

Friday it was weekly planning day. Nothing too crazy happened. We planned all day long. Then we had dinner. 

On Saturday we went and did service because Light the world is starting. At the Museum. We helped clean dishes and put things away from a party that they had. Plug- It is the Christmas season what are y'all doing to Light The World? For more information about it go to LightTheWorld.org. what an amazing opportunity to serve other like Jesus Christ served. Then we went and did my plan with Sister Goodmansen. She pretty much has to plan life for after the mission. Then we went and had a lesson with Christian a recent convert. He is so awesome and super solid. Then we went and helped at the nativity we were able to watch one of the rooms. The bible collection room it was so fun. Also that morning inhad an idea to invite Kyle a guy that I was teaching in Carlsbad to the Nativity. He works in the oil field in Midland. He came!! I was so excited to see him. What a blessed day. Then we went and had dinner at the Thackers house. Where we had some good fried chicken. Then we went. Back to the nativity because we had to watch another room.

On Sunday it was fast Sunday. I love Sundays, I love being able to take the sacrament and fill my spiritual bucket. We invited a guy to church but he accidentily went to the wrong church building. So next week, but at least he went. We then had to rush out of church to go and sing at the Nativity with other missionaries in our zone. Then we rushed back to the church for break the fast. Then to a families house to watch the Christmas devotional. It was so amazing. I encourage y'all watch it if you have not already. 

I am grateful for this Gospel and for this Christmas season to remember our Savior Jesus Christ and who He was. I love y'all so much. Thanks for all of the love and support. 

- Love Sister Browning 

Pictures-

1. Dinner at Chick-fil-a 

2. Exchanges with sister Kovacs

3. Light the world tree

4. Kyle

5. Our "snow" because that doesn't exist in Midland! 

Changes!

Howdy Y'all! I Hope everyone is doing great! It has been a very crazy week! I have been so very blessed. 

On Monday we went to a members house for dinner and made some other visits for the upcoming baptism at the end of the week. 

Tuesday we had our last district meeting of the transfer. It was amazing! I have loved this district and we all get along so well. We then had a lesson with Wantusi. We were  just finishing up some lessons she needed before her baptism. Somehow we always get distracted and talk about random things. She is a blast and has grown so much since we met her. Then we did stuff for our Friendshipping night and our Family History night. We also went and said goodbye to the Hoopes family. They were a wonderful family in our ward. 

On Wednesday we did Service in the morning and decorated a Christmas tree that was super fun and very extravagant. Then we had another lesson with Wantusi and then Jacob. Jacob is a less active member in our ward and has such a strong testimony. He just got out of the habit of going to church. We talked about temples and turns out he has never been so we set a goal with him to attend the temple by the end of this year. I am so excited for him. 

On Thursday we went to the mayor's prayer breakfast. It was interesting. It was a lot of praying and signing. It makes me grateful for the reverence we have at our church. It was really fun though. Then we went and did service and finished decorating the Christmas tree. We went and saw Wantusi again. Then we went to the Literacy center to help people learn to read it was so much fun. We then had our Friendshipping night. We have members come and we visit less active people who could use some friends to welcome them back to church. It was really successful for the first time. 

On Friday we went and did service at the soup kitchen. We got to see our friend Andrew there which is always a blast. Then we had our last lesson with Wantusi before her baptism on Saturday. 

Then we went home and we got a call from the AP. He told us that our area is being white washed and I was also being transferred. The worst thing about it was I didn't get to know where until Sunday night. We were in shock it wasn't expected, but I am happy to go wherever the Lord needs me to go. At that point we started getting our area ready for the new sisters coming in. It was a crazy rest of the day. 

On Saturday we got up and I started packing. We then got ready for Wantusis and Samaras baptism. Samara is a taught of a recent convert in our ward. She lives in Colorado and came here for her dad to baptize her. The baptism was so wonderful. The spirit was so strong. At that moment everyone in the room knew that what Samara and Wantusi were doing was correct. It was beautiful to witness. We went out to dinner with Wantusi and her family afterward. Then that night was our Family History night. No one showed it was a flop, but you live and you learn. 

On Sunday we had meetings and Jacob came to church it was so exciting. Also Wantusi and Samara got the gift of the Holy Ghost. They Are official members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. We went and said our goodbyes to the Gish Family that night. Man do I love that family. They were like our mission parents. We always knew if we needed anything we could ask them and they took good care of us here. While we were at their house we got our call. Sister Hunt is going home and I will be going back to Texas to serve in the Midland YSA. I am super excited Sister Hunt served 9 months of her mission there and says I will love it. My companion is Sister Goodmansen I will also be sending her home. It is bitter sweet leaving this area because of the wonderful people here. I am so very grateful to our Heavenly Father for allowing me to be here and serve him everyday. I love this Gospel and know it is true. I hope y'all have a wonderful Thanksgiving! Love you all!
- Sister Browning 

Pictures-

1. Gishes and Kyle our investigator 

2. Our finished a Christmas tree

3. The Legacy flag

4. Wantusi, Lucien, Chung 

5. Same tree 

6. Perez Family 

7. My district

Howdy Ya'll!

Hey y'all! It has been a crazy week here in New Mexico. 

On Monday we did regular p-day stuff. Talked to our families, shopped, cleaned, and then went to work. It was a good day. 

Then on Tuesday we went and did service at a thrift shop place. Then we went and had a lesson with Wantusi. Lessons with her are always good. She has such a strong desire to learn more about the Gospel and is truly seeking to find out if it is true. Then Sister Hunt is trying to figure out college stuff so we did that a lot of the day. I planned some of Wantusi' s baptism while she did that. 

On Wednesday we had another lesson with Wantusi and just get her prepared for her baptismal interview on Saturday. We then did more college stuff. Then we ran some errands and went to dinner at McAllisters to get soup. It is starting to get cold here. We had a lesson with a guy but he never showed up. That was a little frustrating, but what can you do. We then had a correlation meeting with our ward mission leader to tell him about the baptism. He has been gone the last few weeks and had no clue what was going on. We filled him in. 

On Thursday we did service in the morning at Faith, hope, love. Then Sister Hunt was going to teach our district how to do family history. We had Wantusi come in and we made her an account. It was super good. Then we all got on our way to Lubbock for mission tour. It was such a good trip. When we got there we went to dinner at the Twisted root with our district. It is an exotic hamburger place. I was real adventures and got a regular cow hamburger. It was super good and way fun. Then Sister Hunt and I went to Happies to get a smoothie. 

Then on Friday was when Elder Ochoa came and spoke with us. It was so good. I learned a lot from him and the spirit. I could have listened to him all day long. We talked about Faith in God and his timing and how nothing happens by coincidence. Which was super cool because when we left we went to get gas and we passed the gas station and had to turn around and then after we got gas I dropped something in between the seats and couldn't get it out. Then some random guy knocked on our window asking for money so he could start a new church. We talked to him for a bit and he asked what church we were from. And we told him we were missionaries for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter- Day Saints. We were able to give him a restoration pamphlet and a Book of Mormon. Had none of those things happened to us we would not have been able to talk to this guy. It was so cool. 

At mission tour I was able to see Sister Stevenson and Sister Kitterman. It was so fun and some other Sisters I am friends with. It was so good to see them. When we got back Friday we were exhausted. We went and visited some people and had a dinner appointment. On Saturday there was a Veterans day parade. So we went contacting there. We are having a family history night on Saturday the 17th. We went to spread the word about that. It is very successful finding tool. No one wants to hear about the Gospel, but their family history books them in. It was also freezing at the parade. We came home and did weekly planning. And then Lovingsbend Elders had a baptism that we went to for a girl named Kaylee. It was so awesome to be there. Then afterwards Wantusi had her baptismal interview. It went really well for her. She is ready to be baptized on the 17th. Then we went around and started asking people to do things for the baptism. 

On Sunday we had a lot of meetings before church. There was a couple of people who came who we didn't think were coming to church so we were super excited about that. After church we had a potluck. Then we went and finished weekly planning. My brain is always fried after weekly planning. We are starting week 6 of the transfer. We get transfer calls next week. It is crazy how fast transfers go. I love being here in Carlsbad and sharing the Gospel. Thanks for all of the love and support I receive. 

-Love Sister Browning

Pictures-

1. Happies

2. Sister Stevenson and I 

Crazy Week!

Hey y'all! Hope everyone is doing well. It has been a crazy couple of weeks. 

A lot has changed for missionary work that has kind of thrown us for a loop but we will figure it out. We found out that we are no longer knocking on doors for tracking. It is not an effective way to find people. 1 in every thousand doors we knock we get to have a lesson. Those are not very good statistics. We did find out though when people attend a baptism there is an 80% chance that they themselves will be baptized. We have had a few baptisms and have worked really hard to get the people we are working with to them. We have also created a Facebook page called Our Journey to Christ. This is uplifting quotes and videos to share around Facebook. We are also having a family history night for people to come and learn more about it. We are super excited for these things to happen and see how the work grows. 

This last week we went to the temple to do a session and then with some recent converts to do baptisms. It was such an awesome day  I love going to the temple. It is the only place here on earth where satan is not welcome. I love going there and being able to feel so close to my Heavenly Father. 

This last week was also Halloween. Which means that we were on lock down we had to be in by 6. We watched the movie Legacy a missionary chick flick and had pizza and went to bed. The weather also was raining which made me so happy. The weather here is definitely not what I am used to. It is so nice everyday and not cold, so weird. 

We had two district meeting this past week. One was regular and we learned about Christlike love. How can we love others in the ways Christ loves us. It was an awesome topic to be able to discuss and learn more about. It is important as missionaries to love others the way that Christ would love them and express that to them. We are literal representatives of Him and it is the best. Then the next day we filmed ourselves teaching and discussed the things that we did good and what we could have done better. It was a great exercise and a way to learn how we can become better missionaries. I love this Gospel with all of my heart. I am grateful each and everyday for this opportunity I have to share the Gospel with others. Thanks for all of the love and support! I love you all have an awesome week. 

-Sister Browning 

P.s. Cotton fields here are beautiful!

Crazy Missionary Life

Hey y'all! Things are good here in New Mexico. 

We started out our week on Monday. It was a very chilly day. We just hung out because transfers were on Tuesday, and our district decided to do a pepper challenge. A few ate habanero peppers. One kid ate a scorpion. It was some crazy stuff. I ate Ghost pepper hot sauce a few days before so I didn't have to do the challenge. Thank goodness I do not think my mouth could handle anymore hotness. 

Tuesday was a long day. We did not have district meeting because it was transfer day so we pretty much went finding all day. Finding is something that I struggle with wanting to do, but you have to find in order to have people to teach. We also did service at Faith, Hope, Love that was fun. I like doing service there. 

Then on Wednesday we had district meeting. We got to meet all the new people in our district. Everyone is so nice. I think we are going to have fun this transfer. Then we had 5 lessons that day. It was so crazy we had no time for breaks. We did not get dinner until 8:00 that night. As crazy as that day was I live for them. I love having to go go go all day long. It makes me feel so productive.

On Thursday we did service again at Faith, Hope, Love. Which was good just like Tuesday. We then had a lesson with a less active member of the ward. He took us to lunch and we talked about the importance of the Book of Mormon. We also talked about how if you want to have a testimony you can have one, but you have to work for it. It is not all of a sudden magically going to be there one day. This guy doesn't really want to work for a testimony and we can't help him if he is not willing to help himself. Hopefully he will find that desire someday. 

One thing about missionary work is we are here to help lead and guide people to find their way to the path of the Gospel. If they are not willing to try then there is nothing we can do for them. It can be hard because you meet these people and you love them so much because they are our brothers and sisters. I so badly wish everyone had that desire to learn about the Gospel of Jesus Christ, but we are all given agency. We had a few lessons that day as well and a lot of trying people on our ward list that we do not know. It was another one of those busy days that I love so much. 

Friday we did service at the soup kitchen all morning. We help do dishes in the back with a guy named Andrew. We have so much fun. Serving others definitely can make you happy if you do it with the right attitude. We then did weekly planning a lot of the day, and tried by some more people. Saturday was so so crazy! It was also one of the best days ever. We went to do baptisms with some recent converts. We rode up with some other people and left at 6:20. The family we were meeting were coming up on their own. They were super excited all week to go to the temple. We have been helping them with family history and getting them names to take. On our way up about an hour out we got a text saying that they had been fighting all morning and the husband didn't want to go anymore. We were in shock and had no clue what to do. We tried calling him and texting him and begging him to come. We prayed and asked for help we did not know what to do. We finally decided to call our bishop and ask him to call them or go over there and figure out what was going on. Finally the husband texted and said that he was going to come. He said that Satan had been so strong against him and he just did not really know what to do. They finally made it to the temple 4hrs. later, but it was super awesome to be able to go with them. They were crying the whole time and you could just see how happy they were to finally be there. The temple is such an amazing place to be. It is the only place on earth where Satan is not welcome. It is literally a House of The Lord. I am so grateful that we had the opportunity to go with this wonderful family. The spirit is so strong in the temple and it is a place where I can feel so close to my Heavenly Father. I invite you all to attend the temple whether it is going inside or just walking around the grounds. The temple is a special place here on earth for us to enjoy and do missionary work on the other side. 

I love you all so much and hope that everyone will have an opportunity to go inside the temple someday. I know that this church is true, and I love being a missionary of the Lord's Church.

-Love Sister Browning 

Conference!!

Hey y'all! I hope everyone is doing well. It has been an awesome week. 

Monday we went to Carlsbad Caverns. They were so cool. A guy in our ward works there and he gave us a little tour which was so nice. Then on Tuesday we had our last district meeting. I can't believe that this transfer is already over. It flew by so quickly! I can only imagine how fast the rest of them will go. 

We also had a lesson with a girl named Wantusi. She went to church when she was little and then they stopped going. When we stopped by to see her she was surprised to know that there was a church here. She wants to learn more and we had a super awesome lesson with her. We set a baptism date for November 16th. We are super excited to continue working with her. Then we also had a lesson with Mark. He is doing awesome and is progressing well. We still have a lot to teach him but we are so excited for what the future holds for him. 

Wednesday we did service at Faith, Hope, Love. It was really fun we just sorted clothes. We went finding with some members the rest of the day. Then Thursday we did service and went finding and invited everyone we could think of to Conference. Saturday we watched conference all day. I loved it!! The morning session we went to a less active members house. Then the afternoon session we went to the church. Then that afternoon there was an awesome rainstorm. I have never seen rain come down like that in my life. I loved it so much. Then we had the women's conference. Which was super awesome and I am excited to do President Nelson's challenge. Our whole mission is actually doing the challenge. It is going to be sweet! Then Sunday we watched conference. I can not believe that there is two hour church. Also there are so many temples being built. Which is super exciting as well. 

I love conference weekend and it was super cool to be able to listen to the prophet. I am so grateful for this gospel and for the opportunity to share it. Thank y'all for the love and support. 

-Love Sister Browning

 Pictures:

1) Rainstorm

2 & 3) Last District Meeting! 

I Love it Here!!

Hey y'all! Hope everyone is doing well. 

This past week has been so awesome, and it has flown by so quickly. Busy weeks are the best weeks though. 

We found a new investigator for our area. Her name is Andrea. We found her while tracting, it was late one night so we only had time to knock a couple of doors and hers was one of those doors. We had a lesson with her and she told us about somethings that have happened to her in her life time. She is just not sure if she really believes in God. We will hopefully help her realize that God is there and wants to help her. I am super excited to continue teaching her. 

We also had a lesson with Mark. He is doing good. We invited him to church and he did not show up which we were sad about. He then told us that he needs to take things slow because he is trying to figure out a lot in his life at the moment. We will continue to meet with him once a week. He is so awesome though and I can see how the Gospel can help him in his life tremendously. 

We also have another investigator his name is Jim he is an older guy. He lives here by himself, his wife lives in Arizona. He says that he is LDS at heart, but his wife will not let him be baptized. He did come to church on Sunday and he loved it. Hopefully she will soften her heart and let him be baptized. 

We also had a baptism this past weekend. Her name is Meagan she has been waiting for a year and a half to be baptized. It was so special to be able to witness her take that step. She was so happy and she just glowed. The ward members were so awesome to be there and support her too. I know that she definitely felt loved. 

I am loving being here and being a missionary! I know the church is true. If you have any doubts pray and Heavenly Father will answer you I promise. Love you all!

-Sister Browning   

Pictures-

1. Meagans Baptism

Mosquitos are the Devil!

Hey y'all! 

It has been a good week here in Carlsbad New Mexico. 

We are doing a lot of finding here. Which is a lot of work. We have not had a lot of luck finding people who are ready to hear of the Gospel. The Lord is aware and we will find those who are prepared as we keep working. 

On Tuesday we were supposed to have district meeting but our district leader was sick so it was cancelled. We ended up finding for a while. We tried by a less active who wants to come back to church. He was super awesome and nice. We were not aloud to go in to teach a lesson because there were no other females in his house. That rule makes things hard sometimes. I also had to do online training for 3 hours it was awful. They had the cheesiest videos ever. I am now done with them and never have to watch them again. 

On Wednesday we had our district meeting. It was a really good one and we talked about how to seek and learn by the spirit. Sister Hunt wasn't feeling well so she rested and I read the book Saints. If you have not read that book yet you are missing out. It is so good. I encourage you to all read it. 

On Thursday we went to Faith, Hope, Love and folded clothes. Then we went finding that night and got eaten alive by mosquito's. They are so bad here. I have never been bitten so much in my entire life. We have found that family history is a good way to have people listen to us. Not many people care to hear about the Gospel but a lot are interested in knowing about where they came from. We have had a lot of success using that. 

On Friday we did service at the soup kitchen in the morning. Then it was our planning day so we planned for the next week. Weekly planning takes a lot of effort. We then had a lesson with some recent converts the Perez Family. They are so awesome and their testimonies are so strong. They have been through a lot and come along way. They seem so happy. 

Saturday we started the day off early and went and helped paint at a life house for women and children. That was a lot of fun. We saw one of our investigators there. We also went to a heritage festival to find people we found a couple with family history. That was effective. Then we finished weekly planning and went knocking. Sometimes when people have things come up that are supposed to feed us they give us money. We went to McAllisters it was so good! Then Sunday we actually talked in church. We were asked to talk about how the ward can help in missionary efforts. It went really well and hopefully we can get more help from members. Member missionary work is so important. The members know the people in their towns way better than the missionaries. We really encouraged our members to get out there able to help us find people to teach. We also went to a family dinner with members in our ward. We taught family home evening and there was a nonmember there. We taught the restoration. The spirit was so strong and hopefully we can continue to teach him. 

Thank you everyone for the love and support I receive. I am so grateful to be sharing the Gospel. I am grateful for the things I am learning and will continue to learn. I love you all! 

Hey Ya'll!

Hey y'all! 

It has been a busy week here in Carlsbad. This last week was Carlsbad High School homecoming and on Monday there was a homecoming parade. It was so much fun to watch.

Then on Tuesday we had a lesson with a lady that went really well. She is not a member and her husband is less active. We talked about Lehi's dream and holding to the Iron Rod and partaking of the Tree of Life. She understood that the Iron Rod is the pathway we need to take in order to partake of the goodness of this Gospel. It was a very spiritual lesson. 

We also had a lesson with a guy who is overcoming addictions and he is trying to find his way back to God. He is church shopping and he says he will come to our church next week. He has some amazing potential. 

One thing that I have been trying to do this week is look at others the way our Heavenly Father see's them. When I talk to people I have so much love for them. I love trying to imagine how they would look in white. Getting ready to make covenants with our Heavenly Father. It really makes me want to do everything I possibly can to help them partake of this wonderful Gospel. I love sharing the Gospel with others. Since we are new in the area we have a lot of finding to do. A couple of experiences with that are...... One lady told me I did not look Mormon. My companion does but I do not. Another lady told us we were going to hell if we keep on believing what we do. She also said we have been trained very well. Things like that make me laugh. We all have the right to believe what we want that is why we are given agency. Heavenly Father does not want to force Himself in our lives we have to be the ones to let him in. 

This week on bike day it was pouring rain and there were puddles everywhere, so we walked everywhere. Since we took the elders car when we moved in here they take the car on Thursdays because we do not use it that day. We would have probably changed bike day but since they had the car that was not an option. I am grateful though that we have a car every other day of the week. A highlight of the week! I found Idaho street! 

I am grateful to be here and to be a missionary of the Lord's church. We had stake conference this past weekend in Roswell and yes there were aliens everywhere. The missionaries had the opportunity to sing with the primary kids the song I Will Be What I Believe. The armies of Helaman is part of that song and we got to sing that part. Never in my entire life has that song been more personal to me. "We are as the armies of Helaman we have been taught in our youth and we will be the Lord's missionaries to bring the world his truth" I am a missionary for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. I get to be a missionary for the Lord's church. There is no where else I would rather be then here bringing the world His truth. I love you all so much thanks for all of the love and support!

-Love Sister Browning

Pictures-

1.Idaho Street

2. Homecoming Parade

3. Rainy Bike day

4. Getting Frozen Yogurt for Sister Hunt's 15 month mark

5. Aliens in Roswell

I'm Not in Texas Anymore!

Hey y'all! I hope it is still acceptable to use the word y'all even though I am now in New Mexico. 

This week has been a crazy one. We started out by packing pretty much all day on Monday and getting ready to leave. I was super sad to leave all of the amazing people that are in Amarillo. 

Tuesday was transfer day. I was able to see my old MTC companion Sister Stevenson. I was so happy to see her. I also had to say goodbye to Sister Kitterman. She was such an amazing companion and trainer. I then left for Lubbock then to Hobbs where I met my new companion Sister Hunt. She is from Nevada and is super awesome. After we left Hobbs we drove to Carlsbad. Carlsbad is amazing there is a river here and it is the most amazing thing. We do not see things like that in Texas. There is also a hill here! which may not seem like anything to you, but when you are in Texas where everything is flat it is beautiful. 

We spent a lot of the week getting to know the area. We also spent a lot of time weeding through people and finding those who actually want to be taught. We have met some amazing people and everyone is so kind here. I never want to leave this area. We also have a baptismal date set for September 22nd. We are super excited about it. We have not met the person being baptized yet though. 

I love being here and being able to serve the Lord. I know this is where he needs me to be. I have faith in His plan for me and those that I get to serve. I never have to fear where I am going because I know that my Heavenly Father knows exactly where I need to be. I am so grateful to have a Father in Heaven who is so aware of me and my needs. I love this Gospel with all of my heart and I am grateful for this opportunity to share it with everyone. I hope you all have an amazing week. I also hope you all know how aware our Heavenly Father is of you. He knows you perfectly and wants the best for each and everyone of His children. I love you all!

-Sister Browning 

1. Sister Stevenson

2. Sister Kitterman

3.Pecos River

4. Welcome to New Mexico

5. Beautiful Carlsbad

Boy Was I Wrong!

Hello everybody! This has been a crazy couple of days. 

First, Robin was baptized on Saturday and it was so amazing. She looks so happy. I love being able to watch others follow the example of our Savior Jesus Christ and be baptized. Also on Saturday we had an activity at the Discovery center for the stake and we got to serve food it was so much fun. There is a guy named Greg we have been trying to meet with recently. He has taken all of the discussions and has had some really cool experiences, but he told us that right now was not a good time in his life. We texted him back and sent the He lives video and reminded him of the discovery center activity. He texted us back and told us how the video had made him cry. We were then serving food at the activity and Greg came up to us and we were so surprised. We did not think he was going to come. We talked to him for a while and he gave us a super sweet card telling us how much he appreciates us. Hopefully he will be willing go meet with missionaries soon. 

Transfers are this week and I had told everyone that I was probably not moving like 99.9% chance of not leaving. I was not worried for calls at all. Well I was  really wrong I am being transferred. I am going to Carlsbard Caverns New Mexico. I am so excited. Sister Kitterman is staying here in Amarillo to be an STL. Super sad to leave Amarillo and the amazing people I have met here, but I am super excited to go to New Mexico. I also will be back on MST which will be nice. I hope y'all have an amazing week. 

Love you all, Sister Browning

Pictures 

1- Sister Benson 

2- Robin before her baptism 

3- Sister Kitterman and I 

4- After transfer calls 

Hey Everybody!

Hello everybody! I hope everyone one is doing well. 

This week has been a little crazy! Since we are going to the temple, our p-day was changed to Thursday. Which made Monday kind of long. We did a lot of finding that day. We actually have been doing a lot of finding this week, so we can have people to teach. Once Robin is baptized we don't really have anyone to teach. We are so excited for Robins baptism on Saturday though. She has been prepared and is so excited to be baptized. She is planning a trip to conference next April. 

A family in the ward made me a "greeny meal." We had green waffles, eggs with green vegetables, and green jello. It was so good. I had never heard of greeny meals until my mission. I have been very blessed to have such an amazing first area. The people of the ward are amazing. I am here to serve others, but it feels like I am being served way more.

It was also the last week of the transfer. I can not believe it. It goes by so fast! We went to lunch with our district on Tuesday after our last district meeting. It was so fun! I love being a missionary and the people I get to meet everyday. It is so exciting when you meet people and you are able to give them a Book of Mormon.

 I love testifying of the Book of Mormon and how much happiness and peace it can give people. Love you all thank you for all of the love and support! 

-Sister Browning

I Love Texas!

Hey y'all! 

I am loving it here in Texas! This has definitely been one of my favorite weeks.

 On Monday we went to the Zoo with our district! We had so much fun looking at all of the different animals! We then went to lunch with Mo, which was also super fun she is so sweet. Then we emailed family all day and had dinner at a potential's house. It was a lot of fun talking with her and getting to know her. She gave us the best Blue Bell ice cream ever. It was called brides cake and it tasted like funfetti cake!

 On Tuesday we had district meeting most of the morning. I love district meeting and the things that are shared. An elder shared John 15:12-15 it talks about the Savior and how he suffered and died for his friends. We are Christ's friends. I love knowing that I get be friends with the Savior Jesus Christ the one who made it possible to return to live with Heavenly Father once again. After district meeting the elders so kindly moved our beds and bigger furniture to our new apartment. I then got to meet a potential investigator Brett. He is really interested in the Gospel and we are hoping to meet with him again soon to see how he likes reading the Book of Mormon. We had dinner at Pablonos that night with a member in our ward as well as Robin our investigator. I never thought I would teach the Plan of Salvation in a restaurant but I did. It was really good and she believes in what we taught her.

 On Wednesday we had a huge rain storm. I love rain so much it was the best day. We did service for Melinda which is always good I love going to her house. We then went to Theressa house to have another little lesson which went good she always asks the best questions. Then we had another lesson with a lady named Rebecca. She has different views of things then we do, but it is always good to visit with her. We then had Book of Mormon class which is where our ward and Tradewind get together and read the Book of Mormon. It is so fun. On Thursday we went to the Botanical Gardens and mowed lawns. I never thought I would mow a lawn on mission but I did! I loved it. Our Investigator Theressa came to the gardens and she loved every minute of it. We had a lesson with her later on that day. We also go to go to dinner with Donald and Alby a couple we help at the community market each week. They are the sweetest and I have loved getting to know them. We went to ARP later that night which is so good. We learned about how you can control your brain to stop bad habits.

 Friday we planned and went to the library to do family history. It started raining and it was bike day so we had to ride home in the rain. We then went to the TEXAS play with members in our ward it was in Palo Duro Canyon. It was such a good play. We also went to this super good diner called Feldmans Wrong Way Diner.

 On Saturday we went to the Community Market. We had another lesson with Robin which went well she is always so open to what we have to teach. On Sunday we sang in Tradewind ward. Then we went to our church where we taught Sunday School. Our lesson was CPR- Church, pray, read. These things are how we can come closer to our Heavenly Father. Without doing one of them it can become harder to come closer to Heavenly Father and it gives Satan a chance to grab onto us. One thing that we have been inviting our members to do is write their testimony's in the Book of Mormon, and then give it out to someone or give it back to us to give it out. It has been so awesome to receive the Book of Mormons back their testimonies in them. We love handing them out. Kind of like a kid when you are younger you rely on your testimonies until you gain your own. When we hand these Book of Mormons out with the testimonies in them these people will have a testimony to rely on until they can gain their own one day. I invite you all to get a Book of Mormon and write your testimony in it and give it out to someone or give it to the missionaries that are in your area and ask them to hand it out. Also I invite you if you have not read the Book of Mormon or if you have not read it in a while to pick one up and read it. I love that book with all of my heart. I have never felt so much peace, comfort, or guidance reading a book than I do the Book of Mormon. I love being able to share it all day everyday. I can testify of the blessings that come from it and how much of a difference it can make in your life. I am grateful for the opportunity to be here in Texas and share the truthfulness of the gospel with those that are around me. 

Love y'all Sister Browning!

1. Community Market shirt

2. TEXAS 

3. Palo Duro Canyon

4. Donald and Alby

5. Rainstorm