Time Flies when you're Having Fun!

Howdy y'all! I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas celebrating the birth of our Savior Jesus Christ. I can't wait to tell y'all all about my wonderful week, because it was a week of miracles!

On Tuesday we went to Hobbs early in the morning for sports and then had a fun breakfast as a district. It was so much fun. We played volleyball and then had some pancakes. It was a great way to start Christmas eve! Then later that day we had actual District council and we had an amazing instruction on our Savior Jesus Christ. As missionaries we share our testimonies. A testimony is something that we know to be true. Well we talked about how when we bear testimony of our Savior Jesus Christ, that the spirit is so strong. That as long as we bear our testimonies of what we know to be true no one can take away our testimony. We all sat in a circle and bore our own testimony of our Savior Jesus Christ. The spirit that was in the room was indescribable. It was a really good district council. Then we came back to Seminole and did studies, before our wonderful Christmas ever dinner with the Stone and Lewis Family! We did a puzzle and sang Christmas songs and had ham for dinner. It was a really good night! 

On Wednesday we woke up and got ready for the day. Then we had brunch with the branch at the Lewis families house. It was a blast being able to see everyone Christmas morning! Then we went and called our families for the rest of the afternoon. Then we went back to the Stones house and had a big ole party. I had my first ever nerf gun battle and it was a life changing event haha! Since our companionship is a trio we referred to ourselves as Charlie's Angels. We did so good. My companion actually hit our branch president in the face with a bullet. It was definitely something to laugh about. Then we played a few more games before heading home. We took a detour to look at some Christmas lights. 

The rest of the week we spent finding and riding bikes. We went biking one day and found a super fun hill to bike down, even though we didn't find anyone that day it was still fun. God is so good. We had a visit with our friend Michael that day. We just talked to him about how he was doing. Somethings have come up and so he has to wait a while longer to be baptized and we had to tell him that. He was really sad, but he understands and knows that our Heavenly Father has a perfect plan for him. Michael is so awesome and the Lord has a work for him to do in this church. He has taught me so much in the time that I have been able to meet with him. I sure do love seminole and the people that I have met while serving here. 

To end my email for those of you who don't know this is my last email of the mission. It's crazy to think that it has been 18 months and it has definitely flown by, and man did I have a good time. I have learned a lot in the past 18 months about myself and about my Heavenly Father and Savior Jesus Christ. This has not been an easy mission, I have had trials and heartache. I have also felt joy like I have never felt before in my entire life. Being able to watch people completely change themselves to follow our Savior Jesus Christ has blessed my life. I came out on a mission to in a way to give back to my Heavenly Father because of all that he has blessed me with in my life.  I in no way felt like I was even able to do that because I received so much more. I am grateful for my Heavenly Father allowing me to be able to represent His son. The most perfect missionary known to man, and I got to wear His name on my heart for 18 beautiful months. I am forever grateful for this opportunity. I am grateful for my family and friends for all of the love and support that I have received, I couldn't of done this without y'all. I know that our Savior Lives! I know that His atonement is real, because I have put it to the test and used it. I promise you if you use it, you won't regret it. I would not have been able to make it that last 18 months without it. I know that our Heavenly Father's love is real and that he really does LOVE all of His children. I have felt a glimpse of that love for those that I have met and it was a lot. I know that Joseph Smith restored The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter- Day Saints to the earth today. I know that it is Jesus Christ church. I know that the Book of Mormon is the word of God. I know that it is true. I love you all so much! I KNOW this church is true! 

-Love Sister Browning

1. Christmas before the Battle

2. Our Stockings from the Stones

3. Our Christmas Card

5. Our battle had begun

6. My best friend Michael

7. Paula and Aj, Adan, and Eli my other best friends! 

Merry Christmas!

Howdy Y'all! I hope that everyone had a fantastic week this past week! I am so excited for this week because it is CHRISTMAS!!! My favorite holiday ever. I love being able to go out and share with people LIGHT THE WORLD! Christmas is all about our Savior Jesus Christ and how He truly is the light of the world. 

This past week has flown by and I can not believe that it is already Monday again! On Tuesday last week we had our District council up in Hobbs New Mexico. We always have such a good time together. We go up and play sports and because of the time difference between Texas and New Mexica, we get to wake up at like 6:15 to play morning sports instead of . It is Heavenly not having to wake up super early to go and play. Having a district in a different time zone does have its perks sometimes. We then had our meeting later that morning and I learned so much! We learned about how when we talk to people we truly need to just sit and listen not worrying about what we are going to say next. As we truly listen with love the spirit will come into our minds and allow us to share with them exactly what they need to hear. After our wonderful counsel we went to Buffalo Wild Wings, and this was the first time I had ever had it. It was so good. 10/10 recommend it. We headed back to Seminole and had a lesson with our friend Michael. He is on date for baptism, but there were a couple of things holding him back, so he needed to reset his date. When we had gotten there he had prayed about it and says he feels really good about January 18th. I am so so excited for my friend he is so awesome and has so much faith. He will be a great member. 

Then on Wednesday and Thursday we were on exchanges and it was a lot of fun! We went finding all day and met some super nice people, and someone that we gave a card to texted us wanting to meet a couple days later. I will let y'all know how that goes. Then in the evening we went caroling since there were 5 of us and it was a bunch of fun! Some people gave us cookies and water. We even found a couple new people to teach which was a miracle. God truly has been blessing us so much this past week. The zone leaders actually brought us another bed, so I am not sleeping on the couch anymore. I never realized how much I missed having a bed until I had one again. This week we have been doing a lot of biking and finding. We have met some super awesome and kind people who we can hopefully start teaching soon! 

One last thing from this week. My friend Josh from Eastland is going to be baptized this next Saturday and I am so excited for him to be able to have all the happiness and joy that comes from the Gospel of Jesus Christ! 

Friends! I hope that you all have a wonderful Christmas! Don't forget that the Savior Jesus Christ is the best gift we could have ever received! I know that He is the Savior of the World and I am forever grateful for Him! I love you all so much and I am grateful to have each and everyone of you in my life! I truly am so blessed! MERRY CHRISTMAS everyone!!!

-Love Sister Browning

The coolest Zone Leaders! 🏻🏻🏻

Exchanges!! 

9 Days until Christmas!

Hey Y'all! Can y'all believe that Christmas is in 9 days. Where has the time gone this year has gone by so so fast. This week was a really good one so I hope y'all are ready!

To start out this week on Monday we went to an empty nester dinner for older people who don't have children in the branch. They said Sister Browning will you pray and I said yes, but then the guy said Sister Remmington. So then I was like oh I am not praying. So I bowed my head and then no one was praying. Then someone said who is praying and they said Sister Browning is. I was so confused. Then later I realized that Remmington was another type of gun brand and he was playing a trick on me. It made for a good laugh. 

Then on Tuesday we were able to go to Lubbock for zone conference. It was a bit bittersweet since it was my last one. I love zone conference and I love being a missionary. I was grateful for the things I was able to learn about becoming a master teacher. Which is teaching simply and in a way that our Savior did when He was on the earth. I am so grateful for the leaders I have in my mission they are all inspired and called of God. After the conference I was able to have my final interview with President Hales where we went over my goals and plans after my mission. It was one of my favorite interviews that I have ever had with him! I am so grateful for Him. He is truly inspired and He always knows what to say to make me feel better. I told him that I was a little scared to go home and he said Sister Browning I promise when you go you will be at peace about it. I know that he is right because Heavenly Father has a plan for me. 

The rest of this week we have turned a lot of people over to the Lord. It is hard to do that and to have a small teaching pool, but I know that as we have faith that the Lord will provide us with people to teach. Yesterday we were out biking and if any of you know Texas it is a very Windy state. Well we were biking against the wind which was brutal, but we had faith that a miracle would happen. We decided to go to the park and we saw this lady sitting by a tree so we went to talk to her. Turns out she is a lady that we had been trying to contact all week. She had just been in an argument with her friend and was just pondering life at the park. It was such a tender mercy of the Lord. We are doing our part and we know that the Lord is preparing people for us to teach and share the Gospel with! God is so good my friends. I know that our Savior lives and that no matter what is happening in our lives that His Gospel can help. I know this because I have seen it change so many lives here in Texas as well as my own life. The Gospel is real and it is true. If you ever have questions feel free to ask me! I love you all! Thank you so much for all of the love and support. Also don't forget to light the world!

-Love Sister Browning

1. Costa Vida after Zone Conference

2. We went to a dance recital for a little girl in our branch! 

Seminole!

Hey Y'all! Hope everyone had a fantastic week! Life here in Seminole Texas has been a party this past week! Let me tell y'all all about it!

On Monday I had to say goodbye to some of the sweetest people I had ever met while in Eastland Texas! If you would have asked me 12 weeks ago I would have told you I was not very happy to be in Eastland. I liked where I was in Lubbock and I was comfortable. That was the thing though you don't grow when you are comfortable. This past week though as I was leaving I could truly say that I grew to love the little town of Eastland and the people there. I didn't want to leave, but I am super grateful to be here in Seminole. I am here with Sister Davis and Sister Galvez and they are the sweetest Sisters ever! I am so grateful to be ending my mission with these two sisters. They are such good missionaries and I just love them so much! We are working with the sweetest people here in Seminole with so much faith! one family is the Rodriguez family. They have been working on coming to church for 3 weeks and they finally made it this Sunday. The husband is going through some really hard health problems and they were all able to get some blessings after church. It was so powerful and special the spirit was so strong. Aj the dad said he was only there for 2 hours and he feels like he belongs. I know that to be true he does belong there. He and his family are being welcomed home by their Heavenly Father. It made me so happy. Then we are working with another man named Michael! He is working on some word of wisdom things and he is doing so good. He will hopefully be baptized at the beginning of the year. He has so much faith and he loved church so much. 

Y'all I know this Gospel is true. I know that because I have seen it change people. The way they look at life and their countenance changes there is just a light about them. It is so rewarding being able to have a front row seat, to watching people change their lives to follow our Heavenly Father and Savior Jesus Christ. I love you all so much! Thank you for all of the love and support. Sending lots of love from Seminole Texas!

Love,Sister Browning

1. Cute Breckenridge sign

2.Brother Keller and Brother Paul

3.The Satan Wreckers

4.My best friend Rob! 

Family of 2 is Growing to a Family of 4

Hey Y'all! I hope that everyone had a wonderful week and a Happy Thanksgiving! 

Not too much happened this week, but it was still an amazing week! 

Tuesday we had our last district Council. We drove down to a small town called Sweetwater for that because we were also going to blitz their area. We had lots of good times down there knocking doors. We met some super amazing children of God. Also there was a dust storm so that made it even more adventurous. People kept telling us to go inside, but we would just say our message is too important to be inside haha. I think they thought we were crazy. It was a blast to say the least! I sure did love my district this past transfer. They were again my best friends!

Then Wednesday we went to Breckenridge! It was so fun! We got to visit all of my most favorite people ever! We went knocking and tried by some people. I got to use the Spanish that I don't have! We were trying by some potentials and they were saying that they didn't speak English. I was like uhhh I don't speak Spanish so this is awkward. I do know how to say the church's name in Spanish and that's about it haha! It was eventful! 

Then Thursday was Thanksgiving! Best day ever! In the morning we made some dessert for dinner, then while doing that we got a call from our assistants. Which was really nerve wrecking because it's transfer week and when you get a call early you are usually getting washed. That was not the case for us. At the beginning of each transfer there is a training meeting for missionaries that will be training that next transfer. I was asked to instruct at that meeting. So we were safe! Then later that day we had dinner with some members in our branch. It was so fun! We had Bacon wrapped turkey! It was Heavenly! We also had brisket because when in Texas! Then we called our families. Which was so much fun to talk to them. They are pretty awesome just saying!

The next couple of days we just knocked a lot of doors and talked to a lot of super awesome people! 

Then Sunday that day of transfers! I am being transferred to Seminole Texas for my last little bit of my mission. I will finish training a Sister and then I am also getting a greenie. I am super excited, and a little overwhelmed. I know the Lord knows what He is doing though and I can't wait to see what the next few weeks hold! 

God is so good my friends don't forget His plan so perfect! I hope you have all had a chance to go to lighttheworld.org to sign up for daily service prompts! Remember the reason for the season! Our Savior Jesus Christ. Let us all become a little more like Him this Christmas season! I love you all so much! 

-Love Sister Browning 

Pictures 

1. Coolest Breckenridge pictures

2-6. All of my bestest friends! 

Zoo 🦒🦏🦚 🦃

Hey Y'all! It has been another great week here in Eastland Texas! Time sure is flying by so fast!

This past week was a great week! I actually went to the zoo last Monday with my district. It was so much fun. It is good to be able to come to the big city with the other missionaries, since we are in a small town we don't see other missionaries except Tuesday at district Council! I have loved my district this past transfer! They have become some of my best friends! It's crazy to think tomorrow will be our last district Council of this transfer! Wow! 

This past week we were able to teach our friend Josh! He has had some concerns with knowing if the gold plates were real! We made fake little gold plates for him and explained the reason of why the Book of Mormon was written on the gold. We told him if he was going to know if they were true he needed to ask God! We saw him on Wednesday and when we saw him again on Saturday, we asked if he had prayed. He happily said yes and we said and... He said they are real!! Yay!! We are stoked for our little buddy! We are hoping that he will be baptized before the end of the year!

Sunday we had family home evening and we watched the Christ Child film! Let me tell you all it was amazing! I recommend it 100%! There was a paper that we had seen before hand that had talked about putting yourself in the shoes of the different people in the videos. How Mary or Joseph would feel. My favorite one was the Wiseman. They traveled so far for so long to meet the Savior! When they did he was a toddler. When they saw Him the Wiseman just knelt down and cried! I couldn't help but feel the emotions of what. They must have felt at that moment. They knew who He was and what He would do for them! I am truly grateful for the knowledge of a Savior who loves us so much! This perfect human being went through so much because he loved you! Think about that will you! He truly is the light of the world! He is the light in my life and He can be the light in yours as well! I know He lives and He lives in each and everyone of us! I love you all!

I hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving! This year I am thankful for-- My mom and dad, my sisters, my brother in-law, my nephews, my aunts, uncles, cousins, friends, companions, President and Sister Hales, every single person I have met in Texas and New Mexico, the Gospel, Prophets and Apostles, being a missionary and representing Jesus Christ, and most of all my Heavenly Father and Savior Jesus Christ! I love you all

-Love Sister Browning 

Eastland Adventures!

Hey Y'all! Sorry I have been slackin! It has been a couple of weeks since I've written! So I will tell you all about what you've missed in my life!

To start two weeks ago we went to Midland for mission tour! We had Elder Dyches come and he talked a lot about the Book of Mormon and the importance of it! I love the Book of Mormon and being able to share it with others is a life changing experience! For example this past week we were asked to help judge pies for the youth activity! One of our members had invited a friend to come with him and his family! During this time our member was talking to him about the Gospel and at the end he asked about baptism and how it's done. We then showed him the baptismal font! Then we shared with him the Book of Mormon! It was so cool to stand there and watch his face light up as he learned something completely new. He said wow this is so cool! I knew about the Old and New Testament, but I have never heard of this before I can't wait to read it! It was so exciting! 

Anyways back to Midland! While we were there I had the opportunity to go back with Sister McInelly! She is a sister that I trained there! While we were there we felt that we needed to visit our sweet friend Lauren who we had taught together at the beginning of that year! It was such a sweet reunion to be back together. We love Lauren and she is doing so good! She is still praying on a date to be baptized, and we can't wait for the day that she enters into the waters of baptism!

This past week was a week of ups and downs! Like last Monday we came to Abilene to go to the zoo, but it was so dang cold to go! So we just hung out with all of the other missionaries! It was such a fun day! Then later in the week we were told a friend we were teaching that was being adopted, was taken away from his family! We were heart broken for this family in our branch! But we did as our Savior would, we wrote them a card and then made them some dinner! It wasn't much, but I know that this family is loved by our Savior and they will make it through this time!

Other than that this week was pretty dang good! I am loving my life here in Eastland! God is good and I know that this work is real! I am so glad I get to be apart of it! Hope y'all have the greatest week ever and look for ways God blesses you everyday!

-with Love Sister Browning 

The best week ever! 🍁👻💕

Hey Y'all! This past week has been a blast, and I can't wait to tell y'all all about it!

This past week was transfer week! Which always makes for a bit of a crazy week, but it was pretty good! I stayed here in Eastland, and I got a new companion! Her name is Sister Brumbaugh she is from Rexburg Idaho! She has been out for almost 11 months and, is so so sweet! Some other super exciting news.... Sister McInelly (my mission daughter) is now serving in Abilene Texas! Which means I get to see her once a week! The reunion we had though was so good! I have missed her with my whole entire heart. It's been a while since I had seen her, but she has grown so much! She is such an example to me!

This past week we actually had to wear coats! It has been so cold, actual fall weather... say what! It was so rainy this week it made my heart so happy! We had dinner with this super sweet family the Paul's! They gave us hot chocolate and we even played a couple of round of pie face! It was so fun a little kid from their family we are teaching slapped whip cream on my face!   A lot of this week consisted of preparing for Corey's Baptism!! Yay!!! We were visiting with people making sure the programs were done, and people were able to help with other things! I'm not going to lie it was a bit stressful, but it all turned out well!

Saturday was the best day ever! Because Corey was baptized a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints! Yay! It was definitely a very long road for him and this past month has been even longer. But on Saturday he made covenants with God and he couldn't be happier. It was so fun to see him and his family come to church on Sunday as well! I know they will fit in perfectly. We are now working with his wife and son to get them baptized hopefully soon! The branch that I am in had set a goal at the beginning of the year to have 3 baptisms! This was a lofty goal for this branch since they had not had a baptism in over 3 years. Saturday Corey was the 3rd person this year to be baptized! God really does preform miracles. Even here in little Eastland Texas!

Friends and Family! I know this church is true! I know that through the Gospel of Jesus Christ Families can be together FOREVER! I am so grateful that I get to be with my family forever! God is so good y'all! I love you all soooo much! Have the best week ever and see God in everyday!

-Love Sister Browning

1.Coreys Baptism

2.My last District

3. Corey and Brother Warren 

4. Finally had Tropical Smoothie 

5.Sister McInelly

6.Paul Idahomies getting split up¡ :(

7.The turkey who slapped me in the face with whip cream! 

God is Good!

Hey Y'all it's been another great week here in the land of Eastland Texas! I bet you are all so excited to hear about it! So here ya go!

Monday was pday so we did all of our normal pday things! It was an awesome day! Then that evening Marleigh had her baptismal interview which she blew out of the water. She did so good! She was so excited to be baptized. The elders had come down from Abilene and neither of them had been to Eastland before. So afterwards we took them to see Old Rip the famous horney toad! I mean who wouldn't want to see that!

Then on Tuesday we woke up bright and early at 4:40 to play sports. But none of the Elders showed up so ya! I wasn't salty at all! Then we had district council which is always a blast I love my district here! We learned about listening to the spirit! The spirit testifies of truth and it is so powerful to bear testimony and say I know that it is true! I know the Book of Mormon is the word of God! I know that God loves His children so much! I know that because he loves us he calls Prophets to lead and guide us to return to Him again! Then the rest of the afternoon we went and made some visits! We had dinner with our good friend Corey! He is so excited to be baptized and is sad that it is taking forever for it to happen. But only a little bit more longer! He has his baptism interview this next week!

Then the rest of the week we went finding on Campus and found a couple of really nice people. We hope to meet with then some time this coming week! God is preparing people for us and I am so stoked to find them all! We prepared a lot this week for Marleighs baptism! We made lots of calls and got her program all ready! We wanted to make sure this was an experience that she would not forget! Saturday was the day of her baptism and she was so happy and excited! The spirit was so strong and again it testified to me, that what she was doing was so good! Marleigh is officially a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints! God is so good my friends! Life is amazing and I love being a missionary! God bless y'all and have a wonderful week! I love you all sooo much!
-love Sister Browning :)

Pictures--

1. Someone had a pet pig named Gordy 

2. A dead Armadillo because I can't seem to ever see one when it's alive

3. Marleighs Baptism!! 

Green Trees and Hills

Hey y'all! I hope that everyone has had a great week! Can you believe it is Monday again! Where does the time go?

Well my friends I have officially made down here to Eastland Texas and can I say it is so beautiful here! It is so green and there are even "mountains"! I love Eastland but man do I miss my Lubbock family! Monday night and Tuesday morning were spent saying goodbye to some very very close friends, who will forever hold a special place in my heart! I said goodbye to my bestest bud Larry! It was heartbreaking but he is in such good hands! I also said to goodbye to our friends who we had helped move and it was so sad! But the people in Lubbock touched my heart and I will never be forget them!

Tuesday I said goodbye to a few other people and then finished packing... because I didn't get much of that done Monday! Then I said goodbye to all the rest of my homies and headed off to Abilene! It was such a pretty car ride especially since I haven't seen trees in so long! When I got to Abilene we were greeted by tons of missionaries and some of my very bestest friends who I had served with previously! So I was stoked to see them all and my District Leader is a fellow Paul Idaho citizen! It's cool to see him a lot! My companion though was actually in a car wreck before I had arrived so she was a little late getting to the transfer site. She was all safe though which was good. We just didn't have a car so our District leaders area became a bike area for a week until we could get another car from Lubbock! My companion is Sister Howlett and she is from Ohio and has been out for 3 1/2 ish months she is so kind and I am going to learn lots from her this transfer!

Wednesday we started our day bright and early at 4:50 so we could drive the Abilene to play morning sports! Needless to say I was exhausted by the end of the day! On our way back from district Council we actually went and visited a bunch of people and didn't get home until after dark! By this point I had spent more time in other town than Eastland its self! I actually didn't see Eastland in the day light until Thursday! Crazy I know! Its a cute small town and we cover a lot of other little towns! We went to a little town called Gorman on Saturday for the peanut festival! It was so fun! When I imagined TEXAS I imagined lots of small towns with random festivals like that! They have a peanut queen and little miss Gorman and they even have Melon queens from the melon festival that happens in August! Also here in Eastland they have a mascot of a horny toad his name is old rip! I guess he got stuck in a rock or something for 20 years and when they found him he was still alive! But unfortunately he has since died from pneumonia! But he is place in a nice casket at city hall! I will take a picture of it when I see it! I am so excited for that festival I will let you all know what that festival is like when it happens! I am stoked though! 

Sunday was a wonderful day! We actually had stake conference so we were up in Abilene again! It was a wonderful stake conference and leaving I know that we have a Savior who loves us and is aware of what we are going through! My testimony was salidified again! I have yet to meet many of our branch members but the ones I have met are super awesome! I love them with my whole heart! The stake president actually came up to us and said are we having a baptism Saturday! My companion and I were both very confused! He said our friend Corey was ready to be baptized! My companion got real excited but I had no clue who Corey even was! They said he was a preacher from another church who has taken the lessons a few times and he is ready to be baptized! We immediately set up a meeting with Corey. We went and talked to him and he shared with us his testimony of the Plan of Salvation and how he knows that God is a merciful God who wants all his children to return to live with Him once again! The spirit was so strong. He has a few hang ups like quitting his preaching job and his wife is not on board. We talked to him about fasting to receive an answer and he said that is something that I need to do! So is along with many others including our mission president President Hales are fasting with him to have peace and comfort and to receive an answer! I have so much hope he will get his answer and his wife will have the peace she needs! The Gospel of Jesus is Christ is real and it is true! God is so good my friends and remember he loves y'all too! I am grateful to be a missionary and for the wonderful people I have met!  Love you all! 

-Sister Browning 

1. Tootsie the talking bird

2. The Gorman festival 

3. The Queens 

4. Max

5. Dereck and Kassie 

6.Larry

7. One last Soda Shack Stop! 🛑