SNOW?!

Hey Family! 

Well, the family history center is still down so I am typing from a members iPad and the whole touch screen thing has become a foreign idea to me. I apologize in advance for any autocorrect blunders! :) 

This crazy thing happened this week where it SNOWED, a lot... Not something I expected to encounter on my mission! id say that sister hame and I used our Missouri and Idaho expertise and handled it pretty well. We used our shoes as windshield scrapers and took that little corolla out to work work work! A lot of our appointments fell through on the days with the most snow, so we were out in it quite a bit with frozen noses and toes. But it was pretty fun. On New Years day we ran over a nail had a flat tire. since it was a holiday we got to put our little donut spare on and use that all day, which miraculously did pretty well on the roads!

Our New Year's Eve consisted of being in the apartment at 6 PM to avoid the drunk crazies (and also the Kingman-ites that can't drive in the snow), watching White Christmas with Bing Crosby (thanks, President!!) and drinking apple cinnamon herbal tea. It almost felt like a real girl's night! The whole movie-watching thing would have been exciting, but we were so tired, we skipped all the boring parts and slept through some of the rest. I guess sister missionaries just don't know how to party. ;) 

 We got to see our cute 13 year old investigator Abbi get baptized on Saturday. She is a little bit of a Cinderella story, plus the gospel! Over the past month that we've been teaching her, she has just blossomed. That is the best word for it. I'm not sure how much love or self-worth her family has instilled in her in the past. She's been coming to church with her semi-active grandma for a long time, just quietly sitting in the back, looking a little like a lost puppy. Now, she stands straighter, smiles more, speaks louder, and bears a confident and powerful testimony about the happiness the gospel brings. The YW leaders, the bishop, and the beehives have been amazing about taking her under their wing and being true friends. She will do great things in her life. In fact, I'm pretty sure she's the key to her current and future family's activity in the church. She's awesome!!  

Carlos is still doing great, he's absolutely on fire. We're so grateful, especially considering he lost his job the day after his baptism. The mine here in the Hualapais where he works as a surveyor closed on monday and sent 300 employees packing... It's pretty devastating. But Carlos is so hopeful and positive. In his words... "I don't need luck, I got God."Yes you do, Carlos! 

We also have the coolest guy ever in our teaching pool. His name is Bobby. Bobby called us on new years eve to ask us questions about the Book of Mormon, which he has been reading BY CANDLELIGHT because his electricity is out! Dedication. He is the bomb. And we love him. What a blessing. :)

Funny quotes from Sister Hame this week: 

"I think President Snow was just like... 'send the 2 retards to Kingman' " 

"Do we need to plan backups to FHE?" 

"Well, we have learned by sad experience, that it is the nature of almost all plans..." 

D&C reference. Anyone catch it? 

Seriously, if for any reason we don't plan backups to some event we have planned, that event falls through 99.9% of the time. Make backup plans, no matter what! 

"That will be funny until we get dead" 

"The two things that Kingman really needs: Salvation and a toothbrush." 

I love you all! The Church is true and the Gospel changes lives! Happy New Year! 

Ever onward--

love, Sister Browning