Sister Browning Steps on a Cactus

One more funny story to report. We spent Thursday knocking a lot of doors and visiting potentials. At 6pm we show up to our one appointment of the day-- a less active visit. We make it halfway up the yard (of  dirt and rocks. Arizona yards are dirt and rocks.) when I step on a cactus. I yelp, and Sis Hame turns around, "what, didja step on a cactus?" and steps on a cactus. So we stand there like idiots, each balancing on one foot, trying to hold on to each other, our scripture cases, our family mission plan, and pull the stupid barbs out of our feet... meanwhile the kids come out of the house, "didja step on a cactus?" and tell us they're leaving... so they all drive away while we hang out like a couple of storks in the middle of their treacherous yard. Sometimes, missions are hard, and also hilarious. 

Dearly Beloved Family!

Wait, Katherine went to Triple Play?? I went to Triple Play when I went to All-Northwest! Please tell me she went down the spinny funnel waterslide thing. It's so magical. I really hope she didn't miss out on that. 

Also, Dad, I'm really excited that you talked about grace and the Holy Ghost in ward conference. Too many people, even members of the church, I'm finding, misunderstand grace. We often run into people that tell us things like "yeah... I used to be a member of your church... but they expect you to be perfect and that's too hard." Well of course-- it's a tall and impossible order to perfect yourself. I love that scripture in Moroni and how it says in so many times. We are made perfect in Christ, we are sanctified in Christby the grace of God. As Brad Wilcox says, 'Christ does not make up the difference, Christ makes all the difference. We are not earning heaven, we're learning heaven." The more I learn about grace the more patient I am with myself and my many weaknesses! 

I will definitely keep the Porter's in my prayers! I love that family! And oh my gosh TELL SARAH I LOVE HER WHEN YOU SEE HER ON SATURDAY <3 I'm so proud of her! She's such a champion!

Aren't the Cornelsons awesome?! We ate dinner at their house last week and had a blast. I said something and Bro Cornelson goes, "how fortuitous!" Which is a phrase I've started saying a lot, but Sister Hame thought fortuitous wasn't a real word... we couldn't agree... so I go, "I TOLD YOU IT WAS A REAL WORD!" And we had 'em laughing pretty hard :) 

This week started out looking like a challenge but ended up being a huge blessing. We had a few empty days with no appointments-- not the most common thing in this mission-- and we were looking at our planners like, "whaaaaaa?" But it gave us the opportunity to talk to lots of people, try new things and be creative. We have a ton of new ideas we want to get going to help out our wards, especially Boulder Springs. For example: We met with the young women president and they're going to have an activity where the young women write their testimonies in copies of the Book of Mormon and mark their favorite scriptures, so we can give them to people we meet. Something simple that they are willing to do that will help them get involved in the work! We're going to try and get the Young Men on board too. 

We've been teaching a little boy named Gavin who is about to turn 8 soon. His mom Helen has been investigating for 2 years now and has only not been baptized because her husband Gary won't legally marry her. Lame... so she has seen both of her older daughters get baptized and now Gavin is ready to get baptized too. We are praying really hard that Gary will have a change of heart so Helen can get baptized with Gavin. She's already a Mormon, just needs to add water. So she's been waiting for a long time. Gavin's lessons are so fun and so hilarious. This week, we gave an FHE lesson at the Bishop's house with Helen and Gavin and Bishop's cute little kids. We brought nerf guns (a Christmas present from Momma Hame) and had a lesson about "avoiding the firey darts of the adversary." They got to shoot down scriptures to read about church, prayer, scripture study, etc. They loved it! 

Doug D-doug doug accepted a date d-date date! He had been praying about a baptism date we extended, and he felt like it was too soon... So we asked him, "well, when do you feel you'll be ready for baptism?" and he picked April 18. So now he's working towards that! Hooray! 

Quick update on our recent convert Carlos: He finally found a new job! And his daughter is turning 8 soon so he gets to baptize her! We're so happy for him :) 

Sister Hame and I sang an arrangement of I'll Go Where You Want Me to Go in Church this Sunday. She was really nervous for her solo verse but she sounded like an angel. It's fun to get to do stuff like that! 

The elder's quorum in White Cliffs put on a Valentine's Day family dance, which was a huge success-- for the nonmembers, anyway! I think we had just about as many nonmembers/investigators there as we did active members. Our next-door neighbor, Franco, came, which was HUGE because we have been trying to get him in the church forever. After the party we were able to show him the chapel and he goes "Wow... I feel really good in here. I haven't felt this good in a long time." He and his mom just moved here from Vegas to be the new manager of our apartment complex. We've been establishing a great friendship with them-- the ward even brought them dinner when Franco was in the hospital a week ago. Hopefully they will continue to soften towards the church and we can start teaching them soon :) Andy and Anna also came, a big step for Andy! Having a small number of members there was a tender mercy because he felt comfortable rather than being overwhelmed. He brought his brother, Mark, who drives truck and lives with them when he's not on the road. We went over for a lesson last night, re-taught the Restoration, and invited Mark to be baptized with Andy and Anna! He accepted the date! Andy is a great missionary already! 

Alright, here come the quotes of the week.

Brock, after learning about quorums and classes: "So the young women are the beehives and marmalades?"

Sister Hame, sharing what she learned from the New Testament: "...and then I learned I can't call anyone 'raca'... it's a temptation sometimes, but I avoid it"

Sister Hame again: "The real reason I had you drink out of the straw first is cause I was afraid there was a spider in it."THANKS.

Explaining how last year around Valentine's day, all of her investigators dropped her: "I thought my mission would be a time where I was free from breakups. I get broken up with on a daily basis."

Also, this week, I was told by a street contact that I look like Mary Magdelene. Well gee, that might be the best compliment I've ever been given!

A couple nuggets of wisdom from Sister Hame as well: 

"I realized that I can be sad and discouraged and then the Spirit can't trust me, or I can expect the Spirit to guide me and He really pulls through." 

"Even when I'm miserable, I'm happier than I've ever been."

Amen and amen! The past 8 months have been the biggest blessing of my life. Serve a mission, you guys. Every split second is worth it. Love you all! 

<3 Sister Browning 

-------------------------------------------

Serving Holiday Bingo Here in Kingman

There's a park in downtown Kingman with a choo choo :)

 Dearest darlingest family,

I finally got your package!! Thank you for the shells and the camera! I did get my camera fixed, though, so now I have a plethora of cameras. :) Would you like me to send the camera back or hold onto it?

I'm not even going to recognize the house in 10 months. How exciting!!

So, by the end of this week, I will have been in Kingman for Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year's, and Valentine's Day! If I stay another transfer, I may hit Easter, too! That'd be all the major holidays except for July 4th. Pretty cool. :)

Well this was kind of a weird week because we had Zone Conference and Zone Training, both in Lake Havasu, which is an hour's drive from Kingman. It felt like we were gone from our area a lot. I learned a ton, though, and both meetings were much needed.

As of today, Bobby has moved to Tucson to seek help for his addiction problems. We'll miss him but we're proud of him! He's out of the mission but he has already hooked up with the ward and missionaries down there and he should be good to go. He told us before he left that he fully intends to get baptized once he's gotten cleaned up. It was a privilege teaching him but it's time for someone else to be his missionary.

Andy and Anna are still doing great. They are my absolute favorite! Andy told us that he has been feeling his testimony grow little by little. Our member fellowshippers, the Walkers, are going to pick up a white shirt and tie for him from the DI. He said that even though he's never been a church-goer, he could feel that something was missing on Sunday because he didn't go to church and he knew that's where he should be. Awwww. :) Anna is hanging back a little bit but we are being encouraging with her, and so is Andy. They want the whole family to be on board with learning about the gospel. Hopefully we'll get to start teaching their 10 and 18 year old sons too! That would be ideal!! Andy and Anna accepted a baptism date of March 24th. Kind of far away, but probably best for their situation. That's a Tuesday, random... but when we were praying about them that date came to mind, so we figured it was the Spirit. Anna said that's the day her dad passed away. Huh. They accepted the dates! The why behind March 24th remains to be seen. Heavenly Father must know something we don't!

We had a really cool experience with Doug where he finally admitted that he knows the church is true! YEAH! :) But he is hesitant about baptism because 'he wants to do it right." We read D&C 20:37 with him, the qualifications for baptism and asked him to listen for the word "perfect." It never says you have to be perfect to be baptized, just that you need to have the desire to follow Christ fully. That seemed to really make him think. The next day he missed his appointment and then he wasn't at church... Hopefully we get in contact with him soon!

One more cool story. On Thursday, we were doing some inspired knocking (like tracting, but... more inspired) and knocked on the door of a woman named Carol. "Missionaries! Come on in!" She proceeds to pull out a huge stack of LDS books and set them on her coffee table; "This is everything I've read about Mormonism!" Included in the stack was the Book of Mormon, Gospel Principles, Teachings from prophets A-Z, etc etc. She had actually been in the middle of A Marvelous Work and a Wonder when we knocked on the door. Cue jaw-droppage.

 Carol is an English teacher, so naturally she's fascinated with world religions. And she has a daughter who's a convert so she decided to really do her research. She told us, "tell me everything that missionaries say. I've always wondered what missionaries say." So we got to teach her the first lesson. :) She wouldn't let us keep teaching her because she 'will never join and doesn't want to disappoint us,' so that was a little disheartening. However. As we were driving away, Sister Hame and I both felt strongly that her story is not over. We were talking about how cool it will be to get to the other side and see people we knew as missionaries who accepted the Gospel without us ever knowing. How many people have I met whose stories aren't over yet? The Spirit was so strong at that moment and witnessed to us that we are only seeing a small sliver, right now, of the joy and success and pay-off that will come because we chose to serve. I'm sure looking forward to that perfect day :)

So, for the past 2 months now, we have been listening to the same CD in the car on repeat. We have not gotten sick of it once. It is called Redeemer by Nashville Tribute, an LDS country-ish group. The whole thing is about Jesus Christ's life and mission. It's entertaining AND paints a beautiful picture of the Savior and helps me think about Him as we drive around. I would exhort you to find a copy of this CD immediately so that you, too, can partake in this great joy.

Although, I apologize for song #3, that one's just weird. :)

My favorite Sister Hame quote of the week, after someone shared with us the latest depressing current events: "Sometimes I think I'm so much of a patriot that George Washington possesses my body and goes 'NOT IN MY COUNTRY!' " A true Missourian, ladies and gentleman.

 Love you all! Mom, BE SAFE when you're out running and please carry pepper spray! Dogs are scary!

Lots of love,
Sister Browning

The Only January of My Mission is Over?

Hey Family!

I'm super happy for  little missionary moment with Debbie and Scotty Krick. Boy do I know what it feels like to have people flake on you! Only EVERY day! So it really is something to celebrate when you finally do make that contact! How wonderful that they got to be in your home. Feeling the Spirit in a convenant-keeping home makes the biggest difference in peoples progression.

Those quotes from this week made me laugh out loud! Thanks for giving me more reasons to laugh! Keep em coming!!

Well this week.... What happened this week? Oh! So Dominic, this guy we started teaching and then passed off to the zone leaders, got baptized on Saturday! He is 15 years old and good friends with Gavin, one of the priests in our ward. He came with him to church for 2 months and then introduced himself to us and asked if he could take the lessons. He was ready for baptism by lesson 1. But he lives in Centennial Park boundaries, so we passed him off. It was really cool to be at his baptism and see him there with his awesome supportive family and awesome supportive friends. Just goes to show that you are always setting an example as a member of the church, and people are watching, and it is making an impact! Even and especially in high school! Those kids are such great missionaries and Dominic is so elect! He'll be a great missionary himself in a few short years.

We also had a miracle with Doug. Have I told you about Doug? Sister Hame calls him Doug the Thug. Because he kinda has this tough-guy air... but he is a teddy bear, and we know the truth. We have been teaching him for about a month. Lately, he's really started to progress, and on Saturday we had a SUPER Spirit-led lesson with him... I hardly remember what we talked about! Best feeling ever! And he finally said he would come to church. True to his word, he came! He was pretty wiped out after the first hour but promised with a twinkle in his eye that he would come to all three hours next week. Yayyyy Doug!

Can I also tell you about my new favorite investigators?? This week we started teaching a couple named Andy and Anna. Ohhhh my gosh. I love them with my whole heart. Andy has a lot of social anxieties that make it hard for him to leave his apartment. We met him via miracle one day when "something told him" to go check the mail. That was a big hurdle for him, but because he did it, and talked to us, we were able to set up a return appointment. He has so much faith and such a sincere desire to know what's true. He's being so brave, praying, reading, inviting people into his home, and making plans to come to church! Anna is so supportive. My heart absolutely goes out to them. And the coolest part is I can feel a little smidge of Heavenly Father's love for them. And He loves them a LOT! :)

We got a new bishopric in White Cliffs! Change is hard because I absolutely love Bishop Tinnel and I'll miss working with him. However. Our ward mission leader, Brother Pease, is now in the Bishopric so that calling is wide open... And we are praying that Bishop Tinnel fills the spot! That would be the dream!

And of course, some gems from Sister Hame for your enjoyment.

After our investigator got a ride to church and then walked home when no one was looking: "Only in Boulder Springs could you get an investigator to church and they still don't come to church."

In a Word of Wisdom lesson with our 13-year-old recent convert: "What they don't show [in beer advertisements] is the part where your head is over a pooper and you're throwing up everything other than your memories!" Thankfully the young women leader present laughed at that one.

"You know you're a sister missionary when you go to remove the black makeup residue from under your eyes... and it isn't makeup"

"This town is full of weirdos, but they are God's weirdos, and I love them."

"I love you like a fat kid loves cake... well... like a missionary loves cake... because we're all fat"

Dominic is the crazy tall one in the middle. His friend Gavin who baptized him is on his left:)

We also had exchanges this week; I went to Havasu with my favorite Sister Hutchinson!

Hiking in the Hualapais

I love you all! I know we have a Savior that performed an infinite Atonement for us! I know that He thinks of you every time He looks at His hands, and understands perfectly your struggles. "I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands; thy walls are continually before me." 1 Ne 21:16

Onward ever onward!
Love, Sister Browning

This Will Be a Short One #obedience

Hi Family!

 Whoooooooo... I have approximately 10 minutes left of emailing time left! Where did the time go?! So I will spit out as much about this week as I can and I apologize that it's so short!

Something amazing happened this week... Who am I kidding? Something amazing happens every week. But this was really cool. Bobby is NOT gone! :) He called us on Monday evening and told us how after we said goodbye he had this sick, hollow feeling. He could hardly sleep that night and couldn't figure out what was wrong with him. The next day, the feeling wouldn't leave him and he said he finally dropped to his knees at the train station and asked God what he should do. He said he felt a voice say, "Call your angels!"

So we've started teaching him again but we're taking it slow and not pushing baptism right now. We've been teaching him in member's homes which is making the biggest difference. I have a testimony of teaching investigators in member's homes!! The Gospel of Jesus Christ is changing this 60 year old war veteran from the inside out. This is one of the coolest things I've been a part of my whole mission so far.

Yesterday I spoke in sacrament meeting about the joy of sharing the gospel and it's made me really reflect. Missionary work is true joy! Here are a few things I experienced this week that sum up joy to me:

Joy is sitting in sacrament meeting with Bobby and getting a sticky note passed to me that says "What's my next reading assignment? Need more knowledge."

Joy is reading back through your journal and realizing that you can see the Lord's hand in every day of your life for the past 7 months.

Joy is when a plan falls through and Heavenly Father leads you to the exact street and exact house you needed to visit at that time. 

Joy is realizing that it is completely true when Christ says  "Without me, ye can do nothing."

Joy is recognizing that sometimes, you're a complete nutcase, and having a companion that loves you anyway.

Joy is that moment right when you're tempted to give up on the day and you get a timely phone call from someone you met that wants to set up an appointment with you.

Joy is hearing a member say "our lives were blessed by having the missionaries in our home."

The week in general was a little slow until Saturday night, when we found lots of new investigators! Miracle Sunday! We have been visiting a ton of members and inviting them to make family mission plans. Really trying to get the wards excited about missionary work. Hopefully we'll see lots of success from that :)

A couple priceless quotes from Sister Hame this week:

After another investigator asserts less interest in the gospel than we thought: "Maybe you should start wearing a sign under your nametag that says 'I have a boyfriend.' "

Some time later: "... Maybe you should write 'celibate' on your forehead."

"On a scale of one to Herbine, how missionary minded are you?"

Reading a sign on someone's door that says "Enter in Peace:" "And then if you sit on their couch, you're resting in peace!"

We found an entire box of free toothbrushes in our "room of requirement." This is EXACTLY what Kingman needs! Salvation and a toothbrush!

Also thought the "women working" was pretty applicable. :)

Thanks for all your emails and your prayers! I'm so grateful for my mission! The Gospel of Jesus Christ allows us maximum happiness and maximum freedom! I know this is true! I sure love you all. Even though I'm over here in Kingman AZ, you are in my prayers every single day!

Ever onward! :)
Sister Browning

Spiritual Construction Zone: Molding & Refining Underway

Dear Family,

Holy busy!! I can't tell you how excited I am that the bathrooms and the living room are being remodeled. And I totally approve of the tuscan theme. Can't wait to see more pictures! And congratulations to Ryan on his blue belt! He's turning into a ninja!

I was thinking about Dad and how much he's in the spotlight everywhere he goes... No pressure! You definitely feel a small amount of that pressure as a missionary. The question is always, "would my behavior right now make anyone question if I'm a servant of the Lord?" Because of the nametag, people recognize us and have expectations before we introduce ourselves. Dad probably feels the same way. I'm praying for him all the time and I know that if anyone can masterfully handle the challenges that come with the calling, it's Dad! And I know the Lorenzo ward misses you as much as you miss them.

I'm so excited for you to strengthen your relationship with the missionaries and teach someone in our home this year!! And thanks for sharing your goals with me as well. I am a firm believer in setting high goals and not being afraid to work hard to reach them, so your goals look awesome. The best way to reach those goals will to be to get the ward members to the point where they have ownership of the missionary work. When I get some time, I'll find my notes from Elder Foster on how to do that and send them to you. :)

Well, I decided to make a spin-off of Dad's email and title my email "Spiritual Construction Zone" because that is what's happening in my life right now :) This week was definitely a challenge. On Thursday, Bobby dropped us because he's got too many physical & psychological challenges right now to think about making any big life changes, like joining a church. He's going into a program for a couple months and because he's so sick, he thinks he probably won't see us again in this life. Man. We stopped by last night and had him sign our transfer journals. As a parting gift he gave us a giant chocolate cake because we had given up dessert in an effort to help him live the word of wisdom :P so that was sweet of him. Bobby taught me how to really love people.

 Ingrid, our sweet 70 year old German investigator, came to a baptism Saturday and told us at the end she's going to stick with her Presbyterian faith. Man... I guess she's just not ready for change. But she said she still has questions about Joseph Smith so we may be able to go over and answer those for her :)

Brock, our long-time investigator who is now ENGAGED :) to member Sis Tooley, has almost been taught everything on the teaching record. He told us this week that he still doesn't feel ready for baptism, yet. He's been taking a very logically-based and methodical approach to learning about the church and we just don't know how to help him recognize the answers that come from the Spirit. He still wants us to come over once a week and answer his questions about the Gospel Principles lessons, but he doesn't want to set a baptismal date. I still feel that with him, it's a matter of when he accepts the gospel, not if, but it may take some more time! I'm learning lots of patience there. :)

I think the biggest lesson I'm learning right now has something to do with faith, hope and humility. I can feel Heavenly Father chipping away at my tendencies to get discouraged and frustrated, to blame or complain, and to think that I can do it without His help. I sure can't do it without Him-- I am completely and totally dependent on my Savior. So I'm grateful. It hurts so good! :)

On Tuesday we had interviews in Havasu with President Snow. In my interview, President told me that I remind him of his oldest daughter, who's a perfectionist, achiever type person. When he dropped her off at BYUI with her full-ride scholarship, he told her, "Don't worry too much about grades. Loosen your bun & enjoy school." So that was his advice to me: "Loosen your bun, Sister Browning!" I'm supposed to not worry about being the perfect missionary, have fun while still being obedient, try some new things and take some risks. So Sister Hame and I made some plans this week to try some new things. We are working with the members more and trying to get them excited about the work with "family mission plans," trying new street contact approaches, working on a "junior missionary" program for the priests and laurels in the ward, and lots of other cool things! I know Heavenly Father will bless us with success for trying new things. I just have to trust in His timing, too. :)

Helaman 3:35 "They did fast and pray oft, and did wax stronger and stronger in their humility, and firmer and firmer in the faith of Christ, unto the filling of their souls with joy and consolation, yea, even to the purifying and the sanctification of their hearts, which sanctification cometh because of their yielding their hearts to God."

Slowly, but surely!

Ever onward,

Love you times a million :)
Sister Browning

Marriage Proposals and Menudo

Hello to my world-traveling parents and beloved family!! 

It sounds like the theme of the week is cruising!! Sounds like the cruise was wonderful, you got to cruise along parasailing, the ward is cruising to a new bishopric, and all the Rigby kids are cruising off to missions!! That's got to be the best experience to be a part of! It will be so cool for you to see how they've changed when they come home. :)

What a cool missionary moment you had at the airport!! I hope Meagan takes the lessons and lets it change her life! Way to plant seeds and invite! You are all such great member missionaries. :) 

Well this week was just grand. On Thursday we took a day trip to Las Vegas with the two other Kingman sisters for doctor's appointments. Ironically-- one sister has ADHD, the other has anxiety/depression, and Sis Hame has bi polar. We're all a little mad here. ;) So they were all going for perscriptions and counseling and stuff, and I just got to go along for the ride! We were joking that, hopefully the next time we go to Las Vegas, I won't be the one having the appointment. It's only a matter of time before I go crazy, you see. ;) I love those sisters so much. We got to walk around temple grounds for a few minutes before we left for Kingman (the temple was closed for cleaning) and that was wonderful.  

The previous mission president's wife, Sister Neider, passed away from cancer early Friday morning. Lots of missionaries who know and love her said that even before they heard the news, they just felt different. She made an incredible impact on a lot of people. That day, we saw so many miracles in the work that we knew she was helping us from the other side. 

Have I told you about the Herbines? They're the most amazing family.. They have been members of the church for 2 years, Bro Herbines on the High Council, and they love missionaries. They just treat us like royalty! It's always a good day when the Herbines are involved. For example, I went to use the bathroom after the prayer over dinner and when I came back I found that everyone, teenagers included, had waited for me to dish up! And 11-year-old Jack prepared the dinner message for us about the refiner's fire and overcoming challenges. Being in their home really feels like being in the temple. I want my home to feel like that someday. 

The same night we were there for dinner, Bro and Sis Herbine came with us to a lesson with our investigator Bobby. Bobby's so excited about baptism, he jumped up and wrote it on his calendar! He is one of the most humble people I've ever met. 60 years old, been everything from a marine to a jailbird to homeless, and now he just wants to repent and be clean and feel close to God. (This is the same investigator who was reading the Book of Mormon by candlelight.) Bro Herbine was able to relate to him so well and shared his favorite scripture, 1 Ne 2:16 about how we need to humble ourselves and seek for answers. The Spirit was so strong in that tiny little trailer home. Bobby told us that if it wasn't for our persistence and patience with him, he may never have investigated, and now he's preparing for baptism. The Herbines said, "they're angels," and we both cried :P 

It just feels so good to know that someone appreciates what we're trying to do. A lot of times I feel like the members and others that we meet see us more as two bumbling fools than servants of the Lord. But that's one thing I've been thinking about a lot-- the words of a hymn keep coming to my mind. "Go forth to serve and do your best with no thought of reward; then you shall know the boundless joy of serving Christ the Lord." If I start thinking about my own personal recognition, that's when I get discouraged. But when I'm motivated more by love for the people I serve and for my Heavenly Father, that's when the good things start happening! A mission makes you painfully aware of your weaknesses and limitations, and Sister Hame and I make mistakes a lot, and sometimes they're embarrassing, but I'm so grateful that Heavenly Father lets me, little 19-year-old Sister Browning, play a small role in blessing and serving His children. It just puts me in awe sometimes.  

We finally have neighbors in the apartment next door to ours, and they are a sweet Hispanic family. We picked up the mom, Cynthia, and the 20 year old son, Franco, as new investigators yesterday! And it was Carlos's first experience being the member at a lesson! We didn't know this when we asked Carlos to come with us, but they used to be Pentecostal, just like Carlos. He bore a powerful testimony about how they can recognize the truth of the Church from what they've known in the past. Preach My Gospel says that's the ideal scenario, and they were right! :)

Jeren, Cynthia and Franco also gave us a freezer bag full of menudo this week, and I thought of you and your mission! That was the dreaded soup stuff, right? Thankfully it was chicken, not cow stomach... but it was still suspicious. Haha

Alright, let's get to the important stuff: Your weekly dose of quotes from the hilarious Sister Hame. Hopefully you think these are funny, maybe there a have-to-be-there kind of thing?

In a lesson with a less-active, and again at a dinner appointment: "Church and scripture study are SO detrimental to your testimony." I do not think that word means what you think it means. 

After attempting to ride bikes and realizing that her brakes are shot: "Biking's like an ex-boyfriend, you keep giving it another chance..."

While reminiscing about childhood: "Can't we get back to roller coaster tycoon and good charlotte?" 

After our new and supposedly golden investigator asks me to marry him: "Sorry you're pretty, Sister Browning..."

At the end of a miracle day: "My heart, like, hurts, it's so full of joy... Maybe that's just the menudo coming back up" 

After borrowing my lotion: "I smell like a daughter of God."

Musing out loud while driving the car: "I change my hair all the time... like I'm bi polar or something." 

...But she actually is. So it's funny. 

After our investigator came to church drunk: "Alcohol smells like Satan's armpit."

Well, I sure love you all! The Church is so super true! Thanks for taking the time to write to me! 

Ever onward :)

Love, Sister Browning 

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