I Love Being a Missionary!

I love being a missionary! today is memorial day and because it is also p day we get permission to go to the ward party and play games I was able to go and play volley ball it was so much fun and then to be with so many friends that I have met here in Grrrr.  These people are so great and have such a great heritage and love for the freedom we have it was pretty neat to experience.  And the best part is that I did not get hurt playing sports so that was a plus.  This past week we have been in a rut so we dropped all of our investigators all of them and started off fresh and we met Ashley Owens who is so sweet and loves Jesus and the spirit that we have and she is on Date for June 15th but her only issue is she works on Sundays and can’t come to church so I am asking you all to pray for her to come to church this Sunday so she can be baptized.  We also met Deb who I did not meet but sister miller did on an exchange and she is pretty neat loves to talk but she feels her faith growing with us and when she learns but her issue is her husband is a preacher for another church but she wants to learn so we are going to teach and we know that everything will work itself out the Lord is amazing like that.  

So on Saturday we were walking to a less active and we were by this restaurant when this car drives by and then a lady gets out holding a book like a bible and she starts walking over to us like she is going to bible bash and I was like OK bring it on the lord led us here for a reason and so bring it and then I said a prayer and then right as we got to her sister miller starts to hug her and my jaw dropped in amazement and it turns out it was another less active that she met on an exchange and I was so relieved because I do not like arguing especially about the Book of Mormon or the bible I like to teach and help others but I laughed about it afterward and was grateful she was not a crazy person wanting to fight us but we had a great lunch with her and her non-member husband who is very interested in learning.

Then on Friday we were walking again and we both felt impressed to go to this road that made no sense to go to because there are no houses for a mile and it would have been a waste of time but sister miller being her awesomeness felt that we should go and so we went after dropping everything we had originally planned and we knocked every door and nothing until it was time to go and we found a girl walking her name was Tori and we talked to her and found out she was taught about a year ago but had really bad depression and stopped listening.  I then recognized where we were and I knew I had met her before right when I got here in Grrrr and found out that I did service for her she said she was ready to learn again and we of course are glad to teach her.  

I love this gospel especially the atonement yesterday at church we learned all about the atonement and I could feel the spirit so much it was so powerful and I am so grateful for the atonement and that it overcomes my weaknesses and allows me to be here.  I love you all and pray for you always be good and CTR.

Love, Sister Browning

        

This is a picture of me and sister Miller and our pet stuffed elephant Hortina praying before we go out for the day I know it is weird but yet funny... 

This is me and truffles the pig she sounds like a pig but looks like a dog

Hey Ya'll

Ok so get this.  We were knocking and met a man who thought we were Satanists for going to church on Sunday and not Saturday, and a rabid dog was throwing itself at the glass door so yeah I ran away like a thief in the night. We were committed to find out for ourselves if we truly were saved or not and then we met a lady who was in tears begging us to come to her church because of how wrong we were and then she tried to convince us of how awesome the youth program is and that we could be friends with her kids. And all this happened within a 24 hour period.  We just smile and love them that is the best thing we can do and I truly do love them can’t help but to love them.  But we just laughed and go on and continue to do this work.  This past week we had two sets of exchanges one with the sisters from Irmo who are our coordinating sisters.  I was with Sister Brand who is so funny we went to see this member and they live on this mountain that you have to drive up and it is very tricky but I did not tell her about it till we got to the foot of the mountain thankfully she just laughed and courageously continued on but the whole way up no matter how scared she was I told her to keep going because if she did than we would go backward or get stuck and I learned a valuable lesson sometimes we are driving up a steep mountain or have a trial and all we can do is keep going and never stopping because if we don’t we don’t get to the top and miss out on the view and the view was great one of the best in South Carolina on the blue ridge mountains it was awesome.  Then on Friday I went to Anderson with Sister Roundy a new missionary who is now a trainer and building up an area it was so much fun we met so many people and had so many miracles one we were eating dinner and went to the nearest restaurant and we were looking for a place to sit when an old women names Martha Walker told us to come and sit with her and we did and she was a hoot she was a comedian and making us laugh so hard we could not breathe that was a tender mercy to be able to laugh. So this week has been great and I love being a missionary never have I been so tired but yet never have I been so happy so it is all the worth it. The bad out numbers the good but the good outweighs the bad.  Be good and have a blessed week.

Love Sister Browning

Happy Belated Mothers Day! Especially to my Mom!

 Hello and Happy belated Mother’s day to all women we had a wonderful speaker yesterday who just put all women on a pedestal but it was so spiritual that it made me cry and appreciate all women in my life and the example ya’ll have set for me. I have the best elders in my district they really came through for us this past Thursday. Elder Korth From Idaho and Elder Hugh from Utah but on Thursday we received a random phone call from  Dr. Faye Heart who said that she got our number from sisters previous and that they used to come and visit and help her.  She recently was in a car accident and really struggling with back problems and asked if we could come and help with a few chores so we agreed.  We went and helped her and she mentioned how her house was broken in to and she was still recovering from it.  We mentioned that someone could come and give a blessing on her and her home to help give her peace and she agreed.  We called our Elders who dropped everything they had planned and biked right over and gave her the sweetest blessing on her and her home they explained it so beautifully and I was so impressed by them and their service.  Dr. Hart just felt the peace and it was amazing of how quickly her countenance changed all because two elder were willing to serve no matter what.  We have so many opportunities to serve and I pray constantly to recognize the opportunity to serve.  That is one thing I learned that I promised to be the lords representative and that means doing his will whether it be service or teaching  no matter who or where it is my calling and responsibility to share the saviors love with all his children.  I learn so much every day and am amazed at how fast it all flies by I love ya’ll and hope you have a great week keep safe and ASAP

till next time Love Sister Browning

Life is Great!

WOW where did the week go the weeks just zoom by faster every week and I wish it would slow up just a little bit. This week was great I grew to love my mission so much just this past week and to really understand the Savior and his love that he has for all us and that he is pleading and looking and preparing them for the church and gospel and to give them the opportunity to come closer to him.  On Saturday we were able to celebrate Hands on Greenville (HOG) and to give service in the community and to clean a parking lot of an outreach and it felt weird to be in pants I will tell you that but I was glad to go and help them and to represent the church and the savior.  I love this gospel so much it has changed my life and it just shows how much He really does love us enough to allow us to feel his love and to help us become like him.  I hope y'all have a great mother’s day and enjoy time with your families I love y'all and thank you for your love and prayers. Till next week!

Love Sister Browning

Hey Ya'll!

Ok so the funniest thing happened to me and to y'all it may not be a surprise.

So imagine this two girls dressed in church clothes coughing laughing and crying in a car whose windshield is covered with a red substance that looks like blood yeah that is the effects of pepper spray in the car  here is the story.This past week I went on a exchange with a sister Landon in Easley and we were having a great time and then she asked me to grab her phone in her purse and so  i did and I say that she had pepper spray in her bag too so I asked oh how does yours work and she showed me and then I had it in my hand and then all the sudden the windshield goes red and I realize that I accidentally pushed the trigger Sister Landon's eyes got so big as did mine I suppose and we started to cough and laugh and cry.  And as missionaries you know people notice us and we could only imagine what people thought of us as they drove by with us laughing crying and coughing.  The rest of the day our skin burned where we touched the stuff which was my punishment from Heavenly Father. We both were just laughing so hard it was awesome I am glad Sister Landon was not upset and that she could laugh and even while writing this it makes me cough and burn from the memory.  So this week Heavenly Father has tested us we have had to do a lot more traveling and so our miles have been low and we have been walking a lot this week well on Saturday came the rain and not just normal rain it was the southern rain where nothing will keep you dry and we knew that we had to work and we could not drive and so we prayed that people would have pity on us which some did and let us in and share a short message.  While I was in Easley we had many miracles happen we met a man named Major who was by chance looking for a church to go to and we just by chance stop by and he is prepared and we were able to invite him to come to church.  On Friday when we were walking all over Greer we felt impressed to go and see if a less active Amanda was at work and also to grab a treat because of how hard we worked we decided to treat our selves and so we were off and when we got there we found her and she was there and she came to us and just we hugged and she just cried she was having a rough day and prayed for someone to help lift her and then we showed up and gave a hug and message of peace.  I have been studying peace this week and what it is and I learned it is the outcome of our faith it is something we hope for and that nothing can give us peace more than our faith.  As a missionary I forget to search for the peace and show the faith I have seen how when stress is in our work it is not fun not peaceful at all but when we rely and let the lord take the front and lead the way and not go the other way we can feel peace and gratefulness he has  for us in doing his work.  I feel that I have only done a teaspoon of what he has given me but I love it.  Yesterday Elder Packer of the seventy came to stake conference and really focused on the youth it was so great t he youth are the leaders of tomorrow and will be here when the second coming happens and so they need to be ready and a lot of youth need to be prepared.  I love it here even though I am soaked to the bone and my nicely straight hair is narley and curly it is all worth it.  Thank you for your love and prayers and cant wait to see what the Lord has for us this week Be safe and good and stay away from pepper spray trust me it is not worth the pain.

love Sister Browning

Time is Flying by!

Wow Monday already so crazy how fast time is flying and not only that but April is almost over.  Yesterday was a missionaries farewell and I just cried it probably looked a little ridiculous but it was so powerful the power a mission can have on a person and it helped me think back on my mission and how much I have grown I see it I understand so much more. Nothing can take what I know no matter what they say or know every day we go out facing people whose purpose is to destroy our faith that we have and we never know who is going to be at the door or the type of person we will meet and we meet all types of people some who try to destroy us and some who ignore us but we do find those who are prepared and ready to accept and hear and that is why we do this is to find that one soul who will open their door and heart and let a type of spirit into their hearts that will make them melt.  I love it sometimes it is hard and discouraging more often than the Joy we experience the disappointment and discouragement and sadness anger stress but the good joy and spirit we feel always outweighs the bad and even then the worst day on my mission is equal to the best day off my mission.  We had a great opportunity to go and do sheparding visits and most of the sisters on that list were new to the ward and were all active but just have not had the opportunity to come to church yet and it was a great day to go and visit and get to know the new sisters in the ward and we look forward to work with them.  Thank you for your time and I pray for all y'all all the time and hope you are all well and happy have a great week and be good and choose the Right.

Love always Sister Browning

Crazy & Weird!

Yeah so this week has been so crazy and weird and definitely not a normal week of missionary work but then again I am sure that there is no normal week in missionary work.  So I will start on Wednesday so on Wed morning I had to go to court to take care of a ticket that I had received a few weeks ago and an awesome member Sister Bolick came with us to be my support and to help me which she did big time and was able to help me out with everything and so I paid my ticket and then after that we had to go and give some other elders a bike rack for their car so they can haul their bikes and we got met them and gave it to them and as they were trying to put it on they could not  it was pretty funny to watch them try to put it on finally we went to the store nearby and bought them a hammer and you know as a missionary we stand out and people already look at us and judge us and so when we asked for a hammer they looked at us and took us to the part where they were and then they asked do you want nails and we said no it is for our friends who are trying to hammer a bike rack on and she just gave us a weird look and walked off we just laughed. It was a unique day.

So then on Saturday we are trying to find this less active and so we find out she moved and so we decide to knock and talk to people in that area and we met Bonnie and we were talking and then she started to quiz us about the bible particularly Adam and Eve and we told her what we knew and she said that is not the truth and then she starts to explain how Adam and Eve were gardeners and that was their only commandment and then she talks about how Cain is the literal son of Satan and that Satan took a form of a man and slept with Eve and he is the literal father of Cain and Abel is the literal son of Adam I about threw a pass along card at her I could not believe what I was hearing and then as soon as we brought up the book of Mormon she ran away and would not hear our side of it but she did say that the bible was so easy to understand that a third grader could understand it and that we did not understand it and so basically she called us stupid but we just looked at her in awed at what she said.  We just walked away laughing at what happened crazy but we love her still.

So after Bonnie we met this really sweet lady who was very hesitant to talk to us but it is amazing to see how the spirit leads us to those who are prepared she really opened up and wants to learn and felt the spirit and recognized it as we testified to her.  We do find those that are not yet ready and need some time but it is ok they make for good experiences.  The lady is Linda and she is a Baptist but knew Mormons in Florida and so she knows we are good but she thought we were Jehovah Witnesses at first and so that is why she was hesitant but it turned out very nice.

So everything is covered with yellow pollen it is pretty awesome but not fun to think that all the stuff that is not on the cars and sidewalks is in my lungs but no effects thankfully and the weather has been beautiful and just sunny and my tan is starting very nicely.

This week we had to hand over all our investigators and yeah it was hard but yet I put my pride away and did it and so we are now going to start filling and working our area it is a lot tougher than I thought it would be but we are enduring and doing our best .  I learned this past week about faith and how Faith is not going in fearless and unafraid but that it is knowing that in the end you will be ok and that is what I am focusing on I know that at the end of the day I will be ok and that the lord will always love me and protect me.  I love y'all and hope you have a great week be safe and happy.

Love Sister Browning