Sooooo.........

I am sorry that this week i have nothing to write about but i did nothing!! i was sick this whole week and sat in the house watching the church videos we have. it was painful because its not like being sick at home. i couldn't just flip on the T.V and call for my mom. i sat in my bed for 4 days straight. i am better now and ready to get back to work. i am sorry that i don't have to much to say but  i will have more to write next week. i hope the pictures do better. I love the support and prayers that i receive in my life. i am glad for the opportunity to be better and not having to go home, like home home. i know that the Lord has blessed me with health and strength!! Once again i love each and everyone and will fill you in next week with more stories and adventures!!

Love,

Elder Browning

 

 Merry Christmas to me

 The Sunset of Glory

 I made a cookie cake at Tica's house.  It was soooo good

 Howl at the moon

Well, I have some explaining to do

     SO this week was the last of our transfer and I will be staying here in Cáceres for 6 more weeks and the Branch is excited about that so that is good. We did a lot of walking this week so i was pretty tired.
     On Friday we helped Elder Pavon move into our house and that was a long day for everyone. We had to do a lot of carrying of heavy items and boy was i sore the next day. Our house is full with 4 missionaries we are getting a brand new missionary on Wednesday. I don't know if he is Brazilian or American.
We talked to President and he told us to take it easy on Saturday so we cleaned the house and got it organized. We had a surprise party for a couple in our branch that got married/sealed in the São Paulo Temple and the party brought them to tears. It was a humbling experience.
     Now lets get to the big news. Yesterday (Sunday) I spent the day in the Hospital. I am OK and all is fine now. I have Zika, a sickness from mosquitos. It drains your whole body and you can't do anything. So i will be chilling out for the next couple days. The amazing thing was that the Branch members did all they could do to help me out. Tica invited us over to her house and bought me medicine also let me sleep in there guest room until I went to the hospital. Another member picked us up from Ticas house and drove us to the hospital and even waited with me. Today I am chilling at Elton's house getting the royal treatment. The members here are so AWESOME!! I am forever in their debt.
     So that is about it with this email. My language is better and i can understand for the most part. Sorry its so short but i don't have a ton of energy to write. I love you all and hopefully I will get better in no time!! Stay warm and keep on doing the right things in life!!!
Elder Browning

 I am going to be OK

 

Drinking from the Bull Horn - No biggie

Baptizing in Mud

Well this has been a week of a whole lot of RAIN and walking, and a BAPTISM!!!! This was a week that will go down in the record books for the mission. But I will get to that later in this email. So i made cookies this week and my companions loved it. They were so easy to make and i will probably make more this week when we have some time. We ate at Subway again because we had no food in the house and didn't want to go shopping and then make lunch after. I got a Star Wars poster with my combo meal so that was a bonus. it is now hanging up on our fridge for all the missionaries who pass through to sign. 
     SO lets get to the Rain!! it rained everyday this week and when it rains it RAINS the streets flood and it shuts down the city. But we continued to work in the rain and it was kinda fun crossing the streets in ankle high water and remembering what it was like for the pioneers back in the day. And there is more rain in the forecast for the next 2 months!! yeah :( . 
     I did a lot of teaching this week and it was a good way to practice my language. First i taught our training at our District meeting about Faith and Works (Thanks for the idea, Jorge Arevalo) and i taught our Gospel Principles class this past Sunday! it was a great learning experience for me!! 
     Now lets get to the meat and potatoes!! The Baptism of João Lucas. it was a great Baptism. The first in 1 year, can you believe that!!! The members were excited and so were we!! He is a great young man and has plans to serve a mission in a year. He was truly prepared by the Lord for this moment in his life and for us to teach him!! We are going to the Zoo with him and Elton today so that we can keep him strong and be friends with Elton because we (missionaries) will leave. it as a great day and the branch has more respect for us as missionaries now because of this baptism. I have a story to tell to finish this email up. so we were tracting one day, knocking on door after door in the rain. we finally knocked on this one door and the family let us in to get out of the rain. we talked with the family and shared our lives as missionaries. How we are here for 2 years with out our families. anyways it stopped raining and we left. well that night she called us and said that her family wanted us to come over for lunch on Sunday and they would make us a BBQ!! We went over on Sunday and had a really amazing time. she let us know that to her we are her sons and even though she has here own religion she can still share her love with. it was such a humbling experience to see that there are people in this world like this family. Will they get baptized in the future, probably not, but the love that they have for us, we will forever be grateful. the lord bless us with tender mercies like this for being his disciples for 2 years. I know He lives, He is real and HE is my Savior. May this week be filled with love towards all mankind. my heart is full with love and appreciation for all of you. until next time.

Love, 

Elder Browning

The Squad

 

Happy New Year

Hello every one and Happy 2016!!

SO this week was crazy just like the rest, so what new?! HAHA!!

This week was filled with parties, food and a lot of love once again from the members!! I won't give you a day-to day account, just the highlights of this week!! 

     To start off we have an investigator that is getting baptized this Saturday!! His name is João (John in English) and he is GOLDEN!! He was prepared before hand to receive the gospel. We give him reading assignments in the Book Of Mormon and he reads more them we assign!! He comes to church and loves it!! He is 18 and has an interest in serving a mission after he does one year in the Army. Finally the Lord is blessing us with the success we have been looking for, here in Cáceres!!! We will continue to help him and just be his friend. We are all excited for his baptism date on Saturday!! 

     OK, now on to another topic. So we are and will be in a Trio for the next 2 weeks because an Elder here got sent home for something he did early on in his mission and kept it a secret. He had 3 months left. And that's all i will say about that. 

     I don't remember what day of the week it was but we deep cleaned our house because it was just GROSS!! I mean deep cleaned!! Now it is SUPER clean and enjoyable to live in!! That was a little random but some people would like to know that little tid-bit. 

     Now let go to the New Year and the stories that I have. New Years Eve we spent the day at Elton's and and messed around with him. He just loves us and I think we are more of friends to him than "just the missionaries that just come over," which is a good thing. He loves messing with me and my Portuguese/English. We had a BBQ and I ate until I literally threw up. But i am okay now. We stayed over there until 1 am watching fireworks and let me tell you, that was a scary experience I have had so far on my mission. It was a lot of drunk people with fireworks and I am pretty sure the police had the night off as well. But I am alive and that's all that matters, right? Anyways, around 1 am we headed to the bus station to catch the 2am bus to Cuiabá. It was a long night/morning on a 4 hour bus ride. Once we arrived to Cuiabá around 6am New Years Day morning we took a quick little nap at he Zone Leader's house. Around 9am, we headed to the Church to have our New Years Day P-Day. Let me just tell you that it was one of the funnest days I have had on the mission. It was just our zone, but our zone includes the assistants, the secretaries and President and Sister Oliveira!! WE played cards, Uno, Volleyball and had yet another BBQ. It was such a great time that I will never forget. And yes, President and Sister Oliveira played with us in all activities. President Oliveira is a such a kid and that made it more fun. After the games and activities we headed back home while everyone else went bowling. I was a little mad but all is well. 

     Well that's about it here in my life. Sorry that this email was a lot of randomness but I hope you all enjoyed it. I also hope all of you made some goals for the New Year.  I will tell you one of mine. My goal is to read the Book Of Mormon in Portuguese everyday. If any of you want to join me in reading the Book of Mormon in Portuguese feel free. haha. Anyways, love you all and grateful for the love and support. I am finally understanding the why serving a mission can be 2 of the best years of your life.  Until we meet again...Me and

Love Elder Browning

 Me and Jorge the Horse