A baptism, a new companion, and a trip to Cuiaba

Hello first of all to everyone at home wherever you are!! 
     So this week was busy but not really. There are alot of activities and changes but not a whole lot of stories. So anyways...
     Monday through Wednesday was the same except for me finishing my first transfer in the field. We celebrated with a BBQ and it was SO GOOD. The other days were just long and did the same old things. Thursday we had the activity at the church which was a good time and had an okay turn out. But i always love the Thursday night because we get to hang out with the members and get to know them better! 
     Friday we finally had the BATISMO of Arthur and i had the privilege of baptizing him! It was a way cool experience and I actually had to do the ordinance twice because I didn't pronounce one part correctly but it was ok. We had dinner and cake afterward and it was also way good. The shocking thing about that day was i got a new companion. The lord truly answers prayer. There was mess up with the transfers in São Paulo and we got an odd number of missionaries. So for some reason i got a new one, and i am happy. His name is Elder MElO and we are ready to get some work done here in Cáceres. I am super excited and hope I have a better experience with him. 
     Saturday we were suppose to have a volleyball tournament but not a lot of people showed up so we just played soccer, volleyball and FOOTBALL, like american football.  It was so fun and funny because no one knows how to throw a football and they were amazed at me and my ability to throw.  It was a good time and i woke up Sunday with a sore shoulder, haha. 
     Sunday was super cute because it was the primary program and they tore down the roof. It was great and we had 70 people at church . We haven't had that many in a long time. After church we ate lunch and took Elder Barros to the Bus station to get transferred. It was a bitter sweet moment but I am glad he is gone!! But I wish the best of luck to him on the rest of his mission! We went home after and had a 4 HOUR planning session of the week. It was awesome and we did a lot of cleaning out the Area Book. I am excited for the plans that we have made for this transfer. around 6ish last night we had choir practice for Christmas at the church and it was a good time. i am singing tenor and really happy to sing for Christmas. 
     SO that was my week this week. I am going to Cuiabá today for a Zone Conference tomorrow so that's a 4 hour bus ride for me today. Time to catch up on some sleep! This week will be filled with parties and trips so there will be a lot to write about next week. I love you all, tem uma boa semana e preperar por NATAL!!!  (It's a good week and prepare for Christmas!!!)

Love Elder Browning

A hut in the jungle 

Merry Christmas coconut 

Baptism of Arthur

I found an American!!!!!

Happy December to all and hope you are all ready for the Christmas season!!!!
     So this week was a quick one with bumps here and there. As of right now I am staying in the area for another 6 weeks, hooray! (not really) but it's not about me it's about the work and the people I need to help.
     So going back all the way to Monday. We went to subway, shopping and then ended the night at Elton's. We had Family Home Evening there and had hot dogs for dinner. And no, they were not American hot dogs, but they were still good.
     Tuesday was the 1st day of December which meant the start of festivities and it also meant that there is 24 days left until I get to talk to my family.
     Tuesday was not really exciting just a meeting at the church with the Branch President about the less actives we need to work with.
     Wednesday we went to the other Elders area because Elder Rueda went to Cuiaba again for the doctor. It was a long day of walking but we found a Brazilian COSTCO. It was awesome and reminded me of home.
     Thursday we went on splits and Elder Rueda came to my area. It was so good first of all to not be with my companion and, second to see how another Elder teaches. This was a good experience and I learned a lot. We had an activity at the church that night and it was a poor turnout but we still continue to have it.
     Friday we switched back comps and it down poured most of the day but we still went out and visited those who needed a visit. We ended the night at Tica's and she, like always, fed us and it was good, like always.
     Saturday was an exciting day. We had a reference from somebody but only had the house color and the general location. We looked and asked around if anyone knew who this person was. No luck. when we were walking down the street we asked a guy on a bike if he knew this person. He did because it was him! He asked me if I was American because I don't have a Portuguese accent. I said yes and he responded to me in English. He was an American and moved here with his family 3 years ago. We had a good discussion and have a date to return and talk to him. i have a good feeling about this. This experience reminds me of the movie The Best Two Years. haha.
     Sunday we watched the Christmas reruns of the devotionals. It was a good week and hope for a good one this wee.  Love you all and I love your support and prayers. Sorry for the short letter but I am running low on time.
Until next time,

Elder Browning

Finally....P-Day!!!

Hello everyone,

SO....... this week was the hardest week I have ever had. it was so long and the difficulties that I have had with my companion never seemed to end. I won't bore you with all that has happened but let's just say that there were a few times that I was ready to pack up my things and head home. There were a lot of tears this week but through prayer I was able to get through each day. So, now let's talk business. 

     Monday was peaceful. After email we went to the beach and played soccer and volleyball. The sand was too hot so we left. We went Christmas shopping and then headed over to Elton's to hang out. We ended up watching Ephriam´s Rescue and it was SO GOOD!! If you have not seen it, you should find time to watch it. 

     Tuesday was a slow day and the highlight was blessing a home because she thought that Satan lived in here house. It seems like Hunter and I are casting out devils left and right!  Haha. 

     Wednesday was slow again and we had a 4 hour bible bash with a friend of a less-active. It was long and wanted to leave but my companion wanted to stay and talk. After that we went to Elton's and made home made bread then had a meeting with the Branch President about how we can strengthen the ward. It was a good meeting and gave us some ideas. 

     Thursday, Thanksgiving we did nothing for it, they don't celebrate it. Shocking! The day was slow but the night was so much fun. There was an activity at the church for anyone who wanted to come. There was soccer, ping pong, volleyball and other stuff here and there. It as so much fun and a big hit. It is a way for us to invite people to come see the church in a fun way. Lets just say that I destroyed at ping pong and pulled a hammy playing soccer but i am all good.

     Friday we went to the airport area to teach a lesson that went okay. We headed back into town and went tracting around the Church. It was a a huge success and hope we can do it again this coming week. It was also Black Friday here and they actually celebrate here, kind of. Its is a weekend sale 

(Friday through Monday). The stores close at 6pm every night so its not really black Friday.     

     Saturday we had lunch then went to Elton's to hang and help him out. We watched 2-3 different soccer games beacause we had to wait to here about where an open casket was going to be. There is a guy in our branch that his sister passed away that day.  He wanted us to come give him support so we did later that night. We went to a little service and it was sad and a little weird. It was the first time that I saw a dead person and it was a little frighting, but the service was nice and given by our Branch President. 

     Sunday it rained that morning but we still walked to church. It was raining so hard that even with an umbrella I still got soaked. By the time we got to the church my pants we soaked. Because of the rain no one came to church. We had like 3 families there and it was weird. It makes for a slow church day,  but I liked it anyways. After church we did our weekly planning and then went to talk with Arthur about a date for his baptism. It is going to be on December 11 and i am so excited!!A fter that we went to Tica's and she fed us so much food that I was about to explode. Her brother in law was over and he is not a member but loves the missionaries. We chatted with him and he is a good man. 

     Now today is Monday, and we went to the bank to get some CASH. After email we are going to Subway, shopping and then over to Elton's. 

     That's is it for this LONG week. I love being a missionary but it is the hardest thing that I have ever done. I am grateful for all of the love and support. Happy late Thanksgiving and lets get ready for the Christmas season! 

With love from here in Brazil

Elder Browning

 

This true story is as remarkable today as it was 2,000 years ago: God sent Jesus Christ, our Savior and Redeemer.

 

 The Beach

 Random Horses on the Street

This is as big as it gets here for Christmas

 

 

This Week!!!

Hello Tudo Mundo!

so this week had its ups and downs and have alot of little things to talk about. SO after email last      

     Monday we went to subway and sent shopping. we found this store called``Loga Americana`` and it was the closest thing to an American store. it had American food,toys, candy and a lot of other random stuff. after our shopping experience we headed to Elton's for PIZZA, Brazilian Style. and the only people who know what the pizza here is, are the ones who served in Brazil.

     Tuesday we went to Ticas for lunch and Igor, a friend, was there. he is super funny and we just chilled with him in the afternoon. at night we caught a glimpse of the Peru vs. Brazil game for like ten minutes. the whole city shut down because of it. 

     Wednesday we went to a members house that lives 45 minutes away walking but luckily we got a ride from out investigator so that saved us some energy.   and that afternoon we had a bible bash with someone on the street and it was so stupid. it just made me laugh.

     Thursday Elder Rueda went to Cuiabá so we were a Trio again. We spent the day in the other elders area and it was a great experience. we had a meeting with the Branch mission leader but he never showed up. so we went home and had an early night. 

     Friday was a fun day filled with excitement. First of all we went to the Bus station at 3am to pick up Elder Rueda. it was a long morning tha'ts all i am going to say. for lunch we had BBQ and then went to the River walk to try something out. We went contacting around that area. in 3 hours we gave out 20+ Book of Mormon's  and 20+ Finding Faith in Christ videos. In all we made 70+ contacts in 3 hours. it was a great experience. so after we treated ourselves to ice cream. 

     Saturday was LONG. we had a 2 hour walk to a reference house and it was hot and up hill. and it turned out they weren't home. but as we were walking back, someone stopped us and wanted to talk to us. He was baptized 3 or 4 years ago and and the missionaries never visited him after that. So we visited with him and i think that's the reason we walked 2 hours in the heat. we got a ride back into town and visited with Arthur. that day was a long one. 

     Sunday was a relaxing day here and ARTHUR came to church. He is scheduled to get baptized in the next week or so!! we had lunch at his house and played UNO. Then we wen to Elton's house to finish up the night. 

     Today after emails we are going to subway and going to try to play volleyball. then we are going to Elton's for dinner. well that's about it for this week. 

     I love you all and fell the prayers in my life. i am having a hard time right now with but i know through the Lord and all of your support, i can push through this. I love you all once again and try to stay warm where ever you are at!! 

     With much love from the bottom of my heart. 

                                                                                   Elder Browning

Bill Nye the Science Guy

     The title has no meaning, but the theme song has been stuck in my head all day. Anyways, as most of you in the US are freezing from the change in temperature, I am sweating like a pig out here getting work some work done. This week has been REALLY hot and I think it will just continue to get hot :(  This past week was so quick and had a few exciting things here and there! 
     Monday was boring because it rained, but gave us an excuse to go to SUBWAY. I know that Me and Hunter talk about Subway, but when you are hungry its the place to go. 
     Tuesday we went to the zoo( which really isn't a zoo). It's a military base that has a zoo of all the animals that they rescue from the jungle. They had snakes, leopards, turtles, birds and other random animals. 
     Wednesday was a long day because we had a 1 hour walk to a lunch appointment that was uphill and HOT!! But the walking paid off and we got 30+ contacts and 20 new investigators. Out of the 20, 2 will probably take the second discussion. That night we had dinner at a gas station and it was good!! 
     Thursday was lunch at Elton's and we had something new, PASTA. It was a good change from the meat but I still love the meat that they got here. 
     Friday we had family home evening at a less actives house and watched meet the Mormons or in Portuguese, Conhecer os Mormons. It was a terrible night because after that they wanted to watch the Minion movie, and my companion was fine with that, We didn't get back to our house until 11 pm. It was a terrible night but i have to move on. 
     Saturday we had lunch at an investigators house and the spirit was so great just eating. I hope that they will continue to progress. 
     Sunday was a great, hot and relaxing day. None of our investigators showed up which is disappointing but we can only do so much. I helped bless the sacrament again and had to repeat it twice because, my pronunciation  was wrong but its ok. After church we went to Tica's for a BBQ and then watched F-1 racing. WOW, Brazilians sure do love tv. I got a little nap in during it which was nice. after Tica's we went to talk to a reference, Rose, and it was a really great time and lesson. We spent 2-3 hours over there answering her questions and talking about the gospel. She made us cake and i swear it tasted just like Portillios cake  but who knows. After that visit we went to Elton's to hang and mess around. He is super chill and loves us. People from the ward came over to his house to talk with his wife so we were his excuse to leave that conversation and hang with us. 
     Today, Monday we are just going to walk around the city, buy some things and go to Subway again. 
    Thank you for all the love and support. I am doing of here and the language is coming one day at a time. The time here is so short and i need to get to work. I want to challenge everyone at home with something. if you went on a mission or not, a member of the church or not, missionary work is for everyone. The Lord needs his work to be done in all types of things. So if you go to bed each night and think that i could have done more, than fix that. Be kind to one another.  Serve others.  Be a good example.  As a great LDS Hymn says, We are ALL ENLISTED!! The time we have is short in this life and i have realized that my time here in Brazil is shorter than I ever imagine. Its time to get to work and prepare the way for the Second Coming. I love you all and hope that you take my words to heart. thanks for all and i will talk to you next week.

Love Elder Browning 

Riverwalk 

Churro filled with chocolate

Estou com sono, cada dia!!

Well this has been a quick week as a matter of fact. we did a lot of walking and a lot of teaching. but no one seems to want to go to church and that is a requirement for baptism. we have two potential investigators of baptism. one is Artur(8) and one is Olson(28ish) the one thing holding them back is going to church. so this week i suggested that we work with the members to help us with lessons. so we will see how that goes. we went to Subway this week for a snack and its was strange. when i walked through the doors it was like i walked into America. everything was the same and they were even playing American music. so it was nice being in a home away from home. we actually got the address of the workers there to visit because they were interested in the church. we went to Tica´s house this week like 3 times in a row and she always feeds us. we actually had cake one nigh and it was super GOOD. we got a new elder in our area. it was an emergency exchange because the new one we got was bad in the other area. yesterday was Sunday and we had church in out small branch but i love it. i was asked to bless the sacrament and it was a good opportunity to practice the language. after church we went to Luzia´s house for a Sunday BBQ. it was so good. then we went to visit less actives. We watched a soccer game at one of the less actives house and that was a little weird but its the culture. i know it sounds bad but that the culture of Brazil. we did some shopping this week and also visited some different places around town. anyways. that's about it. I love you all and the support you give me. it truly does help me in the time of need. i know the lord loves us and love all of his children. As hunter always says , God is GOOD!! That's it for me down here in Brazil and wish me luck with the work that needs to get done. Até Proximo Tempo!!!

Love Elder Browning

O Campo!!!

    Hello everyone in the North American Continent. I hope you are all enjoying the nice cold weather while i am here working in the heat. I am finally in the field and it is such a different experience. Yesterday was a holiday so  p-day was moved to today. 
    So first of all, last Tuesday I took a 2 hour plane ride form São Paulo to Cuiabá. It was very relaxing and I enjoyed the sleep that I was able to get. Upon our arrival at the airport, we were greeted by our Mission President, President Olivera running down the terminal to meet us. He is a small little Brazilian and is super awesome. His wife is just as cool as he is. We hopped in a van a headed toward the mission office. We all chilled in the mission office for the day talking, eating and interviewing. I meet an Elder that works in the mission office that is really good friends with the Milius family. His name is Elder Samuel Allen. Small Mormon world. We spent the night with the APs and just chilled.
    The next day we had training and traveled to our area. I met my companion and he is super humble, patient and loving. His name is Elder Barros and he is from North Brazil. We hopped on a bus to our area and it took 4 hours. but once again I didn't complain because I got to sleep again. We arrived in our area, called Cáceres, around 10ish that night. The next few days we did the typical missionary work. It is a tough area here because no one wants to join the church and there is a TON of less active members. The members that are active, are awesome and super cool. They feed us all the time and never let the missionaries go hungry. The members here are seriously the coolest people!!
    Sunday was great because it was fast Sunday and I had the chance to share my testimony. The branch has around 30 members and I wanted to let them know that even though that there is a language barrier there is not a love barrier that I have for them. The church building is small but it does have air conditioning.
     Yesterday we had dinner at Eltons house (super cool member) and we had a Brazilian BBQ. The thing here in Brazil is that you eat until you can't eat no more and then you are forced to eat more. anyways..... Elton is super cool and plans on taking a trip to the US with his family to go to the different temples.
    Well I am sure there is more that I could write but I cant remember. I love the emails each week from everyone and I feel the prayers in my life. I am so grateful to be apart of this culture and even though it will be hard I always know that there are people supporting me at home. The Church is true no matter where you are at in the world and the gospel is for everyone. I always look at a person that we contact in White temple clothes and it reminds me that we are all children of God.
    Until next week with more stories to tell.
With so much love from here in the south,   Elder Browning

Some other things about where I am.....
Our area is huge and all we do is walk. It is super hot and humid. Alot of stray dogs and the streets are crazy with cars, motorcycles and people. Its rains almost everyday at some point. The people here are way cool and are doing the best they can to help me understand and feel loved. The hardest part is that I want to talk with them but I cant. I want to listen to them but I cant. I have a great Brazilian trainer and he is so patience and loving. He knows about 2 or 3 words in english. I live a house and it is big for the area that we live in. The only American restaurant is subway. The area is huge and we share it with 2 other elders. We do ALOT of walking. The streets are dirt and sometimea paved. Its also really crazy that one one house is super super nice with a yard and a fence then the one right next to its is a little shack. its very odd.

 Me and Kevin on our last day at the CTM

 Getting a ride to an investigators house

 The Brazillian BBQ

 Elton - He is super cool