Hudson Wisconsin

May 16, 2011


Hey Family,

My first week in Wisconsin and it has been a great experience so far! I'm glad i have the chance to grow and to develop my missionary skills. It was hard leaving Eden Prairie, but i know the Lord wants me to stretch and grow.

The Hudson area is pretty massive. Hudson itself has 11,000 and has other small farm towns that surround Hudson. It takes me back to good old Shelley,Idaho--farms as far as the eye can see! The lay of the land is totally different from Eden Prairie! We're right next to the river that's basically the border for Minnesota and Wisconsin. Oh and lots of bars, Wisconsin loves their beer!

The ward is super supportive and we have a good amount of members. The missionaries have done a great job in this area with the members. We live with members- The Groth family. They're an older couple that's retired. They love missionaries and they have been kind enough to let us live in their basement. We cover a singles branch too! So we attend 6 hours of church. I love it! The singles branch is pretty sad. We have 7 men and 4 women? Haha it will be cool working with the singles though.

Elder Bowen is an amazing missionary! He's 25 years old, super mature and really buff haha. He's a way good companion that's mellow and bold and the same time. He's showing me the ropes and helping me be a zone leader. It has been a humbling experience thus far. Of course, i knew this would happen, but I'm seeing humility at a new level. It's a totally different situation coming from an area that you're used to, and training the last 41/2 months. I have to take the back seat and learn from an older and more wise missionary. It's neat to see how perfect Elder Bowen is for me, he'll help me in my overall growth. I'm grateful for this time to serve as a leader, but the best part about leadership is helping other missionaries out. It's been a neat experience working with different teams. We get to travel a lot more and help other areas that are struggling. Our zone conference we'll be this Wednesday. President Howell has asked me to conduct. I'm excited and a little nervous at the same time. We're also going down to Redwing tomorrow to bliz their area. It's fun being a zone leader!

Alright family i miss you and hope all is well. I can't believe that story Dad shared with me about the Jones family. It's so cool that the Lord watches over all of us at the same time. I'll continue to pray for you all! I'm looking forward to this next week...we're going to be pretty busy.

My scripture of the week is 2 Nephi 9:41.

Love,

Elder Browning