Crazy Times

Jun 7, 2011


Hey family,

The past week has been a crazy one, more mental than anything.

We've had 3 trainings in the last week by President and Sister Howell because our mission is awaiting for the transition that will take place in 3 weeks. These meetings make me so tired! They're pretty stressful when you think about it. President Howell told us when the mission receives a new mission president they usually drop in number across the board. This has been a great concern for the mission, hence why we've had 3 trainings to help us with this transition. At this point, the Minnesota Minneapolis Mission has been at its all time high. We gotta keep this success going! President Howell and Sister Howell do a great job motivating us missionaries. To start out the meeting, they showed us a video clip. This clip showed team track and field Jamaica and Bolt (the fastest man alive) break the world record in a sprint relay. It was awesome to see a sports clip! Every single missionary was into it! They showed the hand off for the baton and how it has to be smooth. They related this to missionary work-- its crucial that we have to keep ourselves going full speed with this transition. It was neat to see President and Sister Howell tailor certain parts of their training to the struggling missionaries. We have one missionary that wants to go home. That's a huge lesson I've learned being out here that President and Sister Howell care about the individual struggles of each missionary. I was also able to catch up with my boy Elder Filby. Eden Prairie is rocking the house! They have 4 dates set! They actually tracked into someone and set a date! Also Heid's kids are getting baptized this Saturday.

Our goal for 60 baptisms is on track and looking good. We had 17 baptisms last week with lots more to come! There has been tons of hype in the air. There is a really good brotherhood feel here on the mission that i haven't felt before yet. This week will be miracle week. Each of our district leaders will be having a conference call prayer with their teams. We're having every team report miracles big or small. Our zone is struggling to pull its own weight. I hope we can have some miracles this week.

As far as the work in our area, we were able to set a date with Joshua Hudson. He's a 17 year old young man, way cool humble guy, and his mother joined the church about 2 years ago- missionaries tracked into this family. We also had dinner with the Hunts( member family). We taught their neighbor/friend (Michelle) for the second time. We taught her the plan of salvation. She believes everything that we said! Our church would help her family so much! Right now she's a Lutheran but is looking for a different religion. Dang thanks to our members giving us referrals. Can i say that this ward is very missionary minded? We actually have a couple of member families who are working with their friends. Example, we helped our members-the Squire family- help their friends move. What an easy way to introduce the missionaries! We've had a lot of these scenarios going on. Its been nice to wear jeans! I've been wearing more regular clothes this transfer than my entire mission! Lots of service opportunity. We also had a awesome church tour with our progressing investigator Brittany. We challenged her to baptism but she's not ready yet. She's so close to making the commitment! The spirit was strong as we taught the Restoration while giving a church tour.

Another miracle to report, Buffalo Wild Wing has a lunch deal 9 bucks for all you can eat wings! Haha, missionaries are diving into this deal! We had a p-day lunch with some of the Elders in our zone, it was a lot of fun. HAHa

Well family i love you all! This next week is going to be crazy! We're heading to Eau Claire tomorrow to blitz their area, its about a 2 hour drive into East Wisconsin. Its probably the furthest east our mission goes. I can't wait for the sleep over! It's fun working with other missionaries.

Love,

Elder Browning

Scripture-- Isaiah 41:10