Another Great Week!

Jul 18, 2011

Hey Family,

Despite the extremely hot weather, this week has been another eye opener. Josh Hudson was baptized yesterday and confirmed. Then i was able to attend the temple for another sealing. This makes it two times in 2 weeks - not a lot of missionaries get that luxury. It actually has been really nice being so close to the St Paul Temple. It approximately takes us 20 minutes to get there.

Josh Hudson has entered the waters of baptism. Elder Bowen baptized him and i had the privilege of giving him the Holy Ghost. Being on the mission i have learned the importance of the Holy Ghost and how real and sensitive it really is. It was extra neat because the Hudson Family is a broken family. Sister Hudson's husband past away years ago, and she has 3 kids at home with Josh being the oldest. Can i tell you this is wonderful news for them? They will soon have a priesthood holder in their home. The Hudson family was baptized a couple years back but it took Josh a while to make the commitment. He finally did and what a wonderful sight it was. As i confirmed Josh a member i promised him that if he stayed true to his covenant he would be an example for his family and help take care of them with the priesthood. I was really drained after the confirmation/blessing because i tried my best to be in tune with the Lord and exerted all my energy to say what the Lord wanted.

Also I was able to see the Weaver's get sealed. They're an older couple that Elder Bowen reactivated a year ago. My Testimony of the temple continues to become more refined.

This last week we were in our own area for a total of 3 days. Where have we been? We've been working with other missionaries in our zone. Elder Bowen and I are really big fans of blitzing other areas and sacrificing our own time in helping other missionaries. It's a great opportunity to get to know the missionaries in our zone which allows us to help them and their personal development in becoming more excellent servants for the Lord. We usually spend the night and go on a mini exchange or split and work in their area and then have PPI's. I have really learned to love other missionaries. We're all in this together and i've been able to make some great friends in the process. Because we're also on the road, we eat out a lot. I'm not going to complain here, but it's pretty hard to not go broke in the last two weeks of the month. HAHA

The weather has been crazy. Sunday was a hot humid day. It's really hard to describe the feeling of 90% humidity on top of 90 degree weather. Let me just say it's not a comfortable feeling! It feels like I'm in the amazon jungle over here, and I'm definitely not in Idaho. Wednesday we had the biggest thunder storm. Boy the storms are crazy here. Lots of homes had flooded basements. You know how a typical movie has a thunder storm and it just sounds perfect? Yeah it feels like I'm in a movie here with the weather. Right as the thunder sounds the lighting follows then seconds later the rain comes- just like your typical movie.

The last two weeks i've been working on my golfing skills. Now i can't do too much because it's expensive, but i think i'll pick up this sport when i come home. Grandpa Eliason has always had an influence on me!

The basketball hoop looks legit! I hope you guys have some good games coming. Remember me in spirit.

Love you family and hope the dry heat treats you better than the humid heat. Pray for me to survive this week. We're doing a bunch of finding this week, which means a lot of door to door contacts and I get to work on my farmers tan =) I'll be drinking lots of water. Alright i just memorized a sweet scripture, Alma 5:7. Check it out!

Love,
Elder Browning