And they say its gets cold here.....

So the first thing that President Walker said when we got into Mexico was, "I hope you like the cold because we are in the cold season." He was being completely serious when he said it. Well he doesn't know (well he does because he has my papers) that I'm from Chicago.

For instance, today as we were going to Comida (its the big dinner meal here at 2)I saw a man with a heavy coat on, and a kid with a ski mask on. Let me inform you, my dear friends,its 30-35Cº which is about 86-95Fº. THESE PEOPLE DON'T KNOW WHAT COLD IS! But i am a little scared to see what hot is.

So lets see this week...1st off these are some new things I have realized about the people of Mexico

1. the salsa is 2 flavors hot and super hot
2. the people talk at 2 levels quiet and quieter
3. the people play their music at 2 levels loudest and loudestestestest
4. the people have 2 teams Los Rayados and Los Tigres (kind of like the White Sox and Cubs rivalry, except the Rayados win a lot, including this year) needless to say I'm a Rayados and my companion says now i am officially Mexican for buying and being a Rayado
5. i found that the way Mexicans express jokes or sarcasm is by sticking our their tongue after they say something.(its hard to explain but if you ever have been around true Mexicans you know what i mean)

I also have been building a list of the most common expressions/words here in Mexico
1. andale - right on, cool, filler word
2. a poco - really?
3. ahorrita - normally this means right, right now but here in Mexico it means in 2 hours.

So now for the goods. This past week we had splits, yes my companion hates me (no he doesn't he just...trust me...?), anyways, we did splits and the only reason i agreed was because my temporary companion spoke English. Moving on, while tracting we met this man named Frenendo. He was very friendly and listened to what we had to say but there's a catch...he was really knowledgeable in the Bible and anything we had to say he backed it up with the bible. More or less it turned into a bit of a bible bash. I felt prompted to bear my testimony and promise the blessings of reading the Book of Mormon. As i did so, the tension stopped and there was a calming feeling. He accepted to read the Book of Mormon and the restoration pamphlet and accepted another visit.
As we left my companion said to me, "What happened back there? I was like this guy knows what he is talking about and has some guts being so bold and promising blessing like that."
I don't remember everything that happened or what i said but i do know in that moment i became a mouthpiece and instrument for the Lord. **side note: my Spanish still isn't the greatest and my companion said it was fluent and perfect**
Also later that night we went to visit an inactive part-member family we've been trying to find for the past 2 weeks. Again i really didn't know what was being said or what was going on but i felt prompted to share a certain scripture with the family. After the appointment my companion was like...

Him "Did you know what was going on?"
Me "No"
Him "Are you sure?"
Me " Yea why?"
Him "You shared a scripture that dealt with his (the father,and nonmember) problem exactly and answered his question to the T"

I write this week to say that the gift of tongues is real. That Heavenly Father lives and knows ALL his children by name, he knows their needs and who and what can help. Jesus Christ lives, he came to this world to fulfill a plan created long before anyone of us came here. To take upon himself the sins of the world, of you, me and anyone else willing to submit to his will and give him a broken heart and a contrite spirit.

I would like to leave you all a scripture found in 2 Ne 22:2. "Behold, God is my salvation; I will trust, and not be afraid; for the Lord Jehovah is my strength and my song; he also has become my salvation"
Read it and think how individually we can make the Lord our strength and song. When we will trust in him, everything and anything is possible. Remember the true reason of this wonderful season, the birth of our beloved older brother.

Love you all, thank you for the prayers and have a VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS!!

Elder Browning

PS pics next week! ¡Estén Animados!