Elder Tanner Brown: Dos Intercambios "Two Exhanges" (April 22-29)

No hymn this week...

Hey all!

This week went fast! On Monday I got a pretty short preparation day, because we did service for a part member family instead! We trimmed down their tree and threw away a truck load of branches, sticks, and leaves at the dump. After that we had Family Home Evening with some members and they invited some nonmembers and less active members too. We got to know M_____ who I will call Mike. He is a new person we will be teaching, who is just now starting to be curious about religion. He really likes Family Home Evening because of the short, simple, and sweet gospel messages. It is always really cool to see, true curiosity being answered by the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Tuesday we were down in Alexandria for the day on Exchanges. There is a lot of Spanish speaking people that live there, and I just smiled and nodded a lot. Unlike my brother, I am not good at picking up Spanish, all of a sudden. Lol. We found two really cool things while we were down there though! We got a picture next to Ole, and a picture of this really cool Vietnam war memorial. We also helped out at a food shelf in Alexandria, and they gave a whole bunch of free food. We wouldn't have taken it, but they literally just stacked food on us and told us to take it. They gave us a Full Turkey! What the heck am I supposed to do with that! So we ended up giving it to a member here.

Wednesday we helped some members in Brainerd move out. We started at 10 in the morning and finished at 4:30! It took a long while but, we were glad we came to help, otherwise it would not have gotten done. Then we were going to teach mission prep, but they were having a pizza party instead. The youth here won a stake wide seminary competition, so they got to have pizza and other food, and play games. So we left and talked with the elders in our district instead.

On Thursday and Friday it was hard to talk or set up anything with people, because Avengers: Endgame had just came out. It doesn't surprise me though because that movie is like a milestone marker in the film industry, of course everyone wants to watch it. We had district Council on Thursday, and then we served at the food shelf. Then we tried contacting people all night, but it wasn't to successful, for the aforementioned reason. Friday we were able to have lunch and a lesson with another new person B____ whom I will call Bob. Bob has gone through a lot in his life, and is striving to be the best he can, and really likes us missionaries. He wants us over whenever we can, and he is just so ready for change, its awesome!

Saturday we had an Exchange with our Zone Leaders and I was in Brainerd with Elder Roundy. We tracted a bit, but we really didn't get to have any lessons until after 5:30 at night. We ended up skipping our dinner, because we finally had some people wanting to talk with us. We talked to some really cool members for an hour about how we all gained our testimonies. It was really good, to hear there experiences. Then we went over to a couple that has been taught off and on by missionaries, but they really only wanted to be our friends, and don't really want to hear about the gospel. So we probably won't go over there again for a long while. Sometimes it takes a while for people to become ready and we have to be patient with them.

Sunday we spent the day in the Crosby area again. We went to church in Atkin (about an hour away) and then spent the day getting to know more members in the Crosby area. Crosby is about 20 minutes out of Brainerd and Atkin. There are some really crazy rednecks with a thick Minnasotin accent. There is this 75 year old that drives his truck and four by four around drunk, 24/7. The stories are just hilarious. Then the members were talking about eating Rabbits and going coon huntin'. I thought some of the people in Brainerd were interesting, but comparatively they are about as normal as you could get, to the people in Crosby.

To end on a happy note, Linnie came to church on Sunday, and she really enjoyed it! She wants to come every week and a member has agreed to drive every week too! We taught her in person Friday night and will see her in person again tomorrow (Tuesday). When we talked with her, she said she heard the spirit literally talk to her, and told she needed to go to church! She is stronger with the spirit than most people I have met, it is really cool! Anyways, love you all, and I hope you all have a fantastic week!

-Elder Brown