Transfer 3 week 4

Helllllo!
Well to start off, I was feeling SO much better this week. I rested all last P-day and woke up the next day feeling great. I am still getting some head aches, but nothing that medicine can't solve. So I woke up Wednesday ready to take on the world!! That's what it feels like here sometimes, with investigators ALL over the world! It's hard to plan times to call them, because we only have so much time available on the phones, and we have investigators in Australia, Portugal, England, Brasil, all over the states, etc. So with all the different times zones, it's hard sometimes. But we are master planners.

So about the pie pictures... one of the senior elders brought the sisters in the Beehive house pie last night! We ate that thing like no one has ever seen before. He brought it at like 8:15 and we head home at 8:45, so then we went home and planned, feeling great! And Sister Rodrigues and I have been on a health kick, and so we've been doing a military ab workout, but were unable to do it yesterday morning because we had some assignments. So we decided to do it after planning! Not a good idea... About 5 minutes after Sister Rodrigues and I were not feeling too great. VERY nauseous. I headed to the bathroom first and met that pie again... Sister Rodrigues followed shortly after. All night we just kept smelling the puke, it was pretty gross. So we didn't get much sleep last night, thankfully we have AMAZING roommates who take care of us! They warmed up my rice pack tiger stuffed animal, got me water, chocolate (Sister Ficquet's comfort food, not complaining), and anything we could imagine. Cool story though: We also went to tacotime yesterday with our Zone leaders, and I haven't had soda since 2012... but I felt impressed to get sprite that day! So I did! And it was great. I refilled it before I left and put it in our fridge when we got home. For those of you smart mommies out there, you know that Sprite is GREAT on an upset stomach. And so after the pie incident last night, I was able to drink the sprite and feel so much better. Tender mercy of the Lord: prompting me to get soda for the first time in a long time, because he knows I'm imperfect and will do something completely stupid like do a tough ab workout after eating pie. I repent. 

Something cool about being right in Salt Lake is we have the opportunity to see many of the Apostles all the time. Like Elder Oaks, Elder Anderson, Elder Cook, etc. But the rule is, we can't approach them, even if we see them at the grocery store or City creek. We can only talk to them if they come to us first. Well I was stationed at a desk and none other than Elder Anderson walks by! You can always tell when they're here because the security load triples. Well he came up to Sister Rodrigues and I and talked to us for a little bit. He is a lot shorter in person, but you can truly feel his power and authority through his handshake. I feel so blessed to be in such a special and holy place.

President and Sister Poulsen have been interviewing all the Sisters to get to know them more, and this last week I had the privilege of having my interview! I have already spoken to them so much these past couple weeks regarding investigators, but it was nice to just sit down and talk with them. They asked me a lot of questions about me, my family, my goals for my mission, plans for after my mission, etc. And then they asked me about my conversion story, when did I know that the Gospel was true. Well I shared about Frida, and when I bore my testimony to her when she was in the coma, and that's when I knew without a doubt that this was true. Well President, Sister Poulsen and I all started crying. When we walked out everyone was asking "what happened in there?!" But President and Sister Poulsen are so great, they true love us each so much! I am so blessed to have them as my mission presidents. I KNOW that I was called here so that they could be my mission presidents.

I went on a lot of exchanges this week with Sisters who were 1st or 2nd transfers, so I had to kinda take the reins on contacting in the square. A lot of the sisters here are really shy because for a lot of them, English is their 2nd or 3rd language! But in one of the contacts this week, we found a young couple of probably 21 years of age. The guy had just returned from his mission, and we found them around the Temple model. And this is one of my favorite things to talk about! I LOVE the Temple, especially since I got to serve as a ordinance worker before my mission. So we get to talking to them about the Temple, and show them the rooms inside and explain the the girl kinda what happens. I love asking members who have experienced things that others haven't, such as the temple, to bear their testimony about their experiences. Because you can see the excitement and joy that it has brought them. That's why member present lessons are so important! It is another witness of the reality of this Gospel, it shows that we aren't all missionary robots as people often think we are. Member presents are the key to softening hearts, and opening the doorway to understanding.

Today Sister Rodrigues and I were on the square, and we got a text for a tour. We jumped at it! It was 2 men in their early 50's, here for skiing. One of them had come to the Square before and wanted to bring his friend here because he had such a great experience last time! We started at the Temple model and they absolutely loved it! They were so interested in baptisms and eternal families. They had the golden questions that every missionary dreams of!!! Like "Where are we going after this life?" And "What happened to God's authority after the Apostles got killed?" Well, we can answer that my friend! We took them to the SVC and went to Scriptures and Revelation, where it has exhibits on the Old testament, New Testament, and the Book of Mormon. So PRIME place to teach the restoration, and so we taught them about the restoration and come to find out, one of them has read the entire Book of Mormon! Well without us even asking, he started bearing his testimony of it straight to his friend, saying things like "Well you see Jerry, the Book of Mormon is another testament of Jesus Christ, and if you read it, you can know for yourself too! It all makes sense as you read it." It was so awesome! We ended at the Christus and ended up giving them both Book of Mormons and they both referred. So I'll keep you updated on our two new friends, David and Jerry!

This past week I had some GREAT personal studies. I was reading Matthew 26, which is about some of the last few moments of Christs life. And something that really stuck out to me was in verse 21 when Christ told his Apostles that one of them will betray him, and in verse 22 each one of the Apostles asked if it would be him to betray Christ. These are Christ's apostles asking this... they are unsure if it is them who will betray Him. Not one of them came forth and said that he would not be the one to betray their Savior! And then I got to thinking, what would I do? Would I have the faith enough to step forward and state with full confidence that I wouldn't betray Him? This is something that is going to be a lifelong goal and process, to continually build my faith and testimony of the Gospel, so that no matter what whirlwind's or storms come, I will be ready and prepared to stand firm in my testimony. We are never done with our testimony, it is either progressing or digressing, and it is your choice.

I am obsessed with missionary work, and I truly believe that every worthy and able member should serve, no matter the gender or circumstance. I was reading in D&C19 and in verse 31-32 and I love when it says "for this shall suffice for thy daily walk." If we look just before that it says that we should spend our days declaring repentance, faith on the Savior, baptism, and receiving the Holy Ghost. And that's exactly what we do as missionaries. And THIS is what will suffice our daily walk on the straight and narrow path. Being a missionary at ALL times will keep us on the path of Godliness. And then we turn to section 18 in D&C, which is one of my new all time favorites. It's talking about the apostles, but I would like to substitute disciples in (that's US!). How great will be our joy if we bring one soul unto Christ, and if our joy be great with one, what about many? We have been given SO much as members of Christ's church, we are rich with blessings! We have His gospel. And we're promised even more blessings and happiness as we share it? Woah. I have seen that as some of my great friends have entered into the waters of baptism: Rodrigo, Jordan, Thomas, Dan, Roger, Scott, Shawntay, Paul, Marcelo, Gabriella, etc! They are all so near and dear to me. And have brought SO much joy into my like as I have seen them partake of the goodness of the Gospel. I want to finish with testifying my witness of the reality of the scripture D&C 18:45, "Wherefore, the blessings which I hive unto you are above all things." I am so blessed to be a missionary. There is no greater happiness than sharing this gospel that I love so much, and I am excited to do it for the rest of my life. this I testify in the name of my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, amen. 

And Sister Torino and I

A chat Sister Torino and I took while on exchanges.... she obviously doesn't know what Bi-polar means........ HAHA 

It was a slow night in the Beehive so I jumped the fence and went upstairs... and while I was being rebellious I thought I'd kiss my old friend. George Washington.

Sister Rodrigues, Jesus and I. Our beautiful artwork in our apartment that isn't allowed to hang on the wall. But we LOVE this picture. 

Me every night after planning... writing away! I'm earning my steak Scott! 

Love you all and hope you have a great week!

-Sister Brock