This week has been CRAY!!

Familia!

So, the Spanish Elders are trying to teach Sister W and I 

some Spanish...it's not going so great. I mean all I have 

to go off of is what I learned from Dora. #merica 

It sounds like everyone is having a solid week! Wyatt 

crashing on bikes, Dad finishing up the bathroom, 

Mom with the beehives. Love it!

Ahhh, where do I start for this week? Well. It started off 

like any other week.  But, then, on Thursday, we had just 

finished our Weekly Planning and prayed and all of that

good stuff, when we got up from off the floor, Sister W 

got a little light headed, and her head started hurting. 

We just continued to pack up, and get going.  I was down 

stairs getting dishes we needed to return to the member 

whose house we were going to for lunch (Sister T, who is 

THE awesomest lady, EVER. She's hilarious.) 

Sister W came down, and looked really dazed..which was 

weird. I asked her if the mason jar I was holding was the 

only thing that needed to be returned to Sister T..she

looked at me with confusion and couldn't understand 

what I was saying, until I said it slowly. But even then, she 

couldn't really reply. I thought it was weird, and even the 

other sisters we live with noticed what was going on and

they thought it was strange. 

Well, we got in the car, and started to head to Sister T's, 

which is only 10 minutes away, which is a BLESSING. About 

half way there, Sister W tells me that she has lost vision in

her right perifial (I can't spell). This is one of the many points 

that I start to become very concerned.  She couldn't pull 

over and let me drive, because I didn't have driving privileges. 

So.  You can obviously see the problem we were having. She 

continued to drive to Sister T's. When we pulled into the drive 

way, the right side of her body went numb. I then told her to

look at me, and stick out her tongue. Because, I was looking 

for signs of a stroke. Once the numbness switched from her 

right side to her left side, I had enough, and called Sister R 

(our President's wife), because Sister W was still insisting on 

going in and eating some pork chops and mashed potatoes 

with Sister T. 

So, I called Sister R, and told her what was happening, all 

she could say was "Wait..WHAT?" She then, hung up with 

us, and called Dr. D (the mission doc). He even freaked 

out and told her to tell us to get to the E.R. right away. 

And when Dr. D freaks out, you know it's bad, because 

his usual medicine for everything is "Drink some water, 

and go run". So. Before Sister R called back, I ran into the 

Sister T's to tell her what was happening, and that we were 

really really sorry we couldn't stay for lunch. She understood, 

of course.  So, I get back to the car, and Sister R calls us 

back to tell us to get to the Hospital, like 10 minutes ago. 

So, I got permission to drive.  We had to go clear to 

Frederick, Maryland, which is about 45 minutes away.

And, before I go on, just dropping this piece of information 

might shed some light on the panic that was rushing through 

my body...  Maryland IS the worst place for drivers. Like, that's 

not just me saying that. It's statistics. STATISTICS.  

So, recap..Sister W is possibly dying, and I have to drive for 

my first time, in MARYLAND!

We get to the hospital, and it's Valet Parking...Which I've 

never done in my life.,so that was weird.  We get into the 

E.R., we go check in, and the man at the desk calls someone 

and says "We have a young lady down here with symptoms 

of a stroke".  Inside, I'm screaming "WHAT?!?!", but on the 

outside I show no emotion, because I didn't want to scare

Sister W.  They got her in right away. Got her vitals.  Took 

her to a CT Scan. All within the first 15 minutes of being there. 

Oh, and while she was getting her vitals taken, Sister R 

walked in, which I almost melted at that point, because it's 

like seeing your mom walk in. We call her our Mission Mom, 

because she is! Turns out, Sister W had a Complex Migraine,

which has the same symptoms as a stroke.

They pumped her full of medicine and liquids, and let her 

sleep. We were there for most of the day. After we knew 

everything was going to be okay, Sister R left us.  I got a lot 

of reading done..like A LOT.  Oh, and in the midst of all of 

this happening, the Elders in Frederick came and gave her

a blessing. Which, after that, everyone in the room was so 

calm. No stress. No tears. Ahhhh. THE CHURCH IS TRUE. 

Anyway, that's what my week has been like.  After that, we 

had to take it super easy until yesterday (Sunday). 

Today, is our first normal day back as missionaries. 

I got a lot of studying and decorating done! 

I decorated my planner, and I made a scripture case out 

of a cereal box. Pretty legit. 

We've been inside most of the week, so not a lot more to tell. 

Although, we do have a funny story from yesterday. 

All of us missionaries (there's 6 of us serving in one ward, 

yeah, there's that many missionaries out right now...!) 

standing in the hall after our morning meeting. And Brother N, 

he's an older guy, came through and shook all of the Elder's 

hands, and then turns to Sister W and I, stares, then grabs 

Sister W into a hug, and then grabs me, and just hugs us, 

while we stand there like boards..there was no escape, because 

we were standing against a wall! hahaha. He pulled away and 

the look on all of the Elder's faces were priceless. They all were 

beat red, trying not to laugh. #missionaryprobs 

I'm sure Heavenly Father was laughing right along with us (:

Well, family, that's bout it!

I love you all, and miss you!

<3/ Sister Cas Brinkerhoff

It's Snowing.... AGAIN -_-

Mom, yes I got both packages! 

Thank you so much. 

It was really fun to open up my Birthday/Saint Patty's day one. 

It was a different experience. My companion was in the shower, 

so I was able to open it alone. It sounds depressing..but I loved 

it. And here's why...we analyze each other all the time (things you 

do as missionaries to stay sane...haha). 

And for me, we discovered that I'm uncomfortable when people 

expect a reaction out of me...like when opening a present. So, the

fact that I was able to open it alone, meant that I could have all 

the emotions I wanted. It was all happy, don't worry ;)  I loooove 

all of my socks!  And the mints upon mints! You know my heart. 

Transfers are a week from tomorrow, so on the 26th. But, we're 

pretty sure I'm staying put. Most missionaries stay in an area for

3-4 transfers. Especially because I'm training still...

My birthday was awesome. 

We just did the normal missionary thing.

We had District Meeting in the morning. Afterwards, we normally 

go out to lunch, but, ya know, no one is made of money, so we 

all packed lunches, and stood around in the kitchen and ate

together. Elder O (my District Leader), got into the freezer and 

broke out a giant Reese's Ice Cream cake! This is how awesome

my district is. We all are so caring for each other! So everyone 

sang Happy Birthday to me, while I stood there awkwardly, not 

knowing what to do with my hands (you get awkward when you're 

a missionary).  After that, we had a couple of appointments, that 

fell through, unfortunately. But alas, the discouraging spirit was 

not with us, for it was my birthday! haha.

For dinner, The D's (members) and Sister D(another member), 

took myself and my companion out for dinner to Mountain View 

Diner (while we're on the subject of mountains, everyone says it 

wrong here..they pronounce the T. Don't they know the T is silent? ; ) 

Great food! Oh my goodness. When they say Diner serving sizes,

they ain't kiddin! We almost died. Almost. 

Sister D gave me a balloon, and clipped it to my chair, ain't she 

sweet? Love the D's! While we were sitting and just chattin, 

this little handicapped boy came and jacked my balloon! 

haha. His mom or grandma (it's hard to tell out here), came to 

give it back to me..but I just let him have it.  What am I gonna do 

with a balloon? haha. Plus, it made him really happy. So might as 

well! Oh, and Sister W gave me some little goodies, and left them 

on my desk for me to find that morning.  She's really the best

companion ever. (: We have SO much fun.

So, our Zone...we're all pretty big fans of Laser Tag. And, it just so 

happens there is a Laser Tag warehouse in our District. So what 

do we do on Preparation Days? Yep. You guessed it. We play 

some Laser Tag! Ohhh my goodness. It's so fun. We went the last 

2 Mondays. Yesterday, we were snowed in until 12:00...and we had 

the option of emailing yesterday, or playing Laser Tag and emailing 

today. We chose the latter. We knew you'd understand. Come on..

LASER TAG. I don't mean to brag...but I'm pretty bomb. I was really

frustrating Elder R (my Zone Leader). I was just too fast for him..haha. 

In fact, I was me against 3 Elders...guess who TOTALLY DOMINATED. 

Yup. Yours truly. After this, I'll be having a big ole slice of humble pie.

Oh, and a funny story for this week (it's hard to pick just one,

because we really do laugh all the time), was just the other night. 

We were doing our nightly ritual of saying a miracle, saying one

thing we liked about each other, and one thing we liked about

ourselves. Okay, actually, it's a running story...so I'll start from the 

beginning. The first night (I can't remember which day, surry), we 

were doing our ritual, and we fell asleep in the middle of saying 

something we liked about each other. About a half hour to 45 

minutes later, I hear Sister W roll over and say "sooo what did 

you like about yourself today?", I peek over my shoulder to see if

this was real life, and she was out cold! haha She's a sleep talker. 

Which provides many funny moments for me. (;  The next night, 

she was telling me how she was proud of herself for thinking to 

pray when she didn't feel good, so we could stay out and continue 

to work. These are her words, "I'm just really thankful for prayer, 

because, if I hadn't I would feel better. And, that's just why the 

ribbons are always there...WHAT?" hahahaha. She was half asleep...

if it's not obvious.  And then, last night, it was 3 in the morning ish...

her and I are both sleep talkers, so I woke up to us having a 

conversation. In. Our. Sleep. In the morning, I asked her if she 

remembered it...she vaguely remembers...haha. It was just too funny. 

Interesting fact...I'm pretty sure I'm lactose intolerant. I've switched 

to Almond Milk, and man, do I feel better! And I've been trying my 

best to avoid dairy products...it's paying off. And when I do have to 

eat dairy, I feel disgusting for the rest of the day. So, thank you dad 

for that. 

Spiritual moment of this week, was today at Zone Training. 

The last 45 minutes, was on the Atonement. The Atonement 

is near to my heart. But, we watched a video Elder Eyring 

and Elder Holland speaking with Christ's sufferings playing. 

Maaan, was a bawling. Even though we have so much fun, 

there are the hard times where we get rejected, or have 

doubts, or have thoughts of going home...I want to share 

the testimony I wrote down...

"When I start to think that this is too hard, that I deserve a break,

I need to remember and think of Christ, my Savior. 

The one and only perfect Missionary.

He knows.

How could I complain of rejections, and the home sickness, 

When Christ...He was the One that was ultimately rejected. 

He suffered in the Garden of Gethsemane. 

He bled from every pore...for ME.

He withstood hours of torture...for ME.

He hung, and died on the cross...FOR ME.

All the while, not complaining, not wanting to give up.

He did it to save my soul.

So, I must go and do as He has commanded, 

to rescue my brothers and sisters.

I owe it to HIM!

From this day forth, the rest of my mission,

the rest of my life,

I will live and do for HIM!"

I say these things, in the name of our Savior, Jesus Christ, Amen.

I want to bear testimony of how powerful the Atonement is. 

And how real the Grace of God is. I can't even put into words 

how much it has helped me, and others around me.  

God loves us. He sets us up to SUCCEED. 

As long as we obey Him, we will be just fine. 

It's just that simple. 

I love you all, so much. 

<3/ Your missionary,

Sister Cas Brinkerhoff

Because, all we need to know, is that He loves us. The rest falls into place.

Familia!

This week has been crazy. First, we haven't had a car 

since Tuesday. Which, would normally be fine..but our

area is really spread out. Aaaand there are some really 

sketchy areas in Charles Town! So, it's been interesting, 

to say the least. 

We did exchanges! For my first time. It was so awesome! 

We exchanged with our Sister Trainer Leaders (which is 

the equivalant of a Zone Leader, only female form). I 

stayed here in Charles Town with Sister H, and Sister W 

went to Martinsburg with Sister S. Both sisters are so 

amazing. We love them, tons!

I introduced Sister H to Sister S (the member that doesn't

believe in anything of the church any more, and she's also 

the one that verbally attacked us last week). Cause, I was 

trying to explain to her what happened, and she thought 

maybe we should give it another chance. So we did, but 

of course Sister S was as sweet as pie! Which was good...

but now my Sister Trainer Leader doesn't fully understand. 

Whatever. It was good. haha. 

I probably shouldn't tell you this, but, because we didn't 

have a car, and because there were no members that 

would pick up their phone or that could give us a ride, 

we had to start walking. But, unfortunately, the only road 

to get into Charles Town (because we don't live in our 

area, we live in Harper's Ferry), is a major high way. So, 

we had to walk down in the gully, in the mud, so we 

wouldn't get ran over. People kept honking at us. Yeah, 

it was...interesting. Oh! But then, we got hit on by a hobo! 

We passed him and smiled, because that's what you do 

as a missionary, and he said hi, and told us we were pretty 

girls. We just awkwardly laughed, and then he said "no you

 really are!", we proceeded to walk a little faster, and then 

he shouted out "maybe I should follow you!" That's when 

we walked even faster and prayed. hahaha. It was hilarious. 

He was harmless...just...weird. 

I learned so much on exchanges. It blows my mind every 

day, how much I learn! I'm so stoked to see how much

I'll learn in the next 16 1/2 months. Can you believe it's 

already been a month and half?!? STRAIGHT UP CRAY. 

But really, I love being a missionary. It's hard sometimes, 

because I miss my family and friends, but, oh my goodness...

every part is worth it. SO WORTH IT. This work is amazing.

I can't even express how much it has already changed my 

life. I don't even recognize myself anymore, but in a good 

way. Everyone says that you lose that 'MTC Spark' about a 

month in...but I haven't lost it yet. I'm so excited to be a 

missionary. It's different for everyone, though. We were just 

talking with the Harper's Ferry sisters (whom we live with), 

and Sister D was asking us how we cope with being a normal 

human, and a missionary at the same time. And the only 

thing I could think of was to lose yourself. Who cares if you 

don't do your 'normal' things anymore. My normal things are 

ridiculous and petty compared to what I'm doing now! 

AH. I LOVE BEING A MISSIONARY. I never want to stop. I don't 

want to come home..honestly. If I could stay in Missionary life, 

with my family with me, for the rest of my life, it would be 

perfect. 

Okay, enough ranting and gushing about being a missionary. 

Good news: We get our car back today! We're STOKED. No 

more sore legs! Or walking around in Sketchy Neighborhoods

I've had to teach Sister W some things in Self Defense. I have 

an awesome story from last night, but, I'm thinkin it'll have to 

wait till I'm home. ;) 

OH!! Our investigator's (L) 10 year old daughter (E) wants to 

get baptized!!!!! She told us yesterday! And she already had 

an interview with the Bishop! So, we're going to teach her the 

baptism lessons in 2 weeks! Hopefully neither of us get 

transferred so we can see this!! WE. ARE. SO. EXCITED. 

And K and J came to church!! They only stayed for Sacrament 

meeting...but hey. At least they came!! We're so excited. And K's 

smoking is getting less and less. This work is Hastening!! 

Oh, and mom, no worries, we have a mission mom out here. 

Her name is Maria. She's from El Salvadora! And her husband is 

from Mexico I think... we have a good relationship with their 17 

year old daughter, K. We love that family sooo much! Sister 

Maria sends us home with grocery bags full of food at least 

once a month! They do so much for the missionaries. My heart 

hurts because I love them so much. Solid family. 

Well. I can't think of anything else I want to share...

So, I'll end with my favorite scripture (at the moment)

1 Nephi 11:17.

Because, all we need to know, is that He loves us. 

The rest falls into place.

I love you all!!

<3/ Sister Cas Brinkerhoff

You know it's cold, when 30 degrees is warm

Family! 

Oh boy. This week has been CRAZY. First, I'm sorry I didn't 

email yesterday. We were snowed in. So, that was lame. 

Ahhh. We've had so many great things happen this week! 

We've done so much service.  We helped some people 

we're teaching, K and J, work on their kitchen that they're

re-doing. They fed us lunch and all. They're some really 

great people! I love them. 

Another favorite moment, just happened like 2 nights ago, 

or somethin like that. We went out to dinner with Sister D. 

She is this sweet older lady.  She's hilarious. We're both 

March babies, so we have that in common. Anyway, she 

took Sister Westbrook and I out to this pizza joint. When 

we were finished she asked "Would you rather go get ice 

cream first, or go to this little thrift shop next door?" We 

told her it was up to her! All she said was "Follow me." it 

was so funny!  So we went to the thrift shop, found some 

cool stuff. I bought this sign that has or mission motto on 

it, "Return With Honor", and then I bought this sweet 

pocket watch that I use as a necklace. Then we went to this 

adorable ice cream shop! With really awesome ice cream..

oh  my heck. I got my favorites, Strawberry and Butter 

Pecan..nom nom nom.  Sister D is really, such a sweet lady. 

We had so much fun with her!

The next night, we had an 8:55 miracle. We do this thing 

called 'heart attacking'. It's where you write uplifting 

messages on sticky notes, and then stick them on people's 

front doors. (it's a blast!) So, we decided to Heart Attack 

Sister D. Who is this 89 year old little old lady..who is THE 

sweetest thing you'll ever meet. She looooves the sister 

missionaries. The next day, around 4:00ish, she called us, 

but we missed it, because we were in an appointment. 

She left a voice mail, crying, and saying how much she 

appreciated us and how she had been having a bad day 

because she wasn't feeling well because of the weather. 

She told us that she and her daughter had just come back

from a birthday party, and that she saw the door looking 

so beautiful. And that it was like seeing a Christmas tree. 

We were almost in tears listening to her on our voice mail. 

It was a really special experience. 

BAH! THE TEMPLE. The temple was amazing. (of course). 

Some members (the B's) gave us a ride down, which was 

perfect, because they were already going anyways. They

took us to lunch afterwards, to Costco.....NEVER GO TO 

COSTCO IN FREDERICK, MARYLAND. It is a mad house! 

I've never seen so many people. Oh my good heck. INSANITY. 

On the way home, we were so tired. We were talking with 

the B's, just chattin it up. Sister Westbrook said "oh man..

I'm so tired..." Sister B then said "you guys can take a nap!" 

we, of course, were all "no no! It's okay!! There's only 30 

minutes left till we get back!" literally, I kid you not...30 

seconds later, both of use are out cold. hahaha.

 #MISSIONARYPROBS 

This week ahead of us...oh man. For one thing, we don't 

have a car. And it's the worst weather right now. We're 

bundled up like eskimos. Luckily, our area has really great 

members that will give us rides to areas we need to be in. 

Sounds like y'all have had a solid week! So excited about 

Rugby. Mm mm. I miss watching it. Elder Orr, our District

Leader, has a rugby ball...so we all toss it around sometimes.   

I've actually been really home sick this week, too. But, Elder O. 

gave me a priesthood blessing..and man. The church is true! 

I have felt so much better ever since.

Oh, funny little thing that we discovered...by scriptures. My 

Bible Dictionary...it's interesting. Because it goes from A-H, 

and then starts over again, from A-Z. When we discovered

that, we laughed and laughed. So now, we have a joke, that 

who ever in the world is missing that first section in the BD, 

they're my soul mate. hahaha. 

Oh! Today was National Pancake day. So, we went to IHOP 

and got a free stack of pancakes. Can't beat that! It was bomb. 

Oh, and when I get back, we all need to come back to the DC 

Temple, and CTown. You need to meet J and K. They are my 

absolute favorite people. 

That's so exciting about Danica!! Tell her congrats for me!

Well. Family. I love and miss you tons!!

I think of you often, and pray for you even more.

Stay safe. Remember who you are. Don't do dumb things.

And be really thankful for that wonderful weather you're having. 

P.S. Make Scrappers a really nice headstone, okay? 

 (HER FAVORITE CHICKEN DIED!!!  OF COURSE!)