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
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