Monday, July 21, 2014

Forehead sweat...a great missionary tool.

Hey Family (:

This week has been pretty great!

We found 3 new investigators, soon to be 8!  It's the Savage family. 
We only met the mom, and 2 daughters last time.  They're actually 
former investigators, and their name just happened to show up on the 
GPS. So we stopped by.  It started with her telling us they decided to 
go to another church.  Then I wiped some sweat off my forehead, and 
she said,  "Oh my! Do ya'll want some water? I can't believe ya'll bike 
out in this heat!"  Forehead sweat...a great missionary tool. 

So we go in. She gets us some water. We sit down at her kitchen table 
with her. We talk about how the missionaries were coming over but then
just stopped.  So, we took the approach of "Man! We feel bad that they 
did that. Can we come over like once a week and keep sharing those 
messages with you?"  She said, "Yeah! Wednesday night at 5:00 would 
be great!"  PERFECT. 

So this Wednesday, we're going to teach them the Restoration, and 
Commit them to BAPTISM!! (:   I'm so excited!! This family is awesome. 
They already read the bible on a regular basis.  They're gonna be baptized! 

So, funny story of the week.  On Tuesday, we were at Gino's for lunch 
after District Meeting, when it started to just down pour.  Water was 
running down the roads.  It was insane! We don't see much of that kind 
of rain in good ole St.Geezy. It's like a regular thing here, apparently. 
Because NO BODY was amazed, except for me. haha. 

Anyway, we got home, changed into dry clothes, took a video of the 
craziness.  And went back out!  It had started to let up a bit. We had 
walked about a mile away from home, when we decided to check our phone.
7 MESSAGES?!  This never happens.  6 of them were from a member in the 
area, telling us that a TORNADO was headed  East of Severna Park. 
WE'RE EAST OF SEVERNA PARK!

But, we looked up at the sky, it looked pretty calm.... We then read our 
7th text message, it was from the Elders/our District Leader.  They were 
wondering if we were getting all of the weather texts, as well. 

So, we decided to casually walk back close to home....nothing happened.
No tornado. NOTHING. All of those panicked texts for nothing! haha. But 
the funny part was, everyone around us was obviously flipping out, while 
here are these 2 girls in skirts, just strolling down the street. They say 
ignorance is bliss (: It's true. haha. 
 ( NOTE FROM MOM:  I told her she wasn't Dorothy and she had no Toto, 
so she better dang well be heading the warnings next time, cause I don't 
want her getting whooshed away.  Her response was, "I'm not in Kansas 
either."  Smarty Pants, don't know where she gets it. :/ )

UM. EXCUSE ME. IN 8 DAYS IT'LL BE MY 6 MONTH MARK. WHAT THE 
HECK?!  I'm not so sure I like that. Granted...after that I have a little over a 
year left. Because I'll be flying home on August 12 or 13..but STILL. That 
means at this moment, I only have 13 months left. ONLY 13 MONTHS. I 
don't know how I feel about this! Like, wow, time has flown by, and only 13 
months till I see my family and friends...but ONLY 13 MONTHS TO SHARE 
THE GOSPEL WITH EVERYONE I SEE. ONLY 13 MONTHS TILL I HAVE 
TO PARTICIPATE IN REAL LIFE AGAIN. WHAT. WHAT. 

Oh, and Mom. You'll be happy to hear this. I'm really thinking about going 
back to school after the mish. For a couple of reasons. 
1. If I don't, Sister Hosner (coach Hosner's sister) will hunt me down. 
2. I know I can do it. Even when I don't want to. 
3. I need to. (: 

That's about it family!!

I LOVE YOU BUNCHES!!
The church is true!
The book is blue!
<3/Your Missionary, Sister Brinkerhoff



 Sister Anderson & Sister Brinkerhoff July 2014
Sister Brinkerhoff's Tan Line

Tuesday, July 15, 2014

1 Day. 6 Slurpees.

FAMILY!

This week has been legit.

We've found a lot of Less Actives that have 
been prepared to come back. It just goes to 
show that as long as you're being exactly 
obedient the Lord leads you to those who will 
recognize you as a servant of God! 

We went to Inner Harbor today for Preparation 
Day. The touristy part is sick. The not touristy 
part...terrifying. haha. I would never last in the 
real city. Glen Burnie is pushin my cityness. haha.

I'll attach some photos. I only took like 4 photos...
haha. Whaterrs. 

It was cool, though. We talked to quite a few people 
who came up to us and asked "hey! are you Mormons?" 
or "you Latter Day Saints?" 

Haha, when we got back, this guy asked us for our
tickets, so we gave it to him. But then of course we 
gave him a Mormon.org card. He then tried to hug me. 
A lot of people like to hug the Sister Missionaries. 
Yes, including the members. haha. Keeps your guard 
up, though! 

So, we might be moving pretty soon. Our apartment is
in a pretty sketch area. We told President and he's having 
us move, pretty darn soon. We think they've already found 
an apartment for us. SWEET. 

Other than that, it's been a normal week of missionary work! 

LOVE YOU FAMILY!!
<3/Your missionary

P.S. Your weekend with Cindy and Kim sounds like fun! 
Even though there was no Spinny Park involved ;P hahaha. 
That was a weird night..




.

Tuesday, July 8, 2014

Hazard lights in Glen Burnie, don't mean what they're supposed to mean (:

Hey Familia (:

This week was AWESOME!!

First off, lets start with TANSEY'S BAPTISM!!!!  Oh man. The spirit was 
thick!  It's amazing how strong her testimony is. She bore it like she's 
been a member for years!  SHE'S AMAZING.  I will send pics next week. 
I've lost my camera converter, and I forgot my camera...(: haha. 

For the 4th, we went to the combined ward breakfast picnic.  That was 
sick! We ate a load of pancakes.  Jumped rope.  Took pics.  Pretty legit. 
That night, Sister Hosner and Sister Rigsby, 2 of the most amazing women
I've ever met, took Sister Anderson and I out to Golden Corral. Dang. We 
ate a lot there, too.  Sister Hosner had to roll us out of there! haha. 
It was awesome. 

That night, we weren't able to see any fireworks, because we live in the 
woods, (yes, even in the city) but we listened to some Nashville Tribute 
(Christian Country Singers), updated our area book and GPS's, talked 
about our families, laughed, and just had some fun! 
It was awesome (:

Sounds like y'all had an awesome 4th!  Redneck fireworks and all. SWEET. haha. 

Well, family, I love you!
<3/Sister Brinkerhoff

Tuesday, July 1, 2014

3 stitches. 2 spaztic Missionaries. 1 awesome member

Heyyy family!

So. The Dirty Burnie..  I'm honestly just trying 
to get used to the way people are around 
here. For a girl who has lived in Santa Clara, 
Utah all her life, and then spent 4 months in 
Charles Town, West Virginia, Glen Burnie is a 
culture shock!  Gangsters be err'where. Love it. 
They're the nicest people to talk to! They love 
Jesus people! (:  We do get hit on a lot though...
haha. It's weird.  Whaterrs. 

AH!! We have a baptism this Saturday!! Miss 
Tansey. She is so excited!!! Pictures definitely 
will be coming next monday (:

Hmm, what else happened this week?  Oh yeah. 
I hit my 5 month mark!  Can you believe it? I only 
have 13 months left.  SO MUCH TO DO!!!!! In so 
little time. CRAY. Want to know what we did for 
my 5 month mark? Heh.

So. We were picked up by a member, Sister Tiree, 
to go to her house for dinner. We of course start 
helping with a few of the preparations.  She asks 
me if I have mixed a caesar salad before.  Ha. 
Have I? I only worked at Pizza Factory for a year. ;)
So, I get started.  It was one of those ones that
you can buy at Walmart. Like a salad kit. They're 
delicious!

Anyway, the darn dressing packet was made so 
that no one could ever open it.  Well, Sister 
Anderson was next to me cutting up tomatoes. 
So, I asked if I could use the knife she was using, 
just for sec.  Little did I know, this knife had just 
been sharpened!  As I stab the bag, I say "I just 
want to open this bag.....Ope. And my finger."
Blood starting spilling out of my left index finger 
ike nobody's business.  I was pretty proud of 
myself though.  Didn't get one drop on Sister 
Tiree's table, or carpet! Or even her bathroom 
floor.  

I was surprisingly calm. Sister Anderson wasn't. 
Nope. 
We both go into the bathroom to run it under 
cold water, Sister Tiree noticed that the Sisters 
had disappeared.  She comes in to look at the 
cut. Asks, "Is it throbbing?"  I reply, "Yep."
Then she gives me this look like, 'you're hand is 
going to fall off'.  That didn't panic me at all, of 
course!  So, we wrapped a paper towel around
it, and I squeezed it for a good 20 minutes while 
Sister Tiree and Sister Anderson finished preparing 
dinner.  I sat there, looking pathetic. 

After I bled through the first 2 paper towels, we 
figured we should probably call Sister Richards 
(president's wife.) She didn't answer. So we texted 
her. No answer.  I of course, eat dinner. It was
chicken  enchiladas! I couldn't pass that up.  So, I'm 
sitting there,  with my finger wrapped in a paper 
towel with band-aids holding it on.  I have it above
my head the whole time, whilst eating chicken 
enchiladas.  Sister Anderson kept looking over at 
me with the most concerned looks I have ever seen. 
After dinner Sister Tiree drove us back to our 
apartment, and told us to tell her if I had to get stitches. 

We finally got a hold of Sister Richards. She told us 
to go to the nearest Patient Care. K, ready. This is the
best part. Sister Anderson texted Sister Hosner. (Who is 
a ward member)  All she said was, "Do you know where 
the nearest Patient Care is?"  Sister Hosner replied back 
saying, "Are you at your home?"  We said, "yeah."
Then, all she said was "On my way."
THIS WOMAN IS A MIRACLE! I love her. 

She came. Picked us up. And we sped off to Severn. 
They got us right in. I guess they didn't want me bleeding 
all over their floor or something... We were there until 
about 10:40. Way past bed time.  I ended up getting 3 
stitches! MY FIRST STITCHES!!!:D  (MOM'sNOTE: Leave it to 
Cas to be excited about this. LOL)
Oh, and come to find out, Sister Hosner, is Coach Hosner's 
sister!  The Pine View Football coach!! She knew all about 
my home town!!! We talked about St. Geezy so much!! (: 
It was the best.  I can't wait till y'all get to meet Sister 
Hosner. SHE IS THE BOMB. 

Welp. That's bout it for this week. I will be sending photos 
in 2 other emails. 

I love you family!!! (:
<3/Your Missionary, Sister Brinkerhoff

(MOM's NOTE:  So she sent me a separate email saying she 
was SO excited to tell me what she had been up to this week.  
Somehow, in the back of my mind while I waited for her to send 
this email, I just knew it would be something like this.  I also read 
this post from a missionary mom on the facebook site about how 
her missionary daughter had received a small burn injury and was 
so upset that she wasn't there to help dress her wound.  I couldn't 
help but think, dang, I must be doing it wrong.... My missionary 
daughter sends me a story about her stitched finger and I laugh 
the whole way through the story she tells.  HM???  I'm just glad she 
is having so many MOM prep lessons as well as her spiritual lessons
out there.  I miss her, but I sure wouldn't trade this for the world!  
She is growing so much and I'm sure she will survive if I'm not there
to give her boo boo a kiss. haha. )