March 16: Obsessed with ChickFilA

What a good week! Obviously, it was my 
birthday this week. Which was amazing!
The Frosts had us over that day, specifically 
because it was my birthday (: haha They 
were amazing. They decorated with pink 
and navy blue (my favorite colors), we had 
pizza (my favorite food) and Chocolate 
Peanut Butter cake.  OH. MY. GOODNESS. 
It was AMAZING!!! I felt so loved, and at
home. Pictures included, at the bottom! 


They were so sweet, too...they even bought 
me a very thoughtful gift. It's a bracelet that 
I'm in love with. It has a tree on the charm..
which is perfect. Because I have an obsession 
with the Tree of Life. Sister Frost didn't know 
that either! She was so happy when she found 
that out (: Okay, moving on..(: A miracle this 
week was even though I was sick for 2 1/2 
days, the work still moved on! 


We were able to receive 4 referrals in those 2 
days. What?! Awesome! Also, on the day of 
my birthday, right before dinner, we met a guy 
named Al, who lives in our apartment building. 
He is the coolest individual, ever. He told us 
"Yeah, I was raised catholic, so I'm a heathen..
"haha..uhhh. What do we say to that? We just 
started laughing.  We had the best conversation 
with him. For at least a half hour, we talked to 
him about Christ, and our purpose here. He was 
diggin' it! Unfortunately, he's single. So, we can't 
teach him. But! He wants the Elders to come over! 
Sweet, huh? We're excited to see him progress in 
the gospel (: 

Oh, update on Melinda...she definitely dropped us. 
She's kind of giving us the cold shoulder..which is 
weird. But, really..she's awesome. She just needs 
a little bit more preparation! The weather is 
FABULOUS right now. So thankful it's warming up. 
The winters here...man, they ain't no joke! haha. 
I'm excited for the work to pick up now that the 
weather is warmer..people are out! And want 
strangers in their homes! :D That's bout it for this 
week. 

I love you all!Keep up the good work, stay true to 
who you are, and remember...THE CHURCH IS TRUE!
Love, Sister Casidee Brinkerhoff


P.S.Thank you so much for all the Birthday stuff!The 
Elders helped us eat the cakes ;)
I love the baby scriptures!! I already made a case for them (:
I love them!
Oh! And the biggest birthday card, ever!Every time I
look through it I can't help but laugh!
haha. I love it so much. 

March 9: Ice=laughs for days

Wo. Is it really monday, again?  

This week went by so fast!

Hmm. What happened this week? Well. Our 

investigator, Melinda, she broke our hearts. 

On Wednesday morning, she dropped us. We 

were so sad! But, we kept working hard, and 

prayed!

On Thursday morning, she texted us, saying..

"Just so you know, God works in mysterious 

ways. Yesterday while job searching on the 

internet I came across the name Brigham 

Young. Then when I got home, I was channel 

surfing, and came across BYU channel. I am 

now recording a bio/video on Brigham Young! 

Perhaps you're the seed  planters, and the Lord 

does the growing with me? What do you think?? 

Coincidences?"

UM. WHAT. 

We read it 3 times, just to make sure we weren't 

dreaming. We replied by saying, "Melinda, there 

is no such thing as coincidence (: We know the 

Lord is leading you to the path you need to be on! 

What video are you watching?" She replied and 

said, "I know you're right! He definitely is." And 

then told us what video she was recording, but 

we had never heard of it. We invited her to watch 

the Joseph Smith:Prophet of the Restoration video 

(btw..it's on Netflix and Hulu! #gomormons) We 

also said that we would love to come over and 

share more about what we know from these 2 

men who diligently followed God.

She declined, but only because she likes the slow 

pace that God is taking her. She's progressing! We 

just can't technically count her as an investigator. 

Also, today, before we went to Zone Sports, we 

came to catch up on the newest stuff on Mormon

Channel, and she was in the computer room! (we 

have a clubhouse). It was beautiful. We keep 

running into her, every where. God is trying to tell 

her to just meet with us! I know she will...soon (: I 

can feel it! 

Funny story for this week...(trying to laugh as I type 

this) 

It was 8:30 at night. We had gone through all of 

our plans..  so we decided street contacting would 

be effective. We started to walk, and as we did, 

we quickly discovered that all of the sidewalks and 

roads were covered in at least a half inch of ice. 

FUN!  We, literally, had to slide. We couldn't lift 

our feet or else we would fall. Sister Haupt was 

sliding behind me, I was starting to get some 

speed when I hear "Wait! Ah..."  I turn around to 

see Sister Haupt sliding in place. She had 

neglected to wear boots that day, thus she was 

wearing Sunday flats.

 *hanging head and shaking it*.

She couldn't get any friction, so she was stuck on 

the smallest incline.  I had to slide back to her, and 

pull her up. It was the funniest thing! For the next 

half hour, it was like watching a baby dear learning 

to walk for the first time. I couldn't stop laughing! 

My sides hurt so bad by the end of the night. I 

finally had to slide in front of her so we could get 

some work done. hahaha.  The best part, we were 

going down 2 steps, onto the main sidewalk. She 

was in front of me. She stepped down to the lower 

step, and started to slide, the panic on her face..

hahaha.  She couldn't stop! I was on the top step, 

still. Standing there helpless, because if I went for 

her, we both would go down..no use in that! 

hahahahahahaha. I can't even describe to you how 

hilarious this was. I only wish we could've caught in 

on camera.  Every time I think of it I have to fight to 

not laugh. hahaha. Oh man. Ice provides cheap 

entertainment. 

Well family, have a great week! 

Oh yeah! It's my birthday this week! 

Wo..23. I'm so old! I'm the 2nd oldest sister in the 

mission. Weird, huh? 

I used to be 3rd, but the oldest one returned home. 

Anyway....

The church is true!

Don't ever forget it (:

I love you all, so much! 

Keep on keepin' on!

<3/Sister Casidee Ann Brinkerhoff

I'm Less Active!

Heyo family!

This week has been a good one. 

We have seen so many miracles!

First one, is about a less active member, Sister 

J. A few weeks prior, we weren't able to find her 

apartment, or even her apartment complex!  But, 

we were riding around on Tamar, we had gone

through all of our plans and backups, and we had 

to meet the Elders at 6:00.  We didn't know what 

to do. I whipped out my GPS and started seeing 

who was near us. It said Sister J was, something 

told me to just try and find her apartment one more 

time. I say to myself, "Alriiiight. If you say so."  We 

go riding down there, and BOOM. Her apartment 

complex. I swear, it wasn't there the other day!  We 

find her apartment, she lets us in! (Which we found 

out later, was a miracle in itself.) We sit down and 

get to know her. She is 85, and the sweetest lady! 

She then shares with us that her daughter passed 

away from cancer a week before. She was so thankful 

that we were there. We shared 2 Nephi 31:20, which 

brought her comfort.  She told us to write it down so 

she could read it again before she went to sleep. That 

was a testament to me, that no matter what you think, 

the Lord knows best. Always follow promptings, 

even when they don't make sense! 

Another amazing miracle is about our investigator, 

Melinda. I think I told you a bit about her last time, 

and how we found her. Which by the way, I'm realizing 

I never summed up why I had to tell you the whole 

story. haha. It's because all of those things had to 

take place, or else we wouldn't have met her again!  

Anyway, a brief overview..She has 2 kids. One little 

boy, who is 7. And a little girl, who is 4. They are the 

sweetest kids! They love us. haha.  Anyway, we went 

over to teach her the Restoration, with Sister Mitchell 

(a member in the ward), and it was amazing! In our 

previous visit, we left her with the Restoration Pamphlet, 

and invited her to read it and write down questions that 

she had. When we followed up with this commitment, 

she told us that she had been praying about it, and that 

she didn't disagree with it. UM. Okay. What? SHE 

PRAYED ABOUT JOSEPH SMITH BEFORE WE EVEN 

INVITED HER TO! She said a few times, "I'm comfortable 

in my religion..", but she's obviously not too comfortable 

if she's praying to know if Joseph Smith is a true prophet! 

We spent a lot of time talking about the Apostasy. She 

understands it now. (: And Sister Mitchell, at the end, 

bore testimony like a boss! It really touched Melinda. She 

was amazed at how Sister Mitchell could speak with such 

conviction about her beliefs. She then said, "Wow...I will 

pray about this more reverently.." She is now reading the 

Book of Mormon, and praying about it! She is amazing. 

She will be baptized. I know it! 

Also, this week. We had transfers. Sister Haupt and I 

both stayed. But, both Elder Howells and Elder Mason 

were shotgunned out. Elder Howells went to Ft. Meade, 

and Elder Mason went to Glen Burnie! Oh man, I gave 

him the run down of my home away from home (:  So 

now, we have Elder Hanneman, who actually started here 

21 months ago. So he knows the area a little bit, and we 

have Elder Taviuni. He's Samoan! But, he's from Missouri..

or something like that, and straight from the MTC. It's an 

interesting mix we have here, 2 brand new missionaries, 

and 2 really old missionaries..haha. We're sad to say 

goodbye to Elder Howells and Elder Mason, but we're 

excited to have Elder Hanneman and Elder Taviuni. They 

are hardworking and bold! 

A funny moment this week...there's actually a couple. 

We were biking out of our development. I was riding on 

the road, because sidewalks are annoying, and this story 

proves my point haha. And Sister Haupt was riding on 

the sidewalk. All of a sudden she drops behind me, and 

I hear a painful "Oh!" I look back, and she had run right 

into a stair!  Her defense was "I didn't know how to get 

passed it. I thought I could just ride over it..!" I just busted 

up laughing. haha. How do you not laugh at that?! Good 

thing she has a good sense of humor.  The next random 

story is, we were sitting in District Meeting. Elder Kuhn, 

who was sitting next to us, we noticed, was trying to find 

something in his pocket. So, Sister Haupt and I both watch. 

He then pulls a full wrench out of his pocket. We both 

whisper "What the?" He smiles, and says "Don't worry about 

it...don't make it weird." Thus began the silent laughter. 

hahaha. It was the best. 

Also, because of weather, church was canceled again! 

That's 3 weeks in a row! We're all less active now. Yep. 

Every missionary in the Columbia Stake is less active! 

haha. # missionaryhumor # notthatfunny # butitis hahaha

That's was pretty much my week!

I love you all! 

Know that you're in my prayers every day!

Keep up the good work (:

The church is true as the book is blue! 

<3/Sister Casidee Brinkerhoff

Photo: This is our District..BEST DISTRICT EVER! 

I got way too attached to these peeps. We had way 

too much fun! And learned a lot from each other. All 

hard workers. All boss missionaries!   Oh, all of the 

Elders have been shotgunned out. So, we will have 

all new Elders. Only Hermana Zindel left, so we'll only 

have 1 new sister! Should be fun (:

1 foot of snow=to zombie apocalypse

THIS. WEEK. WAS. AWESOME!!!

Okay, here's the run of events.

We had to drop Lynn and Erik... Lynn 

told us  "I can't believe this..nope. nope. 

nope." And tried to bible bash the whole 

time we were there. We were really sad 

about it..hopefully one day she will soften 

her heart!

Okay, now..for the miracle of this week!

WE HAVE A NEW INVESTIGATOR!!

Her name is Melinda. She has 2 beautiful 

children. A 7 yr old boy and a 4 yr old girl. 

Both of which can't get enough of us!

We love them so much, already! 

Here is how we found  her...

It starts a couple of weeks ago when we 

were on exchanges.  Sister Haupt stayed 

here with Sister Chapman. They street 

contacted Melinda, but weren't able to 

get her name, address, phone number, 

nothin.  So we've been praying that 

Heavenly Father would put her in our 

path, again! Now we fast forward to this 

past Friday.  Sister Waddoups had called 

us from Texas, to ask us if we would 

make cookies for Brother Waddoups 

because he was feeling pretty upset 

because he accidentally dropped the 

baby the night before. Being missionaries, 

we jump on any opportunity to make 

cookies!  So, we had a whole plan. We 

were going to bike to the store to get a 

cookie mix, come back, make them, then 

deliver them, then head up to the Elder's 

to get the car.  

It was a perfect plan..until both of my 

tires decided to not stay inflated.  So, .

we were on foot. Which of course, took 

a lot longer.  We finally get to Food Lion. 

After we find the cookie mix, we enjoyed 

the warmth of the store for a few minutes.  

Then proceeded to check out.  Once outside, 

something was telling me to stay put.  

So, I kept checking the phone, wondering 

what the heck am I supposed to be doing?  

When we hear this little "Hi!" It was Melinda's 

little girl, hollering at us from across the 

parking lot!  Melinda came up and asked if 

we were the 2 girls sweeping off cars in the 

middle of the snow storm the other night. 

Why yes, yes we are!  She told us that her 

little boy had a gift for us. The whole time 

I'm standing there, like..  "This lady is Mormon 

right? Like, she's messing with us..." Nope! 

Not Mormon. Not messing with us! She invited 

us over any time! When we finally got home 

that night, we had gone in to make our cookies, 

and then went back out to deliver them when 

we discovered 2 gift bags on our car. They gave 

us cute little gifts of bubble bath and tea..;) 

Then we decided that we needed to thank 

them with some cookies! We took some over, 

and Melinda set up her own Return Appointment 

for the next night! When we went over for our 

appt, we did How To Begin Teaching (pmg), 

and she was so impressed by the fact that we 

still find a way to be happy, even though we're 

humans and go through hard things. She said 

"I want to know the Christ who drives people 

to do that..."  WHAT?! I mean, this was TV 

perfect!!  I have so much faith that she will be 

baptized, soon! She is SO prepared! She 

understands the Holy Ghost, and recognizes 

when he is speaking to her. She understands 

the concept of the Priesthood...which often 

are the hardest things to teach!  We are so 

excited to help her progress in the Gospel!!

Oh, and a crazy fact for this week..

Church was cancelled because of all the snow! 

I didn't even know cancelling church was an 

option? haha. 

Woo..this was a long one. I guess it makes 

up for the past 2 or so weeks ;) 

I love you all, so much!

Have a great week!

<3/Sister Casidee Brinkerhoff

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Photo 1: We saw some deer. Twas awesome.

Photo 2: Piggy backs are necessary sometimes