Heyo Fam!
I'm so glad to hear that you all had a good week (:
I'm jealous of the beautiful weather there.
It's starting to warm up here, which is nice!
Can't wait for the blossoms!
This week has been a busy one.
Guess what! We have an investigator! We've
picked Viola back up (: It's going to be a long
process, but she will eventually get baptized.
She was raised in Albania, which back then,
was a communist country. She didn't know
religion until her family moved to the US, and
guess where they decided to land? Boise, Idaho.
Of all places...haha.
She grew up around Mormons, but never got
involved or anything. Until, she moved out here
to DC for work, where she met her Husband,
John. Who is from Utah, and has tons of family
in Saint George. He obviously comes from good
stock. haha. They've been married for about 2 1/2
years, and have a one year old! He is the cutest
thing since sliced bread. Since they met, she's
had questions about Mormons. About a year and
half ago, Brother Feagin, their home teacher,
contacted them. From there, they've been coming
to church, and Viola started taking the lessons
about 6 months ago. The Sisters before didn't
teach her much, because of the Holiday season,
a lot of appointments were canceled.
Sister Haupt and I have taught her the Restoration,
which she has a lot of questions about. All of her
questions are solid, though! She's a very logical
person, very well educated. And really, asking her
to feel the spirit to know this is true, is pretty far
fetched and completely foreign to her. She grew up
with no religion. So we're starting from the base.
We're going to help her understand the events that
occurred with the Restoration, which will help her
tremendously to know what the heck we're talking
about. Plus, she's a history buff, so it's perfect. Once
she understands the Restoration, she will be able to
feel the desire to know for herself if it is true or not.
We are so excited to begin this journey with her!
I love this family, so much! They are adorable (:
Miracle this week...
Sister Haupt is sick. Which meant, we stayed in
yesterday. Which, of course, was fine, because
she needs to get better! But, I was a little bummed
because I was sure we were at least 6 shy our
"Talking With Everyone" goal. I totaled everything
up, and we actually exceeded our goal by 3! The
Lord knew Sister Haupt would get sick, so he provided
us with 3 extra people so we could still meet our goal.
The Church is true. haha.
Another miracle, was on Saturday. We had 5
appointments, back to back to back to back. We
were so nervous about being on time to every single
one. But we did it! AND we had 3 member presents
that day. LEGIT. When you're willing, the Lord
provides a way!
OH! And, because of our hard work, we decided
an ice cream treat was in order. We stopped at our
favorite, Cold Stone. We walked in and I swear I
heard someone say "The Sisters!" I look around but
no one was paying us any attention, so we proceeded
with standing in line. As I was looking around, I could
feel the Mormon vibe...there were other Mormons in
there. Once we had ordered, and were about to pay,
this cute pregnant lady came up and told she was
going to pay for our, because they're members in the
Baltimore Stake. AWW! When you work hard, the Lord
blesses you with awesome members who buy you ice
cream. Those are tiny little miracles, but they meant
so much to us!
That's about it for this week.
I love you, family!!
Remember who you are, and keeping working hard!
<3/Sister Casidee Brinkerhoff
(This is a note she sent to me in my personal email,
but I really want to share it. It's a sweet and tender
testimony.)
Investigators...once again, we don't have many of those.
We're not getting discouraged though! We know that by
trials we will grow stronger! As we keep working hard,
and giving it our all, we WILL find someone who is ready
and who has been prepared by our Heavenly Father! We
thought Melinda was solid...but she just needs further
preparation. I just read 'Our Heritage'..it's in the Missionary
Library. It really taught me a lot about missionary work. The
first missionaries didn't have Preach My Gospel, they didn't
have pamphlets, or iPads, or even phones! All they had were
a Book of Mormon, a Bible, and most importantly..their
testimonies. They baptized 100's, if not 1000's! It caused me
to reflect on missionary work today. Granted, these were
different times..people were more humble, and less distracted
by worldly things...BUT! There are still people who want and
NEED this gospel. This all made me reflect on my work as a
missionary...have I been bold enough? Has my heart really
been fully in it? Not that I haven't been working hard, but I am
rededicating myself. I have 5 months left. 5 months to find
everyone I possibly can! 5 months to help someone come
unto Christ by entering the waters of baptism. 5 months..
that's it! That's not that much time...but I got this! I can do
hard things! Mom, I love this work, so much. When I think of
coming home in 5 months, mostly I have mixed emotions...but
one of the prominent emotions is panic. Don't get me wrong, I
want to see my family so badly..but I don't want to come home.
If that makes sense. These past 13 months have been the
hardest, most rewarding, most worthwhile 13 months of my life.
I don't want this to end. Thank you, for your prayers (: If you will,
pray for me to be the best missionary I can be. To be the missionary
my mom and dad think I am! That's one of our missions mottos...
Be the missionary your parents think you are. If that doesn't get
ya goin, I don't know what will! haha.
