Announcements

Hello Everyone! How is everyone doing? Well I hope that everyone is
aware of the new and exciting things happening here in the WKM! If you
are not then I am about to talk about them.

We got a voicemail from President a few nights ago and he was telling
us about the recent issue of the church news where 58 new missions
have been announced in the world and that 3 of them were here in the
Pacific Northwest. 1. Salem OR 2. Federal Way WA and 3. Vancouver WA!

Since the one in Vancouver is half of our mission, it will be split
somehow, plus with the other missions around us. Things are gonna be
changing! Along with the new missions and the new boundaries, the new
mission presidents have been called and the new President for the WKM
is President Ware. and from what President Greer has said, they are
very nice and he and his wife are excited to serve. There has also
already been called the new mission pres for the Vancouver mission and
I can't remember his name. I look forward to serving my last transfer
on my mission with either one of these new presidents.

Also in the news for me, is that even though I have shared this info
with some and not all I will share it now. I have decided for myself
that I will not come home till the Aug transfer, which means Aug 13th.
There was a lot of prayer and pondering that went into this decision
for myself. The only thing that will change this day of arrival home
will be the Lord. I haven't had the phone call from the mission office
telling me when I am going home because it is still way to early for
that. I was thinking and panicking about my homecoming far too in
advance. Please put this subject far from you minds as that is what I
am trying to do.

With all of the changes happening at the very end of my mission I am
grateful that I will be here to help the new President in what ever
way that I can. I know that it will be a stressful time and that even
though I would love to finish my mission with President and Sister
Greer, I know that the Lord needs me here. The work is hastening and I
am right smack dab in the middle of it. I don't want to miss a second
of it and I don't want to quit early because its the easier thing to
do. Being on a mission is so hard and so rewarding. I don't even know
where the days go half of the time and the other half of the time it
seems like 9 o'clock will never get here.
I can't believe that transfers are this week already too. Because
Sister McMurtrey is still new we are still doing our 12 week training.
We are together for the next 6 weeks and for that I am excited. We are
getting along better and better everyday and she is helping me to grow
just as much as I am helping her.

Last week  on p-day when we were sitting in our room writing letters
the members that we live with came and knocked on our door and then
told us that they had backing into our car. They said that they had
already called the mission office and that they would get it fixed. We
said ok, and finished writing letters. When we went out to leave we
saw the big dent with some scratches in dent. It was right in the
passenger side back door. It made me so sad! We had to take it to the
mission office and they took it to get an estimate on it. We have been
driving around with a dented mission car and its not my fault! haha!
We are getting it fixed this next week and hopefully they have a spare
car for us to drive while that happens.

We are moving out of the Vance's house tomorrow to another members
home and I am very excited. I love the Vance's but we are in a very
very tiny amount of space and I don't like that! As far as we know the
new house we will live in has a basement that we get to have to
ourselves. But not as big of a basement as the Combs' in the mansion.

So other than all that we have been finding and teaching as many
people as we can. We were tracting some apartments the other night and
it was almost 8 and we knocked on 12 doors with only 2 answering. The
first one was nice but not interested. The second door that opened
said "Don't bother me right now!!!" Then slammed the door in our
faces. It was awesome to see the look on Sis. McMurtrey's face. She
was so shocked and she looked like she was about to cry. I would
rather someone slam the door in my face then to hear my testimony and
then shut the door on my face and reject all the Spirit had told them
was true.
Anyways, I am just about out of time! I love you all and I hope you
have a wonderful week!

Hey! Hey! Hey!

Hello Family! and Friends!

I hope you had a wonderful President's Day. I am so grateful for our
founding fathers and their willingness to come to this great land and
set up the constitution so that we could have religious freedom and
the opportunity to worship however we like. It was all so perfect to
be able to set the stage for the restoration of the gospel. Heavenly
Father is brilliant and I am in awe all the time with the things I see
that He has had His hand in for the bettering of our lives. For
Example:

A couple weeks ago we went tracting on a street that had a couple
members on it, which we didn't know that at the time. We were not
having any success and then we knocked on Jen's door. She lived right
next door to an active family in the ward. We introduced ourselves and
she told us that her grandparents are members in Pendleton and that
she had lots of questions about it. We were able to visit a little bit
longer and asked if we could share our message with her and answer her
questions. She was in a hurry to do something or go somewhere so we
found out when a better time to come back would be and we said we
would see her then. We gave her a Book of Mormon and invited her to
read it and that we would talk about it when we came back. Fast
forward to the time she said we could come back and we knocked on her
door. She opened and you could tell that she was just about to walk
out. She said that she still really wanted to meet with us but not
that day. So we set up another appointment for a week later, and that
was that.

Fast Forward again to this morning at our appointment. We knocked on
the door and she let us in, we all sat down and did a little bit of
get to know you stuff and then we started how to begin teaching
points. We told her to feel free to ask questions and then the tidal
wave came...she started throwing questions at us left and right.
Awesome questions like why do we pray and why are there so many kids
in Mormon families and what makes our church different from the others
and why are there so many and how can I make myself better and why are
we here and more! I was so excited!!! We were able to answer some of
her questions and we were able to testify that as she continued to
meet with us all of those questions will be answered. She was so
excited that we wanted to come back. We have another appointment with
her and we invited her to a ward dinner this Friday night so that she
can start to make more friends in the area that have young families
like hers. She is a very family focused and we left her with a copy
of the Proclamation to the World on the Family to read. She told us
that when she first moved here, from Portland, the non-LDS neighbors
warned her about all the Mormons in the neighborhood and how you could
tell that they were Mormon was because they have so many kids. She has
4 and she thought, "well good then I will fit right in." She is
honestly a seeker of truth, for some reason I didn't think that I
would ever find one. But now I have and I thank Heavenly Father so
much for letting me see this miracle.

I know that was a long story but I am so excited to be able to help
Jen and to be able to help her be less confused and to come to the
knowledge that she is a daughter of God and that He loves her. And
that all her questions have answers!

I love this Gospel and I love that it can answer all the questions
that we can have in this life. I love THE Doctrine of Christ! I hope
you have a wonderful week! Love you!

P.S. Zone Conference was awesome! It was super sad because I think I
only have one left before I go home (maybe two). We learned even more
about the Doctrine of Christ and about Preach My Gospel and how
important those wonderful gifts are in our work! Awesome! :)

Mother thanks for the Valentines package! It was perfect!

Happy Valentine's Day

Oh goodness...I am so tired! Haha! Well, I am always tired so that is
not saying much. Things are finally starting to pick up here in the
Kennewick Park Ward. We have been tracting ALOT! More than I have my
entire mission thus far. I made new records for myself and this week
looks to be the same. We have been able to find people who are seeking
the truth and that have questions about the church.

For example, we were tracting a street and we started on one side and
worked our way down. We came to a house where there was a guy sitting
in his car smoking. The window was down just a crack and he wasn't
about to go anywhere (the car wasn't even on). We walked up expecting
this situation to turn out the way it had so far that day like almost
every other day with everyone saying that they had their own church
and that they weren't interested in what we have to share and then
shutting the door in our faces. We of course are used to this response
even though we know that what we have to offer is more than just any
church, we are not selling our religion or our church, we are simply
sharing a message about our Savior Jesus Christ whom you should WANT
to learn more about if you are honestly seeking to follow him.

But anyway, back to my story, we walk up and wave and say something
like hey how are you doing today. Mike looks up at us and you can tell
that he is not having a good day. He says he is okay, so we introduce
ourselves and tell him that we are there to share a message about
Jesus Christ. We asked him what role religion has played in his life
and he told us that he was raised 7th day Adventist but that he
doesn't really like to go there anymore. He told us that his parents
were very strong in their beliefs and that he just doesn't feel like
it is right for him. We were able to tell him that everyone has to
find out what is right for them. He expressed his concern about how he
was taught to fear God and that everything seemed to be so doom and
gloom. We were able to bare simple testimonies on how we know that God
is our loving Heavenly Father and that He wants the best for us, His
children. Mike seemed to perk up a little as we continued to visit
with him. We were able to give him a copy of the Book of Mormon with a
promise that as he reads it and prays about it, he will be able to see
the love of God more in his life. He accepted it and said he would
read it and pray. We set up a time that we could come over later in
the week to share with him how it was that we got the Book of Mormon.
He seemed excited and told us to come back on Saturday at 10:30
because his parents wouldn't be home. We asked him if he was in his
car because his parents were home and he said yes. We said a prayer
with Mike and we left and continued down the street. We could tell
that Mike is going through some really hard stuff in his life right
now and that we were meant to talk to him outside instead of knocking
on his door just to be turned away by his mom or dad.

So lets jump from that day to Saturday. We have found a wonderful
sister to join us to go to Mike's house (by the way all of us were in
purple) and we go and knock on his door. No one answers and we are so
disappointed. :( We left a sticky note on his door with our phone
number to give us a call so that we could go visit him again. We left
and thanked Sister Madison for coming with us and we went our separate
ways.

Two hours later: We decided to go by again to see if the note was gone
and to visit one of Mike's neighbors. We saw the note was gone and
that Mike was in his car again. We talked to his neighbor and then
went to talk to Mike again. He apologized for not answering earlier,
he had over slept and that his parents were home. So knowing that his
mom was inside we asked if we could go inside. We went in and started
talking more about what he believes and the Book of Mormon and how it
gives us hope for a better life. He was way into it and his mom came
in. She listened for a few minutes and we could tell that something
was about to happen. She started to yell at us (for about 10 or so
minutes) and tell us how wrong we are and that we needed to leave. So
we said that everyone has the opportunity to learn for themselves and
that Mike had told us that he would be interested in learning more.
She told us that he was not and that we were not welcome in her home.
We got up and told Mike that if he had any questions to please call us
or text and we would be happy to meet with him somewhere else. He said
okay and we left.

Sunday after church we had a text from Mike apologizing for his moms
actions and asking if we could meet at the park by his house. We told
him that it was alright and that we had some friends (the Madisons)
that we could go to their house to meet. We set up a time on Tuesday
and we will see how that goes. Mike is such a nice guy. He is 28 and
you can tell that he wants to get out from under his parents thumb but
he just doesn't know how. I am so excited to be able to help show him
the way.

He is just one of the many people that we are trying to go back to
teach. I know that the Lord puts us on the path we need to be on in
order to find His children that are prepared and if we don't listen
then He will help them find us. I have a few more funny stories but I
am almost out of time so I will have to leave you in suspense. We have
zone conference tomorrow and I am super excited about that!  :) I love
you all and I hope you all have a very happy valentines day!

It's Been a Year!!

Before this letter, we had a funeral for our grandma and grandpa who died four days apart and could not wait to be together in Heaven.  Morgan was given an opportunity to write her thoughts and send a special email to family after each of the deaths.  She is handling it with a positive attitude and is happy that Memaw and Papaw are together serving their eternal missions at the same time she is serving hers in Washington.

Dear Family,

How are you doing, how did the funeral go? Last week just seemed to
fly by for me! Its really hard for me to believe that I entered the
MTC a year ago. I remember thinking that days would never be over and
that I would never be able to lay my head down or shut my eyes. I felt
like this a little bit yesterday between getting up extra early and
fasting. Fasting is always difficult for me. I usually end up with a
headache that is worthy to be categorized as a migraine in my opinion,
with bouts of nausea, light-headedness, and sensitivity to light and
sound. Nevertheless I still fast because I know that is what Heavenly
Father wants and that is what I want in order to obtain the special
blessings that come from fasting. I am so grateful to be a missionary
and to have the opportunity to fast for those that I teach or want to
teach. I have been praying so hard to be able to find new
investigators and so far we haven't had much luck. Last week we
received a referral from Elder Bodmer about a lady that had called the
mission office requesting sister missionaries. She lives in the Union
Ward boundaries and we are the lucky ones to be able to go and contact
her.

So here is how the story goes: We ring the door bell and a
younger woman probably around 20 or so opens the door and we ask if
our referral Niki is at home. The woman Sky says yes but that she is
not feeling well. We then introduce ourselves and ask if there is
anything we can do to help. She said no and that she was taking care
of her mother (Niki). We said okay and we proceed to OYM her and tell
her why we're there and that her mom had called us and asked us to
come by. So we gave Sky a card with our names and phone number and
asked her to tell her mom that we came by and to call us when she is
feeling better so that we can set up a time to come again and visit
her. Sky said that she might be the one who calls us because she needs
some more faith in her life as well. We said that would be wonderful
and we would be more than happy to share our message with her too. She
said thank you and we said our good-byes. I totally had a good feeling
about everything that had happened. As I was backing out of our
parking spot I saw a woman running out of the door towards our car
waving our pass along card in the air. I stopped and as Sister
McMurtrey was getting in the car I was getting out, leaving the car
exactly where it was (the lot was mostly deserted with no traffic). We
introduced ourselves to Niki and she proceeded to tell us about why
she called the mission office and requested sisters. She is a member
of the church and was baptized in her early 20s, but since then she
has made a series of mistakes and wrong choices. She has been clean
from drugs and alcohol for 5 years now and she is working on quitting
smoking. She is ready to change her life and come back to church. She
wants to hear the missionary lessons again so that she can regain her
testimony. We were so excited and slightly disappointed that she is a
member already. We asked her how soon she would like us to come over
again with the intent of setting up an appointment for the next day
(Sunday/yesterday) since she had already told us that she was too busy
that day (Saturday). She said that Sunday was not a good day of course
because of the Superbowl so we set up an appointment for today at
6:30! I am so excited to be able to teach her! We asked about her
daughter Sky to find out if she was a member to and Niki said no so we
asked if she would be interested in meeting with us too. Niki said no
and we told her what Sky had told us at the door. Niki was surprised
and you could tell that she was excited to hear that. Sky looks like
she is on the same path that her mom was on 5 years ago. You could
tell that Sky has a very difficult life and we are hoping and praying
that she will listen to us and be ready to change her life! We will
find out more tonight and fill you in of course!

Other than that, testimony meeting was interesting yesterday. I had
planned on going up to share my testimony on the plan of salvation
since I had been contemplating that so much lately. As I was about to
go up, another sister in the ward went up and started to bare her
testimony and talk about how her mom passed away last Sunday the same
day my Papaw did. She talked about how hard it was for her but that
she was able to overcome her sorrow because she has such a strong
testimony. After that, a few more testimonies on the plan of salvation
were born and I felt peace knowing that I didn't need to go and bare
my testimony too. I am not sure why I felt this way but I knew that if
I had gone up to bare my testimony it would have distracted me from my
purpose to share the happiness the gospel brings. I think they would
have felt bad for me and I don't want anyone to. I am so happy that my
grandparents have passed on. They are out of their suffering. I am
grateful for this knowledge. I am grateful for our Father's plan of
mercy. I am grateful to be a missionary. I love this work. I love you!

Have a great day!
~Sister Brox

Transfers

So some quick info about transfers in 5 min or less...My new
baby/trainee is Sister McMurtrey and she is awesome! She is from
TX,CO,UT and OH...she even lived in India for about 6 months. She is
super into archeology (I think that is how you spell it)! She is kind
of quiet but really funny! I love her already and I will tell you more
about her some other time. We are living with the Vances in the the
Rancho Reata ward where as we are serving in the Kennewick Park ward.
We are right down the street from the Columbia River Temple. Our stake
center is right next door to it. Its super awesome. I don't feel like
a tri-city missionary yet so that is way hard. gotta go! Love you! :)
This letter is short because Morgan took a lot of time sending a letter to family expressing her feelings over Papaw's death.  The letter was very sweet and Morgan shared her testimony of the Plan of Happiness.

Bitter Sweet

Hello Family! "Oh what a beautiful morning. Oh what a beautiful day.
I've got a wonderful feelin' everything's going my way!" Sorry, I had
to get that song outta my head...but its true to how I am feeling. The
sky is blue with a light layer of clouds but not raining (which it has
been this way for a couple days). I am loving it! It is really cold
and there is always frost everywhere in the morning. So I was half
correct in my transfer predictions. I am being transferred to Kennewick
to serve in the Kennewick Park ward and I will be training a new
missionary. I will tell you her name next week because I don't even
know it yet. The part I was wrong about is that Sister Mecham is not
training a new missionary. She is receiving Sister Neumayer to be her
companion. I love Sis Neumayer and I want to serve with her really bad
so I'm pretty jealous. I am also terrified of what I am doing so I am
just full of emotions right now! haha! Happy, sad, jealous, terrified
and others I am sure. I am not making this long today because I am
almost out of time already and I want to make sure that I get some
pictures attached to the email. So for not emailing yesterday, it was
a holiday so the library wasn't open. We are spending the day running
around and saying goodbye and taking pictures with all of my favorite
people as I share my favorite scriptures and my testimony. It is
great! I will talk to you later! Love you All!!!
Happy Birthdays to JAKOB, JUSTIN, and PAPAW!!! I love you all and I
didn't forget! :)