Please, Please, Please, Please!!!!
Make sure you send all mail to Morgan's new mission address.
WASHINGTON VANCOUVER MISSION
2223 NW 99TH St.
Vancouver, WA 98665
Monday, July 29, 2013
The Perks of Being a Missionary!
So instead of writing a letter today I am just going to make an
expanded list of EVERYTHING that is happening!
1. SHADA IS GETTING BAPTIZED!!!!! :) I am so excited! We had the
opportunity to go on exchanges this last week and I had the blessing
of heading back to the Vancouver/Camas area. I worked with Sister
Steadman who is an STL and we worked hard. It was a very hot day and
we were walking and not drinking enough water. So I ended up with a
huge headache (borderline migraine w/nausea). Anyway, so we headed to
our last appt of the day to do some service in the garden of this lady
they are teaching. Sister Steadman had told me a little bit about this
lady. She said that she was on date to be baptized and that Sister
Steadmad had given up chocolate and her comp Sister St Laruent had
given up meat to help the lady as she gave up coffee. Through out the
day I had looked through the Steadman's daily planner, and their
phone, and the records of the area. I did all this to help Steadman,
as she asked me for help in various areas of the work. I was looking
though some texts that they had sent to "Renee" who we were going to
see that night, to get the feel of how she talked. I saw Shada's name
but it didn't click. Then I saw some paperwork that had Shada's name
on it and it didn't click. As we were driving to her house (which is
out of the sister's ward boundaries) I didn't have time to think about
where we were because Steadman kept asking me questions. We are
walking up to the door and I keep thinking to myself that this looks
oddly and very very faintly familiar. The woman answers the door and I
was totally expecting to see a lady named "Renee" but NO, its Shada.
My jaw hits the floor and I go after Steadman because she deserves a
beating for tricking me all day long! I didn't really hit her (I've
gotten better about that). I am in total disbelief that they came up
with this big plan for me to see her and her mom while I was in town
for exchanges...Then they tell me that its Shada that is getting
baptized and not this made up person Renee. I about screamed! I wanted
to give Shada the biggest hug, but she is not the kind of person that
likes that, so I asked permission and then gave her a big hug! I
was/am so excited! She is getting baptized on Aug 10th, 10 days before
I go home. I am going to ask/beg President to let me go. Now let me
call your mind back to last year when I was serving in the Lacamas
Creek and Harmony wards for 6 months straight. I was teaching Shada
and her mom Sondra the entire time. Sondra got baptized in December
and I was there for that still. Now its Shada's turn! I am so so so
happy that you have made this decision Shada! You will never ever
regret it! :)
2. Tomorrow is Sister's Training and I am so so so excited for that
too. At interviews last week, Sister Taylor told me that there would
not be anymore zone conferences till after I am gone. But then I guess
that is okay as long as I still get sister's training. I am SO excited
to see all the sisters again. Especially Sister Neumayer, I really
miss that chica! Sister Lierley and I get to lead everyone in reciting
Doctrine and Covenants section 4 and I will also being a departing
testimony. I can not even tell you how excited I am. :)
3. Yesterday, before ward council, the bishop told me that one of the
speaker had just called and told him that they were not going to be
able to make it to Sacrament meeting. So I had the privilege of being
the concluding speaker in Sacrament yesterday. It was pretty awesome
actually. I had a little bit of an idea in my head of what I wanted to
say when I got up to talk. As I started to speak, I was able to start
the way I wanted to and then, the Lord took over. I love the feeling
of my mind being at a loss for words my mouth is still going and
saying everything that I am supposed to be. After Sacrament, probably
half of the people at church came up and said great job, and that was
exactly what they needed to hear. I wish I could remember what I said,
but I know that it was not me that was saying it.
4. Goldendale is on fire...literally! There is a really big
uncontrolled forest fire raging right now. Its is working its way down
the hills so its not quite to where we live yet, but it has caused a
ton of people to have to be evacuated from their homes. They are all
living in tents on the high school lawn and at the fair grounds. Its
so sad! There are firefighters from everywhere here and they are
working hard to put it out. We hear and see a lot of helicopters come
with water to try to help. The smoke is blowing away from us but it
still is pretty amazing to see how much there is. It looks like a lot
of clouds, but there are no real cloud in sight. We are praying for
lots of rain here in Goldendale.
5. We found 5 new investigators last week and we are excited to add
them to the others that we are teaching. We hope and pray that they
will keep the commitments that we have extended to them and that they
will continue to improve the quality of their lives through the gospel
of Jesus Christ.
6. So I realized that I never share scriptures in my letters so here
is one that I loved this week. I am currently reading Acts in the New
Testament and I found a new favorite chapter. Its Acts 5. Mostly the
last half where the apostles are about to be slain and then a pharisee
stands up and says to the people, IF this work be of men then it will
fail, BUT IF it be of God then you are fighting against Him and you
are not going to win. So the people agreed not to kill the apostles.
They beat them instead and let them go and told them to stop
preaching. My favorite part is next, when the apostles are happy that
they were able to go through that in the name of Christ and they
continue to teach the gospel! I love this! I love everything about it.
I probably didn't do it justice so you should go read it for
yourselves.
7. On Wednesday this week we get to go to girls camp for our stake for
a couple hours to teach about "scripture study". I am so glad that I
have served a mission and one of the greatest blessings it has brought
into my life was the importance of studying the scriptures. They are
amazing and I don't like it when I don't get my personal study in the
morning for one reason or another. They are just simply amazing! :)
8. I guess I better get going because I am running out of time and I
still need to write President Taylor. I hope you have a great week and
I love you all!
--
SISTER MORGAN BROX
P.S. Not that I am trunky or anything...but only 3 more weeks! :)
expanded list of EVERYTHING that is happening!
1. SHADA IS GETTING BAPTIZED!!!!! :) I am so excited! We had the
opportunity to go on exchanges this last week and I had the blessing
of heading back to the Vancouver/Camas area. I worked with Sister
Steadman who is an STL and we worked hard. It was a very hot day and
we were walking and not drinking enough water. So I ended up with a
huge headache (borderline migraine w/nausea). Anyway, so we headed to
our last appt of the day to do some service in the garden of this lady
they are teaching. Sister Steadman had told me a little bit about this
lady. She said that she was on date to be baptized and that Sister
Steadmad had given up chocolate and her comp Sister St Laruent had
given up meat to help the lady as she gave up coffee. Through out the
day I had looked through the Steadman's daily planner, and their
phone, and the records of the area. I did all this to help Steadman,
as she asked me for help in various areas of the work. I was looking
though some texts that they had sent to "Renee" who we were going to
see that night, to get the feel of how she talked. I saw Shada's name
but it didn't click. Then I saw some paperwork that had Shada's name
on it and it didn't click. As we were driving to her house (which is
out of the sister's ward boundaries) I didn't have time to think about
where we were because Steadman kept asking me questions. We are
walking up to the door and I keep thinking to myself that this looks
oddly and very very faintly familiar. The woman answers the door and I
was totally expecting to see a lady named "Renee" but NO, its Shada.
My jaw hits the floor and I go after Steadman because she deserves a
beating for tricking me all day long! I didn't really hit her (I've
gotten better about that). I am in total disbelief that they came up
with this big plan for me to see her and her mom while I was in town
for exchanges...Then they tell me that its Shada that is getting
baptized and not this made up person Renee. I about screamed! I wanted
to give Shada the biggest hug, but she is not the kind of person that
likes that, so I asked permission and then gave her a big hug! I
was/am so excited! She is getting baptized on Aug 10th, 10 days before
I go home. I am going to ask/beg President to let me go. Now let me
call your mind back to last year when I was serving in the Lacamas
Creek and Harmony wards for 6 months straight. I was teaching Shada
and her mom Sondra the entire time. Sondra got baptized in December
and I was there for that still. Now its Shada's turn! I am so so so
happy that you have made this decision Shada! You will never ever
regret it! :)
2. Tomorrow is Sister's Training and I am so so so excited for that
too. At interviews last week, Sister Taylor told me that there would
not be anymore zone conferences till after I am gone. But then I guess
that is okay as long as I still get sister's training. I am SO excited
to see all the sisters again. Especially Sister Neumayer, I really
miss that chica! Sister Lierley and I get to lead everyone in reciting
Doctrine and Covenants section 4 and I will also being a departing
testimony. I can not even tell you how excited I am. :)
3. Yesterday, before ward council, the bishop told me that one of the
speaker had just called and told him that they were not going to be
able to make it to Sacrament meeting. So I had the privilege of being
the concluding speaker in Sacrament yesterday. It was pretty awesome
actually. I had a little bit of an idea in my head of what I wanted to
say when I got up to talk. As I started to speak, I was able to start
the way I wanted to and then, the Lord took over. I love the feeling
of my mind being at a loss for words my mouth is still going and
saying everything that I am supposed to be. After Sacrament, probably
half of the people at church came up and said great job, and that was
exactly what they needed to hear. I wish I could remember what I said,
but I know that it was not me that was saying it.
4. Goldendale is on fire...literally! There is a really big
uncontrolled forest fire raging right now. Its is working its way down
the hills so its not quite to where we live yet, but it has caused a
ton of people to have to be evacuated from their homes. They are all
living in tents on the high school lawn and at the fair grounds. Its
so sad! There are firefighters from everywhere here and they are
working hard to put it out. We hear and see a lot of helicopters come
with water to try to help. The smoke is blowing away from us but it
still is pretty amazing to see how much there is. It looks like a lot
of clouds, but there are no real cloud in sight. We are praying for
lots of rain here in Goldendale.
5. We found 5 new investigators last week and we are excited to add
them to the others that we are teaching. We hope and pray that they
will keep the commitments that we have extended to them and that they
will continue to improve the quality of their lives through the gospel
of Jesus Christ.
6. So I realized that I never share scriptures in my letters so here
is one that I loved this week. I am currently reading Acts in the New
Testament and I found a new favorite chapter. Its Acts 5. Mostly the
last half where the apostles are about to be slain and then a pharisee
stands up and says to the people, IF this work be of men then it will
fail, BUT IF it be of God then you are fighting against Him and you
are not going to win. So the people agreed not to kill the apostles.
They beat them instead and let them go and told them to stop
preaching. My favorite part is next, when the apostles are happy that
they were able to go through that in the name of Christ and they
continue to teach the gospel! I love this! I love everything about it.
I probably didn't do it justice so you should go read it for
yourselves.
7. On Wednesday this week we get to go to girls camp for our stake for
a couple hours to teach about "scripture study". I am so glad that I
have served a mission and one of the greatest blessings it has brought
into my life was the importance of studying the scriptures. They are
amazing and I don't like it when I don't get my personal study in the
morning for one reason or another. They are just simply amazing! :)
8. I guess I better get going because I am running out of time and I
still need to write President Taylor. I hope you have a great week and
I love you all!
--
SISTER MORGAN BROX
P.S. Not that I am trunky or anything...but only 3 more weeks! :)
Oh, Goldendale....
Well, lets just say that I never want to live in a small town...haha! Let me tell you a little bit about Goldendale. Everyone knows everyone. Everyone knows everything about everyone else's past, present and future! This place is a giant vaccum! It sucks people in and they can never get free, haha! There are a lot of retired people here and a ton of crazies! The children and youth population is small and the young single adult age hardly exsists! We have a couple "normal" people we are teaching but for the most part they are part of the crazies, but even they need the gospel too, so I am glad that I am here. We cover all of Goldendale and Centerville and Roosevelt and Bickelton, which is all inclusive into the Goldendale ward. Its really fun when we try to drive out to our dinner appts. We often get lost on dirt roads that last for miles with no where to turn around. Its great fun and very adventuresome. I'm sorry if I've repeated myself on the information I've shared previously about Goldendale. Our tagline as a companionship when something non-normal happens is "Welcome to Goldendale" it is all inclusive to the thoughts we are having at the time. The members here are very welcoming and loving though. We live with the Wagners, in an appt about their garage. Its a nice place. We don't have a working air conditioner so our windows are always open and our fans are always on. Its been getting up into the high 90s lately. We haven't been doing much walking lately but that will change soon, because we are running low on our mileage. I think its really funny to be driving our little Chevy Cruze around on dirt and gravel roads all the time. I'll send a pic of our turning around one time after we got lost. Its great fun. I want to tell you about one of the girls that we are teaching. She is probably the most normal of all of them. We will call her K for the sake of confidentiality. K is 24 and married with 2 adorable little boys. Her husband J is an inactive member and he is actually our Bishop's son. K has lived in Goldendale her whole life and doesn't really plan on leaving anytime. They come to Sacrament meeting every week and then leave. K realizes what good the church did for J growing up so she wants that for their boys too. We have started to teach K the missionary lessons because she has never heard them before and she has a lot of questions about the things that she hears in church. The only thing is, she doesn't want anyone to know that we are teaching her because she doesn't want to get her in laws hopes up for no reason. So we haven't told anyone that we are teaching her especially her father-in-law the bishop. Its so much fun. LOL! We are hoping and praying that she will get an answer the this is the right path for her and then we can surprise the whole family with the fact that she wants to be baptized. :) We'll see how it goes! We had interviews this last week and I absolutely love President and Sister Taylor. I miss the Greer's but I am glad that I had them for so long. They didn't seem to want to talk to me for too long because I will be having my exit interview before we know it. I can't believe how fast time is going! Pres Taylor gave me some good advice and I wrote it all down in my journal. I look forward to getting more from him later. Well I will let you go for now and I will try to send some pictures before my time is up! I love you all and I hope you have a great week! Happy Pioneer Day and Happy Birthday to Mother! :)
P.S. Thanks for the package on the 4th of July, I'm not sure if I said that yet. And Kristi, thank you for the package as well! I loved the pictures especially!
Friday, July 19, 2013
Pictures
Morgan hugging Sister Greer.
Sister Brox and Sister Lierly
Sister Brox, Sister Hodges and Annie the dog, after getting lost.
Chickens Anyone???
Morgan's favorite stick
Well...Goldendale....is....Interesting.....
Dear Everyone,
I have come to the realization that I am totally 100% a city girl! haha! I miss Vancouver! I am having a hard time adjusting to Goldendale and remaining focused at the same time. The people here are nice and we have people that we are teaching. I feel separated from everything. We are right between The Dalles Oregon and Yakima Washington. There is a whole lotta nothing around here. Its actually really funny though. We drive around and I think, Really?? People still live like this in America!? Its fascinating and I feel like I am living in an old western movie. There is even a guy that stands on his porch all day long whom the sisters have talked to before. When you ask him what his name is he answers in complete honesty that he is Jesus Christ. He has the beard and everything. Its great!
Sister Lierley and I are getting along just fine. She had a rough transfer the last 3 weeks and she is still getting to know the area as well. She was trained in Vancouver and misses it too so we are a great pair. The sisters that were here before us were two skinny blondes and now they have two curvy brunettes. I can only imagine what they are thinking. haha! What is the Lord trying to have happen in Goldendale. Oh well, so a little more about Sis Lierley. She is from Talkeetna AK and she is the youngest of 9 kids! She is full of life and energy and is excited to be a missionary. She is a hard worker and she makes me laugh. We had a great bonding experience yesterday, let me tell you about it!
We were leaving an appointment an headed to dinner and we had gotten out a little late to get there on time at 5...we left the other person's house at 5. We called our dinner appt and apologized for running late and said we'd be there asap. The Hodges said that was ok and gave us a clue as to where they lived. We typed in the address to me gps and we were off on our adventure. Since Goldendale is a huge ward we thought that we were headed in the right direction until the gps had us turn onto a dirt road that we would be on for 3ish miles. We said okay, here we go...We kept on the gps road and called dinner again because we needed help and they had no idea where we were and gave us more directions that didn't help because by this point we were completely lost! haha! We were winding though the countryside by this time and going though the mountains on dirt/gravel one lane roads...we were going to die and no one was going to be able to find us. When we got to the where the gps said that we had arrived at our destination, we were on a bridge with nothing around us. We were lost for an hour and a half and we traveled about 50 miles out of the way. It was ridiculous, but hilarious. When we finally found a highway after looking at a map and finding out our way, we called our dinner again (we had lost reception quite a few times). She told us to keep coming down the road and she would find us. We eventually started to see signs of civilization again and we got excited! haha! I was never so happy to see another vehicle as I was at that time. We found Sister Hodges and she lead us to her house and we started dinner about 6:40 instead of at 5. I told her that if I could cry I would have been bawling! But they were not upset with us and we apologized at least 100 times. They told us not to worry about it and that they were just glad that we didn't get stranded or hurt somewhere.
All I can tell you is that the Lord loves and protects his missionaries even when they are following a gps into the middle of no where! So that was how sister Lierley and I became close friends. Its because we almost died! I loved screaming in the car, "WE'RE GONNA DIE!!!!" It was great fun. I even made a recording and took some pictures so you will have to wait to see those another time.
I gotta get going now! I love you all and I will see you in 5 weeks! :)
"Golden" Voodoo and "Dale" Fireworks
The title is interesting, isn't it?? So we had a great week this
week! Let me tell you the highlights...We got a surprise visit from the
amazingly beautiful and talented Sister Katrina Roberts. She had so
wonderfully gone to Portland and bought us a lovely pink box with some
Voodoo Donuts. Including the legendary Maple Bacon Bar and some
others. SO GOOD!
So the 4th of July was awesome! We got to meet President and
Sister Taylor!!!! They are amazing and they are exactly who the
Washington Vancouver Mission needs. They are very different from the
Greer's but that is not a bad thing at all. They are very chill and
ready to work hard. President likes to teach by telling stories and he
does a very good job at it. Sister Taylor is very loving and excited
to do lots of "sister time." They are adventuresome people and like to
do fun things. For example, when we were asking what time we needed to
be in by on the 4th, he asked us what time it got dark, we said about
9:30 and he said well I like fireworks and they only look good in the
dark, so watch fireworks and then get home by 10:30...that is VERY
different from President Greer who said to be in by 6. President
Taylor said that he trusts us till we lose his trust then we better
watch out. haha! I am excited to be able to server under their
leadership for my last 6 weeks.
So I have talked about the voodoo and the fireworks....now lets
talk about Goldendale. I am being transferred to Goldendale, Oregon. I
will be serving with Sister Lierly. I don't know much about her. She
has been in the mission for about 3 months. She is from Alaska. That
is about all I know so I will fill you in next week. Goldendale is a
small town just south of The Dalles OR. Until the last 6 months or so
it was closed to missionaries and then they sent in sisters to open it
back up. As far as I know it is similar to Walla Walla, from what I
have heard. I am excited to serve in OR and to be leaving this area
again. I love these wards but I haven't made the connection I needed
to with it. I am so sad to be leaving Sister Neumayer. She and I have
become very close friends and we have worked very hard these last 3
weeks. I know that serving with her was an answer to both of our
prayers and the Lord gave us all the time he could. I am happy to not
be training for my last transfer. I would have done it but I know that
I need to learn something from Sister Lierly. Its going to be great!
I love you all and I can't wait to see you. It is coming up so
soon I can't believe it! I hope you have a great week! Continue to
pray for missionary opportunities and to talk of Christ! He is THE
way!
week! Let me tell you the highlights...We got a surprise visit from the
amazingly beautiful and talented Sister Katrina Roberts. She had so
wonderfully gone to Portland and bought us a lovely pink box with some
Voodoo Donuts. Including the legendary Maple Bacon Bar and some
others. SO GOOD!
So the 4th of July was awesome! We got to meet President and
Sister Taylor!!!! They are amazing and they are exactly who the
Washington Vancouver Mission needs. They are very different from the
Greer's but that is not a bad thing at all. They are very chill and
ready to work hard. President likes to teach by telling stories and he
does a very good job at it. Sister Taylor is very loving and excited
to do lots of "sister time." They are adventuresome people and like to
do fun things. For example, when we were asking what time we needed to
be in by on the 4th, he asked us what time it got dark, we said about
9:30 and he said well I like fireworks and they only look good in the
dark, so watch fireworks and then get home by 10:30...that is VERY
different from President Greer who said to be in by 6. President
Taylor said that he trusts us till we lose his trust then we better
watch out. haha! I am excited to be able to server under their
leadership for my last 6 weeks.
So I have talked about the voodoo and the fireworks....now lets
talk about Goldendale. I am being transferred to Goldendale, Oregon. I
will be serving with Sister Lierly. I don't know much about her. She
has been in the mission for about 3 months. She is from Alaska. That
is about all I know so I will fill you in next week. Goldendale is a
small town just south of The Dalles OR. Until the last 6 months or so
it was closed to missionaries and then they sent in sisters to open it
back up. As far as I know it is similar to Walla Walla, from what I
have heard. I am excited to serve in OR and to be leaving this area
again. I love these wards but I haven't made the connection I needed
to with it. I am so sad to be leaving Sister Neumayer. She and I have
become very close friends and we have worked very hard these last 3
weeks. I know that serving with her was an answer to both of our
prayers and the Lord gave us all the time he could. I am happy to not
be training for my last transfer. I would have done it but I know that
I need to learn something from Sister Lierly. Its going to be great!
I love you all and I can't wait to see you. It is coming up so
soon I can't believe it! I hope you have a great week! Continue to
pray for missionary opportunities and to talk of Christ! He is THE
way!
Monday, July 1, 2013
It's Transfer Time in the WKM!!!
So I won't be saying the "WKM" for much longer because transfer calls
are in and I am staying in Vancouver. Starting at the mission split on
July 1st to Aug 20th I will be a WVM missionary!
I am going to be leaving Salmon Creek Ward though and Sister Hiersche.
She gets to keep the area and train a brand new missionary! I will be
transferred BACK to the Clark YSA ward and the Mountain View ward. I
hope those sound familiar. That was my second area, right after walla
walla. I was there for transfers before, one with Sis Faamau and
another with Sis McGhie. I did lots of exchanges when I got to go back
for the day while I was serving in Lacamas Creek and Harmony. I know
that a lot of this doesn't make sense but I just think its cool to be
going back. Obviously I still have something to accomplish in those
wards. I am super excited because I will be serving with Sister
Neumayer. She was trained by Sister Dilworth. She took over Lacamas
Creek and Harmony when I left there with my first baby Sister Mecham.
Then she went to Clark YSA and Mtn View with Sister Duncan who was
half trained by Sister Mecham and Sister Brown (Sister Brown took over
Clark and Mtn View when I left it the 1st time). Now are you even more
confused??? Haha! No need to worry about all of that. Just know that
it is crazy how everyone is linked! Transfers are on Wednesday and I
HATE saying good bye to people. We have been going around so that I
can take pictures with people and say good bye (see ya later). Sister
Hiersche is excited to train and I know that she will do a great job!
If you didn't catch what I said before, I said what my coming home
date will be...It will be August 20th. I know that a lot of people
have been asking me that...but I didn't know until this last Saturday
at 10pm! Anyway, I am so excited to be finishing my mission here on
the west side! I would have hated to have gone back to the other side
of the state when I have spent practically my entire mission here. I
am grateful that I was able to spend 23 weeks total on the east side
but I feel more at home over here. More of where I am supposed to be
and more belonging. I know that sounds weird but I am glad the Lord
understands and that He inspired President Greer to keep me here.
Speaking of Pres Greer...We had our last specialized training with him
and Sister Greer on Tuesday this last week. It was so sad :( When it
was over we all got to hug both Sister and Pres Greer. I didn't even
try to shake his hand like normal. I threw my arms around him with no
hesitation. But it wasn't a long enough hug, I guess that is a good
thing. I just hugged Sister Greer an extra amount of time.
My new mission President will be President and Sister Taylor and I am
excited to meet them soon! I hope to love them just as much as I do
THE Greer's but the Taylor's have mighty big places to fill. ;)
Anyways, I love you all and I hope you have a great week. I can't wait
to see you all again in just 2 very short months!
are in and I am staying in Vancouver. Starting at the mission split on
July 1st to Aug 20th I will be a WVM missionary!
I am going to be leaving Salmon Creek Ward though and Sister Hiersche.
She gets to keep the area and train a brand new missionary! I will be
transferred BACK to the Clark YSA ward and the Mountain View ward. I
hope those sound familiar. That was my second area, right after walla
walla. I was there for transfers before, one with Sis Faamau and
another with Sis McGhie. I did lots of exchanges when I got to go back
for the day while I was serving in Lacamas Creek and Harmony. I know
that a lot of this doesn't make sense but I just think its cool to be
going back. Obviously I still have something to accomplish in those
wards. I am super excited because I will be serving with Sister
Neumayer. She was trained by Sister Dilworth. She took over Lacamas
Creek and Harmony when I left there with my first baby Sister Mecham.
Then she went to Clark YSA and Mtn View with Sister Duncan who was
half trained by Sister Mecham and Sister Brown (Sister Brown took over
Clark and Mtn View when I left it the 1st time). Now are you even more
confused??? Haha! No need to worry about all of that. Just know that
it is crazy how everyone is linked! Transfers are on Wednesday and I
HATE saying good bye to people. We have been going around so that I
can take pictures with people and say good bye (see ya later). Sister
Hiersche is excited to train and I know that she will do a great job!
If you didn't catch what I said before, I said what my coming home
date will be...It will be August 20th. I know that a lot of people
have been asking me that...but I didn't know until this last Saturday
at 10pm! Anyway, I am so excited to be finishing my mission here on
the west side! I would have hated to have gone back to the other side
of the state when I have spent practically my entire mission here. I
am grateful that I was able to spend 23 weeks total on the east side
but I feel more at home over here. More of where I am supposed to be
and more belonging. I know that sounds weird but I am glad the Lord
understands and that He inspired President Greer to keep me here.
Speaking of Pres Greer...We had our last specialized training with him
and Sister Greer on Tuesday this last week. It was so sad :( When it
was over we all got to hug both Sister and Pres Greer. I didn't even
try to shake his hand like normal. I threw my arms around him with no
hesitation. But it wasn't a long enough hug, I guess that is a good
thing. I just hugged Sister Greer an extra amount of time.
My new mission President will be President and Sister Taylor and I am
excited to meet them soon! I hope to love them just as much as I do
THE Greer's but the Taylor's have mighty big places to fill. ;)
Anyways, I love you all and I hope you have a great week. I can't wait
to see you all again in just 2 very short months!
I Am Having Problems...
...with computers these days! For some reason for the last two weeks
my emails decide to send before I am even done typing the
subject/title! Sorry about that! Hopefully this one will go better.
Last week I ran out of time to send a new one so I am sorry that all
you got was "I don"...that must have been pretty funny! Anyways,
things here are going GREAT! I am loving serving with Sister Neumayer!
We have become very close very fast. We have similar work ethics and
we want to finish our missions strong. I don't remember how much I
have told you about her so here is a little bit more in case you
wanted to know. She is from Orange County, CA (Tustin). She is an
amazing singer. She loves opera and we will often listen to it in the
car but its not in English so she has to translate it for me. She is
going to BYU Provo majoring in music performance and minoring in
German. She hopes to make her career mostly in German Opera. She is
amazing! For example, yesterday in Sacrament meeting for the Clark YSA
ward, the first speaker was Karinna Redline. Karinna was baptized a
few weeks before I got to the Clark ward last year. Karinna was giving
her farewell talk before she heads off to her mission in the
Philippines. She is going to be a fantastic. Anyways, she gave a 20
min talk on the Atonement and then the ward choir sang "Come Thou
Fount". After that happened, Bishop Stewart got up and he was the
closing speaker. The Spirit was already almost overwhelming and he
proceeded to talk about how much God loves us and how He wants to
forgive us when we do something wrong. It was dead silent the entire
time he was speaking and everyone was so in tune with the spirit. He
closed and since its the week of the 4th of July we sang America the
Beautiful. As we were singing I was thinking about the words and
listening to Sister Neumayer sing (as I sang quietly next to her). All
of a sudden I am overcome and I start to cry. Tears flowing and I have
to blow my nose and it was embarrassing. I handed her the hymn book
for the last verse and tried to compose myself. All I could think
about was how grateful I am to be in America. How grateful I am to
have the freedom of religion. How grateful I am that because of my
religion and my faith in God I was able to serve a mission. How
grateful I am for a loving God that blesses us and answers our
prayers, like mine to serve with Sister Neumayer. How grateful I am
for our talents, abilities, and personalities. I am so happy! I love
being a missionary and I am terrified to come home in 7 weeks. It is
so close! I don't know what I am going to do when I get home yet. I
want to see everyone and yet I will miss being in Washington. I will
miss these people! I will miss working 16 hour days where I am
completely exhausted in every way: mentally, physically, emotionally,
and spiritually! I will miss this time I have to totally focus on
improving my relationship with Heavenly Father and my Savior. Simply
put, this really has been the best 17 months of my life so far!
I realize now that I got way off topic of telling you about
Sister Neumayer. We both go home Aug 20th. She came out to the mission
6 weeks/1 transfer after me. She makes me laugh so hard and the ward
can tell that we really love each other and love working together. We
are working hard! We had a few of our investigators decide that they
didn't want to keep meeting with the missionaries and that makes me so
sad. Sister Neumayer has only been here for 4 weeks before I got here
and she didn't have the chance to meet everyone that we are teaching
so they are not sure if they want these 2 girls coming over. This
makes me sad because if they really were prepared to hear the gospel
then it shouldn't matter which missionaries teach it to them. oh
well...we are on the look out for people who are seeking truth.
So crazy thing about the past week/today. I am now and will end
my mission being officially a WASHINGTON VANCOUVER MISSIONARY! I am so
so so excited! I am so happy that I got to serve in 2 missions. And
even though President and Sister Greer are gone, which makes me VERY
sad, I am excited to meet and get to know President and Sister Taylor.
I have not met them yet but I will get to on Thursday. We are having a
specialized training with them and I can't wait! Another thing is,
today is my 17 month mark. Can you believe that I have been a
missionary for 17 whole months! I can't! It has gone by so fast and
even days that feel like they are going to go by slow, end up going by
fast. For example, we did exchanges on Saturday. I got to stay in the
area to work with Sister Penrod and Sister Neumayer got to go to
Sister Blanchard in the Van North Stake. (They don't have a car and
its a walking area and Sister Neumayer got a really bad sunburn)
Anyway, I thought that that day was going to go by really slow because
we only had 2 set appointments. One at 11 and dinner. :) We taught the
lesson at 11 which went amazing! Then we tried a ton of people and no
one was home or let us in until 4:30 (an hour before dinner) so we
visited with the less active sister then went to dinner with an
investigator family. We ended up doing service and teaching a short
lesson after dinner so by the time we got done there it was time to go
back to the church to trade back companions. It was such a fast day! I
couldn't believe it! That happens every single time now. Time is
moving so fast!
Well I am running out of time now and I need to email President
Taylor. I hope to hear from you. Please do not think that just because
I am almost coming home that it means that you don't have to write me.
It should be the total opposite! And I would really really love to see
what Kyla looks like, and have some details like how big was she,
etc...you know the usual. All I know is the first and last name and a
date. I feel SO not included...
So I love you all and I miss you!
~Sister Brox
my emails decide to send before I am even done typing the
subject/title! Sorry about that! Hopefully this one will go better.
Last week I ran out of time to send a new one so I am sorry that all
you got was "I don"...that must have been pretty funny! Anyways,
things here are going GREAT! I am loving serving with Sister Neumayer!
We have become very close very fast. We have similar work ethics and
we want to finish our missions strong. I don't remember how much I
have told you about her so here is a little bit more in case you
wanted to know. She is from Orange County, CA (Tustin). She is an
amazing singer. She loves opera and we will often listen to it in the
car but its not in English so she has to translate it for me. She is
going to BYU Provo majoring in music performance and minoring in
German. She hopes to make her career mostly in German Opera. She is
amazing! For example, yesterday in Sacrament meeting for the Clark YSA
ward, the first speaker was Karinna Redline. Karinna was baptized a
few weeks before I got to the Clark ward last year. Karinna was giving
her farewell talk before she heads off to her mission in the
Philippines. She is going to be a fantastic. Anyways, she gave a 20
min talk on the Atonement and then the ward choir sang "Come Thou
Fount". After that happened, Bishop Stewart got up and he was the
closing speaker. The Spirit was already almost overwhelming and he
proceeded to talk about how much God loves us and how He wants to
forgive us when we do something wrong. It was dead silent the entire
time he was speaking and everyone was so in tune with the spirit. He
closed and since its the week of the 4th of July we sang America the
Beautiful. As we were singing I was thinking about the words and
listening to Sister Neumayer sing (as I sang quietly next to her). All
of a sudden I am overcome and I start to cry. Tears flowing and I have
to blow my nose and it was embarrassing. I handed her the hymn book
for the last verse and tried to compose myself. All I could think
about was how grateful I am to be in America. How grateful I am to
have the freedom of religion. How grateful I am that because of my
religion and my faith in God I was able to serve a mission. How
grateful I am for a loving God that blesses us and answers our
prayers, like mine to serve with Sister Neumayer. How grateful I am
for our talents, abilities, and personalities. I am so happy! I love
being a missionary and I am terrified to come home in 7 weeks. It is
so close! I don't know what I am going to do when I get home yet. I
want to see everyone and yet I will miss being in Washington. I will
miss these people! I will miss working 16 hour days where I am
completely exhausted in every way: mentally, physically, emotionally,
and spiritually! I will miss this time I have to totally focus on
improving my relationship with Heavenly Father and my Savior. Simply
put, this really has been the best 17 months of my life so far!
I realize now that I got way off topic of telling you about
Sister Neumayer. We both go home Aug 20th. She came out to the mission
6 weeks/1 transfer after me. She makes me laugh so hard and the ward
can tell that we really love each other and love working together. We
are working hard! We had a few of our investigators decide that they
didn't want to keep meeting with the missionaries and that makes me so
sad. Sister Neumayer has only been here for 4 weeks before I got here
and she didn't have the chance to meet everyone that we are teaching
so they are not sure if they want these 2 girls coming over. This
makes me sad because if they really were prepared to hear the gospel
then it shouldn't matter which missionaries teach it to them. oh
well...we are on the look out for people who are seeking truth.
So crazy thing about the past week/today. I am now and will end
my mission being officially a WASHINGTON VANCOUVER MISSIONARY! I am so
so so excited! I am so happy that I got to serve in 2 missions. And
even though President and Sister Greer are gone, which makes me VERY
sad, I am excited to meet and get to know President and Sister Taylor.
I have not met them yet but I will get to on Thursday. We are having a
specialized training with them and I can't wait! Another thing is,
today is my 17 month mark. Can you believe that I have been a
missionary for 17 whole months! I can't! It has gone by so fast and
even days that feel like they are going to go by slow, end up going by
fast. For example, we did exchanges on Saturday. I got to stay in the
area to work with Sister Penrod and Sister Neumayer got to go to
Sister Blanchard in the Van North Stake. (They don't have a car and
its a walking area and Sister Neumayer got a really bad sunburn)
Anyway, I thought that that day was going to go by really slow because
we only had 2 set appointments. One at 11 and dinner. :) We taught the
lesson at 11 which went amazing! Then we tried a ton of people and no
one was home or let us in until 4:30 (an hour before dinner) so we
visited with the less active sister then went to dinner with an
investigator family. We ended up doing service and teaching a short
lesson after dinner so by the time we got done there it was time to go
back to the church to trade back companions. It was such a fast day! I
couldn't believe it! That happens every single time now. Time is
moving so fast!
Well I am running out of time now and I need to email President
Taylor. I hope to hear from you. Please do not think that just because
I am almost coming home that it means that you don't have to write me.
It should be the total opposite! And I would really really love to see
what Kyla looks like, and have some details like how big was she,
etc...you know the usual. All I know is the first and last name and a
date. I feel SO not included...
So I love you all and I miss you!
~Sister Brox
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