Week 25 - Leaving Paradise for the Promised Land

 

First off...MAY the FOURTH be with you (2015)

April 2015 Missouri, St. Louis Sister Missionaries

AND we got transfer calls! AND I AM SO STINKING EXCITED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Ok, so Sister Petrie first... she is staying but Sister Schow (from my MTC district and Sister Sperry's "daughter"-trainee) IS COMING HERE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Dude she is going to be so great for these people! God is just pulling all the stops. And then..... I will be going to.... Marceline, Missouri :) I am so excited! Sister Montgomery (my "grandma"-Sister E's Trainer/"mom")" went there and I think I will be in her zone :) I am SO STINKING EXCITED! It will be so GREAT!

 

The area is booming and is still a branch and meets in a double wide trailer. I am SO EXCITED! This will be so fun! My new companion's name is Sister Rapp. So I can just tell she is going to be awesome!

I will tell you about yesterday because it was the BEST! So we had church and had a list of people that we wanted/needed to see. But... they were on opposite sides of town. So went with the list of more people on one side which had 3 investigators that we had to go stop in to try to set something up. So we hit the first person and they aren't home, then the next person's husband shut the door in our face and the next person wasn't home and the next house we couldn't find and for the next family it was super bad timing. So... once we had tried to see all of them we decided to go and see a less active member in Walnut Hill... 11 miles away.

We just went with it and were going to see a bunch of people on the way back. We got there and had to turn around because we missed the drive way :/ so when we finally pull up we say a quick prayer and get out. An older guy and a little girl start walking up to us and I ask if they are the S's, and that we were the missionaries. He said they were! and just invited us right inside. We ended up sitting and finding out about these people for a good hour and the kids (who are 11 and 13) WANT TO TAKE THE LESSONS! Such a miracle. God sometimes has to slam doors in my face so I can realize that I am not in the place I need to be.

BUT.... I have been learning how to listen before Heavenly Father has to slam doors in my face... :)

 

I am very excited to see you on Sunday :) It will be so GREAT! (MOM NOTE: Mother's Day Skype and we're excited, too!!!!)

There have many goodbyes and it makes me sad. But I know it won't be forever, and I trust Sister Petrie and Sister Schow to love them. :) And God will take really good care of them! God bless these wonderful people!

​Thought from the mission conference with Elder Cook (which was AMAZING by the way! I will tell you about it Sunday)- "​The FAITH of the missionary determines the SUCCESS of the work". And "we are successful when we open our mouths no matter what happens afterward"

Love,

Sister Brimley
(MOM NOTE: We'll have a new address for Sister Brimley next week.) 

Too much fun for one car!!

Week 24 - Last 10 Days in Centralia Paradise!

April 27, 2015

 Dude.... this transfer just FLEW! I can't believe that we are in the 6th and last week of the transfer! I WILL HIT MY 6 MONTH MARK ON THE 5TH!!!!!!!!!! SO CRAZY!!!!!!!!!!!! :)

 

I do have to say I am sad/happy/excited/dreading this new change... But it will be good :) No idea where I am going to go but it will be AWESOME!!!!!!!!! :)

 

Cracker Barrell dinner with the Hayes and the district

​Well this ​week has been busy! I think I talked about the devotional we put on last Sunday night. Well, the mission president and his wife were so touched by the music that they asked us to sing again... but more on that later :)

 

I have something called "mission brain" and can't remember much about my days :/ which can be super frustrating! but I have some highlights for the week :)

 

So.... Today we are short miles. We get 1250 miles every month and we had to drive EVERYWHERE this transfer so we have less than 100 miles to last about 5 days... we spend 15-40 in a single day... so we ran to the library this morning and we have a goal to NOT drive our car and just walk everywhere. :)

 

Since there were Elders in our apartment before us and they left all their food, we have been checking ALL expiration dates and smelling the canned food before we actually eat it. We have some canned mixed fruit that we opened last night from 2012 and the fruit had separated... to say the least we didn't eat it... it was really funny though! :)

 

​This week I woke up Saturday and just felt HORRIBLE. So I went back to bed for 20 minutes... which turned into 3 hours... then we got a phone call from A.M. wondering if we wanted to go do service with them. Sister Petrie asked me if I wanted to and I still felt horrible but the nausea was mild enough that I figured that it was better to feel sick doing something and serving instead of sitting in bed feeling sick... So I went out and picked up trash with a fever and super stuffed sinuses. Heavenly Father blessed me for the sacrifice. I was better the next day :) I hadn't been sick my whole mission but this transfer I have been sick 3 TIMES! SO not cool!

 

So I think the best day this week was Tuesday... we went to see M-----. She is a less active and wants us to teach her boyfriend, who wasn't home, so we decided to teach her and read the Book of Mormon with her. We started with the 1st chapter. She had SO many questions and got her excited about reading!

 

After that lesson we got a message from Elder Fa (district leader) saying we had to call him back asap because it was an emergency, so while Sister Petrie was backing out I called him back. He answered and asked if he was on speaker, I told him no and he said to do so because we were going to freak out! I got in the car and put the phone on speaker. Elder Fa started by saying he had just got off the phone with President and Sister Morgan and the they were planning a last minute mission conference because Elder Cook IS COMING! (attending the conference will be Elder Ulisses Soares, of the Presidency of the Seventy; Bishop Gary E.Stevenson, Presiding Bishop of the Church; and Elder Quentin L Cook, of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles) And that they just happen to need a musical number and they want OUR DISTRICT TO SING the song we did at the fireside!!!!!!!!!! There was some screaming and unbelief :D

 

BUT FOR REALS! MY DISTRICT IS GOING TO SING IN FRONT OF 3 STAKES, THE WHOLE MISSION AND AN APOSTLE! HOW CRAZY IS THAT!!!

 

Then we had dinner with a less active member at Pizza Hut and then RAN off to have a lesson with A-----. We brought Sister G and this was the best lesson we have had with A-----! The spirit was SO strong! We went over the Book of Mormon and helped her understand what she had read because she felt lost. Then we watched "Finding Faith in Christ" to help her and her kids know Christ a little better. Then Sister G shared her conversion story and brought A----- to tears because everything she said was what SHE was going through. At the end of the lesson she told us that she decided to give it a try! She said that she can not know if it is true if she doesn't do anything! So she decided to give it a try! :) She and L------ came to church :) So did a few other investigators, M&J :) Most we have ever had at church in my whole time here!

 

 

​Thursday and Friday were exchanges!!!!!! I got to be with Sister SPERRY again :) It was so nice to be with her again :) She's the best Sister Sperry I KNOW!

 

Outhouse!!

After Bishop's meeting

 

AND... I got to drive... first time is 5 MONTHS!!!!!!!! It was so SO nice... that's what I miss most.... driving... :) and I guess I miss you too ;P

 

Behind the wheel again!!

Funny story of the week:

 

Friday after exchanges we decided to go and see a less active member that Sister Sperry and Sister Kofford contacted last transfer. We follow the GPS and it put us out in the middle of a corn field... so we have to turn around and have to backtrack on a tractor road and scraped the bottom of the car on the dried mud and grass... not good. When we make it to the main road we go the next road over and find the house. We go to the front door that doesn't look used at all and knock. We hear dogs and kids and a lady inside and wait. No answer... So I knock again... We hear the side door open and close so we start walking around the house. I see 2 dogs.... a doberman pincer and a pit bull.... I stop and Sister Petrie keeps going. I tell her to stop. The dogs finally notice us. They bark and growl and start coming at us but we make it to the car... Dude, so not cool... next time we are going to the side door first :) heehee :)

 

Teaching the restoration in Restoration! :)

Love,

Sister Brimley

 

"God is anxiously waiting for the chance to answer your prayers and fulfill your dreams, just as He always has. But He can't if you don't pray, and He can't if you don't dream. In short, He can't if you don't BELIEVE!" -Jeffrey R. Holland​

 

"I made a Plan of Salvation!"

Week 23 - President in Paradise?

April 20, 2015

President & Sister Morgan and our district in Centralia, IL

 

So.............. this week was AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!So many miracles! BUT I CAN'T BELIEVE IT IS ALMOST THE NEXT TRANSFER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! and since I will hit my 6 month mark in one area it almost Almost guarantees that I will most likely be leaving :,( But! I really don't want to talk about that.

Miracle #1 WEDNESDAY!!!!!!!!!! We have been seeing an AMAZING less active lady that I just love. We have long conversations on the porch but she hasn't invited us into her house since the beginning of December... AND! She invited us over next week for lunch! which means we get to come inside! AHHHHHHHH! God has been working hard on her and she has been more and more open to coming to church! :) Hopefully soon she will actually make it! (This was ALSO SISTER PETRIES B-DAY!)

 

Sister Petrie & me in Beer Can Alley

Miracle #2 Thursday, so... we went to see our investigator M--- and see has been opening up to us so MUCH! It is crazy! and she actually likes us even though we make her pray!!!! (she doesn't like to pray in front of people...)  She is so funny and has a messed up life. BUT! she told us that she knows that she needs to come back to God and that she likes this church! Only problem is that she doesn't want to go through the hard times and the changes that happen when you do that... :/ but we are helping her with that :)
 

And #3 also Thursday. Then we went and saw our other investigator D------ :) She is SO awesome and she loves having us over! But she doesn't come to church.... at all and doesn't want to... but! while we were visiting her, her husband said that she almost came to CHURCH!!!!!!!!!!! Sister Petrie and I had to take a second to understand exactly what had just happened and I had to pick my jaw up off of the floor. Apparently she was planning on showing up but for the past 3 days she had like 3-5 hours of sleep... so he let her sleep :/ BUT! SHE ALMOST CAME!!!!!!!!!!!!!! That is a giant step in the right direction!
 

Miracle #4 Friday! V----! Oh man I just love her! She started reading the Book of Mormon FOR THE FIRST TIME!!!!!!!!!!!! She is a less active member and joined when she was about 14, she is now a grandma. We go over and she tells us what she has learned and it is SO GREAT! :) She has changed so much just by reading a book! This book is so much more that just a book. It is the word of God and has the power that comes with that to change lives!

Miracle #5 Saturday! Dude... best day EVER!!!!!!!!!! We had an AMAZING lesson with S---- and J----! They have a lot to do before he can be baptized but they want to get there :) And are willing to work together :) They have had so much growth in the last year, it is so amazing to see! J---- wants to be baptized SO MUCH!!!!!!! He said the closing prayer and felt the spirit so strong that he was physically shaking! Then we went to the Elders investigators baptism. Her name is Sister Garcia and she has been put through the wringer this week. Her whole world fell apart, BUT! she made it :) and she shared her testimony afterward and she is so excited to be a member and is anxious for her family to follow :) It was beautiful!

Miracle #6 SUNDAY!!!!!!!! So we had a missionary fireside and invited the Mt Vernon ward to join us and invited the mission president and his wife to come and speak. It was absolutely AMAZING!!!!!!!! Sister Petrie and I arranged a version of "Christ the Lord is Risen Today" and had the young women sing it, which was gorgeous and then we also watched the AMAZING "Because He Lives" video and then our missionary district sang "I Know That My Redeemer Lives" and the whole room was in tears by the end of the meeting. It was beautiful!

This week has been SO GREAT! I am spiritually FULL!

Sister Morgan (mission president's wife)

I love ya'll so much and hope everything is going well!!!

Love,
Sister Brimley​#BecauseHeLivesIWillLiveAgainToo!​

Lunch in the car

Week 22 - A Petrie Paradise

April 13, 2015

 

Soooo.... This last week was hard. I was EXHAUSTED and tired and a little grumpy and something felt not quite right. I stilll don't know what that was but I am feeling better this week :) I just feel sorry for Sister Petrie who had to put up with me. But she is SUPER AMAZING! and we had so many miracles this week! AND I CAN'T BELIEVE IT'S ALREADY THE 3RD WEEK OF THE TRANSFER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! AH!!!!!!!!!!

 

It is just crazy how fast this has gone by!!!!!!!

 

Yesterday was AWESOME!!!!!!  We had an AMAZING church service! :) There were so many testimonies about how missionary work has affected the lives of the ward members! It reaffirmed to Sister Petrie and me how IMPORTANT it is to include the members in our work! It can not only strengthen the person we go to see but also strengthens the member! Then we had an awesome lesson on the Atonement.

 

The young women in this ward are AWESOME! We are having a fireside next Sunday night and we asked them to sing and we went over it for the first time during Young Women's and they are SO crazy talented! It will be beautiful! Then in Relief Society the spirit was so strong that it was palpable! And then we went out and taught one of the members friends and we showed up at the best time ever! Whe was feeling lonely and had asked God to show her why she was still here... and we showed up. Coincidence? NO! :) And then we got to spend some time on a FARM!!!!!!! :) It was fun!:)

scripture: 1 Nephi 15:5 and verse 24 and 10:6

Love,
Sister Brimley

and....... PICTURE TIME!!!!!!!!!!​


Bee hives

I milked a cow!!!

Bull cows
 

BIG horses

Sky before it turned tornado green
 

Sister Petrie waiting for a tornado

Week 21 - Paradise!

 

April 6 2015

 

Happy belated Easter!

General Conference was so awesome! It answered so many questions and gave my heart some much needed peace!

It has a crazy week! We have never cleaned and moved so many people EVER! it's crazy!

 

Sooo... This week was also amazing! like normal :) Our apartment smells horrible still and we don't know where the smell came from or how the Elders before us could stand the smell! That is our mission tonight! KILL THE SMELL! lol :)

 

Well Sister Petrie is THE BEST EVER!!!!!!! She makes me laugh SO much :) and is about as crazy as me and my other companions and friends... so... things are going super well! :) AND!!!!!!!!! SHE IS SUPER CRAZY TALENTED MUSICALLY! She plays basically everything... and she plays it well! So.... we went over to a members house to teach Moose and while we were waiting for him to arrive the Hays brought out an accoustic and a classic guitar, a violin with a broken string, a banjo, and a mandolin and she played ALL of them! LIKE A BOSS! They sent home with us 4 of the 6... :) it has been so fun!

And then we had the BEST district lunch EVER! We (The elders brought a guitar and a violin and we brought a guitar and used the piano at the church) had all amazingly brought our instruments and then basically played with hymns as we all played :) It was great!

 

We got to see Mary this week :) She is so awesome and I love her so much! She has been trying her best in less than ideal conditions and has been so funny and great when we get to see just her. She has come so far and I hope that she sees the light at the end of the tunnel!

 

We had only one investigator come to conference and he came with his less active girlfriend and her mom (who is trying not to be less active) and it was AWESOME to see them there! and the talks were perfect for them! I am excited to talk to them about it! :)

 

Funny of the week... We were at a Chinese Buffet and Sister Petrie saw a bottle with dark brown something in it on the table and said "Is this maple syrup? oh... it's soy sauce" hahahaha I about died!

 

 

I have run out of time for the day but I KNOW that Jesus is the Christ, that He is the Son of God and that He LIVES! and will never let us FALL!

 

Scripture: Book of Mormon Introduction second to last paragraph.

 

Also! I have just restarted the Book of Mormon and I invite you to join me! I am looking for Faith, what it looks like, what it does, how do I get it, and how do I know I have it (And my marking color is light blue :) )

I love you so much!

Sister Brimley