Almost home!

Hi Mom! 

Happy Memorial Day! Oh man! That is exciting for Emily! Can't believe this is all actually happening still! Sister Brinkerhoff will be off on an adventure before we know it!

I was very glad to be transferred. There were a lot of pluses to leaving Moses Lake actually haha! I am no longer DL, I have a car, I don't have to tract 4th and 7th a third time and now I'm closer to the mission headquarters!

Ok. About Moxee: It is a WEIRD place, but I love it! It's sweet! It has the reputation for being the safest city in Washington apparently. Moxee has its own ward and it's the only one we cover (Thank goodness! Only one unit!). Our ward covers all of Moxee and part of Terrace Heights. It is a small town in the Selah zone. It is just outside of Yakima on the east side of the valley. Moxee is known for it's "hops fields". (Hops are plants or something...) They usually end up being used for beer flavoring.. and they are everywhere! You can see the hops in this picture from the laundry room window:

My companion is Elder Powell. He is awesome. Elder Powell is very diligent, calm and hard-working. I couldn't ask for a better last companion :) He is great! Definitely one of my favorites! We live with the "M" family. We have a bedroom and bathroom in the upstairs and we share their kitchen. It's a nice residential home in the inner city of Moxee.  We have a 2016 Toyota Corolla with 900 miles to blow each month in the service of the Lord. We have been teaching many people! We have 2 couples we are working with who have much potential and are on date for dates in late June and early July. I haven't met one of the couples but we taught the "J's" on my first night here. The wife is a nonmember and she will definitely be baptized.  I am very excited for them! We've taught SO many first discussions in the first 4 days that I've been here! It's nuts!

I've begun my last 6 weeks online training! It's called "My Plan":

I hope all is going well! I love you! Have a great week! 

Love, Elder B

 Saying Goodbye!!!

 The Hogsett's

 The Jones's

Elder Hanna

Elder B. transferring to Selah Zone!

Bye Bye Moses lake! Off to Selah!!

Hey Mom! 

Sister Hogsett might have told you but I'm not sure. I have been released as a District leader and am being transferred to Moxee in the Selah zone! I will be in the same district I previously was when I served in Yakima 2nd ward! Pretty crazy! I'm replacing Elder Poloncic actually and I will be serving with his 'son' Elder Powell. I'm pretty excited!

Yeah, I'm trying to catch up on my mission adventures. I am so behind in my journal! I have a goal to write everyday but it doesn't always happen... This week has been nuts! I had my last District Council of this transfer and we were asked to speak in 4th ward sacrament meeting. We didn't have much notice. We were asked on Saturday afternoon so it was a pretty stressful day waiting for transfer calls and trying to write our talks! 

What details were in the trunky papers? I haven't gotten any yet but I should near "the end".

I'll try to get some info about the shoes. The training period is 12 weeks long. (3 months) You are a normal missionary through that time and your companion is there to guide you and train you. You get an extra hour of study everyday after companion study where you study the 12 week training book. You often watch the District videos and roleplay and study. Her mission president will most likely hold meetings with all of the trainers and new missionaries about the Doctrine of Christ and all about the 12 week book. 

I don't think I'm in any great need of anything. I just love letters and hearing from you guys! I don't get much from many people. I just sent a box today too! It should arrive Thursday at grandma's house. Hope my mail gets here faster now that I will be closer to the mission office! :D

I love you too! Have a great week! Love, Elder Brinkerhoff

Last District Council :(

(L-R) Sisters Averett, Michalek, Luevano & Hirshe, Elders Wilkey, Haymond, Brinkerhoff and Hanna

Sister Luevano drew a picture of everyone in the zone. It's pretty funny!

Exchanges with Elder Haymond last Thursday!! We waited 2 years for this day 

Exciting News!

We are excited to announce that our daughter, Emily, has been called to serve in the Idaho Twin Falls mission!  She reports June 22nd.  She was called to this mission, but we've heard a rumor that there will be some mission re-alignment taking place July 1st, which means she will actually be serving in the Idaho-Idaho Falls Mission!

Hi Mom!

It was so exciting to get the news from Sister Hogsett about Emily! She sent her husband over to the house with an envelope with her picture and the news on it. We weren't home yet so I got it from Brother Jones. I opened it and read the news about an hour and a half after she opened it if I got the timing right!

The week was great! It's hard to remember what happens week to week but that's why my planner comes in handy! 

We had interviews with President and Sister Lewis and it was so good! I hope to be writing in my journal more consistently because of Sister Lewis's pep talk all about it. President helped me feel confident in what I am doing and helped me have kind of a reset or reassurance that my efforts have been meaningful! It has been a hard few transfers and he knows what I'm going through. He knows I'm capable of handling all of it though. Doing my best to press Forward!! he wants me to document what Elder Hanna and I have been doing to help the members of 4th ward get excited about missionary work.

We had some investigators from China come to 7th ward yesterday. Brother "B" knows them at work and they accepted his invitation to visit our ward after coming to a ward barbecue a few weeks ago! They are here for a year and they speak great English. They have Chinese Books of Mormon and they had a good time yesterday! They met lots of people and introduced themselves many times! They bowed and said "it's a great honor to have us here" haha it was pretty awesome! We're hoping to be able to begin teaching them soon! 

Man, I don't remember what else to say. I am excited to hear more about Emily and Meagan and their adventures! How neat would it be if Emily ended up in Nampa? haha I know a lot of people from Pocatello here in Wa though and they all say that even though it definitely is the armpit of idaho it's not as bad as everyone says. Any questions about Emily's mission prep? I am in a zone with 10 sisters so I have lots of resources to ask questions too! is Meagan planning on going to school or serving a mission? Crazy that she is graduating!

I love you! Love Elder B

(Posting this just a little late.....)

Hi Mom!

Feels weird that I've been out 22 months but the work has been great! District meetings have been fun! I've been training the district on how to create effective lesson plans and it's really helping everyone. Elder Hanna and I included! We took some time to create a plan with scriptures and questions for a make-believe investigator and then took time to roleplay/practice the plans we made. I don't have another one for 2 weeks though because of our monthly Zone Training Meeting coming up this week. 

We had a wonderful time at the temple this Wednesday and we have received so many blessings and insights from our time there. The spirit has been very strong. It helped Elder Hanna and I to receive revelation for our investigators. Particularly the "C" family. They are our top investigators this week. We have committed them to read the Book of Mormon and pray to know it's true.

District Council has been very enlightening for all of us. Preparing lesson plans in the way we've been practicing for the DC role plays has been great! I have some powerful teachers in this group! Sisters Averett and Michalek have been a good match for each other and they have done some excellent work together. They seem very happy together. Sister Hirsche and Sister Luevano are a wonderful match as well! They are great teachers and I was very impressed with their teaching abilities this week in District Council role-plays. Elders Wilkey and Haymond taught us and shared a lot of helpful insight on exchanges this week. Elder Hanna and I have struggled with unity and teaching simply but we now have a very structured companion study schedule and we are utilizing a really neat way to study the 42 principles that have worked very well. We are looking forward to more effective oyms and lessons as a result. 

What time works best for you to skype? They haven't told us anything about the time limit or anything. We are in church from early in the morning till about 4pm. Then we usually have a dinner appt at 5 so anytime after 6 will be best for us. We normally have a couple appointments on Sunday nights but because of Mother's Day we probably won't have any. Plus I have no idea if we are on the same time or not. I will most likely be able to call for 5 minutes the day before. Hope Emily gets her call this weekend! That'd be sweet! Won't have to wait for Sister Hogsett to tell me haha

The "L" 's sealing was great! Our zone temple trip was fun too! We got to eat at Costa Vida for lunch and it was just like old times :) Never thought that would ever happen again! I miss Tri-Cities!

Well, I can't wait until next week too see you guys! keep feeling better and hope you have a wonderful week!

Love Elder B

Attachments area