Hey Mom!

I had a good week! It ended very weird but it was good! We had wonderful visits with an investigator named 'T'! On Monday we reviewed the Restoration of the gospel to give some added backbone to our lesson on the word of wisdom with him tonight. That is his major issue: he still drinks alcohol.  Thursday we met him at the stake center to introduce him to family history and it went very well! He brought family names and dates prepared and we got him going on a good start. He loved it and was very surprised at where the time went. On Tuesday we had a great first lesson with a young veteran father named 'D'. We shared the restoration with him and set a return appointment for Friday. He wasn't there but we will be checking back soon. 'C. R.' is a 13 almost 14 year old investigator. He came to our ward's Talent night activity on Friday and had a great time! Lots of fellowship and fun for him! Our biggest struggle right now is when our investigators choose not to attend church meetings and activities. We feel that once that happens, great things will happen and our investigators will finally be able to progress officially! Things are still good though. We are working hard and receiving a lot of member support.

Hope Emily continues to feel better! Not to be a downer but she will feel better just in time to experience the horrible pain of wisdom teeth extraction! She's probably tougher than me and it will be just fine though haha :)

Elder Poloncic and I both got food poisoning last night. It was bad... We ate with a family, and afterwards we went out proselyting and we both felt a bad pain in our stomachs. We came back home so I could go to the bathroom and I ended up letting all my lunch out..... I felt a lot better! We both felt okay and went to dinner. The member family fed us a super heavy lasagna. I survived but it didn't exactly agree with me... After dinner we went on some visits with a priest and we were being driven around by an adult member. During our FIRST visit to a former investigator, I had to run from the doorstep around the corner and I let out my dinner all over her bushes..... SO EMBARRASSING!!! Needless to say we called it a night after that.... I went right to sleep after we totaled up our key indicators. Then Elder Poloncic threw up twice while I was sleeping. We slept very well. This morning we felt a little sore, but much better! :)

I just got your package this morning! I will open it later on today. Transfer calls are this Saturday and I only have 20 more p-days after today! I am trying my best not to get trunky but others around me are not helping... EVERYONE asks how long I've been out and it stinks... haha One because it reminds me how much time is left and 2 because most of the time they question whether I'm lying or not! haha I look too young! Oh well, I don't care, it will be great when I'm old!!! :) keep praying that I will be able to stay focused!

I love you! hope you have a great week!

Love Elder Brinkerhoff

Moses Lake:

Hi Mom! 

You'll have to tell the Monson's that lots of people from Moses lake say Hi!

Sister Hogsett had us for dinner on Tuesday and it was really good! She did tell me about my temple question. It sounds like it's super complicated. I'm not going to worry about it for the time being. It was raining ALL day on Tuesday and it stunk... Then the next day it got all sunny and warm up through Sunday! Sunday then got really foggy and cold. Luckily members here are very willing to help us and give us rides when we need them. We didn't have to ride bikes at all yesterday. And no, an umbrella wouldn't do any good :) I'm going to get wet either way! 

I love biking actually! It's not something I want to do for the rest of my mission. I'd like to be back in a car but I think it will be okay. Especially as spring comes in. The hardest part about riding a bike is that it's still winter. We don't have any snow on the ground but the cold air isn't fun. 

That's crazy to hear about your van accident! Nope I wasn't hurt in the accident I was in. It happened just after we left Ellensburg. I was in the backseat left side of the corolla and we got hit on the right side. We were turning left and it obviously wasn't our turn to go... Elder W. tried to avoid it but this lady in another little car ran straight into us. We were like "WHAT ARE YOU DOING??" and then BAM! Her car had like 2 scratches on it but our car had a big dent right in the middle of the two right side passenger doors. It was BRAND NEW off the lot that day. Elder W was pretty embarrassed.. No one was hurt but I wish I took some pictures haha! The lady was totally cool  and didn't care about the accident. Elder W and I freaked out though because we were with 2 young elders and none of us had ever been in a wreck on the mission. (There's a procedure to undergo for the church legal system but it turned out not to be too hard) :)

We had a neat missionary broadcast on Wednesday from Salt lake. Learned lots of good stuff! It was all about making sure conversion and repentance happens before baptism because that seems to be a big issue. Elders Andersen, Bednar and Oaks spoke as well as Sister Oscarson and Elder Clayton and a couple others. 

I've been very busy trying to meet all of our investigators and keep their names all straight. There's a lot going on here! It feels good to be this busy! Yakima and Wenatchee were pretty slow going as far as areas normally go. I'm not a fan of covering 2 units at a time but it's fine :) 7th ward is amazing! 4th ward is still getting there but the work is definitely picking up!

We've also had a couple training sessions on family history this week. Mostly on how to help others get started. I've been able to accomplish a couple things though! I can't wait to get more into it after my mission. We also had our first district council on Wednesday. Elder Bonzo is a good DL! Very down to earth and pretty cool! He came from the Vancouver mission. 

We have zone conference tomorrow so be on the lookout for some pictures! :) I love you!

-Elder Brinkerhoff

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Guess who is here with me in Moses Lake!

Moses Lake Bible study:

My new companion, Elder Poloncic:

Saying goodbye to people in Yakima:

Wow. What a week!

Wow. What a week!

Just to let you know... It's a VERY emotional and bittersweet week for me in the Washington Yakima Mission full of lots of memories.

This week began with the news that my dear friend Brian Kisner had passed away. This is news that came only soon after I was given word that another dear friend Mike Gilbert had suffered a heart attack. I found out last p-day from a Zone leader currently serving in second ward and also Elder Thompson that Brian had passed away while traveling in Idaho over the Christmas break. Christmas Eve was his last day on Earth. I had the wonderful opportunity to attend his funeral this morning and be reunited with my Yakima 2nd ward family. The funeral was presided over and conducted by Bishop Christensen: A very spiritual giant and one of my heroes. He bore powerful testimony of the Savior and His love for us. Brian's powerful passion for life was remembered by his loving mother and his son. They had many wonderful memories to share with us and lots of laughs from his former days fixing up and riding motorcycles! That made me very happy. We enjoyed a luncheon afterwards with lots of catching up and friendly faces to remember while I felt down. I was looking much forward to when Brian would be able to receive his endowment in the Columbia River Temple in a few months but I know that God has other plans for this great man! :) I love him and my Heavenly Father very much.

Elder Brinkerhoff and Brian at Brian's baptism

Thursday brought many needed changes to the Mission leadership in a "Super Mission Leadership Conference" with all of the Zone leaders, District Leaders, Sister Training Leaders and the Assistants. Our follow up with the Elders and Sisters in our varied stewardships will be much improved and clear. We are getting away from the mixed cultures from the WKM and WVM and building the culture of the WYM together. It was great to reunite with former companions and missionary friends and to learn about these much needed improvements. These changes brought many answers to many of my prayers. However... I received a phone call from President Lewis on Saturday letting me know that my service as a District Leader will be coming to an end and that I will be transferred to Moses Lake 4th and 7th wards. It is a relief to be released but a sad thing as well. I will be serving with a young missionary named Elder Poloncic from Utah. He came out twelve weeks ago with Elder Peterson and has also just finished up his training period. It is a biking area! It will definitely be an adventure and I will be sad to leave Yakima but I will return in a few months ;)

'K' is doing very well and still understanding and learning a lot! I hope he is on date for baptism again soon!

I'm glad that I am here on my mission. If I was home now, I could be at school. I could be earning money. I could be dating. (I could be watching STAR WARS!!!) I could be living life selfishly, but I am grateful for my Loving Father in Heaven who has led me here and let me have these experiences. I love my Savior Jesus Christ. I devote my life to Him. This week has been hard, but because of Him, I will continue to... "...Press Forward with a Steadfastness in Christ, having a perfect brightness of hope, and a love of God and of all men. Wherefore, if ye shall press forward, feasting upon the word of Christ, and endure to the end, behold, thus saith the Father: Ye shall have eternal life” (2 Nephi 31:20)

I miss Brian Kisner dearly, but the peace and love that I feel right now is so sweet. 

Have a wonderful week. 

Love Elder Brinkerhoff

 Our Zone in Yakima:

 On exchanges with Elder Dalton:

Attachments area

Preview attachment DSC01198.JPG

DSC01198.JPG

My mission is incredible and I am so grateful to be out here!

Hey Mom! This week was great! We have another on date in the YSA branch named "J"! He is on date for February 6th! We just met him last night and we are excited to meet with him again. He is GOLDEN like no other investigator I've seen before. 

"K" is still doing VERY well but he wont be getting baptized as soon as we had hoped. He wants some time to develop his testimony and to develop the courage to talk to his parents mainly. He is not excited at the prospect of letting them know he wants to get baptized into this church. We had a good talk with him about that though so we're hoping he just does it and takes whatever comes. He's just afraid of the unknown really so we explained that if he loves God and is devoted to Jesus Christ, then everything will work out fine! He's still scared though. I don't blame him a bit. 

"I" is incredible. He bore his testimony yesterday and did a great job. Let me just say that he and "A. K." are the type of guys I would let my sisters marry haha. They are studs! He is preparing now to become a Priest (He's a Deacon) and he really wants to go to the temple. 

I bore my testimony too yesterday. I haven't gone up to do that for a little bit. I'm glad I did!

Glad to hear that Star Wars was great! Can't wait to see it!

The "N's" are hanging in there. We hope their situation improves a bit.

That is cool to hear about the Anonymous person! I am very grateful for that and for all the contributions people have made. Could you please let them all know how much I really do appreciate it? My mission is incredible and I am so grateful to be out here.

On New Years we taught "K" and also "T" and the "P" Brothers. "T" and the "P's" are recent converts. We made chicken and pork tamales with them! It was very fun! And Yummy!

Got your cards! I loved them! Hope to respond as quickly as I can! Transfer calls are this Saturday!!! We'll see what happens!

I love you! -Elder B

(Christmas Skype)

Dear Mom,

I'm glad I was able to see you guys, too! I was worried that the video on your end wouldn't be received on my end. While Bishop and his daughter were up there trying to fix it I was pretty worried but as soon as they left it worked, ha ha! We had fun at the Bishop's house on Christmas.

What exciting news to hear that the transfer schedule will be moved back a week! I'm glad that I will be able to spend another week in the WYM! I will now be coming home July 5th.

This week was interesting. We had a couple of great lessons with 'K' who is on date for January 9th in the YSA branch. He is an incredibly prepared young man. He is so ready for the gospel and for the blessings that come when we live the commandments. Christmas made things extremely difficult. Not many people were home or able to have us this week but we're hoping that this week is much better. We've really been working on helping our ward mission leader and ward council feel more empowered in the work by inviting families in the ward who could benefit from the lessons to meet with us. They are working SLOWLY but things are starting to fall into place. We've also been weeding out our Potential investigators and referrals this week and cleaning up past lists of names that are no longer interested. Had a lot of success doing that this week and now we can focus on finding more of the elect! 

The District is doing well. We are going to focus this week on Rushing to the Restoration now that the A Savior is Born initiative has wound down. 

What a crazy story with the backpack guy at the movies! haha! So Star Wars was clean? I hope it was. It sounds really good and I'm ticked that stuff has been spoiled for me. I heard that the plot is a lot like a New Hope, that Han Solo dies and that no one knows Rey's backstory yet. I can't wait to see it for myself and I hope no more spoilers come my way! ha ha

Thanks for the pictures! That's a funny story about the Elders at your house. I always think it's awkward to teach people in members homes unless the members invite the investigator. Oftentimes the missionaries get stuck with taking care of things like that.

Any updates about Emily and her mission from the paperwork? Does she have an availability date yet? I'm excited for her!

We are going to begin teaching a young man named 'I' this week and we are super excited! His older brother and older Sister live in Selah and they are amazing. They are like the coolest people ever! The older brother comes out with us every week to go on visits and he's been through a lot. 'I' hasn't been active so now we are going to help him become active! Wish us the best this week! New Years ought to be interesting since we can't proselyte those days. 

I love you! Have a great week!!

Yakima is home to "wonderful" establishments like this (yah, that's sarcasm!):

Merry Christmas everyone! This week has been quite eventful serving in the Ahtanum Creek ward and the Yakima Valley YSA!

On Monday we invited "K" to be baptized. He has been coming to YSA activities for about a year now and finally is open to learning more about the church. He's got a religious background and really enjoys coming to our meetings. He is now on date to be baptized on January 9th 2016. That's the day we get our next transfer calls so I hope nothing comes up that makes it so it has to be pushed back... So far so good! 

The "N's" are struggling a little bit. We're still keeping up contact with them and we're hoping things calm down for them during the holidays!

On Tuesday I went on exchanges with Elder Johnson. We contacted a referral that they got for someone named "C". We taught him about the restoration and invited him to read the Book of Mormon and to be baptized. He accepted the challenge to read and pray but fought the baptism thing hard even though we could tell he felt the spirit. Turns out he's a Young Single adult so he's mine :) Elder Johnson wasn't too happy about that but we have a return appointment at 6:30 tomorrow. I conducted my 1st District Council Meeting for this transfer that day as well.

Wednesday was the huge Christmas get together for the south half of the mission! It was at Brother and Sister Tree's house up in Yakima 2nd ward. Pretty crowded but fun! Got to see a ton of my old missionary pals! Some who were going home this week! It was great to see them! 

Thursday we did some service at a local food bank for a couple hours. On Saturday we went to Northwest harvest to sort fruit. Those are service opportunities we frequent each week. 

Friday was Elder Peterson's 19th Birthday so we went to Pizza Hut for dinner. He got a gift card from his Sister. 

Saturday I went on an exchange with Elder Bird. He is great! We worked a lot on OYM's and on discerning other people's needs. 

Sunday was great! We enjoyed 2 sacrament meetings full of Christmas messages and overall our meetings were amazing and very full of the spirit. Christmas is the best! After Church we knocked on someone's door and they let us right in! It was neat! It was an older couple who love missionaries from any church! They gave us cookies and let us share a Christmas message and the new Christmas website with them. They said they are going to share it with their grandkids and have them watch the videos. Pretty great! 

Today it is snowing like crazy! We're getting much more that we did last year. That's for sure! At least we'll have a white Christmas! Hope you all have a merry Christmas and don't forget to keep it focused on the Birth of our Savior. I invite you to think of someone you could share this great website with as well! It's short, easy, simple and extremely powerful! 

https://www.mormon.org/christmas

Love Elder Brinkerhoff



Pictures from the Mission Christmas party:

Attachments area

Preview attachment DSC07350.JPG

This week has been a great one!

This week has been a great one! Yes we are over our sickness now. I'll most likely get your package at our Christmas conference on Wednesday! I'm sure it will be great! Looking forward to it!!

We're continuing to teach 'K' in the YSA branch and he is loving what he is learning! He was very receptive to the Plan of Salvation! He loved our thoughts and feelings of the Savior we had to share with him! We are meeting with him tonight and we feel strongly that he is ready to be put on date for baptism! Pray for us and we'll see what happens! We also had a great visit with 'J' and 'Y' Norris. They have been investigating the church for awhile now but things are looking up! 'J' lost his job this week which is not a good thing but it may be a blessing in disguise! Their Sundays are now free and so we are doing all we can to help them come to church! We had a great discussion with them on the importance on the Sabbath Day and all that we should do on it. They were planning on coming yesterday but they weren't able to make it unfortunately.
We went on exchanges with Elders Johnson and Oliverson and we had a great time! We focused on OYM's and sharing the new 'A Savior is Born' initiative and we saw a lot of success!

Love you! Have a great week! Love Elder Brinkerhoff

Just got a haircut today!