P-day fun!

Yesterday's Talk in Church

First Mission talk in church:

I've born my testimony once, but yesterday was the first time I had to give a talk.  This is what I said...

Good morning, brothers and sisters. As already mentioned, my name is Sister Brinkerhoff (you can call me Sister B if that is easier) :).  I was corralled up here today to talk of some of the experiences I have had so far as a missionary for this wonderful church.  I'm just going to say right now, I can't tell you how hard it's been, BUT I can say that I have no regrets considering this choice.  Allow me to explain.

I haven't traveled much.  I was born and raised in Flagstaff, Arizona (the COLD part), and that's where I've been the majority of my life.  Lot's of beautiful scenery and good people, but also a lot of competition that can be overwhelming.  I've never fit into any real category or cliche, like being upbeat, super smart, athletic, popular, social, all that jazz.  While none of those traits are bad, in fact they are great talents, I don't feel like I have to fit in on anything on earth unless it has meaning for me or is a part of eternal life. Unfortunately I still need to have a word to describe me in the 'social world', and the #1 word used by others to describe me is (insert drum roll), yes, is SHY.  Yeah yeah so it's clear that I'm very quiet and reserved, but you would be too if you did everything you could to change that and progress, only to be shot down by someone who tells you to speak up or smile more or whatever.  I'm still working on it.  

So what does this have to do with the topic? Missionary work.  Now that's a word that scared me before coming here!  Think about it: I, the quiet girl in the corner at school with no close friends, was supposed to share the gospel with the few friends I actually had?  Most of which were non-members?  The natural-WOMAN in me kept thinking, "why would I ever risk that? They would probably just get annoyed and ignore me if I did!"  So I continued to keep my mouth shut, which is what I did best.  And it was the worst mistake of my life.  

If I couldn't deny my religion but also couldn't share with them, then I couldn't tell them how I really feel and what I wish they could know.  I couldn't even talk about what I did on weekends!  Long story short, I never became close enough to anybody to actually understand I was wrong and help them.

I still pray for my friends often and hope one day that Heavenly Father will give me another chance.  But enough about me.  Let's talk about our friends.  While I'm sure that you may have heard this a million times, we unknowingly are examples to them.  They know we are members and wonder if we actually live what we teach.  Sometimes there are those who scoff and scorn, and others can become interested.  But we can never know the latter for a surety unless we are willing to open our mouths to them and help them learn more about the church.  Trust me when I know that this whole concept sounds daunting.  There have been times when I knew that some of my friends were really uninterested and I shuddered at the thought of Elders or Sisters showing up on their doorstep.  What we all have to remember, as many prophets and apostles have taught, is that people are not just an object, a number or a baptismal statistic.  They are spiritual sons and daughters of Heavenly Father, and the Lord wishes to pour spiritual blessings to them.  Dieter F. Uchtdorf once taught that (not exact wording) when we open our umbrellas we blot out those blessings.  I we give in to peer pressure and keep to our own comfort zone, putting up that umbrella, we are not being the example that Jesus Christ knows we can be.  Instead, we can follow Christ's path to eternal life along with those we love (and even those who persecute us).  

A friend from home recently sent me a letter and I loved what she wrote!  To quote, "I was reading 2nd Nephi 4 one morning from verse 15 to end.  It's crazy to think that Nephi thought of himself as a sinner and wretched man!  Bu the is a true example of how to be--acknowledge our weakness but not to let it drag us down, be humble and completely rely on God and maintain focus on all the ways God has His hand in our lives everyday.  Nephi's amazing!"  Nephi's example can also be useful in 2 Nephi 33:7-9. "I have charity for my people, and great faith in Christ that I shall meet many should spotless at his judgement-seat.  I have charity for the Jew- I say Jew, because I mean them from whence I came.  I also have charity for the Gentiles.  But behold, for none of these can I hope except they shall be reconciled unto Christ, and enter into the narrow gate, and walk in the strait path which leads to life, and continue in the day of probation."  When I read Nephi's tender words, I find it hard to believe that he was weak in writing.  Yet he thought that to be true, he still humbled himself to write as he was called to do so by the Lord, and He helped him write wonders.

I may have the opposite problem of Nephi (I would much rather write than speak), but I have been called to serve what the townspeople here in Ucon call Zion! :)  My weaknesses will be made strong if I have faith in Him.  I'm not the only one called to serve here.  All of you have a divine potential to lift others up and serve those in need.  If we have charity like our Savior, Jesus Christ, and have faith to overcome our faults, we will be able to bring others to Him in ways we could never have imagined before.  And how great shall be our joy!  All we are asked to do is open our mouths to invite others.  I testify that I know this gospel is true, that Jesus is the Christ, and that through Him we will be able to do all things.  And I say that humbly in the sacred name of Jesus Christ, Amen.   ************************

A Month of Email Excerpts

Hi everyone!  It's going to take a while to respond to letters, I hope you don't mind.  Being with my trainer has been a blast and I've been able to get to know the people in this area better.  It's a miracle that I can remember names! Now I have to apologize again because i'm not the best with questions on how the work is going, but it's going.  We lost an investigator last week and things have been hard, but I've appreciated the prayers sent my way.  I know I'm not the most sociable person on the planet, but I am feeling more confident in my personal skills without feeling like I have to change my personality.  For a while I had trouble with recognizing the Spirit. But because the stress is lightening I've been more at peace.

**********************************************

 Thank you for the prayers!  We've felt many blessings this past week. Sister S. and I received blessings from the Zone Leaders because we were feeling stressed (particularly my companion).  I don't remember all the details because of my bad memory, but I wrote what I remembered down in my journal.  I'll tell you what I learned from it in a letter, but it was great and I knew their priesthood power was from God without a doubt.  Ha ha luckily things haven't been too awkward lately.  I invited someone to be baptized, and he said, in his own words, "of course!  That's the plan!" :)  He's a little older and has had trouble remembering to read the scriptures, so we're not sure about setting a date quite yet.  

**********************************************

I had an interesting week.  Don't be alarmed when you see the pics!  Sister S. and I are perfectly fine, but our car got in a wreck.  We were teaching someone while her kids were playing with their dogs outside, and one of them came in and told us that the car had been hit.  We thought he was just joking, but nope.  A Dominoes delivery guy accidentally backed into the car!  Luckily the rest of the car wasn't damaged and it's still safe to drive, but the cost to repair it is about $2,600.  We're figuring it out, and the delivery guy was nice enough to stay so that we could figure everything out.  The other picture was us just being silly city girls who had never lived on a farm their entire lives. 

  

Thank you for the letters!!!  I will hopefully send a response today.  I've just been all over the place and I don't want to write letters during my studying and planning time. I had a fun time golfing with some of the missionaries in my zone. 

*********************************************

Sister B. with President and Sister Nelson

Sister B's arrival at the IF airport (backrow under the Flag poster).  This was the first group of new MTC Missionaries to arrive in the Idaho Falls Mission!

Sister B and Sister F on exchanges.  This picture was sent to me by a friend in Idaho who used to live in our ward here in AZ.  She was signed up to feed the missionaries the day that Sister B was on exchanges, so she got to see her! 

Japanese candy from Sister F

Sister B's study room

Sister Brinkerhoff with Sister S.

Playing golf on P-day

Farm life

Domino's delivered a smashing blow to the car:

Fire near Ririe, ID

First Email (excerpt) From the Mission Field!

***When I post, I am going to be careful about revealing Sister B's location for her safety (since this isn't a private blog).

I'm glad you got the picture of me at the airport!  I didn't know how to send it to you because I only remember our home phone (if I have any more numbers they're probably packed up!). Don't worry about losing time to write because there was enough on your plate at the time!:) And yeah, I haven't caught the flu.  I'm having a little trouble with allergies because of the farming, weeds and livestock in this area.  I took an allergy pill and some eye drops, which by the way, I don't know how to refill those prescription eye drops. 

The flight over here was so much fun!  I felt a little dorky because everyone else was used to flying already and looked kind of bored and sleepy (we did get up pretty early).  Meanwhile I was all wide eyed and happy.  It took everything in me to not start squealing and gabbing on about it the whole flight. :)  I was just sad that it was so short! :(  It wasn't too bad being the only sister amidst all the Elders, since I knew most of them well, not to mention that less girls means less drama, right?  I miss them actually, because I feel like I've known them all my life and was just separated from my brothers again! :(  But it's all good!  

I was nervous about meeting my trainer, but she's incredible! There have been a lot of transfers and boundary changes here.  Sister 'S' (my trainer)  was originally in the Pocatello Mission and has been in the same area for her mission so far.  She's been out for four months and was shocked to be called as a trainer, but she's doing a great job!  She's very humble, kind, sweet and smart!  She has a reserved personality, but she's really great at conversing with people.  We work off each other well in lessons!  We haven't been able to teach as much as we hope to because a lot of people have cancelled on us or haven't been home.  Last Friday was the worst because NO ONE answered, but I'm not too bummed about it because that sounds normal in missionary work.  Sister S. just feels bad because it's usually not that way.  I've noticed that there are many less active members here, which reminded me about my blessing.  This Idaho-Idaho Falls Mission is kind of in it's infancy and the ward definitely needs some strengthening.  Most of them feel offended by other members in the ward and just feel like they don't need to go to church to show their faith (WRONG!!!).  So it's a little frustrating for us, but slowly but surely we will hopefully help!  I forgot to mention that we are in charge of eight wards, so we bounce around all over the place!  Sunday was the craziest day so far because of all the meetings with the bishops we had to schedule!  I love it already up here, and the people are great!  We have a recent convert, 'B', who got baptized and had his daughter receive a baby blessing before I got here, and he has a great testimony! 

Hope Dean's still doing okay!  I pray every day that he will adapt back to "normal life" alright.  I imagine it's weird for him right now, but I also bet he's enjoying some sleep time! :)

I love you and hope for the best!

Your Daughter,

Sister Brinkerhoff 

At the MTC:  Sister B. and a great friend from Idaho!!!

A face from home!

Study area in Sister B's current residence:

Sister Brinkerhoff and Sister S. in Idaho!!!!

  

Safe Arrival in Idaho Falls

Sister Brinkerhoff flew to Idaho Falls this morning from Salt Lake.  We got to talk to her on the phone for a short while before her flight.  This evening, I received a picture from a friend who found it in her facebook newsfeed....it is a snapshot of the new missionaries being welcomed at the airport in Idaho Falls!  I was so happy to see that she arrived safely and looks very happy!!! :o)  (She is on the back row under the flag holding a poster).  I'm so grateful to all of these wonderful people for coming out to welcome them!

Email excerpts from the MTC!

Hi Mom!  I'm am SOOOO sorry that it took a while to respond to your message!  Things have been really busy and my district never had a place in our schedule to email till now.  Ha ha I didn't even know I left my sunglasses in the car!  Thanks for spotting them!  I am doing alright.  My companion is Sister Geddes.  She is kind and just as nervous as I am about teaching.  We're not very happy about being called the quiet sisters in the district (and honestly my companion is more outgoing than I am), but I'm pretty sure our district is the BEST!  Tell everyone I miss them and I can't wait to hear from them!  Emails might be the easiest for now.

A sister in my district just met Elder Rasband, which is incredible (celebrities!! :) ).  Nobody can pronounce the poor girl's last name!  Sister Alvides (her companion Sister Scholl is sweet and hilarious) is the most outgoing and confident.

I'll tell you more when I can.  I don't remember anyone's emails (I should have written some down).  Have a safe trip back home!  It's hopefully cooler down there now.  I love you so much and will work as hard as I can.  I will also write longer letters if possible!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 I hope I have enough time to write here, so here goes (Luckily I sent a card in the mail!)!  The MTC has been...an experience. Sometimes good, and sometimes... I'll explain.  I've had a hard time getting out of my shell and my companion thinks she is bugging me (she really isn't.  She the sweetest!).  My throat has also been pretty dry here, so it's hard to talk.  I've talked to a counselor to get help with my insecurities, but it's nothing serious!  I'm getting the help and support that I need.  I thought my district would be really awkward, but I actually look forward to seeing everyone in it everyday!  We work hard but take time to mess around! :)  By the way, if you can watch "The Character of Christ".  It's a devotional by Elder Bednar and it helped me remember why I'm even here in the first place.  Knocked me into place, you could say!  Satan's been working overtime, but so am I! :)  Seriously though, watch it!  It's the best talk I've ever heard!

    How are my siblings now?  I just emailed Dean, but I don't know if he'll get it.  I've taken pics, but I forgot to bring my cord with me in the computer lab!  :( I promise to send some to you guys soon!  

I'm the only one that loves the food here (except the pancakes. they're terrible).  Sister Geddes eats fast though and likes to get things done quickly, I can't keep up with her energy! :)  It will be useful on her mission to Vancouver, Canada.  I think I forgot to mention that she's also from Arizona (Mesa).

 You better be there at the airport to get Dean! :)  I can't wait to see the pictures!  I love you deeply mom and I'll work my tail off!  Have a fun day cleaning!

Love,

Sister Brinkerhoff (great to finally type my missionary name)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

AWWW I wish I was THERE at the airport to pick up Dean!!!!  You're killing me smalls!  How's everybody?  I'm so sorry, that 'be right back' turned into a few hours!  You're probably not on anymore, but thank you for sending me the pictures.  I love you SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO much!

~Sister Brinkerhoff

By the way I just found the note in the notebook.  I love you! <3

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hi everyone!  I'm starting to adjust to missionary life!  I'm the only sister in my district going to Idaho (the rest are going to Canada).  It was a very rough first few days, I'm not going to lie.  I'm just glad my brother returned home safely.  So far my pretend investigator discussions have gone well, although sometimes I don't feel like I contribute enough.  I know I do, and I do what I can.  It's just hard.  

Sister Geddes is very smart (more than she wants to let on :) ), and she graduated with an associates degree during high school.  She wants to one day do ultrasounds for expecting mothers.  Sister Alvides is lively and outgoing.  She's a fantastic hair styler (she cut my hair!) and a great listener.  Sister Shoell is funny and kind, and she has a particularly deep love for ice cream.  Don't ask her to share!  Elder Davis and Elder Larson are silly but very nice and sincere.  Elder Dunford really wants to go home, but he has the will and drive to be here.  Elder Archibald (the big DL) is the most mature and has a twin brother here who doesn't look at all like him. :)  Elder Layer and Elder Williams have a dry sense of humor, but are very good debaters.  Elder Cox is calm and easygoing, and he definitely has his funny moments (he loves the pop corn popping song).  And lastly. Elder Olsen cracks the most jokes and is a pure blooded farm boy.  He loves taking care of lambs back home.

I will write more soon!  I love you all and I wish you the best summer ever!

Life at the MTC: