You Can Break Her Foot; but You Can't Break Her Spirit!

Another week down! It was crazy busy for multiple reasons. For one, we picked up 4 new investigators! The power of fasting and prayer is real. Our district dedicated a full day to finding new people to teach and it was a success for everyone! We've been going around chalking sidewalks and parks with mormon.org links and #hallelujah for the Easter Initiative, so even if we don't talk to everyone there, they'll for sure see it!

So, my companion is very intense. She has mad drive for missionary work (which is awesome). Such drive, that we went to the podiatrist on Friday and found out she's been walking around on a broken foot for 7 months...7 months!! She finally took the time to get it checked out and is now donning crutches and a scooter. You'd think an injury like that would slow someone down, but she's going twice as fast now that she has a scooter to zip around on. Not to mention the handicapped parking permit we got #score. Pray for me that I can keep up with her now!

Saturday we got to go to a temple sealing! I love love love sealings in the temple and knowing that you can be together for time and all eternity, not till death do you part! Afterwards we went to the reception, which was a blast. They played lots of good music, but I had to pretend I wasn't paying attention, cuz you know, we're supposed to be professional and all that. But it was still so much fun! I felt like a real person again for a while :)

Last night we went to Mission President's Fireside, which is where all the missionaries in the mission can bring their investigators and have a testimony meeting about the gospel. It's AWESOME. It was so exciting to see all the missionaries from my last area. I was catching up with a sister from my old zone when the spirit told me to go talk to a woman who was coming out of the bathroom. I didn't really want to because I wanted to stay and chat with the other missionaries before they left, but I went ahead and went over to her. It turns out she's from Alabama and was born in Mississippi!  Her name is Little Fawn, and she opened up her whole life story and we talked for nearly 30 minutes. She fell into the same problems a lot of girls in the south do, and got pregnant when she was 15. She's 27 and has 5 kids, and is pregnant with her sixth. She was deciding on the names Thelma or LuAnne...I told her I liked Thelma and she agreed that was the better fit, so I can say I help named a baby on my mission! She is the sweetest person I've ever met, and I couldn't help but want to give her the biggest hug and tell her I loved her. She couldn't stop crying during most of our conversation, and hormones definitely could have something to do with it, but I think she really felt the spirit after the fireside. She lives an hour outside of our area, but she said she was saving up for a car and that she would drive down and make us grits and cornbread. After she walked away I talked to her elders and they said they hadn't asked her to be baptized yet...I told them to GET ON IT. She's so ready and so needs the gospel! Just like we all do, even if we don't realize it.

Well, that's kind of all the super eventful stuff, and there's a zip-line calling my name at a member's house, so....until next week! -Sister Brett

"And now, O my son, this was the ministry unto which ye were called, to declare these glad tidings unto this people, to prepare their minds; or rather that salvation might come unto them, that they may prepare the minds of their children to hear the word at the time of his coming." -Alma

More Cake?

This week was awesome! We got to go see Lamb of God, an oratorio about
the ministry of Christ. It was so good! We listen to the soundtrack
all the time, so when we got the chance to go we were flipping out!
Two of the members in the ward played in the orchestra. We brought an
investigator, Deon. He's Hindi, but he wants to be baptized! He's
great. And always smells like curry. Our other investigator, Tony,
came to church again yesterday! I can't remember if I've written about
him, but his girlfriend asked us to start teaching the missionary
discussions to him. They want to get married, so at first he was kind
of obligatorily taking the lessons. But after meeting with him a few
times, he's really understanding everything and getting all of his
"questions of the soul" answered. The catch is that they travel all
over the world doing humanitarian work....and they leave next month
for the Philippines, then Africa, then India...indefinitely. So we
need to set a baptismal date for the beginning of April before they
leave! He's totally ready to take that next step and make the
commitment to Heavenly Father to follow Him. Our date-set Margaret has
gone completely MIA. Last we heard she was still living with her
boyfriend and not keeping the Word of Wisdom- probably why she's
flaking on us. Keep her in your prayers! We've also been going to see
a part-member family, the Norton's. She's a returned missionary, but
she married a non-member. They've been trying for a long time to get
her husband to join the church, but he wasn't really having it. But
the other day after they had us over for dinner, we talked about the
importance of gospel in families- and he agreed to take the missionary
discussions!!!! Maybe the time is finally right for him.

The members in this ward are such good missionaries! In Relief Society
yesterday we taught the first missionary discussion- The Restoration
of the gospel. All of the women committed to give a pass-along card
and share the gospel with someone this week! The Lord has been
blessing us with lots of opportunities this week to share the
Restoration with people.

Sister Turner likens the Bible and the Book
of Mormon to cake. The Bible is like a piece of cake. The Book of
Mormon is like another piece. Who wants to say no to more cake? You
can't have too much of a good thing!

Sidenote: The high school kids in Eden Prairie drive nicer cars than
I'll ever even pretend to own. They're so rich they wear crocs with
socks because they just don't even care. And their houses have
sculpture gardens in the front yard. But they're great for contacting
while we're at parks by the school!

I hit my 4 month mark this week! It doesn't feel like I've been out
that long. I still feel so new, but they've already had 3 new sets of
missionaries come in after me. I have so much to learn, but I think
I've gotten the hang of being a real missionary! It's been the best 4
months of my life- no exaggeration.

We had the best miracle! We were tailgating into someone's apartment
because they've gone MIA, and all the doors were locked and no one in
sight to let us in. We said a prayer asking that we could find some
way to get in within the next five minutes. Just as it hit the five
minute mark, we saw a man doing his laundry through a window. We
knocked on it and motioned for him to let us in, and he did! It was a
MIRACLE. God is so good! Prayers sometimes get answered in strange
ways. But whatever works!

**Tender mercy of the week: My favorite song, Señorita by Justin
Timberlake, played at a gas station while we were filling up, so I got
to listen to it for a hot second!

Hope everyone has a wonderful week as we get ready for Easter. Go check
out the powerful videos especially FOLLOW HIM  on  mormon.org 


Sister Brett

The Great EP

This has been a crazy busy week! Sister Peterson and I went to Benihana our last night together to celebrate the best 6 weeks. There was a family at the table with us celebrating their daughters birthday and they were super nice! They asked us to take a photo with them before we left. (Spotted: rare Mormon missionaries in a predominately Lutheran community). Transfer miracles! Sister Turner and I picked up 3 new investigators in 2 days. CRAZY. 2 of them came to church! Inspired finding is a real thing. I LOVE this area. The "ghetto" in Eden Prairie is the Eden Prairie of North Minneapolis. Even the lower class area is called RICHfield. Our apartment has a chalk wall! And a fireplace. And a gym. And a covered garage. And a washer/dryer IN our apartment. I don't even know what to do with myself! Too many amenities. In comparison we were really slumming it in Minneapolis haha. Sister Turner is a powerhouse missionary! Spiritual levels through the roof. She's extremely bold, and is a great example of what an urgent missionary is. Being exactly obedient with Sister T isn't hard, because she'll definitely let you know when it's time for lights out. When 10:30 comes around, it doesn't matter where you are or what you're doing- the lights go OUT. But it's great to have somebody reinforcing even the little things like that. Through small and simple things, great things are brought to pass! 

I've finally gotten over my influenza! The mission doctor banished me to isolation to stay in the apartment so I can get well, because apparently hanging around In the cold with a fever is frowned upon, but ain't nobody got time for that as a missionary. I got a priesthood blessing, and almost immediately I was ready to get back to work.  I stayed inside during the morning when it was colder, but later that afternoon I piled on the scarves and we went contacting! I'm so glad we did, because we found a lot of awesome people to follow up with later this week. The priesthood is such a blessing to have! And the members here are incredible. At the slightest sign of a sniffle, they've already given you herbal tea, bags upon bags of cough drops, a humidifier, and the promise they're on call to bring you whatever you need, whenever you need it. I LOVE THE EDEN PRAIRIE WARD. I'd write more, but we're going to play basketball at a member's giant indoor b-ball court. I didn't stutter. Full size basketball court inside of their house *cough, palace*. On that note, have a great week! -Sister Bret

The results are in ....

Just got the transfer email sheet...I'm being transferred to Eden Prairie! Goodbye ghetto, hello high rollers! Some legitimate sadness in that. I'm going to miss Sister Peterson like crazy, being with her was the most fun I've ever had on my mission. But I'm getting her last companion, Sister Turner, and I hear fun stories about her all the time so I know she'll be great!
 We saw a 60 degree day last week! It was GORGEOUS. Everyone was
outside enjoying the weather so we had a ton of contacting
opportunities. We hit up all the lemonade and hot dog stands in
people's yards. I got scammed out of like $20 by little hoodlum kids
to keep buying their hotdogs. Every time we handed them cash we
low-key slipped in a pass-along card. Thugs. Then the next day it was
snowing again. #bipolar

We went to meet with a media referral named Latisha. We knocked on her
front door and she motioned for us to come to the back door. Sketch.
Then we go around back and there's like 20 bags of dirt and mulch.
Sketchier. At this point I'm thinking she's going to shank and bury us
in her yard and no one will ever see us again. And then we go inside
and have the BEST lesson ever. She loves God and wants to build a
stronger relationship with Him. We gave her a Bible and Book of Mormon
and she said she'd read and pray about it! Later that day we met with
Amy again. I don't think I wrote about her in my last letter, but
she's a single mom of 6 kids. She's amazing, but sometimes I think
she's just using us to clean her house haha. Every time we've gone
over we've cooked and cleaned for her and babysat her kids. We do get
to teach a little bit (when she's not distracted with her newborn),
and she said she'd pray about what we've been sharing. They're an
adorable family and I really hope they make the decision Heavenly
Father wants them to! We checked up on some YSA less-actives and found
ourselves at a frat house full of shirtless dudes. I'VE BECOME SO
AWKWARD. Sister Peterson did all the talking and I literally just
stared at the ground. I can talk to anyone, but when it comes to
semi-attractive people of the opposite sex I turn into such a weirdo.
Please send help.

I don't know what happened this week in the real world, but
Minneapolis is full of "Black Lives Matter" signs and posters- even
more than usual. I saw a headline on the local news for about 3
seconds in the nursing home about a teen in town getting shot, but I
don't know if there's any correlation between that and all the
protestors around. Not being able to hear information about stuff is
hard! I have no idea who I'm even going to vote for because I
literally don't know anything that they're saying! #missionlifeprobs.
In other domestic people news, the baby fever is unreal. We've been
teaching a lot of people with babies and they are soooo stinking cute!
I didn't even care when one of them puked on me. Mom Prep 101. I've
also become the man in the companionship- I killed my first spider on
my own! (Well, by "on my own" I mean with the help of hairspray and a
Swiffer). We also deep cleaned our apartment in case one of us left
for transfers...I think I inhaled a super unhealthy amount of mold in
our bathroom. We're learning to crochet from an old lady in our ward
who is literally Cruella DeVille. She makes you cry, but she can also
make you a  nice scarf to wipe the tears away.