This Week was great!

This week was great! We got a LOT of work done! The Lord has been
preparing people here for sure, because in the last 7 days we've found
some of the most golden people I've ever seen on my mish! One of those
is Nikki and she is awesome! She requested to meet with missionaries
online, so we went over to see her and we clicked immediately! It was
actually her birthday, so she shared her b-day desserts with us
#realfriends. She was baptized in the Lutheran church, but while we
were teaching her about the restoration of Christ's church, she was
like, "Oh, I get it! It's like, the Lutheran church is almost like
saying it's Martin Luther's because he put together the teachings, but
your church is Jesus Christ's church because He's in charge of
everything, right? Someone didn't decide what to teach, they just do
what God tells them to do."  There are so few people who just
straight-up GET it right off the bat! She's amazing. Once you come
to know the truth it's not hard to make the decision to leave it behind and
follow the Savior. High hopes for her!

Sis Grover and I have been counting how many churches there are in
town when we drive by them...we're up to 22. We basically live in
Palmyra. I definitely understand how confused Joseph Smith was trying
to find a church to join- you name a denomination and Eau Claire has
it. It's insane!

Speaking of unorthodox teaching opportunities, the Jehovah's Witnesses
keep sending us letters and leaving pamphlets in our mail box, so we
decided to do the same for them! We sent them a letter attached to one
of our church pamphlets thanking them for sharing their beliefs and
then taking the opportunity to share ours- I'm not sure they were
expecting that sort of response :) We're anxiously awaiting their
reply...we'll keep you updated! #penpals

We've been able to find a lot of new investigators on the college
campus in town. We show them our super cool iPad app that has these
interactive pamphlets about different gospel topics, and it's been
really successful! These last 10 months I've never seen so many new
investigators fall out of the sky like this- I give all the credit to
Sister Grover's greenie faith! Institute also started on campus, so we
get to go to the Eternal Marriage and Families class. T-R-U-N-K-Y. I
love it. Only 8 more months, right? Just kidding. Kinda.

**Miracle of the week: someone broke into the apartment's storage unit
and stole some stuff, but they didn't take our bikes! (Actually I
don't know if that's actually a miracle or not...biking isn't my
favorite thing about being a missionary!)
Also- it POURED over the weekend, but the rain helped us find a new
investigator! #showersofblessings

**Quotes of the week:
Me: You've gotta do it sensitively, like a compliment sandwich.
Sis G: 'Your shirt is cute! You weren't baptized by proper priesthood
authority. I like your pants!' Like that?

Sis G: Why do people always paint the prophet's nose so big? It's
Joseph Smith, not Nose-eph Sniff!

Silos and Soulmates

 There's nothing more irritating and anxiety-inducing as being a
missionary who can't do missionary work. Like, seriously- nothing. As
fun as it's been to have bronchitis, I'm ready to be fully functional
again! But it's been a blast regardless, because even after being
cooped up in the apartment for a week straight, Sis Grover and I still
haven't run out of things to talk about- we're legit best friends.
Pre-mortal existence level BFFs. You're called to your specific
mission to meet specific people, and Sister Grover is one of those
people for sure.

There was one day this week we tried to go out for a few hours down to
the furthest point in our area, which is Whitehall. It's almost an
hour away on these back country roads, and the scenery is GORGEOUS. I
haven't seen that many cows since I left Mississippi! We had just a
few people we were going to try to stop by, and ended up picking up 3
new investigators! It was crazy. The referrals we tried to stop by
didn't live there anymore, but every time someone else answered the
door, they wanted to learn more about the church! It was SUCH a
miracle from God that we were able to fit in about a weeks worth of
visits in just one day. We got referrals out of NOWHERE and with the
help of awesome ward members we have a lot of new potential
investigators! Heavenly Father is definitely helping us share the
gospel with the time we're allotted in our circumstance!

With all the extra time on our hands, there's been a lot of scripture
study! It's been SO wonderful to get to just sit and read and ponder
with no time limit. I was reading in the New Testament, in Acts, and
came across a scripture that really testified a gospel principle to
me:

"13 Then certain of the vagabond Jews, exorcists, took upon them to
call over them which had evil spirits the name of the Lord Jesus,
saying, We adjure you by Jesus whom Paul preacheth.
14 And there were seven sons of one Sceva, a Jew, and chief of the
priests, which did so.
15 And the evil spirit answered and said, Jesus I know, and Paul I
know; but who are ye?
16 And the man in whom the evil spirit was leaped on them, and
overcame them, and prevailed against them, so that they fled out of
that house naked and wounded. (Acts 19)"

Okay, it sounds pretty terrifying, but there's a lesson to be learned! It truly shows how important the proper priesthood authority of God
is. These people were trying to cast out evil spirits, but they didn't
have the authority to do so- Christ hadn't given it to them. However,
the spirit said, "Jesus I know, and Paul I know," because Jesus gave
Paul the priesthood when he ordained him to be an apostle and spread
the gospel. That's the very same priesthood Peter, James, and John
(three of Christ's original apostles)  gave to Joseph Smith, who then gave it to others, etc. which is how we have it on the earth today. It's an unbroken chain that can be traced back directly to Jesus Christ Himself. So when
people say it doesn't really matter what church you go to, this
scripture proves why it does! There are a lot of awesome people with
good intentions, but good intentions weren't enough for the people
trying to cast out spirits. The power of God is what matters! I'm so
grateful Jesus Christ has established His church on the earth today,
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, along with the
priesthood authority to preside over it.

*Memorable events of the week:*

-Sis G cut my hair and it's my fave haircut ever
-We saw a man have a seizure in the elevator with us, called 911 for
him, AND it turned out he was a member of the church AND he bought us
pizza afterwards
-Recorded a missionary makeup look complete with attached screenshots
(and possibly the video if I can get it to fit in the email)
-Sister Grover: "I've been working on memorizing scriptures! Here's
Ether 12:27: 'He shall humble himself or he'll die' Or something like
that. Close enough."


Love you all! The church is true! -Sister Brett

Nothing changed...except literally everything!

 New state and a new companion- what? Last week I found out I was
headed to Wisconsin for a few transfers! And not only that, but
training a new missionary! It's been kind of a crazy week. Eau Claire
is an eclectic artsy town with lots of sculptures and murals...it's
pretty hipster. And Sister Grover is hilarious! She's a cosmetologist,
so now I don't have to pay someone to cut my hair- #winning. She hails
from Colorado and is the biggest One Direction fan you'll ever meet.
Oh, and she's hecka bold. I definitely wasn't that confident when I
got out in the field!


 We haven't been able to see as many people as I want
to...something about the Wisconsin weather has got me super sick with
 bronchitis and I've been under house arrest with orders from the
mission doctor to stay inside and not contaminate the outside world.
But I know the Lord will help me get better so we can go out and do
missionary work! I feel terrible keeping Sister Grover from getting to
go out as much, but she's being a trooper and dealing with me!

I'm excited and nervous to be taking the lead in Hmong work over here.

Our district leader is a Hmong missionary too, and we're teaching a Hmong class Sundays after church! There's not much else of an update, but I'm excited for this transfer!

Love, Sister Brett

Double Baptisms-The Perfect End to the Transfer

Did this week even exist? So much happened, but it seems like the week
went by so quick the days weren't real. First of all, the biggest
miracle of the week- Tais Ci and Kimberly got baptized!!! I think it
was the most rewarding moment of my entire mission so far. Especially
when President Ertel cut off Ci's Shaman bracelet right before she got
in the water...watching someone literally change their entire life in
the course of a few minutes was pretty surreal. The second biggest
miracle was filling the baptismal font up in 1 hour instead of
3...there was a minor hiccup with finding someone who had keys to the
font, but it all worked out! The irony was that it was pouring rain
outside all morning, which perfectly matched the song we sang for the
baptism- "I want my life to be as clean as earth
right after rain." God has a sense of humor for sure :)

We had a branch pot-luck and talent show after the baptism. Everyone
is SO talented, it's insane! God allowed me the tender mercy of having
a guitar for a few days! A member asked me to accompany her on a song
(note: my FAVORITE song by Pink) and loaned me her guitar for the week
to practice, so I was in literal heaven. My callouses had faded after
9 months of not playing, so I was finally getting them back when it
was time to say goodbye...parting is such sweet sorrow. The
missionaries did a Book of Mormon rap in Hmong which was super fun. I
think the elders all secretly want to be K-pop stars...it was
definitely fun to pretend for the night. I'd never rapped in Hmong
before- first time for everything!

Our eternal investigator Phanida is an angel and has become my Hmong
mom while I've been serving here. She insisted on buying me an entire
traditional Hmong outfit. I don't know where else I'll ever wear it, but I'm prepared for Hmong New Years! 

Mini-update: Gabby is getting baptized Sept. 24th! We have to pass her off to the English elders so she can go to an English speaking ward, but she's golden! 

***Tender mercies: Korean BBQ, steak from a member, and getting fed
dinner every night. #foodislife

Quotes of the week:

 

Yer: "President Ertel, can I have your jacket since my boyfriend won't
give me one?"
Brandon: "I don't have one! What do you want me to do, Yer, take off my shirt?"

Sister Ertel: "Sometimes I wake up in the middle of the night and look at look over at him sleeping, and my heart starts racing because I still can't believe I'm so lucky to have him."

President Ertel: "If it were up to me we'd never spend any money or have any fun. I don't like her excessive shopping per se, but it makes her happy, so it makes me happy. I've learned to just pick your battles. She usually wins anyway."

Love y'all! -Sister Brett

"More Sweat, More Spirit !"

How is it Monday again? This time next week will be transfers! I feel
like this transfer has gone by SO FAST! But it's not over yet...there
are still miracles that need to happen! Speaking of miracles...our
investigator Kimberly is getting baptized this Saturday! She is cuter
than any 10 year old you'll ever meet- guaranteed. We've been teaching
her for a while and finally got the parental OK to go through with it!
We didn't think that would be happening for a while, and all of a
sudden she got the green light- so we're throwing together a service
and making it happen with a week's notice...thov Vajtswv rau peb.
Sonny is actually really progressing! He agreed to be baptized!!! We
had a rap battle lesson with the elders where we chose random verses
from the Book of Mormon and rapped them- it was pretty legit. We
talked about the Gospel of Jesus Christ (or in Sonny's words, "the 5
guidelines to swag-tactic living") aka faith, repentance, baptism,
receiving the Gift of the Holy Ghost, and enduring to the end. This
week we picked up 3 new investigators, found a less-active family from
California who wasn't on our church records, and started up a new YSA
scripture study class! Definitely a week of miracles- obedience brings
blessings!

We had an awesome zone conference where our mission president gave us
a training on doctrine. He said something so cool! "Everything starts
with a belief in God the Eternal Father, His son Jesus Christ, and in
the Holy Ghost. The rest of the beliefs of the gospel fall into place
after that. Our testimonies are based off of our personal relationship
with Heavenly Father. How can we know, trust, and love God if we don't
get to know Him?" It rang so true. Our testimonies are based first and
foremost on Heavenly Father, but how can we believe in Him if we don't
have a relationship with Him? A habit you develop as a missionary is
constantly talking with God, whether it be praying for literally
everything, or talking to Him in your heart about the little random
things that come up throughout the day. I've come to cherish our
relationship so much, and I wouldn't trade it for the world! I don't
think I would have ever learned that lesson to the extent I have
without serving a mission.

On a different and slightly less spiritual note...our AC unit broke.
So while it's already baking hot inside the apartment with the
humidity coming in from the outside, now we have nothing to circulate
it. We dragged our mattresses to the living room and are currently
sleeping there where it seems to be the coolest. The elders always
say, "No sweat, no Spirit!" I think they're referring to working out,
but I'm hoping it applies to us too. #refinersfire #literally

Fun moments of the week: zone service at Feed My Starving Children
(hairnets for life), BBQ at a member's, and an egg roll extravaganza
at Tais Kia's.

Quotes of the week:

Elder Sele: "Sister Xiong, you look tired."
Sis Xiong: "That doesn't sound like a compliment."
Elder Sele: "It's not."

Me: "I think I spend 80% of our lessons hoping I don't accidentally
teach false doctrine. I really should have gone to seminary."
Sister Xiong: "After a whole year of seminary my bishop asked me what
I learned about Jesus Christ. You know what I said? That he had a
half-brother. That's IT! That's all I remembered. You didn't miss
anything."

President Forbes: "There's no one in this whole mission, actually
probably even in the state of Minnesota, who has less musical talent
than I do. So you know it's bad when I'm telling you elders you really
sang that song weak...I've heard CTRs come in with more power than
that. Do it again.

"I'm Moving Out" dedicated to Billy Joel and Sister Xiong and me (HumpDay#halfwaythroughthemission)

All last week I was ignoring the fact that my half-way mark was coming up because I refuse to acknowledge that eventually I have to go back to the real world. As we're walking to check the mail, Sister Xiong says, "Isn't our halfway mark tomorrow?" As I'm reaching in to grab our packages I say, "No, that's definitely not for another several weeks," (or months, or years, or never). At the same time I pull out a giant box that says "Happy Hump Day! You're Halfway Done!" It was a harsh (but super sweet and loving and wonderful and AWESOME parental) reminder that my mission is going by so much faster than I want it to. But if all it takes to get a big box of cookies and treats is do what I love everyday, bring on the mile-marker celebrations! The not so great surprise for the day included getting a call from the APs telling us we had to pack up our whole apartment and move out by the next day. So we moved with a one day notice into a ratchet elders ghetto apartment in Frogtown. The smell is pretty rank, and we tried to do our best to give it the sister's touch and douse it in Febreeze, but it's not much of an improvement. The elders technically didn't live in their area boundaries, and since we don't have any, they thought it would be more mile effective if we switched. It's SO QUIET without roommates...I forgot how boring living alone was! Except it's literally impossible to be bored with Sister Xiong, so we're making the most of it...who knew cleaning out 4 years worth of dirty fridge leftovers and elder's toilets could be an adventure? 

Remember when I was left alone in Hmong work and had to teach people relying solely on the gift of tongues? One of those people was an investigator named Tais Ci. Last week we went by to visit her again, only this time with Sister Xiong, and the first thing she said was "I've decided I want to be baptized." It was so cool! She said she'd been praying and thinking about our last lesson, and she knew it was the right thing to do. She had her baptismal interview yesterday, and she's set to be baptized next Saturday! Woohoo! Fun fact: she's a Shaman ritual leader, so in order to leave her religion, her new ecclesiastical leader (aka the branch president, President Ertel) has to come take down her relics and do some ritual thing. Kuv tsis paub, kuv tsis yog Hmoob. He's so adorable, he got really giddy and said "So what do I do, I just go rip it down? Is that not rude? I don't want to do it wrong! But this is exciting!" He's Mikas too...us white people get excited about stuff like this. #missionhighlights 

We spent all of last Thursday with Tais Kia, one of my favorite grandmas in the branch. Saying she's blunt would be the understatement of the century, but lemme tell you, that G-ma is EFFECTIVE. We took her with us to see some investigators and less-actives, and her motto in life is: "Have your crap together". So she fire and brimstone preacher-ed them into getting their lives back in order and making God a priority. Backstory on Tais Kia: she was one of the first Hmong people baptized into the church back in the 80's when the first flood of Hmong refugees came from Thailand. She is the most dedicated member I know, and will do all she can to help you get on her level. She's F-A-I-T-H-F-U-L. 

Yesterday at church we taught the Young Women alllll about dating! The YW teacher called us the day before and said she couldn't make it, so she told us the lesson outline and gave us free reign! It was super trunky, but it was really fun to go over the dating standards we have and why we follow them. Commandments are there to protect us, not limit our fun! All the YW are pretty blunt (mini-Tais Kia's) so the lesson turned into a full-blown conversation on chastity. I think the problem with asking "What are the limits?" is that it implies wanting to get as close to the edge as possible without falling over. Which is dangerous, because when we teeter on the line of sin, all it takes is a little nudge for us to fall over. Remembering to be a disciple of Christ, even while dating, is a big protection that blesses not only us, but our future marriage and families. 

Alrighty, this is getting a little long, so I'll wrap up. But I love you all! Shoutout to my family: you guys are the best, I love you more than anything!!!! Love, Sister Bret

The gift of tongues is so real!

How is it already P-day again? I swear I was sitting here typing out an email  three days ago.  This week was definitely a proving ground for me! We had exchanges, and Sister Xiong was sent to another area and I stayed in Hmongland. There haven't been too many times on my mission I wanted to crawl into a hole and not come out for the day, but the day of exchanges was one of those days. I was terrified of teaching people in a language I'm hardly even close to fluent in, and I was freaking out I would say something (or everything) wrong and offend our investigators. Sister Xiong assured me she wouldn't have let me stay if she thought I'd screw it all up, so it gave me a little more confidence haha! In the end everything turned out fine! My Hmong was far from perfect, but the gift of tongues is SO REAL. I could understand for the most part what they were saying, I could respond without having to take ten minutes to form my thoughts into English and then Hmong, and I was able to translate for the other sister who was with me without too much getting lost in translation. It was so apparent that God truly cared about not only me, but our investigators who needed to hear the message we prepared. It was awesome!  Exact obedience brings miracles! We've seen so many blessings this week, including 2 new solid investigators! They're both new mothers, Hnub and Mao, and are extremely appreciative of the church's family aspect. One is Christian and the other is Shaman, but even though they're from two completely different religions, it's clear that family is the universal equalizer for everybody, regardless of race, religion, economic status, etc. We had an AWESOME lesson with Sonny! He was talking about finding a girl who would love him for eternity, and Sister Xiong and I looked at each other at the same time and said in sync, "This is the right place for that." We showed him photos of the temple and talked about the sacred sealings and covenants that take place there. I love getting to talk about the holy temple- it truly is our connection to heaven on earth! Tender Mercy: We were walking through these town-home complexes and started talking to this adorable older couple. They invited us over for dinner and wouldn't take no for an answer, so we had the BEST kabooj I've ever had! During the conversation they look at me and say "Vi lis cas koj mikas?" which basically translates to "Why are you white?". Sister Xiong choked on her food and I tried to answer seriously, but there's not much of an answer for that. They said if I married their son I would truly be Hmong...kuv tsi paub!  Also, we have a new baptismal date-set! Houa for August 20th!!  I don't have too much time, so I'm gonna hop off! This work is true, I love the gospel!  -Sister Brett