I think it's a good sign when missionaries lose track of time - it means they're "losing themselves in the work" right? We loved hearing from Melissa today - here's some of what she had to say…I didn't include her entire email, because a lot of it was directed just to us, her immediate family, so I'm sorry if it doesn't all "flow together" as well as usual.
Yesterday was a great day. Sundays are a bit hectic because we're running around trying to get our dinner calendar passed around, take care of our members we know need a boost, set up appointments for the next week, make sure our investigators get to the right class, etc. But yesterday was a very relaxing day. Not because we didn't have to do those things, because we definitely did, but because I was so grateful to just have 6 hours to be TAUGHT instead of being the teacher. We have been so busy that we haven't had our studies for over a week. That's terrible, yes, but I'm choosing to look at the positives: church is a bit of a relief! I love teaching, it is absolutely my favorite part of a mission. But it's a bit of a relief to just be fed for 6 hours. A cool thing happened yesterday, too. At the end of September, I contacted a man named H*, from Turkey, at a bus stop. Forgive me if I've told you about him already. But we got talking and Sis. Meier gave him a passalong card with our number and the chapel's address on it and told him he should come check it out sometime. WELL - to our literally astonishment (my jaw actually dropped), he showed up yesterday! The Elders snatched him right away and sat with him in Sacrament Meeting and answered his questions. It was his first ever Christian church service (he's Muslim) but he must have liked it because he is meeting with the Elders this week! This was MY first fruit of the harvest, I guess. I am the one who talked to him first! And you know what? He DID something about it!! That was an exciting feeling, even if nothing ultimately comes of it.
Jenny [a member in the singles ward Melissa serves in] served her mission in Indonesia! She had us over for dinner last night so we got to talk a bit about that. She loves Bahmi and Nasi Goreng but had never heard of Loempia! How this is possible I do not know. Is it possible that those are more Vietnamese than Indonesian? Who knows but I felt mega smart.
We finally got a ward mission leader in LP2. His name is Jordan and he just graduated from BYU. He served his mission here in Boston from 04 to 06 and is now going to BU for his MFA in screenwriting. Cool guy, and he's on fire with a lot of cool ideas to get LP2's missionary work going better. We are in a "war" with the Elders this week to see who can teach more lessons, so we're not even taking a pday today! We're going to have to spread it out between the whole week. Our goal is 21 lessons. So... that will be tough but good. We have to budget an hour of travel between everything so it really limits how many lessons we can teach a week. But we're working hard to do it!
I'm sick. So, that's fun. It's feeling a lot like a sinus infection, just not as bad as it usually is. I'm almost not miserable when I'm on sudafed and ibuprofen, so I don't want to have to go get some antibiotics if I can avoid it. I just went through a round last month! Arrgg. Let's say some prayers that this DOESN'T develop into a sinus infection and miraculously just stays a cold. :) Aka, let's pray that my body doesn't do what it is best at: getting frequent sinus infections. :)
I've noticed throughout my life and mission, and most specifically yesterday, that I often get answer to prayers in the form of Hymns. I love when people share their thoughts to me via the lyrics of a hymn. Just yesterday I had 3 distinct experiences like that! I'll share them because they are super cool. I'll include the hymn number and then the specific line(s) that stood out to me.
#123 - Oh, May My Soul Commune with Thee — "From wordly care and pain of fear, please bring me sweet release." I love this because it's true! I say that I've had an easy life, and truly I know I'm blessed, but it's nice to hear that it's okay to call fear "pain"ful. Because although I don't have any painful diseases or a painful family life, I do have fears. So maybe it's all okay and I don't need to feel guilty about that.
#130 — Be Thou Humble — Basically the whole song, but most specifically the first 3 lines of the second verse.
"Be thou humble in thy calling, and the Lord thy God shall teach thee To serve his children gladly with a pure and gentle love."
That's exactly what I want! To learn to serve his children GLADLY. Not just to serve them because I love to be obedient, but to be GLAD about it. I'm a bit scared to pray for humility, though, because I don't doubt for one second that He would bless me with it :)
#165 — Abide with Me; 'Tis Eventide — "Lone will be the night if I cannot commune with Thee" But GUESS WHAT JOSE? I CAN commune with Him, so I don't have to ever feel alone! It's related to my love of Pres. Eyring's talk from this past conference about feeling hurt at the idea of not being able to testify of Christ. I love that I recognize that my life WOULD be lonely if I didn't "commune" with my Heavenly Father everyday.
Well that's about it! Thank you again for all your support. I'm grateful that it hurts so bad to be away from you all. I really am thankful for that. I want everyone to be able to love their families THAT much. So I guess that's what's keeping me going out here!
Love you!
-Sister Broekhuijsen
P.S. Boston Fun Fact of the Day: There are so many squirrels here. It is the cutest thing known to mankind. Also, it is apparently NOT a myth that they bury acorns in the ground for the winter. I've seen it happen with my own true eyes.
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