And When October Goes…

Great news, people!  We DID get email from Melissa today and it was even several hours earlier than usual!  You can bet that made MY day!  So, here it is - without further ado…

....The winds begIIIINNNN to flyyyyyyy. 

Yes, I have been saving that subject line for a couple months now. But this Hurricane is just so perfectly timed! So I couldn't help myself hahaha. 

So, I am a survivor (presumably) of the biggest hurricane in the history of the human race. Wow. I feel pretty special. One reason I KNOW I've grown up on my mission is because I am not even scared! So far the winds here have just been like a moderately windy day in Highland :) 

This week was great. I've been listening to the Book of Mormon while I do my hair and makeup (which just takes longer and longer the older I get! Shouldn't the reverse be the case?) and I've been extra loving it. I listen to the same set of chapters 2 or 3 days in a row so I can make sure that I get everything out of it (since i'm not actually reading it, you know?) and it has been the best. I am on my favorite part - the stories in the heart of Alma. I just love those stories. I think of my baby brother every time I read about Alma and the sons of Mosiah being excited at their reunion. So cute. 

We didn't get to meet with any of our investigators this week because they're only available on weekends and by the time this weekend came around everyone in New England was scrambling to buy supplies and get gas, etc. So that was disappointing but it was a GREAT week for meeting with members! I got to meet a bunch of new families and even met with a less active woman who loves us and wants weekly visits! I love meeting with families. I even love a little family of rowdy blond boys.  [Editor's note:  This is an amazing statement on many levels.  Let's see:  Melissa loving children (boys at that) and rowdy ones?  Even loving blond children is pretty huge!]  :-)  Man I'm very happy here in this ward! 

On Saturday we had our ward Halloween party - complete with a trunk-or-treat (my first!), a chili cook-off and a corn bread bake-off. It was a great time! I dressed up —

**Weather update!** Oh wow!  Just got news that everyone south of Route One along the coast is being evacuated - that means my house. Glad we're 6 miles inland and at about 500 feet! :) 

Anyways, I dressed up as Michael Jackson, like I told you. I think the jacket turned out great!! I was very pleased with it, and the hair was pretty darn authentic if you ask me. And I would know. No one could tell who I was, though. That was a bummer. Not ONE person guessed right! 

**Weather update!** It just started raining! It's swirling outside. Very exciting :) I guess the worst of it is supposed to be the next 24 hours.  

But it's okay - I got lots of pictures and I guess I'll give people a break since the jacket was 1984 but the hair was more 1992. That could have thrown people :D 

Yesterday after church we had a nice lunch appointment with a new family and then just prepared for the storm! We made peanut butter bars. How does this help us prepare for the storm, you might ask? Well, I'm not sure but I was sure happy. 

Well, I'd better get going - don't know how long we'll have power. The R*s have a generator, but obviously they'll run it only for essential things haha. 

I love you! I'm excited to see how this storm affects the shoreline communities. To tell you the truth, I haven't been praying that the storm doesn't hit, I've just been praying that if it DOES hit, people will be humbled and more receptive to our message :) 

Love you all! Thanks for your updates - it's exciting to see how many people from our ward are going on missions! I love it. This is such an historical time. I'm sad that my mission is nearing its end but I'm happy that I still have a few months left to work at it!  

Hopefully I'll have lots of time to write people back over the next couple days that we'll be cooped up inside - I've got quite the stack of letters to respond to and time's a tickin' (<--- ew. I can't believe I just typed that out). 

Have a fantastic week. I'll try to e-mail some pictures home next week - I know you're all dying to see how my costume turned out. Please, be patient. Sheesh. 

Love,
Sister "I think of my Ma every time someone calls this storm 'Sandy' :) " Broekhuijsen

[Editor's note:  Of course, Ma doesn't go by "Sandy' anymore and even when she did, she was cool enough to spell it "Sandi."  :-)  But I still like knowing that my daughter's thinking of me a lot right now!  

Franken-Storm

Good morning dear readers!  We don't know for sure if we'll be getting email from Melissa today.  There is a huge storm - associated with Hurricane Sandy - on the east coast.  We were starting to worry a bit as we realized that Melissa lives about a block from the ocean!  But we should have known that there was nothing to worry about!

We got a call yesterday evening from some good folks in Killingsworth, CT who let us know that Sister Broekhuijsen and her companion are safe with them.  Killingsworth is quite a bit further inland than Clinton, so she'll be just fine!  Anyway, they do expect to lose power and probably internet, so that's why we may or may not get email today.

Just a little heads up!  Thanks for all your prayers and support for our favorite daughter!

'Twas the Week Before Halloween…

Melissa was obviously in a very good mood while writing emails today!  She just cracks me up!  (And no, I'm not biased at all!)  

'Twas the week before Halloween
And all through the state,
The citizens were stirring
And looking at their rakes.

Their yards were decorated with ghosts, and skeletons - the WORKS!

But what they DIDN'T know,
Was that there were two girls who wanted to share
a message so precious, beyond value - beyond compare!

Wow. I don't know where that was going. I just wrote that little ditty on the fly. You may think I've been working on it all week but in actuality, I just made it up. I'm sure you can't tell because of the way it's so expertly worded and rhythmically sound.

SO.

Halloween is next week. I am so CELEBRATORY lately! My goodness. I guess I've always been celebratory (like making incredibly adorable MJ-themed Christmas gifts and kitten Valentine's) but I'm just noticing it more here on the mish mish. We made ghost-shaped sugar cookies and delivered them to investigators and members this past week. The best part about Halloween is that I'm going to be Michael Jackson. Well, a toned-down-sister-missionary-dress-standard-approved version of Michael Jackson. I just bought some black sequins at Joanne's to finish the look! So pumped. This week in District Meeting we are having a Halloween party. And then Saturday night is the ward Halloween party. Then actual Halloween is next Wednesday (in case you don't have a calendar handy and were wondering). So I get to wear my costume not once or even twice but THRICE! That's good. Also I get to turn down candy but NOT turn down baked goods. Because I'm just not that strong, you know?

Let's talk about missionary work now. That would be good. We got to meet with a lot of less actives this week! And we had many wonderful meals with members where they set GREAT goals for member missionary work. I just LOVE this ward.

We had interviews with President Packard on Wednesday. That was AWESOME! He gave us a little training beforehand and then the apes (<--- sorry, for those of you who aren't cool enough to know what that means, it is a nickname for an acronomyn. The Assistants to the President are commonly called the APs. But we're so cool that even an acronymn isn't cool enough for us so we call them the apes) gave trainings while we took turns going out and being interviewed. My interview lasted like a billion years. I just love President and he (obviously) loves me and we talked about a billion different things. One was the new minimum age requirement - he said he's expecting AT LEAST 30 new sisters in the next couple transfers. WHAT??? Awesome. We also talked about marriage - he gave me some great advice! We talked about being missionaries and the importance of eternal families and he taught me from the scriptures and he asked ME for advice and it was just awesome. We talked about transfers and he told me that I'll probably finish my mission in this ward. He said I would unless he's strongly directed to move me - but HE doesn't see any reason to move me - he'll probably just have me train one of the new sisters! Cool!! His time is precious but it means so much to me that he makes time to talk to us. I just love him.

Church yesterday was the primary program. It was great! Even though there was the "one kid" there. You know, the one kid who just wants attention and sings loudly and off key so everyone will look at him and who does the opposite of the hand movements they're supposed to be doing? Yeah, well, apparently that happens church wide - not just in Utah. So we had the one kid, but other than that everyone did great. It was so fun to see. And at the end they closed by saying, in unison, "We say these things in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen." Can you say cute? Because I can, and I think that's the perfect adjective to use right now.

Anyway... I don't think I have any more stories! But I want you all to know that I'm doing really well. I am happy, I love being a missionary. I love the ward and I love my companion. I love Connecticut - especially in the fall (the colors popped literally overnight this past week!) My only complaint about CT is that there seriously are no street lights. It is PITCH black at night. If we're knocking on doors after dark we sometimes have to leave our headlights on so that we can see enough to get to the driveway! Crazy.

I got many letters this week and I just want to thank those who wrote me! I may not be able to give a timely response but know that EVERY letter is appreciated!!

Love today,

Sister "how cheesy would it be to name a son Boston and a daughter Madison?" Broekhuijsen
 

1st Sunday in Connecticut

Joshua told me there was email from Melissa, but when I looked I didn't have it!  So, he was kind enough to forward it to me.  And that is the story of Melissa's email today.

Hello there!

I'm doing well, thanks for asking! I still love it in Connecticut. I don't have much time to write (sorry) but I'll try to get some details out.

I just love the ward here. We had a full chapel (and the chapel is BIG - like, bigger than the chapel in the Cambridge Stake Center big) yesterday! I just love an active ward! There are approximately 1,400 children and 800 youth in our ward. And maybe like 110 adults? (But I'm pretty bad at estimating so that might be off.) That is very exciting and I am choosing to find the positives about this situation instead of being annoyed with all the children like I would have been in my old, crotchety life. Sacrament Meeting was actually pretty quiet! And it's exciting to be having dinners with FAMILIES! (Especially families with GIANT MAINE COON CATS! THAT'S RIGHT - there are multiple families in the ward that have more than one Maine Coon. I'm in fluffy, overweight, grumpy-face heaven).

So let me tell you about geography. You were correct in assuming that Clinton is not the only town that my ward/area covers. Let's see if I can remember these here... Clinton, Madison (this is where the chapel is located), Guilford, Branford, North Branford, Durham, Haddam, Killingworth, Ivoryton, Chester, Essex, Centerbrook, Old Saybrook, and Westbrook. I think that's all of them. It's pretty enormous! Our Zone Leaders are so sweet though and told us that (while we should of COURSE be conservative and thrifty with our miles) they would much rather "have Elders out in the cold than Sisters" (except he's from New Zealand, mind you, so it was more like, "We would much rithah hiv illders out in the cold thin Sistuhs.") haha so we will be taken care of. :)

Let me review some highlights from this past week:

1) Maine Coons. (See above)

2) A couple of really good lessons with investigators! One in particular with R*, our 81-year-old widower. We taught the Plan of Salvation and it was amazing! The spirit was so strong. I feel very lucky to have been there.

3) A surprise lesson where we showed up for an appointment and the person wasn't there (boo) but his neighbor who answered the door let us in and had a bunch of really good questions and we taught a whole first lesson! It was a really cool story - I've heard of stuff like that happening before but it was cool to see the whole principle of "right place at the right time"

4) Experiencing service! We do service at a Soup Kitchen in Branford every Wednesday. For the first little bit we actually serve tables - I feel like a waitress! Except that I don't have to take anyone's orders (because everyone gets the same food because, hey, FREE) and I don't get any tips! It's very fun. The people who run the kitchen call themselves our "extended family" and it's a very fun environment

5) Making up a recipe. It's called: pumpkin chocolate chip cookies using a can of pumpkin and some cake mix. I've made them before but I decided that I wanted them to be more cakey this time and less dumpy. So I threw some eggs and butter in there. And then it was too wet so then I threw some flour. Then I added a basket-ful (thanks for that unit of measurement, Joshua!) of cinnamon (since I couldn't find any spice cake mix and had to use yellow). Then I worried that it would not be sweet enough since I had added more flour. So I put some maple syrup in it. Wow it was an adventure. The Elders really appreciated them though! I guess they're not too hard to please so that's not much of an accomplishment.

6) Going to a chinese buffet/hibachi/sushi place with my zone after Zone Meeting on Friday. It was $8 for all of those things (in case you forgot already, that's a chinese buffet with a hibachi grill and sushi included). EIGHT DOLLARS. THat's how much I pay for half teaspoon of lemon zest and and eighth of a broccoli floret at Stop and Shop! Grrr.

7) Knocking on an old potential's door and them not being home and the new person in the house actually being interested and letting us come back and teach!

So it was a great week and I am happy.

This morning we deep-cleaned the apartment. That was nice. I love cleanliness. It's next to godliness, you know.

Now we must go get a coat for Sister Vicente. That's right, she doesn't have one. So sad. We'll remedy that shortly.

Thanks for your e-mails - I loved the pictures from the Boise Temple open house! How cool that you got to go to that! Sounds like a fun little vacation. I hope you transition back into your school/work routines smoothly.

Let me know how the cats' costumes are coming along. Next week you can send some pictures of your progress so far.

Love,

Sister "There are no streetlights in Connecticut (and the streets are paved with chee-EESE!)" Broekhuijsen

Back at the Blue & White Y

My prediction came true!  We did get to hear from Melissa today.  Yay!

Thanks a LOT, Christopher Columbus! I know you think you're important since you "discovered America" and all, but I don't know that that really warrants closing my only internet access.

ANYWAY. Greetings from beautiful Connecticut.I have been here for less than 120 hours but it already feels like home. :) I feel so much gratitude! And it's not just because of the fall. To be honest, the colors aren't near peak (at least I HOPE they're not - not much has begun to change). But I have hope that it will happen soon. I guess being at sea level would make a difference - I'm sure Utahr is stunning right now!

So... I have so much to tell you about! *Warning* this may be jumpy. If you are pregnant or have back problems you should not continue reading (<--- SOooo not funny. I told myself, "No, Sister Broekhuijsen. Don't write that sentence - it will be lame and you KNOW it." But then I just HAD to. I'm such a rebel to myself.)

First of all, my companion Sister Vicente is an amazing, amazing woman. I told you last week that she's from Cape Verde. What I DIDN'T know THEN, is that she is a convert of barely 3 years. Her little brother joined the church on his own at 12, and she joined a couple years later. Then her parents joined right before she left on her mission! They're going to travel to Brazil together when she gets home so they can go to the temple and be sealed. Isn't that awesome? She is also incredibly brilliant. English is her 4th (yes, FOURTH) language. Her native language is Cape Verdian Creole, then she learned Portuguese in school, then she studied Spanish in college, and now she's learning English. She is so sweet and has a POWERFUL testimony. I love teaching with her!

We live in half of a house. The LEFT half, to be specific (useless detail, but I thought I'd share). A nice, old couple lives in the right half. It is clean. It is new, it is cozy. It is lovely! The only complaints I have about the whole apartment are that the showerhead has tiny little streams of shooty water and it stings, it's an electric (not a gas) stove top, and we only have 4 linear feet of clothesrod (<-- is that a word? I dunno. I'm talking about the thing that you hang hangers on) between the two of us. But the fact that that's all I can complain about is such a dream. We have comfortable mattresses, a clean fridge, amazing desks, non-creaky and non-splintery hardwood floors, and as far as I can tell, our neighbors won't be providing us any second-hand highs. Another fun fact: we have electricity, so we don't have to do our planning by candlelight (which is probably a good thing because I don't think I can compare to my brother in terms on hand-modeling).  [See this post if you don't know what the heck Melissa is talking about!]  Also, no black mold is always a plus! So I love it. It's in a great location, too! I'm probably like a 1/3 of a mile from the ocean and the pier/marina/dock. I don't know my nautical terminology but there are lots of floating boats that are tied up to things. Also there are people fishing there a lot. And there's a restaurant called "Lobster Landing" so... that's awesome! I'll have to try that out sometime. Friday morning we ran to the dock/pier/marina and watched the sunrise and it was beautiful. My life is charming!

Conference was a delight. We got to watch it on the computers in the Family History Center (which is a wing of the Madison chapel) so that Sister Vicente could watch in Portuguese (I watched in good ol' English). Isn't technology amazing? It was so cool that she could watch it dubbed in Portuguese with only like a 4 minutes delay! I was SHOOOCKED at the lowering of the minimum age requirement. That is amazing. Because we were on the computers, I got to watch the press conference right after. First of all, WHY did they have a question and answer session? They were all stupid questions (except Carol Makita - love her) and the lady from the Salt Lake Tribune bugged me big time. BUT it was interesting nonetheless. I thought it was cool that Elder Holland's response to "Why now?" was simply that they really need more missionaries! How cool to think about this important milestone in the gathering of Israel and know that I was ON MY MISSION when the change was made. It thought it was cute the way Elder Cook talked about Jeffrey R. Holland being one of the first 19-year-old missionaries in his mission.

I loved every talk, but there were a couple principles that stood out to me as being particularly applicable and immediately implementable:

*Honeybees: 1/12 of a teaspoon of honey after a LIFETIME of work?? Wowzer. I should be pleased even if all I get to do is walk around with a name tag.

*President Uchtdorf's "life is not meant to only be enjoyed in retrospect" - "resolve to be happy."

*Don't be motivated to do something right only if you think someone else will see it. Do it right for the Lord.

*It's not enough to just teach what the Savior taught, we must learn to also teach how He taught.

*"First observe, then serve."

*Musical numbers - my GOODNESS. It was so cool that Lead, Kindly Light, Brightly Beams our Father's Mercy, and Does the Journey Seem Long? were all featured so prominently. Those are three of the hymns that have meant the most to me on my mission so far (I'll Go Where You Want Me to Go and Be Thou Humble are also up there). I just love how I'm often reminded of God's love for me individually as I hear/read hymns. The soloist on DtJSL (<-- yes, I'm cool enough to abbreviate that title) was incredible. I could listen to his voice forever!

*Overall I was impressed SO MANY TIMES with the idea that there really is nothing I want more than to just be an instrument that the Lord can use to answer His children's prayers. How lucky I am to be a missionary with such a clearly defined purpose.

Our ward (from what I've heard/seen) seems to be just spectacular. We have the largest youth program in the state! So many active young men and young women. Someone told me there are only 8 less active primary-aged children. SUCH a contrast to Boston. I mean, there are obviously struggles in every ward, but it's cool to see an active, large ward. There's a lot of support for missionaries - we have dinners nearly every night! And they find creative ways to support us in other ways, too. For example, one family in the ward owns a Laundromat at lets us come do our laundry for free on pdays! It's just so fun to be here. There's so much to be thankful for!

Fun fact - Halloween is a BIG DEAL here. You know that house by the Heritage Park chapel that decorates and goes all out for Halloween? Well, it seems like there's multiple houses like that on every STREET here! So funny. On the drive to our church building, there's a scarecrow type thing in someones front yard that is Darth Vader wearing a pink prom dress. Actually, CT in general must be pretty big Star Wars fans because there's an R2-D2 mailbox in New Haven. Like, actual, usually-blue, post office mailbox for dropping off letters. I've gotta get pictures with it.

That brings me to my next order of business. So I'm in the New Haven Stake. Guess what? New Haven is what's called, "The City that Yale Lives In". Never mind that it's only called that by me. That's right! I've traded in my Harvard crimson red for Yale blue! I remember when I first got to Boston and saw a couple people in dark blue shirts with a big ol' "Y" on it I was faked out and thought it was BYU. I was really surprised that there were so many BYU supporters walking around Cambridge, Mass! haha. But then I found out that it was Y for Yale. I will NOT get tricked out here. :) We have our district meetings on campus at Yale! Man - I'm just a lucky girl.

I'll close with something I've been thinking a lot about since transfer meeting. President brought up the point that missions are transformative. At least, they CAN be. But if we're focused only on transforming ourselves, it won't happen. At least not to the degree that it can if we have better intentions. If I study the scriptures so that *I* can learn as much as possible so that *I* can be cool and knowledgeable - if I try to develop character traits so that *I* can be more diligent/obedient/whatever for ME, then I am missing the point. President said that "You can't become who the Lord wants you to become by focusing on yourSELF - It ONLY comes by focusing on others." I just really like that idea and decided that I need to take a personal inventory and determine WHY I do certain things.

Whelp, I love you! Hope to hear from you all soon. I appreciate the support I have from back home - it really does mean a lot even if I don't have time to thank you all as often or as individually as I would like to.

Nina, Pinta, and Santa Maria,

Sister "Call me Rori Gilmore 'cause I go to YALE" Broekhuijsen
 

Columbus Ruined My Monday

I waited almost all day for Melissa's email and finally realized at about 5:30 that today is Columbus Day, which is a Federal holiday, I believe, so probably the library was closed and she couldn't send an email.  I'm hoping that means that we'll be getting something tomorrow!  Keep your fingers crossed!

Maybe I'll Run into Martha Stewart…

Some unexpected news today!  I'll let you hear it from Melissa herself…

Hello everyone! 

Let's just get to the meat - I'm getting transferred.  

I'm moving to Connecticut. 

Tomorrow. 

Not just Connecticut, but the southwest CORNER of Connecticut. Literally the farthest I can go from Boston and still be in mission boundaries. 

I didn't want to go. 

I still don't. 

But I'm trying to have a good attitude. 

There are only two sisters in the entire mission that are getting moved - we're switching places! 

So I must bid farewell to my beloved Boston. Farewell to trains and buses, farewell to racial diversity, farewell to Sister Jordan, farewell to my beloved District of missionaries and Zone Leaders. Farewell to my recent converts and investigators. Farewell to walking all day every day. 

But, don't be sad, people! I get to go to Connecticut! I hear it's beautiful, you know. The ward I'll be serving in is the Madison, CT ward. I will live around the corner from the OCEAN. Yes, that's not an overstatement. I get to be in the country (ish? Not actually sure how rural or urban this place is, but it will certainly be quainter than Boston) during the most beautiful time of the year! I get to drive a car! I get to learn new things from a new companion. I get to know and love new ward members, leaders, fellow missionaries, and investigators. I get to have a new experience. I get to say that I've lived in 3 states in my life. I get to be exactly where God wants me to be. 

I have found a few things out that are making me feel a little bit more calm and even potentially excited for me new area. One of which is that there are going to be some Elders there that are familiar! Elder Ramos was in the Boston 1st ward with me for a transfer, and he's in my district. And Elder Hall who was in my district in Oxford, and then went to the University ward when we came to Boston, is getting put in as Zone Leader down in the New Haven Zone, and he'll be in my district too. Also, the other Zone Leader is from New Zealand.  

YEAH. 

Lock you heart, Sister Broekhuijsen. A kiwi accent doth not an eternal companion make. 

My companion is just finishing her training period - this will be her third transfer. Her name is Sister Vicente and she's from Cape Verde! I'll have to pick up some Portuguese from her. I've met her once and she seems very sweet. I'm looking forward to working with her and getting to know her. 

So that's the big news of the week! Like I said, I was very sad to find out that I have to go. I'm the ONLY person from my perfect little district who is leaving! So they're all going to carry on and have a blast and be awesome without me. But the good news is that I'm pretty awesome myself, so I should be able to just have a good time no matter where I am. Also, having a good time is not actually what the mission is all about, so what I really should say is that I should be able to work diligently and bring others closer to Christ no matter where I am. Which is also true. 

One reason that it's especially hard to leave right NOW (aside from the fact that my district is hilarious and tight knit) is that P* just accepted a baptismal date!! He's going to be baptized on November 11th. He and the G* family (with whom he lives) had us over for dinner last night as a goodbye to me. It was so much fun to see them. P* is so sweet and I'm so happy for him to be taking this step. We have another baptism coming up in November too! A* is scheduled to be baptized on the 25th of November. I don't remember if I've told you about her before.  

The General Relief Society Broadcast was awesome! I was looking forward to it all week. So weird to think that I was here in Boston for the last one! I'm stoked for General Conference, too, of course. So weird that this is my last one in the field! 

Well, I'm sorry I don't have more time to write you. I have to go finish packing, make fruit pizza for my district, and then sign everyone's journals and have them sign mine. It's a great mission tradition because it's like high school yearbooks all over again, which was arguably my favorite part about high school, so I'm excited. 

Love you, family! (And I love you friends, too) Hope all is well!  

Sister "How am I supposed to perfect my Boston accent NOW??" Broekhuijsen