Welcome to 2013

Happy day!  Email from our favorite Melissionary!  Sounds like she had a great week!

I am in an unusually swell mood this afternoon. I mean, missionary work always makes me happy, but today I am even more thrilled than I normally am. Let's talk about this week.

First we'll start with some trivial things. I have found some great deals on new clothes at GoodWill and outlet stores.

Okay, phew! Now we can be eternally significant.

We had a lovely, lovely week. Even though we were extremely weak sick and had to stay inside and do nothing for 2 whole days, we STILL managed to have good numbers. We had 4 investigators at Sacrament Meeting yesterday (plus J*, who no longer counts as an investigator, since she is a BAPTIZED MEMBER OF THE CHURCH) AND nine less-actives. It was a great meeting!

Speaking of J* being a baptized member of the church... J* was baptized into this Church on Saturday January 5th! It was the first time that someone I was teaching was baptized into the ward where I am currently serving. Quite the statistic! It only took a year and a half!! :) I'm actually not bitter, or even semi sweet - I am full, creamy milk chocolate about the whole thing. (You might find a lot of food metaphors today because I've been doing AMAZINGLY at my new years resolutions and haven't had a BITE of sweets so far - an impressive seven days into this new year). It was the most organized baptism I've ever seen. She is quite the planner. She prepared a media presentation to be played after the ordinance while she redid her hair/makeup. But she is very particular in the way that she wanted the projector to be set up, and in the transitions between videos, and all that. So we had 2 separate audio-visual dry runs at the church prior to the baptism to ensure that there would be no kinks.

She had very specific ideas for what she wanted to be addressed in the talks, so the three sister missionaries who taught her were each asked to speak on baptism, and then two of her close friends in the church spoke on the Holy Ghost. She gave specific prompts to each of us, so that we spoke on the aspect of baptism from the point of view of what she has gained from each of us. Does that make sense? So she asked Sister Vicente to talk about how it's more than just an act, it's a feeling. Sister Garcia spoke about how the decision to be baptized blesses not only us, but also our families, past, present, and future. I was asked to give the nuts and bolts talk - how it IS actually a logical decision, as well as something you do because you feel you should. She designed her own baptismal program, and put together a little workbook/packet/binder thing to be handed out as people walked back into the chapel after the ordinance was performed. It had little explanations about the videos we were about to watch and why they're significant to her, and things like that. Wowzer - I tell you what. It was intense. But it turned out wonderfully and I think all were edified. She was confirmed in Sacrament Meeting yesterday and it was also a great experience.

In other investigator news, R*(our amazing 82-year-old widower) is probably the most tender man in the universe. I cry a lot in his lessons, especially when he prays. He is just so sincere, and he really does want to know more. He thinks that I am Sister Garcia and I don't have the heart to break it to him that I am another cute girl with long, dark hair. So he tells stories about how when he first saw me he just knew that he should listen, even though he usually ignored the missionaries. Man I love him. We had a really good lesson with him this week.

I issued a challenge to myself and accepted it this week. A few weeks ago, when Sister Vicente and I had the wonderful priviledge of having companionship study with President Packard, he told us that on his mission he started praying for half an hour every morning. He said that when he first tried, he said his normal things and he was done after 4 minutes. He realized that he didn't know how to pray, so he asked for help. Before long, he said, 30 minutes didn't seem like nearly enough time. That practice is something that he has kept up ever since his mission. He prays in the morning with a notebook and writes down the questions he asks and the impressions/answers he receives, and then reports back that night in his nightly prayers.

I would submit that that is one reason why my mission president is so phenomenal.

I thought it sounded like a cool idea, but I didn't think I could actually do it. I have a hard enough time finding time in the morning to exercise, shower, get ready, and eat breakfast before studies start at 8:00! But I shared it with my friend, Elder Ramos, and he said, "That's amazing! I'm going to try that!" so I said, "Okay, coolio. Report back on Friday at District Meeting." So he did, and he said it was incredible, and he encouraged me to just give it a try. He said he noticed a HUGE change in his day and how he felt overall.

So, I humbled my proud little head and gave it a whirl. Since I am sharing this experience in my weekly e-mail home, you have probably assumed that it was a good experience. You probably thought that it would help me get answers to my problems and to feel more calm. You probably thought that I felt that same way President did - that 30 minutes just whizzed by before I knew it and I still had more to talk about with my Heavenly Father.

Wow - you are a good guesser, because all of those things are correct. It has been remarkable.

In other great, spiritual news, I am VERY lucky to be in the MBM (Massachusetts Boston Mission). Of course, I already knew that. One of those reasons is that I got to meet and learn from Clayton M. Christensen. Of course, I already knew that, too. But THIS week I rwas a lucky girl because he PAID FOR A COPY OF HIS NEW BOOK ON MEMBER MISSIONARY WORK TO BE GIVEN TO EVERY MISSIONARY IN THIS MISSION. He is also giving it to all of our Stake Presidents and Ward Mission leaders. MY GOODNESS. It is amazing. I saw it in a Deseret Book catalogue last week (thanks, previous Sister missionary who never changed the address of her catalogue subscription!) and just about fainted with joy at the prospect of a new Clayton Christensen book being put out (on one of my favorite subjects of all TIME, nonetheless!). I never dreamed I'd get to read it before my mission was through! I highly recommend everyone getting a copy. Or just wait until February 9th, at which point I will hold a fireside in my parents' living room where I will just read it aloud to you for 3.5 hours. Both options work for me!

Well, it sounds like you had a great New Year's Eve. Mine was good too. In the day time, I slept a lot and e-mailed home, and then I came home and slept a lot. My New Year's DAY was also great because during the day I slept and played Book of Mormon trivia with Sister Rivera and during the night I slept and coughed. :) I am feeling MUCH better now. We even went running in subfreezing temperatures this morning. That was less than wise, but felt good afterward.

Congratulations on having so many deer hanging out in the backyard! Don't let any bowhunters on our property, please.

I will now leave you with a great list of "Sister Rivera-isms". She has lived in the US for like 12 years and has a very good grip on the English language, but there are certain words that are hard for her, and entertaining for me. I'm going to just spell them out phonetically for you and let you guess what she is trying to say. ¡Qué divertido!

"moogers"
"aish-creen"
"breftiss"
"charperner"

:) Isn't that cute?

Well, thank you raised to the infinity for being such a great family/extended family/friend family. I love you, and I am happy that, although I really do have a LOT of time (more than 4 full weeks!) left here in Connecticut, I will get to tell you stories in person soon. Does that sound trunky? I'm really not. But it's not evil to be excited to see you.

Love,

Sister "just keep swimming, just keep swimming" Broekhuijsen