Hopped off the Plane at LAX...: Granny G is a "MORMON" (In her Italian Accent)

Yes. It's true. Granny G was baptized. It was really amazing... She was SO happy. Like almost in tears and if you knew this woman when we first met her 8 weeks ago you would know how amazing it was to see her in that way. She kept saying "I thank God" over and over again. It was so sweet. She said she felt happier than she ever has. THE GOSPEL IS REAL AND IT CHANGES PEOPLE! In such immense ways! Her 2 sons came to the Baptism also and they were really touched. One of them came to her confirmation also yesterday. They said they are so happy for their "Ma" because she hasn't been this happy in a loooong time. So wonderful. I am so grateful I was able to teach Granny G. I attached some pictures... I wore the scarf (one of the many) that she gave me in her honor :)

Yes, I chopped my hair again. So sue me. I like it short, OK?! AND I will have you know that I have much more time for my Spanish scripture study now in the mornings. So there. It's so easy, and people keep telling my I look like Julie Andrews. And I'm OK with that. It's better than looking like Harry Potter (right, Ty?)

Hmmm. It's time to do some finding. With the divide of our area and with the recent baptisms (which is GREAT news!) We are runnin low on numbers in our teaching pool. So we are off and running to find some new people who are prepared to receive the Gospel!

We are working with the Simpsons family still. Bro Simpson (the non member) has come to church 2 Sundays in a row! I guess that is a lot for him from what the teaching record and Sis Pinto-bean have said. So that is great news. The ward is really trying to fellowship him from what we can see.

Me and Sister Pinto-bean. As you can tell from the picture, she is literally half of me. It's pretty hilarious. I am SO grateful for her. She is so wonderful when we are street contacting. She seriously has zero fear and will chase people down to bear her testimony to them. I said "Sister Pinto! You are so amazing at contacting!" after we got a new investigator because of a chase, and she said "Seester. Dis is why I here! For da people!" It really touched me. She doesn't totally know what to say, but she just says anything she can to everyone she can. It's really inspiring... We also have pretty hilarious situations where she has no idea what I am trying to say and vice versa. We do a lot of sign language and looking up words in the dictionary. Today, I had finished picking my nose (of course) and then Sis Pinto-bean said "Seester. You need look in the...." and then pointed to the mirror. I had a dangler just chillin in my nostril. So today she learned how to say "You have a boogar". It was hilarious. She is OBSESSED with 2 songs: "Footprints in the Sand" by Leona Lewis and "When you Believe" from Prince of Egypt so we listen to them over and over and over again. The song will finish and she'll say "Seester. One more time?" And of course we listen to it again. Then again. I don't mind cause I get to practice my soul-singin it's just hilarious because she is totally loving American things... She takes pictures of everything. It's so wonderful. I sure love my little Pinto Bean. She is a rockin missionary.

We are really working with the other Sisters to try and help the area, the wards, and the work. Together I think we are coming up with some good ideas. It's nice to have another pair of eyes to see what we can do. Hopefully things will move forward at 2x the speed with 2x the sisters!

Being the Sister Trainer at the Visitors Center is a very unique experience and I am grateful for this opportunity. I love these Sisters and I love the work that we are able to do here at the Center. I hope I can help in whatever way the Lord wants me to. Sister Hanselman (my partner in crime) is a great example so I am trying to follow her lead and do what I can. Learning a lot from every single one of these amazing sisters we have here. Learning and then teaching what I learn. Maybe that's the point. We did a training the other day and highlighted something that each and every sister is good at. I read a quote about being the best we can be and not "shrinking" so that others won't feel insecure. It's really interesting because I now have these "sister trainer" eyes that have allowed me to really see these Sisters for who they are and the power that they have. I was emotional telling them all of the things that we noticed that they are so good at. I am so grateful because I think God might be trying to help me see some of those qualities in myself as I see them in others... which is a very hard thing for me to do. God usually does answer our prayers through Service.

Yesterday we had a rough evening... just some frustrating lessons and frustrating situations. Then we went to the Visitors Center to meet with the other sisters working in our area and a girl came up to me and said "You might not remember me... but I met you at Christmas time and you challenged me to just try to read the Book of Mormon. I did. And I am getting baptized in 2 weeks. You were the start of that." I seriously had to hold back tears when I hugged her and just said "Thank you! I needed this so badly!" The Lord is so aware of us and what we need.

I love being a missionary. I'm not going to pretend like its easy. But I understand why it's not, and I really am grateful for the experiences I am having and the people I am able to learn from... And it's a lot.

Thank you!
Sister Brinkerhoff