Transfer Number 9

Ok when you think of 9 transfers out of 12, that makes it REALLY scary how little time I have left.

So yes, transfers are the day after tomorrow. Again! Doesn't it seem like my little Pinto Bean just barely joined me in the land of the rich and the famous? I know. Time is a flyin. Probably for everyone but Dar. She seems to think the time is still going super slow. Don't worry, Mom. I will be home before you know it.

SO as far as transfer chisme (gossip) I don't know anything and I don't really have any inklings or anything. Usually I do, and usually I'm right about what happens. But this time, I really think a lot of things could happen. I feel like I will stay in Bel Air though. I have unfinished business (I just thought of "Casper" and how I used to be in love with Devin Sawa. Maybe I still am....) to attend to here in the Bel Air area. Yes I know I am selfish. I really will be fine with whatever happens to be honest. But I feel like I'm staying. Tune in next week to find out where in the world is Sista Sista Brink (I had to do a double "sista" for it to fit with "where in the world is Carmen San Diego". Maybe you figured that out...)

I'm always hot. And my companion is always freezing. Mostly just in our apartment. Because when we are outside, we will walk 10 steps and I think she's gonna have a heart attack. But then in our apartment I turn on the air cause I feel like a rotisserie chicken and she starts shivering. It's a problem. I HAVE to marry someone with some meat on him so that we will never fight about the air...  It's brought us closer together though... I sacrifice covers, she adds them... it works. Literally I think she has like 10 on her during the night. And I only have my ancient blanket that I have had forever that was sewn by I think my great great grandma. It's the ugliest thing in the world. I will never ever ever sleep with anything else. But it will ALWAYS be hidden under a darling bedspread.

Speaking of being high-maintenance. (We weren't... but I am...) I realized the reason that I could never have a cat. It's because I could never have an animal that was more high maintenance than myself. This is going somewhere I promise. It's called the Cat Genie. You should look it up on Youtube, apparently there are videos of said Cat Genie. The Simpsons just bought one for their cat and Bro Simpson had me come watch what happens after the cat disposes... It's ridiculous! It cleans everything like 3 times! BY ITSELF! And then cleans the litter out. And then cleans it again. And then dries it with a dryer that is all inside this fancy shmancy machine for the cat to go to the bathroom in! Apparently cats are very specific about their litter. Just look it up. Point in case: I will never own a cat. But they are very soft. And I happen to like Smokey (the Simpsons cat) very much. I just don't like his toilet.

So the attached pictures have one with me and a half-eaten loaf of bread and a hole in our screen door.

A squirrel broke into our apartment! And ate my bread! And pooped on our couch! I was so mad. And now we have a hole in our screen door so heaven knows another rodent will make its way in and eat my rice cakes! Grrrrrrrrrr. As you can tell, I was not happy. And don't judge me, it was at the very end of the day when I was exhausted. Such is life as a missionary.

There is another picture of me and Pinto Bean, Elders Jacobberger and Bennet and Sisters Ashby and Oteiza-Hernandez at my FAVORITE place Souplantation. Just like sweet tomatoes. They knew that that was my place so we went last prep day. Mmmmmmm.

 And then there is me and Pinto Bean and RWLJ.

He played another Robert Webster Light Jr. Original at the Visitors Center! It's called Zephir in F#. It was incredible. I seriously just am so grateful for that man. He's on youtube apparently. Check it out. He's a talented soul. Big heart, little hands. Amazing. RWLJ will be one of the best things that happened to me on this journey.

Soooooooo. Things are good. Still doing lots of finding and sending lots of referrals to other missionaries who I am SURE deserve them :) We did find a new investigator who will be out of town for a couple weeks so that's a bummer. But we love the Simpson fam. Bro Simpson is still very hesitant to really make any commitments and we are trying to help him along in this journey. They are wonderful, I really love them a lot.

I also included a picture with me and my plant, Herbert. I love my plant. 

I will take care of him till the day I die.... And then I will give him to another missionary to take care of.

Ok this e-mail is nonsense. I am kinda dazy.... I'm just ready for a new transfer to be honest. New Goals, new things, I'm a fan of change. For the most part...

But on a serious note. I am thinking about the things I have changed over the last year. One of the biggest things that has changed is my perspective. About SO many things. Life, God, missionary work, wards and stakes, auxiliaries, religion, family, myself, relationships, hobbies, future, careers, priorities. My perspective about all of these things has changed from a "sister Brinkerhoff" perspective to a "Sister Brinkerhoff and God" perspective. I really feel like I have made giant strides to try and align my perspective with Gods and see the bigger picture. It really has changed a lot of my mentality about these things. Some have changed from an ignorant or luke-warm feeling to a strong desire to change and help, others have changed from a worldly point of view to a more spiritual and "bigger" perspective. I really do believe that part of our "purpose" in this life is to align our perspective with God's so that we can understand more fully His wonderfully perfect and detailed plan for us. Rather than looking at everything from a "me" perspective, if we can look at it from a God perspective, we might be able to understand things a little more clearly. Try it.

I had an amazing experience at the VC the other day with some elders and their investigator. Ah the spirit was SO strong while we taught him about the Book of Mormon. I have a special Book of Mormon that I spent a loooooong time marking with specific subjects and all color coordinated. It's a little OCD but its wonderful. We all chose scriptures and it was so cool because the scripture we each chose was so pertinent to our individual situations. There were tears and lots of smiles. It was really neat. He will get baptized.

Welp.... Not much else in my brain today. Gonna go help some people or something.

Seriously though, I love you all so much.

-Sista Brink

PS for LANUS: Elder Macdonald (VC director) showed us the last 2 minutes of the Ole Miss game and I thought about you. Ummmm maybe I teared up a little. And I wasn't even THAT into football! I was just so happy to be a Coug! And I'm sure that was a highlight of your month so wanted to let you know I kind of shared it with you :)