Laredo was great this week! It went by SUPER fast. I can't believe it. We met some really great people this week. The first door I knocked on this week, the guy opened the door and was like "what do you want?" he was super stand-offish and didn't want anything to do with me haha... which is normal.. but the more I talked with him about life and Jesus Christ, the more he opened up. He started talking to me about the terrible time he has been having for most of his life - and especially lately with finances. He started talking to me about how he had no faith left in God. He had been praying for help for the longest time and didn't feel like God was coming to the rescue. He told me just as he was doing the dishes that he was thinking really negative and how he wanted to end his life... and then he heard a knock at the door... and there I was. He started crying. I told him that a lot of the time God doesn't answer prayers in the way we expect. By the end of the conversation he said he knew God had sent us there to talk with him. We are going over tomorrow again. I hope we can help him build his faith again. It was just amazing to me that the Lord really does have people prepared and that need His message. It was a blessing to me to be able to work for Him in that moment and know that I was sent by Him specifically for someone in need.
THE LORD HAS A BAPTISM THIS SATURDAY! She reminds me of Chris - well in girl form. She has lots of great questions every time we go over and I learn a lot. She has great faith in God and desires to receive the cleanliness that comes from baptism. She is really nervous about it though so... if you want keep her in your prayers.
The couple I talked about last week are doing good. They won't come to church though. It is super sad. Her family is devout catholic and are giving her a really hard time about it... so she is hesitating now... but that is okay. We will keep praying and working hard to help her come closer to Christ.
Well the missionary work is GREAT! We went out knocking for four hours yesterday and it was AWESOME. We met a lot of great people who are interested and ready for the gospel. The Lord is truely preparing people all the time. We also met a lot of interesting folks... one who started speaking to us in "tougues" and encouraged us to try it sometime :)
Oh my goodness the food is DELICIOUS. We had dinner with the Soliz family this week. Everything they cooked was amazing. They are having us over again this week for some official mexican carne asada... so excited!!! My companion is teaching me how to make authentic enchiladas this week.
The work is hard but I LOVE IT. I've never been so happy in my life. I make a lot of mistakes and I'm definitley not perfect at anything but I don't know why, I'm just happy. The language is coming slowly but surely... I'd say I understand about 60%...but when it comes to speaking I'm probably 30-40%.... some day though. I can relate to Jon when he said sometimes I feel like I'm doing everything wrong... and haha for me a lot of the time it is true. But I'm grateful for those experiences because they keep me humble. I will never forget what Jill said in YW's:
"Every door in the Gospel hinges on humility"
or something like that - but its true!!!! It's all about being humble and teachable.
Gotta run BUT I LOVE YOU ALL SO MUCH!!!!!!!!!!! I KNOW THIS GOSPEL IS TRUE. I KNOW GOD AND CHRIST LIVE. I KNOW WE WILL ALL SEE THEM AGAIN SOMEDAY.
TAKE CARE!
Tuesday, September 28, 2010
Monday, September 20, 2010
HOLA!
It is good to hear what is going on there in Olympia. I can't believe it rained for ten days straight! Well actually I can believe it haha... it has been raining here too. I keep telling people that it reminds me of home :) It makes it a little trickier to go contact people.
Okay well this week went by CRAZY fast!!!!!!!!!!! We had a lot of conferences and training all over the place. We went to Corpus Cristi and McAllen. I missed Laredo though because it is amazing! It was funny reading Jon's email because it is so true, you really get attached to an area and the people there. While my companion was gone I went on splits with a member who is 17 and just got baptized like 5 months ago. We had scheduled a recent convert lesson and so it was just me and her... and it was ALL in Spanish... so I was a little nervous without my "mother" as we call our companions who train us. But Heavenly Father helped us out and it was all good. The young lady I went with is amazing and has such a strong testimony. She took me out to eat at Arby's afterwards - so nice.
My first mexican meal was PASOLE! It was DELICIOUS!!!!!!!!!!! It is soup with homony and pork and it is SUPER DELICIOUS!!!! Speaking of food! We went to visit an investigator and she just so happened to be making apples covered in tamorindo. We helped her finish the ones she was making and she showed us how too!!!! Okay so you take an apple and scoop out the inside. Then you swipe some sugar inside and stuff it with fresh mango. Then you get this stuff that is red - kind of like strawberry fruit roll-up but some mexican candy - and spread it around the outside... then you roll it in the tamorindo/chile powder stuff and you are done. It is their version of carmeled apples :) I didn't think it was going to be good because it looked spicy from the outside - BUT IT WAS SOOOOOOOOOO DELICIOUS!!!! Sorry it is a bad description but I'll send pics soon.
Okay, well we have some really AMAZING investigators right now. We met this one couple through a door contact. When we asked them later what they were expecting from our visits they said "we just want to see if you had more to offer/add"... and of course we were like YES WE DO!!!! When we later taught lesson one about prophets and Joseph Smith... we asked her if she believed Joseph Smith was a prophet and she said yes right away.... I was like wait a second, that isn't what people usually say! I am amazed by their faith. We asked her if she wanted to get baptized... and she said she already was... so we have to clear that issue up a bit but I have faith it will all work out :) God is so good!
I know this church is true.
I wouldn't be out here working, working, working if I didn't know this would bring so much joy to people's lives.
I LOVE YOU ALL AND MISS YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
HELLO MY BEAUTIFUL FAMILY AND FRIENDS!
P.S. MY MISSION PRESIDENT IS THE SAME PERSON AS DAD. THEY REMIND ME SO MUCH OF EACH OTHER IT IS CRAZY. THEY NEED TO MEET SOMEDAY
It is good to hear what is going on there in Olympia. I can't believe it rained for ten days straight! Well actually I can believe it haha... it has been raining here too. I keep telling people that it reminds me of home :) It makes it a little trickier to go contact people.
Okay well this week went by CRAZY fast!!!!!!!!!!! We had a lot of conferences and training all over the place. We went to Corpus Cristi and McAllen. I missed Laredo though because it is amazing! It was funny reading Jon's email because it is so true, you really get attached to an area and the people there. While my companion was gone I went on splits with a member who is 17 and just got baptized like 5 months ago. We had scheduled a recent convert lesson and so it was just me and her... and it was ALL in Spanish... so I was a little nervous without my "mother" as we call our companions who train us. But Heavenly Father helped us out and it was all good. The young lady I went with is amazing and has such a strong testimony. She took me out to eat at Arby's afterwards - so nice.
My first mexican meal was PASOLE! It was DELICIOUS!!!!!!!!!!! It is soup with homony and pork and it is SUPER DELICIOUS!!!! Speaking of food! We went to visit an investigator and she just so happened to be making apples covered in tamorindo. We helped her finish the ones she was making and she showed us how too!!!! Okay so you take an apple and scoop out the inside. Then you swipe some sugar inside and stuff it with fresh mango. Then you get this stuff that is red - kind of like strawberry fruit roll-up but some mexican candy - and spread it around the outside... then you roll it in the tamorindo/chile powder stuff and you are done. It is their version of carmeled apples :) I didn't think it was going to be good because it looked spicy from the outside - BUT IT WAS SOOOOOOOOOO DELICIOUS!!!! Sorry it is a bad description but I'll send pics soon.
Okay, well we have some really AMAZING investigators right now. We met this one couple through a door contact. When we asked them later what they were expecting from our visits they said "we just want to see if you had more to offer/add"... and of course we were like YES WE DO!!!! When we later taught lesson one about prophets and Joseph Smith... we asked her if she believed Joseph Smith was a prophet and she said yes right away.... I was like wait a second, that isn't what people usually say! I am amazed by their faith. We asked her if she wanted to get baptized... and she said she already was... so we have to clear that issue up a bit but I have faith it will all work out :) God is so good!
I know this church is true.
I wouldn't be out here working, working, working if I didn't know this would bring so much joy to people's lives.
I LOVE YOU ALL AND MISS YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
HELLO MY BEAUTIFUL FAMILY AND FRIENDS!
P.S. MY MISSION PRESIDENT IS THE SAME PERSON AS DAD. THEY REMIND ME SO MUCH OF EACH OTHER IT IS CRAZY. THEY NEED TO MEET SOMEDAY
Monday, September 13, 2010
Okay SO ABOUT TEXAS!!!!!!!!!!
HOLA MADRE Y FAMILIA!!!!!!!
COMO ESTAN?!?!?! First I would like to apologize because things have seriously been crazy lately. I'm sorry about not being able to talk for very long in the airport :( I had such high hopes of being able to talk to you and Dad, Debbie, Sarah... but oh well that is just how it goes sometimes. I was thinking about it and Christmas is only 3 months away so it will go quick :)
First of all that is so sad about Garrett. I didn't know he joined the church! I was little when I knew him but I remember him as always being jolly.... I don't know if that is the right word but he was always so nice. Tell his mom that I will be praying for her and that the Plan of Salvation is real. She will see him again one day. It is all possible because of our Savior Jesus Christ. I have been soooooooooooooooooooooooooooo blessed this week through being able to talk to many many people about Him.
Your trip to Mt. Rainier looked GORGEOUS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! And it looks like you are having tons of fun with the exchange students.
Okay SO ABOUT TEXAS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! My trainer is Hermana Villalobos :) She is AMAZING and so fun. She is from Mexico City and is fluent in Spanish, English, French and Italian. Hermana Villalobos is seriously an angel because she is so patient with my Spanish and all my mistakes haha and very encouraging so that is nice. I'll try and send a picture soon. She has been out for three months and I'm brand new so I was a little worried when President Trayner said that but things are going great! The Lord knows what He is doing so as long as we rely on Him, everything will work out.
My first contact:
When we were driving to Laredo... we were at a gas station and we went to talk to this guy who was walking to his car. He shut us down pretty quick :) But it was good first experience!
Okay so yes Laredo is right here by the border! Next pday I want to go eat lunch at the river or something :) We are in the Laredo north area which is actually the rich part of town. The houses are all SUPER nice. A lot of the people work for border patrol. The people here are super nice. Even when turning us down contacting they are nice about it. Most people believe in Jesus Christ down here so that is nice. A lot of people say we can come back but then are never there... so I'm just trying to understand what I need to be doing better to explain this message and the eternal signifigance of it. I'm having a hard time learning Spanish. It is hard for me to switch from one house to the next - speaking Spanish here and then English there... It's like trying to quit smoking but then surrounding myself with smokers... hahaha okay weird analogy but it is hard. But I need to get better and be willing to be wrong all the time w/ grammer/words... because I am haha. Someday it will come!
SO the heat actually isn't as bad as I thought it would be. I think the Lord has been blessing me with the ability to work through it because people say to me "oh man it is SO HOT right now" and I'm just like hmmm it's not too bad actually. So definitly a blessing from God. Many people give us water here and I AM SO APPRECIATIVE... BECAUSE I SWEAT LIKE NOTHING BEFORE.
Okay so I'll tell you a story :) We were contacting my second day out here. I was with a recent convert. We were walking back to the car and we saw a woman bringing jugs of water into her house. So we went to go help her. She invited us to sit down and have a drink of water. The convert went to go get my companion who was at the next house. So I was standing there at the door talking to her BY MYSELF IN SPANISH. All I could do was ask random questions like "donde trabaja?" "cuantos son en su familia?" things like that and she was just smiling and giggling at my Spanish. She was so cute though. She said that the reason she let me/us in was that she felt prompted by the Spirit that I needed water.
She was the cutest lady and I am so grateful for her kindness and charity for us. I hope we can teach her again someday.
Okay well I have to go BUT I LOVE YOU ALL SO MUCH AND I WILL WRITE YOU DEBBIE AND SARAH PROMISE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
HERMANAN BRICKER
I PRAY FOR YOU!!!!!!!
MOM THANKS SO MUCH FOR THE FOOD!!!!! I NEEDED IT BIG TIME! I'M LEARNING THAT WE REALLY DON'T HAVE TOO MUCH MONEY OUT HERE!
COMO ESTAN?!?!?! First I would like to apologize because things have seriously been crazy lately. I'm sorry about not being able to talk for very long in the airport :( I had such high hopes of being able to talk to you and Dad, Debbie, Sarah... but oh well that is just how it goes sometimes. I was thinking about it and Christmas is only 3 months away so it will go quick :)
First of all that is so sad about Garrett. I didn't know he joined the church! I was little when I knew him but I remember him as always being jolly.... I don't know if that is the right word but he was always so nice. Tell his mom that I will be praying for her and that the Plan of Salvation is real. She will see him again one day. It is all possible because of our Savior Jesus Christ. I have been soooooooooooooooooooooooooooo blessed this week through being able to talk to many many people about Him.
Your trip to Mt. Rainier looked GORGEOUS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! And it looks like you are having tons of fun with the exchange students.
Okay SO ABOUT TEXAS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! My trainer is Hermana Villalobos :) She is AMAZING and so fun. She is from Mexico City and is fluent in Spanish, English, French and Italian. Hermana Villalobos is seriously an angel because she is so patient with my Spanish and all my mistakes haha and very encouraging so that is nice. I'll try and send a picture soon. She has been out for three months and I'm brand new so I was a little worried when President Trayner said that but things are going great! The Lord knows what He is doing so as long as we rely on Him, everything will work out.
My first contact:
When we were driving to Laredo... we were at a gas station and we went to talk to this guy who was walking to his car. He shut us down pretty quick :) But it was good first experience!
Okay so yes Laredo is right here by the border! Next pday I want to go eat lunch at the river or something :) We are in the Laredo north area which is actually the rich part of town. The houses are all SUPER nice. A lot of the people work for border patrol. The people here are super nice. Even when turning us down contacting they are nice about it. Most people believe in Jesus Christ down here so that is nice. A lot of people say we can come back but then are never there... so I'm just trying to understand what I need to be doing better to explain this message and the eternal signifigance of it. I'm having a hard time learning Spanish. It is hard for me to switch from one house to the next - speaking Spanish here and then English there... It's like trying to quit smoking but then surrounding myself with smokers... hahaha okay weird analogy but it is hard. But I need to get better and be willing to be wrong all the time w/ grammer/words... because I am haha. Someday it will come!
SO the heat actually isn't as bad as I thought it would be. I think the Lord has been blessing me with the ability to work through it because people say to me "oh man it is SO HOT right now" and I'm just like hmmm it's not too bad actually. So definitly a blessing from God. Many people give us water here and I AM SO APPRECIATIVE... BECAUSE I SWEAT LIKE NOTHING BEFORE.
Okay so I'll tell you a story :) We were contacting my second day out here. I was with a recent convert. We were walking back to the car and we saw a woman bringing jugs of water into her house. So we went to go help her. She invited us to sit down and have a drink of water. The convert went to go get my companion who was at the next house. So I was standing there at the door talking to her BY MYSELF IN SPANISH. All I could do was ask random questions like "donde trabaja?" "cuantos son en su familia?" things like that and she was just smiling and giggling at my Spanish. She was so cute though. She said that the reason she let me/us in was that she felt prompted by the Spirit that I needed water.
She was the cutest lady and I am so grateful for her kindness and charity for us. I hope we can teach her again someday.
Okay well I have to go BUT I LOVE YOU ALL SO MUCH AND I WILL WRITE YOU DEBBIE AND SARAH PROMISE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
HERMANAN BRICKER
I PRAY FOR YOU!!!!!!!
MOM THANKS SO MUCH FOR THE FOOD!!!!! I NEEDED IT BIG TIME! I'M LEARNING THAT WE REALLY DON'T HAVE TOO MUCH MONEY OUT HERE!
Wednesday, September 8, 2010
September 7, 2010
Brother & Sister Bricker,
We had the privilege of meeting your daughter, Sister Bricker when she arrived at the McAllen International Airport. She looked great and appears very anxious to go to work.
We are grateful to have Sister Bricker in the Texas McAllen Mission. Already she has impressed us as a well-prepared young woman with a great spirit and a desire to serve the Lord. She has had excellent training and orientation at the Missionary Training Center in Provo in preparing for her missionary labors here in South Texas. Your support from home will be of great value to her as she serves her mission.
Her first assignment area is in the Laredo Zone. Her first companion is Sister Villalobos who is from Mexico. She is an outstanding missionary, and your daughter will receive excellent training under her direction. Their mail address is as follows:
4420 Loring Ave #9
Laredo, TX 78040
We thank you for sharing your daughter with us. We are confident that she will bless the lives of many people here in South Texas while serving as a missionary. May the Lord bless you abundantly while she is in the mission field and always.
With warm regards,
President Stephen J. Trayner
Sister Sandy Trayner
Texas McAllen Mission
Brother & Sister Bricker,
We had the privilege of meeting your daughter, Sister Bricker when she arrived at the McAllen International Airport. She looked great and appears very anxious to go to work.
We are grateful to have Sister Bricker in the Texas McAllen Mission. Already she has impressed us as a well-prepared young woman with a great spirit and a desire to serve the Lord. She has had excellent training and orientation at the Missionary Training Center in Provo in preparing for her missionary labors here in South Texas. Your support from home will be of great value to her as she serves her mission.
Her first assignment area is in the Laredo Zone. Her first companion is Sister Villalobos who is from Mexico. She is an outstanding missionary, and your daughter will receive excellent training under her direction. Their mail address is as follows:
4420 Loring Ave #9
Laredo, TX 78040
We thank you for sharing your daughter with us. We are confident that she will bless the lives of many people here in South Texas while serving as a missionary. May the Lord bless you abundantly while she is in the mission field and always.
With warm regards,
President Stephen J. Trayner
Sister Sandy Trayner
Texas McAllen Mission
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