Monday, January 23, 2012

These past 18 months have been AMAZING! I have never had such a privilege to help guide God's children back to Him.

I'M GOING TO DIE WHEN I GET HOME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! HAHA IT LOOKS SO COLD! It got down to 60 degrees and I was FREEZING last week... uh oh! I've been hearing about the storm. Every time I tell someone that I'm going back home to Seattle they are like "ooooooooooooooooh no it is SUPER stormy back there" haha...so it will be an adventure! I hope I can get to my warm clothes again. I have definitely gotten used to the heat...but I still prefer to be cold. I'm actually pretty excited for that! It should be pretty warm when you are here Mom in the 70s or 80s. Our investigator is still on for her baptism :) I'm SO excited for her. Maybe you can play the piano at the baptism? haha. She has really gotten into the scriptures this week. She has been marking them and understanding them more as she goes. I've definitely seen the change in her. She is more happy and calm. I love it! We had a miracle on Sunday! A former investigator randomly called us up Sunday morning. He told us he asked for work off to come to church...and asked us what time it started. HE CAME! AND LOVED IT! The coolest thing was to see Javier, a recent convert, helping him and showing him where everything was. The Segoviano family is doing AWESOME! Angel stayed like 20 minutes after church so she could get her membership number to start working on her family history. They are SO excited to go to the temple. Soooooooooooo I was sad for most of the week because I'm not going to be a full time missionary anymore... but then I asked God "do you really want me to go?" and He said yes... and ever since then I have been okay and actually really excited to see you all and for the adventures to come. I know it is going to be a hard transition but just like He helped me transition to being a missionary... God will help me transition to a regular person schedule again. These past 18 months have been AMAZING! I have never had such a privilege to help guide God's children back to Him. I love Heavenly Father for giving me this opportunity. I have never been happier. Thank you for supporting me throughout it all! SEEEEEEEEEEEE YA SOON MOM!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I'M SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO EXCITED FOR OUR SUR TEJAS ADVENTURA!!!!!!!!!!!! <3 HERMANA BRICKER

Monday, January 16, 2012

I'M WORKING HARD UNTIL THE END!

Wooooooooooooooow!!!!! That is so cool that it snowed!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Hopefully there is some left for me when I get home :) You won't find any of that here. Dad lost 20 pounds?! That is awesome!!!!!!!!! I'm glad he is feeling better. I was just telling my companion that I need to change some things too...because my body is craving some good exercise and less fatty foods. When I'm home I'll have more control over what I eat :) Oh but I don't want to go, but I do! We have seen soooooooooo many miracles this week and have met some really cool people. I want to see them be able to progress... but I know also that God has more work for me in-store at home and I am really, really excited to see all of you. You're going to be my companion okay Mom? We're going to go and strengthen all those recent converts :) So find some scriptures in el Libro de Mormon que le gustan! This week was CRAZY. It was full of miracles and set-backs. One of our investigators didn't get baptized for algunas razones... but we are still working with her, she just needs a little more time. I was really sad but now I'm over it because what is important is that she makes it to that step someday and we tried our best! The other investigator needs to learn a little bit more so she actually might get baptized on the 29th...so you can go :) Everyone is SO excited to meet you!!!!! This other lady we've been working with went from "I just can't accept the Book of Mormon" to "WOW everything makes sense." It was awesome to see her change. She is going to be one of the strongest members. Welp time is up but I LOVE YOU AND CAN'T WAIT TO SEE YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! DON'T WORRY THIS WEEK IS GOING TO BE THE BEST WEEK EVER!!!! I'M WORKING HARD UNTIL THE END! LA VIDA ES BUENA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Monday, January 9, 2012

THESE NEXT TWO WEEKS ARE GOING TO BE THE BEST YET!!!!!!

Yay!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! That is good to hear about Dad. Yes he is in my prayers. I'm glad that he is looking and feeling better. Tell him next time we go to Costco - we'll both be getting the Caesar salads :) Wow...it sounds like your life is going to be CRAZY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Those are the days that go by the fastest - when you have so many things to do. I'm excited that you can have a little break to come down here :) and guess what? Yep it is still hot. The other day I was sweating again because it was back up to 80. Christian and Edisson (just got baptized in December) were going to make me tamales because I was leaving...but when they found out you were coming they were like "hey we'll wait for your Mom!" So that Wednesday night we'll have some official tamales :) Everyone is excited to meet you. They all want to know if you were just as laid back as I was and I told them "yup!" So South Padre Island was something I wanted to see too! We should go out by Brownsville because I know the way more out there... I'm just working away trying to make sure everything is in order before I leave. I want to make sure the area is in AWESOME shape for the next missionary that comes in. One of our investigators is excited for her baptism. She just finished 30 pages in the Book of Mormon. We had her study the Word of Wisdom and Chastity before our lesson.. and she was like "No worries, I'm already living those commandments!" Perfect! I just wish her parents would come to church too :( Our other investigator is doing great! We were really worried about her because every appointment fell through this week because of work/errands. But we went by Saturday night and she is still really excited and had bought her daughter a new dress for church. We made a plan to be able to teach her this upcoming week so she can be ready for the 22nd! I'm so excited. What a better way to end my mission than to see her get baptized my last Sunday! LA VIDA ES BUEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEENA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Thanks for all your prayers and support! THESE NEXT TWO WEEKS ARE GOING TO BE THE BEST YET!!!!!! LOVE YA! p.s. ME ENCANTO TU ESPANOL MAMA!!!!!!!!!

Monday, January 2, 2012

The Russell Family fed me a gluten-free Christmas Dinner


Beautiful Sunrise while Running this Week

Hermanas eating gingerbread Mom sent

The Bishop and his wife gave us personalized towels for Christmas

Getting Ready to Open our Christmas Presents

3 WEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEKS. I can't believe it.

3 WEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEKS. I can't believe it. You can ask Sister Giles - I have been freaking out! I'm grateful you will be there to help me ease the transition. Thanks to you I get to go see everyone and say goodbye before I leave. Also, everyone here is soooooooooo excited to meet you :) I'm working hard here with Sister Giles. Our one investigator is doing good and prayed this week about Joseph Smith and got her answer that he was a prophet of God. She is in 1 Nephi 7 right now and excited for her baptism soon. The other investigator is doing awesome. She came to church for the first time and liked it... despite one of the craziest gospel principles class ever... haha My time is up but I hope you like the pictures!!!!!!!!!!!!! I LOVE YOU ALLLLLLLLLLLLLL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! CUIDENSE MUCHO!