Brinne's HUMP DAY Letter 5.27.14

Those pictures sure did look real! Sister Ludwinski came nearly 2 weeks early :)

Well, let’s just start from the beginning. Shoot. Dang.  This week feels like an eternity!

Monday was spent packing everything up! And saying goodbyes;(

Tuesday Sister Christofferson and I drove to Lubbock and hung out at the church with a bunch of other missionaries for a little while waiting for the transfer bus. A little before it came we were introduced to our trainees!!!!

SISTER LUDWINSKI is great!!!! I guess she was a little homesick. Sister Augustin told me, but to me she seems to be doing well. (When you’re working hard you don't have time to be homesick!) When the bus came we all got our things together and departed ways. Let’s be honest. Saying goodbye to Sister Christofferson nearly killed me! I love her so much and I know she will be great, but it is so hard! Sister Ludwinski and I weren't able to go to Midland until Wednesday, so we were taken to some other sister’s area and got right to work learning how to contact people!!!!

We saw a way cool miracle! We were almost done with our day when we saw 2 men. As we approached I noticed they were Vivint workers (generally Mormon). I asked if they were and they said “Yes” and that the people they had just installed a system for had just been asking about Utah and Mormons. They told us to go talk to them! So we did! We were able to set up an appointment for the other sisters! We hope all goes well....

WEDNESDAY! At 8:00 we went to the transfer site and it took 9 months, but it FINALLY HAPPENED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I SAW ELDER THOMPSON!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Sadly, I am pretty sure we were kept apart because the ONLY person asked to drive the ONLY CAR down to Odessa was ME!!! So, I followed the transfer bus down to Odessa and got on the bus in Odessa. We were able to talk for about 20 min!!!!!! It was a lot of fun!!!! It is probs best we aren't near each other due to the fact that we would talk about home and it would be a little distracting :) but it was fun....

Also In Odessa- THE LORD LOVES ME SO MUCH!! I GOT TO SEE MAMA DUNHAM AND SHE IS MY SISTER TRAINING LEADER!!!!!!!!!!!!! I AM SO SO SO SO SO SO SO HAPPY ABOUT THAT!!! I HAVE BEEN PRAYING FOR THAT SINCE SHE LEFT ME!!!!!!!

Best week of my life!!!...and it just continues to be great!!! 

When we got to Midland we were taken to our area! And everything is so nice!!! Our area is 1X3 miles... very small.. our area book was very well- kept and everything was just ready for us..... even a BAPTISM!!!! SO WE HAD A BAPTISM ON SATURDAY FOR A 13 YEAR OLD!!!!

Sister Ludwinski and I have been doing a bunch of contacting! I am drilling it into her how to effectively contact! She is doing so well! She is just amazing! She didn’t want to serve a mission, but God told her to and she is here so she is going to love it she says!!! Proud of her! She is a go go go go go all the time! I love it! Being a trainer is helping me become a better missionary! I am always making sure I am doing everything to a “T.” I am having better studies! Oh, it is so so so so great!!!

So I will send some pictures of what is going on!!!

So many great things are happening here in Midland! We have 3 baptism dates and they are like legit dates... Here is a little about them!!

LEXI and MCKAYLA: Lexi is 10, Mckayla is 13. They are media referrals. They lived in Utah with their Grandma and always went to church. Their brother is on a mission in Michigan! If you pray that everything goes well with getting dad’s support and permission that would be so great! We have permission, but it's really we need his support to make sure they stay active- pray he might find time to talk with us!!!

AYO- is from Nigeria!! So amazing! We had a great lesson with her about the gospel of Jesus Christ and threw in WOW (Word of Wisdom) AND LOC (Law of Chastity) and she was like, “I didn't know no coffee was a commandment.. well NEVER DRINKING THAT AGAIN!” So yea, life is great !!!!

Pray for them please!!!

Life is so wonderful! I am so happy! And wow, I am going down hill tomorrow :( Only 9  more months to go… and if it goes byas fast as it came.. I'll be home tomorrow...

I had my very fist missionary nightmare 2 nights ago... ya know about the going home thing.... yea hated that!

Love y’all so much <3

SisDaw

Sister Dawes with Elder Thompson

Saying Goodbye to Sister Christofferson (Sis Cris)

Sister Dawes with her new TRAINEE (Sister Ludwinski)

Brinne's A Mommy 5.19.14

Well.... it happened.... at 9:24 last night! We got a call we were NOT EXPECTING NOR WANTING... Sitting there minding our own business when the phone starts speaking and says, "Call from... Pres Augustin." Let’s just say we both died for a moment. Sister Christofferson took the lead in answering the call. First he talked to her alone and asked her if she would train a new sister. I was near in tears mostly because I was very sad. I knew if she was training I was heading out the door. And I was sad because I didn't want to be separated from my BFC Best and Favorite Companion. Then the tables turned.... He then asked to talk to me...... Eeeeeeeeeeeeekkkkkkkkkkkk!! He said, "Sister Dawes, I am calling in behalf of the Lord. He has called you to be a trainer. Can you accept this call?" I said yes...and asked a few questions. He said the Assistants would be calling us later that night to give us details about who they are and where we will be. Well........ much later last night... actually early this morning at 1:00 Assistant Bucknum called and told me that I will be moving to Midland 3rd North area and I will be training Sister Ludwinski...(spelling is wrong so that is subject to change) I have no information on her, but I bet I will be meeting her tomorrow.... Sister Christofferson will be staying here in Clovis and will be training Sister Christianson..... Therefore,... we are BOTH MOMS!!!!!

(Refer to pictures)

Although I am stressing the crap out… I am surprisingly calm. I am so sad I am leaving Sis Crist but excited to be able to teach a sister and help her love her mission. I know my knees will be used a lot more this transfer, and I am so excited for that. This will be a great learning time for me, and I am so honored the Lord has found me worthy enough to assist in teaching a new missionary. Oh how great the Lord is..... let’s just say... I was not expecting that.... This is all I am saying today. Sorry for the short letter, but I have President to write!!!! :)

Love y’all… Next email will be from MIDLAND, TX!!!!

Sis Daw

a.k.a Mamadaw (I'm gonna make it work :) 

Happy Mother's Day Letter

Hello!

Well yesterday was such a wonderful day! Got to talk to the best mom in the world and to the greatest family! Love them all. I haven't got much to say this week because I already talked to them all about everything!!! So I will just tell everyone the best part of the week!

So as y’all know James got baptized on April 12 and Jeff got baptized on April 19th

Well, this weekend was ward recent convert and youth temple day!!!! LOVE THE TEMPLE! Both Jeff and James were sooooo exited to go! We had been pumpin' them up for the trip all week (they really didn't need any pumpin' up)! So we see both of them on Friday. They are both feeling really well. Jeff and his wife Jenny were preparing family names so they could do baptisms for Jeff’s parents and grandparents. (Jenny hasn't been to the temple in YEARS) So they were so exited. We saw James and he was stoked!!! Well, Saturday morning during studies we get a call from the elders saying they had just gotten back from James house and that James had been sick all night long throwing up and all that jazz. So they asked James if he wanted a blessing. James said yes so the elders gave him a wonderful blessing saying basically that if you sit and read your scriptures for then next hour and don't throw up you should go to the temple. Well, let’s just say I HAVE A TESTIMONY OF PRIESTHOOD BLESSINGS AND HOW THEY TRULY ARE ACCORDING TO YOUR FAITH!!!! James DID go to the temple not feeling sick at all throughout the day!!! That evening when we went to see him he was telling us. "Ya know I was so excited for this all week long and Satan… he just isn't going to take my joy away from me. This is my joy, my joy!!!!!!" I have never met a man with more faith than him. It was such a testimony builder for me! And we only got to talk with Jeff for a second, but he loved it so much as well. He is so sad he only got to see a little of the temple and that he has to wait a year to see the rest of it!!! James told us he tried to sneak into the other areas :) ha ha ha He is so great!!! The ward really took care of them!!!! I am so happy :)

Little things like that is what missionary work is all about. This week was pretty rough. We don't have any investigators really. We went and set really bold expectations with an investigator that hasn't progressed at all in 3 transfers. He is our only investigator. We have been fasting and praying a lot for new investigators. Prayers in our behalf would be wonderful! Also, transfers are approaching and it makes me ill to think about... not a fan of transfers. I am not ready to go, but I feel I might have fulfilled my purpose here in Clovis. We will see. I think my purpose was to help Candace come back to church. She told me the reason she is coming back to church is because of something I said. I guess the first time I met her I said something like. "I can't remember a Sunday in my life where my family just didn't go to church." That day she made the commitment to herself that she was going to do that for her kids. And she has been to church for nearly 10- or 11 weeks straight! So that is wonderful!!!!! So the reason I feel like my purpose might be done is... she will be moving to Utah in the next month or so. So that just kills me.

Anyway, I know the church is true and the lord truly does put us where he needs us. However, you can be made sure no matter what the outcome of Saturday night is, there will be tears. If I stay there will be tears of joy. If I leave they will be alligator tears of sadness for leaving the greatest BFC (best friend companion) in the WORLD. :)

The church is still true!!!!

Have such a wonderful week!!!

Love,

Sis Daw

Letter for 5.5.14

Hello Friends and Family,

Let’s come to reality for a second.... Remember when Sunday is Mother’s Day and I get to call the greatest mom in the world!!!!! SO EXCITED!!! Scary thought about that though is..... this will be the 2nd time I call home!!!! AND I ONLY CALL HOME 3 TIMES! eeeeeeeeeeeeeekkkkkkkk!!!!!!! It is insane to think I have been out 8 and almost a 1/2 months! Eeeeeekkkkkkkkkk!! So much has happened! I love being a missionary!!!!!!!

Alright, not a whole lot has happened so I am just going to tell you some feelings of my heart.

It all started 8 months ago when I entered the MTC. That was hard. I definitely didn't have “greenie fire” when I got out here... I went a few months without that fire. Trying to gain a little spark… and it came…

 it grew and grew, and at my 4th transfer SISTER TURNER and I worked our butts off and flame was there--- but wasn't quite a fire. 

My 5th transfer may be one of the most memorable transfers of my life. It started out so amazing! When I got here to Clovis I was on fire! (I finally had felt that feeling that people talk about feeling when they get off the air plane). I was seriously out to change Clovis for the better!  And Sister Scott and I worked hard. That transfer changed my mission. While at my spiritual high- Satan stinks and sent some darts to put out my flame and sadly he won that battle. After not heeding subtle promptings of the spirit, Sister Scott and my transfer started a long spiral down. Her depression kicked in and I was in a rut I didn't know how to get out of. Man it was hard. We were separated and I was given one of the greatest missionaries out on a mission!

SIS CRIST! Shoot Dang!!! Sadly, when she was put with me I was still in a rut I didn't know how to get out of. We worked hard but Satan was still having a blast (btw- I was never apostate or anything like that, so don't get that impression, but my heart was sad.) Ip until this week I was struggling!

THIS WEEK WE HAD ZONE TRAINING AND AHHHHHHH IT WAS THE BEST THING OF MY LIFE!!!!! IT PUMPED ME UP SO MUCH!!!!! Sister Christofferson and I are not the same missionaries we were Monday! No-- we are changed!!! She found her purpose and I got my purpose and electricity back!!!! It is such a wonderful feeling for me to truly know what my purpose is!

Something amazing happened. I kind of feel like a part of my mission is to help the less actives. If you remember Josie and Lynn, they are still doing so amazing, but I know my person here in Clovis is Candice. Oh my goodness!!! She is so amazing! I wish I had time to tell you more, but long story short, she has been to church EVERY SUNDAY WITH HER KIDS FOR THE PAST 9 WEEKS. AND SHE BORE HER TESTIMONY YESTERDAY!!!! IT WAS THE MOST TENDER THING IN THE WORLDS.... !!!!!!!

I LOVE BEING A MISSIONARY!!!!!!

I HAVE TO END ON THAT NOTE BECAUSE I HAVE TO EMAIL PRESIDENT SO THIS LETTER I FEEL IS VERY CHOPPY... SORRY ABOUT THAT... BOTTOM LINE I LOVE BEING A MISSIONARY!!!

LOVE SISTER DAWES

Brinne's Mission companion, Sis Cris, sent these pictures of Brinne:

This one is of Brinne and Candice's daughter...she still loves the babies!!

This one is of Brinne teaching a frog what they learned.

I guess Brinne was not too happy with Sis Cris....maybe it's because she gave her a bruise (in the next pic.)

Sis Cris punched brinne for kicking her off the bed in her sleep. Sis. Cris ended up sleeping on the floor after that....:/ (I hope it was all done in fun!!!)