Good Things To Come

Hello everyone! I am sorry that I didn't have the time to write something last week. I was crazy busy and we were going to be having a little P-day party so I had to get going and couldn't spend all the time I wanted for emailing. Well the party was way fun. The Jones made homemade pizza, a fruit salad, lemonade, and got stuff for us to have ice cream sundaes. They were so nice they set the table for it and everything. The food was so good and we had a fun time. We were able to play some games and had some time to just hang out and talk. We also were able to celebrate Edler Bryer's birthday. He is a great Elder. He is 28 (I think?), he is a convert and while he has been out on his mission his parents have been baptized. They are now able to work on going to the temple! I am so excited for him and his family and I know they were blessed for his service to the Lord. I really enjoy my district. There are four elders and six sisters. The sisters are me, sister Debruin, sister Brown, sister Westra, sister Crossley, and sister Reed. The elders are elder Wright, elder Andrus, elder Bryer and elder Sheink. Elder wright and sister Crossley are both going home after this transfer, which is super exciting but I think they are pretty nervous! For their last P-day we are going to go to the zoo. So I am very excited about that.

 

To give you an update not much has been happening. These past two weeks has just been a lot of tracting, and praying that we will be able to find people to teach. Luckily the members have been feeding us every night. Our dinner calendar is always so full. I have definitely grown to love this ward and will be very sad when it is my time to be transfered. I was really excited because this past week we were going to teach the Herman family, but Ana ended up getting sick so we couldn't teach them. I was really sad that we couldn't meet with them, but they told us to email or call them to set up another time when we could come back. They are on vacation this week though so it will have to be the week after that we see them, so that's kind of a bummer. I just keep praying that they are reading the Book of Mormon and hopefully having good experiences with it.

 

An exciting thing that did happen this week is that we have a teaching appointment with Melanie tonight. She is a single mom of two girls. She is an amazing mom who is just always super busy and so being able to get this appointment with her was a miracle. I am so nervous because it is the first lesson and I am going to be inviting her to be baptized!! Ahh!! Finally I get to invite someone to be baptized. I am so scared, but I feel like I am ready. I just hope that I have the courage to do it and I don't chicken out! I can't wait for next week though so I can tell you all how it went!

 

Other than that exciting moment the work here is not too fast. I think that it has definitely been a trial for me, but something that has increased my faith. I know that I was sent to this area for a reason. I don't know if I have really figured out that reason yet, but I know I will. Things have been hard but a scripture that has really been giving me a lot of comfort has been Alma 26:27 and Alma 26:12. I think that I have truly learned to lean on the Lord completely. Prayer has become something that I do more than I ever have in my life. Through that I really have come to know that he is mindful of me and knows everything that I am going through.

 

Before I go I just want to share an experience. Before my mission I remember in Relief Society watching a mormon message by Elder Holland. It was titled, Good Things To Come. When watching it then I don't think I really got anything from it, or really remembered much of it. While being on my mission though I have watched it many times. In the video it tells a story of how Elder Holland packed up his whole life and his family to move somewhere very far away(sorry I don't remember where or how far away it was?). When they started out that trip there car broke down twice. Both times Elder Holland had to go walk about 3 miles to a little town to get some help. At the end of the video Elder Holland said that he drove by that spot and he could see a devoted wife with her two children next to a steaming car, and a little ways down the road he could see a father walking towards the town. He said in that instant he couldn't help but yell out the car window telling him to keep going, that help is on the way. Elder Holland then goes on to tell us that there are greater blessing ahead than we could ever imagine. That life may be hard now, but it will get better. That the gospel brings us that hope of greater blessings, and good things to come. After watching that one night I imagined myself a couple years from now. I could see myself happy. Like Elder Holland did, I felt as if someone was telling me that I needed to keep going. That things are going to get better, and those blessings will come. With tears streaming down my face I was reassured that I was giong to be OK. To this day I still love watching that video. It truly has changed the way I look at my mission. I know that it is hard now, but there are good things to come.

 

I know that we all go through trials. But that is a part of life. With the gospel we are able to have help through those trials. We know that we are never alone. We know that we can kneel in prayer and he will be there for us. I have felt his love for me personally and I know he is aware of me and what I am going through. I am so grateful for this gospel and this priveledge to be on a mission. I am grateful for all of the support and love that has been sent my way. I hope that it doesn't stop because it truly helps me get through the hard days. I love you all and hope that you have an amazing week. Look for those missionary opportunities, and always strive to have a better relationship with Christ.

 

Love Always,

 

Sister Brewster :)

Sister DeBruin and I having fun with some future Sister Missionaries from Wisconsin!!

 

Reuniting with most of my MTC district at Zone Conference.  What a nice treat to spend some time with them again!!

Relaxing a little at our P-day party for Elder Bryers birthday.

 

Wonderful Families in Brookfield

This week I wanted to post an email my Dad received from one of the members of the Brookfield Ward as well as a picture they took at our dinner appointment with Creighton Denney, Sister Ipson, Dawson Denney and me.

Hi Brewster family!

My name is Cassidy Denney. I am a member of the Brookfield Ward where your darling daughter is serving. We had the privilege of feeding her and Sister Ipson on Thursday night. They were a joy!!! My little boys thought it was so great, so we made sure to get a picture before they left. :)
I can't tell you how wonderful it's been to have sister missionaries in the ward. Mckenzie has such a powerful testimony and is already so loved! She is going to change so many lives. Wisconsin is happy to have her!! Thank you for raising such a fabulous young woman!

Best,

Cassidy Denney

Things Are Looking Up!

Hello everyone! I am sorry that my post last week was so short. It was a hard week, but things are looking up! I wanted to mention last week what I did for the 4th of July. A family from the ward invited us to go watch a little parade with them and then come over for lunch. So, we were able to watch a fun parade and then enjoy a good lunch with a couple families from the ward. For dinner we actually ended up eating two meals! One family from the ward asked if both the Elders and us Sisters could come over for what we thought was going to be a party. Normally we can't eat at the same house, but we figured since it was a party and we weren't going for dinner it would be ok. Because we didn't think we would be eating dinner over there the Jones (the couple we are living with) asked if we wanted to come back and eat dinner with them, so we said yes. When we got the families home it ended up being a dinner with just their family. Not only did we have a dinner appointment after this, but we were breaking the rules since the Elders were there too!! We figured since it was a Holiday and we were already there, we would just stay and eat. The dinner was nice, but after we were done we decided to go. When we got to the Jones they had the table all set ready for dinner! We were so stuffed but we just couldn't not eat the dinner they had made for us. Suprisingly enough we were able to eat it, and then they brought out desert! Brother Jones had made us mint chocolate chip sundaes! They were so good. By the end of the day I think I gained about 20 pounds! It was a really good 4th of July :)

 

Well I just have to say thank you to all of you who have written or emailed me. I have been receiving so much love and support. Getting letters really just does so much for me. For any missionary it really is just a blessing. I encourage you to write any missionary that you know. It will truly make their day, like it does mine!

 

So even though last week was rough, this week has been so much better! This week we were able to teach a family and so now we have two new investigators, Greg and Anna. They have 3 young kids. 2 boys and a little girl. We went to teach them on Thursday this past week and also had Sister Harker from the ward join us. The only bad part about all this is that during the lesson I froze up and didn't really say much. I felt as if I just didn't know anything and so the whole time I just sat there nodding my head! Luckily, my companion and Sister Harker did a really good job. It was a hard lesson because they seemed to know their Bible. They just had so many questions and I felt as if I just didn't know the answers. The lesson went very well though because we are going back this next Wednesday to teach them! I am just going to pray that I will be more confident in my knowledge of the gospel. I know that if I just put my trust in the Lord he will help me to know what to say and I will be able to contribute and open my mouth!

 

Other than that it has been pretty slow here. We have been trying to work with part member families and less actives. We also have been able to do some service for some of the ward members. One of the ward members, Sister Craig, has a neighbor who seems a little interested in the church. We went over to help Sister Craig in her garden with picking and weeding, and while we did that she was able to tell us all about her. She is a single mom of two kids who is always just really busy. When we went over there she was with a friend, so we just asked if we could do anything to help her and she told us to come back on Saturday morning to help her weed and we did! We spent about three hours helping her with her yard. Then after that we went and helped Sister Jones weed some of her yard. Needless to say I am ready to never weed again!! I am glad we got that opportunity to serve her though. Melanie who is the single mom was able to really open up to us. She told us that had heard some about the church, but not much. We are hoping that even with her busy schedule we will be able to get in and teach her the lessons!

 

The ward members here have just been so sweet to us. They really know how to take care of us. It feels like home already. Our meal calendar is so full, we have a dinner every night this week! The poor Elders though, they have about 3 dinner appointments this week. I don't know what it is, but everyone just loves the Sisters more. That's not coming from me!

 

I am so excited to be here and can't wait for all the many more people that I am going to meet. It has been hard but it wouldn't be worth it if it wasn't so challenging. I know I will learn so much and it's going to bless me and my family more than I even know. The Lord wants me here and I know it. Please keep up the letters. They help me more than you know. I love you all and hope that you are doing well. Keep up the missionary work. Always be praying that you can have a missionary opportunity. You don't need to wear a name tag to be a missionary. Please know that I love you all with all my heart. 18 months will go by faster than I know, but I can't wait! Have a great week :)

Put Your Trust in the Lord

Well it has been another week of hard work! When they told me that in the field that the days would feel like weeks and the weeks days I didn't understand until now. Sometimes I feel like the time goes by so slow and then I realize how fast it really goes. I just want to say how grateful I am for all of you who send me letters and emails. Having your support means the world. This work is hard and the days are hard. Getting the letters and emails that I do really help me more than you may realize!

So this week there has not been much work. We are in a new area and the work is slow. We have not had any new investigators sadly, but we have been able to get to know some of the ward members. We also are able to work with a lady who is less active but wants her girls to be baptized!  Well other than that I have really been growing to love this ward. The people have such strong testimonies and they really are great. I love the Jones more and more everyday! They are who we live with. I am sorry that I don't have any fun stories to tell but that is it. I know that I am where I need to be. Even though the work is slow which makes things challening I already feel as if I am learning so much.

Me and my companion have really been working hard and becoming close. I think that we will be able to really move the work along and find those people who are ready to accept the gospel! The advice that I have for all of you is to just put your trust in the Lord. We all go through trial and hardships in our lives. Mine right now is my mission. It is a great opportunity, but it is hard work. The Lord really has been here with me pushing me to do my best. It has been amazing how he has answered my prayers by bringing me so much comfort. I have a new excitement for this work. I want to get out and do my best! I hope that all of you are able to really help the missionaries! I hope to have more for you all next week, but for now I have to go. Have a great week and know that I love you :)

-Sister Brewster :)

Some photos attached, 1 - President and Sister Cutler, my new Mission President that was in the MTC with me.
2 - A tired group of greenies after flying all night to Wisconsin and missing our flight
3 - Isn't Wisconsin beautiful?  I love the colors.
4 - I get the top bunk since I am new.  Looking forward to earning the bottom bunk.

And So It Begins!

Hello everyone! It has been another crazy week as a missionary. Still can't believe that I am a missionary. I don't know if that has fully sunk in yet? Well I made it to Wisconsin safe and sound. Although the trip to get here was a little crazy. There was 36 of us elders and sisters who were together making this journey. We started out on Monday night taking a bus at 7:00pm to go to the front runner. Once we got to the front runner we all hurried to get all our luggage along with ourselves on this train. It was actually kind of funny because while I was trying to help some sisters get their luggage on the doors closed on me! The Elders seemed to get a good laugh out of that, even though it was pretty painful and I think I have bruises! So after riding that for a while we then had to rush to catch the trax train that would take us to the airport. It was pretty comical to watch all these missionaries with their huge things of luggage rushing from one train to the next. When we got on the next train it was smaller and so there was barely any room for us to stand. I just feel for the people on the train who weren't missionries! So after this train we made it to the airport. Unfortunately it drops off far away from our check in counter. I felt like I was running a 20 mile marathon with my luggage just to get to the check in desk! Luckily there was a really nice Edler, Elder Rowden (from England but then moved to AZ! Still has an accent, pretty awesome!) who switched me suitcases because his were a lot easier to just wheel accross the airport. Finally we made it! We got through airport secutrity and at this point were just waiting to get on our flight which left at 12:30. While we waiting all of us rushed to find pay phones to talk to our parents. Luckily me and some of my district were able to find some and I got to call my family. Hearing there voices was so great. I have missed them so much and I am glad I was able to talk to them for how long I did, which was about 2 hours!

 

Well after I got off of the phone with them I found out that our flight was delayed until 2:30. I thought the Elders were just playing a joke on me, cause we all know how gullable I can be! Sadly, they weren't. Here we were 36 missionaries sitting in the SLC airport exhausted, waiting for our flight, all trying to just find some way to sleep! Me and Sister Arnold, a sister in my distrcit, went to go place a Book of Mormon with a lady that I met in the bathroom. We were able to give it to her and she told us she would read it! After that we were finally able to get on our flight. Most of us tried to sleep on the plane, but I know I didn't get much sleep, because it's pretty hard to sleep on a plane! So after this flight we got into Atlanta, GA at about 8:30 and so we missed our connecting flight. Luckily we were able to all get on a flight to Milwaukee, WI that left at 10:50. While waiting for this flight me and sister Arnold were able to place 2 more Book of Mormons! I was pretty proud of us :). When we finally got on the flight and got to Wisconsin it was about 11 or 12? I can't remember because I was just so tired. Since we were already behind schedule we could only put our stuff at the mission home and then go to the stake center to have lunch and do interviews. Luckily during the interviews us sisters were able to sleep a little. Me and my companion feel asleep on the pues. Finally we had dinner and ended that night with a testimony meeting. It was amazing to hear all of the missionaries testimonies. I feel honored to be able to serve with these elders and sisters. I know that we are going to do an amazing work.

 

So, the next morning we were all still exhausted! At least we were able to change out of our clothes and shower, which was so nice. Then after getting ready and having breakfast we headed over to the stake center. We went in and were able to meet our new companions and find out where our areas were. My new companion is Sister DeBruin! We are in the Brookfield area, which I guess is close to Milwaukee?? Well anyways, it is a new area for sisters! Leaving the stake center was bitter sweet. I loved my companion from the MTC and my district, but I just hope that we will see eachother again soon. If not we are all hanging out when we come home, so that's good!

 

Brookfield is gorgeous. It is so green and the houses and so pretty. We don't have any new investigators and so far they have only had one baptism for this year, but we are hoping to change that. I feel like I got put in a pretty hard area for my first transfer, but that's ok because I know the Lord has a plan for me and he put me here for a reason. We have gone tracting and meet some pretty interesting people. We also have a great ward. Yesterday being able to meet all of them at church was so great. They are so nice. They also all told us how much they love sisters, and how much better we are than the Elders ;). I felt kind of bad for the Elders! It was just so uplifting to see all the support that we had, and to see how high their spirits where when they found out there were Sisters now! So for now I have no exciting stories, but I hope to get to work and find those people who the Lord has prepared for me. I am ready and can't wait to see what things are in store for me. I love you all and hope that all of you are doing well. As I look back on the short time that I have been a missionary I am able to see already the tender mercies of the Lord. Everyday my companion and I write down a tender mercy for the day. Most times it is hard for me to pick just one! He is here with me, this is his work, and I am just the tool! I hope all of you are helping the missionaries as much as you can. 

 

I love you!

Sister Brewster Arrives in Wisconsin

Dear Brewster Family,

Sister Brewster arrived safely to the Wisconsin Milwaukee Mission.  3 photos are attached; one with her new trainer Sister DeBruin; one with President and Sister Jones; and the 36 arriving missionaries.  It was a wonderful sight to see so many missionaries at the airport.  We are grateful for Sister Brewster and her desire and willingness to serve Our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.  Sister Brewster is needed to help build the kingdom in Wisconsin.

Sincerely Sister Shumway