Called to Serve in Philly: The Big Apple and Happy Easter To Yous

Wow! These past two weeks have been too much fun! I don't know how I am going to fit everything in this email, but I'll do my best!

Last Wednesday we got a MINI MISSIONARY! Her name was Sister Raphael and she was way too cool for me. In the 3 days she was here, she got a solid missionary experience. Miracles, rejections, crazy lessons, tedious weekly planning... You name it. We went to see some referrals and within 15 minutes they both had baptism dates! We were talking to a guy in his garage and his wife yelled at us to leave and closed the garage door on us. We almost got smacked in the face with an old guy's cane. We taught our investigator who is from Egypt and tried to give her family (who only speaks Arabic) directions to the church. And we watched the General Women's Broadcast! It was a good 3 days. We miss her.

Sunday was Easter! Hallelujah! I love holidays as a missionary! People's hearts are softened and miracles happen! We had 4 investigators at church! We thought it was 3 but as we were walking out of the church, our investigator Diana walks out of the chapel! She had come late, but she had come!

Monday we had two really cool lessons. One was with a family who spoke mostly Spanish. Sister Gomm ended up showing the 3 little girls bible videos while I talked to the parents. The language barrier was real, but I was able to help the dad download the Book of Mormon app on his phone in Spanish and then showed him Helaman 5: 12 (And now, my sons, remember, remember that it is upon the rock of our Redeemer, who is Christ, the Son of God, that ye must build your foundation; that when the devil shall send forth his mighty winds, yea, his shafts in the whirlwind, yea, when all his hail and his mighty storm shall beat upon you, it shall have no power over you to drag you down to the gulf of misery and endless wo, because of the rock upon which ye are built, which is a sure foundation, a foundation whereon if men build they cannot fall). That's such a powerful scripture and I could tell that it really touched his heart. It was so cool and strengthened my testimony that this gospel is for everyone. The spirit is universal! We also had a lesson with Diana! The investigator who came to church! We have been wanting to ask her to be baptized the past few lessons but it just hasn't happened. We finally invited her Monday and she said, "Yes. It's something I've been thinking about." She is set to be baptized May 15! I love Diana so much! It's been amazing to see how the Lord has been preparing her.

AND TODAY WE WENT TO NEW YORK!! We got to take Brother Henderson to the Manhattan temple! Sister Gomm and I were so worried that it wasn't going to happen. Wednesday night we got a call from the members that we were supposed to be going with and they told us that they weren't going to be able to. We had already asked most of the ward with no luck and so we did the only thing we could do and prayed. The Lord is so good! Thursday afternoon we were able to find two members to go with us, and one of them was even willing to drive! Which now, after experiencing New York, is a big deal. It was such an amazing experience! I had never been to New York before and it was like being on a different planet. I absolutely loved it! The traffic was CRAZY and there was so much to take in! We didn't even notice the temple until the member we were with told us to look up and there was Moroni! It was amazing how quiet that temple was. All that noise outside and you couldn't hear any of it! I'm so thankful for the peace that can be felt in the temple. We did baptisms for Brother Henderson's family, which was way cool! The spirit was so strong. I know his family was rejoicing in the spirit world!

Transfer calls are tomorrow! Time flies. We'll see what happens, but it's been amazing seeing this area progress.

I love you all so much! I hope you have a successful week! God bless! :)

Sister Brunsdale