Manhattan Adventure

Manhattan, New York Temple

Kaylie wrote us a quick letter Easter Sunday to let us know that she wouldn't be sending her regular email home this week. This is because she was going to be spending her P-day taking the train and subway to New York! Kaylie and her companion are taking a member to the Manhattan Temple to do baptisms for his family. What an adventure! She says she will email us on Friday this week to update us on her latest happenings. Also, I received a random text from this same member wishing me a Happy Easter. It included a picture of Kaylie and her companion and it seriously made my day. So... until Friday... there you have it. :)

Text from a member to Kaylie's Mom, Happy Easter!

Much Needed Miracles

Hello lovelies! This week was one of the longest weeks of my life. There was A LOT of scary stuff that happened to us but so many miracles! Heavenly Father knew that we would really need them this week.

Monday night we were leaving our dinner appointment and we just felt like we should go try to contact the referral we had gotten that morning, even though it was the opposite direction of where we had planned to go that night. We went and knocked and this grumpy man answered and basically told us to get lost. Okay. We stood there wondering why we felt like we should scrap all our plans when we realized that one of our potentials lived on that exact street! So, we tried her and she was home and invited us in. Her name is Diana and she rocks! We had the first lesson right there and we are going back tonight. We are super excited!

We had a specialized Zone Training on Tuesday that was way cool! We did a lot of role plays and got to work with the Easter video #hallelujah! The best part was President and Sister Anderson demonstrating one of the role plays for us. They are so fun!

That night we were able to meet with our Bishop! Something we've been trying to do for a while! It was so great. He gave us a long list of names for people we could go visit and helped us know how we can better help the ward. Missionary dream come true!

We went on Exchanges again! Sister Ashcraft came up to North Side with me and wow! We talked to SO MANY people all in a 1 block radius! It was awesome! We talked to a brother and sister from Syria who gave us weird cookies. Then we helped a lady chase down her dog that had gotten off it's leash. That dog was a devil. Sister Ashcraft and I had a blast together.

Wednesday night, Sister Gomm and I went to see a married couple that had been referred to us by one of our members. They weren't home but we stayed in the area and knocked on some doors, even visited a part member family. By the time we were about to leave, we looked over and they were home! They are so solid! Sam and Ahri! They came to church two weeks ago and loved it and they are excited to read the Book of Mormon!

On Saturday we worked on Brother Henderson's family history so that he has names to take to the temple. Family History is so fun! We made so many connections and he now has over 12 names to take just for baptisms! Whoo!

I have really felt angels watching over us this week. The gospel is so true.

I love you all! Have a great week. God bless! :)

Weird cookie that the Syrian lady gave me.

Blurry picture of the Lehigh Valley Zone with President and Sister Anderson. :)

The weird golden head that made Sister Ashcraft and I bust up laughing.

St. Patrick's Day service at the Salvation Army!

It's Spring! :D

#Hallelujah—An Easter Message about Jesus Christ

Desires To Serve God

Hello everyone! How are you?

This week started off with sun (YAY!) and with Zone Conference! It was amazing! President Anderson spoke to us about "the desires of our heart". He read D&C 4:3 (Therefore, if ye have desires to serve God ye are called to the work;) and discussed how it isn't our thoughts or prayers, but our actions that show what our desires are. He said something that really stuck out to me. "What we desire over time is what we'll receive in eternity." The Spirit testified to me how true that is. We can't expect to live with our Heavenly Father again if we don't desire to live close to him here on earth. The whole conference was full of spiritual truths and we all left feeling super pumped to go share the gospel! Especially because the church's Easter video is out! #Hallelujah What a powerful message! We are sharing it with EVERYONE! I want to invite all of you to do the same! I know that Jesus Christ lives. Because of Him we can live with those we love for eternity.

The rest of this week was just crazy! We taught one of our investigators the Word of Wisdom and she was high... No joke. Sister Gomm and I are still having a good laugh about it. We've been having a really hard time contacting our referrals this week. No matter what we do, we just can't get a hold of them. One evening we were a little discouraged after trying and failing to catch one at home for the umpteenth time. We started knocking on doors and we saw this lady watching us from her porch across the street. We waved to her and she called out to us, "what are you doing?" Well, we weren't going to let that opportunity pass by. We ran across the street and started talking to her. Turns out her name is Heather, and she had watched the Elder's walk up and down the street all the time but didn't know that there were girls. We got to answer some of her questions about life after death and testify of the Book of Mormon. She said she wants to know more and we are excited to start meeting
with her!

Sister Gomm and I sing in the car a lot. A. Lot. And we've been getting pretty good! So we decided to share our talent with the rest of the world. It's a fitting song considering that I started my mission here in Bethlehem, PA. Enjoy!

I hope you have a wonderful week. Remember: "The stronger the wind, the tougher the trees." 
God bless!

Sister Brunsdale

Bethlehem!

Sister Gomm and two of her daughters. Such a good trainer! :) 

DR. PEPPER GELATI FROM RITA'S! AKA: Heaven.

Bridget!

Car selfie!

In the Name of the Book of Mormon

Hey every one! This week was SOOOO good! Being a missionary is super great!

We went on exchanges, which was such a blast! The Sister Training Leaders are now the South Bethlehem sisters, so I got to go with Sister Jensen to South Side for a day!! I got to teach some of their investigators, including a lady named M, who I've been dying to meet. We also got Rosie and Suki started on family history! Seriously, such a fun day.

On Thursday we had Zone Training and it was fantastic! It was all about the Book of Mormon, how it can answer questions of the soul, and how vital it is to have a testimony of it. We did some awesome role plays and, you guys... THE BOOK OF MORMON IS TRUE. We are so blessed to have it. God speaks to us through it, so go read it!

We met with Bridget twice this week and she is doing so awesome! Zone Training really pumped us up and we were able to get her really excited about the Book of Mormon.

Church was phenomenal! The spirit was so strong during fast and testimony meeting. And guess what? BRIDGET CAME TO CHURCH! She was so cute and excited! She introduced herself in Sunday school by saying: "Hi, I'm Bridget and I wanna get baptized!" She's golden. Then she gave the opening prayer. It was the funniest thing, she ended the prayer "in the name of Jesus Christ and in the name of the Book of Mormon. Amen". What a sweetheart. I'm so happy to see her so excited about this incredible book. It truly is God's word and we grow closer to Him by reading it. We also had one of our members bring her cousin and his wife who aren't members. We were able to talk with them and find out that they are interested in learning more! It was so exciting. We look forward to being able to meet with them and teach them how their family can be together forever.

I love being a missionary. Heavenly Father is so aware of us. I hope you all have a wonderful week! The Book of Mormon is true. Keep smiling. :)

Sister Brunsdale

We found a cool gazebo, so of course we took pictures.

Dinner at Rosie's!

Rosie's daughter Yazzie!

Tracting for days!

Sister Batman got us Rita's! Whooo

M! She was so cool! She makes the best chocolate cake!

Exchanges with Sister Jensen!

Lehigh Valley Zone! 

Sisters House in Historic Bethlehem.

BETHLEHEM!

Miracle Phone Tag!

Oh my goodness! This week was crazy and had the most amazing miracle!

So, last week Sister Gomm and I were woken up by our phone going off at 11:30 at night. (Crazy late I know, but such is the life of a missionary.) I got up and turned it off, being half asleep I thought it was an alarm. Fast forward to a few days later. This nighttime fiasco came up in conversation and Sister Gomm and I decided to check and make sure we didn't have an alarm that would go off again that late. Well, there were no alarms set for 11:30. Weird. We then figure that maybe someone had called us. Sure enough, a few days earlier, a former investigator named Bridget had called us at 11:30 at night. So, we try and call her back but no one answers, and we shrug it off as a pocket dial. Tuesday comes and we just cannot stop thinking about this lady calling us so we decide to try again. There was no answer but this time we left a voice mail. There's not much else we can do after so we go about our day, knocking on doors and such. When we get back to our car we see that we have a missed call and a voicemail from B!

Now, it's a joke Sister Gomm and I have that every time we check our phone, we're checking to see if someone has called or texted us wanting to be baptized. Hilarious, I know. Well, we listen to this voicemail and Bridget tells us that she had talked to some sister missionaries this summer and they had asked her if she wanted to be baptized in Christ's church, and she had decided that she did! WHAT?! We called back, finally got a hold of her, and scheduled a time to meet with her. The lesson was amazing! She has such an enthusiasm for gospel! We asked her if she believed that the Book of Mormon was true and she said: "I don't know, I haven't read it yet! But I'm going to read it every second that I'm not doing anything." So amazing! She has a baptismal date set for April 10!! The Lord is so good! :)

In other news, we had some awesome dinners with some awesome members this week and talked to so many different people! Being a missionary is so great!

I hope you are all doing well. Have a wonderful week and keep smiling! :)

Me laughing at this sign because I'm immature.

B! She's incredible!

..... - Week 10

Hello friends and family! Wow! This week has been a struggle.

We had to drop two of our investigators. :( Lately, B has been more interested in teaching us what he believes than listening to us. He told us that we need to be more humble and that we need to listen
because God anointed him to teach the bible. It was rough. Then R, our investigator with a date, told us that he doesn't  really have a desire to know that the church is true and that he is fine where he is at. Super disappointing. Sister Gomm and I shared some laughs and some tears. It's okay though! Because the gospel is still true!

Everything got pretty overwhelming and discouraging for us after all that, so we asked our district leader for priesthood blessings. I am so, so thankful for the power of the priesthood and the comfort that a blessing can bring. It was definitely needed.

On the brighter side, we got to go have dinner at Rosie's, the woman who got baptized last week! Oh my goodness, she is so amazing! We met her husband, who is just as cool. Rosie is dead set on him joining the church so that they can have a "third wedding" in the temple. :) That's what we like to hear!

We had a lesson with a part-member family and taught a woman named C. We asked her a lot of questions which led to her going off on a lot of tangents. She loves the Book of Mormon but she told us that she has been Catholic for many years and loves praying to the saints. She has a hard time praying directly to God. We testified that he is our loving Father in Heaven and that he wants to hear from us. She said she would try praying before she read the Book of Mormon each day. Whoo!

Despite the hard week, I know that this gospel is true and that our Heavenly Father loves us so much! There is someone here in Bethlehem that wants to accept His plan for them and Sister Gomm and I are determined to find them.

I hope you are all doing well! Lots of love!

Weekly tracting selfie.

This was outside some guys house. Coconuts, cigars, car keys, candles,
and a plastic toy truck. I took a picture when no one answered the door.
We found out there was someone home when he opened his window
and started yelling at me.

When it's so cold that water freezes while it's running...

Taking selfies while we were on the phone with R,
trying to follow up on his Book of Mormon reading. 

No coats! We were blessed with a 60 degree day!