April 26, 2021 "Three Reasons I'm Afraid of the Elders and Brussel Sprouts on Burgers"

 Hello brothers, sisters, friends, and family! I can't believe this week is already over. It's been crazy, but probably less so than a lot of other weeks. 

I guess, to start off this week, we had interviews with our mission president. And for anyone who knows me well, you might recall that I bawl during every meeting I've ever had with any priesthood authority. Six month interviews as a youth? Tears. Temple recommend? Bawling. BYU-I school eligibility? Sobbing. Bishop wanted to know my plans after high school? Crying.

And my experience with my mission president was no different. I walked in, said hello, then sat down. He asked how I was doing and IMMEDIATELY I started bawling. 

"Everything is fine President." I tried to reassure him, but I don't know if he felt reassured...

Yikes.

ANYWAYS, we went on exchanges! And for the first time since covid hit, it was twenty four hour exchanges. Which means that my companion Sister Spendlove and I drove up to Lincoln to our Sister Training Leaders (STLs) and then we switched companions and spent the rest of the day in Lincoln.

I was paired with Sister Pope, who dies next month. (The mission kind of death, not the real life kind of death). So, our mission has a couple of rules about your last transfer. For one, you aren't supposed to drive if you have one transfer left. Something about that makes car crashes a lot more likely to happen. But, because we were on exchanges, Sister Pope drove. And wow... I've never seen a driver more reckless, fearless, or fueled with more road rage.

On our cars, there's this tracker called a Tiwi which tracks speeding, aggressive driving, etc. And sends it to the mission president. I think Sister Pope was about ready to chuck it out the window as we drove. 

Other than almost dying, exchanges was a lot of fun! 

We helped a family move and there was a hide a bed that I lifted and then I was shouted at to stop because it was too heavy and I should let an elder do that.. But it really wasn't too bad, and my pride was hurt, so I grabbed the other end and helped carry it. And the father of the family that we were helping was so impressed that he gave me an application to date his daughter. If you read the paper,  it says that I've been accepted! I'm not entirely sure how I feel about that, but it was a good laugh afterwards. (This was the fourth invitation I've received in my life to date a woman.)

Near the end, Sister Spendlove and I found a guy named Bill who told us that he was Baptist but felt like his church was missing something. He keeps investigating other churches but told us that something is missing. So we offered to swing by and tell him about our church (unfortunately, he lives in Lincoln so we don't get to teach him but we referred him to the Lincoln elders and he's already had the first lesson and asked them to come back!)

Also, there's a famous burger place in Lincoln called Honest Abe's. I had the 'Hammer of Thor' which had brussel sprouts and some weird kind of cheese and it was surprisingly good!

And it was SOOOOO much fun to be with other sisters. They have three companionships in Lincoln and I can't wait until I get the chance to have other sisters in my life. 

We met with some yw in some of the surrounding branches which was a lot of fun!

Our president asked us to start meeting with at least three member families a day! And doing a lot more Facebook finding. We're also starting this thing called cold calling which means calling random numbers and asking if they want to hear about the gospel. I haven't decided exactly how I feel about it yet.

I posted a free family history ad and it has been POPPING. I have had at least twenty people contacting me asking to figure out where they were from. 

Also, I don't know if I mentioned this last week, but Jasmine, one of our investigators who unfriended us on Facebook and told us to leave, invited us back! She said that she wants to take lessons again! So we had the first one a couple of days ago. 

We are trying to figure out which member who can be her friend, but there's not many young adults in the area. We have one brother in mind, who is a recent convert of two years ago. As a district, we've decided that they would be adorable in the temple together- I didn't realize that missionaries were such matchmakers!

And finally, we were sitting out on our balcony doing a Facebook grind and the elders came over. Elder Murdock, who is 6'5 and a basketball player JUMPED and grabbed hold of our second story balcony and climbed atop our balcony. This same elder also thought that the other companionship of elders had left the door unlocked, so when he tried to open the door, he just ripped through the door frame. So one of our elders enters and exits their apartment through the window now. 

Crazy elders.

I found a yoga ball! And now, during studies or meetings, I can just bounce! It's been literally the best thing ever. For a couple weeks I was having a hard time staying awake during the long hours that we work at our desks, but this yoga ball has literally been a lifesaver. 

It was partially deflated, but one of the elders stole it and blew it up for me. I also found a nerf gun and shot the elders. Literally my new favorite toy.

For my spiritual thought, something that got me through this week was a MTC devo by Elder Holland titled 'Don't You Dare Go Home.' I highly recommend this talk to anyone thinking about or currently on a mission. Its a game changer. And I can sent it to anyone who would like it.

Honestly, if you are planning on going on a mission, my advice to you is to learn and cultivate every talent you have. Family history, music lessons, baking, hair trimming, etc. It's incredibly useful on the mission and I wish I had more talents to draw from!

Remember, there's nothing you can do that would make me or your Heavenly Father love you any less,

Sister Brice