Almost Christmas!

Mom notes: Brooklyn didn't write a general email this week, but her companion Sister Hicks did. I really love that girl and her letters are so fun to read. I'm hoping she won't mind me posting it on Brooklyn's blog. Only close friends and family know about the blog and she gave a lot of news about what they have been doing! The following is Sis. Hick's letter:

This week was full of lots of celebrations! One day we went to a birthday party for one of our YSA members! His name is Tae Ray Htoo and he joined the church in Utah and then moved here with his grandma, his grandma is super sweet too! And then later this week another member, her name is Thuza, had a baby shower! Baby showers for Karen people are a little different from other cultures. There aren't any games, we all just ate homemade pho and egg rolls. The night before we came over and helped her make them. They were super yummy!

We also got a new elder last week for Karen work! It's the first big change since June! Hah the picture I sent last week in front of the temple was suppose to be for our Christmas card, but then he came like 2 days later, so we decided we needed to take a new one. 

We have this super cute family we're working with and they have their own car! It's a mother and two daughters that we have taught, the father has a weird work schedule so it's a little hard to schedule when he is there. But they seem super awesome! The mother is so receptive and the daughters are super sweet and ask so many questions, which is pretty uncharacteristic of daughters. 

Also Moo Eh Wah came back in town so it was good to see her again. And some super big news, I think I have talked about it before, Kway Lay, one of our older members is going through the temple on December 30! We're all so excited for him! And with him going through, it is getting a lot of our other members interested in going as well! There is a sweet girl in our ward who has been a member for some time now, she's in her mid 20s and she has been dating this boy for a while and stopped coming to church for a while because she was embarrassed to be living with her boyfriend. Just recently her boyfriend started taking the discussions and she is on fire with church activity. And they just talked to the bishop about getting married!! One of my favorite things about a mission is seeing people change and repent and how much happier their lives become because of it! This gospel is so amazing! 

I was reading in the book of Mormon this week and this verse really stuck out to me. It was in Alma 30:40-41

So in this chapter Korihor is going around trying to diminish peoples testimonies and in this part he is brought to Alma and Alma bears him this fire testimony of his belief in Christ. And these are the verses. 

40 And now what evidence have ye that there is no God, or that Christ cometh not? I say unto you that ye have none, save it be your word only.

41 But, behold, I have all things as a testimony that these things are true;

I love that Alma asks that question, what evidence do we have that there is no God? Everything in this world testifies of God and Christ. Sometimes people get caught up in the question of where is the proof of God, where is the evidence? But if we look for God in our lives we will see just how evident it is. I have tried recently to follow the council of President Eyring, with that one talk about writing about when you see the hand of God in your life, and it has helped me really be aware of everything God does for us. He loves us so much. I know that.

Sis. Hicks ended by saying she hopes everyone has a Merry Christmas! I know Brooklyn wants everyone to have a Merry Christmas too and she expressed in her letter to me that she can't wait to talk to all of us. I will be sure to take a few pictures for the blog next week. Enjoy the pictures she sent me! 

I asked her to send me a "tag" picture! Yay!

She sent us a package with instructions to not open till Christmas! She also said she would tell us what the messages written in Karen say, when we talk to her on Christmas--It's going to be hard waiting!!!

Here is the new picture Sis. Hicks was talking about with the new missionary. I LOVE the colors with the contrast of the snow in the background!

 Even though the above picture is great, I think I like the one below more!!! I just love how everyone is getting ready and Brooklyn is just smiling away and the only one that realized a picture was being taken! hahaha

And just for fun....here are the goofy girls sporting new Christmas twinner outfits! Brooklyn assured me I could borrow hers when she comes home! hahaha They are too funny!

Poopsicles!

Funny story of the week! Yesterday we were having dinner at a member’s house, and just as we were getting ready to leave, they were telling us about their new dogs’ latest habit. The husband said, “Lately they’ve been bringing in pieces of their own frozen poop! Poopsicles!” Sister Hicks and I were laughing pretty hard about this and as I was laughing I took a step back and as I put my heel down, I felt something hard and cold. I looked down and I had stepped on a poopsicle!  hahahaha it made the whole thing funnier! 

This past week we had our Christmas Zone Conference. It was super good! We had a bunch of really good trainings and spiritual things, then we ate lunch, then watched the Polar Express! It was really fun! Something that really stood out to me was a training by my mission President’s wife. She talked about the real meaning of Christmas and how important Christ’s birth is and what a great gift his life was for us. Then she said something that really hit me. She said, “During Christmas time, we give presents to our friends, family, and loved ones, but how often do we give presents to Christ? The reason we even celebrate Christmas.” Then she had us all write something down that we are giving to Christ for Christmas on a little piece of paper shaped like a present and put it under the tree. I’ve been thinking a lot about how commercialized Christmas has become. It seems like it’s all about the presents and the worldly things, but it’s so important for us to take time to remember why we celebrate Christmas and ask ourselves what we can give to Christ for Christmas. He is the ultimate gift. I’m so grateful for my Savior Jesus Christ who makes all things possible. I would like to encourage each of you to ponder this and choose something you want to give Christ. 

Sorry the email is short this week! I love you all!

I love these cute girls sooo much! This was at a ward Christmas Party.

We stood in 0 degree windchill for this picture. Enjoy it! It's funny because both Brooklyn and her companion, Sis. Hicks complained about how cold they were when they took this picture--but none of them were wearing coats! lol

This picture came from Sis. Hicks' email this week. It's been so fun to read her emails too and get more news about their mission and what they've been up to! We sure love them both!!!

Karen Temple Trip and Sacrament Meeting!

This week was super cool! On Saturday we took a group of Karen people to the temple! The temple president has given the elders permission to come into the temple and translate the ordinances into Karen because the church doesn’t have anything translated into Karen yet. So for the first time, some of our Karen members were able to hear the ordinances in Karen. Because the translations aren’t official, the person performing the ordinances still had to say them in English, but then someone else would read it simultaneously in Karen. So when they were doing baptisms for the dead, one of the elders read it in Karen. But for the confirmations, I was able to read it in Karen while another Elder actually performed the ordinance in English. It was such a neat experience and the spirit was so strong.

Yesterday we had another all-Karen sacrament/testimony meeting! Just like last time, it was super cool. Seeing these people have the opportunity to share their testimonies to their own people is so cool. I’m sure they also really appreciate being able to understand the things being said without needing to wear headphones with someone translating. 

Funny story of the week. We found this house with 6 different apartments in it, and they all are Karen people. We decided to knock on the doors, so we started with the first door we saw. We knock on it, this 18 year old kinda gangster lookin’ kid answers and says “hey what’s up?” We tell him we’re missionaries and ask if we can teach his family, he says, “Oh yeah for sure. We’re Christian. Come in!” We go into his family room, and he tells us he’s going to go ask his friend if he wants to come too. So we’re just sitting there and it’s super dark because it’s about 5 pm and their electricity isn’t working. He comes back and says his friend doesn’t want to come. So we decide to just teach him the shortest lesson we can. We start reading a scripture in the Bible about prophets and this kid just keeps changing the subject asking us random questions about ourselves. We finally get back to the lesson and he just starts hysterically laughing and gets up and goes back to the room his friend is in. Comes back and says, “Man my buddy really doesn’t want to come. He’s a little sick. He just had surgery because he got stabbed.” I go, “He got stabbed?!” Calmly he says, “Yep” alllllrighty... so we finish the lesson, tell him to pray and ask god for guidance in his life and he says, “I pray all the time. Except sometimes when I’m tired or do drugs, I forget. Man I must’ve forgotten to say my prayers last night so god sent you. Wow that’s cool.” We told him to stop doing drugs, then got out of there pretty quickly. (Sorry mom. You probably won’t think this story is funny) Needless to say, we probably won’t be going back to see our bud Kwy Shee. 

Anyway, I hope everyone is doing well! Remember, don’t do drugs. They’ll make you forget to say your prayers. And if you’re not already saying your prayers, start! God wants to hear from you. :)

Sister Brooklyn Hermansen

We became ponies this week!

Since Brooklyn didn't send any other pictures of her this week, enjoy her thumb!

She used a sticker! haha

Mom notes: I'm so grateful for prayers of safety for our missionaries and the angels that surround them in sketchy situations! I told her they'd better be more careful!