HELLO from GENT, BELGIUM!!!

Hello family and friends!!

 

Wow this has seriously been the craziest, weirdest, scariest, most exhausting week of my life!! if you have been watching the blog you will have seen all of those pictures of us arriving at the Airport and of me receiving my call! The jet lag is REAL! Today is the first day that I really feel awake. Around 10 or 11 in the morning here my eyeballs hurt SOOO bad and I just want to sleep all day long. haha But it is getting better so that is all fantastic. I know you all have lots of questions so I am going to try and answer them all the best I can.

 

I am with two companions this time, Zuster Djoukeng and Zuster Morris. They are both so great and have helped me alot. Especially with the language. President and Zuster Robinson are such an amazing couple. They are so sweet and nice and I cant wait to get to know them better. I am trying to learn Flemish now which is super super hard. You basically just have to tune your ear from dutch to flemish. We had church yesterday and I seriously had no idea what was going on the whole time. haha I have never loved it so much when someone spoke to me in English but I am slowly starting to understand more and more everyday. Just so everyone knows....my new address of my apartment is:

 

Helene Dutrieulaan 7/201            

9051 Gent

Belgium

 

It is SOOO humid here. I stepped off the plane in Amsterdam and just about died. They have also been having some of the hottest days they have had in years. Its almost like the humidity sticks to your body because it is sooo hot. That has definately been something I have needed to get used to. The thunderstorms/rainstorms here are absolutely INSANE. The tram we take everywhere was acting like a boat this past week one day when there was just rivers/streams everywhere you looked. Good thing I dont mind rain too much :) We are not on bikes in this area because Gent has an extremely advanced transportation system which is really nice. We take trams and ride buses everywhere we go.

 

The members here are soo awesome. We have a dinner appointment every single night and yes i have already eaten some interesting things. We had this one member make us this chicken dish one night but Belgians dont believe in cutting the fat or basically anything else off of it which was super gross so me but I ate it anyways. haha We also had noodles in milk, with brown sugar on top. It was actually really good but really weird. Our branch is really small. Probably half the size of our relief soceity at home. We are trying to re-activate as many of them as we can and we are already seeing huge success in doing that so that has been awesome! Everyone is so great and nice and it has been super comforting to know that.

 

We have lots of progressing investigators and I already love them so much. Two of them will probably be getting baptized this August so I will already have my first baptisms :) :) We taught this guy named Patrick and he speaks French so  I am already using my French here in Belgium which is so crazy and awesome to me.

 

Our apartment is SOO nice. It is really modern and up to date. My trainer said not to get used to something like this because in other cities it isnt quite as nice. No matter what though we are taken care of. They also dont belive in air conditioning here because usually it isnt nearly as hot as this so in the morning I literally wake up drenched in my own sweat. haha sorry if that is gross but it is true. It gets so hot and humid that you are just disgusting.  I miss that part about Utah's summers- the dry heat. But my skin and nails absolutely love it. They have this ice cream stand that I love to go to and they have this flavor called Smurfens. It is SOO good. I couldnt even tell you what flavor it is but I am addicted already.

 

I love you all so much and keep me in your prayers and write me often. That address will be good at least until August 24th or something? Exactly six weeks from this past wedensday whatever that was. I will keep you updated on that but remember you can always send things to the mission office- I just only get those things about once a month so it is kind of a bummer. It has been a challenge adjusting to a new culture and life here in Belgium. I miss my MTC companion like none other but I am loving my new ones. I love you and miss you all. Hopefully I answered most of your questions- I will be writing letters today too so I will try and include all of those in them. Thank you for your love and support! this church is true and I love it with all my heart!

 

Love, Zuster Brophy

 

I will be sending lots of good pictures next week :)

 

Madison has been called to serve in Gent Belgium. Her companions are Sister Morris and Sister Djoukeng.

Madison Arrived safely in Amsterdam and looking stylish in all black with the pink belt!

This is me and my companion, Zuster Thorley, with the flags at the temple.

This is all the diet coke I have received and I LOVE IT :) one of every size!

This is a really good picture of me and my whole district! :)

Tot Ziens USA, Hallo Begria/Nederlands!!!

Goedemiddag Family and Friends!!

 

I cannot believe this is my last email in the MTC!! Time has seriously flown by. All of my district agreed that time is warped here. It is really starting to hit me that I will be living in Europe for 18 months. Not just a vacation, but actually live there. I am so excited to meet my mission president and find out where my first area will be. We got our flight plans this past Thursday and all of us were freaking out!! I fly with Delta and I have a direct flight from Salt Lake City, Utah to Amsterdam, Netherlands. We leave the MTC Monday the 22nd at 7:30 AM and our flight takes off around 11:10 AM. I am prepping myself for that lonnggggg flight. About 13-14 hours. But all 30 of us Dutchies are on the same flight so we will just have to entertain each other :) I was also really happy about the departure time. It wasn't at some crazy hour in the morning!

 

This week was such a good one! We hosted last Wednesday to all of the new missionaries. It was super fun but I was really surprised at how much those emotions were still there! haha when I would watch them hug their families and friends I just broke inside! But then it worked out because I was the veteran telling them that they really would be ok and that the MTC wasnt that bad (along with the rumors of the food killing you) :) the first sister missionary I hosted was actually a girl I graduated with. So that was a fun surprise! I also got to see Kjerstyn Bremer that day and was able to give her a hug and see how she was doing. We got invited to host again this coming Wednesday so that should be fun! My teacher, Brother Klippel, taught us everyday allll day. Usually we have Zuster Moses there as well but she was out of town so he took over. Occasionally we will do these sort of "mock" lessons, where Brother Klippel and another elder act as the companionship and another elder from our district will be the investigator. We had an AMAZING spiritual experience with that this past Wednesday.  I have never felt such a peace and love in a short amount of time for an investigator that really was "fake". We were all in tears including my teacher. We also had the oppurtunity to Skype with some people in Belgria and Nederlands yesterday (Monday). We got some people that Brother Klippel baptized while he was over there and we gave them lessons. I didn't even know you could do that! It made me that much more excited to get over there and teach this gospel for reals to real people. Im so grateful for all of these wonderful oppurtunities! Now that we are on our last leg here at the MTC, our classes and when we talk to each other are ALL in Dutch! No more english! I am pretty sure I have learned more Dutch in 5 weeks than I did French in 5 years! Thats what 10 hours of class, the spirit, and none stop Dutch will do to ya!

 

We had a really cool Relief Society meeting on Sunday as well. Carole Mikita from KSL 5 News came and spoke with us and told us all about her conversion story and what she does for the Church. I thought that was cool. I am still waiting for a general authority to come this week just once before we leave! I heard they come all the time and I have yet to see one. Except for the broadcast. But other than that, this next week is going to be really really busy! Packing, learning, and last minute things! I know this gospel is true. I can feel it more and more every single day I am out here doing this work. I am so glad I get to be apart of this work in this day and age when we need it the most and I cannot wait to go find those people that need it. I already love them SO much. Thank you for all of your love and support and the letters and packages! It means the world to me. I love you all and miss you!

 

Until next week in BELGRIA AND NEDERLANDS :)

Love, Zuster Brophy

 

 This is me and my companion on the 4th with all of the great food and decorations my mom sent me. :)

On the 4th with the best companion ever.

 No big deal, I climb up walls.

My 4th week?! Say Whaaa?!

Hello Friends and Family!!

I cannot believe It has already been a month since I left. It seriously feels like maybe two weeks ago. MAYBE. Time is really starting to fly by and I cant believe it! We only have 13 days left at the MTC and I am freaking out. In both a good way and a bad way. I cant believe I am going to be flying to Europe, not for a vacation, but to actually live there. It is such a crazy thought!

Everything here is the same and busy! We are learning/reviewing Dutch like crazy since we are getting down to the very wire. I LOVE my teachers. Brother Klippel is amazing and he makes all of us missionaries feel so special. He stays over on his shifts almost on a daily basis and gets so excited when he talks about Nederlands and the language. Zuster Moses is amazing as well. She is so funny and talented and in my personal opinion I feel like my district got the best dutch teachers at the MTC :) I am a little bit nervous about having to speak Dutch 24/7 when I get to the land. I know it really well and it has come fairly easy to me (at least I feel like it) but this week we had another TRC and me and my companion taught this man who had an extremely THICK dutch accent. It made it a little bit more real and that was a more realistic example of what we are going to be talking to when we get over there. A little scary, but I have been told that six months is usually the magic number and my brain will be fully tuned to Dutch. So I am crossing my fingers and banking on that. Lots of studying to do :) Me and my roomates go on English fasts mulitple times a week where we only speak Dutch. These turn into hilarious conversations because we try to say some weird things. I dont remember the exact day but this last week I dreamt in Dutch!!! It was sooo cool. I heard that is a very good sign.

Tomorrow (wednesday) I get to host new missionaries coming in! I am super super excited! I remember thinking when I got dropped off that I had forever until that would be me hosting but it was really just around the corner. I heard it was supposed to be like 100 degrees though so  that will make it so much more enjoyable. On the 4th of July we had a mini devotional and they let us watch 17 Miracles and watch the Stadium of Fire Fireworks. We were soooo excited to watch a movie. It was kind of sad how much of a treat that was! We are just a little deprived. haha plus my companion is a film major so she was in heaven. We stayed up until 1145 that night as well because of the fireworks and I can't even tell you how tired that made me. Usually back home that was my dinner time, so it was kind of funny to see how weird and tired I felt just at 11:45. We had a blast and used up all of our glowsticks and sparkly rings and really showed our USA spirit that day. It is Zuster Thorleys favorite holiday so we went all out. Mom, thank you so much for the package btw. It made the 4th of July so much better.

I receive my flight plans either this Thursday or Friday. I will be able to let everyone know the details on that next week. Word has it that all of my zone's flight and departure times are at CRAZY times in the morning. Like 2 and 3 AM. The Swedes last week had to meet for the shuttle at 2:30 AM so I am fully expecting to receive NO sleep for the first 4 days. This will also make calling home a little interesting since It is so early. I will let you know more on that next week.

Other than that, I hope everyone had so much fun in Yellowstone this past week. I got the postcards and I was SO jealous. It looks like a blast. Guess we will just have to go again when I come home :) And I hope Lyssa Rae and Grandma Brophy had fantastic birthdays as well! I love you all so much! And I love missionary work! With every week that goes by I love it more and more. It really does refine you in ways you never thought it would. I thought I knew the gospel and I thought I had a strong testimony, but now It is even more strong. The lord is there for each and every one of us  ALL the time. He hears our prayers and is with us always. The Book of Mormon is the word of God and by really studying it we can come closer to Christ. I am so grateful I have this oppurtunity to be apart of this work and bring others to Christ. I am also extremely grateful to be apart of this true church. It is truly AMAZING!

Ik houd van jullie,

Love, Zuster Brophy

MTC Photos

 Studying Dutch all day everyday :) I LOVE it.

When we get bored we take a 10 min break and go play ping 

pong with the Icelandics haha I am terrible at it.

GELUKKIGE VERJAARDAG (Happy Birthday) to Lyssa Rae, Connor, and Grandma Brophy!!!

HELLLOO Friends and Family!! Goedemiddag tot jullie!

Well lots has happened this week here at the MTC! It was an AMAZING week. I am convinced I have the best zone and district ever. Our zone covers Belgium/Netherlands, Sweden, Surname (West Indies), and Denmark. I have gotten to know the Swedes SO well. The Sister Training leaders were from that group and they are basically my favorite and the Elders feel like my brothers. They leave on Monday and I really might cry. I also really dislike the no hugging/touching rule for Elders and Sisters because I want to hug each one of them so bad! Haha My district has gotten really good at singing together and making up chants in class so we are busy doing that all day...in Dutch :) So that is really interesting. We all have sore throats now. The gutterle sound is definately not easy to master and with how much we do it everyday, it KILLS your thoart. But Its so fun to see how far we have already come!

This past week on Friday we had the oppurtunity to give lessons to actual people from Nederlands. I LOVED IT. I got to teach this sweet little lady named Rita Winmill who is from Kaysville (small world) and we got talking about everything in Holland and I am SO excited to get out there. It was such an amazing spiritual experience to talk to real people who had real problems and see how much they actually understood my dutch. Haha She made my day and I got her address and phone number. She wants to come to my homecoming and she said when I get home I am more than welcome to come over to her house for dinner and keep my dutch up. It made my whole week!  

We stay extremely busy every week with great new adventures and teaching experiences.  Its amazing everything that I have learned about the gospel in just three short weeks of studying the lessons in so much depth. My teachers are amazing and I love them so much! My teacher, Broeder Klippel, his birthday was on Saturday (the 29th) so he brought doughnuts and we had a mini "party". It was great! Oh we also had a nice little experience on Friday. Someone in my residence hall decided to pull the fire alarm at 6:00 AM. So you can imagine first off my confusion at why it was so dang loud and then we all walk outside, some girls in robes and towels, some in pajamas. It was great.  I literally found a tree and laid down and fell asleep until they let us back in. Haha I wasnt about to lose that 30 minutes of sleep. :)

The Provo temple is closed for the month of July so unfortunately we wont beable to go again before I leave :( It makes me really sad cause I love the temple in general, but I LOVE it even more on a mission. There is such a special spirit about it thats different going as a full-time missionary. As far as the fourth of july goes, I hope you all have a great holiday! I am jealous to all my family who is in yellowstone right now. Dont have too much fun without me ;) they are letting all the missionaries watch the fireworks from the Stadium of Fire on Thursday night and then with all the decorations my mom sent me in a package (THANK YOU by the way) we are going to eat a bunch of goodies and celebrate just a bit.

I hope Lyssa Rae and Grandma have WONDERFUL birthdays this next week! I love and miss both of you so much! And i hope Connor had a good one last week. And im so glad you liked the package. The MTC Bookstore doesnt have much so a Kit-Kat was the best I had. Haha I love missionary work! I cant believe how far I have come just in three short weeks. This gospel is true and the lord is involved in ALL things. It doesnt matter how small or big it is He is there no matter what. I am so grateful for this time I have to be in his service. I cant wait to get out there and live in Europe in three short weeks!! I cant believe time is going so fast. The atonement is real. He can heal us from anything as long as we just ask him. I love all of you so much! Thank you for the love and support you give me. You are all the best!

Until next week,

Ik houd van Jullie en Helaas Pindakaas!

Zuster Brophy