Well....I have Tendonitis

Hello Family and Friends-

 

This past week has been a great one with lots of new and exciting things happening!! I went to the doctor on Monday night and they sent me to get an Ultrasound and an X Ray of my heel, so we had an appointment Tuesday morning. Turns out, I have Tendonitis pretty bad in my right achilles Tendon and it is starting in my left. So that just made the next year of my life alot more interesting! I am just watching it for now and trying to find new boots for the winter but we will see how it all turns out. Apparently, once you get this type of disease it is extremely hard to get rid of so that was kind of a bummer to find out.

 

We were able to go to the temple this past week in Den Haag and it was SOOO amazing!! I am so bummed that we only get to go visit there every six months, because it seriously is like an addicting feeling because of the spirit you feel there. The whole entire session and all the temple workers were of course speaking all Dutch, so that was such a cool experience. The temple here is SOO tiny as well. I was blown away with the size! We left Tuesday night to travel all the way up to Zoetemeer which is about a 4 hour train ride from Gent and stayed over night and then traveled all the way back down after the session. It was so fun to see all the different missionaries as well since they combined 3 zones into one day and the other 3 in another day.

 

We set another baptismal date for November 9th!!! With a man named Didier, he is Belgian and probably in his late forties or so. We taught him the first lesson and we asked him what he thought about church and everything so far and he said, "it just feels very natural" which I thought described the feeling of the spirit and everything we do perfectly! When he said the prayer at the end of the lesson the spirit was SO strong and I just couldnt stop smiling. So that makes for 3 total on the 9th so we are soo excited about that. Ena is still doing very well! She comes to church every week  and is really excited about her baptism as well. I think she is exactly what this branch needs here in Belgium. She is so friendly and willing to do anything to help others. Her husband also said that he wants to come to church with her one time so that was really exciting as well! Nikole is still progressing great as well. Her only issue is church attendance because she has to babysit her grandchildren on Sundays alot so we are trying to work with that. But she is so loving and I just love it whenever I am around her. Other than that, we are doing lots of door knocking every day trying to find more and more people to teach. I love love love talking to people at doors and seeing all the different reactions we get when we say things. haha it is very fun and entertaining sometimes. I love and miss you all and thank you so much for the support and prayers. I need all I can get! I love this work so much and I wouldnt want to be anywhere else. Looking back on even the day I entered the MTC to now, I can see such a difference and the list of the things I have learned is SO long. I love this gospel with all my heart and I know it is true!! Missions are the best!! I love you all!

 

Love, Zuster Brophy

A week full of Adventures!

Hello Family and Friends-

 

This week has been such a crazy one!! Lots of teaching, visiting the ER, parties, you name it!

 

This past Tuesday, it was early in the morning and my companion was in the shower. I was out in the kitchen just folding some laundry waiting for the bathroom when all of a sudden the door opens and I hear Zuster D scream, and then before I know it she is falling to the ground and hits her face and head on the door across the hallway. I seriously dont think I have ever ran so fast in my life and my adrenaline has never been that high Im pretty sure. Im thinking to myself "Is she dying?!?" For a second she is so out of it she isnt even talking to me so I am just down right FREAKING OUT. Turns out, she barely had eaten any food at all the day before so her stomach was completely empty and she passed out. So that day started off interesting.

 

The next day, Wednesday, we got up and started knocking on doors in the morning like normal and Zuster D thinks she has a broken nose from hitting her face. So we call Zuster Robinson and our ward mission leaders wife and we take a nice long 4 hour trip and visit to the Emergency Room in Belgium! Cross that one off my bucket list! Luckily there was no fracture or brake, so she just got some good pain pills and everything was fine! What I learned from that? Eat food.

 

We get to go to the Temple this week and I am SOOOO excited! It is about a 4 hour train ride up to Den Haag from Gent so we are leaving tomorrow night and traveling all the way up to Gouda, another city in Holland, so we dont have to travel in the morning. It will be a full day but I am so so excited! I have missed the temple. This past Sunday President and Zuster Robinson came down and spoke in our branch and they did such a good job. It is always so fun to see them! Ena, our golden investigator is still set for November 9th for her baptism and we are so excited. Her parents fly in from Mexico this coming week so they will beable to come and everything. We had an amazing dinner appointment with her and member and her husband as well. We had some really great chats and she is SO ready! We only have 2 more things to teach her. We met another couple last week named Frans and Rosietta. They live just a little bit outside of Ghent and they are fantastic! Frans came to church yesterday and he really wants to turn his life around and have a relationship with God in his life so we are really excited about his future. Also, I will be finally going to the doctor this week for my heel so I am hoping that everything is okay and it is a simple fix!

 

Thank you all for your love and support! I can feel all of your prayers helping me in the bad and good times and I am so grateful for them! I love this gospel and I know it is true. I have the BEST job in the world!

 

Love, Zuster Brophy

I get to stay in Ghent another transfer!! :)

Hello Friends and Family-

 

Well we got transfer calls this morning and it looks like I will be in Ghent for another transfer with Zuster Djoukeng so that should be fun!! I didnt really want to leave this city quite yet so I am excited!

 

This week has been a great one! We visited a lot of our investigators and taught lots of lessons! The weather is really turning into winter I feel like. There was a really bad storm yesterday and it was freezing and raining and windy! It was an adventure knocking on doors and all of that good stuff. Yesterday at church was SO amazing!! We had 3 investigators at church. Ena came (she is the one who is getting baptized on November 9th) with her two kids and her sister-in-law, Anna came as well for her first time so that was soo great to see, and Didier (he was a referral we had that we met with, gave him a book of mormon, and explained a little bit about it) and he came to church as well! It was a fantastic sunday! we also had fast and testimony meeting and everything was geared to what our investigators needed to hear! It was amazing!

 

We also found a new investigator named Nikole knocking on doors in a little town called Astene. She is a medium and can read auras I guess? so that was really fun and interesting! She is very open to our message and we have another appointment with her on Tuesday so I am super excited about that! I love this work and gospel! It is so amazing how much I love these people and love seeing them see a change in their lives! It truly is amazing! I love and miss all of you dearly! thank you for your prayers and support!

 

Love, Zuster Brophy

Me, Zuster Kohler, and Zuster Rigdon with our chocolate milk in Antwerpen Centraal. I love these girls so much!

Chocolate castle in Brussels.

At the Geens for General Conference. Madison loves them to pieces!

All 5 Ghent missionaries...

Elder Corsini, Elder Rudolph, Elder Wiscombe, Me, and Zuster Djoukeng 

I love my Mission!! And General Conference!!

Hello Friends and Family-

 

This week has been such a great one! Holy cow I am just amazed at what this gospel and everything does for us! General Conferece was SOO good and I literally just want to watch it over and over and over again! I hope all of you got the chance to watch it. :)

 

So this past week was so busy and crazy! So I went on Exchanges with Zuster Kohlhert in Antwerpen this past week and we had soo much fun. There is only 6 sisters in the whole country of Belgium for my mission, so when we do exchanges we usually are all together and end up going and doing something fun. It was Zuster Israelsons "year mark" so we went to Antwerpen Centraal and got some Chocolade Melk. (Idk what it is about the chocolate milk over here, but it is SOOO much better than the ones in the states.) I also had the chance to have some spanish lessons in Antwerpen from a member of the ward and so that was fun. Might as well just keep adding to the list of languages I know right? Dutch, Flemish, French, English, and now Spanish. Haha

 

Ena is still progressing beautifully! She is inviting her family and her huband and friends to church which is referrals for us so we are super happy about that. She is so strong and ready to get baptized!! I cant wait for that day. We went and got some yummy ice cream with her and her two kids for lunch one day and it was such a blast. We also found a new investigator, Cory this past Saturday. We found her door knocking right outside the centrum of Ghent. She smokes, is alone, and basically just has no self worth for herself. She apparently had a son, who is now 26 years old, but has no contact with any of her family or him. She has told us she sees no point and living and doesnt know where to turn now. She really is one of those people that is described in the scriptures as a "lost sheep". But we have seen her every single day so far and have taught her the first section of the first lesson, that god is our loving heavenly father and loves and knows every single one of us. She prayed out loud for the first time and it was SUCH a strong, spiritual experience. I will never ever forget. She started crying and took my hand and just kept saying "thank you thank you". It was so cool! I am so excited to really help her and be there for her and show her what this gospel can do for her in her life. I already love her so much and I barely know her!! Its amazing how that works.

 

It is still GREAT weather for Belgium right now! It is hardly raining, a little chilly, but still not too bad. There has actually been a couple of days where I took my coat off because it was so hot. I am counting my blessings and hoping it stays like that for awhile longer. I have a feeling winter is just going to come with a big bang though one of these days!

 

We have temple conference coming up in two weeks and I am SOOO excited to be able to go to the Den Haag Tempel!! I have missed the sweet spirit that comes from the temple so much. I cant wait to tell all of you about it. Get to the temple!! You are all so lucky to live so close to so many. When you go to the temple- you literally go home. There is no truer statement. Make it a pritority! it is the best thing in the world!! Can I just say I absolutely love my mission? No greater feeling comes than that of watching this gospel literally change peoples lives. It is thee best feeling in the world and I am convinced I have the best job ever. I have the greatest mission president who loves and directs this work, along with his sweet wife. I just love them to pieces and am so grateful for everything they do for us. I love this gospel with all my heart and wouldnt want to be doing anything else!! Transfer calls are this upcoming Sunday so we will see if I stay or if I go :)

 

I love and miss all of you so much!! You are all the best!!

 

Love, Zuster Brophy