Well....Gent gets me for a whole THIRD of my mission!! :) :)

Hello Family and Friends-

 

Well we found out transfers and I get to stay in Gent again and I am so soooooo happy! I wanted to be here for Christmas and New Years so bad. We already have plans for all of the holidays with members and I seriously cannot even wait. I also get a new companion and her name is Zuster Meyers!!! she was also called as the Sister Training Leader! I am so excited. I have met her once before at Temple Conference last month and she seems like such a fun nice girl! Life is good :) Unfortunately Elder Corsini is leaving Gent after two transfers and we all were balling with the Geens (our ward mission leader) last night. Transfers are always so bittersweet. We still dont know where my companion is headed to but we will find out very soon!

 

Also an update on my health- turns out I may be going to the doctor/ER AGAIN today. :( My tendonitis is getting lots worse in my right heel and starting in my left. This past week my whole foot has also started hurting. Yesterday we were at church and one of our investigators called us and was outside but couldnt find the church building so me and my companion ran outstide super fast and down the street. I knew that wasnt a good idea because I am not suppposed to be running but I didnt even think about it really. Afterwards I was sitting in Sacrament meeting and my right foot was giving me SO much pain. Especially in the joint that connects your big toe to your foot? if that makes sense? I took some pain killers and just watched it thinking It was just irritated. Over the day it got to the point where I couldnt really walk, got super blue and purple, and super swollen. Now we are thinking I may have snapped a tendon or possibly a stress fracture due to the tendonitis and the amount of walking I do. I got a priesthood blessing from my fantastic ward mission leader at church and its not looking too good but we are hoping everything will be ok. I will keep you all posted soon. But that is the great update! I am offically walking around in slippers and sunday clothes with lots of pain killers because nothing else works. :)

 

We had a great week here in Gent! Belgium saw its first snow fall as well! It is just always super super cold and wet but i am learning to love it! We had Zone Training on Thursday and it was AMAZING! Antwerpen zone has the most amazing zone leaders. We reinacted Daniel and the lions den in a live play and I got one of the main roles so my great acting skills had to come out and it was really interesting to say the least but I had a blast. It was Zuster Djoukengs 21st birthday this past Saturday so me and her woke up and I made her a little breakfast and wrote notes and then we went over to IKEA for a bigger breakfast. I planned this whole day for her but decided to keep it a surprise. So I invited the Elders and Broeder and Zuster Geens to dinner and we went to this chinese wok place in Gent and it is DELICIOUS. I have never had better Chinese food before in my life. We had cake and ice cream and had such a great time together. Lots of laughs and memories :)

 

Didier received the Priesthood yesterday and it was such an amazing experience! He is so on fire and I am so proud of him and all the progress he is making. Ena is still in the same place. We are trying to work with her on setting another baptismal date. The Elders have found....no joke.....30 new investigators these past 2 weeks!!! So we are splitting it 50-50 and each taking 15 which means we are in for some of the busiest weeks of our lives but I cannot even wait. We have been doing lots of door knocking as well and we found 6 new people in one night that all want books of mormon so we will hopefully be delivering all of those this week if I can start walking again. I love missionary work and Gent is seriously on fire....this whole mission is on fire!! I cannot wait for this next transfer to see what the adventure brings! This gospel is true and I know that our Heavenly Father is mindful of us no matter what the circumstance. I know that he is trying to just see how strong my faith is and I am trying my best to be strong and trust in the lord that everything will be ok and I will be able to finish out my mission for the next year. I love and miss all of you so much and thank you for your prayers and support. I will keep you all updated! I love missionary work! And HAPPY THANKSGIVING! I will be gettting two full thanksgiving dinners in Europe! I am spoiled!

 

Love, Zuster Brophy

I LOVE my Mission!!

Hello Family and Friends-

 

This past week was so so amazing!! We had stake conference in Antwerpen Saturday night and then in Brussels Sunday night and I just loved every single second of it. We have an amazing stake in northern Belgium and I love it so much.

 

All is well with Didier after being baptized. He is seriously SO awesome already and doing missionary work just like he has been a member for years. We went over to his house this last week and he went into the other room to get his scriptures, and then just came back with another friend! I was dying of happiness! He also came to stake conference (both sessions) and loved it. We had Elder Adler come and speak and he would be speaking in English and then someone would be standing right next to him and have to say it in Flemish so that took awhile but it was really interesting and he is a great speaker. I can understand all of what is being said and pretty much go up to any person and start a converstaion with them in FLEMISH. I still have no idea how  that has  happened in 5 and a half months though. Its so cool! Its definately not me, its the lord :)

 

Ena is still considered one of our progressing investigators. We had President Van Hees come over and we talked to her about the law of tithing and how we can help her talk to her husband etc etc and she said she will be doing that this week so I am really excited to see what comes of it. We are hoping to see her be baptized in December so it should be great. She will be such a great member and the Gent branch really needs her talents and abilities. We also have transfers coming up this next week, and we find out where everybody is headed to this coming Sunday so it will determine whether or not I am in Gen t for Christmas and New Years. I am hoping I stay SOO bad! We have Nicole that is progressing towards her baptismal date in December and she is soo wonderful. She is  a Belgian woman who is 77 but still just has that skip to her step and still babysits grandchildren and everything. She is so so sweet. The only thing for her is coming to church because sometimes she feels good and other days she doesnt so it just depends. But we are working with her and hoping we can figure something out.

 

I seriously love my mission. I love these people, I love Belgium, I love Holland, just everything about it. It has become my second home and it will be SO hard to leave it when that day comes. I know  this gospel is true and that it can change lives. I have seen it come into so many peoples hearts and eyes and it is so cool to see how our savior works. I love this gospel and I am so glad I am out here sharing it with everybody. One thing Elder Adler said to us yesterday at our Brussels stake conference was "what the lord gives you, is for you to share. And as you share it, he will give you more."I loved that because it is so true! I love all of you and miss you all dearly! thank you for the support and the prayers. You are all the best!

 

Love, Zuster Brophy

Me on a street in Brussels

Here we are in Brugge. All four sisters serving in Belgium

Carriage ride last P-day with the Zone.

I finally saw Elder Elkins in Brussels! It was good to see a familiar face from home!

Being a missionary is hard...but its harder in the winter!!

Hello Friends and Family-

 

It was such an amazing week!!! We had our first baptism with Didier and it was amazing!!

 

Sad story, Ena, our other investigator getting baptized who has been golden basically the past two months decided to not go through with it at the last second right before her baptismal interview! Long story short, I think she kind of got a little scared and since her husband isnt on board with all of this she was scared out of her mind to tell him about the law of tithing. She doesnt work at all so it wouldnt have been an issue but she was nervous to just even tell him. So we are working with her and seeing what we can do in order for her to still be baptized soon. She is so ready there is just that little issue in the way. But Didier was baptized with the Elders investigator, Amparo. It was a beautiful baptism!! It makes all of the hard work we do everyday so worth it!! He is already on board with helping build up the branch and serve others!

 

I ended up going to Brussels this past week again for Zuster Djoukengs legality issues. Me and Zuster Rigdon spent the day literally touring Brussels by ourselves. It is such a gorgeous city and we had SO much fun!! Belgium also had one of the biggest rainstorms in years last week. I am not even kidding...there was not one piece of me dry that night. Haha I looked as if I had taken a shower, and ironically I had left my umbrella on the bus earlier that day so I only had a little hood. The people around me on the street looked concerned. haha but it was kind of funny at the same time. Today in Beligum, its a holiday so nothing is open so we just get to relax today so I am excited for that. My feet are doing well, I actually am starting to get Tendinitis in my left foot as well, so I am trying to watch that. Not too much pain, but definately not fun. Its been an adventure to say the least!

 

I am loving this work! We are finding more and more people everyday to teach. We set a baptismal date for our investigator Nicole for the middle of December and we have 3 other potentials we plan on doing the same thing for :) I am so so excited for them! I love this work and I love being a missionary. It truly is an amazing feeling to watch someone change their lives. The Gospel is true and I love it with all my heart! I love and miss all of you so much!! you are all the best!!

 

Love, Zuster Brophy

Belgium does not mess around with its weather!

Hello Family and Friends-

 

We have had such an incredible week and this week will be even better with TWO BAPTISMS on Saturday!! I am probably going to cry like a little baby and I cannot even wait!

 

We have Didier, a referral we received about a month ago, that is getting baptized this Saturday and Ena as well. They are both so so ready, it amazes me! We are seeing Didier every single day this week except today to teach him all the rest of the lessons. They both come to church every week and are so strong. We are having a little "Mexican Fiesta" type party after for them all because all three of them speak spanish. So Elder Corsini is an amazing chef so he is going to make us all tacos.....if we can actually find those ingredients here in Europe. But nonetheless, I am excited. After being gone for 5 months, that is definately the food I miss the very most. We gave 8 other given lessons this week as well!! That is SO many! Me and my companion actually re counted twice to make sure we were right. We found 5 new people, just knocking on doors, and basically were able to actually go inside and share a little lesson with them. It was incredible! We have also received about 10 referrals in the past two weeks from headquaters and our ward mission leader. Gent is just on FIRE!

 

Utah is not even close to the category of cold comparing it to Belgium. It is SUPER super cold here. I have a feeling we are really starting to round the corner into Winter and the snow will be falling soon. I look like the kid off of a Christmas Story with my coat and scarves on. I might take a picture sometime soon :) but the important thing is I am warm!! My companion has a super nasty cold right now so I am praying I dont get it.

 

I went over to Antwerpen this week with Zuster Rigdon, my sister training leader, and we had so much fun! Antwerpen is a really big, cool city and we go there alot between zone trainings and conferences and exchanges. Today we are going to take a train over to Brugge and spend the day with alot of missionaries in our Zone. Life is hard :) Other than that everything here is really amazing and I love Gent so much. When the day comes that I will leave, I really think I might cry. I thought I will write a short testimony in Flemish just for fun. Ik weet dat deze kerk waar is en dat Joseph Smith een profeet was. Door gebed en Jezus Christus alles is mogelijk. Ik weet dat als wij lezen in de schriften elke dag wij kunnen de geest echt sterke voelen en onze getuigenis groein. Ik houd van dit evangelie en ik ben zo echt dankbaar voor de gelegenheid dan ik heb om een zendeling te zijn. Ik houd van jullie en ik ben dankbaar voor jullie gebed and steuen voor mij. Tot de volgende week!

 

Love, Zuster Brophy