Craziest Week of my Life!!

Ohhh my good goodness this week was the longest, shortest, craziest week of my entire life with transfers and everything else going on! Big news, I actually have two companions Zuster Gallego and Zuster Meiers! Zuster Gallego is going home and completing her mission in 2 weeks and then it will be back to just the two of us. It has been a total blast and I love both of them to death. They both came down from northern Holland and Zuster Gallego is 32 years old and lives in Aruba and Zuster Meiers is 20 and from West Valley City. She was joking and said that Dad probably had given her multiple tickets for speeding. haha We have been having a blast together so far and I am so excited for this transfer.

 

We had a great Thanksgiving Dinner with some members last Thursday and it was a REAL American Dinner. Potatoes, Turkey, cranberry sauce, etc etc. It was amazing! This transfer is nothing but full of Holidays and we have appointments to be somewhere for every single one and more so I am really really excited. Zuster Meiers is the Sister Training Leader so we will be doing lots of traveling back and forth from Holland and different things all the time and I am really excited to be able to meet lots of the other sisters in this mission. I have been told that being the companion of the Sister Training Leader is kind of like being an "undercover sister training leader" So i am pretty excited.

 

We have had a really great productive week! Our ward mission leader has this website where people can request Joy to the World DVD's and Books of Mormon and so far just in Gent we have received 42 referrals. So between us and the Elders we are BUSY. We have 14 we need to contact within the next two days and I am so excited to see what comes out of it. It is so cool to sit and watch this branch grow so much. Broeder Geens knows the right way to do missionary work and It is just on fire. We will be having a zone conference (The Christmas Dinner) next week up in Amsterdam and Elder Texeria of the 70 will be speaking to us. I am sure it will be sooo great! That is also when  we will all get our Christmas Packages. Update on my foot, It is still giving me problems but I am just trying to rest, ice, and use those essential oils I got. I am praying it works! Zuster Robinson got some pictures of it from me and sent it to a specialist to get his opinion, she said if the swelling and things dont start going down within the next week after I have been taking 600mg of Ibprofun 3x per day then we are looking at something more serious. So we will see! It has just been an adventure! Thank you all for your prayers and support! I love you all so much!

 

Love, Zuster Brophy

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