Becoming the Best in Brussels, Belgium

Bonjour tout le monde!

Well, sorry again for my incredibly short email last week.  It was a hectic day.  Well, I made the 1 hour trip to Bruxelles on Wednesday and met up with my new (old) companion, Soeur Mataalii!  It was a bittersweet time on Monday and Tuesday.  It was crazy trying to make sure the apartment was prepared for the new sisters coming in.  Luckily I'm not too far from them.  It was also super sad to see Soeur Hunsaker leave, but I couldn't help but smile when I saw Soeur Mataalii for the first time as my new companion.  Life has been hectic from then on out, though.  We helped the sisters at Strombeek on Wednesday, and on Friday, we headed down to Paris for a all-day meeting.  But it was wonderful.  Our leaders really are so inspired.  It's so easy to see and feel the love that President and Soeur Poznanski have for not only the missionaries, but also everyone that we teach and meet.  Soeur Mataalii and I are so excited to work together and see miracles.  In fact, we already have!  We got to church on Sunday, and a member named Frere Casares was already there.  He introduced us to a girl he'd met, named Karolina.  He had literally JUST MET HER ON THE METRO, on his way to church, and had invited her to come, and she DID!  Karolina is from Poland, but is studying in Bruxelles, she speaks french well. At first, she was a little confused about church, but we explained what we do, and she really liked it.  We exchanged numbers, then she had to leave right after sacrament meeting.  Then, an hour later, ANOTHER polish person walked in.  It was a member, who happened to be visiting, and wanted to stop by.  Her name was Ola.  We were like, "What are the chances that another Polish girl would come into the church?  Coincidence?  I think not!"  We tried to call Karolina and organize a way to stop by quickly after church with Ola (Ola had to leave about 30 minutes after church to catch a train), but unfortunately, Karolina didn't answer.  For one minute, I was bummed out, wondering why we were so close to having a crazy awesome miracle, only to have Karolina not answer her phone.  Then I heard a tall blond boy walk over and start talking to Ola in Polish.  I was confused.  He then turned to me and said, "Hi, I'm Ethan, I'm from Pennsylvania.  I served my mission in Poland.  Last week was my first week in the ward, I'll be living here for the next 3 months."  I was like, "What the?!?!"  How many Polish people are going to walk into my life in one day?!  So, Ola had to leave, but because of her, we met Ethan, who, of course, is MORE than excited at the thought of teaching someone with us.  Miracles are everywhere!

             I love you all!

                      Passez une bonne semaine!

                                   Soeur Bracken

I'm MOVING!!

Bonjour tout le monde!

 I'm sorry, I don't have any time, sorry I'm lame.  Soeur Hunsaker and I had quite a surprise last night.  I got a phone call from President-  I'm being moved to Brussells to be a Sister Training Leader!  I'm SO sad to be leaving my dear Charleroi, and all the craziness it contains, but I am excited to be serving in Bruxelles, and my companion?  Soeur Mataalii!  What the?!  It's also sad, because President also said that Soeur Hunsaker would also be moving, so we're being whitewashed out!  So, we have a lot of stuff to do today and tomorrow.  Well, aside from that, it's been a great/normal week.  I love you all!

                 Soeur Bracken

Christel and Forgive are the best recent converts ever!

Hello everyone!

Sœur Hunsaker and I have been doing a lot of finding this past week.  Here is a cool experience.  We decided to pass by one of our member's houses, Sangeeta, last week.  We shared a quick message, asked her if she had any ideas where we could maybe contact some Young families, and had a prayer.  She said she didn't know, but then, as soon as I finished the prayer, her head popped up, and she told us that there might be some Young families a few Streets over.  So off we went.  After a few houses, we knocked on a door, where a woman answered.  Her name was Sabrina.  She told us that she had believed in God, but due to the loss of 3 people in the past 10 months, she wasn't so sure anymore.  We asked if we could share a message that would help bring her peace, and she said we could come back.  We came back yesterday, and she told us she was busy getting ready for work, but she still wanted to meet with us, so we fixed a rdv for this Friday.  We had a quick prayer and let her get back to getting ready.  I have a very peaceful feeling when I think about Sabrina, and I'm very excited to go back.  I also had some cool expériences this week with our recent converts.  The first is when we visited Forgive.  She told us how she and her brother Daniel had gone to Church for all three hours, and how she had given the prayer in her Sunday School class.  She talked about how scared she was, but that she did it anyway, and felt very good afterwards.  She says that sometimes at school, she'll pull out her Book of Mormon and read.  The other experience came yesterday, during our Sunday School class.  Christel talked about how when her daughter, Laura, was born with some mental problems, she thought it was such a burden in her life.  But then, after Learning about the gospel, she has come to realize how much of a blessing it is to have a daughter who she knows will inherit the celestial kingdom, and how pure and innocent she is.  After both of these expériences, I was just overcome with the spirit, and with so much love for these people.  Really, Forgive and Christel are just so amazing, and I'm so excited and honored to be a part of their lives. 

   A missionary from Charleroi 1 came home this week, so that was fun, but also weird.  His name is Kevin.  Seeing the entire ward be excited for his homecoming was a slightly unpleasant reminder these same circumstances lay not in the distant future for me.  Kevin served in the Washington DC north mission.  I asked him if he knew Hailey Wankier, and he said, 'Yeah!  She was in two Districts with me!'  Haha, small world.  Well, I love you.  Search the scriptures, they will change your life!

         Avec amour,

               Sœur Bracken

Everyone loves Zone Conference!

Bonjour tout le monde,

Sœur  Hunsaker and I have been doing a lot of finding this week, which is both fun and challenging.  I found a large statue of a pigeon in a store the other day, and have told myself that if I continue to work hard and do my part, that I can buy that for myself.  I have really come to love pigeons are am working towards becoming a crazy bird lady.  This week we had Zone Conference, combined with the Bruxelles Zone.  SO WONDERFUL.  We had interviews with President and Sœur Poznanski, which are always wonderful.  They gave me a nice boost and helped me stay focused on enduring to the end of my mission.  I love them so much.  Sœur Poznanski complemented me on my outfit, I told her after 22 years, I finally learned how to coordinate colors.  And of course, I got to see my friends.  I listed to Sœur McGhie give her 'final testimony', I also listened to Elder Ensign give his.  Elder Ensign asked if he could pyscho-analyze me, which he did.  Turns out I don't do well when I don't feel like I'm in control of a situation, haha, he nailed that on the head.  Also, haha, my super good friend, Elder Hill, came in, sporting red hair.  He accidently dyed it (I have no idea what his original motive was, but I got a good laugh), also also, Elder Stoker, the epitome of a Young, growing, 20 year old boy who is full of enthusiasm and energy, did his part at lunch by eating a whopping 16 pieces of pizza.  16! But the best thing was the spirit, and feeling all the love of our leaders. 

   Sœur Hunsaker and I also went to Lille this past week for Legality!  Hooray!  Haha, we had MORE train problems.  It's absurd, but luckily, all worked out well.  Also, we FINALLY have a working kitchen sink again, after 2 weeks of it not draining.  I could have cried, I was so happy. 

   Our amies are progressing.  Madame Afiwor is looking at the end of this month to get baptized.  Forgive is doing absolutely amazing.  She was the only one in her family that was able to come to Church yesterday, but she told us she plans on coming everyweek.  And she's reading the Book of Mormon.  After she offered a prayer at our RDV last week, I almost became emotional.  I love her so very much, and her family.  The work continues, and I am so blessed to be a part of it.  We are ALL a part of it.  Thank you so much for your love and support. 

    Que Dieu vous bénisse!

               Sœur Bracken

One article can change your entire day!

Hello one and all!

Not much has gone on this week (ok, well, of course, a lot has gone on, but nothing too out of the ordinary), but I did have an experience the other day that I want to share with you.  Yesterday morning, I was dead tired.  I wanted nothing more than to go back to sleep, and since it was Sunday, and we don't really exercise in the morning, I was trying to decide what to do.  I was on the couch, kind of falling asleep again, when the thought came to me that I should read an Ensign Article.  At first I tried to dismiss the thought, claiming that it was too early in the morning to do anything, let alone try to focus on an article in the Liahona.  But the thought came again.  Finally, exhasperated, I picked up one of the many Liahonas, and flipped it open.  There was an article from Elder Richard G. Scott that talked about our capacity to make choices, and our responsibility to make good choices.  He talked about the decision to follow Christ, and what it means to simply make the right choice.  It was so powerful!  Seriously, I turned to Sœur Hunsaker, and was just like, "This article is amazing!!!" I know I can't do it justice here, and I don't have the name of the article nor the Liahona from which I got it at hand, but it changed me entire day.  Throughout the entire day, I would think back to that article, and the spirit I felt there, and think about how incredibly simple (yes, albeit hard sometimes, yet nonetheless simple) it is to simply make the 'right choice' during all circumstances.  Obviously, we all slip up, if we didn't we'd be perfect, but that's where repentance comes in.  How amazing is that?!  We can ALWAYS improve.  That's what life is always about!  I love it!  One other quick story.  Elder Fuller is serving here in Charleroi with us.  He is a contacting machine!  He always seems to have someone that he and Elder Stoker have found, and decided that we should have (because she is a single woman or something like that).  Such was the case the other day with a woman named Audrée.  We tried to call her after they gave us her number, but she didn't answer, so we sent a text.  Then a few days later, on the métro, Sœur Hunsaker and I both saw a cute girl in her 20s or so and we both felt the impression to contact her.  But before we had a chance, she came up to us, showing us a text, and asked if it had come from us.  It HAD!  It was Audrée!  She had simply forgotten to text us back, but then, upon seeing us, decided to talk to us.  We had SUCH a great conversation.  We have a RDV next week.  It was such a great miracle.  And Elder Fuller was pretty stoked to hear about it also.  Well,I got to go, the Church is true!  And that's all we need to know!

     I love you!

           Sœur Bracken

Birthdays all around!

Bonjour tout le monde!  J'espère bien que vous avez passé une bonne semaine!  So, this has been a crazy wonderful week for us!  Last Monday evening, Sœur Mataalii and I got to do an exchange together!  Say what?!  SO great.  We laughed and talked about the MTC the entire time (also we did missionary work).  We happened to run into the Elders at the Gare, which was wonderful, because it just so happened to be Elder Fuller's birthday.  We were told we couldn't play games at the ULTRA MEGA FAIR that is in town right now, so I told him I wouldn't be able to win him a prize, but he was touched by the gesture, anyway.  Also, Elder Stoker confided in me that it was his birthday the next Sunday (as in yesterday), so I logged that away in my head for things to remember.  This week consisted of us running around like crazy, trying to get things all sorted out for the baptism on Saturday.  Wednesday had us going up to Liège for District Meeting, and Thursday the Mons Elders came to give the baptismal interview.  Haha, it was Elder Barr's first baptismal interview.  We had told Madame Afiwor that it would probably take all of half an hour for everything.  But... they had some questions during the interviews, and Elder Barr likes to get to know people, so... 3 1/2 HOURS later, all four of us finally left.  We were there FOREVER!!!  After about 45 minutes, Sœur Hunsaker, Elder Willden, and I ran out of things to talk about with Forgive, and then we had to go through the same awkward situation when it was Forgive's turn to be baptized!  We tried not to be disobedient, but Shrek 4 was playing on the TV while we were there (in order to help keep the attention of the little kids there), and we also found our attention be directed over there.  So funny. In the end, we decided to postpone Afiwor's baptism, but move ahead with Forgive's.  It was an absolutely amazing service.  We had been told that there would be no hot water, but then randomly, the day of the baptism, we were told that it was fixed!  The water was almost TOO hot!  The ward members came and were so supportive, they loved the Beignets that Mme Afiwor brought, and were so excited that they would all be able to get together again in a few weeks to celebrate Mme Afiwor's baptism.  Forgive is so cute and was so happy.  She loves the Book of Mormon.  It truly was another birthday, as it was so incredible to Watch Forgive go down into the Baptismal font and be born again.  Here is the picture of us!  I can't think of a better day for my beautiful baby niece, Katherine to be born on!  Now August 17th will be such a wonderful, meaningful day for me.  Also, yes, on Sunday, I saw Elder Stoker and wished him happy birthday.  :)  Well, that is our week.  This week is looking a little calmer, but we're hoping to fix another date with Mme Afiwor and also our amie, Bernadette.  Pray for us!  I love you and pray for you!

        Have a wonderful week!

                     Sœur Bracken

 

 

Bonjour

Hello everyone!
This should be a big week if everything goes as planned. Forgive is almost certainly going to get baptized this weekend.  She's so cute.  I'm a little concerned for Madame Afiwor, though.  She is willing to get baptized, and she keeps the commandments, but because of the language barrier, and lack of reading skills, she is having a hard time acquiring a testimony of the Book of Mormon.  She says she listens as Forgive reads it, but I don't think she really listens, or if she does, she doesn't really understand.  And because of language issues, she has a hard time understanding the importance of the restoration and everything.  Elder Barr will be coming to give them both their baptismal interview this week.  We hope she passes, but I've prepared myself in case we are told she should wait.  It's been hard, I've been praying with all my might over the past couple days that the Lord would help her understand, that He would touch her heart and help her be able to understand that this is true, and what that means.  Then today I had an interesting experience, I was once again praying about this, and during the middle of my prayer, which consisted mostly of, "Please Heavenly Father, help her.  Help her understand.  Help her realize why we have the Book of Mormon, and that it's true.  Help her be ready for baptism.  Just help her.  Bless her with a testimony.  Bless her kids that they will be calm so we can teach her better.  Please, just help her be able to be baptized."  Anyway, it was during the middle of another one of these prayers, that all of a sudden, I thought to myself, "Well, what does Heavenly Father want?  Of course he wants her to be baptized, but He would not want her to be baptized without being properly prepared.  He wants her to be baptized exactly when she needs to be."That didn't give me an exact answer to my prayer, but it helped me to realize that I need to focus less on myself and my wants and more on Madame Afiwor and her needs, and especially more on the Lord, and His will.  Elder Barr will interview them Thursday, and let us know if she's good to go.  If she's not, there may be some reprecussions from the Ward (some of the members tend to overreact to late notice things like this), but I'll know that it's what the Lord wants and that the day she does receive that testimony of Joseph Smith, she'll be able to enter into the sacred waters of baptism to join Forgive.  So, tune in next week to see what happens.

    As for less heavy news, yes, Elder Stoker is here in Charleroi with me!  He replaced Elder Stucki here.  We have seen each other only once so far, but we'll see each other soon.  He's always asking me over the phone, 'What's Crack-a lackin' Sœur Bracken?' which makes me laugh (His trainer would always say that to me, so I'm pretty sure that's where he got it from).  The weather has been crazy here.  We still sleep on the living room/kitchen floor, because we're too scared to tempt the heat up in our loft where our beds used to be (this has been our living situation for about the past 3 weeks).  But now it's starting to cool down just a tad.  Oh, by the way, tomorrow we're doing exchanges, and I will be here in Charleroi with Sœur Mataalii!  I'm so stoked.  I've had a little bit of news from Court, which is great.  Also, some other crazy news, Melanie is going on a mission!  She just got her call.  She is going to Hermosilla, Mexico!  Crazy!  She leaves Dec. 18th.  That reminds, me, I've done a lot of thinking and praying, and I think I'm going to prepare to come home the 11th of December.  So I guess you may plan accordingly.Love you!

             Passez une bonne semaine!

                        Sœur Bracken