You are loved‏

You are loved, individually and perfectly, by a Father in Heaven. He created this whole earthly experience for YOU, so that you could learn and grow and become who He knew you could become - someone magnificent and powerful and perfect. He knows exactly what will bring you the most happiness.

Do you believe that? Do you honestly believe that not only God exists but that He is your Father? 

This knowledge has helped me overcome so many struggles throughout my life. Knowing that there is someone BETTER and WISER and STRONGER than me who not only loves me but is cheering for me has helped me pick myself back up from the lowest of lows. He's real, He's here, and He loves you.

I have seen this love changed thousands of lives - but more specifically and personally, the lives that I am surrounded by every day.

This week we met a lady named Kerey. She was a former investigator of the sisters in Le Mars, but when the sisters got taken out of that area, there was no one to visit her. While we were talking to a lady in one of the wards about people she might know that would be willing to hear our message, she gave us Kerey's number. 

We called her up and set up an appointment that day. It was amazing. We walked into this old woman's house, full of little trinkets and the smell of cigarette smoke, and sat down at her table, where her Book of Mormon was placed. She opened up to us, with gratitude pouring out of her, as she told us of her adventure with the missionaries.

Her love for the missionaries was so evident, and through tears she practically begged us, "Don't forget about me, don't forsake me. I need the spirit you all carry. I can feel it when you are near."

That moment changed me.

Moments like that happen all the time. As I saw the hand of the Lord working on our area this week, I was changing. We tried several different former investigators, looking for those prepared by God. We ran into a lady named Noelia, who welcomed us into her house with open arms. We sat and talked and met her children. Her daughter Gracie was enthralled as I shared my simple testimony of the Savior and how through Him, we can be saved. 

Later in the week, we sat with a 16 year old young woman, who just sobbed as she asked us, "Why? Why is my life like this? Why can't I just have a normal life?!" The only words I could muster without shedding tears of my own were words of our Savior, Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. I was filled with that love, the love I mentioned earlier, in such a pure and obvious way. I felt God's love for His daughter. I felt it.

Yeah, this life is hard. Yeah, being a missionary is really difficult. But it's worth it. This life is worth it, being a missionary is worth it. Because miracles happen all the time. All the time. If you can't see them, take a step back. Only through our struggles and difficulties can we recognize the blessings. We can't grow without pain.

If you are doubting the existence of God, I plead with you to not give up now. Hold on. Because His love is real, I know it is. It has changed me, and it changes every person I meet every single day. 

You are loved - and never, ever forgotten.

xoxo

Hermana Brie Gould

Road Trips‏

So you may or may not know this about me, but I love a good road trip. And this week, we went on a couple three. We had a lot of potential investigators and formers, as well as some less-actives that we wanted to go visit, so we traveled to the distant lands of Orange City and Le Mars. Turns out, Orange City was founded by Dutch humans so the whole city is like stepping into Holland - it's adorable. And then Le Mars is the ICE CREAM CAPITAL so obviously I enjoyed my time there.

But driving through good ol' Iowa was beautiful. I had so much time to think and reflect on the last year of my life. This life is something amazing, gosh I just love it.

This week was just filled with ups and downs and backs and forths and everything! We actually had a baptism planned on Saturday and then he backed out. It was super disappointing, but I felt at peace about it. I knew it would all be okay.

We saw some incredible miracles though - we met with investigators we hadn't seen in forever and got in with several less-actives. One in particular was Rosa, who has been meeting with the sisters for a few months. She had been reading from the Book of Mormon while she was in Mexico for the holidays but accidentally left it there! So she asked us for another one as well as asked us when church was so she could come. Like tiny miracles, right? But so significant. I can't tell you how many times I have tried getting someone to read the Book of Mormon and come to church so they can know for THEMSELVES the truthfulness of our message. It's amazing when someone actually does it... lol

Life is just going great. There are only 2 weeks left in the transfer! I'm almost at my year mark! What is happening! Time needs to slow down...

Can I just tell you? God is so good. Like seriously, so good. As I have experienced so many different things, met so many different people, I am so aware of how deeply He is involved in the details of our lives. He knows us, and more so, He loves us. Despite our mistakes, despite our errors, despite our limited understanding. He loves us - perfectly and wholly, and it's amazing.

xoxo

Hermana Brie Gould

ps I just found out that one of the families I taught in Omaha is getting sealed in the temple IN APRIL! AHH! Crying tears!

Pure in Heart

So so sooo soooos sosoos s this week was GREAT!

This week, we went on exchanges with the sister training leaders, and I was left in Sioux City with Sister Jensen! Man, was that nerve-wracking. I am just barely starting to feel comfortable with the city, I kind of know where people live... haha so it was interesting! 

But God doesn't call the qualified, He qualifies those He calls, am I right!?

We had made a goal to talk to everyone we possibly could and to find a new investigator family. We planned according to those goals, and honestly, we just prayed for some miracles. 

As we headed to our first appointment at an assisted living home, I tried to think of how we could teach a significant lesson during our short 30 minutes we had. We said a prayer that we would be able to, and then headed inside. We were talking to the activities director, Susie, about what we could do to help. She was distracted by her computer not working, so she asked us "young folk" to help her figure it out haha as we were working on her computer, we somehow started talking about life after death. She told us that a friend of her just recently passed and that her daughter was struggling to live right now. But she said something amazing, she said, "You know, though.. I know that there is life after this. There has to be." We instantly recognized the truth of the gospel that she highlighted and bore testimony on. We took it and ran. We promised her that yes, it is possible to see our loved ones again, and that only through Christ is that even possible. It was amazing - God provided a way for us to teach His daughter in one of the most unplanned settings. So incredible.

Later that night, we had another great lesson with Yaretd, one of our newest investigators. It was all in Spanish, and as Sister Jensen can't speak or understand Spanish, I was flying solo. But like I've experienced so many times before, God made it work.

The best part was dinner. We made our way to the Lagunas' house for dinner - a less-active family in our branch! They are the sweetest, really just such great people. As we were sitting and talking and helping make dinner, we heard a knock at the door. Turns out, they had invited their friend, Margarita, and her family over for dinner. We 5 adults sat at the table while all the kids played and somehow turned the conversation into a beautiful teaching experience. Margarita opened up to us about some of her fears, and we were able to help her as we bore testimony of the Savior and His atonement. It was amazing to hear the testimonies of Hermana and Hermano Lagunas as they shared their conversion stories with their good friend. At the end of the night, we had an appointment set up with Margarita and her family!

A-maz-ing. God answers prayers! All He requires is effort and faith and a pure heart. He wants us to be putting Him first, and in turn, He will be with us, stand by us, and support us. 

I recently read this scripture in Psalms, chapter 46, and I fell in love.

God is in the midst of her; she shall not be moved.

I will always strive to be this woman - to be so pure, so diligent, so full of love for Him that I will not be moved.

xoxo

Hermana Brie Gould

pictures: game night and Roscaaaa! We found a baby in some Mexican sweetbread. so.

Whole Again

What an incredible life. I am constantly overwhelmed by the goodness of God. Never have I been apart of so many miracles... I never want this to end!

This week we ended on a high note - 5 new investigators and 7 baptismal sets - which is A WHOLE LOT for us.

We met a family - Jose and Julia. They are a great family of 5. The sisters had a lesson with them before I first got here, but there wasn't too much progression with them. They were actually thinking of dropping them. When I first got here, we taught them a lesson all about the Book of Mormon, and I left that lesson feeling edified and uplifted. It was an amazing lesson - they were so receptive and just kept wanting to learn more.

We went back a week later, finding that they had kept the commitments that we had given them and were wanting to learn more. As we talked about baptism, Jose told us that he wanted to be baptized, and he wanted to be baptized as a family. He wanted to come to church, to keep studying, and keep learning. He knew he needed to repent before he could be baptized. It was amazing to sit there and hear all that he had to say. The spirit was so strong. We left their little trailer on cloud 9. 

The following Friday, we had invited them to a scripture study class we were having at the church. While we were weekly planning, we were all worrying about whether or not they would come. Sad to say, but we were pretty doubtful. We then got a call from Jose, which dropped as I said hello. He then sent a text a couple minutes later saying, "Ya llegue pero nadie esta aqui." I'm here buy nobody else is. I ABOUT LOST IT. We were scrambling around the whole house, grabbing our jackets and our pulling on our boots! We rushed to the church where we met Jose and his whole family, including his aunt! We played basketball for awhile as we waited for more people to show up... and nobody did :( BUT BUT BUT God is still good and compensated for the lack of people. Turned out, the bishop from another ward was there with his family, cleaning the church, and he spoke Spanish! We took the family on a church tour and then ended with a scripture class.

At the end of the night, I was exhausted. We didn't have the class planned, but Sister Castagnola and I got up and taught about Christ's church, the power of the Priesthood, and the apostasy. It was an amazing feeling, standing at the front of the class, feeling the gift of tongues work through me. We had studied the topics earlier that week so we weren't as unprepared as we thought.

Something that I've been thinking a lot about is how Christ heals us. He makes us whole. I know that I am weak, that I am so imperfect, that I make mistakes every single day. But as I kneel down and pray to have the Atonement work and fix the mistakes so that others will be blessed despite my imperfections, I can feel Christ. I can sense His love working through me. 

He makes us whole, again and again and again. Why? Because He loves us. Because He cares for us. Because we are His family.

This isn't some scam that we are going door to door trying to sell. We aren't trying to convince you of something, trying to baptize you to up our numbers. Heck no, that's not what this is about.

This is about Him. This about being eternally happy. This is about being whole.

This is about change for the better.

If you don't believe me... welp.. you better cuz it's true.

GOD LOVES YOU SO MUCH.

So do I :)

xoxo

Hermana Brie Gould