A wedding & A baptism

So... um.. guyss.... *smiling from ear to ear*... GUYSSS.... guess what....

JOSE AND ESMERELDA ARE MARRIED! JOSE IS BAPTIZED!!!!!!!!!!! GOODNESS GRACIOUS GHAHJAHDJLAKSOK!!!!!

I can't even believe it, I am just so happy. So let me tell you all about my weekend :)

We showed up at the church early Saturday morning, to get everything set up and ready to go. When we walked into the church, our ward was already there, setting everything up. They had beautiful flowers and decorations and a chocolate fountain and a pretty arch and lights. I was impressed. And so beyond grateful. A few hours later, the bride and groom show up and their two little boys, Jose and Leo. They were all dressed up, lookin' so adorable! Esmerelda just glowed! She looked so perfect and so happy. Their family was all there, helping set up and getting ready for the ceremony. I will never forget that moment when Hermana Bacy and I walked in with the little boys, hand-in-hand, and saw Jose just bawling up at the front of the room. And then when Esmerelda walked in, he just lost it even more. They embraced, and the ceremony started. It was so beautiful, all of it. We ate food, danced, played crazy Hispanic games, ate cake, and enjoyed each other's company. It was so awesome.

Miracle of the day was Esmerelda's sister. She was there with her 5 kids - she was so friendly to everyone! The bishop came up to me and pretty much told me that he felt the sister was ready to hear the gospel. I was like, "Uhh.. wow ok, brb." SO I went and sat down and just started talking to her! Turns out, 8 years ago she had been taught by the missionaries! She had nothing but good things to say about them. Plus she kept thanking us for all that we had done for Esmerelda and Jose. She was more than willing to invite us over! We'll be seeing her tomorrow! Crazy, right!?

Sunday was the baptism. Of course, there were tons of bumps in the road - like they were late, the font did fill up all the way, the other ward tried to kick us out of the room, etc etc etc - BUT IT HAPPENED AND THATS ALL THAT REALLY MATTERS. Jose was so cute in his baptismal clothing, he was doin' a little jig while he waited haha so funny. As the baptism started, the room was overfilled with members from our ward. Some had to wait outside even! When Jose came up out of the water, it was like all of the stress placed on my shoulders was gone. He was a member. He just made a covenant with his Father. He was clean, he was ready, he was starting fresh. We all wiped tears away as he was confirmed a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. I got choked up when he was promised in his blessing that he would take his family to the temple one day.

As we were driving home on those long, dirt Nebraska roads, it was like I was hit suddenly with a realization that I had just witnessed somebody's life literally change. I was apart of it. I clenched my chest as I fought back tears - I am amazed by God. There is nowhere else I'd rather be. I am so grateful for Jose. His faith and his determination and his willingness has inspired me. Feeling God's love for one of His children is something that I can't explain... but I am so thankful that I have been able to feel it so strongly.

Missionary work is my absolute favorite. I am so happy. God is real. His love is real. His power is real. I know His son, Jesus Christ, is our Savior and Redeemer. I know that through Him, we can find peace and joy and happiness and security. 

I know that my Redeemer lives - what comfort this sweet sentance gives. 

I LOVE THIS LIFE.

xoxo

Hermana Brie Gould

The good life‏

So this week was equal parts crazy and amazing. We were running around, all over the place, watching the Lord work miracles right before our eyes. It was great.

We weren't too sure what was going to happen this week, but we did know one thing: get Esmerelda and Jose ready for baptism. They were our main focus. We ended up planning lessons with specific topics and members we wanted to come along! It was so good. The members came and bore their testimonies and strengthened and encouraged our investigators. Jose is all set and ready to go for baptism THIS weekend! Esmerelda, I'm sad to say, has decided she's not ready so it'll just be Jose getting baptized. But we are so hopeful for the future of this amazing family! We were able to take Jose along with us to stake conference, and it was incredible. The spirit was so strong. He was so attentive the whole time, and at one point, I saw him wiping tears from his eyes. During the last prayer, the brother speaking asked God to bless all of the missionaries and to keep them safe, and Jose grabbed my shoulder and whispered, "Gracias Hermana." In that moment, I swear time just stopped. He wiped a few more tears away, and I silently thanked my Heavenly Father for allowing me to be a part of this incredible human's life. It has been a joy teaching him, and watching him grow every day. It's amazing what God can do with a willing heart. Jose has been more than willing to change, to be better, and to be the best father and husband he can be. He has born his testimony to us several times - he knows it's only through our Savior Jesus Christ that he can be healed, sanctified, and purified. Ah, just so grateful.

This week we were also able to find 3 new investigators! We were out tracting one day, and we ran into a Myra. She told us about her love and faith in Jesus Christ, to which we just beamed. We taught her the 4-minute version of the Restoration and asked her if we would be able to come back. We will be seeing her this week! We also got a referral for a lady named Theresa, who works with her husband out on a horse ranch. We were able to drive out to the ranch, admire the horses from afar, and teach this amazingly strong woman the Restoration of the gospel of Jesus Christ. As we talked, she shared with us her desires to help her young family be centered in God. I could just feel her love for her family as she lovingly rocked her little baby in her arms.

I just love people. All of 'em.

We were also able to reconnect with a lot of less active families! We will be visiting them this week as well. I love being a missionary - all we do is go around serving people and inviting them to come unto Christ. It's the best. It's the good life.

Transfers are next week! I feel at peace with whatever will happen. Who knows what the Lord has in store, but I sure have loved Omaha. I have learned a great deal about myself, about this life, about the gospel, and about my Savior and Heavenly Father. I wouldn't trade these last 7 months for anything.

I love you all so much! Make it a great week :)

xoxo

Hermana Brie Gould

PHOTO ALBUM: Hello Fall!

 The Rodriguez Family!

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And a little fun at a Vala's Pumpkin Patch today.

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Gotta love the Book of Mormon, am I right? :)

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Me encanta ser mormona‏

So I'm going to be completely honest, nothing really exciting happened this week. I was hit in the face by the Spirit, and I was reminded that I have less than a year left to hurry up and learn the language. So that was fun. (And very much needed, I know).

This week we were able to go to the temple AGAIN, and it was so good. As I was there, a sense of peace just completely overcame me, and I knew I was where I was supposed to be. I'm doing what God needs me to do. I've always struggled - especially more so on the mission - with balancing how to be humble with how to be confident. Through much prayer and study, I have come to this conclusion: Humility and confidence in the Lord go hand in hand. When you are humble enough to rely on him and realize that everything comes from him, then you gain confidence that you can do all things with the Lord. When you witness the hand of the Lord in your life, it gives you confidence. However, you have to be humble to be able to recognize the miracles that happen each day to receive that witness and confidence. As we were driving away from the temple, it really hit me how true that all is. I recognize fully that I am weak, but I'm not hopeless. I have come to better understand the role of my Savior in my life, and that has been a priceless journey.

We were able to visit with some really awesome members, like Hermana Bernal, the Montanez familia, and the Dallon familia. It's been really cool learning so much from all of these members, they have some of the coolest conversion stories. And helping some of them come back to church, to remember those amazing stories of conversion, has been really neat. There's nothing better than seeing the Spirit work on somebody's heart, it's special.

Transfers are in 2 weeks, and we're all kind of freaking out. Even the members! They all think I'm leaving, dangit. We'll see what the Lord has in store! There are 2 new Spanish sisters coming out, which is awesome! No new hermanas have come out since ME! So it'll be nice not to be the baby anymore :) 

Other than all of that, things are going well. We're still working with Esmerelda and Jose, getting them ready for baptism at the end of this month. Lots of work, lots of prayers, lots of faith. I can't even describe how exhausted we are every day, but it's good. Just means we're workin' hard :) Man I love this work. The gospel of Jesus Christ is incredible.

He visto tantas bendiciones en mi vida de viviendo el evangelio. Tengo mas confianza an mi mismo como una hijo de Dios. Yo se quien soy. Trato a ayudar todos los demas saber su potential tambien porque todos tenemos algo para ofrecer. Todos tenemos talents y somos hijos amados de Dios. Me encanta ser mormona.

Les quiero muchisimo!

xoxo

Hermana Brie Gould

PHOTO ALBUM: Our zone at the temple!

Revelation‏

So last week, we were told that our mission president had received revelation that every mission companionship could have one baptism in the month of September. We both scratched our heads, thinking who was possible prepared to be baptized so soon. The only two progressing investigators we had were set for October! So of course, we went to our Father. We prayed fervently and often that we would find more people to teach, those who were being prepared, and those whose hearts would be open to our message. We prayed and asked that our area would be blessed. We fasted and really worked to try and find people.

We ended up getting 4 new investigators, with 2 more referrals, and several other potential investigators who are now interested again.

Have miracles ceased? Nay.

Last week, we went to go visit a family in our ward who we hadn't seen at church for sometime. We ended up meeting one of their really good friends, Justo. He was very much surprised that I could Spanish (literally no one believes me that I can speak Spanish. They usually ask me about 3 or 4 times.. "Wait, really? So you like, speak Spanish.." Yes, dangit. Gift of tongues, everyone.) So anyway, Justo was getting up to leave when he just stopped and asked us what our religion was all about. That opened the door to about an hour long discussion about our beliefs and some of our teachings. It was so cool to hear the members sharing their testimony. It was very much guided by the spirit, and we were able to set up another time when we could come visit! He wanted a Book of Mormon right there and the address to the church! So neat. And so very obvious that he was prepared by God.

So another new investigator was Jose. Karen and Jose have been in our records a couple times, but I had never met them. All I knew was that Karen spoke ONLY English and that Jose spoke ONLY Spanish, but that they had been married for 15 years. I wanted to know their secret, I mean come on! That's some strong love right there! Haha so this last Saturday, Sister Bacy and I split up for a couple hours. I was able to go to the temple, and she went with some other sister missionaries. They ended up visiting Karen and Jose! Coincidence? I think not! We were able to visit them again yesterday, and we talked to Jose! He is one of the cutest little old men, he's 60 years old with this huge glasses and big ears, oh my gosh, adorable. We talked for almost 2 hours, about so many different things. It was really cool to be able to see him open up. He was so grateful that he had people to talk to in Spanish! He told us how much he loved his wife, and when we told him about the temple and about eternal families, his eyes just lit up! It was adorable! He asked us to come back as soon as possible! Haha he's so excited to come to church and keep learning. We left their house just feeling so happy.

I think I can finally say I'm adjusted to being a missionary. This is my life now! Putting on the tag every morning is apart of me. I love being able to feast upon the words of Christ every day, and then go out and share what I knew and cherish. It's such a blessing, and I'm realizing that more and more every day. It's an incredible work and to be just a tiny part of it is a privilege and an honor.

We have so much faith that we can find someone to be baptized this month! Of course we can, anything is possible with the Lord.

I love you all!!

xoxo

Hermana Brie Gould

PHOTO ALBUM: BYU played Nebraska, in case you didn't know

BYU played Nebraska, in case you didn't know, and it was craziness. So this is us on GAME DAYYYAAAYYY!

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