WEEK 17!

January 27, 2014

Family & Friends

This week was so CRAZY!!

So Tuesday it started snowing.. I went crazy because I haven't been around snow that much! soo I ran outside and made a snow angel, snow balls, and a snowman. I will send pictures next week! Sorry mom, I wasn't to smart and I had no shoes on in the snow. Now I have a little cold. But it was SOO worth it! haha, but everything here in Elizabeth city shuts down when it snows. NOT JOKING.. haha we had to stay inside Tuesday and Wednesday. We got just about 4 inches. So school was closed, no one had to work, so that is great for missionary work because everyone is at home. But we were not allowed to drive... so we walked.. after that night I think I had frost bite on my nose. I wasn't too cold cause I had layers and layers on, but wow... The snow.. is not for this girl! haha but I love it when I don't have to be outside all day! haha so there were some other Sisters staying with us for that night. It was fun! But then they had to go back to their area so the Mission President gave them permission to drive back. So they left then 5 minutes later they said they got in a car accident. BECAUSE PEOPLE HERE IN ELIZABETH CITY CANT DRIVE. But the roads were very icy and someone came and hit them. They are both okay but then they had to stay another day! The snow finally all melted about on Saturday! But it is so cold and our house is SO old that when it gets to the 30's our heater in our room doesn't work so we pulled our mattresses and are sleeping in the front room haha!

This week for investigators was rough. I talked a little about Shelby but she is so cute, she is 19. I love her! She is living with her fiancé and his family and they are all less active. They all smoke so it doesn't help the situation at all. She has been super busy! She wants to be baptized so bad! She texted us last night and said she needs us and that she is getting kicked out of the house and she hates her life and wants the gospel. At this point we don't even know what to do.. We don't have any control over any members. We want one of the members to take her in but they all can't. It is so sad! I don't even know where to start or do with her! :( I feel so sad because I love her so much! She said after my mission she wants to be friends with me and live with me! haha so cute! but please pray for her...

Last night was so funny! We went to the Young Women's new beginnings and it was so great! I told my bishop I never got my medallion for personal progress even though I did earn it, so in the middle he said I would like to present this medallion for Sister Brugman, she has really grown up the past 3 months. haha everyone started laughing it was so funny!! :) Then he said, I feel  a special bond with her cause I'm a big BYU fan and little did you know I follow her brother! He is so great and went on and on! haha It was so funny!! :)

My favorite little girl in the ward, I've talked about her before, Lilla (Elizabeth), oh my gosh she is the cutest! She is about 5. She reminds me so much of Emmalyn (DIVA) haha we went over and ate at their house. This family is amazing they have 6 kids and are all so cute! So we were eating dinner and Lilla was sitting next to me and said "Sista Brugskin" ( she thinks that is my name haha ) but I said "yes. She said "I think we were sisters in heaven."  I looked at her and she smiled and said "really, do you think so?" I said, "Lilla, yes you are right, we were sisters in heaven."  She looked at me with tears in her eyes and said, "After your mission can you come back here to see me!" Gosh It was so cute! I said, "Of course Lilla! I would love too!!" :) She made my night! At church she came and found me in Relief Society and she came up to me and I said, "I was just about to go find you," and she said, "really? I came in here to come find you!" haha She is so stinkin cute! haha

But this week was crazy, full of fun, spiritual, and crazy moments! I have no doubt in my mind this is where I'm supposed to be! I have never been so happy! For real this mission life is really hard.. but it is the best place I could be! I have never felt so close to our loving Heavenly Father and so comforted in my life! I love this church and this gospel so much!!! I love all you guys!! :)

Hermana Brugman

WEEK 16!

 January 21, 2014

 Family & Friends,

This week was very much needed....

So we had a meeting with our mission president this past week. We have one every 3 months. But I was kind of nervous. haha but the meeting was great! :) My mission president is amazing! He makes you feel like you are worth so much!! He helps you understand more about what our purpose is here on a mission! I love my mission President.
But that night we had an amazing lesson with Shelby. She is one of our investigators.. She is changing right before our eyes. She is 19 years old and LOVES me. haha She always says, "After your mission can we be best friends"!! hah it is so cute! but she had a really hard time understanding the Book of Mormon. I tried to explain to her that it is still hard for me and everyone else in the world. It's scary cause I don't want her to get discouraged. But I have this picture book that we use a lot with her. She is a very visual learner so it helps! But she asked us if she could get a blessing so that she can understand the Book of Mormon better!! Ahh that is the best thing an investigator could ask. haha So we called the elders and they came over!! It was such a cool experience. Then she said she would offer the closing prayer, In the middle of the prayer she started to cry. The spirit was so strong! That was one of the best prayers I have ever heard! She is so amazing!!

Then the next day... MY AMAZING FAMILY sent me a fun package. I Love You all so much! It made my day! Everything was so amazing! :) Thank you so much!! you guys are the best!! That night we just contacted people. When I was getting ready for bed... I was brushing my teeth and my tooth hurt SOOO bad... ahh it was the worst and there was a black spot on my tooth.. Gosh all you know I HATE the dentist.. haha so I called and made an appointment to check my teeth cause I didn't want it to be a root canal or something! So I made an appointment for Friday.. ( I'll get back to the rest later..) haha.

I LOVE the young women.. We go to young women's cause two of our investigators kids go! All the young women.. ALL 5 of them.. haha are great! :) I love our ward so much, every time we go to church a little girl Elizabeth runs up to me and I kneel down and she RUNS.... up to me and hugs me for like 10 seconds! She always wants me to come over to her house and play! haha I love her so much cause it reminds me of my cute amazing nieces and nephews who I miss so much!! :)

So our area is HUGE.. So we drove down to Nags Head, Outer Banks, North Carolina. It is about an hour and a half away and we stay with the sisters that live there. We were there till Monday, It was a LONG weekend there! But there is so much potential there. We met 4 new investigators down there.  It's so hard to find new investigators.... WOW. We had great success there! The members are so nice down there! So I had a dentist appointment that day. I was very nervous cause I didn't have my mom to hold my hand. I hate the dentist so much... But the dentist was Mormon and he was super nice! He numbed me so much...... I felt so drugged after! haha but everything went well! And my tooth is better! I have some good videos and pictures so hopefully one day you can see those! hahaha :)

Monday. P-DAY!!! was amazing!!! :) We had a Zone activity. So everyone drove to Nags Head and we went out to eat at a pizza place! :) Then went over to the church to change into our relaxing clothes haha, then we drove to the dunes.. WOW. It was so amazing and beautiful, we played volleyball, flew kites, and played Frisbee. We started to bury Elder Hart in the sand then Elder Harbertson then Lainhart! It was SOOO funny! Then the sisters tackled me and held me down and buried me.... I was so mad at first cause I had sand.. ALLLLL over me! haha but it was funny then I tackled Sister Hymas and buried her!! it was crazy but so much fun!! I love my life so much! I love that I am here on a mission! I have never been so happy!!! :))
Thank you for everything! I love and miss you all!!!

Hermana Brugman!

 -Jaymee and Hermana Bennett at the beach

 -Burying the Elders in the sand! :)-

 -What a fun Zone activity on PDAY!-

WEEK 15!

 January 13. 2014

Friends & Family,

Well let's just say.... it was freezing cold this week.. I thought I was going to die! haha so Monday night around 3am the electricity went out.... I woke up FREEZING!!!! I woke up and put on 4 pairs of pants and sweats, a scarf, 3 jackets and 2 fuzzy socks!! hahaha It was the worst thing ever! It was off till like 7am... I only had one blanket.. WOW words can't describe how cold it was! haha but then the next day the Elders gave me 3 blankets! :) and I didn't even mention it.  It was 15 degrees outside and during the day it was 18... SO YEAH.. haha but anyways this week was really good! We had a FHE with all the Hispanics!! So that went well!! We had dinner at the Pendleton's, we eat there every Sunday! haha but anyways when Elder Hart and me get together we laugh so hard we cry and choke and laugh.. so something happened and he started choking on his chicken, like really choking and his face was bright red and he was crying! then I started laughing about something he did and I was choking and crying! It was so FUNNY!!!!!!! haha

Our new investigator Shelby! She is English.  We are teaching her because the Elders taught her but she didn't feel comfortable.. so we started teaching her! and she is so cute!! :) I love her! I hope she will want to get baptized but her fiancé has brain damage so she can't make any big decisions until 3 years.... so I don't know where that is going! haha but Wednesday we got a new car... Ford Fusion 2014 :) haha it is so nice and fun!! :) I love it! We went to sister Andersons house and cleaned her whole house.... haha that was fun! :) haha

I re-started reading the Book of Mormon and I am already in Helaman! I wake up and just read... I never want to stop! Whenever I am eating at home or before bed I just READ...... haha I never really realized how important and amazing the Book of Mormon is!! I love it so much! and I challenge all you guys to read it again!!! My ward here said if they read it... the missionaries will come over for 2 hours and do any service for them! haha soooooo I'm excited haha :)

So on Friday we had a zone meeting and I have never felt the spirit so strong!!! It was so amazing! I love ALL the missionaries that are around me! One of our zone leaders at the end of the meeting asked me to bear my testimony.. and I just started crying!!!! These past 3 months have strengthened my testimony so much it is so crazy!! :) Then the closing song was I Know My Redeemer Lives.. I couldn't even sing cause I was crying!! That song is literally the best! I Love this church so much and watching people and how it  brightens their lives and seeing people change right before your eyes. It is the best thing in the world! I wouldn't want to be doing anything else in my life but this!!! I am so grateful for my amazing family and parents that raised me to be who I am today!! And for all my friends that support me and are there for me! :) I love you all and miss you! Have a great week!! :)

Hermana Brugman

P. S.  So we had a tornado warning!!! haha It was so windy and a crazy storm!!!!! We got alerts from our phone and our Mission President who told us to get inside and stay inside! So we did nothing from 5pm to bed time! haha :) But it was so scary!!!!!! haha but nothing happened :)

Her district

The electricity went out in the middle of the night!

Jaymee's getting to be a good cook! :0)

Look!  Jaymee's ironing!! :0)

WEEK 14!

 January 6, 2014

 Family & Friends

Wow, crazy this week! I really can't even believe that it is already 2014. haha It is so weird to me! It's going to be even weirder when its 2015 and I will be coming home soon after that! haha but that's not until 15 more months.. :) haha So Monday night of last week some member had a bonfire and it was 2 elders and us sisters! It was so fun! It's so funny cause we didn't know it was going to be cold so we didn't bring a jacket and that night it was like 45.... and the Elders gave us their jackets.. and they said "I swear we are not flirting with you, it's just a gentlemen thing to do!" hahaha I just started laughing because once you are a missionary it's like we do not flirt in any way obviously. hahaha idk it is just funny! but anyways We have one investigator we go see every Monday! and she is Amazing! she always is reading the Book of Mormon! It is just so hard cause there is always something wrong with the family! Her husband is an alcoholic... so it is so hard!! But we are praying so much for her!! She has two kids and the youngest one LOVES primary!! We took her and she didn't want to leave! hahaha she is too cute! We went tracking in a trailer park and all the Hispanics are Sooo nice!! I love them! They all invite us in and are so nice!! And they ALWAYS feed us!!! She made really good sweet potatoes Ahh so good but... collard greens...... has anyone even heard of that? If not.. you are not missing out.  I was literally gagging but I had to eat it! I was praying so hard that I could eat it! After, I felt like I just had to throw up.  hahaha It was nasty. haha but so New Years Eve we got to go home and do nothing after 5pm so we just went home did a puzzle and I made a song for the Elders and we went to their door at 9:30 and sang, "We wish you a Happy New Year, we wish you a Happy New Year, we wish you a Happy New Year, Have a Happy New Year!!" hahaha it was so funny!! :) But it got to about 21 degrees here and I about died..... seriously.. Our heater didn't work for that night that it was really cold. I guess poor insulation but I don't even know what that means haha but I went to bed with leggings, sweats, fuzzy socks, 2 jackets and my hood on and gloves. hahahah imagine that.. I felt like I gained 20 pounds with all that on me! hahaha but this fast Sunday was great! I always love Sundays, but this Sunday was weird. haha so for 2 hour we have a gospel principles class in Spanish and a member Pedro brought his friend to church and his friend Alberto was just bashing on us and I couldn't really understand ( cause it was in Spanish) haha but I felt the spirit just leave and for some reason all I wanted to do was cry!! It was so frustrating and annoying I wanted to walk out! haha but I didn't! It was so strange! But the rest of church was great! haha! But I am loving it! It's crazy how happy I am to make this decision..!! But I miss all of you and love you guys so much!!! Keep doing what you are doing!! :)

Hermana Brugman