Katelyn's Night Games!!!

Katelyn had a bunch of friends over for night games tonight!  They played spotlight, extreme spoons and sardines to name a few... they had fun!  (And they were loud...I know... it was late and I was trying to sleep!!!)

More "Valentining"... and My Completed Powder Room!

I sent this package FULL of Valentine goodies to Brooke!  Lots of good stuff inside--mostly to share with her companion and her district.  I did find some cute warm tights and some fun boot socks I think she's really going to like!  It will be fun to talk to her on P-day to see her reaction to it all...it was a heavy package! 

Below are the pictures of my quickie "re-do" on the powder room and I LOVE IT!!  I just love how it turned out and love that room--even though it's only a powder room!  Hahahahaha!  (I should've done before and after pics... oh well...not that organized!)

Gotta love the Book of Mormon (Brooke's Letter)

HELLO FAMILY & FRIENDS,

Wow I think the thing that we did the most this week was get stuck in the snow haha! Or help other people get out of the snow! It sounds annoying but it was actually kinda cool! We really got to bond with random strangers using team work to push cars out of the snow! & that moment when the car finally gets traction & takes off is a moment of pure joy & celebration! It's been really neat to interact with people & after maybe only a minute of knowing each other be able to rejoice in each other's success but hey! That's what this life is all about! So that was cool to see this week! 

So, a funny story... We go help teach English once a week & this week we decided to do an activity where you tell a story by each person taking a sentence until it goes around the whole room. Anyway we were telling this story about a frog & someone added to the story that an elephant stepped on the frog & killed it but I didn't want the story to end on that note so I said the frog didn't actually die and it revived itself but they weren't really understanding... So then Sister Rick's used the word "resurrection" in Karen to try to help explain & they thought that was interesting but understood & the next guy added to the story "God helped that frog!" And everyone laughed! Look at us just teaching the gospel that God helps even frogs! 

Lately I feel like there has been a big emphasis on the Book Of Mormon in EVERYTHING! The church is focusing on it in lessons & missionaries are focusing on it in teaching the people who are interested in the church. This book is amazing! In the Church's "Come Follow Me" book, the very beginning gives prophetic promises about the Book of Mormon & I definitely recommend reading through those and then studying the Book of Mormon with those in mind & see that those promises really do come true! 

This week has been full of miracles & I know that God is leading the work here! We've had a lot of neat lessons especially about God's Plan of Happiness and about how Jesus Christ has restored His gospel & His church on the earth today! I know that these things are true & that they are impacting the people that we are teaching! This truly is the best work! I am so happy to be a missionary & to work with the Karen people here in Minnesota! I love you all so much! 

Love, Sister Freeman ဖီပြံဝါ

Pictures:

1. Our ward mission leader is moving so all the missionaries in our ward went over & helped them pack the truck! It is amazing how they can fit things like tetris! Lol

2. My twin, Sister O'Brien, who I love so so much just got her visa to go to Brazil! Man I am going to miss her but she will do great things there! 

3-4. Exchanges! I got to go with Sister Waldron & we went to see Paw Rah Kay! :) 

5-6. Dinner with the Waddoups! That's a lot of missionaries! 

Lots of "Valentining" This Week!

My first of 2 packages sent to my girls!  I sent this package to Megan full of cute stuff including the adorable place mats I found!!  It's fun to "Valentine"!  One of my favorite holidays!!!!

Our Cute Hygienist!

Megan was using all her instruments to practice and even got to practice on Todd!  (I bet he loved that! Hahaha!!)  He said that she did a great job!  Good answer, Todd!  We love you guys!

Blessings on Blessings on Blessings (Brooke's Letter)

Hello!

Yesterday was apparently 7 months on the mission?! So wow that's crazy! These past 7 months have been a BLAST & it just keeps getting better! #Godissogood

Anyway this week has been pretty great! 

One of my FAVORITE things is when we teach someone about the Book of a Mormon & then they say THANK YOU when we give them one! It truly is a gift & it is life changing! 

We got to have a lesson with Hsa Soe again & it was really sweet the other day to watch him help his younger cousin pray! That really touched my heart! He will be an amazing missionary one day! It is really neat to see how the gospel brings families together & strengthens them! I definitely have a testimony of that! 

Another one of my FAVORITE THINGS is THE PRIESTHOOD! For some reason, this week was full of priesthood blessings for healing sick people (myself included) & it truly is an amazing thing! I know that it is God's power on earth! I got a really amazing blessing (which helped with more than just being sick because #Godissogood) & I got to be there for a lot of other people who got blessings to help heal their sickness & it was so powerful! God loves His children & He has given the same power that Jesus Christ & His apostles used while they were on the earth to us today! I am so so grateful for that! 

ANOTHER one of my FAVORITE THINGS is PROMPTINGS! I had an interesting experience with a prompting that came a lot stronger than usual & I can't really explain it very well or in much detail but basically the prompting came as a voice in my head & it laid out two choices that were before me & the consequences for each & then asked me to choose... After a couple of seconds I felt it saying a little more powerfully that it was my choice & that whatever I would choose would have a big impact on myself from that point on... I waited for a couple minutes kind of wrestling with my thoughts not wanting to make any choice! But of course not making a choice also had its consequences so eventually I did make a choice! & blessings did come! I know this experience is kind of vague but I think it is so important to recognize promptings & to ACT on them! EVERY choice we make has consequences & a lot of times "not making a choice" is a choice in itself & it has consequences too! As you make choices look to God & to the Holy Spirit to help you maybe see things from a better perspective! One of the blessings from following that prompting is that the rest of the week I was given more promptings & was able to recognize them & follow them a lot easier! And those have provided blessings as well! Man when we follow God & listen to Him, He will just give us blessings on blessings on blessings! I am really grateful that we can have the gift of the Holy Ghost & that He can be our CONSTANT COMPANION! That is truly amazing! 

Anyway! I love you all & pray that life is treating you right! I'd love to hear about neat experiences you have had recently or if you served a mission, maybe a neat experience you had there! I am grateful to our Heavenly Father for His plans for all of His children & for His never-ending love for each of us! I love you all! Have a great week! 

Love, Sister Freeman ဖီပြံဝါ

Pictures: 

1.  MPF! We got quite the Karen squad to come this week! 

2-4. Making food with Thu Za & the finished product! (SO GOOD) 

Laundry Room Renovation Day 3 & 4-- Got My Tile Back-splash Yesterday! (And the Counter-top last Thursday!)

I just LOVE the tile back-splash in my laundry room!  It looks SOOOOO good!!  I am so happy with it and the job the workers did yesterday.  I spent most of the day yesterday cleaning it all up and putting all my stuff back in my drawers and cupboards!  I'm so excited!  It's been a busy week and all we have left to finish is the baseboards and a few little touch-up items and this renovation will be FINISHED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Katelyn's Prom Response to Collin!

Katelyn had fun making this poster and taking these goodies over to Collin's house tonight.  She gave him his favorite candy-- Milk Duds, and a cute little toy car for the "ride".  They will have such a great time together! 

Iditarod in Flagstaff!

Bill went up to Flagstaff overnight with them YM and leaders for the annual Iditarod competition.  Our ward's competition team came in 2nd place overall... I think there were 52 teams!  It was COLD and I was so GLAD that I didn't have to go up there and freeze my tooshy off!!!

Just Got My Last Christmas card...and an Impromptu Dance at School During Katelyn's Lunch...

Here is the final picture of all the Christmas and New Year's cards I got in the mail this year!  This is quite possibly one of my favorite things at Christmas time!  It's fun to go to the mailbox and get good things in it instead of bills and junk mail!

Below is Katelyn getting down at an impromptu dance at school during lunch today...it's pretty cute and she's got some MOVES!!  Go Katelyn!!!!

Laundry Room Renovation Day 2 &3 (and other projects, too!)

The painters came yesterday and painted the laundry room, the powder room and Katelyn's bedroom!  I love the new colors and look in each room.  I also got a new light fixture in the powder room which I really love, as well!  And Katelyn's room is such a restful gray!  It looks so much better than what was in there before.  The next picture is of the super fragrant hyacinth the Harts brought by a couple weeks ago after we got "hit" by those thieves!  I thought it was super sweet of them to bring something to let us know they were thinking about us!  I have really enjoyed them!

The last 3 pictures are of the cabinets that were installed TODAY!  I really LOVE them so much!  I can't wait to put all my stuff back in them!  My laundry room doesn't feel like a dungeon anymore!  (Missing counter-tops and baseboards...)

Katelyn's Promposal!

Katelyn got asked to Prom by Collin Proudfit who is the one she WANTED to get asked by!!  I’m so excited for her!  He made a really cute sign that says she has to be a certain height to say no—and he made it really tall—but actually it was only a couple of inches taller than her!  (She’s taller than he thought!)  He stood at the door with the sign to hold it up, so she got to see him.  He had flowers for her too!  It was so fun!  She told him yes right then, but afterward I told her she still has to answer him in a cute way!  I thought it was cool that he didn’t just doorbell ditch her!  His sister was there with him to get pictures and video.  She’s really nice and she leaves for her mission next week—so cool! 

Laundry Room Renovation Day 1-- We love "DEMO DAY!!"

Today was the dusty day... greyish white and sticky dust EVERYWHERE! But that should be the worst of it!  The guy (Kelly) took down all my cabinets, baseboards and the tile backsplash-- he had to cut that out because it wasn't coming down and it was easier to remove it.  This whole thing should be finished by Saturday... hoping!

G.O.A.T. "Greatest Of All Time" (Brooke's Letter)

Hello family & friends!

I would love to hear about how you all are doing & how you have seen God's hand in your life & in the lives of those around you!

This week I have definitely noticed that God is there & gently guiding us to where we need to go & who we need to become! 

I've had a lot of uncomfortable experiences this week outside of my comfort zone but I learned a lot from those experiences and I know that God is teaching me in the ways that I will learn best & I am grateful for that! 

I've also noticed this week that life is what we make it! For example, as missionaries we go to a lot of meetings & it all can sometimes become somewhat casual or monotonous but before one of the meetings this week I remember thinking, "Man what if I treated every meeting like it was going to have some huge impact or be a huge moment for God to teach & guide us?" & so I tried changing how I thought & that meeting ended up being AMAZING! & just to make sure that wasn't coincidence I did it with other meetings too & I got so much out of those meetings & could definitely feel the spirit! In our lives we make CHOICES to determine our happiness & choosing to think differently can have a huge impact! God is waiting to teach us & pour down blessings but sometimes we have to adjust & change to receive them! I heard the analogy that God is constantly pouring down blessings like a heavy rain storm but we have to choose to let our umbrellas down or go outside to soak them in! (Bad analogy if you don't like rain but you get the point ;)

We had some really awesome lessons this week! We got to teach our friend & her sisters! We taught them the Plan of Salvation & drew it out using the word LOVE & at the end she asked if she could keep it! She is so cute! Also later this week we invited them to come to an activity & they talked about how they have never seen each other so happy as they are when they are with us! That really touched my heart! So many of the people we get to talk to I feel like I've known them for SO LONG but really it's only a couple of months or weeks even! I feel so close with them & I know that God put us in each other's lives & that we are ALL FAMILY :) MAN let me tell you one of the coolest things about being a missionary is watching the gospel CHANGE peoples LIVES! It is a beautiful thing! 

Yesterday, Elder Christofferson gave an AMAZING devotional & I definitely encourage everyone to give it a listen! He talked about FOMO & making choices & being committed! He talked about how sometimes our "Fear Of Missing Out" actually causes us to miss out on the best things & that we need to focus on the things that are most important! Super good! 

Some food stories... 

On Monday last week, we took the challenge to eat a Thai chilli pepper... Wow that was HOT! 10/10 do not recommend! Haha also we went to a Bahywah the other day & there was a mysterious meat which we found out was GOAT! Honestly not bad except that we think they just put the whole goat in the pot and cooked it... We got some bones & some fascinating organ looking things on our plates haha!

Anyway! It has been a great week over here in St. Paul, Minnesota! I wish you all the best in your endeavors! I am grateful for your prayers & support! Love you all! 

Love, Sister Freeman ဖီပြံဝါ

Pictures:

1. Sister RICK'S got BANGS!! THEY ARE SO CUTE!!! 

2. Hser Nay had a birthday!!! Wow I love this girl SO MUCH! 

3-4. BAHYWAH

တၢ်သူၣ်ဖှံသးညီ​ (joy!) (Brooke's Letter)

Hello friends and family!

Lots of fun experiences this week! 

A little တၢ်လီၤလး (miracle) happened one day this week when Sister Rick's and I were CRAVING chocolate chip cookies & what do you know a member randomly FED US SOME! SO GOOD! Such a tender mercy! haha 

We got to teach one of our friends  ဆၢန့ၢ် two times this week! She is the cutest!! We taught her the Restoration & gave her a Book of Mormon & she was so happy and so grateful! I love her so much! She is SO CUTE! 

We also got to teach another one of our friends & during that lesson I remember feeling the Spirit so strongly but then I heard something going on in the hallway & zoned out of the lesson a bit to listen & I felt so sad & bad inside just listening but then I zoned back into the lesson & immediately felt a flush of peace & joy! We really do carry the Spirit with us as members and this gospel really is a place of peace & joy! 

We got to go to a baptism for 2 of our Karen friends! It was a beautiful day!! 

I learned more Karen & spoke more Karen! Woot woot 

We had a couple lessons with another one of our friends & they were so fun! We talked about the Restoration & about Prophets & at one point we showed a picture of Joseph Smith & she says, "Oh he's cute!" It was so funny! Also we showed her one of the 2020 youth songs (which are such BOPS) & she really liked it! & then later that night we looked on her story and she had posted it! #alreadyamissionary #alreadyteachingwithus She is like our Sister! We have so much fun! I love her a lot! 

We taught Th Blay fasting & fasted with her on Sunday! & then later we all had dinner together to finish the fast! 

A quote that I really like from this week is: 

"Kindness should be at the top of everyone's to do list. Write it down everyday: BE KIND." Kindness goes a long way! & it is so much more fun & enjoyable to be kind than to be mean or rude! Be the answer to someone else's prayer this week! :) 

I love you all! Have a wonderful week! ယအဲၣ်သု :) 

Love, Sister Freeman ဖီပြံဝါ

Pictures: 

1. ယတံၤသကိးတဖၣ် (friends) I love these girls! :) 

2-3. Bwe htoos birthday party! We got to help make the food too which was crazy but fun! 

4. Lesson with He Ler htoo & Karen Moo :) 

I love these girls!! :) 

5. Eating with Th Blay after our fast! Love her so much!