Walking Down the Aisle (Brooke's Letter)

Hello hello!

I hope you are all happy & having the best days! 

Here are some highlights from our week: 

> We taught one of our friends the Word of Wisdom about not drinking coffee and alcohol and not doing drugs and we weren't sure if she'd be down for it BUT at the end of the lesson we asked if she'd live it and she said, "Of course I can do that. That's easy." YES YES YES

> We did a lesson on Helaman 5:12 and wanted to use blocks and show that when we build on a hard surface we don't fall and when we build on a soft surface we do fall, but we weren't sure if it would work so we tested it before and we were so shook! We built a little tower and blew on it and it didn't budge when we built it on a hard surface and then we got a blanket out and honestly it seemed pretty sturdy and we built the tower and then blew and it fell so easily! Our foundation REALLY DOES MATTER! Haha crazy! 

> We did a BUNCH more "flips and points" with the Book of Mormon for lessons and THEY WERE ALL SO GOOD! It literally worked every time and people got some COOL and perfect answers to their questions! It's like magical except it isn't magic because it's God! So it's even better :) 

> Nice people :) I just absolutely love it when random strangers smile or make you laugh! It makes the world seem so much less doom and gloom and brightens days! 

> We were talking to one of our Karen friends and just talking to her really made me realize how HARD life can be and is for a lot of people! It can be scary! Sometimes people turn to us for advice with these big life problems and I feel so unqualified to even try to understand let alone give advice but the neat thing is that we as missionaries aren't asked to know all the answers.. We are just meant to know one answer, THE answer, and that is the gospel of Jesus Christ! What a relief! And oh what joy to share! 

>One of our friends that we did flip and point with last week committed herself to read the Book of Mormon EVERYDAY! Because she recognizes it's Power!! How cool is that?

> School is starting up again and that means we get to do HOMEWORK HELP :) Haha I low key miss homework but I also think it's probably more fun now because it's not our homework and we don't have to stress about it. But still it's so fun for us!

> We were reading the Doctrine and Covenants with one of our friends and it was the funniest thing! Haha for like 5 minutes he thought we were talking about a doctor when we said doctrine and so we were all so confused haha!

> We went to a Karen Wedding this week and OKAY we were on time but apparently they started EARLY so we walked in and the music was already playing and we had to walk down the aisle to get to our seats and as we were walking we realized they were video taping! Then right after us the wedding party walked down the aisle! Oh boy yeah.. so that happened but anyway! It was really cool to go and see the Karen culture! 

> Something that stands out from my studies this week is about the parable of the lost sheep where Christ talks about leaving the 99 to go find the one. In a talk by Elder Uchtdorf he talks about this parable and asks questions about what the sheep needs to do to qualify to be rescued. Does the sheep need to be able to calculate its coordinates using complicated instruments? Does it need to use a GPS to define its position? Does it need to be so smart to create an app to call for help? Does it need to be endorsed by a sponsor before the Shepherd will come? Then he answers those questions: "No. Certainly not! The sheep is worthy of divine rescue simply because it is loved by the Good Shepherd." That is the sweet message that our Good Shepherd, Jesus Christ, would like the whole wide world to know! You are loved and you are loved simply because you are you and you are a child of God! God doesn't love us because of what we do or don't do or have or know or think. He simply loves. He loves us and He Sent His Son, Jesus Christ, to be that Shepherd and millions of missionaries and members to represent that Shepherd so that EVERYONE can be brought back and restored to the fold. Then together we can grow and become better and try to do and know and think things to better help ourselves and others on our life journey but God's love is always and there and unchanging. He is there for each of us, one by one. Remember that! Turn to Him and let yourself be loved and taken in by the Good Shepherd :) 

I love you all! Our most recent craze this week is Otter Pops hehe so I hope you all may have an opportunity to eat an Otter Pop this week and think about God's love for you and help others to do the same! Have a grrrrreat week! 

Love, Sister Freeman ဖီပြံဝါ

Pictures: 

1. Post wedding 

2-5. Como Zoo! 

This Year's SMHS Swim Team Motto!

All I have to say is that this is VERY fitting for this season!!!  This is so true right now more than ever!

"Feeling Good Like I Should" (Brooke's Letter)

Haha heyyyy friends & family!

It's been a great week! 

OK so I think I found my new favorite Karen word: ကံးကူးကံးကူး it's pronounced gee goo gee goo and it means "wiggle like a wounded worm" haha! We found it in the Bible of all places (haha let me know if you can find in English the Bible ever saying "wiggle like a wounded worm" haha) We sing it to the tune of "shake it shake it shake it like a Polaroid picture" and I think it is the funniest thing! 😂

OK so we had some awesome things happen this week! 

> One of our friends that we just gave a picture Book of Mormon to read to chapter 5 on her own!! We were astonished but so stoked! 

>We are making a music video for Facebook with a member in our ward and it is going to be so good! I love our members! I also think it is so cool how we ALL, every single person, have talents and skills to bring to the table and help others! So cool! And so cool that the church brings it all together! 

>One of our other friends that we are teaching read in the picture Book of Mormon all the way from the Tree of Life to King Benjamin! (6 chapters!) Again we were astonished! We had to send her like a million Book of Mormon videos all at once because she just blew it out of the water! 

>We had a little lesson out on the porch again with one of our little Karen grandmas and it was so cool! We were filming her testimony and at first she was just kind of talking and not really sure where to look but then there was a point where a switch just flipped and she zoned in on the camera and bore her testimony and it just really struck me that the Holy Ghost was working through her in that moment! It was really cool! 

That same lesson we were sitting out front and decided to sing a song called "What a Friend We Have in Jesus" and as we were singing, police pulled up across the street and arrested someone and there was yelling and shouting and chaos but we just kept singing (Pee didn't seem to notice), and it just really struck me right then and there the stark contrast between the world and sadness and chaos verses God's love and power and it also struck me how we can be surrounded by that chaos but if we are focused on the Savior, we can feel the spirit so strong and almost be in this little bubble! 

> We had a solid lesson with one of our friends this week & read 2 Nephi 31! She LOVES the Book of Mormon! She told us about her experience when we first brought her the Book of Mormon & it brought her so much comfort right when she needed it! Wow the Book of Mormon has POWER! Even just by holding it! There is power in that book. She reads it whenever she is down and it makes her feel better! She was just glowing during that whole lesson! She also said she knows God sent us to her and I definitely know that that is true! *Stay tuned 'cuz we had a bomb lesson with her at the temple this week too!*

> We were filming a members testimony on her front porch this week for a Facebook video and then a guy in the place next door in the middle of the video opened his door and popped his head out and had the funniest smile on his face and then went back in his house and closed the door and it was the funniest thing! So random! 

> We started reading the picture Doctrine & Covenants with Dah Wah! Yeah kinda random, didn't even know that was a thing but he is super stoked to learn more about Joseph Smith! Also we had such a cool lesson with him where at the end we just asked him what he has learned from our lessons and he just went off! He talked about Jesus and the Book of Mormon and kept wanting to say more because he didn't want to leave anything out! Wow he is amazing! Also my favorite Dah Wah quote of the week was when we asked him a question and then he just started singing "FEELING GOOD LIKE I SHOULD" haha! I don't think either of us have actually heard that song but we just have that one line stuck in our head all the time now but it's true we're "FEELING GOOD LIKE WE SHOULD" *because of this wonderful gospel! 

> OKAY we had the COOLEST lesson with a member! We did this thing where we ask a question and then flip and point to a scripture in the Book of Mormon and then find answers to our questions! Sister Norton and I went first and I actually got a good answer to my question that I really needed to hear randomly! But THEN the member went and she asked her question and then we flipped and pointed and started reading and explained the scripture a little bit and how it could answer her question and then we realized that she was crying! She said it really helped her! She way opened up! It just so hit me how the Book of Mormon gives us such personal and unexpectedly perfect answers! The Book of Mormon is so powerful! (I don't think I've said that enough in this email and I don't think I'm done either haha.) 

>OKAY now for another BOMB lesson! We got to go to the TEMPLE for a lesson with our friend! It was amazing! She said it looked like a castle and that she was so happy! She wanted to know what the inside looked like so we showed her the virtual temple tour video and it was awesome! Later on in the lesson we started talking about life and what not and she talked about wanting God to answer her prayers and that sparked a little thought in my head that reminded me of the lesson we had had the day before with the member flipping and pointing in the Book of Mormon so we decided to do it again! So we went first again and asked our questions and I got another unexpected answer to my question which made me so happy! It was so cute, every time we flipped and pointed we would all gather in so close to see what the answer was! Then our friend asked her question and I was just praying so hard as she flipped and pointed and read and holy moly! So cool! It was perfect! I mean at first it seemed a little weird but we just kinda talked about it a little bit and she was just glowing and said she thought it really actually applied to her life right now and how she was feeling and what she was experiencing! It was WAY COOL! After that we kind of jokingly asked, "When can we come to the temple again and go inside" and then the verse we flipped to was Ether 14:31 and it talked about a lot of deaths and losses and then they returned to their camp and we were like... Uhhhh haha what? And then we related it to Corona and how there are a lot of losses but someday we will get to return! It ended up being really cool! We were all like woahhhhhh haha anyway 10/10 recommend the Book of Mormon flip and point!

OK then we went into the church with her and got to go in the chapel! Wow that was a special feeling! So peaceful and happy! Then we went in the hallway and looked at pictures! There was one picture from when Christ came to the Americas (it's in the front of the Book of Mormon too) and she recognized it right away and remembered it! She LOVES that picture! I remember when she lighted up the very first time we showed her that picture in the Book of Mormon months ago! Wow can I just say I love the Book of Mormon? It is such a powerful witness of Jesus Christ! Oh and did I mention the literal POWER it has?! 

>OK last thing! I found a verse this week that I LOVE in Romans 8:28! 

"And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God..." I love this so much! No matter what we do, we can't ruin God's plan! He takes our mistakes and allows us to repent and build from them! Oh what joyful news that is! It is so comforting to know that we have a loving Father in Heaven whose one desire is our happiness and joy! That's all he wants for us and He is on OUR TEAM AND OUR SIDE! I love the joy this gospel brings! I'm definitely not all sunshine and rainbows all the time but I know that without this church and the truths that it teaches life would be a lot more bleak and quite frankly unhappy! Because of Jesus Christ we have HOPE! Even when the sunshine and rainbows are out of sight, the Son can shine bright in our souls and the HOPE of seeing Him in eternal life can keep us moving forward! So when life gets dark, remember where true LIGHT comes from :) 

I love you all!! Sending love and hugs!

Love Sister Freeman ဖီပြံဝါ

Pictures:

1. We got HAPPY meals! I mean the Book of Mormon is a happy FEAST but these made us pretty happy too! 

2-3. We found a snow cone stand on our way doing something & just had to stop (we follow those kind of prompting all the time now hehe) 

4. Elder Morris' Birthday! 

5. Ice cream :)))) 

6. Lesson with our Pee (Grandma) (*yes Pee is a term of endearment in Karen) 

7. "they're BROWNIES" 

8-9. Sister Norton had us all wear party hats for her District Council training & we looked pretty funny. 

10. Sister Rick's joined for a lesson with TH Blay and Ya Kho!! After we took this picture Ya Kho goes "everybody Law Eh right?" hehe which basically means everybody looking cute right?" For some reason it was really funny... Also this lesson was just so funny! Th Blay (speaks mostly Karen) kept singing,"I am a gummy bear a yummy yummy gummy bear" and it was the cutest & funniest thing! I love them!! 

11. Got to skype in for Th Blays birthday Bahywah! 

12. We played memory with quarters & it was pretty fun.

13. Temple trip with our FRIEND :))) 

14. Old picture with Pee from a couple weeks ago I forgot to add! 

Sunday Pictures After Church @ Grandma's!

Katelyn wanted to get pictures today after church!  We had a fun little photo session!! 

Last Day of Fishing...

Another fruitful day out on the ocean!  They got lots of fish!  They were tired and stinky when they got home, but they had a great time!  I'm glad Katelyn got to go and that she really enjoyed it!! 

Birthday Lunch with Jamie!

While our boys (and girl) are out fishin', Jamie and I celebrated each other's birthdays today!  I took her to lunch at Zuppa's and she gave me this awesome cook book-- Joanna Gaines' new one, and that bag of chocolates-- YUM!!  I sat down after lunch and ate my chocolate while I marked recipes that I want to try!  I'm excited to do some cooking!!  Jamie is such a good friend and we always laugh so hard when we're together!  She's so much fun!  Someone at Zuppa's thought she was Debbie Lesko, who's running for re-election as one of our state representatives... she giggled when they asked and struck up a conversation with them.  I told her she SHOULD run for office!  Hahaha! She's the only person I know that can go to lunch at Zuppa's and leave running for office!!  (I told her I'd vote for her!!)  She's a hoot and so much fun!!

Full Day of Fishing!

Katelyn got a 6am wake up call for fishing this morning!  She had fun and enjoyed the day!  Someone caught a shark that she's holding below-- he's got a frowny face!  I guess I would too if I got yanked out of my habitat!  Katelyn tossed him back into the water.  She got a nice Titanic pose, as well.  She got 2 yellow fins... some of these fish put up quite the fight and she really got her work out pulling them in!  Good fishing day!!