Expect Miracles (Brooke's Letter)

Hey ya'll!

It's been a great week with many mini miracles!

> People we haven't seen in ages reached out to us!

> We got two new Karen Missionaries and they are amazing! We got Sister Olaveson (ဖီမုၢ်လၢ်) and the elders got Elder Goates! So fun!

> The other day we got a call from the English sisters serving in this area and they had helped a Karen person pull over with a flat tire! So they needed our help to translate for her that her tire was flat and they needed to know where the spare was... You wanna know what we said in Karen? Lolol "Hey so your car is broken... Do you have one of those ball things like a car foot? Do you have a new one of those in your car?" Yeah she did not know what we were talking about but they found one! Anyway we were on our way to transfers so the Karen Elders went over and talked to her and might start teaching her! God works in mysterious ways!

> Also on our way to transfers, going down the freeway, there was the CUTEST family waving to people driving down the freeway! Here in Minnesota the restrictions are pretty tight but they found a way to still spread joy and man it made our day!

> We had some awesome lessons this week! Oh the joy teaching people this happy message brings! Constant smiles!  

> THANKSGIVING

Man Thanksgiving was way different than I've ever had before but it was still way fun! All of us Karen Missionaries made our own food and then called over Facebook to eat together! We made a turkey and all the things and it was yummy and so fun! Also as we opened the Martinelli's, it just sprayed EVERYWHERE haha it was so funny! What a way to start dinner!

I also got to call my wonderful family which was just the best :)

> One day this week we went to drop off a Book of Mormon to a new friend and she lives in an apartment complex that is usually pretty impossible to get into. Anyway we didn't know that until we got to her address so we decided to just give it a try anyway. As we got out of the car I kinda jokingly said with a lot of enthusiasm, "Alright we are expecting a MIRACLE!" And we go to the first door-locked, second-locked, then some people let us into a neighboring building but that didn't help us much so we just went around to the last door and what do you know A STICK was jammed in the door holding it open! #4thdoorlastdoorwetried  Definitely a miracle :)

But it's cool because if we had just given up after the first two doors we would've never seen the miracle!

> Funny story: Ok so we had MLC (Mission Leadership Council) this week and it was over zoom since Minnesota is pretty restricted right now. Anyway I made a comment for an idea and after I finished talking, Sister Norton gave me a high five in front of the whole mission leadership council and missed and hit me right in the eye haha! And in case anyone didn't see it, President was in the middle of responding to my comment and just says, "Did you just get hit in the eye? That's why God gives us two eyes you know" and then moved on lol! It was so funny!

> Yesterday our ward did a virtual Primary program and it was THE CUTEST THING! They even got Karen kids in it!

> This week I read an article called "The Power of Quiet Moments" and it really stood out to me how important it is to intentionally pause and take time to slow down and be still and allow God to speak to you! Life is crazy and we need that sacred time to hear Him right in the middle of all the craziness! It's a great YA weekly article for this month if you want to go read it!

I love this work! I love you all! Have a great week!

Sister Freeman ဖီပြံဝါ

Pictures:

1. The only picture we got from Thanksgiving but here's the TRIO! Woo-hoo!
2. Last picture before getting our new Karen friends.
3. Lesson with Lay Baw and Sister Moeck! So fun!
4. The current Karen Squad.  
5-6. I cut Sister Norton's hair!
7. We randomly ran into our friend going to the store!

Fun with Family!!!

We visited and played games all afternoon today. Later on, we took Megan and Todd and Robin and Allison out to Peoria’s new master planned park called Paloma Park. It’s out on the way to the lake. It’s huge. We played pickle ball for about an hour and then we went to dinner together at Haymaker Restaurant. The food was really good! We came home and played games until Tanner and Andie showed up to pick up Megan and Todd. I was actually super sad when they left! It has been such a fun time with family and I have truly enjoyed the time we've been able to spend together this week!  Back to normal life! Hahaha!!!

First Annual Freeman Family Fitness Face-Off, Homemade Pies and a Blessed Thanksgiving Day!!!

We got up this morning and went over to the church and did our 1st Annual Freeman Family Fitness Face-Off Challenge. We played a game where you draw cards and you have to do the exercise associated with the suit you draw and the number is how many repetitions of that exercise that you have to do. The game is played for 10 minutes at a time. So we started off by doing some stretching exercises. Then we had a wall sit competition—Katelyn won that one. Then we had the fitness challenge with the cards. We did it a couple of times, and Megan won that one! She had the most reps of all of us! After we played Pickle Ball until about 11am and then I had to go home and get things in the oven and get showered and ready. What a FUN morning!!! Good way to burn some calories before eating our big Thanksgiving Feast! Then we went over to Grandma’s house where the guys had a competition to see who could peel the most potatoes the fastest. Todd, Corbin, Scott and Tim (Tiffany’s new husband from Idaho!) all participated in the competition! Well, Megan had just given me my Christmas present, which just happened to be one of those apple/potato peelers/slicers/corers. This gift was PERFECT because it really helped us to get the Yam and Apple casserole and apple pie sliced and prepped faster! So we showed up to this competition with this peeler and EVERYONE gave us a hard time about it, but they never said what KIND of peeler was allowed! So Todd won the first annual potato peeling contest! We got a bag of Reese’s Peanut Butter cups and a Mrs. Potato head for the trophy! Todd signed it with the year and it will be passed around from year to year! Hahaha! Lots of new, great traditions! Dinner was so yummy and tasted so good! As always! We enjoyed two phone calls from Brooke—she was allowed to call for an hour, so we got to talk a little before our dinner, and then after during Katelyn's guitar concert, so she could hear that! Brooke said the blessing on our Thanksgiving Feast over the phone in Karen! It was so COOL to hear her pray in that beautiful language! Later, we got to enjoy Katelyn’s little guitar concert together which was so much FUN!! She is improving so much and writing such fun music! Everyone there really enjoyed the concert! It was fun to just sit and visit—especially as there weren’t as many football games this year—due to Covid! We played games and had a fun night. There is SO MUCH to be grateful for this year! I am mostly grateful for my amazing and fun family, but also for the gospel and ALL of the blessings associated with it! I am truly blessed!!! #givethanks

Hope & Gratitude (Brooke's Letter)

Hello Beautiful Friends & Family!

It has been a great week full of things to be thankful for!!

>Little tiny miracles all throughout the days...

>We gave someone we are teaching a little picture of Jesus and we found out this week he keeps it in his glasses case haha! I mean yeah what a good reminder that Christ gives us vision!

>We were in charge of a big group lesson this week and we had a plan goin into it but then last minute we had to change the whole plan so we literally just made that whole thing up on the spot and somehow we're on the same wavelength and the lesson went pretty okay!

>We have been trying new ways of teaching and it is exciting!

> Hit 8 months being companions with Sister Norton! And this week we are gonna get a new companion! Can't believe it's the last transfer :o

>I learned a lot about how the Spirit speaks to me this week and am learning to follow promptings.

>Learned about counseling with the Lord from the example of the Brother of Jared in the Book of Mormon!

>Got to hear a message of hope and healing from President Nelson! 10/10 would recommend giving it a watch and letting gratitude change your life and heal your heart!

>I had a kinda cool experience this week that taught me the power of prayer! So we always pray before we go into a lesson with people and I have been trying to work on my prayers to make them more meaningful. Well this week I was taught to pray more specifically to get more specific answers and so before this one lesson I prayed specifically that the person we were teaching would be able to understand the Book of Mormon. I kinda said it and we moved on and forgot about it right. But then we start our lesson and we are reading with her and then randomly out of no where she exclaims, "Wow I'm understanding the Book of Mormon like never before! I'm so proud of myself!" And the Holy Ghost helped me remember that that was exactly what I prayed for and that it worked! So I had to say a prayer of gratitude for that because it was a cool moment! Prayer is so powerful! But I was also thinking, "What if she was feeling that way but didn't necessarily say anything to us so we wouldn't even know? I would never have known the effect my prayer had but it still would've had the SAME effect! You never know the power that your prayers are having in your life and those around you so KEEP PRAYING! And every once in a while we may even get to see a glimpse that our prayers are working and that gives us hope to keep going! And along with that I think it is important to be like my friend and show others that they have answered our prayers or to voice how we are feeling so that they too can feel like their prayers have been answered! Prayer is powerful!

I am so grateful for a loving Father in Heaven who loves and watches over us! I am grateful for all of the learning we get to do in this life! I'm grateful God has a plan for us! I'm grateful for all of YOU! And I hope you have a GREAT THANKSGIVING!

Love Sister Freeman ဖီပြံဝါ
Pictures:
1-4. Last week as just the 2 of us until I go home :(  Love this girl so much!
5. Our zone!!!!

Sadie Hawkins!

Katelyn went to a fun Sadie Hawkins party with Cameron Estes. They went to a backyard "drive in" movie and had to make a car to sit in. There was a competition to see who could make the most creative car. Katelyn and Cameron made a swimming pool car and wore duck floaties and sunglasses. It was pretty cute... and easy. It was at Sarah Harris' house, who put it on because she was sad they never got to have a Sadie Hawkins Dance this year. I think only about 10 couples went, but it was a fun party! 

 

THE GOOD GOOD (Brooke's Letter)

Hello friends and family!

The song as we walked into Walmart this morning was singing, "ITS A BAD BAD WORLD" over and over again... Maybe it is a bad world full of bad news and bad things BUT let me tell ya there are PLENTY of GOOD GOOD things too!

THE GOOD GOOD:
> We had a couple lessons this week with one of our member friends! Man oh man I love her! She is so good at recognizing the Spirit! In one lesson we talked about the story of Alma the Younger and how he sinned a lot and felt a lot of guilt but then remembered repentance and God's mercy. That brought him so much joy and then he wanted to share that joy! And then she got so excited just like him about sharing that joy! It was a good moment :)

> We ate Thai peppers and sang Feliz Navidad in Karen and boy my ears were burning and my throat was on fire! You can see the video on our Karen page in the near future ;)

> We taught a Karen person to pray in English! It was the cutest thing!

> We found a lot of people this week who have been looking for the message we carry and it is exciting!

> We got to go to lunch with a family friend of Sister Norton and we had the coolest talk with him about the gospel! Man this gospel brings so much hope to a dark and dreary world!

I love you all! I hope you are finding the good around you and emphasizing it! Maybe it is a bad bad world or a bad bad day but God can turn any frown upside down just you wait! Let Him in and He'll change your life... for the GOOD :)

Sister Freeman ဖီပြံဝါ

Pictures:
1. A member in our ward took this cute picture of us!
2. ICE CREAM SOLVES EVERYTHING!  
3. Still running! Taking a picture a day so here's one from the week...  
4. The sunrise on one of the mornings this week.  
5. Sammy and Mer!!! Love them!  
6. Our dear friend Sister Moeck went home this week. We love her so much and miss her! This is the picture from us all saying goodbye :(  Love her SO MUCH!!

Katelyn's Senior Pictures Photo Shoot

Katelyn and I had fun this week shopping in order to get ready for her Senior Pictures. We went all over the place to try to find the things Katelyn wanted for her 3 outfits. We found everything she was looking for and made some fun memories! Today we went down to the Arizona Science Center for the photo shoot… there is a lot of variety with lots of cool buildings and landscaping! There were several weddings and people walking around the area taking family pictures! It was quite busy with people. It was a fun afternoon! This photographer uses a hair and makeup artist as well, so Katelyn got to go get her hair and makeup done before the shoot. I loved her makeup, but the curls didn’t stay in very well. Katelyn’s hair doesn’t really hold a nice curl. I think the pictures turned out really good, though. She also got a bunch of pictures with her guitar! It was such a nice afternoon and the weather was perfect! In the 70’s with the sun shining! We got some great shots! I really like the photographer… she was super nice and so chill! After the shoot, Katelyn wanted a donut, so we stopped and got one and we came home and Dad had dinner all ready for us! These pictures below were after the shoot. I didn't even think to get any during the shoot...darn!

"This is the fakest prank call I've ever heard!" (Brooke's Letter)

Hello beautiful people!

It is a GREAT time to be a missionary! I love it so much!

Here are some highlights from the week:
> Hehe I learned this week why stir-fry is called stir-fry!! It's 'cuz you stir it while you fry it! Missions man, they teach you things.

> JOHN GOT BAPTIZED! #88yearsyoung He bore a sweet testimony and it was just a wonderful service and I felt the Spirit SO MUCH! I got to talk to him afterward too and that was just tender!! 

> Okay okay okay we are cleaning out our phone contacts and we have had some FUNNY calls with people! 

#1
Person: Hello?

Me: Hello is there a Mu Htoo (yes a real Karen name) that lives at this address? (yes I said *lives at this *phone number 'cuz I got nervous. I'm not used to calling English people!)

Her: This is the fakest prank call I've ever heard!

Me: Oh um actually we really are looking for our friend Mu Htoo, etc. etc.

Her: Who is this?

Me: We are missionaries-

*she hung up*

Then I looked at the next person on the list and turned to my companions and said, "Alright anyone wanna try Moo Moo?" And then we all just busted up laughing!!

#2
We also actually found someone English from making all these calls!

So our trick is we call the number and have to listen carefully to see if the person is English or Karen all from the word "hello" so it gets tricky sometimes lol! So for one guy I definitely thought he answered kinda Karen so I just went off in Karen and then I stop for his answer and he just said, "I don't understand can you speak English?" and wow what a trooper to stay on the line and not hang up after all that! Lol! So then we talk to him about how we share messages of hope and he was interested!! So we have a lesson with him this week and we will see how it goes!

> We had Zone Conference this week!! And it was SO GOOD!

Okay but it started a little rough.. So I show up all ready to soak in some good stuff and be uplifted you know and then one of the Elders comes up and asks me if I want to recite our purpose and Doctrine and Covenants 4 in front of EVERYONE all by MYSELF! Um *terrified.. But I said yes? Ya I tried to say no but you know how yes comes out? Yeah anyway so I'm like saying a prayer in my heart for God to help me and then I go up there and I got through the purpose pretty easily and then I got super nervous and I swear I have D&C 4 memorized but I CHOKED! My mind just went blank so I'm just looking around for some help to get my bearings again and ended up finishing but I think I still skipped a whole verse! Oh gosh it was embarrassing but President came up right after me and had my back so that made me feel a lot better but then later some other random things happened that were also pretty embarrassing! And at the end of the day you'd think I'd be like crying or full of regret ('cuz normally I would be) but that day I just felt so close to God and so none of it really stuck on me! I think when we start things looking to God, they always end up ok in the end! And honestly I am grateful that I got to start that meeting off so humbled because I think I was more open to learning and I got a lot more out of that meeting than I would've!

Another thing President Richardson talked about was "wakeup calls" and how all throughout our lives we will have wakeup calls that make us realize things and change things. Anyway that really stood out to me because this week I kinda had a wakeup call of my own the day before! I think the moment of the wakeup call is hard and scary but then it really does help us in the long run!

> A huge theme that is standing out EVERY WHERE is what President Nelson talked about at General Conference about "Letting God Prevail"! When we do that, everything WILL work out!

When I look into the future I see a lot of uncertainty and often times when I look inside myself I see a lot if inadequacy but when we look to God we find harmony and peace and the assurance that everything will work out for our good!

Also another little random spiritual thought that oddly came up a couple times this week comes from a talk President Nelson gave in 2017 about the Book of Mormon!

He said, "My brothers and sisters, how precious is the Book of Mormon to you? If you were offered diamonds or rubies or the Book of Mormon, which would you choose? Honestly, which is of greater worth to you?" That question really caused me to ponder this week of how much DO I value this book? And that question changes everything! It changes how we study, it changes how we live and it changes how I do missionary work! I am giving this most precious knowledge to people! Just like the king in President Nelson's talk.. "You could have given me diamonds or rubies, but nothing is more precious to me than this additional knowledge about the Lord Jesus Christ."

I hope you all will also ponder this question along with how you can let God prevail in your life and I pray you will see miracles as you do what you are prompted to!! I love you all!!

Sister Freeman ဖီပြံဝါ

Pictures:
1. Talking to John after his baptism!!
2. Love this girl!
3. Love these people!!
4. My companions :)