"Our spirits know Him"

The first sunburn of the year happened this past.  For P-day we all played volleyball with about 100 missionaries on sand courts. It was so much fun, I didn't realize how much I love volleyball. I have realized a ton this week how many things there are in life to try and how much people can be missing if they don't venture out and try new things.

This week I did a ton of reflecting on how important my mission is to me. We went on exchanges with the Sister Training Leaders which meant that I had to lead our area for a couple days and it was initially so scary. However, as we got lost a zillion times we also saw so many miracles and I realized even if I screw up things a few times, who cares because I am on the Lord's errand not anyone else's. We have had to look for new investigators a ton this week and we have knocked a ton of doors. Even though there was not a ton of success from knocking doors we ended up getting 4 referrals this week and three new investigators.

Phillip:

He is from the Ivory Coast in Africa and told us all about his change of heart towards Christ because he goes to another church here in OKC. We told him that we had more to add to the truth he already had. He had told us he knew it wasn't an accident we were there. In that moment I felt the tears well in my eyes and I felt God's love for him so strong. That is something I don't think I would get to experience unless I was a missionary. This week I have thought a lot about the pure love of Christ. I guess I have always thought that it was having love for people as Christ would, however I have come to realize that it is more than that. It is quite literally seeing people THROUGH the eyes of Christ, and understanding the love He has for them as far as we are capable.

Liz:

She is a law student from Colorado and is working with Juvenile Delinquents at a facility in Oklahoma City. She is so cool because she has her head on straight but is very down to earth. As we talked to her she told us she was somewhat raised Catholic but doesn't really know what or who God is. Her understanding of it all was so minimal but her grasp on how God's plan would work "if it was real" was so spot on. She had said "I feel like there is more than just Heaven and Hell" and that "my trials are not Gods fault but they help me grow because He trusts me to make decisions." Being with her helped me to gain a testimony of the strength if the spirit. No matter who we are we all made from our Heavenly Father and our spirits know Him even if we don't intellectually know Him. She was definitely prepared and we are so excited to keep teaching her.

As a whole, this week has been so good and refreshing. Time to start new with teaching people who have been put in my path. GOD IS GOOD!!!!

LOVE,

Sister Engelbrecht

" I love them with all my heart."

Hey Everyone-

This week I was able to see the eternal perspective of life more than I ever have. We spent two days at the temple with two people we are close to getting sealed and endowed. The experience was so special. Along with that we had a baptism this weekend for Ashley.

Tuesday we got to attend one Sister Odom's recent converts from her old area being endowed and sealed. Her name is Kellie (mom:) To be able to go through the temple with her and do those two ordinances in a row helped me to really gain a testimony of God's plan for us. If you haven't been to the temple lately, Go. It really is the best place on earth we can be. I was able to realize that I am so small and insignificant in the perspective of eternity, but even still I am extremely important to our Heavenly Father. I have a firm testimony that the work we do in the temple extends far beyond what we even have knowledge of. It is a place where we can learn more about who we are and who our Heavenly Father wants us to be.

Again on Saturday, we were able to go again to another sealing of a couple who have been married for a couple years and changed their life around. It was so surreal to see their faces looking at each other realizing the immensity of what they were doing. It got me really excited to shoot for that SOME day...definitely far in the future ;)

On the other end of the spectrum, I had the pleasure? of meeting a wiccan. Nothing against people having their own beliefs but when people try to involve us it gets a little uncomfortable. I don't think I will ever forget it. Last week at the booth we do on campus, a girl came up to us who was definitely sweet but just a bit different. She took our candy, ate it, put the wrapper on a balloon we had hanging on the table and flung her arms around, DEAD SERIOUS, saying "vwala" Okay so she is just strange right? WRONG. She came back this week and took one of our surveys so she could get more candy. As she was filling out the religious questions, I asked her is she went to church and she laughed and replied "NO" so then I asked her what is it that you practice or believe? She then responds with "I.....d rather not say....." ALRIGHTY then. As missionaries we just knew, we could feel it. Honestly, I know this is so un-Christ like of us but all we could do later that day was laugh at how insane that encounter was.

A miracle we had this week happened when we went to visit the hospital. One of the nurses that we met ended up seeing our tags and making jokes about being crazy Mormons, it was harmless and we laughed with him while testifying all at the same time, come to find out his wife is a less active member. He was a nonmember but told us that he really admired Mormon values. We were able to (we obviously didn't tell him this...missionaries are somewhat stockers....okay straight up stockers) find out what ward he was in and tell their missionaries to go visit them. Our visit was well worth it just for that purpose.

Saturday night was the baptism of Ashley Sagastizado. She has been investigating the church for two years now and she was finally ready. Matthew, her husband who has been less active has been reactivating the past couple months and was able to baptize her. The moment he baptized her brought everyone to tears and to see them and their baby boy together was another testament to me of the eternal perspective of families. In a year they will be able to be sealed as a family for time and all eternity and I cannot wait. I love them with all my heart.

SUCH a good week, I love being a missionary :D

Love,

Sister Engelbrecht

He does answer us and we have to be the ones to recognize the blessings and answers He sends us.

Hello Outer World-
This week has been a week of courage for me and many experiences with the miracle of prayer!
We currently only have 3 investigators and truth be told none of them are all that dedicated which is tough. One of them that I have been talking about for a couple weeks is getting baptized this weekend and then we will only have 2 investigators. So needless to say we had to buckle down and tract a ton!!! The good thing about that though is I definitely have some fun stories! We ran into someone who was very very unhappy to see us and was definitely worshipping something other than God and then we also ran into someone who believed with their whole heart that Jesus was black and that we were promoting a Jesus who was not for everyone. Definitely an interesting experience. It was really good for me though to bite the bullet and just open my mouth. The Lord definitely gave me words to say, quite a lot.
Being on a mission has been so good for me to let all else go and just be me. Sister Odom and I were singing in the car the other day to Nashville Tribute and I am talking thumbs-in-the-air-as-microphones type singing. There was a car that pulled up next to us because we were at a red light and they started cracking up! I love that I can be comfortable with myself and with Sister Odom, she is so sweeeeet! The sad news is she is for sure getting transferred in three weeks because she has been in this area so long and I am really nervous to get a new companion.

Prayer:
This week I was praying one morning for us as a companionship to be able to be on the same page for our lesson plans. We got done with personal study and then talked about it and it ended up being that we had had the EXACT same ideas about things, it was such an answer to my prayers. While Heavenly Father might not answer our prayers as obviously, He does answer us and we have to be the ones to recognize the blessings and answers He sends us. Another neat experience happened yesterday. Because the clock changed back yesterday it was mega hard to wake up, Sister Odom was not feeling good so it was even harder for me to get out of bed as she layed there. BUT I knew that the only way for me to become a better missionary was to change my nature and again BITE THE BULLET and get up. I am so extremely grateful I did because then I was able to sit in the living room and study my scriptures alone. I was reading in Matthew 26:53 where Christ is taken to be crucified. He talks about how easy it would be for Him to have a "legion of Angels" come and take away the pain but He doesn't because of His love for us and the need for the Atonement and a Resurrection. The amount of love I felt in that moment was such an answer to my prayers of knowing my Savior more and feeling His hand in my life. That is exactly what I had prayed for ten minutes earlier. To realize how strong my spirit can be over physical trial was especially something I needed to hear having been sick so much lately and also fasting yesterday, which I have always struggled with.

RANDOMS:
This week we went to a burger joint called Whataburger...it was flipping good.
One of the members in the ward and our recent convert Kevin, fed us last night. We sat down and I saw a stuffed elephant sitting on the chair and she ended up giving it to me....I just about died. Man I love elephants...in case you all were not aware :)

I want you all to know how much I love my Savior and how extremely possible it is for the Atonement to change us. We have to first have hope because that hope and desire is the root of the Atonement. I would ask you
"Do you believe in Christ's Identity or Christ's ability?"
-Stephen R. Robinson

Love,
Sister Engelbrecht

"As we give everything we have to the Lord even if that is a teeny tiny amount, He will surely bless us"

Never did I think that things could be so hard but still the best thing to ever happen to me. This week has probably been our most successful week and definitely my hardest of the mission. My companion gave me this scripture this week and it was such a source of strength.
D&C 78: 17-18.

17 Verily, verily, I say unto you, ye are little children, and ye have not as yet understood how great blessings the Father hath in his own hands and prepared for you;
18 And ye cannot bear all things now; nevertheless, be of good cheer, for I will lead you along. The kingdom is yours and the blessings thereof are yours, and the riches of eternity are yours.

This week I was in bed sick pretty much every day. I am so grateful for a companion who is so patient and a master smoothie maker. Let's just say there was a lot of scrapbooking and insane amounts of scripture study....along with sleeping, but that is a minor detail, right? We are not quite sure what it is that I was sick with because this is the 3rd time now and the same symptoms but it doesn't really matter because I just need to keep pushing on. When we did go out though I was blessed with the strength to teach even if it was just for an hour. Some of the fruits of these miracles consist of:

1 new baptism! There is a family we teach, the Sagastizado's who is a part member family. The husband has been active for a long time and the wife is not a member. She has been taught for 2 years and was waiting on her husband to be worthy to baptize her, which he almost is but she is getting impatient. Well we went in this week hoping to explain to her that it is her Salvation and she really needs to pray about it. We had the intentions of setting a date with her for the end of March. We sat down and said "Ashley we really want to talk to you today about baptism." She said "Oh me too, I am ready to do it and I want to do it on March 8!" We were shocked. She then adds that she not only wants to get baptized but she wants to surprise her husband with it, meaning the night of the baptism he will not know until he walks into the room. We kept saying are you sure that he is going to respond well to this, and she kept saying she was sure it would be good and he would be excited. On top of that she wants him to baptize her because she knows he is worthy, he just hasn't forgiven himself. It is quite the plan and so we are working our hardest to keep it a secret from him and still get him ready to do it. PURE MAGIC haha, it is really exciting.

We got 2 new investigators!!! They are absolutely awesome. One of the guys names is Brandon. He is a part of a music group in the black community trying to spread the message of Jesus Christ. We met him on campus and he lit up. He was so excited to talk to us and so we set up an appointment. Well we met with him this week and it just clicked for him. We explained the Book of Mormon and he said "WOW...this makes total sense, I feel like my prayers have been answered." It was so refreshing to talk to someone who had such an open heart and who had truly been prepared by God. It was definitely a testimony strengthener for me of how blessed we are to have the full knowledge of the gospel that so many people have no idea is out there.

I have seen so many tender mercies this week, we were able to go to the Nashville Tribute concert with one of our recent converts Tracey, who wants to serve a mission. The music was so powerful and I felt like it helped lift me up so much. Before the concert they had us come backstage and pray with them and then during the concert all of the missionaries went up on stage and sang with them. SO....my mission really is the best....lets be real!

As far as our other investigators, we were dropped by 2, Mariah and Jon, which really sucked because they KNOW the church is true but are just not ready to change. Their time will come though, God has a plan for them too. Our baptism this week with Kevin, went so well. Sister Odom and I sang and signed (ASL), "Nearer my God to Thee" for it and the spirit that was there when he was baptized was really strong. I felt so blessed to be a part of it.

I hope you are all well, I love to hear from you

Much Love,

Sister Engelbrecht

It is whether or not we recognize it that we get to enjoy it.

WOW, this week flew by
Sorry for the short email
The highlight of my week this week was with an investigator we have right now named Brandon Meadows. I think I had mentioned him last week. He is part of a music group called the WeRdoZ I think is how you spell it. They are trying to spread the "word of Jesus" through hip hop but do it in a way that appeals to people. While that is really awesome, it also is a testimony to me of the fact that we are in the last days because the truth is, God will never be popular and that is something that is going to get harder and harder. It seems so normal and good for people to say that "od is a cool guy" but those honestly are the discrete ways that the adversary is going to trick the world. That boy though is truly incredible. We taught him the restoration this time and when we told him of the first vision he stood up and freaked out, saying "Oh my gosh Oh my gosh, this is right, this is true" He is really unrealistically prepared. Can I just say God really watches out for us missionaries. Every time we meet with him my testimony grows so much, to be able to see someone who hasn't had the truth, hear it for the first time and touch their heart so specifically testifies to me that nothing, absolutely nothing God does is on accident.
This week we also got to help one of our less active recent converts move. So basically we got to wear pants!!! She is about to leave the church and we are so worried about her. She showed up for sacrament meeting yesterday for 20 minutes which was a huge miracle.
Sister Odom got an eye infection this week that was diagnosed as something that could make her go blind we spent some time in urgent care and lots of resting. She has been so sick from the antibiotics and steroids that I have had a lot of time to study my scriptures. I have also been reading Jesus the Christ. Yesterday in Relief Society we talked about having an abundant life. The thought came to me that we already have abundant lives, it is whether or not we recognize it that we get to enjoy it. That was something I definitely needed to hear having an unpredictable couple past weeks. I am so blessed to be a missionary, the power and protection I feel from God each day is tremendous. Thank you all for your prayers lately I am doing much better.
Love,
Sister Engelbrecht
P.s. these pictures are on the university that we spend tons of time