Christmas!

HI!

It was such a great week this week and an amazing Christmas. The ward ended up taking such good care of us afterall! I was super worried it was going to be a lonely Christmas but it was such a blessing to focus on the Savior and serve others. One of the best parts of Christmas is we went to an old folks home and sang Carols to the residents with a family from  our ward. There was one lady who followed us around the whole time and caroled with us. Christmas eve we went to the Christensen's for dinner and they were soo kind. We played minute to win it games and it was so much fun. Their parents had just got done with their mission in Oregon and it was really good to hear about their mission. Christmas morning we woke up and I jumped on Sister Cook to get her up. We played some Christmas music and it was GREAT. We went to the bishop's house and talked to our fam bams, which of course was soooo good. I definitely miss them, but it was good to get remotivated by the people I love.

Sorry it was so short but we are cut on email time. I hope you all had an amazing Christmas. I LOVE YA!!!

I love my Savior and am SOOOO grateful for him!

p.s. I have a lil seahawk pride!
Got to love these pjs THANKS MOM :D

Representing the Savior and loving people

Friends and Family,
Are you excited for this week? I am :)

It has been a pretty good week. Our area is blowing up right now with potential investigators. We went to a lady's house this week and she told us she was super interested in learning about our church because she felt that something was missing. We kind of just sat there with our jaws dropped for a second. We have an appointment with them after Christmas to teach their family.

This week we had Christmas Conference with the mission and it was super nice. It helped me to understand that missionary work is so much more than just teaching an appointment and waiting til the next week to see them again. It is being a representative of the Savior and truly loving people. Our bishop in the ward I am currently serving in is a prime example of that. He has SO much love for the ward even when he does not receive it back. I am so amazed to see that, that is truly all we need. Everything gets done when we are motivated by love. It is not always the easiest way to go but it it the way the Savior would do it and it was never easy for him.

I am so so grateful for the Savior and the patience that He has with me. I hope that we can have an incredible Christmas centered on the Savior. Thank you SO much for all the love you guys have shown me and the packages :)!!! It has been such a lovely Christmas season.

Love,
Sister Engelbrecht
Picture: reunited with my old companion at conference
Picture2: GINGERBREAD MAKING!!!

The Savior

Hey family and friends,

(I apologize for how short this is going to be today (we have a big meeting today)

I was definitely wallowing in my own self pity at the beginning of this Christmas season. I missed my family and the people that I wanted around me. In the midst of this I was beginning to stress about things that really don't matter. A couple days this week I ended up getting sick again ( the same old stuff ) however, it gave me an opportunity to reflect on why I was so upset. I realized that I was not focusing on the true meaning of Christmas : the Savior. Even as a missionary I was getting lost in all the people's hussle and bussle around me. If you have the new Christmas ensign, read some of it because that is what helped me. I realized that even though we may not have family around or the exact situations we hope for we have the ultimate family and gift with us all the time, the

This week we have had an awesome week. Something that I found really helped me was going to a gym our member has everyday this week and holy moly I am sore but it has helped my health issues a TON. I feel sooo good after I am done. Second with this new perspective Sister Cook and I were trying to share more with people. One of our investigators said that he wanted to be baptized on the 2nd lesson and that he wants their baby to be blessed. There were tears people. I cannot describe the joy that was in that room with the whole family. Willie does not have a date yet but we are going to work towards that with him.

I guess I just want to impress upon you my testimony of the Savior. This is the time when we should be turning outward and not just SAY we will. I would encourage you to invite 1 person to church this week and it can even be over text. The worst they will say is no. We should be the ones to bring people "glad tidings of great joy". D&C 8:33

For what doth it profit a man if a gift is bestowed upon him, and he receive not the gift? Behold, he rejoices not in that which is given unto him, neither rejoices in him who is the giver of the gift.

With all my love,
Sister Engelbrecht

p.s. christmas pillows :D
p.p.s. isnt my mom the best for sending me a peice of home

The basics

​So many times in church we are told to share the gospel and ​we know we should be unless we have been truly touched by the spirit it is REALLY hard to do. I had a moment this week with an investigator and his less active wife where the words on the pamphlets and the peices we were using to show the plan of Salvation became so REAL. This is WHY.

As I sat there and listened to the wife profess her love and longing to be with the investigator forever it became so REAL to me that this is not just a happy idea we have in our head of God's plan but IT TRULY is the only way to pure joy. Families really are the most important thing on this planet. NOTHING else matters. So the why?...its your family. When you are with your family you have a different connection with them unlike any other and we have the real opportunity to have that forever. It really is that simple.

I know that the gospel can seem like this cloud of understanding but as we go back to the basics and grow upon the knowledge we know, it will be made real to us AND attainable through His Atonement.

Love,
Sister Engelbrecht

Almost December!

Happy Happy Happy Almost December, I am really excited for the Christmas season this year. We have decorated already and decorated a tree! It was a blast.
It is pretty cold here though, Sister Cook's mom was so sweet and sent us heat packs!
I hope that everyone's Thanksgiving was a delight. Ours was really nice and laid back. It definitely made me grateful for my family and all of the traditions that we have. Cherish those, this Holiday season :)

I was especially grateful for the Elders this week for all the help they gave us in moving and getting settled. We finally got into our new apartment and it is 100 times better and feels better than the place we were at before. I however, did not realize how much work it would take to get moved in so this week was a bit weird.

Heavenly Father made up for it though because we were able to get two new investigators. Their names are Jeanette and David. They were related to a less active member that we were looking for. We did not end up finding him but we found them. Jeanette was the sweetest lady and let us right in the first time we met her. She has been going to a church for 30 years now. Her husband David was also the kindest man and talked and talked to us (we call that "Okie talkers" here) He and I got talking about our trips to Africa and I was thrilled. The first time we talked to David he told us that he had met some LDS people before and knew that a lot of the things that people say about them are not true. It was so refreshing to see. They invited us back and we were able to teach them the Restoration. The things that they kept asking were so perfect. They were definitely prepared by Heavenly Father for us and we loved how much the spirit was in their home. We were not able to get all the way through the lesson but its because they kept asking all these questions like "shouldn't everyone have a chance to be saved" and "I don't think that there is just a heaven or hell" We didn't even know where to start it was great.

I walked out of their reflecting on all the confusion that many religions have and felt so grateful for the knowledge I have. We have had a lot of people ask us a lot about the gay/lesbian issues in the church lately and quite frankly I don't know a lot about it but I just feel so at peace that our church is under attack by the whole. The reason it gives me peace is because there is NO way that there would be such strong forces fighting us unless our church was the true church and Satan was working overtime. We have to keep our foundation strong :)

So funny story for the week :
We no longer have a washer and dryer in our house/apartment so we had to go to the laundromat. WELL here I am grabbing my journal and yarn for a scripture case I am making, to work on while we wait for the laundry. I couldn't hold it all so I put those two things in the laundry bag. Sure enough, you guessed it, I dumped ALL of it in. That called for a soaked journal and everything else. Let's just say me and the blow dryer were good friends that day. HAHAHA, mom I really do have a streak of bad luck.

Love you guys tons and hope you have a great week.
My new address:
300 Sunset Dr. SW #358
Ardmore, OK
73401

-SIS E