Learning how to turn Lemons into Lemonade

Hey you,
There are two ways that I could look at this past week. I am going to choose to look at it as the week that made me stretch to my limits and then expand some. I know that there are just going to be hard times, that is simply just how life is. Wichita Falls is a tough area because our area is relatively small and all the doors have been tracted a couple times. The people are nice but there has been a lot of rejection lately. We have spent a ton of times on our bikes again this week just trying to find people to talk to BUT I can testify that it is not until after a trial of our faith that we see the blessings. Yesterday we were able to see a miracle though!
We have been teaching a lady named Betty Swan. She is 89 and such a doll. She has been taught on and off for a couple years and is getting close to her time on this earth. Well last time we met with her she said "ya know, I think I am going to be baptized in your church" we were so excited. Yesterday we were able to invite her to be baptized and she remembered and said YES!!! We are so excited and her date is in the middle of July. She has lots of hurdles to go through with her kids but we know she can make it.
There are two other sweet kiddos we are teaching named Tiffany and Robbie. They are 10 and 12. Those two have been waiting and waiting to be baptized but cannot until their court date in July when we find out if their grandma gets to keep them. We are praying really hard otherwise they will have to wait until they are older. It is incredible to see the light of Christ in children and the strength of their desires.
​The ward here is stinking hilarious! The kids are so routy is cracks me up. ​Today when we drove to Walmart to get our groceries and we saw a little girl who had climbed up on top of the car. I was dying of laughter and then we realized OF COURSE, it was a little girl in our ward, sure enough there goes her mother. So good. Discipline people, it is a thing! See the mission prepares you for life :p
I have learned a lot about the spirit this week. I can promise that as we follow the promptings the spirit gives us it does not get less scary haha, BUT we do recognize the promptings more easily and the spirit can work more fully in my our lives. I have found so much comfort from learning to recognize the spirit. The first several times everything is a bit hazy but it gets clearer as God sees that He can trust us with the tasks He has for us.
I love this gospel so much and I am so grateful for it. I hope you are all having a good week. Thank you so so so much for all the letters this week it meant the WORLD to me. Mail helps TONS.
P.s. Planning on the balcony helps!
Love,

-Sister Engelbrecht

Hard work feels so good!

This week we have busted our behinds! I started a journal this week to record a spiritual experience I have each day. It has helped me see how much God's hand has been in my life. I have been on my knees quite a bit the past couple weeks with my health and I think that I have finally found my answer. Wait for it...this past week I went gluten free. Doing this on a mission was is really difficult but after that advice kept coming over and over again I knew it was time I try it. It has helped me so much. I am feeling so much better. I know that I am supposed to be in Wichita Falls at this time because of all the people that know a lot about Gluten free diets that have been placed in my path. If anyone has any advice or ideas let me know, the journey has begun I guess. The elders in my district are awesome though because two of them have done it with me and helped encourage me.

Also this week we were able to focus on less actives, and through that we have found several potentials. One of the days this week we biked all day in the 97-100 degree weather plus humidity and I thought I was going to die (no drama :p). I had prayed a lot for courage that morning and I was determined to let all my fear go. I know that through Christ anything is possible! Sure enough we did stop and talk to everyone. The first person we met was Justin. We were looking for a ladies house and the house looked vacant so we asked him for directions. He told us that they had moved downtown and told us how we could get there. At the time he was working on his car but he seemed nice enough to talk to us. When I offered him a pass along card he smirked and laughed at the fact that it was a picture of Christ. I tried to not let it back me down and continued to press forward handing him the card. When he took it, we testified of the Savior. I told him that the Savior loved him and Sister Young bore an awesome testimony too. In that moment I saw his demeanor change and there was a light in his eyes. I know that a simple testimony of Christ can soften someone's heart. Even three sentences and the spirit is there. This is God's work not ours, but we have to be the medium through which He works.

Another man that we talked to was Ronny. We stopped and talked to him as he was taking a walk down the road. When we told him about God he told us how much he loved him. He served in Afghanistan and lost both his leg and his eye. To hear a burley guy express his love for God was so humbling and reminded me that we truly are all his children. We gave him a Book of Mormon and invited him to read 3 Nephi 11 about when the Savior comes to the Americas to minister to the people, just like when the Savior went to Jerusalem in the bible to minister to the people there also. He told us he would read it and asked us if we could come over that night and tell him more. We unfortunately had other appointments but told him we could come back the next night. Unfortunately, when we went back a woman answered the door and said he was in treatment and was not doing well. We are not sure if that was the full truth since we had just barely talked to him the day before, but we have his phone number so we think we will give him a call.

Everyday this week, Sister Young and I have come home completely wiped. It is such a good feeling to know that you gave it your all and that the Lord has to be proud. Something that I have realized is that in order to be the person I want to when I get home, I cannot put energy into changing myself but rather I have to put all my energy into serving the best I can and that is the only way I can become that person. I love the Lord so much, I have a testimony that He can help us with absolutely anything even biking in 97 degree weather. He hears us and knows us! When was the last time you let your fear go and did something that forced you to trust God?

Love,

Sister Engelbrecht

​(Signs are everywhere thanking God for rain...such a different world here)​

Serve Serve Serve, it brings so many blessings.

Serve Serve Serve, it brings so many blessings. 

This week has been a lot of just that, service. 

Wichita Falls has had a lot of flooding around the outer areas and there are a lot of people moving out and in right now because there are several military bases around us. Unfortunately I was sick again for part of the week but the rest of the time, we packed a lot of boxes and helped many people in our ward. It has been really good for me because I have been able to get to know the ward members. I have such a testimony that God gives us gifts that we just have to develop. I saw that a lot with the people that we helped this week. I never knew some of the things I was capable of unitl I tried. Trust me, you will never regret getting out of your comfort zone. 

We have lost a few investigators this week which has been really hard due to some sad circumstances. One of the couples we teach got into some domestic abuse this week and are getting separated. Another one of our recent converts was kicked out of her house and is making bad choices with her boyfriend. The difference between these two is that the sweet Antoinette ( the previous wife of her husband Nate ) has leaned on the Savior an exponential amount and through something so extremely difficult. Where Ashley, our 22 year old recent convert has rejected what she has learned and despite receiving answers on where she should go she has left Texas and ignored her promptings. Now, I don't mean to be harsh but I learned a really important lesson this week. We cannot take the gospel for granted. We cannot take our Savior for granted. There are people in this world that would do anything to just find peace from the truth and we have it, He can and WILL help us if we let Him.

The rest of this week I have spent a lot of time immersed in the Book of Mormon. I finished it this week again and felt such a huge sense of peace when I finished it. That book just blew me away, especially the last few books. The words are directly for our time. 

​My biggest testimony builder for the week came from Mormon 9:31
"Condemn me not because of mine imperfection, neither my father, because of his imperfection, neither them who have written before him; but rather give thanks unto God that he hath made manifest unto you our imperfections, that ye may learn to be more wise than we have been.​"

This helped me to understand more fully why things happen the way they do. The imperfections of myself, my family, my companions, my environment, they all are there to make my experience unique and exactly what it is supposed to be. I am not so sure I can say I am grateful for the imperfections yet but I know I should be.

Try to change y'all's perspective this week!

Love you all a lot and thank you for emailing me :)

​Love,​

Sister Engelbrecht

Transferred!

NEW AREA: Wichita Falls, Texas
My thoughts- I so far love it to peices.
MY COMPANION: Sister Young
My thoughts- she is a blast, and a very consecrated missionary, it has been so good for me
OUR TRANSPORTATION: Every other day, bikes
My thoughts- mmmm not so sure about that part yet
THE WEATHER: Zillion degrees in stinking May
My thoughts- yup I am sure about that part and I am not digging it.
​
So now that you all have the low down I guess we can form some sentences now :p This week has been a really refreshing change. I love love love my first area but I also love Texas like mad. The people here are crazy and so down to earth which is so nice. They all talk very much like what you would expect but its so fun and they have lots of Texas Pride. Our apartment is so much nicer than in my last area but I feel like I will be looking for things for days after moving. I have been able to have so many cool experiences here already. Last week we went to a ladies house to help her unpack. Her family moved from Norway a month ago and so all of her things were in Swedish and her little boys both have some serious English and Swedish skills. She herself has a really good accent as well. I know I am a dork but I just loved hearing about her life and the culture she has grown up in. Their house is gorgeous and her husband is in the Norwegian Air force. There are a lot of people here who are in the Air force because Sheppard's Air force base is just a few minutes down the rode from us. ​Which brings me to my next new experience. The third day I was here, we went to teach a couple on the base and I have never been on a base before. We had to get visitor passes but it was so incredible to see everyone in Uniform and see the culture there is even in just the government bases. It opened my eyes to the bigger picture of the people that are training to fight for my freedoms. It was a really neat experience and I loved it.
Being in family ward is very different..haha very loud. But the best part is when I got here I was told I would be giving a talk at a baptism two days later. It was quite weird because I didn't know the lady. Her name is Donna and she is a nutty one, but a sweetheart. Last night we went to teach a guy named John he is from Nigeria as well. There are so many African's here I love love love it. He was a struggle though. He tested my patience and got a bit heated so now I know that I need to work on that Christlike attribute. It is a good area though and I am excited.
Last excitement. We had tornado sirens going off again this week and the sky was so gorgeous. We are all safe though and the Tornado missed us. Thank goodness.

Love you all so much here is my new address:
​3001 Kemp Blvd
#820
Whichita Falls Texas
76308

Time for a change!

This week has been all sorts of crazy!
The weather first of all has been quite the experience. Every night we have had storms- thunder and lightning all the way. #1 Tornado sirens sound like the end of the world and #2 you will never find me in a stinking tiny tornado shelter unless we are all dying. Other than constantly dealing with Tornado threats this week we have been seeing so many miracles.
The highlight of this week is about a guy named Kyle. He is 26 and lives with his parents. He was a referral from the Del City Elders because they met him at Rose state college. We called him Thursday night and he answered the phone with much enthusiasm. He was excited to hear from us and told us that he had a lot of respect for the Mormon religion and wanted so badly to be a part of it. He asked how he could join?! Umm hello, when does that happen :) We then met with him Friday afternoon and taught him about baptism and got to know him a little better. He has studied a lot of different religions and he kept saying "I feel like this is the one I want for life, it is a new chapter." He was so excited about baptism that we could not get through the restoration and so we ended up inviting him to baptism for June 13 and he was stoked. After he accepted the tears started flowing and he insisted we pray right then and end the meeting. Sister Jones and I walked out of there shocked and so greatful. Kyle was a complete god send. Sunday rolled around and he came to Church and really enjoyed it.
I was so happy to be able to talk to my family yesterday and share a bit of my experiences. I love them so so much and the more I grow in my relationship with God the more I realize how important they are to me.
I am headed to Wichita Falls, Texas this week for transfers and my new companion will be Sister Young. It is going to be a good change. I am excited and obviously a bit nervous but I do love moving so that is definitely nice :) I will send me address next week and let y'all know how it is going. Love you so much!
-Sister Engelbrecht
​P.s. This is Sophia Iyiewuare from Nigeria...I am seriously gonna miss this girl!

Turning it all over~

This week has honestly been a bit of a blur. I was sick this week again which did not help but it was still a week that I am SO grateful to be on a mission. This week I have been thinking a lot about how I often feel like I don't give 100 % of what I could. The thought of coming home and feeling like I did not work hard enough kills me. It is hard because the natural man is so strong. "Sister Engelbrecht, sleeping in for 10 more minutes isn't going to make you a bad missionary" or "you don't want to go tracting, it is really just a waste of time. If you take your time at this appointment you won't have to." It is a constant battle in my head and even admitting that is hard. But you know what that is how I feel. I want to say "I love every second of my mission and everything about it" but that is just not the truth. My goal is to love my mission and to feel like I worked as hard as I could. However, it is a journey not a destination and my desire is there. I have prayed a lot for help with this struggle of mine and this is the answer I have received.

Alma 37:36-37

 36 Yea, and cry unto God for all thy support; yea, let all thy doings be unto the Lord, and whithersoever thou goest let it be in the Lord; yea, let all thy thoughts be directed unto the Lord; yea, let the affections of thy heart be placed upon the Lord forever.
 37 Counsel with the Lord in all thy doings, and he will direct thee for good; yea, when thou liest down at night lie down unto the Lord, that he may watch over you in your sleep; and when thou risest in the morning let thy heart be full of thanks unto God; and if ye do these things, ye shall be lifted up at the last day.
Now don't get me wrong at all, I really do love the work we do and I am grateful every single day for another day to be a missionary but after doing it 24/7 for 3 transfers now, it is easy to just mindlessly go through each day.
This scripture was shared with me by my STL and changed my perspective completely. What is it that brings me the most joy? The spirit. Everything I love about missionary work is brought by the spirit. The joy on people's faces as they finally understand God's plan for them, meeting people that are different from me and being able to recognize that God put diversity on the earth for a reason but that nonetheless they are my brother or they are my sister. These experiences all had the spirit there to teach me. SO what can I do to have the spirit more? Turn it all over to Him who created me and you. Every part of me needs to be given up. Elder Corbridge from the seventy spoke to us yesterday and said that "the only way to win is to lose". TO lose myself in the Lord. My initial thought was "then where is my will and how will I become what I want to be?" What I learned though, is that the only way to become what I want to be is to give it to the Lord, because all I want is to be happy and see others happy. The only way I can do that is by trusting in my Father in Heaven and my Savior because he has felt that natural man before. I can make myself a smudge of paint on a canvas by myself but truly the Lord can make me a masterpiece.
Love you all,
Sister Engelbrecht
Here are some pictures from the week. The Elders gave us chocolate bunnies and cards to play this week during lunch!
The moon is so gorgeous!

God's time and not mine

Okay first off:

This morning was an adventure, no doubt...or something of that nature.
Laundry is always fun (replace fun with gross) in our apartment complex, especially this morning. As I went to put my clothes in the washer I found 3 cockroaches just chilling...UMM EWWW. Later on as I was hanging up my what should have been clean clothes...I found a cigarette but in the pile. SO not clean. Ahh people the struggle is real. Just got to tough it out I guess and laugh about it later. However I am not quite at the laughing point yet.
This week was so full of miracles I can't even begin to describe. I will try though I guess :P

Last Monday Sister Jones and I went to the Oklahoma City Bombing memorial which was a priceless experience. I love being near the city where there are so many historical and cultural experiences. That night we dropped our car off at the collision center to get fixed from the fender bender we got into a few weeks ago. 2 sister missionaries + no car = yup you guessed it, a lot of biking. It was really refreshing though! My legs were so extremely sore and biking in a skirt is well fun and sometimes another way to share your religion if you are not careful but it is all a learning experience right?! We were on our bike for 4 days and it turned out the weather was perfect in the 70's. It has actually been so stormy here all months and there are so many thunder and lightning storms I love it.

One of our miracles this week happened with our investigator Jake. We were teaching him the plan of salvation. Before we left the apartment though we realized we hadn't taught him the restoration yet. I had a feeling that we still needed to teach him the plan of salvation lesson so we did. We met at the UCO library and as we taught him he opened up a ton and said things like "the God I worship would do it this way" and other things about the way he was feeling the spirit. Sister Jones invited him to be baptized which I did not see coming, and he said that he would have to learn more because it is a huge decision to him. IT WAS CRAZY THOUGH BECAUSE he was open and it was his first real lesson. A lot of times when I read missionary letters I think that the stories go very similar. "we met so and so, then we taught them it was up and down and then a miracle happened and they were baptized". The think is though, it actually happens people! These are people that are around you everyday just minding there own business and one minute of courage can be the beginning of their salvation!!! I am amazed at the people that are prepared. The thing is, every one on this earth already has accepted Christ once. As we teach and SHARE by the spirit all we are doing is reminding them of truths they already know. In preach my gospel there is a quote that is pretty much my most favorite quote right now: “We are commanded by God to take this gospel to all the world. That is the cause that must unite us today. Only the gospel will save the world from the calamity of its own self-destruction. Only the gospel will unite men of all races and nationalities in peace. Only the gospel will bring joy, happiness, and salvation to the human family”
It is so true, I have seen it happen in just a small way here in Edmond, Oklahoma.

Another miracle that happened this week was again with Phillip (who I talked about last week as well. He is the one that came to church). Saturday morning we invited him to come play basketball with all of us missionaries at the church. Okay so we play at 6, meaning we have to wake up at 5:30. Most normal people don't get up that early just to play a sport that really we all suck at playing. Well Phillip did and not only did he come, he brought his roommate Michael. All the elders had there game face on, especially because Phillip and Michael can stinking jump and swivel the ball like no other between their legs...its in their blood. It was so fun to play with them though. I have had so much fun playing sports with the elders lately because they actually appreciate when the sisters try, and oh I try :p I suck but I try. I am getting really good at stealing passes though and making shots. Who would have thought the girl who is absolutely not sporty at all, could make a shot, Elder McGinnis apparently (he is the one that taught me). Well after basketball Phillip wanted to take us to Ihop so we showered and then met him there. He is such a nice guy and is so in tune with the spirit. He told us how he feels different from all his friends because he doesn't drink anymore doesn't go to places where he cannot feel the spirit and has really changed his life. He told us that as of now he doesn't really see himself being baptized into our church but that if that is what the Lord wants for him then he will. We are trying to help him to feel the spirit of the Priesthood and get him to start coming to church. Later that night we met with him again and read Alma 32 with him. He is reading between the French and English version of the Book of Mormon and is having a hard time understanding it. As we talked about it though, the spirit was there and we could see his heart soften and his ideas begin to change. We talked a lot about faith coming AFTER we act. As a missionary I have really learned that a lot of the time God requires me to make a decision based on a leap of faith and then after that I will be able to have better faith. He is wrestling with that idea in regard to leaving life church for a bit and coming to the LDS church. He knows that the only way he is going to be able to feel that it is true is by coming to church and experimenting with it. Man, I really feel God's love for him and want so badly for it to click for him, it takes time though. God's time and not mine.

Well, my friends that was a lot I know but so many good things are happening here. Lots of ups and downs everyday but I know that I am just an instrument and to that is becoming worth it.

Love you all,  hope you are doing well,
Sister Engelbrecht