Erica's Missionary Adventures

Erica's Missionary Adventures
Merry Christmas from Mesa!

Saturday, September 26, 2015

September 21, 2015

NO PICTURES THIS TIME . . .
So I thought I would post this blast from the past!!!
Dear Mom,

We got transfer news!

I'M STAYING!!!!! For another 6 weeks! And probably for another 12 weeks!

Crazy! Sister B*** is getting transferred to Apache Junction, but Sister M**** and I will stay together!! And the extra crazy thing is that we are going to stay in a trio!! It's just going to be a different sister than Sister B**** :(

We had an awesome lesson with B**** at the Visitor's Center before it closes for the next 2 months! Anyway, B**** told us that she wants to serve a mission! So cool right!!? She is awesome :)

We had a great zone training meeting this week! I love this zone so much! I am so grateful that I am staying!!!

AND we went to the temple this week!! I love to see the temple!! But get this. We are going again at the beginning of this next transfer (on Sept. 30th) which means the next time we go won't be until DECEMBER!! Because that's when the next temple trip is planned for. So I will be waiting 2 months to go to the temple again :( but you know what, as hard as that seems, I am just really grateful to be serving in a mission where we get to go once a transfer! That definitely doesn't happen in every mission. #attitudeofgratitude

You will meet my mission president and his wife!! Someday! He loves to meet missionary's parents. Yeah, my mission president and his wife are THE BEST!!

How did Charlotte and Hank do in Soccer? I can't believe Chuck is bug enough to be playing Soccer!!

I am so glad you are loving work!! It looks fun!

Yes please let me know how Emma's auditions went!! What show are they even doing?

Can I go to Tessa's for Thanksgiving? Hahahahaa.....

I love that scripture. I shared that at a zone conference one time and I talked a little bit about how you guys have done that for me and for all of your children.

Okay I had this awesome thought! You should have a display in your library devoted to me. No wait, hear me out. You can tell all of your library kids about your awesome daughter who is living in Mesa, Arizona. And then you can put a picture of me in a frame on top of a book shelf and then you can put all of my favorite books (like Harry Potter, The Giver, Percy Jackson, The Book of Mormon haha jk probs not that one, etc.) on that book shelf. And then you can invite them to write me notes about the books they've read and how they like them and then you can send them to me and then and I will totally write back. AND THEN I will show up in your library one day and they will be like "IT'S SISTER BRADY!!" You can even use my face for your window display next month. Consider this my written permission. You can have the display say something clever like "Make it your mission to read" hahahahahahahaha......

Boom. Now you have your December display all planned.

Congrats on loosing weight you guys!!!!! You are AMAZING!! Will you sign me up for nutrisystem when I get home hahaha! But really...

I hated the stake dances. I told my companions last night about the stake dances and how I didn't talk to ********* for like a whole year and how I refused to dance with him multiple times. (Haha maybe don't forward this part in your emails/the blog...) [but it is funny . . . so I deleted the name and kept it in . . . ].

You are always in my prayers mom!! But yes I will say extra prayers :)

Okay I love you Mom!

Love,
Sister Brady



Dear Dad,

Thank you for your thoughts on the oil! I have another question for you.

Why doesn't the Elder's Quorum President get sustained by the ward in sacrament meeting when they announce that calling? Does he get sustained by the Elder's Quorum in their Sunday meeting?

I am so sorry that you were starving this week! I was starving last night when I went to bed and then again this morning when I woke up. But then I ate breakfast after zone sports and I felt much better.

I am so sad about the BYU game!!! Keep me updated! And let me know about the Oregon games too!

Okay I love you dad!!

Love,
Sister Brady



Saturday, September 19, 2015

September 14, 2015

The first decoration we've seen for the Halloween season!!
This is Halloween!!
 Dear Mom,
I am soooooooo excited for you and Dad to serve a mission [someday]!! You guys will be a powerhouse and a mighty instrument in the Lord's hands!

A potential Halloween costume!
We got a new investigator this week. His name is P*** and he is a Junior in High School. He is super nice and he was so happy to let us in to share our message. And he already had a copy of the Book of Mormon and he knew exactly where it was! He is so golden! But he is going out of town this next week so we won't be able to see him until the following week :/ so please keep him in your prayers!

Another potential (get it... We're Wolverine! Haaa.....)!!
We also had interviews with President this week. We talked about the Book of Mormon and how it really gives us spiritual strength and power as we study from it daily. It was a very sweet interview and by the end I was crying (a lot) and President shed a tear. I am so, so, so grateful for President Jenkins. I read somewhere that some missionaries are called to a certain mission, and other missionaries are called to a certain mission president. I think I was called to President Jenkins. I really trust him and I am inspired by his testimony of Christ. He is bold but very humble and very genuine. And his wife is so very sweet too!!! I love President and Sister Jenkins!

 I was reeeeaaaaallllyyyy tired on this day :(.
I will be okay mom! It's okay to focus your prayers on all of your children and my investigators :) I mean, I love prayers for me, but I am really doing okay (although that's probably because of your prayers for me haha!)

A picture of the result from our service adventure.[They cleaned an apartment.]
Okay, new rule. We don't talk about my return home at all. Unless it's absolutely necessary... Like when discussing about me going to see family or Katrina being at the airport or me coming to see your classroom or going back to work at the daycare. But no more actually mentioning how many more months I have or that I come home on the 15th of any month. It's TOO HARD FOR ME!!!!!! :'( I mean I love you guys and I am excited to see you, but for whatever reason it really stresses me out to actually talk about how much time I have left and things like that. But I still totally love you guys!!! I just love my mission too. A lot. I am sorry to ruin the fun!!! I just request this for my sanity. And my companions' sanity. I'm just too emotional for this.

A picture from our biking week in August
that I can't remember if I 
sent home or not :)
Yes I really want to hear about Grandma Ferre at the Fair!!! When is Grandma going back to Hawaii? I kind of decided that I so want to live with Grandma and Grandpa when I get to Hawaii!! Will you mention that to Grandma? :D but only if she is okay with that. I just really thought it would be good to have one more semester with her since I probably won't have another time in my life when I live with her!

What is ANT MAN???!??!??? WHO IS ANT MAN????!? I haven't even heard of it!! WHO IS EVEN IN IT???! Why are movies so hard for me????!!!!??!?? Ugh! I hate being out of the loop! Hahahahaha im really okay, because I love serving the Lord more than I love movies.

Mom you are so awesome for being a librarian!!! I am so excited to hear more about it and all of your adventures!!

Mom, tell Emma to wrote me about her first day of school if she has time. If she doesn't that's okay I totally understand because High School is stressful! But I want to hear about what classes she is taking and about what she is learning in drama class and stuff!

 MINI GOLFING!!! SO FUN!!
Wow that is an amazing insight that you received at the training! I am glad you recognized that your attitude makes all the difference! I feel bad for the students who get that one teacher, but I shouldn't judge because I also sometimes feel bad that the investigators get me for a teacher :/ good thing it's really the Holy Ghost who is the teacher!! Which is exactly what you learned from that parable!! I LOVE THE GOSPEL!!!

Well Mom, I really love you. This week has been swell. I love being a missionary. I love you.

Love,
Sister Brady

I love my zone so much :) can I just
always be a missionary?


September 7, 2015

I took this. God made it. #nofilter

I ran into this kiddo from my first area.
His aunt just moved into the ward I serve in right now
and as soon as I saw H**** I recognized him!!
He is so big now and he can walk!!! So cute!!
And usually he is really shy but he wasn't shy at all with me,
which makes me think he 
remembered me a little.
 Hello dear Mom,

Thank you for the school pictures [Shelly here - pictures of the library displays Emily and I did – and pictures of the new library I am working in]!! Everything looks awesome!! Let me know how this week goes!! Does school start Tuesday or Wednesday? I am so excited for you!!

This dog thinks that these chicks are it's puppy. 

It will spend most of it's day just watching the chicks...
This week has been really good! We met with F**** last night and had an amazing lesson about how God is our loving Heavenly Father :) D***** made us all laugh really hard because Brother S***** asked "What things has your father F**** taught you?" And D**** said, "Oh, so many things. He taught me how to breathe-" to which F***** made this face like “I taught you how to breathe???” and so we all busted up laughing and someone else pretended to hold a new born baby and said dramatically in it's face "Breathe!!! Breathe, son!!" And we just were all laughing so hard. But it was seriously a great lesson. The spirit was very strong and it was completely led by the spirit because we had to totally change our lesson plan right when we walked in the door. I love missionary work!

Another picture from the light rail service :)
And M***** GOT BAPTIZED!! And she was so sweet! When she bore her testimony she said that the first time she came to church she sat in the back and looked around and she said it felt like "coming home". So sweet! And right after she came out of the water she looked at Brother O***** (the one who baptized her) and exclaimed "Thank you!!" I shared the "coming Home" story in my testimony in another ward on Sunday because the reason we feel that way at church is because it is God's church and he is our Father, so of course we feel at home in his home! :)

Helping prepare the mesa temple for Christmas lights!!
And we had a lesson with a new investigator on Tuesday! Her name is B**** and she is so excited to be baptized, so we set a date for October 24th. She is 14 years old and the first thing she asked us when we sat down for the lesson was "how many lessons would it take for me to be baptized?" And when we asked if she would prepare to be baptized on Oct. 24th she looked as though she couldn't believe that this was really happening. Also, after we shared the first vision we told her that Joseph had been called by God to be a prophet, and her face was glowing, mom! Glowing! You could just tell she believed!! The spirit was so strong! I love being a missionary and getting to share these truths with others!!

Companion bonding time during a lunch break.
We are so cute! Haha!!
Is Girl Meets World good, Emma?

So if Gordon and Katrina don't move until January, does that mean they will be at the airport when I get home? :D

Emma, was MacBeth good?

Street of Dreams 2017?? I get home in April 2016! We could do it in August 2016, Mom!!

That's great that Aunt Genevieve went to the Baby Brady's Blessing!! What did she think of church?

Okay, does it feel like Christmas to you? Because all week it has felt like Christmas to me. This happens every year. It always starts to feel like Christmas to me around September time. I've pretty much been drinking Hot Chocolate every day this week!!

Okay I love you Mom!!

Love,
Sister Brady


Letter to Dad

Dear Dad,

Yes M**** got baptized and it was so beautiful!!! 
Playing the piano with A*** (M****'s sweet daughter)
M**** just before her baptism! We are so cute!
Except I have no idea what my hair was doing...
Dad, it's spelled "Cierra" not "Sierra" haha! Yeah we were best friends :-/ i miss her :'(

I have only been to the State Fair once, and I loved it!! I want to go again!! I love fairs and carnivals!!

Hey, can we go see the Nutcracker when I get home in "April"? [Erica insists that we refer to December – when she is REALLY coming home as April.] Cause I've never seen it and I really want to!!!

Me holding a really cute chick.
Again, my hair...
Haha funny story with the camera!!! I love those Platt kids!!

Do you remember when I used to smile a lot at home and you would always say "Why are you smiling so much?" Or when I would say "goodnight" to you multiple times in one night and you would say "you already said goodnight!!" Hahaha those are good memories :)

I love you dad!!!! Thank you for your 2 letters!!!

:)

Love,
Sister Brady



I accidentally clogged the Elder's Quorum President's toilet. The single most embarrassing moment of my mission was having to ask Brother F**** for a toilet plunger... But as you can CLEARLY see from the toilet water, I only went number 1!!!! Their toilet is just already broken and I happened to be one of the unlucky ones who flushed it and it clogged :/
A*** (M****s daughter) LOVES Sister M**** and promptly crawled onto her lap during one of our lessons this week. Sister B**** was so quick to snap a picture. So priceless, right?

The mission started a 21 day challenge where we don't eat any sugar.....
These were pictures from the first two days if the challenge.
The white square on the fork is a marshmallow that I roasted over the stove... I have since created really good health goals that include not eating anything after 6pm, only drinking water and milk, and only eating desert if it's at a member's home.





Wednesday, September 2, 2015

August 31, 2015

How we act on a hot afternoon!

How we reallllyyy feel on a hot afternoon!
 Dear Mom,

So this week we had dinner with Bishop R**** family and I realized that the reason I love their family sooooo much is because they are almost the exact same family as us!!! They have 1 boy and 4 girls and their boy is in the middle. They all love theater and the dad and the son really love sports.

AND.................... While we were at dinner one of their daughters (the 16 year old) said something to which the whole family laughed out loud and said "Sue!!" Which of course made me pause and I said "did you just call her.... Sue??" And Sister R***** said "Yes! It is from this show we watch.... It's called 'The Middle'" THE MIDDLE, MOM!!! And they went on to tell me that Sister R**** is "Frankie" and that their oldest daughter is "Axel", etc. MOM!!! THEY ARE MY FAMILY AWAY FROM HOME!!! Anyway, so they are kind of the best. I love them!!! [Side note from Shelly – We watch “The Middle” as a family and we all agree ERICA IS SUE HECK! And I might be Frankie . . . ]

A member made me a skirt with these Pineapples.

 I love it.
So when does Kat and Gordo and family go to Washington DC? I thought they were already supposed to be there... Will you explain to me again how that all goes down? When do they find out their country? When will they actually go to their country? I am so excited for them!!

Action shot!!

Thanks for the Itinerary. It's kind of blowing my mind. Good thing I don't have to worry about it until April!! [Erica has requested that we pretend she is coming home in April – she does not want to leave her mission! But REALLY IT IS DECEMBER!!!]

Where is the girls camp??? I think I remember you telling me it was at a different place, but I forgot!! Do they still have a swimming area?

M**** is still progressing towards baptism!! It is happening on September 5th!!! Please keep her in your prayers!!!!!

Which McGill was it??! I love the McGills!! Heidi McGill was pretty much the only person I hung out with outside of Choir and Plays my first semester at BYU-H. I love her!!! WHO IS SHE ENGAGED TO???!???!? Man, I'm bummed I'm going to miss the wedding/reception!!

I will pray for you to sleep better and I will keep Kevin and Kara in my prayers. I think the Lord really does have great plans for them. I love the J Holland quote (he is my favorite). Yes, they will be in my prayers.

I wish I could help with your Library set up!! But you will do so amazing! You are so good at doing new things and doing them well!!

I WANT TO GO TO THE STREET OF DREAMS!!!! THAT IS MY FAVORITE PLACE!!!! You are such a good mom to still take Emma there even though you were tired!!

We had a rain storm here this week too!! Oh and I forgot to tell you that we have been on BIKES all week!!! We ran out of miles again in our car so we've been biking it up!! The days were pretty hot this week, but I am just so grateful we were able to get bikes from other sisters rather than have to walk everywhere all week :/ we also had some kind members who were able to give us rides to some lessons! And then the APs saw us walk into the mission office after biking there and they said "Sisters, did you bike here??" (We were all drenched in sweat and our hair was all disheveled from our helmets) and we're like "How could you tell?" Haha anyway they took pity on us and gave us more miles for our area!! Blessings!! 

But we kept biking just so that we made sure we would be good on miles and then on Saturday night we had a HUGE storm!! Tons of power went out on main streets! As Sister M****** and I were biking back to our car (we were on exchanges so Sister B***** was with another sister) we got completely soaked from the rain (not gonna lie though, I would rather be drenched in rain than in my own sweat) and there was lightening happening everywhere all around us!! And the thunder was just one continuous rumble because there was so much lightening and it was happening so close! Apparently the lights in the temple even went out for a minute! It was insane! As we were driving home we turned a corner where there was flooded streets, lights out all down the road, police and firetrucks with sirens and lights coming towards us, and poor, confused, Arizona drivers driving super slowly because no one here knows how to drive in rain. It's like snow to Portlandians.

I love you Mom!! Thank you always for your emails!! I love the two part emails and you can tell dad that it is the response that I deserve! ;)

Love 
Sister Brady

This is me and the group of missionaries helping out
at the opening of the light rail in downtown mesa!!! So fun!!!!