Hello Christmas!!!

BOLDOG KARACSONYT! MERRY CHRISTMAS!



















2 weeks down, 7 more to go! 7 weeks sounds like such a long time, but I know that it is going to fly by. I seriously feel like I just got here last week. I will admit, being away during Christmas has been one of the hardest things I have done so far. Singing Christmas carols, not even realizing Christmas is this week, and knowing my family and friends are celebrating without me... is hard. The MTC does a great job distracting us with constant studying and devotionals and I have so many friends that keep me laughing and not feeling alone. One thing that I figured out the other day (and people have already told me it's such a great experience and a once-in-a-lifetime Christmas. I am just figuring out what they meant) but this week has been all about Christ. I have already been strengthening my relationship with Him ever since I decided to go on a mission and even more in the MTC, but having no distractions, no presents or parties has been such a joy. To focus on what this holiday is all about. I have no words to describe how much I love my Savior. He has stood by my side and answered my pleading prayers. He has given me the abundance of loved once that I get the pleasure to miss this holiday season. I feel so honored to be a representative of Christ and his church and I know that he is there for all of us. All we need to do is have the desire to have Him in our lives and constantly work at being more like Him. So all in all, this has been the most special Christmas I have had so far. Being away for 2 Christmases to help the people in Hungary come to the realizations that I have, and gain a love for the Savior, is more than worth it.



Okay now to the fun stuff! Last week I was SO stressed on time and totally forgot some things about the MTC!

-Everything is funnier in the MTC. There isnt a day that goes by where I have not laughed so hard I cried. I don't know if it is because everyone in my district is a comedian, or if its just because our brains are totally fried. Everyone makes fun of my giggle, but WHATS NEW. I just dont want you guys to think I sit in a gloomy boring classroom all day because it is quite the opposite. It is so lively and the Huns are known for laughing 24/7. A pretty good rep if you ask me!



-Temple. Every Sunday we walk to the Temple with our Zone ( the Hungarians, the Albanians, and the Fins) and this week was so much fun because, for one, it was SNOWING! I get to have my first "white christmas" and you can bet I sing the song all day long. And two, we sang christmas carols and it was just so fun yet spiritual at the same time. I love my people here. we are all such different people, with different stories, but one thing brings us all together. I have made best friends with the albanians and am dreading my goodbyes with them next week. Word of advice- dont make friends in the MTC because once you get close and love them, they LEAVE YOU.


-Random stuff: I have been called to be the Sister Training Leader for my Zone! Which means I am over our sisters, there are like 4 of us so it's not that difficult but still super exciting to have the experience and leadership! SO excited for Alex and his mission call to Adriatic North! Bummed that I would have seen him all the time throughout the day except I will be leaving the day before he comes.... But i know the people in his district and he will have the time of his life. Such a cool mission. Proud of you and best of luck!



Hungarian- It is so crazy how much we are learning in a week let alone a day. We are now teaching investigators with no notes, praying and bearing our testimonies and currently memorizing the First vision as well. Although some days i feel like pulling my hair out or flipping my desk over, it really is such a beautiful language. It's hard to explain, but the words and the definitons of the words are actually so poetic. I dunno if it will ever compare to my love for French, but its getting pretty close! My teacher, Rupard Nover actually studied french before her mission as well, so Mason Nover and I get to brush up on our french with her during and after class which is super fun.



The BIGGEST shoutout to those that sent me love for Christmas. I cannot find enough words to express my love and appreciation for you! You gave me smiles that I still have on my face right now! You are the very best and I love you so much. Thank you, or Kosonom :)



A last thing before I have to go, is about an unrealized blessing I have noticed this week. As I have grown up in the church, I have been able to understand things in a very basic way. Simple. And as I have began learning and then teaching in Hungarian, I have been able to teach simply and I find it such an honor and am so grateful. Even if the only thing I say is "Isten a mi Mennyei Atyank es Ot szeret teged" or God is our Heavenly Father and he loves you. I have never felt the power of the spirit so strong and have never felt more confidence in His plan for me. I am teaching in the way he knows I will succeed and help others to come to know what I know and feel the spirit. I cannot wait to get going! Still working on patience! haha
I know that as long as I am trying my best, Heavenly Father will do the rest. Thank you again for the love and support! I hope you all have a wonderful Christmas and holiday season! I am sending my love and hugs to you! I miss and love you more than you will ever know.



Always, 
Brooke

Favorite Scripture in Hungarian- D&C 31:7-9  - "Igen, meg fogom nyitni az emberek szivet, es Ok befogadnak teged. En pedig kezed altal megalapitok egy gyulekezet; es te erositsd meg oket, es keszitsd fel oket arra az idore amikor osszegyujtetnek. Legyel turelmes a sanyargattatasokban, ne szidalmazd azokat akik szidalmaznak! Szelidseggel iranyitsd hazadat es legyel allhatatos! ( Not accurate because i dont have time to put in the Hungarian letters, but you should def look up the verses! I just wanted to show you how cool Magyar (Hungarian) is! xoxox)

Hello Happy Momma!!! 1st Letter from Gertsch Nover (Sister Gertsch AKA: Brooke!)

Hi there!  This is Chris, Brooke's mom and I will managing Brooke's blog while she is away for 18 month serving her mission in Hungary!  I will basically just be posting her letters and a few of the pictures she sends home for anyone who would like to keep up on her adventure!  
Today was definitely a very HAPPY day when we received our first real email from Brooke, or Gertsch Nover as she is now called for the next 18 months!  

Family & Friends-

I have been trying to write this email since the third day of the MTC! We only have one hour on Thursdays to email and try to get everything in and Im not sure if that's possible but I will try! From the moment they grabbed my bags and walked me into the MTC, I had no chance to really look back! (which I consider a good thing haha)

 Okay so here's the low down-

Companions: Mason Nover (new-ver) Her and I met on social media before and became great friends so going into the MTC, I already had a friend! She is so sweet and thoughtful and is SO incredibly detail orientated and on top of things. I hope some of that rubs off on me;) 

Roche Nover. Probably the most witty and crazy people I have met. But then when we start getting into the spiritual stuff, she has such profound thoughts and gives great hugs. 

Roche Nover, Gertsch Nover & Mason Nover 

All in all, they are such blessings and we are all so different yet the same and I really thank my lucky stars for them! Oh but one thing I am having a hard time with is not being able to go to the bathroom myself...not really sure why I can't go on my own I promise to be careful...but its all good! I will survive haha.

District: The district is all of the missionaries going to Hungary. And can I just say, what a group?! We all are so motivated to learn the language and are helping each other to grow so much spiritually. Last week I said we were already a family, but that wasn't even the half of it compared to a whole 8 days with them. I am also having a really hard time NOT hugging the elders. Because they are so awesome and we are such great friends and all I get is a handshake. something to get used to!

Hungary, Budapest District 

Class: So we walk in the first day and this young guy says something that sounds like just consonants and points to a chair. So i sat down. THEY STARTED TALKING IN HUNGARIAN THE MOMENT I WALKED IN and I have yet to hear one word of english come out of their mouths. I have one teacher named Robinson Testver(brother) and he is so sassy. I am the only one in the class that will, out loud, try to guess what he is saying and 9 times out of 10 I am way off. but he is so great. so patient, and we really feel the spirit when he speaks with us. I have only been speaking hungarian for 7 days and now can understand a lot (not all) of what he says and lessons with him flow so well. Besides the actual learning of the language, we also started teaching an investigator named Evelin. and guess what- the first lesson was assigned for us to teach in HUNGARIAN. i capitalize that because I was so shocked and nervous and scared. I couldn't even remember how to say hello. We ended up writing the entire lesson and just reading things and taking about 5 minutes just trying to pronounce a sentence. I wish I had time to tell you all the experiences I have had with teaching, but I will just tell you my favorite. From where we started, it is so incredible to see the growth in both the language and my testimony. Yesterday was our last lesson with Evelin and last minute we decided to go in without notes. Now I'm not saying that our lesson was super good. it was a bunch of us noverek saying "Jesus Krisztus el" and "isten szeretem teged" (christ lives and god loves you) but we were able to look into our investigators eyes and bear our simple yet strong testimony of what we know to be true and I hope she felt the spirit I was feeling because I start to cry just looking back at it. Also, I was super worried about gaining weight in the MTC so God blessed me yet again with putting my classroom on the 5th floor! So I climb 5 flights of stairs 3 times a day. thighs of steel baby.

Language: okay. so I think Heavenly Father is really testing me and my faith because he put my classroom right next to the French missionaries. As I walk to class I hear them speaking French and I get so bummed because I totally knew french and am in love with the language. In class, my teacher would laugh because i could not roll my r's. they were in the back of my throat from when I had switched to french and i sound like I speak a different language. oh and when I prayed for the first time, I definitely accidently said "a nom de jesus christ" and you guessed it- FRENCH! and not hungarian. This week was a lot better than the last when it comes to language and i am so amazed to look back and see how far I have progressed in such little time.

Food: I am not a picky person! And i dont want to say anything negative about the MTC because i love it. but if it tells you anything, my favorite thing that i have had here is the chocolate milk! haha I have it with every meal. 

There is so much more I want to say and not enough time! The MTC is such a great place and i was able to sing in the choir for devotional and to stand with 250+ missionaries and our voices so pure and strong, I feel the absolute luckiest to be a part of this. I miss you all terribly but almost never have time to let myself get down which is a good thing! You are in my prayers and I hope you have a wonderful christmas. 

My motto- Sukerulnifog! (It will all work out)

Sikerulnifog - "It will all work out"

Love love love,

Brooke

Last Post before HUNGARY

oh my goodness me oh my. i cannot believe this is my last post actually behind the computer typing it all out! My amazing momma will be putting my emails and pictures onto the blog while I am gone for the next 18 months, so stay tuned!

I already said this before, but this was such special moment for me. I was, of course, listening to the song "Budapest" by George Ezra (like I have been since I got my call) and there was one line that was repeated throughout the song, and it hit me pretty hard. 

"But for you, I'd leave it all."

Obviously George Ezra was talking about his lover in the song, but, for me, I personalized it to myself and the Lord. Right now it has hit me so hard the sacrifices I am making by leaving on my mission. I will be extremely far away from my family and friends, I will have restricted contact from them, and no social media whatsoever as well as tv or movies or music. As hard as it is going to be to leave all of that for the next 18 months, it is NOTHING compared to the joy and strength and wisdom i will gain from this mission. It is the least i can do to begin trying to repay Him for everything that he has and is doing and will do for me. I feel forever blessed. I am forever blessed haha!

I don't even know what to exactly write about on this post to be honest. So much is running through my head, I am feeling so many feelings. But most of all, I could say that for the past few weeks i have been the happiest i have ever been. I have been surrounded by my favorite people and have felt their love and support through it all. my FAM has continually reminded me how lucky i am to have time and all eternity to spend with them. I have been having a really hard time adjusting to the fact that I won't get to hold my baby Ireland or play with all of my little cousins whenever I want to, but I know that in a year and a half, they will all still be there! And we will all still love each other. That will never change. 

LIFE IS SO GOOD. 

My heart has never been so full. 

I am so happy. Actually ecstatic.

I don't know how i am going to wait 9 weeks until i am able to actually go to Hungary and finally meet the people there. I know that i will be put in their lives for a reason and they will be put in mine for one as well. 

For those reading, thank you for the example and impact you have had in my life. I love you guys and cannot wait to start writing about my growth and crazy Hungarian adventures! These 18 months will fly by and before we know it, I will be back in action here in the states.

I love you and already miss you so much! 

Stay strong & happy for me!

Always, B

Philippians 4:13

A full & happy heart.

    

How did it go from 46 days in my last post to 20 days until I start this adventure?! I don't know if I will ever understand how time can move so fast... 

And with the amount of time from the time I last posted, a lot has happened. Both in my own life and around the world. I don't want my blog to become preachy in any way, but I thought that I would give people my opinion and view on things. As a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, we have been given a new policy involving the children of homosexual marriages and their membership in the church. Many saw the headlines and flipped their lids. But if you watch Elder Christofferson's video describing why the decision was made, it is really quite simple. It is in the best interest of the children to not have to experience confusion when becoming part of a church that believes that marriage is between a man and a woman but then would go home and be in an environment that teaches the opposite. Everyone is able to have their own opinions and beliefs. Those who disagree AND those that support the policy. I wish that it was that easy haha. But when it really comes down to it, we have general authorities and a prophet that receives revelation from God and has our best interest at heart, and we must rely on our faith in them and in Him in these confusing and trying times. I feel so lucky to be a part of this church.

Preparing for the mission has given me such a clear and positive outlook on life. While I'm constantly making choices that keep me worthy to enter the temple and serve in Hungary, I have never in my LIFE been so happy! I do have to admit that as the days go on and the closer December 9th gets, I have so many feels going on. I have waited for this day for so long but with thanksgiving coming and then Christmas, I will be around so much that I love and I'm realizing how hard it is going to be sacrificing being around it all for 18 months. I let myself get freaked out for a little, but then I remember where I'm going and BUDAPEST HUNGARY is calling my name. 

All in all, I love this time in my life. I love my family and friends. And all the love and support they are giving me. I love holidays and the feeling of nostalgia I always get. I love missions and the way they change a person even before they get out and serve. I love getting to see some crazy beautiful sights so very often. I love my church and the leaders that guide and help us. And I love our God. Who gives unconditional love and mercy, who is understanding and forgiving, who wants each and every one of us to be happy.

Lastly, my heart is heavy with the events that happened in Paris. Such a tragic time and my heart goes out to all afflicted from attacks around the world. But on a positive note, I think it is absolutely incredible to see countries unite and support one another. Je t'aime Paris!