Hello Happy: Brooke Gertsch Mission Update - Fall has arrived in Hungary!!

Brooke’s Contact info: brooke.gertsch@myldsmail.net

Week of 9/19 - 9/25

Fall has finally arrived and I am happy as can be! No More Sweating!!! This is my favorite weather and I just feel like being outside all day, instead of taking 5 showers or sitting gin the fridge, haha! So we survived the summer, officially!

This week we met with one of my favorite members in the branch, Rózi néni. She is seriously one of the sweetest people I have ever met and has the strongest testimony. She is such an example to me of what a great missionary is. She is always helping the missionaries and sharing the gospel with others. If I can become half the missionary she is, I will be happy.

My companion and I are working harder on talking to everyone! My uncle sent me a very impactful email last week that really helped me to see things in a different light. It was full of some really great reminders:

- “If you want to be a good missionary, you have to do what good missionaries do. It’s that simple.”

- “You have to approach missionary work understanding that the Lord’s sheep hear his voice”

- “Expect miracles… He will blow your mind.”

So thank you Uncle Aaron for the reminders. I have the greatest support system that I get to call FAMILY and words of advice and motivation come at the perfect time!

The Sister Training Leaders came to Duna for splits and it was so much fun to be training and to have my trainer there, too. It was like a 3-generation little party. Going on splits with them is always so beneficial because they are so talented and skilled and I always end splits with them ready to go out and try new things!

Another really cool thing I have been experiencing has actually been during personal study. After being out here for over 9 months, a lot of things just become routine. In the morning I would say a quick prayer and then read the Book of Mormon. It was always good because, of course, it’s the Book of Mormon. But this week, my prayers became a lot more real and sincere and I asked Heavenly Father to help me get more out of my personal reading and study time. Without a doubt, every morning since I have made that change, I read verses that I really needed to read and feel the Spirit so much stronger. It’s such a great way to start off the morning.

Out here on the mission, I have heard a saying and I’m not sure who said it, but it is so true! It’s something like… “when we want to talk with Heavenly Father, we pray to Him. But when He wants to talk with us, He speaks through the scriptures.” So it is so important that we really focus and open our hearts while reading them so we can fully receive what it is He is trying to tell us, because He ALWAYS wants to talk to us!

So that was my little spiritual thought for the week, haha!