Week 4

Sziastok! (Hi Everyone!!)

[so much is changing in the MTC. One being our schedules! So now instead of p-day on thursdays, it will be on Mondays - getting us ready for the field!]

First off, HAPPY NEW YEAR! It's still crazy to believe that we have already started 2016, but I feel like getting through the holidays will have been the toughest part of the MTC! But I made it! Thanks to you all that reached out and boosted my spirits! thank you so so much! The coolest thing is, for the entire year of 2016 I will be serving. Talk about a good year!

Only 35 more days until my REAL LIFE MISSION IN HUNGARY BEGINS! So many people have left for their missions (and they came after we had already been here) so our patience is really being tried! We try to look at the big picture and see that a little over a month is nothing compared to the 16 months we will have to spend in Hungary! Knowing the basics of the language really makes me feel like going and figuring it out in the actual country! I know that I say that in every email, but as each week goes by, I mean it more and more!!!

Since I had P-day like 4 days ago, I don't have too much to say! Every day I learn more. Every day I grow more. I feel like Im 22 or something. There isn't a day that goes by where I do not constantly feel the spirit. I came into the MTC thinking I had a pretty strong testimony. It was good, but after studying the szentirasok and learning more and more, I have come to a realization that this is all true, for myself, and it has made all the difference. I knew that Christ was an important part of our church. But being here has only made me come to adore and appreciate our Savior in a new light. He has done so much for me, is doing so much for me, and will continue to do so much for me. I can find the words to describe how amazing it is when you end up teaching yourself while teaching someone else. With our lessons this week, we taught about "a visszaalitas es Jezus Krisztus evangaliuma" and as I prepares to teach, I was finding different things I hadn't really noticed before  and when teaching, I would have these light bulb moments that I felt so inspired to share. As my testimony grows, so does my love for Christ. He knows me and knows how much I love to challenge myself. He knows that I would have a hard time being away from family so he gave me the next best thing with my district. He has also given me more strength than I even thought possible. A lot of people around me have had lots of doubts about being here and I feel so not normal because I haven't ever questioned this! I have so much confidence in His plan for me and I have never felt so right about something in my LIFE.

The experiences I have experienced with the language give me so much hope and faith that I can do this. The first week, I was excited when I could pick out one word my teachers were saying. And now I am so shocked that, after only 3 weeks, my teachers will be talking and I will only miss a word every now & then. MIRACLES are a real thing. Before getting here, I would have an anxiety attack just listening to what I had to learn. My motto for the moment: Csinalhatok nehez dolgokat! (I can do hard things!) 

I love you all so so much. Hope you guys have a wonderful new year and I will talk to you soon! 

Sok szertettel,

Brooke

WAIT….A quick spiritual thought to go along with the group email.

This week I learned something really special while preparing a lesson about bunbanat (repentance).

In the bible dictionary, if you look up the definition, it says: it "denotes a change of mind. A fresh view about God, about oneself, and about the world. Repentance comes to mean a turning of the heart and will to God, and a renunciation of sin to which we are naturally inclined. Without this there can be no progress in the things of the soul's salvation. For all accountable persons are stained by sin and must be cleansed in order to enter the kingdom of Heaven. Repentance is not optional for salvation. it is a commandment of God." 

My thoughts about repentance are this. After studying this gospel and realizing it is a gospel of love, I know that repentance is not a requirement. it is a gift! I love that the definition included a "fresh" view on not only our views about God, but also ourselves. It such a testimony to me that Christ loves us and suffered in the Garden of Gethsemane so that repentance could be possible for us. Repenting doesn't have to be for big huge things, it can be a daily thing so that we can be forgiven of our mistakes, thoughts and actions and all. As we are forgiven, we learn and become more like Christ, which is the ultimate goal! Hanging onto guilt from our mistakes is unnecessary pain that God wants to take from us. All we have to do is take responsibility and want to change

Tudom hogy bunbanat nagyon fontos es isten szeret minket. Akarom elni a chaladom es orok elet.

(I know that repentance is extremely important and that God loves us. I want to live with my family for all eternity.)

 

And NOW that is all i have for this week! 

xoxox,

b

***Here is a neat story about how Brooke met my Dad’s cousin (Pictured below… Karren Gallacher w/her husband Terry) I copied and pasted it in Brooke’s words… a little background… My Dad’s cousin and her husband work in the MTC and had told my Dad they would look for Brooke to tell her hello and give her hug. They had apparently tried finding her a few times but had been unsuccessful…)

(from Brooke) OKAY! So meeting grandpas cousin.

After our call on christmas, I kept my eyes open because I was wanting to get a hug from family somehow! It was the night of Christmas day and one of the Albanians in my district said that she had come over to one of my classrooms that I wasn't in that day, and he gave me her name and I just kept getting so bummed whenever I would look when Senior missionaries came on the weekends and devotional night and never be able to find her! You can ask my companions- I obsessed over trying to find her! But then this week I kind of forgot about it and then this Sunday, I was walking into devotional, and the thought came back into my mind. As I walked down the bleachers out of the corner of my eye, I saw her hair. It reminded me of great grandma’s hair and bonnie's hair that I had seen in pictures! As I walked by I looked over and her and I both locked eyes for a second, but people were behind me and I didn’t want to hold them up so I kept walking. But then I turned around to walk by her again to read her name tag. I didn't have much to lose, because if it wasn’t her i wouldn’t see her again! When I walked up, I just said "do you happen to be related to Bob Telford?" And she didn't even say yes, she just gasped and pulled me into such an amazing hug that i needed SO bad! It was the coolest experience. Because I had had a dream the night before and everyone the fam was in it and I woke up so sad and missing you guys! So Heavenly Father made it so that I walked in the same side that she was on and to give me the courage to walk back up to her. She is definitely related to grandpa. Her spirit is so sweet and happy and welcoming and I felt so much love from her and I met her that day! I also love her husband. They are heaven sent! Tell her I appreciate them SO MUCH! and now we will be running into each other a lot!