I LOVE IT HERE!

Hi family!!!

So we just got to go to the temple and it's so cute!!!! It was beautiful and the Spirit was so strong! We had Elder C going through for the first time and Sister M who is from Malaysia, so that was really cool! And Mom!!! I did the [family] names!!!! So now they say Preston, UK on them! I'll send them home at some point, but I'm just excited! I got Sister Zimmerman and another sister to do them, so that was great!

So Abby is doing well in the Provo MTC! I got her general email on Monday, but I haven't read it yet because it's hard to find the time. But! Funny story! I actually got to talk to one of her best friends ever and take a picture with her! She sent it to Abby, so that was really cool!

So the way that they misspelled my name is they put Brosseau! I thought it was really funny, especially since I was the only missionary that had that problem! Everything here really is international, even the food! It's so great! It's funny though because Sister Zimmerman is super picky and I'm super not, so we talk about that a lot.

They don't actually [broadcast] devotionals from the Provo MTC, we just watch ones from a while ago! So we got to watch one on Sunday! It's called "the Character of Christ" by Elder Bednar and it was amazing! It just reaffirmed to me that my call is more for the people that I'm sharing the message with than for me! But we also get to watch our own devotionals, so that's really fun also! The President usually does them and they're super spiritual. 

Maddie and her MTC Companion

Hmm... The most memorable thing.... Well, last P day, we got to go to some of the stores and that was super fun! We also played lots and lots of soccer because everyone loves that here. And then on Thursday, we got to go into Preston and do a little church history tour! We went to the River Ribbles, which is where the first (LDS) baptisms in England happened, and we got to see the house where President Hinckley got the letter from his dad (It's owned by Muslims now though, so I bet they always wonder what a bunch of missionaries are doing in front of their house), and! We saw the obelisk in the town square that some of the missionaries preached in front of when they came here and this one little town where tons of people were baptized! I think it was called Downing or something? And we got to sing "Called to Serve" in this church that was so so old!

Another good moment for me was getting picked first for soccer!! I know, that's kinda silly, but the boys think that I'm good enough, so they picked me first!

The River Ribbles!

I also loved the devotional by Elder Bednar, he is so close to the Spirit! It was funny though because on Sunday, I found out when I got to the chapel that I was supposed to play the piano for sacrament, so that was funny!

Also, Mr. Keyes would be proud! They're really using my musical abilities here. We have little zone choirs and there are actually tons of elders that come! It's really cool to see how much they want to sing! But Elder Rex is the choir director and I'm the pianist! So the two Oremites! And it was so funny because we're learning "I Know that my Redeemer Lives" and I had to sing a little part because no one could get it. I said, "don't judge my voice" and after I did it, all the elders were like, "Yeah, don't judge me, I'm just professional!" It was cute, they're sweet guys.

Maddie's MTC District & the MTC President

Oh, there's this girl that Lizzy might know! Her name is Sister Staple and she did pageants in Springville, I think! And she reminds me exactly of Phoebe Shepherd, so I love her, she's great!

Oh!! And I got the letters from the Burtons!!! My district has been so jealous because I got tons of postcards and a letter from Katy and a letter from a sister here also! But I loved to hear from them, that was so fun!

The other thing that I love is our investigators!! We've really been figuring out how to teach by the Spirit, so it makes things really cool, the lessons are really spiritual! My MTC teachers are awesome! Brother Arjona is just the sweetest nicest guy, and Brother Gibbons is from Ireland and is a lot like Chris! He teases me a lot, but he also just laughs at me a lot because he can't understand how anyone can be so happy!

Maddie and another missionary from Orem!

I also got to meet with President Preston this week too and that was really special! He told me a little about the Donaldson's (Maddie's future mission president) and they sound wonderful! Also, he gave me the same advice that tons of people have been giving me. First, he asked about my smile and if I've always been this way and said that I should always smile because it brings people joy, but he also said that I need to be really careful that people don't care more about the messenger than the message. I'll just need to follow the Spirit and I'll be alright!

Another cool thing! As a district, we literally ran to the store today! And while we were there, this lady came up to me and asked me all sorts of questions about the church and what we believe! It was really cool! All because of my name tag. She asked about the temple, but also about whether the women get to choose who they marry or go to school. But! She knew of the Mormons because they're the really happy and carefree people! I feel bad though, I didn't have any paper with me, so I didn't get any info off of her or anything.

Love,

Sister Brousseau