Sister Brianne Watson: July 2016

Thursday, July 28, 2016

Success (n): accomplishment of a purpose

Sorry this is a day late, but hello! This is going to be short and sweet so I hope you're all okay with that. We had Zone Interviews yesterday where we got to have one-on-one interviews with President Blair. He is so cool, i can't get over how funny he is! We had a good discussion together and I got to answer his generic questions like "what do you think of all the rules in the missionary handbook?" and "what do you think about Preach My Gospel?" and "how are you and your companion getting along?" Ya know, those things that new mission presidents want to know.

I told him how much I LOVED Sister Brown and how much of a blessing she is to me and how I've learned to love the rules and how Preach My Gospel has been a wonderful tool in my missionary service. I got through that entire part of the interview without shedding a single tear! I was so proud of myself. Then, he asked his final question. "Sister Watson, up to this very point...would you say you've been a 'successful missionary'?" Let me just say...this question was so inspired. I started crying right away.. For the past while I've been giving myself a difficult time and putting myself down and really evaluating my success as a missionary.

I talk to Sister Brown about it a lot and it's really been a struggle for me because there are so many times that I do NOT consider myself successful. I don't have any convert baptisms, the investigators are very few, our numbers aren't up to where the mission leaders want them to be, and we are rejected 98.9% of the time. BUT, I've also come to another conclusion as I've thought about all of this. I have a different perspective of being a 'successful missionary' than other missionaries may have. I don't measure my success based on numbers...I measure it on my own devotion to the Lord, my love for the people and for my calling, and especially my own personal conversion. I have changed SO much over these past 13 months. I have a closer relationship to my Heavenly Father, my testimony has grown, my priorities are where they need to be, etc. I am positive that if I hadn't chosen to serve a mission, I wouldn't be as strong in the church than I am now. I wouldn't have that growth and that added knowledge and the experiences I've had that will forever keep me on the path back to live with Them again.

So, that's exactly what I told President Blair. I may not have seen a lot of success through numbers and converts and baptisms and investigators, but I have seen thriving success in myself and in my own conversion. I am 100% certain that that's exactly why I came out to serve a mission. The Lord knew I needed this experience to help me realize how important this gospel is so that I make sure I remain worthy. Of course I'll work my hardest and continue doing my best to find people to teach to be successful in that way, but I'm a successful missionary if I let myself change and become converted. Like Elder Holland said, "the most important person you will ever convert on your mission is yourself."

Enough about that... I NEARLY BROKE MY LEG. Hahaha I was walking on a wooden deck at an apartment complex and one of the boards of wood was loose and I stepped on it and my right leg fell straight through. It stopped at my knee and I was stuck for a little bit but eventually I wiggled myself out. It was so painful! I now have a huge nasty bruise on both sides of my knee. To make it even better, the investigator that we are trying to contact wasn't even home😅 oh well, it made for a great journal entry :)

I went to the temple today!!!!!!!! My second time since being out (and within the past 2 months) and I just absolutely loved it. We went as a zone so there were around 24 missionaries in one single session. I can't even explain to you the spirit that I felt when they prayed specifically for the missionaries around the world. It confirmed to me that I'm a part of a work bigger than I can comprehend. I, along with thousands and thousands of others like me, are sacrificing so much of ourselves to serve God and bring His children to the knowledge of the truth. It isn't an easy task, but it is so cool to know that temples all around the world pray for us and desire our success. I love the temple so much.

We are currently staying at the bishops house for a couple of days which is a cool change of scenery :) they're replacing the windows in our apartment which means a group of men would be inside working in our humble abode starting at 7:00 in the morning for several hours at a time. We aren't allowed to be in a home or building with only men so this was our solution! Slumber parties with Bishop and Sister Adams! :)

Little do you know, we are SO imperfect. One of the nights this past week, we were out tracting before having to head out to Haverhill (hayv-rull) for a dinner appointment and when we got back to our apartment to get our car, I realized I didn't have the keys. Or my iPad. Both things were in the apartment which was LOCKED. We tried calling the landlord and he wasn't answering, we tried asking our 2 neighbors in our apartment unit place if they had any solutions and they didn't, and we were quickly running out of ideas. I then had the brilliant (and insane) idea to borrow a pair of scissors from our adorable old lady neighbor named Gail and cut through a window screen and climb through one of our windows. They were about to get the windows replaced anyways right? So we did it. That experience also made a great journal entry😂

Oh yes...then there's the deadly heat and humidity. It's been absolute torture, and let's just say that I am SO thankful for air conditioning. We step outside and we're immediately sticky and sweaty. I forgot what dry heat even feels like, but you Utahans better count your many, many blessings!

Okay, I'm going to stop babbling now. Enjoy the pictures and have an AMAZING week!

Boston Massachussetts Temple💕

Best best best friends. <3 p="">

My cute bruise...

Some of the missionaries, the other elders were still changing and taking FOREVER so we took the picture without them :)

Our sister training leaders gave us these...

This is probably inappropriate (sorry mom) but we are trying to look like we are breaking the word of wisdom. Is it working?😂 #rootbeer

Cling or Fling?

Well hello! Another week in my Glorious G-Town and I would say it was a success :) we have transfer calls in 2 weeks and there is a high chance that I'll be the one to leave...the thought makes me want to sit in a corner and cry a thousand tears BUT I know that wherever I'm sent, that's where I need to be. The only state I haven't been in is New Hampshire so let's pray that's where I'm sent! I'd be considered a "4-Star General" which is rare for missionaries in this mission...fingers crossed!

This past week was pretty much the same as any other week in this area. Full of finding, teaching, and serving! One particular experience that sticks out was with a family in the ward called the Fitzgeralds. They are a couple that fell away for a little bit but just recently invited us over for a dinner appointment (miracle). Sister Fitzgerald told us that a week prior, when we met her on her porch and she told us to leave, was the same night that she had a dream that completely changed her desire to live the gospel. The day after she shooed us away then had the dream, she called us and invited us over for dinner. We were so excited!! The actual Fitzgeralds that nobody has been able to contact for such a long time were reaching out to the missionaries.

As we were sitting in companionship study that morning and planning for their lesson, our first thought was to share the Restoration of the gospel of Jesus Christ since that's the best way to bring the spirit and remind them why they joined the church in the first place. But as we were sitting there, I had a very strong and sudden impression that they needed to hear about Lehi's dream of the tree of life. There are many times where I get an impression and I immediately think that it was my own thought, not the spirit, and I get very confused...but this time there was no doubt that the spirit was telling me what the Fitzgeralds needed to hear. It was a really cool experience and it was so cool to plan that lesson and be lead to the quotes and scriptures that we needed to focus on.

Something that we talked a lot about was the iron rod that lead to the tree of life, or the love of God. The fruit on the tree represents the atonement, and the iron rod is our way of receiving those two things. In 1 Nephi 8:24, it says "And it came to pass that I beheld others pressing forward, and they came forth and caught hold of the end of the rod of iron; and they did press forward through the mist of darkness, clinging to the rod of iron, even until they did come forth and partake of the fruit of the tree." This large group of people saw the blessings ahead of them and they had the sincere desire to partake of it so they CLUNG to that rod, pressing forward and enduring through the mists of darkness and the mocking from others and any other challenge that was thrown upon them. They didn't just simply look at the rod from a distance and walk next to it. They didn't gently slide their fingers along the rod, hoping that Satan doesn't throw and big slab of grease on the rod to get you to let go. They clung, they fought, they prayed, and they endured, until eventually they made it to the tree and partook of the fruit.

We can NOT have one foot in the gospel and one out. We can NOT say that we love God, and not show it. We can NOT be like the group of people that held on for a few steps, but eventually decided to let go and join the world. This is Jesus Christ's church. This is a lifelong commitment and the end results are eternal. We are promised a life of joy and happiness and love in the presence of our family, our Heavenly Father, and the Savior if we just CLING to the rod. We must see the end from the beginning, no matter what trials may come in between. All we're asked is to read the scriptures, say our prayers, and attend our church meetings. Even those small things will give us the great strength to hold on. I have faith in every single one of you.

I just got preachy, and I'm sorry. But this lesson has really impacted me and there is so much power and truth in it! There is a quote I read that said, "this vision (the tree of life) is the central message of the Book of Mormon." I challenge all of you to take a moment this coming week to read it in 1 Nephi 8, and then read about what everything symbolizes in 1 Nephi 11. I promise you that you will feel the spirit and the power of its message as you do so!

Oh yeah, and guess what?! On Friday, we were working in Manchester-by-the-sea (yes, that's what it's called...) and we were starting our lunch hour when we realized we were RIGHT by the ocean. There was a blue mass on my GPS which indicated where it was so I drove toward the blue mass on my GPS and got us to where the ocean is. The parking was crazy (accidentally ended up parking in an illegal spot without even knowing) (thanks new england roads) and after walking about a half mile toward the beach, we found out that we had to pay. Neither of us had cash. Oh. My heart was breaking! I have a strange infatuation with the ocean and it's turned into a sick obsession. I was so excited to spend my lunch hour there! Out of the pure grace of God, the teenage kid let us go in anyways. WHAT.

If the Lord didn't have a part to play in that, then I don't know what did. We had to walk through a building to get to the beach and as soon as I walked through it, I entered heaven. The beauty took my breath away and I couldn't even handle my happiness in that moment. The sky was blue, the water was blue, the sand was white, and there were families playing and relaxing on the beach with their colorful umbrellas. It smelled like a combination of sunscreen, ocean, and summer. Yes, summer has a smell. I felt SO incredibly blessed to be called to serve in such a beautiful area. I am spoiled.

Alright, I'm off to sleep and relax and clean and shop and get my nails painted by a girl in the ward who has vibrant purple hair :) I love you, I miss you, and I pray for you all every day!

Love, Sister Watson

Here is a panorama of the beach....it doesn't do it justice, but you get the point :)

Ocean in Gloucester. While we were here, a super cute lady came up to us and was SO happy to see us. We had no idea who she was, but apparently she was a member in another ward in the Boston mission. She saw us walking and her and her husband wanted to stop us and take us to dinner if we hadn't been fed yet. Sadly, we already had dinner before she found us but it was so nice of her to offer. I wish I could explain the joy of meeting another member of the church in the busy street of Gloucester. That town isn't known for religion or nice people so the chance that that happened made our whole day :) I love other members of the church!! We are truly one big happy family.

We HAD to get a picture with Gloucester Man

#welcome2newengland

I HAD to get a picture with the Sisolaks (minus Brother Sisolak) because they're my favorite family ever and I've grown so close to them. And that's the girl that'll be painting my nails.

Home of the God-less

HELLOOOO everybody! This week was full of wonderful miracles and I can't even wait to tell you about them. First of all, our new mission president came! President Blair is SO STINKIN' AWESOME. I love him so much already! He and his wife are just a riot and they are so funny. We had a 'Meet and Greet' with them on Wednesday where they introduced themselves and met all of us. They had us all laughing the entire time! I feel like they are going to do great things for this mission and I am excited to serve with them.

Second, we got a new investigator! His name is Frank and he's from the Dominican Republic (I think) and he currently lives in Gloucester. I've taught him once before a few months ago but it didn't go too well since we were teaching him and his friend who couldn't speak englishso Frank ended up having to translate the entire time. It was a rough lesson but the one we had on Friday was a lot better!! This time it was just Frank and since we didn't have a woman with us and he didn't have one in his home, we taught him through his doorway on his porch #cool.

We talked a lot about the Book of Mormon and how important it is and where it came from etc. and as I was testifying of it, he said "woah, I just remembered that you *points at me* were in my dream last night. You were talking to me at my door just like you are right now." It was crazy! I then asked him if he would get baptized if he were to find out of this was all true and he said YES! He said he's searching for light in his life and I promised him that he'd find it through the church and through the Book of Mormon. He's such a sweet guy who has a deep love for God and Jesus Christ and I'm so excited to continue teaching him :) it's so cool to recognize the hand of the Lord placing people that are ready in our path like that.

Third, we got a dinner appointment for this coming week with a couple who's been less active ever since the husband was released from the bishopric. They've been less active for a long time and nobody has been able to contact them for so long and I've tried contacting them almost every week since I've been in this area, no luck. It wasn't until a couple weeks ago that we were able to meet the husband and have a lesson with him on the Book of Mormon! It was awesome and the spirit was so strong. Then on Thursday, we tried them again and this time the wife answered the door. She didn't seem too happy to see us and she honestly just wanted us off her porch as soon as she opened the door...We left a little discouraged BUT the next day, she called us and set up a dinner appointment with us for this coming Friday. YAY!! That right there is a big fat miracle. We told some of the members about this at church yesterday and they all flipped out and about fell to the floor. We are all so excited!

I learned something about my mission this week and I'd love to share it with you. During our meet and greet with President and Sister Blair, he talked about different stereotypes and feelings and statistics that he heard prior to coming out to this mission. My mission covers Vermont, Maine, New Hampshire, parts of Massachusetts, and parts of New York. Apparently Vermont is voted #1 for the most God-less state in America. #2 is a tie between Maine and New Hampshire. The parts of New York and Massachusetts are on the top ten of the same list. My entire mission is considered the most God-less area of the United States...and we see that every day.

My mission is SO HARD. We are so lucky if we have between 2-5 investigators. Out of the four areas I've served in, I've never exceeded 4 investigators at once and even that didn't last very long. The most progressing investigators I've had at once is one. These people are truly "all set" (they use that phrase all...the...time) and they want nothing to do with religion or people that want to talk about religion. Baptisms around here don't happen hardly ever and it is very difficult. It's not easy to hear about the success of other missionaries around the world because we know we will never see that kind of success no matter how bad we want it.

BUT, even though President Blair brought up all these points to us expecting us to break down and complain about it to him, we all stood up for ourselves and for New England. We all have a deep love for every single person we come in contact with. We are all so close with the wonderful members because sometimes they're all we have. We are able to have our own testimony strengthened since we are constantly standing up for ourselves and defending our beliefs. The elect are here and we are willing and ready to find them. Our mission has the richest history when it comes to past prophets and U.S presidents. President Blair told us that the Lord sends His strongest missionaries to the hardest missions because He knows we can handle it and He knows we will do our very best to find those that are ready to receive the gospel. I love my my mission!

There were many other miracles this week including being able to find a less active who's records had been lost for a long time, finding a cute young mother to teach while street contacting (she is SO

prepared!), and OH! Jean Makalou!!! I've gotta tell you about this.

Okay, so for a long time we would always plan on going to Gloucester once a week every Friday since we didn't want to use up our miles. Recently, we've decided to expand it to going there on Tuesdays as well! We almost didn't go this past Tuesday but we both felt inspired to go anyway. While we were there, we both felt prompted to stop by and check up on Sister Makalou and it ended up being the biggest miracle that we did. She lives in an apartment complex where you buzz in from the outside and they have to let you in from inside their apartment by hitting a button on their wall. When we hit the button, she let us in right away which was our first miracle. When she opened her door, she was a sobbing mess.

Everything in her life is going wrong and she is so overwhelmed, stressed, and sore out of her mind from her new job. They're working her crazy hours and she's doing a lot of lifting and stretching which is what she should be avoiding due to her current physical ability. She said that when we buzzed in, she happened to be passing the button on her wall about to go sit down and

not move for the rest of the day, even if someone did try to visit her. We were able to sit with her and listen to her which was exactly what she needed. We shared powerful quotes that comforted her and it showed us how truly inspired it was that we visited her that day. We were able to contact a priesthood holder close by and he came later that evening to give her a blessing...being a missionary and being led by the spirit to those that need us most is the greatest feeling in the world.❤️ it brings the purest joy I have ever felt in my life!

A scripture I have been leaning on throughout my mission is Isaiah 41:10 which says, "Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness." What a powerful promise!! All He is asking us is to "fear not" and He will be with us in every trial and tribulation and challenge we will ever face.

Reading this scripture reminds me of a short, yet powerful sentence in my patriarchal blessing which says, "You have no need to fear." I know for a fact that that is so true for every single one of us. We have the gospel in our lives and as long as we remember that and lean on the Lord in all we do, then we truly have NO need to fear. We are so blessed.

Love you all, have a happy week! :)

Sonic is love.

On the edge of glory😏

Literally best friends❤️

We are the coolest sister missionaries you'll ever meet. That is all.

Love, Sister Watson🙋🏻

Portsmouth, Parades, and Priesthood Blessings

HAPPY FOURTH OF JULY!!!☀️

This is my favorite holiday and I've honestly been scared out of my mind to approach this day while I am 2,391 miles away from home BUT Heavenly Father loves me. He sent us the bishops wife who invited us and the elders to a waffle breakfast at her house, the Boxford 4th of July parade, and a delicious BBQ cookout for lunch afterwards at her house. She is such a lifesaver and she really helped us have fun on this wonderful holiday :) without her, I would have spent it sitting in my apartment staring at the wall, wishing I was at home with my family working at the Olympus firework stand. I am blessed!

This past week I had the opportunity of going on exchange with my sister training leaders in Portsmouth. This time, Sister Brown stayed here in G-Town and I went to Portsmouth with Sister Bolton. To be completely and brutally honest, I always DREAD exchanges and I complain about it every time it comes around but for some reason, I always come out loving it and being grateful for it.

This time around we saw SO many cool miracles! Here's one of them: There we were, driving back from doing service at the church when we realized that we needed to stop for gas. Sister Bolton stopped at the nearest gas station and apparently it was a "we serve you" gas station where they have workers that pump your gas for you. We had no idea that's what it was until some random teenage kid comes up to our car window haha but I ended up asking him if there were more gas stations like that around town which led him to ask us if we were from around the area. We told him that we weren't, but we were missionaries for our church. He started asking questions and he even asked for a "brochure!" I immediately thought that we should give him a Book of Mormon but Sister Bolton gave him a pass along card instead.

We then proceeded to head back to the apartment and I said, "dang, we should have given him a Book of Mormon!" And Sister Bolton said the exact same thing, saying that she had the prompting but was too scared so she gave him a pass along card. NO. We decided to awkwardly drive back and face our fear of the uncomfortable situation but we said a prayer for strength and it went SO well! He took the Book of Mormon and we got his number so that we can contact him again in the future. #seedplanted

Then we have the super uncomfortable encounter with a man in the park...we won't get into that...lets just say it's a good thing I don't serve in Portsmouth 24/7😳 We also got a referral from somebody that we ate dinner with while on exchanges! One of the ladies was talking about Georgetown and I piped in saying that I currently serve there and she said that her daughter lives there. She's a less active who is a returned missionary from a long time ago but fell away after marrying someone who wasn't a member. When she moved to Georgetown, her records didn't follow her so we don't have any information about her. Luckily, her mom that was there at the dinner appointment in Portsmouth gave me her phone number and address so now we can go visit her and teach her and her husband. Exchange blessings are REAL!

Also, while sister brown and sister pierce were here in G-Town they saw many blessings too! They found quite a few potential investigators and got some referrals and a return appointment with someone they contacted on the street. I'm so excited to hopefully start teaching them!

Confession: Sister Brown and I have been enduring lots of emotional trials recently and we feel very overwhelmed and stressed about our area. The negativity is taking over us and after a long talk about it with each other yesterday, we came to the conclusion that we needed a Priesthood blessing. We don't live very close to any members that we'd feel comfortable asking so we decided to just ask Elder Davies and Elder Chase who are serving with us in G-Town. When we texted them, they were at a dinner appointment with the bishop about 30 minutes away but as soon as they got the text, they made us their first priority. They came right away along with bishop and his wife (Sister Adams). She brought us a "care package" and everything haha she's so cute :)

We talked to them briefly about what's been bothering us and then they asked us who we wanted to give us the blessing. Elder Davies gave me mine and as soon as he said my name to begin the blessing, the spirit flooded the room. I felt so much love and peace and comfort and so much extra strength that I have been seeking for so long. There truly is so much power with the priesthood. I was blessed with every single thing that I've been needing and I know that Elder Davies was speaking as a mouthpiece of Heavenly Father! It blows my mind to know that we have that access to such an incredible power.

Well, I'm going to go take a nap or something. I love you all dearly!!!❤️