Monday, March 25, 2013 Marion, Ohio

Ok so first off, I'll just talk about my last cool moments in the MTC. I loved my district. The Danish and Iclandic sisters and elders were amazing! I am so glad I'll be serving with them. Also, this coming General Conference, you all should totally watch the little video thing called "like 10,000 legions marching" that is about missionary work because I was singing in that choir and the camera was pointed at me and you might see me! I was wearing a white cardigan and blue blouse. Then again, they could've cut me out too. But either way, I was there and I was singing in it! It was cool, oh and Mickayeen is singing in it too. It will be on Saturday in between Sessions, it's one of those fun little things they do in between sessions.

Alright, now to the really good and awesome stuff. So I am in Ohio and burrrrrrrrr is it FREEZING! I mean, I am used to the cold, but I'm used to a dry cold, not this wet cold that seeps in and freezes your bones. But it's ok, I laugh when the wind picks up and it gets really cold cause it's so classic typical missionary to be tracting in the cold and wet and snow and I love it. I'm in an area called Marion. It's half ghetto, half country and everyone is pretty below average income level so that's been humbling to see. There are some places that really are ghetto. Lots of drugs and a lot of violence and gang activity here. I see gangsters and drug deals more here than I have ever seen before in my life (not surprising cause I never got out much before my mission).

I am full of what is called 'green rage' and that is what is used to describe a Greenie who wants to talk to everyone and give away tons of copies of the Book of Mormon. So my dream of becoming Elder Calhoun (from the best two years) is coming true. Bless my trainer's heart for putting up with my green rage and not suppressing it like sometimes happens. I actually want to have green rage my entire mission! haha. My trainer is named Sister Shelley. She's from Salt Lake and she's only been out 12 weeks but she is super smart and clever and nice so she's a great trainer.

So I want to explain why I have so much green rage, haha. So when I got to the airport, I was with a group of about 20 missionaries going to the Columbus Ohio mission and they all knew each other cause they went through the MTC together and I didn't know any of them so instead of hanging out and chatting with them, I went to work and started to preach the Gospel. I talked to a lot of people and gave out mormon.org cards but one lady I will always remember. Her name is Sherrie. She was eating a sandwich when I caught her eye and I sat down and started talking to her and she was amazing. She told me all about Christ and God in her life and the miracles she's experienced. She had been in a terrible car accident and she told me about this couple who saved her and her husband and how they were angels to her. She also talked about pray and being prompted by God to do things and how she's learned how to be obedient to those promptings and then she told me "When we locked eyes, God told me 'she is the person you need to talk to'. She is going to help you find a way closer to me." My jaw just about hit the floor. I was speechless. She was so prepared by the Lord and I gave her a copy of the Book of Mormon and I am giving her information to the missionaries in North Carolina so they can get in touch with her. She gave me her card so I could email her. Ya, so that's why I want to work hard and talk to everyone because the field truly is white and it's just up to us how much we harvest.

Pretty much every day, the Lord let's us find someone who is interested in the Gospel. Every time we get a little discouraged or disheartened, we find someone who says stuff like "oh I love reading new religious books" or "Yeah, I'd love to hear more about your message." and it just is God giving us little blessings for working hard and having faith. Today, I'll be teaching my first lesson to a lady we tracted into yesterday. So hopefully that goes well, her name is Jackie and she accepted us and what we had to say but we only talked for like 5 minutes so hopefully we'll be able to get through the Restoration with here.

We have this family here that is part member. The wife and mother is a member but her husband and son aren't. But they are getting baptized April 6th! in between sessions. Joe and Brandon (the father and son) are so faithful and excited and ready for baptism. I really hope I am here for that because they are wonderful and I'd love to see them make that sacred and important covenant between God.

There is also another family we are teaching. Brian and Ari (Ari has 4 daughters and was a member, she was ex-communicated some number of years ago) are not married but they have heard all the lessons and want to have deep doctrines like "who are the giants and fallen angels talked about in Genesis?" and "why can't women have the priesthood?" (that's Ari's big one that I don't know if she can get over or not) but they are awesome and nice. I think next time I'll use a lesson I learned from President Hinckley where he was talking to a young man who was going to go back to his home country and be persecuted for becoming a member of the church and the prophet asked him if we was worried or scared or what he was going to do and the young man turned to him with tears in his eyes and asked "It's true isn't it?" President Hinckley answered "Yes, it is." The young responded "Then what else matters?" This Gospel is true and nothing else matters. It is not given to us to know everything, especially if we can't handle or live the simple doctrine God has given us.

So I've also already had an experience of the Spirit being a voice of warning. we were knocking doors in this condo area and the first door we knocked on this young man answered and he was a little odd looking and very twitchy and nervous but I just thought I was being judgmental so we talked for a bit but he wasn't interested so we went up the stairs and knocked on this door. The TV inside was too loud so the person didn't hear us knocking but we heard the young man's door open and close really quick. And as soon as I heard that my heart started racing. I just pushed that aside and told myself "oh I'm just nervous to be knocking on this person's door cause they'll be annoyed with us interrupting their show." but then Sister Shelley turned to me and ask "how do you feel right now?" and I said "not good, kinda nervous." and she said "yeah, we need to leave right now." So we high tailed it out of there. I am so grateful we were both in tune with the Spirit and that she was able to recognize and act on it. I'm glad the Lord protects His missionaries.

So that's all I can write right now. I'll keep you all updated on the visa situation. But in the mean time, I am so excited to be in Marion Ohio, I know that I have a work to do here, even if it's just for a short time. I'm excited to be a missionary! Life is hard, busy, tiring but so wonderful and so worth it! Thank you for your prayers! thank you for your sacrifices! and thank you for your testimonies! I pray for you daily!!

Much love,
Sister Diana Briscoe

Dear Sister Briscoe, you have been called to temporarily serve in the.....

Columbus Ohio mission! Haha, yup. That's where I will wait until I get my visa. Pretty cool, right? It was funny how I found out cause I logged into my missionary portal to write a letter to the branch president and the flag by my name wasn't the Danish flag and I thought "wait.." and then I saw Colombus Ohio Mission! Yay! So I get a chance to serve the wonderful people in Ohio. I'm very excited for that. Nervous too but excited. I'll try to call you (my wonderful parents) from the airport or something when I leave. I love you all!
-Sister Diana Briscoe

March 14, 2013

Why on earth, you may be asking, am I up this early? Well, it's P-day...and I got up super early with my new comp and other sisters to do laundry and then go to the temple so the rest of our P-day could be free.

So I am now in the danish district!!! Yay! Oh and since I'm in a new district, I have a new mailbox number and that number is 7.  all my old district left and Sister Leben got moved to the special visitor center training and they kicked me out of my room but they did put me with the Danes! My new comp is Sister Peterson. She just turned 20 and she's nice and fun. the other two sisters are Sister Orgill and Sister Pearson. Both of those sisters did not want to serve missions but after the announcement, they kept thinking of it and decided to go. But they are all very nice for making me feel very welcomed and part of the group and they are patient with me when I speak danish so that's good. I don't want to step on anyone's toes by speaking too much or too fast. I do get to talk with the teachers really fast and that's great practice. Also, I tend to mess around with the teachers paa dansk, haha. like the other day, one of the teachers was an "investigator" and he said his name was "Tomas" and so I asked "Tomas Kofod?" and he responded "yup." and then we both just started laughing. Also another time, I told a teacher I was a dane and from Holte and then they said we were in Lyngby and so I said "Naa ja, of course." Anyways, it is sooo good to be getting some practice with teaching church principles in Danish. I try not to say too much during lessons though because Sister Peterson should be practicing as well.

The Elders of our district are nice, a bit goofy, but hey, they're 18 year old boys. 3 of them are going to Denmark and 2 of them are going to Iceland! I am so jealous! I want to go to iceland! So I'm studying icelandic during language study. It's ok though cause I'm also still keeping up with my Danish, right? I say it is. Icelandic sounds like elvish and I think it is a super cool language that would be awesome to become fluent in. So then I will know two of the most useful languages on earth: danish and icelandic....haha, yeah, maybe not so useful but still cool.

So the other day, I got up so early the other day to drop off one of the sisters in my old zone (this was before I moved zones) and I totally passed out. I hopped out of bed way too fast and definitely passed out. Ya, it wasn't good but I got up afterwards, drank some water and went back to bed and was fine so no need to worry.

Oh, Also, I'm going to send a really quick email later this afternoon once I find out where I'm getting my temporary assignment! I checked with the travel office yesterday and the lady (who is probably super annoyed with me by now) told me that I really am being temporarily assigned to a stateside mission until my visa comes. So I'll let you know when I get it, where I'm going (don't worry, I'll be sure to leave about 5 minutes of email time so I can email you all my new mission call and not go over the appropriate time limit).

Honestly, I can't think of anything else right now that I could tell you all. I'm still loving the MTC but I am excited to leave. I have gone through all the mission training in English and it's good to get some practice in Danish. Although I will be going and teaching in English for a while before I actually go to Denmark. I hope my visa comes. It will, eventually.

I love learning new ways of looking at doctrine and new ways to teach every day. This Gospel is wonderful and it really does bless families. I've been thinking a lot about how it does bless families because that's one of the missionaries big catches "join the church! It'll bless your family!" but really, it's given me perspective on what's MOST important. nothing else in this would can compare to how wonderful family is. I'm glad I have the best family for me. You've all been such wonderful examples and I am so grateful for that. thank you. Tak ;)

I'll write one short little one with my "new" mission later this afternoon. Have a wonderful day and week! I love you all!

Knus, Sister Diana Briscoe

To read Diana's letter click -> Letter: First Week in the MTC 2013 03 05

Dearest Family,
 yes, the Lord knows I need to work on the Christlike attribute of Patience. I was told I would only be here two weeks, right? Wrong! Oh my goodness, SOO much confusion on what is going to happen to me in the next week or so. I was told last Monday that I would be temporarily reassigned to somewhere in the u.s. while I wait for my visa and that my travel plans would come yesterday (thursday) but they didn't come so I came and checked in at the travel office. Here's the conversation that went down between me and a lady working there: me:

 "Hey, I am here to check in about travel plans for my temorary reassigment."
 lady: "oh ya, you're the advanced sister going to Belgium."
 me: "um, no...I'm going to Denmark."
 lady: "ya, ya, ya, that's what I meant. So I'm going to submit your name for reassigment this next monday and we won't know what you'll do until next Thursday."
me:"oh, um..ok..i'll come back then."

 BUT at lunch, i saw my branch president (President Marion) and he said he was sad to have me leave so soon. It turns out he got a little notice saying i was scheduled to leave tomorrow! So I went back to the travel office and the lady got annoyed and sent me away. But I really don't know what'll happen with me. This happened to a couple of Elders last week and they ended up having 8 hours to pull everything together before they got sent to their temporary assigment. So anything could happen. What I do know is that I'll be able to call my family and chat for a bit to let you know where I'm going. maybe, who knows. There is a lot of confusion. most likely I'll be in the MTC for one more week if not longer. So keep sending me dearelders! :) I love them. Although my district leader rarely checks our mail.

 So I went to the temple this morning and it was great! I love the temple. It really is the Lord's house. Although, I did have an embarrasing moment. One of the super sweet old temple worker ladies told me to have a great session and I turned back to her and said "thanks, you too!" then I tried to correct myself but things got awkward. But other than that the temple was amazing.

 So I am getting 'released' from being cooridnating sister! Yup, they're making a new Sister (one of the sisters who came in this wednesday be cooridnating sister. I'm glad. I love caring for the other sisters but honestly Girls are SO dramatic and there is a lot of drama that distracts me from actually doing missionary work and it's hard to focus on class or teaching an 'investigator' when you have 4 sisters running around being disobedient or fighting or crying. But They're getting better and they all have tough challenges so I'm happy to be there for them. Honestly, being coordinating sister has taught me so much about having unfeigned love for my fellow missionaries. I'm not one who normally hugs or is good at comforting (normally i just pat people awkwardly and say "there there, there there") but now I've gotten a lot better about reaching out, comforting sisters. I think I was just used to growing up in a family of boys and tom boys (emmy ;) haha ) and not dealing with weeping women a lot. but hey, it's good to learn how to handle it here so I can be prepared for the field.

 i've missed a lot of class recently cause I've had a lot of responsibilities as coordinating sister. On Wednesday night, I had to welcome all the new misisonaries with my zone leaders. We had 12 new missionaries! 6 sisters and 6 elders. It's quite a big influx in our tiny branch of misfits. But the new sisters are Sister Chen, Sister Ting, Sister Tsoi (all going to taiwan) and then Sister Astorga, Sister Tulande Vasquez, Siter Leite (all going to New York Rochester). Sister Astorga is from Guatemala City and her cousin is an Elder in our district. haha, small world. She taught me how to pronounce Reu and that was cool. I've been saying it terribly wrong for about 10 months, haha. They all seem so eager and excited to work and I am happy for them. I cannot wait to stick around a bit longer just to get to know them. most of them are converts and they all have sacrificed a lot to be here (just like my other sisters). Sister Leite is the new coordinating sister and I think she will do well. She's a little freaked out about the responsibilty but she'll do well.

 Funny story about me on Wednesday, so after I was done showing the sister the residence halls, I left them and let them unpack and I was supposed to wait for the Zone leaders to come pick me up cause I'm not allowed to be alone but I'm allowed to be with them. And then we were all going to go back to class. Well I waited outside, and I waited....and waited...and waited...for 40 minutes! Ya, they totally forgot about me...jerks (just kidding, they're nice) . So I ended up walking up to two sisters and asked them "hey could you walk me back to my class please?" and guess who one of the random sisters was? Sister Packard! haha, ya Jenae (?I don't know about spelling her first name) but ya, she's here and she's going to Lyons France! So cool! So it was ok that the Zone leaders forgot me cause I was able to talk to Sister Packard and remember all the fun and dangerous times we had hanging out as kids, haha.

 last night (thursday night), I also missed class cause I had to attend a branch meeting to introduce all the new missionaries to the branch presidency. it's supposed to take an hour and a half and it took three hours! our branch president loves to talk. he is super strict but loving. I've been yelled at for things I didn't do several times but I don't argue, I just apologize and try to fix whatever he wants done. which is hard for me, sometimes I want to fight back but that wouldn't be right.

 Sister Leben (from Germany) is my senior companion and she loves to work out which is awesome. She's a great teacher and I'm grateful to have her back me up when I'm totally out of it when I'm teaching an investigator.

 Oh really quick! I have a wonderful experience about teaching a sweet lady from korea named K-min. we taught her about how God is her loving heavenly Father and how much He loves her and the Spirit was so strong that I started crying because I could really feel His love for her and she started crying too and I don't care if she was or was not a member, i could feel God's love for her and I wanted to make sure she felt it too and I know that she did. That experience made me so excited to get out in the field and start teaching people who may not know of God's strong love for them. He loves us and that's why He restored the Gospel. He loves me and that's why He let me serve a mission right now and that's why He sent me to Denmark. I know God loves each of you too. Remember that and share His love by sharing His Gospel.

 I have never been mor busy or tired in my life but I've never been happier. I pray for you daily and I love you all!

 Sister Diana Briscoe

Pictures from Wednesday Morning

Arriving at Denver Airport

Diana is Happy!

Not a moment to waste... even while waiting

Søskender!

The Future's so Bright!

Happy P-Day

Family!

So I have been at the MTC like two days and it already feels like an eternity! Someone told us that you will have the longest days in your life at the MTC but also the shortest weeks and I can definitely see that. Anyway, I won't have too many short weeks because it turns out I am only going to be here for 11 more days!!! Yup, they put me in the accelerated program. I showed up at my first class and saw this Tongan guy and the teacher speaking English and two Hermanas and I was like "Um..I'm going to Denmark, is this the right place?" and my teacher was like "Yup, you're going through the accelerated program and if your visa doesn't come, they'll ship you stateside." So ya, hopefully my visa will come, I went to the travel office and they told me not to worry about it, that they would sort it all out for me.

My companions for Wednesday and Thursday were Hermana Sierra (from Panama) and Hermana Leguizamon (from Argentina). It was funny to walk around tell people we were companions cause they'd look at all my tag and be like "wait, what?" But my real companion Sister Leben (from Germany) came today! She's 25 and has been serving in Germany for 3 months while waiting for her visa to the U.S. She is super sweet and I'm happy to be her companion.

So my district consists of 8 sister and 2 elders. And I'm the only American. There are the sisters I listed above and then there's Sister Tupou (from Tonga), Sister Perez (from Columbia), Sister Marquez (from the Philippines and Sister Mafiti (from Somalia) and Elder Gonzalez (from Mexico) and Elder Ousilaa (from Tonga). All of them had to wait 7 months after their calls for visas! They are all inspiring missionaries that have sacrificed so much to be here and I admire them so much for that. They had to pick up a ton of clothes from the MTC store for free because they didn't have hardly any clothes from home.

Oh last night I met my branch President and I got the assignment of being coordinating sister so that means I'm in charge of the Sisters in my district and in some other districts but I haven't met those sisters yet. Plus we're getting a bunch of new sisters next Wednesday and then after they arrive, I'll be out of here! haha. So soon.

Also before I met my Branch president I was part of this special project for one of my teachers. She observed me giving a door approach on my own and inviting "investigators" to church. It was good and let's just say I am so grateful for the Stake mission prep class. It was SO useful!

I don't have much to say because I have only been in the MTC such a short time. but I am so tired and worn down as a missionary. You work like 17 hour days and then you have a million things you feel like you need to do but you can never get it all done! AH! no, it's okay, I can do this. Anyways, I am being very well fed (spiritually that is) and I love being a missionary. I love looking down and seeing my name tag. It's like a dream come true for me. I love this Gospel and I love my mission and I cannot wait to be out in the field so soon, teaching real people.

Oh I have been running into the Danish Sisters and Elders quite a bit so that's cool. They are so sweet and beautiful (the sisters, not the elders of course).

Haha, it was funny I saw them walking outside with their Danish teacher today so I stopped them and spoke to their teacher only in Danish and they all looked terrified. It was SOO nice to speak Danish. I want to just speak it all the time so it's a good thing I'm getting to Denmark really soon. I'm kinda sad not to be in a Danish group but oh well, that's life.

I love you all! Can't wait to write one more e-mail to you from the MTC, haha cause I'll only be here one more P-day, most likely. I guess you never know.

Søster Briscoe.