Week 1 in Gijon!

Hola from Gijon,
I love it here. Gijon is a beautiful place. It is right on the coast, so we have the ocean. It is kind of like Capri, only a little less tourist-y. It is very green and there are so many hills. I live in the city in a little piso (apartment). It is great, very small, but great. We have a bedroom, a kitchen, a bathroom, and washer. We don’t have a dishwasher or a dryer, but that’s fine. My companion is Sister Zitting. She is 22 and is from Tennessee. I love her, she is great and helps me so much. She is a lot like me and has great taste in music. I can’t wait to spend the next six weeks or so with her.

The train ride was interesting. There were two other sisters with me on the train, all getting off at different stops...I was the last one. We had to watch very carefully where the stops were because they only give you 2 minutes to get off. It was about a 5 hour train ride and I was alone for the last hour and a half...weirdest feeling ever. Luckily I made it at around midnight.

After that it was right to work. in Gijon there is one tiny branch. They have a really hard time with retaining members. A lot of them are inactive. So we teach a lot of menos activos (less active) and recent converts. They really need some strong families right now. We are also teaching some investigators. We are teaching this family Ricardo and Gema that are so ready to get baptized. Unfortunately they aren’t married. That is really common in Spain.

It is really expensive and hard to get married so people just don’t. Once they get married they can get baptized. I really hope they can work in out soon, their children are so excited about the gospel.

Yesterday Sister Zitting and I decided to go tracting. That is a little different with apartments. We press the buttons until someone lets us in and then knock on doors. We met one man named Constintine. We are coming back to teach him on Wednesday. Maybe he will be a new investigator.

Sunday was interesting. Sister Zitting and I are in charge of playing the piano for sacrament. So I did it this week. Before we had a branch council meeting. And then I was informed that I was to give a 5 minute testimony....it was probably about 1 minute long in very bad Spanish. Everyone said Muy Bien Hermana (very good Sister), but you need to do some practicing. And then we had a class for new investigators and relief society. Relief Society is so funny. We were talking about joseph Fielding Smith and then the conversation spun out of control and everyone was having this really heated discussion about plural marriage. This sister behind us was trying so hard to change the subject, she kept standing up and saying "is this important to my salvation, no." Finally it got under control, which was good because a woman walked in about five minutes later who hadn’t been to church in 8 years and just felt like she needed to come today. Good day to be late to church. We then went to the presidents apartment with Frank, a recent converso (convert) who is living at a homeless shelter, he has been having a hard time so we teach him a lot. All the sisters were there in the kitchen gossiping about the branch. They are so funny and all of them love you to death. They kiss us and feed us, it’s great. It was a really good day.

Sound like everyone is doing great. Bennett looks so big. I sure miss everyone. I hope you all are doing well. I haven’t gotten the packages yet. But they said packages get stuck in customs a lot. They said to be very vague about its contents and to not put the price over 60 dollars. Eventually it might catch up to me. I have received letters from people in the ward. Tell them all thank you for me, I love hearing from them.

There are a pretty good amount of senior couples here and I love it. They are all so funny and really nice to the Hermanas. Most of them are serving in Madrid.

Everything is great here and I can’t wait to tell you more. I will let you know if I need something, but so far I am doing great, and can’t complain. I feel so different and responsible, I am learning a lot here. I am loving being in the field and I love teaching the people here. I don’t know much but I am learning and improving each day. Rosetta stone helped, I know a lot of words, it is just conjugating and forming sentences that is hard. I love you guys and can’t wait to hear from you.

Love Hermana Brumble

Ps. Oh, I forgot, I am also teaching a little girl how to play the piano. Wish me luck!

Kenzie in Gijon

¡Mi familia!
Ok, so I have information for tomorrow! I am leaving the MTC at 8:00 in the morning. From there, I will be walking over to the stake center (it’s across the street). At the stake center, President and Sister Jackson will be picking us up to take us to lunch. After lunch, we will be going back to the stake center to receive our area and companion. President told me that some companions will not be able to pick us up because they are too far. Cross your fingers for me!! I had a meeting with President Jackson and his wife yesterday. It was just a get to know you meeting. It was so fun! They are both so nice and hilarious, they are definitely not what I was expecting. I am so excited and so nervous. My time here has definitely changed my life and I’ve learned so much. The adversary is definitely making me feel weak and inadequate. But I know that’s just making me realize how much we need the Savior in our lives, because with Him, I am strong. Alma 26:12.
I love you all, and will let you know as soon as I can where I live:)!
Give hugs and kisses to everyone!!-Hermana Brumble
PS They told us we would find out the day before if we were going to the Canary Islands because we can only bring one suitcase...still no word...
Received from Sister Jackson, the wife of Kenzie's mission president.
:
Dear Parents of Hermana Brumble,

We received your daughter into our mission Tuesday morning. We brought her
to the Mission Home and fed her lunch. She was excited, and seemed ready to
get to work. We enjoyed spending a good part of the day with her to tell her
about our Mission and to get to know her better. She is wonderful.

We discussed the new 12 week training program. During this 12 week period,
your daughter will have an extra hour of companion study each day, and will
be given specific things that she must report to the Mission President. We
know that this is an inspired program, and will help missionaries learn to
be better teachers and better followers of Christ. Please encourage your
daughter in this program. It will help her to develop tools that will help
her to have a successful mission, and a more successful and fulfilling life
after her mission.

Hermana Brumble has been assigned to the city of Gijon, on the north coast
of Spain. She will work with Hermana Zitting, who is from Tennessee. She is
a happy, obedient missionary and will be a good first companion for your
daughter. Hermana Brumble took the night train with another new Hermana and
will arrive in the middle of the night in Gijon. Her companion will be
waiting for her there.

Please send any letters or packages to the Mission Office for the duration
of her mission. We have such a large mission area and mail times are very
unpredictable, so that if she gets transferred while the mail is in transit
it is very difficult to track her down. Don't forget to put her first name
on the package!
Our mailing address:

Calle Fuerteventura, 4
2nda Planta, Oficina 2.8B
San Sebastian de los Reyes, 28703
Madrid, Spain

Our Preparation Day is on Monday. Hermana Brumble is instructed to email her
immediate family every week. We look forward to getting to know her and
working along side her in this great work here in the Spain, Madrid Mission.
We already love her. Thank you for sharing her with us!

Sincerely,
President and Sister Jackson

A New Year and off to the MISSION FIELD!

¡Mi Familia!

¡Feliz Año Nuevo! I am still LOVING missionary work. I will be leaving the MTC on Tuesday at 8 o’clock in the morning. I have to walk to the Stake Center where I will be receiving my first assignment. I am so nervous, I feel like I´ve only been here a week, but I´m ready to leave and start the work. I don’t know much about the plans after that, so the next time I email, I will be in my first area already. Please pray for me so that I can have courage and confidence. I know it will be great and words can´t describe how ready I am. I cannot believe it´s already happening though. Time flies be so fast here.

Sounds like Christmas was so fun. Thanks for all the pictures , I enjoyed seeing you all! Don’t worry about the packages, I had a wonderful Christmas. It was so spiritual, it will definitely be something I will remember for the rest of my life.

New years has been so much fun! Last night we watched a Sound of Music! And we stayed up ‘till midnight. We watched the ball drop in Madrid, and as a Spanish tradition we stuffed 12 grapes in our mouth, one for every time the bell rang. That was a lot of fun. This morning we slept ‘till 8am and had Nutella crepes, scrambled eggs, and fruit for breakfast. After emailing, we will have a treasure hunt, lunch, then we are going to a park to play volleyball, soccer and bike riding. We will then come back, eat dinner, and have a devotional. Today will be so fun! I kind of wish we were having some sort of class though, just so I feel a little bit more prepared for Tuesday. But I am going to try to practice my Spanish as much as I can! What will you guys do for New Years?

I am going to miss the MTC a lot. I think mostly because of all the devotionals we have, the speakers we listen to, and going to the temple ever week. The spirit is always here and it’s amazing. This Sunday I sang a solo!! So scary!!! It was “I Know Heavenly Father Loves Me” from the Primary Children Song book (in honor of mom). I got a little emotional while practicing thinking about her. I miss her a lot and love her so much. I miss all of you a lot!:) But I don’t miss being home, it’s a weird feeling. I love it here and can´t imagine being anywhere else. The song went really well though, I even sang it in Spanish!!.

On Mondays we have youth groups come and we sing to them, and then President Sitterud picks two missionaries at random to tell them why they decided to serve a mission and bear their testimony. I had a feeling before we sang that he was going to pick me... I was right. I was so nervous, but in the best Spanglish I could remember I did it! Ha! It was so scary, and I’m pretty sure they didn’t understand a thing, but hopefully they felt the spirit. I have a feeling that´s how most of my lessons will be for about six months.

I am so excited to receive my first area. Melilla would be fun, But I´m a little skeptical about going anywhere there is a beach. I´d be too tempted to swim:) Anywhere will be great though.

Can´t wait to start and to get out there!! I love all of you and can´t wait to share more experiences with you! Thank you for your love and support! I am going to try to send pictures soon! Love you!

Love,
Hermana Brumble!!!

Spain MTC Christmas Program

 Christmas singing in the Nursing Home, Madrid Spain

Week 4 Letter!

DEC 19th letter

Mom and Dad,

Everything is going great! I love it here more and more each day. It’s crazy how long I’ve been here. I just realized today that I only have a couple of weeks left. Tell mom that I am warm enough. It is really pleasant here, my companion is from California so everything is 10 times colder to her.

Today, when we went to the temple, it was raining so hard! It is so beautiful here, it gets really foggy sometimes, but I love it. Today is kind of crazy, so I dont have a lot of time to email. We had a meeting about a our residency identification card. I have a meeting with the police on February 4 to do finger printing and then I will get my card 40 days after that. I’m kind of scared.

I had a really cool experience at the park on Thursday. I was with Hermana Samuelson. We were on the metro, and didn’t get off at the right stop. We got of at the one after and both decided that it was Heavenly Father´s way of telling us we needed to talk to someone at this stop. We walked probably ten steps when I looked over and saw this guy sitting waiting for the metro. At the same time Hermana Samuelson and I looked at each other and said “him”. We went up to him and started to talk to him. His name was Juan and had never heard about the Mormons before. He took a Book of Mormon and was really excited to read it. He asked us if there would be a way to reach us if he wanted to know more. We got a referral from him and two other people that day. Definitely a tender mercy from my Heavenly Father. It was a great day.

I’m so glad everything is going well with you. I love hearing about what everyone is doing. Tell mom congratulations and that she´ll get a letter from me. I don’t have much more time so I will probably send you a letter. I haven’t gotten any packages yet, but have gotten letters from grandma and grandpa and Karl and Suzanne. Please tell Mike and Lynn Criddle thank you for the letters and that I will try my best to send them a letter. Also tell Janice Wayman thank you for the uplifting emails.
I will talk to you soon! I love you all!!!

¡Le Amo!-Hermana Brumble

12/12/13 Letter & her District

 Hermana Brumble's 12/12/13 Letter! 

Mom and Dad!

Thank you so much for your letters! I love hearing from you guys and hearing about all the things you are doing. I am learning so much!! Spanish is hard and it get really frustrating at times. I'm improving each day and can now pray, bear testimony, recite scriptures, extend different commitments, recite the purpose, and recite Joseph Smith´s First Vision. Its so much fun being here. I love the people, the food, and the culture!! Each day I miss home less and less. I do miss all of you, I wish you could all come and be missionaries with me! I get new investigators this week, and one of my old investigators will be baptized! These are just my teachers, but they make the experience very real. Its lots of fun.
I went to the Parque again this week, My compañera was Hermana Ramos. She is very different from me, but it was lots of fun. We faced a lot of rejection, it was very discouraging at first, but whether they know it or not, we made a difference in their life. Its really funny, on the days that it is more cold, Spanish people are very reserved and kind of grumpy. But on the days when the sun is out and its warm, they are so friendly and happy, and every time you say Hola! they want to give you tons of besos! (kisses)Every day we have physical Activity. We all go to the park and play soccer with all the spanish kids. I am getting so good!! I´ll be pro when I get back.
My companion sister Plummer and I are getting along great! We love being with each other, she is very different from me, but a huge blessing in my life. We´re best friends!! She says hello and gives her love.I love my calling. It is the Musical Director from the MTC. I am in charge of all music on sundays. I pick the Hymns, pianists, choristers, and special Musical numbers for Sacrament, priesthood, relief society, President´s Devotional, and the Fireside. It is a lot of work, and I am usually the only piano player, but it is lots of fun! As of right now, there are only 15 of us at the MTC. 7 in my district. Only the Spanish speakers are left. The French speakers, and the Russian speakers left a couple of days ago. It is crazy how small it is. We will be recieving a group of Italians and American Russian speakers after Christmas, but as of right now its just us. When the French Tahiti group left, They all had shell necklaces that they gave to each of us. I have about 10!

They said it represented their love for us. It was really sweet!I am so excited to hear about Sam and Ben!! They will do awesome and it will be exciting to hear about all their wonderful experiences.I had a great time at the temple today. Each time is really spiritual, but today I could really feel the spirit. I know this is where I am supposed to be and that Heavenly Father loves each of us. I wish you guys could see how beautiful this temple is. There is an olive tree on the grounds that they planted here. They said it was older than Madrid!! I hope I can send you guys pictures soon. I have a lot!

Today is P-Day, last P-Day we went to Madrid, which is amazing! Today we will be going to a big mall they have. Its a lot of fun on P-Days. I look forward to them and love to hear from you guys.The house looks beautiful! I’m going to miss Christmas there, but it will be lots of fun here. Christmas will be our P-Day. We will be caroling that day, I am so excited. We are learning some traditional Spanish Christmas carols. One is about the fish in a river watching the birth of Christ. Its pretty interesting. The cooks are so great. They always try to make us feel as much at home as possible on Holidays, we will be having a special breakfast and dinner that day. I can’t wait to experience some spanish traditions. I´ll tell you guys all about it. So how is everyone? Has Mom made Christmas Caramel?? Will you let Shirlene Teagan know I received her letter, and thank her for me. Tell her I’m am loving it here and play the piano every day!!This week I came across a scripture that meant a lot to me. I think it is in Jeremiah 20, I don't have my scriptures right now. But it talks about rejection and how hard it is, but because of the testimony in my heart, it says "his word was in my heart as a burning fire." I will continue in this work. Rejection is so hard. When people are rude or unkind, it feels awful, but because of this burning feeling I have in my heart, I know that I can have strength to continue. I know Heavenly Father is with me and that I have the companionship of the Holy Ghost. I have been set apart as a messenger of Christ. People will recognize that and will feel the Spirit when I bear testimony of Him. I am so excited to get out there and start working!I met my mission president on Saturday. He and his wife are so kind. I am truly blessed to have them as leaders and examples. They are so excited and I feel the same.I miss you guys a lot. Tell everyone I love them, and that they are in my prayers. I cant wait to hear from you again. Thank you for the emails, they bring me a lot of comfort.¡Le Amor! -Hermana Brumble

This is my District! The Amulek District!! Hermana Plummer is standing behind me, She is my companion. Hermana Davis is in blue, and her companion Hermana Demayola is standing to the right of me. Elder Freise from Germany is on the end, he is going to Colorado Springs Spanish speaking. Elder Marshall is next to him. They are our zone leaders. One of our teachers Hermano Sanchéz is in the middle, he is getting married today! And Elder Dean our distrect leader is behind Hermana Plummer! They are great!

New Calling and a HUGE Dog

After more than a week, Hermana Brumble finally emailed again! Here is her letter:

Dec. 6th 2013

I love it here in España. It is beautiful, and each day the Spirit testifies to me in so many different ways that this is where I am supposed to be! Mission life is so hard. I’m having a great time, but I definitely feel Satan working on me every day. So please keep me in your prayers. I have been studying the language every day, sometimes I feel like I am getting it and everything is great, but some days I definitely feel discouraged. I constantly am praying and reminding myself that I have only been here for a little over a week.
My companion’s name is Hermana Plummer, she is from Southern California. She was on her high school Water Polo team. She is so kind and definitely is a blessing in my life. We are very different, but get along great. There is a Hermana that is (or used to be) in our district, Hermana Johns. She is exactly like me, we were hoping to be companions, but I feel like it was a blessing that we weren’t because we wouldn’t get anything done.
I have been teaching every day in SPANISH!! So scary. The investigators are our teachers so it isn’t so bad. One of our investigators is already getting baptized!! Sister Plummer and I are a great team!
My experience in the park was so great. I was with Hermana Londoño, she is French so she couldn’t speak much English, but was pretty good with Spanish. We were talking to everyone and weren’t seeing much success. The first people we spoke to were missionaries for the Jehovah Witnesses!!! Of Course!!! We were so discouraged so I said a prayer in my heart asking Heavenly Father to lead us to someone who is ready to hear our message. I immediately felt so much love for everyone around me and wanted to get to work right away! We decided to walk around this beautiful pond, and saw this man walking his HUGE dog. We both looked at each other and started running towards him. We started to talk to him about the Church. He spoke Spanish and was so nice. We started to tell him about the Book of Mormon. He stopped us in mid-sentence and said, "Today I wanted to buy a book to read in the park. I was so angry after I left because I forgot my money. I see you two and you both look so happy. You run towards my and start telling me about this book, and you say it is free. I know who you are and I know what this book is. I will take your book, and although I cannot promise I will be baptized I will read it out of curiosity. Thank you so much for you kindness." I felt so blessed. We both started crying. We had so much confidence after that. we placed 8 Books of Mormon that day. During singing at the end of our experience, we were asked to go around and talk to the people listening to us. It was such a great experience, I can’t wait to do it again tomorrow.
I have also been given a calling! I am the Mission Music Coordinator. I love it. I was so excited to receive a calling. Such a blessing. I am in charge of all the music and special musical numbers on Sundays.
The MTC is so small. There are about 40 of us here, in all! As of right now, there is a group of us going to Spain, all of us are from America. There is a group going to France they are from French Tahiti and France. And the cutest couple from Switzerland. There is a group going to Russia they are from the States and the Ukraine. And one missionary going to Colorado, he is from Germany and is in our District. Everyone here is amazing. It was funny, the French missionaries thought I was French! I think I am the least European looking missionary here.
Elder and Sister Bennett (Second Quorum of the Seventy, currently serving in the Europe East Area Presidency) came to talk to us this week. They are great, and so spiritual.
We all went to the temple again today. The temple is beautiful. I hope we will all get a chance to go together someday. There is gold everywhere, on the ceilings and walls. There are also Celtic knots everywhere to represent eternity. All decorations are a part of the culture here in Spain. I always feel the spirit so strong.
It is currently 12:02pm Friday, December 6 right now. It is a little chilly, but very clear and beautiful. The weather is so nice. Every day, we run to the park and play soccer with the Spanish kids, who smoke by the way!
Our usual preparation day is on Thursday, but today is a holiday in Spain (Constitution Day) and they wanted to give the teachers a day off, so our preparation day got pushed back a day. I only have 6 minutes left to e mail, so please give my love to everyone and tell them they are in my prayers. Tell mom that I love her and have been thinking of her often. I hope you all are great! I love you and love being here.
I love you guys!
Hermana Brumble

She Made It!!

Hermana Brumble made it to Madrid! Here is what she had to say about her first day at the MTC:

Nov. 26th 2013
"I made it! FINALLY! Im so excited to tell you about everything that has happened so far. after you left, I had no trouble at all finding where I was going. Everyone met up and we boarded the plane. I sat with Hermana Davis, Hermana Johns, Elder Anderson, and Hermana Bennett. They are all so nice and going to the Madrid Mission with me. The lay-over in Georgia felt like forever, but the plane ride to Madrid was torture! I had the hardest time going to sleep, I probably slept a total of 5 minutes. So I´m pretty exhausted, but I´m here. Madrid is beautiful, I love everything about it! It even smells amazing!. The temple here is the most amazing building I have ever seen. We will get the opportunity to go there on thursday and go through a session. Today is a relaxing day, we are touring the building and area and getting to know everyone, the only instruction was to NOT go to sleep till after dinner so we will get used to the time change. I had a meeting with the MTC President, and recieved a companion. Her name is Hermana Plumber. I dont know much about her or where she is from, she doesn´t get here till tomorrow. I´m sure I will love her and get along with her just fine. We will be having orrientation tomorrow and starting classes. We are going to learn some basic Spanish and start teaching people in the streets on Saturday. After we are done teaching, we all gather in the park and sing hymns as loud as we can to draw people in. Sounds like the perfect day! I´m so excited to hear from you and tell everyone about my wonderful experiences. Give my love to everyone and tell them I will be in touch with them soon.

Te Amo! Hermana Brumble"