Sister Rachel Holbrook: Turtlenecks, torrential downpours, and tender mercies

Today is our halfway point. It's hump day. And it makes me want to cry!! I can't believe this summer is already halfway done. We have so much missionary work we still need to do and the summer is halfway over!

This week, we sweat a lot. Like buckets of sweat everyday! That's when we finally found a way to describe our costumes: we wear turtlenecks and pajama pants with a quilt over our laps. All with a waistband that's three inches thick and makes you sweat. Fun, right?

There were 4 torrential downpours this week. (Torrential as in the Lord picked up the Mississippi River and dumped it on Nauvoo) One is currently happening as I write this email haha one happened right after we loaded the wagon for our afternoon run up Mullholland St. There we were in this HUGE thunderstorm, being the world's largest lightning rod :) There was another one as we went to the temple on Tuesday morning. We walked in the door and looked as if we'd already been baptized! The other one was in the middle of Hymn Fest. We played the last note of Spirit of God as it was sprinkling and then we cut off and it started pouring on us. But Heavenly Father is watching out for us and Synthesis (BYU Jazz Band) was right there in the garden and they helped us carry everything inside.

Other fun adventures of the week have included:

- basketball on Wednesday (prep morning)! We went to the stake center and played basketball with some of the band elders. It was super fun and I'm horrible at basketball! :)

- Sister Parkin and I have started running for exercise! It's fun and hopefully will keep us healthy. Plus we are both super out of shape and need the exercise haha

- my companions and I still laugh all the time and have so much fun. Adventures this week included all sorts of stories and jokes and scriptures. Our companionship prayer at night reminds me of family prayer back home because we just laugh and laugh and laugh some more

- BUGLER'S IS IN SUNSET!!! That means Sister Camp thinks it's worthy of entertaining thousands of people so we get to perform every other night. I wish I could explain our choreography but we switch hands and play the trumpet of the person next to us. Basically it's amazing.

This week has been amazing. I am learning so much every week about myself and my weaknesses, about Christ, about how to be an effective missionary, about how to work with people, and the list goes on and on. One experience I had yesterday really stands out to me. I was studying after lunch up by the Christus statue and was watching the people walking around the Visitor's Center. One family came near, and this little girl who was probably 3 years old stopped and looked up at Christ. She got this huge smile on her face and stuck out her hands kind of waving at Christ. At the same time, she started saying something as though she were talking to Him. It was the sweetest thing to see and really stuck me. Christ loves the little children and the little children love Him. We are commanded to be like them and have that childlike joy when we recognize our Savior. And like this little girl, we need to stick out our hands and beckon and invite Christ into our lives, just like He invites us to come to Him. It's a two way relationship that we must continually work on so that we become the people that we need to be.

A lot of what I'm learning comes through the tender mercies that I see all around me. I know I talk about this every week, but it's true!!! The trumpet section had such an incredible experience on Friday night. It was the first night that Bugler's was going to be in Sunset, and we were so excited. But our lips were feeling pretty dead after the pre-show concert. As Sunset kept going, I have never felt my chops that dead before. I couldn't hold a note for more than a couple beats and I had no range either because my lips were so exhausted. In the act before we were supposed to play, we all said a silent prayer, asking for help and strength. We got up there to play Bugler's and I promise you that miracles happened. It was our best run of Bugler's ever- our double tonguing was incredible, our intonation was great, we were together and we nailed the hand switches and everything. When it was done and we sat back down, I turned to the others and we said the same thing: that was not us playing the trumpet. I promise you that if you will ask for help, Heavenly Father will bless you with added strength and ability to do the things that He has asked of you. It's truly incredible how the enabling power of the Atonement can bless us in every aspect of our lives, even in something that seems as insignificant as playing the trumpet in Sunset by the Mississippi.

I love you all and miss you (when I have time to think about missing you haha) but I love what I'm doing and I LOVE NAUVOO!!!!!!!! I don't think I ever want to leave! Despite the sweat and the tears and the hard work, it's worth every second. I know that we can do all things through Christ and that we will be blessed as we strive to share the Gospel with everyone around us. I know that the Spirit is real and that as we listen to His promptings, we will be blessed. Don't ever ever ever ignore a prompting of the Spirit. There's no worse feeling than knowing Heavenly Father needed you do something, told you to do it, and you just sat there. I know that feeling and it's awful, so always listen to the Spirit!! Also, pray for me as I speak in Church next Sunday haha

Love you!!!

Sister Holbrook :)