Saying "YES"

Typically my blog is used to keep everyone up-to-date on my work as a missionary, but last night my wonderful boyfriend (now fiancé), James, asked me to marry him! EVERYONE keeps asking me how he did it and for the story behind the ring, so here it goes...

James picked me up from my house around 6 pm and he was really paranoid about his shoe choice, which is weird because he always wears tennis shoes, but yesterday he wasn't. He decided that we needed to go back to his house to change his shoes, which I naturally thought was dumb. I don't care about his shoes, but I later found out he was just nervous, wanted his shoes to match, and if you know James, you know he can't match well. :)

We went to Scottsdale and ate at a pizza place which is where we had our first "official" date. After that we just walked around downtown Scottsdale, talked, ate ice cream, and laughed a lot. Around 8 pm James gets a text from Fr. Clements, our boss and Priest at the Newman center, saying that he needs James' help getting ready for a development meeting the next day. I was annoyed because Fr. Clements knew it was our date night, but who can say no to a Priest?!

We show up to the Newman center, which is under construction, and Fr. Clements tells us to go into the new Adoration chapel and he'll be in there in a minute. At the back of the room was a table with a picture of Our Lady of Guadalupe (she holds a special place in my heart) and a Rosary. James then said all these nice things and asked me to be his wife!

Asking me!

My pretty picture of Our Lady of Guadalupe!

My Rosary.
He said that every time I pray it,  I can remember the moment he asked me to be his wife. :)

After he proposed, he took me into the Church and Fr. Clements was up on the altar with the candles lit, ready for Mass. It was so beautiful and perfect. Fr. Clements said Mass just for the two of us, blessed my ring, picture, and Rosary. The proposal was beautiful and everything I could ever dream of wanting. 

Okay, so the ring! 

The ring is a turquoise, diamond, and gold Le Vian ring. He bought it in Scottsdale at a tiny jewelers that specializes in Le Vian. 

Why turquoise? Well, I have never wanted a traditional engagement ring. I've actually always just wanted a band, but James wanted something a little more traditional and special than that, so we compromised. Turquoise is one of my favorite stones, when Our Lady of Guadalupe appeared to Juan Diego she was wearing a blue mantel with stars, and well, I'm Native American. HA. I wanted gold because most of my jewelry is silver and my ring should be more special. There's also little diamonds on the side, which fits what James wanted. Plus- there's only 1 of my ring in the whole world and it's on my finger!

Overall, I'm SOOO happy! James is perfect, my ring is perfect, and I know our life will be perfect with God at the center. 

Thank you to Father Clements for being so sneaky and awesome and to Milly, our photographer! Oh, and to James, for thinking I'm cool enough to be his future wife!

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Sharing His Word

I am happy to say that Bible studies are going well! Nine students started leading a Bible study for the first time this semester and I couldn't be more happy or proud of them. I'm leading 4 myself and mentoring 12 women 1 on 1 this semester! Praise God. 

When I first started leading a Bible study as a student, I was so nervous, but God blessed me in many ways by doing it. Leading my own study confirmed that God wanted me to be a missionary, my women brought so much joy to my week, and one even became a Sister (Elizabeth Cotter is now Sister Gabriella)! I had never studied scripture in such an intense way than when I first started leading a study. I think I learned more in that one year than I had my whole life growing up in the Catholic faith. It was beautiful and opened me up to much more than I even knew at the time.

I am still touched and pushed by the women in my studies. They are all such unique gifts to me and help me draw closer to our Lord. I pray everyday that the women leading their studies receive the grace and understanding of what it means to be a disciple that I have. To do the Will of God can be scary!

Here's an update of what's happening at ASU:

Mark Hart, know as the Bible Geek, came and spoke to about 150 ASU students!

Some students at our 1st tailgate of the semester.

A student took this while we were hiking.

House of Gold!
This is our all-women's night. 

Maggie and I at Bid Night for Mu Epsilon Theta Catholic Sorority

Some of the girls going to play a prank! ha.

Some of the new pledges of Mu Epsilon Theta making a blanket for a baby at Maggie's Place.

Amy turned 21 and she spent the night celebrating with her
favorite missionaries!

Some ASU students at Theology on Tap.

The team is excited that our founder, Curtis Martin, is coming to ASU to give a talk!

God has been keeping me pretty busy doing His work, but I'm so happy to do it. I am so fortunate to have a great team, awesome students to work with, and such a supportive family. Please pray for two of our upcoming events: FOCUS Missions Night on October 2nd and for when Curtis comes on October 16th. We'd really like to pack the Newman center for both amazing events, so please pray for students' hearts to be open! Peace and grace, Anna

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Year 2

I'm back on campus at Arizona State! It's been amazingly beautiful already. Welcome week(s) is completed and Bible studies will start within the next 2 weeks. I remember being on campus for the first time as a missionary last year and being completely scared...well, nothing has changed. 15,000 freshman isn't exactly comforting! haha. I do feel more prepared and more excited than ever to be working with all the women I had last year. 

Here's a run-down of what's been going on:

Playing Shaving Cream Baseball with around 50 students on campus!

I was attacked with shaving cream. :/

Then I got thrown into a fountain. Gross

Team ASU! This was on Freshman move-in day.
We handed out water and post cards with Mass times on them from 9-3pm.

My Roommates!
Me, Lesley, Marisa, Katie, and Emily

This year, my roommates and I decided to start an all-women's night called the House of Gold. House of Gold is another name for Mary. As women, we want to immolate Mary in everything we do! On our first House of Gold night we learned about why we decided to call the night House of Gold, made bracelets with a medal of Mary on them, and prayed! 

Over 30 women came to our first House of Gold!

Emily, my teammate and roommate painted this beautiful image of
 Our Mother for our House of Gold!

Mu Epsilon Theta, the Catholic sorority, has letters for campus!

The team at Passport! Passport is an  organizational fair for students. 

Our student missionary pool party!
I made a volleyball net out of plastic bags. :)

The team hiking on a day retreat!

The ladies of Mu Epsilon Theta at their fist meeting of the year!

Tabling after Mass to share information on our Catholic Sisterhood!

33 women are considering joining Mu Epsilon Theta Catholic Sorority this semester!
Please pray for them!

We have over 200 new students who have said they're interested in joining a Bible study. Please pray that these students remain open. I will continue to work with my women from last year and I'm starting a graduate study! I've been praying to God for Him to send me older students and He sure did! I'm already seeing God's grace being poured out at ASU this year. Thank you for your support, blessings, and love. 

All for You, Lord.

-Anna

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Returning to the Desert.

Hello friends! I've had an incredibly busy summer thus far, but also a very blessed one. I will be returning to Arizona State University this fall to complete year #2 as a missionary! Hooray! I cannot wait to see what God has planned for me and the students. Well, I just returned home to Oklahoma about a week ago. I spent 6 weeks at Ave Maria, Florida for missionary training. A lot of interesting things happened to me while there, one being, that I'm the new Team Director for ASU! Basically, I lead the team of missionaries that will be serving at ASU. I'm really pumped for this new opportunity God has given to me. 

So many people have been asking: "Anna, what are you doing while you're home?" Well, as some of you may know, missionaries have the privilege of raising their own salary. Basically, I spend my time talking to people and telling them about the mission of the Fellowship of Catholic University Students (FOCUS). I absolutely LOVE sharing what I do and talking about the importance of a relationship with Jesus. If you want to meet up with me, let me know! ;)

I learned A LOT at summer training. We start the day with an Eucharistic Holy Hour, go to class all day, and then have small group things at night. I also had the privilege of being a small group leader for the college of Saint Kateri Tekakwitha, the first Native American Saint! She was such a great fit for me and I loved growing closer to those women. Training can be kind-of intense. We learn a lot in the 5-6 weeks we're there. I am truly blessed to be apart of such a beautiful organization and to receive the quality of training that we do.

Here are some pictures of my adventures: 

This is the beautiful Church at Ave Maria. Us women had a night procession that ended inside of the Church.

We were only about 20 minutes away from the closest beach, so I spend Sundays as a beach bum.

Part of team ASU!

Dr. Sri, a super famous Catholic author and co-founder of FOCUS, taught some of our classes!

Pretty Liz who was a student at ASU and is now starting her 1st year as a missionary.

Maddy! One of my greatest friends from Texas State...we became missionaries together. :)

Ave has LOTS of alligators.

Ave aslo has LOTS of armadillos.

I found a turtle at the beach! 

I am so excited to continue my missionary journey at ASU. Please keep me, and my teammates Emily, Zach T., and Zach P in your prayers! This last year has been one of struggle, hardships, battles, and immense grace. I continue to pray for God to make me small and that I may be a servant to all, but above all to God. Please join me in prayer for the campus of ASU, the incoming freshman, and the students that are farthest away from God. Ask the Lord to send His graces upon them. 
Let's set the world on fire, Anna.

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Calm Within the Storm

"Why do bad things happen to good people?" "How could God allow such devastation?" "Why did God allow all those people to die?" With the horrible tornados happening in Oklahoma, I'm sure a variation of these questions have crossed your mind. As many of you know, I am a Catholic missionary and an Okie (I'm currently in OK now visiting my family). These storms hit very close to home  and thankfully, my family and house is fine; however, it is difficult to understand natural disasters. If God is in-charge of the universe, why did He do this? Well, He didn't. 

If you feel so inclined, read Romans 8:18-25. There will always be evil in the world and in the heart of man. The rebellion of nature mirrors the human heart. Our planet is in rebellion against the original order of our loving creator, God. However, God didn't bring about tornados in Oklahoma because He is angry or because the people specifically in OK are sinners. Luke 13:1-9 talks of Pilot and the Galileans. Luke also says that those whom the tower in Siloam killed were no greater sinners than the ones not killed. God doesn't punish. God is all good. Evil and destruction come from us humans and the devil. Unfortunately we live in a fallen world. A world in need of repentance and love. A world in need of faith in God.

God blessed us abundantly from the beginning of time. He gave us everything. Through the fall of Adam and Eve, we also fell, but how beautiful is God to send His Son, Jesus Christ. Even in our fallen state, He sends us love, mercy, and help. Through the power of Jesus' resurrection, we are made to live in His light. Through the power of Jesus' resurrection, ask Him to strengthen our faith. 

God doesn't cause evil, but yes, He permits it to happen. Why? To bring about a greater good. Oklahomans and people from all around the world have stepped in to help. Newscasters, Mayors, and even our president, Mr. Obama, have said: "pray." God is beautiful. He knows how to unite. He knows how to love. He is our Savior. Pray.

My heart cries out for those who have lost loved ones, their homes, their hope, or their faith. I am praying for you. Let us cry to God together. Let us rise up and become a stronger person, Christian, and nation. Fight for the good, Anna.

PS. I did have help in writing this. Thank you to Jesus for leaving us the Bible, to the Catholic Church, to Fr. Barron, and to the Holy Spirit in guiding me in prayer. Feel free to comment or email (anna.brzozowski@focus.org) on how I can specifically pray for you or someone you know who has been affected by the tornados. 

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Made for a Relationship

"How can you just walk up to someone and talk to them about Jesus? I could never do that." This is a question and comment I get ALL the time. My question is, "How can you not?!" I think this is the perfect thing to reflect on as Easter comes to an end. On Good Friday, Jesus took up His Cross and died for us (He does this on a daily basis just fyi). As He's hanging on the Cross, He says, "I thirst." He's not thirsty for water, but for a RELATIONSHIP with you! He died for you because He wants you to have everything in the world and for Him to know you like a father loves his child. Many students and people don't know this kind of love or that it even exits. They may have heard of Jesus before and even tried going to church a couple of times, but that's not a relationship. Truly knowing Jesus is living a life as close to Him as possible. Jesus went out and taught about the love of God. ALL of us are also called to do that.

I took some Disciples (students who are learning how to lead their own Bible study) out to barehand Evangelize (walking up to random people and starting a conversation). It was an amazing experience. I spent 6 hours straight several days in a row doing this on campus. We talked to so many people and every single one of them went well. My girls were scared to death. The devil loves to place fear and doubt into your thoughts....especially when you're trying to do the work of God. Here's how some of them went:

•  Amy talked to a girl who is an atheist. Amy shared her testimony and the love God has placed in her life and the girl she talked to said it was one of the best conversations she's ever had and that she'll remember it for the rest of her life. 
• Katie talked to a girl who just moved here from Mexico a day ago. She seemed really uncertain about a lot of things, but we were able to show her where the Catholic center was, so hopefully she'll come.
• Marisa shared the gospel with a girl whose family is Catholic, but she wasn't brought up very strongly in the faith. She doesn't go at all in college, but wants to join a Bible study.
• Olivia talked to a girl who has a lot of Christian friends and even has visited many different churches, but hasn't really felt connected to any of them. She had no idea what a relationship with Jesus would be like.
• Jacky talked to a girl who used to be Catholic, but left the Church in college because she didn't feel connected to it. Now she goes to a non-denominational church. Her response was that she had never in her life met Catholics like us (meaning on fire for their faith). I wanted to cry.

The message of Jesus Christ is powerful! Billions of people in the world know who Jesus is historically, but have no idea what it's like to be in a relationship with Him. It's an epidemic. Instead of creating ourselves in the image of Jesus, we create Jesus in our image. That's really scary. We try to find a God of comfort and complacency. We want to "hide under a bushel basket" because that's what's safe. Jesus didn't die on the Cross for you to shy away from sharing His light with the world. Suck it up and share what you love about your faith. Share the love you feel from Jesus. 

Please remember:

• You are made to be in a relationship with God. That's all He wants.
• Our relationship is broken through our sin (distractions, not giving Him time, denying His love).
• God is so merciful, that He gave His Son Jesus to die on the Cross for our sins and to repair our broken relationship.
• God is also incredibly awesome and gives us free will. He doesn't force a relationship with us. He still allows us to choose Him.
• Now you have a choice. Are you going to follow Jesus' example?

"How do I have a relationship with Jesus?" Start praying every single day. Give Him your time. Read Scripture. If you want to know who Jesus is, READ your Bible. Once you start to live your life like Jesus led His, you're going to come to know Him in a powerful way. I will never look at my life the same after being a missionary. Thank you to everyone who has made this possible. Be Saints, be soldiers, and be the love of Jesus that the world needs, Anna.

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MuEp Love

Mu Epsilon Theta, the Catholic sorority, we're bringing to ASU is in full swing! It's so unbelievably amazing to think that we are actually becoming a National sorority and that I get to be the pledge educator of the Alpha class of the Gamma Chapter!!! Jesus is just my absolute favorite. I keep getting bucketfuls of graces poured on my head and I'm loving it, so Jesus, keep it coming. 

Bid day is the day the girls received their invitation into the sorority. For fun, I had them dress in their 80's best! The girls look AWESOME! 

We had a "Best 80's Hair" Competition.
Hahaha...Maggie!

Our hair "models" who had to show off their new hairdos! 

All the girls! 

Once they receive their bid, or invitation, they can then choose to become a pledge. Telete imitation is when this happens! 25 women have officially became pledges of Mu Epsilon Theta!!! :)

Me and the new pledges!

Some of my lovely sorority sisters flew to AZ from TX to help!
Thank you ladies!

After pledge initiation, they all go on a pledge retreat. So fun. They learn more about the pledge process and we do 3 main activities from our pillars: Spirituality, Sisterhood, and Service. For our Spirituality pillar, we discussed the power of prayer and that God wants to give us absolutely everything that we want in life. So much so that He's already given it to us (Mark 11:24). I also had them write down 1 thing that was holding them back from having a deeper relationship with Jesus. Soon we are going to have a burn party and send them up in smoke! For our sisterhood, the ladies played skit in a bag. I split them into groups and gave them a bag filled with random objects. They had 5 minutes to create a skit from what they found in the bag. The skits were HILARIOUS! If you're my Facebook friend, you should look at my videos and watch them. For service, all the girls donated nonperishable food items to add to the pantry for the homeless! 

Keani sharing some things about herself!

Voting on our pledge officers.

For Valentine's Day some of my girls helped hand out chocolate to the women on campus. We attached notes that had Bible verses and You're worth waiting for written on them! We handed out over 600 chocolates! It was a great way to spread a little Jesus love on Valentine's day!

Valentine's Day!

For FOCUS, we had our student missionary night last Friday. We had it at my house and it was packed! We almost didn't fit! Zach and Mayra, 2 of our missionaries, talked about the different Vocational options available. 

Almost everyone!

Fr. Muir also blessed my house! Yes!

Some students after Mass on Wednesday!
We all went to a pizza place close to the Church. 

Cool story: Olivia, one of the students I work with is now leading her own Bible study within the sorority! She was voted in as our Chaplain and she's leading 6 women through a study that have never been in one before. It's a huge blessing and she was so excited afterward. I'm so proud and happy for Olivia. Please keep her in your prayers!

Update: Olga has been going to Mass! She still doesn't accept the Eucharist and cries every time, but she's improving! Keep praying for her please. 

Thank you to everyone who is supporting me. You have no idea how much I appreciate it and love you for it! I'm being challenged in so many ways right now and your kind words mean a lot! Keep me updated on how you need prayers and continue to pray for our future successor of Peter! How exciting is it to be a Catholic right now?! Stay strong in your faith and firm in prayer. All my blessings, Anna.

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