I love the Temple!

This week has been great! We are teaching the restoration in 4 min!! It is hard but the key is filling the time with the words that count rather than as many words as you can. I love it and it is powerful.

We had the police following us one day. He called us over and asked what we were doing. He told us we were doing a great work and that he appreciated the efforts. He then proceeded to tell us that we were in the most dangerous part of our area and that we should be very, very careful! We are going to avoid that area from now on - don’t worry!

We have a baptism this Saturday for an 8 and 10 year old (in English).

I am so excited for them. The 10 year old says the sweetest prayers! She always says things like, “I am really grateful for your ability to love and give us families and forgive us” and “I hope that when I grow up and die I can live in the celestial kingdom with you and Jesus and my family. I am really sorry for all the bad things I have done in my life and I mean it!”

She is absolutely adorable!

The Elders are helping a lot. They intimidate me with their Spanish, but it’s okay! They are native. I just take it as another wonderful opportunity I’ve been given to learn from those that have it mastered!

I was able to go to the temple this week with my companion. It was an amazing experience. We were able to each ask a question to the temple president.

I am so excited for General Conference! Eager to hear who our new apostles will be.

Here are some fun pictures I thought you’d enjoy.

I love you!

We were so happy to get to go to the temple!

I thought this was strange. Not 15 not 20 but 18?

Lucky Temple Day

Hi Mom,

I didn’t get Grandma’s letter yet. Mom, your email was so sad! I am just sitting here crying in public. I am so grateful that I got a chance to say goodbye to Grandpa before I left. I know he was ready to go and it makes me happy that now he can be with Grandma.

It has been raining here a lot. Also, I have some bad news and some good news. I’ll start with the bad news.

I will not be emailing you next Monday.

Good News:

            I AM GOING TO THE TEMPLE NEXT WEEK! I will have Thursday as my P day and will email you then. I am so excited! We have to be at the mission office at 5:45 AM and it takes an hour to get there. We are going to be so tired but I am sooooo excited! Hermana Jahnel is one year into her mission and they are letting her go. I am the lucky companion who gets to go with her!

This week was a difficult week. We are trying to find people to teach but everyone seems to be far busier than God intended. We have had a lot of first lessons and canceled seconds. It is frustration at times but never to hard to handle. God knows us perfectly and is always giving us tender mercies. It is just up to us to recognize them.

This week the dad of the family we baptized came to church. (AGAIN)! Although he has not yet accepted to meet with us to learn more, his progression is such a miracle. I remember the first time Hermana Jahnel and I saw him. We were actually scared of him. His wife was afraid to talk to him about church too. It took a while for us to get permission for them to be baptized. But we planned their baptism around his schedule so he could come. I remember seeing them walk into the church together. It was a miracle that he was there. Then he smiled, which was another miracle in and of it’s self! He attended the following Sunday to see them be confirmed and receive the Holy Ghost. This week we were teaching them in their home and he walked by. We (again) invited him to pray with us-  This time instead of saying “no” he said, “I am busy.” His wife replied, “It’s okay,  We will wait.”

It was a very special moment of kneeling on the floor waiting for the dad. Finally he came and knelt down with us. His wife then offered a beautiful prayer in which she expressed how grateful she was for the gospel and asked God to help her husband learn more. This Sunday he came again. We are so excited to see his progression. We are looking forward to the day they will be sealed as a family and we know that it will start with his baptism. We are going to continue working hard to teach and baptize him.

I have a zone conference this Wednesday instead of a district meeting. I don’t know what we are going to talk about but I know that it will be good. I am excited!

This week I met a prophet! HAHAHA

Some crazy woman was telling us that she was called directly from God and received the Holy Spirit when she was standing next to a church one day. That was a hard lesson!

Last week Hermana Jahnel and I went to Goodwill (like DI) and got a new skirt. I love my Taos. They are keeping my feet healthy. Thank you for getting them for me!

I am so grateful for Hermana Jahnel! I used to think she is patient but now I KNOW it! I have been struggling so much with my confidence these past few weeks. She helps me remember that my confidence comes from the Lord and his atonement, not from myself. I am okay if I mess up as long as I am trying my hardest. I don’t know why I have been so sensitive lately. I get so frustrated with the smallest things. She is helping me to communicate and express my feelings rather than keeping them all bottled up inside me.  I get so frustrated because my body doesn’t move the way it should. Satan is good at putting discouraging thoughts in my head! I am just trying to do my best to learn from all the experiences I am having.

Remember to smile. I am alright and am working hard! I love it here  J.

Te amo,

Hermana Bryan

Happy Labor Day

Happy Labor Day,

Every public place on the planet earth is closed today. We are using the computers in the Family History Center today.

This week has been so crazy. Our family got baptized and the dad even came to the baptism and to church! We are really trying to work with him. We are also working with a previous investigator. He is now interested in taking the lessons. It’s great!

We now have 2 elders in the branch, Elder Laguna and Elder Alarcon. Everyone welcomed them and were so excited. I am so grateful they are here and will help us build the branch.

A frustrating experience for me this week was when we were teaching a recent convert. We were talking about the Book of Mormon. He LOVES to read and has so much literature from all the other churches he has been to. We were telling him that the Book of Mormon is the best book for him and he needs to read it instead of the other literature he has. I was trying to tell him that he can never read the Book of Mormon too much, that’s how good it is. It came out that the book is too good and it’s bad to read often ( at least that’s what my comp told me).

I have felt so discouraged that I can’t teach a lesson. I thought God was supposed to give us what we should say in the very moment if we are trying our best. I broke down after that incident. How can I be a missionary out here if I am saying things against the church?! I know it was an accident and thank goodness it was a convert that understands that I am just learning Spanish still. I was feeling to unqualified for this work. However, I know that God is just keeping me humble…Soon I will figure out what he wants me to do.  It is just a low to contrast the many highs. It’s natural and part of adjusting to missionary life.  I do recognize he has placed me with a wonderful companion that was fluent enough to catch that mistake. It was a blessing that didn’t feel like one at the time.

Good news. We got our car fixed! They said my first name at the car repair shop and it was so strange to hear it! I felt like they shouldn’t say it out loud. We rode our bikes to Walmart last week. It was a little crazy riding home with all our groceries but we are talented and managed. My companion had a flat tire. We bought her a new one but it keeps going flat. She just rides on it anyway.

I love you all!

Love,

Hermana Bryan

We found the straight and narrow path!