Bike, Cars, and a Holy Skirt, Amen

Wow! So much has happened this week. 

We got the AC fixed this week- it makes such a huge difference!

I got a hole in my skirt this week- it got caught in my breaks. I told my companions I was going to wear it to church every week and they looked at me like I was crazy. Then I told them I was going to wear it because now it is a "holy" skirt. They laughed for so long. It's like the oldest joke in the book! 

Speaking of my bike, I finally got all the mudguards and reflectors put on. It looks pretty spiffy. I love my bike. I am slowly teaching myself to ride without holding onto the handlebars because it hurts my wrists. So far I haven’t crashed, so I think I'm doing pretty well!

I got my iPad this week. It’s so great- I don't know how missionaries keep everything organized without one!!

I also drove the car this week. Hermana Gibson was feeling sick so I drove. I'm still a pro. Speaking of cars- oh my goodness. Hermana Gibson, our DD, ran a red light and we got hit. It wasn't bad because she swerved out of the way. We only had a little scratch and the other car didn't stop at all. We were all fine and the car was fine, but still- it scared me so much! When she didn't slow down I said, "umm.. The light is red." very casually. She realized when we were 1/2 way through the intersection. It was weird.

Funny story of the week:

My Spanish was really bad one day. I don't know why but I was struggling SO MUCH! We were teaching a lesson to a man who was talking really fast and it was just so hard. My companion was saying something and I was trying to catch words I recognized, but was so lost. Finally I heard her say "In the name of Jesus Christ, amen." I figured she was finishing her testimony so I said, “Amen”. I was WRONG! She was teaching how to pray hahahahaha. Every one looked at me with the same looks on their faces and it was so awful. I wanted to laugh so hard but I had to wait until the lesson was over. My companions laughed with me for an hour haha.

Well, that’s about all I have time for this week. Love you all and thank you for all your support! 

Love-

Hermana Bryan

 

Oh RED LIGHT! Got it

Thinking of Grandma :)

GYROS!

Guess what we ate this week?! It was Hermana Jahnel's first time and she loves them! (:

4th of Julyyyyy

So much has happened this week, it's crazy! For my lack of time, I will just give you short tidbits of information.

I found out that --------- dropped the elders when we were transferred. That made me so sad, I cried a little bit. But then I realized it was just a "not yet". 

We had a schedule change this week. We have to wake up sometime before 6 and be in bed by 10. It is so nice! Before the change we had to be up before 6 and in bed by 10:30. It is amazing what an extra 1/2 hour of sleep can do. 

We found an investigator named -----. She took the lessons from the missionaries a long time ago but doesn't really remember and wants to take them again! She is just eating up everything we teach her. She really wants to come to church and progress, but her husband is a devout catholic and expects her to go with him. She is scared of what might happen with her husband. Please pray for her!

We went to go see a potential investigator and there was a drunk man next door who wouldn't leave us alone. He came up and grabbed Hermana Gibson's hand when we were at the neighbor’s door. We got out of there real fast. It was a little bit scary.

We are teaching a mom and son. They are going to be baptized next week!! --- is getting divorced from her husband who is not a good man. It is amazing the change that she has gone through. ------- was telling us that he has a bad life becuase of his dad. It was really sad, but we just talked about how much his Father in heaven loves him. He is just 8 years old and he started to cry. He is so amazing and now that he realized he has the best Father ever he is progressing so much! He told us that he loves us this week and we make his life better- we told him it wasn't us, it was God. He is just amazing.

Every morning we go to the gym to work out and it is usually just us, but sometimes there is this old man who comes and I really don't like it when he comes because then we have to leave. When we can’t be in the gym we have to just run outside. Let me just make something really clear- running in Florida is the worst. THE WORST! You sweat enough to fill a pool just standing there, so when you run it is so so so awful. PLUS, the bugs just eat you alive! Every day I just tell myself I will get some blessing from it because I have a hard time staying positive about it.

Also, this week my companions learned that I talk in my sleep. I am always just so dead so I never wake up. But I woke both of them up this week and was talking to them. They were talking back to me AND I ANSWERED THEM! Haha! They told me the next day and I just had to apologize for waking them up. It was really funny.

Earlier this week all our appointments would say "American girls- happy 4" in their broken English. It made me so happy. haha! 

This week our luck with the rain wore off. We got soaked! We just had to ride our bikes in the rain. It was bad.

Miracle:

On Thursday we had a lot of lessons! It was so good, but we didn't have time for dinner, so we just didn't eat. We were starving! We went to teach our English class in the church and there was a single adults ward activity where nobody showed up. The lady that set it up let us have their refreshments! The Lord will always provide!! Ha-ha It was really funny but awesome.

Also, ------, one of our investigators got up and bore his testimony in sacrament meeting!! He is so golden!!! Pray for him- he needs to resolve some issues.

Love,

Hermana Bryan

Jessica loves the 4th of July so we sent them all a flag shirt.

Her companions thought it was fun to get matching shirts!

Loving my Mission!

So I am now in the Cortez Branch. It is a huge area to cover. We walk and bike a lot, but sometimes need to take the car because of time and distance. I love it. We cover the Hispanic neighborhoods and it is so fun. They always have fiesta music playing and it makes me so happy ha-ha! I am always in the mood for chips and salsa. Everyone thinks we’re crazy for walking around in the neighborhoods and warns us to be gone by dark. We always are safe, don’t worry. Everyone is so nice. Sunday was so hard for me. I am trying to learn Spanish, but I am not as patient as I need to be. I am learning a lot but sometimes I just have no clue what's going on.

At the beginning of the week, we were teaching a lady. We taught the lesson.  (I helped. When it comes to lessons, I know what to say) but then she just started talking so much. I had no clue what she was saying. I was lost- so lost! I felt bad, but I just started praying that I would know how to help her. I had the feeling to explain how the gospel blesses families again. So I did. My companions didn't know what I was doing, but the spirit was so strong. After what I said/tried to say she completely changed. My companions later told me she was explaining all the problems that get in the way of going to church and following Christ but after I reminded her of the blessings, she was willing to change and put God first. It was really cool.

We also found a woman named------- this week. She is so prepared and is asking all the right questions. She is progressing and I love her so much. She can feel el Espiritu Santo but doesn’t know how to explain it. It makes me happy when she says that. I love helping people!

We are in Bradenton, so we have the beach and an island in our area. We went across the big bridge on our bikes and it was beautiful. I even saw some dolphins. I thought of Grandma. It's beautiful.

It is so hot here and our AC doesn't work very well. I am constantly sweating- ew ): I am so glad when people let us in and give us water. It's so hot I can’t believe it. There are lizards everywhere and they're so cute. 

I don't know if I told you this, but I have seen 3 alligators in the wild and a few more that were not wild. It's crazy!

We teach English every Thursday. It’s so cool to hear how it is helping them. One man came up to us this week and told us that because the missionaries were helping with him with his English, his boss at work gave him a dollar raise. He was so grateful! It's awesome. It also is helping my companion, Hermana Jahnel, learn English. I just love helping people.

Being in a branch is hard. Nobody really knows what they are doing. In our mission, we are not allowed to visit members unless there is an investigator there. It makes it hard to get to know the members and ask them to go to lessons, but it is okay. We are working hard to get to know them at church and through our ward mission leader.

My companions are so great! Hermana Jahnel and Gibson have both been out 9 months. I thought it was going to be weird being in a trio but I love it!! We all get along so well. They are helping me and teaching me so much. Every day they compliment me on my dedication and thank me for my hard work and example. We are learning from each other. It makes me feel good. I think I am companions with the best missionaries in the field (seriously, I think Pres. put me with them so I can have the best training). They always remember our purpose and always have a smile. It is so great.

One thing Hermana Jahnel told me the first day has stuck with me and it has helped me a lot. She said "hoy es el mejor dia de mi mision" (today is the best day of my mission). I repeat it to myself every morning and every day is the best day (:

We all stay positive together and I love them so much!!

It rains about once a day here- and when in rains it pours.

I am so grateful for my umbrella. Haha. It only rains for about 10 min though then it is nice and sunny. We have had good timing and been inside mostly when it rains. I hope our luck continues.

As far as anything I want… Pray for our investigators. Pray for our members. We are doing all we can and the rest is up to the Lord. We are just trying to find all the people he has prepared and is preparing.

Love you all,

Sister Bryan

Back out in the Field

I’m loving it here. I just got transferred again. That’s 2 emergency transfers in 1 week. Ha! It's been so crazy. I was in New Tampa, with 2 compas. but then one of them, went home and so I was with Sister Davis for a week. She was super nice and is from Spanish Fork. I met all of the investigators and helped get new ones. I learned to love everyone so much and it was so great, but then I had to leave ):

We had interviews with President Cusick and there were some things not quite right about the situation we had. He was so helpful to figure it all out and council us with wise advice. He says I am going to be a great missionary, but also a problem for him. (He told me not to smile at the elders HAHAHA) but he was actually being serious. He is intimidating but I love him so much. He really has my best interest in mind and he always follows promptings.

I have so many investigators to tell you about. Especially T&Q. They are so humble and just golden. They are getting baptized on the 11 of July. I am so sad I won't be there ): They are soaking up the gospel and it’s beautiful. T is so strong and she is trying to get her husband to be interested because she really wants an eternal family. Q is a crazy 11 year old. He is reading the Book of Mormon and praying. He will talk your ear off, but he knows when to be quiet and listen to the spirit. I love them so much!! Pray for them.

J is another one. She just turned 19 and is just the sweetest girl ever. She is quite the tomboy and is having to make the decision between her personal interests and God. She is smart and knows what is right, but just needs to act on it. Pray for her.

E------ is another beautiful lady. One day we were out tracting and I had a feeling to do something completely different than our plans. I told my compa and she said okay. So we went to this neighborhood that was a little sketchy. We skipped a few doors because there were men sitting out front with guns and it was creepy. But we found E------!! We knocked on her door and talked for a while, but she turned us away. We went around the corner and knocked another door- no luck. Just as we were walking away, she came around the corner with the handout we gave her and invited us back into her home. It was so cool!! She is just thirsting for more information. I was so glad I followed that prompting. She has a baptismal date of July 11th, but it may have to be moved back if she cannot stop smoking. She is trying so hard and I know she can do it. I love her so much. Pray for her as well.

I am in a Spanish area in Bradenton right now in a trio again. I am excited to learn more. One of my companions, Hermana Jahnel, is from Paraguay and is learning English. My other companion is from Oregon. I just met them today. They seem so nice. I will tell you more next week.

 Also, my new address is 

4601 66th St. W. #1500A

Bradenton, FL 34210

I can’t wait to get a letter from you all.

Nos quiero,

Hermana Bryan