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!

Dead Battery and Yes, I am crying

Hi Everybody,

This week has been another great week out in the mission. We had a baptism this past Friday. It was one of the most beautiful baptisms I have ever seen in my life. It was amazing. I could feel his mom there and so could he. We felt her helping us from the other side as we were teaching him. He was crying because he could feel the spirit so strongly. We all felt so happy.

This week was transfers and Hermana Jahnel and I are STAYING TOGETHER IN CORTEZ! I am happy about that!

Our car stopped working last night.  We had our zone leaders come help us get it started. It was the battery. This morning it wouldn’t start.  Thank goodness for our bikes.

Have you been following Hurricane Erika? We heard there might be something coming but the weather is just fine. Everybody was scared, but I don’t think it will affect us. We were a little disappointed. We were looking forward to a good story to tell. Haha

Today is the 5^th P-day this month. We will get more money in our accounts tomorrow. We will be keeping it very simple this week. Feeling grateful for Top Ramen!

We were teaching a lesson this week and we had a member there with us that was sharing a neat experience which invited the spirit. It was so strong in the room. Then the little girl we were teaching (who is 10) leaned over and asked, ARE YOU CRYING? It took all I had not to die laughing. Little reminders of home.

I spoke in church last Sunday about Charity and Missionary Work. I gave the talk in Spanish. I felt good about it. We have had a lot of referrals but they have been English speaking. Everyone is so busy with school that is had been difficult get in to teach them more than the first lesson. We keep praying hard for an opportunity. I love the people here in Florida!

I enjoy getting letters from those that write! I love you and appreciate your support!

Love,

Hermana Bryan

Zone Conference

Hola,

I have to talk in church next Sunday. And sing. And teach. I am so nervous!! Fifth Sunday's are about missionary work. The branch thinks the best way to do that is have the missionaries do EVERYTHING. I will let you know how it goes.. haha! I am nervous, but I have said my testimony many times in Spanish, so it won't be too hard.

This past week we had zone conference. It was SO GOOD. It was fun to see a lot of the other missionaries. It was nice to see and hear from President Cusick. I love him, he is so great to all of his missionaries. We talked about how this mission is preparing us for the rest of our lives and how if we work hard here we will develop all the tools necessary for handling hard situations for the rest of forever. It was good. We talked about many different topics, the personal revelation that we received from them, and related each one of them to 1 Nephi (the first book in the Book of Mormon- a great starting place. I recommend it). It was really cool.

We received many referrals from Church Headquarters this week. We get them sometimes, but usually people are creeped out that we have their information. This week I called a man and asked him if he would be interested in learning more about the restored gospel of Jesus Christ. Usually people say no and hang up, so when he replied, "definitely" I was caught off guard. I said, "What? Really?" which was not the best thing I could have said, but it was my reaction before I could comprehend what was happening. We have an appointment this week with him. Hermana Jahnel and I laughed for a while.

Miracle this week:

Always follow the spirit. Even the smallest promptings can have great impacts. We went to a house this week. We didn't know who lived there or what we were really doing there, but we went. We talked to a woman outside, who told us to wait as she went to get her mom. When her mom came outside she was in tears. She is having a very difficult time in her life and was praying for guidance. She moved to Utah for a few years awhile back and was introduced to the church and was baptized. She moved back to Florida and hadn't been back to church. When we showed up she knew it was a sign from God. She came to church this week and felt the spirit so strongly. We are going to teach her children and baptize them. It was really a cool experience.

Les quiero,
Hermana Bryan

Teaching with Sprite

Hello everybody,

This week has been great!  We have a baptism scheduled for next week. He has been fun to work with because he is so awesome. He reminds me of Grandpa Wehrli, only a Spanish version. hahaha

The Hermanas living with us moved out, it’s really quiet in our apartment now. Have I mentioned how wonderful my companion is? I love her!

Hermana Jahnel is excited to try Thai food and is grateful for you and the recipes you send. She says, “Thank you.”

I wore my skirt on Sunday and got so many compliments. It was nice because it is longer and it is always freezing in the chapel.

We had zone day last Monday. It was really fun. We were in charge of bringing guacamole, but had no time to make it before we went. Luckily we had an hour drive to get there. We made it in the car on the way there and it was actually pretty tasty haha!

We have zone conference this week. We don't know what it will be, but I am super excited.

The new sprite cans are pretty sweet- words of wisdom (: haha

I love you all so much. Thank you for all your support!

Love,

Hermana Bryan

Finding Families and Avoiding Kisses

Hello everyone! 

This week has been so slow compared to the last couple of weeks because so many of our investigators are baptized now and we can only teach them one time a week. We spent a lot of time tracting and finding. So far we haven't had much luck, but we are still trying our hardest. I know that God is preparing a family for us. I just need to find them. 

We have been working with the --------- family this week (the one we found last week). We taught them the plan of salvation and it was crazy. They asked a lot of questions about the spirit world. I can't give a lot of details, but the veil is thin with that family. Also, they came to church and attended a baptism! (: They are so great!! They have already seen the blessings of the gospel in their family. I am loving the front-row seat I have to their progression and the atonement in their lives. It's the greatest thing about being a missionary.

We met a man this week while walking along the boardwalk (so beautiful). We were going to walk to talk to someone else, but I just knew I needed to talk to him, so we did. He went home that night and thought a lot about what we said to him. We called him back a few days later and he is super interested. He said he has seen a lot of anti-mormon movies and literature and whatnot, but he wants to see for himself. He is so nice.

This week I have realized how close and personal all the Hispanics are. Everyone just loves to kiss everyone else. It is so hard when people are just kissing you like it’s a normal thing and you are trying to follow missionary standards. So far backing away awkwardly has worked for me. My companion has an awkward scream she does. It makes me laugh every time.

Lots of drama with the branch missionaries, but I won't go into that. We are getting new ones. We are trying our best to work with the youth. Any ideas for getting people motivated?

This week we were in a meeting and the leaders in the branch kept on saying how we need to get all the Hispanics to come because this branch is for Hispanics and we don't need white people - I sat there feeling very uncomfortable. I wanted to laugh so bad.

Here are some pictures of our baptisms. 

Hope you are all having a great week. Thanks for all of your support!

I love you all!

Hermana Bryan

It's Raining...Blessings

They weather has been so crazy here. It rains every day and it makes it so hard to be productive. Thank goodness we have a million appointments and we don't have to find very much! Below is a picture of Hermana Jahnel and me when we got caught in the rain.

This week we had another baptism!! It was so beautiful. ---------- was confirmed on Sunday and he is so great. He is going to help this branch so much. His testimony is stronger than almost any member we have. He is a future stake president or something. Super solid guy

This Sunday we had 11 nonmembers at church (and some of our investigators weren’t even there! Also, that is not including all of our recent converts, which is well over 10 people). It was so chaotic. Also we had a visit from President Wilson in the mission presidency. I had to translate for him and his wife for some of the day. It was the craziest day ever. Today we received a call and we are probably going to get another companionship in the Cortez branch. I am happy about that.

We found a family this week and they have baptismal dates!! Woohoo I am so happy. Exact obedience really does bring blessings. 

I love you all! Thank you for your support!

Love, 

Sister Jessica Bryan