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| Eating at Chili's!!! |
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| A part of our Sector |
Hola Familia!!
Well I can honestly say that this week has been CRAZY and full of so many tears, laughter, drama of the mish, heartaches, prayers, fasting, and reliance on the Lord to complete His will.
Needless to say every time we got home at night, our other house comp Hermana Ward would be waiting anxiously to see what had happened in our telenovela series that day. Finally on Friday--she said the quote I quoted in the title of my email and we loved that hahaha. So true. Gotta love the mish! Also today and tomorrow is Carnaval--where people throw water, foam, etc all over each other so that will be fun. Everything is like closed and many people are traveling so it's really calm and quiet here which is weird. But this holiday looks so fun--we should do it in the US :)
So last Monday was awesome and we celebrated our 7 month anniversary by going to Chilis!! That´s right--you read that correctly--we found a Chili´s over here and we invited the sisters from our house and Hna Hernandez and her comp as well so that was so awesome! We both were so glad we were comps after seeing our old comps and their emotional states. Hna Hernandez was bawling as she hugged me and I felt so badly--I´m glad she could talk to me for a bit that day. We then got our hair done later on by Miguel and it was SO awesome--my hair is blonde and I love it again :) He did it just like I loved it in the states. We then spent the rest of the night with him because we could tell something was up. He ended up telling us everything--everything he has passed through and exactly how he had felt and I don't remember details cuz the rest of the week got worse haha I just remember bawling with him and Hna Johansen and giving him hope and counsel and it was wonderful.
We then (the 4 of us in our house) didn´t really sleep because we wanted to make our Zone and investigators feel special and made them all personalized Valentines and goodies. So that was fun!
Tuesday we had a great District and Zone meeting and the elders loved the brownies we made (thanks mom :) ) and the valentines. We then dropped off Oreo truffles (Caity Jones remember us last year?! :) ) for Miguel and Mayra and valentines for them. It was so fun--I loved being able to spread my love more so. We then had a good day and in English class, Miguel brought us beautiful white roses and it was such a fun class--teaching them about love, relationships, we taught them the Barney song bahahahaha, and then shared a wonderful message from the scriptures. After English, we were talking to Miguel and he told us what happened to him after work. He went by the house only to find Alvaro throwing his clothes all over outside, with his suitcases packed and thrown out the door. All of his belongings were thrown all over the pavement outside and his sister was crying and Alvaro was yelling, etc and kicked him out of the house. Miguel asked a store owner nearby to watch his things so he could come to English class. What?! We went with him to get his stuff and try to call the bishop but no one was home and so here we were at night in Guayaquil, Ecuador with Miguel kicked out of his house and no where to stay and no friends, lugging his huge suitcase filled with everything he has down the streets. He started laughing at one point and turned to us and said, "Hermanitas, this is not just a boulder--this is a mountain!!!" haha I have no idea how he could keep his humor or great attitude at a time like that and we wanted to pay or buy him food, etc. but he wouldn't accept it saying how much in debt he was to us for teaching him, loving him, and being his support. He didn't even charge us for our hair on Monday. We finally just had to leave him because we had to be home and he told us not to worry that he would find a hotel. Wow.
Wednesday we had a few lessons but everything else fell through--we ended up going so crazy we invited a dog to be baptized cuz he was the only thing close by or willing to listen. I know...I know... so Wed in the morning I cried during comp study singing Because I Have Been Given Much and we both cried during the prayer but we had faith that a miracle would happen and the blessings and fruits are to be seen. We just kept thinking about Miguel. Also, I loved the scriptures in Alma 31:32-38 about prayers of faith and miracles happening. There is an awesome kid that just moved into our ward who is SO willing and wanting to help us--he always went out with the elders in his area and it was so awesome to visit with him. Wow. Kids like that inspire me. We met with Miguel and he was ok--he told us, ¨Despite so much that has happened to me, I feel calm.¨ It was amazing. We also taught his co-workers because they were all curious about our religion. He slipped away and I grabbed his BOM and slipped in 20 dollars so he could pay for one more night in the hotel because he had no money, no food, no place to stay, and no support other than us. I felt it was the least I could do. He ended up calling in the nighttime and said, ¨Hermanita Bryan, el Espiritu Santo hizo un milagro!!!¨ and I started busting up laughing telling him how excited I was for him to tell me what happened. He said he was in institute and opened his scriptures and found the money. He started crying and just thanked us and I can't even describe how much Hna Johansen and I were happy and amazed all at the same time on Wed. That soon ended when Elder Rubio called me to tell me that Pres was canceling Miguel's appt AGAIN. We were fuming because we had asked them to verify this for 2 weeks and they ended up canceling again and both Mayra and Miguel had planned to take off for the interview. We felt sick and descepcionadas, etc.
So needless to say, Thursday was not our greatest day. We went to go to Miguel's work to talk to him and he and Maryra were SO excited to see us and talk about the interview and Mayra saw my face and knew exactly what had happened. Miguel sunk to the floor when we told him the news and asked us to leave him be for a while, he needed to figure things out and it was more horrible than we had thought so as soon as we left, Hermana Johansen and I just burst into tears and we were bawling and sobbing in the middle of the street. Haha I´m sure that was a sight to see for everyone who saw us but we couldn´t help it--we felt so broken. We then had the most hilarious and horrible rest of the day--remind me to explain about the most embarrassing lunch I´ve ever had, etc. We were just praying that Miguel would be ok and still maintain his faith. He did end up coming to English which was a miracle and we ended up having a lesson with him and when he told us what he did the rest of the day, he said, ¨Fui a comprar una cola (and then he looked right at me and said) y adivina que mas....Adivina...(at this point I just said nooooo cuz I knew he was referring to cigarettes). He started smiling and said adivina! And then he smiled and said, ¨CASI¨. When he said Casi, I almost exploded from happiness and unbelief and just was SO happy and knew that his conversion had sunk in and that he still had faith and his testimony and HE DIDN'T SMOKE!!!! Even in that situation! We had a great lesson with him and related his story to the pioneers and he said ¨But sisters, the pioneers received miracles and blessings right when they were about to die or lose ALL hope or faith, right?! We agreed. He then said...I still have faith! So what's going to happen to me?!!! Oh no!¨ hahahaha wow We busted up laughing and just felt so grateful for the blessings and truthfulness and incredible testimonies people who really are converted can have.
Friday we had a great lesson with Julio and he said he would come to church and then we met with a new guy, Ronald and both me and my comp felt guided in finding him and it was a sweet, neat experience. It´s amazing what happens when the Spirit is with you--that is the key to life and to the mission and everything! We also had interviews with Pres Amaya on Friday and it was the first time I left an interview down and confused, etc. I don't want to go into detail but it was great until I asked about Miguel and we are getting so much opposition from personal feelings, opinions, etc without them even interviewing or knowing him first. I understand that Miguel has to wait to be baptized but we feel like it´s not fair to not even give him a chance to be interviewed! A lot of things going on but we trust in the Lord and know that He makes all things just right in the end. Also, it's our job to support our leaders and that has been SO hard lately with everything because they try to make us baptize people who aren't ready or don't want to come to church even, but refuse to even give Miguel an interview yet! But we know that it's for a reason so we just have to remember that and stay strong! :)
Friday we finally found Jacinto at home again and we had the most scary experience I´ve ever had on my mission. Jacinto is lost and has let himself forget the feelings he felt and be taken over by a dark presence and Hna Johansen walked out the door and I was just in shock and she looked at me and said, ¨FREAKY STUFF MAN!!!¨ hahahaha We then proceeded to walk away quickly and freak out for 30 minutes until we realized what had happened, how grateful we are for the Spirit and the truthfulness of the Gospel and how the adversary won´t win.
Saturday was a good day and Fabian accompanied us and he is such a stud--he is already a missionary and it's amazing to be around examples and people like that. Wow. We had a few great lessons and were able to share the love of Christ and then after English, we both felt really nervous like we needed to go find Miguel so we started walking towards his work and right before we were crossing the street to go over there, who would cross our path but him?! The Lord is incredible. He was walking to find us because he wanted to tell us he had been reading the BOM in Spanish and English and received an answer. He said, how many years did Lehi and Nephi have to wait in the wilderness?? We said woooo muchos!!! He said exactly. And do you think they liked it?? No. And how many trials did they have to go through??? A ton!! But what were the promised blessings? A promised land and blessings of the Gospel. He said if they could do it why can't I? I have decided to wait and to wait in Ecuador. I´m not going back to Colombia. Not without being baptized and he was SO happy. He then found a place to live and felt like the Lord was finally blessing him poco a poco!
Sunday Hna Johansen and I gave talks and I gave mine on Choosing Eternal Life through going back to the basics. I used pieces of talks and then the NOE program and my own testimony and I loved looking down at the people I love in our ward here and seeing their smiles and trying to help everyone--this work and Gospel is incredible and it gives us so much room to improve and work and be better and feel of the Lord´s love for us. I then got an ear infection later on in the day that KILLED so that was fun. I bought some meds though so no need to worry or go to the Clinica Kennedy--haha I´m so done with that place! But we´ve figured it out that just about every 2 months I get sick here so you know--something to plan for :)
Miguel accompanied us yesterday and our last lesson was with a less active wonderful lady and her son who come to English sometimes and she is SUCH a sweet, beautiful, amazing person and there was such a sweet spirit present. It was wonderful for both her and Miguel to relate and share testimony and for us to bear sweet testimony.
The Gospel is such a sweet thing. I know that the Lord requires a lot of us: a lot of patience, waiting, faith, hope, trust, work. But I also know that He has given us everything and that we are here to progress and He is molding us into who He needs us to be. I testify of the importance of having the Spirit in our lives and of feeling--really FEELING charity and how that changes one´s heart. I love being a missionary. I love being able to mourn with those who mourn. Although this week was crazy and we cried and worried and prayed more than we have in forever, it was such an incredibly amazing experience to realize that all this heartache and deep emotions we were feeling were 100 percent for someone else. Someone else that we loved and that we didn't think about ourselves, our lives, our families, nothing like all week. Wow--the Lord helps us that is for sure and charity really is love, and is pure, and changes lives. I´m trying to pray for that gift and be worthy of it and try to keep improving my abilities to share that with others. Although numbers are focused on here and I know their importance, it´s been so neat these past couple of weeks to try and feel the Spirit and really try to do what Christ would do if He were here right now. He focuses on the one and still makes time for other things but this week we learned what it means to focus on the one.
I LOVE missionary work, I love the Gospel, I know families can be together forever. I know the Book of Mormon is true and that it changes lives. I know the Holy Ghost really can be our companion. I know that through prayer one can develop that close, loving relationship with our Father in Heaven. I love and miss all of you so much and pray for you!!
Happy Presidents Day!!
Love you!!!
Hermana Bryan
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| Us making Valentines! |
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| Our Streets --like lakes and swimming pools when it rains super hard! |
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